<p>Making jambalaya tonight, wish me luck. DH is from South Louisiana, so Cajun cooking is always done with some fear and trepidation on my part. Interestingly, he never cooks Cajun or Creole food, partly because he remembers his Maman’s cooking, and we can’t reproduce that - first, you shoot the duck/catch the shrimp/seine the spec, then you gut the duck, then you pluck the duck, etc, etc.</p>
<p>You can always have conyat on stand by</p>
<p>We made Chicken creole Saturday night and the dinner guests loved it. It was perfect. Antoine’s recipe book.</p>
<p>Good jambalaya depends on the quality of Andouille sausage. Says me. Good andouille = tasty jamabalya.</p>
<p>I’m jealous cangel…I wanna go to your house for din-din.</p>
<p>It helps if you throw in a bayleaf from the tree in your mother’s backyard. Jes sayin’. :)</p>
<p>I did Conyat, I’m in Mobile and we have a bay bush (not quite a tree), and rosemary shrubs. Couldn’t get any real andouille, though :(, I thought of jambalaya too late.
It was good, a little spicy for me, I have reflux, but the guys scarfed it down.</p>
<p>does any one know how to make veggie jambalaya?</p>
<p>I would love to taste it.</p>
<p>Here’s a good basic recipe you can adapt.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cookinglouisiana.com/Cooking/Recipes/Seafood/Shrimp_Jambalaya.htm[/url]”>http://www.cookinglouisiana.com/Cooking/Recipes/Seafood/Shrimp_Jambalaya.htm</a></p>
<p>Use veggie stock instead of shrimp. And for some reason, I always add a half a small can or so of tomato paste (mixed with water first), though I normally don’t like tomato in jambalaya. For the main ingredient, I’ve used mushrooms (added early, like in the recipe) and tofu (added near the end).</p>
<p>Now that I’m thinking about it, gardenburgers browned in a skillet, sliced in thin strips then in half again would probably work well too, so long as you add them when the rice is nearly done so they keep their texture.</p>
<p>Or better yet, use this recipe from Chef John Folse (he’s the real deal; I’ve seen him on PBS along with his elderly father, who taught him to cook). His show is called Louisiana Cooking with a Change of Heart.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.lpb.org/programs/tasteofla/heart/recipes_03.html[/url]”>http://www.lpb.org/programs/tasteofla/heart/recipes_03.html</a></p>
<p>It’s baked, because the “Change of Heart” is all about making Louisiana cooking heart-healthy.</p>
<p><a href=“Feck! Not another 404!!”>Feck! Not another 404!!;
<p>Here’s another recipe you might enjoy. Nine greens gumbo, a Lenten staple.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.tabasco.com/taste_tent/recipes/recipe.cfm?id=163[/url]”>http://www.tabasco.com/taste_tent/recipes/recipe.cfm?id=163</a></p>
<p>Here’s another version from the Tabasco people.</p>
<p>Thanks will try and let you know.</p>
<p>BTW cookinglouisiana.com expired on 05/14/2007 and is pending renewal or deletion.</p>
<p>USA Weekend magazine in the local rag (Gannet isn’t exactly a highbrow news organization) just included a blurb on Cajun cooking- it is as varied as the cooks doing it, so don’t be worried about “authenticity”, just come up with things close to the original that please your family’s palate. I do this with Indian cooking, especially when using every shortcut I can, and as long as people like it I consider it a success. Don’t be afraid to mix and match recipes, you may actually improve upon them for your tastes.</p>
<p>DH’s Cajun grandmother raised and fed 14 children out of a kitchen a litle bit larger than a postage stamp, I have no idea where they ate meals.
In 1980 she had a rice cooker, which was a quite unusual appliance to me, but it allowed her to have warm rice all the time. She had other things available in the frig and onthe stove - with about 50 grandkids you never know when someone will show up. We had sweet potatoes and duck gumbo. Her sons would literally bring her what they had shot or caught, and she fed herself and most of them. I came from a farming family, I was used to raising your own food, but not catching it.
Now that’s Cajun cooking.</p>