Cajun/Creole Cooking

[Coidzor]

Hey. So I'm currently in a bit of a tossup as to whether we're going to go with creole or cajun jambalaya as the first foray my housemates and I are taking into making such cuisine.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience making the stuff or had any good recipes to share?

I'm especially interested in any jambalaya or gumbo recipes, though an accessible etouffe would be nice too.

<_< In related news: Anyone frequent any cooking forums? I sort of have no idea where to begin casting about for anything like that...

[Trog]

Cajun Jambalaya

12 medium shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped
4 ounces chicken, diced
1 tablespoon Creole seasoning, recipe follows
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped celery
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot sauce
3/4 cup rice
3 cups chicken stock
5 ounces Andouille sausage, sliced
Salt and pepper

In a bowl combine shrimp, chicken and Creole seasoning, and work in seasoning well. In a large saucepan heat oil over high heat with onion, pepper and celery, 3 minutes. Add garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, Worcestershire and hot sauces. Stir in rice and slowly add broth. Reduce heat to medium and cook until rice absorbs liquid and becomes tender, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes. When rice is just tender add shrimp and chicken mixture and sausage. Cook until meat is done, about 10 minutes more. Season to taste with salt, pepper and Creole seasoning.

Creole Seasoning:
2 1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme

That's the recipe I use (Emeril's, btw). P=

EDIT: Otherwise look for a recipe by Justin Wilson. He knows the good stuff, I garontee!

EDIT #2:
Crayfish and Andouille Sausage Gumbo
Roux - 2 oz. butter and 2 oz. flour cook and combine until until light brown
Saute veggies
1 c. diced Onions, 3 cloves Chopped garlic, 1 Jalapeno, diced
1 Green & 1 Red Bell Pepper (diced), 1 c. Diced Celery
Dice Andouille Sausage - go easy on it. 10" enough and heat in separate pan
Add 1 cup chopped Collard greens (chiffanad), Fresh Oregeno, Thyme to veggies
Let greens sweat, add now heated sausage, deglaze with 3/4 cup white wine.
add 1 Tbsp of Roux, Add 3 cups chicken stock, reduce
Add 2 cups cooked crawfish tails last to just heat up

No clue where I got that one from but it's sitting in my recipe text file here waiting to be tried out. Might have been a Justin Wilson one. Don't recall.

[Quincunx]

http://www.thegumbopages.com/

Enjoy. If you can obtain a smoked pork hock, it'll work. If you can obtain hot'n'spicy sausage, it'll work better, but you can fudge that with extra hot sauce.

[Bhu]

Cajun and Creole Recipe links


A Cajun Family's Recipe Collection http://www.cajun-recipes.com/
A Cajun Home Page http://www.coonass.com/
A Taste of Creole http://www.atasteofcreole.com/recipes.html
A Taste of Louisiana http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/3076/
Arnaud's Recipes http://www.arnauds.com/recipes.html
B and T Seafood A store, but it does have a nice recipe section http://www.crawfish.cc/
Cajun http://recipes2.alastra.com/cajun/
Cajun Cookery http://cajuncookery.esmartweb.com/recipes.html
Cajun Cooking Recipes http://www.cajuncookingrecipes.com/
Cajun Don's Hideaway Recipes http://www.angelfire.com/tx/cajundon/recipes.htm
Cajun Recipes http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/People/mjw/r.../ethnic/cajun/
Cajun Shop http://www.cajun-shop.com/cajunandcreolerecipes.htm
Cajun and Creole Dishes do not accept crescendo update http://www.jbotti.com/cookcajn.htm
Chef John Folse and Company http://www.jfolse.com/
Chef Paul Prudhomme http://www.chefpaul.com/index.html
Chef Rick's Southern Cooking http://chefrick.com/index.html
Cooking Louisiana http://www.cookinglouisiana.com/
CreoleMan http://www.creoleman.com/recipes/recipes.html
Great Cajun Cooking http://www.greatcajuncooking.com./
Gumbo Gators http://roxannestutes.tripod.com/authenti.htm
Gumbo Town http://www.pannett.com/gumbo.html
Gumbos, Bisques, and Soups http://www.gumbopages.com/food/soups/
Home Almanac http://www.geocities.com/alf707/littleitaly/
Hungry Cajun Foods http://www.hungrycajun.net/pages/596632/index.htm
Jambalaya Pots http://www.jambalayapots.com/jp_recipes.html
Jester's Cajun Recipes http://www.jestermg.com/recipes.htm
Justin Wilson http://www.justinwilson.com/
Louisiana Foods http://www.louisianafoods.com/recipes/
Louisiana Recipes http://www.louisianarecipes.com/
Maisson Louisiana's Creole Recipes http://www.shutmymouth.com/html/creole_recipes.html
Mardi Gras Recipes http://jestermg.com/recipes.htm
Mason Dixon Spice Company http://www.mdspice.com/menu.html
New Orleans Cuisine http://www.gatewayno.com/cuisine/cuisine.html
New Orleans Recipes http://www.neworleansweb.org/recipes.html
New Orleans Recipes http://www.experienceneworleans.com/recipes.html
Official Mardi Gras King Cake Recipe http://www.soulard.com/renaissance/m.../kingcake.html
Real Cajun Recipes http://www.realcajunrecipes.com/
Red Fish Grill http://www.redfishgrill.com/recipes.php
Schuyler's Louisiana Cajun-Creole Cooking http://www.geocities.com/schuyler_porche/food.htm
Southern US Cuisine, Gumbo beware popups http://southernfood.about.com/librar...y/aa101297.htm
Southern US Cuisine, Jambalaya http://www.southernfood.about.com/cs/jambalaya/
The Creole and Cajun Recipe Page http://www.gumbopages.com/recipe-page.html
VB Gumbo http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Heights/1436/
Western Fisheries Gumbo Recipes http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/wf/ss/ss96aut.html

[Kneenibble]

On this note, does anybody have experience cooking with the vegetable that is called okra?

[Phae Nymna]

On this note, does anybody have experience cooking with the vegetable that is called okra?

Right under New York City, a river of SLIME!
I've used okra in some of my magical voodoo bayou jazz ponchartrain tchoupitoulas mumbo jumbo*. I love it pickled as a snack food though.

*Any mumbo jumbo of the sort is probably just a tourist trap.

[Coidzor]

On this note, does anybody have experience cooking with the vegetable that is called okra?

Yes. Generally it's breaded and fried or used in soups.

I've seen a greek-inspired dish which featured okra as the main ingredient offered on the menu of a greek place, but I haven't gotten it yet.

[Kneenibble]

Oh... Okay.
For some reason it was in my mind that okra was one of the defining ingredients in a gumbo or a similar stewish southern dish.

I've never seen it around these parts, even in specialty shops. Is it good?

Right under New York City, a river of SLIME!
I've used okra in some of my magical voodoo bayou jazz ponchartrain tchoupitoulas mumbo jumbo*. I love it pickled as a snack food though.

*Any mumbo jumbo of the sort is probably just a tourist trap.

Admiral, I'd like to buy your mumbo jumbo, although it sounds like you might have swiped it off the set of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

[Quincunx]

So far, I've cooked it into stews, either fresh or canned. Fresh is probably better because the canned variety, preserved with citric acid, was quite sour and changed the flavor of the entire dish (for the better, but that was luck). It's got a thick shell somewhat like a weak pea pod in texture, little white seeds with barely any flavor at all but a satisfying soft-quinoa-like texture when you bite them, and a lot of gooey slime between pod and seeds, which thickened the stew.

[Phae Nymna]

Oh... Okay.
For some reason it was in my mind that okra was one of the defining ingredients in a gumbo or a similar stewish southern dish.
*snip!*
Admiral, I'd like to buy your mumbo jumbo, although it sounds like you might have swiped it off the set of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Firstly, okra actually is a defining ingredient in southern stew-like dishes such as gumbo, etoufee, or even mumbo-jumbo. Its RIVER OF SLIME properties allow it to be used as a thickener. File (with an "/" kind of accent over the "e") is also used. Okra and File powder both produce slime when cooked into hot liquid an therefore are good for thickening things.

Secondly, my favorite lapel pin is of that statue. And furthermore, how come you're so interested in my region?

[Trog]

I've had deep-fried okra once at a restaurant in the south called Lambert's (Home of the throwed rolls) and I think it tasted okay. Been so long I cannot really remember. I think at the time I was more enthralled with the fact that the waitstaff were tossing fresh hot rolls through the air to diners than I was with the actual food. The rolls were top notch though.

[Phae Nymna]

I've had deep-fried okra once at a restaurant in the south called Lambert's (Home of the throwed rolls) and I think it tasted okay. Been so long I cannot really remember. I think at the time I was more enthralled with the fact that the waitstaff were tossing fresh hot rolls through the air to diners than I was with the actual food. The rolls were top notch though.

I have ALWAYS wanted to go a Lambert's! Agh!

[Kneenibble]

Firstly, okra actually is a defining ingredient in southern stew-like dishes such as gumbo, etoufee, or even mumbo-jumbo. Its RIVER OF SLIME properties allow it to be used as a thickener. File (with an "/" kind of accent over the "e") is also used. Okra and File powder both produce slime when cooked into hot liquid an therefore are good for thickening things.

Secondly, my favorite lapel pin is of that statue. And furthermore, how come you're so interested in my region?

Yeah yeah, that's what I'd heard about it more generally, I also happen to know it's one of the main ingredients in Heinz ketchup. Okay, far out, although I guarantee you I won't be able to find okra or filé to play with this side of the 47th. Quel domage.

As to your question, I have a hobby in exploring different cuisines, particularly those involving weird vegetables. Also I may have read my Anne Rice books just a few too many times when I was younger.

So far, I've cooked it into stews, either fresh or canned. Fresh is probably better because the canned variety, preserved with citric acid, was quite sour and changed the flavor of the entire dish (for the better, but that was luck). It's got a thick shell somewhat like a weak pea pod in texture, little white seeds with barely any flavor at all but a satisfying soft-quinoa-like texture when you bite them, and a lot of gooey slime between pod and seeds, which thickened the stew.

Thank you very much for obliging me with these juicy details, Quincuncilis, mirabile dictu. It sounds like a very strange & wonderful vegetable.

[Coidzor]

http://www.gumbopages.com/food/jambalaya.html

This is what I went with. Usually prefer a cajun one though.

I believe I added 2 red bell peppers and used smoked um... gruyue cheese and chicken(?) sausage instead of andouille due to not being able to find any.

Next up is Red Beans and Rice and then we'll do a gumbo and probably a chicken etouffe on my birthday.

[Dracomorph]

Okay, far out, although I guarantee you I won't be able to find okra or filé to play with this side of the 47th. Quel domage.

I know it's available frozen here in Missouri, because I worked stock in a grocery store that carried it. I suspect you could find it that way in Canada, too.

Fresh is probably right out, though.

[Coidzor]

And I somehow messed up and put too much stuff in so that I had to split it between two pots...

Ah well, at least the rice is easily split on the recipe I'm on.

[Trog]

I have ALWAYS wanted to go a Lambert's! Agh!

I highly recommend it. The atmosphere is crazy. That fried okra was a snack before the meal. We sat down and a woman wearing pot holders and carrying a huge metal pot asked us if "y'all want some a this here fried okra?" We said sure but we didn't have any plates yet on the table. "Oh that's okay sugar y'all don't need no plates jus' grab some of this here paper towel and put it down. There ya go." *grabs a big metal spoonful of okra and slaps it on the paper towels*

And the guy that night who was throwing rolls around was a dead-eye. I think only one customer dropped theirs the whole time we were there and that was clearly an error on their part. Some of his throws were even done across the whole restaurant.

[Kneenibble]

Thanks Dracomorph, I'll have a look for it frozen at least.

That restaurant sounds.... phrenetic. I can't think of another word. Are the rolls good, or just airborne?

Hey Coidzillus, do you happen to have a recipe for red beans and rice that does not use canned beans? This is a dish I'm interested to play with. Could you please share it?

[Trog]

The rolls are fresh-out-of-the-oven-made-from-scratch fantastic. And also airborne, yes. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't turned into a big chain of restaurants yet. Can't recall if the rest of the food was any good though. Which might explain why they haven't I suppose.

[Coidzor]

Hey Coidzillus, do you happen to have a recipe for red beans and rice that does not use canned beans? This is a dish I'm interested to play with. Could you please share it?

I think I saw one awhile back that recommended one simply soak the dried beans overnight before going along with the recipe as usual. I haven't actually started looking at such recipes again just yet, but I'll keep an eye out for you.

[Phae Nymna]

I can scan some recipes if people want. Just give me a general title like "Red Beans and Rice" and I might scan a few.

[Gwyn chan 'r Gwyll]

Yeah yeah, that's what I'd heard about it more generally, I also happen to know it's one of the main ingredients in Heinz ketchup. Okay, far out, although I guarantee you I won't be able to find okra or filé to play with this side of the 47th. Quel domage.

Not completely true. I've found Okra before in supermarkets. You just have to get lucky.

The trick with gumbo is to get the rue (sp?) right. Too little time, and it won't taste powerful enough. Too much, and you'll burn it. After that, it's just a stew. We usually put chicken and sausage in, though shrimp and sausage is traditional. Or crawfish. Either works.

[alchemyprime]

Tell you what, best gumbo I ever had was at this little creole place in old town, served up some mudbug and aniloisse(sp?) sausage. Tasty.

The sausage was pork and alligator. The owner was gone to Louisiana getting some more gator.

Fantastic, the roux was made to a perfect red brick, the crawdads cooked to perfection, like little lobsters they were. And the sausage had a heat too it in the back of the throat, the only place a supertaster like myself can stand heat. The grease from the alligator was compensated for, the okra was a perfect thickener (though I later found his chicken gumbo, which I will have next time, uses fil'e). It was to die for.

So, if you're in San Diego and need a good basis on gumbo, go to this little shack next to the most Haunted House in America, right in Olde Towne.

About the best gumbo you can get in Southern California.


Great, now I wish I had gumbo...

[Coidzor]

I can scan some recipes if people want. Just give me a general title like "Red Beans and Rice" and I might scan a few.

Well, whatever you prefer to do for redbeans and rice would be nice to know, I've seen a variety of ways of prep for it, actually.

Some of which actually get an almost re-fried beans thing going on with some of them intentionally no longer structurally stable and others still retaining their shape and skin.

...So! Water problems here have cut drastically into my cooking ability, but it looks like either we've figured out some way to get the pump working or we're going to just start buying bottled water for cooking/drinking until we work out what's going on enough to fix it.

[Phae Nymna]

Well, shamefully, I don't actually cook red beans at all. There's a great local grocery that cooks them up and packages them conveniently.

Those beans though are cooked in such a way to keep the beans' shape while making them rather soft. They yield easily to a fork, but they don't just disintegrate. The liquid the beans are suspended in appears to be a sort of slop made of the beans. Sounds kinda gross, but real good nonetheless.

I've got a free night so I'm going to go scan some recipes.