New Orleans Food Dictionary

Gumbo is a stew or soup originating in Louisiana which is popular across the Gulf Coast of the United States and into the U.S. South. It consists primarily of a strong stock, meat and/or shellfish, a thickener (roux), and the vegetable "holy trinity" of celery, bell peppers, and onion. The key ingredient is okra. Gumbo is traditionally served over rice. There is also a traditional meatless lenten variety.

Boudin (bōō-dān' ) describes a number of different types of sausage used in Creole and Cajun cuisine. Crawfish boudin, popular in Cajun cuisine, is made with the meat of crawfish tails added to rice. It is often served with cracklins (fried pig skins) and saltine crackers, hot sauce, and ice cold beer.

A po' boy (also po-boy, po boy, or poor boy) is a traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana. It almost always consists of meat or seafood, usually fried, served on baguette-like Louisiana French bread.

Red beans and rice is an emblematic dish of Louisiana Creole cuisine.

Crawfish Boil: Shrimp, crab, and crawfish boils can be found across southern Louisiana, but it is the crawfish boil that is most closely associated with the region. A Crawfish Festival is a showcase for Cajun music and culture.

A beignet (pronounced [bɛ.ɲɛ] (which is the French word for fried dough)) in American English refers to a pastry made from deep-fried dough and sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. It is a kind of French doughnut. In the US, beignets are associated with the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. They are served at the well known restaurant Cafe du Monde.

So Many Parties, So Little Time

Hostess With the Mostess is pretty much the best all around party planning site out there.

They have the cutest ideas, the best resources and they cover pretty much any kind of party you might want to throw!

Here are a couple of my favorites.

A Bright and Cheery Summer Wedding

Mostly just for this!

 
 

And I like this one a lot too!

Japanese Washi Tape

And they used that tape here too!

See what I mean? Too much cute stuff and great ideas.

What a Combo!

How about this, birds and cucpcakes, two of my very favorite things!

Chicken Pot Pie

Once again, the Pioneer Woman has convinced me to try something new. This time…it is pie crust. Just for the record, I have made pie crust before, and I was not very successful, so I gave it up.

But chicken pot pie is another thing. I love chicken pot pie. I have never made a chicken pot pie…for fear of the crust. But her pie crust recipe looked rather simple and so I tried it. The crust was easy to make and so I continued on with the chicken pot pie. I am sure the butter and heavy cream added to the wonderful taste of this pot pie. If you have this cookbook, you will find the step by step directions/pictures on page 126. I very carefully followed step number 10 which notes that the rustic looking crust is a good thing. Here is her recipe for the perfect pie crust.

Ingredients

1-½ cup Crisco (vegetable Shortening)
3 cups All-purpose Flour
1 whole Egg
5 Tablespoons Cold Water
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt

Preparation Instructions
In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about 3 or 4 minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add 5 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated.

Separate the dough into halves. Form 2 evenly sized balls of dough and place each dough into a large Ziploc bag. (If you desire a thinner crust, divide dough into thirds.) Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. (If you will be using it immediately it's still a good idea to put in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes to chill.)

When you are ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way out. (Sprinkle some flour over top of the dough if it's a bit too moist.) If the dough is sticking to the countertop use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it's about ½ inch larger in diameter than your pie pan.

With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter into the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge.

Olive Garden Lemon Cake compliments of Lauren

My sister sent me this recipe after trying it for dessert one night when they were out. It is certainly not hard to make but I had a disaster in the kitchen! Maybe it was because I was trying to bake cookies and make a cake at the same time. One of these days I will learn that multitasking is just not for me.



Here is the recipe. I have not tasted it yet, as it is for Bible Study tonight but I will report back!

Olive Garden Lemon Cream Cake
"Delicate white cake and lemon cream filling with a vanilla crumb topping."


Ingredients
1 white cake mix,prepared

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 cups powered sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks
3 tbsp. lemon juice

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 tbsp. butter


Directions
Prepare cake as directed in a 10" round cake pan or 10" round spring form pan.
Blend cream cheese, powered sugar, and lemon juice together. In a medium bowl, whip heavy whipping cream to stiff peaks. Gently fold into cream cheese mixture and blend by hand. Chill until needed.

Mix flour and powered sugar in small bowl. Crumble butter in and dribble in vanilla extract. The crumbles should be no larger than pea size. If you have trouble crumbling mixture, chill for a few minutes. Chill until needed.

After cake is cooled, cut in half. Spread cream cheese mixture, saving 1/2 cup, on bottom half and carefully place top layer back. Spread rest of cream cheese mixture on the sides of cake. Press crumb topping into sides gently.

Chill for 3 hours. Cut into 12 pie shaped slices. Makes 12 servings.

Chai-Tea in a cupcake

Both of my girls love Chai Tea, so when I ran across this recipe in Martha's cupcake book, I knew I had to try them. Lots of wonderful spices needed to get that good Chai Tea flavor. My high altitude adjustments are in italics.

Makes 46 mini muffins (and this is true! I tried to stretch it out to make 48 and it just wouldn't go there!)

Cupcakes:

¾ cup milk plus 3 tablespoons

2 bags of black tea

1 cup all-purpose flour plus 2 tablespoons

1 cup cake flour (not self-rising) plus 2 tablespoons

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder less ¼ teaspoon

½ teaspoon coarse salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

¼ teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cardamom

Pinch each of ground cloves and ground nutmeg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup packed dark brown sugar less 1 tablespoon

2 large eggs, room temperature plus 1 egg

Preheat oven to 350^O. Line mini muffin tins with paper liners. Bring milk to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat; add tea bags, and let steep, covered, 15 minutes. Remove tea bags, squeezing the bags over the pan, and discard. Allow milk to cool completely. Whisk together both flours, baking powder, salt, pepper and spices.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of tea-infused milk, and beating until just combined after each.

Divide batter among lined cups. Bake rotating halfway through, until tops spring back when lightly touched and are pale golden, 10 to 12 minutes. Turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

To finish, dip top of each cupcake in icing, then turn over quickly, and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed. Keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Condensed-Milk Icing:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk (7 ounces)

Pinch of coarse salt

¾ cup confectioners' sugar

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together butter, condensed milk and salt until smooth. Whisk in confectioners' sugar ¼ cup at a time, until combined, then whisk on high speed until thick and smooth. Use immediately.

Chicken Pot Pie

Once again, the Pioneer Woman has convinced me to try something new. This time…it is pie crust. Just for the record, I have made pie crust before, and I was not very successful, so I gave it up.

But chicken pot pie is another thing. I love chicken pot pie. I have never made a chicken pot pie…for fear of the crust. But her pie crust recipe looked rather simple and so I tried it. The crust was easy to make and so I continued on with the chicken pot pie. I am sure the butter and heavy cream added to the wonderful taste of this pot pie. If you have this cookbook, you will find the step by step directions/pictures on page 126. I very carefully followed step number 10 which notes that the rustic looking crust is a good thing. Here is her recipe for the perfect pie crust.

Ingredients

1-½ cup Crisco (vegetable Shortening)
3 cups All-purpose Flour
1 whole Egg
5 Tablespoons Cold Water
1 Tablespoon White Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt

Preparation Instructions
In a large bowl, with a pastry cutter, gradually work the Crisco into the flour for about 3 or 4 minutes until it resembles a coarse meal. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork and then pour it into the flour/shortening mixture. Add 5 tablespoons of cold water, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir together gently until all of the ingredients are incorporated.
Separate the dough into halves. Form 2 evenly sized balls of dough and place each dough into a large Ziploc bag. (If you desire a thinner crust, divide dough into thirds.) Using a rolling pin, slightly flatten each ball of dough (about ½ inch thick) to make rolling easier later. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer until you need them. (If you will be using it immediately it's still a good idea to put in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes to chill.)
When you are ready to use the dough to make a crust, remove from the freezer and allow to thaw for 15 minutes. On a floured surface roll the dough, starting at the center and working your way out. (Sprinkle some flour over top of the dough if it's a bit too moist.) If the dough is sticking to the countertop use a metal spatula and carefully scrape it up and flip it over and continue rolling until it's about ½ inch larger in diameter than your pie pan.
With a spatula, lift the dough carefully from the surface of the counter into the pie pan. Gently press the dough against the corner of the pan. Go around the pie pan pinching and tucking the dough to make a clean edge.