Recipe: Simple Authentic Cajun Shrimp Creole

Assortment of famous Louisiana dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish bisque and more Image via Wikipedia

From Denny: Cajun cooking has evolved over 244 years since the first Acadian settlers arrived in Louisiana. They were originally deported by the English from Nova Scotia and it was ten years later they migrated to Louisiana. For generations the French and English have carried on a cultural clash and divide so this deportation came as no surprise even in the New World. It did bring terrible hardships to the Acadians as they strove to develop a new life in an inhospitable environment.

The lines between Cajun and Creole cuisine have blurred over the past few decades ever since Justin Wilson popularized Louisiana cuisine back in the 1970's with what was locally known as "good hunting and fishing camp food." Wilson also was a fan of hot sauces and so the idea of Cajun food as "hot and spicy" stuck in the national mind ever since. The reality is that Cajun did not originate as one with fiery pepper sauces, cayenne pepper and spices but rather, to this day with the oldest generation, was a savory and flavorful cuisine style.

The authors of this regional cookbook offer up insight into the subtle differences from region to region in Louisiana because Louisiana is a lot like France in that respect. The 22 counties considered as Cajun Country (which includes some of the state of Texas), known as parishes here, are divided into cultural regions: Acadian Coast, The Wetlands, Upper Prairie, Lower Prairie, the Bayou Region, Southwest Louisiana and the Marshes and Coast.

French Onion Soup Image via Wikipedia

This regional, simple, 100 recipe cookbook (lots of illustrations but without photos) offers recipes from each region, so you get a look at six different versions of the celebrated and widely known gumbo dish. They include side dishes, traditional French soups like Belle Rose French Onion Soup and then on to desserts too, one known as Dark Sugar Pralines.

The cookbook has lots of great Cajun resources like listings for food festival events, Cajun web sites for food and events and tourism.

What this cookbook is all about is easy comfort food made by real people for home style cooking. It's also an easy pleasurable way to learn about a different culture through food!

*****



Photo by afagen @ flickr

Lily B's Shrimp Creole

From: “Cooking in Cajun Country” new cookbook by Karl Breaux with Cheré Dastugue Coen (Gibbs Smith, $16.99, paperback)

My Amazon store has the book for $12.74 and available for free shipping too! Check it out, go here.

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped celery

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 tsp. dried basil

2 cups chopped tomatoes or 1 can diced tomatoes, with juice

1 lb. fresh shrimp, peeled and deveined or 2 cups frozen shrimp*

(* Health Warning: try to buy Louisiana or American shrimp as Chinese and other Asian shrimp lives in heavily polluted waters, polluted with heavy metals! Check your package for country of origin before purchase.)

1/2 to 1 cup water

Cajun/Creole seasoning, to taste

2 cups cooked Louisiana rice

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium to medium-high heat. Sauté the onions, celery and bell pepper until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and sauté 5 minutes more.

2. Add salt, pepper, basil and tomatoes and stir; add shrimp. If using frozen shrimp, add 1/2 cup water and simmer for 10 minutes. If using fresh shrimp, add shrimp and 1 cup water and simmer until shrimp turn bright pink, about 15 to 20 minutes. Do not overcook.

3. Add Cajun/Creole seasoning to taste.

4. Serve over 1/2 cup cooked rice per serving.


Have a great weekend, everyone, and thanks for visiting! Good eating!


Cajun, Creole, Louisiana, shrimp creole, Society and Culture, Soups and Stews, Justin Wilson, Acadian, Cajun cuisine, Nova Scotia, Cook, Home

Recipe: John's Cajun Pot Roast

Another version of Pot Roast Image by Offbeat Photography via Flickr

From Denny: Here in Louisiana we aren't shy about dining on meat even in hot weather. Pot Roast is a perennial American favorite and Cajuns have their spin on it. My father-in-law, John, was Cajun and a wonderful cook. He didn't have a wide range but what he cooked was awesome and everyone licked the plate! :)

He had been an Army cook in WWII. Originally, he was an infantry soldier in General Patton's pack. The story goes that Patton's troops were forever outrunning their supply lines. What that means to those of you who have never been in combat is that they often were on rations or went hungry. Everyone knows an army runs on its stomach.

Well, John was not about to be denied a good meal. Like any good Cajun country boy he just went out and shot himself a big plump rabbit. He soon had it skinned, skewered and roasting over an open fire. The whole camp smelled it and came moseying over for a friendly meal. John looked at them and yelled, "Ya bunch of Momma's boys! Go get your own damn supper!"

Of course, John was an only child and yes, a Momma's boy but at least he knew how to hunt and was independent enough to take care of himself. He had a real disdain and fear for those spoiled soldiers whose mothers did too much for them. Why? Because he saw them get shot first, killed and in large numbers during the war. He was upset they refused to be teachable in order to save their lives. "War is not a country club!" he often used to say.

It was then that the Army realized the man was resourceful and could cook better than anything listed for recipes in the Army handbook. John was taken off the field and placed on Kitchen Duty where he fed at least 4,000 men a day, three times a day.

He used to tell stories of what it was like to clean the Army cooking pots. We all would scratch our heads, wondering why that was such a big deal. Then he would describe how he had to get a ladder - he was a tall man too - to climb down into the pots to scrub them! Can you imagine how long it took for water to boil in pots that large? It must have taken hours for what we do in smaller portions for our families in only 15 minutes!

John used to cook a wonderful simple Cajun version of Pot Roast on Sundays, his favorite meal. As a new bride I was fascinated with his cooking. He also was a friend of the famous Justin Wilson who started the national obsession with Cajun and Creole food.

Justin Wilson was a fishing and hunting buddy of my husband's maternal uncle, J. B. Roux - yes, Roux really is his last name. Uncle J. B. was an incredible gumbo cook, a big bear of a man and terribly funny. He and John cooked together often, especially on Christmas Eve when they cooked gumbo together for everyone when they came by to visit during the holiday.

Anyway, Justin Wilson was interested in recording all the campfire recipes and Cajun style cooking he could. Uncle J. B. and the other friends were so used to their cooking they thought it was silly. They thought everyone knew how to cook like they did. In their minds, they could not conceive of anyone being a bad cook or not knowing how to cook the obvious.

Anyway, Justin recorded it, started up a local cooking show, wrote and sold books, made videos, went national and then international. If not for Justin Wilson, Uncle J. B.'s recipes and that of his friends would never have been published and perished with them when they died.

Over the years I've adapted John's recipe to make it my own.

John's Cajun Pot Roast

From: Denny Lyon

Total: 3 hrs 40 mins
Active: 40 mins
Makes: 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

3 teaspoons salt (or to your taste)

3 Tablespoons Tony Chachere's (Cajun seasoning, or to your taste)

2 teaspoons freshly ground cracked black pepper (or to your taste)

1 4-pound boneless chuck roast, trimmed of excess fat

3 Tablespoons canola oil

1 large red/purple/Cajun onion, coarsely chopped

4 medium celery stalks, coarsely chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced or sliced in strips

8 medium garlic cloves, slivered lengthwise in strips

3 Tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups low-sodium beef broth

4 fresh thyme sprigs

Optional: 8 dahes Tobasco sauce (John liked some heat!)

Optional: Fresh mushrooms

Directions:

Heat the oven to 325°F and arrange a rack in the lower third or you can place this roast in an electric skillet on the kitchen countertop like John did to simplify cleanup.

Here comes the fun tactile part: Take a small paring knife and poke and dig lots of hole in the meat all over, including the fat area. Then push the garlic slivers into each hole with a little of the spice combination or a salt and pepper combination, your choice.

Combine all dry spices in a small bowl. Evenly rub spice mix on all sides of the roast; set aside.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven/electric skillet or a large, heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid over medium heat until smoking, about 5 minutes. Add meat and sear it, browning on all sides, about 20 minutes total; remove to a plate.

Add onion, celery, bell pepper and leftover garlic to the pot, season with salt, and cook until just softened, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to coat vegetables. Pour beef broth into the pot and scrape up any browned bits called "fond" from the bottom.

Add thyme, meat, and any accumulated juices to the pot and bring to a simmer. Add Tobasco sauce if you are including some spicy heat. Cover and cook in the oven/electric skillet until fork tender, about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. At the last 20 minutes, add the fresh mushrooms if you are including them. John loved mushrooms and used them often.

Melt in your mouth, exploding with flavor! Serve over rice or with fresh parslied and buttered new potatotes. It's quite awesome when you get a bite of roast with a mellow garlic flavor from the simple cooking technique of inserting those garlic slivers into the meat before searing. Enjoy!