Ranger Recipes: Sides

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Louisiana is like a gumbo. Many different cultures contribute to the southern Louisiana cooking scene. With a rich history and the wide variety of habitats like swamps, prairies, and forests, it’s no wonder Louisiana is known for its unique food.

Follow along on the Jean Lafitte Facebook page for our series What’s Cooking Wednesday, which gives some great and easy recipes for you to try out. Along the way, you’ll learn a little about the influences and history of Louisiana cooking.

 

Ranger Recipes: Sides

Below are some of the past side recipes from What's Cooking Wednesday. Take a look and try them out!

Cabbage Comfort

Cabbage, onion, and caraway seeds make this simple and inexpensive side dish a flavorful way to eat more veggies. Wondering what to do with your cabbage from St. Patricks Day Parades? Try making Cabbage Comfort from the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Ingredients 

• 1 onion (sliced) 

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil 

• 4 1/2 cups cabbage (sliced) 

• 1/4 teaspoon salt 

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 

• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds 

Directions 

1. Heat oil in a large saute pan. 

2. Saute onion over medium heat, until light brown, about 5 to 6 minutes. 

3. Add sliced cabbage, salt, black pepper, and caraway seeds. 

4. Stir and cook for 30 minutes. 

5. Serve immediately. 

Chayote Squash (Mirlitons)

Ranger Recipes celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month with Chayote squash or Mirlitons as they are locally known! The Spanish influence on south Louisiana can still be tasted and enjoyed today. To enjoy these amazing squash, try this Ranger Recipe!

Ingredients

• mirlitons
• butter
• onions
• celery
• peppers
• garlic
• shrimp
• breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. Boil mirlitons in lightly salted water until flesh is tender enough to scoop from the shells. Gently scoop out flesh and save shells for stuffing.
3. In a pot, melt butter sauté onions, celery, peppers, and garlic. Add mirlitons and shrimp, and continue cooking a few minutes or until mixture is well incorporated.
4. Sprinkle in seasoned breadcrumbs and stuff mirliton mixture into the shells.
5. Place stuffed mirlitons on a baking pan and top with butter then bake until golden brown. 

Egg Salad

Do you pâques with your Easter Eggs? What is that anyway? Pâques is the French word for Easter. Here in the south, Cajuns and Creoles alike take part in this tradition. Once you have boiled and dyed your Easter eggs, two people each choose an egg to “pock” (short for pâques.) You will use the “pointy” end of the egg. One person holds their egg, pointy end up and kind of crowding the top of the egg. The other person takes the pointy end of their egg and lightly taps to try and break the others egg. The egg that didn’t break goes on to be the next competitor. Other families join in and the last egg still free of cracks, wins! There are some strategies, like choosing brown eggs versus white store-bought eggs. Some even cheat and use duck eggs or ceramic eggs! 

Once all the eggs have been cracked, then what? Well, you can make egg salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, deviled eggs, and so on. See this easy egg salad recipe.

Ingredients

• 10 hardboiled eggs
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1-½ tablespoons mustard
• Cajun seasoning of your choice

Directions

1.  Remove the egg white from the yolk.
2. Smash the yolk so it is easier to mix.
3. Add the mayonnaise, mustard, and seasoning. Mix well.
4. Chop the egg white and mix in with the yolk.
5. Eat on your favorite bread or your favorite crackers!

Irish Soda Bread

To celebrating Women’s History Month and Irish American Month, “What’s Cooking Wednesdays” presents Margaret Haughery. Margaret devoted herself to the care and feeding of the poor and building orphanages throughout the city.

Since Margaret Haughery was known as “The Bread Woman of New Orleans," enjoy this traditional recipe for Irish Soda Bread.

Ingredients

• 4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch round pan.
2. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually stir in the buttermilk until the dough comes together.
3. Form the dough into the prepared pan so that the dough reaches the edges.
4. Cut an X onto the top ¼” deep. Cover the pan of with foil.
5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, covered. Next, remove the foil, and bake uncovered for about 10 minutes more or until the crust is dark golden brown.

Jambalaya

Jambalaya may be one of Louisiana’s iconic dishes, but it’s past is shrouded in mystery; the origin of the name itself is lost, the ingredients vary by region and culture, and it was only recently that the USDA changed it’s ruling on Jambalaya to contain at least 25% ham!

Most culinary historians agree that the defining ingredient of the dish is rice, which ties it most closely with the Spanish dish Paella. Many historians agree that during the time the Spanish ruled Louisiana they sought to recreate a dish from their homeland – Paella. However, saffron was unavailable, and so tomatoes were substituted in New Orleans, seafood sometimes replaced by ham, and sausage was added.
Take away some of the mystery and learn how to cook this classic dish today!

Ingredients

• 1 pound chicken breasts cut up or shredded  
• 1/2 pound sausage,(typically andouille) diced – German addition  
• 2 large tomatoes or (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes – Creole addition  
• 1 medium onion, chopped  
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped  
• 1 stalk celery, chopped  
• 2 cups chicken broth  
• 2 teaspoons Cajun or Creole seasoning  
• 2 bay leaves  
• 1 pound shrimp  
• 2 cups rice and 2 cups of water  

Directions

1. In a large cast iron pot, combine chicken, sausage, tomatoes, onion, green pepper, celery, and chicken broth.
2. Stir in oregano, Cajun seasoning, and bay leaves (in more modern versions, hot sauce may be used).
3. Cover the pot, and cook on low for 7 hours.
4. Add rice, and cook additional ½ hour.
5. Stir in the shrimp. Cover and cook until the shrimp is cooked, about 10-15 minutes.
6. Discard bay leaves and serve.

Louisiana Cowboy Caviar

Looking for a vegetarian dish to make?
Well, look no further. With all the fresh produce available here in Louisiana, this is a great time of year to prepare Louisiana Cowboy Caviar. Make this cool salad to beat the summer heat!

Ingredients

• red peppers
• tomatoes
• onions
• black-eyed peas
• sweet corn
• Cajun seasoning

Directions

1. Mix together red peppers, tomatoes, onions, black-eyed peas and sweet corn.
2. Add Cajun seasoning to taste. Enjoy a cool summer salad!

Louisiana Wild Rice

Ranger Recipe's celebrates Native American Heritage Month with wild rice. Make this inspired Native dish today!
Ingredients

• 4 cups mushrooms (oyster, abalone, or tree mushrooms)
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 8 cloves garlic
• vidalia onions
• 1/2 cup dried mulberries
• 1/2 cup corn
• 2 cups wild rice

Directions

1. Blacken 8 cloves of garlic in 2 tablespoons oil.
2. Saute the Louisiana Vidalia onion.
3. Add the mushrooms, dried mulberries, and corn.
4. Add the cooked wild rice. Serve over Louisiana roasted sweet potatoes.

Louisiana Yams

Do you say sweet potato or yam? 

The answer, according to the director of the Louisiana AgCenter’s Sweet Potato Research Station, Dr. Mike Cannon, is that Louisiana sweet potato farmers started using the term “yam” claiming they are softer, sweeter, and more moist when baked. Originating in Central and South America, sweet potatoes in Louisiana “cropped” up around Sunset, Louisiana in St. Landry Parish sometime in the year 1910 as a commercial crop. They really came to the table following the great depression as you could find them growing in home gardens. Whether you say yam or sweet potato, add this side dish to your next meal!

Ingredients

• 2 medium size sweet potatoes
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Clean sweet potatoes thoroughly under running water. (You can leave the skins on if you like.)
3. Cut ½ inch thick slices widthwise. Lay out on baking sheet.
4. Drizzle the sweet potatoes with olive oil. Season with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper. Rub slices to season them evenly.
5. Bake 45-55 minutes.

Mirliton Fritters

Fritters, pirogue, shaped, or stuffed, this mild tasting member of the cucurbit family, is now cultivated in over 70 countries. A native of Mexico, mirlitons are also known by their Nahuatl name of chayote. This fruit arrived in Louisiana with Isleño settlers from the Canary Islands in the late 1800’s.
If your taste buds are piqued, prepare this classic recipe published in the year 1901, adapted from,” The Chayote: A Tropical Vegetable“ by O.F. Cook. Special Agent for Tropical Agriculture!

Ingredients  

• 3 mirlitons  
• 6 cloves  
• 1 egg  
• 1 teaspoon butter  
• Salt and pepper  
• Lard for frying

Directions

1. Boil the mirlitons till tender, then drain and cool.  
2. Once cool, place the mirlitons in a cloth bag and squeeze until no more liquid comes out. Remove the cloves, skin, and then seeds. Next, mash the pulp.  
3. Add salt pepper to taste.
4. Add one teaspoon of butter.  
5. Make into fritters then fry in lard.

Red Beans and Rice

What does Louis Armstrong have to do with red beans and rice? Satchmo loved this New Orleans signature dish so much he often signed his letters, “Red beans and ricely yours”. Learn what makes Louis Armstrong love this dish so, and make red beans and rice today!

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 1 cup chopped celery
• Oil or butter
• 6 gloves minced garlic
• 2 pounds smoked ham hocks
• 1 pound beans (picked over, soaked, and drained)

Directions

1. Sauté 2 cups chopped onions, 1 cup each chopped green pepper and celery in butter or oil, in a large cast iron pot over a medium flame.
2. When it barely starts to brown, add 6 cloves of minced garlic. Continue cooking for one minute.
3. Add 8 cups of water, stirring well to release the fond.
4. Add the ham hocks.
5. Add the beans, stirring well. Add one bay leaf.
6. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a bare simmer and cook for 1-4 hours till tender (depends on the age of the beasns). Check frequently, and add water to maintain all ingredients barely covered. Add seasonings to taste after one hour. To check for tenderness, mash a bean against the side of the pot with a fork. If it mashes easily, the beans are cooked.
7. Cook a little longer uncovered till most of the water evaporates and beans are velvety smooth. Be careful to not allow the bottom of the pot to burn.
8. Serve with rice and garnish with green onions and chopped fresh parsley. For a delicious vegetarian version simply replace the meat with 2 tablespoons of a good quality cooking or olive oil. 

Three Sisters Stew

The Native American legend - “Three Sisters,” whether fighting or loving, is the essence of companion planting, shade provided by the squash keeps the soil moist, nitrogen captured by the roots of the beans helps the corn, and the stalk of the corn provides a base for the beans. Make this dish based on the indigenous legend today!

Ingredients

• 1 pound winter squash 
• 1 medium onion chopped 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• Diced tomatoes 
• 2 cups pinto beans 
• 2 cups corn 
• 1 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth 
• Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a pot. Cook together slowly, and serve with minced fresh cilantro.