Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The spicy side of life!



TABASCO® brand products are made by McIlhenny Company, founded in 1868 on Avery Island, Louisiana, and still family-owned and operated on that very site.
Across the country, Louisiana is known for its spicy food and Iberia Parish is the epicenter of Cajun culinary.TABASCO brand pepper sauce is Iberia Parish's greatest contribution to the culinary world. On restaurant tables around the globe, it is the most famous, most preferred pepper sauce in the world. For over 140 years, Tabasco has been produced by the Mcllhenny family.
The pepper sauce that Edmund McIlhenny created in 1868 on Avery Island is much the same TABASCO® Sauce that is produced today, on that very same site. The basic recipe, the process by which it’s made, and the ingredients remain unchanged. And five generations of McIlhennys and employees have dedicated themselves to preserving its legacy. Learn more at www.tabasco.com

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Amazing Grace in French.. and beautiful scenes in Louisiana

Okay Ladies, here is the link to a beautiful version of Amazing Grace, sung in French along with lovely scenery of the Atachafalaya Basin in southeast Louisiana. Make sure to have your sound on and volume up. I hope you enjoy this and are getting a feel for the lifestyle of the Cajuns who live here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56LNciQaabw .......La Grace du Ciel .....If you should have trouble with this link, just google Amazing Grace in French and it should pop up for you.. let me know if you can view it.. hugs.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Shrimp Recipes

Okay Girls, As requested some delicious new Shrimp Recipes. Let me hear from you after you have tried them! Louisiana is all about the food and we do take pride in our cooking! Try these, i am trying to give you all some recipes that are Delicious Not Difficult! Bon Appetit!

Shrimp Delight (serves 6-8)
1 stick butter Or margarine (hint-- use the good stuff)
2 1/2 cups shrimp, chopped
1 bunch shallots, chopped
1/4 cup parsley flakes
2 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 - 2 cups milk (may use cream)
1 tsp Creole seasoning (Zatarains or Tony's Chachere's)
Red pepper
Salt
1 small jar mushrooms, drained
1/4 lb. Romano or Swiss cheese, grated

Melt butter. Add shrimp and cook 2 minutes. Add shallots and parsley and saute'. Blend in flour and add milk. Stir until heated then add seasonings and mushrooms. Allow mixture to heat while gently stirring. Add cheese just before serving. Serve hot as an appetizer or dip OR as an entree over rice, pasta or potatoes. (can also use left over turkey or chicken in place of shrimp)
From Darlene Jones, Franklinton, LA.

Shrimp Marguerite( serves 6-8)
1 stick butter
1 1/4 cup onions, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 pods garlic, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup water
1 can Rotel tomatoes, chopped
3 cups raw, peeled shrimp, cut in half
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup pimento, chopped
4 slices bread
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 cups cooked rice
Bread crumbs

Saute' chopped seasonings in the butter. Add shrimp and Rotel tomatoes. Cook together for 5 minutes. Add mushroom soup, water and pimento. Cook for 5 minutes more. Soak bread slices in water to cover. Squeeze all water from the bread. Add to shrimp mixture (break apart with spoon as you stir). Add 2 cups cooked rice and parsley. Pour into greased casserole and cover with bread crumbs. Bake 1//2 hour at 450 degrees. ummmmmm, good!
From Mrs. Marguerite Blue
Broussard, LA


Hot Shrimp (serves 3-5)

4 lbs. shrimp
Wishbone Italian dressing
Pepper, cracked or coarsely ground
1 lb. butter

Wash fresh shrimp. Cover with dressing and marinate overnight in covered container in refrigerator. Drain shrimp, leaving wet with dressing. Place in large baking pan. Cover with butter and pepper. Use pepper liberally. Bake 45 minutes (or less depending on your oven)in 400 degree oven. Stir Occasionally. Peel and enjoy!
From: Roselyn Causey
Ringgold, LA

Bonus: Bread pudding and Rum Sauce
Serves (8-10)
1 stick butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 15 oz. can Pet milk(evaporated milk)
1 1/2 cups water
6 slices white bread
1 tbsp. vanilla

Rum Sauce
1 cup milk
1 cup evaporated milk (Pet milk-- our brand here in the south)
3 tbsp. corn starch
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 cups sugar
1-3 oz. Rum
1 tsp. cinnamon
l tsp. nutmeg

Melt butter, add sugar and mix. Add eggs one at a time mixing after each. Add milk and water and mix well. Tear up 6 slices of bread and punch down in the liquid. Add vanilla, it sometimes looks like clabber. Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish. Sprinkle over top with a mixture of 2 tbsp of sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp. nutmeg. Bake at 350 degrees for 25- 30 minutes.
Rum sauce preparation. Heat the two milks with butter and sugar, add the cornstarch mixed with a small amount of water. Cook and stir until thick. Remove from fire, add rum and stir well. Serve over bread pudding.. Hot is best, but can be cold if you prefer.

From Billie Howell
Grayson, LA


Just a note: You can be very creative with bread puddings. You can add fruit, like raisins, peaches or dates and some pecans never hurt either. Stale bread is great for this, especially stale french bread. My dad said it was not bread pudding without raisins! Experiment and enjoy ya'll.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Stuffed Baked Catfish

The story behind this recipe goes like this:
One Saturday afternoon, we recieved a call from some old friends from Up North, who announced they were dropping in on us that night and were really hungry for Cajun seafood. A quick forage through our kitchen produced some catfish fillets and some crawfish tails. My thought was that the more fattening a dish is, the better i like it. So, we combined all the ingredients and came up with Stuffed Catfish Fillets.. leave it to a Cajun to turn an otherwish low calorie dish into a meal that will get you offers to be the Weight Watchers poster child!
Our friends departed two pounds heavier but wouldn't leave until we gave them the recipe! Ed Roy (From the Tell me More Cookbook)

2 pounds catfish fillets
1 pound crawfish
1 stick butter
1 cup chopped green onions
1-2 (8 ounce)packages cream cheese
Tabasco
Salt, pepper, parsley, onion tops to taste

Season to taste and bake catfish uncovered on a Pam coated layer of foil until golden brown in a 500 degree oven. In a seperate pan, melt butter and saute' whole crawfish and green onions for about 10 minutes. Melt cream cheese into crawfish mixture and cook until bubbly.. Add other seasonings , pour on top of each fillet.. makes 4 servings..

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Ready for another Recipe.. here is a tried and true one!

This one is called "Breakfast in a Hurry".. It won an award in 1992, the third place winner at the Acadiana Culinary Classic.. hope you enjoy this!

1 (16) oz package bulk sausage
6 eggs
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
2 cups milk
1 cup biscuit mix
1 teaspoon parsley flakes
1 teaspoon chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon season-all

cook and drain sausage. Put in 8 X 11 inch casserole dish.. Mix together thoroughly the remaining ingredients. Pour egg mixture over the sausage and bake in 350 degree oven for 40 minutes. Serves 10 (taken from the Tell Me More Cookbook)

Friday, May 29, 2009

Gone Pecan and some Recipes!

Hello Girls... well, i am going to Panama City, FL for a few days to meet with Anita about all this Giddy Up business. May not have computer access while there and did not want to leave you all with "nothing new on the blog." SOoooo,, am going to list a couple of recipes to help you relax over the weekend.. Hope you Enjoy them and know we are STILL working on the Cajun Caravan trip for you all. Stay tuned for more news and other "stuff" when i return. Happy Trails! Did you check out the new music too? How are you liking the French songs? Are we in New Orleans yet? LOL

MY MINT JULEP(makes one drink)

1 dozen fresh mint leaves, plus 2 sprigs of fresh mint
1 tsp sugar
2 ounces of bourbon
1 oz of dark rum
Finely crushed ice
Put the mint leaves in a tall glass. Add the sugar and, with a spoon, crush the leaves and stir. Pour in the bourbon and the rum.
Fill the glass with the ice, then juggle (don't stir) until the outside of the glass
is heavily frosted. Garnish with the mint sprigs. Enjoy!


CRABMEAT AMANDINE
(makes 4 appetizer servings)

6 tablespoons of butter, melted
1 pound of lump crabmeat
1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup of finely chopped green onions
1/2 cup of toasted almond slivers
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
Toast points

Heat the butter in a large skillet over low heat. Add the crabmeat, lemon juice, green onions and almonds. Toss gently. Season with salt and cayenne.
Cook for two minutes and serve with toast points.

SWEET RED BELL PEPPER SOUP
makes 6 servings

4 medium size red bell peppers
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 cups of chicken broth
1 quart of heavy cream
Salt, cayenne pepper, and Tabasco, (to taste)
1 pound of lump crabmeat

Split the peppers in half, remove the seeds and chop coarsely.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the peppers and cook, stirring, for two to three minutes, or until soft. Add the chicken broth and cook for five minutes.
Pour the mixture into a blender or food processor and process for 15 seconds.
Return the mixture to the pot. Add the cream, bring to a gentle boil and reduce the mixture until it thickens slightly. Season with salt, cayenne and hot sauce. Add the crabmeat, reduce the heat, and simmer for five minutes. Serve immediately.

All recipes taken from "Who's your Mama, Are you Catholic and Can You make a Roux?" cookbook #2 by Marcelle Bienvenue

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Cajun story Part III

Exiled from Acadie, separated from loved ones, mistreated and enslaved, the Acadians might well have been destroyed as a culture. But they endured and survived. Hearing of Louisiana with its own French heritage, thousands of exiles began a tortuous journey through the North American wilderness. When they reached New Orleans, they again faced disappointment and despair. The French Creole nobility wanted nothing to do with these French farmers and fisherman.
Ironically, it was the Spanish, then in control of Louisiana, who provided land grants in Southwest Louisiana for the Acadians. The long, hard journey ended in the lush coastal wilderness, where they would live in isolation until reasonably modern times, clinging to their language and customs and carving, from the marshes and swamps- another Acadie. Here they reaped the bounty of the bayous, rivers and the prolific Gulf waters, the untamed marshes and the great Atchafalaya swamp.
And, in their new Acadie, there was the same family spirit among neighbors and the same zest for living- undaunted by one of the most brutal ordeals in the history of the American continent.
The name Acadian has been contracted to "Cajun", and was actually resented at one time by the descendants of the Nova Scotia exiles. Now, it is used with affection and respect, and has a bouncy ring that seems in keeping with the laughing way of life of these unique people.