For those of you who have bid “farewell to the flesh” for the next 40 days (or at least for the remaining Fridays between now and Easter Sunday), this dish is for you. It is my annual creation added to an ever-growing list of meatless meals I prepare during the Season of Lent. Abstaining from meat has never been a huge lesson in self-denial for me or my family. In New Orleans, where fresh seafood is abundant, it would be a stretch to consider codfish balls, fried shrimp poor boys, all-you-can-eat fried catfish, seafood gumbo, crawfish etouffee, boiled crawfish and, [ ... ]
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21
Feb 2013
Feb 2013
For those of you who have bid “farewell to the flesh” for the next 40 days (or at least for the remaining Fridays between now and Easter Sunday), this dish is for you. It is my annual creation added to an ever-growing list of meatless meals I prepare during the Season of Lent. Abstaining from meat has never been a huge lesson in self-denial for me or my family. In New Orleans, where fresh seafood is abundant, it would be a stretch to consider codfish balls, fried shrimp poor boys, all-you-can-eat fried catfish, seafood gumbo, crawfish etouffee, boiled crawfish and, [ ... ]
Category: Crab, Crawfish, Main Dishes, Oysters, Pasta, Roux, Sauces, Seafood, Shrimp
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10
Jan 2013
Jan 2013
The hubby and I never go out for Italian, even though our friends rave about a couple of Italian restaurants right here in our neighborhood. I don’t doubt their word. It’s just that I’m used to New Orleans Italian cooking. Creole-Italian. And, unfortunately, that kind of unique Italian fare doesn’t exist here in Woodstock, Georgia. You see back home these great establishments, whether serving up Northern Italian, Tuscan or Sicilian food, all have a New Orleans spin. For the most part, their menus read like they would in other parts of the country. [ ... ]
25
Jul 2012
Jul 2012
Okay guys, this Italian Chicken recipe is an oldie but a goodie! It’s a very nostalgic dish that brings me back to when I first moved out on my own. Although I was excited to have my own place, I was not prepared for all the alone time that came with it. Having grown up with two siblings in a neighborhood full of kids with my grandparents literally around the corner and plenty of aunts, uncles and cousins within half a mile, I was used to a full house with people always coming and going. My [ ... ]
Category: Chicken, Main Dishes, Pasta
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18
Jul 2012
Jul 2012
I remember the first time Chandler, my oldest, had fast food. It was a McDonald’s French fry, delightfully handed to her by the hubby who was driving the family back to Atlanta from one of our many trips home. Chandler was maybe four at the time. As she lifted that deep fried salt stick to her lips, I recall quietly praying she’d spit out the first bite and throw the rest across the car in total disgust. I wasn’t ready for my real-food-loving, avocado-hugging daughter to succomb to the evils of fast, processed imposters. But as I expected, she L-O-V-E-D [ ... ]
03
Jul 2012
Jul 2012
If you’re heading to a potluck this Fourth of July or at any time this summer, break away from boring with my Muffuletta Pasta Salad. In this recipe, I’ve taken the full flavors of the iconic New Orleans muffuletta sandwich and tossed them with pasta. Those include spicy cured meats, marinated olives and lightly pickled vegetables (both of which are represented in the one and only muffuletta condiment, Italian Olive Salad), smooth provolone cheese and even toasted sesame seeds–which mimic the bite and earthiness of the round Sicilian loaf on which the sandwich is traditionally served. If you end up [ ... ]
02
Mar 2012
Mar 2012
In New Orleans, we have this sauce called bordelaise. It bears the same name as, but is much different than the classic French sauce. The French version is all about red wine and bone marrow. Ours is garlic-centric. We like to toss it with pasta, spoon it over sizzling seafood and steaks and splash it on steamed veggies. Believe me when I say, this sauce is delicious on everything and anything … including pizza! Yes, pizza. I use it as both the sauce, in place of the traditional red gravy/marinara base, and to amp up the flavor of my mild [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, New Orleans Classics, Pasta, Snacks
Tags: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays 2 Comments
25
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
In case you missed my tweets yesterday, the 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival daily schedules have been posted. The lineup is crazy good this year. Almost as crazy good as this Jazzy Crawfish Pasta–my take on Crawfish Monica. Crawfish Monica has been a festival-goer favorite for some 30 years now. It consists of a mesmerizing bowl of rotini pasta drenched in a deliciously spicy crawfish cream sauce. This dish became so popular at Jazz Fest that back in 2009, its creator Chef Pierre Hilzim (who named the seafood specialty after his wife Monica) trademarked the name and began [ ... ]
Category: Crawfish, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Pasta, Seafood
Tags: crawfish, creole, New Orleans Cooking, New Orleans Recipes, Seafood 4 Comments
21
Sep 2011
Sep 2011
Do you come from a meatballs and spaghetti family or a meat sauce family? I’m from the meatballs side of the track. Occasionally, my family traveled to the other side. But the “grass was not greener” over there. At least not for me. You see, in our house meatballs and spaghetti dinners were an all-day, family affair. Everything was made from scratch (except the pasta) then set on the stove to simmer until all the flavors came together. That low and slow cooking would always fill the house with familiar and comforting aromas that had us relaxing [ ... ]
Category: Beef, Main Dishes, Pasta
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30
Mar 2011
Mar 2011
The first time I cooked ratatouille was on August 20, 2005. Do you want to know how I remember that date? Well, it was my son’s and brother’s birthdays. But that’s not how. It’s not because of my sharp memory either–I lost that sometime between kid number two and kid number three. I remembered that date because it was jotted down next to the recipe’s ingredient list. I scribble all over the pages of my cookbooks and recipes. My notes helps me remember if I liked a particular dish and if I made any changes to it. It’s [ ... ]
01
Dec 2010
Dec 2010
It’s unseasonably and unwelcomely cold outside today, but that suits my mood just fine because I have no intentions of leaving the house. All I want to do today is cook, in my own kitchen, all by myself. I tend to get cranky like this when I’ve been away from home for too long. Don’t get me wrong, I love the holidays and I’m very grateful that we were able to spend Thanksgiving week in New Orleans with our family. But after eight days on the road and three days of laundry and other wifely chores, I simply need [ ... ]
Category: Beef, Main Dishes, Pasta
Tags: New Orleans Cooking, New Orleans Recipes, Recipe, Red Gravy 6 Comments
