Cajun Food Where You Find It
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!
Cajun French: le spinach (lu spinach) – spinach
We are participating in an “Elf4Health Challenge” and it was Meatless Monday. For us that was not a problem but we wanted something different. Spinach was in the frig and our first thought was sauté spinach with onions and garlic. Opening the veggie drawer, fennel showed it face and an additional ingredient was added. As with most of our recipes ingredients were added and left out as we cooked. The end result was amazing with the fennel adding a unique flavor.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Fennel and Spinach Sauté over Pasta”
Cajun French: l’orange (l’ō-ronj) – orange
A small bottle of Sweet Roasted Garlic Balsamic Dressing was hanging out in our pantry. We weren’t sure how we would use the dressing. Flash forward, on the table in our fruit bowl was oranges and avocados while in the fridge we had cooked shrimp, roasted corn and roasted garlic. It was coming together. We decided to build a citrus salad with shrimp.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: le jardinage (lu jar-deen-aj) – vegetables
Pizza has the reputation of high fat, high calorie food. Because of this pizza is something we enjoy yet rarely indulge in. We had a whole wheat pizza crust and were trying to decide what to do with it. Grilling is a favorite way of cooking for us and so Grilled Pizza was on the menu. Not only grill the pizza but also grill the vegetables that would go on the pizza. This process is a labor of love and does take some time, yet the end product is worth every minute of preparation and cooking. We took what would have been high fat and calorie and made it healthy.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la breme (la brem) – eggplant
écraser (ā-kra-zā) – mash
The eggplant sitting on the counter was begging to be used. Not wanting to prepare in the usual way of smothering we put our creative caps on and went to work. Knowing we were going to serve the eggplant with salmon, we decided on a mash. Salmon has a very mild flavor so we did not want the eggplant to overpower the salmon. By using garlic and mint with grilled onions the eggplant was not heavily herbed. The eggplant taste was predominant and blended well with the rosemary salmon.
Mais C’est Bon!
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”
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!
Cajun French: la bétrave (la bāt-rav) – beet
The beet greens from the Red Stick Farmers Market were beautiful, almost too pretty to cook. Not a chance. This is one of our dishes that evolved and then un-evolved. It was breakfast time and we were cooking eggs, beet greens and shrimp wraps – sounds good and it was. Only problem, we forgot the eggs. Hunger pains took over with the shrimp mixture smelling so good, we totally forgot we were planning to add scrambled eggs. No problem, the wrap was fantastic without eggs. This is a great any meal dish and quite easy.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: l’omlette d’oeuf (l’om-let d’uf) – egg omelet
There is nothing like fresh crabmeat from a farmers market. We are lucky to have a weekly vendor, Outlaw Katfish Kompany, selling fresh crabs, crabmeat, and wild caught catfish. The taste is beyond description except to say all of these products melt in your mouth and have a sweetness to the taste. This past Saturday we purchase a pound of fresh claw crabmeat. Not wanting to freeze it, we have been using the crab in various ways. This morning was crab and eggs and this simple dish was breakfast stepped up a notch.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Crab Omelet”
Cajun French: Louisiane (Loo-ee-zee-on) – Louisiana
Valentine’s Day Dinner
Romantically speaking, oysters say it all. Combine fresh Louisiana oysters with fresh Louisiana shrimp and crab and romance is in the air. We paired this trio with a stuffed portabella mushroom that will leave your taste buds sizzling. Light candles, chill your favorite wine, grab your honey and you will have a night in paradise.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Louisiana Seafood Crowning Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms”
