My earliest edible memories are from Shrimp. I grew up on the Gulf Coast in a small sportsman's paradise town in Texas called Port O'Connor. We would have Shimp-based meals morning, noon, and night because my grandfather (on my mother's side) was a Shrimp boat captain.
Big Daddy would bring in a box or two of fresh-caught whole Shrimp from his Gulf expeditions during Shrimp Season to eat that week or freeze for later.
We had Shrimp boiled, fried, and grilled. Looking back I now realize how good we had it, but at the time it was so normal that our version of a special meal was a hamburger, not seafood!
My Mom learned Tex-Mex Shrimp cooking and the first recipe I remember was her Shrimp and Rice(click on any recipe name to see my recipe blog post)and always served with Homemade Pinto Beans.
It is a simple recipe, mainly Shrimp, rice, tomato sauce, and a few veggies like onion and garlic. Check out my Mom's recipe below and make it her way.
I highly recommend one if you are ever in the area, however, I do have a recipe so you can make your own anytime.
Large Shrimp are expensive, but lately, I can get them at my local Latin Market Superior Grocers for less than 5 bucks per pound. Every once in a while I find single-serving packages of frozen cheap small Bay Shrimp at my local Dollar Tree.
Our family moved to Louisiana when I started high school. Now, Louisiana has its own way of preparing a Cajun Shrimp meal. My entry entree to Louisiana cuisine was the Po'Boy Sandwich. When I visit Louisiana now I always go to Mike's Po-boys in Gonzales, Louisiana. My favorite is a Fried Shrimp and Oyster Po'boy Sandwich.
It is similar to a deli Subway Sandwich. Basically a French bread roll plus fried seafood, and dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and mayo.
Most fried seafood in the South has a cornmeal coating instead of flour, so the bites are extra crunchy. I have a Fried Catfish recipe that you can substitute with peeled Shrimp, just click here to see how we do it.
All along the U.S. coasts, most communities have Seafood Boils consisting of shellfish and veggies like corn and potatoes covered with water and flavored with a package of spicy spices.
In Louisiana, they boil crawfish and shrimp with sausage, too.
Normally the veggies and sausage are boiled until done, then at the end add whole raw shrimp. Shrimp only takes 5 minutes to cook through. If you like your Shrimp spicy, turn off the heat and let them sit in the spicy broth for another 5 to 10 minutes.
You know how to peel a shrimp, right? Grocery stores sell their Shrimp peeled or unpeeled, peeled Shrimp are more expensive, so I usually buy shell-on and peel them myself.
If you buy shrimp with shells and heads, it's easy to pinch off the head first. Next, remove a couple of shell segments, peeling them away where the legs connect. Finally, pinch the tail and pull off the remaining shell. Your speed of peeling will get faster and easier with practice.
The dirty little secret of Shrimp is the digestive tract that runs along the back. Some Shrimp have them and others may not show one. They taste a little like dirt. If you look along the back of a peeled shrimp you can sometimes see the small black string of the digestive tract.
For boiled Shrimp, you obviously don't remove the digestive string. My Mom likes to remove them when she fries Shrimp. It's up to you if you want to remove it. Smaller Shrimp do not have one that you can detect.
If you peel head-on Shrimp look out for the sharp spine jutting from the top of the head when you go to pinch if off. It's sharp like the tip of barbed wire.
Louisiana has a couple of regional Shrimp recipes I know you will like from my nephew Matt, who cooks in Bergeron's City Market, an award-winning Baton Rouge restaurant.
Matt's recipe of Shrimp and Cheese Grits is the bomb! We always have a good time making cooking videos together, and sometimes things do get a bit out of control as the video below will testify to. I brought the beer and Chef Matt barely got through the recipe due to my bad influence, so check it out below.
New England has Clam Chowder, and Louisiana has Shrimp and Corn Soup. Check out how Chef Matt makes this local specialty soup, so rich and creamy.
A Shrimp Slider is tiny and tasty.I used a small package of cheap cooked Bay Shimp and mixed in mayo, bread crumbs, onion, celery, and some egg to make a Shrimp Patty. Click here to read all about it.
Shrimp frozen meals are hit or miss, but I found a couple of good ones. The following frozen meal reviews use products I found a few years ago.
My nextfrozen Deal of the Day has a very high rating. Just how high is a click away, here. Shrimp & Orzo courtesy of Contessa packs a lot of flavor in a small bowl.
I'll leave you with a little levity. I once took a Vegas trip years ago when they had 99-cent Shrimp Cocktails in casinos. Seeing is believing so make sure to check out my Vegas video below. The Shrimp Cocktail scene starts a couple of minutes in.
Food lovers are celebrating Julia Child's birthday today.And in her honor, the 99 Cent Chef's new palate-pleasing video, "Julian & Julia," introduces Julia Child's nephew, Julian Child. He's a real chip off the cutting board and a chef worthy of sauteing with Aunt Julia's copper-bottomed pot!
I had the good fortune to run into Julian Child at the Hollywood Farmers Market this last Sunday. We chatted about his "Aunt Julia" and the movie "Julie & Julia."
As we walked through fresh and fragrant stalls of produce Julian stopped at a stack of organic oranges and reminisced about his childhood summers in Paris, France, and how he would tug at Julia Child's apron and beg for his favorite dish: Crepe Suzette in an Orange Butter Sauce.
Aunt Julia eventually grew tired of always preparing it and soon taught it to her nephew, a budding chef. I seized the opportunity to invite Julian to The 99 Cent Chef's kitchen to cook his Aunt Julia's Crepe Suzette for everyone!
A delicious and decadent dessert made with loads of butter, this French classic is easy and of course, cheap to make. Flour, eggs, milk, orange juice, butter, and a 99-cent airline bottle of cognac make up the main ingredients. (You can leave out half the butter, but then it would not be a true Julia Child culinary experience. Try it this way at least once!
Julian & Julia - VIDEO
Play it here. The video runs 6 minutes, 20 seconds.
1/2 cup of Orange Juice - freshly squeezed or store-bought pasteurized.
Zest of 1/2 Orange - optional.
1/2 cup of Sugar
1 stick of Butter - OK to use less.
Airline bottle of Cognac (or Brandy) - about 1/4 cup.
Directions for Crepes
In a large bowl mix together flour, milk, water, salt, eggs, and 1 tablespoon of melted or soft butter. Whisk until well blended, about 2 minutes.
Heat your medium (about 8 inches) non-stick omelet pan and coat with 1 pat of butter or oil.
When butter is melted, add 1/4 cup of Crêpe batter - enough to just cover the bottom of the pan.
Hold up the pan and swirl to coat the pan evenly. It is better to have too much batter than too little - a thin Crêpe will tear when turning.
Cook the Crêpe for a minute, then loosen around the edges and continue cooking for another minute. Peek before turning to see if the Crêpe is starting to brown. Carefully turn the Crêpe over and cook for another half minute.
As my video shows, the first Crêpe may stick and be unusable. Instead of throwing it away, you might as well taste it to see how tender the crêpe turned out.
Don't worry, it takes a couple of Crêpe to get it right. Your crêpes may not be perfect, but with a sweet Orange Butter Sauce, no one will be complaining about its appearance. Set aside your cooked Crêpes to add to the Orange Butter Sauce.
Directions for Orange Butter Sauce
Use a large enough pan to dip a whole crepe into. Melt butter, then add orange juice, zest, and sugar in the pan, over medium/high heat. Cook until sauce is reduced by half and thickened, about 5 minutes.
Cooking Crepes Suzette
Reduce heat and add a Crêpe. Notice my use of a spoon and fork, in the video, to fold Crêpe into the sauce. Fold in half once, then fold one more time and push the Crêpe to the edge of the pan to make room for more.
I managed to fit about 3 Crêpes at a time into my pan. Allow crêpes to heat through for a minute.
When the sauce and Crêpes are warm, pour in half the cognac and bring to the table.
Now the fun part - Cognac Flambé! Have a long-handled match ready. This is when you want an audience.
Your table should be set and the lights dimmed so you can serve the flaming Crêpes Suzettes with a flourish! Place before your dazzled guest and strike a match, lighting the sauce...oh my!
Be careful, the cognac will flame up, so you don't want flammable items nearby (overhead curtains, paper, etc.), and your kids should not attempt this!
Serve this first batch of Crêpes with a spoonful of sauce.
Finish saucing the other Crêpes, then Flambé, and repeat. Bon Appetit!
If you are not familiar with the culinary icon, Julia Child, here is a scene from "Julie & Julia." Meryl Streep "chews" the scenery as larger-than-life Julia Child.
The other half of the movie is about Julie Powell blogging and cooking her way through, in one year, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" co-written by Julia Child. Both stories resonated with this Chef. And the movie's Paris locale is intoxicating. You will find yourself leaving the theater with the booming voice of Julia Child in your head and your utterances will have her cadence. She is so fun to mimic you cannot help but bellow "Bon Appetit" every chance you get!
And 99 Thanks to Bob McGinness for his creative camerawork!
On the 5th of May, 1861, Mexico battled and defeated the French invading army. It became a celebrated holiday started in the United States.
And here in Los Angeles, the clashing continues in the Cheap$kate Cocina. For my latest recipe roundup, it's Mexican versus the French, redux, and the battlefield is the palate. Can we all get along? Forget about it - bring out the heavy artillery and let's duke it out, plate vs plate.
Skirmish One is a Fried Feud: Tacos Baja Fried Fish Tacos vs Ludo Truck French Fries and Fried Chicken.
Forever on lists of best taco joints in Los Angeles, Tacos Baja makes one of the most delicious Fish Tacos in town. These battered deep-fried filet torpedos of perfection are also one of the best deals around, especially on Wednesdays, when they are sold for only 99 cents!
Fish Taco
The Fish Taco is loaded with a Mexican machete chopped tomato/cabbage slaw that is topped with cream and chile sauce. When you try to pick up the taco half of the slaw is left on the plate, so be sure to get a forked slaw detector and sweep over the plate to get all that spilled.
The deep-fried batter is well-seasoned and cooked to perfection. The fillet has a thick seasoned crust and the bass fish filet is flaky and moist - a detonated depth charge of flavor.
This Mexican Pescado Taco is a winner, even at the regular price of $1.69 per taco. Your strafed taste buds happily surrender to such crunchy deliciousness. To see what I'm writing about just check out my video review below. (And click here to see my cheap$kate recipe you can make in your own foxhole.)
The French return fire with Top Chef star Ludo Lefebvre's fried chicken fast food truck. How does the Ludo Fried Chicken Truck compare to Tacos Baja Fried Fish Tacos?
You would think Chef Ludo has all the culinary training to deliver a coup de grace with his fried poultry ordinance. Not so quick mon ami, fried chicken is a Southern staple so you better have a toothsome battle plan.
Compared to the Colonel's KFC, the Ludo Truck's Chicken Strips ranks a Private. Fried chicken, when done right, has moist meat with a brightly seasoned crunchy coating. While Ludo's Chicken Strips meet the first requirement, it deserves a blindfold and firing squad for an under-seasoned coating. Chicken Strips start with a handicap -- the skin is usually removed, so the crust has to be exceptional.
Chef Ludo needs to bone up on Southern fried chicken seasonings, especially if Chicken Strips are the ordnance of choice -- or take your fried chicken strips in a more original and delectable direction.
Chicken strips, Fries, and Dipping Sauce
Now the white meat tenders are moist, and are a generous portion, even at $5.50 for two. While the coating is crunchy enough and not objectionable, it's just bland and boring. I expect more from a Top Chef contestant.
Another item I have tried from Ludo Truck is the French Fries -- and I hate to say it, but no improvement here. Chef Ludo should just wave a white flag and surrender.
French Fries
You would think French Fries from Frenchman Ludo Lefebvre would be a direct bullseye hit, wiping out other fries contenders, but they are more of a warhead dud. These French fries are limp and under-seasoned. Maybe because I am more of a Belgian double-fried crispy fries type. (Chef Ludo, you can check out my recipe video for a better French fry by clicking here.)
Even though the Ludo Truck fries seem fresh, and thick-cut, almost any fast food burger joint makes them better, even when made from frozen pre-cut spuds. Don't fill your mess kit with this meal, stick to MRE's. Okay, at ease... now check out my video below to get all the so-so-tasty details.
So in this battle royale, Mexico blows the French out of the water, and not because it's cheaper, it's just tastier.
Calabasitasis a Mexican veggie stew made with a bunker full of summer squash. It's spicy comfort food, a dish often ordered by my late wife at a local Hollywood Mexican restaurant and shared over a Happy Hour of frosty margaritas.
Along with squash, you need an ammunition belt of onion, corn (fresh or from a can), tomatoes, a can of mild green chiles, cilantro, and finally, some melting cheese as a topping.
Be sure to choose a cheese that is firm, like Jack, mozzarella, Swiss, mild cheddar, or my favorite, Mexican Queso Fresco (avoid processed American cheese; it will melt into a soup - save it for a grilled sandwich).
This was cheap back in the day.
They say the military marches on its stomach, well Calabasitasis hearty enough to satiate any soldier's appetite.
Sweet caramelized onions in a broth of red wine and the beef flavor is a full-on invasion of savoriness. It takes a lot of slow-cooking sliced onions to make a French Onion Soup. But the time invested is worth it. And when you add a thick slice of toasted French bread and a slab of melted cheese, well you have to succumb to this flavor bomb.
So in the battle of the soups, the white flag of surrender is waved by Mexico - France gets the win, but just barely. There, you have your revenge for the last culinary resounding defeat.
I've been making Huevos Rancheros often lately. And the reason is: it's the bomb! You got corn tortillas, creamy refried beans, crumbly Mexican cheese, and fried eggs topped with more cheese and tangy salsa.
You are hit from all sides with this Gatling gun of disparate flavors. And it's an easy recipe to make. Just heat up some tortillas and refried beans to add to your fried eggs. I prefer Mexican cheese, but you can use what you have on hand. Deliver the coup de grâce with your favorite salsa, either fresh (simple recipe click here) or from the jar. Just check out my video below to see my cheap$kate version.
It's Guerilla vs Classic Warfare. The technique is paramount to making a French-style Omelettte. I took me several counter-offensives to finally conquer it.
French Omelette
Mainly you gently stir the omelet until it is almost done but still slightly moist, then add the cheese and fold the egg. It's served with a damp interior.
Oh, and you fry the omelet in butter; so in your own battle of the bulge, fitting into your fighting gear will be a lost cause.
Once you've tried my version of a French Omelette, you will never surrender to any other kind. Check out my video recipe below and start your own cooking maneuvers.
So who won the War of Breakfasts? Man, it's a tough decision...I can't decide, so I'll call a truce in this kitchen combat zone - both recipes are victorious!
Everyone is a winner in this war of appetites, so don't wait to be drafted, just volunteer from my recipe boot camp and give any of the above battle-tested recipes a try.
*Click on any recipe name to see the original blog post recipe or review.
Big Daddy would bring in a box or two of fresh-caught whole Shrimp from his Gulf expeditions during Shrimp Season to eat that week or freeze for later. 
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