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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