Mardi Gras Celebration & King Cake!

March will be upon us before we know it, and my thoughts turn to the celebration of Mardi Gras. This year Mardi Gras will be celebrated on March 4^th.  Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, which refers to the last night before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

Although I have never personally experienced a Mardi Gras in the French Quarter, my husband has, and he assures me it is something to behold. Steeped deep in tradition from France and Spain, Mardi Gras was brought to the southern United States by colonists. The celebration includes parades, parties, and lots of rich food.

The mix that I used above can be be purchased at Old World Market. 

In New Orleans today, no party is complete without a King Cake at its head table. The cake represents the three Kings that brought gifts.  They are made of cinnamon filled dough in the shape of a hollow circle.  It is then topped with a glazed topping and sprinkled with colored sugars; Purple representing Justice, Green representing Faith, and Gold representing Power. A tiny plastic or porcelain baby can be found inside the King Cake.  Some say the person who finds the baby in their piece of cake is the person who furnishes the cake for the next party. (There are also other versions of King’s Cake stories that may be found.)

Bake the King Cake in a ring and then slice. The cake is a delicious yeast bread with a Praline filling. A simple glaze sprinkled with colored sugar completes the top. Delicious served with a great HOT cup of coffee.

Our little Baby was placed under a portion of the cake, not found until the cake was sliced.

Being a person who loves color as much as I do, I loved working with the gorgeous purple, gold and green colors of Mardi Gras, and learning a bit more about the history surrounding this celebration. Let’s see…... delicious rich food, parades, bright shiny colors, and a lot of happy people……sounds like a great time to me!

I hope you enjoyed my blog about Mardi Gras!  Please share your Mardi Gras experiences with us.

  Wishing you a bright and shiny day!

Kathleen

Foodie Friday-A touch of Lisbon!

A year ago my husband and I were fortunate enough to be able to commemorate our "36th Anniversary" by taking a trip abroad to Portugal and France.

Exciting, adventurous, romantic, educational, beautiful and gratifying would be how I would describe our trip. We had the time of our lives!

From the beginning planning stages we both agreed that one of the things we would do was sample local fare from whatever region we visited. Our first stop was Lisbon, Portugal. 

We stayed in a lovely hotel --Hotel Avenida Palace in the center of Lisbon. http://www.hotelavenidapalace.pt/en/hotel-overview.html?gclid=CPm7xIXmvrkCFUid4AodeBkAxw

By being centrally located we were able to walk everywhere. Each evening we ate our dinner at a different restaurant in the square. 

Feeling adventurous our first dinner in town, was Portugese Paella. We were delighted at the taste of chorizo, shrimp, olives, and spices with delicious flavors that all melded into this awesome dish. 

With our trip being one year ago I decided to recreate something similar to our dinner for my husband last week.I made a Chicken Paella with Sausage and Olives from Ellie Krieger, the same dish we introduced to  our daughters by teaching them how to cook this last Christmas. It is such an easy recipe that we all love.

Hope your family enjoys this as much as mine!!

 

  

Chicken Paella with Sausage and Olives

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil

3 ounces chorizo sausage, casing removed, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

1 pound skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 10-ounce package frozen peas

1 cup uncooked white rice

1 large ripe tomato, chopped

1/4 cup sliced green Spanish pimento-stuffed olives

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground tumeric

Small pinch of saffron threads

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large, skillet over med-high heat. Use a skillet that has a cover. Add chorizo and cook until brown. Add chicken and stock, stirring until browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Heat remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in skillet. Add onions, and cook, until softened and translucent, 3-5 minutes. Return the chicken and chorizo to the skillet and add chicken broth, peas, rice, tomato, olives, salt, pepper, turmeric and saffron. ( I did not purchase Saffron because it is very costly and the dish tasted great without it!)

Bring to a boil, cover and transfer to oven. Cook until the rice is tender and the liquid is absorbed, 25-30 minutes.

*** I have an induction cooktop which requires "special" cookware. I made this dish with my pan on the stovetop and transferred the contents into a pyrex casserole dish with a cover for baking.

SOURCE-- So Easy Cookbook by Ellie Krieger

http://www.amazon.com/So-Easy-Luscious-Healthy-Recipes/dp/B00D1GD7JG