wow, this sounds very interesting! For those of us not from NO, can you tell us what corn macque choux with crawfish and mirliton and shrimp casserole is? I've heard of this but don't really know what it is. Unfortunately DH is allergic to shellfish but this is probably right up my alley!
Corn macquechoux is a side dish of corn cooked with cream and tomatoes and sweeted with a little sugar. It's usually made without crawfish, but my family loves them so we tweaked the traditional recipe. I didn't get this recipe from the person who brings it to our dinner, but it looks very close. We always have frozen cooked crawfish on hand, and just add them right at the end with the cream and tomatoes until they're heated through.
Corn Macquechoux
8 ears fresh corn
1 onion, finely minced
2 tsp. sugar
1 stick butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
salt, black pepper, and hot sauce to taste
Cut the kernels from the cob and scrape the cob with the back of the knife. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet and saute the onions on a medium heat until translucent. Sprinkle the onions with sugar, stir together and reduce heat and cover. Cook for 5 minutes and add the corn kernels and scrapings. Return the heat to a medium high and saute for 5 minutes until tender.
Add the cream and tomatoes and cook, stirring fairly continuously until thick. Sprinkle with the green onions, season with salt and pepper and serve.
If you've heard of a chayote squash, that's what we call mirlitons. You could possibly substitute hot smoked sausage for the shrimp, but I've never tried that. This is also not the exact recipe we have, but it's very close.
Mirliton and shrimp casserole
7 medium mirliton (5 lb)
2 medium onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 stick unsalted butter
3 large garlic cloves, minced
24 saltines, finely ground (3/4 cup)
2 lb large shrimp, shelled, deveined, and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
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.
They're both extremely easy to make. I sure hope you enjoy them if you decide to give them a try.
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