Petits Gateaux Secs (Little Dry Cakes)

Source: Eula Mae’s Cajun Kitchen: Cooking Through the Seasons
on Avery Island

Petits gâteaux secs is French for little dry cakes.
They are indeed nothing fancy since they are made with ingredients
- flour, butter, sugar - that were available on the farms in the
rural areas of Acadiana.

They were often made for young children when they came home from
school.
They can be accompanied with café au lait
(coffee milk) made with equal parts strong, dark coffee and hot
milk or cream.
For a heartier snack or dessert, they were served
with Creole cream cheese.

They are also ideal for packing in airtight containers to take
along on a boat trip, or to a picnic or any outdoor meal.
The dough
can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container in the
refrigerator for up to three days.
This basic dough can be used for
sweet tarts, sometimes referred to as turnovers, and can be filled
with fig preserves, baked sliced apples or blackberry jam.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup evaporated milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt

Cream together the butter, mace, nutmeg and sugar in a large
mixing bowl until soft and fluffy.
Add the eggs and beat again
until thick and smooth.
Add the vanilla extract and beat again.
Add
the evaporated milk and blend.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking
powder and salt.
Add this to the butter mixture and stir in one
direction with a wooden spoon until it is all incorporated.
The
dough will be thick and slightly sticky.
Form it into a ball, wrap
in plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a baking sheet with
parchment paper.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour.
Divide the dough into 2
equal portions.
Gently pat one portion into a flattened ball and
put it on the flour-dusted surface.
With a lightly floured rolling
pin, gently roll out the dough into a circle about 9 inches in
diameter and 1/4-inch thick.
Cut the cookies with a 2-inch cookie
cutter and place them on the prepared baking sheet about 1/2 inch
apart.
Gather up the scraps, roll them out and cut more cookies.
You should have about 14 cookies per portion of dough.
Repeat with
the remaining portion of dough.
Bake until lightly golden, about 15
minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for about 5 minutes.
Then, with a metal spatula, carefully lift the cookies off the pan
and transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 28 cookies.

Variation: To make tarts, simply roll out the dough into circles
6 to 8 inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick.
Fill with about 1/4
cup of the desired filling, fold the dough over and seal.
Press the
edges together with the tines of a fork.
Bake until slightly
golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

Skillet Shrimp Creole

Serves 4.

1 cup long grain white rice
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/2 teaspoon filé powder
1 (16 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup dry white wine or no-salt-added tomato juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Prepare rice according to package instructions.
Cover and keep
warm.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.
Add
celery, garlic, onion, bell pepper, and filé powder.
Cook, stirring, until tender, about 10 minutes.

While vegetables are cooking, in a small saucepan, cook beans
until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Cover and keep warm.

Add tomatoes, wine, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to
vegetable mixture.
Cook, stirring, until sauce thickens, about 15
minutes.

Add shrimp; cook, stirring until just opaque, about 3
minutes.

Spoon rice and beans onto individual plates.
Spoon shrimp
mixture on top.
Serve immediately.

Pepper-Glazed Cajun Chicken

Source: Woman’s Day-Meals in Minutes, 01/02/03

Makes 4 servings

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup sliced green onions
2 tablespoons vinegar
6 tablespoons hot pepper jelly
1/4 cup chicken broth

Sprinkle chicken with Cajun seasoning.

In large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
Add
chicken and cook, turning about 10 minutes, until chicken is brown.
Remove chicken; set aside.

To drippings in same pan, add green onions and cook 2 minutes,
stirring frequently.
Add vinegar, jelly and broth; cook, stirring
frequently, until jelly melts.
Return chicken to pan; spoon glaze
over chicken.
Cover and cook over medium-low heat, turning chicken
several times, about 5 minutes, until chicken is fork-tender.
Transfer chicken to serving platter.
Increase heat to medium-high
and cook glaze until it thickens slightly.
Spoon over chicken.

Pain Perdu (Cajun “French” Toast)

Posted by Cookin’Mom 7/1/01 10:12:37
pm

3 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
10 to 12 slices stale French bread

Mix first five ingredients together.
Soak the bread in this
mixture for about 30 minutes, turning once to make sure the bread
is completely coated.

Melt some butter in a skillet and cook the bread on both sides.
Serve with powdered sugar or Steen’s Cane Syrup.

Pot Roast Po’ Boys

Source: Frank Davis, New Orleans Channel

1/4 cup vegetable oil or margarine
1 (4- to 5-pound) boneless chuck roast
3 teaspoons salt and black pepper mixture
2 teaspoons Frank Davis Beef Seasoning
1 can Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can Swanson’s Low Sodium Chicken Broth
1 teaspoon Kitchen Bouquet
2 tablespoons Italian flat leaf parsley, minced
2 loaves New Orleans French bread
2 cups shredded lettuce
3 tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup Hellmann’s or Blue Plate Mayonnaise
1/4 cup dill pickle slices
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

This is quite possibly the ultimate in recipe simplicity.
Basically you heat the Dutch oven, you season and brown the meat,
you pour the soup mixture over the top, and you slow roast the
roast in the oven until it’s ready to fall apart.
Sounds easy, huh.
Here’s how it’s done step by step:

1.
Take a 5-quart heavy Dutch oven, place it on the stove over
medium-high heat, and drop into it about a quarter-cup of either
vegetable oil or real margarine.
(You want to avoid using the
vegetable spreads-they contain a lot of water and air.
Make sure
the label says “margarine.”)

2.
While the oil is coming up to heat, sprinkle the beef
thoroughly with both the salt and black pepper mixture (2:1 ratio,
salt to pepper) and the beef seasoning.
When the meat is completely
coated, rub the seasonings in well with your hands.
Then, using a
couple of meat forks, ease the roast down into the Dutch oven and
brown it uniformly on all sides until it turns nice and toasty.
Take your time and do is right-it’s what seals the pores of the
meat and keeps the juices locked inside.

3.
When the roast is seared all over, remove it from the Dutch
oven temporarily and set it on a platter.
Then in a large bowl,
whisk together until fully blended the mushroom soup and the
chicken broth.
When completely combined, pour it into the Dutch
oven (now set to medium heat), take a wooden spoon, and deglaze the
pot (being sure to scrape up all the bit of browned beef that may
have stuck to the bottom).

4.
At this point, bring to gravy mixture to a gentle bubble.
Then ease the chuck roast back into the pot, baste it thoroughly
with the gravy, put the lid on, slide the pot into a preheated 350
degree F oven, and bake the meat for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours until
ultra-tender.
The remainder of this recipe develops in the oven-do
not open the oven, do not lift the lid, do not peek in the pot, do
not stir…just leave it alone!

5.
Finally, when you’re ready to eat, warm the po’ boy bread,
slice it lengthwise, slather it down with mayonnaise, layer the
shredded lettuce, tomato slices, and pickle chips on one half of
the bread, then pile on the thinly sliced roast chuck on the other
half! It should be sliced against the grain for best texture.

6.
All that’s left now is to ladle on a generous serving of pot
gravy over the beef, bring both halves of the French bread
together, and cut them into sandwich-size portions.
Serve alongside
a frosty root beer and a stack of crunchy potato chips.

Chef’s Notes: To make your po’ boy the epitome of New Orleans
dining, you might also want to splatter on a light sprinkling of
shredded cheddar cheese between the two French bread halves.

Praline Powder

Posted by FootsieBear May 13, 2001

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
Pinch cream of tartar
1/4 cup water
1 cup blanched whole almonds

In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil the sugar with the cream of
tartar and water over moderately high heat, stirring and washing
down any sugar crystals clinging to the sides of the pan with a
brush dipped in cold water.
Cook the syrup over high heat without
stirring, swirling the pan until it is a light caramel.

Add the almonds and swirl the pan until the nuts are coated with
the caramel and begin to make a popping sound.
Pour the mixture
onto an oiled marble surface or jelly roll pan and let cool until
it is hard.

Transfer the praline to a cutting board, chop it coarse and use
a food processor or blender to pulverize it in batches.
Store the
praline powder in an airtight container.