A Cajun-style loose meat sandwich, made with ground beef and pork, the trinity veggies, mushroom sauce and a mixture of seasonings, piled on a pistolette roll or po'boy bread.

Cajun Farre Loose Meat Sandwich

Ever heard of a Cajun Farre dressing sandwich?

Probably not, because while it is pretty common in some areas of Louisiana, even often being served as a sandwich spread at parties, as a funeral food and yes, even wedding receptions, it's still not well known even across all of Louisiana, and certainly not the Southern region.

Well... we're gonna change that!

The flavors of a shrimp gumbo with smoked sausage, in a light roux with the trinity of vegetables and okra, tossed with a short cut pasta.

Shrimp Gumbo Pasta

Gotta love a one pot pasta meal that doesn't include having to precook the pasta!

That's the case with this meal, a one pot meal that is somewhat in line with the Pastalaya recipe I've shared before. That recipe has the classic flavors of a chicken and sausage jambalaya, in a quick and easy skillet pasta dinner.

A cabbage casserole made with the trinity of southern vegetables sauteed in bacon drippings and butter, chunks of cabbage, diced tomatoes and topped with shredded cheese and buttered breadcrumbs.

Cabbage Creole Casserole

I love cabbage. My husband? Well, not so much. I honestly don't know what is wrong with him! Just kidding y'all, but let's just say that I'm the lover of veggies in this family, not him.

Seriously though, 99% of the time when I buy a head of cabbage, I keep it pretty simple making either a simple boiled or classic fried cabbage, two of my top cabbage favorites. Even still, I am always trying new things with it too.

Yes. Even if it means that I'll be eating on it for a week, while I still have to think about what my hubby is gonna eat too! 

A creamy tomato-based stew with shrimp, crawfish and crab and served over hot, steamed rice.

Seafood Pan Roast

Several years back, I was looking through a Martha Foose cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea, that contained a recipe for what was called a seafood pan roast. Since The Cajun and I don't eat out much, this was an unfamiliar dish for me.

At the time, I couldn't find much about it around the internet either and even today there still isn't much out there. I went ahead and made it, but with no photos to let me know if I was anywhere on track let's just say mine didn't turn out quite right. With the cost of seafood, I abandoned it to experiment a bit more thoroughly another time.

A shrimp gumbo, made with a roux and the trinity, and the addition of boiled eggs to stretch the meal and add additional protein for the Lenten season. Eggs may be omitted if you prefer.

Lenten Shrimp and Egg Gumbo

Egg most often appears throughout the year in a gumbo made from a hen or chicken, quail eggs in everything else often, though during Lent it's seafood. The egg stretches the meal and adds extra protein.

I based my version on a recipe from Best of the Best from Louisiana cookbook, which did not include okra, so I left it out, though certainly use some if you prefer. Some folks will argue with you that it's not a gumbo without it because they probably read that somewhere.

Nicely seasoned whole catfish fillets, pan seared, then smothered in an etouffée gravy and served over rice, noodles, mashed potatoes or grits.

Smothered Catfish Etouffée

Can you take another etouffée? Oh my goodness, yes. We do "smother" a lot of different foods down south!

• The most commonly known smothered dish is probably, Crawfish Etouffée. Even folks visiting our area are probably most familiar with this dish. Delish and great served with a nice blackened catfish too.
• Lesser known but popular locally is this shortcut Shrimp Etouffee, and let's just say I was very surprised when a friend from Louisiana shared this little shortcut secret!

Of course, seafood isn't the only thing we smother!

A New Orleans restaurant favorite, seasoned oysters and bacon are threaded on skewers, passed in a buttermilk egg wash and dredged in flour and fried. Serve with a lemon butter sauce, toast points and lemon wedges.

Oysters en Brochette

It is thought that this dish originated at Galatoire’s restaurant in New Orleans, initially believed to have come from a Réveillon Christmas Eve dinner menu, though don't quote me on that! It may just be that Galatoire's is the only restaurant left that still serves it. Does make sense though as it's a bit fancy looking, isn't it? 

Minced cooked crawfish combined with egg, crushed saltines, seasonings and fresh parsley, shaped into patties and pan fried or air fried for a Deep South favorite.

Crawfish Burger Patties

Most everybody is familiar with seafood cakes in the form of crab cakes and tuna or salmon patties. All are well-loved and popular, especially here along the coast during Lent, but you may not have thought about crawfish!

I know that around the country as a whole, crawfish are, well... let's say a little weird and misunderstood, but here along the Gulf Coast and especially in Louisiana and Mississippi, crawfish season is anticipated every year like a kid at Christmas.

Yep. Crawfish boils are a thing, and a pretty big thing here along the coast.

Seasoned pork chops, seared in a skillet and smothered in gravy with caramelized vegetables.

Pork Chop Étouffée

We do so love to "smother" our food here in the Deep South!

I mean, what's not to love about food simmered in gravy or sauce? Good stuff! I mean, check these out y'all.

Creole Bouilli, a boiled roast, slow-stewed with beef bones and seasoning vegetables and served over rice or potatoes with juices spooned on top for meal one, and a flavorful beef vegetable soup or second meal next day.

Creole Bouilli - Boiled Soup Meat Roast with Bone Broth

I love soup, and yes, around here it is usually featured as a main dish meal, accompanied by some kind of bread, crackers or a sandwich, rather than just a starter soup course to go along with an entree of some kind.

For the most part, I want those soups to be quick and easy, although there are times I do put a little bit more of my time into them.

A quick and easy, creamy corn chowder made with veggies, sautéed in bacon drippings, cubed potatoes and shrimp.

Corn Chowder with Shrimp

I started off intending to make this chowder with some frozen crawfish tails, that I was sure I had in the freezer. Unfortunately, after having to hurriedly rearrange things and transfer stuff from the refrigerator freezer, to the deep freeze, courtesy Hurricane Zeta, it was just faster and easier to grab some shrimp.

No worries. They are delicious too! The only difference really, is the flavor that comes from the fat in the crawfish, but honestly it's a good chowder either way. You can even use a combination of the two, or throw in some crab as well. Although not as popular down here, clams may also be substituted. Oysters as well.

Seasoned and seared pork chops, simmered with tomatoes, onion and sweet bell peppers.

Creole Smothered Chops

These are just so tasty, it's hard to believe that they are also simple and easy.

They aren't really "smothered," as in the sense most folks think about with that word - all saturated in some kind of gravy or sauce. It's more of a light smother of veggies.

A smaller batch of classic jambalaya, made with the trinity, rice, shrimp and smoked sausage.

Skillet Jambalaya

There are rice with protein dishes in just about every region of the country. Chicken Bog, Red Rice and Pilaf are some of the top southern favorites, but in my part of the south, it's all about jambalaya.

Whatever version you know, they all involve rice, vegetables, protein - and often a variety of proteins - and mostly made in huge batches, intended to feed a crowd, making it perfect for Mardi Gras.

Sometimes a gal just wants some jambalya for herself!

Traditional rice jambalaya, made Creole-style with the trinity, garlic and tomatoes, with seasoned pan-seared, bone-in pork chops nestled in.

Creole-Style Pork Chop Jambalaya

Unlike Cajun-style pork jambalaya, which often contains a variety of pork - bacon, tasso, smoked sausage, pork loin - pork chop jambalaya is generally made with only chops. While any type of pork chop or even pork steak can be used, including boneless, I think bone-in chops provide much more flavor and that's what I recommend for this dish.

Even still, there are many ways to make pork chop jambalaya as there are cooks, and mine is just one of them!

Firm white fish and shrimp, lightly seasoned and pan seared, and finished in a tomato based Creole sauce.

Fish Creole

We are very blessed here on the Gulf Coast to have access to a wide variety of fresh fish, that frankly most of us grew up practically weaned on - flounder, speckled trout, grouper, snapper, redfish, mullet, and of course, let's not forget Mississippi farmed catfish. Yep, we're pretty spoiled and fish makes a regular appearance on the menu for us here. I love it pretty much any way that you can fix it really - grilled, smoked, blackened, broiled - it's all good, though fried and baked are the two most common ways that many of us prepare it.

Lightly breaded and shallow pan fried is far less messy than deep frying, which is outstanding, but can leave that fried aroma in the atmosphere for what seems like forever. I tend to pan fry more often because of that, but when I do a fairly big fish fry, it's deep fry all the way. I just take the fryer outside!

A quicker, off-season version of Crawfish Bisque made using frozen pureed and whole Louisiana crawfish tails, commercial seafood or chicken stock, the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), tomatoes, corn and Cajun seasonings.

Shortcut Crawfish Corn Bisque

Bisque is a soup.

A fairly thick, generally smooth and creamy soup, made from seafood, though often fully pureed to intensify the flavors, leaving no recognized ingredients behind, except perhaps of a garnish.

Seafood is precious, even down here on the Gulf Coast where it is abundant, so I prefer not to puree all of it, but rather to use a fairly rough puree to add body to the soup, but also keep some pieces whole, along with the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) for texture and appearance.

This one pot skillet meal starts with a butter roux based gravy, cooked with the trinity of veggies, chicken is tossed in and the dish spooned over steamed rice.

Skillet Cajun Chicken and Gravy

Most times when folks think of a chicken and rice dish, it's the classic version where they are baked together in a casserole form, and it's delicious no doubt. We love it! But even though kids are mostly already back in school down here, it's actually still summer, and skillet meals are definitely a go-to.

I especially love this one because it utilizes already cooked chicken and cooked rice. I always have cooked chicken in my freezer because when you use a FoodSaver sealer, (I love mine!) it keeps it so nice and fresh and free of freezer burn for a pretty long time.

Having already cooked chicken in the freezer sure is a big-time saver and comes in handy for those hurry-up meals. Rice is so common here with meals that it's not at all unusual to have some leftover. It's also super easy to make in your Instant Pot.

Classic Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo (Gumbo Ya-Ya)

A classic light roux-based gumbo, made with a cut up chicken and andouille sausage, served over hot steamed rice.

Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo

I've been making and sharing Miss Lucy's chicken gumbo with y'all for years, but admit, her classic Cajun-style method is not exactly the way that I usually make my gumbo.

Miss Lucy's recipe makes a roux, then adds water to the roux and then adds the chicken, sausage and trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery) to the pot, a classic Cajun one pot prep.

I prepare my gumbo in a way that is more traditional where I live - brown the meats, prepare the roux, cook the trinity in the roux, then add the water or stock and the rest.

However you make it, we eat a lot of it and it's mighty good!

Mirliton (Chayote Squash) Seafood Casserole

Mirliton (Chayote Squash) Seafood Casserole, a casserole made with mirliton, the trinity, shrimp, andouille, crab, bread crumbs and seasonings. Increase bread crumbs for a mirliton dressing.

Mirliton Seafood Casserole

It's mirliton season in the Deep South! I'm guessing that some of you are likely thinking right now... what the heck is that?

Mirlitons, or in Cajun Country, Alligator Pears

A near lost south Louisiana classic, calas are a flour and yeast fritter, made with cooked rice and flavored with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Creole Calas (Rice Fritters)

I've certainly mentioned this before, but we eat a lot of rice here in the Deep South, and there's almost always some leftover. We have lots of ways to use that leftover rice (just click that link to see a few) including sweet things, like rice pudding and these sweet rice fritters, called calas.

A near lost classic, Calas hold a past in the city of New Orleans, though their origins date back more likely to Africa. In the French Quarter, Cala ladies would wrap fresh, piping hot Calas in towels and carry them in a covered bowl on top of their heads, hurrying to the streets to sell them, shouting "Calas, belles calas, tout chauds!"

Photo Credit: Times Picayune