patti

We make rice dressing a couple of different ways. These days after we make the meat mixture, we freeze half as it's just too much. Half is ample for the two of us, plus leftovers. (I say "we" because both my husband and I make it, but we do it pretty much the same way.) 1 lb of ground beef 1 1 lb container of dressing mix. Frozen dressing mix is easily found in south Louisiana. Depending on the brand, it usually contains pork, chicken liver and gizzards. Our favorite brand is Harold's, but Richard's and Savoie's brands are more popular. Harold's was the first commercially made one and we've stuck with it. When we don't have a prepared mix, we use 1 lb of ground pork and don't add in chicken livers or gizzards, cuz we're lazy like that. 1 diced white or yellow onion 1 diced bell pepper (we use red, traditional is green) A stalk or two of diced celery is traditional. I use some if I have it, but I don't worry about it if I don't. 1 cup of stock, either beef or chicken 4 or so cloves of minced garlic White rice (3 cups of raw rice, cooked) Green onions. Sauté the veg in fat of choice. Add ground beef, browning and chopping it up kind of finely as it browns. Add thawed container of dressing mix (otherwise, add ground pork at the same time as the ground beef). Mix and add a little stock. Season generously with Tony's (or salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika). Let it simmer for 20 minutes or so. If you're freezing some, remove half from the pot now. Add white rice, folding and mixing it in until it is well mixed. Taste for seasoning, adjust, and then add chopped green onions. Re: dressing mix. Some people don't mix it with ground beef, but use it as is. It's a stronger taste than we like. Some people don't want any hint of liver in theirs, we like some. Recipes vary over south Louisiana. My mother always used short grain rice for hers. My mother-in-law used long grain. I use medium grain.

Yes, I will come back a bit later and post it! Tonight’s dinner was chicken livers with pomegranate molasses. I’m so happy that it turned out as good as I’ve had it from a local restaurant, and was super simple to make. With parsley potatoes. Naan bread and salad didn’t make it into the pictures.

I added some more Chachere's to the whole dish after all was said and done.

My method: I sautéed one small diced onion, half a diced red bell pepper, and four minced garlic cloves in olive oil. I usually add kosher salt and black pepper to the veg while they sauté. Once softened, I added a 32 oz container of seafood stock and brought it to a boil. (When I have shrimp heads and shells, I make my own stock. I didn’t.) Spooned about five or six tablespoons of dark roux into the stock and let that simmer for 20 or 30 minutes. Thought it looked too thick (mistake!) and added some homemade chicken stock I had in the fridge. Hard boiled eggs are optional, but traditional in some parts of south Louisiana. It’s good! Potatoes are also optional. I didn’t use any last night, but added some today when I was reheating to thicken.* If you’re including potatoes, add them when you add the hard boiled eggs. I had some small red potatoes that I quartered. Simmer till potatoes are tender. Time for the shrimp. I had a pound and a quarter of wild caught Gulf shrimp, cleaned and deveined. I seasoned them with Tony Chachere’s and added to the stew. Three to five minutes later, it’s done. Taste for seasoning and then ladle over rice. *I removed all the shrimp from the stew when I was working on it today. I didn’t want them to be overdone. Once I was satisfied, I added them back in and turned off the fire, letting the heat from the stew bring them up to temp.

I didn’t. But I’ve now added a cornstarch slurry and it’s just right! And thank you!

I have brought shame to Cajun culture by making shrimp stew that is too thin. I’ll thicken it when I reheat. Maybe. (Flavor is on point, though.)

Absolutely! We’ve lived in this house for 28 years and the first 23 were with a cramped and poorly functioning kitchen. We remodeled five years ago and it is a pleasure to cook in our new kitchen. The pull-out shelves are a dream. One of my favorite features of the kitchen, though, is that instead of lower cabinets, I have drawers everywhere except under the sink.

Our pantry has gotten more disorganized during the pandemic, which makes no sense, since we’re both at home and have time to organize. I took some close-ups, but they made me want to go in and arrange things properly, and we can’t have that, so I’m not posting them. Spices. The rack on the upper shelf can be pulled down for easy access. Oh! We added these door racks during the pandemic, so at least I organized SOMETHING. I had no idea we had three boxes of Morton’s salt till I put them on this rack. If I pulled out the four drawers, you’d see that ... well, I’m not pulling them out.

I had a craving for southern style green beans with ham and potatoes, so I cooked a pot. Served with rice dressing.

Thank you! The recipe called for bread crumbs, but I used some homemade croutons. Should’ve “crumbed” them in a consistent manner. (Rolling pin used to bash them in a ziplock. Needed more muscle power from me.) Gorgonzola cheeseburger, crispy crowns.

Leftover ribs with a freshly made side of spinach Madeleine.

I had plans to do some ribs in the oven and make potato salad and rice dressing (aka dirty rice) to go with. Once the ribs were in the oven, plans changed and I did not have access to the kitchen for a few hours. My husband saved the day and picked up sides at the supermarket deli. Oven baked pork ribs with a hoisin based sauce.

Thanks, Kim. I dipped the shrimp in egg/water and then in seasoned flour with a little bit of corn meal. I know lots of people do two rounds through the flour, but I only do one. I'm with you on the Costco chicken. Still reasonably priced and a nice size. From that one chicken, I made a chicken flat bread for lunch, the pot pie, which was enough for a dinner meal and several lunches, and yesterday I made some chicken stock from the carcass. Well worth it!

Last night, chili and garlic bread. ETA: I've got to make these pics smaller before posting. Apologies. Can it be done after posting? A few nights ago, my husband made spaghetti with meat sauce, also with garlic bread.

Sigh. Maybe I’ll learn how to make my own crust.

Chicken pot pie. Store bought crust and rotisserie chicken. Veggies were sliced, diced, cooked, seasoned and combined for filling by me. ETA: Is it hypocritical to be okay with using store-bought crusts and rotisserie chicken, but not okay with using canned cream of chicken soup to thicken the filling?

Cod with lemon and capers, roasted cauliflower, salad.

Took some gumbo out of the freezer and made a little potato salad to go with.

Leftover roast beef, freshly roasted potatoes, carrots, squash.

Fried shrimp, baked fries, and salad. I have misplaced a small ziplock bag of dried figs and I really wanted a couple for my salad. The last I saw them they were in my husband’s hands while he was asking me a question about them. 🤨 He was allowed to have some of these (and potatoes), regardless.

Tonight a hurricane is a blowin’, but we still have power. I had two servings of salad with homemade croutons, dried figs, Gorgonzola, pepper jelly vinaigrette. The supporting players were arugula, spinach, red onion, butter lettuce. Last night I had leftover soup with non homemade croutons. And roasted delicata squash.

Roast, stuffed with garlic and jalapeños, chowchow, black-eyed peas, rice and gravy. Salad. Spinach, butter lettuce, arugula, red onion, radishes. My serving included Gorgonzola cheese, dried figs. Pepper jelly vinaigrette not pictured.

My future daughter in law sent over a Lebanese dish her grandmother used to make for her. Sabanegh (spinach and ground beef) with rice. She told me to put the spinach and meat mixture over the rice, add a few squirts of lemon and a little vinegar, and eat! I had some for lunch yesterday. I had more with my dinner last night. My husband picked up a poboy for himself and some fried catfish for me. With a cup of leftover soup.

Shrimp and cannellini bean soup and garlic Parmesan naan. And before parm.

It was sweet, so I added sriracha to sort of counterbalance it. Maybe I'd also increase the fish sauce next time. I thought it was tasty enough to be worth playing with the salty, sweet, and heat to find the right balance. Maybe lime juice to add sour?