When I was a little girl I remember my Grannie making stuffed mirlitons. I was such a picky eater as a child that I never actually tasted her mirlitons. When I was younger I rarely ate vegetables and stayed far away from things that were green. It seems so ridiculous now that I know how delicious most green things are and how much I love vegetables. The saddest part is that my Grannie is no longer with us and I missed my opportunity to taste her stuffed mirlitons - I am sure they were divine as she was an amazing cook. When I came across this recipe in Cooking Light I immediately added it to my weekly menu. I had to create this dish since I missed it during my childhood.Crawfish-Stuffed
Cooking Light April 2002
Ingredients
4 mirlitons (a.k.a. squash chayote)
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/4 cups cooked crawfish tail meat (about 14 ounces)
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Pierce mirlitons with a fork.
Place in a Dutch oven; cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes or until tender. Drain and cool. Cut mirlitons in half lengthwise; discard seeds. Scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch-thick shell. Chop pulp; place in a large bowl.Preheat oven to 375°.
Melt butter in a medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 6 minutes or until onion is tender. Add onion mixture, crawfish, and remaining ingredients (I added 1/4 cup of Parmesan Cheese to the mixture for extra flavor)
to chopped pulp;
stir to combine.
Spoon about 1/2 cup crawfish mixture into each shell; place stuffed mirlitons on a baking sheet.
Bake at 375° for 30 minutes or until crawfish mixture is thoroughly heated and golden.
8 servings (serving size: 1 mirliton half)
This recipe was just as delicious as I had imagined. Next time I make this dish I would boil the mirlitons for longer than 30 minutes in order to soften the innards more. Even thought this was a dish from my past it was great to cook because I had never had it before so the element of surprise was there.
6 comments:
I'm so sorry you missed out on your Grannie's mirlitons : (
but yours look out of this world, I'd love to have a taste. I can't remember the last time I've actually had one. I'll have to revisit this veggie!
Ooh, stuffed chayote! I've never had chayotes any other way than sliced and braised. This looks like a new delicious way to enjoy them. Thanks for sharing!
Oh what a delightful surprise to learn that my childhood chayote has a French name! I wonder if you used the smooth skinned variety or the thorned ones...either way both are mouth watering. I also never thought of stuffing them. How elegant - truly haute cuisine if you ask me. Your photography is wonderful.
Gabriela,
I believe they were the smooth variety. There were only about 4 in the entire grocery store! Once again, I chose a hard to find ingredient - but it was worth it.
I love your pictures. I think the technique and skill of your pictures has gotten quite a bit better, over the length of your blog.
Biz, I wasn't picky and Gran's mirlitons were delicious. We only had them for holidays, however. She used shrimp instead of crawfish, but yours look fabulous. And I agree with Forrest that your pictures are getting better and better.
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