Cajun Food Where You Find It
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: 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 chien (lu shee-ain) – dog
There is a new dog in the house or at least on the pantry shelf – Camp Dog Cajun Seasoning. Our pantry has a shelf of nothing except Cajun and Creole Seasonings and we use all of them. Of course, we have our favorites yet are always interested in new versions. Enter Camp Dog and he hopped right up on the shelf. We received a can of Camp Dog Cajun Seasoning in the mail and have been trying it on everything from eggs to Brussels Sprouts.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: trompette – trumpet
What would “swamp pop” music be without trumpets? The horns add a quality that make “swamp pop” a distinctive music. On Saturday night in south Louisiana “swamp pop” music can be found in dance halls and juke joints in most cities and towns.
The oyster mushrooms we purchased at the Red Stick Farmers Market reminded us of trumpets and “swamp pop” music. Wanting to make the mushrooms as distinctive as “swamp pop” we decided to stuff the trumpets. They were served with grilled salmon and grilled asparagus. John said the salmon and asparagus were the accompaniment that the main player was the mushrooms.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: l’artichaut (l’ar-tee-shō) – artichoke (globe)
Rotini with shrimp = twisted shrimp.
Rotini is pasta we generally use for salads. In preparing dinner we were looking for penne and pulled out rotini instead. What the heck, we used rotini and liked the results. It is always fun to try different pasta shapes especially when the pasta is used in a different way or for a different recipe. This is not a heavy sauce so the rotini worked great allowing the sauce to flow between the spirals of the pasta.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le riz (lu ree) – rice
A pirogue is a small flat bottomed boat originally made of Louisiana cypress. The pirogue is designed to move through the very shallow water of the Louisiana marshes. It can also easily be turned over to drain any water that gets in the boat. We have seen pirogues that were carved from a single cypress tree, meaning no seams. Many Cajun cooks have “pirogue paddles” to use when cooking, for stirring the pot. On the tenth day of Christmas we are going to stir up a Shrimp Creole Casserole.
John, like many Cajuns, are known to “stir the pot” having no connection to cooking. It means they like to get things going, pit one against another in fun.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy! Continue reading “Tenth Day of Christmas – 10 pirogue paddles”
Cajun French: huit (ū-eet) – eight
There is nothing better than Louisiana white lump crabmeat. It is tender, sweet and melts in your mouth. We use the crabmeat in stuffing, with pasta, and as toppings.
This recipe is simple yet elegant with a mushroom and crabmeat topping.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Eighth Day of Christmas – 8 crabs a brewin’”
Cajun French: le cypre (lu seep) – cypress
The Bald Cypress Tree is the official tree of Louisiana. This majestic tree grows in the swamps and wetlands of Louisiana and loses its needles in the fall, giving the tree a “bald” appearance. The tree will grow in any wet area, yet the cypress in the swamps will form knees that grow up from the roots. The knees are thought to help the tree with long term survival – giving stability and aiding in oxygen.
In the Cypress Tree swamps, fishing is great and is a favorite pastime of many Cajuns. To honor this area on the sixth day of Christmas, we grilled catfish.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Sixth Day of Christmas – 6 Cypress Knees”
Cajun French: le goujon jaune (lu goo-jon jon) – catfish (yellow)
Sweet and tender catfish come from the Outlaw Katfish Kompany, Des Allemands, Louisiana and we wanted to keep that flavor. We decided to bake the catfish and serve it on a Cajun Grain Jasmine Rice dish with a citrus topping made with Plaquemines Parish L’Hoste Navel Oranges and Bocage Honey. These items were purchased from the Red Stick Farmers Market in Baton Rouge, La.
Mais C’est Bon!
