Happy Mardi Gras! The big parking lots all around me are full of floats waiting to be staged and it'll be buzzing around here until Wednesday morning. We live in "the box" between St. Charles, where most of the parades roll, and Tchoupitoulis, where floats are moved uptown to stage for parades, so I have to be careful about getting in the car on parade days. I'm going to get my grocery shopping done early tomorrow so that I don't have to schedule everything around not being able to get home; we'll get a break Saturday night while Endymion rolls in mid-city, but non-stop otherwise until Wednesday morning. Exciting!

For the recipes this week, I've chosen a shrimp stew from Cajun Cuisine, the bible of Cajun cooking and a perennial favorite. Next, as a nod to Mardi Gras, a King cake-- I plan to bake one Saturday morning before we head out to the parades. And finally, a ridiculously simple, ridiculously delicious, black bean soup recipe I concocted from pantry staples last month when I was suffering from dental work. It's now in regular rotation, and I'm sure I'll tweak it as time goes by.

Enjoy the recipes, stay safe and healthy, and, as always, let me know what's on your mind. 

Best regards,

Susan Ford, Publisher and Editorial Director

Louisiana Kitchen & Culture

Last week's recipes:

• Shrimp Scampi with Cruncy Breadcrumbs

• Chicken and Dumplings

• Garlicky Chicken and Rice

Old Fashioned Shrimp Stew

This recipe is from Cajun Cuisine, considered the bible of Cajun cooking by many here in Louisiana. Bonus: It's really easy! Serve over hot cooked rice and garnish with green onions.

Mardi Gras King Cake

Even though you can pick up a good king cake in every grocery store in Louisiana right now, I still like to make one myself every year. This year it's going to be Saturday morning; we have friends riding in Tucks and a crowd of us are getting together to go watch the parde. This will be a good way to start the day.

Spicy Black Bean Soup

This is ridiculously easy and ridiculously good. I concocted it a few weeks ago after having some dental work done that left me eating only soft food for a few days, out of ingredients that I had on hand in the pantry, and it's now in regular rotation, particularly on a night when we're having tacos. This can also be kept warm in a crock pot for hours, handy if you've got hungry people in and out between Mardi Gras parades.