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 Mardi Gras and a Little Cajun Cuisine
Posted byadmin on Saturday, February 02 @ 00:19:19 CST
Contributed by admin
We hope you enjoy these Cajun recipes, but French cuisine isn't the only cause for excitement in The Big Easy! Mardi Gras begins February 5th and Carnival festivities have already begun. Mardi Gras day is the last day of the Mardi Gras Carnival season. It falls on a different day each year and is always 46 days before Easter.
Mardi Gras is a big festival that takes place the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Since 1699, Mardi Gras has been celebrated in cities worldwide. But no one does it better than New Orleans! A French phrase that is often used during these festivities is Laissez les bon temps rouler! or "Let the good times roll!"
It is New Orleans's premiere party season! It's time to enjoy life, party and have a good time! It's irresistibly fun, vibrant, sarcastic and sassy! If you understand how this city hums during the day and sings at night, you may be able to envision its celebration of Mardi Gras.
While many outsiders think of Mardi Gras as a "spring break" of sorts, the true meaning of this festive event, goes much deeper. Mardi Gras (from the French words, meaning "Fat Tuesday"), or Carnival (from the Latin words carn-caro levare, meaning "removal of flesh") is a Christian festival that embodies many traditions that originated with the ancient Greeks and Romans -- relating to their gods and religious festivals honoring spring fertility rites. In the early Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was unable to abolish all of these ancient traditions after converting pagan tribes to Christianity. The Church was forced to adapt many ancient feasts and festivals, originally celebrated in honor of pagan gods, to Christian beliefs. Today, revelers on parade floats still don the regalia of the Greek god of wine, Bacchus, during Mardi Gras celebrations.
While New Orleans is a city of mystery and excitement year round, it really comes to life during Mardi Gras season! On Fat Tuesday, walking around the French Quarter and seeing all of the costumes and masks is a unique and thrilling experience!
Much of the Mardi Gras spirit has to do with food. This is not the time to watch your diet or worry about your waist, as traditional foods served in this season are often rich and oily. From the deep-fried seafood to the spicy stuffed jalapeños, the celebration is a time to enjoy the food as well as the partying.
It's a time for family, frivolity, cultural appreciation and/or partying with blissful disregard for its consequences. Logistically, it is a potential nightmare. Streets are overtaken by pedestrians and parades, turning what would normally be painless voyages into games of navigational chess.
Mardi Gras is one big holiday in New Orleans! Everyone is wearing the official Mardi Gras colors (purple, green, and gold) and are adorned with long beads caught from the beautiful floats. They sit on the ground throwing balls, playing music, having a picnic and watching the crowds walk by between parades. It is full of excitement. All of the businesses and roads are practically shut down -- people are walking everywhere and meeting new friends. People are dressed in crazy costumes, kids are everywhere and there is an overall merriment throughout the city.
While Mardi Gras has always served as a forum for expressing sexual fantasies, the flesh-for-beads show is a relatively recent phenomenon. It was started by locals, perhaps going back as far as 1975. Beads weren't sold in the French Quarter emporiums then, so it was generally only locals who knew where to procure them. And it was locals, no doubt including striptease dancers employed on Bourbon Street, who had access to what were then, private balconies. Although, bars with public balconies on Bourbon Street only came into existence in the early 1980s. Mardi Gras is indeed, a celebration like no other! Mark Twain is quoted as saying "Mardi Gras is a thing that could hardly exist in the practical North....For the soul of it is the romantic, not the funny and the grotesque. Take away the romantic mysteries, the kings and knights and big-sounding titles, and Mardi Gras would die, down there in the South." It has also been said, that New Orleans is the most haunted city in America. And there is no doubt among locals, that it would not be uncommon to catch a glimpse of a ghost or two, among the crowd at Mardi Gras. Because, after all, no one ever really wants to leave New Orleans. Not even those now residing in the spirit world....
The city has a few haunted secrets that few outsiders have come to know. If you have an interest in the paranormal and you’re planning to attend Mardi Gras on February 5th in New Orleans this year, you may want to learn about some of the ghostly traditions surrounding the city and the event.
A resident by the name of Jacob Stein who lives on St. Charles upper Garden District area, relates a tale that in 2005 he was standing with friends watching a parade pass. "As the parade finished we all began to leave the neutral ground, (a large Median) only to witness a spectral parade float pass before them. We could see right through the massive beautifully decorated Mardi Gras Float", Stein says. "It was very well decorated and looked like no float I have ever seen in any parade in modern New Orleans times. It shook and moved like an old rickety wagon was underneath it! The Ghost Float apparition just vanished before our eyes as we stood their stunned."
Carol Seymour, a long time Uptown resident and now a Hurricane Katrina Texas transplant, relates that on January 6th in 1997 she and her husband witnessed a ghostly parade at or around midnight. The floats were truly glorious she says as they passed us by. The Ghost riders just stood there frozen like mannequins but I knew they were ghost! 3- 4 Ghost Floats passed us by then it was over. This Parade of spirits was the most strangest and beautiful parades I had ever seen!" Says Seymour. "But it was not of this world! As far as I know no ones ever sees a Mardi Gras Float until the first parade of the season and these floats, as far as I could tell, were definitely from beyond the grave!"
A story told many years ago was from a rider in a Parade. The Rider, M. Ebbs, reports that a friend of his (who was supposed to ride in a parade with him) had passed away two days before the actual parade took place. "As the Parade began to roll I looked over and there he was standing next to me big as life throwing beads!"
Mardi Gras ghost? Real or just too many spirits from the celebrations? Visit new Orleans and find out for yourself! It's an experience you'll never forget! And if you are fortunate enough to attend, remember: Let the good times roll!
Nicole Trivette
aka "lil_Queenie"
-------------------
Recipes submitted by grocerygetter from HOGWILD
http://hogwild.proboards102.com/index.cgi
Light Brown Cajun Roux
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup flour
In a black iron pot or skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat to approximately 300 degrees F. Using a wooden roux spoon, slowly add the flour, stirring constantly until the roux is peanut butter in color, approximately two minutes. This roux is normally used to thicken vegetable dishes such as corn maque choux (shrimp, corn and tomato stew) or butter beans with ham. If using this roux to thicken an etouffee, it will thicken approximately two quarts of liquid. If used to thicken seafood gumbo, it will thicken approximately two and a half quarts of stock.
---------------
Dark Brown Cajun Roux
1 cup oil
1/2 cup flour
Proceed as you would in the light brown Cajun roux recipe but continue cooking until the roux is the color of a light caramel. This roux should almost be twice as dark as the light brown roux but not as dark as chocolate. You should remember that the darker the roux gets, the less thickening power it holds and the roux tends to become bitter. This roux is used most often in sauce piquantes, crawfish bisques and gumbos. However, it is perfectly normal to use the dark brown roux in any dish in Cajun cooking.
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Chicken Jambalaya
1 4 to 5 lb. hen cut into serving pieces
2 tsp. granulated garlic
3 cups long grain rice-uncooked
1/2 cup green onions-chopped
1 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup bell peppers-chopped
3 cups onion-chopped fine
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 tsp. salt (or salt to taste)
2 1/2 tsp. Louisiana hot sauce
Fry chicken in cooking oil until dark brown. Remove cooking oil leaving just enough to cover the bottom of pot. Add onions and cook with chicken until onions are dark brown. Add about 1/2 cup of water and then add bell peppers and green onions. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add about 5 cups of water and remaining seasoning. Then bring water to a rolling boil. Add rice and stir. Let rice and water boil until water thickens and turn rice over once. Do not stir as this will break up the rice. Cover with tight fitting lid and let simmer on a low fire for about 10 more minutes. Turn (as in fold) one more time and let set for about 10 more minutes and then your jambalaya is ready to eat.
---------------
Seafood Gumbo
Seafood gumbo! It ain't a recipe, it's dozens, if not hundreds of recipes. There are so many different ways to make this dish and it is made in so many different ways by so many Louisiana cooks and chefs, that it's almost futile to list one recipe here. I'm going to list a few, but please by no means think these are definitive. They're good gumbos and good places to start off. As you learn more about Creole cuisine, feel free to experiment with different combinations of seafood, roux or no roux, filé or no filé, okra or no okra, tomatoes or no tomatoes (I don't like tomatoes in my gumbo, me ... but lots of Louisianians do). Just remember ... you CANNOT have a good seafood gumbo without a good seafood stock. Don't use water and don't use bottled clam juice.
Remember to use a non-reactive (non-cast iron) pot for any gumbo (or any dish, for that matter) that includes okra or tomatoes, as they will discolor.
These recipes can be cut in half if you don't want to feed an army.
Do NOT under any circumstances use imitation crabmeat or surimi in any crab gumbo dishes. If you tried that in Louisiana, you'd be shot on sight. If you try it elsewhere ... I'll know. And I'll come into your dreams and haunt you and you'll be slowly devoured by dull-toothed alligators.
This gumbo uses a very small amount of roux, so that it remains light. You may omit the okra if you like, and thicken the gumbo with filé powder instead -- it'll still be good, but will have a quite different flavor.
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup flour
2 medium onions, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
3 ribs celery, finely diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 tomatoes (or 8 Roma tomatoes), seeded and diced (if you like tomatoes in your gumbo)
1 cup tomato purée (see above)
2 pounds okra, chopped
4 quarts shrimp stock, crab stock or fish stock
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning blend
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 dozen oysters, freshly shucked, liquor reserved
4 blue crabs, cleaned (optional)
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
1 tablespoon filé powder (if okra isn't used)
8 cups cooked long-grain white rice
In a large, heavy pot heat the oil and add the flour. Stir constantly until a light brown roux is formed, then add the onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Sauté until the onions become translucent and the vegetables are tender. Add the tomatoes and tomato purée, if you wish and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. (I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm not one of those people who likes tomatoes in my gumbo, but lots of people do. Your mileage may vary.)
Add the seasonings, and about 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and continue to cook another 10 minutes. Add the okra, and cook for another 10 minutes, then add the stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook another 30 minutes.
If you wish a more rustic gumbo, you may add whole blue crabs. Remove the hard top shell from the crabs - reserving for stuffed crabs or for shellfish stock and break each crab in two down the middle. Remove the claws. Add to the stock.
With the gumbo on very low heat, add the shrimp 10 minutes before serving, the oysters and oyster liquor 5 minutes before serving, and the crabmeat just before serving (don't cook the crabmeat, just stir until it is heated through.) Taste and correct seasonings.
If you don't like okra, or if you just prefer to make a filé gumbo, remove from heat and sprinkle the filé powder on the surface of the gumbo, then cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Then uncover and stir to mix. Be careful if there are leftovers -- filé doesn't reheat all that well, and you must be careful to reheat gently. If the gumbo comes back to a boil after the filé has been added, it will get stringy.
Place about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of rice in each bowl and ladle the gumbo over and around it. Serve with plenty of french bread and good beer or white wine.
YIELD: About 10-12 entrée servings or 20-24 appetizer servings (omit hard shell crabs if serving cups of gumbo as an appetizer).
1 4 to 5 lb. hen cut into serving pieces
2 tsp. granulated garlic
3 cups long grain rice-uncooked
1/2 cup green onions-chopped
1 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup bell peppers-chopped
3 cups onion-chopped fine
1/2 tsp. black pepper
3 tsp. salt (or salt to taste)
2 1/2 tsp. Louisiana hot sauce
Fry chicken in cooking oil until dark brown. Remove cooking oil leaving just enough to cover the bottom of pot. Add onions and cook with chicken until onions are dark brown. Add about 1/2 cup of water and then add bell peppers and green onions. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Add about 5 cups of water and remaining seasoning. Then bring water to a rolling boil. Add rice and stir. Let rice and water boil until water thickens and turn rice over once. Do not stir as this will break up the rice. Cover with tight fitting lid and let simmer on a low fire for about 10 more minutes. Turn (as in fold) one more time and let set for about 10 more minutes and then your jambalaya is ready to eat.
---------------
Sauce Piquant
2 - 3 lbs. alligator meat, OR (turtle meat or rabbit or froglegs or pork or squirrel or raccoon or any good game meat -- or shrimp or chicken will work nicely as well)
3 onions
3 bell peppers
5 ribs celery
3 - 5 cloves garlic (or one head Creole hot garlic)
2 fresh mild green chiles (Anaheim or New Mexico)
1 - 2 jalapeno or serrano or habanero chiles (optional)
Oil for sauteing
3 tablespoons oil (for the roux)
3 tablespoons flour (for the roux)
1 can crushed tomatoes and 2 cans Ro-tel tomatoes (if unavailable, use regular stewed tomatoes and add more hot chiles)
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 to 1 1/2 cups stock or broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, OR
1-1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves
1-1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, OR
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt to taste
If you have alligator or turtle (or whatever) bones, boil them with a quartered carrot, quartered onion, celery with tops and some peppercorns to make a stock. Skim off fat if any and reserve 1 to 1-1/2 cups. Or, you can use a prepared or canned beef or chicken broth, but whatever you do, don't just use plain water.
Dice or cube the meat, then saute in a little oil until browned.
Chop and saute one of the onions and one of the bell peppers, and saute until tender. Pure these in a blender and set aside.
Saute the remaining onion and bell pepper with the chiles, celery and garlic.
Make a medium, peanut-butter colored roux with the oil and flour, adding a little more oil or flour until you have the right consistency. Add the roux to the sauted vegetables to stop the cooking process, and stir well. Make sure the roux does not stick to the bottom of the pot.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire to the sauteed vegetables. Add the onion/bell pepper pure and stir. Season with the Creole seasoning and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, making sure it doesn't stick.
Add the meat, rosemary and thyme and cook for 30 minutes on low heat, stirring frequently to avoid sticking. If you're using shrimp or seafood, cook for 20 minutes, then add shrimp for the last 10 minutes and cook.
-----------------
Southern Sweet Potato Casserole
Makes: 10 servings
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 0 minutes
Ready In: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Ingredients:
3 cans sweet potato 29 oz (drained and mashed) 1 1/2 cup sugar
1 stick melted margarine 4 eggs well beaten
2 tbsp vanilla Casserole Topping
1 1/2 cup brown sugar 2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup flour 1 1/2 stick margarine melted
2 1/2 cup pecans coarsely chopped
Directions:
In a large glass bowl combine the sweet potatoes, sugar, margarine, eggs and vanilla. Spread evenly into a large casserole dish.
Casserole Topping: Mix the brown sugar, milk, flour, margarine and pecans in a glass bowl. Slowly pour the mixture over the sweet potato mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until the topping is set as a pecan pie would be.
---------------
Jambalaya from Louisiana's Mayor John A. Berthelot
"ALMOST WORLD FAMOUS JAMBALAYA RECIPE"
Combination Jambalaya
(10) Quart Black Pot)
3 lbs. Cubed Pork(1/2 inch cubes)
4 Celery Stalks – Chopped fine
3 lbs. Smoked Sausage
1/2 Bell Pepper – Chopped fine
3 lbs. Boneless Chicken
5 Teaspoons Black Pepper
½ cup of cooking oil
3 Teaspoons Louisiana Hot Sauce
2 Teaspoons Granulated Garlic
Salt to Taste –make sure it tastes salty
1 Bunch of Green Onions ( chop and separate green tops from white bottoms)
3 lbs of long grain rice
12 Cups of Water
3 lbs of Large Onions (chopped fine)
I marinate my pork with salt, pepper, and garlic, and Lea and Perrins the morning I cook – This step is not necessary, but I like to do it.
I marinate the chicken with LA Hot Sauce, salt, pepper & garlic. Fry cut up sausage in cooking oil until brown. Remove sausage. Fry pork and when pork begins to brown add chicken and cook to golden brown. Remove meat and add onions (NOT green onions)
Cook until dark brown and add all meat.
Add ½ cup of water and bell peppers, celery, and green onion bottoms only. Saute for 10-12 minutes or until caramelized. Add 12 cups of water and all seasoning. Remember: make it salty because the rice will absorb the salt. Add additional seasoning if you think it needs it – I usually do.
Bring to a bubbling boil – cut off- YES cut off fire and let it sit for 20-30 minutes. All excess oil will come to the top – skim off excess oil. Turn fire back on and bring to a boil again. Add rice and stir until mixture becomes thick making sure you have liquid remaining. Cover with a tight lid and let cook on a, low, low fire for 7 minutes. Uncover and use the back of spoon all around pot to bleed liquid down. Cover again-cook another 7 minutes.
Turn over rice and add green onion tops – Don’t stir again. Cover and do this again in 7 minutes. When all liquid is gone turn as in fold your complete pot of jambalaya. Cover -7 more minutes- Should be cooked – I hope!
Feeds 20 hungry people.
---------------
Oven baked Jambalaya - submitted by Janet - Jacksonville, FL
A sixteen-serving batch of Creole classic! Chicken, ham, shrimp, and andouille sausage are combined with onion celery, green pepper and garlic. Tomatoes, chicken stock and rice are stirred in, and the whole thing is baked in a large roasting pan.
Prep Time: 45m
Cook Time: 2h
Ready in: 2h 45m
Yield: 16 servings
Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter 1 large onion, diced 1 large green bell pepper, chopped 4 stalks celery, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste 3 tablespoons Creole Seasoning Blend4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes 7 cups chicken stock 3 cups chopped cooked ham 3 cups cooked andouille sausage, sliced 3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces 3 cups frozen cooked shrimp 4 cups uncooked long-grain white rice Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). - Melt butter in large stock pot. Saute onion, green pepper, celery and garlic until tender, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add tomato paste and cook to brown slightly, stirring constantly. Stir in Creole seasoning blend and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into a large roasting pan. Squeeze tomatoes to break up into pieces, and add to mixture in pan. Stir in juice from tomatoes, chicken stock, ham, sausage, chicken, shrimp and rice. Mix well. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours, stirring once halfway through baking time.
---------------
A few more southern recipes from Janet
Chicken and Dumplings
Cook: 8 to 10 hours (low), 4 to 5 hours (high); plus 25 minutes
Directions 1. For stew, in a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker combine the carrots, potatoes, parsnips, garlic, bay leaves, sage, the 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Place the chicken on top of the vegetables. In a medium bowl gradually whisk broth into soup. Pour broth mixture over the chicken. 2. Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. 3. If using low-heat setting, turn slow cooker to high-heat setting. With a wooden spoon, stir stew. Remove bay leaves; discard. In a small bowl combine water and cornstarch; stir into stew until combined. 4. For dumplings, in a medium mixing bowl combine flour, cheese, cornmeal, baking powder, and the 1/4 teaspoon salt. In a small bowl combine egg, milk, and melted butter. Add egg mixture to flour mixture. Stir with a fork until moistened. Use 2 spoons to drop dough directly on top of stew. 5. Cover; cook for 25 to 30 minutes more or until a toothpick inserted into a dumpling comes out clean. (Do not lift cover during cooking.) Makes 8 servings.
---------------
Fireside Beef Stew
1-1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck pot roast Directions
1. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into 1-inch pieces. Place meat in a 3-1/2- to 4-1/2-quart slow cooker. Add squash, onions, and garlic. Stir in beef broth, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, dry mustard, pepper, and allspice. 2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 8 to 10 hours or on high-heat setting for 4 to 5 hours. 3. If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting. In a small bowl, combine cold water and cornstarch. Stir cornstarch mixture and green beans into mixture in slow cooker. Cover and cook about 15 minutes more or until thickened. Makes 6 (1-1/3 cup) servings. --------------- Potato Soup
5 cups peeled potatoes
5 cups water 2 cups chopped onion 1 cup of celery 1 cup carrots 1/4 cup butter 1/2 cup of bacon bits or fry 6 slices of bacon and crumble in soup 3 tablespoons of parsley 1/4 tsp pepper 2 tsps salt 1 can 12 oz evaporated milk
Cover and cook till vegetables are tender then add bacon bits,parsley and milk mix well cover and cook 25 to 30 mins on med heat keep stirring don't let it boil.
---------------- Back Strap Recipe - submitted by parkj5 of HOGWILDhttp://www.hogwild.proboards102.com I always wash my backstrap in the sink at least 3 times, then fill sink up with water and add a nice dash of vineger. Let meat sit in vineger for 15 minutes. Wash again 2 times. I season meat with Tony's Creole and onion powder, garlic powder and crushed black pepper. Next I place in bowl and add 6 cap fulls of Dale's Steak and Poultry Marinade. Mix meat with hands, cover and place in fridge over night. Next day I wrap each piece with half a piece of peppered bacon and place on hot grill for 8 minutes each side. I do add tooth picks to hold bacon on meat.
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