New Orleans Dishes for Mardi Gras (Collection)

Ingredients

• see individual recipes in the steps below

Method

1. OYSTERS ROCKEFELLER — Ingredients: rock salt; 24 fresh oysters on the half shell; 3/4 cup butter; 3 tablespoons minced green onion; 3 tablespoons minced parsley; 1/2 cup bread crumbs; 1 1/2 cups chopped raw spinach; 1 teaspoon celery powder; 2 teaspoons lemon juice; 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 2 tablespoons Herbsaint liqueur. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Fill six 8-inch pie plates with rock salt. Place the oysters in the half shell on the rock salt. Melt part of the butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the minced green onion and cook until soft. Stir in the parsley, bread crumbs, spinach, Herbsaint, celery powder, lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Add the remaining butter and mix thoroughly. Spoon the mixture onto the oysters, distributing evenly. Bake 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve directly from the pans. Makes 4 servings.
2. JAMBALAYA — Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter; 1/2 cup chopped onion; 1/2 cup chopped green pepper; 1 clove garlic, finely chopped; 1/2 lb cooked ham; 1 lb shelled raw shrimp, cleaned; 1 can (1 lb 12 oz) tomatoes; 1 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco; 1 3/4 cups quick-cooking rice. Heat the butter in a skillet. Add the onion, green pepper and garlic. Saute until lightly browned. Add the ham and shrimp and cook over low heat until the ham is lightly browned and the shrimp are pink. Add the tomatoes, salt and Tabasco. Cover and simmer about 5 minutes. Stir well. Add the rice and continue to simmer 5 minutes longer. Makes 4 to 6 servings.
3. RED BEANS AND RICE — Ingredients: 1/2 lb lean salt pork; 1 garlic clove, finely minced; one can (1 lb 5 oz) red kidney beans, drained; 3 cups cooked rice; minced parsley; salt and pepper. Cut the pork into a small dice and fry until crisp. Remove the pork from the skillet and pour off about half the fat. Add the garlic to the fat in the skillet; cook until golden. Add the beans, rice, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Heat thoroughly. Serve topped with the bits of browned pork. Serves 4.
4. SHRIMP CREOLE HERBSAINT — Ingredients: 25 to 30 large shrimp; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 4 tablespoons butter; 2 lbs tomatoes, skinned and chopped; 1 pinch sugar; 1/2 teaspoon chopped parsley; 1 tablespoon Herbsaint liqueur; 1 tablespoon water; salt and pepper; tomato paste to taste. Boil the shrimp for 3 to 5 minutes in salted water. Drain and shell. In a large saucepan saute the onions in butter until soft. Add the tomatoes and remaining ingredients except the tomato paste and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato paste and shrimp. Heat and serve over rice. Serves 4 to 5.
5. PORKCHOPS PEYCHAUD'S — Ingredients: 6 center cut pork chops; salt and pepper to taste; 2 cups dry bread crumbs; 1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate; 1 tablespoon Peychaud's bitters; 2 large eggs, well beaten; 1 1/2 cups flour; oil. Sprinkle the chops with salt and pepper. Mix the bread crumbs, orange juice concentrate and bitters until blended. (The remainder of this recipe's method is cut off in the clipping; typically the chops are dredged in flour, dipped in beaten egg, coated with the crumb mixture and fried in oil until golden and cooked through.)

Notes

A newspaper feature by Jenny Reed, "New Orleans dishes for Mardi Gras" (1984). Five recipes on one clipping. The Porkchops Peychaud's method is cut off at the bottom of the clipping and the final steps are reconstructed.

Original card

The recipe above was transcribed from this scan of Vera’s original card.

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