Veggie Rice

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!

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Shrimp and Tamale Casserole

Cajun French: la casserole (la kas-rol) – casserole

 

Farmers markets not only offer fresh local items, they also offer local homemade items. Finding fresh homemade vegetarian tamales at the Red Stick Farmers Market made our mouth’s water. We purchased six warm tamales and knew lunch was ready. Very few times we can remember being disappointed with a farmers market purchase, yet the tamales are now on that list. The vegetables tasted like a bag of frozen mixed vegetables that was defrosted and added to the tamales – no taste except the mesa. What to do with the tamales? We are victims of the “starving children in China” generation – eat all your food. Deciding the tamales needed sauce and seasoning, a casserole was in the works blending Cajun with Mexican.

Mais C’est Bon!

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Stuffed Trumpets

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!

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Island Pasta

Cajun French:  l’ile (l’eel) – island

 

Friday was travel day, so Thursday night supper was going to be an easy dish of mushrooms and pasta.  Yet, like most of our dishes, it evolved and evolved.  Mushrooms and garlic were cooked and pasta was cooking; then we saw the ripe avocado.  Okay that sounds good.  Here’s a fresh tomato; that sounds good also.  The dish was still easy; it just had more depth of flavor to it.

Our newest evolution – Island Pasta.

Mais C’est Bon!

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First Day of Christmas – A Crawfish in a Fig Tree

Cajun French: l’arbre (l’arb) – tree

 

 

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me – a crawfish in a fig tree.

In reality we had a crawfish casserole with a fig salad. Figs are a popular fruit in south Louisiana except they are not available fresh at Christmas time. So we used dried figs and reconstituted them. The crawfish were frozen tails we had stored in the freezer. We always try to have frozen crawfish tails available for use and always Louisiana Crawfish Tails.

This is also a great recipe for using those Christmas leftovers. Almost any vegetable could be used as well as leftover rice.

Our gift to you for the First Day of Christmas.

Mais C’est Bon!

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Thanksgiving Breakfast – Salmon et al Wrap

Cajun French: le saumon (lu sō-mon) – salmon

 

It is Thanksgiving morning and since we are pescatarians no turkey is in the oven. We are having a laid back morning; coffee and scones in bed. And now it is breakfast time – what is in the frig? What started out to be a mushroom omelet with salmon on the side turned into a wrap with lots of raw vegetables. This is a breakfast for any holiday.

Mais C’est Bon!

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Mizuna Breakfast Wraps

Cajun French:  l’huile d’olive (l’ū-eel d’ō-leev) – olive oil

 

Finding a new green at the Red Stick Farmers Market was exciting for us.  Mizuna is not a new green, just new to us.  We are sure we have had this green in salad mixtures or other dishes, yet we had never purchased it.  Now that we have it, what are we going to do with it?  Breakfast was going to be a wrap and the mizuna greens sounded like a fit.  Our simple wrap turned into one that was almost too large to fold.

Mais C’est Bon!

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Catfish Des Allemands

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!

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Green Wraps

Cajun French: le chou (lu shoo) – cabbage

 

This week at the Red Stick Farmers Market, we purchased a bunch of Chinese Cabbage leaves. The leaves were to be used as wraps; we just were not sure for what. Waiting for inspiration we placed the leaves a glass of water adding beauty and freshness to our counter. While preparing Sunday breakfast, the leaves were calling and wraps were beginning. Just wilting the leaves adds a nutty flavor to the wraps.

Mais C’est Bon!

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