ANNA MONICA / L’Observateur / March 4, 2000

There are quite a few good cooks in St. James Parish, but Lutcher’s AnnaParrino doesn’t believe she is one of them. Of course, that is contrary towhat people who know her believe. They love to eat what she cooks, andcooking is what she loves to do, especially after leaving her job of almost 25 years with TG&Y.

When she married her husband, the late Felix, she didn’t know how to cook and made a lot of mistakes. Even though she did it, she did not like cookingwhen their two sons, Joe and Felix, Jr., were babies because she was tooinvolved with them and housework. Fortunately, her husband enjoyed cookingand did plenty of it, but Anna learned how on her own. She always hadsomething cooked at home, and sometimes Felix would cook a little surprise to go along with her cooking. Also, he did the cooking almost every Sunday.There often was roast, potato salad and spaghetti.

“He said he didn’t like to cook,” she said, “but he did. I guess he thought hewas helping me.”Since she really loves good food Parrino always knew she would learn to cook.

She said friends at Reserve Christian Church where she worships “think I am the best cook, but I am not. I like to learn from the young people, too.”There are many opportunities for Parrino to cook for others, especially when a need arises within her home meeting group from the church. A death, newbaby or a need in the outside community prompts her to get to the kitchen to cook up something special. One of her most recent requests was for agumbo from a friend who just had her eighth child, but Parrino will admit that she likes to cook just anything and everything.

Baking is another specialty Parrino indulges in whenever possible, and it is often a baked item that her church group requests when they have a potluck dinner. Her orange mandarin cake is popular, but she really likes her old-timerecipe for what she calls her coconut custard cream cake, made from scratch.

Actually called “Ba Ba,” it is made in a big pan, alternating a layer of cake with a homemade custard. It’s a whole day’s work. People yearn for hercream puffs, too, and fruit cakes at holiday time. Fig cookies made byParrino are legendary and always in demand, perhaps because she uses her own jarred fresh figs. Now she eagerly awaits June and July so she can getmore.

An active lady, she did take time to write down some of her favorite recipes to share, including:

MANDARIN ORANGE CAKE 1 box Duncan Hines yellow cake mix (Duncan Hines butter mix) 1/2 tsp. baking powder1 cup oil 4 eggs 1 11 oz. can mandarin orange sections

Mix first four ingredients in a large mixing bowl with electric mixer. Drain canof mandarin oranges and add only the juice, reserving the orange sections.

Add the orange sections last to prevent mashing them and mix by hand.

Put in two 9-inch cake pans (greased and floured). Bake at 350 degrees for15 to 20 minutes or until done.

Cool cake, then fill between the layers and coat top and sides.

FROSTING 1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple (drained)1 3 1/4 oz. package instant vanilla pudding mix1 9 oz. carton dairy whipped topping

Mix all. Fill between layers, on top and sides. Keep cake refrigerated.

ARTICHOKE BALLS 2 cans artichokes (put in food processor) 2 tbsp. olive oil1 cup bread crumbs 1 cup parmesan cheese

Grease bowl with one tsp. olive oil. Mix well and shape in small balls. Roll inolive oil and bread crumbs and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

EGGPLANT JAMBALAYA 4 medium eggplants, peeled and cut in cubes 1 cup onions, chopped 1 cup shallot tops, green and white part, chopped 1 cup celery, chopped 1/2 cup minced parsley 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped 1/2 cup oil 3 cups fresh shrimp 3 cups cooked rice

Put oil in a big, thick pot. Saut onions, celery, parsley, bell peppers andtomatoes until wilted, about 10 minutes. Add cubed eggplant and seasoning. Cover tightly and cook until tender (about 20 minutes). Add chopped shrimpor put whole. Cover and cook for about 40 minutes over low heat, stirringoccasionally. Remove from fire. Add cooked rice and mix well. Cover and puton very low heat and let it steam for a while. Serve with green salad.

POTATO FLAKES BREAD STARTER 3 tbsp. sugar3 tbsp. instant potato flakes (not buds)1 cup warm water

Mix all ingredients together in a one pint (2 cup) jar. Cover with a paper toweland leave in a warm place until bubbly. This may take 24 hours or more. Thepotato flakes will start by sinking to the bottom of the pan. When themixture ferments, they rise to the top. The mixture may be used to makebread at this time. If you don’t use it immediately, refrigerate and feed thestarter with the same mixture every three to five days. Discard one cup ofstarter if you do not use it to bake bread. Let the starter come to roomtemperature and start to bubble actively for several hours before using to make bread below.

POTATO STARTER BREAD 1 cup starter 1 cup warm water 3 tbsp. sugar1/2 cup oil, divided 6 cups (approx.) unbleached flour2 tsp. salt

Warm a large bowl with warm water and discard water. Pour in the cup ofstarter, the warm cup of water, sugar and half the oil and mix well. Addabout 3 cups of flour, salt and mix well. Gradually work in another cup ormore of flour to get a soft, sticky dough. Knead, adding enough more flour toprevent sticking until the dough is elastic and “sheets.”Grease a clean bowl generously with the rest of the oil. Place the ball ofdough in it and turn it over so it is well covered with oil all over. Cover with acloth and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch the doughdown and place in a well-greased pan or shape into a free style loaf on a cookie sheet.

Cover with plastic film, then a cloth and let rise again in a warm place until doubled. This can take between four to six hours, depending on weatherconditions. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for approximately anhour or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped at the bottom.

(Delicious warm with butter and jam and very good toasted the next day.)Back to Top

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