Cannellini and Escarole Soup

Whether you prepare Consommé, Bisque, Chowder or just Soup, you’re making something that just about everyone loves. 
Some soups, especially intense and clarified consommés or rich and creamy bisques are usually served as one of several courses in a meal. Others are equally appropriate occupying the “soup course” or as the star of the meal. 


Black Bean Maque Choux with Cajun Chicken

Maque Choux, pronounced “mock shoe”, is traditionally thought to have come to us through the courtesy of the original French Acadians who migrated from Canada to Louisiana and the Caddo Nation Native Americans who introduced them to corn. I’m just grateful that someone had the good sense to invent this dish!

Beef and Bean Enchurritos

Mexican influenced cuisine was never part of our family fare when I was growing up in suburban Chicago. The first time we experienced anything close was during a vacation trip to Los Angeles in the very early 1960’s when my older brother begged my parents to try something he had heard about called a Taco. The fact is that most of what is referred to, here in the U.S., as Mexican food is actually only a bunch of really distant cousins to the cuisine of our southern neighbors. (This is not all that different from our westernized versions of any other culture’s foods!)

Cut Green Beans without the Can

Who doesn’t remember a dish of “cut green beans” fresh from the can and heated up in their own “juice.”  The color, while a pretty shade of green is more likely to be found in a box of crayons instead of in nature and I’m pretty certain that the metallic taste doesn’t come from being loaded with vitamins and minerals. Since fresh green beans are available at your grocer all the year ‘round, you should never need to buy them in a can, again.

Frijoles Refritos (Refried Beans)

Unfortunately, beans are not everyone’s favorite food. Then to add insult to injury, we have to name a perfectly good bean dish “Refried Beans”! The problem exists because there just isn’t a one or two word English translation of the concept behind “Frijoles Refritos.”

Sweet and Crunchy Sautéed Haricots Verts

Haricots Verts are thin, mostly straight, French Green Beans. Not to be confused with the French cut Green Bean. The French Cut is done to make the thicker Green Bean resemble the slimmer Haricot Vert.

Chili con dos Carnes

 Everyone has a favorite Chili recipe. Some like it savory, some sweet; with or without beans; red, white or brown and varying degrees of heat from mild to “I will never be able to taste again!” There are also those truly fearsome Chili aficionados with their set of rules that govern what is or is not real chili. Good for them, everyone needs a cause to fight for!

Red Beans and Rice

Nothing says Monday in New Orleans like Red Beans & Rice. This traditional staple started as a dish to use up Sunday’s leftover ham bone that didn’t take watching and could cook unattended for the better part of a day while the washing was done. Well, Monday may not necessarily be “wash day” anymore, but it does mean the weekend is behind us and it’s time to get down working again. So what better way to start the week than a smoky, spicy, plate of goodness from The Big Easy!