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Memories & Recipes
Recently someone asked me to include some good Cajun recipes. As a very young wife I had a neighbor named Ellen Ducote, who influenced my cooking a good deal. Ellen was from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana. On Saturday evenings we would get together and cook and play poker or booray (that's a Cajun card game). My favorite dish of Ellen's was her braised pork chops and gravy over popcorn rice and whole kernel corn. She cooked almost everything in black iron cookware, as is tradition in south Louisiana. At Ellen's, we sat around the table, passed the plates and visited. I like the memory of that. These days we don't do enough visiting; we're all too busy. The popcorn rice can be bought in food specialty stores. I found some at the Le Gormet Chef store in Foley. Prepare the rice as directed on the bag. It takes a little longer to cook than the traditional rice, but your kitchen will smell like you've been cooking popcorn. It's good just hot with some butter. Now to eat this the way Cajuns do you'll need to layer it starting with the hot rice, then the gravy, then the whole kernel corn on top of the rice and gravy. I like it with sweet tea!
Cajun Braised Pork Chops 6-8 center cut pork chops 1 onion, chopped 1 T bacon fat salt and black pepper Season the pork chops on both sides with salt and pepper. Brown the chops in the fat in a black iron dutch oven. Remove the pork chops and saute the onions. Replace the pork chops and add about 4 cups of hot water. Turn the stove to low and cook until the gravy is reduced to a thin gravy consistency (about 1 hour).
Ellen's Cream Cheese Brownie's
1. Melt 1 pkg (4oz) german sweet chocolate and 3 T butter, over very low heat. Stir; then cool. 2. To make cheese layer, cream a 3 ounce pkg cream cheese with 2 T butter. Gradually add 1/4 C sugar, creaming until fluffy. Blend in 1 egg, 1 T flour, and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Set aside. 3. To make chocolate layer, beat 2 eggs until light colored. Slowly add 3/4 C sugar; beat until thickened. Add 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/2 C unsifted flour. Blend in chocolate mixture, 1 tsp vanila, 1/4 tsp almond extract, and 1/2 cup chopped pecans. 4. To bake, spread half the chocolate batter in greased 8" square pan. Top with cheese mixture. Spoon remaining chocolate batter over top then zigzag knife through batter to marble. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes. This is typed just as Ellen typed it for me (on a typewriter) in 1972.
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