A Tony Chachere’s Knock-off

Happy Mardi Gras!!!

While I’m not Catholic, I am a lover of all things New Orleans- related (and I happen to be a native of Mobile, Alabama, the original home of Mardi Gras in America — little known fact).   :)

I took this picture on a trip to NOLA.

Growing up on the Gulf Coast, I enjoyed many fabulous and unique types of cuisine, including Cajun food.  And I love Cajun food.  So today I wanted to bring you the recipe for a cheap, easy, and excellent addition to most any kind of food: Cajun seasoning (this is a Tony Chachere’s knock-off, in case you had your suspicions).

See what I did there?  Mardi Gras… New Orleans…great food…Cajun food… Cajun seasoning.  It’s a tangled and slightly opportunistic web of blog topics, so try to stay with me.

This seasoning is great on seafood, steak, chicken, sautéed vegetables, as a part of pasta sauce, and… the list goes on.  It already has salt in it, so it saves you a few extra prep steps (my favorite thing to do is sprinkle it on both sides of a catfish or tilapia filet — so good).

Here’s how to make it…

Combine the following in a bowl:

• 1 T salt
• 1 1/2 T cayenne pepper
• 2  T paprika
• 2 T garlic powder
• 1 T onion powder
• 1 T black pepper
• 1 T celery seed
• 1 T oregano
• 1 T thyme

Put in a jar and shake or lightly whisk in a bowl until the cayenne pepper (all the red stuff) is evenly distributed.  That’s it!

In this particular recipe I used dried spices and herbs, but if you have the fresh stuff, use those by all means — just remember the 1 to 3 ratio: 1 teaspoon of dried seasonings to 3 teaspoons of fresh seasonings.

Happy Mardi Gras!

National Soup Month: Crockpot Mexi-Tater Chicken Soup

In my fourth and final installment for National Soup Month (also knows as January), I bring you:

And here’s the MS Word doc, for another printable version:  The GPP’s Mexi-Tater Chicken Soup

Delicious, delightful, easy, and yeah… in case you’ve noticed, I like heartier, cheesy soups.  So sue me.  I like to cut calories in other ways…  that’s what salads are for :)

Hope you enjoy!  And in case you missed the other budget-friendly, delicious-delightful-and-dairy-infused soup recipes, check ‘em out right here:

National Soup Month:

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup (a la La Madeleine Restaurant)

Teresa’s Clam “Chowder”

Teresa’s Potato Cheese Soup

National Soup Month: Teresa’s Potato Cheese Soup

National Soup Month strikes again.  And by again, I mean all month long.  Because hey, it’s January… and that’s National Soup Month!

(Please contain your excitement, I can hear your cyber squeals from here. )

This week’s soupy-soup recipe installment comes from…

Who do we talk about all the time around here?

No, not the dogs… they can’t cook, silly.  They don’t even have opposable thumbs!

No, not Josh either… he does have opposable thumbs, but not so much on the cooking skills (though they’re improving — it’s a New Year’s resolution of his).

No, not this guy either….

(That is totally a picture of Josh in a 70′s disco fro and ‘stache!  Yes!!!)

Nope.  The contributor of today’s recipe is…

Teresa!  

(again.)

(I get in trouble every time I post this picture, so relish the moment.  It won’t come around again for a while.)  :)

I know, I know, no big surprise.  As you may remember, she was also the contributor for last week’s soup recipe:  Teresa’s Clam “Chowder”  (the quotation marks being essential).

As with everything my mother makes, this soup is DELICIOUS… and as with most everything Southern women make, it. is. rich. (However, no sticks of butter were harmed in the making of this soup.)

Here’s a handy-dandy 4″ X 6″ recipe card for your Pinning or printing pleasure.

Better yet, here’s a far superior MS Word doc (far superior = more printer friendly):  Potato cheese soup recipe card doc

Hope you enjoy!!!

(Subscribe.)

You might also enjoy trying…

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Teresa’s Clam “Chowder”

National Soup Month: Teresa’s Clam “Chowder”

Y’all, in case you forgot in between last week and now, it is still National Soup Month!

(What?!  You’ve already forgotten this momentous occasion?  Here’s a link to last week’s post.)

Ok, you may not be as stoked as I am about this fact, but it’s cold outside, I like to cook, and I’m just ever-so-slightly opportunistic when it comes to topics to blog about.  So…..  let Part 2 of National Soup Month commence!

This week:  Teresa’s Clam “Chowder”

Yes, “Teresa” as in my often-discussed mother (here and here), “Clam” as in the canned kind, though feel free to get your hands dirty and use the fresher stuff, and “‘Chowder,’” as in more like a cross between a soup and a chowder (not as creamy like the Boston stuff, but still delicious with a bit of a Cajun kick), thus the quotation marks.

Here’s a recipe for you Pinning or printing pleasure!

(Click on the image for a bigger image, or the MS Word doc below for a printable version.)

Clam Chowder -- recipe card

And here’s the printable one:  clam chowder recipe card printable version

(Subscribe!)

You might also fancy…

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Holiday Libations

National Soup Month: Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Hey y’all, did you know it was National Soup Month?! 

Yeah, me neither.  Until I Googled “January holidays,” of course.

Full disclosure:  I like to plan my blog posts a month at a time.  Yes, sometimes something comes up and I change my original course, but typically I stick to the calendar.  Hoping to fill a few slots in January’s plan, I Googled “January holidays” and found this website.  There are the more obvious New Year’s Day and MLK, Jr. Day, but there are also the more obscure (and mostly un-celebrated) Fruitcake Toss Day (January 3rd),  Houseplant Appreciation Day (January 10th), and Bubble Bath Day (January 8th), as well as MANY others.  One of my fave finds was National Soup Month!

(January is also host to National Bath Safety Month, National Blood Donor Month, National Braille Literacy Month, National Hobby Month, Hot Tea Month, and National Oatmeal Month… in case you were curious.)

The excitement of this find was further reinforced by the fact that on the day I found it, the wind chill in Brooklyn was about 6 degrees.

Yeah, we ALL needed some soup.

So, I decided I would observe said holiday and introduce you to some tried, tested, and GPP-approved soup recipes!

Today’s recipe is sort of a copycat version of La Madeleine’s tomato soup.  It’s not necessarily their exact recipe, but darn close and absolutely delicious.  It is also very affordable to make, and because of the dairy products in it, is is very filling on its own (but feel free to add the obligatory peanut butter crackers or grilled cheese sandwich, if you want!).  You can substitute half and half for the heavy cream, but definitely expect a big difference in taste and consistency (read: not nearly as good).

I’ve made it into a 4″ X 6″ recipe card for your Pinning or printing pleasure.  Hope you enjoy!

(Subscribe!)

You might also enjoy:

New Year’s Libations

Birthday Freebies (Food!)

In Praise of Restaurant.com