The Big Easy @ home


Well, it's Mardi Gras season. It's always been an exciting time of year for me, but this year it's cut with some sad anticipation because I know the city will be dealing with a party on a much different scale. For some folks in New Orleans, this will be the best, most intimate Mardi Gras ever. For others--the worst, and their livelihoods will never be the same.

All in all, I wanted to give you the loose culinary tools to participate at home.




Well, it's Mardi Gras season. It's always been an exciting time of year for me, but this year it's cut with some sad anticipation because I know the city will be dealing with a party on a much different scale. For some folks in New Orleans, this will be the best, most intimate Mardi Gras ever. For others--the worst, and their livelihoods will never be the same.

All in all, I wanted to give you the loose culinary tools to participate at home. My mom asked me for some recipes, and I felt it was unfair not to share. There is no pretense of authenticity here, but I've never had complaints from the dozens of people I have served. Three classics for you to use or abuse. "Laissez les bons temps rouler!"

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Jambalaya:
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This is basically a rice dish with seafood (shrimp or crawfish) and some type of meat--chicken or duck is good. A direct descendent of Spanish Paella, probably via Portugese immigrants that settled in New Orleans. The key is that you MUST have some diced ham or canadian bacon in the dish. Jambalaya comes from "Jambon", French for Ham. There are no beans or Okra in classic Jambalaya.

A quick recipe for 2 (all measures approximate, but 'dat don' matter, mon chere.)

Olive Oil
1/2 cup each Onion, Bell Pepper, Celery (The classic Cajun TRINITY)
2 medium cloves garlic minced or smashed
3/4 cup diced Ham or Canadian Bacon
1+ cup diced cooked chicken and or Andouille (or any smoked) sausage
10-14 big shrimps or 8 oz crawfish tails
1 14 oz. can classic stewed tomatoes or diced tomatoes
Cajun/Creole seasoning (salt free, usually a mix of paprika and other spices)
Pinch of dried thyme (never powder)
2 cups cooked white rice (Mahatma is a good Louisiana style brand)
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Tabasco or Crystal or other Louisiana hot sauce.
Sliced green onion to garnish

Saute your trinity and garlic in olive oil. Add meats and tomatoes and seasonings until blended and shrimp is cooked/opaque. Stir in cooked rice until heated through. Finish with salt/pepper/sauce and garnish with green onion.

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Gumbo:
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This is the classic New Orleans stew where "anything goes". It's a stew thickened three ways--it MUST begin with a dark roux, MUST have okra (which is a natural thickener), and is always served with optional white rice. Okra is the African influence--"Gumbo" was the word for Okra to the slaves shipped to New Orleans. Gumbos usually rely on some sort of seafood (shrimp, crawfish, fish), sausage (raw or smoked pork, chaurice or andouille), and fowl (chicken or duck). Good chicken stock is a must. Smokiness is important, and sometimes a good barbecue sauce is just what you need to balance and blend the flavors at the end. Time is a factor--I usually work for 30-40 minutes on the roux alone.

A guess at a recipe for two (hard to do Gumbo for only two):

Roux: 3-4 TBSP each of Vegetable oil and flour
1/2 cup each Onion, Bell Pepper, Celery (the classic Cajun TRINITY)
2 medium cloves garlic minced or smashed
3-4 cups good chicken stock
1/3 cup white wine or a splash of sherry
1+ cup diced cooked chicken/2 skinless chicken drumsticks and Andouille (or any smoked) sausage
1-2 fresh diced tomatoes, sprinkled with 1 TSP sugar
Cajun/Creole seasoning (salt free, usually a mix of paprika and other spices)
Pinch of dried thyme (never powder)
1-2 cups washed fresh okra, sliced in 1/2 inch pieces
10-14 big shrimps or 8 oz crawfish tails
3 TBSP smokey BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's is a favorite)
2 cups cooked white rice (Mahatma is a good Louisiana style brand)
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Tabasco or Crystal or other Louisiana hot sauce.
Sliced green onion and chopped parsley to garnish

Constantly stir roux (oil and flour) over medium heat for 30-40 minutes until the color of milk chocolate or an old penny (this is a workout, but necessary. if it burns, you MUST start again. It ain't no Gumbo without a good dark roux)

Add trinity and garlic, stirring to make sure garlic does not burn. Cook until lightly softened and fragrant.
Add stock and wine or sherry, bring to light boil, reduce heat to simmer. Add uncooked chicken at this point and simmer for 20 minutes or so.

Add tomatoes and spices and okra, simmer for another 20 minutes. It should be pretty thick by now. Add BBQ sauce.

Add seafood and simmer until cooked/opaque--6 minutes or so. Taste and season with salt/pepper/sauce

Serve over white rice and garnish with green onions & parsley

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Red Beans & Rice:
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Mondays are Red Beans and Rice days in New Orleans. Folks soak their dried beans Sunday night for Monday's cooking. Better yet, they soak 'em Saturday, cook 'em Sunday, and serve 'em Monday. They flavors get better overnight. But this is a quick version, so we're going with canned (we'll have to do some fancy talking to St. Peter about this, eventually.) I always add oregano to a bean dish. It's a central/south american tradition, but it compliments the flavors well.

Recipe for two bean-lovin' Cajun's:

Olive Oil
1/2 cup each Onion, Bell Pepper, Celery (the classic Cajun TRINITY)
2 medium cloves garlic minced or smashed
1 small smoked ham hock
2 14 oz. cans of red kidney beans (drain 1/2 the liquid)
Cajun/Creole seasoning (salt free, usually a mix of paprika and other spices)
Pinch of dried thyme (never powder)
Pinch of dried or preferably fresh Oregano
1 10"-12" link of andouille or smoked sausage
2 cups cooked white rice (Mahatma is a good Louisiana style brand)
Salt and cracked black pepper to taste
Tabasco or Crystal or other Louisiana hot sauce.
Sliced green onion and chopped parsley to garnish

Saute trinity and garlic in oil until fragrant.
Add ham hock, beans and seasonings, simmer 10-20 minutes. Mash some of beans against side of pot and stir until creamy. Salt/pepper/sauce to taste. Remove ham hock and if desired, cool and mince meat from it, returning to pot.
Slice link of sausage in half lengthwise, and pan fry or grill until slightly blackened.

Serve beans over white rice, with link on side, and garnish with onions and parsley.


There ain't no New Orleans without some good music, so expect a post with a few tunes in the coming days to get you in the mood.

Posted: Fri - February 24, 2006 at 12:39 AM            

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