My gosh, I do believe I could eat fresh seafood until my cholesterol level hit something along the lines of an SAT score and I looked like Mr. Creosote before he noshed on that wafer-thin mint.

Shrimp, oysters, fresh fish, squid … dang. Love it. Love it! And I really don’t care how it’s prepared, either. Boiled, steamed, baked, in gumbo or a stew (even in summer), maybe a court bouillon. Even some nice sashimi with a tiny dap of wasabi would be super.
With us being fully engaged in summer and the seafood available from Seattle to the Keys and Main to San Diego, it’s a great time to check out some of my favorites. Actually, any Cajun food is fine with me, but these super recipes from SoutheastLouisianaGumbo.com are great for summer.
Throw in some Venison Poppers that are so easy to make, add some venison sausage to the gumbo, and you’ll be in fine shape. Everyone has a favorite way to make these, usually involving some chunks or strips of venison, jalapenos that have been halved lengthwise and seeded, and some cream cheese maybe mixed with whatever spices you like including salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, maybe some spicy pepper jelly or salsa.
Spread a small dollop of the cream cheese mix on the jalapeno “boat,” add the deer meat, wrap with bacon and stick a toothpick in it. Grill ’em and eat ’em. They’re easy, delicious and a good way to pass the time with friends.
Gimmie a cold Abita or PBR and some gumbo, please!
Southeast Louisiana Gumbo Recipe
Ingredients
- 3lb chicken
- ½ c. fat
- 1 c. flour
- ½ c. green onion tops, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- Salt, Pepper, Tabasco
- ½ c. flour
- 1 gallon water or chicken stock
- 1 c. onions, chopped
- ¼ tsp. thyme
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 c. celery
- File’
Instructions
Cut chicken into pieces. Flour well. Fry quickly in fat until brown. Make a roux with the remaining fat by adding flour and cooking until brown. Add onions and seasonings. Cook. Add chicken. Add water. Cook until chicken is tender. Just before serving, add the file’, but do not cook after adding file’. Serve on rice. Serves 8.
Gumbo can be made with shrimp and oysters. For crab Gumbo, scald crabs, clean, break off and crack the claws; cut the body into four pieces.
— Complements of Ascension Parish Tourism Commission
Crawfish Cornbread
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 Tsp salt
1/2 Tsp baking soda
1 can creamed corn
3 eggs
1/2 grated cheddar cheese
1 cup onions, chopped fine
1 pound crawfish tails – season lightly with salt
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Mix the ingredients in a bowl except the crawfish tails. Blend until moist. Stir in the crawfish tails and pour into a 9×12 baking pan. Cook about 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees until golden brown. Cut into squares. Can be topped with crawfish etuoffee as an appetizer, too.
Seafood Muffaletta
1/2 pound shrimp
1/2 pound crawfish
3 cups sliced onion
3/4 cup sliced mushroom
1/2 cup pickled jalapeno
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 oz. butter
1 Tbsp Cajun seasoning
3 slices of Provolone cheese
1 9-inch toasted muffaletta bread
1. Using a nonstick skillet on medium-high heat, saute the shrimp, crawfish and Worcestershire sauce together until the seafood is cooked. Look for a light pink color in the shrimp to indicate doneness.
2. White the shrimp and crawfish are cooking, in another nonstick skillet saute the onions and mushrooms and add the jalapenos when the onions are almost completely cooked down.
3. Finally add the butter to your shrimp, crawfish and Worcestershire mixture and turn the heat to its lowest setting possible. Swirl in the butter until melted. Add the onions, mushrooms, jalapenos to the seafood pan and place the three slices of Provolone cheese on top.
4. Allow the cheese to melt and then pour mixture onto the muffaletta bread, and serve.

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