Archive for the Category » Main Dishes «
18
Aug 2011
Aug 2011
This recipe is the perfect example of what happens when you don’t have a plan. The boneless chicken breasts were defrosted, the kids were starving and I was bored with the same ol’ same ol’. So I hit the fridge hoping to get the creative juices flowing and dinner on the table in less than an hour. What I found, thanks in great part to my kids’ lunch habits, was deli ham, salami and string cheese. Stuffing immediately came to mind. I continued to root around the refrigerator shelves for one more ingredient. Something that could perhaps shape a [ ... ]
20
May 2011
May 2011
Hey everyone! Welcome to this week’s edition of Finger Food Friday. Today I’m sharing a New Orleans finger food classic, Barbecue Shrimp. Let’s see. How can I describe them? Warm … buttery … spicy … aromatic … savory … tangy … piney … juicy … peppery … woodsy … garlicky … lusty … exciting … dramatic … and last, but definitely not least, gloriously messy! The dish was created back in the 1950s in the restaurant kitchen of Pascal’s Manale in Uptown New Orleans. Nowadays, they can be found on just about every menu in the City.
As much as I [ ... ]
Category: Appetizers, Finger Food Fridays, Main Dishes, New Orleans Classics
Tags: Finger Food Fridays, Shrimp Recipes Comments off
11
May 2011
May 2011
Things have been crazy around here lately with end-of-school activities (field trips, field days, musical performances, graduations, parties and so on) and it’s during these hectic times that I turn to my stash of shortcut supper ideas.
These recipes contain at least one premade or premixed grocery store find and a short list of ingredients. Grilled Ranch Chicken is one of them. I pull it together with nothing more than a packet of Hidden Valley® Ranch® Dips Mix, olive oil and a whole chicken that’s been cut up. If you don’t like handling a whole chicken, you could try and [ ... ]
21
Apr 2011
Apr 2011
It’s early Thursday morning and luckily the house is still quiet. I’ve got about an hour before the kids’ feet hit the floor. I’ve been a little under the weather lately so the last thing I feel like doing is writing, cooking or eating (yeah, I know that’s hard to believe). But … the show must go on! Sunday is Easter and I want to prepare something special for the family. Since I’m lacking the energy to pull off a fancy five course holiday meal, I’m going to prepare something casually elegant. I’ll be [ ... ]
12
Apr 2011
Apr 2011
I have a new addiction–chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Their smoky-spiciness has me hooked. And lately I’ve been adding them to just about everything. Of course, you’d never know that because until now I haven’t posted any of those recipes. It’s just that one idea has lead to another and then another. And when I’m cranking up the creativity in the kitchen, the recipe writing takes a back seat. Not to worry, though. I have all of the fiery hot details jotted down somewhere and I will get each one posted. Eventually!
The one recipe I have finished is for my [ ... ]
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 [ ... ]
22
Mar 2011
Mar 2011
I was introduced to moo shu at Jade East, a friendly, neighborhood Chinese restaurant situated in New Orleans East. They closed their doors several years back; I believe it was pre-Katrina. But during their heyday, when I was in high school, my mom and stepdad would eat there once or twice a week following their “fishing dates.” There were even times when my folks would exchange their catch-of-the-day, usually croaker or drum from the brackish waters of Lake Pontchartrain, for a smorgasbord of the restaurant’s best dishes. Inevitably, they’d return home from those dinners with containers full of delicious and [ ... ]
17
Mar 2011
Mar 2011
Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all my Irish kith and kin and to all of you out there pretending to be Irish for a day (you’re in good company)! I don’t need to pretend, although you’d never guess I was Irish by my first name. Genêt is obviously French. But I’m at least fifty-percent Irish by blood and fifty-percent Irish by marriage. More importantly, green is my favorite color, I can down several pints of Guinness with the best of them and I have pointy ears (okay, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration–depends on who you ask). Regardless of [ ... ]
12
Feb 2011
Feb 2011
My mom cooked Seven Steaks in Brown Gravy quite often when we were growing up. But no one in my family, including her, prepares them anymore. The dish would have been all but forgotten had I not undertaken a family cookbook project several months back (more on that in future posts). Through the process of collecting recipes for the book, I’ve reacquainted myself with this and a bunch of other almost forgotten family favorites. I called mom to share my excitement and we got to talking about how much we enjoyed seven steaks and how sad it was that this [ ... ]
31
Jan 2011
Jan 2011
I’m probably one of only a few home cooks who has ever reduced a recipe for Red Beans and Rice to writing. Most recipes like these are created and passed on stove-side by moms, dads, grandparents and other relatives. And while the general ingredients and instructions are neatly tucked away in their memory banks, the specifics rarely make it to paper. That’s typical of many family recipes. But as I’ve said before, it’s important to get these culinary treasures down on paper so your kids and grandkids can at least have a roadmap to follow when they’re ready to start [ ... ]
