Looks like everyone had the Big Easy on the brain, because CAJUN AND CREOLE won by a mile this quarter! Looking forward to reading about your best Cajun dishes, meals out, ingredients, cookbook suggestions and more.
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The Create Channel has been running a food show on the Dooky Chase restaurant. Features are: their history with family members preparing dishes and commentary from other family members. Today I caught the airing of a stuffed shrimp (with crab, my all time favorite food!) preparation. Maybe tomorrow I’ll make it. I love the Cajun and Creole style and miss the old place we used to go to in Oakland.
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I have a can of Tony’s. Which makes everything Creole, so I’m good to go.
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Yay!
I am sure that “shrinkrap’s” NOLA Trip is why!
Lots of great Okra right now here. I see Gumbo on the Menu soon.
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I am m sure that “shrinkrap’s” NOLA Trip is why!
I’ll start! Not too inspired, but…
I’m making Jambalaya ( which I didn’t order in NOLA!) over the course of the day, based on
…but with subs based on what I have. There’s time to let me know of any major mistakes!
Some of the green bell will be cubanelle and peeled roasted poblanos.
The chicken stock will be ham stock.
The whole tomatoes will be Muir Glen crushed.
The sausage will be Aidells andoulli (and maybe some ham? Pretty good Wild Fork ham from the freezer. Husband does not like ham, which is why there’s some in the freezer. 
)
I have no shrimp.
The chicken thighs will be left over roasted breasts seasoned with Berbere spice. Maybe I’ll brown the ham instead of the chicken thighs and add the ham and breasts at the end. Husband likes chicken breasts, even dry ones. 
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I agree with the “browning in batches” Method that the Author uses, but whenever I get a good build up of Fond in the Pot I deglaze and reserve the dissolved Fond to use as part of the Stock. Wipe out the Pot and continue.
I also add any Vegetable Scraps, Shrimp Shells ect… to my simmering Chicken Stock while I am doing my browning.
I do not put Hot Sauce in the pot, the Cayenne should add the heat. but I do use Worcestershire and Paprika.
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Thank you! Fortunately I did have shrimp shells for the ham stock leftover from a bean dish four days ago; am I pressing my luck using it after four days? .
I didn’t use crab shells because of a family member with a shellfish-but-not-shrimp allergy!
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The Stock or the Raw Shrimp Shells 
?
The stock.
looked it up.
This recipe
…and others say a week. I don’t remember using a specifc recipe.
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Should be fine if handled well (kept refrigerated)
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In September I made Jambalaya and posted here on COTM … Here’s what I said then:
I really love Nagi’s blog and book … I know I’ll be cooking her recipes for a long while. Finally got around to making JAMBALAYA: https://www.recipetineats.com/jambalaya-recipe/ I took a few liberties … increased recipe by 50% for most items, washed the rice in cold water 5 times … been doing that for years, ever since I read about it in China Moon cookbook.
I used Aidell’s Cajun Andouille, chicken breast instead of thighs (I don’t like dark meat) and wild prawns (I wait for them to go on sale at WF. Takes a while to clean a pound of prawns!) I eliminated the bacon here since I think it’s such a dominating flavor. I think if you don’t want to put pork you can put some smoked paprika instead.
My daughter eats almost everything but won’t touch bell peppers so I subbed poblano, anaheim and jalapeno. (Nagi just says to cut celery, peppers, etc. into pieces but doesn’t indicate any size.
I made the mistake of shopping late morning, starting the recipe after 3 pm. There’s a lot of chopping (onion + I added shallots and leeks) and a lot of dishes to wash … have to take breaks cause of bad knees. So, was not finished until 10:30 pm! Good thing it tastes great reheated or even cold! Instead of canned tomatoes I added roasted cherry tomatoes and about 1/2 cup Vermouth after adding the rice.
Seasoning mix: I discovered my tin of Hungarian sweet paprika had little black bugs running around inside so subbed a mild Kashmiri chili powder (I’ll but some paprika from Rainbow Co-Op soon!)
Mine was done after 22 minutes in the oven; pretty similar to paella.
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My first cookbooks were mostly Southern cookbooks. I visited Louisiana in 1998, and brought home 3 cookbooks, including the Lafayette Junior League Talk About Good 2, and a cookbook focussed on restaurant recipes.
I like Maque Choux once in a while. I usually wing it. Here is a recipe.https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/maque-choux
I sort of overdid jambalaya in my 30s and 40s to the point where I don’t make it anymore 
I do like making shrimp étouffée and gumbo.
I hosted a Mardi Gras Potluck Dinner in 2012, with some Toronto Chowhound friends. I killed the yeast in my fail of a King Cake. Here are some photos of the dinner. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jlunar/albums/72157629525935890
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Cookbook of the Month nominations for November are now open. Please join us!
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Talk About Good (the original) is one of my favorite cookbooks.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen #2.
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Mine looks like yours. Maybe I have number 1.
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I’m making red beans without rice and without meat, otherwise using the ingredients in the recipe above.
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I have Talk About Good I also!
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I don’t watch many cooking shows on TV, but I’m enjoying this PBS series on New Orleans’ classic restaurant Dooky Chase. Leah Chase’s descendents cook dishes from the restaurant, with some modern updates. It’s been running on my local PBS station (KQED in the Bay Area), and I think it’s available here for free streaming.
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