Comfort Food From Louisiana: Creole Style Avocado Salad

Comfort Food From Louisiana: Creole Style Avocado Salad: From Denny:  Want an easy dip that is quick to make in this summer heat?  Who wants to spend time working in a hot kitchen when you can be out by the pool munching, right?

Try this refreshing dip with avocado.

Louisiana Seafood Beach Tote

Check out awesome Louisiana eating: oysters, shrimp, crawfish, gumbo, jambalaya

* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - helping homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  - see what's new! 

Appetizer: Berried Brie

From Denny: Need a simple appetizer during the holiday season and you don't want to stand over it to practically hatch it? This is so simple you will fall over laughing!  It's so easy your children can make it for you.

All you need is a round of brie cheese, some canned cranberry sauce and fresh pecans.  Throw it into a slow cooker for a couple of hours over low heat and you have instant magic without a lot of fuss.  It will leave you time for wrapping all those gifts and giggling with the kids.

Comfort Food From Louisiana: 2 Recipes: Coffee Cake and Apple Cake Topped with Pecan Streusel

Comfort Food From Louisiana: 2 Recipes: Coffee Cake and Apple Cake Topped with Pecan Streusel: From Denny: Lots of tasty pecans throughout this dense coffee cake, perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack with a great cup of dark coffee. Here in Louisiana we love Bergeron pecans! Find the freshest pecans you can and buy them in large pieces as they will still retain more of the flavor.

Of course, we cake folk all know how delightful it is to use sour cream in any cake or muffin. The tenderness and full flavor can't be matched by anything else except maybe a high quality yogurt.

While searching for a photo to go with this post I happened upon a Rick Bayless recipe on flickr that is so unusual you just have to take it out for a foodie spin: Apple Coffee Cake with Pecan and Bacon Streusel.

2 Easy Cake Recipes: Louisiana Praline Toffee Bundt Cake, Southern Livings Popular Praline Cake

Photo by Arthur D. Lauck

From Denny: I love this time of year when I can bake something heavenly with fresh pecans! They are wonderful in cakes, cookies and even as a coating for pan-frying your favorite fish. This last weekend I went downtown to the local farmers' market and purchased some awesome locally grown roasted pecans.

Don't live in Louisiana but want to buy some local pecans? Not to worry: to purchase these Louisiana pecans from a friendly farmer by the name of Buddy Miller I always enjoy visiting, go to his site called Plantation Pecan Company, go here.

This is a recipe I found in my files from a newspaper food section from a few years ago, coming from a regional church cookbook. The only other praline cake recipe I found online was from Southern Living. That one is good and quite popular and I'm always a player for cream cheese in a cake; this one is even better because of the Heath toffee bits! Your choice; you decide which one you prefer - or both. :)

This cookbook can be purchased, go here.

Praline Bundt Cake

From: St. Isidore Catholic Church cookbook, by Paula Gebhart

Ingredients:

Cake:

1 package Betty Crocker Supermoist yellow cake mix (or other brand)
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil (canola oil is good as its flavor is neutral)
3 eggs, large
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup Heath toffee bits

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a Bundt pan. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds.

Beat on medium 2 minutes, scraping bowl. Fold in pecans and toffee bits.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool 30 minutes in the pan and then remove from the pan. Cool completely.

Glaze:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter (not margarine)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoons corn syrup
2 Tablespoons milk
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup Heath toffee bits

Directions:

In quart-size pan, melt butter. Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and milk. Heat to roiling boil, stirring frequently; remove from heat.

Immediately beat in powdered sugar and vanilla with wire whisk until smooth.

Drizzle over cake and sprinkle with Heath toffee bits.

Here's the Southern Living recipe too:



Photo by Jennifer Davick


Praline Bundt Cake

From: Southern Living, December 2007

Prep: 30 min.
Bake: 1 hr., 22 min.
Cool: 1 hr.
Yield: Makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter, softened
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (16-oz.) package dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (8-oz.) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Praline Icing, recipe follows
Sugared Pecans, recipe follows

Directions:

1. Arrange 1 cup pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 to 7 minutes or until toasted. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes or until completely cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325°.

2. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add brown sugar, beating until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

3. Sift together 2 1/2 cups flour and next 3 ingredients. Add to butter mixture alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat batter at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in toasted pecans and vanilla. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan.

4. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and let cool 30 minutes or until completely cool.

5. Prepare Praline Icing, and spoon immediately over cake. Sprinkle top of cake with Sugared Pecans.

***

Praline Icing

Prep: 10 min.
Cook: 5 min.
Yield: Makes about 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.

Stir gently 3 to 5 minutes or until mixture begins to cool and thickens slightly. Use immediately.

***

Sugared Pecans

Prep: 10 min.
Bake: 20 min.
Cool: 30 min.
Yield: Makes about 5 cups

Ingredients:

1 egg white
4 cups pecan halves (about 1 lb.)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

Directions:

1. Whisk egg white until foamy; add pecans, and stir until evenly coated.

2. Stir together sugars; sprinkle over pecans. Stir gently until pecans are evenly coated. Spread pecans in a single layer in a lightly greased aluminum foil-lined 15- x 10-inch jelly-roll pan.

3. Bake at 350° for 18 to 20 minutes or until pecans are toasted and dry, stirring once after 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool 30 minutes or until completely cool.

Note: Store pecans in a zip-top plastic freezer bag at room temperature up to 3 days or freeze up to 3 weeks.

*** Thanks for visiting, everyone, and have a great day!

Recipe Video: Chocolate Pecan Pie

From Denny: This is from the Food Network show Down Home with the Neelys. I love a good chocolate pecan pie and haven't made one in a while. This will give you a good idea of how to make your own and a chance to practice before Thanksgiving comes so fast you wonder where the year went! I often start looking for holiday menu items in July and August when there is no pressure to decide, giving me plenty of time to get creative, try out a few things and filter what I think others will enjoy. This cooking couple is a joy to watch and easy to follow their recipes too!