The Story of the Real Cajun Mardi Gras and The Walkers Experience
Mardi Gras- or Carnival- is celebrated in many cities worldwide with strong Catholic ties. Although legend tells of French explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville hosting America’s first Mardi Gras celebration near present-day New Orleans in 1699, historical record says it was first celebrated in the 1700s in present-day Mobile, Alabama, the capital of the French Louisiana Territory. Today, communities along the gulf coast from Texas to Florida celebrate Mardi Gras season. Each area prides itself on its own unique customs, from parades, costumes, and formal balls to special food and libations.
Mardi Gras season begins on January 6th, called Epiphany or Twelfth Night, the fay the three kings reached baby Jesus in Bethlehem. To mark the occasion, local bakeries make a flaky, oval-shaped pastry called a king cake. Inside each king cake is a plastic baby that signifies the baby Jesus. The person who finds the baby in their slice has to host next year’s mardi gras party and provide the king cake. The Carnival Season culminated on Fat Tuesday (“Mardi Gras” in French), the day before Ash Wednesday, and the Christain Lent. On Fat Tuesday and the weeks leading up to it, Catholics- and many Protestants- eat and drink whatever they wish before giving up meat and other luxuries during the Lenten season of sacrifice and repentance.
A good gumbo is widely disputed, and there are so many different ways that it is served that some people might be confused about what is real and what is an imitator. You’re probably familiar with seafood gumbo as well as the classic chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, but there are many other ways to eat this popular dish than you may know. As restaurants around the globe try to imitate what is often sought out in Louisiana, let’s take a look at the different forms and variations of gumbo. Continue Reading
Nothing feeds the belly and the soul like a warm bowl of gumbo. Served over rice, this dish combines all your seafood favorites into one comforting bowl. For more recipes like this check out our cookbook Growing Up Cajun.
Ingredients
1cupvegetable oil
1cupall-purpose flour
3cupschopped fresh okra
1½cups chopped onion
1cupchopped green bell pepper
1cupchopped red bell pepper
1cupchopped celery
3tbspminced garlic
6cups seafood stock
1(8-ounce)container crab claw meat, picked free of shell
1(8-ounce) container of jumbo lump crabmeat, pickled free of shell
Garnish: sliced green onion
Instructions
In a 8-quart stockpot, heat oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes; add flour, stirring to combine. Cook, stirring frequently, until a peanut butter-colored roux forms, about 20 minutes.
Add okra, onion, bell peppers, celery, and garlic; cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add stock, crab claw meat, beer, filé powder, Worcestershire, salt, Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Cajun Seasoning, Slap Ya Mama Hot Cajun Seasoning, and bay leaves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a medium, and simmer for about 1 hour.
Add shrimp, fish, oysters, and lump crabmeat; cool until seafood is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in Parsley. Serve over hot cooked rice. Garnish with green onion, if desired.
Slap Ya Mama introduces the Mardi Gras Meatloaf with Mighty Mushroom Sauce brought to you by 37 Cooks. A perfect way to celebrate the Mardi Gras season complete with Slap Ya Mama’s signature gumbo mix, white pepper seasoning, and etouffee sauce.
The folks at Slap Ya Mama really know how to make seasonings. All of their various seasoning mixes and blends combine to make the ultimate Cajun eating experience! For this recipe, Slap Ya Mama Gumbo mix and a confetti blend of peppers create a meatloaf just bursting with the fun flavors and colors of Mardi Gras. Slap Ya Mama Etouffee Sauce brings a rich, smooth base to a sauce that will have you lickin’ the pot!
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line shallow jellyroll pan with foil and spray with cooking spray.
For the meatloaf: In a large bowl combine beef, pork, peppers, celery, onion, garlic, egg, half of the tomato sauce, olive oil, breadcrumbs, 2 Tablespoons gumbo mix, white pepper seasoning, and black pepper. Mix well, but do not overwork. Form into loaf shape on pan.
In a small bowl, stir together remaining tomato sauce and 1 teaspoon gumbo mix. Spread evenly over meatloaf. Place in oven and cook, uncovered, for 1 hour.
For the sauce: In a medium saucepan, combine etouffee sauce and next seven ingredients over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Check seasonings, adding salt and pepper as needed. Swirl in butter.
Slice thick portions of meatloaf to serve; cover with sauce as desired.
Presenting Slap Ya Mama’s Peel-Apart Bread by 37 Cooks. You’ll never believe what you were missing until you try this pull-apart bread complete with our special blend of Cajun gumbo dinner mix baked right in!
Thinking outside of the box is my usual mode of cooking – whenever I get a new product, I think about how I can use it in some way besides its intended purpose.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but I figured I was pretty safe in thinking about the Slap Ya Mama gumbo mix as a spice mix. It’s meant for making gumbo, and it’s got flour for thickening, but it’s also got a lot of flavor. It was perfect for making a pull-apart bread, using the mix in both the dough and between the slices.
This looks impressive but it’s actually pretty easy, as bread goes.
For the dough:
1 cup lukewarm water
2 Tablespoons heavy cream
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) Red Star Platinum yeast
1 Tablespoon sugar
3 cups (13 1/2 ounces) bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Slap Ya Mama Cajun Gumbo Dinner Mix
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
For the coating:
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, very soft or melted
1 teaspoon Slap Ya Mama Cajun Gumbo Dinner Mix
Directions
Combine all of the dough ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer and knead until the dough is elastic. You can also mix this in a bowl, then knead by hand.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until doubled in size, about an hour.
Meanwhile, have a 9 x 5 loaf pan standing by and heat the oven to 350°F. Combine the butter and seasoning for the coating in a small bowl.
When the dough has doubled, flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Divide it into 16 pieces. Truthfully, you don’t need exactly 16, but it’s easy. Divide the dough into 4 pieces, then divide each of those into 4. They don’t have to be identical, but they should be close to the same size.
Form each piece into a ball then flatten each to form a disk about 4 inches in diameter.
Stand or tilt the pan so it’s standing on one of the short ends. Place one of the disks into the pan lying on the short end. Brush the top of that disk with the butter mixture. Place the next disk on top of the first, and brush with butter again. Continue stacking dough disks with butter between until you reach the last disk. Don’t brush the top of that one.
Once all the disks are in the pan, stand the pan on its bottom and arrange the disks so they’re even in the pan. Brush or drizzle any remaining butter on top of the dough.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set aside until it rises about a bit over the top of the pan, about 40 minutes.
When the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap and bake at 350°F until nicely browned, about 45 minutes.
Remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely on a rack. You can pull layers off if it, or slice it to serve.
Looking to experience some of Louisiana’s finest dishes? Try Slap Ya Mama’s Chicken & Sausage Gumbo recipe. Delivering unparalleled Louisiana Cajun flavor from our home in Ville Platte, LA. After trying our recipe, you’ll love it so much you’ll want to come on down to visit us at our home.
Gumbo is one of those authentic dishes whose roots are deeply ingrained in Louisiana’s culture and people. There are many variations of gumbo all over Louisiana and each variation is authentic and delicious in its own right. With Ville Platte being located in south-central Louisiana, we didn’t have consistent access to seafood or many other ingredients you might find in other gumbos. We instead made a gumbo with the ingredients that are most abundant in our area, such as chicken and pork. For that reason we traditionally prepare a Chicken & Sausage Gumbo with a dark roux. During the cold winter months a very large pot of gumbo was often made and we would eat on it for a couple of days. We had no complaints of eating leftovers when it came to gumbo because it actually gets better with time.
This winter, try preparing a chicken & sausage gumbo. Make a large pot of it so you can eat on it for days and keep the smiles coming from all that get to enjoy it.
In a 10-12 quart pot over high heat, fill ½ way with water and bring to a boil. Add ¾ jar of roux, boil until roux is completely dissolved, stirring occasionally. Reduce to medium heat; add sausage, onions, bell peppers, garlic and 2 tbsp of Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Seasoning. Boil for 15 minutes. With the remaining ½ tbsp. of Slap Ya Mama Original Blend Seasoning, season chicken and add to pot. Add water to pot until it is almost full. Bring to a boil and boil for 1 hour. With 10 minutes remaining of the hour boil, add parsley and green onions. Reduce low heat. Serve over rice, add a few dashes of Slap Ya Mama Pepper Sauce and enjoy!
If you are having trouble finding Roux or Smoked Pork Sausage, try Teet’s Food Store of Ville Platte, Louisiana.
