On just about any given weekend in Louisiana, there is a festival of some kind. During the spring it’s difficult to choose which one to attend. There’s the Jazz Fest in New Orleans, the Festivale Internationale in Lafayette, the French Quarter Festival (in New Orleans), the Strawberry Festival, the Crawfish Festival—-it goes on and on. Those festivals can zap your energy so you can always count of lots of good eating at these events.
If you can’t make it down to south Louisiana, have your own festival! Call up your friends, invite the neighbors and get a group together to enjoy some Louisiana favorites.
Check out all the good things available on Cajungrocer! Order some live crawfish and maybe a few pounds of shrimp. Serve boiled shrimp with any of our sauces—remoulade, tartar or cocktail—your choice! If you want to make your own from scratch, that’s fine too.
Louisianians like to dip fried seafood—shrimp, catfish, oysters and yes, even crawfish tails—in a spicy sauce. Sometimes it’s a cocktail sauce made with ketchup, horseradish, hot sauce, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, a pinch of two of black pepper. But probably the most common sauce is a tartar sauce, which is mayonnaise-based. I like to jazz it up a bit by adding a dose of Creole mustard. Use a good-quality mayonnaise, not salad dressing.
Reserve your Turducken today! Don't get caught in the holiday rush. Here's How
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Tuesday May 12th, 2009
TURDUCKEN
Although turduckens are popular around the winter holidays, you won’t go wrong having them any time of year since they are ideal for casual suppers. They can be served right from the oven or allow them to come to room temperature, slice and make sandwiches with your favorite breads like French, Italian or sourdough. Dress the sandwich with a dressing made with equal parts of mayonnaise and Creole mustard. Hey, season it a bit with hot sauce and your taste buds will be tickled.
Tuesday May 5th, 2009
FESTIVAL TIME
Wednesday January 14th, 2009
Carnival Season
The Christmas holidays are behind us and we in Louisiana are heading right into the Carnival season which begins January 6 or Twelfth Night when the King’s Cake or Gateau du Roi is customarily served. It was first served to celebrate the visit of the Christ child by the three Magi but now it officially opens the Carnival season—a fest of drinking, eating and merrymaking.
The word Carnival is from the Latin carne (meat) and vale (farewell). Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday. Knowing that the next day after Shrove Tuesday is Ash Wednesday, which opens the Lenten season, a time of fasting, everyone is prepared to stuff himself with all the good things our state has to offer.
Even before the Christmas decorations are put away King Cakes appear in supermarkets, bakeries and convenience stores. Years ago, a small coin or token, perhaps a bean or pecan half was hidden in the cake. Whoever finds the treasure (these days it’s usually a tiny ceramic or plastic baby doll) is to host the next King’s Cake party the following week. The ring-shaped cake is usually decorated with sugar tinted in the classic carnival colors of green, gold and purple symbolizing Faith, Power and Justice. The original cakes were made of a simple but rich yeast dough. Today many of them are filled with cream cheese, cinnamon, pecans and a host of other sweet delights.
During the time leading up to the big day, Mardi Gras, there are parties, parades, balls and numerous soirees at which a wide assortment of gastronomic delights ranging from dainty canapés and finger sandwiches to hearty gumbos and jambalayas are enjoyed.
No matter where you live, you too can get into the Carnival spirit. Order your king cakes NOW.
For before and after parade parties, whip up a batch of jambalaya. Try one of our prepared mixes or make it from scratch. Make a gumbo of chicken and sausage, or one with seafood. And don’t forget the andouille sausage! You’ll need plenty of that for both jambalaya and gumbo.
Another thing you can do with andouille sausage is make po-boys. Grill the sausage, split open a loaf of French bread, dress it with Creole mustard or dab it with warm Jack Miller’s barbecue sauce, and tuck in the sausage—you’ll be very happy. Serve the sandwiches with lots of Zapp’s Potato Chips or this great, colorful pasta salad.
Sunday December 7th, 2008
Cajun Desserts From the Oven
CAJUN DESSERTS, WARM FROM THE OVEN
The people of south Louisiana are very frugal. They waste nothing. Day-old bread is used to make bread pudding. Leftover rice is the basis for rice pudding or calas (rice cakes). And the ingredients for most of local desserts are simple—milk, eggs, butter and pecans, and sometimes pure cane syrup.
Whenever my mother put up fig preserves, she always made sure she set aside a couple of jars with which to make fig cake during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. Just about everyone had a stash of pecans with which to make pecan pie, pralines and gateau de sirop (syrup cake).
My Aunt Grace traditionally made several apple cakes, spiced with cinnamon, to give as Christmas gifts or to enjoy after supper with a glass of ice cold milk or steaming tea or coffee.
Treat your family and friends, warm up the kitchen and enjoy some of these simple but delicious desserts during the fall.
