Macque Choux, Cookies and Indo-Peruvian

Short and sweet (literally), and a day early! No, it's not the time change. In a couple hours I'll be headed north to Celebration, FL to take part in FoodFightWrite!, the food blogger's conference and competition which leads off the week-long World Food Championships.

The event culminates with our filet mignon steak cookoff. Wish me luck with my Filet Floribeño. Recipe for which you'll see next week.

Macque Choux 

I was reminded of this dish the other day, so I made it for dinner Friday night. This may have been the first Creole/Cajun dish I ever prepared, decades ago. 

Macque Choux (pronounced 'mock shoe') is a sort of succotash without beans, or a Cajun Stir Fry.  It's tasty whatever you call it! Like many "folk dishes" -- compared to restaurant dishes with detailed recipes -- you can vary the ingredients and amounts to fit what you've got and/or what's in season.

Start with the Cajun Trinity:

Celery

Onion

Bell Pepper (multiple colors are nice)

add:

Kernal Corn

Garlic

Tomato, diced

Shrimp, crawfish or chicken

Cajun Seasoning

Cook the protein separately, with it's own spices. 

 

Toss the vegetables in a large skillet, in separate additions, celery and onion first. When they soften add the others and a bit of stock, broth or water, along with the spice. Let the liquid reduce as the vegetables finish cooking. Add the protein back in the last few minutes, to re-heat, and touch up the spice level if it needs it. Serve with or over rice, or all by itself!

Diabetic-Friendly Cranberry-Oatmeal Rock Cookies

Sally asked me to make these for a bake sale where she works, the proceeds of which go to helping my fellow Veterans. Lots of us 'Nam vets have ended up with diabetes, and these rock cookies at least let us have a bit of sweet without spiking our sugar levels. Makes 20+ Rocks using a 1-1/2" disher to scoop them out.

1 cup AP Flour

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp ground Cinnamon

1/8 tsp Salt

1/2 cup Margarine (at room temperature)We like Olivio tm

3/4 cup Splenda tm sugar substitute

1 Egg

2 Tbsp 1% Milk

1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups Rolled Oats

1/2 cup Craisinstm

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat well. Gradually add the flour mixture, beating after each addition, until the flour is incorporated. By hand, fold in the oats and Craisins.

Drop onto parchment-covered cookie sheet(s). They don't 'slump' during baking, so you can set them close. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer to racks to cool.

 

A triple batch of cookies.

Nutrition:

Per 1 cookie: 70 calories, 1g protein, 3g total fat (.5g saturated fat), 12g carbohydrates, 1/2g dietary fiber, 6mg cholesterol, 59mg sodium

Indo-Peruvian Rice & Lentils

Both Peruvians and folks from the Indian sub-continent eat a lot of rice, and lentils, but with different spices. 

In Peru, the dish called Tacu Tacu is what you make with leftover lentils and rice -- mash them together, add some cooked diced red onion, and spice with the yellow pepper sauce called Aji Amarillo. Then griddle or pan fry like a hash or hash brown potatoes -- until you get lots of yummy browned crusty bits. Great by itself for breakfast, or top a plate of Tacu Tacu with a fried pork chop or chicken breast for lunch or dinner.

I got the wild idea to make Tacu Tacu using Indian spices instead of Peruvian. So I made a batch of typical Indian Cumin Rice -- whole cumin seed cooked with the jasmine rice. Then I made a batch of lentils, using the Arhar Dal spice that I talked about a week or so back -- a spice blend made for lentils. Instead of the Aji Amarillo, I used Butter Chicken spice blend and a bit of vegetable oil to make a thick paste. And I cooked up a half cup or so of diced red onion to add to the mix.