Let's talk Mardi Gras

[politicat]

I may have been a Catholic growing up, but I grew up in a very Protestant - and teetotalling - household. So I missed most of the culturally Catholic rituals unless someone from my parish took me in. Of course, now I'm not religious at all, but the cultural aspects of things like Twelfth Night, Mardi Gras and Lent catch my interest.

A bunch of friends are having a Mardi Gras party, so I'm thinking about making King Cakes. Are there other traditional foods for Mardi Gras, or traditions other than drinking oneself into a stupor and getting gratuitously nekkid?

[NMDemDist2]

1. aww geez you're taking all the fun out of it

:rofl:

any kind of gumbo or ettouffe is good for mardi gras

and yellow or dirty rice, gotta have that!

[politicat]

2. Yeah, but...

getting gratuituously nekkid works better when you're not bombed out of your mind!

Dirty rice... I think I can do that one. (I am not a Cajun cook....)

[NMDemDist2]

3. if you get this stuff you will be.....

http://www.cajungrocer.com/product_info.php?cPath=69&products_id=938

[Stinky The Clown]

4. Etouffee .... authentic and easy

Etouffee (EH too fay) (or as we like to call it ... eh TOO fee) is easy and authentic. The signature is the dark roux and 'holy trinity' (celery, onion and bell pepper) that many cajun recipes use.

In a skillet, melt 2/3 of a stick of butter over a low to medium fire. No margarine. Real butter.

Add 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour.

Cook, stirring constantly, until flour mixture is deep golden brown. Maybe 10 minutes or so.

Add 1 bunch of scallions chopped to about a 1/2 inch long, a haffa cup of chopped bell pepper, and a haffa cup of chopped celery. Cook until tender.

Add 2 cups of water and stir to blend in the roux (that is now all stuck to the veggies).

Add three pounds of cleaned whole shrimps .... or crawdaddies, or if yer feelin' **real** rich, lawbstah meat.

Add about a haffa cup of chopped parsley, salt and pepper to taste, a bay leaf or three, and some tabasco sauce, to taste.

Lower the fire to a simmer and let it go, uncovered, for 15 or 20 minutes, or until the shrimp are cooked.

Serve over rice.

[NMDemDist2]

5. yup! that's how MizB (stepmom) makes it n/t