Fat Tuesday

King Cake

Also known as Twelfth Night Cake, the brioche-style King Cake is prepared in New Orleans bakeries for the period between the Twelfth Night (January 6) and Ash Wednesday.

The tradition is thought to have begun with French settlers, continuing a custom dating back to 12th century France, when a similar cake was used to celebrate the coming of the three wise men bearing gifts twelve days after Christmas, calling it the feast of Epiphany, Twelfth Night, or King's Day.

Though the cakes are baked in many shapes now, they were originally round in shape to portray the circular route taken by the Kings to confuse King Herod who was trying to follow the wise men so he could kill the Christ child.

The cakes usually contain a bean, pea, or a figurine symbolizing the baby Jesus. In 1871 the tradition of choosing the queen of the Mardi Gras was determined by who drew the prize in the cake. It is definitely considered good luck to the person who gets the figure, and that person usually holds the next King Cake party.

The Rex Krewe, a Mardi Gras parade organization, chose the festival's symbolic colors, and since 1872 the colors have been used to tint the cake's icing. The colors of the King Cake are purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

Source: http://southernfood.about.com/cs/cajuncuisine/a/kingcake.htm

1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115 degrees)
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 1 teaspoon sugar
3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups flour unsifted
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest, this is lemon rind, grated
1/2 cup warm milk
5 egg yolks
1 stick butter cut into slices and softened, plus 2 tablespoons more softened butter
1 egg slightly beaten with 1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1" plastic baby doll

Pour the warm water into a small shallow bowl, and sprinkle yeast and 2 teaspoons sugar into it. Allow the yeast and sugar to rest for three minutes then mix thoroughly. Set bowl in a warm place for ten minutes, or until yeast bubbles up and mixture almost doubles in volume. Combine 3 1/2 cups of flour, remaining sugar, nutmeg and salt, and sift into a large mixing bowl. Stir in lemon zest. Separate center of mixture to form a hole and pour in yeast mixture and milk. Add egg yolks and, using a wooden spoon, slowly combine dry ingredients into the yeast/milk mixture. When mixture is smooth, beat in 8 tablespoons butter (1 tablespoon at a time) and continue to beat 2 minutes, or until dough can be formed into a medium-soft ball.

Place ball of dough on a lightly floured surface and knead like bread. While kneading, sprinkle up to 1 cup more of flour (1 tablespoon at a time) over the dough. When dough is no longer sticky, knead 10 minutes more until shiny and elastic.

Using a pastry brush, coat the inside of a large bowl evenly with one tablespoon softened butter. Place dough ball in the bowl and rotate until the entire surface is buttered. Cover bowl with a moderately thick kitchen towel and place in a draft-free spot for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the dough doubles in volume. Using a pastry brush, coat a large baking sheet with one tablespoon of butter and set aside.

Remove dough from bowl and place on lightly floured surface. Using your fist, punch dough down forcefully. Sprinkle cinnamon over the top, pat and shake dough into a cylinder. Twist dough to form a curled cylinder and loop cylinder onto the buttered baking sheet. Pinch the ends together to complete the circle. Cover dough with towel and set it in draft-free spot for 45 minutes, or until the circle of dough doubles in volume. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Brush top and sides of cake with egg wash and bake on middle rack of oven for 25 to 35 minutes until golden brown. Place cake on wire rack to cool. If desired, you can hide the plastic baby in the cake at this time.

Icing the cake.

3 cups confectioners sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 - 6 tablespoons water
Yellow, Green and Purple colored sprinkled sugar

Combine sugar, lemon juice and 3 tablespoons water until smooth. If icing is too stiff, add more water until spreadable. Spread icing over top of cake. Immediately sprinkle the colored sugars in individual rows consisting of about 2 rows of green, purple and yellow.

Source: http://www.mardigrasday.com/mardigras/kcrecip.php

Shrimp and Andouille Gumbo

½ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup flour
4 tbsp creole seasoning
1 cup onions, diced
½ cup green bell pepper, diced
½ cup celery, diced
1 pound Andouille, cubed
1 cup fresh okra, cut into ½ inch rounds
3 tbsp garlic, chopped
6 cups cold fish stock
3 fresh bay leaves
1 pound of raw shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Hot Sauce to taste
Kosher Salt to taste, if necessary
2 Tablespoons Italian Parsley, finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Thinly Sliced Green Onions

Mix your onion, celery, and bell pepper together: The Holy Trinity

Heat the oil in a large pot or cast iron dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to make a dark red brown colored Roux. The darker the roux, the more authentic the gumbo will taste. Add the Andouille, 1 Tbsp of Seasoning, and 3/4 of the Holy Trinity, cook, stirring often, for about ten minutes or until the vegetables soften. Add the Okra, cook for about 2 minutes. Add the cold stock, remaining seasoning, Trinity, and Garlic. Bring to a Boil. Bring this down to a simmer and let it go for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. About 10-15 minutes before you're ready to serve, add the shrimp, Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, Parsley, and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Sprinkle remaining green onions onto gumbo just before serving.

Black Beans and Rice

1 lb dried kidney or pinto beans
½ lb country cured ham, cut in ½ in chunks
1 medium yellow onion, diced
½ cup celery, diced
½ cup bell pepper, diced
salt
black pepper
red pepper
2 cups white rice

Rinse the dried beans, removing any dirt or foreign objects. Soak the pound of beans in a 3 quart pot, covering the beans to a depth equal to at least twice the depth of the beans. Leave overnight. (To quick soak simply rinse, place in pot and cover well with water, bring to a rolling boil for five minutes. Turn off heat, cover the pot, let sit for an hour.)

Strain beans from the water, rinse with cold water and then recover with water at least twice the depth again. Place pot onto the stove and bring to a boil. Add the ham, onion, celery, and bell pepper. Bring heat down to a simmer, cover and let cook for at least two hours.

After about an hour, check on the pot, give it a nice stir, and get started on the rice. For two cups of rice you will need three cups of water. Combine in a two quart sauce pan, bring to a boil and then turn the heat down to low. Your rice is done when all of the water has been absorbed into the rice.

When the beans have finished cooking (you'll see them start to split when they're done) add the salt and peppers to taste. Be careful with the salt because more can always be added later but can never be removed.

Serve the beans over a bed of rice.

Check out this site for interesting information about the history of Mardi Gras: http://www.novareinna.com/festive/mardi.html