RSS Feed

Dist. 11 Fire Chief Clarence Clark asked the St. Mary Parish Council for help with ambulance service response times Wednesday.
Clark said difficulties with Acadian Ambulance Service have caused his department problems in far west St. Mary.
“I would like the parish to look into the contract with Acadian,” he said. “I’m not sure there is a contract, I know some parishes do have one. Iberia Parish has a contract that gives Acadian a certain amount of time to arrive in certain areas. On top of that, Acadian provides EMR classes for the parish for fire departments for free.”
Clark cited an example where his department was dispatched for a cardiac emergency. He said Acadian never arrived, and he transported the victim himself to Franklin Foundation Hospital. The victim died.
He cited other examples of what he considered long response times.
In one incident, Clark said he requested two Acadian AirMed services, and said he was told “AirMed would not be en route and the nearest ground unit was in Morgan City and would be coming to me from Morgan City. There is a station in Franklin and New Iberia, however if I am to be held accountable to provide a service that I am accountable for, this parish should hold Acadian Ambulance accountable. A round trip from Four Corners to Iberia Medical Center could come up to $12,000, and AirMed could be $25,000.”
Councilman Craig Mathews said he wanted an Acadian representative to appear before the council to explain these issues. He said he’d also be curious to see the profits of the company in the parish.
Parish President David Hanagriff said the administration would contact Acadian and ask for a representative to attend a parish council meeting.
“We’re talking about a multi-million dollar agency that in my opinion has been monopolizing the Acadiana community for far too long,” Mathews said. “A monopoly has been created so that other transport companies that are trying to evolve to compete with this nonsense have been shut out because of political clout and influence from our legislators. It is time for it to stop.
“I can personally account for the number of citizens in Dist. 1 who have lost their lives because of this…I want them at that podium,” he demanded.
Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange said there is a parish ordinance regarding ambulance services, but he did not know the topic would come up at Wednesday’s meeting and would review it and report back to the council.
LaGrange did say the ordinance allows any ambulance service to operate in St. Mary Parish and sets out guidelines that must be met by a company. They must be licensed and pay a fee for that license.
There is no contract with the parish for the service, LaGrange said.
There can be more than one provider in the parish, he said.

December 19, 1921 – July 10, 2018
Anna M. Himel Hebert, a native of Donner and a longtime resident of Franklin, passed away at the age of 96 in the evening hours of Tuesday, July 10, 2018, at Iberia Medical Center.
Anna was a longtime member of the Golden Age Club, of which she was a past queen, and the Catholic Daughters Court Assumption. In her earlier years she enjoyed traveling with family and friends and loved to go dancing and play bingo. She was an avid gardener who loved working in her yard. She also loved to cook and was well-known for her cracker pudding, lemon pies, and white beans. One of her many passions in life was her love of family history which she enjoyed passing on to anyone that would lend an ear.
Those she leaves behind to cherish her memory include her son, Clark Hebert and his wife Ann of Mandeville; her daughters, Loretta Cline and her husband Gerald “David” of Dothan, AL, Carolyn Cline of Franklin, and Allyson Turner and her husband Joey of Youngsville; her sister, Linda Ashley and her husband Carol Jr.; 11 grandchildren; Gwen Richard, Glenn Hebert, Ryan Hebert, Emily Logan, Steven Cline, Lana Cline, Andrew Cline, Joseph Cline, Charlotte Stroud, Matthew Stroud, and Kylie Turner; 12 great grandchildren, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, family members, and friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Olden Joseph “Picket” Hebert; her son, Larry Hebert; one grandson, Christopher Cline; one great granddaughter, Madilynn Noel Stroud; her parents, Clarence Himel and Edna Leboeuf Himel; and one sister, Marie “Mary” Borel.
Funeral services will be held Thursday, July 12, 2018, at 10 a.m. at St. Jules Catholic Church in Franklin, with a gathering of family and friends beginning at 9 a.m. Following she will be laid to rest in Perpetual Park Cemetery. Father Peter Emusa will conduct the services. Serving as pallbearers will be Clark Hebert, Joey Turner, Glenn Hebert, Andrew Cline, Matthew Stroud, and Nicholas Cline.
The family would like to express their deepest appreciation to their sister, Carolyn, for all that she did for their mother, as well as to her granddaughter Lana Cline and her sitter Gail Andrus.
Family and friends may view the obituary and express condolences by visiting www.iberts.com.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Ibert’s Mortuary, Inc., 1007 Main Street, Franklin, La. 70538, (337) 828-5426.

The heart of any great strawberry shortcake is the topping of lightly sugared, juicy, ruby-red strawberries.
Our Strawberry Topping was perfect here; it had clean, pronounced berry flavor and a thick, chunky texture that didn’t slip off our tender biscuits. For fluffy, not dense, biscuits, we called on our food processor for streamlined, foolproof mixing.
While eggs are not traditional in biscuits, we added a single egg to give our biscuits a lighter, more tender texture. A bit of half-and-half contributed richness, while a modest amount of sugar yielded slightly sweet, dessert-friendly biscuits. A cloud of whipped cream, nestled between the berries and the biscuit, provided the classic finishing touch.
For the best results, chill the mixer bowl and the whisk in the freezer for 20 minutes before whipping the cream. You will need a 2 3/4-inch biscuit cutter for this recipe.
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKES
Start to finish:
1½ hours
Shortcakes:
2 cups (10 ounces) all-purpose flour
5 Tbsp. (2¼ ounces) sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces and chilled
2/3 cup half-and-half
1 large egg plus 1 large white
Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream, chilled
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch salt
Strawberry Topping:
Makes about 4½ cups
2½ pounds strawberries, hulled (8 cups)
6 Tbsp. sugar
For shortcakes: Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 425 F. Pulse flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor until combined, about 5 pulses. Scatter butter pieces over top and pulse until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, about 15 pulses; transfer to large bowl.
In separate bowl, whisk half-and-half and whole egg together. Add half-and-half mixture to flour mixture and stir with rubber spatula until large clumps form. Turn mixture onto lightly floured counter and knead lightly until dough comes together.
Using your fingertips, pat dough into 9-by-6-inch rectangle about 1-inch thick. Cut out 6 biscuits using floured 2¾-inch biscuit cutter. Pat remaining dough into 1-inch-thick pieces and cut out 2 more biscuits. Place biscuits on parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spaced 1-inch apart. (Raw biscuits can be refrigerated for up to 2 hours before baking.)
Brush top of biscuits with lightly beaten egg white and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake biscuits until golden brown, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let biscuits cool on sheet for at least 10 minutes. (Baked biscuits can be stored at room temperature for up to 1 day.)
For strawberry topping: Crush 3 cups strawberries with potato masher in bowl. Slice remaining strawberries and, along with sugar, stir into crushed strawberries. Let sit at room temperature until sugar has dissolved and strawberries are juicy, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. Serve immediately.
For whipped cream: Using stand mixer fitted with whisk, whip all ingredients on medium-low speed until foamy, about 1 minute. Increase speed to high and whip until soft peaks form, 1 to 3 minutes.
Split each biscuit in half and place bottoms on individual serving plates. Spoon portion of topping over each bottom, then top with dollop of whipped cream. Cap with biscuit tops and serve immediately.
Servings: 8
—Nutrition information per serving: 448 calories; 232 calories from fat; 26 g fat (16 g saturated; 1 g trans fats); 106 mg cholesterol; 402 mg sodium; 49 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 23 g sugar; 6 g protein.
—For more recipes, cooking tips and ingredient and product reviews, visit www.americastestkitchen.com.
—America’s Test Kitchen provided this article to The Associated Press.

Zucchini are marquee items at your grocery stores right about now, but zucchini blossoms, which are generally not for sale at a standard grocery, are a different story. So this recipe for Stuffed Fried Zucchini Blossoms is aimed at home gardeners, who know two things for sure: First, like caterpillars to a butterfly, zucchini blossoms are the earlier life form of the zucchini squash. Second, they’re delicious.
I’ll add a third fact — gardeners looking to rein in their zucchini crop should zero in on the female flowers. That’s right — this flower comes in two genders. It’s the male’s job to pollinate the females, and the female flowers to develop into squash. If your garden is of manageable size, with no crying need for birth control, feel free to eat the blossoms of either the male or female zucchini. If, however, you want to keep the squash from overrunning your garden, harvest the female flowers. How can you tell the girls from the boys? The males have a single stamen in the middle of the flower. The females have shorter stems and multiple stigmas.
Cut the female flowers when the fruit has started to grow from them and is small — about 3-inches long — and very tender. You’ll then be able to turn your harvest into the two-part appetizer — fried zucchini with a stuffed fried flower — on today’s menu.
Here I recommend stuffing the flower with smoked mozzarella, but any good melting cheese will work. Just be gentle when you’re stuffing because the flower tears easily. You want it to stay intact so that it keeps in the melted cheese.
The batter is a simple beer batter, crispy and light, and you can whip it up in minutes. Be sure to fry in oil with a high smoke point, such as peanut, safflower or sunflower. And please use a deep-fat thermometer to regulate a precise temperature.
The finished dish is yummy sprinkled with cheese and eaten straight up. But I like to serve it with marinara sauce, which provides a tangy counterbalance.
STUFFED FRIED ZUCCHINI BLOSSOMS
Start to finish:
50 minutes
80 grams (2/3 cup) all- purpose flour, plus extra for coating zucchini
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
¾ cup chilled beer
8 zucchini blossoms, with a small zucchini attached
2 ounces, mozzarella (preferably smoked), cut into 1- by ¼-inch sticks
½ ounce grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Vegetable oil for frying zucchini blossoms
1½ cups marinara sauce, heated
Shredded fresh basil for garnish
Preheat oven to 250 F.
In a medium bowl whisk together 2/3-cup flour and salt. Add beer and whisk until batter is almost smooth. Pour batter through a strainer set over another bowl (to get rid of any lumps) and set batter aside while you prepare zucchini.
Gently open zucchini flower and insert one-fourth of the little cheese logs into the opening, pushing them down gently. Twist the top of the flower to enclose the cheese and repeat the procedure with the remaining flowers and cheese. Spread about 1/3-cup flour on a pie plate.
In a large, deep, straight-sided skillet or large Dutch oven heat 1½-inches vegetable oil to 365 F. Working in two batches, dust zucchini lightly with flour, patting off excess and dip them in the batter, making sure they are coated all over. Gently add zucchini to the oil and fry them, turning them a few times, until they are golden brown all over, about 3 minutes.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to paper towels to drain, and then to a rimmed sheet pan and keep fried zucchini warm in the oven while you batter and fry the second batch of zucchini.
To serve: Spoon some marinara sauce onto each of four plates, top the sauce with two of the fried zucchini, sprinkle them liberally with the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and the basil and serve right away.
Servings: 4
—Nutritional information per serving: 376 calories; 223 calories from fat; 25 g fat (5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 17 mg cholesterol; 641 mg sodium; 25 g carbohydrates; 2 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 11 g protein.
—Editor’s Note: Sara Moulton is host of public television’s “Sara’s Weeknight Meals.” She was executive chef at Gourmet magazine for nearly 25 years and spent a decade hosting several Food Network shows including “Cooking Live.” Her latest cookbook is “HomeCooking 101.”