Now THIS Is More Like It......

Happy Independence Day, Texas!!!!

Good Morning!!!! I am blogging from Coffee Creek RV Resort in Santo, Texas! I'm sure many wonder why in the hell I've brought my computer on a weekend getaway, but hell, I knew I'd be productive and by God I have been!!!

So far this morning I've updated the Mild Bill's website with recipes and a sponsorship policy and now I get to spend some well deserved me time with my blog. I wish I had brought the results from the Waxahachie 3 day CCO, but I didn't, so I can't post those other than to say Robbie Swart won Friday night, Frances Sullivan won on Saturday and Larry Russell from Shreveport won on Sunday. Kelly Killingbeck Walker won beans on Saturday, Paige got 2nd place Junior chili, Zoe got 3rd and Zoe's BFF Bailey won the cook off - her very first time to cook. I got 8th on Saturday and was really happy with that - we had 91 cooks! Hell Yeah.

I brought Pussy Willow Rose with me to Santo. I'm really loving this trailer. It's so much roomier than the Cowgirl Cadillac and the bed is super comfy. I also have a dinette and it's really great, especially right now, for setting up my laptop and working. It's extremely windy out here today and there aren't a lot of substantial trees around to serve as a wind block. As long as I don't blow over, it's all good. Got up this morning and had a great breakfast and visit with some sisters from Georgetown and the weather is beautiful. Last year, I went shopping in Weatherford and Grandbury, but I'm staying put this weekend. I'm leaving Saturday afternoon to head home for the Sokol 10k giveaway tomorrow night. In light of my recent pancreatitis and liver issues, I think I'm the assumed designated driver for tomorrow night's affair. That's okay....I can handle it. I think.

So I am on week two of the modified diet and alcohol abstinence program and it really sucks. I haven't been great at watching what I eat, but I've been better about my drinking. I even expect the box of wine I bought yesterday to last well beyond the weekend :) All kidding aside, I've been eating somewhat better, but I'm just in a funk about it. It's not my gall bladder, so it's not like it can be removed and problem solved! This is so much more of a lifestyle change (especially now that my liver is involved and I really don't want to hear any comments from the peanut gallery about it, thank you very much) than I've ever had to make. I just don't feel like making the significant changes that are being asked of me. I'm 38 - I'm supposed to stop drinking wine for the rest of my life? That's bullshit. I can give up a lot of the bad foods (easier said than done) that I love and that's going to be hard enough. But the wine, that's a dealbreaker with me. Call me what you will, but I love my wine and I just can't imagine not ever drinking another rich, juicy, spicy Cabernet Sauvignon again for the rest of my life. I'm in a serious dilemma. I've considered going vegetarian....but I have a problem with too much roughage - it's so hard on my pancreas. I would have to cook all of it beyond recognition for it to not bother me. I love doing South Beach, but it's too hard on my pancreas as well. So, I don't know. I guess I'm going to just keep drinking heavily until I figure something out :) There's always Jenny Craig food and I do love that stuff; it's just not convenient for me anymore now that I stay in Ellis Co. And don't even get me started on my malfunctioning hormone shot....jeez.....LOL!!

Last weekend, I made the most incredible dinner: Seafood Gratin. I had been looking at my New Orleans pictures that day and it made me think about the seafood gratin I had at Muriel's in Jackson Square. So, I went to the store and got all of the ingredients I wanted to use to make it. I then came home and produced an unbelievably delicious version of an incredibly rich dish. Please make this - you won't regret it. Yes, it's a little time consuming, but it is so worth it.

Cadillac Cowgirl Seafood Gratin

1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup heavy cream
4 oz Gruyere cheese, grated
½ cup plus a little extra white wine, I used a Sauvignon Blanc
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
8 ounces raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used the cocktail size)
8 ounces raw Swai or Tilapia, cut into chunks
8 ounces cooked crab meat, cut into chunks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced (about 4 carrots)
1 cup diced potatoes (cheat!!! buy the frozen southern hashbrown kind and use those)
1 cup panko (Japanese dried bread crumbs)
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon minced garlic (2 cloves)


Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Place a large well greased gratin dish or pie dish on a sheet pan. To make the sauce, combine the stock, cream, ½ cup of the wine, and the tomato sauce in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and add the shrimp and fish. After 5 minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the shrimp and fish to a bowl. Add the cooked crabmeat to the bowl with the shrimp and fish.

Continue to cook the sauce until reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Mash 1 tablespoon of the butter together with the flour. Whisk the butter mixture into the sauce along with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Simmer,stirring constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the grated Gruyere. Continue to stir until the cheese has melted. Set aside.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saute pan. Add the onions and carrots and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until softened. Add a splash of the wine, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, until tender. Set aside.

Combine the panko, Parmesan, parsley, tarragon, and garlic for the topping.

Add the seafood mixture to the gratin dish and pour the vegetable/sauce mixture over the top. Carefully stir to combine. Add the topping to the dish and drizzle either melted butter or olive oil (I used olive oil) over the top to help it brown. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Serve hot with big chunks of warm bread, butter and you guessed it - wine!!

Now, is this a traditional seafood gratin? Probably not considering my use of the Gruyere cheese, but who cares? It's freakin awesome and I thumb my nose to the seafood purists who say no cheese with seafood!! You can also divide this among two or four smaller gratin dishes for easy to serve individual portions.

I bought an extra bag of shrimp when I was at the store and I used it the next night for our pasta dinner (again using cheese with the shrimp and shocking food snobs with my blatant disregard of "the rules"). I wouldn't really call this a recipe, per say. I cooked a pound of spaghetti and in a large skillet, I sauteed garlic and onion in olive oil. While I was doing that, I roasted 12 oz of shrimp in a 425 degree oven with salt, pepper and olive oil for about 15 minutes. After I pulled them out of the oven, I added them to the onion and olive oil (along with the olive oil, salt and pepper that I used to roast the shrimp), added the juice of one lemon, some red pepper flakes, and tossed that mixture with the pasta. I grated Parmesan all over the top of it and served it to my happy hubby for dinner. Viola!!

I better get back to doing nothing. Lord Brignon is manning the store today. He's going to cook at the Irving Elks Lodge tomorrow and Paige is going to Gammy's tonight. My little Juicy of Love and Deliciousness. We are preparing for her 1st Communion and it's going to be so much fun to take this journey with her. There are quite a few really sweet things we get to do for her as her parents and I'm really looking forward to it. I cannot believe that my miracle baby born at 30 weeks is 8 years old and about to have her 1st Communion. She's just so precious and weird and perfect and I love her more and more every day. God knew what he was doing with her; he totally got it right!

I hope everyone's weekend is as wonderful as mine is going to be. Enjoy the beautiful weather and steal some points if you are out there cooking chili. Mild Bill's appreciates all of it's customers. Check out our website for new recipes!!!

Keep it real...and keep it spicy!! (You can even keep it real spicy....oh Lord...sorry!! Can't help myself!)

Spreading my own special brand of joy and kindness,

The Cadillac Cowgirl