Recipes for Mardi Gras

This Tuesday is Mardi Gras and even though I will not be in New Orleans to celebrate, I take it as an excuse to whip up some NOLA inspired dishes since I am a huge fan on NOLA cuisine. I was really into New Orleans cuisine before I had even had a chance to go there and after finally getting the chance to visit a few years ago I came back with a long list of new recipe ideas to try recreating at home! Below you will find a list of some of my favourite New Orleans style recipes many of which are staples and pretty authentic (well as authentic as someone that did not grow up in New Orleans can make them) along with a few of my creative outtakes using the flavours of New Orleans cuisine. If you are looking for a way to celebrate Mardi Gras from home this Tuesday you cannot go wrong with one of these recipes!

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Oysters Rockefeller

Oysters are something that I always enjoy, though I rarely make them at home since they take a bit of effort but for a special occasion like Valentine's Day they are definitely worth it! You really cannot go wrong with raw oysters but I like them even more when they are baked with butter and garlic and if you throw in some spinach and bacon things get even better! Oysters Rockefeller is an oyster dish where the oysters are topped with a mixture of spinach, butter and garlic along with a crispy bread crumb topping and it is surprisingly easy to make at home. Oysters can be a little challenging to shuck but once you get them open everything else is easy, you pretty much just need to melt the butter, wilt the spinach, place it in the oysters, top with bread crumbs and bake! Of course I like to add a little bacon to the mix, and who doesn't? These Oysters Rockefeller are a great way to start off your Valentine's Day dinner and who knows where it will go from there!

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Texmex Hot and Brown

Up next for my roast turkey leftovers was a hot brown sandwich which I had been wanting to try for a while. The hot brown sandwich is a take on welsh rarebit where toast is served topped with roast turkey, tomato, bacon and a mornay sauce that is broiled until the mornay sauce is bubbling and golden brown. While I was researching the hot brown sandwich I came across the idea of a Texmex style hot brown sandwich on Homesick Texan which sounded much more interesting than the original and I just had to switch tracks and make it instead! This Texmex style hot brown uses a mornay sauce that is spiked with green chilies and it is topped with tomatoes, bacon, guacamole and crumbled cotija cheese and it makes for one really tasty meal! If you are looking for a way to enjoy some of your roast turkey leftovers you really cannot go wrong with this Texmex style hot brown sandwich!

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Hot Cheesy Corn Dip

Corn is in season and I certainly have been enjoying it! In addition to trying out new recipes with corn I have also been making some old favourites and one that I cannot stop making over and over again is this hot cheesy corn dip adapted from Emeril Lagass's recipe! Since I was making the dip anyways I figured that I would take the opportunity to update the 5 year old photo on this recipe with some new ones. This dip is super easy to make, you simply char some corn to bring out its natural sweetness, combine it with a few other vegetables along with plenty of cheese and bake it until it is all melted, bubbling and golden brown. In addition to being easy to make, this dip is addictively good; there is just something magical about how the sweet corn works with the savoury cheese and mayonnaise in this hot dip! The only real problem that I have with this dip is that it disappears far too quickly!

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Fried Green Tomato BLT with Pimento Cheese

Sorry about the lack of updates this past week; I had some computer problems which are hopefully resolved now!

You can still get green tomatoes at the grocery store and I have been taking full advantage of that by enjoying plenty of fried green tomatoes including more than a few fried green tomato BLTs! Once the field ripened tomatoes disappear in the late fall the green tomatoes show up and once fried until tender, these tart and tangy green tomatoes make an excellent substitute for red in BLTs! Of course, I like to play around with my fried green tomato BLTs just like I do with regular BLTs and this time I was thinking about a new version with pimento cheese. Normally adding cheese to a BLT might not be the first thing that would come to mind but the addictively good, sweet, spicy and creamy pimento cheese finds a perfect home in one!

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Bacon and Fried Green Tomato Pimento Grilled Cheese

Another fall treat is green tomatoes which make a brief appearance at the farmers market when the weather threatens to destroy the tomatoes before they ripen. Ever since I first discovered them I eagerly await them each fall and this weekend they made their first appearance. Inevitably the first thing that I do with them is to make some fried green tomatoes which is a Southern dish where slices of green, unripe, tomatoes are coated in cornmeal and fried until crispy. After an initial batch of fried green tomatoes I wanted to combine them with another Southern delicacy, pimento cheese, a combination of cheddar cheese, pimentos and mayonnaise, and make, you guessed it, a fried green tomato and pimento cheese sandwich!

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Blackened Catfish Tacos

I have had tacos on the brain a lot these days and I had another idea that I just could not contain; blackened catfish tacos with remoulade sauce. I was thinking about southern flavours like blackend fish and po'boys along with tacos and combining the three of them to create something new and wonderful. To cook fish blackened style, you rub it with spices, commonly a cajun/creole spice blend, and then sear it briefly at high heat until the outside just starts to char and blacken giving it a slight crispness while the inside is still perfectly moist and tender. I was taken by blackened fish the first time that I had it and I was thinking that it would be perfect in some fish tacos! Instead of using a salsa I figured that a remoulade sauce would keep the theme going nicely and since I most commonly have remoulade sauce in po'boy's and po'boys are commonly filled with lettuce and tomatoes so I filled the tacos out with lettuce and a quick pico de gallo. Heat is an essential component to tacos and without the salsa they needed some so I provided it with plenty of dashes of hot sauce to finish the tacos off!

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