Alva Bell's Recipe Box
Brenda’s Seafood Casserole
If you have lived, fish or hunted in South Louisiana, you know that seafood and wild game abound. Most Cajun children know how to catch shrimp by throwing a cast net while standing ankle deep in Rockefeller Refuge waters or the waters of Rutherford Beach. Because of its unique location, ...
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Spicy Shrimp Gumbo
Gumbo’s thickness is similar to that of stew. You may make it thinner by adding a cup of vegetable or chicken broth. Ingredients1 large onion 1/2 cup fresh parsley 1/2 cup vegetable oil 3/4 cup flour 1/2 cup sliced green onion 6 pods of diced garlic 4 cups chicken broth ...
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Janelle’s Drunken Chicken
Here is the best use for your beer can. Cook your chicken with it. This Cajun Drunken Chicken seasoned with crab-crawfish-shrimp-boil seasoning is sure to be a crowd pleaser. The steam from the beer helps keep the chicken moist. Ingredients1 chicken fryer 4 - 5 pounds 1/4 can beer - ...
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Gumbo Burgers
Here is a novel idea for leftover gumbo. Use it to wake up your ground meat dish. Ingredients1 small onion sliced thinly 2 tbsp oil (Canola or Vegetable) or bacon fat 1 pound ground beef 1 cup leftover gumbo broth or one can gumbo 1/2 cup water 1 tsp salt ...
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Liver with Onion Gravy
As kids we would love it when Dad came home from the boucherie and it was his turn to get the liver and variety meats. Mom would cook us up some liver and onion. That was so good. She would also fry some too. It has been said that people ...
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French Fried Liver
When we were growing up my Mom would sometimes take the liver out of the debris and make fried liver. The taste is totally unique and goes great with a debris dish. As I got older, I realized that few people were even aware about frying the liver as a ...
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Oven Chicken Fricassee
Cajuns love to get together and play cards games like booray (bouree) and euchre. While you fix this dish shuffle yourself a hand of Louisiana cards and play while it bakes. This dish is so easy and great for small dinner card games or any party or gathering. Taste so ...
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Baked Turkey Breast
Most season a turkey only on the outside of the skin. The trick for better flavor is to season the turkey breast underneath the skin. This method imparts the flavor throughout the breast meat. Ingredients1 turkey breast 6 to 7 pounds 2 hatch peppers or 1/2 bell pepper 1 jalapeno ...
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Freezing Figs
Figs are plentiful in Louisiana during the end of June and early part of July. When picking figs be sure to cover all exposed skin and wear gloves if possible as the milky juice of a fig can make you real itchy. Ingredients1 cup sugar 5 cups sliced or cut ...
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Fig Syrup
This homemade fig syrup made from fresh figs is so good with pancakes, biscuits and waffles. Ces’t Bon!! Make extra and can for later. Ingredients1 cup pureed figs 1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 cup Karo or corn syrup 1/2 to 1 teaspoon Watkins butter flavoringsDirectionsStep 1The first step ...
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Paw Paw’s Catfish Courtbouillon II
In Lake Charles, La., there was a wonderful Cajun restaurant that served one of the best courtbouillon (courtbouillion) around. Sarah writes, “I also enjoyed PawPaw’s Catfish Courtbouillion and didn’t know if you guys had the original recipe? I visited PawPaw’s in the early 90s and asked for the recipe and ...
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Miniature Pecan Pies – Pecan Tassies
Whether you pronounce it “pih KAHN” or prefer “PEE kan”, one of the most common desserts with the pecan as a central ingredient is the pecan pie. Here is the bite size version of the ever popular dessert. IngredientsCrust 1 stick 8 ounces butter 3 ounces Philly Cream Cheese 1 ...
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Miniature Hors d’oeuvres Crust for Dips aka Tart Shells
These are wonderful tiny crust to put your favorite sweet or salty filling in. This crust is so versatile that you can fill them with your favorite shrimp or crab dips or fill with fig preserves or pecan pie filling. Hors d’oeuvres would be much more popular if they weren’t ...
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Debris – Cooking Cajun Variety Meats aka Cowboy Stew
This dish contains most of the variety meats that Cajuns call debris. It consists basically of the organs such as liver, heart, kidneys, tripe, spleen (melt), the honeycomb (la platin), brain, lungs and sweetbreads (pancreas). There are two kinds of sweetbreads: stomach sweetbreads (also known as heart or belly sweetbreads), ...
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Fried Eggplant – A Cajun Classic
Great by themselves or in a rice dressing. Ingredients1 large eggplant peeled and medallion sliced 1 egg, slightly beaten 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water or milk 1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne (optional) Sprinkle of granulated sugar Oil for fryingDirectionsStep ...
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