After a little research and asking for suggestions on the Tony Chachere’s Facebook, we decided the first cake should be chocolate. The recent trends in combining peppers and chocolate were not lost on this chocolate fanatic! I searched through my many recipe books and online sources, but found no cake that I thought would do justice until I went back to old trusty – Red Velvet.  I do have to give credit where it is due and this recipe was not my own, but from a co-worker’s mother. Obviously, there need to be changes to turn the cake from “Red Velvet Cake” to “Tony’s Velvet Cake” but the only change in this recipe was to take out the salt and replace it with Tony Chachere’s More Spice Seasoning.

Here is the recipe:

1 1/2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup butter, 2 eggs, 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 tsp More Spice Seasoning, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tbs cocoa, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 cup buttermilk

Cream sugar and shortening, add eggs and beat well. Sift flour, Tony Chachere’s More Spice, soda, powder and cocoa 3 times and add alternately to creamed mixture with buttermilk. Add vanilla and coloring. Bake in 3 pans at 350 for about 25 minutes. Let cool and frost with the icing of your choice (we used butter-cream).

Finished and decorated Tony's Velvet Cake

Now, the cake alone (without the icing) started out sweet and amazing, like you would expect of any Red Velvet Cake, but the surprise came just as you were about to swallow…. there it is, the spicy kick of Tony’s! Me and my husband loved it! So I iced it and brought it to work for testing. Celeste liked it and we decided to make the cake again and decorated it for presentation to you guys.

I brought all of my supplies to the office and started baking in our break room, then assembling, and decorating. We cut the cake and tasted. We were disappointed to not have the same cascade of flavors as before. The best we can figure is that the contrast in icing was too much. Next time I think I would do a 2 layer cake and spread the icing a little thinner, but otherwise it was a decent first attempt at the Tony’s Cake.

I had a lot of fun with this cake and hope to continue the fun with other varieties of sweets and Tony’s. Don’t be afraid to try this at home, have fun with it and let us know what you think. We are anxious to hear your thoughts and suggestions on our first attempt.

Samantha
Sales and Marketing Assistant

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Another cool twist with this recipe is you can choose your protein.  Today, I will be using shrimp because I have some available.  However, ALWAYS keep in mind a recipe is a “guide” (unless baking!).  If you have crawfish available, please use in this recipe.  If not making a “Lent friendly” recipe, left over chicken works awesome in this recipe as well.  Always adjust to your taste and those for whom you are cooking.

Shrimp Etouffee Twice Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Etouffee stuffing ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 1/2 cups cold milk

1 (2.75 oz.) Tony Chachere’s Etouffee Mix

1 lb. Tony Chachere’s Wild Caught Shrimp or choice of seafood, precooked meat (chicken or sausage)

3 tablespoons chopped green onions

6 medium pre-baked potatoes or 3 large cut in half

1 cup shredded cheese of choice

In a large skillet melt butter.  Add onions and saute until tender and transparent.  Add milk, etouffee mix, and meat. Stir gently while mixture comes up to a boil.  Reduce heat and cook about 5 minutes.  Add green  onions and remove from heat.  Gently scoop out pulp of potatoes, keeping skins in tact and placing on cookie sheet.  Mix potato pulp into skillet.  Stir well to combine.

Take mixture and fill potato skins.  Top with grated cheese.  Place in a 350 oven for about 10 minutes to warm through and melt cheese.

Serve these potatoes warm as a main dish or cut in half as a side dish.  This is a no fail one your family will enjoy!

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s

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

Hey, that's me cooking for our company Thanksgiving Feast!

If you happen to have picky eaters who just love to say what they will not eat before they taste a dish (Oh, can I tell  you how this is my pet peeve!…that just did not happen in my home growing up, but I digress) this recipe will turn those non-peas eaters to scoop these up by the spoon full.  The roots of this recipe goes back to a much simpler time.

As I decided to share this recipe with you, I really started thinking, I know of no other family that prepares a dish like this and if you happen to have a similar family recipe, I would love to know.  Around 1950, when my mother was a little girl, every winter my grandfather would load up the family and head back to the swamp for 3 months to trap muskrat, nutria, raccoon and basically whatever else swam around that he could skin to earn money.

Everyone was expected to help skin the animals when Pop returned back to the camp.  My grandmother would always prepare a hearty lunch as this was hard work and the camp had absolutely no plumbing or heating.  Eating a filling and well rounded meal was essential to survival.  The original version of this recipe (which I still make) is served as a main course over hot rice.  It starts with a homemade roux and includes everything in this recipe minus the sugar, plus hard boiled eggs.  I’m going to share with you my adapted version which is a little sweeter and meant to be a side dish.

Petite Pois in a Roux

Here are your ingredients you will need to create my family favorite:

I present another simple board of ingredients

1 lb. fresh sausage, any variety

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 (15 oz.) cans petite pois (very young peas), my favorite brand is Dubon

2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup Tony Chachere’s Instant Roux Mix

Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning to taste

In a skillet, brown sausage on both sides.  Remove from pan and drain. Chop sausage in chunky slices (it will not be cooked through).  In a large saucepan, heat oil. Brown onions.  Add remaining ingredients including sausage.  Slowly bring up to a slow simmer.  Keep heat at this level and cook until potatoes are tender and sausage has finished cooking through (approximately, 30 minutes).  *Please note, keep stirring to a minimum as to not break up peas or potatoes.

Here is a shot of the finished dish!

Savory and sweet, these peas are aimed to please!

Being this is a holiday week, I would like to wish everyone a very blessed Thanksgiving.  I personally feel so fortunate to have this blog to share with you stories of my life growing up in Louisiana, specifically Bayou Lafourche.  My blog has brought back memories of my childhood and enlightened me to stories just as this one to my unique and special family.  I love all them so much and miss my grandparents (Reed and Mirza Plaisance) terribly.  So, if you make this recipe for your family, share with them the story of this humble meal.

Come back and visit again, because my husband and I are hosting Thanksgiving at our camp.  I have a fresh turkey on order from a local meat market in town.  My mom and I are going to open the back up and brine the beast.  Thanksgiving morning my hubby will start a fire.  Mr. Turkey will get injected and go into a Cajun Microwave to cook up.  Now, you know there is a blog coming of this event with photo evidence!  Have I told you lately I LOVE my life!  Talk to you next week!

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s

If your holiday table is not complete without a sweet potato recipe, give this a try.  Or better yet, it is so good in place of any typical potato side dish.  I personally love it with grilled chicken or even steak.  It is a fun alternative and again, for all those kitchen challenged, I try to cater to you!  Please enjoy and let me know what you guys think.

Sweet Potato Crunch

Take a look at this board, nothing intimidating about these ingredients!

Everyday ingredients ready to be turned into something special

Potato Mixture Ingredients:

3lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1/2 stick butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

Crunch Topping Ingredients:

3 cups plain cereal flakes

1 cup chopped pecans

2 tsps. melted butter

1/2 cup Tony Chachere’s Praline Honey Ham Marinade

Preheat oven to 350. Boil sweet potatoes until just tender.  Drain and mash coarsely. In large bowl, mix all potato ingredients. Place in a casserole dish. In a separate bowl, mix all topping ingredients. Spread on top of potato mixture. Cover and bake 20 minutes. Uncover and broil to crisp the top being very careful not to burn.

You have to admit, your holiday or anyday table would be awesome with this yummy crunchy side dish.

Fresh out the oven and ready for your plate

Come back to my blog for a petite pois recipe adapted from one of my family favorites.  I look forward to talking to you guys real soon!

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s

Because I know people have their own family traditional dishes, I am going to offer up something a little different over the next month.  I want to share with you some new options for your table that are not complicated and do not come with high culinary expectations.  Which does not have to mean they are not yummy and worthy of your holiday table.  I feel everyone should have something to offer to the celebration.  So, if you are “challenged” in the cooking department these recipes just may help you get your holiday meals planned.  And if you know your way around the kitchen, enjoy them too and feel free to add your own twist to them.

I want to share with you a side dish that combines the sweetness of corn and satisfying pleasure of corn bread.  You cannot fail with this mix, dump and bake recipe.  Enjoy it with your family today and plan to make it again for your holiday gatherings.

Creamy, Cheesy Corn Bread

Ingredients for this easy bake side dish are:

Simple ingredients go into this corn bread

1 (15.25 oz.) can whole sweet corn

1 (14.75 oz.) can cream style corn

1 cup sour cream

1/2 stick butter, melted

2 cups shredded cheese (any variety)

1/2 tablespoon Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning

3 eggs

1 (9.5 oz.) box Tony Chachere’s Hush Puppy Mix

Preheat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients.  Pour into a 9 X13 pan.  Bake for about 25-30 minutes.  Serve warm.

Dump and Mix this creamy batter

Take a look at the final product:

Delicious does not have to difficult!

What could be easier? And it is such a winner with old and young alike.  Come back to my blog for my sweet potato crunch recipe!

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s

Mr. Tony dancing with Miss Yambilee 1995, Shannon Dickson

Tony Chachere’s Creole Foods is located in Opelousas, LA.  We are in a small community internationally known for the Yambilee Festival held the last weekend in October.  Our founder, The “Ole Master” himself, Tony Chachere sat on the board of the very first Yambilee in 1946.

In honor of our Yambilee, I would like to share with one of our most requested recipes from my test kitchen.

Oven Fried Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Olive oil

Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning

Preheat your oven to 400F.  Peel and slice sweet potatoes into thin fries.  Toss with olive oil and seasoning.  Place on a well sprayed cookie sheet into a single layer.  Bake for 15 minutes and gently toss.  Bake another 10 minutes or until the edges of fries start to brown.  Serve as a treat or side dish to your favorite meal.

As good as it is beautiful!

If you happen to be around our area of Louisiana, come on by to the Yambilee.

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s

Before the party, at the camp waiting for our guest, yes, we had a NASCAR theme

It is at this point I look down and go, “What was I thinking!” Not only
did the spread take the space of the two food tables, but 2 more
locations in the house. This just goes to prove, all us Cajuns plan any
gathering around great food and lots of it. Food serves as the glue to our
social being. We hover around the table while we talk, pick at the
food, have a drink and catch up on our lives.

By the way, at the end of the night, almost all of food had been
consumed and all I had to do was clean dirty dishes.

Here is my recipe for my sweet and spicy party sausage and
meatballs….party on..

Ingredients for my Sweet and Spicy Party Sausage and Meatballs

All the ingredients needed to for a sweet-n-spicy party favorite

1 (14 oz.) package Tony Chachere’s Jalapeno Smoked Sausage
1 lb. meatballs (homemade or store bought)
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (8 oz.) can crushed pineapple
½ cup chicken stock
¾ cup Tony Chachere’s Honey Bacon BBQ Injectable Marinade

Combine all ingredients into your crockpot

Cut Tony Chachere’s Jalapeno Smoked Sausage on a bias into chunks.
Combine all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 hours. Serve
warm for any party or gathering.

Sweet-n-Spicy Sausage and Meatballs ready to party!

Cindy Adams-Ardoin

Food Scientist

Tony Chachere’s

My husband, Todd (creative director, Tony Chachere's) and his 2 new friends!

In January of this year, my husband (Todd, creative director) and I purchased his family “camp.” OK, for those of you not from Louisiana, a “camp” is the same as a vacation home or second home in other parts of the world. Our little slice of heaven rests in the Atchafalaya Basin in St. Martin Parish on the Butte LaRose Canal. All winter we worked hard remodeling and updating our camp we named “Bobbin’ Jo’s.” The sweat and tears were all for one main reason, which we have been enjoying for several weeks now….FISHING!!

Todd loves to fish anything and everything and I love to cook them for him! And what goes better with fresh fish filleted or scaled on the bone? Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning, of course. But let’s not leave out our fabulously simple Tony Chachere’s Fish Fry to batter those babies up! I have already been through 2 cases of fish fry in 3 months. Count, that is 24 (10 oz.) boxes of fish fry, already! Thank goodness I have an endless supply just outside my office door. I love living in Louisiana and I love working for Tony Chachere’s.

Fresh Louisiana fish, fried to perfection with Tony Chachere's Fish Fry

My favorite way to fix fresh fried fish is the same no matter whether it is salt water or fresh water fish. I simply marinate in Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning and Italian Dressing for about one hour. Right before dropping in the oil, I batter in Tony Chachere’s Fish Fry. Fry until fish turns light brown. Dip in your favorite tartar sauce, ketchup, or just pop them in your mouth.

Cindy Adams-Ardoin
Food Scientist
Tony Chachere’s