Put extra pepper on it. Now it's Cajun! The Cajun and Creole food thread.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Put extra pepper on it. Now it's Cajun! The Cajun and Creole food thread.

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

Stottie Kyek posted:

I had a go at a vegetarian version of the jambalaya in the OP tonight. Instead of using prawns or fish in it, I made a stock with seaweed and used that for the liquid, and added some smoked paprika and smoked salt for the sausagey flavour. I had a little trouble keeping stirring the pot though, it kept sticking to the bottom of the pan after the rice went in, I need to remember to check it more often. Final result was delicious though, thanks for the recipe!

You don't have to stir jambalaya, it's just like making regular stovetop rice. Bring it to a simmer and lid it. Jamabalaya is closer to paella than it is risotto

# ¿ Oct 16, 2014 05:22

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 10:22

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

neogeo0823 posted:

Can I get some opinions on Trader Joes Andouille Sausage? I've used it before and I think it's pretty great, but the only other andouille that's not balls expensive, especially right now, is Johnsonville, so I don't have much to compare to.

That Works posted:

For me andouille is usually so freaking overpriced (and often poor quality) it's rare that it ever makes it into any of the cajun food I make anymore.

THE MACHO MAN posted:

I can't seem to find a store that does andouille in North Jersey. I don't wanna gently caress with some Hillschire farms knockoff. I've just gotten good smoked keilbasa and it works very well in any dishes I've done.

Just make your own y'all

# ¿ Jan 7, 2015 05:56

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

Shooting Blanks posted:

Looks good but I am cringing at the thought of making that much sausage with a KA.

It was either use the $7 attachment I got at goodwill or spend $7 plus another $150 for an LEM vertical stuffer.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2015 04:07

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

OMGVBFLOL posted:

I pickled some okra this summer, and just finished eating the first jar. The brine got thickened by the okra; is the brine useful for gumbo? There has to be some precedent; I can't be the first person to wonder about this.

Normally pickle brine gets re-used for pickling eggs, but this stuff seems too thick to use for that. It's got the consistancy of a very light syrup.

You could use it as a brine for fried chicken. That would be bomb on some po'boys. Maybe mix a little of the brine into the remoulade or maybe put some of the okra in the sandwich

# ¿ Jan 18, 2015 21:06

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

Pan-crisped pecanwood smoked tasso ham with homemade remoulade. God drat this was good

# ¿ Jan 31, 2015 03:54

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

That Works posted:

You made the tasso? Mind sharing how if so?

http://frombellytobacon.com/2010/04/30/charcuterie-tasso-ham/

This recipe here. I made another batch recently but I forgot that it's a dredge method, not a rub, so they turned out inedibly salty and hot because I wasn't thinking. You dredge them in the cure lightly, let them sit for four hours, rinse, then cover in some fresh spices and hot smoke the strips. Way easy.

*EDIT* use pork shoulder, anything else is too lean

feelz good man fucked around with this message at 03:47 on Feb 12, 2015

# ¿ Feb 12, 2015 03:45

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

OMGVBFLOL posted:

Sorry if this has been covered before, I couldn't find specifics:

Let's say smoking is 100% out. No patio, no grill, no hot smoker, no cold smoker, no outdoors, no DIY cardboard box with a sautering iron and a tin can full of wood chips, nothing. Nothing but an oven and a spice cabinet.

That's my situation. Two questions:
1) Good options for smoky spices? Liquid smoke seems the obvious choice, but what about dry options? How does smoked paprika compare to liquid smoke?
2) What oven situation would approximate a smoker in terms of temperature and dry air? 200F and a roasting pan, or should I pop for some sort of wire rack? I have a V-rack for poultry; something like that? It's not a convection oven, either, so should I set the temp higher on the oven than it would be in the smoker to make up for the fact that air is circulating in a smoker but stagnant in an oven?

Sorry, been there myself. There is absolutely no substitute for real barbecue. Don't waste money on liquid smoke either, it's nasty stuff.

# ¿ Feb 12, 2015 16:09

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

TVarmy posted:

Michael Ruhlman blogged about using a stovetop gadget for smoking meat. It's ~$50, which isn't too crazy.

1) you could go to a restaurant supply store and get a half hotel pan for like $3, some tinfoil, and a wire rack insert and have virtually the same thing if you were dead set on never getting your damage deposit back ever again
2) lol at producing any sort of wood smoke inside with rental apartment hood ventilation
3) if there is a parking lot, there is a way, or so my American tailgating blood tells me. Park your car on the street or something and get one of these http://www.amazon.com/Weber-10020-Smokey-Silver-Charcoal/dp/B00004RALL/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1423811801&sr=8-9&keywords=weber+propane and smoke small amounts of things at a time

# ¿ Feb 13, 2015 08:22

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

Phil Moscowitz posted:

Your roux is undercooked. You've made a big pot of bechamel. Did you use oil or lard, and what was your ratio of flour to fat? 1:1 should be plenty. And like Zaepho says, roux-cooking is a multiple-beer affair. Like 2-3 beers, or as some old timers like to say, both sides of an LP.

This is sound advice.

holttho posted:

When it is at the white/blonde stage, it'll have little to no smell outside of the smell of flour and the fat used. But as it gets darker, it'll take on nutty smells. My lard roux had a really nice peanut-buttery aroma to it and was wonderful. Butter will definitely change the smell, (for the better) though you may want to clarify the butter if you want to take it to the darker stages. The milk solids may cause trouble if you are inexperienced with using straight butter.

This is sound advice as well.

Here is a colour reference chart:

Blonde roux.

Chocolate/Brick Red roux

Dark roux. This is the colour you're gunning for. Accept nothing less when you're making gumbo.

Also,

:siren:

DO THIS IN A DEEPASS POT BECAUSE IT'S NOT CALLED CAJUN NAPALM FOR SHITS AND GIGGLES. IT WILL BURN AND STICK TO YOUR SKIN :siren:

# ¿ Mar 1, 2015 06:59

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

Phil Moscowitz posted:

Here's a list of crawfish spots. I'll post a more detailed restaurant guide with some newer places in a bit.

http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2015/02/crawfish_crayfish_price.html

You can actually buy boiled crawfish by the pound at the Rouse's supermarket on Tchoupitoulas Street, too. Only on the weekends though.

I would like to add these links of good places to get crawfish as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lakes_of_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_of_the_United_States

For anyone looking into buying crawfish, I would seriously look into the Fish & Wildlife regs in your area. In Washington state here, the season runs first saturday in May 'til Halloween. No license is required, and there is a generous limit of 10lbs live in shell. They have to be 3.5" long and without young attached. Also there is no limit or restrictions of any kind on invasive species. It's a hell of a lot of fun to catch them too

# ¿ Mar 8, 2015 17:18

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

Phil Moscowitz posted:

I don't know if you are serious but the dude is coming to New Orleans for a vacation. I seriously doubt he is looking to roll up his pants and wade around in ditches looking for crawfish, which he then can try to boil on the hot plate of his hotel room coffee machine.

Where is your sense of adventure?

# ¿ Mar 9, 2015 03:43

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

I've gone to Emerald Lake in Bellingham and to Pass Lake over by Whidbey Island. Pass had a ton, but they were all barely limit size. The ones I was getting in Emerald were ginormous but not as plentiful. I'm talking like probably 6-7" per crawfish.

# ¿ Mar 10, 2015 03:30

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

Had a jambalaya party today. Here's some of the photos of everything that went into it! It was a ton of fun and everyone loved it

Cubed up pork shoulder marinating with spices

The finished, pecan wood smoked andouille (one of MANY)

The rig

Finished chicken and andouille sausage jambalaya

# ¿ Apr 19, 2015 06:37

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# ¿ Apr 23, 2024 10:22

feelz good man: Jan 21, 2007; deal with it

That Works posted:

I can never seem to get my roux quite that dark without the flavor going too bitter, even if I get it there very very slowly on a low heat. I wonder if some of that is due to the poor lighting / video quality or not.

Take the pot off the heat and let it coast and get to the black roux stage on residual heat alone, then splash in cold vegetables and stir to pump the breaks once you're there.

# ¿ Jul 22, 2016 06:20

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Goons with Spoons > Put extra pepper on it. Now it's Cajun! The Cajun and Creole food thread.