Cajun Food Where You Find It
Cajun French: la sauce aux tomates (la sos ō tō-mat) – tomato sauce
Salmon was the main dish and we were looking for a side. In the frig we found fresh ears of corn, homemade tomato sauce and left over spaghetti – that was a good start. We first decided to roast the corn, then we added the sauce and finally the pasta and a side was born. The salmon was grilled with rosemary seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la farine de maïs (la far-een du ma-ee) – corn meal
A loaf of cornmeal and corn bread was one of our purchases at the farmers market. We only find this bread when fresh corn is in season, so we purchase a loaf every week as long as it is available. The bread taste fresh and clean and melts in your mouth!
We wanted to make the bread a part of our lunch so the planning was around the bread. Fresh eggplant, sweet red peppers and tomatoes were also some of our purchases and we had marinaded artichokes so a sandwich was born. Add onions and we were set for stacking a sandwich.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Grilled Eggplant and Artichoke Sandwich”
Cajun French: la breme (la brem) – eggplant
écraser (ā-kra-zā) – mash
The eggplant sitting on the counter was begging to be used. Not wanting to prepare in the usual way of smothering we put our creative caps on and went to work. Knowing we were going to serve the eggplant with salmon, we decided on a mash. Salmon has a very mild flavor so we did not want the eggplant to overpower the salmon. By using garlic and mint with grilled onions the eggplant was not heavily herbed. The eggplant taste was predominant and blended well with the rosemary salmon.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la chadiere en fonte (la shō-dee-air en font) – cast iron pot
Crawfish boils are a staple of south Louisiana. Any given weekend during the Spring and into the Summer, pots are boiling and “mudbugs” are crawling. Once boiled and eaten, generally there are crawfish remaining. For us that is part of the boil, leftover boiled crawfish for future dishes. This past weekend was no different, we had a boil and had boiled crawfish leftover. In fact we had enough crawfish left to prepare three dishes; one of which was a potato crawfish Galette. Unfortunately, we did not have potatoes left over so we used new potatoes purchased from the Acadiana Farmers Market in Lafayette (another blog post). This is an easy dish to prepare, slicing the potatoes is the most time consuming part.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le pain (lu pain) – bread
Stale bread is bread pudding in waiting. When bread pudding is mentioned, we think dessert. Recently our stale bread consisted of wheat, French, lemon rosemary, and olive. Thinking of the bread combination dessert was not in the vision. Besides the stale bread, we also had vegetables that were in need of cooking. What evolved was a vegetable bread pudding that became a side dish, part of a stuffing for flounder and used in an omelet.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la bétrave (la bāt-rav) – beet
The taste of Spring.
There is nothing like the taste of fresh Spring vegetables and Red Stick Farmers Market offers a variety to choose from. We have purchased several beet varieties as well as celery root. The past few weeks we have used the beets and celery root separately so this week we decided to make a salad combining both root vegetables. We wanted the vegetables crunchy but not hard so we parboiled them in seasoned water. Cucumber, though not a root vegetable, was added for a crisp taste. The salad brings Spring to the table.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Root Salad”
Cajun French: le cachat (lu ka-sha) – squash
Spring time means squash blossoms!
We get excited when squash blossoms are available at the farmers market. They are fragile flowers yet so much fun to cook with. The first ones of the season are always for stuffing. Unlike most recipes, we do not batter and deep fry; we stuff and pan fry. Pan frying allows the flavor of the squash and its flower to blossom to its fullest flavor.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Stuffed Squash Blossoms and Catfish”
Cajun French: l’huile d’olive (l’ū-eel d’ō-leev) – olive oil
Pasta? Yes, please.
Pasta is very versatile and can be a main dish, side dish or snack. This salad fits all three descriptions. The salad is a great lunch during the heat of the summer or an afternoon snack while enjoying the spring breezes. It is also one of the best potluck dishes for a crowd. Anytime, anywhere this is a great dish!
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la patate (la pa-tat) – potato
Fresh lump crabmeat is an advantage of living in south Louisiana and we enjoy it whenever we are able. We purchased a pound of lump crabmeat this past Saturday from the Outlaw Katfish Company at the Red Stick Farmers Market. Not wanting to freeze the crab we have been enjoying it in various ways. Also having fresh mushrooms we decided to stuff the mushroom caps and serve them with pasta. The Zapp’s Potato Chips adds a crunch and kick to the caps.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Crab Caps”
Cajun French: le riz (lu ree) – rice
A little bit of this and a little bit of that. What to do with that little bit of leftovers; combine them and make a great side dish. Rice is a staple in Cajun kitchens and at Cajun meals yet sometimes there is just a little rice left, not enough for one serving much less for a family. When that happens we just see what other vegetables we have and start combining and soon we have Veggie Rice. This is a quick, easy, and time saving dish.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Veggie Rice”
