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“A Higher Class of Coon-Ass”

May 6

Posted by JB in Cajun recipes, Ingredients, tips, and restaurant news, The Cajun Foodie | 21 Comments

Through a recent experience of mine (which I am not allowed to talk about) I learned a few things.  The major one being this: Though south Louisiana food is, without a doubt, some of the best food in the world, it is extremely simple and limited.  I mean all we do, for the most part, is sauté some vegetables, add some type of sauce base, some type of stock, some seasonings, some type of meat, and then throw it over rice.  Delicious, yes, but creative? Not really.  I mean, there are things that a good coon-ass like myself (and I’m sure some of you) would never even dream of.  I mean, smoked duck tacos? Pumpkin lamb stew? Homemade chorizo?  Risotto cakes fried in truffle oil?  Black mole sauce? WTF?  Who even knew you could eat a pumpkin?  What the hell is a mole?  Well, let me tell you, there is a whole world of food out there that I didn’t even know existed.

Well, I guess I had an idea (thank you Food Network) but I am more of a jeans and cowboy boots kind of guy.  White tablecloths and dress codes kind of throw me off.  Surely I can’t really afford to eat at these restaurants anyway, nor could I ever pull off this complicated cuisine in my tiny kitchen in Madisonville, LA.  Well, I was wrong.  It turns out most of these “white tablecloth” type of dishes are very simple.  It may take a bit of a process, but the steps are, most of the time, simple and easy to follow.  And, with the right ingredients, most people with a little cooking ability can pull off fabulous cuisine in any kitchen.  Of course, those fancy, often pretentious, $50-$100 a plate restaurants don’t want you to know that.

Anyway, that’s why I came up with this idea for a series of dishes that I have labeled “A Higher Class of Coon-Ass”.  These dishes are based in true Louisiana coon-ass tradition, but with fine dining flare.  Here is the first:

Jambalaya Risotto

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Arborio rice
  • 4-5 cups of chicken stock
  • ½ cup amber beer
  • ½ cup white wine
  • 5-6 very ripe tomatoes, diced (or 2 cans if you must)
  • 1 chicken breast
  • 1 pork chop
  • ½ lb of good andouille or Cajun smoked sausage
  • 2-3 slices of bacon
  • 1/2  green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2  sweet yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 stalk of celery, chopped
  • 1 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2-3 sprigs of parsley
  • 2-4 oz of butter
  • French Bread – optional
  • Cane Syrup – optional

Process:

Tomato puree:

  • Render fat from bacon in a sauce pan and strain out meat pieces.
  • Add ½ of the rendered fat back into the sauce pan and sautee 2/3 of the chopped vegetable mixture in bacon fat until soft.
  • Cut meat into 1-1.5 inch cubes and cut sausage into 1-1.5 inch pieces.  Add them to vegetables and brown lightly.
  • Add in diced tomatoes, season and stir.
  • Simmer for 30 minutes, taste and add seasoning if necessary.
  • Simmer for another 30 minutes or until the pork is tender.
  • Remove meat and set aside.  Once cool, cut the meat into small bite size pieces.
  • Put about a cup of the tomato mixture (without the meat) in a standard blender and puree.
  • Set aside.

Risotto:

  • In a separate sauce pan, begin heating up chicken stock and beer over medium heat.  Try to keep it just under a boil.
  • Add remaining bacon fat and butter to a large skillet or sauté pan and melt butter over medium heat.
  • Add remainder of vegetable mix and sauté until very soft being careful not to brown.
  • Add white wine and deglaze pan over medium high heat.
  • Add rice and blast rice for 2-3 minutes or until the edges of the rice are translucent.
  • With a soup ladle, add about 1 cup of the hot chicken stock/beer mixture so that the liquid is just at the level of the rice.
  • Simmer, stirring often if not constantly.
  • As the liquid in the rice reduces, add more stock ½-1 cup at a time, keeping the liquid to just at the level of the rice.  Stir often.
  • Before the last chicken stock/beer addition, add about 2-3 tablespoons of the tomato puree and stir in.
  • Add the remainder of the chicken stock/beer mixture and simmer until rice is cooked but still holds its form.
  • Taste and season.  The texture should be creamy, not mushy.  It should sort of resemble a rice pudding with the rice kernels still intact.
  • Add a few pieces of each the chicken, pork chop and sausage and stir in.

o   Another option is to use the meat pieces as a garnish on top.

  • Garnish with a tablespoon of the non pureed tomatoes and chopped parsley.
  • Serve with a piece of French bread with a swirl of cane syrup.

P.S. – Season 2 of the tv show Masterchef premieres on Fox June 6.  I’m just saying…

JB out…

Cookin’ with the “Yats” from Crescent City Cooks

Jan 16

Posted by ellclare in Cajun recipes, Ingredients, tips, and restaurant news | 7 Comments

As much as I love to eat food and be around food, I have to admit that I’ve never been given the title of World’s Greatest Cook, and jambalaya is something that I’ve just never been able to master.   Stumbling across the website for Crescent City Cooks in the Riverwalk made me think that there could actually be hope for a successful jambalaya being created in my kitchen – so I signed up!

Crescent City Cooks is a wonderful little café and kitchen store in the Riverwalk Marketplace in New Orleans that hosts demonstration cooking classes every single day!  With a class schedule including all dishes that Louisiana is famous for, you’ll be happy with any of these classes you choose to attend, each for only $30:

CCCStorefront 300x225 Cookin with the Yats from Crescent City Cooks

Storefront

Crawfish or Shrimp Etouffee

Jambalaya

Red Beans & Rice

Chicken & Andouille Gumbo

Bread Pudding du jour

Pralines

Bananas Foster

CCCBananasFoster 276x300 Cookin with the Yats from Crescent City Cooks

Bananas Foster

A couple of my favorite parts of these classes is the fact that there are 4 dishes taught in each class, AND you get to eat everything cooked…so arrive hungry!  It’s a really neat experience; I sort of felt like I was in the audience of a Food Network cooking show!

CCCKitchen 300x225 Cookin with the Yats from Crescent City Cooks

CCC Kitchen

This would be a great idea for foodies traveling to New Orleans to get a true sense of what “real Louisiana cooking” is about.  The hosts of the class are a lot of fun.  They are all New Orleans natives, and teach the class all about the basics, “must do’s”, and “never do’s” of our cuisine.  They go into detail on the differences in Creole cuisine and Cajun cuisine, interesting history facts about how these dishes came about, and even explain why lots of people in New Orleans are referred to as “Yats”!  They explain this is who we are as southern culture, and we are proud of it!

Besides getting to eat 4 scrumptious dishes, attending the class also gets you 10% off in the retail store, that is if you can stand to walk around and shop after stuffing your belly!  There is a wide variety of items in the store including spices, utensils, novelty items, and even a really neat “Curious Chef” section for kids that love to cook!  The items are designed for kids to use safely and easily.

CCCKids 225x300 Cookin with the Yats from Crescent City Cooks

Kids Curious Chef

If you’ve never been to this place, I highly recommend checking it out.  Any chef, wanna be chef, or anyone who just plain loves to cook (and eat) will enjoy a visit there!

Crescent City Cooks!

500 Port of New Orleans Place – Suite 116

New Orleans, LA 70130

504.529.1600

http://www.crescentcitycooks.com/

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Cajun Eggnog recipe

Dec 27

Posted by Tommy in Cajun recipes | 19 Comments

This recipe comes from my Dad’s Aunt Louise of Larose, Louisiana. As you can see, she leaves the choice of hooch up to the drinker, but the basic recipe provides a great start to some serious holiday sipping.

Louise’s Eggnog recipe

Ingredients:
3 qts. Half & half
6 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla
½ stick butter

Procedure:

  1. Put milk on range in large pot @ low heat, add butter
  2. Separate eggs
  3. Put egg yokes in bowl
  4. Add ½ cup cold milk and blend
  5. Add sugar, blend again
  6. Add vanilla, blend
  7. Add two cups of heated milk slowly to the egg mixture
  8. Add egg mixture to pot stirring constantly for 3-4 minutes

Meringue:

  1. Beat egg whites until stiff
  2. Add ½ cup sugar, beat till stiff
  3. Drop large spoons full into pot mixture, allow to cook for 3 minutes
  4. Add whiskey to individual cups

Always watch pot carefully from start to finish to avoid burning.

Oyster White Spaghetti recipe

Dec 7

Posted by Martee in Cajun recipes | 8 Comments

Similar to a white clam sauce, this recipe is a perfect stand in if you ever tire of downing your oysters raw or frying them up!

White Oyster Spaghetti

1 qt oysters, drained but keep liquid

1 stick butter

½ cup olive oil

8 cloves garlic, minced

4 med onions , chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped     OR 1 pint  Guidry’s pre-chopped Trinity(garlic,

onions, pepper)

1 carton fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ cup green onion tops

½ cup fresh parsley, chopped

DO NOT ADD ANY SALT TO THIS RECIPE.

Sauté vegetables in butter and oil until golden brown.  Add oysters, green onions and parsley.  Cook 5 minutes until oysters are plump and edges curl. Can add Seafood Magic and hot sauce to taste.

Prepare angel hair pasta ( 1 pound) using the oyster liquid supplemented with  more water if needed.

Serves 4 – 6.  Serve by mixing the oysters in the pasta or just put on top of pasta. Also can serve the oysters in Pepperidge farm patty shells.

This is an easy, delicious  dish for oyster lovers!!!!!!

Grillades: Cajun vs. Creole

Sep 9

Posted by Tommy in Cajun recipes | 6 Comments

Grillades started as method of cooking otherwise tough cuts of meat so as to get them tender and moist.  However, as with many of the other dishes of South Louisiana, there are way too many recipes to count and the Cajuns (at least the ones I know from down the bayou) have a somewhat different take on it than if you took the Creole route.

When I think of Cajun style grillades, I think of the small community fairs of my childhood that went on in places like Raceland and Larose.  There, grillades consist of thinly sliced pieces of Boston butt, marinated or seasoned, then thrown on a grill or flat top and occasionally accompanied by grilled peppers and/or onions and pressed between some crusty pieces of french bread. 

This was my first introduction to “grillades,” and it largely took the place of what some think of as the Philly cheesesteak.  A quick replication of this would involve dusting some pork with Cajun Land Cajun Seasoning with Green Onion (one of my absolute favorites for all things porcine and a key to an award winning pork tenderloin in my past) and throwing them into a hot skillet only to later nestle in fresh bread.

However, it is the Creole version of grillades that most people have come to know and has spread across America, usually accompanied by a nice pile of grits. Covered in a brown gravy (the more tomatoes in it the more it is a Creole dish than a Cajun one), it is really a roast and gravy at its most basic level.

While beef seems to be what’s for dinner on most menus, I hold true to the pig and my favorite grillades are always pork. Here’s an adaptation of Chef John Besh’s recipe for your to give a try:

1 4-pound Boston Butt, cubed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
Creole seasoning mix, to taste
3 cups all-purpose flour plus more for dusting pork
2 cups canola oil
1 large container Guidry’s chopped trinity (2 onions, 2 bell peppers, 1 stalk celery)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 tomatoes, crushed (or 2 cups canned)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
4 quarts pork or chicken stock

Season your flour then dust the cubed pork. Brown the pork in the canola oil, then discard all but one cup of the oil. Make a roux by whisking in the flour and get it to a dark brown, then throw in the veggies. Pour in the stock and toss the meat back in and wait as long as you can for some killer grillades!

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Old School Steak recipe

Jul 17

Posted by dpoimboeuf in Cajun recipes | 6 Comments

dinnerjuly82009 Old School Steak recipe

Nowadays, everyone seems to be an expert on steaks.  Since the dawn of the Internet and the Food Network, every home cook worth their weight in salt knows everything about beef: dry aging, marbling, USDA Prime, the difference between American Waygu and true Kobe Beef.  Even Ruth’s sizzling butter is no secret! All of this steak overkill has this blogger longing for simpler times.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a trip to a prime steakhouse as much anyone.  Few things in life top a perfectly cooked,

USDA prime rib eye, creamed spinach and glass of 2005 Duckhorn Cabernet.  A broiled sirloin; however, harkens to the steak dinners of my childhood.  Before I was an “expert”…

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Gumbo in July: Destroying the “it’s too hot” mentality (with bonus easy stove top rice recipe)

Jun 19

Posted by JB in Cajun recipes | 4 Comments

Ok, we have all heard or said it:  “I can’t wait for gumbo season.”  Why? Why do we have to have a season?  I mean, we all have air conditioning and how often do we eat outside?

So, for those of you who are with me and would like to join the revolution against gumbo suppression, here is a very easy, and very tasty gumbo recipe that anybody can handle.  (Keep in mind that this is kind of a, for lack of a better term, semi-home made recipe.  Feel free to replace any “pre-prepared” ingredients with your own version)

Ingredients:

  • 1- Rotisserie Chicken from your favorite grocery store
  • 2  lbs of your favorite smoked sausage
  • 1- regular container of pre- chopped vegetables (onion, celery, bell pepper, parsley, and garlic)
  • 2 gallons of water (approximate)
  • 1/2 cup a. p. flour
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 bay leaves
  • your favorite all purpose Cajun seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons gumbo file’ (if you like it)

For rice:

  • 4 cups water
  • 2 cups rice
  • kitchen timer

Procedure:

  1. Debone chicken removing all the skin.  Place all bones, carcass, and skin in a stock pot.  Add the water until it covers the carcass and boil.  (For those who don’t know, this is a basic chicken stock.)  I like to use this method because a)I don’t like bones in my gumbo, but b) all the flavor is on the skin and in the bones.  It takes a little time, but you get all of the flavor with none of the aggravation.  Once all of the flavor has been rendered (about 4 hours)  strain out stock into a bowl and put aside, discarding the bones and skin.  This can be done the night before.
  2. Cut up your sausage into small bite size slices and place in your gumbo pot, preferably black iron.  Brown over medium to medium high heat until you get a nice oil skin on the bottom of the pot.  Once this is accomplished, remove sausage from pot and set aside. (Note: If you don’t have a black iron pot, get one please.  It really makes a difference.)
  3. The Roux-  Ok, even though it breaks my heart to say this, if you feel like you must use the pre-packaged roux, I guess that is what you have to do.  I must let you know though, it is easier than you think.  You add the flour and oil to the pot.  Stir the mixture until the flour and oil are completely mixed.  Brown over medium heat, watching and stirring when needed so as not to burn, until it is the color of an old penny.  It usually takes about 5-10 minutes depending on you stove and your pot.  I will also say that black iron helps greatly in roux making because of the way it distributes heat.  It is easy to burn a roux in a stainless steel pot, but almost impossible (if you watch it) to do in black iron.
  4. Add the vegetables and stir in so that they are coated in the roux.  The roux will clump around the vegetables, this is ok, just make sure it is well distributed.  Sweat the vegetables until they are soft (about 20 minutes).
  5. Add stock and bay leaves and stir.  Let this simmer for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
  6. Add sausage back in and add file’ and stir.  Let simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally.
  7. Taste and season accordingly.  You shouldn’t need much because of the seasoning that was on the chicken skin which transferred over to the stock.
  8. Add chicken and let simmer for about 15 minutes.  ( I add the chicken close to the end so that it doesn’t fall apart)
  9. Serve on top of rice.

The Rice:

  1. Add rice and water in a 4 quart (or so) sauce pan.  Just make sure the pan has a lid.  Cook on medium high stirring occasionally until the water boils down to just at the top of the rice.
  2. Cover and cook on medium- low heat for 10 minutes.  NOTE: DO NOT OPEN THE LID.  This is the most important part of rice cooking.  Once it is covered, do not lift the lid until it is done.
  3. Turn the fire off and let sit COVERED on the same burner for another 10 minutes.
  4. Fluff and serve.
  5. Voila! Perfect rice every time.

I will say that this recipe takes a little time, but I guaranty you will not be disappointed.  Pop open your favorite beer (maybe even a home brew), sit under the fan, and enjoy.  And again, replace the chicken with a good beer can bar b q chicken and use some fresh vegetables from your local farmer’s market and its even better.

In the meantime, say it to yourself, “It’s never too hot for gumbo, it’s never too hot for gumbo, it’s never…”

Bon Mange’ and as always, support your local breweries!

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Pickled Eggs recipe and other useful info

Jun 9

Posted by Tommy in Cajun recipes | 6 Comments

We got a request from a Cajun expat for a recipe for pickled eggs, those ubiquitous orbs that seem to be sitting next to every small town store’s cash register down here. I would be remiss at this point if I did not mention two great sites for their recipe collections, www.realcajunrecipes.com and www.cajun-recipes.com.

While we can try to play it off as having the biggest and best recipe collection around, it would take quite a while (think years) to rival the sheer number of recipes those two sites contain.  I can hear all the Cajun Foodie fans crying foul so I’ll take part of that back  and say that we do have the best recipe collection around… just not the biggest. Seriously though, those other sites are the online Cajun recipe authorities.

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Louise’s Cornbread Dressing recipe

Jun 3

Posted by Tommy in Cajun recipes | 11 Comments

Louise Rounds taught me how to cook some of the classics of Cajun and Southern cooking and this cornbread dressing recipe  is easily the best I have ever come across.   While it is a rather large recipe, it can easily be halved…after tasting it, you’ll wish you made both pans though!

2 WHOLE CHICKENS
2 LB FRESH GROUND PORK
2 LB GROUND CHUCK
2 cups diced  ONIONS
1 cup diced BELL PEPPER
1 cup diced GREEN ONIONS
1 cup diced CELERY
4 BOXES Jiffy cornbread mix

  1. Boil chickens in a stock pot with water, salt, pepper,  and 1 large cut up onion top. Cook till meat is tender take chickens out and allow to cool.
  2. Debone chickens and cut meat into bite sized pieces. Save chicken broth for recipe.
  3. Cook cornbread according to directions on the box. Crumble in large pieces.
  4. Brown pork and chuck until well done. Take meat out of pot and drain off all fats.
  5. Add vegetables and saute greens until wilted, then add all the meat and cornbread.
  6. Add 6 cups of chicken stock and cook all about 20 minutes.
  7. Stir all together including cornbread, salt and pepper to taste. Do NOT mash.
  8. Put in (2) large 13 x 9 in. pans. Dot with butter. Can be frozen or refrigerated at this point.
  9. When ready to bake pour over about 1 cup of chicken broth or can of Swansons real turkey gravy over each pan. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in hot oven (350) until hot (at least 1 hour if put in the oven cold). Some like to take the foil off and broil for 10 minutes or so to get the top brown and crispy with the butter.

This recipe is so meaty it is like a cornbread jambalya. We use Jiffy brand cornbread which is a little sweet but just use your own brand if you prefer.

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Perfect Cream Cheese Icing

May 19

Posted by dpoimboeuf in Cajun recipes | 1 Comment

It’s as easy as 1,1,1 and 1…
Whether you’re making spice cake, carrot cake, cinnamon rolls, or any of your favorite deserts, this simple yet delicious Cream Cheese Icing needs only 4 ingredients. Here’s how it goes:

1 stick of butter (I guess you could use margarine if you don’t care what your food tastes like)
1-8oz. Block of Philadelphia Cream Cheese
1 Box of Confectioner’s Sugar
1 Cup of Chopped Pecans

Start by taking the butter and cream cheese out of the fridge, and leave them on the counter for about an hour to soften. With an electric mixer on low speed, cream together the butter and cream cheese. Next, add the sugar a little at a time, and mix until well blended. I like to put my pecans in a sifter or fine mesh strainer to get rid of any pecan “dust”; this will prevent the bitter flavor that the dust can sometimes have. Once sifted, add the pecans and give it a final mix. One batch is enough to cover a 9 inch, 2 layer cake, or a large sheet cake. Enjoy!

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