Recipe: Andouille Red Beans And Rice Skillet

This quick and tasty Cajun favorite combines those classic flavors like andouille sausage, beans, and rice - of course with plenty of spice! This version is fast and simple, and doesn't have to cook all day, so you can whip up a quick Cajun lunch without interrupting the Mardi Gras festivities for long!

Andouille Red Beans And Rice Skillet

Ingredients:

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1 cup rice
6 oz andouille sausage, diced   
1 red bell pepper, diced small
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 to 1 tsp Cajun seasoning   
1 tsp dried thyme
1 can (15 oz size) kidney beans or pinto beans, drained (or 1 1/2 cups pre-cooked beans)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

•  Prepare rice according to package directions; set aside.
• Put a large heavy skillet (cast iron is great) over medium-high heat. Add andouille sausage and cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until nicely browned; remove sausage from skillet and set aside.
• Add the red bell pepper, onion, Cajun seasoning, and thyme to the skillet and cook, stirring often, for about 3 to 5 minutes or until onions soften.
• Add to the skillet the cooked rice, sausage, beans, and the parsley, stir and cook until heated through.
• Serve hot right from the skillet.

Recipe: Crockpot Jambalaya

Use your slow cooker to make this classic Cajun recipe even easier! Just brown the meat, then add everything to the crockpot, cover, and let cook until done - voila - dinner!

Crockpot Jambalaya

Ingredients:

Jambalaya with chicken, sausage, rice, tomatoes, celery, and spices. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1 large onion, diced small
1 large green bell pepper, diced small
2 celery stalks, diced small
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 lb chicken meat, diced
1 lb pork sausage
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 reg can tomato paste
1 reg can stewed whole tomatoes
1 reg can tomato sauce
1-1/2 cup water
1-1/2 cups uncooked rice
1 lb small to medium shrimp
1 box (10 oz) frozen corn, thawed
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt and black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp butter

Directions:

• Put chicken & sausage in a large skillet, add oil, and cook over medium-low heat until chicken is cooked and sausage is no longer pink.
• Add the garlic and cook, stirring until garlic is just fragrant.
• Add chicken, sausage, onion, pepper, celery, tomatoes, paste, sauce, and uncooked rice to large crockpot. Add 1 1/2 cups of water to the pot, stir thoroughly.
• Cover and cook for 6 hours on Low or until rice is tender.
• Add in the shrimp, corn, brown sugar, cayenne, salt, black pepper, and the butter, stir to combine and cook until shrimp is pink and cooked thoroughly; about 20 minutes more.
• Serve hot in bowls with crusty bread and a green salad.

Give Your Slow Cooker A Kick With Cajun Flavors

Cajun cooking originated in the Southern swamplands, bayous, and farmland. The Cajun people were hard-working and lived under very stressful conditions. Their meal choices revolved around local foods that were easy to find. To save time and money, and to feed as many people as they could, meals were very often cooked up in one big pot. This makes using a slow cooker for Cajun cuisine a natural.

The one thing you can be sure of is you can cook up Cajun foods in your slow cooker with great success and enjoy those potent Cajun flavors we have all come to love.  As a matter of fact, the key to great Cajun cooking is to simmer the dish for many hours, and that is why slow cooker cooking and Cajun foods go hand in hand.  Let's take a look at some dishes and the ingredients and seasonings that make them stand out from other southern cooking.

Cover of Slow Cooker Cooking

Cajun Meets the Slow Cooker

Jambalaya, gumbo, red beans and rice, and stew are all easy to cook in the slow cooker.  Why?  Because they're not complicated or fussy.  The neat thing about this type of ethnic cooking is recipes are not set in stone.

When recipes were passed from one generation to the next, ingredients were substituted as needed because of what was available at the time. That is probably why there are so many different variations of the same recipe. Shrimp, oysters, crab, wild game, fish, pork, beans, okra, tomatoes, and rice are all staples in Cajun cooking, but are specific to regions.

Because Cajun foods have an exotic multi-layered flavor and that 'bite' we love, many people think that the recipes call for dozens of different or complicated spices and mixes, but that is not so.  There are really just a few very recognizable spices and condiments that give Cajun food its unmistakable taste.  The following are considered essential in every Cajun kitchen and are perfectly suited for the slow cooking method we love – slow cooker cooking.

Cayenne pepper is the most common spice used in this type of cooking. The mature pepper is ground into a fine powder and is used in conjunction with white and black pepper to give recipes a potent kick.

Gumbo powder, called filé powder, made from ground sassafras leaves, is used in gumbos, soups and stews not only to flavor the food but to thicken the sauce as well.

Etouffee (Photo credit: /\ \/\/ /\)

Tabasco sauce is one Cajun spice most of us are familiar with. It is used in cooking and as a condiment on the table. You will find other hot sauces to enjoy, but you don't want to eliminate Tabasco sauce from your kitchen.

Creole mustard is also a common ingredient found in Cajun cuisine. Although it is often used as a spread for sandwiches and as a dip, many recipes also call for it as an added ingredient in sauces, marinades, and other dishes.

Cajun slow cooker cooking is very flexible and tasty. Whether you want exotic dinners or just plain old good eating, Cajun foods and flavors fit the bill. Because many Cajun dishes are traditionally slow-cooked in one pot, you will find it easy to transform your favorite Cajun meals and make them right in your slow cooker.  All you need is the right ingredients, spices, and a little imagination.  Oh, yes, and a hearty appetite!

Be sure to check back later this week for some tasty Cajun recipes you can make in your crockpot!

Recipe - Cajun Chicken & Ham Gumbo

This one is a favorite of mine, and it has been cobbled together over the years from parts of several different recipes. One of the great things about Cajun cooking, for me, is that - like Italian food - it is so open to improvisation. It is very easy to substitute different meats and seafood, vegetables, and even spices, and still have an authentic and amazing tasting dish. I used cooked chicken that I had left over, but you can also use raw chicken thighs (which the recipe calls for) - diced and sauted in olive oil before adding the veggies and ham.

The version below is the one I just made last week, and it was one of my favorite interpretations that I've made of this. But feel free to make it your own! Add andouille sausage, or substitute smoked sausage for the ham. Add or substitute in shrimp or crawfish instead of chicken. Add green peppers (which I normally always do, but this time I didn't have any, so I went without), or okra or other veggies you enjoy. One thing I can promise - it will be yummy! (Sorry - I forgot to take a picture before I ate it all, but the one below looks fairly similar to mine....)

Image via WikipediaRose's Cajun Chicken & Ham Gumbo
(Makes 1 big pot)

Ingredients:
1 TB olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 Hungarian Wax or other medium-sized hot peppers, seeds and veins removed, chopped fine (or 1 large green bell pepper, diced)
3-4 stalks celery, 1/2" sliced
1-2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1/4 lb ham, cut in small dice
2 tsp cajun seasoning (I like Tony C.'s)
2 bay leaves
1 10-oz can diced tomatoes with green chilis
4-6 cups water (or chicken broth)
2 TB flour
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped

Directions:

• Add a couple of drops of olive oil to large heavy-bottomed pot, and heat a couple of minutes over medium heat. Add ham, and 1 tsp Cajun seasoning, and saute about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. (If using raw chicken, cook the chicken first for a couple of minutes in another TB of olive oil, and then add ham and seasoning.)
• Add hot peppers (or green peppers), onions and celery, and 1 TB olive oil, and saute all for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. 
• Sprinkle flour over, and stir well. Keep stirring constantly for about 2 minutes, then add 1 cup cold water. Stir constantly as the flour cooks. Add another cup of water (or broth), and keep stirring, until all flour has come off the bottom of the pot and is incorporated into the sauce.
• Add bay leaves, remaining tsp of Cajun seasoning, and rest of the water or broth. Stir well and cover. Once it comes to a boil, lower heat to a simmer, and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add cooked chicken, or seafood (if using) and diced tomatoes & green chilis, and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. 
• Taste for seasoning, and add salt, pepper, or more Cajun seasoning as desired. Stir in chopped parsley about 10 minutes before serving.
• Serve over hot cooked rice.

Cajun Gumbo Recipe

It's Cajun week here at Cooking From Scratch, and here is an amazing gumbo recipe I found, that will really get you in the Cajun mood! Gumbo is one of my favorites (actually I am realizing I haven't made it in a while, so hopefully this one will inspire me to whip some up), and I've made many different versions of this tasty and hearty dish - some of which were easier than others, but all of which were Image via Wikipediaexcellent. (Mine usually looks more like the picture below, than the one on the recipe page.)

As we discussed on Monday, Cajun cooking is really an art, so make it your own, and try varying levels of spiciness, different types of meat and seafood, or other additions that strike your fancy.

Check out this lovely recipe, and wow your tastebuds tonight with this delicious meal. (And remember to check out Wednesday's video on how to make the roux that is essential for this dish!)

What's Cookin, Chicago?: Cajun Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
The most recent dinner was on Mardi Gras where I prepared a Cajun inspired meal. The highlight of the meal was this Cajun Chicken & Sausage Gumbo. My friends haven't had gumbo before so I was especially anxious to make this for them. ...
Publish Date: 03/16/2011 1:02
http://joelens.blogspot.com/2011/03/cajun-chicken-sausage-gumbo.html

Other Gumbo Recipes:

• Cajun Cooking Louisiana Style. (theblissofcooking.wordpress.com)
• Yummy Seafood Gumbo During National Seafood Month (cheflynnware.wordpress.com)
• Healthy Weight Recipes: Skillet Shrimp Gumbo Recipes - Associated Content from Yahoo! - associatedcontent.com (hotsportstopics101.com)
• Just What the Doctor Ordered! A Recipe for Gumbo for Mardi Gras (eatlikeagirl.com)

Video - Cajun Cooking Secret - Making the Roux

One of the essential ingredients to many Cajun dishes, including the gumbo recipe we will share on Friday, is the Roux. Making a good Roux is important for getting the correct flavor to your Cajun cooking, and this video will help you learn to make Roux like a pro. (The video is about 10 minutes, and this old guy likes to talk, so feel free to skip the part about lighting the stove, unless you are cooking on a woodstove too, or just want to enjoy the preparations - it is kind of fun to watch!) You may want to refer back to our post from last week about cooking with oils, to find one that will be healthiest for this purpose. Remember that some oils are sensitive to heat, and will not be as healthy (or as tasty) if heated very high. Rice-bran oil may be a good choice for this particular use.

This takes a while, but your results are worth it! You can make a large batch of roux as shown here in this video, and put it in a jar in the fridge - it will keep for a while, and you can use it in several dishes, including the gumbo recipe we will share on Friday - be sure to check back for that.

Cajun Cooking #1 The Roux
A key ingredient to some popular Cajun dishes is the Roux. Learn how to make it and youll be cooking like a real Cajun in no time. Visit The Bayou Gardener in Avoyelles Parish Louisiana - Cajun Country at www.thebayougardener.com

Cajun Cooking Resources: