Cajun Food Where You Find It
Cajun French: patriotisme – patriotism
The July 2nd Red Stick Farmers Market began this morning with the National Anthem played by a single
trumpeter, John Gray. He began at one end of the market and walked slowly playing the National Anthem to the other end of the market. Everyone was in awe!
What a way to begin the July 4th Weekend!
Cajun French: le café (lu ka-fā) – coffee
The alarm sounds @ 5:30 am! I smell coffee and that helps a little. A cup of coffee later consciousness begins and I realize it’s time for a shower. By 7:30 we’re pulling out of the driveway heading for a farmers market — today is Saturday!
No matter where we are, we look for a Farmers Market to shop. Most frequently we are in the Baton Rouge, LA area and the Red Stick Farmers Market is our shopping experience. Our purchases from a typical farmers market makes up the majority of our weekly groceries.
Grab your basket and let’s go shopping!
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: le piment doux (lu pee-mon doo) – Sweet Pepper
T
his morning was one of those mornings where the time got away from us and still no breakfast – so began “Simple Combinations”. We will take 2 or 3 ingredients and make a quick, healthy, pleasing meal. Meals are meant to be enjoyed with family and friends even with our hectic schedules. So this morning we grabbed eggs and a variety of peppers from the refrigerator and began.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: le pain (lu pain) – bread
Breakfast seems to be the meal that can be the most rushed. Simple, easy to prepare dishes are preferred and often contain leftovers. Last night we made “Grandma’s Potato Croquettes” (see prior post) updating the recipe using Salmon and Sweet Potatoes — based on one from John’s grandmother where she used white potatoes and fish flakes. The recipe makes about 12 patties so we had plenty left over.
This morning we decided to build a breakfast tower using the croquettes along with all fresh items from the Redstick Farmers Market (except the grapes and bananas) and it was great! Not only is it easy to prepare and assemble, it makes an elegant presentation. Grandma would be proud.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: la patate douce (la pa-tat doos) – Sweet Potato
Many years ago John‘s grandmother owned a General Store across from the school in Port Allen, LA. This was before school cafeterias and Francis would make hamburgers at lunch for the students. Since most of the students were Cajun Catholics, on Fridays she would make Potato Croquettes using fish flakes. Francis, the below recipe is in your honor, we hope we make you proud. The below recipe has been updated using sweet potatoes and salmon.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: la tomate (la tō-mat) — Tomato
HOT!
It’s summer, it’s New Orleans, it’s HOT!
Hot describes the last few weeks in south Louisiana. Okay so it is nothing out of the ordinary, it is still HOT! Some people may believe Southerns stay in the air conditioning and sip mint juleps – not so. We go out in the heat, dance, eat and enjoy festivals. The weekend of June 11th was the Vieux To Do Festival in New Orleans. Vieux To Do is three festivals in one – Cajun/Zydeco Music, Creole Tomato, and Seafood.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: l’olive (l’ō-leev) – Olive
As the Fourth of July Weekend approaches our thoughts turn to outdoor festivities – eating outside, jumping in a cool pool, watching fireworks.
Most often there is grilling and homemade ice cream but that leaves appetizers that fit the outdoors. We tried multi grain scoops with hummus and a black olive and wow what
an appetizer! It’s quick, easy and travels well.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: le fruit (lu frū-ee) – Fruit
Fr
uit is always among our weekly Farmers Market purchases. Toward the end of the week, we had peaches, plums, and blueberries left and decided to make a dessert tart. Ok, how do we put a Cajun twist on a dessert tart? We decided on Steen’s Pure Cane Syrup as a sweetener along with a sprinkle of raw brown sugar on top. If Meyers Lemons are available substitute 3 thin slices for the lemon juice. Place the lemon slices on top of the fruit.
This tart is an easy quick dessert.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: le récoltier (lu rā-kōl-tee-ā) – Farmer
Having to go to Zachary, LA on Saturday, the first thing we did was look for a Farmers Market in the area. Sure enough, Zachary has a Farmers Market downtown from 8-Noon on Saturdays. The market is two years old and recently moved downtown near City Hall.
Cajun French: la cocombre (la kō-kom) – Cucumber
Pinch My Salt has a great recipe for a Sweet and Spicy Dill Cucumber Salad. The salad was in a recent tweet and it sounded wonderful especially for the hot weather we have been having in south Louisiana. Like all the recipes we make we always look for a way to make it Cajun. For this one we did two things: we changed Rice Vinegar to Louisiana Cane Vinegar and added fresh Louisiana Gulf boiled shrimp. The salad tasted as good as it looked. We think we will keep a container in the fridge all summer.
Thank you Pinch My Salt for this great recipe.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
