A Merry Mardi Gras

We may be obsessed with Pancake Tuesday here – and who could blame us? – but in other parts of the world today is about lots of other delicious goodies, and is dubbed Fat Tuesday, or the sweeter sounding Mardi Gras.

Dublin-based bloggers Yol?ne Dabreteau?and Jette Virdi are ladies after the hearts of the Image Interiors & Living team, as they have not only created three delicious Mardi Gras?inspired recipes, with a fresh New Orleans twist, they’ve even styled them up with a radiant orchid theme?(Pantone’s colour of the year), exclusively for Image Daily. So if you want to bust out something different than lemon and sugar pancakes, give one of these a shot.

Cajun Roast Beef Po? Boys?

Makes 16 mini sandwiches

Ingredients

?500g beef (ask your butcher for a nice cut for roasting, such as boneless rump roast)

For the roast beef marinade:
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp horseradish sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
juice of 1 limesalt and pepper

For the Cajun mayonnaise:
100g mayonnaise
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp lemon juice
black pepper

1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter for searing beef
2 baguettes (each divided into eight sections)
1/2 small iceberg lettuce, shredded
4 tomatoes, thinly sliced

Method?
1. Place all the Cajun roast beef marinade ingredients in a large sandwich bag and shake it to mix. Add the piece of beef and close the bag tightly. Set aside at room temperature for 2 hours. 2. Preheat the oven to 200oC. In a large pan heat the oil and butter and once sizzling sear the beef on all sides. 3. Place the beef in a roasting dish and pour the remaining marinade over the top, cook in the oven on the lower shelf. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes for a medium rare roast beef. Once cooked, transfer onto a cold plate and cover with tin foil to rest for 10 minutes. 4. Once completely cooled transfer to the fridge. 5. While the beef is roasting, mix together the Cajun mayonnaise ingredients. 6. Build the po? boys by finely slicing the Cajun roast beef then layering on top of the sliced tomatoes, shredded lettuce and finish with a dollop of cajun mayonnaise in each little baguette sandwich.
Styling tip: Use a non-serrated knife to cut your beef so your slices are beautifully smooth.

Creole Roasted Prawns

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

500g prawns
1 shallot. finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped 1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
lemon wedges?

Method
1. Put all the ingredients, bar the prawns, in a large bowl and stir well. 2. Once mixed, add the prawns and coat. 3. Cover the bowl with cling film and set aside for 30 minutes. 4. Preheat the oven to 220C. 5. Spread the prawns out in a large baking dish and roast for 10-15 minutes. 6. Turn the prawns on their other side half way through cooking time. 7. Serve hot with a wedge of lemon.

Beignets with Pecan Nut Sugar

Makes around 30?

Ingredients

For the dough:
500g plain flour (plus extra for dusting)
36g caster sugar
7g dried yeast
1 pinch salt
2 eggs
250ml lukewarm milk
75g unsalted butter, melted in the lukewarm milk

For the pecan nut sugar:
60g finely ground pecans 100g icing sugar
sunflower oil for frying

Method
1. Put all the beignet dough ingredients in a large baking bowl and mix well, the dough should be sticky. 2. Cover the bowl with cling film or a tea towel and set aside in a warm place for two hours or until it doubles in size. 3. Once the dough has doubled in size, dust a large flat surface generously with flour. 4. Take half the dough and place on floured surface then dust with flour on top, knead and roll out to 1cm thick. 5. Cut into square, rectangle, lozenge or round shapes. Place the shapes on a tray lined with baking paper, leaving about 2cm space between the pieces of dough. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Cover loosely with cling film and let rise again for two hours. 6. In the meantime, put the ground pecan nuts and icing sugar together in a bowl and mix well. 7. Heat the oil in a deep-fryer or large heavy pot. 8. Slide the beignet shapes in the hot oil very carefully and fry on each side until they are golden brown. Fry 2 or 3 beignets at a time so as not to overcrowd the pot. 9. Once brown, place the hot beignets on paper towels to drain.?Serve warm with a generous dusting of pecan sugar.?Styling tip: cut all your beignets the same shape so they look gorgeously uniform when layered on a pretty cake stand sprinkled with pecan sugar.

See more of Yolene and Jette’s gorgeous work here.

Trying these recipes? Let us know how you got on?@image_interiors!