Cajun Food Where You Find It
Cajun French: la rue (la rū) – street
On Saturday mornings if we are close to a Farmers Market we’re headed that way for the opening bell. We are also looking for breakfast as most also have breakfast vendors with the markets. When we’re in our home area of Baton Rouge, we’re pointed to the Red Stick Farmers Market. This morning we decided to look elsewhere and step out of the box for our Saturday morning treat. Continue reading “Street Breads of Baton Rouge, LA”
Cajun French: l’huite (l’ū-eet) – oyster
Fresh Louisiana oysters are salty sweet and taste like no other oysters. When we purchased the oysters, we knew how we wanted to cook them, simply in olive oil with pasta. Avocado oil was used to give the dish a buttery taste and it adds richness. This dish is easy to prepare but makes a gourmet meal.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le piment fort (lu pee-mon for) – pepper (hot)
What do you do with left over beans and rice? Bean Patties.
What do you do with left over bean patties? Eggs Beanedict.
If you are like us, there always seems to be beans and rice left even after eating leftovers. Trying to come up with a way to use the beans and rice in a creative manner, we decided on bean patties. They had a great flavor and we served them with grilled salmon. Ok, now we had two bean patties leftover. Thinking breakfast we decided to top them with fried eggs and one thing led to another. Eggs Beanedict was born and enjoyed.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la chevrette (la shuv-ret) – shrimp
Pasta is a staple in our pantry and we are always looking for ways to make a pasta dish interesting. What was to be just another tomato sauce and pasta evolved into a dish with depth of flavor. There was fresh corn in the refrigerator so that went in. Laurie had Kipper Snacks for lunch and one was left, so it was mashed and into the sauce it went along with red wine. The sauce is full of flavor with a depth of richness.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Shrimp Pasta”
Cajun French: le riz (lu ree) – rice
Leftover beans and rice – what to do? We were looking for something other than just beans and rice. Think Mujadarrah with a Cajun twist. Instead of lentils, we have Colorado River Beans and rice cooked with arugula.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: l’oignon (l’on-ee-on) – onion
Quick and easy wrap for breakfast or light supper using eggs, mushroom and avocado. The sauce could be used with other dishes or as a base for a dip. This recipe lends itself to creative thinking. The addition of pine nuts adds crunch as well as richness.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le “spinach” (lu “spinach”) – spinach
Having fresh vegetables that needed cooking, we decided to make Veggie Rice. Sauté vegetables over rice was the plan but as always the plan evolved. Rice was cooked with fresh rosemary then combined with the vegetables and almond butter was added. Wow! The almond butter added a richness and the aroma made our mouths water.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la fleur (la flur) – flower
Saturday morning was stormy which meant the Red Stick Farmers Market would be held in the Galvez Parking Garage. It also meant there would be fewer farmers at the market due to the weather. Upon arriving, as we thought there were fewer farmers yet the farmers that were there had an abundance of Spring vegetables. There was an array of color – yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes and much more including broccoli flowers. We enjoy cooking with flowers and had never used broccoli flowers so of course they had to go in our market basket. We took half the flowers and decided to cook them with rice. The flowers are delicate and add sweetness to the rice. We served the rice with our Mustard Tarragon rubbed Catfish.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la moutarde (la moo-tard) – mustard
Fresh Louisiana wild caught catfish – nothing like its sweet taste. We purchased catfish from Outlaw Katfish at the Red Stick Farmers Market and were ready for some of that sweetness. We wanted to try something different and our herb garden was calling us. Fresh tarragon and Creole mustard – yes! We made a paste using the mustard as a base and rubbed one side of the fish. The fish was served with our Rice with Broccoli Flowers.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le persil (lu pair-see) – parsley
It’s Crawfish time in south Louisiana! Fresh crawfish are abundant this time of year and we try to incorporate them into as many meals as possible. This one is a very simple yet elegant meal and is delicious. The cornbread is made using locally milled cornmeal from Papa Tom and fresh crawfish tails from the Outlaw Katfish Company.
Mais C’est Bon!
