We may not be able to be in the same room but we can celebrate Robyn’s birthday from 3:30pm-6:15pm with a Mardi Gras spirit.

Le Bon Temps Roule!

Baked Jambalaya

Like so many great things, jambalaya started with a problem. The problem? There was no saffron in south Louisiana in the 1700s, which meant Spanish colonists were unable to make their beloved paella so it morphed using ingredients available locally.

Louisiana’s famous sausages likely wouldn’t exist if not for German immigrants who brought their Old World sausage-making skills to Cajun country.

The adapted mirepoix came from the French, and Native Americans likely kicked in the cayenne pepper.

Jalapeno & Cheddar Cornbread

Cornbread has created a bit of a shit storm among historians. Who knew. Every good Southern cook has a favourite recipe for cornbread and there is huge debate if it should or shouldn’t contain sugar. Mine has sugar in it! Native Americans had been using ground corn (maize) as food for thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the New World. European settlers, especially those who resided in the English Southern Colonies, learned the original recipes and processes for corn dishes from the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, and Creek, and soon they devised recipes for using cornmeal in breads similar to those made of grains available in Europe.

Key Lime Pie w/ Graham Cracker Roasted Almond Crust

William Curry (1821-1896), a ship salvager and Florida’s first self-made millionaire (commonly referred to as rich Bill), had a cook that was simply know as Aunt Sally.  It was Aunt Sally who created the pie in the late 1800s.  Some historians think that Aunt Sally didn’t create the Key Lime Pie, but probably perfected a delicacy that was the creation of area fishermen.  

Another theory is that Aunt Sally already knew how to make a lemon ice box pie which also uses sweetened, condensed milk and egg yolks.  But instead of lemons, she used the readily available local key limes.