Tony’s Seafood Market served with a side of Grilled Cajun Shrimp & a Giveaway

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to day 3 of my trip to Baton Rouge!  Today’s fun adventure was a trip to Tony’s Seafood and Deli in Baton Rouge.  Honestly, when I found out we were going there, I thought boring!  Wow, was I wrong!  This was my favorite event over the weekend!!

Our visit started with a view of the inside of Tony’s Seafood Market and Deli. It is a magical place for seafood lovers.

They even had a live catfish pool full of fresh, large catfish. When they say there seafood is fresh, they are not kidding!!!

The store was filled with fun things to look at too. They have a full on scale deli full of amazing looking dishes, served up for you to eat right away or to take home. I kind of went crazy buying goodies in this store and you’ll see why in a minute. Did you know they even had real alligator heads? They were kind of freaky looking, yet fun! My Mom was my guest on this trip and she really wanted to buy an alligator head but was afraid it would get ruined packed in her suitcase.

Our tour began with a behind the scenes look at Tony’s! Our tour was given by Steve. Steve made this tour fun! He was funny and he kept on calling us his class and would scold us if we don’t listen.  I asked him a question and he said you weren’t paying attention to me, were you? Eck…. I got caught. lol He was comical and he really loves his job. There is nothing better when you see the sparkle in someone’s eye when they are excited and passionate about something and Steve was all that. Oh and he had a southern accent that sounded like Mathew McConaughey. lol Here is Steve teaching us about the seasonings that Louisiana Fish Fry Products make.

Since I have a lot of pictures, I thought I would provide you with another slide show of the inside of Tony’s Seafood Market.

Oh, one thing I forgot to tell you is the crabs are mean!!!!  I took a close up picture of one and it snapped at me!!!  I guess I would be a little crabby too if I was going to be put in boiling water and eaten.  Now for one of my favorite parts of the event, the FOOD!  Yah, I bet that surprises you.  We had so many goodies to try.  We had fried shrimp, cajun shrimp, boudin balls, fried catfish and peach cobbler.  I was a little scared of trying these new dishes, since I never tried catfish or boudin balls.  The fried catfish was AMAZING!!  It was tender and the flavor of the batter was slightly spicy and it was crispy too!!  I text my Husband and told him I just had catfish and he asked, did it taste like dirt and rubbery?  I said no, it was sooooooo good!  I was surprised!  From what I understand, since catfish are bottom feeders, people think they taste dirty, but they don’t.  They don’t even taste fishy.  I guess you just have to cook them right.  My Mom, was really surprised too!!  I also had the boudin balls for the first time and oh my gosh amazing!  They looked like a Hush Puppies on the outside and the inside had rice and honestly I am not sure what kind of meat.  I ate a ton of balls that day!!  If you want to see the inside of the boudin balls and catfish, check out my Instagram page.  I took pictures of them for you to see.  You know how I like my balls.  lol  Here is a picture of the goodies I tried.

Oh and the Peach Cobbler! Amazing! It wasn’t overly sweet, but it was plump, juicy and perfect ending to a fantastic lunch. Steve knew how much I loved the cobbler and he gave me the whole pan to take home. If I was home and not traveling I would have taken that pan in a heart beat and eaten it all! Steve, if you read this, can you please send me the recipe for the peach cobbler? I really need it in my life!

Today’s recipe was inspired by my visit to Tony’s Seafood Market and let me tell you it’s a good Southern dish loaded with flavor!

This is my Grilled Cajun Shrimp with a side of Louisiana Red Beans and Rice.  This dish is a snap to put together and it’s healthy, filling and full of southern flare.  To accompany my shrimp I decided to try out Louisiana Red Beans and Rice mixture to see how it would taste and I thought it would be a good carb to have with dinner.

The nutritional stats are pretty healthy too! It’s loaded with fiber and protein! Here is a picture of the label for you to view.

I bought the mixture at Tony’s but come to find out my grocery store has a kaboodle of Louisiana products and my Red Beans and Rice happens to be there. I am so glad to discover that because I really am loving the Louisiana brand. Now I don’t have to travel to Baton Rouge to get some. However, I would travel there to have some catfish and boudin balls. lol  Oh and the Red Beans and Rice would make for an awesome meal on it’s own.  You could play it up by adding sausage, ham and some cheese to it.  I found it very, very filling!!  It’s almost a chili consistency.  Hmmm, it may even be good on a hot dog or inside a taco shell.  But I found dipping a nice rye bread in it tastes great!!  I know more carbs, but I just had to do it!!

For the Grilled Shrimp, I marinated it in soy sauce, olive oil, mustard, garlic and Louisiana Cajun Seasoning. I marinated it for about two hours, but you could also do this over night to really intensify the flavor. I went a little light on the Cajun Seasoning just because I know my Husband doesn’t like to much spice. He’s not like me, I love my food spicy! I even added some Louisiana Hot Sauce to my Red Beans and Rice. Sooooo darn good!

This dish makes for a wonderful meal and I think if you like a little bit of spice in your food you will like it too! I broke down the calories for you in the recipe section for the shrimp and the Red Beans and Rice.

Just when you think my post is finally over, I have more for you!  Since I had so much fun on this trip, I decided that I would do a little giveaway so you can enjoy all of the goodies I got on my trip to Baton Rouge.  I hand picked and bought each item myself.  Security at the airport had to check my bags.  I think they thought I was crazy buying all of this food!!

Here is what you get in full size packages:

• Louisiana Cooking Magazine
• Louisiana Hot Sauce
• Louisiana Red Beans and Rice
• Louisiana Cajun Seasoning
• Louisiana Dirty Rice
• Louisiana Cajun Jambalaya
• 8 oz of Local Grown Honey that I got at Red Sticks Farmers Market
• Pointe Coupee Candied Pecans
• Plus I may through in some other goodies, but that’s a secret!!

To win all you have to do is tell me “What is your favorite Southern Dish?”

For extra entries:  Just be sure you tell me you did so

• Sign up for email/subscribe to Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Follow Peanut Butter and Peppers  on Twitter 
  
• Tweet my giveaway:   Win a fun Louisiana Gift pack at Peanut Butter and Peppers @JenatPBandP http://www.peanutbutterandpeppers.com/?p=15425
  
• Follow Peanut Butter and Peppers  on Facebook
• Follow me on Pintrest and Pin one of my recipes and tell me what one you pinned

I’ll pick a winner on Friday night and announce the winner on Saturday’s blog post,where I plan on sharing a Louisiana Sweet Treat!!

I really had fun at Tony’s Seafood Market and I can’t wait to go back!  If your in the Baton Rouge area I recommend stopping at Tony’s to try out some of there delicious seafood dishes at there deli or to pick up some Louisiana favorites, like I did.  Just be warned, this place is crazy fun!!!  If you really want to try out Tony’s Seafood, but you can’t make it there, you can always shop online at their website!  Ha ha LOVE THAT!!! You can also check out Tony’s on Facebook!

Well my Friends, I think I filled your ear enough today!!  Stayed tuned for day 4 tomorrow!  

Have a wonderful day!

Toodles,

Jennifer

Oh one last picture!!  Here are all the bloggers stuffed into an elevator.  :)