Fat Tuesday, baby!

Last Tuesday I hit up another one of Viking's classes.  This time we tackled one of my favorites--Cajun cuisine.  We spent the class slow-cooking red beans and rice, seafood gumbo, and crawfish pies.  Lunch was topped off with muffalettas, king cake, and a hurricane or two.  Those hurricanes are dangerous; they could get me into major trouble on a hot summer day. 

Tips for newbies:

1.  Wear some seriously stretchy pants when you go to these classes.  You eat sooooo much--elastic comes in handy.  You'll thank me later.

2.  Wear comfy shoes. 

3.  Since we were working with the "trinity" of Cajun food--peppers, onions, and celery, and we were using a lot of garlic, I ended up smelling like I had just stepped out of the bayou.  Just warning you. 

The food was delicious, and I feel pretty confident that I can do this at home. 

The middle stages of our roux--it wasn't as hard as I had feared; just time-consuming. 

Yummy okra for gumbo

I always wanted to know how to properly julienne bell pepper.  Now I do. 

The trinity

Crawfish pies.  I had never had these before, but they were easy, delicious, and would be great for parties.  (And look how cute!)

These didn't even taste like they had alcohol, and I think this recipe is better than what you'd have on Bourbon.  Seriously.

Since summer is on its way, (hopefully) I thought you might like the hurricane recipe for those sweltering Mississippi afternoons that lie ahead. 

Ingredients:

11/2 cups unsweetened pineapple juice

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 3 oranges)

1 cup pomegranate juice (such as POM Wonderful)

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice (about 4 limes)

1/2 cup grenadine

1/2 cup simple syrup*

11/2 cups light rum

2 tbsp. dark rum

1/4 cup Triple Sec

6 orange wheels, for garnish

6 maraschino cherries, for garnish

6 tall rocks glasses

1.  In a blender, combine all of  the ingredients except the garnishes; blend until frothy. (Note:  You will need to do this in batches.)

2.  Fill 6 rocks glasses with ice, then add the Hurricane mixture.  Garnish each glass with an orange wheel and a cherry, and serve immediately.

*To make 1 pint of simple syrup, boil 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water in a small sauce pan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves.  Remove pan from the heat, and cool to room temperature.  Place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly before serving.  Store, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

(Then, you'll already have your simple syrup on hand for some mint juleps!)

Cheers!