Andouille Sausages

[Dave the Cook]

how much flour to how much andouille oil for the roux? and then, warmed heavy cream?

I vary the fat/flour ratio based on whether I'm using whole milk (1:1), half-and-half (3:2) or cream (2:1). I admit that I always eyeball it, and that I often have to adjust with additional liquid, because I like to let the roux brown a little, which reduces its thickening power (and mitigates the pink factor you mention). You can add the dairy warm or cold; some people think that you have to add cold to hot or vice versa, but if you do a gradual, whisk-enabled addition, I don't think it makes any difference.

[Dave the Cook]

A question. My husband and I usually cook for just the two of us. So we like to make pots of stuff that we can eat at multiple meals (like tonight we're having white chili we made a couple of days ago - a big pot will be about 3 meals for us). If you put the rice in the pot in something like my recipe - does it reheat ok?

By the way - commercial plug (for no particular reason other than I like it) - the sausage I use is andouille sausages by Amy. They're chicken sausages - relatively low fat - relatively low salt - nice spicing (in other words - it's something I can use for everyday cooking without killing my husband - he has high blood pressure - and I'd hate to undo the effect of the drugs he has to take with my cooking). Robyn

I like reheated rice dishes. Two caveats: rice seems to absorb additional liquid as it cools, so it might be a little soggy. I don't mind this a bit, but some might. Careful reheating (with a bit of additional liquid) mitigates a lot of this. Second, in my opinion, green bell peppers do not benefit from an overnight layover in the fridge (they turn sour), so if I think I'll have leftovers, I use red ones instead.

I've seen Amy's around here somewhere. I'm gonna try 'em, for no particular reason other than your recommendation, though I'm suspicious of porkless andouille.

Finally, the low-country boil is a terrific idea. Thanks.

[robyn]

A question.  My husband and I usually cook for just the two of us.  So we like to make pots of stuff that we can eat at multiple meals (like tonight we're having white chili we made a couple of days ago - a big pot will be about 3 meals for us).  If you put the rice in the pot in something like my recipe - does it reheat ok?

By the way - commercial plug (for no particular reason other than I like it) - the sausage I use is andouille sausages by Amy.  They're chicken sausages - relatively low fat - relatively low salt - nice spicing (in other words - it's something I can use for everyday cooking without killing my husband - he has high blood pressure - and I'd hate to undo the effect of the drugs he has to take with my cooking).  Robyn

I like reheated rice dishes. Two caveats: rice seems to absorb additional liquid as it cools, so it might be a little soggy. I don't mind this a bit, but some might. Careful reheating (with a bit of additional liquid) mitigates a lot of this. Second, in my opinion, green bell peppers do not benefit from an overnight layover in the fridge (they turn sour), so if I think I'll have leftovers, I use red ones instead.

I've seen Amy's around here somewhere. I'm gonna try 'em, for no particular reason other than your recommendation, though I'm suspicious of porkless andouille.

Finally, the low-country boil is a terrific idea. Thanks.

I buy the Amy andouille sausages from Costco - double pack of 7 each. They freeze well - so I can pop out a couple to put in scrambled eggs and the like. Can't remember exactly what they cost - it's a little less than $1/link best of my recollection. They are also available in other varieties (like breakfast sausages) through the Williams Sonoma catalogue. I am not fond of ordering perishable non-frozen food items mail order for most of the year here in Florida (stuff arrives warm - and I have to throw it away). If you find some other sources - let me know.

You won't get the same taste from a non-pork sausage as a pork sausage. Or from a relatively low salt sausage as a high salt sausage. But I think the Amy's sausage does about the best you can do (and - when you eat it - you're not saying to yourself - boy - I wish I had the real thing). I do a lot of cooking for my husband - who has high blood pressure - for my father-in-law - who has congestive heart failure - and for me - and I don't much like the taste of overpowering salt. However we all like spicey hot - and this product works in that regard.

Try the Baby Bam too if you can find it. I got to it in a funny way. A couple of holidays ago - Emeril put out a "kid's cooking kit". A quart sized non-stick Emeril/Allclad quality 2-handled pot with lid - 3 cooking utensils with short handles (great for small pots) - a bunch of Baby Bam - and a cookbook. Think it retailed originally for about $50 - but it wound up on close out at Linens and Things for $7.99. Hard to go wrong for $7.99 (particularly with one of those $5 off $15 coupons) - so I bought it.

By the way - where do you live/work? Robyn

[Jason Perlow]

I like reheated rice dishes. Two caveats: rice seems to absorb additional liquid as it cools, so it might be a little soggy. I don't mind this a bit, but some might. Careful reheating (with a bit of additional liquid) mitigates a lot of this. Second, in my opinion, green bell peppers do not benefit from an overnight layover in the fridge (they turn sour), so if I think I'll have leftovers, I use red ones instead.

I am actually of the opinion that Jambalaya should not be eaten on the day you make it. Its much better tasting on the second day, when the rice has had a chance to absorb a lot of the flavors in the liquid.

[Mayhaw Man]

I am actually of the opinion that Jambalaya should not be eaten on the day you make it. Its much better tasting on the second day, when the rice has had a chance to absorb a lot of the flavors in the liquid.

I find that that is true of any dish that has a fair amount of pork fat piled into it. It is particularly true of Red Beans, which are always better the next day.

[Dave the Cook]

Try the Baby Bam too if you can find it. I got to it in a funny way. A couple of holidays ago - Emeril put out a "kid's cooking kit". A quart sized non-stick Emeril/Allclad quality 2-handled pot with lid - 3 cooking utensils with short handles (great for small pots) - a bunch of Baby Bam - and a cookbook. Think it retailed originally for about $50 - but it wound up on close out at Linens and Things for $7.99. Hard to go wrong for $7.99 (particularly with one of those $5 off $15 coupons) - so I bought it.

By the way - where do you live/work? Robyn

I acquired my only piece of All-Clad in a similar manner. It was part of a gift package that included a copy of Julia's Kitchen Wisdom. The pan -- a two-quart, short-handled saucepan -- has a commemorative inscription on the bottom. It's a piece I would never have purchased on my own, but I do press it into service from time to time.

I've never been much of a Bam fan, and sometimes I find Emeril's continual reliance on it to be unworthy. OTOH, a couple of years ago, I got the bright idea to make up a batch of seasoning mixes, bottle them with pretty labels, and send them out as Christmas presents. The first two, a barbecue rub and a chili powder, were easy. For the third, I hit on the idea of creating a Cajun mix that could adapt to a variety of dishes, depending on the addition of certain herbs and additional spices. I took out a calculator and Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, and, after springing the binding on the book with all the page flipping, finally arrived at a formula plus a group of additions (one set for fish, one for chicken, one for beef, etc) that seemed close enough to universal to actually be useful. Quite excited at this point, I made up about three pounds of it, named it Basic Black (a recipe in the accompanying recipe book was for blackened fish), and sent portions off to 32 of my closest friends. Believe it or not, it took me until about Easter to realize that all I had really done was reinvent Bam.

Having said all that, if I see Baby Bam (around Atlanta, btw), I'll pick it up.

[fifi]

I have finally settled on Emeril's Rustic Rub as my favorite "BAM!". I have gotten samples of Prudhomme's seasonings and they are very good, too. But for that quart jar of handy seasoning mix that I use for lots of things, Rustic Rub it is. Actually, it has become my favorite rub for pork butt before smoking. I buy the big Tone's bottles of spices at Sam's for these ventures. Otherwise, you could go broke. And, how bad could Tone's be? I have seen them on shelves in various chef's kitchens on cooking shows.

The andouille and shrimp jambalaya that I made is great as a leftover. I will munch on it for another day before I freeze it in single portions. I do find that I have to add a sprinkling of water to reheat.

[Dave the Cook]

Just this morning I recalled one of my favorite andouille applications: as the centerpiece for what was perhaps the best kolache I ever ate.

[ronnie_suburban]

I am actually of the opinion that Jambalaya should not be eaten on the day you make it. Its much better tasting on the second day, when the rice has had a chance to absorb a lot of the flavors in the liquid.

I find that that is true of any dish that has a fair amount of pork fat piled into it. It is particularly true of Red Beans, which are always better the next day.

Was certainly true of the batch of jambalaya I made this week.

=R=

[hwilson41]

Just this morning I recalled one of my favorite andouille applications: as the centerpiece for what was perhaps the best kolache I ever ate.

It (andouille) is also a nice kick in the butt for bland scrambled eggs . One item I've tried in jambalaya with great success (to me) is duck breast instead of chicken. Usually, I use bacon drippings for browning the andouille, but duck fat adds a whole new dimension to the sausage and shrimp. And the contest over who gets the leftovers has been known to incite minor riots .

THW

[Bond Girl]

Okay, my jambalaya turned out kind of flat. Hmmm, will move over to the Jambalaya thread now.

[Mayhaw Man]

I made stock from the Thanksgiving Turkey yesterday and am making Turkey and Andouille Gumbo for dinner tonight and will have a bunch leftover for freezing.

I got ten pounds of Texmati really cheap at the health food store yesterday, thanks to a broken bag, and will be making a big pile to go with it.

Bread from my recent trip to Lejeune's Bakery in Jeanerette, LA and a salad of butter lettuce, avacado, grapefruit, and a very thin, not very sweet, poppyseed vinaigarette.

[robyn]

I made stock from the Thanksgiving Turkey yesterday and am making Turkey and Andouille Gumbo for dinner tonight and will have a bunch leftover for freezing.

I got ten pounds of Texmati really cheap at the health food store yesterday, thanks to a broken bag, and will be making a big pile to go with it.

Bread from my recent trip to Lejeune's Bakery in Jeanerette, LA and a salad of butter lettuce, avacado, grapefruit, and a very thin, not very sweet, poppyseed vinaigarette.

I've bought broken bags of topsoil before - but never rice. Perhaps that's because 10 pounds is about enough to last me for a year.

Like your salad. I make a similar one - no avocados - but with toasted pecans or walnuts - whichever happens to be handy. I'll add the avocados next time and see what happens. By the way - making anything with grapefruit used to be agony (I am terrible with knives) - but since they started selling those peeled red grapefruit sections in jars - it's an ingredient I use all of the time. Robyn

[Mayhaw Man]

[ By the way - making anything with grapefruit used to be agony (I am terrible with knives) - but since they started selling those peeled red grapefruit sections in jars - it's an ingredient I use all of the time. Robyn

Exactly.

Ditto for salads. I like to cook and for some reason have always disliked making salads (but not dressings for some reason), but since the advent of the bag o' salad I eat them more frequently at home.

Gumbo turned out great. I used Richard's Smoked Pork Sausage instead of Andouille, which is pretty much the gold standard of commercial sausage down here. The andouille from Poche's or Hebert's is better, but I kinda save it for special occasions as I have to drive a bit to get it.

Anyway, the rice was really a bargain. Small tear in one corner of a big cloth bag and the guy practically gave it to me. Came home and vacu sealed it in one pound bags and put it in the freezer. It'll last 6 months.

[fifi]

Okay, my jambalaya turned out kind of flat. Hmmm, will move over to the Jambalaya thread now.

Well, what I have found when gumbo, jambalaya or whatever comes out flat, the culprit is often salt. As in... not enough of it. Cajun cuisine can be pretty salty. They don't use a lot of different kinds of spices so you are pretty dependent on the salt component to bring out the flavors and bring it all together. I tend to add my salt in "layers". That means that, for jambalaya, I will salt the trinity when I am sauteing that. The raw meat will be preseasoned. Of course, the sausage is already seasoned. I use fairly rich stock so there is a little saltiness there. Then I taste the liquid before putting the lid on to cook the rice, allowing for the fact that the rice will be absorbing some of the salt and diluting it out.

Brooks... Am I wrong about that? I mean, you can only use so much cayenne.

[Dave the Cook]

I think you're right, fifi. I also think good ol' black pepper gets overlooked. To my taste, it lets you cut back on the salt somewhat, and rounds out the flavor.

Certainly Prudhomme preaches the layering you're talking about. But he also uses more seasoning than just cayenne, salt and pepper.

[Bond Girl]

Salt! I bet that's it! Thanks fiifi.

[fifi]

You are correct, Dave. Prudhomme has been the guiding light in expanding Cajun cuisine seasoning. He advocates the use of multiple peppers (cayenne, black and white for instance) that also plays on the burn characteristics of each so that the warmth of the peppers and their effect on different areas of the mouth and throat are almost "orchestrated". He is a master at that. And I think that he has taken the cuisine to new heights. His spice mixes (either the commercial ones or from his cookbooks) are not a "thrown together" accident but are carefully crafted.

Of course, all of the traditional Cajun mamans that relied on salt and cayenne are probably turning in their graves.

[tryska]

Okay, my jambalaya turned out kind of flat.  Hmmm, will move over to the Jambalaya thread now.

Well, what I have found when gumbo, jambalaya or whatever comes out flat, the culprit is often salt. As in... not enough of it. Cajun cuisine can be pretty salty. They don't use a lot of different kinds of spices so you are pretty dependent on the salt component to bring out the flavors and bring it all together. I tend to add my salt in "layers". That means that, for jambalaya, I will salt the trinity when I am sauteing that. The raw meat will be preseasoned. Of course, the sausage is already seasoned. I use fairly rich stock so there is a little saltiness there. Then I taste the liquid before putting the lid on to cook the rice, allowing for the fact that the rice will be absorbing some of the salt and diluting it out.

Brooks... Am I wrong about that? I mean, you can only use so much cayenne.

i'm definitely going to give backup on this.

i made gumbo last saturday, for the first time. it was a seafood gumbo, and i used andouille, shrimp, clams and crabmeat. I didn't have nay seafood stock, and it was 3pm by the time i got my hungover self motivated, and really didn't feel like makign stock from scratch, so i picked up some clam "better than boullion" (did i spell that right?) from the store. The recipe i used also asked for creole seasoning - just happened to have some Tony Cachere's in the cupboard.

in any case, between the andouille, and the plugra i used for roux, and the incredibly salty broth that came from the better than bouillion and finally the creole seasoning, i was quite worried it was waaaay too salty. it tasted too salty to my tastebuds during the final simmer, so i added an extra couple quarts of water. and it still tasted too salty. until i let it thicken up and finally had it for dinner, and it was perfectly salted. not sure how that happenned other than the okra goo absorbing some of the salt, i'm not sure.

[Mayhaw Man]

Oh Salt, that wonderful spice on top of which Avery Island , the Home of Tabasco, sits.

I grew up eating food that most of you would call "soul food". My experience with the cooking of food that is more typical to South Louisiana began in a commercial kitchen (Mike Anderson's Seafood in Baton Rouge) and several other places around New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The person I learned the most from, however, was a guy named Buddy Fitzpatrick, who was my next door neighbor in Abita Springs and who also had worked with (for) Paul Prudhomme at COmmanders and then helped him to open up K-Pauls Kitchen on Chartres. Buddy later went up to Alaska during the pipeline boom and opened K-Pauls in Anchorage. This guy could cook. Everything. Well. He could bake, boil, broil, and roast. What I learned from him was that the salt- which he used much more heavily than had been my previous experience- was used not so much as a flavor in itself, but rather as an enhancement to the other flavors in the food.

Shrimp, Crabs, and Crawfish for example, just don't pick up the flavor of the Cayenne, garlic, and lemon in a boil without the salt. It's true. I have tried it the other way many times and am never satisfied with the results. He also (as do I) believed that the use of black and white pepper were just more "layers" and should be used in conjunction with the Chinese Red that he and Prudhomme preferred.

Another thing that I learned from him is to taste constantly. And don't taste it straight out of the pot, let it cool to a comfortable temp for a moment and then taste. You will be able to taste the full flavor of the food and not spend part of your concentration on avoiding burning your mouth.

All that being said, I don't use that much salt. I do use way more grlic than most people and that seems to make up a bit for the lack of salt. On the other hand, when boiling seafood (Crawfish Season is just getting cranked up, slowly) I use more than most of you can imagine, but it doesn't taste that way. The salt just enhances the flavor of the seafood and the other spices.

[Dave the Cook]

I may also try doing Dave's recipe of tomato cream sauce over linguine when I have people over.  Dave, do you put cajun spices into the sauce, or do you stick to the usual Italian herbs and spices like oregano and bay leaves?

Finally got around to posting the recipe here.

[Chad]

Friends over on Friday. I'll be doing Andouille in pufff pastry as an app. Should be pretty dang wonderful. Keep your fingers crossed.

Chad

[Okanagancook]

Made these andouille sausages using a mix of ingredients found in recipes from various sources. Used 'middle' size casing which were a little tricky to stuff. We had not used this size before and we tended to over fill them and had a few burst. All in all they turned out very, very well. Friends who have eaten a lot in New Orleans and used store bought garlic sausage for their homemade gumbo said the gumbo they made with these was the best they have every had...probably because we put tons of garlic in....home grown garlic which was nice and 'sticky'.