Category Archives: Recipes

French Dip “Sliders” Au Jus in the Instant Pot

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One of my favorite sandwiches of all times is a French Dip Po-Boy. This sandwich is made with tender roast beef, sautéed onions and melted cheese. Flavorful beef broth or “au jus” is served for dipping the crusty French bread sandwich. You can’t find a better po-boy that this one. It has been awhile since I’ve made these sandwiches, but I’m in the spirit. Plus, it is football season – again – and these sandwiches make an easy game day meal. Just “grap and go.” I “downsized” the sandwiches by using small pistolette rolls to make “sliders” rather than large po-boys.

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Knock-Out Corn Dip

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Here’s an incredible snack dip which is perfect for an autumn football gathering or party. Just open cans! Who would guess that the star of your next party would be “Knock-Out Corn Dip” or that canned corn would make any sort of exciting dip. Watch out. This appetizer can become quite addictive. Our friend, Regina, has been bringing the corn dip to every social event that our little music group has had for the past five or more years — I’ve lost track. Now we tease Regina and remind her to bring the corn dip and chips to parties. The main ingredient is canned Fiesta-style corn which is a colorful medley of corn and peppers. Mix in a sour cream dressing, cheese, seasonings and green onions. Wow. This is a spicy and delicious concoction. I modified the recipe by including fresh corn cut off the cob.

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Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce

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Cherry tomatoes are tiny versions of the wonderful, ripe tomatoes which I love so much in the summertime. There are many varieties of cherry tomatoes and they all grow prolifically in Louisiana gardens. This bowl of assorted minature tomatoes was grown at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden on their research farm. The tomatoes were “on sale.” Some were “research” tomatoes — all were difference sizes, shapes and colors. “Take as many as you want,” the kind lady said. That was music to my ears. I came home with over three pounds of these small tomatoes. This was more than I could use in salads. I did not want to let the tomatoes go to waste and decided to experiement making a pasta sauce with most of them. How did the sauce turn out? Quite unique, very tasty.

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Hot Pink Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches

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What a pleasure, the “Barbie” movie came out this summer turning our world into a sea of pink. I love the bright and splashy color, “pink,” and the vibrance which it has added to our universe. A little fantasy and imagination helps balance all the sobering news in our world. To celebrate the Barbie theme, I devised a shortbread ice cream cookie sandwich to share. And, it is delicious. Cherry-infused ice cream filling and bright pink icing make the cookies mighty tasty. I named them “Hot Pink Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches” to avoid any copyright infringment issues with the Mattel folks. It takes several steps to make this dessert, but it is worth it. The shortbread cookies with pink icing can stand alone, but why not add a cherry ice cream filling?

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Brabant Potatoes — a New Orleans Classic

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When you are given a cookbook which has more recipes for oyster dishes than vegetables, there’s a good chance that it may relate to the cuisine of New Orleans. A friend gifted me an old cookbook which she no longer wanted. Since I live in Louisiana, I seemed like the natural person to get the cookbook. Little did she know what a treasure it is — if you like cookbooks. The vintage cookbook, era 1960s, is written by the parents whose daughters attended the Ursuline Academy of the Old Ursuline Convent — which dates to 1727. The cookbook is filled with classic recipes of New Orleans — these Catholic parents would have come from established families in the city. As I skimmed through the pages, I stopped at “Brabant Potatoes.” Now, here’s a dish you won’t find outside of New Orleans. I decided to make a version of this classic Louisiana dish of “French Fries.” If you like potatoes, you will love this dish!

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Cajun-Asian Fusion Stuffed Gypsy Peppers

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I decided to get creative and find a way to use the sweet-flavored gypsy peppers which I grew in my summer garden. I concocted a dish which has both Cajun and Asian elements which I am calling, “Cajun-Asian Fusion Stuffed Gypsy Peppers.” I used a traditional Cajun stuffing of pork, rice and lots of vegetable seasonings. The Asian fusion component comes from Indonesian Sambal Oelek Ground Fresh Chili Paste which I added to the stuffing. This paste gives a different flavor “twist” to the stuffed pepper dish. And the mild gypsy peppers are a great pepper to use for stuffing. The result is a flavorful rice and pork casserole and supper entree.

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Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Strawberries

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“Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches with Strawberries” is just a whimsical, fun summer dessert. The little members of the family can help stir up the brownie batter and everyone will enjoy eating the dessert. The recipe combines a delicious chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and strawberries for the filling. The dessert is frozen and then cut into bars. Who can resist these brownie ice cream sandwiches? And surprise, the strawberries are the star of this recipe. This dessert needs plenty of freezing time (at least 4 hours), so allow adequate time to make the dessert. Let’s get started.

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New Orleans Style Homemade Onion Rings

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In addition to great seafood, New Orleans serves some awesome onion rings. I had this revelation during one of our recent visits into New Orleans. We ate at the neighborhood restaurant, Deanie’s Sea Food Kitchen, on Magazine Street, in the Garden District. This little restaurant is not especially known to tourists. Rather, it is a place where locals patronize. The seafood plates are fantastic. We indulged in a soft-shell crab po-boy and got homemade onion rings as an appetizer. While onion rings are not unique to New Orleans, the ones served in this city have evolved into something special. At Deanie’s, the colossal stack of onions are “hand-cut, battered in buttermilk and fried until golden fried.” They are delicious. Back home, while shopping at our local farmer’s market, I noticed some huge white onions. I decided to try to replicate Deanie’s onion rings. It was definately an experiment!

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Summer Garden Bloody Mary Mix

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I have to brag a little about this recipe. “Summer Garden Bloody Mary Mix” is a homemade tomato juice cocktail mixer using ripe, juicy tomatoes, jalapeño peppers and fresh basil and parsley. It is full of summer garden flavors with a little “zip.” This tomato cocktail mixer recipe is delicious — much better than anything you will find in a retail store. And it is easy to make, too. Just roast the tomatoes and jalapeño peppers, saute the onions and celery. Then let everything simmer on the stove with a few more seasonings as the aroma of fresh herbs fills the air. Strain out the solids, dip the rim of glasses in course salt, add vodka and we are ready to go and enjoy the hot summer morning — in the shade.

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Ida’s Watermelon Preserves

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I’ve been told that my grandmother Ida’s “Watermelon Preserves” were the best anywhere around. This summer I decided to see for myself and make a batch. However, I had quite a surprise when I read the recipe — the preserves are made with only the white part of the rind — not the watermelon pulp. Now, do you know of anyone who eats watermelon rind? Apparently my ancesters did. Grandma Ida’s recipe consists of three ingredients — the white part of the rind, sugar and a little lemon juice. When cooked down on the stove, the sugar thickens into a thick syrup and the small chunks of rind flavor the preserves. Hey, this is really candied watermelon rind! No wonder everyone liked “Ida’s Watermelon Preserves.” This novel recipe turned out to be a very, very sweet summer treat.

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