🌹Mother's Day Recipe Videos - 84 & Still Cooking 💖

I owe it all to Mom, at least where I get my cooking chops (and any good sense I have.) Just check out our cooking videos below to see what I mean.

She grew up in Texas on the Gulf Coast, in a small shrimping and fishing town called Port O'Connor. There, I learned to love seafood.

Her father was a shrimp boat captain. So, while we couldn't afford steak, we had all the fresh caught seafood Big Daddy would skim off the top of the catch. Shrimp season was short, but crab and oyster season soon followed. And you could always cast a line into the warm Gulf waters for bountiful fishing.

Big Daddy & Big Mama

The following recipe comes from her parent's kitchen, Shrimp and Rice. It uses locally caught shrimp, cheap canned tomato paste and rice. We always had creamy pinto beans, and flour tortillas to scoop up all the deliciousness. Our family seldom had steak as it was too expensive, but we had all the Gulf seafood we could eat. Looking back I didn't realize how good we had it !

Mom's Shrimp & Rice - VIDEO

 

Mom had movie star looks (like a young Elizabeth Taylor) and smarts, and a scholarship to college if she wanted it, but had no encouragement from her parents.

So after high school graduation, she was soon married and I arrived on the scene, followed by my brother and sister.

Billy, Berry and Brenda

My Dad was in the military so we moved around. Mom and us kids eventually settled back in Port O'Connor, after a divorce. Dad was quite a character and the life of the party, but he was also a little too profligate in the alcohol consumption department.

Billy Doyle Robinson

Mom went back to work as a waitress, so I learned how to literally pinch pennies when she poured handfuls of customer tips on the kitchen table for us kids to separate and count.

Mom got back on her feet and found love again with this shuffleboard-playing fellow below, Ken.

After a couple years, Mom married Ken and a final sister was born (catch up with youngest sister Denise's Eggplant Recipe, video here.)

We moved to neighboring Louisiana the year I enrolled in Junior High School. There she picked up a whole other way of cooking, Cajun-style.

My high school daze were spent in Gonzales, Louisiana, the self-professed Jambalaya Capital of the World. So you know this town is serious about chow. Click here to see a culinary video tour of some local Cajun cuisine at the weekend Flea Market, including: Crawfish Pie, Boudin Balls and, of course, Jambalaya.

And here's our first video we made together in my Los Angeles kitchen - and my late wife, Amy, even makes an appearance at the very end of the video. You'll get a kick out of Mom rockin' the cast iron kettle. I make her Cajun Jambalaya more than any other recipe - it's simply delicious.

Cherry Pie - Recipe Video

Here is a link to her Jambalaya recipe with text and yummy photos.

Mom was always popular with my high school buddies, especially during lunch or dinner time. She brought her Tex-Mex Enchiladas to Cajun Country, and my Louisiana friend Marvin ate them up!

Me, Marvin & Dennis

During a recent Louisiana visit, I had him over when I filmed Mom making Tex-Mex Enchilidas. Marvin liked the Enchiladas so much, he had a flashback to our high school daze.

Make sure to watch my wacky recipe video to the end, that's when our flashback hijinx really gets smoking (wink, nudge.)

Mom's Chili Cheese Enchiladas - Recipe Video

Mom takes a star turn with her next video recipe, her popular Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.

It's a traditional Southern dish and its cheap, too. Just chicken, sausage and the Cajun veggie trinity of bell pepper, celery and onion. What gives Gumbo it's unique taste is a dark brown roux, which is flour cooked in oil until chocolate brown.

Just check out the video below - Mom will take you through the steps. And, as an added bonus, my oldest sister Brenda makes a nagging appearance a few minutes in.

Gumbo - Recipe Video

Click here to read all about making Mom's homemade Gumbo, from roux to rice!

My Mom's Cajun Potato Salad is the perfect side to her Gumbo and Jambalaya. When she visited me in Los Angeles I got her to do it on camera. I couldn't help but give her a hard time about the recipe. I called it Cajun Mashed Potatoes and she called it Cajun Potato Salad - well, I guess you'll have to watch the video below to see who wins that argument!

Mom's Cajun Potato Salad - Recipe Video

I satiate my sweet tooth during visits with Mom. And the best of her pastry delights are Mini-Pecan Pies. If I couldn't make it for the Christmas holiday, then she would send a shoe-boxed size package with a dozen of these tasty pies.

Mom attracts a kitchen-full of hungry relatives when these pies come hot out of the oven. And it's a miracle they were done right because this Chef de Shutterbug was shoving a camera in her face (and a hot oven) during the whole procedure. We butted heads a few times, but fortunately, it all turned out fine.

I even came up with a way to dodge the high prices for pecans - so check out the video below to learn my budget secrets.

Cherry Pie - Recipe Video

And click here to see Mom's Mini-Pecan Pies recipe with text and tasty photos.

Mom has lived half her life in Gonzales, Louisiana. One of my visits there fell on Christmas, and she pulled out all the stops with a huge holiday spread, that included Pumpkin Pie. I got her on video making it, and it turned out perfect, as you will see below.

The recipe is a traditional one made with simple ingredients. The pumpkin came from a can, but the crust was handmade with wheat flour.

Pumpkin Pie - Recipe Video

All the easy to follow steps are written out here, and with delish photos, too.

Now, Mom is no angel -- hey, who is? Recently my brother from another daddy, the Swamp Chef, with his Spanish moss and all.

When I asked Mom: "Who's the Swamp Chef's daddy?" Her reply was: "That's a very good question!" I guess Mom will spill the beans one day, until then, check out the video below for a dessert good enough to cajole the Swamp Chef out of the bayou!

Cherry Pie - Recipe Video

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely ladies, and especially to my Mom - I love you!

Jambalaya Shoppe - Swamp Chef Cheap$kate Review

The Swamp Chef was literally born on the bayou. You've heard of a brother from another mother? Well, the 99 Cent Chef and the Swamp Chef are lads from different dad! Now, that's a story Mom will have to tell on another day.

Both chefs know how to eat cheaply, too. While the 99 Cent Chef is a city boy from Los Angeles feasting on street tacos, the Swamp Chef roams the backroads and swamps of the South, digging deep for fried and long simmering Cajun eats.

When I'm in Louisiana visiting Mom, I often run into the Swamp Chef and am only too happy to tag along and shoot him trying out the local cuisine.

Our first video together is done in Gonzales, Louisiana, known as the Jambalaya Capital of the World.

You can get Cajun-style Jambalaya all over town, but for the cheapest and tastiest look no further than The Jambalaya Shoppe.

Click on any photo to see larger.

 It is a small roadside stand with friendly service. Click here to read a nice article about their 26th Anniversary. And since the food is pre-cooked, your order is ready in a couple of minutes. And don't worry, Jambalaya tastes even better when it has been setting a while.

Cajun-style Jambalaya is different than Creole-style. There is no tomato sauce in Cajun-style Jambalaya - just meat, seasonings and rice.  You can go to New Orleans for tomato Creole-style Jambalaya.

Of course, the locals make Jambalaya the way they like it, usually with sauteed onion, garlic and Cajun seasonings. As for meat you can get chicken and smoked sausage, or pork and smoked sausage. For this Cheap$kate Review, the Swamp Chef got Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya.

You can get only Jambalaya for $6, or order a plate that comes with Cajun Potato Salad and White Beans with a small white bread Dinner Roll for $7. It's a cheap and hearty plate that will fill you right up!

The White Beans are creamy tender - almost mushy, but in a rich flavorful way. They are mild tasting and not spicy.

And the Potato Salad is Cajun-style, that is, creamy with mayo and mustard, and the potato chunks extra soft. Our Mom has a delish version a click away, here.

As mentioned earlier the Jambalaya is a dry version, kinda like Dirty Rice or a Chinese stirfry rice. The rice soaks up the browning from the meat - that is the trick to making a Cajun-style Jambalaya. You can see how our Mom does hers another click away, here.

Jambalaya meat is either chicken or chunks of tender pork and sausage. Louisiana is known for meaty and pungent Andouille sausage, but this is closer to regular mild smoked sausage, although it's a chunky and rough ground link like Andouille sausage.

The links are on the small size, but you get plenty of slices. Cajun food is spicy, but this Jambalaya is not, so go ahead and feed the kids, and set out Louisiana hot sauce for the grown ups.

You can order large buckets of Jambalaya if you are throwing a party or have visitors. They have a few other menu items that come and go depending on the season, like Gumbo and Pastalaya (just like rice Jambalaya, but made with spaghetti.) I've had it all there and have not been disappointed.

You don't come here for the ambiance, you come here to chow down! Locals get Jambalaya to go, but there's a picnic table if you can't wait. And one word of warning, don't wait until the end of the day to get yours, often they will close early because they run out of Jambalaya.

Pastalaya

You can visit their website to see what's happening foodwise and get the exact address and serving hours. There are a dozen Jambalaya Shoppes in the area, now.

It was a hot day in Louisiana when I shot the Swamp Chef, but there is a local favorite way to cool things off...a drive-thru frosty Daiquair stop. Since I was shooting, we got the Happy Hour 2 for 1 special that day. We both like a White Russian, made with coffee and chocolate flavors and milk, plus plenty of Everclear alcohol -- Ooh, Wee.

If you have never had a local drive-thru Daiquiri think of a 7-Eleven convenience store Slurpee, with a boozy kick. Daiquiris come in many fruit flavors too, Mom likes her Strawberry Daiquiri, which you can see us getting ours, here.

After picking up the Daiquiris, I followed the Swamp Chef to Jambalaya Park in Gonzales. We sat ourselves down and shot the Cheap$kate Dining Review for my food blog. And how does a Jambalaya Plate with Cajun Potato Salad and White Beans by The Jambalaya Shoppe rate on my Cheap$kate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best?

Well, check out my video below of the Swamp Chef to find out! And be sure to come back soon, I have more Swamp Chef episodes on the way.

Jambalaya Shoppe Cheap$kate Review - VIDEO

Play it here, video runs 4 minutes 46 seconds

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

My favorite Jambalaya Shoppe is here:
1503 N. Airline Hwy.
Gonzales, LA 70737
phone: 225-647-6050

Restaurant Hours
Monday-Wednesday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.
Thursday-Saturday: 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

*They sometimes close early if Jambalaya sells out!

Jambalaya Shoppe website is www.thejambalayashoppe.com

🌹Mother's Day Recipe Videos - 83 & Still Cooking 💖

I owe it all to Mom, at least where I get my cooking chops (and any good sense I have.) Just check out our cooking videos below to see what I mean.

She grew up in Texas on the Gulf Coast, in a small shrimping and fishing town called Port O'Connor. There, I learned to love seafood.

Her father was a shrimp boat captain. So, while we couldn't afford steak, we had all the fresh caught seafood Big Daddy would skim off the top of the catch. Shrimp season was short, but crab and oyster season soon followed. And you could always cast a line into the warm Gulf waters for bountiful fishing.

Big Daddy & Big Mama

The following recipe comes from her parent's kitchen, Shrimp and Rice. It uses locally caught shrimp, cheap canned tomato paste and rice. We always had creamy pinto beans, and flour tortillas to scoop up all the deliciousness. Our family seldom had steak as it was too expensive, but we had all the Gulf seafood we could eat. Looking back I didn't realize how good we had it !

Mom's Shrimp & Rice - VIDEO

 

Mom had movie star looks (like a young Elizabeth Taylor) and smarts, and a scholarship to college if she wanted it, but had no encouragement from her parents.

So after high school graduation, she was soon married and I arrived on the scene, followed by my brother and sister.

Billy, Berry and Brenda

My Dad was in the military so we moved around. Mom and us kids eventually settled back in Port O'Connor, after a divorce. Dad was quite a character and the life of the party, but he was also a little too profligate in the alcohol consumption department.

Billy Doyle Robinson

Mom went back to work as a waitress, so I learned how to literally pinch pennies when she poured handfuls of customer tips on the kitchen table for us kids to separate and count.

Mom got back on her feet and found love again with this shuffleboard-playing fellow below, Ken.

After a couple years, Mom married Ken and a final sister was born (catch up with youngest sister Denise's Eggplant Recipe, video here.)

We moved to neighboring Louisiana the year I enrolled in Junior High School. There she picked up a whole other way of cooking, Cajun-style.

My high school daze were spent in Gonzales, Louisiana, the self-professed Jambalaya Capital of the World. So you know this town is serious about chow. Click here to see a culinary video tour of some local Cajun cuisine at the weekend Flea Market, including: Crawfish Pie, Boudin Balls and, of course, Jambalaya.

And here's our first video we made together in my Los Angeles kitchen - and my late wife, Amy, even makes an appearance at the very end of the video. You'll get a kick out of Mom rockin' the cast iron kettle. I make her Cajun Jambalaya more than any other recipe - it's simply delicious.

Jambalaya - Recipe Video

Here is a link to her Jambalaya recipe with text and yummy photos.

Mom was always popular with my high school buddies, especially during lunch or dinner time. She brought her Tex-Mex Enchiladas to Cajun Country, and my Louisiana friend Marvin ate them up!

Me, Marvin & Dennis

During a recent Louisiana visit, I had him over when I filmed Mom making Tex-Mex Enchilidas. Marvin liked the Enchiladas so much, he had a flashback to our high school daze.

Make sure to watch my wacky recipe video to the end, that's when our flashback hijinx really gets smoking (wink, nudge.)

Mom's Chili Cheese Enchiladas - Recipe Video

Mom takes a star turn with her next video recipe, her popular Chicken and Sausage Gumbo.

It's a traditional Southern dish and its cheap, too. Just chicken, sausage and the Cajun veggie trinity of bell pepper, celery and onion. What gives Gumbo it's unique taste is a dark brown roux, which is flour cooked in oil until chocolate brown.

Just check out the video below - Mom will take you through the steps. And, as an added bonus, my oldest sister Brenda makes a nagging appearance a few minutes in.

Gumbo - Recipe Video

Click here to read all about making Mom's homemade Gumbo, from roux to rice!

My Mom's Cajun Potato Salad is the perfect side to her Gumbo and Jambalaya. When she visited me in Los Angeles I got her to do it on camera. I couldn't help but give her a hard time about the recipe. I called it Cajun Mashed Potatoes and she called it Cajun Potato Salad - well, I guess you'll have to watch the video below to see who wins that argument!

Mom's Cajun Potato Salad - Recipe Video

I satiate my sweet tooth during visits with Mom. And the best of her pastry delights are Mini-Pecan Pies. If I couldn't make it for the Christmas holiday, then she would send a shoe-boxed size package with a dozen of these tasty pies.

Mom attracts a kitchen-full of hungry relatives when these pies come hot out of the oven. And it's a miracle they were done right because this Chef de Shutterbug was shoving a camera in her face (and a hot oven) during the whole procedure. We butted heads a few times, but fortunately, it all turned out fine.

I even came up with a way to dodge the high prices for pecans - so check out the video below to learn my budget secrets.

Cherry Pie - Recipe Video

And click here to see Mom's Mini-Pecan Pies recipe with text and tasty photos.

Mom has lived half her life in Gonzales, Louisiana. One of my visits there fell on Christmas, and she pulled out all the stops with a huge holiday spread, that included Pumpkin Pie. I got her on video making it, and it turned out perfect, as you will see below.

The recipe is a traditional one made with simple ingredients. The pumpkin came from a can, but the crust was handmade with wheat flour.

Pumpkin Pie - Recipe Video

All the easy to follow steps are written out here, and with delish photos, too.

Now, Mom is no angel -- hey, who is? Recently my brother from another daddy, the Swamp Chef, with his Spanish moss and all.

When I asked Mom: "Who's the Swamp Chef's daddy?" Her reply was: "That's a very good question!" I guess Mom will spill the beans one day, until then, check out the video below for a dessert good enough to cajole the Swamp Chef out of the bayou!

Cherry Pie - Recipe Video

Happy Mother's Day to all you lovely ladies, and especially to my Mom - I love you!