Posts Tagged ‘Holidays’

From Our Family to Yours, Happy Independence Day!!!

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

When our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, I don’t think they could have ever imagined what it would be today. I don’t think they would be upset. I think they would enjoy the fact that their hard work and strong will has given us a country that we can be proud of and celebrate. Here at Tony Chachere’s we celebrate just like any American family around the country – we barbecue!

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:

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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The Turkey and the Cajun Microwave…

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
That's me cooking cabbage and having coffee Thanksgiving morning!

That's me cooking cabbage and having coffee Thanksgiving morning!

Hello everyone! I am keeping my word to share with you the story of the Thanksgiving turkey and the Cajun Microwave.  First let me say, my family and I had wonderful Thanksgiving out at the camp in Butte LaRose.  The weather was cool, but absolutely picture perfect.  I sure hope where ever you were for Thanksgiving you shared it with the people you love. Now, on with the food, that is why you came to my blog, right?

I must tell you, this is the second time my husband and I cook in the Cajun microwave.  Our first experience was cooking a suckling 40 lb. pig.  The pig took 4 hours to cook.  Thus, I estimated the 12 lb. turkey would take no longer than 2 hours.  I was so excited because I scored a fresh, never frozen turkey from a local meat market.  My mom and I brined the bird in sugar and water for 24 hours.

Thanksgiving morning, mom rinsed, patted dry, and cut the turkey open along the backside (to lay flat).  My husband and stepdaughter injected it with Tony Chachere’s Butter Jalapeno Injectable Marinade and sprinkled with Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning.  In the pan, I layered orange and lemon slices and added a cup of white wine.  She was a beautiful bird!

Turkey injected and ready to go into the Cajun Microwave

Turkey injected and ready to go into the Cajun Microwave

The turkey went into the cajun microwave at 10:30 am.  We figured we would be eating around 12:30 pm…and we were WRONG!  To make a long story short, we had issues regulating the temperature and were very careful not to spike the temperature too high.  At noon, I told everyone to have a bowl of gumbo, it would be a while until eating time!

Bottom line, it took 4 hours to cook our friend.  Was I upset about this….NO, IT WAS THE BEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN!  Want to know why?  Because my friends, everyone spent the day hanging around the campfire, watching football, visiting, boat riding, having wine and relaxing.  Because the turkey took a little longer than expected, everyone stayed and enjoyed the beautiful scenery the Atchafalaya Basin has to offer.  I think it was my favorite Thanksgiving ever!

Todd putting the bird in the microwave, check out my view of the Basin!

Todd putting the bird in the microwave, check out my view of the Basin!

So, bottom line of this blog is not so much to offer up a recipe, but to share with you a cliche, “Stop and smell the roses.”  Enjoy the scenery and the people around you. If you failed to do so for Thanksgiving, guess what, Christmas is just around the corner, you get another shot!

It was truly worth the wait!

It was truly worth the wait!

I will be heading out for a much needed “magical” vacation, but don’t fret! I have already scheduled a blog to come out next week for you hunters with deer sausage!  So, if I don’t answer your comments, I’m not ignoring you, just playing around with a mouse and duck!

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s

‘Tis the season to be spicy!

Monday, November 30th, 2009

It’s here, it’s here!  The holiday season is here!

This holiday season will be the biggest in our company’s history.  We’ve introduced several new items, as well as expanded our distribution across the entire U.S. of A.  We work hard all year long producing quality products  to make sure we’ve got everything in the stores for you, come the holiday season.  We’ve purchased nearly 350,000 chickens, 40,000 whole turkeys, and 40,000 pounds of duck.  Yeah, that’s a lot of bird!  To top it all off, we still hand process each and every fine fowl to ensure that you get the delicious foods you’ve come to enjoy.

turduchen

Turduchen or turducken? Both taste GREAT!

It’s an exciting time for turduchen, too!  The turduchens (which you may know as “tur-duc-hen” or “turducken” – whatever floats your boat!) are being introduced to all new customers in the Northeast area based on our participation in the Fancy Food Show in New York City.  We know; those Yankees won’t know what hit ‘em!  In an effort to share Tony Chachere’s with dinner tables across the country, we’ve also worked with The Kroger Co. to put our product in their stores.  This, combined with our new website rollout, makes getting your hands on a Turduchen even easier.

Our new feature-packed website has been a great asset to the company.  Along with the new Online Store, we have recipes, photos, videos, stories, history, and of course, this blog that’s overflowing with information!

We’ve also taken this opportunity to make the ordering process easier on our wonderful customers.  You can now select ground or 3-Day shipping, bringing costs down for our customers considerably.  Our products are shipped in insulated chests with dry ice, meaning you can rest assured that your package will arrive frozen and ready for cooking.  Now, our fans across the United States can enjoy our items every day of the year, but especially during the holiday season.

Cornbread stuffed with seafood might be heaven.

Cornbread stuffed with seafood is heaven.

Don’t forget the crowd favorites during the holidays!  Everyone loves our new Crawfish Cornbread.  This side dish is just another example of creative Creole cooking, and will no doubt spark conversation around the dinner table. For those throughout the north that don’t get into the traditional seafood side of Louisiana cooking, we’ve added three new boneless stuffed chickens to our lineup.  The creamed spinach, broccoli & cheese, and pork sausage & potato-stuffed chickens are seasoned with our own Tony Chachere’s Creole spices and have just the kick your looking for.   Look for them in stores in your area, or pick some up online.

Another exciting and fast growing line that we’re proud of is the Fresh Caught Gulf Shrimp.  We’ve added two new headless shell-on sizes (perfect for boiling, hint hint) and a peeled and de-veined option (great for pasta, nudge nudge).  The new sizes are individually frozen for convenience and come in one-pound bags.  Pick up a few sizes and check out Tony Chachere’s Recipes section for some new ideas!

Phew!  We’re tuckered out from telling you about everything we have to offer this holiday season.  We think we’ll have ourselves a sneak peak bite before the holidays hit.  In the meantime, from the entire Tony Chachere’s team, we hope you’ll think of us this holiday season.  Here’s wishing a very spicy holidays to you and yours!