Lauren Farms Freshwater Prawns in the News!

My friend Regina Charboneau that owns the Twin Oaks in Natchez, Mississippi recently featured Lauren Farms Prawns in an article for The Atlantic. She is such a great chef, and an wonderful writer. We are thankful for her support!

Here's an excerpt from the article:

"Being an advocate of sustainable seafood, I am always looking out for people who are doing it correctly. In my constant search for sustainable ingredients I came across the most delectable farm-raised prawns from Lauren Farms in the Delta. To put it simply, taste is why they make the grade. But if taste is not enough, this is why I think we will all be hearing more about Lauren Farms: free range; all natural; low cholesterol; low in fat, iodine, calories and sodium; grown in fresh, pollutant and chemical-free water; fed wholesome grains; fresh from pond to table; environmentally friendly; sustainable aquaculture; and no by-catch.

The other plus for me? I hate going to the grocery store... and they come UPS."

Here's the recipe that she mentions (it is also photographed above):

Corn and Prawn Fritters

Makes 4 Servings (approximately 1 dozen fritters)

• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup of 16-21 count prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup fresh yellow corn kernels
• 1/4 cup minced green onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

In a mixing bowl, add flour, salt, cayenne and black peppers, and baking powder. Blend with a fork or whisk then add garlic and blend again.

16-21 count means there are approximately that many prawns to the pound. Peel and devein the uncooked prawns then cut into 1/4 inch pieces.

Separate egg yolk and white. Whip egg white until stiff but still wet.

Mix the egg yolk with the prawns, corn, green onions, and fresh basil. Do not over mix--this will bruise the corn kernels and make the batter too wet.

Mix the flour mixture and the prawn mixture with a rubber spatula.

Fold in the whipped egg white.

Use two tablespoons as tools to form one-inch fritters, and drop in heated oil. Cook evenly--the fritters should cook in two to three minutes. You can test with a wooden skewer to make sure batter is cooked through.

The fritters are good plain, or you can serve with a remoulade or jalapeno tartar sauce.

Annual Freshwater Prawn Harvest is Approaching!

It's time for the Lauren Farms ANNUAL POND BANK HARVEST! Come see us and load up your coolers with fresh, right-out-of-the-pond prawns for a great price.

2009 Dates: SEPTEMBER 26 AND OCTOBER 3, from 10 am - 4 pm. Premium large prawns are $7/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.

Please CALL AHEAD OF TIME AND BOOK YOUR ORDER. 662-390-3528. We ALWAYS sell out and usually have to turn folks away (which is never fun). So, place your order before you come. And if you are coming after 1 o'clock, let us know so we will hold your prawns.

Don't forget your coolers and ice!

On a side note, 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 and directions to Lauren Farms.


Thanks so much for your support!

Dolores and Steve

Lobster

Clawed lobsters compose a kinsfolk (Nephropidae, sometimes also Homaridae) of large marine crustaceans. Lobsters are economically important as seafood, forming the basis of a global business that nets US$31.8 billion in change annually.

Though individual different groups of crustaceans are famous as \"lobsters,\" the armed lobsters are most often associated with the name. They are also revered for their taste. Clawed lobsters are not closely related to spiny lobsters or slipper lobsters, which have no claws (chelae), or squat lobsters. The closest relatives of armed lobsters are the reef lobster Enoplometopus and the threesome families of freshwater crayfish.

Lobsters are institute in all the oceans of the world. They springy on rocky, sandy, or turbid bottoms from the shoreline to beyond the edge of the transcontinental shelf. They generally springy singly in crevices or in burrows under rocks.

They are invertebrates, with a hard conserving exoskeleton. Like most arthropods, lobsters must molt in order to grow, leaving them undefendable during this time. During the molting process, several species haw experience a modify in color. Lobsters hit 10 legs, with the face ones adapted to claws.

As arthropods, lobsters hit not achieved the nervous grouping utilization of cepholopod molluscs, nor do they hit the advantages of extraordinary eyesight. They do however, exhibit threesome important evolutionary advances that hit led to their great success: an exoskeleton: a strong, lightweight, form-fitted outside covering and support, striated muscle: a quick, strong, lightweight form of muscle that makes rapid shitting and flight possible, and articulation: the knowledge to bend appendeges at limited points.

Lobsters typically eat live food, consisting of fish, mollusks, other crustaceans, worms, and some plant life. Occasionally, they module scavenge if necessary, and haw resort to cannibalism in captivity; however, this has not been observed in the wild. Although lobster wound has been found in the stomachs of lobsters, this is because lobsters module eat their drop wound after molting. Lobsters acquire throughout their lives and it is not unusual for a lobster to live for more than 100 years. One such 100 year older lobster was donated to the Huntsman serviceman Science Center in St. Andrews, New Brunswick. In fact, lobsters haw show \"negligible senescence\", in that they crapper effectively live indefinitely, barring injury, disease, capture, etc. They crapper thus accomplish impressive sizes. According to the Guinness World Records, the largest lobster was caught in Nova Scotia, Canada, and weighed 20.15 kg (44.4 lb).

Although armed lobsters, same most other arthropods, are mostly bilaterally symmetrical, they often possess unequal, specialized claws, same the king crab. A freshly caught lobster module have a claw which is full and fleshy, not atrophied. The morphology of the lobster includes the cephalothorax which is the nous fused with the thorax, both of which are covered by the carapace, of chitinous composition, and the abdomen. The lobster's nous consists of antennae, antennules, mandibles, the first and ordinal maxillae, and the first, second, and ordinal maxillipeds. Because a lobster lives in a murky environment at the bottom of the ocean, its vision is poor and it mostly uses its antennae as sensors. Studies have shown that the lobster eye is bacilliform with a reflective structure atop a convex retina. In contrast, most complex eyes use refractive ray concentrators (lenses) and a cotyloid retina. The abdomen of the lobster includes swimmerets and its tail is imperturbable of uropods and the telson.

Lobsters, like snails and spiders, have blue murder cod to the proximity of haemocyanin, which contains copper. (In contrast, mammals and many another animals, have red murder cod to the proximity of haemoglobin, which contains iron.) Inside lobsters is a naif goopy center titled tomalley, which serves as the hepatopancreas, fulfilling the functions of both liver and pancreas.

In general, lobsters are 25 cm to 50 cm daylong ( 10 to 20 inches ) and move slowly by walking on the bottom of the sea floor. However, when they flee, they swim backwards quickly by curling and uncurling their abdomen. A speed of five meters per second (about 11 mph) has been recorded. This is known as the caridoid escape reaction.

Lobster & Chicken Gumbo

Lobster & Chicken Gumbo
INSTRUCTIONS

• 2 1.5 lb Fresh Eddy Lobsters (see order page)
• 1 4 lb Chicken
• 1 1/2 quarts Chicken stock, canned
• 1/2 lb Hot Italian Sausage
• 1 tbs Olive Oil
• 2 cups Celery, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups Green Pepper, chopped
• 2 cups Onions, chopped
• 6 Scallions, chopped
• 1/2 lb Mushrooms, quartered
• 1 LB Fresh Asparagus, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 clove Garlic
• 2 tbs Chili Powder
• 3 tbs Oregano
• 3 tbs Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1 tbs Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 28 oz can Whole Tomatoes, in juice
• 1 28 oz can Tomato Puree
• 3 tbs Sugar

INSTRUCTIONS
Cook and pick your lobsters. Put chicken in a large pot, add the stock, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 25 to 30 minutes.
In a large saucepan, add olive oil and cook sausage over medium heat. Cook until no pink remains in the center, 15 to 20 minutes. When cooled, slice the sausage into 1/4 inch thick slices.
Add the vegetables and seasonings to the olive oil left in the saucepan and sauté until the onions are translucent and veggies are soft.
Add the whole tomatoes and the tomato puree and stir well. Pick the chicken meat and cut into
bite sized pieces.
Add the chicken, sausage, and sugar to the veggie mixture and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the lobster meat and let heat through.The lobster recipe is ready to serve with rice...Enjoy it !

Lobster Chunks with Asparagus

Lobster Chunks with Asparagus....a great lobster recipe....try this one out !

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1.5 lb Fresh Eddy Lobsters
  
• 1 tbs Shallots, minced
• 1 bunch Fresh Asparagus
• 1 dash Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cups Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 medium Tomatoes
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
• 2/3 cup home made mayonnaise

INSTRUCTIONS
Cook and pick your lobsters. Snap the asparagus spears, blanch them and slice in half lengthwise so they lay flat. Whisk together the vinaigrette (ingredients olive oil through mustard). Cut the tomatoes in half, removing the innards and leaving just the shell. Arrange half the asparagus spears like the spokes of a wheel on a plate. Brush with vinaigrette. Toss the lobster meat in a little vinaigrette and arrange in the center of the plate. Sieve the tomalley into the mayonnaise with a few drops of lemon juice. Place on the plate in the tomato shells. This can all be made up to a day in advance. The lobster recipe is ready to serve with salad and bread...nice one !
lobster-chicken-gumbo.