Cheryl Bailey Perault

Salsa, chicken salad and almond crusted chicken are the top three requested dishes of Cheryl Bailey Perault of Vardaman. The salsa is a recipe she calls flexible, because you can add as many extras as you’d like and the large amount it makes rarely goes to waste at her house.

“The main thing is to get the pieces small when you chop so you get several different flavors in every bite.” She describes the almond crusted chicken as “a crowd pleaser for sure–there is never a crumb left!”

The chicken salad is an original recipes of hers, and one she had to alter when she discovered she had a milk allergy. “Before I realized I was allergic to milk, I used equal parts of cream cheese and mayo, which made for a very firm chicken salad. I thought it was really great and rich! It has a savory, salty taste. But, my husband, Jason, said he likes it better with just mayo, which works out pretty well for us now.

If you are serving it for a special occasion such as a shower or reception, you might like to jazz it up with the cream cheese.” She and her “cook by the recipe” husband recently tried Ina Garten’s mustard chicken salad and agreed it was really good.

Cheryl likes traditional cooking, but tries to figure out a way to make things healthy for her family (children Breanna, John Benton and Caleb), and her newest challenge is making her dishes dairy-free. Improvising recipes is not a problem for her, though. She learned to cook from her mother, Bobbie Bailey, and seasoning from her husband’s mother and grandmother in Baton Rouge. From them and a friend, she learned about Cajun taste.

Her mother marvels at her cooking now, and Cheryl says uses her nose more than taste when cooking. Something her mother taught her was to use butter-flavored popcorn salt on frozen green beans, a dish that can be microwaved.

Wanting to make her grandmother Christine Bailey’s sweet potato pie, she learned right alongside her so she wouldn’t miss a step. She can also make pecan pie to taste like Christine’s, and has also mastered her grandmother’s favorite, Italian Cream Cake. Also in the dessert department, when the church youth have their cake and pie auction, she usually tries to make something “decadent.”

She is a recipe collector, mostly using the internet as her source. Her bookmarks are full of recipes. She also likes www.allrecipes.com in which you enter ingredients you have on hand, and suggested dishes are given. More times than not, she will try a new recipes out on company, and she enjoys when others enjoy eating her food.

Mamaw Bailey’s Sweet Potato Pie
2 cups boiled sweet potatoes, mashed
1 cup margarine
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp orange extract
2 cups sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 1/4 cup sweet milk
Cream margarine into hot potatoes. Add beaten eggs and flavorings. Mix together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. using a mixer on low, combine dry ingredients into potatoes, alternating with milk. With pie shells at room temperature, poke holes in the bottom and sides of shells. Distribute mixture evenly tin pie shells (two deep dish or three regular.) Bake at 350° about an hour or until done. Pies should be browned a little around the edges and solid through the middle. Pies will rise a little and then flatten after baking. Substitutions: To make this dairy free to accommodate my milk allergy. I make sure that my store-bought pie shells do not contain milk, substitute equal amounts of butter flavored Crisco for margarine and use coconut or almond milk instead of cow’s milk.

Cheryl’s Personal Chicken Salad Recipe
3 small-medium chicken breasts, baked, chopped into small chunks
2 boiled eggs, finely chopped
1/2 cup dill pickle relish
1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup mayo
Cavendar’s salt-free Greek seasoning
Salt (only if needed)
Season chicken with olive oil, salt, pepper, basil and garlic. (I put the flavor under the skin.) Put a small amount of water in the bottom of the pan. Bake chicken breasts covered with aluminum foil about two hours at 375°. Remove skin, and chicken from bone, and chop. Add other ingredients.

Almond Crusted Chicken
4-6 chicken breast tenderloins, thawed and pounded
1-2 cups whole milk
1 stick margarine or butter
Vegetable oil
Batter:
1 cup sliced almonds, chopped well
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. seasoned salt
Pound chicken to 1/4” thickness all over. Chop almonds into tiny pieces, but not dust. Mix together almonds, flour and seasoned salt in flat bowl with lid, or batter bowl. Into a different flat bowl, pour the milk. If using electric skillet, cover bottom with thin layer of vegetable oil and melt stick of margarine into it on medium heat. Dip chicken into the milk and then the almond mixture until evenly covered. Place chicken in hot oil and cover. Do not move chicken until the top is no longer pink. Flip chicken one time and cool until done. I liked to serve mine with wild rice and green bean almandine.

Homemade Salsa
2-3 can petite diced tomatoes (or at least 10 small fresh)
2 long cucumbers (seeded)
1 small yellow onion
1/2 red onion
Green onion (at least 2-3 stalks)
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper (or whatever colors you have–the more the merrier)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. salt, add more to taste
1 Tbsp. black pepper, less if you don’t like it hot
2 Tbsp. lime juice
2-3 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. sugar
5-6 dashes LA Hot Sauce or Tabasco
If you like yours really hot, add jalapenos or red pepper flakes. You can also add other veggies (it’s a flexible recipe so you can leave out something listed above if you’d like). This is great with lime seasoned corn chips or Scoops. Also a  great salad topper or add to fajitas.

Red Beans & Rice
Vickie Perault
1 lb. dried red beans (soak overnight first)
1 chopped onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
4 green onion stalks
Cover with water (to about 1/2″ above the beans.) Bring to boil. Season with approximately 1 tsp. Tony Chachere’s, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. black pepper and 1/2 tsp. salt (adjust salt to taste.) Reduce heat to medium low and cook 1-1 1/2 hours until beans are tender. Add water as needed while cooking. To create a gravy, use the back of a spoon to mash up some of the beans on the inside of the pot. Serve over rice.

Turkey Burger with Onion and Zucchini
1 lb. fresh ground turkey meat
1/4 medium onion, grated
1 medium zucchini, grated
2 tsp. Tony’s cajun seasoning
Mix it all together, form patties and cook them under the broiler until they are as brown as hamburgers on each side. We serve ours on multi-grain sandwich thins.

Corn and Black Bean Salad for Two
1/2 can of black beans, rinsed
2/3 cup of whole kernel corn
1/2 Roma tomato, diced and seeded
1/2 small red bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp. diced red onion
1 green onion stalk
1 Tbsp. cilantro, chopped
1/2 avocado, cut into bite size chunks
8 oz. diced boneless, skinless chicken tenders cooked (covered) in a skillet just with cooking spray, seasoned with salt, fajita seasoning, cumin and ground red pepper. Mix it all together, putting the avocado in last (after the vinaigrette) so it doesn’t get mushed too much. Serve at room temperature. Top with crunchy tortilla pieces.
Lime Vinaigrette Dressing:
1/8 cup lime juice
1/8 cup olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Topping:
2 flour tortillas (the size that are 100 calories each) brushed with olive oil and cut into 2” strips. Place on sheet pan and cook at 425· for 5-10 minutes just until crunchy.

Couscous Stuffed Red Bell Pepper Cups
2 small to medium red bell peppers, cut lengthwise and cored
1/4 red onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 medium to large zucchini, cut into wedges
Olive oil
3/4 cup couscous
1 cup chicken stock
1 green onion stalk
Salt and pepper
Optional: Feta cheese, kalamata olives, roasted pine nuts
Dressing:
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2.5 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. dijon mustard
Heaping 1/4 tsp. of: garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil, dried oregano, dried parsley
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
Preheat oven to 400°. Cut and core the peppers and place them bowl up on the pan, along with the zucchini, onions and garlic. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes. In small saucepan, bring one up chicken stock to boil. Add 3/4 cup couscous, cover and remove from heat. Fluff with fork after five minutes. Combine all ingredients for the dressing and whisk together. Add chopped roasted onions and finely chopped roasted garlic and slice fresh green onion. Thinly slice zucchini wedges and add to mix and stir together. Pour dressing over top and stir it in. Heap mixture into bell pepper cups. Can be served warm or cold. I usually serve as a side with baked chicken. It tastes really yummy and makes a nice presentation.