Throw me something, mister!
Show you my WHAT?! Absolutely not! I’m no tourist, and I’m old enough to be your mother, anyway, you little …!
A kiss for a long bead? Well … ok.
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It’s carnival season again, folks. Time to drink heavily from dawn till dusk, dance in the streets, and chow down on some delicious Cajun/Creole cooking. When the Official MI Husband and I invited people over for the Super Bowl a couple of weeks ago, we decided to make it a Mardi Gras-themed evening, so I whipped up some traditional Louisiana dishes for the occasion: Pimento cheese for snacking, red beans & rice, and king cake for dessert.
While pimento cheese isn’t really Cajun — probably every Southern family has a version of the stuff they’re partial to — it served as the “trashy” element necessary for every Super Bowl gathering. Recipes abound, but they all involve the same three primary ingredients: Cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimentos. I know, but before you turn up your nose at the very thought, you really should give it a try sometime. Not when you’re home alone, watching Lost or Grey’s Anatomy, but when you have people over and feel a bit more outgoing and positive about your life. And I got the recipe from Food and Wine, so there! Even serious foodies don’t mind it, so just get off your high horse. When the flavors are balanced, it’s delicious and creamy, and feels deceptively light on the tongue — the perfect snack for game day.
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For the two of you who don’t know, red beans and rice is the traditional Monday meal in Cajun/Creole areas. Monday was laundry day, so the women of the house needed something to cook that wouldn’t require too much attention, and nothing fits the bill better than a big pot of simmering beans. Most versions call for some kind of pork, but my family managed to squeeze in four types last time I visited, so the sky’s the limit on porcine deliciosity, really.
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King cake. Hmmm, people almost come to blows over their preferences for this carnival dessert. I’m partial to a version made by MacKenzie’s, a local chain bakery in New Orleans, now sadly shuttered. Their brioche-style king cake was plain, but inspired real devotion among many of us. People with a serious (and non-discriminating) sweet tooth are pretty happy that they don’t have to deal with this dry, bland king cake anymore and they’ve moved on to the gooey, diabetes-in-a-bite monstrosities bakeries are churning out now, but I still mourn the loss of MacKenzie’s.
Saddened by another cream cheese and jelly-filled coffee cake version of king cake shipped to me last year, I decided to do some research and make my own. I found no shortage of people bemoaning the loss of MacKenzie’s, but very few of them knew anything about the secret recipe. But I persevered and managed to track down a couple of recipes on years-old threads, and began to adapt the recipes to something that would work in my kitchen. I’m pretty happy with the results.
King cake (originally galette des rois) was traditionally served on the Feast of the Epiphany (Twelfth Night, or January 6), which commemorates the arrival of the wise men in Bethlehem. Since that night also serves as the start of carnival season, the king cake gradually became a treat baked throughout the season, ending on Mardi Gras day. Bakers hid a small china — later plastic — figurine in the cake to represent the Christ child, and the person who found the figurine was expected to host the next party or purchase the next cake.
My sister always celebrated her birthday — January 6 — with a king cake and I did, too, but had to rely on a late Mardi Gras for the treat. My birthday actually fell on Mardi Gras a couple of times (the better of the two was my 21st), and it was like the whole city threw me a party. So much fun! But now that I know how to make the cake myself, I can have it anytime I please (if I want to go to the trouble of making it).
Recipes after the jump.
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