Cajun Cooking and Louisiana Comfort Food

Down home Southern cooking consists of a truly unique blend of French- Canadian, African, English and Native American prepared dishes.

No stranger to Southern comfort food, Louisiana is known for its Cajun cooking, where everything from Crawfish Etouffee to Seafood Gumbo, Jambalaya and Red Beans and Rice are often enjoyed.

Beryl Stokes is the chief cook and bottle washer of Cajun Cooking TV, and is no stranger to the fine art of preparing delicious Cajun food.

A native of South Louisiana, Beryl created the Cajun Cooking TV website after numerous requests were made for her down home southern comfort food and traditional Cajun recipes from followers worldwide.

On the Cajun Cooking TV website, Beryl shares with you the techniques used to create her mouth-watering recipes through step-by-step videos, photos and article how-tos.

From crawfish pie and how to cook snow crab legs to turnip greens and crock-pot pot roast to grilled pork tenderloin and a made-from-scratch, pecan pie, you’ll discover what true Cajun cooking and down home southern comfort food is all about.

Cajun Cooking TV also showcases tips and videos on grilling, for getting the best flavor possible from your meats. No matter what kind of southern cooking you may be craving, you’re sure to find it on Cajun Cooking TV. Continue reading “Cajun Cooking” →

Grilled Chicken Pizza

This tasty grilled chicken pizza is a little more involved than some, but the few extra steps are well worth the end result – a tangy chicken delight, browned and bubbling! The quantities below make plenty for one large pizza – double the recipes to make enough for 2-3 pizzas.

Pizza lovers of all age are going to enjoy this but feel free to dial back the heat in the sauce if your kids don’t like it – of course the beauty of homemade pizza is in tailoring it to the ingredients you like and have on hand. The approach of this recipe is to use a chunky style sauce with a lot of rich, zingy flavors topped with juicy pieces of brined chicken.

Grilled Chicken Pizza Ingredients

Pizza dough or ready-made bases
1 chicken breast or 3 thighs
1 cup of grated Mozzarella cheese

For the brine:

1 lime
Salt
Water
2 tsp Garlic powder

For the sauce:

1 large tomato, diced
1 tsp tomato concentrate
½ small onion, diced very fine
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp paprika
Pinch each of salt and pepper
½ red pepper, diced fine
2-3 slices smoky bacon, diced fine

Grilled Chicken Pizza Prep and Cooking Directions

Zest the lime, then squeeze the juice into a measuring jug. Top up the juice with water to the ½ cup mark.

Add 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar and stir to dissolve.

Add the garlic powder, lime zest, brine and chicken to a small bowl, stir well and place in the refrigerator for at least one hour. This is even better if made the day before and left to sit overnight.

Remove the chicken from the brine and drain well.

Cook the chicken over a grill or in a griddle pan – no need to cook through, the chicken will finish cooking on the pizza. We just want some browning and grill marks for taste and appearance.

Slice the chicken pieces the opposite direction to the grill marks.
To make the sauce, sit the diced tomato in a sieve over a bowl and sprinkle with a pinch of salt. This will draw some of the liquid out of the tomato, making a thicker sauce.

Heat a saucepan, and add the onion, garlic, bacon and red pepper. Sauté until the onions soften, and then add the other ingredients. Simmer for 5 minutes and set aside.

If you have one, preheat a pizza stone in your oven, as hot as it will go. Oil a pizza tray and add your base. Drizzle oil over the base, about 2 tsp. This will prevent soggy base syndrome and help brown up the crust.

Scatter the tomato sauce mixture over the base. Aim for a sparse layer, not too thick and with a couple of gaps to let the base breathe.

Next, scatter over half a cup of the cheese.

Follow with the grilled chicken pieces and another sprinkle of cheese.

Cook until the top is browned and bubbling, 7-10 minutes in a hot oven.

Serve with wedges of lime to squeeze over the chicken.