Iko Iko Jockamo Breakfast

Cajun French:  la patate douce (la pa-tat doos)  –  sweet potato

 

Abita Jockamo IPA (India Pale Ale) is an excellent beer,  reminding us of the many European beers we enjoyed while living in Germany.  Although we enjoy beer, it is not something we drink every day.   Yet somehow we always seem to have various types in the refrigerator mainly due to friends bringing over beer and leaving what’s left in our fridge.  Finding Jockamo IPA, we decided to give it a try with Bruce’s Sweet Potato Pancake Mix and it was a great marriage.

“Jockamo is named for the tribes of dancing, singing, chanting “Mardi Gras Indians” who have marched in New Orleans for over 250 years.”   When you taste this dish you will hear the drums and start singing “Iko! Iko!…Jockamo feena nay”.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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Patty Pan Squash Salad Bowl

Cajun French:  la cibleme (la see-blem) – patty pan squash

 

A 2# white patty pan squash, from Robinson Organic Farm, reached out to us at the Red Stick Farmers Market this week.  It was a beauty and a hallowed out bowl was calling.  Laurie’s thoughts went to an etoufee stuffing while John’s thoughts went to a more summertime dish – a salad in the hallowed out squash.  John won.  Below is the dish’s progression as we built the salad and presentation.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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Bay Breeze Shrimp

Cajun French:  le vent (lu von) – wind

 

We saw a recipe where the shrimp were peeled and deveined with the head and tail remaining.  Sounded interesting so we decided to give it a try.  Laurie is the shrimp peeler so she began.  It is not difficult just time consuming, thankfully we only had a dozen to “peel”.  There are two advantages to shrimp peeled in this manner; plates beautifully and eats easily.

This dish reminds us of lazy days enjoying meals on the dock with gentle cooling breezes.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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Crawfish Etouffee

Cajun French: l’écrevisse (l’ā-krū-vees) – crawfish

 

An etouffee is a spicy Cajun stew made from a roux and is soooo good!

The word Etouffee comes from the French word etouffer which means to smother.

Having a pound of Louisiana crawfish and not having made etouffee in a while, we decided to make a homemade roux and etouffee.  An etouffee is served over rice and we use a Cajun jasmine rice.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!
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Just Another Day in Paradise Cocktail

Cajun French:  Paradis – Paradise

 

Paradise is anywhere you want it to be.  For us, paradise is anywhere Cajunville is parked.

John says this is a drink he could get hooked on while sitting under the canopy on a lazy afternoon.  This drink was developed quite by accident.  Laurie is a flavored sparkling water drinker and the pineapple coconut is a new flavor.  Since it was new, John decided to try a sip.  His reaction – taste like the makings of a cocktail to me.  So Paradise was made.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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Rescuing a Burned Pot

Cajun French: brûler – burn

 

Fresh seasonal peas and beans are one of our weekly purchases from the farmers market.  Having purchased purple hull peas this week, we decided to cook them Saturday afternoon.  We started the cooking process and headed off to do other things; not a good idea.  We were working and totally absorbed in our project and completely forgot about the beans.  All of a sudden Laurie jumped up and ran to the kitchen, smelling the burning pot on the way.  Sure enough – burned pot bottom.  The beans had a rather good smoky flavor – more about this later.

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First You Make a Roux

Cajun French:  la farine (la far-een) – flour

 

This is almost the anthem of Cajun Cooking.  This also intimidates many people.  A Roux is actually easy to make; it just takes time and attention.  A Roux is something you never leave unattended because once it burns, it’s over, you MUST throw it out.

A Roux is used as the thickening for gravies, gumbos, courtbouillon, etouffees, etc.

Let’s get cooking!

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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Cajun Beer Sweet Potato Biscuits with Poached Eggs

Cajun French: la bière (la bee-air) – beer

 

Beer Biscuits had been on our list of things to make and we decided to make it Cajun – Abita Beer and Sweet Potato Biscuits!

Ok, that settled now how to serve the biscuits – with poached eggs.  Ok, we need more than just eggs.  We decided to jazz it up with fresh lump crabmeat and a lemon dill sauce.

This dish could not only be served for breakfast but also for brunch.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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Simple Combinations – Crabmeat and Tomato Salad

Cajun French: la crabe (la krab) – crab

 

Lunch time with simple combinations.

There is nothing better than fresh lump crabmeat and fresh tomatoes. Having both in the refrigerator, we decided on a Remoulade salad for lunch. The salad was refreshing on a hot summer day. All ingredients were chilled, crisp and full of flavor.

The salad became another simple combination.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!!

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