Dina's Creole Table

How many of you love a great fish fry?  (I’m raising both my hands and feet on this one!) When I lived in south Louisiana, I used to host Friday night fish fries with fried catfish fillets, homemade potato salad, green peas, crawfish pasta and French bread.   My friends and family enjoyed ourselves to the point of gluttony.     In preparing my fish, I preferred to use packaged fish fry mixes vs cornmeal.   In my opinion, cornmeal was too heavy and too grainy to my taste and the cornmeal often fell off during the cooking process.   The package fish fry mixes are much lighter because they are composed of both corn flour and a little cornmeal.     My paternal grandmother Lu(cille) prepared fried fish with the Zatarain’s Fish Fri mix.   When I got my first apartment home, I began using both the Louisiana Brand Fish Fry and Zatarain’s Fish Fri mixes (depending upon which brand was on sale).   Both mixes are usually available at most grocery stores, even those here in Dallas

If you’re unfamiliar with either brand, there’s a good chance that you probably don’t know anyone from Louisiana or you have never visited Louisiana. Tony Chachere’s and Zatarain’s are both Louisiana brands that feature a wide selection of Creole seasonings and dry products such a gumbo file` (ground dried sassafras leaves), beans, dirty rice mix, jambalaya mix, etc.   Those dry mix products tend to be a cook’s time saver because they eliminate the need for extra seasonings to a dish that may only need meat to prepare the dish. Many Louisiana cooks create their own special seasoning blend for daily cooking or use Tony Chachere’s or Zatarain’s Creole seasonings instead.   If you are unfamiliar with the Creole seasoning blend, it contains salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and other dried seasonings.   Imagine tasting Old Bay Seasoning, but it has a little more salt and more of a spicy kick to it. Growing up, I was exposed to both seasoning blends.   My paternal grand

Which sauce would win in a “12-round bout” cooking competition?   Now, I know that I’m about to step on several toes so I’m getting my “steel toe” shoes ready for this sauce showdown.   What is the deal with McIlhenny’s Tabasco sauce?   Well, my palate picks up more vinegar in tabasco sauce than in other hot sauces that I’ve tried before.   Now, I do enjoy vinegar on certain cold vegetables and of course I like seasoned vinegar in pickled veggies such as okra or olive-gardinera mix.    I have nothing personal against the McIlhenny brand and I’m always very surprised at the influence and availability of this brand in grocery stores and restaurants across the U.S. and the world.    A few years ago, I found out that this Louisiana company has supplied the U.S. Army over the last 70 years with mini bottles of its tabasco sauce for the branch’s MREs (meals ready to eat).   When I eat other hot sauces such as Crystal Hot Sauce or Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce, I tas

             1. Defrost the Turkey Properly No matter how you will plan to cook your turkey (oven roasted, fried, smoked, etc.), it is critical that you properly defrost the turkey to ensure the health and well-being of your family and Thanksgiving guests.    Whether you purchase your turkey 2 weeks or a few days before Thanksgiving, make sure to allow the wrapped turkey to naturally defrost in the refrigerator at least 3-4 days prior to cooking it.    I recommend that you place the turkey on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator in either a large roasting pan or in a large bowl that can hold the excess liquid from the defrosting process.   If you do not defrost the turkey a few days prior to cooking, please fill up one side of your kitchen sink with water and allow the wrapped turkey to defrost in cool water for at least 16-24 hours.   Please note that your turkey may still be quite frozen inside once you remove it from the water.    You may still cook the turkey

This weekend, I’ve been feeling quite nostalgic because I’m missing both of my grandmas and probably because the Thanksgiving holiday is a few weeks away.     I grew up in northern Louisiana, the product of two parents who were born and raised in New Orleans.   During my childhood, my south Louisiana relatives visited us a few times per year and my brother and I spent many summers in New Orleans. Growing up, I was really blessed to learn to make certain dishes from both of grandmas who were both lived in New Orleans. My maternal grandmother Marion was a skilled cook that could make anything taste good including your fingers, SMILE.   However, my paternal grandmother Lu(cille) was not a great cook, but she did make two dishes very well, Cornbread Dressing and Shrimp Stew. My first Creole dish that I remember eatin  as a 5-year old child was my Grandma Lu’s Shrimp Stew.   She always called her dish " Shrimp Stew” which I realized later was really Shrimp Creole.  

1.  Everything is spicy Who in the world started this myth that what native Louisianans eat is hot or super-spicy?  Although some of us do like to have a little “kick” of spice added to our dishes, most of us would agree that we definitely prefer to eat well seasoned food.   Good seasoning (and the right measurement of it) is key in creating great dishes.  Seasoning includes not only salt, pepper, fresh or dried herbs, but also onions, bell peppers, garlic and occasionally celery. 2 .  All of our meat and seafood is blackened Blackened is a cooking technique used for specific dishes.  It always makes me laugh when I visit Louisiana Cajun-style or Creole-style restaurants (outside of Louisiana) that are owned and operated by people that are not from Louisiana or do not have any Louisiana ties.   Usually, the first thing that I see on the menu is Blackened Catfish or Blackened Chicken.  Most of the time, I just shake my head and order a simple ent

What’s the difference between Creole and Cajun cooking?  Well, there are several differences, but first let’s begin with understanding who Creole and Cajuns are.   Louisiana Creole people have a mixture of various cultures including African, Caribbean, American Indian and whites that were from France or Spain. Creoles settled across Louisiana. Large Creole populations included areas surrounding New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Natchitoches.   In the 1700’s, white French-Canadian Catholics left Canada due to religious persecution and they immigrated to a portion of south-central Louisiana called Acadiana.   The Cajun name is broken French for the Acadiana pronunciation.   The Acadiana area is considered more rural than urban.    Louisiana Creole cooking can include both country and city influence.    Creole cooking tends to include more spices which were brought to Louisiana by both slave and freed African and Caribbean peoples. Also, Louisiana Creoles