Tac-Tac...Who's There? Popcorn Balls

Tac-tac is what Cajuns call popcorn. Why? Because of the sound popcorn makes when it pops.

Tac tac tac tac tac tac.

It's Tac-tac like a clock--tock tock, not tac tac like thumb tack.

Some other Cajun words/expressions I find interesting:

Elle a fait le bouder...roughly means she's making a lip, or pouting. I once heard a linguist who specializes in Cajun French talk about this phrase and the similarity between the words bouder (make a lip or pout) and boudin (a Cajun sausage). A link of boudin looks like a big pouty lip.

Elle a mangé le chien ragé...means she ate the rabid dog. Now I know Cajuns eat some pretty weird things, but we don't eat dogs...rabid or otherwise. This phrase means some chick is raging mad. There are other non-French phrases from around here that mean roughly the same thing. Like "I got da red ass."
A: "I got da red ass today, me."
B: "Oh, yeah? Dat so?"
A: "Yeah. My car run off da road an got in a wreck."

Another one would be "man, my sistah's hot." Despite what you've heard about Southerners and incest, in this case the meaning is: my sister is mad.

And here's one that is also the name of a song: Lâche pas la patate! It means "don't drop the potato." When Cajuns say this, they mean hold on, hang in there, or don't give up.

Homespun, cute, and a mix of the bizarre and a certain je ne sais quoi all in one.

But back to tac-tac...er, popcorn. Below is a clip from the song Blues de Tac-tac performed by Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys if you'd like to have a listen. The lyrics can pretty much be summed up by saying: I went to the dance last night, ate some popcorn, ate some kernels, and got drunk and I'm gonna do it all over again tonight. Not the most cerebral of songs, but there you go.

This time of year is when you see a lot of boules de tac-tac...popcorn balls. Probably because we make them with cane syrup and Fall is when sugarcane is harvested. I'm not sure. All I know is that popcorn balls are a common Halloween treat around here.

Every year for Halloween my mother-in-law made popcorn balls for the neighborhood trick-or-treaters. Of course this was before some jerkface decided to tamper with Halloween candy and panic followed. She doesn't make popcorn balls anymore. So I thought I'd give it a try this year.

Why? Really. Why do I do these things to myself?

Apparently something is very very wrong with my candy thermometer. It decided that around 200 degrees F is as high as it wants to go from now until the end of time.  So I had to guess, which was really stupid of me to even try. I mean, if you've ever made candy or worked with sugar you know you can't just guess.  If you've never made candy or worked with sugar, trust me...DO NOT GUESS.

I rushed to get a glass of water so I could test the sugar mixture, but I couldn't remember what the stupid stuff should do in said glass of water. I used to know these things.  Have them committed to memory.  But the seductive ease of Google has turned my brain to mush.  I ran around the kitchen trying to find a chart in a cookbook for soft ball, hard ball, soft crack, hard crack stages. And my sugar mixture boiled on, unattended. And I said some French words (not really...it was clear, very loud English).  So the sugar and cane syrup mixture...I guessed. And guessed badly.

I poured the mixture over the popcorn, buttered up my hands and got to work. And yelled some more. The Husband stepped in. Partly to help out. Mostly to rid the kitchen of my yelling and fury. By this point I was greasy from the butter and dripping with hot, wet, sticky cane syrup. Oh, I was hot. I guess you'd even say I "mangé le chien ragé."

The popcorn balls didn't set up well and now I have wet mounds of caramel corn tightly--very tightly wrapped in plastic wrap to make them look like balls. Remove the plastic wrap and they collapse into sad little sugary popcorn puddles. Tastes good, but still. Maybe next year. Or maybe I'll just get mother-in-law to start making them again.

Want to have the same fun in your kitchen? Here's the mise en place.

Looks good so far.  The sugar, cane syrup, water, vinegar, and salt have all been added.

I'm cooking away, dissolving the sugar and testing the temp to check for light crack (about 270).  Only my thermometer remains stuck at about 200 degrees.

I decide to guess.  Which was a bad thing to do.  I cut off the heat and added the butter and baking soda.

Poured the mixture over the popped popcorn.

And buttered up while the popcorn and syrup cool off enough to handle.  But not so much that it started to set.  Not that I had to worry about that.

Toss, toss, toss. I'm still naively optimistic here.  It'll still work.  It'll still work.  It'll still work...I think?

Fat chance.  This is what happens when you guess during candy making.  Close your ears.

The Husband steps in to stop the madness.

Don't let this picture fool you.  All you have to do is poke one to know that this is just sweet, wet globs of popcorn.

Popcorn Balls

from Who's Your Mama, Are You Catholic, and Can You Make a Roux by Marcelle Bienvenu

1/2 c sugar
2/3 c cane syrup
1/3 c water
1 T vinegar
1/3 tsp salt
1 T butter
1/8 tsp baking soda
3 quarts popped corn, no butter, lightly salted if desired

Combine the first 5 ingredients and stir until sugar dissolves.  Cook mixture until it reaches light crack stage (about 270 degrees F).  Remove from heat and ad butter and baking soda.  Stir well.  Pour over popcorn.  Butter your hands and form into balls.

Festivals Acadiens et Créoles 2009

We use anything and everything as an excuse to have a festival.

Just a few...alligator, andouille, antiques, art, bayous, boudin, buggies, blues, Cajun music, catfish, cotton, couchon de lait, cracklin, crawfish, Creole music, Creole tomatoes, duck, French Quarter, frog, Germanfest, gumbo, heritage (numerous ones), hot sauce, jambalaya, jazz, Mardi Gras, meatpies, mirliton, orange, oyster, pecan, peppers, prison rodeo, rabbit, rice, seafood, shrimp, shrimp and petroluem, smoked meat, strawberries, sugarcane, swamp pop, swine, turtle, voodoo, wetlands, yambilee, Zydeco

One of our favorites is based on music, food, and crafts: Festivals Acadiens et Créoles in Lafayette, LA. This festival has been in existence since the mid 70s, starting as a 3 hour concert to honor Cajun music. The festival has grown/morphed each year. I'm not big on crafty things, but I enjoy the Bayou Food Festival component as well as the packed schedule of music. People come from all over for this festival. A few groups we met came from: Daytona Beach, St. Louis, Chicago, somewhere in Texas, somewhere in France, Fayetteville, AR (you know who you are you barefoot-dancin'-in-the-mud fool).

I'll start with the food since this is supposed to be a food blog, afterall. The night before we planned to go to the festival, I sat down to look at the schedule. Ok, ok. So I really sat down to look at what the food vendors would be selling...the "menu." The Boy decided to look over the menu with me. He said, "Oooo...frog legs! I want that. Alligator on a stick! I'll have that too. Softshell crab. I'd like to try that. Etouffee too! Oh, and beignets!" And he sat there for close to 20 minutes studying the list of food and telling me what he wanted. By the time he was finished, I calculated that we'd spend 35 bucks for one day, for one child, not including drinks. Not gonna happen. We shared three dishes between us (plus coffee, drinks, and a few small snacks like sno balls).


Softshell Crab Po'boys from A La Cart (Lafayette, LA): My dad loves softshell crabs; I've never been brave enough to try them. This year I did, mainly because The Boy wanted too. It's so funny to me that a toddler who would only eat plain pasta and grilled meat has turned into this child who is willing to try anything...the weirder the better. The softshell crab was ok. I thought the fact that it sat wrapped and in the bun took away from it, but this is festival food and not a 5 star dining experience.

Alligator Po'boy from Lagneaux's Restaurant (Lafayette, LA): this was my favorite and The Boy's favorite too. The alligator was seasoned well and was tender, which is sometimes not the case with alligator. And they also offered homemade tartar sauce rather then a packaged one. My only complaint was that, like the Crab Po'Boy, a regular old hot dog bun was used. That ain't Po'Boy material, people!

Seafood Jambalaya also from Lagneaux's: The Husband thought this was the best of the three we tried. It was flavorful/spicy and had lots of shrimp.

On to the music...

I had to work on Saturday, so The Husband and The Boy, the dirty rats that they are, went to Festivals without me. I spent the entire day there on Sunday though.


The first band we saw was Briggs Brown and the Bayou Cajuns. Briggs is a talented young musician from our area who plays accordion. His dad, Greg, is on bass, and his sister, Megan, plays guitar and sings with the band. Travis Benoit, another talented young musician, plays fiddle for the band, while his dad, Ray Thibodeaux, plays drums. Homer Lejeune is also a band member. Both Travis and Briggs have won the Cajun French Music Association's New Dawn Award.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for the entire set. We had to run across the festival grounds for another band who was scheduled at the same time: Fricassee. I think that's the norm for this festival...there are so many musicians scheduled to play in multiple areas that you really get a workout. We had to check out Fricassee because The Boy's fiddle instructor, Henry Hample, is a member of the band.

It rained on Sunday about mid-day. And rained hard. But "laissez les bon temps rouler" ya'll. Nothing stops Festivals. People came prepared.

 

And if you didn't come prepared, you made do.

It rained pretty hard for a while, but people didn't stop dancing...even though the dance floor looked like a pig pen.

A different kind of "rain dance."

And Festivals wouldn't be complete without seeing Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys. If we missed Steve Riley, The Boy would be crushed.

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys performing one of my favorites--Pointe aux Chênes (Oak Point).

And Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys performing one of The Boy's favorites and a crowd sing-a-long favorite: Bon Rêve (Sweet Dream).

The last band of Festivals is one that I like more and more every time I see them: The Lost Bayou Ramblers. I first saw them perform at French Quarter Festival and I was hooked. I was a little disappointed that Louis Michot didn't hop up on top of the bass and play his fiddle like he's prone to do, but it was wet, slippery and muddy so I guess I can forgive that this once.

I think I may be a little bit obsessed with the upright bass. But if I were to play an instrument (ha...not likely), I'd want a big honkin' one like this.

The last song by the last band on the last day of Festivals Acadiens et Creoles 2009. And that's my child head banging right up front.


And if you didn't get a little bit dirty, you didn't pass a good time, you.

Update 10/22/09:
I woke up this morning to find that Kim over at Stirring the Pot gave me two blog awards...a "Lovely Blog" award and a "Neno Award."  What a treat on this humid, rainy, dreary day!  I don't know much about how these blog awards work, so I hope I'm doing this right.

I first came across Kim's blog when I started following Tyler Florence Fridays. When I saw that Kim is cooking her way through Tyler Florence's Stirring the Pot (she's half-way through), I admired that.  Plus, her photos (I'm thinking especially of a certain Totally Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookie) keep luring me back!



Thank you, Kim, for the awards (I'm a giddy little nut right now) and for always reading and commenting and encouraging me.  You rock!

Jousting at Pumpkins

If you read regularly, you may be wondering what's going on since I've already posted this week. I decided to join in on the Royal Foodie Joust this month over at Foodie Blog Roll. The joust is held by The Leftover Queen. Each month, participants come up with a recipe that must include three featured ingredients. The winner chooses the ingredients for the next month.

This month's ingredients are all about orange and black. When I saw the required ingredients: Pumpkin, Stout or Dark Beer, and sugar, I liked the Halloween thing going on. Halloween happens to be my favorite holiday (besides Mardi Gras). An idea quickly formed in my head.

Earlier this week I posted about my first attempt at éclairs. So...what about filling them with pumpkin? Ha! One ingredient down. Oh, and how about a Caramel Stout Sauce? Double ha! The last two ingredients taken care of.

Since I just detailed making pâte à choux, I won't go through it again here. Pictures of the steps involved can be found in this previous post. I decided to do a couple of things differently though.

* I used a faker pastry bag made from a Ziploc instead of spooning the pastry dough onto my cookie sheet like last time. The result: eh, I could go either way on this. Each method had its ups and downs. I guess I'd probably just use a spoon and not bother having to fill a fake (or real) pastry bag.

* I also poked a hole in each pastry after they came out of the oven. I recently read that this releases steam, makes for a hollow interior, and keeps the inside from getting too soggy. The truth is, I found no difference between stabbing holes in the pastries and letting them be. I'm a lover not a fighter, so I'll skip the hole punching from now on.  Ok, I lie.  I am more of a fighter...but a lazy one.

* I also decided to do a puff rather than an éclair (circles v. ovals...it's just geometry, people). Oh, fine. You wanna know the truth? I liked the name "Pumpkin Puffs" more than "Pumpkin Éclairs." Ok?

I thought the pumpkin might be too heavy, so I lightened up the texture by folding in whipped cream. I said lightened the texture, not the calorie count.

Finally, the Caramel Stout Sauce...I couldn't get my hands on stout (I live in a small town), so I had to settle for dark beer. But Caramel Dark Beer Sauce just doesn't have the same punch to it, ya' know? This is the part of the recipe I was most concerned about, but it tastes really good! In fact, the sauce may be my favorite part. And it reminded me of making pralines, which is always fun.

UPDATE: the Caramel Stout Sauce is also terrific on pancakes!

And finally, finally after it was all put together, I thought...well, it just isn't dessert until someone breaks out the chocolate. Plus I really wanted something black/dark in the dish. Now you've twisted my arm.  Chocolate drizzle it is.

So here's my entry for the latest Royal Foodie Joust:

Pumpkin Puffs w/ Caramel Stout Sauce

Pumpkin Puffs w/ Caramel Stout Sauce
from Ms. enPlace

for the pâte à choux:
1 cup water

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 450.

Boil the water in a heavy pot. Add the butter and stir until it has melted. Add the flour (all at once) and salt. Cook and stir until the mixture forms a soft ball of dough. Remove from the heat and cool for about 10 minutes. Make the filling while you wait. After 10 minutes, add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The dough should tighten up after adding the third egg.

Form dough into about a dozen round shapes on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Lower oven to 325 and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Make the Caramel Stout Sauce while they cool.

for the pumpkin filling:

3/4 c heavy whipping cream
1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
2 1/2-3 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Whip cream in a chilled bowl until stiff peaks form. Combine the pumpkin with the sugar and spices. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture. Chill, covered, until ready to use.

for the Caramel Stout Sauce:
1/2 c heavy whipping cream
1/2 c stout or dark beer
1 c sugar

In a small saucepan, warm the cream and stout together.

Meanwhile, heat the sugar on medium high in a heavy bottom saucepan. Stir constantly to prevent burning. As the sugar dissolves, it may be necessary to lower the heat. When the sugar has dissolved completely and is a light brown color, slowly add the heated cream and stout mixture. Stir as you pour. Continue cooking and stirring for about 10 minutes. Allow the sauce to cool; it will thicken once it has cooled.

Slice the top third of each puff. Fill with about 3 tablespoons of pumpkin filling. Replace the tops. Place a puff on a plate, drizzle with the cooled Caramel Stout Sauce, and serve. Store any remaining Pumpkin Puffs loosely covered in the refrigerator. For best results, store the sauce, filling and pastries separately and combine when ready to eat.

Optional (but encouraged): melt semi-sweet chocolate chips and thin with shortening. Drizzle over the top of the Pumpkin Puffs along with the caramel sauce.

I D-Éclair: this is easier than I thought

Mr. Ricky volunteers where I work. He comes in once or twice a week and his greeting is always, "Comment ça va?" Not "hi" or "hello" and defintely not "hey." But "Comment ça va?"--how are you? Some of the older people answer back in French. A lot of people my age never learned to speak it. Mr. Ricky also calls me "Miss Mee-shell." That's how my name is pronounced here.

Anyway, Mr. Ricky is just as nice as can be and he recently stopped by with a gorgeously decorated cake from Gambino's bakery. He'd just come into town, having taken a trip to New Orleans. He stopped by the bakery to "get a little somethin' for ya'll."

My first thought was: Holy Cow! Gambino's! I hadn't had anything from there since the first year we were living in the Midwest (about 7 years ago) and my sister-in-law couldn't stand the thought of us going through Mardi Gras season without King Cake. She paid a fortune to have one shipped to us.

Then I saw that Mr. Ricky 's cake was chocolate with chocolate frosting and my second thought was: Mr. Ricky, I love you. But I said that only in my head because I don't know him that well.

But we are talking about chocolate on chocolate, so maybe I should've said it out loud.

So I started thinking about Gambino's and all the other New Orleans area bakeries I used to frequent. One of my aunts (my nanny, or Godmother) loves to "stop by the bakery" and I spent many, many Saturday mornings tagging along. Gambino's, Haydel's, Randazzo's, McKenzie's (out of business for several years)...we hit the big ones. But she also took me around to smaller bakeries too, but I can't remember any of their names and don't feel like trying to find out. The answer would probably be one I hear way too much: oh, they never came back after The Storm.

My aunt almost always got bakalava...she introduced me to this creation. I usually asked for a Bavarian creme filled doughnut or an éclair. I love that éclairs are a mix of delicate pastry and decadent creamy filling. Love the contrast...dainty exterior and in-your-face fat attack interior. Oh and then the chocolate on top. Oh yeah!

I've always wanted to try my hand at making éclairs, but I figured it would be hard or I'd need special tools for working with the pâte à choux, or choux paste. But it wasn't hard and I didn't need to use any weird gadgetry. A pastry bag would have helped for forming the pastries, but I managed to get by without that.

Pâte à choux can be turned into éclairs, creme puffs, porfiteroles, gougeres, croquembouche (a tower of creme puffs), and who knows what else. I'm glad I sucked it up and tried this. The romance of my childhood bakery trips has been somewhat lessened knowing that a large portion of what was on display was made from the same recipe...just filled with different things. But, the éclairs were good. And more importantly, I learned how to make something versatile.

I don't remember where I found this éclair recipe. It is handwritten on a scrap of paper, which likely means it is from one of my mom's cookbooks. It seems like a pretty standard éclair recipe. These éclairs are easy to make, especially since the recipe utilizes instant pudding. Would it be better with homemade pudding? I can't comment on that since homemade pudding weirds me out something bad (it's an egg thing).

Éclairsfrom Ms. enPlace

for the pâte à choux:
1 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 450. Boil the water in a heavy pot. Add the butter and stir until it has melted. Add the flour (all at once) and salt. Cook and stir until the mixture forms a soft ball of dough. Remove from the heat and cool for about 10 minutes. Make the pudding while you wait. After 10 minutes, add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The dough should tighten up after adding the third egg.

Form dough into about a dozen oval shapes on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. Lower oven to 325 and bake for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Make the chocolate icing while they cool.

for the filling:
1 small box (4 servings) instant vanilla pudding
2 c cold milk

Follow the package directions. Chill until ready to use.

for the icing:
2 squares (1 oz each) semisweet chocolate
3 Tbsp butter
1-1 1/4 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2-3 Tbsp milk

Melt chocolate along with butter. Stir until smooth. Add 1 c powdered sugar, vanilla, and 2 tbsp milk. Stir until smooth. Add additonal tablespoon of milk if needed to thin. If too thin, add more powdered sugar.

Now that the three components are ready, start assembling your éclairs. Fill the bottoms with about 2 tablespoons of pudding then replace the tops. Ice with chocolate. Store in the refrigerator loosely covered to avoid moisture build-up.

Mise enplace for all three components. Nothing unusual and no weird gadgets required.

Boil the water. Add butter and stir until it has melted. Add all of the flour and salt.

Stir while cooking until mixture forms a soft ball of dough.

Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes so your eggs don't scramble. What are you standing around for? Be efficient and make the pudding. Use the package directions. Or make your own. What do I care? Show off.
Add eggs one at a time. Mix like crazy after each addition. The mixture will start to tighten up (picture on right) after the 3rd egg.

Form about 1 dozen ovals (or thereabouts) on a greased cookie sheet.

Left: after the first 15 minutes at 450. Right: after 20-25 minutes at 325.

Let the pastries cool so you can touch all over them because you know you want to. Make the chocolate icing to keep your hands occupied while you wait.

After the pastries have cooled, slice off the top third of each. Don't throw the tops away. Or eat them.

My topless pastries. (Giggle. Imagine the hits I'll get on that one.)

Fill the bottoms with about 2 Tbsp of vanilla pudding.

If you haven't gotten to it yet, make the icing. If you made it ahead of time, you might need to stir it or even stir in a little more milk to get it spreadable.

Replace the tops and ice with the chocolatey goodness. If there's any left, I'll lick the bowl. No problem.

Remember, kids, character is more important than beauty.

A Year Old

I started this blog 1 year ago.  Sometimes it's been incredibly easy.  Sometimes it's been a royal PITA.  (You know I always give it to you straight.) 

But mostly it makes me wonder...why am I not rich and famous yet?  Ok, not really.  But maybe a little.

Birthdays, anniversaries and other related milestones are often a time for reflection.  So here goes.

A little over a year ago, we decided to move back to Louisiana after being away for about 12 years.  After we got settled in, we plunged (back) into S LA culture.  We had taken it for granted when we lived here and didn't realize what we had until we moved away.  You know--the classic don't know what you've got til it's gone thing.

We had to make up for that...even if it sometimes gets to the point of cliché. 

Now that I had unrestricted access to local ingredients and didn't have to rely on family to ship things to me, I went crazy greedily making and scarfing down all the dishes I grew up with.

But that wasn't quite enough.  I found myself wanting to know more about the history of and stories behind the food I was excited about.  I dug through the Louisiana cooking section at the local library, I watched local cooking shows on PBS and cable access channels, I attended local cooking demos that I knew would also give me info on the history/origin of what was being made, and I listened to the people around me.  Even if their stories weren't about food on the surface, most of the time there was a local food connection.  This may seem like obsessive behavior, but people around here want to know where things come from.  If you meet someone they'll ask you, "Who's your daddy?  "Where you from?  Are you Catholic?"  They want to know your origin.  My theory is that this stems from families being ripped apart when the Acadians were exiled from Nova Scotia.  It's become second nature to explore a person's heritage to see if there is some familial connection.

But back to why I started this blog.  I was so excited about being back here that I didn't want to forget how I felt or the recipes or methods of cooking them.  And I wanted to share the experience too.  So I decided to document it in a blog...something I was actually never interested in doing.  But to my surprise, I found that despite the fits that blogging sometimes gives me and despite the fact that my poor family suffers through staring at a plate of food, waiting to eat it while I try to get just the right shot, I kinda like this!  And to my surprise, I actually have readers...regular "followers" even.  I think that is so cool!  Thank you for sticking around and for your comments.  That is much appreciated.

At this 1 year mark, I decided to make some cosmetic changes (including a slideshow, background, layout changes...polka dots were never really my thing, so that had to go).  I hope you like the new look.  The content will stay pretty much the same except that I have plans to include posts on events such as festivals.

Also at this 1 year mark I though this would be fitting...

* At the time of this post, there have been 4,113 visits to my blog.  That's about 4,112 more than I thought I'd have.

* At the time of this post, I have 21 followers.  Not as many as some food blogs, but more than I dreamed I'd have.

* The post most searched for and viewed by a mile is the Cajun Rice and Gravy post.  My first post.  I'm not sure what to think about that!  Did I peak at my first attempt?

*I'd also like to mention a few of my favorites:

I Want Dat Dressed--the shrimp po'boy post.  I had a fun time writing this one and researching the history of po'boys.  And I love po'boys.  And the story about my grandma still makes me shoot drink out of my nose.

See Ya in the Gumbo.  This is another favorite of mine--again because it was interesting to dig into the origins of gumbo.  It also made me stop and think about how important this dish is here and why we love it so much.  It's also a rare moment where I got a little soft and mushy and sentimental.  I try not to let that happen too often.

Finally, A River Runs Through Bananas Foster.  This topic sent me thinking about how things were when I was growing up.  And I got to relive the sights and sounds of living just blocks away from the Mississippi.  Ok, ok.  Maybe I get more sentimental than I want to admit.  Fine.  Anyway, I had a nice time thinking about playing along the river and I thought the connection between the river and the only way I eat bananas was pretty darn cool.

So, this post is self-indulgent.  Isn't that what birthdays are for?

I can't promise it won't happen again.

Grillades and Boucheries...and spellchecker goes wild

I blew out my spellchecker with this one, ya'll. I swear I don't make up these crazy words.

For the past couple of days we've had our first hint of Fall. Just a slight taste. Not gumbo weather yet, but temps in the low 80s instead of the mid 90s. I'll take it!

Fall is the time for tailgating and Sunday Saints games. And when the fish start biting again. Fall is also the time for most of our festivals. The one we anticipate the most, Festivals Acadiens et Creoles, is only about a week away. Fall is also a time for boucheries (boo-sha-rees).

A boucherie is a communal event that centers on butchering a hog. Traditionally, this occurred in cooler months because of a lack of refrigeration. Many families were involved--some relatives, some neighbors, and everyone shared the spoils so they didn't spoil. The event rotated among families so that each family had a pig butchered. One butchering lasted the entire day. Nothing was wasted..."everything but the squeal" as they say.

The blood was drained and collected to make boudin rouge (red boudin). The head was saved to make fromage de tete (hog's head cheese). The stomach was cleaned and stuffed with pork sausage to make ponce. Intestines were cleaned and used to make boudin (both boudin blanc--white boudin, or what's just known as boudin and boudin rouge)...one of my favorite results of a boucherie. A couple of other favorites of mine are tasso (a smoked pork used for flavoring), and cracklins--fried and seasoned pig skin with a little bit of fat left on.

Grillades (gree-ahds) also supposedly come from boucheries. Grillades are thin pieces of meat slow simmered in gravy. If it's Creole grillades like I'm used to, the gravy is tomato based. In some areas grillades were served at boucheries, utilizing some of the meat that was just sliced from the hog. The grillades could simmer all day while everyone worked. And everyone worked--men, women, and children all had roles in the boucherie. The men did the killing and the cutting. Children often held the pan to catch the blood or cleaned intestines for boudin. Women were busy making boudin and other dishes out of what was removed from the animal. But back to grillades...the dish could simmer all day and be eaten as needed. if the sauce got to thick, no problem. Extra liquid could be added. By the way, that's also a trick to use if you have unexpected company over for gumbo. Extra grillades could also be tossed in the pot to feed the crowd.

Today, Grillades are most often seen on brunch menus around New Orleans and they are served over grits. Personally, I think this dish is too heavy for brunch. But if someone serves this to me for brunch, I'm not turning it down! I like to make and eat this on cool evenings over the weekend when I have more time to let it simmer.

Pork is the old school meat for this dish, but beef can be used too. My preference is beef. Some people serve this over cheesy grits. Now I've got nothin' against cheesy grits. Believe me, this Southern girl loves some cheesy grits. But, I don't think that's necessary here because of the rich, flavorful sauce. I'll save the cheesy grits for breakfast and eat Grillades and Grits for supper.
Linking with:

Grillades & Grits
from Ms. enPlace

2 lb round steak (or thin pork chops)
½ cup flour, seasoned with Creole seasoning, salt, and black pepper
vegetable oil to cover bottom of pot
1 large onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped (about ½ c)
½ green bell pepper, chopped (about ½ c)
3-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes and juice
1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
1 c chicken or beef stock
1 bay leaf
pinch dried thyme
salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste
2 green onions, chopped and divided
¼ cup chopped parsley, divided

Pour enough oil in the bottom of a large heavy pot to coat the bottom. Heat oil over med-high. Cut the round steak into small portions. Dredge in seasoned flour, shaking off excess. When oil is hot, brown the grillades well on both sides. Cook in batches if needed. Don’t crowd the pan otherwise the meat will steam. Remove and set aside.

Add onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic to the pot and use them to help release the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. A little water can be added if needed. Cook vegetables until tender. Add grillades back to pot along with tomatoes, sauce, stock or water, bay leaf, thyme, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Stir to mix, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer.

Simmer for at least an hour or until meat is tender and sauce has thickened. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Add half of the green onions and half of the parsley and cook for 5 minutes. Serve over grits, garnishing with the remaining green onions and parsley.

For grits:
1 cup chicken broth or stock
2 cups water
¾ cup quick cook grits
salt and pepper, to taste

Bring broth, water, and a hefty pinch of salt to a boil. Slowly add grits and whisk to incorporate. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until grits have absorbed the liquid and are tender. Season with salt and pepper and serve right away.

Mise en place for the Grillades part of Grillades & Grits. The flour is seasoned with Creole seasoning (Tony's), salt, and black pepper. I used homemade stock from the freezer (plastic container), but I also use canned broth when I don't have homemade.

I made this several months ago and am just now getting around to putting the pictures and everything together. When I was looking at the picture, I noticed this tan thing above the bay leaf, to the left of the garlic and onion. I kept saying to myself, "what the hell is that thing?" It looked like a bandage. I guess I really do like to prep everything I need beforehand!


This is a lot of chopping, but I like to chop. It can be done ahead if you need. Some people around here buy what's called "seasoning." It's not spices...it's pre-chopped refrigerated or frozen onion, bell pepper, and celery. I'm a DIYer though.

The bag in back of the cutting board...I did this long before RR had her garbage bowl (so there!). And oh my gosh, don't throw it in the garbage! The produce bag holds all the peelings and trimmings from the onions, celery, etc. I stick them in the freezer for making stock.

Pass the meat in seasoned flour. Shake off the excess. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of your pot. Make sure it's good and hot before adding the meat. Brown it all up. You'll probably have to do it n batches. Don't crowd the pot or the meat will steam and you won't have good gravy.

I've said it before and I'll just keep on because this is so important and is the secret to rich, tasty gravy. Brown your meat very well and allow a crust to form on the bottom of the pot.

Remove the meat. Add the vegetables except for the green onion and parsley. The vegetables will start to give off liquid. Use this to scrape the browned bits up off the pot and into what will become the gravy. A small amount of water can be added as needed. Continue cooking until the onions, etc. are tender.

It's gettin' there.

Add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, stock, seasonings, and grillades to the pot. Simmer. A long time. No less than an hour, preferably more. The meat needs to be nice and tender.

When you're about ready to serve, it's time to do the grits. Now is also the time to add half the green onions and half the parsley to the pot. The rest is used for garnish.


Mise en place for the grits part of Grillades & Grits. That's chicken stock in the pot too, ya'll, not just water. Where's the fun (taste) in plain old grits cooked in water? Also, grits require more salt than you think. Kinda like with potatoes.

Bring the cooking liquid and salt to a boil. Add the grits.

Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.

Taste and season with pepper and more salt if needed. And don't fool around. Serve now before the grits clump up. Clumpy grits ain't no good, no!


Lay down some grits, top with a couple of grillades and some gravy. Top that with some green onion and parsley.
Yeah, like that!