Niteboy82's Cajun Cookin!

Hey everybody! I just had this idea today, and I thought I would put it out there. How about learning from a Cajun how we actually cook? On the basic stuff, I can tell you, we are just as boring without cooking typical meals. On those special days, however, which is every other day than the one we're too lazy to cook on, we have some great food!

Starting off with a basic, and that's a Sauce Piquante. I'm starting with something easy, I don't think you all want the 8 hour recipes as of yet!

It sounds snazzy, you can get it at almost any restaurant in the city touting "Cajun Food", but it's just so simple, and there is no reason why you can't have it at home!

Niteboy82's Crawfish Sauce Piquante:

12 oz - 16 oz Crawfish Tails (previously cooked)*
2 Onions Chopped (size doesn't matter, it's an onion, it works)
1 Bell Pepper Chopped (again, size is not an issue, just make sure its green)
6 Stalks of Celery Chopped
1 Bunch of Shallots Chopped (green onions is ok)
3-4 T of Parsely Chopped (more or less on taste)
6 Cloves Garlic Chopped (I use way more, it's all about taste)
2 Bay Leaves
1/2 small can Tomato Paste
1 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Salt
Cayenne Pepper to taste (you don't want to know how much I use)
1/4 cup Flour (White Regular Flour)
1/4 cup Oil (Canola is fine, lard is better, unless you can make a roux already, use canola)
1/2 cup Water
Freshly Cooked Rice

Take your oil, put it over medium heat in a large frying pan with at least 4 inch sides. A chicken fryer pan works best so you don't overflow it. Once the oil is hot, throw in your flour. Stir it around with a spatula until golden. You must constantly stir it, or it will burn. This is your roux, and it is the most important part of so many of our dishes! It takes me about 5-6 minutes to get one. It can take longer, that's ok. You have to be comfortable with making a roux. If you feel it should be a lower temp, it will take longer, but it will happen. You're looking for an almost nutty smell to it. It is basically fried flour and will thicken your final product.

Immediately put all spices and raw ingredients except crawfish into the roux, mix it up well, and start frying it up. When the onions start to get cooked down a bit, and the pepper is sweating (that's the moisture escaping), bring it down to medium-low heat. Add tomato paste in and 1/2 cup water. Once thoroughly mixed in and cooked down (about 20 minutes), add crawfish for last 10 minutes. Anytime you see it getting low, add water in, but remember, you want it to be thick!

Serve over rice.

This should serve about 4 people, it depends on your group and how much they enjoy it, my grandmother would quadruple this recipe at least!!

*You can buy crawfish down here frozen. I think the most popular brand is Bernard's. It is Chinese crawfish, but I have had so many bad experiences out of state with local crawfish, that I no longer recommend it to anyone else. I'm saving you the hassle of a nasty meal. They're great local and fresh if you can get them here, but it just doesn't work frozen.

If you can't get crawfish, you can use chicken. Just cook it first, cut it up, and use the same timing as the crawfish I gave. Same goes for alligator (yum) or some sort of quality sausage.

Next Week:
Barbequed Shrimp.. hint.. there was never supposed to be any BBQ Sauce!

If anyone has any questions, as I tried to make sure I typed it out as perfectly as I could from memory, please let me know, and I will help ya out!

Looks good!

I think I'll try it with chicken since I don't eat much seafood. Keep 'em coming, I love food recipes like this!

I'm definitely going to give it a try.

Thanks, Nite!

Oh that sounds Yum,

Im going to give this ago on the weekend,

Ok, Sorry, I totally haven't had the time to put in recipes. Gumbo weather is in fact here, well for everyone not here! If you're below 70 degrees for your high temp, it's gumbo weather!!

My Gumbo

3 T of oil (vegetable preferably)
3 T of flour
3 Yellow Onions (chopped)
2 Green Bell Peppers (chopped)
5 Stalks of Celery (chopped)
1/2 c Chopped Parsley
1 Head of Garlic Chopped
3 Bay Leaves
1 Pound of Andouille (or another sausage, though I only use Andouille)
1 Chicken (pieces, not whole)
2 tsp Black Pepper
1 T of Italian Seasoning (that's just my addition)
Salt (to taste)
Cayenne Pepper (to taste, you won't use as much as I do! :lol
Cooked Rice
BIG Stock Pot

First off is your roux again.

Everything in one pot, I recommend using maybe a 4 quart pot? Nothing smaller really.

Same thing, heat the oil. Throw in the flour, and constantly stir with a spatula until the roux is a nice tan. Add all your veggies, herbs, and seasoning. Stir until the vegetables have softened (your onions will begin to go clear). Throw in your andouille and chicken. Cover everything with water, preferably bringing it up to about 4 inches to the rim. Simmer for at least 2 hours, adding water when necessary. You want to make sure that raw chicken is cooked through. Two hours should be sufficient, though.

Serve over rice.

This is basically what I can write down. I never use a recipe, I just "do it." Any questions, let me know, and I'll answer them for you.

If you want to watch your health a bit, once the gumbo is finished, let it cool a bit. The fats will rise to the top. Either spoon them off, or use plastic wrap and dip it in, the fat will stick (so says mawmaw). LOL

Enjoy

Ok, yeah, it sounds icky, I know, but it is really really good!

You need to get hold of about 6 white squash. There is another name for them, I'm sure, but we just called them white squash. They look like flying saucers (I doubt I need to explain that shape here!)

Most important! Wear gloves! The juices from the raw squash will start taking off skin. It won't hurt, but you are eating off layers of skin.

Ingredients:

Deep Dish Pie Shells (yeah, I use frozen )

Filling:

8 small white squash
1.5 c Sugar
2 t Vanilla Extract
1/2 c Butter
3/4 c Evaporated Milk
Pinch of Salt

Meringue:

4 Egg whites
1/2 t Cream of Tartar
1/2 c Sugar

Directions:

Take the squash. Boil it down until soft. Drain. Mash the squash, like you would potatoes. Add vanilla, butter and milk. Mix together. Add eggs and salt. Mix again. Pour into pie shells (it takes two) and put it in the oven, to bake at 375oF for 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean.

Make your meringue by mixing all ingredients together in a mixer. Beat at high speed for 10 minutes, or until peaks are firm.

Spread meringue over pie, creating peaks with a spoon. Return to oven to bake for 10 more minutes, or until peaks have lightly browned.

Allow to cool, and serve. Refrigerate after.

*This is a recipe that my grandmother always used. I only know of maybe 5 families that use this method of preparing their squash. I am sure there are more, but I just don't run into them, when I bring it up, apparently. This is by far, one of my favorite desserts.*

Ok, I just thought about this thread tonight, after I was making up an Alligator/Pork Sauce Piquante. I do apologize ahead of time, I only know how to make this recipe someone "bulky" and I do not usually measure things out, so bear with me.

So here we go:

1.5 lbs of Alligator Tail Meat (I can help anyone get this, just let me know if you can't)
1.5 lbs of Pork (I use boneless chops)

3 medium yellow onions, chopped
3 green bell peppers, chopped
5-6 celery ribs, with greens, chopped
1/2 cup parsley
1 bunch of shallots (green onions) chopped
6 (at least) cloves garlic (I am a garlic fiend, so I use way more)
1 or 2 Jalapenos, chopped
1 Ancho Chile, chopped (you can sub another mild green hot pepper)
1 Small Can of sliced Mushrooms
1 can diced tomatoes
2 cans Rotel Tomatoes (tomatoes diced with green chiles)
1 can tomato paste (small can)
1/2 cup of Trappist Dark Ale (sorry Grandma, but bud lite doesn't enter my home)
1.5 cups of beef broth (I use a beef demi-glace instead)
2T Lea and Perrins
2 tsp of Cayenne (red pepper)
2 tsp of Black Pepper
2 sprigs of Rosemary
4 sprigs of Thyme
2 tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 tsp Hot Paprika
Salt to Taste
Sesame Oil (or olive oil)

Roux Ingredients:
4 T Flour
4 T Canola Oil

Take your meats, and trim the fat off. With alligator, this is very important, the fat from the meat will hold most of the "gamey" taste, and you don't want too much of that. Cube the meat, and fry it in a pan with a little oil (I use sesame oil, but olive oil will do) until golden. Drain and set aside.

Saute your onions, bell pepper, garlic, shallots, hot/mild peppers, and mushrooms until everything has cooked down. (onions will be clear, bell pepper will be soft). Set aside.

Prepare your roux over low heat by mixing the two ingredients together, constantly stirring with a spatula to prevent any sticking to the pan. Once you get it dark (medium brown, if you're in doubt, let it just get the color of peanut butter.) Immediately add the vegetables that you have sauteed. This will cool the roux, and you will get the right consistency.

Bring the fire to a simmer. and stir in everything except the meat, rosemary, and thyme. Heat for 10 minutes, being sure not to let the sauce stick.

Add your the meat, rosemary, and thyme, being sure to still stir often and not let the mixture stick. Let this continue on simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly to thicken.

My recommendation is to serve this over rice (I use brown rice) with sliced bread (I use semolina bread or ciabatta/slipper bread).

Enjoy.

This was my finished meal tonight:



I'll be around with more recipes, sorry that I forgot about this thread. The Farmer's Markets are booming right now, so I have tons of local items coming in, along with what I have in my garden.

I hope someone can enjoy this with their family/friends.