Chicken Lazone, made using boneless, skinless chicken breasts, either cut into chunks, tenders or left whole, highly seasoned and pan seared, then served with a creamy butter sauce over pasta, rice or mashed potatoes.

Chicken Lazone

This Chicken Lazone recipe seems to have blasted across the internet recently, but what you probably didn't know was that it was developed back in the mid to late-90s by Chef Lazone Randolph of Brennans Restaurant in New Orleans.

He wrote it for the cookbook, Sugar Bust for Life with the Brennans, a companion guide for the then very popular Sugar Buster's Diet {affil link}, a project with which Ellen Brennan was involved as a consultant, editor and publisher. I definitely remember that diet, written by a group of Louisiana doctors, and it seemed everybody I knew from New Orleans was doing it for awhile, which probably prompted the cookbook.

It was, of course, minus the pasta, since wheat flour pasta was unheard of back then, though somebody along the way added it as a serving suggestion for the rest of us. It is also delicious on it's own or served over mashed potatoes or white, brown or yellow rice though. Try my homemade yellow rice from page 117 of my cookbook, Deep South Dish Homestyle Southern Recipes {affil link}. It is divine with Chicken Lazone.

Broiled Sweet Potatoes - Baked then brushed with a cinnamon honey butter and a drizzle of cane syrup before being passed under the broiler.

Broiled Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes, just about any way that you can prepare them. Just plain baked will do me fine, or even better, twice-baked.

Roasted, glazed with buttery bourbon, candied with a simple syrup, grilled, baked in a casserole, in a quick bread, and, of course, in a pie. Just pass them over however they're prepared. Even The Cajun will eat them and thankfully, they are available year-round. I hope that you'll give this version a try too.

Hanky Pankies Appetizers - an old school party food, made with a mixture of sausage and beef, seasonings and cheese on tiny party bread.

Hanky Pankies Appetizers

In the world of my favorite old school appetizers, these Hankie Pankies are right up there in the category some folks call "trash" food as 7-Layer Mexican Dip, Sausage Balls, Chex Mix and Rumaki. I made these for our Super Bowl party and oh my goodness they are soooo good y'all!

I actually drafted the recipe to the blog years ago and have made them several times, but just never got around to publishing them for some reason. One thing is for sure - there are just not a lot of ways to photograph these little bites of deliciousness to make them look pretty, but heck... the taste sure makes up for it.

A white bean stew, made with smoked ham, a good quality andouille or smoked sausage and a mirepoix of vegetables.

Ham and Sausage White Bean Stew

I have still been working my way through the freezer - some of our meals were reheated leftovers, others, whatever meat I happened to grab first.

In the past two weeks or so, I've baked a ham that I'd picked up on a holiday sale and froze, which along with some frozen sides, gave us a couple of meals and leftover ham for sandwiches. Pre-seasoned ground beef I'd picked up on sale, cooked and put up, became one of our favorite casseroles - Ground Beef Mac and Cheese.