Cajun Food Where You Find It
Cajun French: trancher (tron-shā) – slice of bread
This is another quick meal that is great for breakfast or light evening fare. In the evening serve with a crisp glass of white wine and a side of fresh fruit.
We call this one of our tower sandwiches because each ingredient builds on the other.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
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!!
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!!
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!
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!!
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.
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!!
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!!
Continue reading “Cajun Beer Sweet Potato Biscuits with Poached Eggs”
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!!
Continue reading “Simple Combinations – Crabmeat and Tomato Salad”
Cajun French: la breme (la brem) – eggplant
Smothering eggplant with onions and tomatoes is the usual way we prepare eggplant. Today we wanted something different and a sandwich sounded good. Roasting the eggplant gave it crunch, adding capers and pine nuts gave depth.
This sandwich builds and each layer add a depth of flavor.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
