Browsing Category

Cajun

Cajun, Crawfish, My Book Shelf, The Writing Life

How Louisiana got to TV writer and “Plantation Shudders” author Ellen Byron

Television writer and novelist Ellen Byron is a Louisiana junkie.

The New York native and Tulane University graduate, who now lives in Los Angeles with her husband and daughter, can’t get the Bayou State out of her system, admitting that she sheds tears of joy when she visits New Orleans and tears of sadness when she leaves. In 2015, Byron sunk all that residual Louisiana passion into a new mystery novel, Plantation Shudders, a fun and breezy jaunt with nods to classic inn murders (which guest is really the baddie?), except told in modern day Cajun Country. The second in the series, Body on the Bayou, will be released in September 2016.

PlantationShuddersSmaller

I especially appreciated the heroine’s name, Maggie, short for Magnolia, bringing back memories of me trying to buffalo college friends in Washington, DC, that my real name was a southern flower and not the truer, dowdier Margaret.

Ellen and I discovered each other recently, and had a great time connecting and sharing notes as writers inspired by Louisiana. I picked up her book and read it over one weekend, relishing her depictions of my zany adopted home. Here’s some of what we discussed.

Continue Reading…

Boudin, Cajun, Hungry for Louisiana, Local, Louisiana, Southern

Gameday boudin balls

Boudin links are great. We all know that. But boudin balls are better, because as we also know, what pork and rice really need is to be deep-fried.

This weekend, as LSU fans across the state prepare for the game against Auburn, many of them will stock up on Cajun charcuterie’s greatest guilty pleasure. Whether you tote your boudin balls to a tailgate party in a grease-stained paper bag, or on a behemoth disposable platter gilded with parsley, boudin balls are the pinnacle of gameday finger food.

BoudinBalls2

Continue Reading…

Cajun, Crawfish, Hungry for Louisiana, Local, Louisiana, Southern, Weeknight

A weeknight saved by crawfish tails

Here it is early September in South Louisiana, and crawfish season seems like a thing of the past. Backyard boils, Sunday etouffée and rural crawfish festivals are fixtures of spring, not fall. But let’s not be too hasty. One-pound packages of Louisiana crawfish tails are still available in many independent grocery stores in South Louisiana, and they should be around for another few weeks, says my friend Blaise Calandro III of Calandro’s Supermarkets here in Baton Rouge. In fact, it’s only between November and February when local tails are not commercially available.

So stock up for yourself Louisiana peeps, and freeze some for your out-of-state friends, because in addition to being full of flavor, crawfish tails are one of easiest and most convenient ingredients around, especially if you’re a working parent. I can attest. Earlier this week, I found myself trying to pull together dinner at the absolute last minute, and a pound of frozen crawfish tails saved me.

Continue Reading…

Cajun, Corn, Local, Louisiana, Shrimp, Southern, Vegetables

Corn macque choux inspired by my pal Jay on The Next Food Network Star

MOTH_Jay-Ducote.jpg.rend.sni4col.landscape

We’re rooting hard in Baton Rouge for our own Jay Ducote to take top honors on The Next Food Network Star, and one of his recipes on the show inspired dinner at my house this week. Jay is a friend and fellow blogger/food writer (among other talents), and it’s been fun to watch him soar on a national level on both Cutthroat Kitchen and now possibly as Food Network’s next big thing. A few episodes into the annual series, he’s showing his natural ability to gab and connect, and he’s playing to his strengths as a chef who favors big Southern flavors. The Cajun tasso macque choux he prepared for a large crowd during the first episode earned kudos – and it prompted me to make my own version.

Continue Reading…

Cajun, Hungry for Louisiana, Local, Louisiana, The Writing Life

Hungry for Louisiana Chapter 1 Peers into Crawfish

AaronMelanconRayne

 

This is one of my subjects, Rayne crawfish farmer Aaron Melancon, who was kind enough to let me tag along on his crawfish boat during my book research. You would not believe the work that goes into the painstaking act of crawfish farming. As I write in the book, the crawfish boil might be the epitome of abundance – outdoor tables piled high with steaming mudbugs – but when you see how few crawfish emerge from each trap (relatively speaking), you realize what goes into keeping the region’s rabid crawfish fans happy during the season.

Thank you Aaron for your hospitality!

Cajun, Soups

Chef Jeremy Langlois – bisque of curried pumpkin, crawfish and corn

Chef Jeremy Langlois is one of south Louisiana’s shining culinary stars, and he was nice enough to share his recipe for bisque of curried pumpkin, crawfish and corn with me. It’s one of the top sellers on the menu of Latil’s Landing at Houmas House, where he serves as the restaurant’s original executive chef. It’s an amazing place to have dinner.

I featured Chef Jeremy and his bisque in a recent story in 225 Magazine on greater Baton Rouge’s diverse soups. There’s a lot more going on in the Capital City than just gumbo, including this gorgeous bowl, traditional pho and yellow lentil from one the city’s latest Middle Eastern eateries. Check out the story to see the others we included. Recipe follows….

Continue Reading…