Mardi Gras made the list in Patricia Schultz’s book, 1000 Places To See Before You Die but a side note should be added to include that whatever happens at Mardi Gras should go to the grave with you too!

I’m not sure how much I will ever reveal about my first trip to Mardi Gras. It did involve a trip to Pat O’ Brien’s, hurricane stained clothes and being asked to dance by a guy with women’s underpants strung around his neck (they still had the price tag on them!). Great fun and great memories that I’ll take to the grave - peace, love and Fat Tuesday! 

Recipe:

3 cups cooked white, long grain rice

3/4 – 1 lb andouille sausage, preferably turkey

1/ 2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 large onion, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 tbsp olive oil

1 6oz. can tomato paste

Prepare rice according to package directions but substitute chicken broth for water for cooking. Make enough for 3 cups cooked rice.

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add peppers, onions and celery cooking for 5 minutes. Add sliced sausage and cook for an additional 2 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in tomato paste. Cook for a few minutes and then add rice, mixing well. Cook for about 15 minutes before serving being careful not to burn the rice.

Notes:

I actually found a turkey andouille sausage at Whole Foods. The brand is Wellshire Farms and it was actually really good and had quite a bit of heat to it.

Onward we go to Fat Tuesday! Friday was a bust, I spent all day trying to ‘bake’ beignets. Yes, bake them and after 4 batches, standing there covered in powdered sugar, I learned one thing – somethings are just better fried!

My sister is notorious for calling me while she is in the grocery and asking me how to make something. I even went so far to make her a cookbook one Christmas that had all of our favorites and she still calls from the store. So this is my attempt to start a new collection of our favorites and maybe she will print these off before heading to the store!

Recipe:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp Tony’s Cajun seasoning

Hot Sauce

Whole Wheat Slider Buns or Dinner Rolls

Iceburg Lettuce

Spilt each chicken breast lengthwise, then pound until 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick, cut each piece in half to make 8 small chicken cutlets.

Place chicken in a large baggie, pour in buttermilk and a few drops of hot sauce. Seal bag and make sure all chicken is well coated. Chill in fridge for 1-2 hours.

Take chicken out of the fridge and let set out for about 15 minutes. Mix together flour and cajun seasoning. Take chicken from the buttermilk mixture, shaking off excess buttermilk and dredge in flour.

Place chicken on a wire rack that has been generously sprayed with oil spray and is sitting on top of a cookie sheet. Place in a 375 degree oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken. The turn the broiler on for about 5 minutes until the chicken has browned on top.

For Easy Remoulade Sauce:

1/2 cup 0% Fage Greek Yogurt

1 tbsp Hellman’s Mayo

1 tbsp creole mustard or stone ground mustard

1 tbsp sweet pickle relish

1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp paprika

Combine all ingredients. Chill before serving.

To assemble, spread a teaspoon of remoulade on the top and bottom of the slider bun, add chopped iceberg lettuce and oven fried chicken.

Notes:

Soaking the chicken in buttermilk tenderizes the meat so that when it is baked it doesn’t dry out.

My first introduction to a Louisiana staple was at camp. Every summer the Louisiana girls would unpack, pull out a giant can of Tony’s and set it in the center of our cabin’s dining hall table. We ate it on everything – eggs, popcorn, baked potatoes – I truly thought it was the best thing I had ever had and still eat it on everything.

In college, I became obsessed with Zapp’s Spicy Cajun Crawtator chips. They didn’t sell them in Tennessee and so my mom would ship them to me a case at a time. I swear I lived on Zapp’s and Dr. Pepper during my sophomore year.

And I love crawfish. I won’t touch seafood of any kind with a ten foot pole but give me a big batch of mud bugs and I can go to town!

Recipe:

1 lb boneless chicken breast, chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp flour

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1 celery stalk, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

1 cup chicken broth, low-sodium

1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 bay leaf

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, season with salt and pepper and cook until done. Remove chicken and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium-low, melt butter and sprinkle in flour. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon for about 15 minutes until the roux becomes a dark caramel color.

Add onions, celery and bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds more. The mixture will be a little thick with the roux sticking to the vegetables.

Turn heat back up to medium-high and add chicken broth to deglaze pan. It is very important to scrape up all the roux from the bottom of the pan. Cook mixture for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently until the broth thickens.

Add tomatoes, chicken and spices to broth mixture and reduce to a simmer for about 20 -30 minutes before serving.

Notes:

Chicken Creole is best served with scoop of rice and some crusty bread to dip in the sauce. If you’d like it with a little more heat just add more cayenne.

If you’d prefer the sauce a bit thinner, add some water or broth.