Category: Entree

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Grilled Eggplant and Artichoke Sandwich

Cajun French:  la farine de maïs (la far-een du ma-ee) – corn meal

 

A loaf of cornmeal and corn bread was one of our purchases at the farmers market.  We only find this bread when fresh corn is in season, so we purchase a loaf every week as long as it is available.  The bread taste fresh and clean and melts in your mouth!

We wanted to make the bread a part of our lunch so the planning was around the bread.  Fresh eggplant, sweet red peppers and tomatoes were also some of our purchases and we had marinaded artichokes so a sandwich was born.  Add onions and we were set for stacking a sandwich.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Grilled Eggplant and Artichoke Sandwich”

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Potato Crawfish Galette

Cajun French:  la chadiere en fonte (la shō-dee-air en font) – cast iron pot

 

Crawfish boils are a staple of south Louisiana.  Any given weekend during the Spring and into the Summer, pots are boiling and “mudbugs” are crawling.  Once boiled and eaten, generally there are crawfish remaining.  For us that is part of the boil, leftover boiled crawfish for future dishes.  This past weekend was no different, we had a boil and had boiled crawfish leftover.  In fact we had enough crawfish left to prepare three dishes; one of which was a potato crawfish Galette.  Unfortunately, we did not have potatoes left over so we used new potatoes purchased from the Acadiana Farmers Market in Lafayette (another blog post).  This is an easy dish to prepare, slicing the potatoes is the most time consuming part.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Potato Crawfish Galette”

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Vegetable Bread Pudding

Cajun French:  le pain (lu pain) – bread

 

 

Flounder Stuffing

Stale bread is bread pudding in waiting.  When bread pudding is mentioned, we think dessert.  Recently our stale bread consisted of wheat, French, lemon rosemary, and olive.  Thinking of the bread combination dessert was not in the vision.  Besides the stale bread, we also had vegetables that were in need of cooking.  What evolved was a vegetable bread pudding that became a side dish, part of a stuffing for flounder and used in an omelet.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Vegetable Bread Pudding”

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Stuffed Squash Blossoms and Catfish

Cajun French:  le cachat (lu ka-sha) – squash

 

Spring time means squash blossoms!

We get excited when squash blossoms are available at the farmers market.  They are fragile flowers yet so much fun to cook with.  The first ones of the season are always for stuffing.  Unlike most recipes, we do not batter and deep fry; we stuff and pan fry.  Pan frying allows the flavor of the squash and its flower to blossom to its fullest flavor.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Stuffed Squash Blossoms and Catfish”

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Shrimp Pasta Salad

Cajun French:  l’huile d’olive (l’ū-eel d’ō-leev) – olive oil

 

Pasta?  Yes, please.

Pasta is very versatile and can be a main dish, side dish or snack.  This salad fits all three descriptions.  The salad is a great lunch during the heat of the summer or an afternoon snack while enjoying the spring breezes.  It is also one of the best potluck dishes for a crowd.  Anytime, anywhere this is a great dish!

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Shrimp Pasta Salad”

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Crab Caps

Cajun French:  la patate (la pa-tat) – potato

 

Fresh lump crabmeat is an advantage of living in south Louisiana and we enjoy it whenever we are able.  We purchased a pound of lump crabmeat this past Saturday from the Outlaw Katfish Company at the Red Stick Farmers Market.  Not wanting to freeze the crab we have been enjoying it in various ways.  Also having fresh mushrooms we decided to stuff the mushroom caps and serve them with pasta.  The Zapp’s Potato Chips adds a crunch and kick to the caps.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Crab Caps”

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Pop Up Shrimp

Cajun French:  bourrer (boor-ā) – stuff

 

“Have you tried pop up shrimp?”  We were asked this question and had no idea what Letti was talking about.  What she meant was dried shrimp and no we had never used them.  We were familiar with the shrimp and knew many Cajuns used them in gumbos; yet we had not tried them.  Never ones to let something go; we purchased a package of dried Louisiana shrimp and put it in the pantry.  Last night that bag of shrimp was staring at us and so it was time to give them a try.  They are different and not like any shrimp we have used before.  In researching we found the dried shrimp are used in oriental cooking especially in soups and stews.  We decided to go Italian with them and stuff pasta shells.  The taste is definitely different and we will probably give them another try in some other cuisine.  The saga continues….

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Pop Up Shrimp”

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Shrimp and Tamale Casserole

Cajun French: la casserole (la kas-rol) – casserole

 

Farmers markets not only offer fresh local items, they also offer local homemade items. Finding fresh homemade vegetarian tamales at the Red Stick Farmers Market made our mouth’s water. We purchased six warm tamales and knew lunch was ready. Very few times we can remember being disappointed with a farmers market purchase, yet the tamales are now on that list. The vegetables tasted like a bag of frozen mixed vegetables that was defrosted and added to the tamales – no taste except the mesa. What to do with the tamales? We are victims of the “starving children in China” generation – eat all your food. Deciding the tamales needed sauce and seasoning, a casserole was in the works blending Cajun with Mexican.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy! Continue reading “Shrimp and Tamale Casserole”

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Twisted Shrimp

Cajun French:  l’artichaut (l’ar-tee-shō) – artichoke (globe)

 

Rotini with shrimp = twisted shrimp.

Rotini is pasta we generally use for salads.  In preparing dinner we were looking for penne and pulled out rotini instead.  What the heck, we used rotini and liked the results.  It is always fun to try different pasta shapes especially when the pasta is used in a different way or for a different recipe.  This is not a heavy sauce so the rotini worked great allowing the sauce to flow between the spirals of the pasta.

Mais C’est Bon!

Enjoy!! Continue reading “Twisted Shrimp”

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