Sunday, August 17, 2008

Picky Eater - No More

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

Preparation

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.

Yield

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:

Ally said...

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!

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

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!

Anonymous said...

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.

Elizabeth said...

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.

Woody said...

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.

Anonymous said...

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.