Archive for the Category » Appetizers «
15
Jun 2012
Jun 2012
Years ago, when I first started working, I used to make batches of sweet and savory nuts for my co-workers for Christmas. I’d gift them in decorative glass jars adorned with fancy holiday ribbons. It was an easy and economical way for me to give a little something to a lot people. For the life of me, I can’t find that recipe. Maybe it’s all for the better. Because, as I recall, it was edgy. The initial bite was a super-sweet sugary, cinnamon rush followed by a brief pause of plain toasted nuts and then an onslaught of extreme heat–from [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Snacks
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08
Jun 2012
Jun 2012
Fest fever continues this weekend in New Orleans with the Creole Tomato Festival. This one’s held at the French Market and celebrates one of our favorite local crops, the Creole Tomato. Creole Tomatoes are juicy, meaty and firm thanks to South Louisiana’s rich soil and subtropical (hot and humid) climate. Unfortunately, the season for these bright red beauties is short and local consumption is high. So you have to travel to the Greater New Orleans area or neighboring river parishes to get them. To fully appreciate all that a Creole Tomato is, it’s best to eat them like a local. [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Pork, Vegetables
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01
Jun 2012
Jun 2012
In Louisiana, we define the four seasons by Crawfish, Shrimp, Crab and Oyster. It’s a unique and appetizing way to get through the year. As one delicious season ends, another much-anticipated one begins. Currently, crawfish season is winding down and shrimp season is gearing up. Plump, juicy, sweet Louisiana shrimp. There’s nothing like them! And this season, however young, is already proving to be grand. I know because I had the good fortune of receiving a pound of wild jumbo Louisiana shrimp straight from the deck of the Anna Marie (a South Louisiana fishing vessel) through the efforts of the [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Seafood, Shrimp
Tags: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Seafood, Shrimp Recipes 2 Comments
24
May 2012
May 2012
Are you looking for a new crawfish recipe to add to your repetoire? If so, this Savory Cajun Crawfish Cheesecake with Roasted Red Pepper Hollandaise is sure to please. It’s a recipe I recently developed for my friends over at Cajun Crawfish–head on over to their blog and check it out. You’re gonna love it! You’re also gonna love the fact that you can order the crawfish tails you need for this recipe while you’re there! You see, Cajun Crawfish is one of the largest crawfish farmers and shippers in Louisiana. They’re also a [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Crawfish, Main Dishes, Seafood, Side Dishes
Tags: Appetizers, crawfish, Seafood 2 Comments
18
May 2012
May 2012
When I’m waiting ever so impatiently for my order at the deli counter at Kroger, I tend to rummage through the prepared food and cheese counters for free samples and interesting food finds. That’s a dangerous thing when I’m hungry, because it’s during those weak “I’ve gotta have it now” moments that I tend to buy items that disappoint (more so with the prepared foods than the cheeses). But recently, I snagged a container of this Buffalo Blue Cheese Dip that turned out to be delicious. In fact, it was so good my girls begged me to learn how to [ ... ]
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
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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
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27
Apr 2012
Apr 2012
Mushrooms stuffed with anything are delicious. Mushrooms stuffed with seafood are divine. These mushrooms, stuffed with crabmeat and topped with hollandaise, are the bomb! Because they’re so good, you may want to consider doubling the recipe if you’d like to get through this Finger Food Friday without any complaining. Just a suggestion. Another suggestion, or recommendation, is to use crab claw meat in this dish. The meat from the claw (especially the Louisiana blue crab claw) has a bolder flavor than say choice lump crabmeat. It can stand up to the spongy nature of the mushrooms. Its texture is also [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Crab, Finger Food Fridays, Seafood, Vegetables
2 Comments
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
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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 Comments off
