cauliflower soup

My Favorite Fall Recipes

I’m excited to share some of my favorite fall recipes with you. Southeast Louisiana does not enjoy the four seasons as do many other parts of the country. We are accustomed to 1 1/2 – 2 seasons with prolonged, hot, and humid summers and short, cold, and damp bone chilling winters. Spring and fall are […]

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burger recipe

My Favorite Fourth of July Recipes

The temperatures are soaring and it is sizzling hot. I’m sharing my favorite Fourth of July recipes. What do you think of cooking at this time of the year to spice up your Fourth of July? I certainly do not want to turn on the oven or heat up the kitchen. Here are some of […]

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low alcohol cocktails

“L’apero,” Aperitifs, an Old New Cocktail Experience

Happy hour in France and in other countries in Europe is a tradition that is a time honored ritual. Affectionately called “l’apero,” it is a shortened term for aperitifs, or as we know it, happy hour. L’apero is a sacred time of the day. It is a time to gather with friends as the sunlight […]

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essential spices

Spice up your Life: My Essential Herbs and Spices

If you clean out and reorganize your spice rack as intermittently as I do, it can be like taking a trip back in time and around the world. Sorting through my spice collection triggered my imagination evoking memories of bustling and exotic markets and unforgettable meals. I discovered smoked paprika from La Boqueria Market in […]

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Best of Sur le Plat 2019

Best of Sur le Plat 2019

Happy new year to all of the Sur le Plat fans that have faithfully followed me and let me know your favorite recipes this past year! These top ten recipes from 2019 reflect what you wanted to cook and share. For me personally these recipes recall memories of sultry nights in New Orleans, Florida beach […]

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bloody mary

Celebrate the New Year with these Recipes

It’s the close of the first year, 2019, for Sur le Plat and time to review our favorite recipes. It’s also the beginning of a new year and a new decade with promises for fresh starts and more inventive seasonal cuisine. Here’s an overview of my favorite recipes to help you create a traditional New […]

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Culinary Reminiscences: Family Food Memories and Holiday Traditions

Culinary Reminiscences: Family Food Memories and Holiday Traditions

I just finished reading “Potlikker Papers, A Food History of the Modern South” by John Edge. I have spent many years exploring my own personal food history and that of my family’s and the region we live in. Our history is chronicled through the food that we grow, cook and eat. The narrative is shaped […]

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sur le plat blog

Turn off the stove!

Summertime in south Louisiana means porch sitting, floating down cool, lazy, Louisiana rivers, and inventing every possible way to avoid turning on the stove or the oven and heating up the kitchen. Sometimes I feel too hot to cook, but eating is always an option especially when you have access to summer produce. As the […]

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scone baking

In the Sur Le Plat Kitchen: Making Scones, fruit cobbler and lemon curd

The inaugural Sur Le Plat scone making class was a tremendous success! We began the class with a tasting of fresh blueberry scones with lemon curd. I also made some lavender lemonade to keep us cool on this hot summer day and accompany our sweet and savory creations. Twelve cooking enthusiasts joined me in the […]

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cookbooks

How many cookbooks is enough?

Do I have to answer that question? One hundred and five, yes, 105 cookbooks, give or take a few that have been borrowed and are out on permanent or temporary leave, fill the shelves in my humble kitchen. But there is always room for one more. It fills me with great happiness to acquire or […]

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salad nicoise

Salade Composée

A composed salad. That is the literal interpretation of salade composée. Each food is placed with care and with thought on the plate. A salade composée gives you artistic license to assemble beautiful little tastes and samplings of complimentary foods on one plate, or individual plates, with attention to their taste, texture, and color. In […]

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pipian verde

Buen Provecho! San Miguel De Allende

Gastronomy: the connection between food and culture and the cooking style that reflects an area. The regional and authentic food of Mexico was recognized in 2010 along with traditional French cuisine and Spanish flamenco by UNESCO for its deep cultural roots and diversity. Looking to escape the Mardi Gras madness in New Orleans in early […]

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