Staying Warm This Winter

Sleet and snow and ice. Oh my!  It has been a cold week here in New Orleans. The locals are staying warm in their homes and what better way to keep warm than a nice hot bowl of gumbo! Here at NolaCajun.com, we offer a variety of different rouxs to help get your gumbo started.

A roux is a mixture of even parts of fat and flour. The traditional French roux uses butter while the Cajun roux uses oil. Our best selling roux, Kary’s Roux, is a traditional dark Cajun roux made from flour and oil, cooked slowly until it is the perfect color. We also sell Kary’s Gumbo Mix; just add your favorite Cajun meats or seafood for an authentic Louisiana gumbo!

Savoie’s Roux, Ragin Cajun Roux, and Richard’s Cajun Roux are some of the other traditional rouxs we sell. If you are looking for some dry roux, we also carry Bailey’s Cajun Creole Roux Mix, and Tony Chachere’s Roux.

Here is a great recipe for Sausage & Chicken Gumbo using Bailey’s Cajun Creole Roux Mix:

SAUSAGE & CHICKEN GUMBO

1 – 3 pound chicken, cut up
1 pound andouille or smoked sausage(cut into 1/4 inch slices)
1/4 cup oil
1 pack Bailey’s Roux Mix
1 pack of Bailey’s Spices
2 – 14 ounce cans of chicken broth
1 pack of Bailey’s seasonings
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 dozen raw oysters (optional)
1 – 8 quart pot

In an 8-quart pot, fry cut up chicken pieces, Bailey’s andouille or smoked sausage and Bailey’s seasonings in oil for about 15 minutes.  Add 3 quarts water and bring to a boil, then add Bailey’s spices to taste.  In a separate bowl, mix Bailey’s Roux Mix with water from boiling pot (approx. 10 ounces) until it is soft and smooth.  After Roux is mixed, add to the boiling water in 8-quart pot.  Add 2 cans of chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce and cook uncovered over medium heat for 30 minutes to 1 hour.  If desired, oysters should be added in the last 15 minutes of cooking. Skim excess oil prior to serving.  Optional: add 1 tablespoon file’.  Serve over rice.
Serves 16 – 8 ounce servings

Do you have any interesting recipes of New Orleans and/or Cajun cuisine?  If you would like to send us the recipe with a picture of the finished product, we would love to feature it on our blog, Facebook page, Twitter, and Pinterest!  This goes for all of our products…we are always looking for great ideas from our loyal customers!

What To Do With Leftover Crawfish?

You sat down hours ago to enjoy some beautiful Louisiana boiled crawfish. Now your top button on your pants is unbuttoned, your shirt looks like it was used as a napkin, and your nose is running like a faucet.  You are doing your best to finish the crawfish off but the end is nowhere in sight.  You know you did your part but some other lightweights didn’t step up to the crawfish table.  You now have several pounds of crawfish left. You certainly can’t throw the leftovers away.  Here are some suggestions on what to do with leftovers from a crawfish boil.

– Omelets- all you need are eggs. The vegetables and crawfish are already cooked. The potatoes can even be used as a side dish similar to hash browns.

Chef John Folse Has a Great Recipe Here

– Crawfish- etouffee all you need is rice and a roux.  Save the potatoes for the next dish.

Try Emeril’s Recipe

Take the easy way out with Slap Ya Mama Etouffee Sauce

– Crawfish Bread

Here is a great recipe.

– Crawfish Pie

Gumbo Pages has a good recipe

Take the easy way out with Mam Papaul’s Crawfish Pie

– Peel the tails and save them for any other dish at a later time.

– Make a stock from the vegetables and shells.

– Or just eat everything cold out of the refrigerator

Do you have any interesting recipes of New Orleans and/or Cajun cuisine?  If you would like to send us the recipe with a picture of the finished product, we would love to feature it on our blog, Facebook page, Twitter, and Pinterest!  This goes for all of our products we are always looking for great ideas from our loyal customers!