Courtesy of Lafayette Travel: Noel Acadien au Village

Also happening in St. Landry Parish this weekend are Christmas at Coteau Dec. 2-3 and Coteau Christmas Parade Dec. 4th:
“Fri-Preview party where many area’s best restaurants serve delicious cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres. The evening also includes an exciting Live Auction featuring variety of merchandise. Sat-shopping at the Holiday Market and enjoying good food and the company of good friends at the Gourment Luncheon. Lunch will be served by Sacred Heart.”

Other events in the Acadiana Area:

Noel Acadien au Village (Acadian Village, Lafayette)

“Jingle and Mingle’  (Sunset, La)

The Lighting of the Village: (Le Vieux Village, Opelousas)

Dirty Rice

1 lb. chicken giblets

1 lb. ground beef

1 c  onions, chopped

1/2 c bell peppers, chopped

1/2 c celery with leaves, chopped

1/4 parsley, chopped

Juice of 2 crushed garlic cloves

Tony’s Creole Seasoning

1/4 green onions, chopped

pinch of thyme and basil

2 c rice

In a pot, boil giblets in salt water until tender; reserve liquid. In a Dutch oven, saute meats until brown; drain off excess fat, add remaining ingredients and continue to cook a few minutes. In a separate pot, cook rice in 4 cups of giblet liquid for 18m. Drain rice and mix thoroughly into the meat mixture. Spoon into a greased casserole and bake at 300 degrees for 20 – 30 min. Yields 10 servings. 

Cauliflower Au Gratin

1 head cauliflower

2 tbl. butter

3 tbl. all-purpose flour

milk

cooking spray

1 c shredded cheddar cheese

Tony’s Creole Seasoning

Break cauliflower into small flowerettes; discard stems. In a large pot, steam slightly salted flowerettes in a steam basket over boiling water. Boil until tender (do not over cook)), drain. In a saucepan blend flour and butter. Add milk slowly, stirring constantly over low heat, until the sauce is the consistency you desire. Place the cauliflower in a square baking dish coated with cooking spray; add cheese and cream sauce seasoned with Original Creole. Sprinkle more cheese over the top of the sauce. Bake at 350 until bubbly. Yields 6 servings.

Molasses Cookies

3/4 c margarine, softened

1 c sugar

1/4 c molasses

1 egg

2 c all-purpose flower

2 tea. baking soda

1/2 tea. salt

1/2 tea. ginger

1/2 tea. cinnamon

1/2 tea. ground cloves

In a large bowl, cream together margarine, sugar, and egg. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, soda, and salt. Add to liquid mixture and blend well. Add spices. Roll into balls, then roll balls in additional sugar. Place balls on sheet and press to flatten with a fork, making one horizontal and vertical press. Bake at 350 for 10 – 12 min. Yields 30 cookies.

Happy Thanksgiving, Spice Nation!

National Fried Chicken Day

Thanks for the awesome photo JasonAaronAZ!

Recipe: Gateau De Sirop

Summary: This dessert is basically a cajun syrup cake. It is flavored with terrific seasonings such as cinnamon, allspice, and ginger. These combine with molasses and raisins, creating a sweet cake that everyone will enjoy!

Cooking time (duration): 25 -30 min.

Number of servings (yield): 12

Meal type: dessert

Culinary tradition: USA (Traditional)

Microformatting by hRecipe.

Praline Honey Ham

Serve this for Easter and you will never cook ham the old way, again!  Place some mini rolls or biscuits on the side—delicious!

1 (10-15 lb.) Bone-In Ham
Tony Chachere’s Praline Honey Ham Injectable Marinade
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup pecans, chopped medium

Preheat oven for 300 ̊.  Inject ham with Tony Chachere’s Praline Honey Ham Marinade all over.   Score the top of the ham.  Pour additional Praline Honey Ham Marinade over top of the ham.  Mix together sugar and pecans.  Rub on top of the ham.   Place in a baking pan and into the 300 ̊oven for 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes.    Let stand 10 minutes and serve.  Serves 10-15.

Smokey Bacon Potato Salad
You can serve this fabulous potato salad warm or cold.   The smoky bacon flavor coupled with olive oil sautéed new potatoes will tantalize your taste buds!  The combination is fantastic with your Tony Chachere’s Praline Honey Ham.

1 ½ lbs new potatoes (about 3 cups) washed, sliced in half with peelings left on
5 eggs, boiled, peeled and chopped
¼ cup olive oil
¾ cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
½ cup sweet pickle relish
¾ cup bacon, chopped (pre-cooked chopped real bacon)
Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning to taste (other Tony’s seasonings can be used in place of Original)

In a large pot, boil potatoes until tender.  Drain.  Place in bowl.  Pour ¼ cup olive oil on potatoes and toss.  Sprinkle with Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning.  Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil in a skillet.  Add potatoes and cook over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes.  Add eggs to bowl.  Add potatoes, mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, hot sauce, pickle relish and bacon.  Toss to mix.  Add Original  Seasoning to taste.  Serves 8.

Enjoy and have a happy Easter!

Mmmmm!  Crawfish Palmetto!

This dish is so delicious and simple. You fry the catfish fillets while adding lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. A lovely sauce is also made with tasso, peppers, onions, Italian seasoning and crawfish tails. This sauce is then poured over the fried catfish fillets and then garnished with parsley and green onions.

Here’s all you need to know:

Estimated time: Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients:

Directions:

See? Quick, easy, healthy and most of all… delicious!

Now whether you’re a Packers, Steelers… or die-hard Saints fan like me, who just wants to put on your Brees jersey and watch a repeat of last year’s game, one thing is for certain: there will be snackage at your Super Bowl party.  In South Louisiana we spend all day cooking a rich meal (we don’t call this gumbo weather for nothin’) while socializing with friends in anticipation of the game.  Understandably, this all-day cooking affair and taunting aroma of roux in a pot has kicked your appetite into high gear. A great, easy snack to prepare for your guests (or take to a party if you’re letting someone else do the cooking) is our Touchdown Trail Mix — it’s sweet with a little bit of heat and a much appreciated change up from the overplayed bag ‘O chips.

Norm and Lyman were here before 6 this morning to fire up the pit.

By the time most of us got to work at 8 am, we were greeted with the wonderful smell of chicken on the grill. (I bet you wish you had a scratch and sniff monitor right about now!)

At 11:00 everything was ready and we started fixing our plates. We have all of the good stuff: barbecued chicken and sausage, creole mashed potatoes (recipe below), baked beans, salad, and garlic bread.

And the day wouldn’t be complete without some ice cream!

Now for Creole Mashed Potatoes seasoned with Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning.

This is a very simple and tasty recipe that will wow your family. You can make as much or as little as you need and add all of the extras to taste.

Start by making your preferred brand of instant mashed potatoes as directed on the box, just omit the salt. Now add as much or as little as you would like of the following:

• Sour Cream
• Bacon bits
• Swiss Cheese
• Onion tops
• Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning
• Mix well and enjoy!

I hope you all have a very safe and happy Independence Day and just want to close with a few words from the great men who fought so hard to make this a free country:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” — The Declaration of Independence

Samantha

Sales and Marketing Assistant

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First up is  Tony’s Crawfish Etouffee.  I recently fixed a large helping of etouffee for some friends in Florida.  Many people were quite amazed at just how easy and simple it is to make etouffee.  Etouffee literally means “to smoother.”  Take it from this Cajun girl, don’t complicate it with a bunch of crazy ingredients, just stick to the basics, sometimes perfection is simple!

Now, let’s talk some crab recipes.  If you are thinking breakfast or brunch, you need to try this Crab and Mushroom Omelet.  What a great way to introduce crab to your kids by incorporating it with scrambled eggs.  Of course, no adult in their right mind would need any convincing.   Did you say you need a Cajun friendly appetizer?  Do not think twice and try out our Crab Meat Dip for your next gathering…Lent or not!

If shrimp is your favorite seafood of choice (as is mine!), I just love a comforting bowl of Shrimp and Corn Soup to warm my heart and soul.  Young and old love this filling dish that may be served as either an appetizer or main dish with a salad and warm French bread.  Combining two Louisiana classics or making each separately, Shimp and Crawfish Fettucine fuses Cajun and Italian culinary delights.  This hearty, rich dish is a favorite of my stepkids.

Luckily, catfish is now available to almost all markets.  For a special treat or date night, try out this Crawfish Palmetto recipe.  If you do not have access to crawfish, shrimp or bay scallops can easily be substituted.

These are just a few of my seafood favorites available at the Tony Chachere’s recipe section of our website.  I thank all of you for stopping by my blog, being fans of Tony Chachere’s, and taking time out of your day to read my little stories.  Take time this Lenten season to reflect on sacrifices others have made for you and try to give back a little to those less fortunate.

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s

Some of my crazy Krewe of Karencro I cook for parade day!

I would never take away from the importance of the Christmas season, but I am going to be honest with you, my FAVORITE time of the year is Carnival Season!  Those of you not from Louisiana or a town that celebrates Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) should experience the best free party in the world.  Now, I grew up south of New Orleans (yes, there is land south of New Orleans and no, I did not get to school in a pirogue).  My childhood Mardi Gras in my hometown was always laid back heading to the parade route, picking up a box of fried chicken from Popeyes, eating in the back of the truck, walking to the local bakery, Dufrene’s for a French bread and brownies.  On the walk, you always stopped to talk to friends either parked or if you were lucky enough to have your house on the parade route, visit a house party!

Once we made it back to the truck, we would feast on Mom’s potato salad, fried chicken, French bread, red beans and rice and brownies for dessert.  Unless you have been there it is hard to explain the excitement of waiting to hear the sirens of the cop cars signaling the beginning of the parade.  Because I was the baby of the family, I always had the luxury of having the highest spot on the truck!  As the revelers get closer, you scream, “Throw Me Something Mister!” and wait for the beads to start flying.  It is so much fun to see who catches the most and the biggest beads.  I am so worked up just typing this blog I cannot stand it!

Now that I am all grown up and live in the Acadiana area of Louisiana, I belong to the Carnival Krewe, “Krewe of Karencro”.  We have created our own tradition.  On the morning of our ride, we are usually at the float by 7 am!  By 10am, I cook up a big pot of Tony Chachere’s Jambalaya to feed our float.  If you are not lucky enough to be in Louisiana for Mardi Gras this year, make your own Louisiana party at home with this simple recipe.

Mardi Gras Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Here are your ingredients

Nothing complicated about jazzing up this dinner mix!

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 lb. cooked chicken

1/2 lb. Tony Chachere’s smoked sausage, diced

1 (8 oz.) box Tony Chachere’s Jambalaya Mix

2 1/4 cups water or stock

3 tablespoons chopped green onions

In a Dutch oven, melt butter.  Add onions and bell pepper. Saute until lightly brown. Add chicken and sausage and warm through (if using a rice cooker, all remaining ingredients, except green onions can be added to cooker and switched to cook).  Add water and bring up to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and cook for 25 minutes stirring once during the cooking time.  Add green onions, combine and serve warm.

Combine all ingredients in your rice pot and turn on...that simple!

Enjoy this jazzed up version of chicken and sausage jambalaya and have your own Mardi Gras celebration!

Mardi Gras Jambalaya ready to eat up!

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s