Mardi Gras, which comes after the Christian feasts of Epiphany, is the last night of eating rich foods before fasting for the Lenten season.
Translated from French, it means fat Tuesday and is synonymous with the colourful festival in New Orleans that includes parades, dancing, music and food.
Create festive meals with these tasty and easy recipes inspired by Mardi Gras.
Shrimp Malacca with Rice
Buy shrimp in the shell and use the shells to make a quick and easy shrimp stock. Chicken or vegetable stock can be substituted. The size of shrimp is determined by the number in a pound (500g). The smaller the number, the larger the shrimp.
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- 1/3 c. vegetable or canola oil 75 mL
- 2 medium yellow onions, finely diced
- 1 large green bell pepper, seeded, stemmed and finely diced
- 2 celery stalks, peeled and diced
- 16-oz. whole peeled 500 mL
- Italian plum tomatoes
- 1 c. tomato puree 250 mL
- generous pinch of cayenne pepper
- generous pinch of dried basil
- 2 cloves garlic, mashed 5 mL
- with 1 tsp. kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp. curry powder 30 mL
- boxed, canned or homemade shrimp stock
- 3 lb. 36 to 40 shrimp, peeled 1.5 kg
- cooked white rice for serving
Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in a large, heavy saucepan. Add the onions, bell pepper and celery, then cook until soft.
Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, cayenne, basil, garlic, bay leaves, and salt and black pepper to taste. Bring to a boil over high heat, then add the curry powder.
Turn down the heat and simmer the mixture, covered, for about 25 minutes. If the sauce seems too thick, thin it with seafood stock or water. Add the shrimp and simmer for about 10 minutes, until cooked through. Remove the bay leaves.
Serve over cooked white rice. Serves eight. Source: Adapted from House and Garden.
Seafood Stock
- 2 tbsp. cooking oil 30 mL
- shells from 1 lb. shrimp 500 g
- 2 c. chopped yellow onions 500 mL
- 2 carrots, unpeeled and chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 c. white wine or water 125 mL
- 1/3 c. tomato paste 75 mL
- 1 tbsp. kosher salt 15 mL
- 1 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper 7 mL
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme, including stems
Warm the oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add the shrimp shells, onions, carrots and celery and saute for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook two more minutes.
Add 1 1/2 quarts (1.7 L) of water, white wine, tomato paste, salt, pepper and thyme.
Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for one hour. Strain through a sieve, pressing the solids. You should have approximately one quart (1.25 L) of stock. The difference can be made up with water or wine.
Jambalaya
Andouille is a smoked pork sausage most common in the southern U.S. Substitute a mild or spicy Italian pork sausage. Rinse the uncooked rice in several changes of water to prevent it from being sticky.
- 1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced 500 g
- 2 tbsp. canola oil 30 mL
- 2 c. diced sweet onion 500 mL
- 1 c. diced celery 250 mL
- 1 large red bell pepper, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp. Creole seasoning 10 mL
- 1 tsp. dried thyme 5 mL
- 1 tsp. dried oregano 5 mL
- 2 cans diced tomatoes and green chilis, drained 340 mL
- 3 c. chicken stock 750 mL
- 2 c. uncooked long grain rice, rinsed 500 mL
- 2 c. shredded cooked chicken 500 mL
- 1 lb. peeled, medium size raw shrimp, deveined 500 g
- 1/2 c. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 125 mL
- chopped green onions to garnish
Cook sausage in hot oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat for five minutes or until browned. Remove sausage with a slotted spoon.
Add diced onion, celery bell pepper, garlic, bay leaf, Creole seasoning, thyme and oregano. Saute five minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes, chicken stock, rice, chicken and sausage. Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 minutes or until rice is tender.
Stir in shrimp. Cover and cook five minutes or until shrimp turns pink. Stir in parsley. Makes eight to 10 servings. Serve immediately.
To freeze this dish, cook as directed but do not add shrimp. Cooked shrimp becomes tough with freezing.
Simply add shelled shrimp to the dish before reheating. Freeze in ovenproof containers and thaw in refrigerator for 24 hours.
Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake at 350 C (180 C) until thoroughly heated.
Bananas Foster Upside Down Cake
Bananas Foster is a dessert served with ice cream. The Brennan family restaurant first created it when it opened in New Orlean’s French Quarter in the 1950s. This upside down cake is my take on their recipe. You can make it in a springform pan but you wouldn’t get the nice crispy edges that come with baking in the cast iron pan. Add as many bananas as you can.
- 2 bananas, peeled
- 1/4 c. unsalted butter 60 mL
- 3/4 c. dark brown sugar 75 mL
- 3 tbsp. white rum 45 mL
- 1/2 c. unsalted butter at room temperature 125 mL
- 3/4 c. dark brown sugar, packed 175 mL
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp. rum or vanilla 15 mL
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 2 mL
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda 7 mL
- 2 c. flour 500 mL
- 1/2 tsp. salt 2 mL
- 3/4 c. buttermilk 175 mL
Melt 1/4 cup (60 mL) butter in an 11 inch (28 cm) cast iron pan. Add sugar and mix to blend. Add rum. With a long match or barbecue lighter, carefully burn off the alcohol in the rum. Stir until flames die.
Slice bananas in half crosswise and lengthwise and arrange over the sugar mixture.
Spoon the sauce so it enrobes the bananas.
Beat 1/2 cup (125 mL) butter with 3/4 cup sugar until light and creamy. Continue to beat and add one egg at a time, then add rum or vanilla.
In another bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Add this alternately with the buttermilk, starting and ending with flour. Beat until smooth.
Pour this mixture over the bananas in the cast iron pan. Bake in a 350 F oven for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. In case there are any drips from the cast iron pan, place a baking sheet on the rack below.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. While warm, invert it onto a cake plate. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream. Serves eight.
Sarah Galvin is a home economist, teacher and farmers’ market vendor at Swift Current, Sask., and a member of Team Resources. She writes a blog at allourfingersinthepie.blogspot.ca. Contact: team@producer.com.
