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Thursday, September 15, 2011

An Un-Cajun Is On The Loose

A year ago, Bev and I made a trip to NOLA and brought back several items so we could make the local cuisine at home, but each time I’d mention it, she’d rather have something else.  When son Rhett, who I know likes Cajun, stopped off for a couple of days on his way from Ft. Knox to his new assignment at Ft. Bragg, I decided it was now or maybe never.

I believed I had some crawfish tails, gator bites and boudin which I’d planned to turn into crawfish pie, gator cakes, and boudin balls.  I’d saved a recipe for the crawfish pie from Katherine over at Smoky Mountain Kitchen, a recipe for deep-fried  boudin balls from About.com, and planned to use my crab cake recipe with different spices for the gator cakes.

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “the best laid plans…”, when I went to the freezer I found the tails and boudin, but not the gator bites, finding some gator sausage instead – no problem as it would be grilled sausage rather than gator cakes and my job just got easier. 

So I turned to boudin and the recipe says remove the casing and crumble, then form into balls. 

I removed the casing from one of three and it crumbled like dry rice and would not form a ball, patty, or anything else. 

I considered adding and egg or other binder, but decided to just grill the other two along with the sausage – my job got easier yet.

We ate them while the pie baked and I’d made up a couple of sauces using a 50/50 mix of Big Bob Gibson’s Mustard Sauce and mayo and doing the same thing with some homemade mustard sauce I had - they weren't half bad.  This was our first time for boudin and Rhett and I both really liked it – preferring it to the gator sausage.  This was the mild and it was still pretty spicy - I can only imagine the spicier version was a flamer.

Earlier. I’d made the pie filling and just had to heat it up, fill the crust, and bake.  I tried to follow Katherine’s recipe to the letter, but I ended up with more of an etouffee in a pie crust and the more I baked it, the soupier it became. Check Katherine's site for what it's supposed to look like.

Several possibilities for this – perhaps I didn’t cook enough of the water from the veggies, or I didn’t reduce the sauce by half after adding the shrimp stock and cream, or my tails were not packed it fat and even though I drained them, they still added water. 

Like many recipes, even though you follow it, there’s a feel or look to the dish and you know when it’s right – just as I will next time.

Bev wasn’t interested in any of the NOLA dishes but Rhett and I both thought the crawfish pie was delicious and perhaps I’ll cook up some rice to put under the leftovers.  I'll make it again and maybe arrange for a lesson from Katherine in the meantime.

As for the remaining very crumbly boudin, you guessed it – scrambled eggs.  I just sautéed it in a little oil, added 4 eggs beaten with a little cream and hot sauce, scrambled moist and served with the leftover gator sausage which I’d split lengthwise and heated cut-side down in a skillet and added to a croissant with some of the mustard sauce.

Now this was my kind of Cajun food and Rhett's comment was "yep, I'm definitely a fan of boudin."

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.


Two years ago: A Little Fun In The Sun

Larry

14 comments:

  1. Wow soem stuff here I never heard off neither i think I can get anywhere smoked aligator sausage(is is really made from aligator meat?):)
    Exiting stuff;)

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  2. I would be all over those scrambled eggs!

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  3. I'm with Bev. :) I really don't know what Boudin is. I've had alligator meat ... once.

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  4. I knew if I waited long enough you would showcase eggs!! Love it!

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  5. This looks like a delicious meal, Larry, although I have to admit I've never tried any of the things you served. We do have crawfish here but I've never tried using them in a pie. I love to read about regional cooking. Good post.

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  6. Aww Larry, I am so sorry your pie didn't come out but am glad you like how it tasted. We would love to have you and Bev over for some crawfish pie making...tell Bev don't worry, we'll make something special for her.

    I have some boudin in he freezer just screaming to be cooked!

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  7. Wow, what a feast! lol Some Cajun dishes just take a little practice. You should take Katherine up on her offer. :) Grilled boudin is the best, but my fave is grilled "hot" seafood boudin! Out of this world! All in all, you did a great job! Cheers!

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  8. It sounds like a wonderful meal, Larry.I'll wager the visit from your son was a real treat. Try the pie again.I'm sure you'll have better results. Take care and have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  9. Larry, I'm a boudin fan anyway so your breakfast combo was a real winner in my book! Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

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  10. That's great that your son could enjoy some NOLA dishes with you. I have never boudin, crawfish, or alligator.

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  11. I often end up with pies not staying together. No matter; then I state that I'm serving "Pile" and it was intentional. I have my son Dan to thank for that; he's very glib. Glad Rhett got to stop by during his trip.

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  12. Boudin, isn't that that guy on Travel Channel's "No Reservations"? (ha ha, just kidding)

    It looks like you let loose with your culinary exploration and had some fun with Rhett at the same time, that is wonderful.

    On a side note, I actually thought Fort Knox was in Knoxville until we moved here.

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  13. Bill and I will be going to NOLA right after Christmas for about a week for a timeshare exchange that we had to use up or lose the week. He's been there, but I have not, so I'd love it if you could give us some of your wisdom on darn good restaurants to dine in. Thanks!!!!

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