Cajun And Creole Cooking, A Taste of N'Awlins (New Orleans)

It's the same here too! With Mexican, and m'mum.!!!! LOL!

Give me HOT AND SPICY anyday!!!! Ok... EVERYDAY!!!

I had to go to a meeting in Panama City yesterday. I ended up after the meeting visiting with a friend of mine and his wife for several hours and we went out to eat. On the way to the resteraunt we stopped at a couple of large supermarkets so I could stock up on some spices before coming back out here to the interior and in one of the stores came across three dusty bottles of Zartrain's Creole Mustard. I bought two of them.

Ain't that something?

Leo

Cool Leo!

In the New Orleans area there are about three latino markets that I know of. I bet I'd find something that you could buy every week in Panama.

Roisin

Maggi ketchup is made out here about five miles from where I work.


Leo

Anybody ready for a Red beans and Rice contest? I can't be beat, of course everyone says that about there own....LOL!

My recipe for Red Beans and Rice is posted already on page 1 of this topic.
Show us yours ....

ALLIGATOR SAUCE PIQUANTE


I created this version of the classic sauce-piquante recipe based upon an almost completely unreadable recipe scrawled down by my friend Dan Comeaux, who was a tad inebriated at the time; he cooked it at my place one New Year's, and ha already had a pint of Jack Daniel's when I asked him to write it down. Looking at it later was almost like looking at hieroglyphics. I dimly remembered what he did, experimented upon and refined it. Comeaux will undoubtedly complain that I got it wrong ("Chuck can cook all right ... but not as good as me!" he's fond of saying) ... but I think it's mighty tasty.
After that, find a recipe created by Joe Cahn, formerly of the New Orleans School of Cooking.


2 - 3 lbs. alligator meat, OR
(turtle meat or rabbit or froglegs or pork or squirrel or raccoon or any good game meat -- or shrimp or chicken will work nicely as well)
3 onions
3 bell peppers
5 ribs celery
3 - 5 cloves garlic (or one head Creole hot garlic)
2 fresh mild green chiles (Anaheim or New Mexico)
1 - 2 jalapeno or serrano or habanero chiles (optional)
Oil for sauteing
3 tablespoons oil (for the roux)
3 tablespoons flour (for the roux)
1 can crushed tomatoes and 2 cans Ro-tel tomatoes (if unavailable, use regular stewed tomatoes and add more hot chiles)
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup red wine
1 to 1 1/2 cups stock or broth
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, OR
1-1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary leaves
1-1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, OR
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt to taste
If you have alligator or turtle (or whatever) bones, boil them with a quartered carrot, quartered onion, celery with tops and some peppercorns to make a stock. Skim off fat if any and reserve 1 to 1-1/2 cups. Or, you can use a prepared or canned beef or chicken broth, but whatever you do, don't just use plain water.
Dice or cube the meat, then saute in a little oil until browned.

Chop and saute one of the onions and one of the bell peppers, and saute until tender. Pure these in a blender and set aside.

Saute the remaining onion and bell pepper with the chiles, celery and garlic.

Make a medium, peanut-butter colored roux with the oil and flour, adding a little more oil or flour until you have the right consistency. Add the roux to the sauted vegetables to stop the cooking process, and stir well. Make sure the roux does not stick to the bottom of the pot.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, wine and Worcestershire to the sauteed vegetables. Add the onion/bell pepper pure and stir. Season with the Creole seasoning and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, making sure it doesn't stick.

Add the meat, rosemary and thyme and cook for 30 minutes on low heat, stirring frequently to avoid sticking. If you're using shrimp or seafood, cook for 20 minutes, then add shrimp for the last 10 minutes and cook.

Serve over rice with French bread and a nice zesty red wine like Zinfandel or Merlot. Yum!




ALLIGATOR SAUCE PIQUANTE #2
1/2 pound lard
2 pounds alligator meat, defatted and cubed
Creole seasoning
1 cup flour
2 cups onions, coarsely chopped
2 cups celery, sliced
2 cups bell peppers, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 29 ounce can tomato sauce
1 29 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 - 3 teaspoon dark brown sugar to taste
2 cups chicken stock
2 - 3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoon sweet basil
1 - 2 teaspoon salt
1 - 2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Alligator meat needs to be very free of fat because the fat tends to give the meat that very strong, gamey taste, and becomes rancid rapidly. I have found that washing the meat well in cold water helps eliminate some of the very strong taste.
Season the meat well with Creole seasoning, or another blend of your choosing, and brown in lard. Remove the meat and make a roux using the fat and an equal amount (about a cup) of flour, cooking it to a medium brown color. Add onions, celery, and bell pepper. When pot is cooled somewhat, add garlic and saute vegetables over medium heat until tender. Add tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, and enough brown sugar to cut the acid taste of the tomatoes. Season to your own taste and simmer until thickened and meat is tender. Serve over rice.

Yield: 8-10 servings.

I can't show you my Red Beans and Rice, its a secret!

Crawfish Étouffée



This one's not as thick as some, since Mom doesn't like roux in étouffée. It's mighty tasty!

2 pounds crawfish tails
1/4 pound butter
1 cup minced onion
1/2 cup minced bell pepper
1/2 cup minced celery
2 tablespoons crawfish fat
2 cups cold water
1 tablespoon corn starch
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Creole seasoning blend, to taste
Salt, to taste
Pinch dried thyme
Pinch dried oregano
1 bay leaf
Season the crawfish tails with salt, plus a little black and cayenne pepper. Heat the butter in a saute pan and saute the onion, bell pepper and celery until the translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the crawfish fat (or extra butter if you don't have any), plus 1-1/2 cups water. Add the Creole seasoning, thyme, oregano, bay leaf and crawfish tails. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Dissolve the corn starch in the remaining 1/2 cup water and add to the mixture. Add the green onions and parsley, and cook an additional 5 minutes. Serve over hot long grain rice.
YIELD: Dinner for 8, with leftovers.

SEAFOOD GUMBO


Seafood gumbo. It ain't a recipe, it's dozens, if not hundreds, of recipes. There are so many different ways to make this dish, and it is made in so many different ways by so many Louisiana cooks and chefs, that it's almost futile to list one recipe here. I'm going to list a few, but please by no means think these are definitive. They're good gumbos, and good places to start off. As you learn more about Creole cuisine, feel free to experiment with different combinations of seafood, roux or no roux, filé or no filé, okra or no okra, tomatoes or no tomatoes (I don't like tomatoes in my gumbo, me ... but lots of Louisianians do). Just remember ... you CANNOT have a good seafood gumbo without a good seafood stock. Don't use water, and don't use bottled clam juice.
Remember to use a non-reactive (non-cast iron) pot for any gumbo (or any dish, for that matter) that includes okra or tomatoes, as they will discolor.

These recipes can be cut in half if you don't want to feed an army.

Do NOT under any circumstances use imitation crabmeat, or surimi, in any crab gumbo dishes. If you tried that in Louisiana, you'd be shot on sight. If you try it elsewhere ... I'll know. And I'll come into your dreams and haunt you and you'll be slowly devoured by dull-toothed alligators.

This gumbo uses a very small amount of roux, so that it remains light. You may omit the okra if you like, and thicken the gumbo with filé powder instead -- it'll still be good, but will have a quite different flavor.



1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup flour
2 medium onions, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
3 ribs celery, finely diced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 tomatoes (or 8 Roma tomatoes), seeded and diced (if you like tomatoes in your gumbo)
1 cup tomato purée (see above)
2 pounds okra, chopped
4 quarts shrimp stock, crab stock or fish stock
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning blend
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
2 bay leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 dozen oysters, freshly shucked, liquor reserved
4 blue crabs, cleaned (optional)
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, picked over for shells and cartilage
1 tablespoon filé powder (if okra isn't used)
8 cups cooked long-grain white rice
In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and add the flour. Stir constantly until a light brown roux is formed, then add the onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic. Sauté until the onions become translucent and the vegetables are tender. Add the tomatoes and tomato purée, if you wish, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes. (I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm not one of those people who likes tomatoes in my gumbo, but lots of people do. Your mileage may vary.)
Add the seasonings, and about 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and continue to cook another 10 minutes. Add the okra, and cook for another 10 minutes, then add the stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer and cook another 30 minutes.

(If you wish a more rustic gumbo, you may add whole blue crabs. Remove the hard top shell from the crabs (reserving for stuffed crabs or for shellfish stock), and break each crab in two down the middle. Remove the claws. Add to the stock.) With the gumbo on very low heat, add the shrimp 10 minutes before serving, the oysters and oyster liquor 5 minutes before serving, and the crabmeat just before serving (don't cook the crabmeat, just stir until it is heated through). Taste and correct seasonings.

If you don't like okra, or if you just prefer to make a filé gumbo, remove from heat and sprinkle the filé powder on the surface of the gumbo, then cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Then uncover and stir to mix. Be careful if there are leftovers -- filé doesn't reheat all that well, and you must be careful to reheat gently. If the gumbo comes back to a boil after the filé has been added, it will get stringy.

Place about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of rice in each bowl and ladle the gumbo over and around it. Serve with plenty of french bread and good beer or white wine.

YIELD: About 10-12 entrée servings or 20-24 appetizer servings (omit hard shell crabs if serving cups of gumbo as an appetizer).

Pork: Apple Stuffed BBQ Pork Roast


Apple Stuffed BBQ Pork Roast
A grand prize winner by David Baumann of Gresham, Or.

1 (5 lb.) pork tenderloin or loin roast
2 tart apples, sliced
Tony Chachere's® Creole Seasoning
1/2 cup Creole or spicy brown prepared mustard
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1 cup tequila
2 cups hickory, mesquite or apple chips
2 cups Half and Half cream
1 cup cream sherry
2 Tbsp Tony Chachere's® Instant Roux and Gravy Mix


Wash the roast and pat dry. Cut pockets all around the roast and insert apples slices throughout the length of the roast. Score roast and rub generously with Tony Chachere's® Creole Seasoning.

In a bowl, combine mustard, walnuts and 1/8 cup tequila. Work into paste and coat roast. Cover and chill over night. In a sealable container, place smoking chips and cover with remaining tequila. Allow to soak overnight.

Remove covered roast and let warm to room temperature (2 - 3 hours).

Place roast on roast rack in center of barbecue pit. Place tray under roast to catch drippings. Place wood chips on flavor bar on briquets. Cook about 2 hours or until core temperature is 160 degrees. Remove and cover immediately with foil to keep in heat and moisture.

In a saucepan, pour drippings from roast. Add cream, sherry, 1 Tbsp. mustard and Tony Chachere's® Roux and Gravy Mix. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly to avoid burning and sticking. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.

To serve, cut slices of roast, at an angle, about 3/4 inch thick, to expose apples. Ladle sauce over roast.

Yields 10-12 servings.

CRAWFISH-STUFFED FILET MIGNON
with Crawfish Sauce Bordelaise


This is an astonishingly rich and wonderful dish, and not as difficult to make as you might think. Indulge thyself. Catholics are advised to head to confession after this one, as it's probably a sin. Heck, sinners have more fun, anyway. From Chef Emeril Lagasse, of Emeril's Restaurant, New Orleans, Louisiana.



2 tablespoons olive oil, in all
1 teaspoon finely minced onions
1 teaspoon finely minced green onions
1 teaspoon finely minced celery
1 teaspoon finely minced green bell peppers
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/4 pound crawfish tails
2 tablespoons shrimp stock
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 1/2 cups Crawfish Bordelaise Sauce (below)
4 filet mignons (6 to 7 ounces each), well marbled, trimmed
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium skillet over high heat. Add the onions and green onions, celery, bell peppers, and garlic and saute' for 1 minute. Add the crawfish tails, stock, bread crumbs, and 1 teaspoon creole seasoning and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for at least 15 minutes. Makes 1 cup.
Prepare the Crawfish Bordelaise Sauce, and cover to keep warm.

Sprinkle the remaining 2 teaspoons of creole seasoning over the meat, using 1/2 teaspoon on each steak and inside its pocket. Use your hands to coat the meat thoroughly, inside and out.

Using a small knife, cut a slit about 2 inches long into the side of each steak and cut about 2 inches in to make a pocket. Stand the filets on their uncut edges and open the pockets. Using a spoon, fill each pocket with 1/4 cup of the cooled stuffing.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the filets and saute' until rare, for about 3 minutes on each side, or medium rare, about 4 minutes on each side.

To serve, place 1 filet on each of 4 dinner plates and cover with a generous 1/3 cup of the sauce. Makes 4 main-course servings.


Crawfish Bordelaise Sauce
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon creole seasoning
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 pound crawfish tails
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 turns freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups Veal or Beef Glaze (thickened veal or beef stock)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature.
1 tablespoon chopped green onions
Combine the shallots, garlic, and creole seasoning in a small nonreactive saucepan and place over high heat and cook for 30 seconds. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Add the crawfish, salt, and pepper and bring back to a boil.
Stir in the glaze and bring back to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, skimming off the fat and impurities several times for 10 minutes. Turn up the heat to high, skim the remaining impurities from the top of the sauce, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.

Whisk in the butter and continue to whisk until throughly incorporated, for about 30 seconds. Add the green onions and remove from the heat.

Ok I see how you are now....!

Mine is secret also, but I posted it with 1 or 2 omissions!

You call for a chalange or cook off and then chicken out!

If you are not going to share then don't ask others to share with you.

Just a wee bit confrontational today are we? When you get ready to get the pots out and cook then we will match our beans. Mine is a much simpler receipe than yours for sure.

Beans prepped about the same
Onion the same
Seasoned with Tony Chachere's
Smoked Sausage fried brown quickly
Beans cooked to a thick grave today then let it cool, put in the fridg over night
reheat to eat the second day

Bring your beans to the 2008 reunion and we will see who's pot is empty at the end of the day mate!

Not confrontational, just want to see if you have what it takes! Will not be at the event as of now....but if your recipe can stand up let it do so...LOL!

Mine is from a very famous Naw Orlens cheif.... he has won more then his share of awards for this recipe!

Post yours and see how the members vote LOL!