A Cajun Cooks

[Rajun Gardener]

I thought I'd start a new thread to add all of the things I cook that doesn't fit in the "cheap eatin" thread and also keep all the recipes/dishes in one place.

Everyone is welcome to share your dishes to this thread. It doesn't have to be a Cajun, I'll eat almost anything once!!!

I cooked this last night and it came out great, it's easy to cook and everything is available almost anywhere.

"Shrimp, sausage & chicken Creole"

Ingredients:
1/2 lb chicken diced
1 lb deveined shrimps
2 links good smoked sausage, I used my homemade sausage that's more like andouille
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup each of celery and bell pepper
2 cloves garlic minced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 stick of butter


Seasonings:
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp Cavenders seasoning=it's Greek seasoning, Italian seasoning blend will work
1 tsp of your favorite Cajun seasoning
1 tbs dried parsley




Directions:
Melt butter on medium heat then saute the onions, bells and celery for 5 minutes till soft, add the garlic and cook an additional 5 minutes, stir so nothing burns
Turn up heat to medium high add the diced tomatoes and juice, cook for 5 minutes. I add 1 tsp of suger and a 1/4 tsp of baking soda to reduce the acid in the tomatoes=your choice.
Add all the seasonings and cook for 5 minutes stirring to blend all those flavors, the house should smell awesome at this time
Add the tomato sauce, sausage, chicken and let cook for 15 minutes.
Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning to what you like.
Add shrimp and simmer for 5-8 minutes

Serve over rice and enjoy!

[Old chef]

Looks Great- Almost a deconstructed paella

Old Chef

[Rajun Gardener]

Originally Posted by Old chef

Looks Great- Almost a deconstructed paella

Old Chef

I never thought of it that way but I think you're right to an extent. We cook jambalaya and it's basically the same method as paella. I should've caught that earlier in life, I spent almost a year in Spain and did eat paella but it never clicked.

I'm glad you brought that up, now I need to research the jambalaya origins and see where that takes me.

[Salsacharley]

That is a very nice presentation Rajun! Thanks for your efforts.

[clkeiper]

I read the one ingredient as "cadavers" not cavenders... oyvey!

[TexasTomat0]

Rajun - I've got about 3 lbs of crawfish tails (leftover from a boil), and I saved a gallon bag of the shells to make a stock. Do you have an Étouffée recipe or any other recommendations for whipping them into something?

[Rajun Gardener]

Originally Posted by TexasTomat0

Rajun - I've got about 3 lbs of crawfish tails (leftover from a boil), and I saved a gallon bag of the shells to make a stock. Do you have an Étouffée recipe or any other recommendations for whipping them into something?

I do have a recipe I typed up for a friend in NY!! It's good for all seafood.


Shrimp Etoufee
Ingredients
• 1 stick butter
• 2 medium onions chopped
• ½ chopped bell pepper
• ½ cup chopped green onions
• 1/8th cup parsley minced
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 -14 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1 can chicken broth(or water), Seafood stock would be better
• Season to taste with Cajun seasoning(about 2 tablespoons) or use salt, cayenne, black pepper and Greek or Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning, this makes a big difference in the flavor. It's basically crab boil without salt and it gives the dish a good background flavor
• 1-2 pounds shrimp peeled and deveined

Directions
Sauté' onions, bell pepper, garlic, and celery in butter until soft.
Add the minced tomatoes and cook to get the water out, add all the seasonings one at a time and stir them in the mixture
Sprinkle flour over veggies and stir to coat all vegetables, cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. You’re making a blonde roux at this point and it will thicken the gravy.
Add the broth slowly while stirring to make a gravy
Add tomato sauce and parsley, then simmer for 20 minutes. Add more stock or water if it’s too thick. If you accidently add too much stock it’s easy to just cook it down till you get the consistency you want, it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Add shrimp and green onions then simmer until shrimp is cooked about 10 minutes.
Serve over rice with garlic bread, ENJOY!!


You can use this same recipe for crawfish and fish, it’s also good if you add some diced hot peppers. Be careful not to stir the gravy too much if you use fish, it might break into pieces.

[imp]

Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener

I do have a recipe I typed up for a friend in NY!! It's good for all seafood.


Shrimp Etoufee
Ingredients
• 1 stick butter
• 2 medium onions chopped
• ½ chopped bell pepper
• ½ cup chopped green onions
• 1/8th cup parsley minced
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 -14 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1 can chicken broth(or water), Seafood stock would be better
• Season to taste with Cajun seasoning(about 2 tablespoons) or use salt, cayenne, black pepper and Greek or Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning, this makes a big difference in the flavor. It's basically crab boil without salt and it gives the dish a good background flavor
• 1-2 pounds shrimp peeled and deveined

Directions
Sauté' onions, bell pepper, garlic, and celery in butter until soft.
Add the minced tomatoes and cook to get the water out, add all the seasonings one at a time and stir them in the mixture
Sprinkle flour over veggies and stir to coat all vegetables, cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. You’re making a blonde roux at this point and it will thicken the gravy.
Add the broth slowly while stirring to make a gravy
Add tomato sauce and parsley, then simmer for 20 minutes. Add more stock or water if it’s too thick. If you accidently add too much stock it’s easy to just cook it down till you get the consistency you want, it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Add shrimp and green onions then simmer until shrimp is cooked about 10 minutes.
Serve over rice with garlic bread, ENJOY!!


You can use this same recipe for crawfish and fish, it’s also good if you add some diced hot peppers. Be careful not to stir the gravy too much if you use fish, it might break into pieces.

That sounds good.

[TexasTomat0]

Originally Posted by Rajun Gardener

I do have a recipe I typed up for a friend in NY!! It's good for all seafood.


Shrimp Etoufee
Ingredients
• 1 stick butter
• 2 medium onions chopped
• ½ chopped bell pepper
• ½ cup chopped green onions
• 1/8th cup parsley minced
• 2 stalks celery chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 -14 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1 8 ounce can of tomato sauce
• 1 can chicken broth(or water), Seafood stock would be better
• Season to taste with Cajun seasoning(about 2 tablespoons) or use salt, cayenne, black pepper and Greek or Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning, this makes a big difference in the flavor. It's basically crab boil without salt and it gives the dish a good background flavor
• 1-2 pounds shrimp peeled and deveined

Directions
Sauté' onions, bell pepper, garlic, and celery in butter until soft.
Add the minced tomatoes and cook to get the water out, add all the seasonings one at a time and stir them in the mixture
Sprinkle flour over veggies and stir to coat all vegetables, cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. You’re making a blonde roux at this point and it will thicken the gravy.
Add the broth slowly while stirring to make a gravy
Add tomato sauce and parsley, then simmer for 20 minutes. Add more stock or water if it’s too thick. If you accidently add too much stock it’s easy to just cook it down till you get the consistency you want, it should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Add shrimp and green onions then simmer until shrimp is cooked about 10 minutes.
Serve over rice with garlic bread, ENJOY!!


You can use this same recipe for crawfish and fish, it’s also good if you add some diced hot peppers. Be careful not to stir the gravy too much if you use fish, it might break into pieces.

Awesome - thanks for taking the time to share. I'm hopeful to give it a go on Sunday.

[TexasTomat0]

The Creole looks great, and seems like I could easily sub the crawfish in for the shrimp. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

[DonDuck]

Originally Posted by TexasTomat0

The Creole looks great, and seems like I could easily sub the crawfish in for the shrimp. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

Rajun did a great job on the dish, but my taste buds always prefer crawfish tails in creole dishes over shrimp. For me, shrimp over cooks to easily. It may be getting a little late in the season for fresh crawfish tails from the rice paddies. The Mississippi is flooding so the Atchafalaya basin is probably not good for crawfish right now either.

[Rajun Gardener]

I smoked some spares, Big Cow Spares!



I didn't add wood but used Royal Oak Classic Premium charcoal and I'm happy with the smoke flavor. You can see wood chips in the briquets, it burned good and the smoke isn't over powering.


I found these in the discount cooler, I had to rescue them before some Yahoo tried to make a gravy.


Even the dog would love them for $7.50 if I messed them up

I used Worcestershire for a binder and seasoned with salt, black pepper and garlic, set them in the drum smoker, After 3 hours I wrapped in foil using "Better than Bouillon" as a broth and cooked for another 3 hours.

I pulled these at 210°F then wrapped the foil wrapped ribs in a bath towel for 30 minutes sitting on the counter.


The Payoff!!
It's a long cook but the drum smoker makes it easy and the result is amazing. I would bet less than 1% of Americans have ever tasted beef this good because of the time it takes.

I did have to have another rib but I ate a balanced meal.


This can be cooked in the oven so everyone should try this at least once.

[bower]

Great to see you sharing your recipes, Rob!! I'll have to keep an eye out for some of those ingredients. Everything looks awesome as usual...

[Worth1]

I wish I could get beef ribs on sale like that here.
Worth

[SueCT]

That looks awesome, Rajun!