Yesterday, the NOLA area mourned a Louisiana Legend, Frank Davis.
Davis was a regular on WWL-Tv for 30 years- sharing great food and recipes with his wife Mary Clare, sharing great places for fishing in the area in "Fishin’ Game Report", and showcasing “Naturally N’Awlins” events/products/shops and more!
Frank was 71, he had been battling a rare automimmune disease, Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy, for the past 2 years in Texas, where he was getting benefits of new research there. He and Mary Clare were married for 45 years!
I feel like I grew up with Davis on TV, as he started on WWL when I was starting high school, so we watched every morning while getting the weather and traffic reports for our morning commute. His recipes made you hungry and we often Found ourselves writing them down in a hurry! They were ALWAYS as good in person as they were on seemed to be on TV! We amassed a decent library of his cookbooks too, as they seemed to be the recipes that TRULY represented the NOLA area! I'm glad I was able to get one of his books signed by him, for Miss Grace, when she was a baby, as it will be something that will be a treasure to her, every time she uses it as an adult!
We got to meet Frank multiple times- he was ALWAYS as wonderful in person as he was on TV. He was affable, funny and a great people person! He covered our Pow Wow when it wasn't getting much press and encouraged us to keep bring a needed resource to the area.
You can go to WWL's website and get many of his recipes, but be sure to check out his cookbooks too (as they wouLd be great Christmas gifts for the foodies in your life!)!
I'm sharing one of my favorite recipes of Frank's today- as the one thing he loved, was sharing his love of cooking and good food!
Shrimp, Sausage, and Pasta
Ingredients:
2 links Cajun smoked sausage, half diced, half disked
½ lb. fresh mushrooms, quartered
1 small can Tomato Paste
1 cup prepared chopped seasoning vegetables (pre-chopped onion, celery, bell pepper, parsley, and green onion mix)
1 large can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 tomato-paste cans of chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. sweet basil
2 tsp. Frank Davis Seafood Seasoning
3 lbs. butterflied, deveined shrimp
4 Tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs. penne (cooked al dente)
1 cup Parmesan cheese for topping
1 large loaf garlic bread
1 small can Tomato Paste
1 cup prepared chopped seasoning vegetables (pre-chopped onion, celery, bell pepper, parsley, and green onion mix)
1 large can tomato sauce
2 Tbsp. minced garlic
3 tomato-paste cans of chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. sweet basil
2 tsp. Frank Davis Seafood Seasoning
3 lbs. butterflied, deveined shrimp
4 Tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
2 lbs. penne (cooked al dente)
1 cup Parmesan cheese for topping
1 large loaf garlic bread
Directions:
1. Place a heavy-bottomed, 5-quart, Dutch oven on the stovetop, over high heat.
2. When a drop of water dropped into the pot sizzles, it’s time to place the smoked sausage into the po. Lower the heat to medium, and briskly stir the sausage over itself continuously until it renders out most of it’s drippings and begins to turn a toasty brown.
3. At that exact time, add the mushrooms to the pot and stir them ‘round and around until they pick up most of the sausage drippings and they begin to toast (should take about 10 minutes or so).
3. At that exact time, add the mushrooms to the pot and stir them ‘round and around until they pick up most of the sausage drippings and they begin to toast (should take about 10 minutes or so).
4. When the mixture is fully seared, remove it all from the Dutch oven and set it aside momentarily on a platter.
5. Increase the heat under the pot, and spoon in the tomato paste and stir it continuously, until the paste is piping hot.
6. Add your seasoning vegetables, and stir it completely into the tomato paste until it is fully incorporated. Then pour in the tomato sauce, the minced garlic, and the 3 paste cans full of chicken broth.
7. Add the seared sausage and mushrooms, the bay leaves, the basil, and the seafood seasoning and stir, until the tomato sauce is silky smooth and totally combined with the ingredients, and then lower the heat under the pot to low, place the lid on tightly, and set the sauce on simmer for at least 30 minutes.
8. During the last 10 minutes of the sauce cooking, heat up a 12-inch, non-stick skillet, pour in the olive oil, drop in the shrimp, and quickly sear them until they just turn pink and their edges begin to take on a touch of bronze. Stop cooking them at this point! They’re done! To cook them any longer in the skillet will make them rubbery!
9. Remove cover off the Dutch oven, add in the shrimp and their olive-oil pan drippings, stir everything completely once more, and let the pot sit—covered again!—with the fire off for about 10 minutes so that the residual heat from the tomato sauce tempers the shrimp and marries their flavors into the rest of the dish.
10. When you’re ready to eat, spoon out a liberal serving of egg noodles into a bowl, ladle on a generous scoop or two of the sausage-mushroom-shrimp sauce, sprinkle on a flurry of grated Parmesan cheese, and finish the dish off with a man-size chunk of hot garlic bread!
Note: We've also cooked penne noodles and added them to the sauce, instead of serving over egg noodles. Both ways are yummy! You can also substitute crawfish.
I know, not all of you will have Seafood Seasoning, so here's a quick recipe you can use:
- 3 tbsp powdered onion 1/4 cup paprika, 2 tbsp thyme, 2 tbsp oregano, 1/4 cup granulated garlic, 1/4 cup ground black pepper, 1/3 cup salt, 2 tbsp cayenne pepper, 1 tbsp celery salt, 1 tbsp ground bay leaves. Note if you like it spicy, add more cayenne pepper.
You can use the spice on baked, grilled, or sauteed fish, shrimp, oysters, crawfish, soft-shell crabs, among others. It;s great for sauces, etoufees, gumbos, jambalayas, chowders, bisques, and soups.
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