Now and then, I must seek out the thickest cut of beef I can find for a manly meal. It is a primal urge. Cooking steaks portioned in gargantuan slabs are not really about the quantity of the meat, but rather it is all about the quality of the outcome. Let me explain. Over the…
Chic Steak Sandwich at the Acme Café
Ding…ding…ding! Order up! Chic Steak Sandwich, extra mayo, hold the pickle! My father, George Graham, Sr., was slinging burgers at White Tower in Michigan in the years before WW II and wound up welding aircraft parts in a factory in Detroit until war’s end. Flush with cash and a dream, he and my mom headed…
Braised Beef Shanks with Parsley Pecan Pesto
Let’s cut to the meat of this story–whole sectional cuts of beef are irresistible to me. They harken back to pioneer days and more rustic farm-style butchering techniques. But beef shanks are rarely seen whole in the supermarket. My guess is that retailers fear that timid customers will panic and run screaming from the meat…
Cajun Pork Jambalaya
A black pot of Cajun Pork Jambalaya is a defining Cajun recipe that speaks the language of Louisiana. But as is the case with many Louisiana dishes, there are two distinctly different styles of jambalaya in Louisiana–Creole and Cajun. Perhaps, it is this Cajun recipe that most defines the two culinary cultures. The point is that…
Roast Beef Po’boy
Growing up in South Louisiana, po’boys were just about as common as hamburgers are today. In small towns back then, we didn’t have a burger chain on every corner. It was mostly mom-and-pop sandwich shops and greasy spoon cafés that put out their home-cooked specialties, especially a down-home Louisiana roast beef po’boy. I grew up…
Chicken-Stuffed Bell Peppers with Maque Choux Sauce
When I saw the bin of ripe green bell peppers at my local farmer’s market, I immediately thought of stuffing them. In Cajun country, stuffing sweet peppers with ground anything is a basic Cajun recipe that every home cook knows by heart. Usually it’s a mixture of beef and pork sausage with just the right…
Okra and Tomatoes with Stewed Chicken and Sausage
Here’s the thing–okra is a vegetable of extremes. For the most part, folks tend to categorize okra as a “love it or hate it” relationship. It’s hard to be indifferent about okra. True Southerners, and especially good Cajun cooks, identify strongly with okra. But, even within okra circles there are those that love it in…
Stuffed Goo-Gootz
At the first hint of cool weather, cucuzza squash starts showing up at the farmer’s markets and produce stands around Acadiana. Some folks are unfamiliar with this elongated green squash variety, but those in the know look forward to it every autumn season. Time for a Stuffed Goo-Gootz. For most of us, cucuzza is pronounced…
Scuppernong-Glazed Bourbon Beef Ribs with Tasso Potato Gratin
I am a meticulous planner by nature as well as by profession. That attention to detail has served me well these many years, but truth be told, I’ve grown tired of it. It seems that as I’ve aged, I’ve let loose of the need to fastidiously program every waking minute of my life. Empty day…
Cajun Cracklins
I admit it. Cajun cracklins are addictive, I am a recovering cracklin’ addict and am now in a 12-step program on the way to enlightenment. Okay, so I am embellishing a bit. But, just a bit. Hear my story. I was first grabbed by the demon porcine pleasure at a later stage of life when…