A mixture of long grain rice, cooked stovetop in chicken stock with green and sweet onion, garlic, parsley and a variety of seasonings with Wild American shrimp stirred in at the end.

Cajun Shrimp Bowl

I love simple, one pot meals like this, especially in the heat of the summer. And yeah, especially when my central A/C goes south and the part takes a week to get here from Houston. During the hottest month of southern summers too. 

Ugh. I am dying.

Thank goodness for backup portable air conditioners because we have several going at the moment, though they are pretty much intended for use during a hurricane power outage to be seated right in front of, so they can't really keep up and the house is at minimum in the low 80s - all day long. Better than nothing I guess.

This shrimp and sausage skillet meal, made in a flavorful buttery, garlic sauce, may be served over toast points, in baked pastry shells or with pasta or rice.

Singing Shrimp

Here's another great shrimp recipe from New Orleans!

It is said to have originated at Commander's Palace, sometime in the late 1980s, where it was prepared table-side and flamed with cognac for effect. Those table-side presentations are pretty exciting!

As far as I know this dish is no longer offered at the restaurant, although I haven't been to Commander's in too many years, so don't hold me to that!!

A rich baked spaghetti that includes spaghetti noodles mixed with sour cream, cottage cheese, eggs and cheese, topped with a meat sauce and finished with a layer of Cheddar, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses.

Million Dollar Baked Spaghetti

Million Dollar Spaghetti is another one of those baked casseroles that has been around for a long time, although, it's gotten some recent viral attention on TikTok in the last year.

Like I said in a previous post, with social media, all things old become new again!

Although I am not a TikTok user, or even a fan, I have to admit it is kinda cool to see old recipes getting a revival with some younger folks.

A tender brown sugar and pecan cookie widely known in South Louisiana as cocoons and very popular around the holidays. Pictured here with Pecan Crispies and Sugar and Spice Cookies.

Brown Sugar Cocoons

I'm sure you'll recognize these cookies as they are a holiday favorite, for sure!

These wonderful cookies are known by many names, mostly depending on how they are shaped. Some of the more familiar ones being fingers, ladyfingers, crescents, sand tarts, sand dabs, Mexican wedding cookies, Russian teacakes, Chinese tea cookies, butterfingers, petticoat tails, pecan dreams, snowballs, moon cookies, sandies and Italian wedding cookies, they are well-loved. I'm sure there are many other names they are known by around the world!

A casserole of lump crab, a highly seasoned cream sauce and a mix of two shredded cheeses.

Crabmeat au Gratin

Crab au gratin is a delicious, decadent treat for sure, because, unless you are doing your own crabbing, boiling and picking, it can be a pricey dish for sure. If you've ever done any of the above though, you know the work that goes into picking crabs, and the effort required to get those nice, large lump pieces, so it's worth the price.

This dish can be used as an entrée, served with a nice garden salad and some hot French bread, or as an appetizer, served with some nice, sturdy crackers. As an entrée, I prefer to serve it in individual au gratin dishes {affil link}, though it can also be prepared in a casserole dish and spooned out onto plates. It's much more atheistically pleasing in the individual dishes. 

A whole cut up chicken, or bone-in leg quarters, cut up, baked with simple seasonings and the trinity. Pass under the broiler to brown further, as above.

Southern-Style Baked Chicken

I love a good baked chicken and though I have a few different recipes that I've used over the years, this is one of my favorite ways to make it.

We often find whole chickens, as well as family-sized packages of thighs and legs, or large block frozen bags of leg quarters on sale around here, so that's what I usually use for this dish. You can certainly use breasts, and even wings, though you'll need to adjust times accordingly, depending on size, so as not to overcook, especially with the boneless breasts.

Baked chicken is certainly not unique to the South, of course, but there is a certain way that we prepare it that makes it a little more unique to our region - just chicken, simply seasoned and baked with a scattering of the trinity, the way we love it in the South.

Large shrimp, baked in a buttery seasoned beer, oil and vinegar sauce, great for a party, or the beach!

Party Shrimp

Shrimp is abundant here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and this is a party recipe that we've been making in one form or another for as long as I've been around. Often made simply with bottled Italian dressing, and maybe the addition of a few other ingredients, it's also been floating around social media for several years now, sometimes called Italian Shrimp. I made my sauce base from scratch instead.

Southern Living dubbed it Beach Shrimp

I don't know where this idea originated, but back in 2007, Southern Living magazine dubbed it with the title of Beach Shrimp, since it's a great dish to make for that beach vacation! It's delicious slightly warm from the oven, or chilled and brought to room temperature. Prepare it in a disposable aluminum pan for easy clean up.

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.

Meaty, garlicky, beef and pork meatballs served on po'boy or sandwich rolls, dressed with a Creole sauce made from The Trinity and tomatoes, and topped with shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Creole Meatball Po'boy

Seriously, who doesn't love a good meatball? I have a stand-by, no-frills, meatball recipe that I've been using since the beginning of time, but when I had the chance to review Emeril's newest cookbook, Sizzling Skillets, awhile back, I saw this gargantuan beef and pork meatball he had in there for a recipe called Big Boy Meatballs and Spaghetti. You can see those pictured in my sneak peek review post with the Chicken Sauce Piquante I featured back in October. The meatballs looked and sounded so good, I knew that I had to give them a spin, well, with my own spin on them of course!

The original recipe was very heavy on garlic, like 12 cloves heavy, or what would amount to 1/4 cup of minced garlic. While I do love me some garlic, I just had a feeling that would be way more garlic than even this girl could handle, so I cut that way back. As the meatballs were baking, a very distinct smell of garlic filled the house, and so, I was sure glad I did! One tablespoon provided more than enough garlic flavor, and, in fact if you are not a big garlic fan, feel free to reduce that even further. On the other hand, if you're adventurous, hey, go all full out with garlic gusto I say!

Although I chose to oven bake the meatballs, you can certainly pan fry them - you'll need between 2 and 3 tablespoons of olive oil or a vegetable oil. I also rolled mine to get an even twelve meatballs, four for each po'boy, but you can roll them larger or smaller, depending on what you intend to use them for. In fact, these will make amazing, little slider bites for the Super Bowl game this weekend. Men will love them for their meatiness, women will love them because they are small and a little neater to eat than say, a whole meatball sandwich, which I will tell you I certainly did eat. For party po'boys, just put the meatballs on individual pistolette rolls or use small dinner rolls, dress them in the same manner and I think you'll have a winner on your hands!

 

A breaded and browned whole cut up chicken is slow cooked in a spicy sauce piquant.

Crockpot Chicken Sauce Piquant

Like Shrimp Sauce Piquant, this dish is intended to be a bit spicy, and rightly so! Although a bit different than the stovetop prep, taking inexpensive chicken, a spicy piquant sauce, and a crockpot is a good combination if you ask me. Hands down a winner and I think you will love it too!

Blueberry Heaven Delight

Another terrific layered dessert, made with a graham cracker and nut crust, creamy cream cheese filling, topped with a blueberry pie filling and finished with homemade whipped cream. Heaven indeed!

My Blueberry Heaven Pie

I hope that y'all can bear one more layered dessert recipe because y'all know how well I love them!

Chicken legs and thighs, basted with olive oil and lemon, and seasoned simply with a bit of Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper and fresh rosemary and first cooked under the broiler before a quick finishing bake in a hot oven. Pictured here with lady cream peas and buttermilk sour cream cornbread.

Broiled Lemon Herb Chicken

I can't even remember the last time that I cooked chicken under the broiler - I just never think about it. It's really a great time saver, seven minutes on one side, another seven on the other, and then a finish in the oven for about 10 minutes at 450 degrees F for these thighs, and dinner is on the table in no time.

A hot ham and cheese sandwich, covered with a creamy Béchamel sauce, and finished with a fried egg. Simply omit the egg for a Monsieur.

Croque Madame or Monsieur

I love love love this sandwich and after I posted about having one for a late breakfast/early lunch over on Facebook a few days back, I've had several requests to post the recipe for the cheese sauce I used.

A super easy, sour cream snack cake with peaches.

Peach Crumb Cake

This recipe comes from the cookbook Bite Me by sisters Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat, who really make cooking a fun and funny experience.

Apparently one of the authors had a secret addiction to Twinkies so the other sister concocted a crumb cake that was meant to help satisfy those cravings.

Cabbage and Potatoes - Irish Colcannon Potatoes

A traditional Irish dish of simply seasoned mashed potatoes, mixed with cabbage and butter, Colcannon is a favorite of mine and will soon be a favorite of yours!

Irish Colcannon Potatoes

Well, y'all knew I had to sneak in at least one more dish for St. Patrick's Day, and this dish of Colcannon is a very appropriate one that I've been meaning to add since last year. Easily grown in Ireland, potatoes have always been a mainstay of many Irish diets, and often are the star of the meal. This little ole Irish lass does indeed love her potatoes.

Cooking with Kids - Fruit Pizza!

Today we're turning the kitchen over to the kids to show you how easy it is to get even the littlest ones into the kitchen for some cookin' fun with Rhodes Bake N Serve frozen bread dough!

Available on the Rhodes Bake N Serve Website

 

  A creamy chicken soup that uses strips of flour tortillas as a dumpling.

Chicken Dumplin' Soup

How can you not love a soup that is called Chicken Dumplin' Soup? I mean seriously.

When we were chatting one day over on the Facebook page about Chicken and Dumplings, or more specifically, drop dumplings versus rolled dumplings, one of the readers there mentioned using tortillas as her dumplings.

Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup with Black-eyed Peas

A beef broth and tomato based soup made with smoked sausage, sweet potatoes, blackeye peas and cabbage.

Sausage and Sweet Potato Soup with Blackeye Peas

This fantastic soup was inspired by a recipe I saw while flipping through an old cookbook of mine, Is It Soup Yet? - A Cookbook for Soup Lovers. Actually it's a 1998 cookbook and not really all that old, but I guess in terms of a cookbook, it's practically vintage these days.

When I saw the combination of sweet potatoes with sausage in a soup, I have to say I was intrigued. Y'all already know I am pretty much a soup kinda gal anyway, but I have to say I absolutely adored this one. It will definitely be one for the regular rotation of favorite soups in my kitchen. The smoked sausage, sweet potato and black-eyed peas really are a fantastic combination of complimentary flavors I think you'll love.

Transform a pork shoulder into this simple but amazingly delicious dish with a quick sear, simple seasonings, lightly caramelized onions and a simple roux. Fantastic.

Smothered Pork Roast with Rice

This Smothered Pork Roast recipe is as simple as it comes. A seared pork roast, seasoned with salt and pepper, smothered in a gorgeous garlic, rosemary and thyme infused gravy, and braised in a covered Dutch oven, low and slow. The original recipe called for a boneless pork butt or shoulder, but I could only find a 7 pound bone-in pork shoulder, and even that just barely squeezed into my Dutch oven. The downside to using the bone-in roast is that there is less meat, but it was enough for the two of us. It is a heavenly way to utilize a cut of pork that is most often reserved for pulled pork sandwiches though it can be used for other cuts as well. The fragrance of it will surely bring you back to grandma's kitchen and the flavor is just simply pork perfection.