Recipe: Chunky Guacamole

Louisiana food has long been influcenced by our immigrants. When Asian and Mexican restaurants began appearing about 20 years ago Louisianians were quick to support them - especially when the food was declared as awesome! :)

Looking for a simple guacamole recipe you can make up fresh without resorting to the grocery store deli section and preservatives? Look no further as here is a basic and simple recipe to pair up with your favorite tortilla chips on the weekend!



Chunky Guacamole

Serves 6.


Ingredients:


4 ripe avocados

¼ cup fresh lime juice

¼ cup chopped red onion

1 Tablespoon minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste


Directions:


Cut the avocados in half by running a paring knife around them.

Use a teaspoon to scoop the pit out of each one.

Now run the spoon between the flesh and the skin. Place the avocado flesh into the mixing bowl.

Coarsely mash the avocado with a dinner fork. Add in the lime juice.

Add in onions, garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. If you need to hold the guacamole for a few hours, try placing a layer of sour cream over the top, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Usually, it won’t turn brown this way.

Overview of Common Cajun Instruments -- Part II -- The Cajun Fiddle

Overview of Common Cajun Instruments -- Part II -- The Cajun Fiddle: "The backbone of any Cajun music, is the Cajun fiddle. Basically, any violin is technically called a fiddle, no matter what genre of music is being played. The difference with Cajun fiddling is that traditionally, there are two fiddlers. One Cajun fiddler plays the melody, while the other echoes with the rhythmic complement (sometimes called bassing or seconding).



The Cajun fiddle came to Louisiana with our Acadian ancestors. In reality, it was the only instrument used in our early music." 4 videos.

by Jerilee Wei

Overview of Common Cajun Instruments - Part I -- The Cajun Accordion

Overview of Common Cajun Instruments - Part I -- The Cajun Accordion: "In the beginning, Cajun music originated in the late 1800s, in South Louisiana. I'm not going to rehash the whole story of how our Acadian ancestors came to Louisiana, here in this hub. Let's just say our ancestors transported many pleasing ballads of old Acadian stories. Some of those songs came from Old World France. They are the foundation of Cajun music.



Our neighbors, other settlers to Louisiana, were primarily German settlers. They were the ones that gave us the Cajun accordion. It wasn't always a part of our music, just a delightful addition to it. In the days before amplifiers, no doubt it's popular addition to Cajun bands had a lot to do with it's ability to be played loud over the noise of a typical dance hall." 8 videos.

By Jerilee Wei

Recipe: Curried Cheese Paté

With the Marti Gras season upon us here is an easy recipe to consider for your guests and family to enjoy. This is a popular appetizer at parties and can be made ahead and frozen until your gathering. It looks beautiful on the serving platter.


Curried Cheese Paté

From: Cooking and Gardening with Dianne by Dianne Cage, Monroe, Louisiana



Ingredients:


2 (8 oz.) packages light cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups grated sharp Cheddar cheese, room temperature

6 Tablespoons sherry

2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 Tablespoons curry powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon red pepper


Ingredients for Topping:


1 (8 oz.) jar chutney, chopped small if necessary (cranberry chutney or Major Grey’s)

½ cup chopped peanuts

½ cup chopped green onion (tops and all)

½ cup grated coconut


Ginger snaps or assorted crackers


Directions: Cream together the cheeses with sherry, Worcestershire sauce, curry powder, salt and pepper.

Pour and mold on a large plate or cheese board. Cover with plastic wrap and chill 4 hours. This can be made 2 or 3 days ahead or made earlier and frozen. If frozen, defrost at room temperature before garnishing with condiments.

Garnish in layers with chutney, peanuts, onions and coconut. Serve with thin gingersnaps or saltine crackers.

Recipe: Flourless Chocolate Cake with Coffee Liqueur

Flourless cake is great for two reasons: one, it means more chocolate and two, less flour means less gluten which means your metabolism can stay on higher rev. Gluten has the bad habit of slowing down the metabolism and causes swelling and eventual weight gain. Bummer! Kudos to the genius who invented flourless chocolate cake for us!

Photo by starmist1 @ flickr


Flourless Chocolate Cake with Coffee Liqueur

From: Chef Ray Johnson of Café Mundo, San Jose, Costa Rica

Yield: 12 servings

Serve this with coffee ice cream or whipped cream, if desired. Beaten eggs make this cake lighter in texture than most other flourless chocolate cakes.


Ingredients:

1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

¼ cup coffee liqueur

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sugar

Powdered sugar


Directions: Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter 9-inch diameter springform pan with 2 3/4 –inch-high sides. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Stir chocolate, butter, coffee liqueur and vanilla in heavy large saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm.

Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until thick and pale, and slowly dissolving ribbon forms when beaters are lifted, about 6 minutes. Fold 1/3 of egg mixture into lukewarm chocolate mixture. Fold remaining egg mixture into chocolate mixture.

Place prepared pan on baking sheet. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 55 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Gently press down edges of cake. Cool completely in pan.

(Cake can be prepared up to 1 day ahead. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let stand at room temperature 1 hour before continuing.)

Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove sides of pan; transfer cake to platter. Remove parchment paper. Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar and serve.