Cajun Food Where You Find It
Cajun French: le poulet farci (lu poo-lā far-see) – baked chicken
There are numerous, too many to count, of chicken pasta salad recipes. Why another one? We saw the basics of this recipe on Facebook and decided to make it our own. We gave ours a Mediterranean flair with a kick of Cajun and wow, it worked!
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la breme (la brem) – eggplant
Having one piece of grilled tuna we wanted to do something that would serve two. Along with the tuna we had grilled eggplant from another meal. Clean out the frig and make a worthy meal – that was the plan. The result was this salad and yes it is very worthy and we think healthy.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: la céleri (la sel-ree) – celery
Calorie overload during Mardi Gras – yes that was us. So, we were ready for some down home cooking. What better than Shrimp Etouffee – simple, easy, good Cajun cooking. We even made it easier by using dry roux. That is not always our method, but Mardi Gras wore us out; we needed easy.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le cachet (lu ka-sha) – squash
Visiting different farmers markets as we travel not only affords us various and unique vegetables but also opportunities to meet chefs, bakers, farmers, and other shoppers. The Independence, Iowa farmers market was no different. We were fortunate to visit with Chef Michael Murray-John and enjoy his vegetable curry. Michael who now lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and daughter, Lola, was previously the chef/owner of two restaurants in Wabasha, MN. We purchased his curry spice packet, which made fixing the curry very easy. Along with the packet we received the spice recipe needed to duplicate the dish. We added our own touch – onion and garlic. It is well worth the numerous spices needed…
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le plat (lu pla) – dish (of food)
When squash and eggplant appear at the markets, Laurie cannot resist. Living in an RV, space is at a premium and fresh produce is purchased as needed. That is except squash and eggplant – usually we purchase more than needed because there are so many different ones to choose. This week we managed to only purchase yellow squash and eggplant. Laurie was proud of herself for moderation. Grilling is a favorite cooking method of ours and tonight was grilled veggies. For a different approach we stacked the veggies and topped with grated cheese. Fresh corn was also a purchase so it was grilled also.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la merise (la m’reez) – cherry
Shopping at farmers markets while we travel brings new and different products to our table. One such find was shishito peppers. The pepper is an East Asian variety and makes great finger food. We decided to add them to our Shrimp and ground cherries to give a sweet/hot taste. There were a few leftover so we cut off the stems, chopped them and added to eggs for an excellent scramble.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Sautéed Shishito Peppers with Shrimp and Ground Cherries”
Cajun French: le poisson (lu poo-a-son) – fish
Grilling is one of our favorite ways to cook. Tonight we did it a little different – open fire grilling. Our travels have brought us to northern Minnesota where we were finally able to purchase fish. Halibut was available and we wanted to try something different. Even though it is not a Minnesota fish, it is something we do not normally have access to. The end result was MORE! Exactly, we wanted more and we will definitely grill this way again.
Enjoy!
Mais C’est Bon! Continue reading “Grilled Halibut”
Cajun French: la patate (la pa-tat) – potato
Ms. Francis’ store was across the street from the local school. Since this was before the time of school lunches, she would sell hamburgers to the school children for lunch. On Friday’s, since this was a predominantly Cajun Catholic community, she would make potato patties instead of meat patties. Both of her burgers are still talked about and remembered by people today. Francis was John’s grandmother and while this is not her exact recipe, we wanted to honor her memory and the memories she left with us. Frances would use fish flakes and boiled potatoes to make her patties. We stepped it up a notch and used salmon and potato flakes.
Frances has been the inspiration for many of our dishes. In fact, we posted a potato croquette recipe a couple of years ago based on her recipe. At that time we used sweet potatoes. This one is closer to her original recipe.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le pain d’maïs (lu pain d’ma-ee) – cornbread
Black-eyed peas are a must in our home on New Year’s Day. It is one of those traditions and it must be carried on. We have been known to bring dishes with us as we travel and heat them in a hotel room – just so we carry on tradition.
This year, 2015, we decided to break from tradition. No, we still cooked black-eyed peas; we just did it a little differently. We cooked our black-eyed peas and cornbread together as a layered bake.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Black-eyed Peas and Cornbread Bake”
Cajun French: l’ail (l’a-ee) – garlic
Fresh poboy bread, pork boudin, and red beans; all leftovers – what to do with them? The boudin needed some help since it was not well seasoned and the red beans were very well seasoned. The bread from Champagne Bakery in Breaux Bridge, LA was begging to be eaten and so the Cajun Creole Poboy was built. Add Cajun seasoning and garlic and dinner is served…
Mais C’est Bon!
