Gumbo is a Louisiana favorite. No Mardi Gras season would be complete without the thick soup. Containing a combination of vegetables and meat or seafood, gumbo must be thick and must have rice.

This is a great alternative to marshmallow topped sweet potatoes. Cutting the sweet potatoes into slices of even thickness is important in getting them to cook at the same rate. A potato masher will yield slightly lumpy sweet potatoes; a food mill will make a perfectly smooth puree.  You can also skip the cookie topping and just serve the sweet potatoes on their own.

A popular expression is, ” as American as apple pie.”  However, if one wants to become more specific about the African American cultural group then it might be fair to say, “as African American as sweet potato pie.”  I have quite a few African American friends who do not like the pie but truthfully most that I know love it.  My family has a multi-generational recipe that I am not allowed to give out or punishable by death by my mother.  Tough luck getting Southerners of the U.S.A to give up family secrets.

This is a great alternative to marshmallow topped sweet potatoes. Cutting the sweet potatoes into slices of even thickness is important in getting them to cook at the same rate. A potato masher will yield slightly lumpy sweet potatoes; a food mill will make a perfectly smooth puree.  You can also skip the cookie topping and just serve the sweet potatoes on their own.

Here at the MCCN we champion events that combine both food and charity. On May 8, 2010 the inaugural Brothers Who Can Cook pre-Mother’s Day Love Affair will take place in Baltimore, MD. Touted as an expression of love, the event promises to pamper attendees with food, live music, poetry, and comedy. The event will benefit the Ujimma Rising Mentoring Project and Baltimore’s homeless. Recently, MCCN’S food history editor Catrina Sally interviewed the program’s Chief Visionary Officer Bri Ward (Ujimma Masani). Here’s what he shared:

INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, granular
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1 cup Sylvia’s Hot Sauce*
• ½ cup water
• 2 stalks celery, cut julienne style
• ½ cup diced onion
• ½ cup diced green bell pepper
• 2 lemons sliced
• 4 (4-oz.) catfish fillets
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon Sylvia’s Secret Seasoning*
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Ingredients
1 Pumpkin
8 cloves of roasted garlic
1 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
2 chipotle peppers chopped
2 tbsp course ground black pepper
2 tbsp ground turmeric
2 tbsp ground ginger
Salt
Olive Oil
4 cups vegetable stock

This is a great alternative to marshmallow topped sweet potatoes. Cutting the sweet potatoes into slices of even thickness is important in getting them to cook at the same rate. A potato masher will yield slightly lumpy sweet potatoes; a food mill will make a perfectly smooth puree.  You can also skip the cookie topping and just serve the sweet potatoes on their own.

A popular expression is, ” as American as apple pie.”  However, if one wants to become more specific about the African American cultural group then it might be fair to say, “as African American as sweet potato pie.”  I have quite a few African American friends who do not like the pie but truthfully most that I know love it.  My family has a multi-generational recipe that I am not allowed to give out or punishable by death by my mother.  Tough luck getting Southerners of the U.S.A to give up family secrets.