Cajun Spice Bread

February: Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday

The Louisianan librarian who heads the culinary book club in our Texas town suggested this month’s Mardi Gras theme as “Cajun Cooking”. There is a lot of influence of Cajun culture in the Houston area. In fact, there are three crawfish restaurants (one was called Louisiana Kitchen before it became a Cajun café) within walking distance from our townhouse. As we were still not able to bring food for potluck due to pandemic precautions, we brought pictures and copies of our recipes to the meeting. Islander and her friend Karen B. did exchange food in the library parking lot, though. She gave Karen this Cajun spice bread made easily from the machine and Karen gave gumbo with andouille sausage (we got the better bargain as her dish had a lot more cooking and preparation involved than our food trade). Make this Cajun spice bread in a machine for an easy side dish for a Mardi Gras meal. Happy Fat Tuesday!

Recipe
(Adapted from Electric Bread)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/8 water
  • 3 cups white bread flour
  • 2 tablespoon dry milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons Cajun seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • 3 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 2 teaspoons instant/fast rise yeast)

Directions

In the container of the bread machine, place the ingredients in the order listed above. Press the standard start cycle. Remove the baked bread from the machine when done. Cool to room temperature and slice.