Just when you thought the weather couldn’t get any colder and the days couldn’t get any drearier, out of all the gloom, like a colorful beacon of fun and fantastic-ness comes Mardi Gras. This year Mardi Gras falls on Tuesday, February 21st, so mark it in your calendars since it is a great day to throw a fete!
Mardi Gras, which means Fat Tuesday in French, marks the end of the Christmas season and the beginning of lent which starts with Ash Wednesday.
During the 46-day Lent period, many Christians fore-go the eating of meat, either completely or on Fridays only. They also traditionally give up a favored food, drink, or habit. When I was a kid my biggest sacrifice for lent was giving up sweets, I tried a few times to make it all the way through the 46 days, but, never could. Maybe this year?
So because of all these lent-en sacrifices, Fat Tuesday is all about decadence. In Puerto Rico, where my family is from, we also have Carnival, which is a lot like Mardi Gras, expect that less people flash their boobs for beads. One of the BEST places to check out Carnival is Ponce, Puerto Rico, where they really put on a party, complete with dancers in the streets wearing incredible horned-devil masks, called Vejigantes.
But regardless of whether or not you are Catholic, Mardi Gras is a terrific excuse to get friends and family together and have a rip roaring good time!
So your friends are chomping at the bit to come to your Mardi Gras shin dig? How do you get started?
Well, first things first, no Mardi Gras party is complete without some Cajun food on the table.
Here are the must haves:
Spicy Seafood Gumbo
Ingredients:
* 1/4 cup roux
* 2 large onions, chopped
* 3 cups okra, chopped
* 2 tablespoons oil
* 1 can (14.5 ounces) stewed tomatoes
* 3 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 quarts water
* salt
* black pepper
* cayenne pepper
* 1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
* 6 to 8 green onions, finely chopped
* 2 pounds shrimp
* 1 cup oysters
* 1 cup crab meat
* crab claws
* hot cooked rice
Preparation:
Add shrimp to roux and cook for a few minutes. Set aside. Cook okra and onions in hot oil. Add tomatoes and garlic when okra is almost done. Cook a few minutes longer, then add water, salt and pepper. Combine shrimp and roux mixture with okra; simmer about 10 minutes. Add oysters, crab meat, and crab claws; simmer for 15 minutes. Add parsley and green onions and simmer another 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve with hot cooked rice.
Louisiana Jambalaya
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
* 2 red onions, chopped
* 5 green onions, chopped
* 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
* 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
* 2 bay leaves
* 1 jalapeño chili, finely chopped with seeds
* 1 tablespoon Creole Seasoning
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
* 2 tablespoons tomato paste
* 1 pound andouille sausage or hot Italian sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 3/4 pound ham, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
* 2 14 1/2-ounce cans chicken broth
* 1 16-ounce can plum tomatoes, diced, with liquid
* 3 cups long-grain rice
Preparation
Melt butter in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add red onions, 4 green onion, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, jalapeño, Creole Seasoning, cayenne pepper and oregano. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. Mix in tomato paste. Add sausage, ham, broth, tomatoes and rice. Bring mixture to simmer. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is very tender, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Garnish with remaining green onion and serve.
Red Beans & Rice
Ingredients:
* 1 quart (4 cups) dried red beans
* 2 quarts water
* 1 pound ham or salt pork
* 1 carrot, chopped
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 bay leaf
* pepper, to taste
* salt, to taste
Preparation:
Soak the beans overnight in cold water; drain. Heat the beans in about 2 quarts of water, add all ingredients except salt, and boil for at least 2 hours. When beans are tender, mash them up a bit. Serve on white boiled rice with meat and vegetables on top.
To wash down all this delicious food, most New Orleans Mardi Gras-ers serve the Hurricane. Funny story about the Hurricane, my first time in New Orleans I went through a drive through that served them, and I got one, thinking, there is no way that a drive through would serve an alchoholic drink. wrong. a few sips into it I parked the car, got out and sat out on the hood of the car enjoying my hurricane, then passed out in the car before getting on the road again. They are THAT potent. Consider yourself warned!
Hurricanes
Ingredients:
* 2 oz light rum
* 2 oz dark rum
* 2 oz passion fruit juice
* 1 oz orange juice
* juice of a half a lime
* 1 Tbsp simple syrup
* 1 Tbsp grenadine
* orange slice and cherry for garnish
Fill a pitcher with ice cubes. Add the rum, passion fruit juice, orange juice, grenadine, lime juice and simple syrup and stir until chilled. Strain the cocktail into glasses, top each with an orange slice or cherry for garnish.
For dessert, you MUST have a King Cake, no Mardi Gras celebration is complete without one! This cake is also called Twelfth Night Cake and is actually a sweetened yeast bread and baked in a ring shape. The cake is frosted with gold, green, and purple icing representing in order, power, faith, and justice. The traditional colors on the King Cake date back to 1872.
The maker of each King Cake hides a token in the cake. The tokens used are a dried red bean or a figurine of a baby. When the cake is cut and shared, the finder of the hidden treasure is said to enjoy good luck for the coming year. The lucky recipient may also be expected to bake the King Cake or throw the Mardi Gras party for the following year.
King Cake- Traditional New Orleans Recipe
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 – 4 1/2 cups flour unsifted
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest, this is lemon rind, grated
1/2 cup warm milk
5 egg yolks
1 stick butter cut into slices and softened, plus 2 tablespoons more softened butter
1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1″ plastic baby doll
Directions:
Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for three minutes then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm place for ten minutes, or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles in volume. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Separate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and, using a wooden spoon, slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/milk mixture. When mixture is smooth, beat in 8 tablespoons butter (1 tablespoon at a time) and continue to beat 2 minutes, or until dough can be formed into a medium-soft ball.
Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. While kneading, sprinkle up to 1 cup more of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) over the dough. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 10 minutes more until shiny and elastic.
Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one tablespoon softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered. Cover bowl with a moderately thick kitchen towel and place in a draft-free spot for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume. Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside.
Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using your fist, punch dough down forcefully. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, pat and shake dough into a cylinder. Twist dough to form a curled cylinder and loop cylinder onto the buttered baking sheet. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle. Cover dough with towel and set it in draft-free spot for 45 minutes, or until the circle of dough doubles in volume. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Place cake on wire rack to cool. If desired, you can hide the plastic baby in the cake at this time.
Colored sugars
Ingredients:
Green, purple, & yellow paste
12 tablespoons sugar
Squeeze a dot of green paste in palm of hand. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over the paste and rub together quickly. Place this mixture on wax paper and wash hands to remove color. Repeat process for other 2 colors. Place aside.
Icing
Ingredients:
3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 – 6 tablespoons water
Combine sugar, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water until smooth. If icing is too stiff, add more water until spreadable. Spread icing over top of cake. Immediately sprinkle the colored sugars in individual rows consisting of about 2 rows of green, purple and yellow.
And here is a great story from Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine about all of the delicious tasties that will make your Mardi Gras party one for the history books!
Find me on Facebook!
