HOLY THURSDAY LAMB
Antonia G. Marigny

This recipe came about from the reading of the Holy Thursday Mass (Book of Exodus). In the reading lamb was served with salad, bitter herbs and unleavened bread. Each Holy Thursday at St. Augustine Catholic Church we’d have a Seder Supper after the Holy Thursday Mass. I would cook the lamb, the parishioners made the salad and Father LeDoux made the unleavened bread. The parishioners all gathered in the church hall, prayed before the meal and then enjoyed a wonderful lamb dinner together. -Antonia Marigny

Ingredients:
3 lb lamb (New Zealand lamb)
4 cloves of garlic
Garlic power (to taste)
Creole seasoning (to taste)
2 tablespoons of flour
1 Large oven bag

Instructions:
Thoroughly wash lamb
Stuff lamb with garlic cloves
Sprinkle garlic power and Creole seasoning on lamb
Place flour in oven bag and shake
Place lamb in oven bag with flour and close
Cook for an hour and a half
After the lamb is cooked, allow to cool

Yield: 15 servings.

Nutritional Insight: Lamb is an excellent source of protein, iron, zinc and B vitamins. Lamb helps to prevent anemia and is the least likely of farm animals to be contaminated with \antibiotic residues. Garlic has been called a miracle food. It has been understood to reduce blood pressure and cholesterol, improve circulation and aid in digestion. It is considered a natural antibiotic and has been utilized for infections and can destroy free radicals, thereby potentially preventing cancers.

BELL PEPPER CASSEROLE
Dorothy Johnson

My family lived in Tremé since the time of slavery. In the thirties the pay was five to ten cents a job. It was hard times. When the price of bell peppers went up to two or three for a dollar, I wasn’t able to supply everybody with their own bell pepper, that’s how I began to make this casserole with little pieces of bell pepper. This is my dish for holidays and anytime I need to bring a dish. I made 400 of these for my son’s wedding. I woke up four in the morning and just kept going. -Dorothy Johnson

Ingredients:
2lbs. of Ground Meat
1lb. of diced Season Ham
1 lb of Shrimp cut in halves
3 cups Bread Crumbs
2 Eggs
1 Stick of Butter
3 Bell Peppers
1 chopped onion (medium)
½ chopped bell pepper
1 tsp of Season-All
A dash of salt
* Smoke Sausage could be added if desired.

Instructions:
Place ground meat in a medium size bowl
Beat eggs and pour into bowl with ground meat
Add Season-All
Add (diced) ham or smoked sausage or both
Fry chopped onion with butter in skillet until brown (add to bowl)
Add raw shrimp (de-veined and cut in half) to bowl
stir chopped bell pepper into stuffing mix
Place strips of bell peppers on bottom of pan until (2 quart) aluminum pan is covered
Pour stuffing mix from bowl over the peppers, covering them
Gradually add water to breadcrumbs until they loosen
Sprinkle bread crumbs over stiffing mix
Place thin slices of butter on top of bread crumbs
Place pan in oven at 350 degrees for about one and a half hours

Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Insight: Bell peppers are very rich in Vitamin C and are an important source of Vitamin A. They are protective against age-related macular degeneration; enhance night vision, beneficial for the skin, and protective against heart and circulatory disease. Butter, egg and beef substitutes can improve the nutritional quality of this dish.

EGGPLANT FARCI
Leah Lange Chase

When Leah Lange was growing up in a Creole of Color family across Lake Ponchartrain during the Depression, they created lovely meals out of what they could pick form her father’s garden. In her childhood, Eggplant Farci was always made with ham and shrimp. It was only after she moved to New Orleans that she substituted the crabmeat for the ham to create a milder dish for the more sophisticated taste buds of her clients at Dooky Chase.

Ingredients:
2 medium eggplants
1/4 lb. butter
1 lb. shrimp (peeled, de-veined and chopped)
1 cup chopped onions
1 tbsp. chopped garlic
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
1 tbsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 lb. white crab meat
1/2 tsp. whole thyme leaves
1 1/2 cups seasoned bread crumbs

Instructions:
Cut eggplants in half.
With a tablespoon, scoop out the insides carefully, leaving about 1/4-inch-thick shells
Cut eggplant meat into small cubes and soak in cold, salted water for 20 to 30 minutes.
Soak shells in separate pan of water
Drain water off eggplant cubes
In a deep pot, melt the butter and add eggplant cubes, shrimp, and onions. Cover and cook over medium heat for 40 minutes.
Remove cover and add garlic, parsley salt, and cayenne. Stir well.
*Shrimp and eggplants give off quite a bit of water. Cook long enough to reduce
as much of the juices as possible.
Add well-picked crab meat and cook for 10 minutes longer to blend in crab meat.
Remove from heat and add bread crumbs; mix well.
Stuff well-drained shells with eggplant mixture.
Place in baking pan and sprinkle with more bread crumbs.
Dot the tops with butter. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings.

Nutritional Insight: Eggplant is very effective at inhibiting the rise of blood cholesterol, thereby helping to prevent atherosclerosis. Eggplant also enhances immunity. However, eggplant is a nightshade vegetable and should be avoided with rheumatoid arthritis. Shellfish is considered a “superfood” because of its many good properties. A butter substitute can improve the nutritional quality of this dish.