Cajun Food Where You Find It
Cajun French: la figue (la feeg) – fig
We have been experimenting with vinaigrettes lately and enjoying the results. Finding a few figs left from our farmers market purchase we decided to try a vinaigrette using the fresh figs as well as fig infused balsamic vinegar.
We tried it on our Corn Pudding and the vinaigrette gave the pudding an extra shot of flavor!
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: la crabe (la krab) – crab
Des Allemandes Outlaw Katfish Kompany sells stuffed crabs, along with live crabs, soft shell crabs, and catfish, at the Red Stick Farmers Market. We enjoy making crab cakes yet when the Outlaw Katfish Kompany’s stuffed crabs are available we opt for them. Each stuffed crab is loaded with crab, seasoning and just the right amount of bread. We headed home with our usual four stuffed crabs and decided to jazz them up.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cracked wheat is high in fiber and health benefits and great for any diet.
Always being on the lookout for new items or new ways to use various ingredients, cracked wheat came to mind for our bean burgers. Although this is not a new way to use cracked wheat, for us it is new. The cracked wheat gave the burgers a nutty crunchy taste and we liked it. The dish has firmness and weight, definitely is filling.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
“Vieux To Do” is this weekend in the French Quarter in New Orleans, LA. This festival is three in one: Creole Tomato, Cajun Zydeco Music, and Seafood Festivals. To get ourselves ready to eat, drink, dance and thoroughly enjoy the heat we are preparing a shrimp dish along with a creole tomato salad. We have Zydeco music on, opened a favorite bottle of wine and we are ready to cook. Join us as we enjoy the bounty South Louisiana offers…
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Continue reading “In Honor of Vieux To Do: Shrimp, Creole Tomato, & Zydeco”
Shrimp is a staple in our diet and we always seem to have leftover ones in the fridge. We try to come up with creative ways to use the shrimp. This dish came about because it was lunch time, we were hungry, nothing was fixed and into the fridge we went.
There is really no recipe for this dish; it is a building of ingredients we had on hand. In our opinion it turned out great – very clean and fresh tasting!
We always try to keep roasted garlic in olive oil on hand. I always say we should own a garlic farm with the amount of garlic we use. If you have never roasted garlic in olive oil, try it. It keeps well, of course ours never last long enough to really know, and is good in almost everything.
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!!
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!!
Swiss Chard is a green that we were never too fond of. The only time we tried it, someone had given us fresh Chard that was large and old. So whenever it was available at the Farmer’s Market, we would always pass it by. Recently, a farmer had young Chard and it looked inviting. Always on the look for new vegetables, we decided to give it a try. It was delicious alone or as a side dish. Laurie enjoyed it cold and John preferred it hot. Either way, it is worth preparing and enjoying.
This young Chard was nothing like the one we had in the past. We will definitely seek out young Chard!
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
We were grilling Salmon and looking for something to have as a side dish. I had four large mushrooms and decided to stuff them and use as our side dish. If you do not have Andouille, use any sausage you have on hand and use any type of greens you have also. Mais C’est Bon!!
Stuffed Mushrooms
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!!
