Fat Tuesday Menu Ideas

[mredikop]

I am crap at Cajun Food. Anyone have any ideas?

I thought a Gumbo with okra, chicken and andouille would be good but I sm lost as to side dishes and what not.

What is everybody making?

[Suzanne]

Depending on what looks good at the store, I may make either barbecued shrimp, or fried catfish fillets. The shrimp are called bbq, but really they are poached gently in olive oil flavored with garlic and rosemary and a lot of black pepper; serve them over linguine (the recipe comes from Mosca's, a resto near NO). If I make fish fillets, will do some remoulade sauce. Maybe some stuffed squash as a side (would like to make stuffed christophene -- pretty much the same as chayote, but not sure if the store I'm going to will have them), or some stewed eggplant.

If we hadn't had rice two nights in a row, I might make some red beans and rice, but with tasso ham. Then again, I might just, anyway.

If you make a nice gumbo, you don't really need much else besides rice, since the gumbo has lots of vegs already. Is this for home or work?

[KYHeirloomer]

Check out the other mardi gras thread: Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler?

Mredikop, other than rice, why do you need any sides with gumbo? But if you must, stuffed squash, as Suzanne suggests, will work fine. Maque Choux goes with any cajun food.

And, if you really want to celebrate, why not serve individual crawfish tarts as a starter?

[mredikop]

Originally Posted by Suzanne

Depending on what looks good at the store, I may make either barbecued shrimp, or fried catfish fillets. The shrimp are called bbq, but really they are poached gently in olive oil flavored with garlic and rosemary and a lot of black pepper; serve them over linguine (the recipe comes from Mosca's, a resto near NO). If I make fish fillets, will do some remoulade sauce. Maybe some stuffed squash as a side (would like to make stuffed christophene -- pretty much the same as chayote, but not sure if the store I'm going to will have them), or some stewed eggplant.

If we hadn't had rice two nights in a row, I might make some red beans and rice, but with tasso ham. Then again, I might just, anyway.

If you make a nice gumbo, you don't really need much else besides rice, since the gumbo has lots of vegs already. Is this for home or work?

It's for home. I thought I might make some dirty rice and some blackened chicken too. I also thought about cat fish but I don't really like it (preference). I may make some crab tarts since there is like nowhere to get crawfish in Chicago I definitely want to make some apps but I am so lost. I am going to look on the recipe sites and pull it together.

[Suzanne]

No crawfish? Actually, crawfish meat is pretty generally available now, but it's frozen and mostly comes from China, not the bayous.

I don't much like catfish either -- muddy-tasting bottom-feeder and all that -- so I didn't even look for it. I got shrimp and made the Mosca Barbecued Shrimp and served it over spaghetti. (Remember, there's a big Italian influence in NO, too -- in fact, there's a local pizza chain here called Two Boots, linking the shape of Louisiana and Italy.)

What did you end up doing?