Mardi Gras Celebrations
Tuesday is Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, and we have a few suggestions to help you make a Cajun or Creole style celebration.
Emeril’s Jambalaya with Chicken, Shrimp, Andouille, and Ham, no tomatoes. Read more
Jambalaya with Shrimp, Chicken, Andouille, and Ham and a Giveaway
January 19, 2009 by Andrea
Filed under Main Course, Pork, Seafood
I don’t have any Creole or Cajun relatives (that I know of), so for authentic recipes I turn to some of my favorite cookbooks. Emeril calls this particular recipe his “Clean Out the Ice Box and Freezer” Jambalaya, my kind of food, particularly now because after the holidays and fall harvest we have a freezer stuffed full of…stuff. After going through it a week ago we renewed our commitment to using up some of the stash and cleaning it out over the next month, which will of course make room for more stuff. The cycle never ends.
The recipe is pretty straight forward, but I made a few modifications as a I went. First of all, I couldn’t believe it had no celery and I added some anyway. The recipe calls for a mix of dark and white meat, but since Michael doesn’t care for dark meat I used only white meat. I also used brown rice instead of white rice and reduced the oil to 1/3 cup. Not much of a difference in the amount of oil, I know, but I think the recipe turned out just fine. And because this was dinner for all of us, I cut back on the cayenne so the boys could enjoy it too. Michael made up for the lack of heat by pouring some hot sauce onto his servings.
This is an easy dish to prepare, and it’s practically a meal in a pot. Add a green salad or other green vegetable and you are set. Read more
Mardi Gras Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Bourbon and Pecans
Mardi Gras king cakes make a festive centerpiece for any Mardi Gras celebration. The traditional cake is made from a soft yeast dough that is risen, rolled, and often filled with cream cheese, fruit, or a pecan praline mixture. Many people have fun celebrating Mardi Gras, even if they don’t go to New Orleans, but I’ve heard friends say that they want a cake that is easier to make. After mulling the idea for a bit I decided that I would make both a traditional rolled king cake and a simple pound cake and decorate both in the traditional Mardi Gras colors to show that a festive Mardi Gras cake can be easier to make. I knew that I wanted to have pecans in the cake in some way, perhaps like a streusel, so off I went in search of the perfect pound cake with pecans for my Mardi Gras cake. I stopped searching when I found this recipe from Southern Living.
The cream cheese makes the texture moist and rich, and the bourbon adds just a touch of flavor that makes it feel a little more decadent without being obvious. Actually I was worried about the bourbon since I don’t care for the flavor by itself, but once I had a taste of the batter, I felt we had a winner. Bourbon has a strong taste, but once mixed in with the rest of the ingredients, the strong flavor disappears and leaves behind a perfume that works nicely. To top it off, I added a simple cream cheese glaze and the Mardi Gras colored sugars. Read more
Empty the Freezer Gumbo
February 19, 2007 by Andrea
Filed under Poultry, Soups & Stews
Our big plan to initiate the chocolate fondue pot this weekend was OBE. This was also the weekend before Mardi Gras and normally I make a King Cake, but that, too, died on the vine. We just have too much going on preparing for the move, which is only 10 days away, and some things have to give. We needed some down time, so we decided to relax and take care of a few things around the house. However, we couldn’t let Mardi Gras slide by without some sort of celebration, so we made a gumbo that used up some more stuff from the freezer.
I haven’t eaten much spicy food in the last year. Anything spicy made me miserable when I was pregnant and now it makes our baby miserable, so we went very easy on the spices and made a mild gumbo that I could safely enjoy, and then Michael doused his bowl with hot sauce. However, I’ve listed the full amount of spices in the recipe.
Read more
Mardi Gras King Cake (the recipe)
King cakes are a traditional Mardi Gras dessert, and according to legend the royal colors of purple, green and gold on the cake honor the three kings who visited the Christ child on Epiphany. But King Cakes can be made year-round for many festive occasions, such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, weddings, birthdays, etc, just choose the colors of icing and sugars to match the occasion. There are many possibilities for fillings. You can crumble your favorite candy bars or mix your own concoction with various ingredients such as cream cheese, fruits, cinnamon, chocolate chips, pecans, Nutella. Read more
Jambalaya
January 10, 2006 by Andrea
Filed under Main Course, Pork, Poultry, Seafood, Soups & Stews
When I first made this a few years ago, my husband had recently been to New Orleans, and said this tasted almost exactly like the great jambalaya he had on his trip. We make this jambalaya a few times a year, changing it up a little each time depending on what we have on hand. This makes great leftovers, and we usually freeze a couple containers of this, just thaw it out overnight in the frig for a quick weeknight meal or lunch.
[Updated December 29, 2009.]
JAMBALAYA
Adapted from Food Network.
Makes about 5 quarts.
Equipment
rice cooker (or you can cook it on the stove)
sharp knife
6 quart pot Read more
