How to Cook Fresh Spinach

Fresh Baby Spinach is so tasty and absolutely good for you.  Fresh vegetables just take so much better than out of the can.  My godchild told me she wanted Spinach with supper.  I said okay we’ll cook some.  Little did I know she only likes Popeye spinach out of a can.  Wow kids!  What can I say?  At least she eats spinach, and fresh broccoli and cauliflower.

The best thing is, cooking fresh vegetables is really easy, the Cajun cooking way! So let’s show you how to cook spinach today.

Ingredients for Fresh Steamed Spinach

1 bag of fresh baby spinach leaves (serves 2)
or 1 large container of fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons butter
small amount of water; maybe 2 tablespoons
dash of salt

Melt butter and add small amount of water on medium heat.

Add spinach and cover to allow steam to build up and actually cook the spinach.

Should only take a few minutes.

Serving Suggestions for Steamed Spinach

Stir and serve with Steak, chicken, pork or anything you like.

Homemade Tartar Sauce

Homemade Tartar Sauce is a great addition to any seafood dinner. Goes great with fish, shrimp, oysters, you name it. There’s no need to buy a jar of tartar sauce at the grocery store that’s full of preservatives and other chemicals when it’s so easy to make fresh. Your Cajun cooking education couldn’t be complete without knowing how to make your own Tartar Sauce.

Ingredients for Homemade Tartar Sauce (Serves 2-4):

1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon Creole mustard
Dash of each:
Lemon juice
Tony’s Creole Seasoning
Tabasco hot sauce

Mix all ingredients well.

(If expecting a crowd, double or triple the tartar sauce recipe.)

Serving Suggestions for Homemade Tartar Sauce

Best served chilled in small dipping cups.

Tartar sauce is great for dipping most any seafood into (shrimp, fish, you name it).

It’s also a great sandwich spread.

Snow Crab Legs

Snow Crab Legs are not only easy to cook, but also easy to eat.

Snow Crab Legs are typically from the Alaskan seaboard and a smaller cousin to the King Crab.

Snow Crabs are usually sold pre-cooked and frozen.

You can actually just thaw and eat; however, we prefer boiled in crab boil and other seasonings, Cajun Cooking style, and dipped in melted butter or Cajun cocktail sauce.

Snow Crab Ingredients

1-2 Snow Crab clusters per person (depends on the size)
1/4 cup Zatarain’s Shrimp & Crab boil
Salt
1 medium sweet onion
3 celery stalks (or celery powder)
2 tablespoons garlic powder or several garlic pods
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
5 Bay leaves

Fill a large 8-12 quart stock pot with water.

(Leave a few inches or so from the top to allow for adding the crab legs.)

Add in all the seasonings.

Bring water to rolling boil.

Add the Snow Crab Legs.

Bring back to a boil and boil for 2-3 minutes.

Turn off the heat.

Remove the crab legs and eat.

Pretty simple.

Serving Suggestions for Snow Crab Legs

Serve your Snow Crab Legs on large platters with crab or nut crackers and small pick seafood forks.

We typically serve with boiled new potatoes by boiling the potatoes in the boiling seasoned water for 20 minutes before adding in the Snow Crab Legs.

Easy Homemade Chili Recipe

Home-style Chili is easy to make using fresh ingredients such as ground beef or pork, bell pepper, onion, celery, garlic, diced tomatoes and seasonings.  We add ample amount of chili powder to the meat while it’s cooking to infuse the flavors and create a rich chili taste.

I’m no chili expert, but this is an easy chili recipe sure to please.  Try some by itself or ladle on top of a hot baked potato with cheddar cheese and sliced green onions.  Now that’s some good comfort food there cher!

Ingredients for Homestyle Chili

Serves 8

1 1/2 pounds ground round beef (or split between ground beef & ground pork)
Cajun Trinity *

1 bell pepper (diced) *
1 sweet onion (diced) *
2 ribs of celery (diced) *

* or 1 (10 ounce) bag of seasoning blend

1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chili powder (some people also use ground Cumin)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Tony’s Creole Seasoning
2 (10 ounce) cans diced Rotel tomatoes
1 can pinto beans or chili beans
Dash of Tabasco sauce
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
Chopped green onions (for garnish)

Also need a large 6 quart pot and a flat wooden utensil.  Optional – Blender or food processor.

In a large 6 quart pot, turn on the stove heat to medium-to-high #6.

Pour in 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Saute the bell pepper, celery and onion until soft.  Add minced garlic.

Push the vegetables to the sides and add the ground meat.

Begin to break the meat apart with the wooden utensil.

Add the 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon of Tony’s Creole Seasoning and salt to your preference.

Continue to brown the meat by stirring and chopping into small clumps.

While the meat is cooking, open Rotel tomatoes.

Pour one can in a blender or food processor and puree (remember to put the lid on or you will have a red ceiling).

(This will create a rich and thick sauce for the chili.)

Once the meat is well cooked, add the tomato puree and the second can of Rotel tomatoes.

Add the pinto beans and stir well.

Allow to simmer uncovered on medium-to-low heat #3 for 30-45 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent scorching or burning.

Suggested Servings for Home-style Chili

Serve over a Baked Potato or simply by itself in a bowl topped with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped green onions for garnish.  Don’t forget the crackers or French bread for dipping. We hope you enjoy our recipe for chili and share it with your friends.

Note:  If chili is not thick enough for you, try using a little corn starch (follow package directions) or blend 1 tablespoon flour with 1 tablespoon softened butter and mix in the sauce.  Allow to cook an additional 5-10 minutes to thicken.

Cheeseburger Meatloaf Recipe

A Cheeseburger Meatloaf is basically a fun and delicious way for your family to enjoy the old run of the mill meatloaf in a whole new way. I don’t know if this qualifies as genuine Cajun cooking, but Cajuns sure do like it, I guarantee!

Ingredients for Bacon Cheeseburger Meatloaf

1 1/2 pounds ground round beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 cups Cajun Trinity (or a bag of frozen Seasoning Blend)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons chopped dried or fresh parsley
1/2 to 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 eggs
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Dash of Tabasco sauce
Salt and Tony’s Creole Seasoning
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 – 1 cup bacon (6-8 slices), cooked and crumbled

Also need a large baking sheet, wax paper and canola oil spray.

Preheat oven on 350 degrees.

Cook the bacon strips.  Remove to several paper towels to blot off excess oil.

In the bacon drippings, saute the Cajun Trinity until well cooked.  If desired to hide from your children or those that don’t like the sight of onions, chop well in a food processor.

In a large mixing bowl, combine ground meat, seasonings, bread crumbs and eggs.  Blend together well with your clean hands.

Using a baking sheet either 13 x 9 or a 15 x 10, place a sheet of wax paper over the pan.

Place the meatloaf mixture on the pan and begin to spread out evenly and flat like making a pizza dough or a jelly roll cake.

Sprinkle the crumbled bacon all over and spread out shredded cheddar cheese.

At this time, add other ingredients as desired like caramelized onions or sliced mushrooms.

From one end, begin to roll up sealing off the ends as you go.  You may have to gradually remove the wax paper.

Place the loaf on a greased baking sheet with the seal side down.  Make sure the ends are meshed together good so the cheese doesn’t unnecessarily ooze out.

Bake for 1 hour or until the Cheeseburger Meatloaf reaches an internal temperature of 160-165 degrees.  It’s always a good idea to have a meat thermometer for cooking.

Serving Suggestions for Bacon Cheeseburger Meat Loaf

Serve with Mashed Potatoes,  Baked Potatoes, Macaroni and Cheese or Steamed Broccoli.

Leftovers are wonderful to have a Cheeseburger Meatloaf sandwich.  Oh this is making me hungry!

Serves 8

How to Make Crab Cakes

Crab Cakes are an easy and very popular crabmeat dish in South Louisiana as well as the New England area.  Crab Cakes are so versatile for serving too.  They are wonderful by themselves with tartar sauce or cocktail sauce.  Or, served on a bun like a Po-Boy sandwich.  Or, even on top of Fettucine Alfredo.  Yum Yum!  This is definitely one of our best Cajun recipes. We better get to cooking up this good bunch of groceries.

Ingredients for Louisiana Crab Cakes (Serves 4)

1/2 pound fresh white crabmeat
2 cups finely chopped Cajun Trinity (can use frozen or fresh seasoning blend)
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon oil olive
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon Tony’s Creole Seasoning
2 cups bread crumbs
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Creole mustard
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
Canola oil for frying

Lemon

In a skillet, saute’ the Cajun Trinity in butter and olive oil until well done.

Add minced garlic, Italian seasoning, and Tony’s.

Move to a mixing bowl and stir in 1 cup bread crumbs.  Add mayonnaise and creole mustard.  Mix well.

Fold in crabmeat, blending well.  Add more mayo if too dry.  The mixture should be sticky enough to form patties.

Divide the mixture evenly to form 4-5 patties (like a hamburger patty).

Place on a platter and chill at least 30 minutes to an hour.

In a small bowl make an egg wash by whisking 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk.

Add in a dash of lemon juice if you like.

In another bowl, pour in 1 cup bread crumbs.

Then, in a deep skillet, pour in enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Heat on medium heat.

Take the crab patties out of the refrigerator.

Dip each patty through the egg wash then dip through the bread crumbs coating the outside of the patty completely.  Place on a clean platter.

Once the oil is properly heated, carefully place the patties in the skillet and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Flip each Crab Cake over and fry another 2-3 minutes.  Each side should be golden brown.

Don’t go to far from the stove – 2 minutes passes real fast.

Remove Crab Cakes to several layers of paper towels to remove excess oil.

Serving Suggestions for Cajun Crab Cakes

Serve the Crab Cakes on a platter with a side salad.

A local restaurant has a wonderful Crab Cake dish where they serve the Crab Cake over a bed of angel hair pasta with an Alfredo sauce.  You talk about some good groceries there cher!

Green Beans and New Potatoes

Cajun Green Beans and New Potatoes are a modern twist of the traditional holiday green bean casserole – without the mushroom soup.

We recommend using fresh or frozen green beans in this recipe.

You won’t get a good taste effect using salty canned green beans.

Give it a Cajun Recipe try – it’s a sure bet you’ll like it.

Ingredients for Cajun Green Beans and New Potatoes

2 (10-ounce) packages whole green beans (or fresh green beans if available)
10 small red new potatoes
4   cups water
4-6 slices bacon (cut into 1 inch pieces)
1 small sweet onion (diced)
1 small red bell pepper (cut into strips)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Tony’s Creole Seasoning
Dash of Liquid Shrimp & Crab Boil

Taking several slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces.

On medium heat, fry in a skillet until brown.

Remove bacon to a separate bowl.

Carefully pour the hot bacon drippings in a large 6 quart pot.

Sauté the diced sweet onion until translucent and tender.

To the pot, add 4-5 cups water, red new potatoes, sea salt, Tony’s Creole Seasoning, garlic, and a dash of Liquid Shrimp & Crab Boil.

Boil for about 10 minutes until potatoes can break with a fork.

Add green beans and bell pepper.

Stir and lower the heat to medium-low (#3 or #4).

Simmer 10 minutes.

Serving Suggestions for Cajun Green Beans and New Potatoes

To serve at the table, transfer green beans and new potatoes to a casserole dish.

Top with crunchy French fried onions or chopped nuts for a tasty holiday fare.

Serves 6-8.

Don’t forget to make some corn bread muffins for dipping in the pot liquor.

Options:  Mix in a can of mushroom soup for an old fashioned green bean casserole and then, we top with a generous portion of shredded cheddar cheese and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Hot Sausage Po-Boy

On the menu tonight, is an Andouille Hot Sausage Po-Boy grilled and smoked on a charcoal grill with mesquite chips over a real hardwood charcoal fire.  Andouille is a flavorful Cajun Sausage that is basically ground pork and special seasonings that is used in a variety of Cajun cooking and recipes like chicken and sausage gumbo, red beans and rice,  and dressings and stuffings.

These hot sausage New Orleans style sandwiches are called Po-Boys here in Louisiana.  According to Wikipedia, a po boy, or po’boy, poboy, po-boy, or poor boy, is a traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana.

Anyway you say it or spell it, Po-Boys are a tasty treat and not a week goes by that a Louisiana Cajun doesn’t have some sort of Po-Boy.  Our favorites are Fried Shrimp, Fried Catfish, Fried Oysters and Hot Andouille Sausage Po-Boys. What we’re making today we just call a hot sausage po boy.

Note:  If you do not have Andouille sausage available in your area, try grilling any quality sausage available in your area.  You can cook your sausage on your grill, or inside in your oven or however you like.

Ingredients for Andouille Hot Sausage Po Boys

6-8 links of fresh Andouille sausage
(1 link per person at least)
Po-Boy buns or Hoagie rolls
Cheese
Mustard
Tomatoes
Relish or pickles
Shredded lettuce
Mayonnaise
Spicy Creole mustard

Grill the Andouille Sausage

(See the Grilling Tips Video if you need help with grilling.)

Serving Suggestions for Andouille Hot Sausage Po-Boys

Open the buns and butter each side.  Heat the buns in the oven to toast and melt the butter.  Don’t take to dancing or you might burn the buns.

Layer on the condiments of your choice.

Spilt a link of Andouille sausage down the middle.

Open up and place on the buns.

Close the bun and take a big bite of deliciousness.

This is one of our favorite Cajun recipes Saturday lunches.

How to Cook Fresh Asparagus

Fresh Asparagus is so much better than those served out of the can.

Asparagus is a tall plant with feathery foliage best known for its long edible shoots.

Often referred to as a delicacy, we enjoy fresh steamed asparagus with grilled steaks and grill pork tenderloins.

Asparagus comes in a variety of colors such as green, white and purple.

When purchasing asparagus, look for them to be displayed standing up in shallow water.

The stems should be moist and firm.

Ingredients Needed to Cook Fresh Asparagus

1-2 clusters of fresh asparagus
Butter
Sea salt (ordinary table salt is fine also)
Tony’s Creole Seasoning (optional)
1 cup water

Thoroughly rinse fresh asparagus in cold water leaving the bottom rubber band on.

(Asparagus can be sandy or gritty, so important to carefully rinse.)

On a cutting board, cut the bottom 2-3 inches off the asparagus.

(Keeping the rubber band on helps to keep the ends from flying all over the place when you cut them off.)

You can steam your asparagus if you have a steamer, or if you don’t have a steamer, you can cook them in a skillet.

Since a lot of folks don’t have or use a steamer, this recipe will assume you’re using a skillet.

In a deep skillet, pour in one cup water and bring to a boil.

Place the asparagus in the skillet – spread out all in the same direction.

Place a few pats of butter over the shoots.

Sprinkle a dash of salt and Tony’s Creole Seasoning.

Lower the heat to medium-low (#3 or #4).

Cook about 5-7 minutes.

Serving Suggestions for Fresh Asparagus

Carefully serve using a large serving fork or spatula.

Um Um it’s so good! We usually end up eating the asparagus before the steak.

How to Make Seafood Gumbo

Seafood Gumbo is a staple in the Cajun and Creole Cultures. As in most Cajun Cooking recipes, we will start with a Roux.

A roux is used as a thickening agent for this traditional seafood soup.

The word Gumbo derives from the Creole culture which is the West African word for okra.

Okra is also used as a thickening agent as is a special spice called Gumbo File’. File’ is ground sassafras.

We sprinkle Gumbo File’ on the bowl of gumbo at the table for a little extra spiciness.

You may think that Gumbo, whether Chicken and Sausage Gumbo or Seafood Gumbo, is only good in the cold weather. However, we enjoy Gumbo year round.

We especially like to make it for Christmas Eve and enjoy with our daughters. It’s become a tradition at our house.

Give it a try sometime. It’s really not hard to make and tastes oh so good.

Ingredients for New Orleans Seafood Gumbo

This quantity is for a 12-quart stock pot.

(If you’re using a 6 quart large pot, reduce all by half.)

Step One: The Base

1/4 cup canola oil
8 cups Cajun Trinity (can use 2 bags of frozen Seasoning Blend)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 large (28-ounce) can of Rotel tomatoes (substitute plain diced tomatoes if you prefer)
4 quarts fresh Chicken Stock (or shrimp stock or vegetable stock)
3 pounds frozen cut okra
5 Bay leaves

Step Two: The Roux

2 sticks butter

1 cup all-purpose flour

Step Three: The Seafood

3 pounds fresh large shrimp – peeled (and de-veined if desired)
1 pound white crab meat
1 pound claw crab meat
1 pound crawfish tails (when available)
1 pint fresh oysters (optional)

Garnish: chopped green onions and gumbo file’

Step One: The Base –

Begin by heating 1/4 canola oil in a large stock pot (medium high #7).

Saute’ Cajun Trinity until vegetables are well cooked.

Add 2 tablespoons minced garlic.

Pour in the large can of Rotel tomatoes and 4 quarts chicken or vegetable stock. (Or water if you don’t have stock)

Bring to a boil.

Add okra and stir well.

Reduce heat to medium (#6) and allow okra to cook 20-30 minutes.

Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom.

Step Two: The Roux –

when the okra is about done, start on the roux.

In a deep skillet, melt 2 sticks of butter on medium heat #6.

Using a flat edged spatula, gradually stir in the 1 cup of flour.

Continually stir – be careful not to splash on yourself. (This is very hot and can burn you.)

Once you a achieve a dark caramel color, turn off the heat.

Keep moving the roux so it doesn’t scorch.

Carefully, pour into the stock pot and stir as you go. (This is best done with two people if possible.)

Continue to simmer on #4 for 10 minutes.

Step Three: The Seafood –

Add shrimp, claw crab, crawfish tails and oysters shortly before you are ready to serve.

The seafood will only take about 5 minutes to cook.

(We usually add the white crab meat to the gumbo after it is plated up and being served.)

Serving Suggestions for New Orleans Seafood Gumbo

Serve over white rice and garnish with chopped green onions and gumbo file’.

A side salad and French rolls are excellent accompaniments.

Tip: If you have some Seafood Gumbo leftover, allow the gumbo to cool and then put in freezer containers for a quick supper.