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Parkersburg woman enjoys cooking Cajun food

By Paul LaPann 10 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Louisiana native Bailey Tisdale enjoys cooking Cajun and southern food.

With the approach of Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, on Tuesday, Tisdale is busy preparing food for the traditional southern celebration.

Tisdale, 31, is from Albany, La., and attended Southeastern Louisiana University at Hammond. She is the wife of Caleb Tisdale, principal of Parkersburg Christian School. The Tisdales are the parents of three young children and live in Parkersburg.

Bailey Tisdale loves to return to her Louisiana roots through her cooking. She lived in Louisiana for 24 years before moving to Parkersburg in 2012.

"I love to cook and watch people eat my food!" she said. "It brings me great joy to bring happiness to others through my cooking."

Tisdale specializes in Cajun classics and enjoys a glass of southern sweet tea.

Her food is seasoned and has plenty of flavor.

Tisdale said get-togethers in Louisiana revolve around food. Most of those parties include a big pot of gumbo, boiled crawfish, rice and bread and lots of desserts, including banana pudding, pecan pie and pralines, she said.

Gumbo is a soup-like dish served over rice that starts with a homemade roux (flour and water stirred continuously for almost two hours until it reaches a chocolatey brown color), Tisdale said. Then add chicken broth, chicken, sausage, shrimp or crawfish.

Tisdale said a good gumbo must have "the trinity" in it. The trinity is celery, onions and bell peppers, which are chopped, minced, diced and sauteed. These three ingredients are added to almost every classic Cajun dish, she said.

"One of my favorite classic Louisiana desserts is bread pudding. I try it everywhere I go, always in search of the perfect one," Tisdale said.

One of the best bread puddings she found was in Huntington at Le Bistro restaurant, which also features several Cajun-style dishes. "The shrimp and grits is definitely worth the trip," she said

When her children are older, she hopes to own a restaurant and call it "The Little Cajun."

She has a catering business, Little Cajun, that provides food for family and friends. Tisdale said she sold out of food at last fall's Vintage and Handmade Market in Mineral Wells.

While growing up about 30 minutes from New Orleans and 20 minutes from Baton Rouge, Tisdale attended many Mardi Gras parades.

She said more than 80 Mardi Gras parades are being held in New Orleans and surrounding areas this year. The biggest parades are held on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.

The largest Mardi Gras parades are Krewe of Zulu and Krewe of Rex, Tisdale said. Parades begin in early January and occur throughout the first eight weeks of the year until Fat Tuesday, which is Tuesday this year, she said.

Tisdale listed the top five things you must do at Mardi Gras time:

* Attend a parade

* Catch as many plastic beads as you can even if you throw them away the next day

* Dress in purple, green and gold all month long (traditional Mardi Gras colors)

* Listen to "Mardi Gras music" ("Mardi Gras Mambo" by The Hawketts is a great choice.)

* Eat a King Cake, which she describes as a "sensory overload." This is a frosted seasonal treat that Mardi Gras partygoers eat between Jan. 6, known as King's Day, and Fat Tuesday, she said.

King Cake is a cinnamon roll type cake that can have various fillings, and is "so, so delicious," Tisdale said.

A plastic baby figurine is hidden inside each cake; whoever gets the baby has to buy the next King Cake.

Many places in Louisiana will ship a King Cake overnight to your door, Tisdale said.

As they say in Cajun French in Louisiana, Laissez les bons temps rouler. English translation: Let the good times roll.

Paul LaPann can be reached at plapann@newsandsentinel.com

***

Bailey Tisdale's recipes for some of her favorite dishes:

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

2 lbs leg quarters (1 package usually contains 3-4 leg quarters) or 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (bone in chicken recommended) cooked and lightly shredded or diced if using boneless breast

* My personal preference is to cook chicken in crockpot ahead of time and use "broth" from chicken as your base

6-8 cups chicken broth (use broth from your chicken)

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 sweet onions diced and pureed (food processor recommended)

2 bell peppers diced and pureed (food processor recommended)

1 cup celery diced and pureed (food processor recommended)

2 cloves garlic, minced

24 ounces sausage sliced and sauteed in olive oil

1 tsp thyme, dried

1 tsp basil, dried

1 tsp parsley, dried

1 tsp cayenne pepper or chili pepper (use less for lower spiciness)

2 tbsp Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp Tabasco (hot) sauce

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp kitchen bouquet

2 cups cooked rice

Crackers for serving

A Cajun roux starts out in a large cast iron pot over medium heat (cast iron pot heavily recommended but not required; a large soup pot will do). You will need patience and time for this roux, but it is the base of your gumbo and the most important part. Add in your oil first for just a few minutes to get warm, then add in flour.

With a long-handled wooden spoon, begin to stir. Constant stirring and moving the flour around the bottom of the pot is the key to browning the flour evenly to prevent burning. This early stage will go slowly as you begin to see the white flour take on a beige and then a tan color.

Continue stirring slowly and evenly, scraping the bottom and the circular crevices of the pot to move the flour around in the hot oil.

At about the half-hour mark, you will begin to see a brown color developing and smell the first hints of toasted flour. This is where the stirring becomes even more crucial.

Constant stirring to keep the flour from staying in one place too long prevents burning; once your roux darkens to the shade of a penny or chocolate syrup color you can pour in your broth and stir, stir, stir.

While you are stirring roux, in a separate skillet you can combine all vegetables, sausage and seasonings (onions, peppers, celery, garlic, thyme, basil, parsley, cayenne pepper, Tony's, pepper, salt, hot sauce) and let those cook down on low.

Once your roux is done and you have added in broth, stir in veggie mixture and let cook about 15-20 minutes on low, stirring occasionally.

Add in Worcestershire sauce, kitchen bouquet and chicken and let simmer on low for another 15-20 minutes and gumbo should be done.

I find that gumbo tastes better when it has had time to "sit." I typically make mine 2-3 hours before I want to eat or even the day before. It freezes great as well. Serve over rice, with crackers and enjoy.

***

Shrimp & Grits

For the shrimp:

2 lbs shrimp peeled and deveined

1 packet of McCormick Garlic, Herb & Wine Marinade

1 stick salted butter

1 tbsp fresh parsley (or dried)

2 tbsp of Worcestershire

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 tbsp minced garlic

1-2 tsp Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

For the grits:

1 cup stone ground grits

4 cups water

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1. Mix all shrimp ingredients except for butter in a bowl or large Tupperware dish and let shrimp marinate overnight if possible or at least 1 hour.

2. Boil 4 cups water, add grits and cook until water is absorbed about 20-25 minutes. Once done, mix in butter and cheese.

3. While grits are cooking, melt 1 stick of butter in skillet, add in shrimp and marinade mixture and saute on low, stirring occasionally until shrimp are done.

4. Serve shrimp over grits; you may also pour any extra sauce mixture from the shrimp over your grits for some extra flavor. Toasted French bread goes great with this.

***

Pastalaya

(like jambalaya, but with noodles) Serves 10-15 and refrigerates great for leftovers.

2 lbs bow tie pasta

1 lb smoked sausage (sliced thin or quartered)

2-3 lbs chicken breast shredded (I prefer to use bone-in chicken and slow cook in crockpot)

6 1/2 cups of chicken broth

one-half cup Worcestershire sauce

1 can golden mushroom soup

1 can cream of celery

2 bell peppers (minced)

1 medium/large size sweet onion (minced)

Cajun seasoning, parsley, salt, pepper, Tabasco sauce and cayenne powder to taste

* for this recipe I prefer a cast iron pot or Dutch oven, but any large pot will do

1. Drizzle olive oil into pot and bring to a light simmer, add in minced vegetables and let saute about 10 minutes, then add in your sausage and let simmer another 10-15 min.

2. Add in canned goods and let cook an additional 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add in your shredded chicken and season to your liking

4. Add in broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a slight boil

5. Once liquid has been brought to a slight boil you can pour in pasta, turn down heat to a low simmer and give everything a good stir and make sure your liquid level is slightly above your pasta noodles. Put on lid and do not take off until about 25-30 minutes.

6. Once the timer goes off check pasta to ensure it is fully cooked; if it is almost done just turn off heat and put the lid on; it will continue to cook until perfection in the pot. I find this dish tastes best if it has 30 minutes or so to "sit" before serving.

***

Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding with salted caramel sauce

1 1/2 French baguette loaves (5-6 cups bread cubed)

8 tablespoons salted butter melted

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

4 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoon vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

2-3 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Butter 13×9 baking dish. Place cubed bread in a large bowl and pour 8 tablespoons melted butter over bread to toss and coat. Add chocolate chips and toss to combine, transfer mixture to buttered baking dish.

3. Whisk heavy cream, 1 cup sugar, eggs, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and salt in large bowl to blend. Pour over bread cubes and let stand 30 minutes-1 hour, occasionally pressing bread cubes into liquid. Sprinkle brown sugar over the top of pudding and bake until golden brown, about 1 hour. Serve warm with salted caramel sauce drizzled on top or chocolate syrup or both.

Salted Caramel Sauce -- makes about 1 1/2 cups caramel sauce

one-fourth cup water

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup heavy cream

3 tablespoons salted butter cut into tablesoon size pieces

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt or to taste

1. Use a heavy bottomed saucepan, heat the water and sugar over medium heat. Make sure to use a saucepan that's a little bigger than what you think you will need. Do not stir or touch sugar/water mixture.

2. Keep close eye on mixture; once it comes to a boil it will turn an amber color; this could take from 4-12 minutes.

3. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the heavy cream. The mixture will bubble up quite a bit, so make sure to do this carefully. Then, mix in the butter, vanilla, and salt one at a time.

4. Pour the caramel sauce into a dish and allow to cool completely, then cover tightly and store in the refrigerator. The caramel sauce will thicken up some once it's cooled and refrigerated.

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