Shrimp Tasso And Mirliton Casserole Recipes

SHRIMP AND MIRLITON CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the mirlitons and cook until tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the heat, drain, and set aside to cool completely.
• Meanwhile, combine the shrimp with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1 tablespoon Bayou Blast in a mixing bowl and toss to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• When the mirlitons are cool, cut them in half lengthwise, remove the seeds, peel, and coarsely chop. Set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, and jalapeno. Add the remaining 1/2 tablespoon Bayou Blast and the thyme. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft and lightly golden, 4 to 6 minutes.
• Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes. Add the mirlitons and cook, mashing them with a potato masher, until very tender and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 30 minutes. Add the shrimp, salt, black pepper, green onions, and parsley. Cook, stirring, until the shrimp turn pink, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat.
• Add the eggs, 1 cup of the bread crumbs, and the pepper sauce. Mix well. Spoon the mixture into a 9 by 13-inch casserole dish. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of bread crumbs. Bake until the topping is lightly browned and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serve warm.
• Combine all ingredients thoroughly.
• Recipe from "New New Orleans Cooking", by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.

SHRIMP, TASSO, AND MIRLITON CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Spray a 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
• Place mirliton on prepared baking sheets, and coat with oil. Roast until lightly browned and tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add tasso; heat until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove tasso from pot, and set aside.
• Add yellow onion, green onion, bell pepper, celery, and garlic to Dutch oven; sauté until vegetables are softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add roasted mirliton; crush about half of mirliton using a potato masher or fork. Cook over medium-high heat until mirliton has released its liquid and reduced slightly in volume, 13 to 15 minutes.
• Remove from heat. Stir in shrimp, bread crumbs, cream, eggs, thyme, Creole seasoning, and pepper. Spoon into prepared baking dish, and loosely cover with foil.
• Bake for 15 minutes.
• In a small bowl, stir together crackers and melted butter. Sprinkle casserole with cracker mixture and cheese, and bake until cheese is melted and filling is bubbly, about 25 minutes more. Garnish with green onion, if desired.

MIRLITON, SHRIMP AND TASSO CASSEROLE

Steps:

• In a large pot, add mirliton and cover with cold water. Season with salt and bring to a boil. Cook for 1 hour or until fork tender. (Pierce with paring knife and you should feel a little resistance.)
• Drain. Let cool on an open space. (Note: the mirliton should be treated as a root vegetable, which have very high water content. It is important not to overcook or shock with cold water to cool. This will cause the vegetable to lose its flavor and make the casserole watery.)
• Peel the skin from the mirliton with a paring knife. Cut in half from stem, top to bottom, de-seed, lightly mash. Drain excess liquid from mash.
• In a large pot over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon butter and sauté tasso for about four minutes or until brown.
• Add onions, season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender.
• Stir in shrimp and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
• Add mirliton and sauté for 3 minutes, constantly stirring. Remove from heat and season.
• Run 1 tablespoon of butter into 3 inch deep, large surface casserole dish. Add mixture and pat down lightly with hand.
• Optional: For custard, mix eggs, milk, and seasoning and whisk. Mix together with other ingredients.
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• For topping, melt remaining butter. Add breadcrumbs, green onions, and seasoning and top casserole with mixture.
• Cover casserole with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown..

CAJUN SHRIMP MIRLITON CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Simmer mirlitons in water to cover by 2 inches in an 8-quart pot, partially covered, until very tender, about 1 hour. Drain mirlitons, then halve and peel, discarding pits. Coarsely chop in a food processor.
• Preheat oven to 400°F.
• Cook onions and bell peppers in 6 tablespoons butter in a 6- to 7-quart wide heavy pot over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add mirlitons and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of liquid is evaporated, about 5 minutes. (Do not let vegetables brown.) Stir in cracker crumbs, shrimp, cayenne, and salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Spoon into a shallow 3-quart baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter and bake in upper third of oven until crumbs are just golden, 12 to 15 minutes.

MIRLITON

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add mirliton, and boil until tender, about 45 minutes. Drain, cool, and peel. Cut in half, remove seeds, and cut into cubes.
• When the mirliton are almost done, bring another pot of water to a boil. Add shrimp, and cook for about 5 minutes, until pink. Drain shrimp, reserving the water for later. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry onion and garlic in the oil until soft. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish. Add the shrimp, ham, and cubed mirliton. Beat the egg in a small dish with a tablespoon of the water from the shrimp; pour into the baking dish. Mix in the bread crumbs, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper until evenly blended. If it seems a little dry, add a little more water from the shrimp. You have the choice to freeze, refrigerate, or bake at this point. Sprinkle some more breadcrumbs on top if desired.
• Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown on top.

MIRLITON CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Take the mirlitons and boil until tender by sticking a sharp knife into it. If it goes in easily just as when testing a potato they are ready. Do not overcook.
• Drain and cool.
• Meanwhile, take your seasonings except for the garlic and parsley and saute until soft.
• Add shrimp and saute until pink.
• add garlic and parsley, bread crumbs, salt & pepper.
• Turn off heat.
• Take the mirlitons and cut in half lengthwise.
• Take a teaspoon and scoop out the seed and sac that surrounds it.
• Then scoop out the meat of the merliton and save it in the pan along with the dressing.
• You can use the shells to refill with the dressing if you care to. Since I usually end up tearing my shells, I usually end up using a casserole dish and adding everything into it after mixing well.
• If the mixture is dry once it is all mixed, you can add a little water or chicken broth a little at a time until it is just a tad pasty.
• Place a pat of butter on each half and bake in medium oven until browned and bubbly.
• You can make these ahead of time and freeze them.
• Take them out a day before you need them and let them thaw in the refrigerator and bake right before serving.
• For variety, you can use hot sausage out of the casing or ground meat.