Mardi Gras Recipes: Cajun Style Meals, Snacks, Drinks and More

It's almost time for Mardi Gras! This year the celebration starts on February 5, and if you can't make it to New Orleans, have your own celebration! Put on some Zydeco music, get some balloons and confetti, and make these authentic recipes, starting with my favorite.

Red Beans and Rice

2 15 oz cans red kidney beans
3 slices bacon
1 large onion, chopped
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onions, with tops
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 can (8 oz) tomato paste
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 pound sausage, crumbled

Fry the bacon and crumble itinto kidney beans. Saute vegetables in the bacon drippings until they are soft. Add the beans and the remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Ladle over rice.

Serves 4 to 6, depending on how hungry everyone is.

Then, you need something with grits. Here's a good one:

Shrimp and Grits

3 slices of bacon
Enough grits for 4-6 people (use the quick -cooking if you want,but not the instant)
2 pounds of shrimp
1 15 oz can of crushed tomatoes with juice
Enough cayenne pepper to make it as hot as you like
1 onion, minced

Prepare the bacon and cook the grits according to the instructions. Add the minced onion as you're cooking the grits. Clean the shrimp and chop them in half, and when the grits are almost done, toss the shrimp and the bacon into the grits. When the grits are done, add the tomato and the cayenne, and get ready for some good eating!

If you really want to do it right, you have to have a King Cake. And if you're ambitious, you can make your own. Here's how.

King Cake

1 envelope active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons scalded milk, cooled
4 to 5 cups flour
8 ounces butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons melted butter
A prize, traditionally a bean or a coin, but some people use a small doll
light corn syrup for topping
granulated sugar colored green, purple, and yellow (the colors are important!)

Dissolve the yeast in warm water. Add the milk and about 1/2 cup of flour. In a large bowl, blend the butter, sugar, salt and eggs. Add the yeast and mix thoroughly. Gradually, add 2 1/2 cups of flour to make dough.

Put the dough in a greased bowl and brush it with butter. Cover it with a damp cloth and allow it to rise until it doubles in volume, about 3 hours. Knead the dough and roll into a 4 to 5 foot long rope. Form the rope into a oval on a good-sized greased baking sheet, connecting ends of the rope with a few drops of water to make a good seal.

Press the prize into the dough from bottom. Cover dough ring with a damp cloth and let it rise again until it doubles in volume one more time, about 1 hour. Bake at 325° for 35 to 45 minutes or until lightly browned. Let it cool. Brush top of the cake with corn syrup and sprinkle on the sugar in alternating colors.

Now, you're ready! Laissez le bon temps roulez!