Everyone should have a cousin Steve. Stephen Rayford was my first mentor, the first person who chose me and took me under their wing. At ten years old, Steve schooled me in the game of football as we watched Super Bowl XII between the Dallas Cowboys and the Denver Broncos in the winter of 1978.… Read More Everyone Should Have A Cousin Steve
Smothered Okra is as southern as it gets and it’s easy to prepare. It’s one of my absolute favorite dishes and I make it every chance I get. If you’re lucky enough to have access to fresh okra in the summer, put Smothered Okra in rotation. I use cayenne pepper, black pepper and liquid crab… Read More Spicy Smothered Okra with Shrimp
I made this dish on a whim one day three years ago and was unintentionally smart enough to take a picture and write down a rough recipe. I cook mostly by “sight” rather than recipe, so these are approximate instructions. Of course, feel free to add your own touches. Like most good Creole dishes, this one… Read More Baked Eggplant with Shrimp, Sausage and Italian Cheeses
I’ll be making an Apricot Nectar Cake tomorrow with my mom for the holiday weekend. Stay tuned…
Want to start a food fight in Louisiana? Start talking about the “right” way to make potato salad. Somebody call Michael Buffer because hands might just get thrown before this conversation is over. We’ll get into a great starter recipe that my folks use and I’ll include some variations on this theme as we go along. Alright! Let’s… Read More Traditional Potato Salad
Lenten Fridays are a great time to prepare savory Salmon Burgers. Meaty – but not meat – and seasoned with four spices you’re bound to have on hand, these burgers are a welcomed change if you’ve reached your limit of fried fish plates from the local church. What you’ll need: 1 TBSP olive oil 2 4-oz… Read More Salmon Burgers
If James Brown was the hardest working man in show business, the chicken thigh is his counterpart of the poultry world. Juicier than a breast, more substantial than a wing and more grown-up than a leg, the chicken thigh gets it done. Infuse it with rosemary and bay leaf, and you just might create magic. … Read More Rosemary and Bay Chicken with Asparagus
My mother prepared our family’s traditional New Year meal of cabbage and barbecued pork ribs this year. She’s not a fan of black-eyed peas, so we skipped them; and she didn’t feel like making cornbread after eating left-over Christmas dressing all week, so we had toasted New Orleans French bread with butter and garlic instead. Our… Read More 2017 – Tradition and Creativity
Mid-November will finally bring fall weather to New Orleans and I’ll be more inclined to turn on the oven. Here’s a tease of my Rosemary and Bay Chicken, a warm dish for cool autumn days around the southern family table. Pair it with roasted vegetables, potatoes or rice for a satisfying meal. Recipe to come.… Read More Tease: Rosemary and Bay Chicken
Back in September of this year I spent a wonderful evening with friends from my undergraduate days at LSU. Some of us hadn’t seen each other in many years, but the old affection was still there. Friendship is a tricky business. Try too hard and you smother it. Neglect it and it fades away. But sometimes you… Read More Friends and Foodways: A Rho-union
