Cook the penne until it’s al dente, and drain. Toss it with the remaining oil and the herb/spice mix.
Add the crawfish, okra, and red pepper, and toss gently.
Note: Don’t have crawfish or okra? Substitute shrimp and broccoli. Don’t like seafood? Substitute two cups of chopped cooked chicken.
Serves 4–6.
Chulanes
The broadest definition of a praline is a flat sugar candy flavored with nuts. Recipes often call for butter and brown sugar. Here is Tug’s somewhat healthier version, named in honor of his alma mater, Louisiana’s prestigious Tulane University.
Ingredients
8 oz. unsweetened baker’s chocolate, melted
½ cup honey, warmed
¼ tsp. vanilla (you can substitute a liquor like rum or bourbon if you prefer)
¼ tsp. sea salt
1 cup mix-ins, like chopped nuts, raisins, dried fruit (Tug’s favorites are raisins and slivered honeyed almonds)
Instructions
Stir the honey into the melted chocolate. It will be soupy. Don’t worry about that.
Add the vanilla and salt, and stir.
Mix in the mix-ins.
Line a baking sheet with parchment. Drop the Chulanes onto the parchment by large spoonfuls.
Place in the freezer until the Chulanes harden. They can be kept in the fridge after that and will have a chewy consistency.
Makes 12.
Bourbon Pecan Bread Pudding
Bread pudding is one of those fun dishes that’s easy to adapt to anyone’s taste. Lia jazzes hers up with bourbon and that other Louisiana staple, pecans. Laissez les bons temps rouler!
Ingredients
4 ½ cups lightly packed bite-size croissant pieces (about 4 croissants)
1 cup chopped pecans
3 large eggs
¾ cups granulated sugar
1 cup milk
⅓ cup bourbon, plus 1 tsp.
½ cup heavy or whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. dark brown sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Dry bread uncovered at room temperature for 12 hours (or dry the bread in a 250-degree oven for one hour).
Butter an 8 × 8 baking dish.
Arrange the bread in the baking dish. Sprinkle the pecans over the bread, making sure they’re evenly dispersed.
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, milk, ⅓ cup bourbon, ½ cup of cream, vanilla, and salt. Pour it slowly and evenly over the bread.
Cream the butter with the brown sugar and teaspoon of bourbon, then dot the pudding with the mixture.
(Note: you can chill the pudding, covered, for anywhere from an hour to a day before baking, but this is optional.)
Bake the pudding in the middle of the oven until it’s slightly puffed and golden and the middle has set—approximately 40 minutes.
Serves 6.
A Lagniappe* about Plantation Shudders
I became fascinated by Cajun culture when I was a student at Tulane University. During a visit to Louisiana after graduation, my friend Jan and I drove up the east bank of River Road, and we were drawn to a dilapidated but stunning plantation. It was glorious architecturally but in total disrepair. Yet a woman was offering tours. Her name was Gaynell Bourgeois Moore, and she worked for the only member of the Hayward family who refused to okay a sale of the plantation, Ashland-Belle Helene, to Shell Oil Company.
Even though Gaynell was more than twenty-five years my senior, we struck up a friendship. A self-taught artist, musician, and writer, she was a total delight. But I was in my twenties and living the life of a single New Yorker, so we lost touch.
Fast-forward to 1997: I’m a married television writer living in Los Angeles. I take my husband on a trip to Louisiana, where we wander through the bayous and back roads. We drive up River Road and stop at Houmas House, one of the great icons of Plantation Country. I mention to a saleswoman in the gift shop that I had a friend named Gaynell who once worked at Ashland-Belle Helene. The woman says, “Gaynell? She’s working here.” She calls for Gaynell on her walkie-talkie, and Gaynell runs in wearing her full tour guide regalia of hoop skirt, ball gown, and accessories. Our friendship is rekindled, now for life.
Houmas House inspired Doucet Plantation in Plantation Shudders. Crozat Plantation B and B was inspired by Madewood Plantation, where my husband and I enjoyed a wonderful evening’s respite. And Grove Hall was inspired by my beloved Ashland-Belle Helene, which was eventually sold to Shell Oil. Years later, it still sits waiting for a promised restoration. Grove Hall will meet a happier fate in Book Two of the series. (Sidebar: in my mind, Crozat looks like Ashland-Belle Helene and Doucet looks like Madewood. Writer’s prerogative!)
When I was writing Plantation Shudders, I knew I wanted to name a character after Gaynell. My protagonist is Magnolia “Maggie” Crozat, an aspiring artist who has returned home after living in New York for ten years. I called Gaynell and told her that she could choose between Maggie’s grandmother, a mischievous grand dame, or a nineteen-year-old friend Maggie has made while working as a tour guide at a local plantation. And seventysomething Gaynell quickly responded in her inimitable Cajun accent, “Oh, I’d like to be the nineteen-year-old.”
So she is.
Footnote
* Lagniappe: a small gift given with a purchase to a customer by way of compliment or for good measure; bonus. Also defined as “a little something extra.”
Acknowledgments
I am eternally grateful to many people for their support and input on Plantation Shudders. Thanks to my awesome agent, Doug Grad, and to editorial director Matthew Martz and editorial assistant Nike Power, the wonders behind Crooked Lane Books. Without this trifecta of talent, there would be no Cajun Country Mysteries. A big thanks to Rick Copp and Connie Archer for their generosity. Linda Konner, I will forever owe you for your invaluable advice throughout my journey. Thanks to my beloved brothers, Tony and David Seideman, for their love and support. A big shout-out to my patient and gifted TV writing partner, Lissa Kapstrom. Lisa Q. Mathews, you are, and always will be, my mystery BFF. Thank you, Kelly Goode and Lisa Libatique, for putting up with my walk ’n talks—and you, too, Kim Rose! Nancy Adler, Laura Graff, and June Stoddard, my friendship with each of you inspires me every day. Karen Fried and Denise and Stacy Smithers—ditto! Thanks to my Louisiana crew for all their help—that’s you, Laurie and Walter Becker, Gaynell Bourgeois Moore, and Jan Gilbert. The same goes for my Texas crew, Pam and Jon Shaffer and Charlotte Waguespack Allen, who does double duty as my source for great anecdotes about her illustrious Louisiana family. Tulane University, you are not a person, but without you, I honestly don’t know if I ever would have become a writer.
And finally, words can’t express my gratitude to Mindy Schneider for including me when she decided to start a writers group with Kathy McCullough, Kate Schein, and Teri Wagener. I’m honored and blessed to be in the company of such talented women. Thank you.