Football season marks the beginning of a whole new type of cuisine in our house. Long gone are the care-free summer days when supper might be freshly picked blueberries from Pop’s Blueberry Patch spun into a nutritious smoothie that the kids think is a milkshake. When supper might be an afterthought squeezed into the brackets of time between riding bicycles around the block drinking in the soundtrack of chirping crickets then piling into bed to watch a new animated movie without regard to school night bedtimes. Fall becomes the routine of after school homework, bath time and bedtime. Fall also strikes chords in the hearts of comfort food-seeking parents that have lain fallow since the tiniest green buds on trees began to appear.

This Louisiana girl thinks of Red Beans and Rice for a quick and easy football season meal that warms the soul as much as the tummy. Nothing says LSU tailgating like Red Beans and Rice, either. Some of the best by Billy LeBlanc. I met Mr. Billy while on a work-study scholarship at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Mrs. Marlene, Mr. Billy’s wife, was my supervisor at The Graduate School. Mrs. Marlene took her student workers under her wing like a mother hen. For a north Louisiana student, a Yankee of sorts, Mrs. Marlene became my second mom. I enjoyed visiting with her son, Greg, when he stopped by to visit between classes. I had the pleasure of hearing stories about Mr. Billy and frequently spotted him around campus, as he was a university employee as well. When Donnie came to Baton Rouge for a football game, Mrs. Marlene invited us to their tailgating shindig. I had never been to a more lively tailgating function before! And the food…yum. The biggest pot of Red Beans and Rice I had ever seen!

This is not Mr. Billy’s recipe. In fact Mom clipped this recipe from Southern Living and made a few brilliant substitutions for an easy version of a classic Louisiana tradition.

1 lb. dried red beans

5 c water

1 onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 1/2 T ground cumin

1 T chili powder

1/2 t Tabasco sauce

1 1/2 t salt

1 t pepper

1 (1 lb.) link andouille sausage

Wash and sort beans. Cover with water and soak overnight. Drain and place beans in Dutch oven. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 1 hour or until beans are tender. Serve over rice.

I first learned to crave these tightly wrapped grape leaf packages my freshman year at LSU. I pledged Kappa Alpha Theta and became friends with a girl from South Louisiana, Kayla, whose father is Lebanese. North and South Louisiana might as well be two states. So many times I would rattle off something and see Kayla’s puzzled expression. That first year we quizzed each other about everything. What seemed “normal” to each of us was strange and unusual to the other! I always say that college is not really about English or Calculus but about realizing the world is bigger than our comfortable little boxes. One of our favorite things to do on a weeknight (when we should have been studying for countless exams) was to make the trek from the sorority house to the Mom and Pop Greek diner right off campus. For Kayla it was a taste of home. For me it was a trip to places unknown.

If that was an introduction, my first trip to Kayla’s home in New Iberia was a full course in Lebanese treats. Kayla and I were excited about our upcoming long weekend. We both made plans to return home. My plans were foiled by a once-every-ten-years ice storm making travel home impossible, so Kayla invited me to spend the weekend with her family. Her mom prepared a feast for us that night. I remember waking up the next morning and opting for leftovers instead of breakfast.

Years later I found this recipe for dolmades. I made them first in our apartment in Memphis almost ten years ago. To this day they taste almost like I remember at Kayla’s that winter night.

Dolmades with Tzatziki

1 1/2 cups long grain white rice, uncooked

1 small yellow onion, minced

1/4 c fresh dill, chopped

1/3 c freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/4 c olive oil

1 (16 oz.) jar preserved grape leaves, rinsed and drained

Combine rice, onion, dill, lemon juice and 1 T olive oil. Arrange grape leaves vein sides up and stems toward you. Place one tablespoon of filling at the stem end of each leaf. Fold stem end over rice, fold in sides, and roll into cylinders. Arrange grape leaves in a saucepan so that they fit snugly against each other and the sides of the pan. Place a heavy plate or lid over grape leaves so they are compact when cooked. Cover with boiling water. Replace lid and simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Refrigerate several hours before serving at room temperature with tzatziki.

Tzatziki

1 hothouse cucumber, seeded

1 T salt

1 c Greek yogurt

1/4 c sour cream

1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T fresh dill, minced

Grate the cucumber. Sprinkle with 1 T salt and set aside for 3 to 4 hours. Transfer to dish towel and squeeze dry. Stir together remaining ingredients. Add cucumber. Refrigerate several hours before serving.

I did not believe my friend, Margaret, when she told me how she made her Marinated Salad. You will not believe it, either. Margaret has a huge responsibility at the hospital where I work. One of her side jobs, which seems like a full-time job to me, is catering. I learned a couple of weeks ago how much better the food is at the physicians’ meetings than at department head meetings! Margaret catered!

Oh, and was it ever delicious! She made Crawfish Fettucine, Homemade Yeast Rolls, George’s Favorite Lima Beans and this Marinated Salad. Margaret was kind enough to share her secret with me. I know she wouldn’t mind if I shared it with you.

I cannot remember what combination of vegetables Margaret used when she made this salad, but I used sliced banana pepper rings, cherry tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, sliced fresh mushrooms, chopped green onions, artichoke hearts and sliced green olives. I do remember Margaret used black olives in her salad, which made the colors really pop. She told me she prepped all her veggies, seasoned with garlic powder and seasoned salt, then marinated them overnight in store brand fat free Italian dressing.  Then she tossed with chopped romaine lettuce the following day just before serving. Not only is this salad a perfect presentation, but it doesn’t get any simpler!

These are the the best warm and gooey cookies…ever! It never hurts to hide a miniature Snickers inside! My mom has been making these cookies for a few years now. This year around Christmas she enlisted Jack, my two year-old, and me to help. My job was to unwrap the individually wrapped Snickers. Jack’s job appeared to be eating the individually unwrapped Snickers. Why we thought he would not want to eat “candy” I will never know.

I decided on this recipe to take to the annual Sweet Treat Exchange at Amanda’s I blogged about earlier this month. I briefly considered tearing open a package of Oreos and arranging them on a pretty platter, but I knew that just would not do. Plus, someone might think I bought a package of Oreos instead of actually baking a sweet to exchange!

2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3-1/2 cups all purpose sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 package Snickers miniatures

Combine the butter, peanut butter and sugars using a mixer on a medium to low speed until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Then mix in flour, salt and baking soda. Cover and chill dough 2-3 hours. Unwrap all the Snickers. Remove dough from refrigerator. Divide into 1 tablespoons press flat. Place a Snickers miniature in the center of each flat piece. Form the dough into a ball around each Snicker. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees 10-12 minutes. Let cookies cool on baking rack or wax paper.