A Cajun Cooks

[taboule]

Very nice Rajun, smoke cooking is the bomb. I'm so glad I finally got in the game.

Beef ribs are the best, last I bought some here (short ribs) they were ~$8/lb (sorry, $7.99 to be exact.) Insane. Regardless of the cut, they're all good. My wife doesn't care for pork (I do) but when I cook beef ribs -watch out.

I love cajun creole cooking, learned it on my own with help from Paul Prudhomme's cookbook. Gumbos and etouffees and other goodies. I'll be following your thread, and hope I can contribute. Thank you.

[kurt]

https://www.google.com/search?q=just...&client=safari

When I saw your post this man came to mind.watched him all the time.Justin Wilson a bonifide Cajun.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by kurt

https://www.google.com/search?q=just...&client=safari

When I saw your post this man came to mind.watched him all the time.Justin Wilson a bonifide Cajun.

Actually Justin Wilson is a Yankee, he was born north of I-10.

Worth

[Rajun Gardener]

That's true Worth and another thing is it was Mississippi PBS that produced his shows.

Kurt, my next post is something I'm sure he cooked at least once on the show.

[Rajun Gardener]

I had some farm raised rabbits in the freezer and it was time to cook them, defrosted and chopped them up'



I forgot to get a pic of the price, that's crazy for rabbit.

After that butcher work I soaked them in a salty brine for 15 minutes then rinsed and seasoned to marinate over night.

I pan fried the meat to a good color with EVOO to build a fond in the pan.


I added the onions, bell peppers and celery to deglaze the pan

Then added 1/2 tsp of each for flavor and to darken the gravy a little


Chicken back in with parsley and added enough water to almost cover the meat

I cooked it 12 minutes under pressure which was too long, the meat is falling off the bones


While that was cooking I made cornbread in a black iron skillet warmed in the oven before coating it with bacon fat, it makes a perfect crust and has great flavor


I warmed a can of creamy Great Northern beans and the meat is done

Served with a splash of Sriracha.

[coronabarb]

That looks so good!! I used to raise meat rabbits when I lived in So Cal. I loved to marinate them overnight"El Pollo Loco" style, which is basically a citrus cumin marinade. Cooked on the grill carefully so as to not overcook. Can't remember the temp I pulled them - 145? Rabbit can take a lot of seasonings since it is so mild.

[imp]

Rabbit can be very good. One of my favorites was always smothered rabbit and dumplings. Mom would drdge the rabbit in seasoned flour and brown it, the do just as you do for chicken and dumplings. Yum.

[Worth1]

Fried rabbit with mashed potatoes and gravy with bacon simmered green beans.
I like wild rabbit the best but tame will do if not over cooked.

Rajun I see you have the ebay pressure fryer/cooker going.

Worth

[bower]

Farm rabbit and wild are completely different for us. A good wild rabbit is what my Mom would call "browsy". They literally taste of the thing they browsed on - in case of browsy rabbit aka snowshoe hare, that's conifers I would guess. This is why when I see hares in my garden browsing the oregano I call them "self seasoning" but still only dreaming of how they would taste.
Rajun, your dish looks excellent! I do like farmed rabbit, as a mild meat that seasons well, I remember it from living in Spain although we never see it here.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by bower

Farm rabbit and wild are completely different for us. A good wild rabbit is what my Mom would call "browsy". They literally taste of the thing they browsed on - in case of browsy rabbit aka snowshoe hare, that's conifers I would guess. This is why when I see hares in my garden browsing the oregano I call them "self seasoning" but still only dreaming of how they would taste.
Rajun, your dish looks excellent! I do like farmed rabbit, as a mild meat that seasons well, I remember it from living in Spain although we never see it here.

West Texas wild rabbits (cotton tails) rule, no cedars or conifers to speak of.

The jack rabbits are hares and make killer jack chili.
We used to cook it in big cast iron kettles on the wood fire outside while drinking beer and swapping lies.

Worth

[taboule]

Originally Posted by Worth1

We used to cook it in big cast iron kettles on the wood fire outside while drinking beer and swapping lies.

Worth

Hey, I can do that.

[kurt]

Remember?You are what you eat,are you?Cajun is the tribe of French,escaping their lands troubles long ago,settled in the past La purchase thingy.Best hunters down there,y’all lone star boys ain’t got nutin on them,all hat no oil I say.Just funnin.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by taboule

Hey, I can do that.

For the life of me tonight I cant remember that old coots name we used to do this at his house all the time.
I remember one time he was really drunk I took him home and he tried to kiss me on the lips.
He even put his arm around me on the couch.
JB I am a man.
I dont care kiss me and hold me.
I'm outta here see ya tomorrow.
Oh I remember it was JB Blackwood.
Worth

[taboule]

Funny story Worth.

Sounds like he was more than drunk, totally roasted, well-done.

[Rajun Gardener]

I've been wanting tacos since I watched a video Mark Wiens posted about taquitos. I'll leave a link at the bottom. The soup is Birria and I had to try it. So I watched a few vids, checked some recipes and decided to do my own thing using a few methods from some recipes I liked.

I dug through the freezer and found some leftover mole I made and pork chunks I needed to cook so I went shopping for the other ingredients. I'm making regular tacos too for the fam in case they don't like the Birria.


Starting on the marinade


Beautiful mole not to be confused with Austin Powers mole.

I saved some mole to add later


Next was the salsa verde, I roasted the tomatillos, garlic, hatch peppers and onions



I cleaned out the pepper seeds and then it was all the kids in the pool with salt, black pepper, about 5 sprigs of cilantro stems and all, 1/2 cup of water and some chicken bouillon powder for a little flavor.


I simmered it for 15 minutes to thicken it up a little. The Hatch peppers go fantastic in this sauce!!!! Very flavorful!!


I finished off the toppings, this is a killer Pico with roasted Hatch peppers.


I made pickled onions too, I'm sure everyone knows the normal taco toppings from this pic.

Street sized tacos and tostados were the snack while I took a break before starting on the main meal I wanted to eat.




I skimmed the red oily fat off the soup to coat the corn tortillas to make taquitos stuffed with the soup meat. I cooked 4 then started on the quesadillas but before I was done they ate all my taquitos so I had to make more.





The meat marinaded for 3 hours, added to a pot with enough water to cover the meat. I added 3 Bay leaves and some more chicken powder. It cooked for about 5 hours total but it was done in 3, I just kept it simmering and adding more water as it cooked down. This turned out to be the secret, it's like a meat soup with a depth of flavor.




Finally I sat down to eat like it was a buffet.


The taquito dipped in the soup was like au jus!


The quesadillas are perfect to add toppings and drizzle that awesome soup broth over.



Good to the last bite and I drank that broth like it was the fountain of youth.


This is the video that started me wanting tacos and taquitos.
https://youtu.be/FT7mNxMMoi0?t=85


Salsa Verde recipe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHERKypDy-A

and this is what I followed for the Birria recipe. I didn't add the mole I saved at the end, after I tasted it I didn't think it could get any better. The flavor is absolutely awesome, nothing like you would think looking at the red/mole broth. I also didn't add the thyme and allspice. I made this with pork and didn't want those flavors involved and I was right, this is an awesome soup for a cold day. Soul Soothing!!!!
https://youtu.be/FT7mNxMMoi0?t=85