Cajun Food Where You Find It
We have a group of friends who enjoy wine tastings. Every few months we gather at someone’s home to party and taste wine. Last week was
the annual event at Steve and Diane’s with Steve preparing the main dishes and everyone else bringing compliments.
We took our basic dressing and added to it and made a Salmon Spread for toast rounds.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
The farmer’s market was alive with color this Saturday. Nothing was more brilliant than the yellow squash. They were so yellow; it was as
if we were looking at the sun!
Squash is so versatile that it is hard to decide how to cook the squash.
The below recipe is a quick and easy meal or side dish. In fact, you can make two different entrees or side dishes with the basic recipe.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Sweet Potatoes are a staple for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Sweet Potatoes and Yams are abundant in south Louisiana and they are used in a variety of ways all year. Sweet potato hash browns, bake sweet potatoes, sweet potato salad, and sweet potato fries are just a few ways of using sweet potatoes or yams.
We have used left over baked sweet potatoes to make pancakes and biscuits. Now we have an easier way – Bruce’s Food in New Iberia, LA has a Sweet Potato Pancake and Waffle Mix available. The mix is complete meaning just water is added. Instead of water, we decided to add egg and milk. The below recipe is the result of our experimenting.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Louisiana’s favorite greens include Mustard, Collard, and Turnip. The more gourmet greens like Kale and Chard can be found at farmer’s markets yet not so much at the local grocery. We have had Kale and Chard in the past; yet, it was from a friend’s garden and the greens were mature and we now know, past their prime.
Because of our past experience, we would not give the young Kale or Chard at farmer’s markets a second glance. Finally we decided to give young Swiss Chard a chance and it was well worth the effort. Last week at the market, there was young Kale and we purchased some. The recipe below is the result of much experimenting. We like it and yes, we will purchase more young Kale.
In the south, we were used to cooking greens down with pot liquor and serving them with cornbread. We now realize that young greens are great just sautéed!
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Realizing we are eating too much animal fat, we decided to take action. Our reason is based on health concerns only. We are not becoming Vegans nor or we becoming total Vegetarians. We will continue to eat fish and seafood as well as eggs. This action is not set in concrete, so while we will post mostly meatless meals, you may find meat related products at times.
Use any beans you have available. I use whatever beans I cook for the week.
These burgers are great for any meal as well as snacks.
Mais C’est Bon! Enjoy!!
South Louisiana is always ready for a party!
With St. Patrick’s Day coming so soon after Mardi Gras, you would think we would be tired of parties and parades. Not so! Today was the Baton Rouge St. Patrick’s Day Parade and parties abound. The day started out cool and clear with a georgeous blue sky getting us all ready for partying. We had been wanting to try this dish, making it with a Cajun twist. You may say salmon is not Cajun yet Nova Scotia has excellent premium salmon.
Mais C’est Bon! Enjoy!!
This week at the farmers market, we purchased young beets with greens still atached. One of our favorite ways to use the greens is with scrambled eggs. The greens add texture to the eggs as well as nutritional benefit. For an added touch this week, we decided to make Beet Jam to go with the scrambled eggs. The jam takes a couple of hours and is well worth the effort.
Mais C’est Bon!!
Although Red Beans is a traditional New Orleans Monday Meal, we eat all types of beans and on any day. This week it is Pinto Beans. We cooked these on Sunday and used them all week in various ways from entrees to side dishes. Monday was traditional bean day since Monday was also wash day. It was easy to put a pot of beans simmering on the stove while completing other tasks like washing.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
While reading the recent newsletter from the Southern Food and Beverage Museum in New Orleans, the name, Belinda Hulin, caught my attention. Could it be the Belinda that was a good friend of my deceased Uncle John G? While staring at the name and thinking about my uncle, I knew I had to contact Belinda. Yes, it was the same Belinda. Hearing from Belinda brought back many memories and I wanted to explore those memories. First, I wanted to find out about Belinda and her life.
Belinda’s family like so many others in South Louisiana had been devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. While Belinda and her sister were mucking out the family home in New Orleans and throwing away mementoes, Belinda went upstairs to the second floor. There on the landing was a box, with papers hanging out, just sitting there like someone had forgotten it. Continue reading “Epicurean Heritage”
