Main Dishes
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo1 lb smoked sausage cut up
1 lb chicken cut up
1 medium onion chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
5 green onion tops chopped
Black pepper and red pepper to taste
Salt to taste
File^ to taste
Roux
3 TBS oil
3 TBS all purpose flour
In a 3 qt. black pot make a medium to dark brown roux. Add vegetables and a little water and cook until vegetables are wilted. Add sausage and chicken, seasoned with the salt, red pepper and black pepper. Fill pot with water. Add salt to taste and cook uncovered for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs. Add file^ 15 minutes before done. Serve over rice.
Dirty Rice
(This is Dirty Rice, not Rice Dressing. Any Cajun that calls it Rice Dressing is not a real Cajun.)
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground chicken livers
1/2 lb ground chicken gizzards
2 med onions chopped
2 ribs celery chopped
4 green onions chopped
1 TSB worchestershire sauce
3 TBS oil
1 cup cooked rice
Salt, black pepper and red pepper to taste
Brown vegetables in oil. Brown meat well. After meat is brown, turn heat to low and stir in 1/2 cup hot water mixed with the TBS of worchesterchire sauce. Simmer 30 minutes. Mixture must be dry. Add cooked rice and mix well.
Easy Crawfish Etouffee
1 stick margarine
1 med onion chopped
1 pkg frozen crawfish tails
1 can Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Salt and black pepper to taste
In large pot, melt butter. Saute onions until clear. Add crawfish tails, Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chilies and cream of mushroom soup. Add 2 soup cans of water. Add Salt and black pepper to taste. Cook on low heat for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot rice.
Round Steak Roll
1 or 1 1/2 lbs round steak or sirloin
1/2 lb ground pork
1/2 med onion chopped
1/4 bell pepper chopped
2 green onion tops chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
Season to taste with salt, black pepper and red pepper
Beat steak to tenderize. In bowl mix pork, vegetables and seasonings. Roll pork mixture in the steak and tie the steak with string. In black pot add oil to cover the bottom. Brown steak in oil on all sides.Remove most of oil. Put a trivet in bottom of pot and place steak on it. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.
Smothered Liver and Onions
1 lb calf liver
1 large onion sliced in rings
2 cups hot water
2 TBS baking soda
2 TBS vinegar
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cooking oil
1 tsp Bull Red or Tabasco Hot Sauce
Salt, black pepper, red pepper to taste
Cut liver into frying size pieces. Place liver into a deep bowl. Sprinkle liver with baking soda. Mix hot water and vinegar and pour over liver. Let it stand about 10 minutes. Mix egg and hot sauce in deep plate. Season liver with salt, black pepper and red pepper. Dip in egg mixture then in flour. Coat it well. Heat oil in Dutch oven and brown liver on both sides. Take the liver out of pot. Remove oil leaving 1 TBS in pot. Brown onion rings in remaining oil. Leave them in the pot. Scrap loose all particles from the bottom of the pot. Return liver to pot and add 1 cup water for gravy. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Serve with hot rice.
Chicken and Spaghetti
3 TBS butter
4 cloves garlic chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
2 small onions chopped
1 to 1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken breast
1 stalk celery chopped
2 8 oz cans tomato sauce
1 small can buttered mushrooms or 3/4 cup fresh mushrooms chopped
1 bell pepper chopped
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
Melt butter in black pot. Add onion, celery, mushrooms, bell pepper and garlic. Saute about 15 minutes. Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and chicken. Season with black pepper, red pepper, salt, basil and oregano. Cook over low heat. The longer it cooks the better it taste. Serve over cooked spaghetti.
Chicken Fried Steak
(This is not a Cajun dish but it is delicious)
1 1/2 lbs sirloin steak beaten thin
1/4 cup flour
Salt, black pepper and red pepper to taste
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
11/2 cups cracker crumbs
Dredge steak in flour seasoned with salt, black pepper and red pepper. Combine milk and beaten egg and drench steaks on both sides. Dip in cracker crumbs. Fry in hot oil. Pour white gravy over cooked steak.
White Gravy
2 TBS butter
2 TBS plain flour
1 cup milk
Melt butter in black iron skillet. Add flour and and cook until it dissolves. Add milk and cook until it thickens. Season with salt and black pepper. Pour over cooked steak.
Seafood Gumbo
3 TBS plain flour
3 TBS oil
1 small onion chopped
1/2 bell pepper chopped
5 or 6 green onion tops chopped
1 or 2 stalks celery chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
Salt, black pepper and red pepper to taste
1 TBS Tabasco sauce
1 lb shrimp peeled and deveined
1 lb crawfish tails
1 doz oysters and their juice
1 can white lump crab meat
1 can pink salmon deboned
1 bay leaf
water
Make a roux with the oil and water. Add water and vegetables. Bring to a boil and boil for about 20 minutes. Add all other ingredients except shrimp and green onions. Simmer 45 minutes then add shrimp and green onions. Simmer another 15 to 20 minutes. Serve over rice.
Ma Ma's State Lane Potato Salad
4 or 5 large potatoes peeled and boiled
1/2 small onion chopped
2 eggs boiled
3 TBS mayonnaise
1 tsp prepared mustard
2 TBS pickle relish
Salt and black pepper to taste.
Boil potatoes and eggs until done. Peel eggs and remove yolks. Chop egg whites into potatoes. Add onions. In another bowl mash egg yolks and add mayonnaise, mustard and pickle relish. Pour over potato mixture and mix well. Add salt and black pepper. Top with paprika if desired.
Fried Dog Bread
This is a great North Louisiana bread.
1 cup corn meal (plain not self rising)
1/2 cup plain flour
1 tsp salt
Mix dry ingredients together. Add enough boiling water to make a soft dough. Be careful and don’t add too much water or the dough will be sticky. Heat oil in black iron skillet. Dipping hands under cold water, put enough dough in hand to make biscuit sized bread. Dip hands in cold water after each piece is made. Fry pieces in hot oil until brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. This bread is delicious with purple hull peas or snap beans.
Delicious Desserts
Ma Ma's Tea Cakes(This is a very old family recipe.)
3 Cups Flour
1/2 tsp salt
11/2 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 Cup butter or shortening
1 Cup sugar
6 TBS milk (1/4 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
Cream butter, add sugar and well beaten eggs. Add vanilla. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together and add them to the mixture a little at a time, alternating with milk. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray. Roll out cookie dough about 1/4 to 1/2 inches thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Pecan Pralines
These are delicious and so easy to make. They always turn out just right.
2 Cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1/8 tsp salt
2 TBS butter
2 1/2 cups pecans broken up
In heavy pot add sugar, soda, buttermilk, salt and butter. Cook over high heat for 5 minutes. Lower heat to medium and stir mixture constantly until candy reaches soft ball stage. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add pecans and beat until light and creamy. Drop from spoon onto waxed paper and cool.
Lemon Meringue Pie
3/4 cup sugar
2 TBS cornstarch
3/4 cup milk
3 egg yolks
3 TBS lemon juice
1 TBS butter
Mix sugar and cornstarch. Add milk and egg yolks and mix well. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Stir constantly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and butter. Pour into cooked 9 inch pie shell and top with meringue. Cook until meringue is brown.
Meringue
Beat 3 egg whites and 3 TBS sugar until the whites form stiff peaks. Pour over pie and bake until brown.
Pecan Pie
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
4 TBS flour
1 cup dark corn syrup
3 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBS butter softened
2 cups pecans chopped
Mix dry ingredients. Add syrup, eggs, vanilla, butter and pecans. Mix well and pour into a deep dish 9 inch uncooked pie shell. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until pie is jelled in the middle.
Sour Cream Pound Cake
1 cup butter
2 3/4 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla, lemon or orange extract
3 cups plain flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 8 oz carton sour cream
Mix flour, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. In another bowl cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. Alternating with the sour cream, mix into flour mixture. Mix it very well. Spray bundt pan with cooking spray and pour batter in and bake 75 minutes at 300 degrees in a preheated oven.
Poppy Seed Cake
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 TBS poppy seeds
2/3 cups cooking oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
Mix all dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients in separate bowl. Blend the two together well. Pour into loaf pan sprayed well with cooking spray. Bake in preheated oven at 350 for about an hour. Cool before removing from pan.
