Chef Paul Prudhomme says his Cajun popcorn with sherry wine sauce can be made with small shrimp or lump crabmeat if you can't get the crawfish tails customarily used in Louisiana.
The recipes are from the newly published 'Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen' (Morrow, $19.95). Cajun Popcorn 2 eggs, well beaten
1 cups milk
cup each of all purpose flour and corn flour (available at health food stores) OR 1 cup all purpose flour
cup all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
teaspoon onion powder
teaspoon garlic powder
teaspoon ground white pepper
teaspoon ground red pepper (preferably cayenne)
teaspoon dried thyme leaves
teaspoon dried sweet basil leaves
teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds peeled crawfish tails, small shrimp or lump crabmeat (picked over)
Vegetable oil for deep frying
Sherry wine sauce (recipe follows)
Combine eggs and milk in a small bowl, blending well.
In a large bowl combine the flours, sugar and seasonings, mixing well. Add half the egg mixture and whisk untile well blended, then thoroughly blend in the remaining egg mixture. Let set one hour at room temperature (to let the flour expand).
Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet or deep fryer to 370 degrees F. Coat the seafood with the batter and fry in batches in the hot oil until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes total, turning once or twice while cooking.
Do not crowd. (Adjust heat to maintain oil's temperature as close to 370 degrees as possible.) Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with sherry wine sauce on the side. Makes l2 appetizer servings. Sherry Wine Sauce 1 egg yolk
cup ketchup
3 tablespons finely chopped green onions
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 teaspoon Creole mustard (preferred) or brown mustard
teaspoon salt
teaspoon ground white pepper
teaspoon Tabasco sauce
cup vegetable oil
Place all ingredients except oil in a food processor or blender; process about 30 seconds. With the machine still running, add the oil in a thin, steady stream; continue processing until smooth, about 1 minute, pushing the sides down once with a rubber spatula. Makes about 1 cup.
Sauce may be made ahead and refrigerated until serving time.
