In the current edition of New Orleans Magazine, Dale Curry writes about “Daily Devotion[s],” those local classics that make their way onto restaurant chalk boards and family dinner tables week after week. I giggled as I read through her list, because five out of the seven dishes she mentioned were constants with my family. Like many New Orleanians, we always started the week with Red Beans and Rice usually had Meatballs and Spaghetti (or some other red gravy-based dish) on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, paneed something or other after that, [ ... ]
Archive for the Category »Main Dishes «
09
May 2012
May 2012
In the current edition of New Orleans Magazine, Dale Curry writes about “Daily Devotion[s],” those local classics that make their way onto restaurant chalk boards and family dinner tables week after week. I giggled as I read through her list, because five out of the seven dishes she mentioned were constants with my family. Like many New Orleanians, we always started the week with Red Beans and Rice usually had Meatballs and Spaghetti (or some other red gravy-based dish) on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, paneed something or other after that, [ ... ]
Category: Chicken, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics
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04
May 2012
May 2012
Have you all missed me? I’ve certainly missed you. The pass few weeks have been challenging. First there were all those renovations which, by the way, are not completely done but far enough along to bring some level of normalcy back to the Hogan residence. From there, I found myself ushering repairmen and furniture deliverers out and weekend company in for a 50th Anniversary party I was hosting for my wonderful in-laws. Then my dearest grandmother, my last living grandparent and the matriarch of our family passed away. So I dropped everything and abandoned my house guests to fly [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Beef, Christmas, Finger Food Fridays, Main Dishes, Po-Boys
Tags: Appetizers, Beef Stock, Finger Food Fridays, Po-Boy Leave a Comment
19
Apr 2012
Apr 2012
New Orleans is a soup-loving city. We ladle it up year-round regardless of how oppressively hot and humid some days (most days) get. Soup is an important part of our “bowl cuisine” or “bowl culture,” which also includes gumbo, etouffee, stew, beans, and even jambalaya. Whether we’re flaunting a specific ingredient, looking to stretch the food we have on hand or needing to feed plenty of people, we turn to our bowl cuisine. It’s familiar and soul-satisfying.
I was in need of some “bowl love” this week with all the out-of-control house renovations I’m dealing with. [ ... ]
06
Apr 2012
Apr 2012
Back in November, I shared with you my Blackened Shrimp recipe which included a quick inside blackening process using an electric griddle or grill pan. While that technique is fine for cooking small batches of shrimp, I don’t recommend it for blackening big fillets of fish. In order to cook blackened fish properly, it needs to be done outside in a cast-iron skillet over very high heat. Cooking the fish indoors under these conditions could cause a fire hazard (the melted butter meets blazing hot skillet equation) or severe “spice inhalation” (the inability to breathe due to mass quantities of [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Fish, Main Dishes, Sauces, Seafood
Tags: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Fish, Sauces, Seafood Leave a Comment
27
Mar 2012
Mar 2012
Growing up, Easter dinner always revolved around my mom’s perfectly baked Chisesi’s ham. (Chisesi’s Pride makes some of the finest smoked meats in New Orleans.) She bathe it in a sweet and savory mixture of brown sugar, coca-cola and yellow mustard. Then she studded the top with canned pineapple rings and marashino cherries. It was and still is one of the best baked hams I’ve ever tasted. Unfortunately, we can’t get Chisesi hams here in Atlanta (although the company recently expanded and is looking to make their fine pork products available nationwide–yay!). Even worse, I won’t be able to [ ... ]
21
Mar 2012
Mar 2012
So you’re probably looking at my picture wondering why the heck I calls these things Codfish Balls when they’re actually more of a cake or a patty. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure. All I know is my family and many other New Orleans families refer to these homey pan-fried potato and fish things the same way. It is what it is and I’m not about to shake up the family dynamic by changing the name to fit some textbook or cookbook definition. Now, on to the good stuff!
Codfish Balls have always been my favorite [ ... ]
13
Mar 2012
Mar 2012
I wanted to let you all know that last week I was invited to do a guest post on my friend Shea’s blog, Dixie Chik Cooks. Shea is “a Southern Belle” (Birmingham to be exact) “who thinks about what’s for dinner while eating lunch.” Sounds like a native New Orleanian, doesn’t she? I’d love for you to hop on over to her site and check out my recipe for Chicken Sauce Piquant. Once there, I hope you’ll stay awhile and get to know Shea through all her wonderful stories and recipes. Happy Tuesday!
Genêt
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Category: Chicken, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics
Tags: Chicken, New Orleans Cooking, Rice 2 Comments
08
Mar 2012
Mar 2012
I consider Dirty Rice to be one of several endangered New Orleans family dishes. Poppy Tooker, local food personality, culinary teacher and author, uses that term to describe South Louisiana foods and food traditions on the brink of extinction. We both agree that to prevent those culinary treasures from being lost or forgotten, we need to continue to cook, eat, share and, in some cases grow, them. This week, I did my part by preparing this incredibly aromatic and homey rice dish.
Dirty Rice is similar to Rice Dressing. The main difference is Dirty Rice calls for ground pork along with [ ... ]
29
Feb 2012
Feb 2012
I spent much of my preteen years hanging out with (borderline pestering) my dear neighbors, the Broussards. They were the parents of two young children and I was an aspiring babysitter. For those two reasons and many others, our relationship flourished. Under their roof, I learned to successfully change cloth diapers (Remember those?), spoon-feed a starving baby, negotiate nap times and navigate the terrible twos. I also learned to crochet, make homemade mashed potatoes in the microwave and roll brocioloni. I was fortunate to have a second family to love and help guide me during [ ... ]
Category: Beef, Main Dishes
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14
Feb 2012
Feb 2012
I’m sharing a special love letter with you on this Valentine’s Day. This is not your typical mushy, make-you-blush kind of letter. No, the love letter I’m posting for all the world to see is actually my great-grandmother’s recipe for Turtle Soup as written by her son, my grandfather. I cherish this piece of paper like I would a love letter because it captures not only a special family recipe but a part of my Grandma Kirn who, more than anything, loved to feed us. It’s also the only item I have in my possession with [ ... ]
Category: Christmas, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Seafood, Soups, Stock
Tags: New Orleans Classics, Seafood, Seafood Stock Leave a Comment
