On the Road Again with Merle

[jc57]

Nice to see Merle getting some shop time, after that nice vacation in the country! He's probably happy to be in the mix with the other hard working tools. Love the photo of that Shelby. Great looking cars. I have liked those ever since the first ones came out back in the 60s, when I was just a kid.

 

[SVTFreak]

Today was a good day, tater!

Merle and I went and rode out to the river today. The big muddy. The mighty Mississippi. Now, keep in mind this river is lined with levees from as far north as I’ve been, unless there is high land such as in Natchez, MS, along one side. The levees are 20-40ft tall and set off the river a bit to leave some room. When the river is low, that land is dry. Well, it isn’t underwater anyway. So stuff grows. So we can’t get too close to the river but I got the best shot I could.

Here’s a view down the levee to give an idea how it’s built and how big it is. I’m really not supposed to be up here. There are places people can, but they really don’t want folks on it. You can damage it with vehicles and it’s quite important that it isn’t. In the spring, when snow melts up north, the river will be well up these levees. You can stand on the road down there and be looking up at huge shops passing or docked. That’s a good lookin car down there!

Just to prove he was up here with me.

Near here is an old plantation home called Ashland Belle Helene. It was part of the Houmas plantation and as the family grew, they divided the land and handed it down to children. We could talk for days about the history of these, much of it tainted by the existence of slavery, but, here, the blend of history and culture brought in by the 2 different types of French, spanish and African culture result in a beautiful blend in many areas, including architecture, food and even construction.





A couple of the history plaques at the home. This particular home is now owned by shell chemical company and maintained in its restored state by them. They do not offer public tours but they do open it for their employees and company functions occasionally.

These homes where working offices. The people who lived here generally only did in the growing and harvest season of their crops. Mostly sugar cane in our area. They would spend their off seasons in New Orleans at homes generally in the French quarter. This mingling of French plantation owners with the heavy Spanish and African influence in NO resulted in what we now know as creole. I’ll tell more about Louisiana cuisine after Saturday sometime but a lot of this ties in later. The other French influence is the Cajuns. They didn’t come from France. They came from Acadia which is up north and east of Maine. They are the poor French. Lol. That is where my family heralds from.

 

[SVTFreak]

Around Ashland you can see some of our beautiful live oaks. I was once told that these trees only grow in land that is less than 100 ft above sea level. I do know they need LOTS of water. The ones around this home are about 200ish years old by my guess. They can live nearly 1000 years. They are also evergreens. They drop leaves year around. And that is a PAIN lol.

Moving on, we stopped at a swamp. Yep. A real live swamp like on swamp people. Although, I couldn’t get too close for 2 reasons. 1) the edge is grown over. And 2) alligators are a real thing. And they lurk along the edges and wait for prey to get a little too close. They propel themselves out of the water and grab their prey. I do not want to be alligator food today. Here’s a pic from the edge, trying to get up over the brush.

While out this way, thought I’d stop and take a pic of another Louisiana tree. The Cypress. These are evergreens also and very fragrant. The wood is nearly unrottable. Makes for great building but they are endangered now.

The roots of a cypress build up into “knees”. These rise up above the water level to get oxygen for the tree. You can cut them and they keep growing. And they are hard as woodpecker lips! And hurt when you hit your head on them. And tear up lawnmower blades lol. Beautiful trees but the knees are a pain. Here’s Merle kicked back on one that’s been cut down and starting to regrow.


While here I snagged a pic of these silos. No one knows when or why they where built. My dad (now 75) grew up in this area. He said they was there when he was a boy. He used to bushhog for the landowner here (the area is named after old man Geismar) and said they eheee here then and looked exactly like they do now.


After these stops, me and Merle was hungry. So, we popped into a place called griffin grill for a hamburger. Now, we don’t have any juicy Lucy’s or the like here. But this place has some history. The same family that owns it used to own a place called burger delight. It was in business 40 years before shutting down in 2010. Here it was right after it closed down. A real hole in the wall but the best burgers around.

The family had opened a second, griffin grill, and held to the same principles. Fresh ingredients bought every morning, seasoned properly and made to order. And, one of the only places you can get a true malt! I didn’t get a malt today though, just a burger, tots and a coke.

I forgot to get a pic, so google will have to work, not as interesting as the 1st location. Just a suite in a strip mall now. But dadgum yummy burgers!


That was it for our travels today. Off to work for the night. Saturday, I’m making a dish for my son for his birthday that includes some very Cajun ingredients and we will talk more about the food in south Louisiana. After that, I think it might be time to say bye to Merle and let him continue on his travels.

 

[SVTFreak]

I really wish I could figure out why the site turns some of my pics sideways.

 

[Rookie82]

Awesome tour of your area and food and activities. I love cajun and creole food, although I've never been down to that part of the country. I'm looking forward to the dish you make on Saturday.

 

[dogboye]

Today was a good day, tater!

Merle and I went and rode out to the river today. The big muddy. The mighty Mississippi. Now, keep in mind this river is lined with levees from as far north as I’ve been, unless there is high land such as in Natchez, MS, along one side. The levees are 20-40ft tall and set off the river a bit to leave some room. When the river is low, that land is dry. Well, it isn’t underwater anyway. So stuff grows. So we can’t get too close to the river but I got the best shot I could.
View attachment 1923800
Here’s a view down the levee to give an idea how it’s built and how big it is. I’m really not supposed to be up here. There are places people can, but they really don’t want folks on it. You can damage it with vehicles and it’s quite important that it isn’t. In the spring, when snow melts up north, the river will be well up these levees. You can stand on the road down there and be looking up at huge shops passing or docked. That’s a good lookin car down there!
View attachment 1923803
Just to prove he was up here with me.
View attachment 1923802
Near here is an old plantation home called Ashland Belle Helene. It was part of the Houmas plantation and as the family grew, they divided the land and handed it down to children. We could talk for days about the history of these, much of it tainted by the existence of slavery, but, here, the blend of history and culture brought in by the 2 different types of French, spanish and African culture result in a beautiful blend in many areas, including architecture, food and even construction.
View attachment 1923796
View attachment 1923797
View attachment 1923795
View attachment 1923798
View attachment 1923799
A couple of the history plaques at the home. This particular home is now owned by shell chemical company and maintained in its restored state by them. They do not offer public tours but they do open it for their employees and company functions occasionally.

These homes where working offices. The people who lived here generally only did in the growing and harvest season of their crops. Mostly sugar cane in our area. They would spend their off seasons in New Orleans at homes generally in the French quarter. This mingling of French plantation owners with the heavy Spanish and African influence in NO resulted in what we now know as creole. I’ll tell more about Louisiana cuisine after Saturday sometime but a lot of this ties in later. The other French influence is the Cajuns. They didn’t come from France. They came from Acadia which is up north and east of Maine. They are the poor French. Lol. That is where my family heralds from.

Awesome history!
I learned quite a bit about the Cajuns in, of all places, Halifax and Cape Breton, in Nova Scotia, Canada. Apparently the French Acadians settled in the north-eastern part of Nova Scotia, in Cape Breton, and in Louisiana.

 

[SVTFreak]

Awesome history!
I learned quite a bit about the Cajuns in, of all places, Halifax and Cape Breton, in Nova Scotia, Canada. Apparently the French Acadians settled in the north-eastern part of Nova Scotia, in Cape Breton, and in Louisiana.

This is exactly right! There are two lines of French who came into Louisiana. The first being the farmers and business, rich folk, who came in to build and farm plantations. Those settled in New Orleans and their land. The other group is the one you speak of. They came down from eastern Canada when persecution started there (I’m not up to date on that history so I’ll not say more lol). They settled the swamps east of New Orleans and lived a hard scrabble life living on the land. The New Orleans French led to a mix with Spanish and African influences to become creole. The others are the Cajun. The two cooking styles are very different also, sharing the influences of the areas the people came from. Creole use a lot of tomato based stuff. Cajun uses a lot of heavy gravies and generally cheaper and easier to obtain ingredients (think shellfish versus the more expensive fish). The third heavy food influence is from the slavery style. They where left with the cheap, undesired parts of the animals, for example, so that influence is here also. But, just like our skin color, lineage and build style, our cooking is no black or white but a big sea of grey with so many backgrounds.

Something I figured out when in Maine once. I always wondered why the Cajun style of building had really high peaked pitched roofs. There’s no snow here to keep off. Being as they came from Acadia, where snow was a problem, they building style carried over here. The side benefit is there was room upstairs. But there is neat things like that scattered all over our heritage and area. Shadows of so many other places, heritages, religions, etc sprinkled over our lives. But it’s also why family wars are started over weather tomato’s belong in a gumbo or not……

 

[Fodderwing]

SVTFreak
Great tour of your part of the country. I am enjoying it all my friend. We love your part of the south. Don't let a gator snatch ole Merle! Oh the irony ... to survive Meeko only to be consumed by a big lizard.

 

[SVTFreak]

Alright! Today is my middle boys 16th birthday celebration. He requested something that the kids have named “cajundillas”. It’s a wrap filled with boudin, smoked sausage, grilled peppers and onions and pepperjack cheese. Then grilled to melt it all together. Combined with a roumelade sauce that I make. Now, the dish itself ain’t really anything traditional. But the boudin hails from the poor folk, Cajun French and slavery backgrounds. We’ll get to that later.

I start by making the roumelade several hours early to let it marinate in itself. Merle cut up 3 cloves of garlic, a 1/4 of a small onion and some sun dried tomatoes. This sauce is found in New Orleans a lot due to its more traditional French and Spanish influence (notice the tomato additives?).

Now, I really like ole merle, not a mincing knife he is not lol!

Toss in a cup or so of mayo, a spoonful of tomato paste, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper to taste.

Mix it all up and put in the fridge to marry all them flavors! Merle scooped out a little for me to taste it.



More to come later on today. I’ll show y’all what boudin is!

 

[gentleman_edc]

It looks delicious. And I can almost hear an accent when reading about the food.

 

[SVTFreak]

Lol. Yeah I have a little accent but not bad. I have to play translator sometimes at work though.

Here’s why you don’t play too close to waters edge. 12 foot 750lb gator caught. They’re out there….

https://www.wbrz.com/news/gator-weighing-over-750-pounds-caught-on-lake-st-john-by-first-time-hunter?fbclid=IwAR30HszYBPdM_ndKObepIZ62ao0z-ipq0Mpjs0X-1pISSF6YKXKUu-St95I

 

[Jack Black]

This is exactly right! There are two lines of French who came into Louisiana. The first being the farmers and business, rich folk, who came in to build and farm plantations. Those settled in New Orleans and their land. The other group is the one you speak of. They came down from eastern Canada when persecution started there (I’m not up to date on that history so I’ll not say more lol). They settled the swamps east of New Orleans and lived a hard scrabble life living on the land. The New Orleans French led to a mix with Spanish and African influences to become creole. The others are the Cajun. The two cooking styles are very different also, sharing the influences of the areas the people came from. Creole use a lot of tomato based stuff. Cajun uses a lot of heavy gravies and generally cheaper and easier to obtain ingredients (think shellfish versus the more expensive fish). The third heavy food influence is from the slavery style. They where left with the cheap, undesired parts of the animals, for example, so that influence is here also. But, just like our skin color, lineage and build style, our cooking is no black or white but a big sea of grey with so many backgrounds.

Something I figured out when in Maine once. I always wondered why the Cajun style of building had really high peaked pitched roofs. There’s no snow here to keep off. Being as they came from Acadia, where snow was a problem, they building style carried over here. The side benefit is there was room upstairs. But there is neat things like that scattered all over our heritage and area. Shadows of so many other places, heritages, religions, etc sprinkled over our lives. But it’s also why family wars are started over weather tomato’s belong in a gumbo or not……

I thought that the Arcadians were forced off the lands they originally settled by the British, and taken by ship, where they were dumped in the swamps of Louisiana. I believe that during Mardi Gras there are still traditional forms of reenactment and remembrance of these terrible events?

 

[SVTFreak]

I thought that the Arcadians were forced off the lands they originally settled by the British, and taken by ship, where they were dumped in the swamps of Louisiana. I believe that during Mardi Gras there are still traditional forms of reenactment and remembrance of these terrible events?

Jack, British running them out may very well be the persecution they encountered up there. Again, I’m not real up to snuff on that history part, so, your knowledge is quite possibly correct.

Tonight is probably my last real time with Merle. I intend to ship him off to HEMI 49 Monday. So, I tried to feed him well.

I started with some boudin. It’s similar to sausage. Traditionally, it is made with the leftover parts of the pig. We used everyone but the oink, my grandpa said. Boudin used the organs and some of the less desirable parts, in the intestine casing along with onions, bell pepper, celery and spices. It also uses rice. It’s how poor people, who where not able to “live high on the hog” (meaning eat the better cuts that come, generally, from the upper parts). Then, it’s steamed. I prefer mine smoked, which gives it the darker color you see here. And, this is just pork shoulder boudin. And, it’s nice and spicy. Got a good kick. A friend of ours owns a local store and they make it in house. Regular and smoked. You don’t find the real deal stuff for general sale too often lol.

Merle slit the casings for me, and cut them in halves. He cut one up for me to make boudin balls for my wife. It’s exactly that, a ball of boudin breaded and fried. Some folks stuff them with pepper jack cheese. My wife has celiac so I make up a gluten free breading for her. She doesn’t get this too often.



Next, we grilled some smoked Cajun sausage and diced it up nice and small

While waiting on everyone to be ready to eat, I bartered and fried the boudin balls.

Fini!


Now we prep the cajundillas. Now, these aren’t something you find around here. It’s kind of a brainstorm me and my son has one night and, dadgum are they good.

We take a tortilla and use about 1/2 a link of boudin. Crumble and spread that. Then, sprinkle the diced sausage on and then top it with pepper jack cheese.


Grill that puppy up till it’s nice and golden and crispy on both sides. HAS to be a black iron skillet.

Once done, slap that baby on a cutting board and cut it however you want. My wife and kids like it in 1/2. I prefer it in 1/3 or overnight 1/4’s. Guess who did that job.

I can say, merle approves!

Here it is all prepped and on our finest 16th birthday paper china. lol. Add a big ole dallop of the roumelade we made earlier (dadgum that’s good after sitting in the fridge awhile) and a boudin ball, and let’s eat, cher!


I had all intentions of making some white beans to go with this today, but some other things that I won’t bore you with happened and, well, I just forgot. Instead of quesadillas and refried beans, we have cajundillas and white beans lol.

I hope y’all enjoyed the little tour of my area of south Louisiana and seeing some of the heritage of my area.

 

[Rookie82]

I hope y’all enjoyed the little tour of my area of south Louisiana and seeing some of the heritage of my area.

Thanks SVT. You are in an area of the country I've never had the opportunity to visit, but based on your descriptions of the food I feel like I would fit right in.

 

[bigfish64]

Great tour SVT, that meal looks delicious!

 

[Jack Black]

Jack, British running them out may very well be the persecution they encountered up there. Again, I’m not real up to snuff on that history part, so, your knowledge is quite possibly correct.

Tonight is probably my last real time with Merle. I intend to ship him off to HEMI 49 Monday. So, I tried to feed him well.

I started with some boudin. It’s similar to sausage. Traditionally, it is made with the leftover parts of the pig. We used everyone but the oink, my grandpa said. Boudin used the organs and some of the less desirable parts, in the intestine casing along with onions, bell pepper, celery and spices. It also uses rice. It’s how poor people, who where not able to “live high on the hog” (meaning eat the better cuts that come, generally, from the upper parts). Then, it’s steamed. I prefer mine smoked, which gives it the darker color you see here. And, this is just pork shoulder boudin. And, it’s nice and spicy. Got a good kick. A friend of ours owns a local store and they make it in house. Regular and smoked. You don’t find the real deal stuff for general sale too often lol.

Merle slit the casings for me, and cut them in halves. He cut one up for me to make boudin balls for my wife. It’s exactly that, a ball of boudin breaded and fried. Some folks stuff them with pepper jack cheese. My wife has celiac so I make up a gluten free breading for her. She doesn’t get this too often.
View attachment 1926907
View attachment 1926908
View attachment 1926909
Next, we grilled some smoked Cajun sausage and diced it up nice and small
View attachment 1926906
While waiting on everyone to be ready to eat, I bartered and fried the boudin balls.
View attachment 1926910
Fini!
View attachment 1926911

Now we prep the cajundillas. Now, these aren’t something you find around here. It’s kind of a brainstorm me and my son has one night and, dadgum are they good.

We take a tortilla and use about 1/2 a link of boudin. Crumble and spread that. Then, sprinkle the diced sausage on and then top it with pepper jack cheese.
View attachment 1926916

Grill that puppy up till it’s nice and golden and crispy on both sides. HAS to be a black iron skillet.
View attachment 1926913
Once done, slap that baby on a cutting board and cut it however you want. My wife and kids like it in 1/2. I prefer it in 1/3 or overnight 1/4’s. Guess who did that job.
View attachment 1926912
I can say, merle approves!

Here it is all prepped and on our finest 16th birthday paper china. lol. Add a big ole dallop of the roumelade we made earlier (dadgum that’s good after sitting in the fridge awhile) and a boudin ball, and let’s eat, cher!
View attachment 1926914

I had all intentions of making some white beans to go with this today, but some other things that I won’t bore you with happened and, well, I just forgot. Instead of quesadillas and refried beans, we have cajundillas and white beans lol.

I hope y’all enjoyed the little tour of my area of south Louisiana and seeing some of the heritage of my area.

What a feast! Merle is certainly having a great tour, I'm jealous!

A couple of links relating to the Acadians. Lots more info online for those interested

Acadia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Expulsion of the Acadians - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Jolipapa]

SVTFreak
That yummy looking boudin is called here an andouillette, of which it is said that to be good it has to smell shit a bit. Grilled and served with various sauces, the most frequent being à la moutarde.
If you ask for boudin here, you will get blood sausage instead. (or boudin blanc at Christmas time).
Your Dad was absolutely right. Everything is good and useful in the hog. Oink makes delicious fromage de tête.

I thought that the Arcadians were forced off the lands they originally settled by the British, and taken by ship, where they were dumped in the swamps of Louisiana. I believe that during Mardi Gras there are still traditional forms of reenactment and remembrance of these terrible events?

A great song by The Band... (amazingly, British Canadians)
There's a joke about Louisiana accent saying it is due to the tons of soap eaten at school to punish from speaking French. But that's just a tale of course...

 

[RLB0414]

Jack, British running them out may very well be the persecution they encountered up there. Again, I’m not real up to snuff on that history part, so, your knowledge is quite possibly correct.

Tonight is probably my last real time with Merle. I intend to ship him off to HEMI 49 Monday. So, I tried to feed him well.

I started with some boudin. It’s similar to sausage. Traditionally, it is made with the leftover parts of the pig. We used everyone but the oink, my grandpa said. Boudin used the organs and some of the less desirable parts, in the intestine casing along with onions, bell pepper, celery and spices. It also uses rice. It’s how poor people, who where not able to “live high on the hog” (meaning eat the better cuts that come, generally, from the upper parts). Then, it’s steamed. I prefer mine smoked, which gives it the darker color you see here. And, this is just pork shoulder boudin. And, it’s nice and spicy. Got a good kick. A friend of ours owns a local store and they make it in house. Regular and smoked. You don’t find the real deal stuff for general sale too often lol.

Merle slit the casings for me, and cut them in halves. He cut one up for me to make boudin balls for my wife. It’s exactly that, a ball of boudin breaded and fried. Some folks stuff them with pepper jack cheese. My wife has celiac so I make up a gluten free breading for her. She doesn’t get this too often.
View attachment 1926907
View attachment 1926908
View attachment 1926909
Next, we grilled some smoked Cajun sausage and diced it up nice and small
View attachment 1926906
While waiting on everyone to be ready to eat, I bartered and fried the boudin balls.
View attachment 1926910
Fini!
View attachment 1926911

Now we prep the cajundillas. Now, these aren’t something you find around here. It’s kind of a brainstorm me and my son has one night and, dadgum are they good.

We take a tortilla and use about 1/2 a link of boudin. Crumble and spread that. Then, sprinkle the diced sausage on and then top it with pepper jack cheese.
View attachment 1926916

Grill that puppy up till it’s nice and golden and crispy on both sides. HAS to be a black iron skillet.
View attachment 1926913
Once done, slap that baby on a cutting board and cut it however you want. My wife and kids like it in 1/2. I prefer it in 1/3 or overnight 1/4’s. Guess who did that job.
View attachment 1926912
I can say, merle approves!

Here it is all prepped and on our finest 16th birthday paper china. lol. Add a big ole dallop of the roumelade we made earlier (dadgum that’s good after sitting in the fridge awhile) and a boudin ball, and let’s eat, cher!
View attachment 1926914

I had all intentions of making some white beans to go with this today, but some other things that I won’t bore you with happened and, well, I just forgot. Instead of quesadillas and refried beans, we have cajundillas and white beans lol.

I hope y’all enjoyed the little tour of my area of south Louisiana and seeing some of the heritage of my area.

Thanks for the showing of great Cajun food and history.

 

[Horsewright]

Very interesting tour!

 

[Jack Black]

SVTFreak
That yummy looking boudin is called here an andouillette, of which it is said that to be good it has to smell shit a bit. Grilled and served with various sauces, the most frequent being à la moutarde.
If you ask for boudin here, you will get blood sausage instead. (or boudin blanc at Christmas time).
Your Dad was absolutely right. Everything is good and useful in the hog. Oink makes delicious fromage de tête.

As you know my friend, black 'Black Pudding' is very traditional in the north of England, but the best I ever had was in France

A great song by The Band... (amazingly, British Canadians)
There's a joke about Louisiana accent saying it is due to the tons of soap eaten at school to punish from speaking French. But that's just a tale of course...

EVERYBODY hates the British!