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
My friend, LSU classmate and sorority sister, Monica Joseph Butler Johnson, was a woman in a thousand: exuberant, intelligent and the life of every space she ever stepped into. In south Louisiana, it’s not a party unless there’s some seafood pasta, and I humbly dedicate my Pasta Monica to the girl from St. James, Louisiana who embodied everything… Read More Friends and Foodways: Pasta Monica
You know a recipe is a hit when your family asks you to make it over and over. Shrimp and Grits is a deeply satisfying dish that lends itself to dozens of variations. This iteration is spicier than Version 1 and will encourage you to experiment with different cheeses and seasonings. This recipe serves 2. What I… Read More Shrimp and Grits, Version 2
Want to make something impressively delicious on the fly? Seafood cornbread is the way to go. Yesterday my cousin Deadra and I tested an original shrimp cornbread recipe that was savory and satisfying. It is a perfect intersection of South Louisiana spice and Mississippi Delta comfort. We’re going to do more testing with a crawfish version, but… Read More Shrimp Cornbread
I love barbecued shrimp, but I hate to have to don a HazMat outfit to eat it. This traditional New Orleans dish is indeed finger-licking good, but peeling shells off of buttered-up jumbo shrimp can wreck havoc on your fresh Polo button down. Here’s how you can have the magnificence of the sloppilicious version… Read More Barbecued Shrimp Kabobs
Shrimp and Grits always reminds me of the kind of humble-but-awesome dish that my uncles might have made while working on shrimp and oyster boats down in Plaquemines Parish, with fresh seafood plucked straight from the bayous and the Gulf of Mexico. Almost every celebrity chef and notable restaurant has an iteration of it these days, but… Read More Shrimp and Grits, Version I
In New Orleans and most of south Louisiana, rice is king. We eat rice on our rice. It’s a definitive part of our culture and we love it. But as grains go, it’s not always the most nutritious choice. Quinoa, with it’s tricky pronunciation and upstart attitude, packs an unparalleled nutritional wallop. And when given the SoulCreole touch, quinoa… Read More Shrimp and Almond Quinoa
SoulCreole is a philosophy of cooking rooted in the southern Louisiana culinary tradition and complemented with the culinary heritage of the Mississippi Delta. SoulCreole’s one rule: FLAVOR. The food must have taste. You want arugula on your po-boy instead of iceberg lettuce? Sure. Smoked turkey in your red beans instead of pickled pork? Fine. Brown rice or (gasp!)… Read More What is SoulCreole?
I’m not a red-sauce-over-rice kind of person, so Shrimp Creole has not been on my radar for decades, even though it is a Louisiana classic. But I am a get-out-of-your-comfort-zone kind of person, so I made Shrimp Creole tonight with 1 part brown roux and 2 parts tomato paste as the base. Everyone raved, so maybe… Read More Shrimp Creole
Nicole Moliere 