Help Me Win!

Friends,

A small group of Louisiana rice farmers got together to market the variety of jasmine rice that was developed by the Louisiana State University Ag Center under the name "Jazzmen Rice". I have been selected as a finalist in Gambit Weekly contest to develop a new recipe to help promote Jazzmen Louisiana Rice. Online voting runs through April 29. If you are willing, I'd appreciate your support for my Crispy Jazzmen Rice Cakes in Crawfish-Tasso Cream. (Click HERE to vote) Feel free to tell your friends as well. One lucky voter will win a new commercial blender!!!

I literally developed this recipe from scratch. I set out to create a recipe that would showcase the rice and incorporate local ingredients. I decided that would give myself bonus points if I could incorporate my pork products as well. I came up with the rice cakes first. Most people treat rice as an afterthought. I wanted it to be front and center in my submission. Then I decided to thoroughly "localize" the recipe by creating a Crawfish-Tasso cream. I am still in the process of perfecting my own tasso, but my current iteration is pretty darned good. The store-bought versions are good, but mine is a tad more assertive. Here is my entry into the contest:

Crispy Jazzmen Rice Cakes in Crawfish-Tasso Cream

Crawfish-Tasso Cream

Ingredients:

Directions:

Melt butter over a medium heat. Add Tasso and Vidalia onions. Stir until onions are translucent. Sprinkle flour over the tasso-onion mixture and stir until the flour becomes lightly fragrant, about 3-5 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk and stir until the sauce is thick and smooth. Season to taste with a grating of nutmeg and salt. Add crawfish tails, fat, and shallots. Return to a low simmer. Simmer for 5-10 more minutes until desired consistency is reached.

Rice Cakes

Ingredients:

2 Cups cooked Jazzmen Rice
1 Large Egg
1 TBS All Purpose Flour
1 TBS Whole Milk
1/4 Cup of Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 tsp Kosher Salt
1/4 tsp Sweet Paprika
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Granulated Garlic
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
3-4 TBS Canola Oil

Directions:
Combine all ingredients except oil in a bowl. Mix thoroughly. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over a medium high heat. Divide rice batter into four equal portions approximately 1/2 cup each. The batter will be fairly loose, but will set during cooking. Take one portion of batter and form a ball in your palm. Place the ball into the skillet and press down lightly to flatten. Repeat for other portions, being careful no to crowd the pan. Once cakes begin to brown around the edges, carefully flip them over. The cakes are finished when they have a crispy golden exterior and a soft, moist center.

Louisiana Crawfish Tails

To serve:
Ladle about a cup of Crawfish-Tasso mixture onto a plate and place a hot crispy Jazzmen rice cake on top. Garnish with chopped parsley and a side of cold beer.

Don't even think about using Chinese crawfish, they are and unacceptable substitute. If you can't get crawfish, substitute shrimp instead.

Thanks,

David