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This soup has all of the wonderful flavors of Red Beans and Rice, but in soup form. I like to puree a third of this soup to give it that velvety texture while still retaining some of the chunky goodness of the cooked beans and vegetables. I added some diced, cooked Andouille to the soup after the pureeing step. Here is the recipe:

Red Bean Soup Recipe

1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
1 Cup Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Bell Pepper, chopped
1/4 Cup Celery, Chopped
1 1/2 Cups Small Red Kidney Beans (soaked overnight or for at least a few hours)
1 Cup Ham, diced
1 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, Minced
1 bunch of Thyme, tied tightly with butcher’s twine
8 Cups Chicken Stock (You could certainly use water)
2 Fresh Bay Leaves
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce
1 Cup Andouille Sausage, cubed
1 Tbsp Italian Parsley, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced on the bias
Hot Sauce to taste
Worcestershire Sauce to taste

Mix together the Holy Trinity (Onions, Celery, Bell Pepper). Drain the beans.
Melt the butter over medium heat.
Add 3/4 of the Holy Trinity, Ham, 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning, turn the heat to medium high. Cook this for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to get some color.
Add the beans and cook stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, or until the liquid from the vegetables is absorbed.
Add the Chicken Stock, Garlic, Bay Leaves, Thyme, the remaining Trinity, and Creole Seasoning. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let this simmer for 2- 2 1/2 Hours.
After the beans have cooked for two hours, add the Tomato Sauce, Parsley, Hot Sauce, Worcestershire, and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Cook the beans for another half hour. Puree 1/3 of the soup, being sure to avoid the bay leaves and Thyme.

Saute the cubed Andouille with 1 Tbsp Unsalted butter until browned, remove with a slotted spoon and add to the soup. Simmer for 10-15 minutes more. Adjust seasoning if necessary.

As is the case with most soups, if you make this a day ahead, the flavors will be immensely better. Add additional stock or water if necessary, it should not be too thick.

To Serve:
Remove the Bay Leaves and Thyme. Serve with good crusty French Bread, and your favorite ice cold beer.

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It was cold as hell here in Michigan with a high of 6 degrees F today, Gumbo was definately in order. Here is how I made it today. I make it different every time because in my opinion, Gumbo is an evolution that improves as the cook ages and gains experience.

Okra Gumbo with Chicken & Andouille Sausage

1/2 Cup Vegetable Oil
3/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
4 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
1 Cup Onions, diced
1/2 Cup Red Bell Pepper, diced
1/2 Cup Celery, Diced
1 1/2 Cups Andouille Sausage, diced
3 Tbsp Garlic, chopped
1 Cup Okra, trimmed and sliced
6 Cups cold Chicken Stock
3 Fresh Bay Leaves
4 Chicken Thighs, deboned, cut into 1 inch cubes and seasoned liberally with Creole Seasoning
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Hot Sauce to taste
Kosher Salt to taste, if necessary
2 Tablespoons Italian Parsley, chopped
1/4 Cup Thinly Sliced Green Onions
Creole Boiled Rice
Fresh French Bread

Mix your onion, celery, and bell pepper together: The Holy Trinity.
Heat the oil in a cast iron dutch oven over medium heat. Whisk in the flour to make a milk chocolate Roux (making a Roux). Add the Andouille, 1 Tbsp of Seasoning, and 3/4 of the Holy Trinity, cook, stirring often, for about ten minutes or until the vegetables soften. Add the cold stock, remaining seasoning, okra, remaining trinity, and Garlic. Bring to a Boil. Bring this down to a simmer, add the thigh meat and let it go for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally. About 10-15 minutes before you’re ready to serve, remove the Chicken from the bone and add the meat back to the pot. Add the Worcestershire, Hot Sauce, and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Serve with Creole Boiled Rice, crusty French Bread, and a good cold beer (I like Dixie or Abita Amber).
Garnish with green onions, and the parsley.

* I prefer Chicken Thighs for my soups and Gumbos. It’s the misunderstood portion of the bird, which is fine by me because it keeps the price down. I get them bone in, then Cartel wrap the bones and stick them in the freezer for stock. I’m like a Vulture when it comes to bones for stocks, my freezer looks like the Catacombs (animals only of course).

This makes about 3-4 Main Course Servings

More Gumbo Recipes:

Chicken & Andouille Sausage Gumbo
File Gumbo
Turkey Bone Gumbo

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From Nola Cuisine

When trying to figure out what to make for dinner last night, my wife suggested Mexican, and I had a taste for soup, so we met in the middle of the road.

Tortilla Soup is an uncomplicated soup that is just bursting with flavor! I puree my Tortilla Soup then garnish with the texture (as well as flavor and color) components. You’ll want to make homemade Tortilla Chips for this, no Tostitos please! Besides, once you make your own Tortilla Chips and find out how much better they are, you’ll never buy them again! We’ll start with the Chips:

Homemade Corn Tortilla Chips

2 1/2 Cups Vegetable Oil or Lard
Corn Tortillas
Kosher Salt
A Baking Sheet covered with a double layer of Paper Towel

Heat the fat to 360 degrees F in a 2 quart saucepan. Cut the amount of Tortillas desired into quarters. If just making them for this recipe I used Chips from 4 Corn Tortillas (plus some strips for garnish). When the oil is to temperature, drop in about 5 or 6 pieces at a time, frying until just about golden brown. A good way to gauge if they’re done is when the heavy bubbling in the oil subsides; they won’t take long. Remove them to the baking sheet to drain with a slotted metal utensil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat until you have your desired amount of chips.

**Note – Whenever I fry Tortilla Chips I always make some strips to use for a garnish. Simply Cut about 3-4 Tortillas into thin 1/8 – 1/4″ thin strips, then fry as for the Chips, though they won’t take as long.

Tortilla Soup Recipe

2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil or Lard
1 Cup Chopped Spanish Onion
1 Tbsp Chopped Garlic
2 Tbsp Chopped Jalapeno
1 Cup Chopped Fresh Tomato
16 Corn Tortilla Chips (as described above)
1 Bay Leaf
1 dried Guajillo chile
1 dried Ancho chile
4 Cups Rich Chicken Stock
2 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Oregano
1 Cup Raw Chicken cut into bite sized pieces, I use thighs
(Toss the Chicken with 1 Tbsp Chopped Cilantro and the Juice of 1/2 Lime)
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper to taste

Garnish:

Tortilla Strips
1/2 Large Avocado or one whole small (Diced just before serving)
3 Tbsp Chopped Cilantro
4 Tbsp Finely Diced Fresh Tomato
A Lime Wedge

Heat the oil over medium heat in a dutch oven or large saucepan. Add the Onion and saute until wilted. Add the Garlic and Jalapeno and cook for 1 minute, add the tomato and cook for 1 minute more. Crush the Tortilla Chips over the mixture and stir in, cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the Bay Leaf, chiles, Chicken Stock and Fresh Oregano; Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the Bay Leaf and chiles and Puree with an immersion Blender or in a regular (heat proof) blender, taste for seasonings, add salt and pepper to taste. Return the soup to low heat and add the Chicken, the soup is finished when the Chicken is cooked through.

To Serve:

I serve this soup in a wide shallow Soup Bowl garnished with the Tomato, Avocado and Cilantro. Stand up a large Pile of Tortilla Strips in the middle of the bowl, and spritz each serving with Fresh Lime Juice. Ice cold cerveza Sol with a lime wedge stuffed into the bottle is a perfect accompaniment.

Be sure and check out my ever growing Index of Creole & Cajun recipes!

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From Nola Cuisine

It’s Twelfth Night tonight, January 6th, the traditional start of the Carnival season, and that means King Cake parties in Louisiana. Whoever gets the baby trinket in their piece of King Cake either hosts the next King Cake party, or chokes to death because their host didn’t warn them that it was within the cake, so please do so. I will update this post tomorrow with more on the historical meaning of the cake and so forth, but for now, lets just have some cake.

The recipe:

King Cake Recipe

For the Brioche:

1 Envelope Active Dry Yeast
2 Tbsp Warm Water (115 degree F)
1 tsp Iodized Salt
2 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
1/4 Cup Milk
2 tsp Orange Zest, minced
2 Cups All Purpose Flour, sifted
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 Eggs, beaten
1 1/4 sticks cold Unslated Butter, cut into very small dice
1 Egg beaten and 2 Tbsp water, for the eggwash
1 plastic baby trinket

Dissolve the yeast in the workbowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, let stand until frothy.
Dissolve the salt, sugar, orange zest and milk in a small bowl. When dissolved combine the milk mixture with the yeast mixture. Mix the cinnamon with the flour.
With the mixer on low speed, add the eggs, then gradually add the flour, until all is incorporated. Knead on low speed for 10 minutes, or until a smooth elastic dough is formed. A little more flour may be necessary. With the motor running, incorporate the butter into the dough, a little at a time but rather quickly so that it doesn’t heat up and melt.
Turn the dough into an oiled bowl, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour in a warm spot.
When the dough has doubled in bulk punch it down, cover and place in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Roll the dough out to a 6 x 18 inch rectangle. Spead the Pecan filling (recipe below) out in the middle of the rectangle along the whole length, leaving about 1 1/2 inch on each side. Place the baby trinket somewhere with the filling. Fold the length of the dough over the filling and roll up tightly, leaving the seam side down. Turn the roll into a circle, seam side down and put one end inside of the other to hide the seam, and seal the circle. Place the cake on a baking sheet and let rise, loosely covered with plastic wrap, for 45 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Brush all over with the egg wash, then place the king cake into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

When the cake cools, brush with some of the glaze (recipe below) thinned out with more cold water. This will help the sugars adhere. Decorate the cake with the colored sugars and drizzle some of the thicker glaze onto the cake.

Place on a large round serving plate and decorate with Mardi Gras beads, doubloons and whatever else that you like.

For the Pecan filling:

1 Cup Pecan halves, broken up slightly and roasted until fragrant
2/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
1 pinch of salt
4 Tbsp Steen’s Cane Syrup

Combine all of the ingredients together.

For the glaze

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Tbsp Bourbon
Water (enough to make a paste that can be drizzled)

Combine the sugar and bourbon, whisk in enough water to make a glaze that can be drizzled.

My friend Jason of Off The Broiler also brought this Latin-American version of King Cake to my attention courtesy of Daisy Martinez. It’ s Marzipan filled and looks absolutely gorgeous.

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Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you and yours have a fantastic holiday season filled with good food and family. We’re certainly enjoying this holiday, it’s our baby’s first Christmas, I feel like a kid again myself. On to the food…

Last night I made Filet topped with Fried Oysters and Bearnaise sauce, because hey, who’s counting calories, right? It’s Christmas time! By the way, if you’re looking for low cal, or even reasonably healthy cooking, you came to the wrong food blog. 🙂

Merry Christmas!

The recipe:

For the Filet

2 8-9 oz. Filets (I marinated mine for 3 hours in Olive Oil with a little Dijon mustard, black pepper, Fresh Rosemary, Fresh Garlic.)
Kosher Salt and Black Pepper
1 recipe Bearnaise Sauce
Asparagus – blanched, shocked in an ice bath, then sauteed in whole butter with minced fresh Garlic.
1 dozen Fried Oysters recipe below

Remove the filets from the marinade, wipe off with paper towels, removing any garlic, herbs etc. Season very liberally, all over with Kosher salt and black pepper.

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.
Heat a cast iron skillet until very hot, add a little bit of oil, sear the steaks on all sides until deep brown. Finish in a 350 degree oven until cooked to the desired doneness, I prefer Medium Rare.

Place on a bed of Asparagus, then top with 6 fried Oysters, then a generous helping of Bearnaise Sauce.

Serve immediately.

For the Oysters:

12 Oysters, shucked
3/4 Cup Corn Flour
pinch of salt, omit if your Oysters are very salty
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
4 turns of black pepper
Vegetable Oil for frying

Heat 3-4 inches of Vegetable oil in a saucepan, being sure that the oil doesn’t come higher than half way up the side of the pan.

Coat the Oysters well with the seasoned corn flour. Let stand for 10 minutes before frying.

Fry the Oysters in batches until golden brown and crispy, do not overcook. They should take 2-3 minutes. Drain onto a paper towel lined plate.

Enjoy!

Here’s a little Lagniappe from a proud Pappa on Christmas:

Merry Christmas! I hope yours is as much fun as mine this year!

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From Nola Cuisine Images – (reedited)

Well it’s Monday again, and I made the traditional New Orleans lunch of Red Beans & Rice, this time with a side of Saturday’s Chaurice sausage. As I’ve said in the past, Red Beans & Rice is always fun for me to cook because I change the recipe everytime I make it. This one was probabaly the best batch I’ve made in years, so I’ll honor it with a side of Louis Armstrong singing and playing Basin Street Blues, because Red Beans & Rice just don’t seem right without Louis Armstrong.
I love reading Red Beans & Rice recipes, even though I can whip up a batch in my sleep, I’m forever browsing different recipes for new ideas. Check out my friend Tim’s recipes at Cooking with Herbsaint Absinthe: Red Beans My way and Creole Style Red Beans & Rice.

Here is my latest Moday creation. The recipe:

Red Beans & Rice Recipe with Chaurice Sausage

2 Tbsp Duck Fat
2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
1 Cup Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Red Bell Pepper, chopped
1/4 Cup Celery, Chopped
1 Cup Andouille Sausage, Cubed
1/2 lb. Small Red Beans (soaked overnight or for at least a few hours)
1 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, Minced
1 Smoked Ham hock
3 1/2 Cups Chicken Stock (You could certainly use water)
3 Fresh Bay Leaves
A bundle of fresh Thyme
2 Tbsp Homemade Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp Crystal Hot sauce
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce (I learned this from Louis Armstrong’s Recipe)
1 Tbsp Italian Parsley, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced on the bias
1/2 Recipe Creole Boiled Rice

Mix together the Holy Trinity (Onions, Celery, Bell Pepper). Drain the beans.
Melt the duck fat over medium heat.
Add 1/2 of the Holy Trinity, 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning and the Andouille, turn the heat to medium high. Cook this for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to get some color.
Add the beans and cook stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.
Add the Chicken Stock or Water, Garlic, Bay Leaves, Thyme, Ham hock the remaining Trinity and Creole Seasoning. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let this simmer for 2- 2 1/2 Hours. The first hour is low maintenance; an occasional stir and making sure the beans are covered with liquid. The second hour, you want to check back a little more often, the beans will really start to absorb some liquid and you don’t want them to stick.

Remove the Ham hock, trim away any meat and add it back to the pot.
After the beans have cooked for two hours, add the Tomato Sauce, the Parsley and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Make your Rice. Cook the beans for another half hour.

For the Chaurice:
Place the link(s) of Chaurice in a medium sized cast iron skillet. Cover half way with water and bring to a boil. Turn often, as the water evaporates until all that is left in the pan is fat from the sausage. Brown the casings of the sausage in the remaining fat, serve hot.

To Serve:
Remove the Bay Leaves. Mound a half cup of Rice each, onto two serving plates, Cover with a generous helping of the Red Beans, Garnish with the remaining Green Onions. Make sure their is a bottle of hot sauce on the table. Perfect compliments to this meal are a simple vinaigrette salad, a side of Chaurice, Good Crusty French Bread, and your favorite Ice Cold Beer.

As promised, here is the late, great Louis Armstrong performing Basin Street Blues:

More Red Beans & Rice Posts:

Red Beans & Rice Recipe
Red Beans & Rice with Fried Pork Chop
Red Beans & Rice with Louis Armstrong performing Dinah

Be sure and check out my ever growing Index of Creole & Cajun Recipes!

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