OMGVBFLOL posted:The local grocery store had tilapia and squid both on sale so i grabbed some and made a fish stew that ended up tasting a lot like blackened fish. It's been a long time since I had blackened fish, but I sauteed an onion, two bulbs of garlic, and a goodly amount of crushed red pepper to form the base, and that's just how it came out. Delicious. It uses just a little more than garlic onion and pepper, but those are in there. Here's the Prudhomme recipe for it: http://www.nytimes.com/recipes/10177/paul-prudhommes-blackened-redfish.html I add a little cayenne into mine. I've made the above with catfish / basa too (when it was all I could get) and it works. Never tried tilapia as I just never really enjoy it. Also, I've found if you have ghee try that 1st. It's a tricky step to avoid burning the butter vs browning it at the high temps / short times involved. Making sure the fish is dried well with a paper towel before adding the butter helps a lot too.
|
|
# ? Mar 26, 2014 12:10 |
|
|
# ? May 4, 2024 16:40 |
|
The butter is supposed to burn? Well not even burn exactly - a good bit of it polymerizes. The skillet is supposed to be hot enough that its seasoning burns off. The butter and spices combine and make a kind of crust that isn't even really spicy anymore because most of the capsaicin polymerizes too. This is what it should look like. It flares up a good bit like that when you pour the butter on top. http://www.imbored-letsgo.com/blackened-fish/ Interestingly, if you google "blackened fish" 80% of the images are of cajun-seasoned-seared-fish that isn't blackened at all, and 19% are of burnt to poo poo fish. pr0k fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Mar 26, 2014 |
# ? Mar 26, 2014 19:02 |
|
That's a helluva a commutment to wreck the seasoning on a pan. I have a stainless steel/copper bottom pan I keep unseasoned, would that do the trick? Or would I be at risk for melting the copper bottom? I only have one cast-iron pan and I'm not wrecking the seasoning even if it means getting seared instead of blackened
|
# ? Mar 26, 2014 19:45 |
|
Then you ain't eatin' blackened fish. I have a cast iron sizzle-platter stolen from a Chili's that I use for blackening.
|
# ? Mar 26, 2014 21:53 |
I probably made it last about 6 years ago. Doing it outdoors on a grill or likewise is vastly recommended as it will smoke up a small kitchen pretty nicely. I used my roommates black iron skillet for it . This was after he used my brand new knife to cut a bunch of stuff on / through aluminum foil...
|
|
# ? Mar 26, 2014 22:25 |
|
Breaky posted:Red Beans and Rice I want to try making this but have never made ham or anything close to that. How badly would this recipe from the first page suffer without the hambone? I bought some really nice sausage from a local butcher and probably want to make an attempt this weekend.
|
# ? Mar 27, 2014 04:55 |
Chekans 3 16 posted:I want to try making this but have never made ham or anything close to that. How badly would this recipe from the first page suffer without the hambone? I bought some really nice sausage from a local butcher and probably want to make an attempt this weekend. Would not suffer at all. I've made this many times vegan with no meat whatsoever and I've also used sausage instead. If you're using sausage I would either grill it separately and add on top of the completed dish or I would just slice it up and add it in the last hour or less of cooking otherwise the sausage kinda cooks down into a much less flavorful hunk of texture.
|
|
# ? Mar 27, 2014 13:38 |
|
I do want to try veggie red beans and rice soon so my hippie siblings can have some. I've recently seen the light about ham hocks, which was like the missing ingredient in making my normal batch A+. Would a little vinegar to taste get me a similar flavor, or would I need a little of something else too?
|
# ? Mar 28, 2014 15:42 |
|
THE MACHO MAN posted:I do want to try veggie red beans and rice soon so my hippie siblings can have some. I've recently seen the light about ham hocks, which was like the missing ingredient in making my normal batch A+. Would a little vinegar to taste get me a similar flavor, or would I need a little of something else too?
|
# ? Mar 28, 2014 16:17 |
|
TychoCelchuuu posted:You could add liquid smoke. Yeah I figured that much. I guess I wasn't clear but I've been using Hormel picked pork hocks. That's where I was getting the vinegar from
|
# ? Mar 28, 2014 16:29 |
If I don't use pickle meat I end up just adding vinegar based tobasco as a finish just before eating. To me that's enough but I prefer smoky / salty additions over pickle meat in my own red beans. Others swear by the pickle. When I do keep mine vegan I find a little more garlic and some cumin tend to make it better. If you don't need to keep it vegan then a bit of butter melted in at the end is nice also.
|
|
# ? Mar 28, 2014 16:32 |
|
Does anyone have any experience doing a big crawfish boil? I recently was in LA for a wedding and had some of the most amazing crawfish in the world there. I found a site that I can buy live crawfish from online: http://www.lacrawfish.com/Party-Packs-C86.aspx My questions are mostly basic as I've never cooked a crawfish in my life. How many pounds of crawfish should I figure per person? How do I know if its over/undercooked? Anything that's amazing that I should throw in the pot? As I figure, you just dump a bunch of vegetables into the pot, bring to a boil, dump in crawfish, boil again, and then dump out on newspaper. Spudalicious fucked around with this message at 20:43 on Mar 28, 2014 |
# ? Mar 28, 2014 17:40 |
|
3-5 pounds per person, good vegetables include corn on the cob (cut into 3-4 inch sections), asparagus, artichokes, and potatoes. If it's overcooked, it will be rubbery, if it's undercooked it will taste like it. Don't eat crawfish if the tails are straight when they come out of the water - that means they were likely dead before they started boiling, and can make you ill. Remember that the earliest batches will be the mildest, the last batches will be the spiciest. Keep extra spice in a shaker on the table for anyone who wants extra. I've never done the actual boiling, but been to plenty of them - I'm sure someone here will have more advice.
|
# ? Mar 28, 2014 18:37 |
|
e: wrong thread
|
# ? Apr 7, 2014 19:18 |
|
The Red Beans and Rice turned out good, unfortunately I couldn't grill the sausage so I pan fried them a bit before throwing them in the last half hour. Went a little grey but still tasted pretty good. We had to add a lot of salt though because the final result was a little bland. Any recommendations to add some heat to it for the next batch?
|
# ? Apr 13, 2014 09:06 |
Chekans 3 16 posted:The Red Beans and Rice turned out good, unfortunately I couldn't grill the sausage so I pan fried them a bit before throwing them in the last half hour. Went a little grey but still tasted pretty good. We had to add a lot of salt though because the final result was a little bland. Any recommendations to add some heat to it for the next batch? I pan fry mine often as well. Usually I keep my beans pretty mild and just add in Tabasco directly at the end when it's plated. If you want more than that I'd say just give it a few shakes of cayenne as it's cooking and see how you like it.
|
|
# ? Apr 14, 2014 12:54 |
|
Yeah, a little cayenne or red pepper flakes go a long way. You can always add hot sauce to taste but once you've got too much heat in the pot you're in it for the duration. Paprika can be useful for getting more peppery flavor without overshooting on heat. That may not be traditionally correct though, I'm not sure.
|
# ? Apr 15, 2014 01:08 |
|
So I have some leftover cooked smoked brisket and pulled pork that I'd like to use in a kinda smoky red beans & rice. I'm throwing a ham hock in as well but when should I add the cooked meat to get some of its flavor without overcooking it to hell? Also, would chipotles in adobe work in red beans & rice?
|
# ? Apr 20, 2014 20:17 |
|
I have a pretty jambalaya recipe that I've been using for a while, but today I figured I'd try the gumbo recipe on the first page. My only apprehension is that I followed the advice about going for a "dark chocolate" color in the roux, and stirred that poo poo for 45 minutes straight over the lowest heat my stove could give me. The end product has hints of that sort of bitter burnt taste to it. It's kind of like dark-but-not-quite-burnt toast, or maybe older coffee. I'm not a fan of the taste of either of those flavors, but my fiance insists that it's perfectly fine. Did I burn the roux, and thus ruin the dish? The only other thing I could think of that might have done that was after getting the roux to the color it was, I turned off the heat and let it sit for ~5 minutes, then added the veggies. When I did so, the roux dried out maybe halfway, then turned a slight shade darker. Should I have waited longer or something? Is there any way to mask that bitterness? I can only taste it right when the food hits my tongue, and then it's quickly overpowered by the amazing flavors of the rest of the food. I guess I'm just paranoid about my first gumbo.
|
# ? May 5, 2014 03:46 |
neogeo0823 posted:I have a pretty jambalaya recipe that I've been using for a while, but today I figured I'd try the gumbo recipe on the first page. My only apprehension is that I followed the advice about going for a "dark chocolate" color in the roux, and stirred that poo poo for 45 minutes straight over the lowest heat my stove could give me. The end product has hints of that sort of bitter burnt taste to it. It's kind of like dark-but-not-quite-burnt toast, or maybe older coffee. I'm not a fan of the taste of either of those flavors, but my fiance insists that it's perfectly fine. If it doesn't taste good to you then yeah it's probably a little off. I add the veggies or some stock to my roux the instant it gets to the right color and that quenches the whole thing, cooling it down so it can't burn after that. I bet if you do that next time you'll be fine. No use stressing over a burned roux, it'll happen now and then. If anything it's good to burn and taste one so you know what to avoid.
|
|
# ? May 5, 2014 22:01 |
|
Breaky posted:If it doesn't taste good to you then yeah it's probably a little off. I add the veggies or some stock to my roux the instant it gets to the right color and that quenches the whole thing, cooling it down so it can't burn after that. I bet if you do that next time you'll be fine. No use stressing over a burned roux, it'll happen now and then. If anything it's good to burn and taste one so you know what to avoid. Yeah, I'm glad I did it on the first try, so I know what to avoid. I know I got the technique right, I just did it for too long. Next time, I'll let it go for 30-35 minutes instead of 45. In other news, tonight was my first night actually having the gumbo. I figured that it would taste better if left to sit overnight, so I made it last night and just finished the chicken tikka masala I had from the night before. Letting it sit did allow the bitter flavor to muddle out of the dish a bit, as well as serving it over the Creole Boiled Rice from that nolacuisine site. I also discovered that adding a few drops of tabasco to the bowl completely masked the bitter flavor, which turned the dish from a Decent First Try into loving Delicious.
|
# ? May 6, 2014 02:35 |
|
neogeo0823 posted:Yeah, I'm glad I did it on the first try, so I know what to avoid. I know I got the technique right, I just did it for too long. Next time, I'll let it go for 30-35 minutes instead of 45. As you get used to making roux, you can cheat a bit. I make a chocolate roux at about medium heat (on a lovely apartment stove) and it comes out just as good as anything I ever did on low but in about 25 minutes. I add the vegetables right to it without taking it off the heat and as long as I keep moving things around, I don't get burned roux. You'll develop the right stir speed so nothing has a chance to burn but you don't splash napalm on yourself either. A thicker bottom on the pot seems to provide better protection against burning. TenaciousJ fucked around with this message at 23:20 on May 7, 2014 |
# ? May 7, 2014 23:16 |
|
So it's crawfish boil time of year and I've never tried doing it myself. My wife went to the Breaux Bridge Crawfish festival recently and made me jealous with her tales of deliciousness. Is it worth investing in a rig if I'm only going to do it a few times a year? Or just stick with paying a little more per pound and getting them preboiled and not dealing with the mess of it all? When I go out to family boils, cleanup is simple: load the back of someone's truck with the refuse, drive it out to the nearby bayou and dump (watching the aquatic feeding frenzy is a bonus). I'm in Mid-City Baton Rouge, though, and it's not quite as easy for setup and cleanup. That, and I'd have to learn how to use a propane rig.
|
# ? May 8, 2014 11:35 |
Mushika posted:So it's crawfish boil time of year and I've never tried doing it myself. My wife went to the Breaux Bridge Crawfish festival recently and made me jealous with her tales of deliciousness. Is it worth investing in a rig if I'm only going to do it a few times a year? Or just stick with paying a little more per pound and getting them preboiled and not dealing with the mess of it all? When I go out to family boils, cleanup is simple: load the back of someone's truck with the refuse, drive it out to the nearby bayou and dump (watching the aquatic feeding frenzy is a bonus). I'm in Mid-City Baton Rouge, though, and it's not quite as easy for setup and cleanup. That, and I'd have to learn how to use a propane rig. I'd say get one unless you are really strapped for cash. You'll only do it a few times a year because it's a short season anyway. To me it would be like having a backyard patio and not having a grill. Learning how to use the propane rig is dead simple, easier than using a gas grill really. Also you can use the rig to do big-scale fish frying or gumbo / jambalaya if you need to cook a bunch at once for something.
|
|
# ? May 8, 2014 11:43 |
|
Breaky posted:I'd say get one unless you are really strapped for cash. You'll only do it a few times a year because it's a short season anyway. To me it would be like having a backyard patio and not having a grill. Learning how to use the propane rig is dead simple, easier than using a gas grill really. Also you can use the rig to do big-scale fish frying or gumbo / jambalaya if you need to cook a bunch at once for something. That's kind of what I was thinking. I love cooking outdoors (I even cook on our chiminea, hell why not, you've got a fire going, cook on it) and we like to have family from out of town come and stay with us. Sometimes a lot of family. I figured the propane rig might be good to have for that. How difficult is jambalaya as compared to the stove top? I can't imagine gumbo being any more difficult, but I could see jambalaya being tricky as far as not burning the rice and whatnot. e: This is also the first place I've lived in a very long time with a nice backyard and accommodations for family to stay with us, hence not having much of a reason for much more than a small barbeque grill up until recently. Mushika fucked around with this message at 11:54 on May 8, 2014 |
# ? May 8, 2014 11:51 |
Mushika posted:That's kind of what I was thinking. I love cooking outdoors (I even cook on our chiminea, hell why not, you've got a fire going, cook on it) and we like to have family from out of town come and stay with us. Sometimes a lot of family. I figured the propane rig might be good to have for that. How difficult is jambalaya as compared to the stove top? I can't imagine gumbo being any more difficult, but I could see jambalaya being tricky as far as not burning the rice and whatnot. I started doing Jambalaya on a propane rig at tailgates for college football games. For starters, you'll never get it quite perfect compared to your own kitchen. You'll end up having either a little bit burned on the bottom every time (which is fine) or the whole thing will be a little bit mushy. I've found getting the temperature right is a little tougher but it's manageable for sure. If you've got a big stockpot chances are the bottom is pretty thin and this is part of the problem. Maybe if you put a metal plate or something right over the burner between it and the pot it could work a little better? I've found that I can make do without it and just know that you'll always have a little bit burnt at the bottom that you take care not to stir up. Same goes for etoufee, as you said, gumbo isn't an issue and if you wanted you could make the roux for that inside beforehand. I think I did something like 5lbs of sausage, 5lbs of chicken thighs (bone in), 5 large onions, 5 bell peppers, 1 entire package of celery, 2 small cans tomato paste, ~1 cup of chopped parsley, ~1 cup of chopped green onion and used whatever combination of stock and/or beer for the liquid. I used around 8-9 cups of rice with that, bay, thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne. You'll have to kinda determine it by eye the 1st time. We really did it by the seat of our pants but it came out well. Brown up the chicken thighs 1st and render out all that fat, remove them then go nuts with the veggies, sausage goes in, then rice, then tomato then stock, add the chicken back in, cover and turn to low-ish and let it cook for 45 or so. Don't be afraid to pull the top off and give it a look especially if you think it's running hot. A little burn on the bottom is alright but you don't want to torch the entire thing.
|
|
# ? May 8, 2014 12:21 |
|
Breaky posted:I started doing Jambalaya on a propane rig at tailgates for college football games. For starters, you'll never get it quite perfect compared to your own kitchen. You'll end up having either a little bit burned on the bottom every time (which is fine) or the whole thing will be a little bit mushy. Welp, I think you sold me on it. Is this also how you would fry a turkey? Not sure I really want to delve into that, just curious. Also, is it possible to cook low and slow, or is a propane rig by definition a high heat/high speed deal? Ever since I was a vegan, I've wanted to have a "seitan boil" instead of a seafood boil, and I still have loads of veggie friends and family that would love that, but gluten really needs low, slow heat. It'd still fill the same summer backyard role (ice chest of beer, kids and dogs running around, drunken uncle trying to convince you that Nazareth was a great band, crazy neighbor starting random fires), just a little slower.
|
# ? May 9, 2014 14:53 |
|
I would tell you to get the rig. I only do a couple crawfish boils a year and it is totally worth it. You can do so much with it, from crawfish and shrimp or crab boils, to frying a turkey, to fish/shrimp/hush puppy/everything in your pantry frying. Get a rig low to the ground with a longer tube from the regulator to the burner if possible. I have an old rig that stands about 2.5 feet off the ground and it works but is a little dangerous, especially with oil and kids running around. You will need different equipment for each function: 1. Crawfish/shrimp boil - big rear end pot with basket, paddle, strainer on a 3 foot handle. 2. Turkey - tall, thinner pot with turkey stand and hanger. 3. Small fry - short, wide pot with basket or 6" bamboo skimmer, and thermometer (a good glass one, not those crap ones that look like meat thermometers) You can get pretty low fire on most rigs but this will be a function of your regulator.
|
# ? May 9, 2014 16:33 |
|
Oh man guys, it's crawfish season and I found a local place that picks up fresh crawfish regularly. They'll sell them live or already boiled at great prices. I've been taking advantage of it as a huge kick of nostalgia and one of my favorite foods. The last few lbs of crawfish shells were used to make a reserve of stock to hold onto. Here lately I've been using it to make gumbo and crawfish etouffee. Currently looking for other uses for it if anybody has suggestions. Also does anybody know how well crawfish tail meat stores in if zip bagged and frozen? I'd like to possibly do a big boil of my own to save on costs(difference of ~$2-3 a pound) to collect a ton of meat for the off season before it ends. onemanlan fucked around with this message at 22:45 on May 10, 2014 |
# ? May 10, 2014 22:37 |
onemanlan posted:Oh man guys, it's crawfish season and I found a local place that picks up fresh crawfish regularly. They'll sell them live or already boiled at great prices. I've been taking advantage of it as a huge kick of nostalgia and one of my favorite foods. The last few lbs of crawfish shells were used to make a reserve of stock to hold onto. Here lately I've been using it to make gumbo and crawfish etouffee. Currently looking for other uses for it if anybody has suggestions. If you store it in ziplocks and push as much air out of it as possible it's decent for crawfish etoufee at the least or to throw in a seafood gumbo. Be sure to make some stock from the heads/shells and freeze that to go along with it.
|
|
# ? May 11, 2014 06:47 |
|
I never freeze just the tails. I usually make something (gumbo, étouffée, Monica) and freeze that.
|
# ? May 11, 2014 17:51 |
Phil Moscowitz posted:I never freeze just the tails. I usually make something (gumbo, étouffée, Monica) and freeze that. That's probably a better idea.
|
|
# ? May 11, 2014 18:03 |
|
Just made red beans and rice for the first time this week, and was asked to post it in here. Here's the finished product: I am not a vegetarian, but I cook almost exclusively vegetarian for a variety of reasons, so stuff like ham or andouille don't generally show up in my food. I'm going to post the recipe as I made it in case anyone else wants it -- it's similar to the vegan one posted earlier -- with some notes on what departures I took from the recipe after: quote:Vegetarian/Vegan Red Beans and Rice Notes on and departures from original recipe: 1. Original recipe called for bacon and andouille sausage, starting with the bacon for the fat. I omitted them and I did not replace them with anything, and I kept the other proportions as listed. 2. I used white pepper instead of black pepper because for some reason in my head that was the authentic thing to do. Everyone in here seems to be using black pepper so I'm assuming that's not true. 3. Original recipe called for 7 cups stock and 7 cups water. I ran out of room in my pot at 7 cups stock and 4 cups water and it was good; I might even use less next time. 4. 1 tsp of liquid smoke is not bad but I might up it slightly next time. 5. This thread says red kidney beans are okay but not authentic. My NOLA friend I consulted says they are authentic. I have no idea. I know most of you don't need the recipe, but since most of them include pork I thought it would be handy for the veggie types. I have never had proper Louisiana red beans and rice, so I have nothing to compare it to except Popeye's, but my NOLA friend gave it a thumbs up.
|
# ? Aug 19, 2014 03:11 |
|
guppy posted:2. I used white pepper instead of black pepper because for some reason in my head that was the authentic thing to do. Everyone in here seems to be using black pepper so I'm assuming that's not true. My general rule with western cuisine is that black pepper is the default with white pepper being used for aesthetic purposes (e.g. light colored sauces, mashed potatoes).
|
# ? Aug 19, 2014 04:09 |
|
You can always try and find a nice smoked paprika to dash in as you see fit. It's probably not traditional but if you're looking for a bit more smoke and depth than it can't hurt, plus it'll be even redder!! guppy posted:
Always black pepper for Cajun/Creole food. Always Good on you for finding Crystal though! poo poo is loving delicious and is the best thing ever for red beans and rice
|
# ? Aug 19, 2014 04:29 |
When I've made redbeans for vegetarian / vegan friends I usually up the garlic, cumin and smoked paprika and it works out very well. Thanks for putting this in the thread!
|
|
# ? Aug 19, 2014 12:01 |
|
guppy posted:Just made red beans and rice for the first time this week, and was asked to post it in here. Here's the finished product: That looks phenomenal.
|
# ? Aug 19, 2014 14:27 |
|
I too made Red Beans and Rice recently,
|
# ? Aug 19, 2014 16:33 |
|
Thanks y'all. Getting a thumbs up from locals on one of a region's signature dishes is a huge compliment and means a lot to me.
|
# ? Aug 19, 2014 17:11 |
|
|
# ? May 4, 2024 16:40 |
|
I gumbo'd last night. It's awesome. Probably the second best gumbo I have ever had (the best actually being a down and dirty cajun joint in DALLAS of all places, called Nate's). I got my roux to a tiny bit darker than milk chocolate. I wanted to take it darker, but the oil started smoking. I was using plain vegetable oil. If I want to go darker, should I use something with a higher smoke point, like canola?
|
# ? Aug 26, 2014 16:38 |