Cookin' with Queen Ida

Book excerpt: Queen Ida is a phenomenon. From "The Prairie Home Companion to Carnegie Hall, from UCLA to Harvard, she has brought audiences to their feet as they listen to her accordion playing, her Bayou-French singing, and the pulsating two-step rhythms of her zydeco band.Reflecting her family's traditions from rural Louisiana, her recipes are both authentic and tantalizing. Forget about New Orleans sophistication! This fare is fiery, stick-to-the-ribs, back-home cooking. Included are generation-to-generation favorites such as crawfish etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo, and red beans. You?ll also discover such hard-to-find treasures as Thelma Lewis? sweet potato pawn, Vera's Cane River meat pies, and Creole-style fresh corn. This newest edition also includes lowfat versions of traditional Creole dishes.In addition to these mouthwatering recipes, "Cookin? with Queen Ida is filled with stories recounting Ida's memories of her childhood in the Creole countryside of Louisiana. About the Authors Queen Ida Guillory gives over 200 concerts a year and makes numerous television and radio appearances. Between tours she makes her home in the San Francisco Bay Area. Naomi Wise is the co-author of "Totally Hot! The Ultimate Hot Pepper Cookbook (Doubleday).