Archive for the Category » Main Dishes «
12
Jan 2015
Jan 2015
I’m a big fan of spaghetti squash but I don’t like it as a low-carb, pasta substitute—which is how it’s typically marketed this time of year. When I crave foods like Meatballs and Spaghetti, I want to have traditional Meatballs and Spaghetti—beefy meatballs simmered in a rich red gravy and served over some sort of “enriched macaroni product” like angel hair or thin spaghetti. Same for dishes like Baked Macaroni or Fettuccine Alfredo. I can’t and won’t do the swap out thing just to save a few calories or reduce my carb intake. Doing so will leave me cranky and [ ... ]
24
Dec 2014
Dec 2014
As I’ve mentioned in posts past, our Christmas dinners are basically encore presentations of Thanksgiving where turkey takes center stage, a sweet and savory glazed ham fills the supporting role and the always reliable cast and crew of traditional trimmings and seasonal sweets backs up the meal. But for some, including many of my friends, nothing says “special holiday dinner” more than a show-stopping cut of beef like a rack of prime rib.
I’ve prepared many a prime rib roast (also known as a standing rib roast) in my day. Next to boiled crawfish, it is the [ ... ]
25
Nov 2014
Nov 2014
The Louisiana oyster season just recently began and already I've had more luscious Louisiana bivalves than I did during the entire season last year. That's a wonderful thing. My mass consumption has been due in large part to a mini sack the hubby and I had shipped up a couple of weeks back. Those 100 or so plump and briny beauties made for a pretty serious R&D session in my kitchen. Over the course of two days, I researched and developed fun new flavor combinations for slurping and shooting raw oysters and created several exciting new [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Oysters, Pork, Seafood
Tags: Oysters, Seafood Comments off
17
Nov 2014
Nov 2014
Larry and I have been deep frying turkeys for as long as we’ve been together and we take great pride in sharing this family tradition with others. Over the past 19 years, we’ve converted many of our Atlanta friends (who hail from all different parts of the country) from roast turkey to fried. And we delight in the fact that several have mastered this Cajun custom and adopted it as their own. The process is not complicated, but it can be risky if you don’t plan ahead and take the necessary precautions. Unfortunately, most of what [ ... ]
Category: Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Thanksgiving, Turkey
Tags: New Orleans Classics, Thanksgiving 2 Comments
07
Nov 2014
Nov 2014
Growing up, one of my favorite poor boys was a four napkin roast beef and Swiss dressed. Four napkins, because that’s what it took to wipe the gravy trails from my forearms. Dressed, because in my world a poor boy is not a poor boy without a generous slather of mayo and layers of crisp shredded iceberg lettuce and thinly sliced tomatoes and dill pickles I’m not a hundred percent sure when and where the Swiss cheese came into play, as the roast beef-Swiss combo is not a New Orleans standard. But I think Papa, my [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Beef, Finger Food Fridays, Main Dishes, Po-Boys, Poor Boys, Snacks
Tags: Appetizers, Beef, Finger Food Fridays One Comment
02
Nov 2014
Nov 2014
This roast pork loin has Sunday supper written all over it. It’s one of those recipes that starts with a few everyday ingredients (well at least in my kitchen)—pork, rice and andouille sausage—and ends with a slight sense of occasion. What makes it Sunday supper worthy is the fact that the ever-appealing andouille rice is rolled into the pork. When the two cook together, the juice from the pork infuses the rice with an additional layer of flavor while the andouille and veggies in the rice keep the pork moist and amp up every bite. Roasting [ ... ]
22
Oct 2014
Oct 2014
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 [ ... ]
11
Oct 2014
Oct 2014
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
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30
Sep 2014
Sep 2014
We just returned from our annual Destin trip. We’re so thankful our kids have Fall Break, because otherwise we would not have been able to fit that vacation in this year. And this momma needs her beach time and everything that accompanies it–sun-soaked, lazy days, powdery sand, emerald green waters, fresh Gulf seafood (lots and lots of fresh seafood), cold craft beer, the occasional rum-spiked something or other and a happy hubby and children. In case you’re wondering, September is an awesome time to visit the Florida Gulf Coast. Yes, there are the occasional hurricanes to [ ... ]
17
Sep 2014
Sep 2014
After posting my Boiled Shrimp recipe, one of my devoted readers reached out to me via Twitter asking me to please share my Fried Shrimp secrets with her. I’m so glad she did because I thought I had already posted this one. My Fried Shrimp recipe really should have been one of my initial postings considering most NOLA babies cut their teeth on them–a popular Friday night dinner, local kid’s menu and weekly school lunch item. Finally, here it is.
As I’ve written about before, I believe different types of seafood need different batters to not only enhance [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Poor Boys, Seafood, Shrimp
One Comment
