As some of you know by now, I’m a sucker for good food. I love the wonderful tastes that a good meal can provide. Well, I’m especially a sucker for seafood. Shrimp, crab, lobster, I drool just thinking about them right now. Well, apparently I’m not the only person out there having a love affair with seafood. GreatAmericanSeafoodCookOff.com has pretty much the same ideas as I do.
There’s currently a contest going on, both for the chefs who created the recipes, and the people voting for which one will win. I absolutely adore cook offs on Food Network and such, so this is right up my alley. Only this time, instead of watching the judges vote, I get to do it myself. Fun, no?
And as I said, you who vote are part of a contest, too. The winning voter gets a trip for two to New Orleans. That would be so much fun! That’s why you guys should go vote for your favorite recipe in the cook off. Go, now. No, wait! Finish my post, then go vote.
Anyway, not to sway your judgment in any way, shape or form (because that wouldn’t be fair to the chefs competing), but my favorite recipe has to be the Texas Gulf Shrimp by chef Mark Holley. Makes me want to go to Texas (where he’s from, coincidentally, heh heh) and try it. It looks so utterly delicious. Doesn’t hurt that it’s positively covered in big shrimp. I really am curious about those hominy cakes that it’s piled on top of. I really like me some hominy, so I can’t help but wonder what hominy cakes would taste like. I almost wonder if I could figure out my own recipe for it (because I highly doubt I can make ‘em anywhere near as good as the Mark guy).
The best part is, this whole thing is to encourage people to use domestic seafood (at least, I’m pretty sure that’s why). Domestic seafood is the best, because it’s fresh, so you don’t hafta worry about it. And supporting those local fisherman is always a good thing. Sometimes, it even tastes better, because they don’t have to freeze it as deeply for shipping (or if you’re lucky and live near the ocean, they don’t need to freeze it at all).
So go vote, do your shrimp-riotic duty. And don’t forget entering for that New Orleans trip. If you win, you could give it to me in thanks, even. ^_^
The important thing is always to learn. It doesn't matter what you're reading, what you're doing, as long as you're learning. Life is made up of stories, so always make sure to take stock of everything around you, and anything interesting that happens. It may someday make for a good story. But if it doesn't, it was still a learning experience. So go out, learn, live, and make a story worth telling.







