Put extra pepper on it. Now it's Cajun! The Cajun and Creole food thread.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Put extra pepper on it. Now it's Cajun! The Cajun and Creole food thread.

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That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Redfish Courtboullion

This thread was inspired by Wrinklepuff�s original thread on making gumbo:

Cajun and Creole Food

This thread is a brief introduction on Cajun and Creole cuisine for goons! I�ll do my best to demonstrate differences between the two and to point out the significant amount of overlap as well. Inevitably, people come out of the woodwork to bash recipes as not being �authentic� or �Cajun only� as opposed to Creole. I am a native of South Louisiana and I learned how to make most of the standard dishes at the foot of dozens of fishermens wives at our Sunday church potluck, picking up recipes and tips from women cooking seafood and produce off of their husbands boats and out of their own gardens. They don�t give a poo poo about what was �authentic� or not and neither should you. Good food is good food, and in Louisiana only the end result will matter.

Cajun and creole cuisine encompass a wide variety of ingredients and culinary styles. Despite the broad range of influences to create these novel and arguably most American :911:

of cuisines most of the standard recipes can be distilled down to a few base ingredients common to almost all recipes. Once you master the base recipe, most any element can be substituted depending what is in season or available. One of my most favorite things about cooking is adapting each recipe to the season and the company kept. I urge you to experiment with any recipe you find and never be afraid to add or replace something.

:france:

A brief history :eng101:

To understand a cuisine, knowing a bit of its history helps. The introduction of certain ingredients and methods all accumulated as cultures merged and shifted.
A long time ago (1699) a lot of French people came across the Atlantic and were really nice to the Indians. A bunch of them went straight to a mosquito and plague infested swamp known as Canada, and the rest went to Louisiana. Louisiana was named in honor of King Louis XIV by Robert LaSalle in 1662. Louisiana thrived as a colony with the exception of mass dieoffs due to cholera, malaria, yellow fever, fires and an influx of Spanish :ese:

and Germans :godwinning:

. Louisiana was inhabited by Spanish after ceding part of its area after the 7 years war in 1763. In 1765 badass Frenchmen :quebec:

got RUN OUT OF CANADA :canada:

from Acadia (now Nova Scotia) and ended up moving to a warmer mosquito and plague infested swamp near present day Lafayette, Louisiana in a region quite originally titled Acadiana. Eventually the Spanish hosed off back to Spain :byewhore:

or wherever and Napoleon set up shop. However, after getting run out of Canada, these guys failed to conquer Haiti and sold the Louisiana territory to the upstart Americans starting a long tradition of America fleecing foreign nations for profit :patriot:

.

Cajun vs Creole :argh:

In a nutshell, Cajuns are descendant from the Acadian exiles that settled in central to western Louisiana. Creole are French and Spanish immigrants (and later African and Haitian). The cooking styles have been roughly described as �country food� for Cajun and �city food� for Creole. Rumor has it that Creole was primarily spawned in rich New Orleans family kitchens where French and Spanish cuisine were blended with the influences of African slave cooks. Thus, Creole cooking will have a broad variety of (at the time) more costly ingredients and often a spicy profile. Cajun cuisine is continental French cooking, adapted for ingredients available in the Louisiana ecosystem. A good rule of thumb is that you will almost never see tomatoes in Cajun food, but you will in Creole. Also, a roux might be made with butter and flour in an uppity rich Creole kitchen, but made with lard or other oil and flour in a Cajun kitchen. People who argue at length on the subject however are human filth and should never taste the pleasures of either cuisine. Many old French dishes like numerous types of Fricassee or Bouillabaisse can be found in a Cajun kitchen albeit with Gulf fish instead of Sturgeon and Conger. One of the more common and frustrating misnomers is that Cajun and Creole food is *spicy*. Cayenne features prominently in several dishes, and a pickled Tabasco sauce is often used as a topping, but neither of these dominates the flavor profiles of their dishes. For dishes that feature a spicy note, you should add just enough heat to notice that it's there, then just a tiny bit more. Anything else takes away from the end result.

(Shrimp Etoufee, this goons personal favorite)

The Basics :eng101:

Just as continental French cuisine starts with a mirepoix, Cajun and creole typically start with The Holy Trinity. Cajun dishes especially use this bastardized mirepoix replacing Carrots for Bell Pepper along with Celery and Onions. Many Creole dishes also include elements of sofrito along with the trinity, namely garlic and tomato. Some recipes will also include corn and/or Okra, which are American Indian and African influences (Maque Choux and Gumbo are notable examples). Basically, you're going to almost always be starting with onion, celery and bell pepper (aka green capsicum).

Many recipes (but not all) will start with a roux. Roux is simply flour browned in fat (in a 1:1 ratio in almost all cases). Typically, stock is added afterwards and roux becomes a potent flavoring and thickening agent. The thickness of the dish is controlled by the ratio of roux to stock added at the end. For example, an etoufee will use a large amount of a blonde or light roux with a small proportion of stock and will result in thick light colored gravy. Gumbo will use a very dark roux with a large amount of stock resulting in a much more watery but dark and rich colored stew.

Effortpost by Hollis on roux: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3570811&pagenumber=2#post420749574

Many dishes will come in seafood and terrestrial varieties. These varieties are made at different times of the year when things are in season. Crawfish etoufee is popularized around the USA, but crawfish can only be harvested for a few months in the spring. The rest of the summer we would make shrimp etoufee and in later autumn / winter switch over to making chicken and andouille or a tasso etoufee instead. When changing from seafood to terrestrial, typically you will shift from a shrimp stock to chicken stock. Other stocks can be used, but these two are by far the most common.

Rice features prominently in most recipes, either being cooked into the dish (in Jambalaya) or used as a base (etoufee) or just a bit added into the rest (gumbo). In all cases long grain rice is typical. I�ve substituted jasmine rice at times, and nearly any other variety *could* be used although in some recipes this can be complicated (see below for Jambalaya).

In most cases you'll be using bay, thyme, parsley and green onion as your major herb additions. I almost always have bay and thyme prepped in a bouquet garni ready to throw into anything.

Recipe resources

This has been one of my favorites for New Orleans-centric recipes.
http://www.nolacuisine.com/

Alleric posted this for his homemade Andouille recipe and others.
http://www.gumbopages.com/food/

More TBA

I'm visiting New Orleans. Where should I eat?
OP suggestion - Tujaques prix fixe dinner
http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3570811&userid=110909#post442470036
2019 update - https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3570811&perpage=40&pagenumber=33#post497996621

I have these bottles :kimchi:

Tony Chachere's. Easy seasoning. You'll find this in almost anyones kitchen back home, but no one with a good deal of experience uses it unless they are in a rush. If you're quite new to cooking, use this (It's also awesome on buttered toast). Otherwise, salt your dish and add black pepper as needed, then add cayenne until you reach the desired amount of hotness.

McIlhenny's Tabasco. A staple in every kitchen. This provides a good degree of heat but with a very sour note. I only use this on redbeans, raw oysters and occasionally gumbo. It is perfect for beans.

What you should be using. Crystal hot sauce. A cayenne based hot sauce that is distinctly different from Tabasco. Not as sour, not as spicy. This is awesome for finishing just about any dish without overpowering it in heat. If you find this in someones kitchen outside of Louisiana, chances are they know what they are doing. Trust this person.

Phil Moscowitz posted:

If you're up for it, make your own Creole seasoning!

Here's what I do:

2 Tbs celery salt
2 Tbs fresh ground pepper
1 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs kosher salt
1 Tbs garlic powder
1 Tbs onion powder
3 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground thyme

Feel free to double the recipe. Way less salty than Tony's and great for marinades.

That Works fucked around with this message at 16:36 on Sep 3, 2019

# ¿ Sep 18, 2013 11:50

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 20:03

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Gumbo

There are infinite variations on this theme.

An excellent effort post on gumbo: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3570811&pagenumber=48#post534331432
A nice visual primer for gumbo https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3570811&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=46#post529931030

Fuckabees posted:

Gumbo is misrepresented everywhere. Creole to gumbo to jambalaya (I think the first vowel is a 'u' but but loving rich guys disagree) to mudbugs. This is now a Creole food thread. Which is the french when the had yet to do the Louisiana purchase thing...with mixed results. Both parties moved on.

If you have ordered gumbo at a restaurant anywhere except for a few places in Louisiana you have been lied to horribly. But good news is, you can remedy whatever gastronomical injustices wreaked upon you by mastering gumbo. You will need patience and lots of it, but you will not need zydeco, because it sucks.

I learned how to make gumbo on thanksgivings growing up and was taught by a reformed (or ex) black panther in pasadena CA. He was also an actor who shot JJ walker in good times in Season 2, Episode 10: The Gang: Part 2 if you care. This man could make a mean gumbo and did so every year as his contribution to our thanksgiving pot luck. He was black, I am white and we knew each other through church.

Gumbo is a traditional creole dish with the signature ingredient being sassafras, and ground root that in french is known as "file" pronounced (fee-lay). The word gumbo is an african word that in many dialects means "Okra", another traditional gumbo staple. It is in the Mallow family. There are several other ingredients that make it specific, but most of the time what you'll get is Jumbalaya which is a bold faced goddamned lie and gently caress that. Don't even get me started on Goulasch. Here we go.

You will need:
1.5 cups Lard/butter/oil (any but come the gently caress on...choose lard)
2 cups White Flower
1 medium yellow onion
1 green bell pepper
5 celery stalks
Coupla things of chicken stock. I like those boxes cause you can squeeze them and that is vaguely erotic to me. Quit the judging. Making your own is good but off topic. If you like fish tastes ( I don't) use fish stock. Like 3 of the boxes.
~12 fresh okra (round eye stores rarely have this...hit up the asian market, always around yet curiously am aware of no asian dishes that have okra in it, but they always got it). Or File (spice shops or online...large stores never have it.
1 lb andouille sausages (you may need to go to a specialty shop for this)
1 lb chicken thighs...anything will work but the bones are big and have good fat content.
1 lb Shromps. If you can get them with heads, all the better (if so ignore peeling) peeled and de-pooped...unless you are a fecal freak...disgusting.
Some pre cooked crab appendages
2 cups uncooked long grain white rice. You can cook it on its own, or throw it in with everything else the last 20 mins. I do the former.
2-3 tbsp File

In general as far as the seafood goes...you can go nuts, whatever you want so long as you know the cooking times for each. poo poo goes south when you under/overcook things. I like to add mussels, clams, or mudbugs if I can get them.

I use like a 10 quart le cruset pan, but I've done it loads of times in a pot like a spaghetti cooking pot. This I think, makes the roux more challenging. To the roux (like kangaroo)!

Roux is a french thing that requires some patience. Basically you are slowly browning flour in hot oil. Melt your lard (its the nineties, get over it) on low and stir in the flower. The proportions will just determine the thickness, so eye ball it. You need to stir this bitch all the time. Like every 5 seconds. So not all the time, but a goddamned lot. You will think it isn't hot enough and not doing anything, but this, like the jumbalaya you call gumbo is also a lie. 25 minutes minimum. Slowly it will become brown and aromatic. Keep going, you want a nice dark brown (dark chocolate colored) roux. If at any point you see so much as one teensy black flake in there, congratulations you have ruined it. Throw it out and look at yourself in the mirror and ponder the fact that you hosed up due to lack of attention and are now down like 13 whole cents.

This next part I screwed up a lot. A ton. And I'm not sure exactly why. But take the roux off the heat. You should always anyway pre-prep all your things. So I am not covering it. Chop your poo poo up at least for this part. The combo of onion, celery and bell pepper is referred to as "the trinity" in creole food and goes in most signature dishes. The problem is, somehow the addition of the vegetables when the roux is hot, tends to desiccate the roux and causes it to burn...if so, ded. You are now up to like 3 bucks in waste. There are hungry kids in africa poo poo dick. I attribute this to the fact that the surface area increases and therefore is thinner and more conductive to heat and it suuuucks. So take it off, and add those three things (diced) and wait for the onion to get translucent.

By now most rear end in a top hat cooks will add tomato. But why would they do that? Cause they are lazy and didn't make a loving roux. They eat it in New Orleans and say huh...that looks red, must be tomatoe. And boy they are wrong as santa in a bikini. You will find recipes with tomato, and they are full of loving poo poo and holocausts. Its the rich roux that does it. Stop the lies, 911 was an inside job. Sweat that poo poo down.

No throw in the stock and bring to the boil...the gumbo is pretty much un-ruinable at this point, so you are out of the woods. Great job Ramsey. Bring to a boil, season the chicken with salt/pepper and plop in. Reduce and simmer. Go watch a movie and drink things.

Now its just gonna do the slow cook thing. I like to let it go for about 4 hours, returning to stir about about once per hour. The smell will give you a perma boner.

About 1 hour before meal time chop the sausage however you want and plop it in. It'll get tough if boiled for too long and lose a lot of its nice paprika and smokey flavor.

Rinse and cook the rice. you wouldn't be here if you couldn't cook rice.

Now the Okra. Cut it into rings. You have a choice here. Okra has this odd attribute that when you boil it, it emits a very snot like substance. It is probably ectoplasm and will invite a demonic presence into your home. So you can boil it in water in a separate pot, skimming off the scum. This is wrong, but its not so loving egregious as the jumbalaya who's makers need to go to guantanamo, but if it grosses you out, fine. The slime however assists in thickening the gumbo to a wonderful velvety texture. Some will say that its either Filet or Okra boogers but not both, I do both. Just takes a few minutes to cook, and can't really over cook. I do a few mins, because I like it al dente crunch style.

Seafood cooks fast, so just like last couple mins. Bear in mind that the crab is already cooked, you are just bringing it up to temperature...anymore than this and it will fall apart in the shell. If you can do a whole dungeness, you loving do it. Thems the rules.

Fish out and remove chicken bones, won't be hard, meat will fall off.

File is often served at the table and left up to the consumer's preference, but for reference, I put in about 2-3 tablespoons before serving.

Congratulations. You have now made one of the most difficult, misunderstood, complex, and delicious misnomers in southern cuisine.

There are many variations from kitchen to kitchen...some are real specific, others want to play with it. I strongly suggest you to try it, its a very old dish with lots of room for improvements. Let others know how it goes! Pics and poo poo.

Black power.

That Works fucked around with this message at 20:38 on Sep 3, 2023

# ¿ Sep 18, 2013 11:51

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Red Beans and Rice

This dish is commonly made on Mondays as a way to utilize leftover ham and pork bones from Sunday dinner. This is a customary dish as Ham is typically served on Sundays and you can find this on special for Monday lunches all over the region. This dish is distinctly Creole, if you were wondering about that.

Sevryn posted:

Here's a recipe I've used for several years now for Red Beans and Rice. I can't speak for its authenticity but its always gone over well for me and my friends. Truth is, I don't remember where I got it from, but I'm almost sure it got it from here.

I'm always open to improvement ideas.

Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

1 pound dry red beans
3 quarts water
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
4 bay leaves
1 cup chopped sweet green pepper
4 tablespoons chopped garlic
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 teaspoons dried thyme - crushed
1 pound andouille sausage - cut into 1/4 in.pieces
1 good ham bone and small chunks of ham
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
Tabasco, if desired.

Instructions:

Pick through beans to remove bad beans; rinse thoroughly.
In a 10 quart pot combine beans, water, ham bone with ham, andouille
sausage, onion, celery, and bay leaves.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat.
Cove and cook over low heat, for about 1&1/2 hours or until beans are tender.
Stir and mash beans against side of pan.
Add green pepper, garlic, parsley, thyme, salt, and black pepper.
Cook uncovered, over low heat until creamy, about 30 minutes.
Remove bay leaves.
Serve over hot cooked fluffy rice.
Tabasco to taste.

The red beans used in Louisiana are not the same as kidney beans,but
if you can't get any thing else the kidney beans will work.

Makes 8 servings

Fo3's no meat Red beans and rice: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3570811#post419688274

That Works fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Nov 5, 2015

# ¿ Sep 18, 2013 11:51

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Jambalaya

This is my go-to, always have ingredients on hand for, type of dish. It can be dressed up or down and can be made on a budget. The recipe is highly resilient and will accept a lot of leeway with ingredient choices. It's fantastic for scaling up or down, I've made a small pot for me and friends just for a single dinner, and I've also scaled this up at tailgates and made enough for 40 people at once.

The biggest problem with this dish is that the rice can get mushy if you add too much water or if you overcook it. Don't fret if this happens, it will still be delicious, just learn from it and try to either cut down the water or the cook time next time you make it.

The most "pure" Jambalaya recipe popularized around Gonzalez, LA (Which has a Jambalaya Festival every Memorial Day) is a Creole version using tomatoes with chicken as the meat included. It can just as easily be found elsewhere made only with Andouille and no tomatoes, or with just shrimp, or with any mixtures of the above. Shrimp stock will be used when shrimp are added, chicken stock otherwise.

Ingredients
1 Yellow Onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 Bell pepper, chopped
1 lb sausage, chopped (Andouille if you got it, even cheap kielbasa works if not, don't fret)
1 lb chicken, (can be bone in thighs, chopped breasts, separated leg quarters, whatever. I like using dark meat for this)
2-4 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 can tomato paste (3-4 Tbls)
1.5 cups long grain rice
1.5 cups stock
1 bunch green onion, chopped green ends, one handful
1 bunch parsley, chop one handful

Bay Leaves
Thyme sprigs (or ground thyme)
salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper

This is from an old batch, knives and cutting board have improved since then, not pictured is celery and chicken.

Use an oven safe pot / dutch oven.
Preheat your oven to 300-350F.

1. Start by browning your chicken in a dash of butter, lard or peanut oil, remove then lightly brown the sausage.
2. I sweat the onions briefly, then add celery, when both start to soften salt briefly and add in the bell pepper.
3. Add in the chicken and the rice, keep cooking on medium high and allow the rice to pick up some of the oil from the sausage and chicken, toast the rice a bit, but don't go nuts and bother with trying to brown up all of it, never been worth the trouble.
4. Add in the chopped tomatoes (this will halt the rice from burning on the bottom)

5. Stir, add thyme, bay leaves and tomato paste, add in a few dashes of cayenne and black pepper
6. Keep stirring, add in 1.5 cups stock (A cheap bitter pilsner beer works great too)

Sometimes I add in some chopped parsley at this point, sometime just at the end as a garnish.

7. Keep heating on medium-high stirring occasionally just to keep anything from burning on the bottom, until the liquid just starts to boil. During this phase taste and see if salt / cayenne levels are sufficient, season to taste.
8. Cover pot and transfer to oven, bake at 300-350F for 45m.
(Option: Cover and set burner to low, simmer on stove for 45m, I like the oven because less burns on the bottom of my dutch oven, to each their own).

9. Remove from oven, check rice consistency, if the rice seems underdone / crunchy and the dish seems dry after stirring, add 1/4 cup or so of stock/beer/water, cover and let cook for another 10m. If the rice is mushy take it out immediately. If the rice is of good consistency but there is excess liquid, remove cover and place on a medium burner, stir sparingly and hope that you can cook off some of the excess liquid without overcooking the rice. (Anyone elses tips here would be appreciated).

10. Fold in the green onion and parsley, don't stir too often as you'll overwork the rice and mush it up. remove Bay leaves and thyme sprigs. If you had bone-in chicken, fleck the meat off with a fork and stir back in, removing the bones as you go. Additional salt or cayenne can be added if desired.

(Chicken free version)

Enjoy. I serve this most often with a cucumber / tomato / feta salad and a square of cornbread.

That Works fucked around with this message at 14:43 on Sep 18, 2013

# ¿ Sep 18, 2013 12:00

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Thanks! Added in my typical Jambalaya recipe. I've always struggled a bit with finding the right consistency of rice with water:rice ratio vs cooking time. Anyone got a trick for this? Through years of experience I can get it right more often than not, but I can't say that I get it right every time now.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2013 14:44

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Defiance Industries posted:

I've always found that having enough water to float a little bit of rice but hide the main body of the dish is pretty sufficient. Time for me usually entails waiting like 35 minutes and then lifting the corner of the lid just a little to check how much water is left, and then going from there. You need to be real quick with your peek, though.

Incidentally jambalaya makes great breakfast burritos for leftovers the next day. I like to cook up some breakfast potatoes to add in there, but I realize that's basically heresy.

Hahah I've never tried that but it sounds like it would be good. Thanks for the tip, will try that next batch.

# ¿ Sep 18, 2013 22:37

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Defiance Industries posted:

I hope it's this one.

It has a real soft spot in my heart. Back when I was learning to cook this stuff, it was my first step in reference before I called my dad (who got me started cooking) for advice.

Holy nostalgia. I haven't seen that book cover in almost 20 years!

I've got the Picayune cookbook (an amalgam of Picayne recipes put together in 1901 and reprinted in paperback).

And Justin Wilson's Homegrown cookbook which I inherited somewhere along the way.

Both have a lot of funny and / or silly writing in them. I highly encourage anyone to take a look at the Picayune cookbook as the recipes are written in units common to 1901 (drams, gils, etc) and most of the ingredients are written in french and english as well as many of the recipes featuring lard and other ingredients used less in modern kitchens. Fun stuff.

Rapman the Cook posted:

So...whats the deal with this thread then?

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3570118

I PM'd Fuckabees and he was cool with merging that thread into a more comprehensive cajun and creole thread, as there surprisingly wasn't one in GWS.

bolo yeung posted:

I'd love to contribute some recipes when/if I get some time to.

On your jambalaya recipe, you can get a looser texture by using parboiled rice, if that's something you'd want. I grew up eating brown Cajun jambalaya. As such, I have a really hard time with the red stuff. Usually in Cajun country a jambalaya involves smoked pork sausage, pork and/or chicken.

Also, another common Cajun thing, at least from what I experienced growing up, is not mixing mammals/birds with seafood. It was always either a seafood gumbo or sausage and chicken/duck, for example.

Where do you find chicken etouffee? Is that a New Orleans thing? I've only ever had it with shrimp, crawfish, or occasionally crab.

Red beans and rice pro tip: in addition to the sausage and hambone, some chopped up tasso makes it pop.

I have used parboiled rice for it, I used to only use that but now I've gotten a little better at using regular long grain, parboiled is a good tip though and maybe should be encouraged for a 1st timer to the recipe?

You're right on about not mixing mammals and seafood, except in Gumbo at least, I've seen anyone and everyone just use whatever the gently caress was in the fridge / freezer for that. I've gotten into mixing things more usually because I live out of the area now and don't always get either good seafood or good sausage.

Not sure about the source of chicken etoufee, but it's always chicken and sausage together. I remember us making it out of the shrimping season later in the winter through to early spring (when crawfish came into season). Usually during the winter all jambalaya, gumbo, etoufee and other stuff was duck, chicken, sausage or turkey. We cooked lots of pork, tasso etc in Maque choux during that time.

Since moving to New England I have no idea where to get tasso :smith:

# ¿ Sep 19, 2013 02:35

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Fo3 posted:

I don't know if they first mix list is authentic, but I'm totally using 2t of that spice mix in the beans and rice I'm cooking right now, (along with some cumin, a bay leaf and extra chilli). E: Giving it a try with smoked paprika as a veg beans and rice needs all the help it can get.

I've never seen much consensus in a general mix apart from black pepper, cayenne pepper and salt, but I've seen the other spices used in plenty of the dishes.

I started adding cumin into my redbeans and rice recipe too, it owns. I think cajun, like good italian, should be adapted to what's in season and what's available to make the dish good. At least that's how I feel about it and no one should apologize for changing around a recipe some.

Edit: I've made redbeans and rice that were completely vegan and tasted great, just get the beans creamy and lots of bay+thyme and a little garlic in there and they are pretty awesome, cumin only helps.

# ¿ Sep 20, 2013 12:46

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Nice! Color looks spot on there.

If you're reheating more you might try garnishing with a little green onion and parsley. Usually adds a nice flavor with it.

# ¿ Sep 22, 2013 14:05

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

HClChicken posted:

Robert Irvine came to Afghanistan (while I was there) and made crawfish etoufee. First time having it and I feel really shameful about that fact. I loved the poo poo out of it and am wondering if there are any versions you'd recommend.

Personally I make one similar to this:

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2009/07/01/crawfish-etouffee-recipe/

but I add in tomato with my sauce. Crawfish stock may not be possible to make depending on how you get your tails. If not either make shrimp stock, or if that is difficult I use a fairly light beer, actually sometimes I prefer using beer over regular stock, gives a nice sour/bitter note that can be excellent.

# ¿ Sep 23, 2013 18:03

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

GEEKABALL posted:

I'm going to try this with shrimp. Is this what is called a blond etoufee? Is that even a thing or am I mis-remembering? I've had darker etoufee and thought it was wonderful. If I wanted to make it darker, would I add the flour to the butter and make a roux first and then sweat the veg in the roux (like starting a gumbo) or would it then no longer be an etoufee? I especially like blackened redfish stuffed with etoufee .

Blonde roux is a common term. And yeah what the post above mine said.

I run my roux medium-dark for my etoufee as I like the flavor. A very blonde roux will be mixed just until you start to notice it darken. If you go a little longer you get a nice nutty flavor from the flour. Blonde roux are typically just to use as a thickener for gravy, dark ones impart a lot of their own flavor like what you want in a good gumbo.

# ¿ Oct 3, 2013 16:50

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Present posted:

OP I'd love to try making these but there are no quantities listed for your spices for the most part. Can you please add them in?

Salt and pepper should be to taste, bay leaves usually just 1-2. Cayenne is going to be different for each person. I'd start with 1/2 a teaspoon which will be almost undetectable unless you're very sensitive to it. I probably end up with 2-3 tsp? I can't say that I've properly measured it. I generally shake in a bit and stir, let that cook for a bit and then taste it then season as I go.

I never make Gumbo or Jambalaya too spicy, just enough to know its there. I will make etoufee a little more spicy than those two though, just seems to work well.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2013 03:15

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Hecuba posted:

One thing I only recently realized is how crucial a generous dose of black pepper is to really get that Cajun flavor right. I grew up in Louisiana with a real traditional family and moved to the North in my 20's, only to realize that the food of my homeland wasn't as easy to recreate as my Maw-Maw made it look. It wasn't until I started adding an extra eight or ten cranks of the peppermill to everything that I could actually take a bite and say "mmm... tastes like Cajun." Trinity + good hot sauce (anything besides Crystal is blasphemy ) will get you a long way there, though.

TychoCelchuuu, you could veganize maque choux pretty easily: http://www.gumbopages.com/food/veg/maque-choux.html Also if you're in an area where you can get mirliton/chayote, try dicing it and sauteing with trinity + garlic + s&p + hot sauce. Top with oiled breadcrumbs, chopped green onion and a few dots of your favorite vegan butter and bake til it's all soft and creamy. Dems some good eats. Also, regular old stewed okra n' tomatoes isn't exclusively a Cajun country thing, but it's a Southern classic for a reason.

You got any other good recipes for Mirliton? I've cooked with it now and then but I don't have much written down for it. Was always a bonus when it came in season.

# ¿ Oct 4, 2013 03:28

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

OMGVBFLOL posted:

Made the jambalaya recipe from the OP. Killer. Used my own homemade chicken stock, skipped the tomato paste because the fartsypants grocery store by my house doesn't carry any. I dumped in a bit of the local ale I was drinking even though I had stock on hand, because yum beer. Did it stovetop and it worked fine, no scorching on the bottom, maybe because of the extra liquid from the beer. Thanks!

e: Also used brown rice because I like it and it's what I had on hand.

Nice! That's really cool. How did you like it with brown rice? I've used that before in gumbo and etoufee but never in Jambalaya yet since the rice: liquid ratio is more important and I never got comfortable enough to put a different grain in there.

Also yeah on the beer, just finishing up a tupperware for lunch today of the last pot of Jambalaya I had that used beer almost entirely as the liquid added and can still notice the nice flavor coming through from that. Definitely using it heavily in the next batch.

# ¿ Oct 9, 2013 03:47

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

OMGVBFLOL posted:

I added the beer after the tomatoes and before the stock. It didn't feel like the tomatoes had dropped in enough liquid to stop the rice toasting. It was kind of a spontaneous "No burn rice! " thing so I just eyeballed it. Maybe 1/2c or so. I probably just about lucked into the right amount of extra liquid to handle the brown rice, because the texture seems about what's described as correct, and the rice at the bottom was just starting to form a crust that was easily scraped and folded in with the parsley and onions.

Sounds perfect. Congrats!

# ¿ Oct 9, 2013 18:01

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Never tried it in a crock pot. Did the rice come out alright, ie not mushy?

This is pretty cool seeing people getting something out of it :unsmith:

# ¿ Oct 13, 2013 03:55

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Doobie Keebler posted:

Since the rice went in near the end it came out just fine. I definitely wouldn't recommend putting it in at the beginning if it's going in the crock pot.

That's interesting, I never thought about adding in the rice later on, usually just browned things up, wilted the veggies then just cooked it all at once.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2013 19:46

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

bleedbackwards posted:

Tomatoes? Where are you from, Shreveport? Get outta here.

Haha! Nah man, Venice. Can't get much further out there. We tend to run with Okra / tomato over file in a lot of preps. Also use tomatoes in jambalaya, which was the only way I'd had it for years until eating out with some family in Ville Platte and being like "why is this so brown?".

That gumbo looks good man!, and yes, it is always better after a day in the fridge.

# ¿ Oct 18, 2013 15:47

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Trinity was always, and I mean always, onion, celery, bell pepper, never heard anyone say otherwise. But yeah, we used garlic considerably depending on the recipe.

Maybe it's like the John the Baptist to the Trinity.... :v:

# ¿ Oct 20, 2013 15:48

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

bleedbackwards posted:

Interesting! I've lived in St. Martin Parish my whole life, and I've never known anyone around here to use tomatoes. I'd be willing to try it though, I'm sure it lends quite a different flavor.

I'm sure its one of those true cajun vs creole variations. Being so close to New Orleans all our stuff runs creole heavy, lots of tomato and garlic compared to out your way.

Pretty neat all the same. I don't think I had Jambalaya without tomato in it until I was almost 20 or so.

# ¿ Oct 20, 2013 17:11

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

The Southern Dandy posted:

It's funny because if you use onion/celery/carrot (the traditional French trinity) you wind up with a tasty, but very different, base flavor.

I can't wait to begin my career as a flavorist with that insightful statement.

Yeah it's cool how that works. I make all my roasts with the standard mirepoix, carrots just do so well in there I have to have them.

Save me jeebus posted:

I'm making the court-bouillon from the recipe in the OP except stupid Whole Foods only had halibut.

I was really hoping they'd have some whole catfish, or some snapper, they often do.

It should work just be sure to handle them as little as possible so you don't turn it into a pile of fish flakes.

# ¿ Oct 20, 2013 23:57

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Thanks Hollis! Gonna link the post about roux in the OP. Good stuff.

Also if you wanna go a little more upscale while youre in NOLA have dinner at Tujaques. It's usually a prix fixe deal for $50-60 if I remember correctly but holy poo poo it is worth it. The lunch menu is more standard fare (stuff from the OP etc) and a little cheaper but also good. Splurging on a dinner there is worth it.

JaquesMos is the poo poo, glad to learn about Tracy's. If you see the huge line for beignets and coffe at cafe du monde go over and find Morning call, better stuff anyway. There's a big one in city park and the old one that they moved out of the quarter after it burned is near the Causeway.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2013 03:35

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

I've lived outside of LA a majority of the last 8 years so getting good andouille is always a challenge.

I've subbed in a good kielbasa for lots of things and it worked just fine. If you can find local sausage makers just get something that trends on the spicy / garlic heavy side and it will probably do well.

When I lived in Texas I had a guy who brought us several pounds of homemade pork and jalapeno sausage every month or so. I used this in gumbo and jambalaya and everyone loved it.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2013 15:48

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Good tip about the raw sausage Hollis, I almost never get them raw so never made any mention of it.

Agreeing with Hollis that the fennel just would taste weird in a gumbo. It's just not something that goes good in the profile. Great stuff for white gravy though.

# ¿ Oct 22, 2013 00:29

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Oh gently caress yes meat pies :fap:

My grandparents lived in Alexandria and had farmland all over even up past Natchitoches. Grandpa would always take us to Lasyones on the way back for meat pies. Those were so freakin good. Nice call on adding that to the thread. Its a north Louisiana thing but it's awesome.

That Works fucked around with this message at 13:08 on Oct 22, 2013

# ¿ Oct 22, 2013 13:04

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

The Southern Dandy posted:

I'm from Pineville

I have family in Pineville...

# ¿ Oct 22, 2013 23:41

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Crystal is great, I've also lived through droughts where I was in places that did not have it. It's not like, magically irreplaceable if you can't find it so don't let it hold up a recipe.

# ¿ Nov 10, 2013 17:05

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

GEEKABALL posted:

Just finishing up some leftover Daube from Mandina's. I'd never even heard of this stuff before, but it is outrageously delicious. Kind of a Swiss steak on steroids, except they use brisket. Does anyone have a recipe for this?
I'm going to try to find Casamento's tonight. I've been in New Orleans for four days now and I feel like I've gained 10 pounds

I've been meaning to make the one from this recipe: http://www.nolacuisine.com/2012/09/10/daube-creole-recipe/

I haven't gotten around to it though so I can't vouch for it yet. I've used that same site for other recipes though and they have performed well.

# ¿ Nov 15, 2013 19:34

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Shbobdb posted:

I was hoping to make some crab etouffee, Any good recipes? I can buy the Crystal from the Korean grocer but I'd like some more guidance.

Follow a crawfish or shrimp etoufee recipe honestly. If you are buying the crabmeat without the shells then you'll want to make some sort of shellfish stock if you can. Otherwise sub in chicken stock but I would only do that if you have no options.

# ¿ Nov 22, 2013 19:00

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Shbobdb posted:

It will be a live crab, so I'll have the shell

So, what is a good shellfish recipe? I could google some random stuff, but I never know how good those will be.

http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/12/28/shrimp-etouffee-recipe/
http://www.nolacuisine.com/2009/07/01/crawfish-etouffee-recipe/

Either of those are a good start. The recipes are pretty flexible so taste it as you go and change seasonings etc accordingly.

# ¿ Nov 23, 2013 02:00

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Mushika posted:

So apparently what I've had as "green gumbo" isn't exactly that. Years ago, when I was vegetarian, some friends and I would make "green gumbo" by starting a gumbo the traditional way with a roux, trinity, maybe some garlic, and then incorporating the stock (vegetable at the time). After that got well and going, we'd chop up a bunch of turnip, collard, and/or mustard greens and stew them until just tender. A delicious stew of greens to be sure, but recently I've discovered that was not quite a gumbo z'herbes. Seems like a green gumbo has a much larger amount and variety of greens, and tends to be more blended. Most pictures I've seen makes it look comparable to an Indian saag.

It's not something I've seen in restaurants that I've been to, though I guess I could try asking for it off-menu during Lent. I've looked up recipes and it looks delicious, but I was wondering if any south Louisiana goons have a favorite recipe or maybe a certain preparation their family typically uses.

e: A friend told me to try Dooky Chase, has anyone tried theirs?

Can't say I've heard of one but that sounds really good. If you find something post it back in here!

# ¿ Nov 27, 2013 02:25

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Just wanted to keep this from falling to archives.

# ¿ Jan 17, 2014 20:53

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Butch Cassidy posted:

Had some extra cash on my last shopping trip And splurged on some sausage and shrimp. Jumbalaya will be happening this week.

And I have seasoned crawfish shells in the freezer to stock-ify and mate with chicken in an �touff�e later. Time to get back into roux-crazed Cajun dishes.

Sadly, wild crawfish are not as prominent in the streams and lakes here as they once were and the little buggers are spendy to buy. But lobster is regularly on sale as cheap/cheaper than sale haddock, so I am going to make some Down East gumbo/�touff�e and make no apologies.

Comedy option: throw a dinner party with this stuff, sell a rifle to help fund a Cajun accordion, arrange some French-Canadian folk tunes for it, and have possibly the best party ever.

I made gumbo with lobster, mussels and haddock this summer (living in Boston). Lobster was down to like $3.50 /lb so I was using it in everything for that month. It came out great. Lobster stock is easy and gets you tons of it as well.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2014 16:06

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

^^^^^ I'm not a fan of tabasco much either. Honestly I like it on Redbeans but that's it. Too much vinegar flavor for me. I've got a bottle of LHS I use now and then and it's pretty good. Never tried the other yet though!

Crosspostin from the what you made for dinner thread:

Mardi Gras comin around soon so it's time to start making King Cake.

Rolling out the dough, adding in butter, brown sugar, cinnamon

Before rising

Finished product

Missing from this is the glaze put on just out of the oven while hot that rests underneath the colored sugar. This is essentially a brioche dough with citrus flavor throughout and uses lemon juice as well in the underlying glaze. Tasted great although came out a little dry. I've been using a new oven for the past 4 months since moving to this place and my breadmaking still hasn't really quite gotten there with the new setup.

This was for a house party so I also ended up making:

Shrimp and Grits

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

# ¿ Jan 21, 2014 16:37

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Thanks guys! It's such a good dish / easy to make and scale up or down for whatever occasion, I love it.

Edit: About adding too much liquid. I've done that a million times. I end up making sure the veggies have cooked off a good bit of the liquid but they don't have to be entirely dry and burning. Then I use a 1:1 ratio of liquid (beer/stock/water) to rice. Bringing that up to a low boil and then letting it cook in the oven instead of on the burner makes it much more consistent in my hands, but it took a long time to get it right reliably so don't fret.

# ¿ Jan 21, 2014 18:00

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Hollismason posted:

Guys, I'm making Gumbo for 40 kids at the homeless youth center I volunteer at and I am freaking out. I hope it's good.

I got like two whole chickens
3 Lbs of Sausage

Got my ingredients, filet etc..

I'm just freaking out though.

Don't sweat it. I used to make giant batches of it for college football tailgates.

Are you using their kitchen / pots and pans? Or are you using your own?

You can do a few things like cut and prep all your trinity the day beforehand and bag it. You can also make the dark roux and stop the browning with just a little stock and refrigerate that until the next day and add it in after you've browned the chicken and wilted the vegetables and sausage in the fat from that. Etc. If you have specific concerns PM me, I've regularly done batches for 50-75 people. The good thing is that gumbo scales up and down well. As long as you don't burn it to poo poo it's probably going to taste fantastic.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2014 16:20

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

THE MACHO MAN posted:

I made shrimp etouffe the other day and it was awesome. I'm pretty sure I could eat cajun/creole all loving day and get fat as hell.

Do people usually use fresh tomatoes in their etouffee? The pics I saw online were a bit more red and a much more smooth consistency than mine, which was kinda chunky. I diced up some tomatoes with everything else. Do you guys just dump in a tomatoe puree or stick a hand blender in your gravy?

Personally I dice up a couple of raw tomatoes and then add 2 tbls or so of tomato paste. I've tried it with just raw tomato alone and you'd need to add quite a bit to get the nice orange coloration. I've found going with the paste just seems to work nice and I add in the raw ones for a little texture.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2014 13:51

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

Paradox Personified posted:

Mario Batali is a strong proponent of canned tomatoes in all his (Italian) cooking. He notes that throughout his career, in a cooked dish, canned tomatoes taste the same as fresh. Now if it were tomatoes to be served raw in some fashion, yeah use raw. But I love using tomato paste out those fancy-rear end tubes, canned tomatoes from government commodities, it's all good. I give you permission to use canned tomatoes.
And for the love of the Holy Trinity, if you blend, please don't run it through a sieve and take out all the good stuff.

Can I ask my question again to beg if anyone has riz gras recipes in their family? My g-ma passed away a couple years ago and she always refused to write recipes for me, so I have to reverse engineer and I'm not skilled enough with fried rice to do so in this manner. In return, if anyone needs me to shake the Cajun phone tree, I can come up with some recipes of Cajun and/or Creole origin, or phone numbers for The Best Stop, or how Skeeter Ray's birth name is Jack and is really a nice guy and he and my mother formed The Tree Club around this one tree near Opelousas so they could all drink and party away from the prying eyes of the law....

I do not have any riz gras recipes myself. It wasn't a dish that my family ever really made that I recall.

Anyone got a good redfish / catfish / choupic courtboullion recipe? I've only got one and I never really get it tasting quite like I remember having it in other peoples homes.

# ¿ Feb 27, 2014 18:11

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

THE MACHO MAN posted:

So I'm gonna be going to Arnaud's this week. I know the bananas foster is a big thing there. Anyone have any personal recommendation for dishes to try there?

Pompano en croute if you like fish. Be sure to get some bread pudding and Oysters Bienville, Crabmeat Karen too.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2014 21:25

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# ¿ Apr 27, 2024 20:03

That Works: Jul 22, 2006; Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy

GrAviTy84 posted:

This thread needs more pictures.

I made Gumbo z'herbes last night for dinner

Gumbo z'Herbes by gtrwndr87, on Flickr

With 7 types of homegrown or foraged greens (Collards, chard, dandelion, mallow, wild rocket, beet greens, and kale) and 3 kinds of smoked sausage (beef, double smoked pork kielbasa, and andouille), and chicken. Protip, mallow thickens just as well as file and okra. This was delicious albeit no longer lent friendly with all the sausage and chicken (gumbo z'herbes was originally served as a meatless gumbo for lent).

That's beautiful.

Will update this post tomorrow as I just made a big pot of etoufee and am finishing / serving it for a book club tomorrow night.

# ¿ Mar 13, 2014 03:14

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Put extra pepper on it. Now it's Cajun! The Cajun and Creole food thread.

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