Cajun Creole Cuisine Recipes to Spice Up Any Mardi Gras Party

Your Mardi Gras celebration will be a big hit when you serve wonderful Creole and Cajon cuisine. With the right decorations, music and food your guests will think they're in a French Quarter restaurant. The Mardi Gras 2010 party in New Orleans, Louisiana is already underway. The main celebration falls the day before Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent) and originated from people's tendency to binge before fasting for Lent.

One of the best thing about Fat Tuesday (local lingo for Mardi Gras) is the yummy food. If you've ever been to New Orleans you know just how wonderful the cuisine is there. The Jazz Fest in New Orleans, almost as well known as Mardi Gras, is a great place to sample a plethora of Cajun Creole Cuisine during the last weekend in April and first weekend in May. Before preparing your Mardi Gras party, be sure you have plenty of Cajun Creole spices and hot sauce on hand.

Boiled crawfish may be a popular Mardi Gras menu item but since you shouldn't eat what you couldn't stomach to prepare, it didn't make this list. Traditional Louisiana Mardi Gras recipes included here are: Crockpot Jambalaya, Louisiana Maque Choux, Muffuletta, and Creole Pralines for dessert and Virgin Cajun Bloody Mary to drink.

Simple Crockpot Jambalaya - New Orleans classic versatile Cajun Creole dish
1 lb smoked sausage
1 cup cooked long grain rice
1 lb fresh or frozen cooked shrimp
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or 2 tsp canned garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
28 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
10 1/2 oz condensed beef or chicken broth
1 cup water
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp Cajun seasoning
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp parsley
*Add spices to you and your family's taste.

In crock pot add all but shrimp and parsley. Cook on High 3-4 hours or Low 6-8 hours.
Add shrimp and parsley; cook 20 minutes longer on High.

There are many alternatives when making jambalaya (it reminds of goulash in that respect) including: beef, chicken, duck, oysters, crayfish, clams, veal, pork or any combination. Vegetables variations: corn, broccoli, carrots, peas, okra.

Louisiana Maque Choux - fabulous veggie dish
1 large onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
14 oz can chopped tomatoes, drained
40 oz frozen corn
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup light cream
1/2 tbsp parsley

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil - medium high heat; Add onion and red pepper.
Cook until tender and browned - apx. 15 minutes.
Add tomatoes, corn, salt, sugar, and cayenne pepper. Heat to boiling.
Reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer 30 minutes - stirring occasionally.
Add light cream. Heat through.
Add parsley for garnish.

Muffuletta - the sandwich of New Orleans
1 - 1 1/4 cup celery, chopped
1 cup giardiniera (Italian mixed pickled veggies), finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3/4 cup pitted green olives, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 pepper
1 clove garlic, minced or 1 tsp canned garlic

French or Italian bread loaf, halved

1/2 lb smoked ham
1/2 lb provolone cheese
1/2 lb Genoa salami

Combine ingredients (excluding bread, meats, and cheese) and set aside.
Cut out soft center of bread. Spread 1/2 ingredients onto bottom half of bread, top with meat and cheese. Spread remaining ingredients onto top loaf. Press halves together and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.
Refrigerate 2 hours - 24 hours. Cut into serving size pieces.

Creole Pralines - caramel covered nuts
4 cups sugar
1 cup butter
2 cup buttermilk
4 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp vanilla extract
4 cups pecans or almonds

Heat on high in saucepan all ingredients EXCEPT pecans and vanilla.
Reduce heat to medium, cook until candy consistency.
Remove from heat. Add pecan halves and vanilla. Stir until candy cools slightly and is opaque.
Cover baking sheet with wax paper. Drop rounded mounds onto sheet. Cool pralines completely.
Remove from waxed paper and store in airtight container up to 4 days.

Virgin Cajun Bloody Mary - spicy tomato juice;enough to serve 9
72 oz (9cups) vegetable juice
3 tsp horseradish
1 ½ tsp hot pepper sauce
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tsp Creole seasoning
1 ½ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp black pepper (preferably freshly ground)
¾ tsp cayenne pepper
*optional 4 tbsp lemon juice
Pickled green beans or okra for garnish

Mix and serve over ice with garnishes.
To de-virginize: add 36 oz (4.5 cups) vodka for a 2:1 ratio.

Sources:

Classic Party Music for Mardi Gras
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival