Archive for the Category » Sauces «
02
Nov 2012
Nov 2012
I’ve been making this recipe with some variation of chicken for years now. It’s one of my favorite weekday lunches. And it all started with leftover chicken and a hodgepodge of fridge finds. Some of my off-the-cuff lunch creations like this are worth repeating. Others are not. This one’s been in constant rotation since day one because it’s quick and flavorful and the entire family likes it. But because the sauce is made with Greek yogurt, I had to give it a code name so my kids wouldn’t snub it–they were weird about that stuff when I first started [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Chicken, Finger Food Fridays, Sauces
Tags: Appetizers, Chicken, Finger Food Fridays, Sauces One Comment
24
Oct 2012
Oct 2012
I love roast chicken. During the week, I pull together a simple family meal by roasting legs or legs and boneless thighs. For those quick dinners, all I do is sprinkle the chicken with Creole seasoning, salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. I then stick the pan in the oven and roast until all the fat has melted away and the skin is deep golden brown and crispy. It’s a simple process for dark meat perfection. I approach a whole chicken a little differently. Because it contains both dark and white meat, I punch it up with more [ ... ]
28
Sep 2012
Sep 2012
I’ve been under the weather this week and yearning for a big bowl of warm, soothing and spicy gumbo. I just couldn’t find the time or energy to pull it together. So yesterday morning the thought came to me to prepare a knock off of my Chicken and Andouille Gumbo in finger food form. And here it is! What do you think? Okay. Not a fair question since you haven’t tasted it yet. But let me say, these meatballs rock. They’re light and flavorful and perfectly seasoned, especially when partnered up with the gravy (or sauce or whatever you want [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Chicken, Finger Food Fridays, Gumbo, New Orleans Classics, Poor Boys, Pork, Roux, Sauces
Tags: andouille sausage, Appetizers, Chicken, Finger Food Fridays, Roux One Comment
07
Sep 2012
Sep 2012
A couple of years back, I started a fun little tradition with the hubby and our three children called “Fry Nights.” Fry Nights are dinners composed of an entire meal that is … are you sitting down? Deep fried. That’s right. A plate full of delectably crispy and crunchy foods that have been totally immersed in a “hot frying medium.” Oh yeah! About three or four times a year, this party of five throws caution to the wind, our waistlines and our heart health by eating a supper prepared entirely in a vat of peanut oil. Best part is, there’s [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Fish, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Sauces, Seafood
5 Comments
11
May 2012
May 2012
Globe artichokes get a lot of table time in the Crescent City thanks to the French settlers who brought them to Louisiana from the Mediterranean back in the 1800s and the Creole-Italians (among many others) who knew how to cook them. Interestingly, it’s been said that Louisiana was home to the first commercial artichokes fields. They flourished in and around various parts of South Louisiana including a small patch of land in New Orleans currently known as the Warehouse District. In the early 1940s, the crop mysteriously disappeared from these parts and today nearly 100% of all the country’s globe [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Sauces, Side Dishes, Vegetables
Tags: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Sauces Comments off
13
Apr 2012
Apr 2012
Friday has finally arrived. Whew! It’s been a hectic week and I’m so ready for the weekend. The hubby and I are tackling some long-over-due house renovations, so let me apologize now for any untimely posts. I don’t have adequate access to my kitchen or the computer. Hopefully, the craziness will end in about two weeks. Amid the chaos, though, I was able to sneak into the kitchen late last night for some much needed cooking therapy and a home-cooked meal. But I have to confess, I didn’t prepare a full-fledged dinner. It was a finger food. That’s right. [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Pork, Sauces
Tags: andouille sausage, Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Sauces Comments off
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
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08
Feb 2012
Feb 2012
Let’s talk desserts. As in classic New Orleans desserts. Two in particular: Creole Bread Pudding and King Cake. Both have storied histories, are deeply rooted in New Orleans tradition and are equally delicious. Creole Bread Pudding is what I consider an everyday, homey dessert prepared by thrifty New Orleans cooks and restaurant chefs who have plenty of day-old French bread on hand. The stale bread is given new life when soaked in a creamy, cinnamon-infused custardy bath. The pudding is then baked plain or embellished with raisins, nuts, canned fruit salad or even [ ... ]
01
Feb 2012
Feb 2012
I’m settling back into the grove after what turned out to be a fantastic weekend in Birmingham attending the Food Blog South 2012 conference. This was my first food blog conference and one that I won’t soon forget. To be surrounded by people who eat, drink and sleep food is a wonderful thing. Their passion is undeniable, their knowledge unsurpassable and their willingness to share incredibly generous. I learned so much and made plenty of new friends. I feel refreshed, re-energized and psyched about the future and what it holds for food bloggers and anyone [ ... ]
Category: Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics, Pork, Sauces, Seafood, Vegetables
2 Comments
19
Jan 2012
Jan 2012
One of the easiest ways to dress up everyday dinners is with a marinade. A good marinade can be thrown together in minutes with generous amount of herbs, spices and other seasonings, some form of acid to carry those flavors into the meat and help tenderize it and oil to keep the meat moist and prevent it from sticking while cooking. For maximum flavor, it’s best to plan a day ahead and marinate whatever you’re cooking (except seafood) overnight. But if you don’t have that luxury, a bold marinade can work its magic in thirty minutes. [ ... ]
