Cajun Creole Mustard Sauce
  INGREDIENTS:
2/3 cup Bacon, cooked & chopped fine
2/3 cup Bacon drippings
2/3 cup Zatarain's Cut Green Onions
2/3 cup Zatarain's Sweet Bell Pepper
16 ozs Zatarain's Creole Mustard
2/3 cup Tomato paste
1 cup Orange juice
1/3 cup Red wine vinegar
1/3 cup Steens Pure cane Syrup
1 tsp Louisiana Creole Seasoning (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp. Zatarain's Cayenne Pepper ( if desired)

DIRECTIONS:
Cook bacon until crisp, set aside.  Add  green onions and bell pepper to bacon drippings, cook over low heat for about 5 minutes.  Add tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes over low heat.  Add remaining ingredients, stir thoroughly.  Cook for 5 minutes over low heat.  Remove from heat and refrigerate until desired.  Use as a dipping sauce for fried seafood and vegetables.  Also may be used as sauce over grilled chicken, pork chops, and even deer.
Yield:  approx. 4 to 5 cups of sauce
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Cajun Potato & Mushroom Hash:
 Serve this side dish with roasted chicken or pork. INGREDIENTS:
4 strips Bacon, diced
3/4 cup Zatarain's Dry Diced White Onions
3/4 cup Mushrooms, sliced
2 large Potatoes, grated
3/4 teaspoon Louisiana Cajun Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoon Parsley, chopped
1/4 cup Cream
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons Olive oil
DIRECTIONS:
Cook the bacon in a skillet until beginning to brown.  Add the onion and mushrooms and cook until just soft.  Remove to a bowl and mix with the potatoes, parsley, cream and seasonings. Heat the oil in the skillet. Add the mixture and cook (turning once) until browned on both sides.
Yield:  4 servings
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Southern Style Red Beans with Sausage
 INGREDIENTS:
1 pound Camillia dry red kidney beans (picked & washed)
1/2 cup Wesson oil or bacon drippings
1/2 cup dry parsley flakes
10 cups water
1 teaspoon LaDon's Lemon Pepper
2 teaspoons Bootsie's Louisiana Spice
1/2 cup Zatarain's Sweet Bell pepper
2 ribs of celery, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon Zatarain's Cayenne pepper
1 cup chopped smoked sausage
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
Cajun Country Long Grain Rice (cooked)

DIRECTIONS:
In a 4-quart pot, combine all of the above ingredients except the smoked sausage. Add smoked sausage the last 30 minutes of cooking time. Cook approximately 2 hours or until beans are tender, on medium fire, uncovered.  More water may be added as needed.   Serve over fluffy Cajun rice.
Yield:  Serves 6 to 8 servings
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Southern Creole Green Beans:
The full flavors of Louisiana cooking complement green beans.
 INGREDIENTS:
4 strips Bacon, diced
1/2 cup Zatarain's Dry Diced White Onions
3/4 cup Zatarain's Sweet Bell Pepper
1 teaspoon Garlic, minced
2 cups Crushed tomatoes (canned)
1 tsp Bulliard's Louisiana Supreme Cayenne Hot sauce
1 pound Green beans
DIRECTIONS:
Brown the bacon in a saucepan. Add the onions and green pepper. Cook until just soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the tomatoes and hot sauce. Simmer for 30 minutes over low heat. Snap the ends off of the beans and cook them in boiling water until soft. Drain. Toss them in the sauce. Serve warm.
Yield:  4 Servings

Cajun Baked Black Eyed Peas with Sausage
  INGREDIENTS:
Filling:
1 lb. mild sausage
1 large onion, cut into thin wedges
1 medium bell pepper cut into short thin strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (15 oz.) cans Trappey's black eyed peas, drained
2 (15 oz.) cans Trappey's Cut Okra and Tomatoes
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
Cornbread topping:
1 6.6 oz.box Zatarain's Cornbread Stuffing
1 tsp. Zatarain's Cayenne Pepper
DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 425 degrees.   In large skillet, cook sausage until brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in onions, cayenne pepper, and garlic; cook until vegetables are tender. Stir in peas, thyme,cut okra and tomatoes; cook just until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour into greased 13 x 9 baking dish; stir in okra if desired. In medium bowl, combine all cornbread-topping ingredients; stir until smooth. Spoon batter around edges of sausage mixture.  Bake at 425 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.
Yield:  8 - 10 Servings
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Spicy Cajun Cornbread
 A wonderful dish served with New Orleans Style Red
Beans (Cammellia) over the top..
INGREDIENTS:
2 packages Calhoun Blend Mill cornbread & muffin mix (use directions)
1/2 cup salad oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 large onion, grated
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup cream-style corn
1/2 cup very finely chopped Trappey's Whole Jalapeno Peppers (drained of juice)
1/4 tsp. Louisiana Hot Sauce
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheese
1/2 clove garlic, pureed
1/4 cup chopped pimiento
DIRECTIONS:
In a mixing bowl, use directions making cornbread mix.  Add other ingredients in order given. Bake in a large, greased iron skillet in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Or use two greased 8-inch square pans and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 35 minutes.
Yield:  Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:
61 oz Canned hominy; drained
6 oz Canned chopped green chiles;
-drained
24 oz Commercial sour cream
8 oz Monterey Jack cheese; shred
1/4 c Onion; minced
2 ea Jalapeno peppers; seeded
-and finely chopped
1/4 c Fine, dry breadcrumbs
1/4 c Butter or margarine
Whole green chiles; sliced
-crosswise
Pimiento strips

Instructions:
Combine first six ingredients in a large mixing bowl; spoon into a lightly greased 13" x 9" x 2" baking dish.
Sprinkle with breadcrumbs; dot with butter.
Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Garnish with green chiles and pimiento strips
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Southern Style Hominy Salad
  INGREDIENTS:
1 15.5 oz. can White Hominy
1/4 cup Zatarain's Sweet Bell Pepper
1/4 tsp Rex's Cayenne Pepper (more or less to taste)
2 tbsp Zatarain's Dry White Diced Onions
1/4 tsp celery seed
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup cubed or grated cheese
1/4 cup drained pickle relish or sliced olives
1/4 cup Blue Plate Mayonnaise
1 tsp Bootsies Louisiana Spice
2 tomatoes sliced into wedges
DIRECTIONS:
Rinse hominy and drain well. Combine with remaining ingredients and chill about an hour. Serve on lettuce, garnished with tomato wedges and more mayonnaise if desired.
Yield:  4 to 6 servings

Creole Cabbage
 The flavors of Louisiana go well with cabbage.
INGREDIENTS:
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 small head Cabbage, shredded
1 medium Onion, sliced
1 cup Zatarain's Sweet Bell Pepper
1 teaspoon Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Zatarain's Cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup Tomatoes, diced

DIRECTIONS:
Melt the butter in a heavy skillet. Add the cabbage, onion, pepper and seasonings. Cover and cook over low heat until tender (stirring frequently).  Add the tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes longer, uncovered.
Yield:  Serves 4-6

 

 Cajun Venison Pie
  INGREDIENTS:
1 lb Ground venison, browned and drained
1/2 c Bread crumbs
1/4 c Green pepper, chopped
1/4 c Onion, chopped
1 1/2 cn Tomato sauce
2 1/2 c Cooked Cajun Country Rice
1/2 c Grated cheese
3 teasopoons Louisiana Cajun Seasoning
Pie Crust to cover 9"  pie pan

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven at 350F

Combine venison, bread crumbs, green pepper, onion and 1/2 can tomato sauce in large pie shell. Mix rice, cheese, Louisiana Cajun Seasoning and 1 can tomato sauce. Place mixture on top of first mixture and spread other half can of tomato sauce over top. Then lay pie crust over top of 9" pie pan. Bake at 375F for about 35 minutes.

Yield: 2-3 Servings
 

 

 

 

Fried Chitterlings (Chitlins) and Hog Maws

(More Variations To Come)

In my part of the country, chitterlings come in 10 pound buckets. Hog maws come in smaller packages found in the freezer case. If you can find the larger containers and like the recipe, simply use several times the ingredients to end up with the same percentages. Local supermarkets also carry smaller packages. After cleaning the chitterlings of the fat you will only end up with about half as much volume.

Ingredients:

2 pounds hog maws (pig stomach)

2 pounds chitterlings (pig intestines)

3 quarts water

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon red pepper (flakes)

1 medium peeled onion (white or yellow)

 

The hog maws are the thickest and will therefore take the longest to cook. Rinse them thoroughly as you trim off the excess fat. Put them in a 6 quart pot along with your 3 quarts water, onion, pepper, and salt. Bring them to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour 15 minutes.

While maws are cooking, rinse chitterlings thoroughly and trim the extra fat off them. Like most organ meats, they have a lot of fat. Add chitterlings to pot after maws have cooked for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cook another 1 hour 30 minutes or until tender. Add a little extra water if necessary.

Prepare a large cast iron skillet with 1/4 stick of butter. Remove maws and chitterlings from pot and slice. I use to slice them right in the preheated skillet although you can use a cutting board. Then stir with a large metal spoon as you lightly brown them. You can pour out the water from the pot, including the onion. The onion added a little flavor and made them smell nicer while simmering.

A variation on this recipe is to slice the chitterlings and hog maws into pieces as above, but them put them back in the pot with the stock. Again, you can get rid of the onion. Cover the pot and simmer the cut up mixture for another 50 minutes.

If you don't like onion or don't have onion, you can add four or five bay leaves to the mixture instead.. Again, you throw the bay leaves away before frying or cooking down the chitterlings.

By now the hog maws and chitterlings should be thoroughly done and almost falling apart. You can serve them with your favorite side dishes such as greens, maccaroni and cheese, or rice. I actually prefer to eat them by themselves, with several splashes of hot sauce. However, they are fattening and it's tough not to eat too much. So you probably should have a side dish.

Store the leftovers in the refrigerator. Like so many other great soul food dishes, chitlins taste even better after the flavor has soaked in for a few hours. The leftovers won't last long.

the technical version of hominy.

Hominy or nixtamal is dried maize (corn) kernels

which have been treated with an alkali of some kind.

The traditional U.S. version involves soaking

dried corn in lye-water (sodium hydroxide or

potassium hydroxide solution), traditionally

derived from wood ash until germ was removed.

Mexican recipies describe a preparation process

consisting primarily of cooking in lime-water

(calcium hydroxide). In either case,

the process is called nixtamalization, and

removes the germ and the hard outer hull

from the kernels, making them more palatable,

 easier to digest, and easier to process.

It also alters the flavor in a way that many consider

to be an improvement.

The process dates back nearly 10,000 years in

ancient Mesoamerican cultures. It affords

several significant nutritional advantages over

untreated maize products. It converts some of

the niacin (and possibly other B vitamins) into a

 form more absorbable by the body, improves

the availability of the amino acids, and (at least

in the lime-treated variant) supplements the

calcium content, balancing maize's comparative

excess of phosphorus.

Some recipes using hominy include menudo

(a spicy tripe and hominy soup),

pozole (a stew of hominy and pork, chicken, prawns, or other meat),

hominy bread, hominy chili, casseroles and fried dishes.

Hominy can be ground coarsely to make grits,

or into a fine mash (dough) to make masa for tamales

and tortillas.

Hominy can also be used as animal feed.