Archive for » October, 2014 «

Cajun Black Bean Soup

Whenever I’m home, I always make time to visit one of my favorite grocery stores to stock up on local staples. It’s a guilty pleasure of mine to sneak away from the family and traipse down the aisles collecting food stuff I can’t find in Atlanta and discovering new homegrown goodies. When we stay with my in-laws in Kenner, my typical stops are Dorignac’s, Zuppardo’s and Langenstein’s. These are the old guards of family-owned, neighborhood grocery stores. Crossing the threshold of one of these well-respected establishments is like stepping back in time. The aisles are [ ... ]
Category: Main Dishes, Pork  Tags: , ,  4 Comments

Creamy Chicken and Andouille Fettuccine

It all started with chicken and andouille sausage. That dynamic duo that saves many a day in this hectic household. Then there were the unused portions of a couple of sweet peppers, an already-opened carton of heavy cream and an obnoxious amount of late-blooming jalapeños. With a limited amount of time on my hands and just enough determination to pull together a reasonable meal, Creamy Chicken and Andouille Fettuccine was created. It’s a satisfyingly simple and slightly spicy pasta dish that appeals to all the Hogan palates. It’s also a prime example of how the [ ... ]
Category: Chicken, Main Dishes, Pasta, Pork  Comments off

Grilled Potato Salad with Onions and Jalapeños

Here’s the recipe for the potato salad I made last week to go along with my Grilled Skillet Steak. The potatoes, like the steak, are cooked twice. They are first parboiled then grilled making this side dish just as flavorful and exciting as the main. If you plan on serving the two together like I did, put the potatoes on to boil right before you throw the steaks on the grill. After you remove the steaks from the grill, place a grill pan next to the preheated cast iron skillet and finish both the steaks and the potato medley at [ ... ]
Category: Salad, Side Dishes, Vegetables  Tags: ,  Comments off

Finger Food Friday: Garlic Dip

Garlic dip in its simplest form is a block of cream cheese and garlic. As much fresh garlic as you can stand. Back in the early 1970s, when I first mixed those two ingredients together, I knew I had found a finger food for life. I could devour an entire bowl of that dip in one sitting with the help of nothing more than a bag of chips. Or was it a tin of Charles Chips? Oh, and on those occasions when there were no chips to be found, a sleeve of saltine crackers worked [ ... ]