Shrimp and Seafood Louie Salad aka Cajun Shrimp and Seafood Overnight Salad

I have been on a quest for literally months to copycat the "Shrimp and Seafood Louie Salad" that they serve at Byerly's deli counter.  It's just special.  But time after time I tried to recreate the dish with absolutely no success.  I was beginning to give up.

Here's what I'm attaining to be...

Here was my first attempt with my sister Diane as photographer, #epicfail on the recipe portion 

All that whipping of fresh cream for NOTHING.  At least the shirt from my Kansas Princess Brittany looks nice!

Not even close to what theirs tastes like...not even in the same ballpark

So after multiple attempts, the only thing that I knew was that I loved those little chunks of cheap crab meat, succulent shrimp and some other stuff swimming in a orange sauce.


Then this week I broke down and did a naughty thing.  I told the woman behind the counter that I have a food allergy and that I was wondering if I could see the ingredients list.  While I'm sure that it's standard, the fact of the matter is that I don't have a food allergy which makes it slightly crappy of me.  BUT I did find out what in the world the secret ingredient is.  Of all things it is Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic Cajun Seasoning!  Which is crazy because Chef Paul and I go back many moons and many miles!  Well, that's an exaggeration I guess.  Okay, a really bad exaggeration.

About two months ago I had to go down to New Orleans for work and ended up going to his restaurant called "Louisiana Kitchen" one of the nights that I was there which is dubbed by the locals as "K-Paul's".  While I've only had Cajun food once before this I have to assume that this is the higher end of what they would consider "the real deal".  The attention to flavor profiles and details was amazing.  If you ever get the chance to go be sure to have one of the jalapeno rolls and the green onion dressing...heck, any of their dressings or sauces for that matter!


Now back to the Shrimp and Seafood Louie Salad.  While the ingredients list that I got had literally hundreds of things on it (you know...sulfated sjidksoeke and other things like that) but here is what I could get out of the ingredients list not considering I'm not a chemical foods science graduate.


Since there were some things that I hadn't been expecting, I actually took the liberty of renaming the salad to something that I found much more fitting.  

Cajun Shrimp and Seafood Overnight Salad
Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound cooked shrimp
• 1 package flake style snow crab meat
• 1 TBSP green onion, diced very small
• 1/4 cup celery, diced very small
• 2 TBSP mayo
• 2 tsp 1000 island dressing
• 1/4 tsp Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seafood Magic Cajun Seasoning
• Splash of lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• White pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Remove the shrimp shells and discard.  Flake crab meat. 
2. Combine the mayo, 1000 island dressing, lemon juice, Cajun seafood magic and stir.
3. Combine sauce mixture with crab, shrimp, green onions and celery; mix.
4. Store overnight in a closed container to allow the flavors to fully meld.  
5. Salt and pepper to taste before serving; serve over chopped lettuce or a bed of whole leaf lettuce.

Finally!  The case has been cracked!