Cajun-French Toast (Pain Perdu)

• 1 egg
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 1 cup milk
• dash of nutmeg
• pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• powdered sugar (optional)
• fresh or prepared blueberries (or your favorite syrup)

Mix first five ingredients together, beat thoroughly. Pour mixture in an open container (such as a casserole dish) large enough to dip the slices of bread. Fry the soaked bread slices in hot butter until browned on both sides. Dust with powdered sugar, top with blueberries or syrup and VOILA!...Cajun-style French toast!

Note: kids like it better when you remove the bread crust. Not a problem! You can use the crust for banana puddings, bread puddings, or slow-dry them and make your own bread crumbs...or, you can break 'em up and feed the birds outside.

When my niece, who lives in Austin, called me and said she and her two preteen boys would be arriving here in Hooks for a visit, I knew that a fancy breakfast had to be in order. Something I know they were not familiar with. So I decided on Pain Perdu, a Cajun-French expression for “lost bread”, and appropriately named because one made this dish out of day-old (or older) sliced bread—just prior to becoming stale and unfit for human consumption...in other words, bread which would be "lost" if you didn't use it straight away. The French word pain means bread--and not an agonizing physical human condition.

There are many variations to French toast. The basics are milk, eggs, sugar, dash of salt, and butter. Whatever spices the kids like you can add to the mixture. It could be nutmeg, cinnamon, berries and toppings of various sorts.

It's All In The Name (audio)

In this podcast, Jacques describes how he came up with the recipe, Oysters Shantal.

Cajun life according to Grandpa (audio)

In this podcast, Jacques describes Grandpa's take on Cajun Life and Justin Wilson.

Peño Puppies

The bites on these puppies are much larger than the barks.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup minced onions
• 1/2 cup minced (pickled) jalapeño pepper
• buttermilk (enough to make a moist and thick batter)

Thoroughly mix all of the ingredients except for the buttermilk. Slowly add buttermilk and stir until a thick batter is formed.

You will know how much buttermilk to add by testing it with a teaspoon. You want gravity to do most of the work when you are ready to release the batter into the hot boiling oil.

(I prefer using a heavy metal pot, such as cast iron, with sides tall enough to accommodate around 3 inches of oil.)

In a metal frying pan heat the vegetable oil to 375 degrees. Drop teaspoons full of the mixture into the hot oil, one after the other, until evenly distributed about one-half inch apart (about a dozen at the time).

The pups will rise to the top. Allow them to cook until golden brown. Flip them over from time to time so they can cook on both sides evenly.

The rich taste of the buttermilk delicately tones down the bite of the jalapeño peppers without compromising the flavor of the peppers.

This is a RealCajunCooking - Pure and Simple original recipe. Enjoy!... Ahheee!

Mock Oyster Stew

• 1 - 10 oz. can of oysters (drain and save juice)
• 1 medium eggplant
  
• 1 pint of Half 'n Half milk/cream
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
  
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp chopped green onion
• 2 tbsp minced onion
• 1 tbsp minced bell pepper
• salt and pepper to taste

Note: Fresh ingredients works better in any dish you prepare. In this recipe, if you can obtain fresh oysters then that's great! Also, in this recipe the oyster juice is essential. If you do not eat oysters for whatever reason, you can eat the mock oysters (the eggplant) and not lose the unique flavor of your meal.

In a 2 quart sauce pan melt the butter and saute the minced onions and bell pepper for a couple minutes. Add the oyster juice and simmer a couple more minutes until the vegetables are translucent. Do not add the chopped green onions until the end.

Slowly add the 2 cans of soup to the mixture and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly. If the soup mixture begins to stick to the bottom of the pot it's an indication that you should lower the heat. Set aside and allow to cool until the mock oysters are ready to be added.

When the mock oysters are prepared (see instructions below) you are ready to mix the Half 'n Half to the mixture. On a low heat bring the mixture back to a near-boil. Slowly stir-in the cream.

Add the mock oyster (egg plant quarters) and the real oysters (optional) to the mixture making sure they are well drained first (water will dilute the creamy consistency of the stew). Add your preferred seasoning. Do not allow the stew to boil because that will make the milk product in the stew begin to curdle. Yuk!

Simmer on low heat for 5 minutes and you are ready to serve

Sprinkle the chopped green onions on top of the stew before serving with crackers or garlic toast.

Preparing Mock Oysters.

• 1 medium egg plant.

Peel the entire egg plant and cut into 1/2" slices. Quarter each slice. In a pot add enough lightly-salted water to cover the top. Slow boil the egg plant quarters until the consistency is similar to oysters (about 20 minutes). Drain well before adding the eggplant quarters to your stew.