Meet Luke!

I am Luke Deville and I am from the metropolis of Ville Platte, Louisiana.  We have a whopping 10,000 people that live "in" the Ville Platte area.  We are a small Cajun town, with strong family ties and we all love to cook.  Cajuns cook, that's what we do.  When we get together we usually have ten times the amount of food than we actually need.  I really don't know why other than we like to cook and eat!  My family loves to cook and we cook often.  That is what drives me to cook like I do.

I learned how to cook by watching my mom, dad and grandparents.  I remember always being in the kitchen watching them.  After my mom and dad let me stir the pot a few times, I began to catch on to this cooking thing.  There were times when I would walk into the kitchen at my
grandparent's house on Sundays and my grandparents would be talking in English, then all of a sudden they would start talking in French.  I guess they did not want me to hear what they were talking about.  In time, I began to catch on to what they were saying and they would often be talking about us kids.  Anyway, they showed me the basics on how to make a "sauce".  I loved eating my grandparent's meatball fricassee, and after 100 times of eating it I began to fall in love with it, and I love to cook it.  My Grandpa Teet (Teet is short for petite in French, especially Cajun French where we cut words short) loves to cook and really loves to eat.  He was a cook in the Army during WWII and I'll bet the guys liked it when he was at the stove!  I know that my family's love for food stems from my Grandpa Teet's store that he and my Grandma Ruby opened in the 50's here in Ville Platte.  I can go on and on about the different things that makes me cook the way I do, but I'm running out of space!

A lil Cajun Fricassee a la Teet

I had a tough time choosing which dish to prepare for this challenge.  I was stuck on cooking a smoked ponce, wildlife, and this magnificent fricassee.  I stuck with my gut on this one, so here is my version of my Grandpa Teet's fricassee.

You will need the following:

6 meatballs

3 pork backbone chops

2 chicken leg quarters, separated at the joints

2 diced potatoes

3 quarts of water

1 jar of Kary's Roux

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium bell pepper, chopped

3 cups of diced green onions (1 cup will be used in meatballs)

2 cups of diced parsley (1 cup will be used in meatballs)

For meatballs:

1/2 pound of ground pork

1/2 pound of ground beef

1 cup of diced bell pepper

1 cup of diced onion

1 cup of diced green onion

1/2 cup of diced parsley

1 Tablespoon of red pepper

1 Tablespoon of black pepper

1 Tablespoon of paprika

1 Tablespoon of salt

Spread ground meat onto wax paper, mix in seasoning and greens well.  Then ball up into meatballs.  You can even coat the meatballs with flour to ensure they hold together and to add thickness to your fricassee.

Season your pork backbone and chicken leg quarters the same way, or use your favorite Cajun Seasoning.

For the fricassee:

Place water into a pot and bring to boil.  Once boiling, add 5 tablespoons of Kary's Roux and remove pot from burner so that the roux will not boil over.  Stir well, lower heat to medium and place pot back onto burner.  Do NOT let the roux boil over, you will have a mess.  Just keep stirring until roux is dissolved.

Once dissolved add diced onions, diced bell pepper, meatballs and backbone.  Let it cook on a low boil for 35-45 minutes.  Start cooking the amount of rice you desire, I usually cook 3 cups for 4-5 people.  After 45 minutes, add chicken leg quarters and chopped potatoes, and cook for another 25-30 until chicken is cooked.  Once chicken is cooked, throw in the rest of your parsley and green onions and let it simmer for 10 minutes.

Cooking a fricassee is simple, let it roll, just don't let it roll over the pot!  You are in for a tasty meal.  One of my all time favorites.  If you have any questions let me know!

Check out some of my other dishes on our blog.  They all have some kind of Cajun twist, or you can go to www.teetsfoodstore.com and find a few more recipes that we use down here in Ville Platte, LA!

Bon appetit.