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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 [...]
Cajun French: l’asperge (l’as-pairj) – asparagus Fresh leeks were in our market basket this week, so we decided to make a dish focusing on the leeks. At least that is how it started. The dish evolved to include pine nuts and watercress. In the end we had a thick sauce to mix with penne, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Cajun French: la pacane (la pa-kan) – pecan Leftovers. What does it mean to you? Some people we know will not touch leftovers; others make extra just to have leftovers. For us, leftovers are the beginning of another meal. Today we had a baked sweet potato, rice, and corn – what to do? There [...]
Cajun French: déjeuner (da-ju-na) – breakfast The smell of boiling crawfish permeates the air during Spring in south Louisiana. It is rare that we eat all the crawfish we boil. I think we intentionally boil more than needed so we have leftovers for use later. So it was Friday, we ended up with a [...]
Cajun French: la patate (la pa-tat) – potato Potato Salad – picnics, family dinners, comfort food. That’s Potato Salad. How about potato salad with a twist? Instead of using just white potatoes, include equal amounts of sweet potatoes for a flavor twist. This is a very fresh tasting salad that pops in your mouth. [...]
Cajun French: le grue (lu gru) – grits Warm sweet potato right from the oven – what could be more Southern than that? Add grits and shrimp and your taste buds will be doing the Cajun Two Step. Shrimp was on the menu for dinner and sweet potatoes were coming out of the oven; [...]
Clear blue sky, crisp Fall air, the morning was perfect for farmer market shopping. There was only one problem; the market did not open until 10 a.m. Being a dedicated farmers market shopper extraordinaire, I am ready by 7:30 a.m. on any given Saturday morning. So there I stood with basket in one hand and [...]
Cajun French: le sirop (lu see-ro) – syrup An Old LA Recipe Both of our grandmothers were Cajun and from the same small community of Brusly, LA. Due to that, there are many foods which were cooked in a similar way. Also, there are lots of foods which are considered Cajun, or which are [...]
Cajun French: la prune (la prun) – plum Most of our recipes are made from “starch”, but sometimes we have prepared items that must be used. We do not like to throw out anything including prepared foods. In walks Pesto and we must use it somehow, somewhere, in something, etc. The pesto had already [...]
Cajun French: l’orange (l’o-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 [...]
Cajun French: le sel (lu sel) – salt Brining has become very popular for meats and poultry. Since neither is on our menu, we decided to try brining fish and WOW! This brine is easy, simple and oh so good. We have used it for catfish as well as salmon and smoked the fish [...]
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 [...]
Cajun French: la salade (la sal-ad) – salad Growing up among fields of sugar cane in south Louisiana we are always interested in local products made with sugar cane. Steens, famous for their pure cane syrup, makes cane vinegar from their cane syrup. The vinegar has a light sweet aftertaste and adds a unique [...]
Cajun French: l’écrevisse bouilli (l’a-kru-vees boo-ee) – boiled crawfish Crawfish boils bring family and friends together to enjoy the bounty of south Louisiana. Every Cajun family has their own “special” boiling recipe and most are willing to share to prove it’s the best! Besides the enjoyment of the boil itself, one of the best [...]
Cajun French: le cachat (lu ka-sha) – squash While traveling we see many varieties of fruits and vegetables not available in Louisiana. One such was the Delicata Squash we purchased at the North Platte, NE farmers market. As we normally do with most of our fresh vegetables, the Delicata Squash was grilled using olive [...]
Cajun French: la sauce aux tomates (la sos o to-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 [...]
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 [...]
Cajun French: la breme (la brem) – eggplant écraser (a-kra-za) – 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 [...]
Cajun French: la chadiere en fonte (la sho-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 [...]
Cajun French: le pain (lu pain) – bread 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 [...]
Cajun French: la bétrave (la bat-rav) – beet The taste of Spring. There is nothing like the taste of fresh Spring vegetables and Red Stick Farmers Market offers a variety to choose from. We have purchased several beet varieties as well as celery root. The past few weeks we have used the beets and [...]
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 [...]
Cajun French: l’huile d’olive (l’u-eel d’o-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 [...]
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 [...]
Cajun French: le riz (lu ree) – rice A little bit of this and a little bit of that. What to do with that little bit of leftovers; combine them and make a great side dish. Rice is a staple in Cajun kitchens and at Cajun meals yet sometimes there is just a little [...]
Cajun French: bourrer (boor-a) – 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 [...]
Cajun French: la feve (la fev) – pea Cajun Caviar, Texas Caviar, Poor Man’s Caviar as many names as there are recipes. Ours was born out of necessity – friends called and invited us to dinner that night. We never go anywhere without bringing a dish, what to bring? After searching the pantry we [...]
Cajun French: la confiture aux figues (la kon-fee-tur o feeg) – fig preserve Brussels Sprouts are one of those love/hate vegetables. We are on the love side and enjoy them from steamed to cooked in a sauce and everything in between. It is Spring time and in south Louisiana that means strawberries and they [...]
Cajun French: le chien (lu shee-ain) – dog There is a new dog in the house or at least on the pantry shelf – Camp Dog Cajun Seasoning. Our pantry has a shelf of nothing except Cajun and Creole Seasonings and we use all of them. Of course, we have our favorites yet are [...]
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 [...]
Cajun French: la patate douce (la pa-tat doos) – sweet potato Sweet, brings a smile, and then the pepper pops, a larger smile and finally ends with a salty kiss. Sweet and savory gives all sorts of flavors to your mouth. This recipe does just that. Wanting to use Zapp’s Potato Chips as a [...]
Cajun French: trompette – trumpet What would “swamp pop” music be without trumpets? The horns add a quality that make “swamp pop” a distinctive music. On Saturday night in south Louisiana “swamp pop” music can be found in dance halls and juke joints in most cities and towns. The oyster mushrooms we purchased at [...]
Cajun French: l’artichaut (l’ar-tee-sho) – 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 [...]
Cajun French: le plie (lu plee) – flounder Morning in the Gulf, evening on the grill – can’t get much fresher. Fishing on Grand Isle can be frustrating, exhilarating, boring and exciting all within an hour’s time. Mais C’est Bon! Enjoy!! Mardi Gras weekend was like that; fishing for four days and catching six [...]
Cajun French: la bétrave (la bat-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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Cajun French: le chou (lu shoo) – cabbage Cleaning out the frig before our weekly Red Stick Market purchases, we found red cabbage and oyster mushrooms. What to do with them? Shrimp in the freezer, good addition. We decided to cook each separately and then plate together. The sweetness of the cabbage added to [...]
Cajun French: la pince (la pains) – claw Fresh claw crabmeat was one of our purchases at the Red Stick Farmers Market this week. Once home, we knew we had to use some of the crabmeat immediately. The crabmeat is from the Outlaw Katfish Kompany and just like their catfish; the crabmeat is sweet [...]
Cajun French: faire la cuisine (fair la ku-zeen) – cook meals Sometimes preparing a meal is not about complicated recipes and fancy presentation; it is about quality ingredients fixed simply so the true taste comes out. That is what dinner last night was all about. We had catfish filets from Outlaw Katfish Kompany and [...]
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 [...]
Cajun French: le manger (lu mon-ja) – eats; food Laurie: Eight years ago I listened to my doctor tell me I either had to lose weight or go on medication; I don’t like meds and I didn’t want my health connected to medication. Knowing what I had to do and also knowing how hard [...]
Cajun French: le camélia (lu kam-a-lee-a) – camellia January brings an explosion of color to south Louisiana gardens with the blooming of camellia bushes. We enjoy floating the blooms in bowls of water and setting them around the house to bring the outdoors inside. When fixing what everyone else calls a Poinsettia, we realized [...]
Cajun French: le limon (lu lee-mon) – lemon Remember our beautiful bouquet of carrot tops? We finally finished them off and it has been a great gastronomic adventure. The final dish is a bulgur salad using carrot tops. Most bulgur salads like Tabbouleh use parsley; carrot tops give a completely different flavor. The carrot [...]
Cajun French: le fruit (lu fru-ee) – fruit South Louisiana has wonderful citrus. In fact, many yards have at least one fruit tree and winter is citrus time. Our neighbor has a kumquat tree and he does not eat the fruit, so we are beneficiaries of his harvest. This time of year we always [...]
Cajun French: la carotte (la kar-ot) – carrot Being Cajun we try to use all parts of vegetables. Our fresh carrots from the Red Stick Farmers Market came with a large top bouquet. What do you do with Carrot Tops? After some research, we decided to try carrot tops and eggs. Only using about [...]
