What's cooking in our kitchens? Join our park rangers and find out!
NPS
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: Lagniappe
Below are some lagniappe (a little something extra) recipes from What's Cooking Wednesday. Take a look and try them out!
Have an upcoming holiday you want to celebrate? Or maybe you just want a sweet, Southern snack? Make these Cajun pecans!
Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning
1/2 pound pecans
Directions
Combine the melted butter, Creole seasoning, and pecans.
Bake at 300ºF for 15-20 minutes.
Louisiana cuisine is known for its cuisine and rich flavor. For National Mason Jar Day, we created Cajun seasoning. Want to have something on hand in your kitchen to spice up your food? Or maybe you're looking for an easy gift you can make? This is the recipe for you.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons smoked paprika
2 tablespoons sea salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon black pepper
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Directions
In a mason jar, add all of the measured seasonings.
Mix together well.
Tighten the lid. We recommend labeling the jar with the date the seasoning was made. Store for up to six months!
Coush Coush is a beloved, traditional South Louisiana dish. Long before supermarkets carried rows and of boxes of prepackaged, sweetened cereals, coush coush was made from corn pounded by hand in a wooden mortar, then cooked on a wood stove in a cast iron pot. Originally, new arrivals to South Louisiana learned the many uses of corn from Native Americans. Bring this traditional food to life today and enjoy some comforting coush coush!
Ingredients
hominy
butter
lard
3 eggs
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup milk
sugar
Directions
Mix together a handful of hominy, 2 spoonfuls of butter and lard mixed, 3 eggs, one cupful of cornmeal, and one cupful of milk. Make a paste as you would for cornbread.
Sweeten the mixture with sugar.
Grease a pot with lard. As the paste cooks to the side of the pot, you scrape it off with a spoon. Do that 5 or six times, until all your paste is cooked. It is delicious for breakfast with coffee!
We couldn't forget about your furry kids! Here is a spookily good recipe to create Halloween dog treats. Just make sure your dog stays away from chocolate!
Mix together the whole wheat flour, eggs, canned pumpkin, unsweetened peanut butter, and salt.
Roll out the dough, and cut out cookies.
Bake at 350ºF for 15 minutes.
Let cool and store in airtight container up to a week.
Celebrate Louisiana's Catholic roots with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, which observes the conception of the Virgin Mary. Make this recipe, inspired by Epicurious' recipe, to celebrate today!
Ingredients
8 pears
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon orange and lemon zests
1 1/4 cup sweet dessert wine
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Directions
Peel 8 pears, leaving stems intact. Next, core the pears from the bottom.
Mix together the brown sugar, orange and lemon zests, and 2 tablespoons sweet dessert wine.
Fill pear cavities with mixture.
Stand pears upright in a buttered baking dish. Pour 1 cup sweet dessert wine over pears.
Cover dish tightly with foil. Bake in middle of 375ºF oven until tender, approxamitely 30 to 40 minutes.
Sauce Directions: Whisk 6 egg yolks and ¼ C granulated sugar together over a steam bath, until tripled in volume.
Serve pears warm with sauce.
Ingredients
2 cups chilled milk
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ cup banana chunks
1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar or Turbinado sugar, which is partially refined sugar that retains some of the original molasses from the sugarcane giving it a subtle caramel flavor
Directions
In a blender, combine chilled milk, cinnamon, cardamom, ground cloves, and ground nutmeg.
Add banana chunks, 1/4 cup ice cubes, and brown sugar.
Whirl until smooth.
Pour into glasses.
Cesar Chavez Day was proclaimed by President Barack Obama in 2014 to celebrate the legacy of the civil rights and labor movement activist Cesar Chavez. Join our park rangers today in celebrating with this ranger recipe!
Ingredients
1 pound tomatillos
½ cup yellow or red onion, finely chopped
2 Serrano or other chilies, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
3 teaspoons vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (about ½ lime)
¼ chopped fresh cilantro leaves
Directions
To prepare the tomatillos, peel back the husk from the smooth green tomatillo skin. Rinse the tomatillos with warm water and cut into quarters.
Place the husked tomatillos, onion, chilies, garlic, and 1 teaspoon oil in the baking pan. Stir well and transfer to the oven.
Roast about 20 minutes until the tomatillos are soft and dark green. Set aside to cool.
Transfer the mixture to the blender. Add the salt, lime juice, and cilantro. Puree the mixture.
To celebrate National Chestnuts Day, Ranger Allyn shared this great recipe. Since pecans are a local crop in Louisiana, use pecans instead of chestnuts to celebrate this holiday!
Ingredients
1 pound pecans
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons cane syrup
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons salt to taste
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
Directions
Combine the melted butter and seasonings well. Add the pecans and coat evenly.
On a baking sheet, space the pecans out evenly.
Bake at 300ºF in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until nuts are toasted.
