How to Make White Beans

We made White Beans and Andouille Sausage during the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav.  Not even 100 mile an hour winds that devastated the power to most of South Louisiana would stop Cajun Cooking TV from eating as normal.

Right before the storm, I cooked a big pot of Seafood Gumbo and a big pot of Spaghetti Sauce.  We froze meal size containers and were able to eat on that for several days.  Many Cajun recipes are great for cooking up large pot-fulls and freezing for later dinners.

For several days after the storm there were no stores open.  Many people were relying on FEMA and Red Cross for MRE’s and prepared meals.  Thank God we were able to purchase a generator and had gas stored up.  We were able to run the refrigerator, fans, microwave and other small electrics.

About day 5 or 6, we heard a sound like a policeman talking over their loudspeaker.  We didn’t know what it was.  Then we saw a sight we thought we’d never see.  A Red Cross truck was coming through the neighborhood passing out meals.  It made us sad to see such a large metropolitan city reduced to needing Red Cross assistance.  It’s like something you only see on TV in third world countries.

Happily as power began to be restored around the city, grocery stores began to open with limited items for purchase.  I was so thankful that Whole Foods opened and had all the necessities available.  We got fresh Andouille Sausage and were able to make a pot of White Beans by running the slow cooker on the generator all night.

We made rice out on a Coleman Camp Stove outside on the patio.  Since it was too dark to video at the time, we made White Beans again just for you.  I hope it’s a long time before we are out of power for 14 days again.  Enjoy!

Ingredients for White Beans and Andouille Sausage

1  (1-pound) package Large White Beans (aka Great Northerns)
1 pound sausage of your choice (we used 5 links of freshly made Andouille sausage)
2 cups Cajun Trinity (chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
Cajun seasoning (like Tony’s Creole Seasoning) to taste
Tabasco sauce
1 cup long grain rice
Oil
Slow Cooker
Frying pan   

First you should soak the white beans overnight in a large bowl.  Cover the beans with water leaving room for expansion.

Ready to cook

Heat the slow cooker on high heat. 

Drain the water from the beans and then pour beans into the slow cooker. 

Sauté the Cajun Trinity in a small amount of oil or cooking spray. 

(My husband Mike just tosses the trinity in the with the beans without sauteing.)

Slice the sausage into 1 inch pieces and fry in a pan until brown. 

(We actually grilled the Andouille sausage the night before while we had a hot grill from grilling a steak.)

Mix all ingredients together into slow cooker. 

Add 4-5 cups of water to cover the mixture. 

Add about ½ teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Tony’s Creole Seasoning) and a few dashes of Tabasco sauce.  Mix well.

Cover and let the slow cooker do its job for 4-6-8 hrs. 

Since each slow cooker is different, feel free to add small amounts of water if needed after a few hours.  You don’t want it to get too dry.

Beans are ready when soft and creamy gravy is created. 

If your gravy is not thick enough (and it usually isn’t), take a large spoonful of beans out, put them in a bowl and smash them. Then add them back to the pot and stir them in. This should thicken your gravy. In a few minutes if you think your gravy is still not thick enough, repeat this process.

Make a pot of rice (1 cup rice, 2 cups water and simmer 20 minutes).

Serving Suggestions for White Beans and Andouille Sausage

Serve White Beans and Andouille sausage over rice in a deep plate and is accompanied well with Jiffy cornbread muffins.  Now that’s some good country cooking if I do say so myself.

How to Make Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo is hard to beat if you want a great meal that is very inexpensive and will serve a lot of people, or make a lot of leftovers to freeze for during the week heat-and-serve dinners.

These authentic Cajun recipes that we’re cataloging on this website are Louisiana cultural treasures.

This chicken and sausage gumbo recipe has been in our family a long, long time.

Simple, inexpensive, great-tasting and a Cajun cooking favorite, this recipe is for you if you want to learn how to cook chicken and sausage gumbo.

Want to know the secret to making a great gumbo?

It’s the stock. Watch the video to learn more about this secret of Cajun cooking.

How to Make Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Cookware and Utensils Needed:

Large stock pot
Skillet
6-8 quart Dutch oven or large pot (non-stick okay)
Flat wooden spatula or flat whisk
Cutting board
Knife

Ingredients for Your Gumbo

2 fresh chicken breasts
2-3 links Andouille sausage or any quality sausage
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 stick of butter
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (like Tony’s)
3 Bay leaves
4-5 cups Cajun Trinity (chopped onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic and parsley)
2 (1-pound) bags cut okra
2 (10-ounce) cans Rotel tomatoes
6-8 cups chicken stock
1 cup long grain white rice
Chopped green onions for garnish

How to Cook Your Gumbo

Prepare all your ingredients and have ready to go.

Fill the stock pot with water.

Leave enough room for the chicken breasts.

Season the water with salt and Cajun seasoning.

Bring to a Boil.

Place the chicken breasts in the boiling water and boil for 50-60 minutes.

Meanwhile, spray a non-stick skillet with canola oil.

Turn the heat on medium #6.

Cook the Andouille sausage turning often for about 20 minutes.

Remove and drain on paper towels.

Cut into ½ inch slices and set aside for later.

Next, in the Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil and sauté the Cajun Trinity until onions and celery are translucent.

Set aside.

In the skillet, melt the 1 stick of butter.

Once bubbly and hot, gradually add the ½ cup of flour.

Sprinkle in a little flour and stir well.

Add a little more flour and stir and so on.

The Roux should be smooth with no lumps of flour.

Continuously stir until the roux becomes a dark caramel color.

Carefully, pour the roux into the Cajun Trinity.

Stir well.

Return the pot to the heat and place on medium.

Now mix in the Rotel tomatoes.

Ladle out 3-4 cups chicken stock from the boiling chicken pot.

Add to the mixture and stir well.

Add 1-2 bags of cut okra.

Make sure all is covered well with stock.

Add Cajun seasoning, Bay leaves, dashes of Tabasco.

Simmer for about 30 minutes.

Occasionally stir and add additional stock if needed.

The chicken breasts should be done after 1 hour.

Remove the chicken from the stock pot.

Let sit a few minutes, and then cut into bite size pieces.

Add the chicken and sausage to the gumbo.

Stir well and add more stock to cover all ingredients.

It should be a thick soup consistency.

Make a pot of rice for 4 people by bringing 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

Add 1 cup rice.

Stir.

Cover and lower the heat to medium #3.

Cook for 20 minutes and do not disturb the pot.

Serve the Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo over rice in a deep plate or bowl..

Garnish with chopped green onions or bell pepper and sprinkle on gumbo file’.

A small salad and toasted French bread are excellent accompaniments for a complete meal.

Serves 6-8.

Also, gumbo freezes well for a quick supper during the workweek.

Bon Appetite!

P.S. – If you have a question or comment about this recipe
(or any other recipe) please post your question or comment
in the “Comments” or “Leave a Reply” section below this
recipe.

P.S.S. – You can get these recipes emailed to you once
every week by joining our FREE Cajun Recipe Club.

Simply enter your first name and email and click “submit”
on the form in the upper right hand corner of this page.

Red Beans and Rice Recipe

Red Beans and Rice is as Cajun as white on rice. It just don’t get more Cajun!

Red beans and rice was often a Thursday dish, because it was usually the day before payday (Friday) and folks were usually broke by then. Another train of thought has Monday being red beans and rice day as it was laundry day. In my opinion, any day is a great day for red beans and rice!

You can feed a big family a fine meal on a just couple of dollars with the Cajun classic red beans and rice recipe.

A bag of Camellia red beans, a ham hock or some sausage, and some rice and you’ve got a dinner fit for a king.

When it comes to Cajun cooking, red beans and rice is in the Top 5 all-time Cajun cuisine favorites.

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Red Beans and Rice Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package dry red kidney beans (We always use Camellia brand)
1 sweet Vidalia onion – chopped
1 green or red bell pepper – chopped *
2-3 stalks of celery – chopped small *
2 tablespoons fresh or dried parsley – chopped *
2 tablespoons minced garlic

( * Or, you can substitute a 16 oz bag of frozen seasoning blend.)

3 Bay leaves
1 tablespoon Cajun Seasoning (like Tony’s)
1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
2 links or 1/2 lb fresh Andouille sausage (or any sausage you like)
1 cup long grain white rice

How to Make Red Beans and Rice

Start your preparation the night before by soaking the dry red beans in a large glass bowl.

Cover the red beans with about 6 cups of water.

Cover and let stand overnight.

Ready to Cook –

Drain the red beans in a colander and place into the crock pot (slow cooker).

NOTE: If you don’t have a crock pot, you can cook the red beans in a stew pot on your stove top.

Cover again with about 6 cups of water.

Turn the heat setting on High.

In another skillet:

Heat the oil on medium heat (#6) and cook the sausage for 15 minutes.

Move to a paper towel to blot off excess oil, then slice into 1/2 inch pieces.

In the same skillet with the sausage drippings, saute the onion, bell pepper, celery, parsley, and garlic.

Stir and cook until onions are translucent – about 2-3 minutes.

Stir the seasoning mixture into the red beans.

Add the sliced sausage.

Add the Bay leaves and Cajun seasoning.

Stir well.

Be sure the mixture is at least covered with water, but leaving room for more liquid to form up from
the slow cooking process.

Cook for 6 hours; only uncovering to stir occasionally.

Note: You will usually need to mash some of the beans to thicken your gravy.

Just mash them against the side of your pot with a spoon, then stir them in.

30 minutes before ready to eat, cook a batch of long grain white rice.

In a medium saucepan, add 2 cups water and bring to a boil.

Add 1 cup rice.

Cover and lower the heat to medium-low (#3).

Set your timer for 20 minutes.

Do not uncover until done.

TIME TO EAT!

Give the Red Beans and Andouille sausage a good stir.

Serve over rice with a sprinkle of parsley for color.

Enjoy!

P.S. – If you have a question or comment about this recipe
(or any other recipe) please post your question or comment
in the “Comments” or “Leave a Reply” section below this
recipe.

P.S.S. – You can get these recipes emailed to you once
every two weeks by joining our FREE Cajun Recipe Club.

Simply enter your first name and email and click “submit”
on the form in the upper right hand corner of this page.

How To Make Crawfish Pie

This crawfish pie recipe was a divine inspiration when we had some crawfish etouffee left over after supper.

(Which doesn’t happen often enough to have much experience with leftovers!).

We call that lagniappe (pronounced “lan-yap”) here in Louisiana – something “extra”.

So, with a little leftover crawfish etouffee, we created a dish that was even more awesome than the original dish!

So watch the video and you can make this fast and easy dish and amaze your family and friends.

This is a Cajun recipe that you’ll want to remember, so be sure to bookmark this website.

Or better yet, subscribe in the box to the right, and you’ll get an email every time we publish a new Cajun recipe like this crawfish pie recipe.

What You Need to Make Crawfish Pie

2-3 cups Crawfish Etouffee
1 cup cooked rice
2 prepared pie shells – thawed

Paring knife
Fork
Wax paper

Preheat your oven 375 degrees.

Take one of the pie shells and carefully cut around the inside edge to remove the thick outer crust.

Remove crust and discard.

Turn the shell over onto a piece of wax paper.

If it doesn’t fall out, carefully pull out and place flat on the wax paper.

Set aside.

Mix together the Crawfish Etouffee and the rice.

Pour the mixture into the second pie shell.

Spread around.

Take the top shell and place on top of the etouffee mixture.

With the fork, smash the top crust to the bottom shell to seal.

You may need a little bit of warm water to seal.

Go all the way around.

Important Tip: You should cover the crust (the thick edge of the pie shell) with either folded aluminum foil or place the empty pie tin on top of the Crawfish Pie to prevent the crust from burning faster than the pie bakes.

Place in the oven on a baking sheet in case of spillage.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Remove and let set 5 minutes.

Cut into wedges and enjoy.

Um Um – now that’s some good stuff cher!

Serves 6

Great with a green salad.

Beryl

P.S. – If you have a question or comment about this recipe
(or any other recipe) please post your question or comment
in the “Comments” or “Leave a Reply” section below this
recipe.

P.S.S. – You can get these recipes emailed to you once
every two weeks by joining our FREE Cajun Recipe Club.

Simply enter your first name and email and click “submit”

.

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How To Make The Cajun Trinity

The Cajun Trinity is a mixture of chopped onion, bell pepper and celery.

Most Cajuns also add garlic and parsley too.

You can’t hardly cook anything Cajun without the “Holy Trinity” of Cajun cooking.

It is a basic ingredient to just about every Cajun dish.

Cajuns don’t say, “Add onion, bell pepper and celery”…

They say, “Add a cup of “the trinity”.

The Cajun Trinity is also a basic ingredient in spaghetti sauce, stews, and many more recipes.

Cajun Trinity Ingredients:

1 large sweet onion
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
6-8 stalks celery
5 gloves garlic
2 handfuls of fresh parsley tops

Note: Any color bell pepper will do, using different colored bell peppers just makes your Cajun Trinity prettier.

Wash bell peppers, celery and parsley thoroughly and pat with paper towels to remove excess water.

Slice them up.

Dice them up.

Chop them up.

Mince them up.

Throw it all in a large mixing bowl and stir to mix evenly.

Four cups of the Cajun Trinity mixture is sufficient for a stew, gumbo or etouffee.

To store for later use, place four cups mixture in freezer safe zipper bags and label with the date prepared.

Place flat in the freezer.

P.S. – If you have a question or comment about this recipe
(or any other recipe) please post your question or comment
in the “Comments” or “Leave a Reply” section below this
recipe.

P.S.S. – You can get these recipes emailed to you once
every two weeks by joining our FREE Cajun Recipe Club.

Simply enter your first name and email and click “submit”
on the form in the upper right hand corner of this page.

How To Make a Roux

“First you make a roux.”

A roux is the foundation of many Cajun recipes. The roux can make or break your gumbo, etouffee, bisque and any number of Cajun delicacies.

Making a roux is an art, and you just need to do it a few times to get it down. This easy to follow recipe and step by step video presentation by renowned Cajun cook Beryl Stokes is all you need to make a perfect roux the first time!

With this easy to follow foundation, now you can be doing some great Cajun cooking too.

Stuff Needed to Make a Roux :

• 1 deep stainless steel skillet (or cast iron pot)

• 1 flat edge wooden utensil or spatula

• Butter or oil

• All-purpose flour

For this demonstration, let’s use a ½ stick of butter and ¼ cup flour.

However much you use, you will want to use equal parts flour and butter.

Cut up the butter.

Turn your skillet on medium (#6).

Melt the butter until bubbling hot.

Gradually, add the flour and begin to stir constantly.

It should be smooth with no lumps.

You must keep stirring to keep from burning or scorching.

Be careful not to splatter on yourself. The Roux is really HOT.

The flour and butter will quickly begin to change colors from a golden butter to light caramel to a darker mud color.

Depending on the recipe you are making, depends on what color you want in a roux.

• For macaroni & cheese sauce or a cream based soup, you want a white roux. Cooking the roux only a minute or two.

• For a Crawfish Etouffee or Shrimp Creole, I like a caramel colored Roux. Cooking the Roux for 3 to 5 minutes.

• For Gumbo, I like a much darker rich colored Roux. Cooking the Roux for 5 to 7 minutes.

Remember to always keep stirring! A burnt Roux tastes terrible.

Some cooks like to pour the Cajun Trinity into the Roux, which is fine.

I typically, sauté the Cajun Trinity and pour the Roux into the Cajun Trinity because that’s the pot I’ll be cooking in.

Don’t be afraid of the Roux – Bon Appetite!

 Crawfish Etouffee Recipe

This Crawfish etouffee recipe has got to be the easiest Cajun recipe to make one of the most incredibly fantastic dishes on the planet.

How to Make Crawfish Etouffee

Crawfish Etouffee Ingredients

1 pound fresh Louisiana crawfish (tails) or substitute crab meat or shrimp.

¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ stick butter

4 cups Cajun Trinity (onion, bell pepper, celery, garlic, and parsley) OR one 10-0unce bag of seasoning blend

1 (10 ounce) can Rotel or diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (like Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning)

2 Bay leaves

2 cups seafood or vegetable stock (plain water is OK)

1 tablespoon canola oil or olive oil

Salt (to taste – we use about one teaspoon)

Dash of hot sauce(like Tabasco) optional

Chopped green onions for garnish

Rice:

2 cup water

1 cups long grain white rice

1 pat of butter

dash salt

Etouffee Cooking Instructions

Getting Started:

Prepare and have all ingredients ready before you start cooking.

Chop the Cajun Trinity using a cutting board and sharp knife.

(You can buy seasoning blend either fresh or frozen.)

I also like to chop the Cajun Trinity in a food processing by several quick pulses.

In a large pot, heat on medium heat (#6) the 1 tablespoon of  olive oil.

Pour in the Cajun Trinity.

Saute for several minutes.

How to make the Roux

In a stainless steel deep skillet, melt the butter on medium heat (#6-7).

Once the butter is bubbling begin to stir constantly with a flat wooden spatula.

Gradually add the ¼ cup all-purpose flour.

Keep stirring to prevent scorching the roux.

The roux is ready as soon as the mixture is the color of a light caramel candy.

Carefully, pour the roux in the Cajun Trinity and stir well to blend with the vegetables.

Next:

Now start mixing in your remaining ingredients:

Rotel tomatoes, water or stock, Cajun seasoning, Bay leaves, salt to taste and a dash of Tabasco.

Cook for about 15 minutes.

Add the 1 pound fresh crawfish tails and stir well.

Reduce heat to low (#3).

Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Stir occasionally to prevent scorching.

Make Rice and Serve

How to Make Rice

In a medium saucepan, add 2 cups water and one pat of butter.

Bring water to a boil.

Add 1 cup long grain white rice.

Stir.

Cover and reduce heat to medium (#3).

Do not disturb for 20 minutes.

The Finished Product

Ready to Serve:

Add a spoonful of rice to a deep plate.

Ladle your Crawfish Etouffee over the rice and garnish with green onions.

Serve with toasty garlic bread or rolls.

That’s some good stuff cher! Bon Appetite!

Serves 4-6 people or double the recipe for a big crowd.

Supplemental Recipes –

How to Make a Roux

How to Make Fresh Chicken Stock 

How to Make the Cajun Trinity

I hope you enjoy it. Bon Apetite!

Beryl Caillouet Stokes

How do YOU make Crawfish Etouffee?

Go to the bottom of the page and post your recipe in the “Leave a Reply” box in the “Comments” section.

We’d love to see your recipe!

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Cajun Cooking TV features Beryl Caillouet Stokes and her grand-daughter Addison cooking up some good eating Cajun recipes from their kitchen in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

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