Recipe Book
Alligator Sauce Piquant
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs. alligator meat, or (turtle meat or rabbit or frog legs 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 chilies (Anaheim or New Mexico)
1-2 jalapeno or Serrano or habanera chilies (optional)
Oil for sautéing
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 chilies)
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 tasteCooking Directions:
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 there’s 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 sauté in a little oil until browned.
Chop and sauté one of the onions and one of the bell peppers, and sauté until tender. Puree these in a blender and set aside.
Sauté the remaining onion and bell pepper with the chilies, 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 sautéed 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 sautéed vegetables. Add the onion/bell pepper puree 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.
Blackened Redfish
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
2 tablespoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
4 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons thyme
4 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons oregano
4 teaspoons cayenne
1 cup butterCooking Directions:
Mix dry seasonings together in a large bowl.
Melt butter in separate small bowl.
Heat a dry iron skillet very hot.
Dip the fish filets in the melted butter and sprinkle with the seasoning. The more you use, the hotter the results will be.
Drop fish on the hot skillet. This will produce a great deal of peppery smoke, so make sure you do it outside.
Cook the fish until the seasonings and butter form a black crust on the fish.
Quick Tip for the Beat Fish Around!
Dredge the fish through melted butter. Then, apply the seasoning to one side of the fish. Drop the fish on the skillet and pour some melted butter on the top side of the fillet. Apply seasoning to the top side of the fish.
Cajun Rice Dressing
Ingredients:
Various recipes for this popular dish include lots of different ingredients, such as chicken liver, sausage, endouille, etc. But my Mom’s recipe is, of course, my favorite and is quite simple. The following is a close estimate (since no one has ever written down the actual amounts of any ingredients, until now!):
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 large bell pepper
1 medium onion
5-6 peeled cloves of garlic
1 or 2 fresh, green cayenne peppers (if available)
1 teaspoon salt (use to own taste)
1 teaspoon red pepper (use to own taste, balance with fresh pepper above)
2 cans mushroom steak sauce (not soup, the usual brand I find here is Dawn’s; 1 can = about 4-6 oz.)
3-4 cups cooked rice (not real sure about this amount)Cooking Directions:
The Dressing Mix:
Pan fry the ground meat well until all of the meat is well done. Put bell pepper, onion, and garlic into food processor and “nearly” liquify it, then add this to the meat. The pepper/onion/garlic should sizzle as you stir it well into the meat. When the sizzling fades, add the mushroom steak sauce and a little water and allow the entire dressing mix to simmer for at least a half hour.Dirty Rice:
Cooked rice can be added to this mixture and thoroughly stirred. The more rice you add, the drier and “whiter” the resulting dressing will be. Adding the right amount of rice will result in a dress that is moist with the rice appearing very brown (“dirty”).Cornbread Dressing:
Substitute crumbed cornbread for cooked rice.Save Some for Later:
Freeze the dressing mix, i.e., before adding rice/cornbread, separately. When needed, defrost the mix by heating it and add the rice or cornbread.
Catfish Courtbouillion
Ingredients:
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bunch green onion tops, chopped
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup (8 oz) water
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
3 lbs. of catfish (preferably Spotted, but Blue may be substituted)Cooking Directions:
Put 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in a #14 cast iron pot.
Put a thin layer of a mixture of all the vegetables but the green onions and parsley on the bottom of the pot.
Follow with a single, loose layer of fish pieces.
Sprinkle some of the mixture of the seasonings and some of the flour on top of the fish.
Yield:
Serves 6.
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Ingredients:
1 package chicken thighs (6 counts)
1/2 package Hillshire Farms Polish Kielbasa (or other smoked sausage), sliced
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
3 large white onions, chopped (Do not use a food processor.)
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/4 cup peanut oil
2 cups white rice (regular white rice, not Minute Rice!!!)
2 1/2 cups water
1 12 oz beer (Budweiser works fine)
Flour to coat chicken
1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
A handful of chopped parsley (hard to put too much)
Salt to taste
Lots of cayenne pepperCooking Directions:
Start off by washing the chicken and placing it skin side down on a plate (you can remove the skin if you want). Now, depending on how spicy you want it, coat the chicken with cayenne pepper until it is very red (I use a lot of cayenne in mine.). Don’t worry about getting it too hot since this is the majority of the pepper you are going to add, and it will cook into the rest of the dish. Turn the chicken pieces over and lightly coat the skin side. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so to soak it all up.
Heat the oil in the bottom of a large heavy cast iron or aluminum pot (don’t use thin aluminum or stainless steel since the rice will tend to stick and burn if you’re not really careful). Place the flour in a paper bag (season the flour lightly with salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, etc.). Place a couple of pieces of chicken at a time into the bag and shake to coat.
Fry the chicken in the oil until golden brown. Don’t worry about cooking it all the way through just yet. Remove the chicken. Now place the onions, celery, garlic, and bell pepper into the pot (along with a bit more oil, if necessary) and sauté them until the onions are transparent, scraping the bottom of the pot often. Add the rosemary, thyme, and parsley and cook for a minute or so.
Place the sausage slices, chicken, and a little water into the pot and mix well with the vegetables. Turn the heat low, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes (until the chicken is tender). Stir the mixture frequently, always scraping the bottom to keep things from burning (break the chicken up a bit with the spatula as it cooks. It should break up naturally as the dish cooks, but this just helps things a little).
When the chicken is cooked, add the washed rice and stir it into everything for a couple of minutes. Pour the warm beer and the water in and stir things for another minute or so. Taste it at this point and adjust the salt if necessary. Now, keeping the heat low, cover the pot and cook until the rice is tender (anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour). Stir the mixture every now and then, scraping the bottom of the pot.
Crawfish Etouffee
Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil or margarine
1/2 flour
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large celery stalk, finely chopped
3 fat cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups fairly rich shrimp broth
1 tablespoon lemon
1/2 cup crawfish fat (substitute: 3-4 tablespoons crawfish liquid or crawfish stock)*
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt (omit if using crawfish stock)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley (1 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1 lb. frozen crawfish, all liquid included
2 large scallion tops, sliced
Cooked converted riceCooking Directions:
Make a medium dark roux by whisking the flour into the oil over medium heat and cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture is the color of chocolate.
Add the onion along with the celery and garlic, and sauté over medium low heat until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Slowly add the shrimp stock and bring to a boil.
Lower heat to a simmer, and add lemon juice, crawfish fat/stock/liquid, and the spices. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the crawfish and any liquid. Bring to a rapid simmer, reduce to a low simmer, add the scallions, and simmer just until the crawfish are tender, about 10 minutes.
Adjust seasonings.
To serve, mound some rice in a plate, and ladle some of the etouffee on top. This recipe makes about 4 servings.
Note:
Crawfish fat gives the dish its characteristic flavor. In New Orleans, it can be bought in the stores, but it’s tough to find elsewhere, so substitute. If you do find it, keep it refrigerated, as it is very perishable. By crawfish liquid, I mean any runoff from frozen crawfish.Whenever you use crawfish for another reason (making Cajun popcorn, say), you should save any liquid from the inside of the package that remains after defrosting. This liquid is mainly water, but it will be orange in color from the crawfish fat and meat.
Finally, to make crawfish stock, take a dozen or so crawfish heads left over from a crawfish boil, and cover with some of the leftover cooking liquid or water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for several hours. At the end of simmering, strain the stock, and reduce in half. Be careful when using this stock because it will be very salty. Omit any salt from the recipe, and adjust at the end.
Crawfish Pie
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/4 cup scallions, minced
1/2 cup celery, minced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, minced
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning blend
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
1-1/2 lb. cooked crawfish tail meat (from 8-10 lbs. live crawfish), or processed crawfish tail meat (about 3 cups)
1/2-1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream or nonfat yogurt
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
One 9-inch piecrust, butteredCooking Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F and bake the piecrust (lined with parchment paper or foil and pie weights) for 8 to 10 minutes until light golden brown. Let cool, then increase oven temperature to 375°F.
Boil crawfish in unseasoned water. Save as much of the fat as possible while peeling them.
Melt butter in a large skillet. Sauté onions, scallions, celery, bell pepper, Creole seasoning, and salt over medium heat. Stir occasionally until vegetables begin to wilt, about 4 minutes. Add flour and mix well; cook 1 to 2 minutes to remove floury starchy taste. Remove from heat and stir in the crawfish and fat. Add garlic, return to the heat, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the hot sauce, Worcestershire, and green onions and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the cream or yogurt. Remove from heat and add the egg a little bit at a time, being careful not to scramble it, then stir in the bread crumbs.
Pour into a 9-inch piecrust and brush the edge of the dough with a little olive oil. Bake at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned.
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Ingredients:
1 cup oil
1 cup flour
2 large onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 quarts chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large chicken, cut into pieces
2 lbs. andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 bunch scallions (green onions), tops only, chopped
2/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
Filé powder to taste (not a must)
You may add shrimp if you’d like, however wait until the gumbo is almost done. If not, your shrimp will become chewy.Cooking Directions:
Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning and brown quickly in cast iron Dutch oven. You may want to use butter so that the chicken does not stick.
Brown the sausage in cast iron skillet, pour off fat, and reserve meats.
In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and cook the flour in the oil over medium to high heat (depending on your roux-making skill), stirring constantly, until the roux reaches a dark reddish-brown color, almost the color of coffee or milk chocolate for a Cajun-style roux. If you want to save time, or prefer a more New Orleans-style roux, cook it to a medium, peanut-butter color, over lower heat if you’re nervous about burning it.
Add the vegetables and stir quickly. This cooks the vegetables and stops the roux from cooking further. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.
Add the stock, seasonings, chicken, and sausage. Bring to a boil, then cook for about one hour, skimming fat off the top as needed.
Add the chopped scallion tops and parsley, and heat for 5 minutes. Serve over rice in large shallow bowls. Accompany with a good beer and lots of hot, crispy French bread.
Yield:
About 12 entrée sized servings.
Dirty Rice Jambalaya
Ingredients:
Various recipes for this popular dish include lots of different ingredients, such as chicken liver, sausage, endouille, etc. But my Mom’s recipe is, of course, my favorite and is quite simple. The following is a close estimate (since no one has ever written down the actual amounts of any ingredients, until now!):
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 large bell pepper
1 medium onion
5-6 peeled cloves of garlic
1 or 2 fresh, green cayenne peppers (if available)
1 teaspoon salt (use to own taste)
1 teaspoon red pepper (use to own taste, balance with the fresh pepper above)
2 cans mushroom steak sauce (not soup, the usual brand I find here is Dawn’s; 1 can = about 4-6 oz.)
3-4 cups cooked rice (not real sure about this amount)Cooking Directions:
The Dressing Mix:
Pan fry the ground meat well until all of the meat is well done. Put bell pepper, onion, and garlic into food processor and “nearly” liquify it, then add this to the meat. The pepper/onion/garlic should sizzle as you stir it well into the meat. When the sizzling fades, add the mushroom steak sauce and a little water, and allow the entire dressing mix to simmer for at least a half hour.Dirty Rice:
Cooked rice can be added to this mixture and thoroughly stirred. The more rice you add, the drier and “whiter” the resulting dressing will be. Adding the right amount of rice will result in a dress that is moist with the rice appearing very brown (“dirty”).Cornbread Dressing:
Substitute crumbed cornbread for cooked rice.Save Some for Later:
Freeze the dressing mix, i.e., before adding rice/cornbread, separately. When needed, defrost the mix by heating it and add the rice or cornbread.
Krazy Crawfish Etouffee
Ingredients:
4 teaspoons hot sauce, Louisiana or your personal favorite
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup fish stock or clam juice or “crawfish water”
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. crawfish, peeled
1/2 cup chopped green onions, including the greensCooking Directions:
Sauté the onions, garlic, celery, and bell pepper for about 5 minutes or until clear. Add the tomatoes, stock, basil, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until it thickens to a sauce.
Add the hot sauce, crawfish, and green onions, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes or until the crawfish/shrimp are cooked. Remove the bay leaf and serve.
Serving Suggestions:
Serve with celery seed coleslaw, green beans, and cornbread.
Variations:
Use shrimp or lobster meat in place of the crawfish.
Comments:
Let stand overnight in refrigerator to let the seasonings “come home.”
Serve over cooked rice with homemade biscuits made from “scratch.”
Crawfish Water:
In a large 3-gallon stock pot, fill with 2 gallons of water. Place previously eaten crawfish heads (sounds yucky to “non-natives”) and peelings in water. Bring to a boil. Add celery stalks, onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme. Do not add salt, pepper, or any hot seasonings. The seasoning from the crawfish heads and peelings will be more than adequate. Let it simmer for at least an hour. Strain and preserve the stock for future use. It may be frozen.
Louisiana Crab Cakes
Ingredients:
3/4 lb. crabmeat (claw crabmeat is a tasty and inexpensive option for crab cakes)
1 yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
2 ribs of celery
2 teaspoon each of dried basil and dried thyme
1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon Creole mustard
2-1/2 tablespoons real mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon Tabasco, Crystal, or your favorite Louisiana hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
French bread crumbs (make ’em yourself, don’t buy ’em)
Egg wash (2-3 eggs, lightly beaten)
FlourCooking Directions:
Clean the crabmeat, removing all cartilage and shells.
Sauté onion, red bell pepper, and celery until the onion is translucent.
Add Worcestershire and hot sauce and herbs to the vegetable mixture.
Cool the vegetable mixture.
Mix the crabmeat, vegetable mixture, mustard, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper with enough bread crumbs to hold the cakes.
Form 2 to 3 oz. cakes. Dredge in seasoned flour, egg wash, and seasoned breadcrumbs (sequentially).
Pan-fry until golden and finish browning in an oven.
Serve with a drizzle of remoulade sauce.
Yield:
6 servings
Oyster Dressing
Ingredients:
4 oz. butter
2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1-1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced
4 dozen oysters, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
3 cups coarse unseasoned bread crumbs
1-1/2 cups oyster liquor
1/2 cup pecans, choppedCooking Directions:
Melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the onions, celery, green onions, and garlic until tender, stirring frequently. Gradually add the chopped oysters. Cook for about 4 minutes, constantly stirring. Add the parsley; stir.
Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cheese and pepper; stir. Remove from the heat and begin stirring in the bread crumbs a little at a time.
Add the pecans and oyster liquor and stir. Cover and let it stand for 3 to 5 minutes. Salt to taste.
The dressing can be stuffed into the fowl of your choice, or it can be served as a side dish with seafood. To serve as a casserole, spoon the dressing into a buttered casserole dish, sprinkle the top with unseasoned bread crumbs, dot with butter, and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.
Yield:
2 quarts, about 8 servings
Oysters Rockefeller
Ingredients:
36 fresh oysters on the half shell
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons finely minced raw spinach
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 tablespoons minced parsley
5 tablespoons bread crumbs
Tabasco sauce to taste
1/2 teaspoon Herbsaint, or substitute Pernod
1/2 teaspoon saltCooking Directions:
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add all the ingredients except the oysters.
Cook, constantly stirring for 15 minutes.
Press the mixture through a sieve or a food mill. Cool.
Line six pie tins with rock salt.
Set 6 oysters in the rock salt on each pie tin.
Divide the topping into 36 equal portions.
Place one portion on each oyster.
Broil until the topping is brown. Serves 6.
Yield:
6 servings
Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients:
4 servings
1 lb. red beans
1 1/2 lb. smoked sausage, sliced
1/2 lb. smoked ham shanks
1 large onion chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1 bay leaf
Pinch of ground red pepper
Salt
Freshly cooked riceCooking Directions:
Place beans in a Dutch oven and cover generously with water.
Let it soak for 30 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients to the beans except salt and rice.
Bring to a boil over medium heat.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the beans are tender, adding more water if necessary, about 2 1/2 hours.
Add salt to taste. Remove the ham bones.
Remove about 3 tablespoons of beans from the mixture and mash it to a paste.
Return the bean paste to the mixture and stir.
Simmer for 15 more minutes and then serve hot over the rice.
Seasoned Crawfish Water
Ingredients:
Crawfish water
Cooking Directions:
In a large 3-gallon stock pot, fill it with 2 gallons of water.
Place previously eaten crawfish heads (sounds yucky to “non-natives”) and peelings in the water.
Bring to a boil. Add celery stalks, onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme.
Do not add salt, pepper, or any hot seasonings.
The seasoning from the crawfish heads and peelings will be more than adequate.
Let it simmer for at least an hour.
Strain and preserve the stock for future use.
It may be frozen.
Shrimp and Crab Gumbo
Ingredients:
This is a very simple but wonderful gumbo! Impress your family and friends, and make sure you splurge on some good lump crabmeat—don’t use canned!
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup flour
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. okra, trimmed and sliced
1 gallon shrimp stock
1 teaspoon thyme
Salt, freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste
3 lbs. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 lbs. fresh lump crabmeat, picked over
6 cups cooked Louisiana long-grain white riceCooking Directions:
Heat the oil in a large heavy pot and add the flour. Cook the roux, stirring constantly, to a light brown if you want it Creole-style, and to a dark, almost milk chocolate color if you want it hot and spicy Cajun-style. Just before the roux reaches the proper color, add the vegetables and stir like hell (fast fast), being careful not to spatter yourself. When the vegetables are tender, add the stock, salt, and peppers. Stir until the roux is dissolved, and simmer over low heat for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Add the shrimp about 5 minutes before serving, add the crabmeat by the handful (it’s a lot of fun to just dump in all that wonderful sweet crabmeat with your bare hands), and then cook over low heat just until the shrimp turn pink and the crabmeat is warmed through. Serve in large soup or gumbo bowls over about 1/2 cup of cooked rice per serving.
Yield:
10-12 servings.
Shrimp Creole
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil (or use 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil for slightly more richness)
2 medium brown onions, small dice
2 medium red onions, small dice
1 green bell pepper, small dice
1 red bell pepper, small dice
1 yellow bell pepper, small dice
2 poblano chilies, small dice
6 ribs celery
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 quarts shrimp stock
6 cups crushed tomatoes (if using fresh tomatoes, run them through a food mill)
3 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1 quart ketchup
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
3 tablespoons Tiger Sauce (optional)
3 tablespoons Cajun Power Garlic Sauce (optional; substitute several cloves of roasted garlic)
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cane syrup or light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon hot sauce (Tabasco or Crystal)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme)
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 lbs. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
About 15 cups cooked long-grain or converted rice (about 5 cups raw)Cooking Directions:
To make a simple, quickie shrimp stock, reserve the shells and heads from the peeled shrimp, add to 2 quarts cold water, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain thoroughly.
Sweat the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in oil and/or butter in a large covered pot until tender, about 15 minutes.
Add all of the remaining ingredients except the shrimp. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes.
Add the shrimp. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
To serve, heap about 1 cup of rice in the center of the plate, and ladle a generous amount of the sauce around it. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley.
Serves 15 regular people, or about 7 Cajuns.
Simple Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Ingredients:
Perhaps the simplest of the gumbos, but a hearty one and a classic combination. If you can’t find andouille, use a local smoked sausage or kielbasa or whatever smoked sausage you like. This one’s easy to knock off quickly for a great evening’s meal.
1 cup oil
1 cup flour
2 large onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 quarts chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large chicken (young hen preferred), cut into pieces
2 pounds andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 bunch scallions (green onions), tops only, chopped
2/3 cup freshly chopped parsley
Filé powder to tasteCooking Directions:
Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning and brown quickly. Brown the sausage, pour off fat, and reserve the meats.
In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and cook the flour in the oil over medium to high heat (depending on your roux-making skill), stirring constantly, until the roux reaches a dark reddish-brown color, almost the color of coffee or milk chocolate for a Cajun-style roux. If you want to save time, or prefer a more New Orleans-style roux, cook it to a medium, peanut-butter color, over lower heat if you’re nervous about burning it.
Add the vegetables and stir quickly. This cooks the vegetables and stops the roux from cooking further. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.
Add the stock, seasonings, chicken, and sausage. Bring to a boil, then cook for about one hour, skimming fat off the top as needed.
Add the chopped scallion tops and parsley, and heat for 5 minutes. Serve over rice in large shallow bowls. Accompany with a good beer and lots of hot, crispy French bread.
Yield:
About 12 entrée sized servings.
Alligator Sauce Piquant
Ingredients:
2-3 lbs. alligator meat, or (turtle meat or rabbit or frog legs 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 chilies (Anaheim or New Mexico)
1-2 jalapeno or Serrano or habanera chilies (optional)
Oil for sautéing
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 chilies)
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 tasteCooking Directions:
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 there’s 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 sauté in a little oil until browned.
Chop and sauté one of the onions and one of the bell peppers, and sauté until tender. Puree these in a blender and set aside.
Sauté the remaining onion and bell pepper with the chilies, 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 sautéed 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 sautéed vegetables. Add the onion/bell pepper puree 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.
Blackened Redfish
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons paprika
2 1/2 teaspoons white pepper
2 tablespoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
4 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons thyme
4 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons oregano
4 teaspoons cayenne
1 cup butterCooking Directions:
Mix dry seasonings together in a large bowl.
Melt butter in separate small bowl.
Heat a dry iron skillet very hot.
Dip the fish filets in the melted butter and sprinkle with the seasoning. The more you use, the hotter the results will be.
Drop fish on the hot skillet. This will produce a great deal of peppery smoke, so make sure you do it outside.
Cook the fish until the seasonings and butter form a black crust on the fish.
Quick Tip for the Beat Fish Around!
Dredge the fish through melted butter. Then, apply the seasoning to one side of the fish. Drop the fish on the skillet and pour some melted butter on the top side of the fillet. Apply seasoning to the top side of the fish.
Cajun Rice Dressing
Ingredients:
Various recipes for this popular dish include lots of different ingredients, such as chicken liver, sausage, endouille, etc. But my Mom’s recipe is, of course, my favorite and is quite simple. The following is a close estimate (since no one has ever written down the actual amounts of any ingredients, until now!):
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 large bell pepper
1 medium onion
5-6 peeled cloves of garlic
1 or 2 fresh, green cayenne peppers (if available)
1 teaspoon salt (use to own taste)
1 teaspoon red pepper (use to own taste, balance with fresh pepper above)
2 cans mushroom steak sauce (not soup, the usual brand I find here is Dawn’s; 1 can = about 4-6 oz.)
3-4 cups cooked rice (not real sure about this amount)Cooking Directions:
The Dressing Mix:
Pan fry the ground meat well until all of the meat is well done. Put bell pepper, onion, and garlic into food processor and “nearly” liquify it, then add this to the meat. The pepper/onion/garlic should sizzle as you stir it well into the meat. When the sizzling fades, add the mushroom steak sauce and a little water and allow the entire dressing mix to simmer for at least a half hour.Dirty Rice:
Cooked rice can be added to this mixture and thoroughly stirred. The more rice you add, the drier and “whiter” the resulting dressing will be. Adding the right amount of rice will result in a dress that is moist with the rice appearing very brown (“dirty”).Cornbread Dressing:
Substitute crumbed cornbread for cooked rice.Save Some for Later:
Freeze the dressing mix, i.e., before adding rice/cornbread, separately. When needed, defrost the mix by heating it and add the rice or cornbread.
Catfish Courtbouillion
Ingredients:
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bunch green onion tops, chopped
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup (8 oz) water
2 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
3 lbs. of catfish (preferably Spotted, but Blue may be substituted)Cooking Directions:
Put 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in a #14 cast iron pot.
Put a thin layer of a mixture of all the vegetables but the green onions and parsley on the bottom of the pot.
Follow with a single, loose layer of fish pieces.
Sprinkle some of the mixture of the seasonings and some of the flour on top of the fish.
Yield:
Serves 6.
Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya
Ingredients:
1 package chicken thighs (6 counts)
1/2 package Hillshire Farms Polish Kielbasa (or other smoked sausage), sliced
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped
3 large white onions, chopped (Do not use a food processor.)
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
1/4 cup peanut oil
2 cups white rice (regular white rice, not Minute Rice!!!)
2 1/2 cups water
1 12 oz beer (Budweiser works fine)
Flour to coat chicken
1 1/2 teaspoons rosemary
1 teaspoon thyme
A handful of chopped parsley (hard to put too much)
Salt to taste
Lots of cayenne pepperCooking Directions:
Start off by washing the chicken and placing it skin side down on a plate (you can remove the skin if you want). Now, depending on how spicy you want it, coat the chicken with cayenne pepper until it is very red (I use a lot of cayenne in mine.). Don’t worry about getting it too hot since this is the majority of the pepper you are going to add, and it will cook into the rest of the dish. Turn the chicken pieces over and lightly coat the skin side. Let it sit for 15 minutes or so to soak it all up.
Heat the oil in the bottom of a large heavy cast iron or aluminum pot (don’t use thin aluminum or stainless steel since the rice will tend to stick and burn if you’re not really careful). Place the flour in a paper bag (season the flour lightly with salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, garlic powder, etc.). Place a couple of pieces of chicken at a time into the bag and shake to coat.
Fry the chicken in the oil until golden brown. Don’t worry about cooking it all the way through just yet. Remove the chicken. Now place the onions, celery, garlic, and bell pepper into the pot (along with a bit more oil, if necessary) and sauté them until the onions are transparent, scraping the bottom of the pot often. Add the rosemary, thyme, and parsley and cook for a minute or so.
Place the sausage slices, chicken, and a little water into the pot and mix well with the vegetables. Turn the heat low, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes (until the chicken is tender). Stir the mixture frequently, always scraping the bottom to keep things from burning (break the chicken up a bit with the spatula as it cooks. It should break up naturally as the dish cooks, but this just helps things a little).
When the chicken is cooked, add the washed rice and stir it into everything for a couple of minutes. Pour the warm beer and the water in and stir things for another minute or so. Taste it at this point and adjust the salt if necessary. Now, keeping the heat low, cover the pot and cook until the rice is tender (anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour). Stir the mixture every now and then, scraping the bottom of the pot.
Crawfish Etouffee
Ingredients:
1/2 cup oil or margarine
1/2 flour
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large celery stalk, finely chopped
3 fat cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 cups fairly rich shrimp broth
1 tablespoon lemon
1/2 cup crawfish fat (substitute: 3-4 tablespoons crawfish liquid or crawfish stock)*
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt (omit if using crawfish stock)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley (1 teaspoon dried)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
1 lb. frozen crawfish, all liquid included
2 large scallion tops, sliced
Cooked converted riceCooking Directions:
Make a medium dark roux by whisking the flour into the oil over medium heat and cooking, stirring constantly, until the mixture is the color of chocolate.
Add the onion along with the celery and garlic, and sauté over medium low heat until vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes.
Slowly add the shrimp stock and bring to a boil.
Lower heat to a simmer, and add lemon juice, crawfish fat/stock/liquid, and the spices. Simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the crawfish and any liquid. Bring to a rapid simmer, reduce to a low simmer, add the scallions, and simmer just until the crawfish are tender, about 10 minutes.
Adjust seasonings.
To serve, mound some rice in a plate, and ladle some of the etouffee on top. This recipe makes about 4 servings.
Note:
Crawfish fat gives the dish its characteristic flavor. In New Orleans, it can be bought in the stores, but it’s tough to find elsewhere, so substitute. If you do find it, keep it refrigerated, as it is very perishable. By crawfish liquid, I mean any runoff from frozen crawfish.Whenever you use crawfish for another reason (making Cajun popcorn, say), you should save any liquid from the inside of the package that remains after defrosting. This liquid is mainly water, but it will be orange in color from the crawfish fat and meat.
Finally, to make crawfish stock, take a dozen or so crawfish heads left over from a crawfish boil, and cover with some of the leftover cooking liquid or water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for several hours. At the end of simmering, strain the stock, and reduce in half. Be careful when using this stock because it will be very salty. Omit any salt from the recipe, and adjust at the end.
Crawfish Pie
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup onion, minced
1/4 cup scallions, minced
1/2 cup celery, minced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced
1/4 cup green bell pepper, minced
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning blend
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons flour
1-1/2 lb. cooked crawfish tail meat (from 8-10 lbs. live crawfish), or processed crawfish tail meat (about 3 cups)
1/2-1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup heavy cream or nonfat yogurt
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
One 9-inch piecrust, butteredCooking Directions:
Heat oven to 350°F and bake the piecrust (lined with parchment paper or foil and pie weights) for 8 to 10 minutes until light golden brown. Let cool, then increase oven temperature to 375°F.
Boil crawfish in unseasoned water. Save as much of the fat as possible while peeling them.
Melt butter in a large skillet. Sauté onions, scallions, celery, bell pepper, Creole seasoning, and salt over medium heat. Stir occasionally until vegetables begin to wilt, about 4 minutes. Add flour and mix well; cook 1 to 2 minutes to remove floury starchy taste. Remove from heat and stir in the crawfish and fat. Add garlic, return to the heat, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the hot sauce, Worcestershire, and green onions and cook 2 minutes more. Stir in the cream or yogurt. Remove from heat and add the egg a little bit at a time, being careful not to scramble it, then stir in the bread crumbs.
Pour into a 9-inch piecrust and brush the edge of the dough with a little olive oil. Bake at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the crust is lightly browned.
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Ingredients:
1 cup oil
1 cup flour
2 large onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 quarts chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large chicken, cut into pieces
2 lbs. andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 bunch scallions (green onions), tops only, chopped
2/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
Filé powder to taste (not a must)
You may add shrimp if you’d like, however wait until the gumbo is almost done. If not, your shrimp will become chewy.Cooking Directions:
Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning and brown quickly in cast iron Dutch oven. You may want to use butter so that the chicken does not stick.
Brown the sausage in cast iron skillet, pour off fat, and reserve meats.
In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and cook the flour in the oil over medium to high heat (depending on your roux-making skill), stirring constantly, until the roux reaches a dark reddish-brown color, almost the color of coffee or milk chocolate for a Cajun-style roux. If you want to save time, or prefer a more New Orleans-style roux, cook it to a medium, peanut-butter color, over lower heat if you’re nervous about burning it.
Add the vegetables and stir quickly. This cooks the vegetables and stops the roux from cooking further. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.
Add the stock, seasonings, chicken, and sausage. Bring to a boil, then cook for about one hour, skimming fat off the top as needed.
Add the chopped scallion tops and parsley, and heat for 5 minutes. Serve over rice in large shallow bowls. Accompany with a good beer and lots of hot, crispy French bread.
Yield:
About 12 entrée sized servings.
Dirty Rice Jambalaya
Ingredients:
Various recipes for this popular dish include lots of different ingredients, such as chicken liver, sausage, endouille, etc. But my Mom’s recipe is, of course, my favorite and is quite simple. The following is a close estimate (since no one has ever written down the actual amounts of any ingredients, until now!):
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 large bell pepper
1 medium onion
5-6 peeled cloves of garlic
1 or 2 fresh, green cayenne peppers (if available)
1 teaspoon salt (use to own taste)
1 teaspoon red pepper (use to own taste, balance with the fresh pepper above)
2 cans mushroom steak sauce (not soup, the usual brand I find here is Dawn’s; 1 can = about 4-6 oz.)
3-4 cups cooked rice (not real sure about this amount)Cooking Directions:
The Dressing Mix:
Pan fry the ground meat well until all of the meat is well done. Put bell pepper, onion, and garlic into food processor and “nearly” liquify it, then add this to the meat. The pepper/onion/garlic should sizzle as you stir it well into the meat. When the sizzling fades, add the mushroom steak sauce and a little water, and allow the entire dressing mix to simmer for at least a half hour.Dirty Rice:
Cooked rice can be added to this mixture and thoroughly stirred. The more rice you add, the drier and “whiter” the resulting dressing will be. Adding the right amount of rice will result in a dress that is moist with the rice appearing very brown (“dirty”).Cornbread Dressing:
Substitute crumbed cornbread for cooked rice.Save Some for Later:
Freeze the dressing mix, i.e., before adding rice/cornbread, separately. When needed, defrost the mix by heating it and add the rice or cornbread.
Krazy Crawfish Etouffee
Ingredients:
4 teaspoons hot sauce, Louisiana or your personal favorite
1 small bell pepper, chopped
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 cup fish stock or clam juice or “crawfish water”
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 bay leaf
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. crawfish, peeled
1/2 cup chopped green onions, including the greensCooking Directions:
Sauté the onions, garlic, celery, and bell pepper for about 5 minutes or until clear. Add the tomatoes, stock, basil, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until it thickens to a sauce.
Add the hot sauce, crawfish, and green onions, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes or until the crawfish/shrimp are cooked. Remove the bay leaf and serve.
Serving Suggestions:
Serve with celery seed coleslaw, green beans, and cornbread.
Variations:
Use shrimp or lobster meat in place of the crawfish.
Comments:
Let stand overnight in refrigerator to let the seasonings “come home.”
Serve over cooked rice with homemade biscuits made from “scratch.”
Crawfish Water:
In a large 3-gallon stock pot, fill with 2 gallons of water. Place previously eaten crawfish heads (sounds yucky to “non-natives”) and peelings in water. Bring to a boil. Add celery stalks, onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme. Do not add salt, pepper, or any hot seasonings. The seasoning from the crawfish heads and peelings will be more than adequate. Let it simmer for at least an hour. Strain and preserve the stock for future use. It may be frozen.
Louisiana Crab Cakes
Ingredients:
3/4 lb. crabmeat (claw crabmeat is a tasty and inexpensive option for crab cakes)
1 yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
2 ribs of celery
2 teaspoon each of dried basil and dried thyme
1-1/2 to 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoon Creole mustard
2-1/2 tablespoons real mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tablespoon Tabasco, Crystal, or your favorite Louisiana hot sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
French bread crumbs (make ’em yourself, don’t buy ’em)
Egg wash (2-3 eggs, lightly beaten)
FlourCooking Directions:
Clean the crabmeat, removing all cartilage and shells.
Sauté onion, red bell pepper, and celery until the onion is translucent.
Add Worcestershire and hot sauce and herbs to the vegetable mixture.
Cool the vegetable mixture.
Mix the crabmeat, vegetable mixture, mustard, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper with enough bread crumbs to hold the cakes.
Form 2 to 3 oz. cakes. Dredge in seasoned flour, egg wash, and seasoned breadcrumbs (sequentially).
Pan-fry until golden and finish browning in an oven.
Serve with a drizzle of remoulade sauce.
Yield:
6 servings
Oyster Dressing
Ingredients:
4 oz. butter
2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
1 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1-1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced
4 dozen oysters, chopped
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup Pecorino Romano cheese, grated
3 cups coarse unseasoned bread crumbs
1-1/2 cups oyster liquor
1/2 cup pecans, choppedCooking Directions:
Melt the butter over medium heat. Sauté the onions, celery, green onions, and garlic until tender, stirring frequently. Gradually add the chopped oysters. Cook for about 4 minutes, constantly stirring. Add the parsley; stir.
Lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cheese and pepper; stir. Remove from the heat and begin stirring in the bread crumbs a little at a time.
Add the pecans and oyster liquor and stir. Cover and let it stand for 3 to 5 minutes. Salt to taste.
The dressing can be stuffed into the fowl of your choice, or it can be served as a side dish with seafood. To serve as a casserole, spoon the dressing into a buttered casserole dish, sprinkle the top with unseasoned bread crumbs, dot with butter, and bake at 350°F for 20 minutes.
Yield:
2 quarts, about 8 servings
Oysters Rockefeller
Ingredients:
36 fresh oysters on the half shell
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons finely minced raw spinach
3 tablespoons minced onion
3 tablespoons minced parsley
5 tablespoons bread crumbs
Tabasco sauce to taste
1/2 teaspoon Herbsaint, or substitute Pernod
1/2 teaspoon saltCooking Directions:
Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add all the ingredients except the oysters.
Cook, constantly stirring for 15 minutes.
Press the mixture through a sieve or a food mill. Cool.
Line six pie tins with rock salt.
Set 6 oysters in the rock salt on each pie tin.
Divide the topping into 36 equal portions.
Place one portion on each oyster.
Broil until the topping is brown. Serves 6.
Yield:
6 servings
Red Beans and Rice
Ingredients:
4 servings
1 lb. red beans
1 1/2 lb. smoked sausage, sliced
1/2 lb. smoked ham shanks
1 large onion chopped
1 green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground sage
1 bay leaf
Pinch of ground red pepper
Salt
Freshly cooked riceCooking Directions:
Place beans in a Dutch oven and cover generously with water.
Let it soak for 30 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients to the beans except salt and rice.
Bring to a boil over medium heat.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the beans are tender, adding more water if necessary, about 2 1/2 hours.
Add salt to taste. Remove the ham bones.
Remove about 3 tablespoons of beans from the mixture and mash it to a paste.
Return the bean paste to the mixture and stir.
Simmer for 15 more minutes and then serve hot over the rice.
Seasoned Crawfish Water
Ingredients:
Crawfish water
Cooking Directions:
In a large 3-gallon stock pot, fill it with 2 gallons of water.
Place previously eaten crawfish heads (sounds yucky to “non-natives”) and peelings in the water.
Bring to a boil. Add celery stalks, onions, carrots, garlic, bay leaf, and thyme.
Do not add salt, pepper, or any hot seasonings.
The seasoning from the crawfish heads and peelings will be more than adequate.
Let it simmer for at least an hour.
Strain and preserve the stock for future use.
It may be frozen.
Shrimp and Crab Gumbo
Ingredients:
This is a very simple but wonderful gumbo! Impress your family and friends, and make sure you splurge on some good lump crabmeat—don’t use canned!
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup flour
1 large onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. okra, trimmed and sliced
1 gallon shrimp stock
1 teaspoon thyme
Salt, freshly ground black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste
3 lbs. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 lbs. fresh lump crabmeat, picked over
6 cups cooked Louisiana long-grain white riceCooking Directions:
Heat the oil in a large heavy pot and add the flour. Cook the roux, stirring constantly, to a light brown if you want it Creole-style, and to a dark, almost milk chocolate color if you want it hot and spicy Cajun-style. Just before the roux reaches the proper color, add the vegetables and stir like hell (fast fast), being careful not to spatter yourself. When the vegetables are tender, add the stock, salt, and peppers. Stir until the roux is dissolved, and simmer over low heat for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Add the shrimp about 5 minutes before serving, add the crabmeat by the handful (it’s a lot of fun to just dump in all that wonderful sweet crabmeat with your bare hands), and then cook over low heat just until the shrimp turn pink and the crabmeat is warmed through. Serve in large soup or gumbo bowls over about 1/2 cup of cooked rice per serving.
Yield:
10-12 servings.
Shrimp Creole
Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil (or use 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons oil for slightly more richness)
2 medium brown onions, small dice
2 medium red onions, small dice
1 green bell pepper, small dice
1 red bell pepper, small dice
1 yellow bell pepper, small dice
2 poblano chilies, small dice
6 ribs celery
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 quarts shrimp stock
6 cups crushed tomatoes (if using fresh tomatoes, run them through a food mill)
3 6 oz. cans tomato paste
1 quart ketchup
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
3 tablespoons Tiger Sauce (optional)
3 tablespoons Cajun Power Garlic Sauce (optional; substitute several cloves of roasted garlic)
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cane syrup or light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon hot sauce (Tabasco or Crystal)
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme (or 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme)
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 lbs. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
About 15 cups cooked long-grain or converted rice (about 5 cups raw)Cooking Directions:
To make a simple, quickie shrimp stock, reserve the shells and heads from the peeled shrimp, add to 2 quarts cold water, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain thoroughly.
Sweat the onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic in oil and/or butter in a large covered pot until tender, about 15 minutes.
Add all of the remaining ingredients except the shrimp. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes.
Add the shrimp. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes.
To serve, heap about 1 cup of rice in the center of the plate, and ladle a generous amount of the sauce around it. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley.
Serves 15 regular people, or about 7 Cajuns.
Simple Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Ingredients:
Perhaps the simplest of the gumbos, but a hearty one and a classic combination. If you can’t find andouille, use a local smoked sausage or kielbasa or whatever smoked sausage you like. This one’s easy to knock off quickly for a great evening’s meal.
1 cup oil
1 cup flour
2 large onions, chopped
2 bell peppers, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 quarts chicken stock
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons Creole seasoning, or to taste
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large chicken (young hen preferred), cut into pieces
2 pounds andouille or smoked sausage, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 bunch scallions (green onions), tops only, chopped
2/3 cup freshly chopped parsley
Filé powder to tasteCooking Directions:
Season the chicken with salt, pepper, and Creole seasoning and brown quickly. Brown the sausage, pour off fat, and reserve the meats.
In a large, heavy pot, heat the oil and cook the flour in the oil over medium to high heat (depending on your roux-making skill), stirring constantly, until the roux reaches a dark reddish-brown color, almost the color of coffee or milk chocolate for a Cajun-style roux. If you want to save time, or prefer a more New Orleans-style roux, cook it to a medium, peanut-butter color, over lower heat if you’re nervous about burning it.
Add the vegetables and stir quickly. This cooks the vegetables and stops the roux from cooking further. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for about 4 minutes.
Add the stock, seasonings, chicken, and sausage. Bring to a boil, then cook for about one hour, skimming fat off the top as needed.
Add the chopped scallion tops and parsley, and heat for 5 minutes. Serve over rice in large shallow bowls. Accompany with a good beer and lots of hot, crispy French bread.
Yield:
About 12 entrée sized servings.
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