Cajun Food Where You Find It
Cajun French: la sauce aux tomates (la sos ō tō-mat) – tomato sauce
Salmon was the main dish and we were looking for a side. In the frig we found fresh ears of corn, homemade tomato sauce and left over spaghetti – that was a good start. We first decided to roast the corn, then we added the sauce and finally the pasta and a side was born. The salmon was grilled with rosemary seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
Mais C’est Bon!
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!
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: l’ail (l’a-ee) – garlic
Watching the sunset on a beach, sipping a cool, crisp glass of wine and a shrimp cocktail waiting for dinner. Dreaming of the day that will be our front yard and it will be soon! So tonight we are having the shrimp cocktail without the beach sunset or glass of wine (no wine on South Beach Phase 1). Having purchased large shrimp from the Anna Marie at the Red Stick Farmers Market, we decided a shrimp cocktail was in order. This was going to be dinner so we wanted to make the cocktail a complete meal. Searching the frig to see what was available and how the finds could be used resulted in our Shrimp Cocktail Expanded.
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: la soupe (la soop) – soup
This is a Mexican sopa seca, “dry soup”, which we have made Cajun. The reason it is called “dry soup” is that the pasta cooks in only the amount of liquid it can absorb. The dish lends itself well to being served as a side without seafood or meat. It is a great pot luck dinner dish.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!! Continue reading “Shrimp and Green Chile Cajun Pasta”
Cajun French: la tomate (la tō-mat) – tomato
This breakfast started out as eggs and avocado. Sounds good yet could be boring so we started building a breakfast sandwich. First the pita bread, then the tomato and finally the mushrooms. Mayonnaise was added for flavor and then grapes for garnish. It is fun to build a sandwich without really knowing what the final product will be. Building this sandwich is what makes cooking together fun!
Mais C’est Bon!
Cajun French: goûtailler (goot-a-ee-ā) – snack
Having a pot of cooked Pinto Beans means thinking of creative ways to use the beans. We try to have some type of healthy snack in the afternoon so the mind went to work. We had pita bread, guacamole, goat cheese, tomatoes and green olives – now what to do with them. We thought about mini pizzas, yet they would be too hard to eat without utensils. Okay, same concept just cut the pita bread in quarters and single layer.
Mais C’est Bon!
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!!
Cajun French: la cibleme (la see-blem) – patty pan squash
A 2# white patty pan squash, from Robinson Organic Farm, reached out to us at the Red Stick Farmers Market this week. It was a beauty and a hallowed out bowl was calling. Laurie’s thoughts went to an etoufee stuffing while John’s thoughts went to a more summertime dish – a salad in the hallowed out squash. John won. Below is the dish’s progression as we built the salad and presentation.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Cajun French: le maïs (lu ma-ee) – corn
There is nothing like a cool salad on a hot summer day on the bayou.
This dish uses some great Cajun flavors to make this unique salad. Just imagine yourself sitting on a dock with feet dangling in the water eating this salad and sipping a glass of crisp white wine.
Mais C’est Bon!
Enjoy!!
Continue reading “Bayou Side Shrimp Salad with Cajunville Vinaigrette”
