This year, in lieu of visiting New Orleans, we decided to bring a little of the Big Easy to Ohio, and host a Mardi Gras Party. I immediately started planning my menu.... is there really anything else to plan? Oh, yeah, I guess decorations... and guests... and play lists and...sure, sure I guess there are other things.
So let's get back to talking about the food. I might have been on Pinterest, and there may or may not be a "secret" board that I created so that I could food stalk in private. I knew I wanted an assortment of classic New Orleans favorites, and what says New Orleans more than beignets? Well, jambalaya for one... or gumbo, or muffalettas, or oysters, or pralines, or bananas foster, or.... I could go on. So I needed to narrow my list a bit.
Ultimately, here's my recipe for a successful Mardi Gras party: A full on, meat loaded but dairy free red beans and rice, a vegetarian/vegan jambalaya, muffalettas (both vegetarian and meat lovers, easily converted to dairy free), dairy free king cake, vegan pralines and classic beignets.
Next, let's tackle the red beans and rice. After my first trip to New Orleans I immediately returned home and began searching for a recipe to do justice to this hearty and filling NOLA favorite. Here's the link to my favorite http://allrecipes.com/recipe/authentic-no-shortcuts-louisiana-red-beans-and-rice/detail.aspx However, I make a few alterations: cut the water to 8 cups (and make at least 2-3 of those cups veggie, beef or chicken stock) and omit the basil. {Sorry, no photo, we ate it all up!}
On to the fun stuff! The recipes I get to tamper with! I found about a bazillion jambalaya recipes and once I decided to make it vegetarian that number only dropped to several hundreds of recipes. Now there are two types of jambalaya - Cajun (without tomatoes) and Creole (with tomatoes) - and once I had decided on a Creole jambalaya I was left with a few good options. I must have read about 20 different recipes and ultimately decided to take my favorite parts of each and create my very own recipe.
VEGETARIAN JAMBALAYA
Serves - "a metric shit ton" of people - or at least 8
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped orange or yellow bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped white or sweet onion
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 6 cloves of garlic - minced
- 2 cups converted rice - uncooked
- 4 cups of vegetable stock
- 28 oz can diced tomatoes (do not drain)
- 2 tbs cajun seasoning (such as Tony Chachere's)
Heat a very large pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil, sauté the veggies and garlic in the pan until they are semi soft. Add the rice and cook 1-2 minutes.
Add the veggie stock, diced tomatoes and seasoning to the pan, heat to boiling, then reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook 20 minutes. Do not stir during this time.
The liquid should be mostly absorbed after 20 minutes, but if you would like a drier jambalaya you can cook uncovered for an additional 5 minutes until the liquid is completely absorbed.
This was a big hit with vegetarians and carnivores alike! I most certainly will be making this recipe for years to come!
NOW, the moment you've all been waiting for: THE KING CAKE. Who am I kidding? The whole purpose of blogging this event at all was for the king cake!! A king cake is the traditional celebration cake of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Traditional cakes are rolled brioche dough with cinnamon, sugar and pecan filling. The dough is typically butter and milk laden, so this would be my biggest challenge! Again, I sifted through numerous recipes and ultimately ended up deciding to create my own from my favorite bits and pieces.
MILKFREEME KING CAKE (Post edited on 3/9/14 based onYeast Bread Resolution results.)
Serves 12, Makes 1 large King Cake
Ingredients
- 1 package (1/4 ounce or 2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water (run tap water to hot, should be very warm to the touch)
- 1/2 cup warm almond milk (warm in the microwave a few seconds until very warm to the touch)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup shortening (melted)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg
- Zest of 1 orange
- 3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
Directions
In a large bowl mix the warmed water, almond milk and sugar. Sprinkle with yeast and allow to sit for 5 minuets or until frothy. Add the shortening, salt, egg, zest and 3 cups of flour. Stir to combine and turn out onto a well floured surface. Knead in up to 1 additional cup of flour until a soft and slightly tacky dough forms. Knead for an additional 6 to 8 additional minutes until soft and elastic.
Place in an oiled bowl. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
Punch down the dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out into a 16 x 10 inch rectangle. Spread with the pecan filling (recipe follows). Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with the long side; pinch to seal. REALLY make sure to seal this up or all the goodness will ooze out. Place seam side down on a parchment paper/Silpat lined baking sheet, pinch the ends together into a ring (again, pinch REALLY well). Cover and allow to rise until doubled, 1 hour.
Preaheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Brush with an egg wash (one egg and 1 tsp water) and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a the bread sounds hollow to a gentle knocking.
Cool on a wire wrack.
Glaze (recipe follows) and sprinkle with purple, yellow and green sprinkles.
PECAN FILLING
- 4 tbs light corn syrup
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbs cinnamon
GLAZE
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- scan tsp or 2 to thin the glaze to a spreadable degree
It truly was a thing of beauty! I must say I was very proud of myself for this effort! Thankfully, my guests seemed to enjoy it as much as I did!
With that, my Mardi Gras extravaganza must come to an end... at least until next year! Gumbo anyone!?
Peace,
Laura
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