As I'm sure is the case with many of you, the stay home / socially distance and other COVID protections is old... I haven't spent this many consecutive days without at least 1 night away from home in my entire life. I am so ready for some return to normalcy, to be able to have friends over for dinner. But I have to tell you about what may be the best compliment to my cooking I've ever had that came earlier this week. I've mentioned before that one of my neighbors is a young medical student, far from home-- he's been my stand-in nephew.

Earlier this week I made meatball sandwiches with the hot dog buns left over from Jim's chile cheese dog spree the previous week, and I sent Alex a text asking if he wanted a late-night supper (not sure why we were eating late that night, but we were). He responded YES PLEASE so I had him bring a tray over and made a plate for him to take home. In about ten minutes he texted:  "If you had given me 2 meatball sandwiches and my best friend was here and hungry, this was so good I would eat 2 meatball sandwiches rather than giving one to him." Made my day...

Make sure you check out the minestrone recipe below. It's the best I've ever made, and worth the lengthy process on occasion. Enjoy the recipes below, 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

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November/December 2020 mailed; if you're a PAID subscriber and would like a link to the digital edition, email me.

Loaded Tater Tots

Of course you can buy frozen tater tots, but make your own as directed here and season them up with specialty seasonings. As pictured here, they're topped with traditional loaded baked potato ingredients; any kind of queso, or crawfish in cream sauce; crawfish étouffée; even your favorite chili.

Old Fashioned Shrimp Stew

We add smoked sausage to this classic recipe from the must-have cookbook Cajun Cuisine. It is simple to make, takes nominal prep time, and, once the roux is done, the cookin process is mainly hands-off.

Weekend Minestrone

This is the best minestrone I've ever had, but it's a process. As written, it's made in a pressure cooker, but can be made on the stovetop, it'll just take a lot longer. If you're not planning to serve a crowd, prepare it up to the point of adding the pasta and set some aside to freeze for later. Note if you refrigerated the finished minestrone overnight, the pasta will soak up most of the cooking liquid. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it will change the texture.