Recipe: Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya

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Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya

Here’s a different twist on a yummy Louisiana dish: using black-eyed peas! These peas are very popular here, usually as a side dish.

From: Frances Durham

Yield: Serves about 12


Black-Eyed Pea Jambalaya


Ingredients:


1 (16 ounce) can Trappey’s black-eyed peas with jalapeños, undrained

1 ½ cups Uncle Ben’s uncooked rice

1 medium onion, chopped

1 (14 ounce) can beef broth

1 (4 ounce) can mushrooms, drained

½ cup butter

1 pound smoked sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces

Chopped garlic to taste

Salt and pepper to taste


Directions: Combine the black-eyed peas, rice, onion, beef broth, mushrooms, butter and sausage in an electric rice cooker. Season to taste with garlic, salt and pepper.

Cook according to directions from the rice cooker, gently stirring once when the cooker reaches the warm mode.

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By Jerilee Wei
Photo by William Dalton @ flickr

Recipe: Romantic Chocolate Fondue for Two

Romantic Fondue for Two

From: Chocolate Lover's Cookbook for Dummies
by Carole Bloom (Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2002), spokesperson for NCA's fellow industry group, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association

Ingredients:

7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

2 tablespoons water

4 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons orange liqueur or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder, sifted

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Cubes of pound cake or angel food cake

Whole fresh strawberries

Thick slices of banana

Dried apricot halves



Directions: In the top of a double boiler, combine the chocolate and water. Stir over warm water until the chocolate melts and is smooth. Add the cream, orange liqueur or vanilla, cocoa powder, and cinnamon. Stir until the mixture is smooth.

Transfer the mixture to a fondue pan and keep it warm over a low flame. Arrange the cake and fruit on a serving platter.

Supply each guest with a fondue fork so they can spear the item of their choice and dip it in the fondue mixture.

Yield: 6 servings

Remember: Your fondue mixture must be kept warm so that it will stay liquid. The best way to do this is to use a fondue pot that has room for a candle or a liquid heat source underneath.

1st Photo by Traveling Fools of America @ flickr
2nd Photo by -Gep- @ flickr

Recipe: Chocolate Banana Coconut Cream Pie

What’s the tantalizing secret to this cream pie? A chocolate layer is spread over the pie shell like a hidden secret under piles of banana slices and fluffy coconut filling. This is a fast filling for the convenience oriented so this pie comes together quickly, chilling for about four hours.

Tomorrow: Romantic Chocolate Fondue for Two


Chocolate Banana Coconut Cream Pie


Yield: 8 servings

From: Kraft Foods


Ingredients:


2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate

1 Tablespoon milk

1 Tablespoon butter

1 baked pastry shell (9-inch), cooled

2 bananas, sliced

1 ½ cups cold milk

1 package (4-serving size) vanilla instant pudding and pie filling

1 ½ cups coconut

1 ½ cups thawed whipped topping

Coconut, toasted


Directions: Microwave chocolate, milk and butter in medium microwavable bowl on HIGH for 1 to 1 ½ minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Spread evenly in pastry shell. Arrange banana slices over chocolate.

Pour cold milk into large bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes. Stir in 1 ½ cups coconut. Spoon over banana slices. Spread whipped topping over pie. Sprinkle with toasted coconut.

Refrigerate 4 hours or until set. Store leftover pie in refrigerator. Makes 8 servings.

Tomorrow: Romantic Chocolate Fondue for Two

Recipe: Sweet Rice Cakes

These rice cakes date back to the 1800’s when African-American women would carry baskets of them piping hot, wrapped in a clean towel through the streets. They strolled through the French Quarter yelling, “Belles calas, tout chauds! Calas!” and for a small price you had a warm tasty breakfast a la street food.

It’s also a great way to use up that leftover boiled rice during the week. Make sure you enjoy some café au lait with your calas this morning!

Sweet Rice Cakes

(Belles Calas Tout Chauds – this is the old recipe)

From: Louisiana Keepsake

Ingredients:

½ cup rice

½ cake dissolved yeast

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon nutmeg

3 cups boiling water

3 eggs, well beaten

1 heaping Tablespoon flour

Powdered sugar
(In Louisiana almost everything gets doused and drowned in powdered sugar!)


Directions: Cook a half cup of rice in the boiling water until mushy. When cold, mash well and mix in a half-cake of dissolved yeast. Set to rise overnight.

The next morning, add the eggs, continue beating, and add the sugar and spoonful of flour. Beat into a thick batter. Let it rise for 15 minutes then add ½ teaspoon nutmeg.

From a large spoon, drop the batter a spoonful at a time into hot lard to fry (peanut oil these days is smarter), hot oil should be 400-degrees F. When brown, take out, drain, and wrap in cloth to keep hot.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve with café au lait for breakfast!