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This might be a tad disappointing, because we never write anything down. Most of these measurements I'm giving are either approximations or ones that I found online. My advice is to use your judgement with each one. They're all very simple.

First, and most important

ROUX: Sure, you can buy it canned. Or you could enjoy the sweet sweet smell of that Cajun Napalm (so named by one of my old teachers because you don't want ANY of that popping on you while it cooks).

Most of you probably already know this, but you just take equal parts oil and flour, heat the oil on medium high/medium, depending on your stove, and whisk the flour in. Some people throw it in all at once, but I do it spoonfuls at a time, but very quickly, so it all browns at the same time. Whisk constantly; never leave it. You can remove it from the heat at any time once it's all incorporated. You can leave it light or wait until it's dark brown (my favorite). If you see black floating spots, it's best to start over. Throw in a cup or so of minced onions once you remove it from the heat. This will stop the cooking faster. Keep stirring to make sure it doesn't lump up. For a really nutty roux, try whole wheat flour. I swear it's delicious.

I might divide this up into a few posts.... yes, yes I will.

Must...resist...

You keep that mess outta my thread!

Cajungal said:

You keep that mess outta my thread!

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JAMBALAYA (don't need the roux for this one )

Super easy, super delicious

Get a big pot/dutch oven

Meat: Andouille and chicken thighs... enough so that everyone gets a lot? Yeah, that's the ticket.

Seasonings: I use salt, black white and cayenne papper, tabasco. Don't use cajun seasoning... just mix the salt and peppers with a little onion, garlic, and chili powder. Herbs work too--try really fine parsley, bay leaf a little thyme... experiment.

Raw rice. Look at the serving instructions on the bag and use as much as you'll need to feed the people you have.

Chicken broth: a lot. (shut up... I don't measure)

The Holy Trinity: diced onion, bell pepper, and celery. 2:1:1; fresh minced garlic

Vegetable oil
__________
*Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Oil and season it in and keep it aside. Cut the sausage.

*Cook the meat first, and put it aside, then cook the trinity and garlic in the fat until the vegetables are all tender.

*Put the meat back into the pot and stir everything together.

*Add the rice and the amount of broth needed to cook the rice.

*Cover and simmer until rice is cooked, stirring occasionally. Season however else you want and enjoy!

-- Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:43 pm --

That image means nothing to me, CK... but it's cute.
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Etouffee--this is the recipe I use for catering jobs... or used to use.

***If you have what you need, make your own shrimp stock!... or just use chicken broth again.***

-Seasonings: everything mentioned in the last recipe, plus lots of parsley and chopped green onion

-Meat: I use either shrimp or crawfish.

-minced onion, pepper, and celery (always that same ratio) and minced garlic

-tabasco

-Broth

-rice
_________
*Cook the vegetables and garlic in oil. At this point, you can either add your own premade roux paste or throw some flour onto the hot oil to thicken it.

*Add broth to the vegetables and stir until it starts to get thick. Throw in your seafood and simmer until it's cooked (about 10, 15 minutes), stirring occasionally I like to throw half a bay leaf into the broth first.

*Season as much as you want and sprinkle parsley and green onion on top. Serve on top of rice.

-- Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:44 pm --

So those two are pretty simple. More to come when I'm done with laundry and work. Let me know if you have requests.

awww.. you cheated I have to give these a go.

Cajungal said:

That image means nothing to me, CK... but it's cute.

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Don't you know the cone of shame?

cg, one day I am going to make some jambalaya.

if you could please mark my words, that would be fantastic.

Cajungal's list of words marked:

1. Disco's coming back.

2. Ashton Kutcher is going to surprise us as an actor.

3. He's not going to cheat on me again.

4. Ron Paul's gonna win this thing.

5. I'm going to make Jambalaya

It would be interesting to see one of these happen...

for the big pot/ditch oven (did you mean dutch?), would a crock pot be an acceptable substitute?

Oopsie. Yes, dutch, thank you.

I've never owned/used a crock pot, but I bet it would work. There are a few Cajun crock pot recipes floating out there that you could refer to.

And also.... if you ever read a "Cajun" recipe that calls for tomatoes... don't use the tomatoes.

who would ever buy roux in a can?? It's not like it's super complicated to make.

Tinwhistler said:

who would ever buy roux in a can?? It's not like it's super complicated to make.

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The same people who buy spaghetti in a can?

*opens his socks-in-a-can* What?

I love your measurement style, you measure ingredients exactly the way I do. It always amuses me because my dad and I both cook a lot; we love trying new things and sharing with each other what we've made recently. The problem is, my dad gets all kinds of cooking and recipe magazines and looks stuff up online and gets his new recipes that way; so if he finds something he wants to share all he has to do is email me the recipe or the link to it.

I, on the other hand, tend to make stuff up on the fly. Either I'll be running out of cash and be starving, so I rummage through my pantry and freezer and wind up with a killer soup or stew, or I'll go to the store and just wander the aisles until I get some kind of inspiration and go home and make it up as I go along. Then if I want to share something with him, I have to try to figure out measurements other than "enough" or "some" or "until it turns this color."

Tinwhistler said:

who would ever buy roux in a can?? It's not like it's super complicated to make.

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Funny, when I moved down here I asked around about roux recipes, and the general response from at least 75% of people was to use the jarred stuff. It's just easier they said.

There is great jarred roux in paste form--NOT powder--if you wanna save 15-20 minutes. I won't deny using it in a pinch. But I love the aroma when I make it.

what is the max word allow? maybe you can edit the top one to include a bunch of recipes

I'm gonna throw more in later on. I don't like having really long posts.

for being cajun recipes, I haven't seen any recipes here that call for them.

Like I said, easy.

Thanks for posting the recipes.

My grandfather is half cajun/half acadian which as far as most people are concerned is 100% cajun. I use his roux. He has yet to share his Jambalaya recipe with me so i will have to give yours a whirl.
I'd share some of his recipes but am sworn to secrecy on the best of them.

Glad you like em. And yeah there are very few people who will go into why those two titles might be different... and then there's this-- http://www.acadian-cajun.com/acadiancajun.htm. No matter how you slice it, we're cool. :toocool:

Cajungal said:

Like I said, easy.

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?

You know I was making a cannibalism joke, right?

Allen said:

Cajungal said:

Like I said, easy.

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?

You know I was making a cannibalism joke, right?

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No, I thought you were saying that the recipes were so simple I might as well not bother posting them or something. That's way better, though. I forget now how I came to that conclusion... but then I HAD just woken up from a short nap.