Tiffany Fugett

Tiffany Fugett of Vardaman loves Tony Chachere’s seasoning and she loves rice, which her recipes confirm. Like most people like to eat meat and potatoes, she prefers meat and rice.
She and husband, Jonathan, have three sons. Grant, 13, and Evan, 12, also love rice, and their oldest, Ethan, 15, loves cooking. She and Ethan cook a lot of fish together, and shrimp.
Ethan loves to fish, and on vacation he fishes, and will clean and cook them there on the grill, hibachi, stove or in the oven. She says he has a knack for it, that sounds like he got from her.

A native of Lockport, La., 60 miles southwest of New Orleans, Tiffany moved to Vardaman more than 16 years ago.
Her dad, Terry Dauzat, who has lived here 35 years, makes the crawfish boil and shrimp that is served annually at Vardaman Fire Station.
For Thanksgiving and Christmas in Louisiana, her family always had rice dressing, and she wants to try and make it–complete with livers, gizzards and pork. She said it is similar to what we call Dirty Rice.
Tiffany’s favorite food is any kind of seafood. Shrimp spaghetti is the first thing she ever made and she “went to cooking all the time” after that.

Her family likes the Cajun taste of food, and Jonathan really likes the cabbage and smoked sausage.
The crockpot roast is a favorite of Tiffany’s family. “It is a convenience recipe” and, of course, she likes it served with rice.
Sometimes, especially in the winter, she and Jonathan will spend Sunday afternoon cooking for the week.
She really likes wintertime cooking because soup, especially vegetable, is their favorite.
They also make preparations for spaghetti, chicken and dumplings, roast, and tacos in a bag.
In the summer they might have something as simple as grilled cheese sandwiches or hamburger steaks.
Bringing  her special memories is the gumbo recipe of her mom, the late Tina Dauzat, which she would always make and take on their family vacations.

Her mother also used to stuff Mirlitons–which Tiffany calls a “vegetable pear” that sort of has the texture of squash, with rice, ground beef and seasoning.
She would freeze them and they would take out as many at a time that they wanted to cook. They are another favorite of Tiffany’s and she said they are similar to stuffed bell peppers.
Tina made King Cake, too, which Tiffany has never tried, but says it is time consuming. At Mardi Gras time, her aunt always sends a King Cake to her.
Her aunt also sends her dried shrimp, which brings back memories of her mother putting pans of shrimp on Tiffany’s swing to dry out, while also making her tea in the sun.
And for the longest, Tiffany thought that was the only way tea could be made.

Mom’s Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
4 lbs. chicken thighs
1 1/2 lbs. smoked sausage, sliced
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
2 Tbsp. parsley, chopped
Boil and debone chicken, saving the stock for later. Brown sausage. Add oil to large pot with whisk. Blend flour in to make a roux. Continue stirring constantly until dark brown. Add onions, bell pepper and celery. Cook until onions are transparent. Add water to pot halfway and simmer. Add chicken and sausage. Add minced garlic, salt and cayenne. Let simmer about an hour. With large spoon, skim fat from top. Serve with rice.

Uncle Kirk’s White Beans & Rice
4 lbs. large bag white beans
1 pkg. bacon
2 yellow bell peppers
1 orange bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 large onion
3 stalks celery
3 or 4 lbs. of ham (your choice)
NO SALT! Red pepper and Tony’s to taste
Soak beans in water overnight. Take bacon, cut into small pieces, cook until crispy. Throw bacon and grease into large pot. Add chopped onions and peppers, seasoning, beans, and water–about an inch over beans. Bring to boil and simmer a couple of hours. Cut ham into small cubes and add ham to beans. Cook another hour or so until beans are creamy. Serve over rice.

Easy Peezy Crockpot Roast
4 lbs. chuck roast, frozen
1 packet dried Italian seasoning
1 packed dried Ranch
2 packets brown gravy mix
2 cans whole potatoes, drained
1 can carrots, drained
1 onion chopped
1 cup water
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Add roast to crock pot. Sprinkle Italian, Ranch, gravy mixes over roast. Pour olive oil and water over roast. Add potatoes, carrots and onions. Cover and cook 8-10 hours.

Smothered Cabbage & Smoked Sausage
1 large head of cabbage
1/2 lb. smoked sausage, sliced
1 cup onion, diced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. butter
Salt and pepper to taste
Cut cabbage in quarters and discard center. Chop quarters into pieces. Add butter, oil, onions and sausage. Cook until sausage is lightly brown. Add  cabbage. Cover. Reduce heat to simmer. Cook 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and season to taste. Continue cooking until cabbage is well smothered.

Mississippi Mud Cake
1 box Dutch chocolate cake mix
Follow directions on box to bake cake 9×13 pan
Frosting:
1-16 oz. pkg. powdered sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 bag milk chocolate chips
1/2 stick butter
Heat chocolate chips and butter in microwave for two minutes. Add powdered sugar and milk. Mix well. If frosting is too thick, add milk a little at a time.

Boiled Shrimp
5 lbs. shrimp
6 red potatoes cut in half
6 ears corn
Bag of frozen Brussel sprouts
4 lemons cut in half
1/2 bag baby carrots
3 cloves garlic
1 bag Zatarain’s powder crab boil
In large pot of water add all the goodies except the shrimp. Bring to boil. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Add shrimp. Cover and cook eight minutes. Turn heat off and let soak three minutes with lid on.

Grilled Crappie on the half shell
Crappie
1/2 stick butter
Tony Chachere’s seasoning
Pepper Jack cheese
1/2 lb. crawfish, frozen
Cut fish on the half shell. Add butter, seasoning, let cook about 15 minutes. Add crawfish, then cheese on top and cook another 10-15 minutes.