Mardi Gras parades begin in earnest here in my New Orleans neighborhood tomorrow night; I have to plan my grocery shopping expeditions carefully so I don't find myself on the wrong side of a parade and get stuck for hours. Same holds true for all over the state; if you're visiting, make sure you take time to examine the parade routes and plan your excursions so that you can easily get back to your hotel after a long night of parade-watching. 

This week's recipes are heavy on the seafood, but they're all quite different. The Sicilian spicy pasta with shrimp utilizes every bit of the crustacean, the snapper with lemon-butter shrimp has a deliciously rich sauce that begs for rice or bread to soak it up, and the blackened fish over a bright citrus/baby lettuce salad is perfect for a light meal. Do take time to try the rosemary-brined chicken, even if you bake it rather than fry it! Enjoy the recipes, stay safe and healthy, and, as always, let me know what's on your mind. 

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

Susan Ford, Publisher and Editorial Director
Louisiana Kitchen & Culture

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Snapper with Lemon Butter Shrimp

From the talented private chef Kevin Temple's cookbook Southern Creole, this easy recipe will go into regular rotation once you make it. The recipe specifies snapper, but he says feel free to use another fish if that's what you have available. It's going to make a delicious sauce, so plan to serve it over rice or pasta.

Blackened Fish Citrus Salad

This recipe, from Seriously Good Salads, is another easy recipe, fast enough for a weeknight but a show-stopper for a dinner party. Use any firm mild fish that's fresh in your local market.

Spicy Pasta with Shrimp

This is pure Sicilian, from the cookbook Seafood alla Siciliana. As is true in all peasant food, no part of the animal is discarded; here the heads are cooked and ground to make the base for a sauce. End result: A very flavorful dish of pasta.