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Throwing it Down Cajun Style!

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Morning to all you beautiful grocery lovers out there! It has been a short time since we have been able to post new recipes or intensify your eyeballs with our crazy stories and for that we apologize. The Sister’s have been busy as a one-armed paperhanger and we are about to bust our guts to tell you what’s been going on!
Where do we even begin? As you well know we have finally finished our cookbook and sent it off for review, we have had positive response and are totally excited to see what will happen next. We are so proud of what we feel is a true masterpiece of cookbooks. It is a little different from your ordinary cookbook, and seeing how we are anything but ordinary how could it not be.
We have had some thrilling opportunities happen to us within the last two months and just wanted to share what we have been experiencing for the last few months.

The Georgia Throwdown

Sometimes in life you must take a risk and try a little something different. Kenny Rogers said it best “you got to know when to hold them and know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run”. Well let us just say we held on real tight and didn’t flee, we went out on a limb on this one and at first we thought we had broken this limb and fell flat on our face. It all began on a Friday afternoon (while we were catering to 800 people) Amy had a tremendous idea for us to rent a booth at the “Georgia Throwdown” in our hometown in Albany, Georgia. This event took place at our local exchange club fairgrounds, and consisted of some of the greatest musicians from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Colt Ford. This occasion was a three-day event of nonstop Southerners raising their solo cups and beer cans in pure delight to free-bird and kicking up some dust with Big & Rich. We set out to sale our wonderful Cajun dishes to all these Southerners, not knowing what type response we would receive and not knowing what outcome we would have. We went into this blind as a bat and came out seeing clearer than a Google map. Even our local newspaper, “The Albany Herald” came and did a little story on us, and yes slapped us on the front page. It was an honor to meet Carlton Fletcher and share with him all the sister’s crazy shenanigans.
As we began the process of figuring out what we were going to prepare for this “Throwdown”, the catastrophe of episodes that began to happen really made us sink into the pits of hell. We truly wondered if we were going to be able to pull this one off. We had started to prepare what we felt was a variety of our Cajun specialties early on in the week and working so hard as if we were going into battle. On Thursday I had the misfortune of a steamer cabinet falling on my foot and swore every bone in my foot was broken. Hobbling along and cooking was pushing me straight over the edge. Next episodes were scorching pots of dirty rice and having to dump them, burning our arms, dropping hot roux on our feet, roux burning, picking up hot pans and burning our fingertips off, tent placement, tent replacement, lack of electricity to run all our cooking gear, health inspections, car battery going dead, our help not being able to get in to come and help us, no nets for the tent, had to spend more money for nets, re-cooking all the dishes we had ruined and running around like a chicken with his head cut off. At this point the sisters would have rather sat in an ant bed naked!
As the tent went up, the dust began to settle and the music began to play everything seemed to fall into place. The partygoers began to file in and smell the aroma of some of the fine Cajun groceries we had prepared for them. Each person that came to our tent and ordered one of our dishes seemed to go way with a smile and came they back for seconds and even thirds. They seemed to be in pure heaven enjoying all that we had to offer. This is what makes it all worthwhile. We love watching the expressions on people’s faces as they took that first bite.
As we began to venture out and meet all the different vendors, we instantly were making friends with people from all over the US of A! We met some of the finest people that do this for a living and have it all down to a science. It was amazing how they had made this their whole life and we thought it was complete hell and frustration. By the end of this amazing weekend we were thinking the same thing, how much fun it would be to travel and meet different people and do what we love to do! Cook and feed people! One gentleman we met was in the tent right next to us and we found him to be astonishing. He was an elder gentleman with a small frame and a huge smile. His name is J.D. Lankford and he was a WWII German prisoner of war. He was selling his book “Walk with me,” One soldiers story. He shared with us all his miraculous triumphs and told us that we could take this book and read it at church because it was all-true. He was the last living soldier to be able to tell his story. During the evening we would take him a bowl of dirty rice or red beans and rice and a glass of Wagner’s sweet tea and he just absolutely loved it, which thrilled the sisters.
When Saturday evening had come to a close and Lynyrd Skynyrd played his encore the crowd came upon us like a mosquito would at a nudist colony. They ate us out of house and home, barely a grain of rice left. So Sunday morning was looking very grim for the sisters. We were going to have to get up early and sling together more groceries for all these hungry, hung over people. We got everything together and Amy stayed behind to continue the cooking while we set up shop and waited for our customers to arrive. Sho nuff they were flying around our tent like vultures and wanting something that would stick to their ribs so they could continue their “Throwdown”. Sunday seemed to go on without any trouble until we began to run out of white rice. When panic set in Amy said “Let’s just serve it over the dirty rice”. Can we just say it turned out to be the best thing since color TV! They devoured it, and came back for some more. We got a crazy idea to name the dish “dirty toe” for etouffee severed over dirty rice and the “dirty go” for gumbo served over dirty rice.
This weekend taught us so much. It taught us what hard work can do for your soul, how it can bring old friends together and how to celebrate a grand event. Our deepest gratitude goes to Wagner’s BBQ for allowing us to put together this affair. To our husbands, Rick for your mastermind in helping us bring it all together and for allowing us to fall apart when we needed to. Andy for his heavy lifting, organizing and electrical skills and doing exactingly what he was told to do. Most importantly we would like to thank him for graciously indulging our ears with the sweet sounds of the fiddle and banjo. He lured a lot of concert goers to our tent with his fine sounds from his fiddle and banjo. To our beautiful friends and family that tirelessly helped in any way they could, we appreciate you more than you will ever know. Without you none of this would have been possible. To our new friend, Justin Andrews, with The Threeforty Creative Group probably had no idea what he was getting into with allowing these crazy sisters to be apart of “The Throwdown”, but we sure are thankful to him for allowing us to be a part of this history-making event! To all the venders that came to help us when our power would go out or to help with re-lighting our gas cookers, we thank you greatly. Everyone was just so nice and very helpful.
We can’t begin to tell you what that weekend meant to us, it was just spectacular! It was something in the air that weekend that had not only the sister’s but also all the people that graced the fairgrounds feeling a little like they were a Free-Bird (no pun attended)! We laughed, we cried and we sold the hell out of some Cajun groceries! But we are here to tell you somehow we managed to pull it all off with a success. At the beginning of the event we swore we would NEVER do another festival again. Come Sunday when Justin came by and asked us if we would be back next year, we looked at each other and both said, YES!

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Shrimp Etoufee

Son of a gun you are gonna have big fun on the Bayou with this one, Sha’! This would have to be one of the sister’s signature recipes, right here. We love to sling this dish to all of our friends, especially during the SEC football games. Hint, hint The Almighty LSU Tigers that is. This recipe is just what the doc ordered when you are feeling blue or just need to add a little spring to your step. Don’t be dumb go on and get you some… Make sure you have plenty of rice and French bread with this dish. It’s also wonderful served on grits.

Shrimp Etouffee

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 8 ounce can shrimp
Shrimp shells
1 onion, quartered
2 stalks celery, cut into big chunks
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
3 cups water
1 stick butter
½ cup all purpose flour
3 cups onions, chopped
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
2 ½ cups celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes with chilies
3 bay leaves
Salt to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste (may omit if you don’t like it real spicy)
Cajun Seasoning to taste
3 cups shrimp stock
2 ½ pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
¼ cup chopped parsley leaves

Directions:
Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add shrimp shells, can shrimp with juice, onions, celery, 2 sprigs thyme and bay leaf. Cook, stirring often, until the shells are pink and the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Add 3 cups of water and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Strain and reserve the stock. In a large Dutch oven melt butter. Slowly add flour and stir continuously to make a roux. Stir the roux over medium heat until the color of peanut butter, about 8 – 10 minutes. Watch closely and do not burn the roux. Add onions, bell peppers, celery, and garlic to the roux, and cook, stirring often, for about 10 – 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the tomatoes with chilies to the pot and season with the bay leaves, salt, cayenne and Cajun seasonings. Cook for 3 minutes and then whisk in the shrimp stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook the etouffee, for 40 – 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn heat off and remove bay leaves. Season the shrimp with Cajun Seasoning and then fold shrimp into etoufee and cook until shrimp are done. Add parsley and add seasoning if necessary. Serve on a bed of rice.

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Ingredients:

3 Tablespoon flour
3 Tablespoon butter, + 5 Tbsp butter
½ red or green bell pepper, diced small
2 stalk celery, diced small
½ cup Vidalia onion, diced small
½ pound Andouille Sausage, sliced (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Cajun seasoning
½ cup plus 2 cups heavy cream
1 ½ pounds Shrimp, reserve shells for stock
3 cups shrimp stock, divided
1 cup Quick Grits

Directions:
Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a pan over medium high heat. Add flour and stir the roux until it becomes a light brown, about 10-12 minutes. Add bell pepper, celery and onion and sauté until vegetables are translucent, about 8–10 minutes. Add the andouille sausage and cook for an additional 8-10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Add the ½ cup cream slowly, stirring constantly. Then add about 1 cup of the shrimp stock. Let simmer. Fold shrimp into sauce and cook until the shrimp are done. Serve on top of grits.
Grits:
Bring 2 cups shrimp stock and 2 cups of cream to a boil. Slowly whisk 1 cup of grits, salt and 2 tablespoons of butter into the stock mixture. Cook 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add remaining 3 tablespoons of butter.

Shrimp Stock:

1 tablespoon oil
Shrimp peels
1 bay leaf
1 carrot
2 celery stalks
1 onion
1 clove garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups water

Heat oil, add all ingredients and cook for a few minutes. Add 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Simmer for an hour or so.

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Roasted Garlic Tip

Last night I roasted a bunch of garlic for a bouilliabaisse. When I got done I squeezed all of the garlic out and had the skins left over. I thought, I hate to throw these away because there is still a lot of goodness left in here. I threw the skins into my shrimp stock that I was making. It gave it a wonderful flavor. So next time you roast garlic throw the skins and some salt into a small pot. Add some water and simmer for about 20 minutes on low and strain. You’ll have a delicious broth.

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French Onion Steak

French Onion Steak

Ingredients

For the Steak –

1 ¼ pound ground sirloin

¼ cup finely chopped parsley

2 Tbsp. Finely chopped scallions

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. Cajun seasoning (we used Slap Ya Mama)

2 Tbsp. All purpose flour

For the Sauce-

1 Tbsp. oilve oil

2 cups sliced onions

2 cups sliced mushrooms

1 tsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

2 cups beef broth

¼ cup dry red wine

1 tsp. salt

Cheese Toast

Minced fresh parsley

Shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

Combine ground sirloin, ¼ cup chopped parsley, scallions, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Divide evenly into four portions and shape each into 3/4 –to 1 inch- thick patties. Place 2 Tbsp. flour in a shallow dish; dredge each patty in flour. Reserve 1 tsp. flour.

Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add patties and sauté 3 minutes on each side, or until browned. Remove from pan.

Add onions, mushrooms and sugar to pan; sauté 5 minutes. Stir in garlic and tomato paste; sauté until paste begins to brown, 1 minute. Stir in broth, wine and salt.

Return meat to pan; bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low cover, and simmer 10 minutes.

Serve steaks on Cheese Toasts with onion sauce ladled over. Garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

Cheese Toast

4 slices French baguette, cut diagonally (1/2-inch thick)

2 Tbsp. butter, room temperature

½ tsp. minced garlic

Pinch of Cajun seasoning

6 ounces Gruyere cheese (shredded)

2 Tbsp. shredded Parmesan

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place bread on baking sheet. Combine butter, garlic and Cajun seasoning; spread on one side of each slice of bread. Combine chesses and sprinkle evenly over butter. Bake until bread is crisp and cheese is bubbly, 10-15 minutes.

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Bananas Fosters Pancakes

We love Banana fosters and we love pancakes. Put those together and you have a love affair. The first time we had these our friend Griff made them for us at the beach. This was such a treat.

Ingredients:
2 cups baking mix
2 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 tablespoon of vanilla

Directions:
Mix all ingredients until blended. Pour about a ¼ cup onto hot greased pan. Cook until edges are golden and pancake mix is bubbling. Turn and cook until golden brown.

Banana Fosters

Ingredients:
1 stick butter
¾ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ cup banana liqueur
6 bananas cut in half lengthwise, then halved
¼ cup dark rum
Ice Cream or whipped cream (optional but reccomended)
Directions:
Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a skillet.

Place the pan over low heat on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves.

Stir in the banana liqueur, and then place the bananas in the pan.

When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum. Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, and then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum (if using a gas stove).

When the flame goes down, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each pancake. Generously spoon the warm sauce over the top of the pancakes and top with ice cream or whipped cream if you dare.

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Twisted Sisters Cinnamon Toast

Good morning to all you lovely grocery lovers! Hope everyone has had a great weekend and is ready for a wonderful week ahead.

Growing up we always loved toast. Yes, toast. All kinds of toast, from just plain butter, cheese, jelly ect. But we loved cinnamon toast with lots of butter and cinnamon sugar. Well our friend Griff came up with a new cinnamon sugar recipe and we decided to try it on french bread and let me tell you it was “Get In My Belly Good”! It gives toast a little make over! This is great for feeding a crowd and children will love it!

1 French Bread loaf

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

2 tablespoons powder sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 stick of butter at room temperature

Cut your french bread in half. Cut length wise each loaf so you have 4 halves. Mix all ingredients together and spread onto each loaf. Bake at 350 until bread is toasted and sugar mixture is melted, about 10 minutes. Hope yall enjoy!

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Dark Chocolate Cherry Cake

You know it’s weird how sometimes you feel skinny, well after eating a piece of this cake you might feel like a busted can of biscuits. But it is ok you can diet tomorrow!

Can the sister’s just get an Amen! “Amen brother Ben”! This recipe will have you on your knees praying to the grocery God’s for another slice of heaven. You know who you are, we wont bust you out in front of everyone, but you know when life hands you some lemons, 9 times out of 10 you don’t make lemonade, you reach for chocolate. If you are planning for all your girlfriends to come over to have a gripe session, you definitely need to have this cake on hand.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Cake

Ingredients

Unsweetened cocoa

1 package chocolate fudge cake mix

½ cup sugar

1 (3.8 ounce) package French vanilla instant pudding mix

4 large eggs

¾ cup vegetable oil

½ cup water

1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 (3-ounce) dark chocolate bars

½ cup coarsely chopped dried cherries

1 tablespoon butter

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions

Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan, and dust with cocoa, set aside. Combine cake mix, sugar and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl. Beat eggs and next four ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until blended. Gradually add oil mixture to dry ingredients, beat 2 minutes. Coarsely chop one chocolate bar, fold cherries and chopped chocolate into batter. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Coarsely chop 1 chocolate bar. Place chopped chocolate and butter in a small bowl, set aside.

Bring whipping cream to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat, and immediately pour over chocolate and butter. Whisk gently until smooth. Cool glaze 3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Drizzle glaze over cake. Coarsely chop remaining chocolate bar, sprinkle chopped chocolate over cake.

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Cajun Steak and Mushrooms

Cajun Steak and Mushrooms

This recipe makes the best gravy. Make sure you have plenty of rice and French bread. We believe, “that it is all in the gravy”.

Ingredients:

2 New York strip Steaks, room temperature

2 teaspoons Slap ya Mama, Cajun Seasoning

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup onions, sliced

¾ cup bell pepper, sliced

3 tablespoons garlic, minced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

2 tablespoons Creole mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

10 ½ ounces beef consommé

Directions:

Season steaks on both sides with Cajun seasoning.

Heat the oil in a large black skillet over medium high heat. Sear each steak on each side for 3 – 4 minutes.

Remove steaks and add the flour to the skillet. Reduce heat to medium. Cook for 4 – 5 minutes, stirring constantly, making a dark roux.

Add onions, bell pepper, garlic and mushrooms to the roux. Season vegetables with salt and pepper.

Raise the heat to medium high heat and add the consommé.

Bring the mixture to a boil, add steaks and continue to stir the sauce until it thickens about 5 minutes (turn steaks during this process). Add Creole mustard and simmer for a few minutes.

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