Category: Appetizer

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Shrimp Crostini with Pepper Kumquat Compote

Cajun French:  griller (gree-ā) – toast (bread)

 

AppitizerWe were watching “A Chef’s Life” where the chef was making a mull using muscadines and John’s creative juices started flowing.  Shrimp was already on the menu for dinner along with steamed veggies and Kumquats were in our frig just waiting to be used; dinner was getting better and better.  Bellegarde Bakery fig and pecan bread had just been purchased from our farmers market and crostini, little toasts, was in the making.  Superb dish for an entree or appetizer.

Mais C’est Bon!

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Stuffed Jalapenos

Cajun French:  bourrer (boor-ā) – stuff

 

PlatedLeftover beans and rice again.  What can we combine them with this time?  We enjoy stuffed grape leaves for snacks.  The last ones we purchased had very tough leaves so we had been using the stuffing in dishes.  Mayonnaise was used as the binder and a stuffing for Jalapenos was beginning.  The mayonnaise also gives a richness to the peppers.  This dish is a great snack or side for a salad.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Stuffed Jalapenos”

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Cajun Caviar

Cajun French:  la feve (la fev) – pea

 

Cajun Caviar, Texas Caviar, Poor Man’s Caviar as many names as there are recipes.  Ours was born out of necessity – friends called and invited us to dinner that night.  We never go anywhere without bringing a dish, what to bring?  After searching the pantry we decided on black eye peas with shrimp, then we saw the avocado on the counter and that sounded refreshing.  So our version of Cajun Caviar was born.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Cajun Caviar”

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Shrimp Cocktail Extraordinaire

Cajun French: l’ail (l’a-ee) – garlic

 

Watching the sunset on a beach, sipping a cool, crisp glass of wine and a shrimp cocktail waiting for dinner. Dreaming of the day that will be our front yard and it will be soon! So tonight we are having the shrimp cocktail without the beach sunset or glass of wine (no wine on South Beach Phase 1). Having purchased large shrimp from the Anna Marie at the Red Stick Farmers Market, we decided a shrimp cocktail was in order. This was going to be dinner so we wanted to make the cocktail a complete meal. Searching the frig to see what was available and how the finds could be used resulted in our Shrimp Cocktail Expanded.

Mais C’est Bon!

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Camellia Cocktail

Cajun French: le camélia (lu kam-ā-lee-a) – camellia

 

January brings an explosion of color to south Louisiana gardens with the blooming of camellia bushes. We enjoy floating the blooms in bowls of water and setting them around the house to bring the outdoors inside. When fixing what everyone else calls a Poinsettia, we realized the drink reminded us of a camellia and hence our name for this cocktail is forever a Camellia.

One change we make is we use cranberry pomegranate juice.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Camellia Cocktail”

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Pita Pinto Treat

Cajun French:  goûtailler (goot-a-ee-ā) – snack

 

 

Having a pot of cooked Pinto Beans means thinking of creative ways to use the beans.  We try to have some type of healthy snack in the afternoon so the mind went to work.  We had pita bread, guacamole, goat cheese, tomatoes and green olives – now what to do with them.  We thought about mini pizzas, yet they would be too hard to eat without utensils.  Okay, same concept just cut the pita bread in quarters and single layer.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Pita Pinto Treat”

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Shrimp Remoulade

Cajun French:  la laitue (lā la-tū) – lettuce

 

 

Tonight was the first night in almost two weeks that we were able to sit outside and enjoy the evening.  The heat has been unrelenting and energy draining.  To celebrate the somewhat cooler weather, we decided to have shrimp remoulades as an appetizer.  We had boiled shrimp earlier in the week and had some left so our appetizers were ready quickly.  We watched the sunset as we enjoyed our shrimp remoulades served in martini glasses.

Enjoy!

Mais C’est Bon!!

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Red White and Blue Hummus

Cajun French: Juliet (Jūl-ee-et) – July

 

It is 4th of July party time.

Wanting a dish that would reflect the red, white, and blue of the day yet not wanting to make the usual sweet treats, we brainstormed.   Knowing hummus is always a hit with our group, we decided to make two different types  and garnish with peppers.  It is a pretty good red, white, and blue rendition.  It was fun to make and received great comments.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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Scoops of Hummus

Cajun French: l’olive (l’ō-leev) – Olive

As the Fourth of July Weekend approaches our thoughts turn to outdoor festivities – eating outside, jumping in a cool pool, watching fireworks.

Most often there is grilling and homemade ice cream but that leaves appetizers that fit the outdoors.  We tried multi grain scoops with hummus and a black olive and wow what
an appetizer!  It’s quick, easy and travels well.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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Hummus

There are as many recipes for Hummus as there are for Gumbo.  All good, just different.  As my Dad said, “I never met a gumbo I did not like” and we are that way with Hummus, we like them all.  The recipe below is one that we use at home and enjoy spicing it up with various indgredients.  We have garnished with roasted sweet red peppers to this recipe.  Instead of peppers you could garnish with pine nuts, garlic, or your choice of ingredients.

Hummus is a very popular Middle Eastern dip served with pita bread or chips.  Hummus is chick peas and tahini with various spices.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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