P90X Day 2: Mardi Gras Dinner Party! (And A Secret Baby)

What better way to combat P90X than Mardi Gras? Wait. Should I have said that the other way around? Nah. P90x Pylometrics. The mother of all P90X workouts. Done and Done. Leggies!

So, I invited Beebe over for a Mardi Gras feast, complete with Jambalaya and 2, yes 2, different desserts.

First, a little Boudreaux's Zydeco Stomp Jambalaya.

Now, let me explain the name. Boudreaux in Louisiana means Buddy. Like Hey Boudreaux instead of Hey Buddy! (Tell THAT one to Pauly D!)

Pronounced: Boodrow. Wassup Boodrow?
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Then, Zydeco is a type of Louisiana music. So get your Songza out, and check out today's special: New Orleans Jazz. Heck yeah, I love me some dinner music!

Then, the meal. Got this from allrecipes.com Yields about 10 servings.
Nutritional Information:
Amount Per Serving Calories: 419 | Total Fat: 28.7g | Cholesterol: 99mg

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - chopped
1/2 pound pork sausage links, thinly sliced
1 cup olive oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons minced garlic
3 quarts chicken broth
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer
6 stalks celery, diced
4 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 sweet onion, sliced
1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, with liquid
2 tablespoons chopped fresh red chile peppers
1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup Cajun seasoning
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat, and cook chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear. Stir in sausage, and cook until evenly browned. Drain chicken and sausage, and set aside.

In a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, blend olive oil and flour to create a roux. Stir constantly until browned and bubbly. Mix in garlic, and cook about 1 minute.

Gradually stir chicken broth and beer into the roux mixture. Bring to a boil, and mix in celery, tomatoes, sweet onion, diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, red chile peppers, parsley, and Cajun seasoning. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 40 minutes, stirring often.
Mix chicken, sausage, and shrimp into the broth mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes.

*I served it over Long Grain Brown Rice.

After this, I cooked up a New Orleans special: King Cake! Also, from All Recipes.com

To give you some background on why this cake is awesome:
(From Mardigrasneworleans.com)
"As part of our Christian faith, the coming of the wise men bearing gifts to the Christ Child is celebrated twelve days after Christmas. We refer to this as the Feast of the Epiphany or Little Christmas on the Twelfth Night. This is a time of celebration, exchanging gifts and feasting. Today, the tradition continues as people all over the world gather for festive Twelfth Night celebrations. A popular custom was and still is the baking of a special cake in honor of the three kings called "A King's Cake."

Inside every cake is a tiny baby (generally plastic now, but sometimes this baby might be made of porcelain or even gold). The tradition of having King Cake Parties has evolved through time, and the person who receives the slice of cake with the baby is asked to continue the festivities by hosting the next King Cake party.

Originally, King Cakes were a simple ring of dough with a small amount of decoration. Today's King Cakes are much more festive. After the rich Danish dough is braided and baked, the "baby" is inserted. The top of the ring or oval cake is then covered with delicious sugar toppings in the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold.

In more recent years, some bakeries have been creative with stuffing and topping their cakes with different flavors of cream cheese and fruit fillings."

Ingredients

PASTRY:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter
2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

FILLING:
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup melted butter

FROSTING:
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon water

Directions

Scald milk, remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of butter. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in the warm water with 1 tablespoon of the white sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
When yeast mixture is bubbling, add the cooled milk mixture. Whisk in the eggs. Stir in the remaining white sugar, salt and nutmeg. Beat the flour into the milk/egg mixture 1 cup at a time. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours. When risen, punch down and divide dough in half.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease 2 cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
To Make Filling: Combine the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, chopped pecans, 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup raisins. Pour 1/2 cup melted butter over the cinnamon mixture and mix until crumbly.
Roll dough halves out into large rectangles (approximately 10x16 inches or so). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough and roll up each half tightly like a jelly roll, beginning at the wide side. Bring the ends of each roll together to form 2 oval shaped rings. Place each ring on a prepared cookie sheet. With scissors make cuts 1/3 of the way through the rings at 1 inch intervals. Let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Push the doll into the bottom of the cake. Frost while warm with the confectioners' sugar blended with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 418 | Total Fat: 13.4g | Cholesterol: 51mg

Finally, because I was petrified to work with yeast, I was prepared to use a very simple no-fail recipe from Martha Stewart for Bananas Foster, another Louisiana inspired dish. I would Meyers Dark Rum, which brings back fond memories of Bourbon Street and Pat's Hurricanes. I'm going to attach it even though I haven't made it yet, because it's so simple and gives a nice easy option to put a Wow Factor in your dinner party. Cheers!

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
4 firm ripe bananas, peeled and halved lengthwise
1/4 cup dark rum
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions

Melt butter with sugar in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Cook, swirling skillet occasionally, until color deepens, about 3 minutes. Add bananas, cut sides down. Cook, swirling occasionally to make sure bananas are coated, 3 1/2 minutes. Flip bananas, and cook 2 1/2 minutes more.
Remove skillet from heat. Add rum. Return to medium heat, and cook about 10 seconds to allow rum to heat up. If using a gas stove, carefully tip the pan away from you until the vapors from the rum ignite. (Alternatively, light the rum with a long match.) When the flames subside, remove pan from heat. Serve bananas topped with vanilla ice cream.