Recipes from my home state of Louisiana with an emphasis on the wonderful Cajun food I enjoyed growing up in southern Louisiana,including my favs jambalaya and gumbo………….laissez les bon temps rouler, chere! (let the good times roll, honey!)
boil or pressure cook lg chicken or hen in well seaoned water
reserve stock and cool chicken and debone
in lg cast iron or magnalite pot make "blonde roux"
whisk 1.5c of butter or marg w/ 2c flour over med heat
stir in 1-2c of milk and add bag of frozen seasoning veg (onion,bell pepper,celery) and cook til soft
gradually stir in at least 10-12c broth to desired thickness and season to taste
for dumplings I use 2 tins of lg buttermilk biscuits - flatten and cut in 1/2 strips
drop in simmering liq (betwixt low-med heat) stir occasionally to
minimize clumping and cook evenly overall mixture will thicken aome
more w/ biscuits added
don't add chicken until very end (avoids it breaking down and gettin stringy-same goes for gumbo and jambalaya)
optional - 6-8 boiled eggs sliced and/or frozen green peas, again add these right before you serve also
Lg black cast iron pot w/ lid; lg spoon/small paddle and whisk
1lg hen
1-2 lbs hot sausage (cut in ¼” slices)
1-2 lbs pork (cut into bite-sized cubes)
2 lg onions (chopped)
2 bell peppers (chopped)
3-4 celery stalks (chopped)
6 cups uncooked rice
1 cup oil and 1 ½ cup flour for roux
Seasonings: salt, black and red pepper, garlic powder, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauce
Pressure cook or boil until tender—set aside to cool and later debone and save stock
Chop vegs and slice sausage and pork
Brown sausage and port in cast iron pot w/ sm amt of oil and set aside on paper towels to absorb grease
Add cup of oil to pot and turn heat up to near med-high; once it’s hot and 1 ½ cups of flour and whisk until roux is dark and consistency of runny peanut butter
Turn heat down to medium and add vegs, stir and sauté until soft/translucent
Continue stirring as you gradually add 12-13 cups of stock you saved from cooking the hen
Season to taste w/ above listed ingredients (light on the garlic and heavy on the Worcestershire sauce) and remember that rice will absorb spices, so slightly over-season
Add pork and sausage and allow mixture to simmer 15-20 minutes
Add uncooked rice (6 cups or ½ amt of liquid you have used) to mixture and adjust heat to point where rice is bubbling up to top of mixture
Continue stirring frequently to ensure rice stick/burn at bottom of pot
Once liquid is almost all absorbed, add hen to mixture and stir
When liquid is all absorbed placed lid on pot and then remove from heat---*no more stirring beyond this point—we’re steaming the rice now!
Wait 5 min—quickly remove lid and fold over jambalaya and re-cover
Wait another 10 min and repeat this process—if all rice is not fully cooked yet, re-cover and wait another 10 min and repeat the process…..
Best served w/ white bread, potato salad, seasoned white beans and plenty of liquid refreshments of your choosing
1/2 cup parsley and cup of chopped green onions (use ½ of both to season and rest to garnish)
1 lb fresh or frozen okra
1 lg can Rotel diced tomatoes
1 cup oil and 1 ½ cup flour for roux
Seasonings: salt, black and red pepper, garlic powder, Worcestershire sauce and Tobasco sauce
Pressure cook or boil hen until tender—set aside to cool and later debone and save stock
Chop vegs and cut pork in ¼” slices
Brown sausage in pot w/ sm amount of oil and set aside on paper towels to drain
Add cup of oil to pot and turn heat up to near med-high; once it’s hot, add 1 ½ cups of flour and whisk until roux is dark brown and consistency of runny peanut butter
Turn heat down to medium and add vegs , stir and sauté until soft/transluscent
Continue stirring as you add approx. 8-12 cups of stock you saved (the amount you add is dependent on how thick you want it—I prefer a thicker gumbo)
Season to taste w/ above-listed ingredients (light on the garlic powder and heavy on the Worcestershire sauce) and remember that the longer the mixture simmers, the more intense the flavor so you might want to under-season in the beginning
Simmer uncovered for 2-3 hours ideally, stirring occasionally to ensure no sticking or burning
Add chicken to pot 10-15 min before you’re ready to serve (just long enough to get it warm) and garnish w/ remainder of parsley and chopped green onions