HungryC

Shrimp, artichoke, and spinach makes for a nice twist. And if you're gonna try oyster/spinach, you could take it in the direction of Oysters Rockefeller (tarragon, Herbsaint/Pernod, etc).

A cajun turducken by any other name tastes as sweet... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken

I thought that followers of this thread might be interested in an article from today's Times Picayune (New Orleans) about chef Damian Thomas, who prepares meals for 450 seniors in three locations for the archdiocese of New Orleans. The meals cost the seniors $3.50. http://blog.nola.com/judywalker/2008/10/ch...nows_how_t.html An excerpt: Louise Gagnard is a resident who volunteers every day for lunch duty. The food isn't too spicy, it's healthy, and the portions are plentiful, she said. "And there's variety every day. The menu does not repeat, except Monday he has beans and rice, different color beans, and seafood on Friday, baked and fried catfish, and gumbo."

Mary Land's Louisiana Cooking, an excellent resource for cooking just about anything that flies, swims, walks, or grows in Louisiana, is avaialble online via Google books: http://books.google.com/books?id=cRCJb_5jn...result#PPA85,M1 Her recipe for rabbit & turnip stew is a good one.

I don't know of a source for boudin rouge (aka boudin noir) in New Orleans, but Bourgeois' Meat Market in Thibodaux makes it on a regular basis. Bourgeois Meat Market 543 West Main Street Thibodaux, LA 70301 (985) 447-7128

If you store the pecans in airtight bags in the freezer, they'll last for months. My late father in law used to drive halfway across the state to collect pecans at his favorite tree on the old family property. All fall/winter, he'd sit in front of the TV and crack pecans, saving the nutmeats for his wife's pralines. I put pecans in all sorts of things...make a cheeseball/log and roll it in pecans. Saute pecans in butter and cayenne pepper and a pinch of sugar for tossing in salads, sprinkling over grilled fish or pork, or eating out of hand. Pecan pie, of course, and my new favorite pecan sandies from Dorie Greenspans "Baking--My Home to Yours" cookbook. Page 127, I think. Greenspan's recipe calls for finely grinding the pecans, a techinque that opens up the world of nut-enriched cookies & cakes. Honestly, the most common way I eat pecans is sprinkled over Fage yogurt, with a drizzle of local honey.

If you don't have smaller containers to divide up the contents of the large pot, you can fill a couple of gallon ziploc bags with ice and drop them into the pot (once it has cooled on the stovetop to non-finger-burning temperature). This starts the cooling from the inside out, preventing that hot-fermenting-core problem common with small surface area/large volume containers.

I grew up eating wild rabbit--it does need a slower, gentler braise than commercially farmed rabbit, but it also tastes better, I think. You do want to make sure it is completely skinned, no membranes covering the muscle. Low-n-slow is the way to go. You might even try doing it in a slow cooker (aka Crock-Pot). Just be sure to brown it first.

How about a gelled consomme or flavored aspic? You could either mold it directly in the spoons, or gel it in sheet pans, then cut into cubes to be placed onto the spoons. Gelling it in individual spoons allows you to float a tiny garnish in each one before they set.

In most traditional south LA gumbos, the chopped, uncooked veggies/aromatics are added to the hot roux to stop it from cooking/browning any further. Once the veggies are soft, the liquid (stock, water) and main protein (andouille, turkey necks, uncooked chicken, etc) are added to the pot. Thus, removing the veggies to puree isn't really an option. That said, for every 10 cooks you will find at least 15 gumbo techniques. And restaurant gumbos are filled with chefs' flights of fancy, even in south LA.

Soups and stews reheat from frozen beautifully....invest in a supply of portion-sized plastic containers to package chili, bean soup, bolognese sauce, etc for your lunch bags. This prevents same-dish burnout. You can also prep all of the ingredients for lots of lasagna, but assemble into smaller pans (get disposable foil ones if you don't have mini lasagna crockery). Cooking in smaller quantities means that you can eat well the first night, then have limited leftovers to foist off on your better half for his/her lunches. (I'm a leftover hater myself.) The grill is your friend---when you fire it up on Saturday or Sunday to cook whatever, plan ahead and cook some additional proteins for variety's sake later in the week. Cook rice and pasta in larger quantities than just for two--both easily transform into something else for lunches later in the week. Ex, rice to go with a pot roast for Sunday supper becomes fried rice for dinner on Wednesday, or penne w/ pesto becomes mac-n-cheese later on. Once upon a time, in a land far away and long ago, these skills were taught to girls AND boys in a class called Home Economics...sigh. I'm getting old.

The canned stuff isn't too terrible, provided that it is a good-quality brand. It tends to be flaked into pretty small shreds because of the canning process, so it is suitable for things like crab stuffing (great inside of rolled fish filets & baked) or crab patties (like a breadier crabcake, with more assertive seasoning to make up for the breading). Try it mixed with a melting cheese (gruyere, fontina, emmental) and spread onto sliced bread for broiled open-face sandwiches. Or kick it old-school and make a 50s style crab mousse (the gelatin kind).

What sort of canned crab meat? The shelf-stable kind, or the pasteurized, refrigerated kind? The refrigerated stuff is far superior, and it can be used anywhere you might use fresh crabmeat. My fave crabmeat dishes are crab au gratin, crab louis, crab & corn soup, crab stew made w/onions, green pepper, and a medium roux. It is also divine topped with hollandaise and stuffed into hardboiled eggs! If you have the shelf-stable canned kind, you can always make a hot crab dip...very thick white sauce flavored w/garlic, onions, white pepper, fresh thyme, and a tiny bit of gruyere cheese, kept warm in a chafing dish. Serve with toast points or dry crackers.

Assuming that you're talking about cajun andouille (and not the french stuff), try using turkey. Turkey andouille is a widely available pork alternative in south Louisiana, made commercially by any number of sausage makers. The key to cajun andouille (besides seasonings and smoking) is the rather coarse textured meat. I'd hand chop some dark-meat turkey and coarsely grind a mix of white & dark meat to use in the sausages. Render your own turkey fat or buy prepared schmaltz---andouille isn't as fatty as chaurice or other pork sausages, but it will still need a little fat to keep from being crumbly in texture. Since you'll have to use synthetic casings, try to get the largest diameter you can find. Traditionally, andouille is stuffed into the large intestine, making it substantially bigger than the usual pork sausages. A small-diameter casing won't accomodate the larger chunks of meat. Or you could ljust buy some Comeaux's turkey andouille and be done with it. http://www.cajungrocer.com/comeauxs-turkey...lle-p-1500.html Or call up Bourgeois' Meat Market in Thibodaux, LA and mail-order some: http://local.yahoo.com/info-18172665-bourg...arket-thibodaux

Best way I know to reduce the heat in any dish is to make another batch (or half-batch) without any heat and combine the two. One's relative blandness will help to tone down the other. 'Course, you're gonna end up with a big mess of beans....

It goes well with goat cheese--fill some small tart shells or pastry cases. Also good on a baked potato!

The brunch at Begue's in the Royal Sonesta is pretty good (don't know if the bubbly is free flowing or not), for a hotel brunch scene.

So I don't follow any of the usual rules with omelettes, but mine turn out just fine. Here's how I roll: put a nonstick pan over med/low heat, toss in a lump of butter, get two or three eggs out of the fridge, break directly into the pan. Stir with a spatula until as mixed as you like. Meanwhile, grate a little cheese; by the time you're finished grating the cheese, the eggs will need to be stirred: the bottom will set, so scrape it to the side and tilt the pan/spatula some liquid egg into the bare parts of the pan. When about 1/3 of the eggs is all that remains fluid, sprinkle on the cheese. Continue cooking over gentle heat until as set as you'd like, and turn out onto a plate, folding the top half over the bottom as you slide it out of the pan. Grated cheese melts more quickly than chunks. A relatively cold pan & cold eggs cook slowly, preventing the browned, tough outside. Slow cooking allows you to multitask, so you can pull a shot of espresso & make an omelette at the same time. But slow cooking requires a heavy pan that won't heat up in an instant.

White pizza w/mushrooms & spinach Grilled fontina on ciabatta w/prosciutto Turkey burgers w/bleu cheese His favorite crunchy veggies in a stir fry w/pork & garlic Bean soup Fried oyster or shrimp poboys Pulled pork & coleslaw

Traditional, in my part of the country: blackberry dumplings. Cook the berries into a thick slurry w/sugar, drop in sweetened, very soft biscuit dough. Cover tightly, turn over when half cooked.

Fresh butterbeans are a real treat, any way you cook 'em. Frozen shoepeg corn will work just fine for your succotash, though they'll taste mighty fine braised in ham stock, too. Or try braising in water with a little onion & garlic until tender, then make a medium roux (color of peanut butter) on the side and stir the roux into the simmering beans and cook until the liquid is thickened: delicious. Roux-beans are the epitome of cajun home cooking, along with petits pois in a roux. Or pretty much anything you can think of, in a roux!

The cajun version of potatoes & string beans is similar, except it has no tomatoes and is seasoned with smoked meat (ham, tasso, andouille, salted pork, ham hocks, etc). Saute diced smoked meat in a little oil, add chopped onion & garlic, fry until fragrant, then add the beans & potatoes (cut into chunks), a couple of bay leaves, salt and pepper, and a few branches of thyme. Simmer until beans are soft & potatoes fork-tender. Since you're using canned beans, cook the potatoes in water until tender, then add the canned beans and heat gently until flavored throughout.

I just finished the dirty job, and the only things to survive my stuff-the-freezer-with-ice method were a bag of baby limas and a bag of speckled butter beans. Rats. The fridge was a near total loss, too. Guess I'm having beans for supper... What I learned this time: almond extract on a napkin gives the freezer a nice aroma, better than bleach or Formula 409.

I have a mess of speckled trout, mahi, and shrimp, all caought recently. Most of the remainig stuff is frozen veggies--no worries there. That and a whole bunch of guincale, tasso, and andouille. Think I'm gonna have fish tacos for lunch and shrimp jambalaya for dinner.

Knox unflavored gelatin is sold in the US in 1/4 ounce envelopes, which is about a tablespoon, by my estimation. So you would use 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon of gelatin, assuming that the original recipe is calling for a 1/4 oz envelope of granulated gelatin.