Posted on Author B. Coop
When I was about 9, there was this local seafood restaurant my family and I would frequent. Don’t worry. You know I’m not a typical blogger so this lil story will be brief. Anyway, the restaurant was called Louisiana Gold. There has never been a more appropriately named establishment. This place was indeed golden! The always had the freshest, Louisiana seafood. They made home style burgers, po boys, and perfectly seasoned boiled seafood. But, they were most famously known for their seafood stuffed potatoes. And boy were they OVER stuffed! Each potato was flowing with shrimp, crawfish, and that spicy cheese sauce. Man! Louisiana Gold unfortunately closed many years ago. I miss that place. I miss it so much I decided to recreate my version of that masterpiece. Here’s my Seafood Stuffed Potatoes recipe.
You have to have some big, healthy baking potatoes. They aren’t sold in 5 or 10 lb bags. Most grocery stores have them shelved separately and sell them by the pound. If not, just make sure you get the biggest, russet potatoes available.
You have two options. You can bake these guys in the oven for nearly an hour. Or, you can do what I do. Throw them in the microwave! Microwaves vary, so look for the potato setting on yours.
Clean the potatoes well. These things grow in the dirt, so they can be pretty dirty. Whether cooking in the conventional oven or the microwave, you’ll still need to poke small holes into the potatoes for venting. This will prevent an explosion. It will help the potatoes steam better and cook more evenly.
One of the things that made the seafood stuffed potatoes at Louisiana Gold so magical, was that they scooped the potatoes out of the skin and mixed it with sauce. This way, the flavors with all through the potato instead of just floating on top. I adapted their method by adding some rich extras to the potatoes.
You can add any seafood you want. I use shrimp and crawfish. But, some lump crab meat is incredible as well. I add a little bit of liquid crab boil to kick of the spice!
Choice of cheeses is optional too. However, I highly encourage you to try my blend first. Hey, I’m the expert here! J/K….kinda. And yes, I use American cheese. AND YES, I know it’s not actually cheese. I also know that no other real cheese melts quite like this stuff. So, I’m using it. Get over it!
This Seafood Stuffed Potato recipe is not one I’d recommend that you make often as it is RICH! I don’t even want to think about the calories in this thing. But, man of man is it worth it! God bless you to Louisiana Gold! Thank you for countless BOMB meals.
Happy Cooking,
B. Coop
5 from 1 vote
Ingredients
- 4baking size Russet potatoes
- 1lbcrawfish tailsdrained of fat
- 1lbof raw shrimp
- 2Tminced garlic
- 1stick of butter
- 4Tflour
- 8ozblock cream cheesesoftened
- 2cupsshredded American cheeseVelveeta
- 1cupshredded mozzarella
- 1/2cupshredded Monterey Jack
- 1/4cupgrated Parmesan cheese
- 2 1/2cupshalf and half
- 2Tcajun seasoning
- 2Tliquid crab boil
- 2Tonion powder
- 1Tgarlic powder
- Salt and pepper
- chives or green onions
Instructions
Potatoes:
Wash, scrub, and dry the potatoes well.
Poke small holes all over the potatoes using a fork to vent.
Now, you can either wrap them in foil and bake them on 400 F for 40-50 mins. Or you can wrap them individually in paper towels and microwave them one at a time using the “potato” setting on your microwave. *
When the potatoes are done, carefully cut a split down the middle of a potato. Do NOT cut through the other (or under) side of the potato’s skin.
Scoop the insides of the potatoes out and place it into a bowl; reserve the potato skins and keep them intact.
Add in the cream cheese, chives, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.
Mix well, cover to keep warm, and set aside.
Seafood & Sauce:
Add the shrimp and crawfish into a bowl
Season the shrimp with 1 TBS of Cajun seasoning, 1 TBS onion powder and 1 TBS liquid crab boil.
In a saucepan, melt 4 TBS of butter and add in the garlic
Sauté the garlic for 30 secs.
Add in the shrimp and crawfish and sauté until the shrimp are cooked; about 4-5 mins.
Remove and set aside
Pour the liquid left in the pot into a cup and reserve
In the same pot, melt the remaining butter.
When the butter melts, whisk in the flour
Mix until the flour is no longer visible; about 1 min
Pour in the reserved seafood liquid
Pour in the half and half while whisking.
Bring it to a low simmer
Stir in 1 TBS of Cajun seasoning and 1 TBS of onion powder
When the sauce starts to thicken, stir in all remaining cheeses.
When the cheese melts, add in the seafood and stir.
Once the seafood is hot turn off the heat.
Spoon the potato mixture evenly onto the reserved potato skins
Sprinkle mozzarella evenly on each potato
Ladle the seafood sauce over the potatoes
Garnish with chives or green onions
Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*If you don’t have a potato setting on your microwave, cook it on HIGH for 5 mins. Turn the potato over and microwave it again for 3-5 minutes or until it is fork tender.
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