Prawn Rockefeller Stuffed Mushrooms

I'm sorry for the delay in blogging recently! It's been a busy couple of months with harvesting the prawns. But, I'm back, and here's a fabulous recipe that Steve loves. Enjoy!

Lauren Farms Prawn Rockefeller Stuffed Mushrooms a' la Steve

Prepare and Roast:
24 large button mushrooms

Sauté in 1 T. Olive Oil
1 lb. prawns, peeled, cut into chunks. Salt and pepper to taste.

Combine; Add:
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 T. mayonnaise
1 T. milk
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeezed dry
3 T. Parmesan, grated
1 t. dried tarragon or 2 teaspoons fresh, minced
1 t. fresh lemon juice
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. scallions, minced

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Toss Together; Top With:
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used a crusty sourdough roll and put in the food processor)
3 T. Olive oil
3 T. Parmesan, grated

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Prepare mushrooms by first removing and discarding the stems. Arrange caps on a baking sheet, stemmed side up, sprinkle insides with salt, and roast 10 minutes. Flip caps over (draining liquid) and roast 5 minutes more. Remove mushrooms from oven; leave oven on.

Sauté prawns in 1 T. olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat just until pink, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and other seasoning if desired; set aside.

Combine cream cheese, mayonnaise, milk, spinach, 3 T, Parmesan, tarragon, lemon juice, Worcestershire, scallions and salt and pepper, cayenne pepper if desired, to taste.

Toss crumbs with 3 T. oil, 3 T. Parmesan, salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl. Stuff mushrooms, placing 2 or 3 shrimp pieces in each cap. Top with a generous teaspoon of cream cheese mixture, sprinkle with crumbs, then bake until heated through and topping is golden, about 8 minutes. Serve immediately.

Upcoming Lauren Farms Events..

Lauren Farms is taking our fresh, 2008 crop on the road! We will be on Jackson's WLBT at noon today preparing grilled freshwater prawns and showcasing both USFR prawns and catfish. Garden Mama, Nellie Neal, will be my sous chef!

We will also be selling prawns and catfish this Saturday's at the Jackson Farmers' Market. Nellie will be signing her new organic gardening book. Vendors will have the freshest in fall vegetables and fall garden plants together will other wonderful hand crafted items.

Watch today's noon show if you can. And certainly be at the Market on High Street this Saturday! It's such a fun time for the family - especially this time of year.

1,600 Pounds of Prawns in 2 days!

I just wanted to thank all of you so much for your continued support of our Annual Pondbank Harvest. This year, we sold an unprecedented amount - 1,600 lbs. of Freshwater Prawns in only TWO SATURDAYS. Wow! That's a record. From around 6 am til 5 pm, Prawn lovers came out with their coolers ready to grab some fresh prawns for their grills. If you have any great recipes that you tried the prawns in, please share with me!

The Pond Bank Harvest is always an exciting time for me, because I get to see old friends and then meet new ones. It was unreal the amount of folks who came this year from miles and miles away. We had customers come from as far as Louisiana, Memphis and Hattiesburg who drove hours with their families to get some prawns and enjoy a beautiful drive.

If you'd like to get some prawns, please call! Currently, we are harvesting the rest of our ponds, de-heading them, size-grading them, and putting them in our blast freezer for our customers. Our 2008 crop is continuing to come in, and we'd love to sell you some!

Thanks again for your support as always,
Dolores

PS: I have some pictures from the sale that I want to post - I will put those up in the next few days.

Prawn Quesadillas and Chipotle Sauce!

This is AMAZING! Who doesn't like quesadillas that ooze cheese and prawns?! My husband Steve apparently does - I could cook this every night, and it would be fine with him. This recipe is perfect for fall - especially tailgating! I love to cook this in my portable skillet - it takes minutes.

(If anyone tries these recipes, and has feedback, please feel free to leave it! I love to hear from ya'll!)

Freshwater Prawn Quesadillas & Chipotle Sauce

(To serve 2 people use about 1 lb. of prawns, 4 tortillas and prepare 1/3 of the filling.)

2 lbs. U. S. farm-raised freshwater prawns, peeled
3 cups (packed) pepper jack cheese, grated
1 ½ cups bacon, cooked and chopped roughly
3 cups spinach, washed, spun dry and shredded
12 (8 inch) flour tortillas
¼ cup vegetable oil as needed
Cilantro sprigs and lime wedges for garnish

Bring about 8 cups of water to a boil and add 1 to 2 tablespoons of salt according to taste. Add prawns and cook for about 3 minutes being very careful not to overcook. Drain and immediately immerse in ice water to stop cooking. Drain and chop chilled prawns into bite-sized pieces.

Combine prawns, pepper jack cheese, bacon and spinach. Divide the mixture evenly on the tortillas. Fold tortilla in half and press down to flatten. Over medium heat in a large skillet or on flat top (we use the electric skillet heated to about 250 which holds 4 tortillas at a time), heat 1 teaspoon or so of oil. Cook quesadillas on both sides until cheese melts and tortillas are golden brown, about 1 ½ - 2 minutes per side. Add oil as needed. Cut quesadillas in ½. Drizzle with chipotle sour cream. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and serve with lime wedges. 12 servings.

Chipotle Sauce

1 cup sour cream
¼ cup chipotle in adobo, pureed

Mix ingredients with about ¼ cup water. Pour into squirt bottle. Refrigerate.

Pond Bank Harvest 2008

September means a lot of things...SEC football, back to school, our church's Parish Fair. But, most importantly, it's our Annual Pondbank Harvest! We just started doing this a few years ago, and it's become quite the Delta event. You can bring the whole family (put the kids in their mudboots!) and your cooler, and load up on fresh, straight-out-of-the-pond prawns for a great price.

We only do this for 2 weekends a year - this year it will be SEPTEMBER 20TH AND 27TH from 10am-4pm. Large prawns are $7/lb., and jumbo prawns are $8/lb. Also, the best U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish fillets you have ever tasted (Lauren Farms Catfish, of course!) will be available in 2 lb. packages for $11.50.

Let me give you a bit of advice - if you know that you want some prawns, and you will be heading out on one of those dates, CALL ME AHEAD OF TIME AND BOOK YOUR PRAWNS! 662-390-3528. We ALWAYS sell out, and usually have to turn folks away (which is never fun) so stake your claim before you come. And if you are coming after 1 o'clock, call us on the way out so we'll know you still want your prawns.

Also, don't forget your coolers and ice!

There are plenty of fun things to do around the Delta if you are from out of town. Feel free to email me (prawnfarm01@yahoo.com) or call, and I'll be glad to give you any information you need for your Leland trip. I usually put signs up around our farm to lead you in from the highway. It's easy to get lost on the way to my house, but I try to make the directions as easy as possible.

More to come on the Harvest later, but I just wanted to get you all excited! Definitely put the event on your calendar - you'll get our tasty, fresh prawns for a steal of a deal.