Cajun Recipes from Sage Hill Farms
| Cajun Gumbo Serves 6 to 8 1 1/2 cup flour Put oil and flour in a large heavy pot. Brown flour to make a dark roux about the color of dark chocolate. When roux is browned add onions, green pepper, celery and garlic. Keep heat on low and saute until soft. About 10 minutes. Stir often so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. The roux will darken as the vegetables cook and this is good. Add water, chicken and all other ingredients except for green onions and parsley. Reserve those until the end. Stir well. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer at least two hours. Three hours is better to get the hen cooked to a tenderness ideal for gumbo. Add more water if needed as the gumbo cooks and the liquid reduces. Stir occasionally. At the end of the cooking time add the green onions and parsley, stir and cover. Let stand for 15 minutes. Salt to taste at this point. Serve with cooked white sticky rice. Use a bowl and serve a proportion of 1/3 rice to 2/3 gumbo. This recipe will serve 10-12. If you don’t want to serve whole pieces of chicken in the bowl, you can de-bone the chicken and return the meat to the pot and discard the bones. This is normally done in Cajun restaurants but whole pieces of chicken are usually served in the bowl in homes. This is tradition. Gumbo is best served with First, you need to get the correct type of rice. You need to purchase “glutenous rice”. Regular Jasmine rice or other types of regular rice will not work properly. Soak the glutinous rice in water for about 4 hours or overnight.In a Rice-steamer- steam for about 30 minutes. Be careful not to over-cook the rice, or it will become quite mushy. The consistency you’re looking for is slightly sticky, but not watery. The rice should hold together, but individual grains can still be easily separated.Sticky, Sweet, or Gluteous rice can be found in most Asian food markets if not in your better food stores….I buy from the Publix markets. Shrimp a la Creole (aka-Shrimp Creole) 2 lbs. Peeled and De-veined Shrimp, (save shells to make Shrimp stock) Melt the butter in a large sauce pan with the vegetable oil over medium high heat. When the butter begins to froth add 1/2 cup of the onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown. Add the remaining onions, celery, and bell pepper, reduce the heat to medium and season with 1 Tbsp Creole Seasoning and a healthy pinch of salt. Sweat the vegetables until soft. Add the tomato paste mixing well, and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste begins to brown, then add the fresh tomatoes and another healthy pinch of Sea salt, this will help the tomatoes break down. Stir well. When the tomatoes start to break down into liquid add the white wine, and turn the heat to high until most of the alcohol burns off. Add the Shrimp Stock, remaining Cajun seasoning, garlic, bay leaves, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne (to taste), and Thyme. Bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer. Simmer for 30-45 minutes. (If necessary at this point thicken the sauce with 1 Tbsp Cornstarch/ 2Tbsp water. Bring to a boil to maximize the thickening power of the cornstarch.) ( a healthier substitute to cornstarch is Arrowroot) same proportions. Add the hot sauce, Worcestershire, and season to taste with Sea salt. Last chance to re-season your sauce, remember that good cooking is all about proper seasoning. Make your Boiled Rice, and season your shrimp with 1 Tbsp Sea salt and a pinch of Cayenne. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce the heat to low and add the shrimp. The key is to not overcook your shrimp. Let them slowly simmer in the sauce until just cooked through. Serve with boiled rice and garnish with the remaining green onions and parsley. Serve immediately. Beware…it might make you slap yo Momma! |
Oyster and Pecan Dressing~ 8 ozs of turkey sausage, sliced 1/2 cup butter 1 cup chopped onion 1 cup chopped celery 6 cups dry bread crumbs (I use cornbread, but any stout bread such as French will do) 3 cups, drained, fresh oysters 1 cup chopped pecans 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley 1-1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp sea salt 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepperSauté the sausage in a 6 qt Dutch-oven until golden brown. Remove the sausage and drain. Reserve the pan drippings Heat the butter with the pan drippings until the butter melts, add the onion and celery, sauté for 5 min and remove from heat Add the bread crumbs, oysters, pecans, parsley, Worcestershire, salt and pepper and toss lightly. Place in a well oiled baking pan and bake covered w/ baking foil until a knife test is clean, about 45 to 60 min. You can use the dressing to stuff the turkey or chicken, be sure to follow the baking time chart for the proper cooking time if you do. Grains-Greens-And Shrimp~ Enough greens for servings needed (washed and drained) turnip, collard, or kale Layer greens onto a dinner plate, top with your grain of choice and place shrimp atop the grains…lightly squeeze fresh lemon over the entire dish… Yummy and your better self will thank you 🙂 Real Cajun CrabCakes 1 lb. real crab meat Mix first 8 ingredients together. Form into patties and roll each patty in bread crumbs. Fry slowly in oil at 350°F. until golden brown. Dipping Sauce for CrabCakes Combine… 1/4 cup mayonnaise Serve crab cakes warm with lemon wedges and dipping sauce. Sauce recipe can be easily doubled or tripled. Shrimp Stock… Shells and heads from 2 pounds of shrimp Instructions NOTE….always use fresh caught shrimp when possible; if you must purchase frozen, check the package and make sure it is Wild American Shrimp) Anything else is …well…just not Shrimp! |