Big Billy's Sour Cream Enchiladas - a weekend recipe

Big Billy loved to entertain and he loved football. He almost always hosted rowdy guests for the Super bowl, oftentimes cooking up a one-dish meal. This is one that always pleased, and always will.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs shrimp, cooked, deveined and diced

• 2 Tbsp butter

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 garlic clove, finely minced

• 16 oz tomatoes, chopped and drained

• 8 oz can tomato sauce

• ¼ c chilies, chopped

• 1 tsp cumin

• ½ tsp oregano

• ½ tsp basil

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 pkg tortillas

• 2 ½ c Monterrey Jack cheese

• ¾ c sour cream

Directions

In a saucepan, sauté onion and garlic, in butter, until soft. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, chilies, spices and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Dip tortillas in tomato mixture. Put about 2 Tbsp shrimp and 2 Tbsp cheese on each tortilla. Roll and place seam down in a large baking dish.

Blend sour cream with remaining sauce mixture and pour over tortillas. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake, covered at 350 degrees until thoroughly heated, about 30 minutes. Serves 6 hungry football fans.

Eric'sWeb

Blackened Catfish Burritos - a weekend recipe

Here is a San Francisco-style burrito with a Cajun twist. It has my comfort food guarantee.

BLACKENED CATFISH BURRITOS

Ingredients
• 4 catfish filets
• 8 large flour tortillas, steamed
• rice, cooked
• red beans, cooked
• Cajun spice
• 1 cup butter
• Avocado, chopped
• Tomato, chopped
• Lettuce, shredded
• Tabasco Sauce, to taste

Directions

Heat a cast-iron skillet at least ten minutes, the hotter the better. Dip catfish in butter, coating both sides liberally. Sprinkle Cajun spice evenly on both sides of the fish. Cook quickly over high heat until the underside forms a crust, and then flip the filet, letting it cook and form a crust. This doesn’t take long so be careful not to burn the fillets. Slice each filet down the middle, into eight pieces.

Drain your ingredients. You don’t want a soggy burrito. Build your burrito by adding ingredients to a large flour tortilla in this order: rice, beans, lettuce, avocado, and tomato. Add blackened catfish last, along with Tabasco Sauce to taste, and then roll that puppy up. Wrap the burrito in foil to give it structure. Serve on a festive plate along with chips and salsa on the side. Enjoy.

###

Born near Black Bayou in the little Louisiana town of Vivian, Eric Wilder grew up listening to his grandmother’s tales of politics, corruption, and ghosts that haunt the night. He now lives in Oklahoma where he continues to pen mysteries and short stories with a southern accent. He is the author of the French Quarter Mystery Series set in New Orleans and the Paranormal Cowboy Series. Please check it out on his Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and iBook author pages. You might also like to check out his website.

Fried Garfish Balls - a weekend recipe

Growing up in northwest Louisiana - not far from Black Bayou and Caddo Lake - I saw many large garfish. I didn’t know that these prehistoric denizens of many southern rivers and lakes were edible. Today, I learned differently.

My good friend and fellow geologist Mickey O. spent a couple of days this week in Houston (sorry Aunt Dot. I didn’t have time to call) at the North American Prospect Expo. On the way home, before traversing fifteen inches of snow in Dallas, we stopped for lunch at a Mexican seafood restaurant in Houston adjacent to I-45.

One of the items on the appetizer menu was garfish balls. They also had octopus tacos, which I didn't try. I didn’t get the recipe for the garfish balls at the restaurant, but I found this one on the web. Quite tasty.

Fried Garfish Balls

· 2 lbs ground garfish
· 1 cup green onions – chopped
· 1 lb. boiled and peeled potatoes
· 2 medium white onions – chopped
· ¼ cup Creole seasoning
· ¼ cup all-purpose flour
· corn flour

Boil potatoes; mix the first 6 ingredients together in a bowl. Roll the mixture into balls the size of golf balls or maybe even a little bigger if you like. Put the balls in the cornflour and roll them around to fully coat the balls. Put the balls in the fryer preheated to 375° and fry until golden brown. Serve as appetizers or as a side with the main meal.

####

Born near Black Bayou in the little Louisiana town of Vivian, Eric Wilder grew up listening to his grandmother’s tales of politics, corruption, and ghosts that haunt the night. He now lives in Oklahoma where he continues to pen mysteries and short stories with a southern accent. He is the author of the French Quarter Mystery Series set in New Orleans and the Paranormal Cowboy Series. Please check it out on his Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iBook author pages. You might also like to check out his website.