Cajun Cookin'

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            FOOD FUNNY
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Thanks to "Lhadley123" for sending us this bit of culinary wisdom set
to verse:

Catsup

You shake and shake and hit the bottle,
First none will come, then a lot'll.

- Richard Armour, author

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            TODAY'S RECIPE
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The term "Zydeco beans" is actually redundant. "Zydeco" is the music
of the black French-speaking Creoles of Louisiana, and the word is
corrupted from "les haricots," French for snap beans. Don't ask me
why the music is named after snap beans, my sources didn't seem to
know. Serve this dish as a cocktail snack, or use the beans to stir a
Bloody Mary.

Zydeco Beans

Please note: this recipe is fiery hot. Reduce the amount of cayenne
if you are not fond of spicy foods.

2 cups (500 ml) water
3/4 cup (180 ml) white vinegar
2 Tbs (30 ml) sugar
1 Tbs (15 ml) mustard seeds, crushed
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
4 bay (laurel) leaves
2 tsp (10 ml) salt
1 tsp (5 ml) cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 lb (500 g) green beans (haricots), trimmed

Combine all ingredients except the beans in a large sauce pan and
bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat, and simmer
for 5 minutes. Add the beans and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes,
until the beans are cooked but still crisp. Transfer the beans and
liquid to a shallow serving dish and refrigerate covered for at least
4 hours, or overnight. Serve cold or at room temperature. Serves 8
to 12 as an appetizer, 4 to 6 as a side dish.

I don't believe that any Cajun menu would be complete without oysters
in one form or another. I decided to offer them up in the form of a
soup, or "bisque" (here goes the food and language thing again).
According to "The Food Lover's Companion, Second Edition" by Sharon
Tyler Herbst (Barron's Educational Series, 1995) a bisque is a "thick,
rich soup usually consisting of pureed seafood (sometimes fowl or
vegetables) and cream." This recipe is not pureed, nor does it
contain cream, but it's still called a bisque. Go figure.

Oyster Bisque

2 cups (500 ml) shucked raw oyster with liquor reserved
4 cups (1 L) milk
1 cup (250 ml) coarsely chopped onion
1 cup (250 ml) coarsely chopped celery
1/4 cup (60 ml) chopped parsley
1 bay (laurel) leaf
4 Tbs (60 ml) butter
4 Tbs (60 ml) flour
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
Chopped fresh chives or parsley for garnish

Chop the oysters into small pieces and combine them with the liquor in
a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over moderate heat and remove from
the flame. Set aside. Combine the milk, onion, celery, parsley, and
bay leaf in another sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then strain and reserve the
liquid. In a large saucepan melt the butter over moderate heat, then
stir in the flour, salt, pepper, and cayenne, forming a roux. Add the
reserved milk and stir over moderate heat until the mixture boils and
thickens slightly. Add the oysters and the liquor and heat, stirring,
for 2 or 3 minutes, until the oysters are heated through. Pour into
serving bowls and garnish with chives or parsley. Serves 4 to 6.

The food and language puzzle gets even more involved with today's
recipe. When I was in Cajun country last week, I asked Chef Marty
Cosgrove of Prudhomme's Cajun Cafe in Carencro, Louisiana the meaning
of the term "maque choux." He explained that, in the old days,
farmers fertilized their corn with fish scraps, and this gave the corn
a taste and aroma reminiscent of cabbage, or "choux" in French. So I
asked him what the "maque" part meant, and he looked at me kind of
funny and said "mock, as in fake."

Now, I don't believe that "maque" is really a French word, but rather
the francofied form of the English word "mock." If this is indeed the
origin and the meaning of the term, then it is yet another interesting
example of how the Cajun and Creole cultures have combined the English
and French languages to form something new and different. After all,
they did the same with their food, their music, their architecture,
and their art. Why not their language?

Corn Maque Choux

1 Tbs (15 ml) butter or margarine
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped onion
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped green bell pepper
4 cups (1 L) corn kernels (fresh, canned, or frozen)
1/2 cup (125 ml) seeded and chopped tomato
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over moderate heat. Add the onion
and the bell pepper and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat for 10 to 15
minutes, until the corn is hot and tender. Serves 4 to 6.

If you were hoping for another food and language conundrum, I'm afraid
I'm going to have to disappoint you today. "Etouffer" is, quite
simply, "to smother" or "to suffocate" in French, and "etouffee" is
the past participle, meaning "smothered." (Actually, there are
supposed to be a couple of accents over the e's, but many email
readers can't handle them.) The crawfish are smothered in a rich
sauce. No mystery there.

Although they are farmed commercially now, crawfish are still
difficult to obtain over most of the US, and presumably the rest of
the world as well. You can substitute fresh shrimp for the crawfish
with very good results. This dish is traditionally served with white
rice, but on my recent expedition to Cajun country I ran across
several restaurants that served it with fettuccine.

Crawfish Etouffee

8 Tbs (120 ml, 100 g) butter
1/2 cup (125 ml) all-purpose flour
1 cup (250 ml) chopped onion
1 cup (250 ml) chopped green bell pepper
1 cup (250 ml) chopped celery
3 to 5 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Cayenne pepper to taste
3 cups (750 ml) fish or chicken stock, or water
2 lbs (1 Kg) shelled crawfish tails or peeled shrimp
3 Tbs (45 ml) fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup (125 ml) chopped scallion (spring
onion) green part only
Cooked rice or fettuccine

Melt the butter in a large skillet over high heat and stir in the
flour. Cook over moderate heat for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring
frequently, until the mixture is a dark reddish brown. Add the
vegetables, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and cook uncovered an
additional 20 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in the liquid and
bring to a boil. Add the crawfish tails or shrimp, lemon juice, and
parsley, and continue to cook uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring
frequently. Garnish with the chopped scallion and serve with cooked
rice or fettuccine. Serves 6 to 8.

If the truth be told, I'm not much of a dessert eater. I will usually
take a second helping of "meat and potatoes" and skip dessert, but
there are a few dishes for which I will make an exception. This is
one of them. This is actually my mother's recipe, and I have never
had a store-bought or restaurant pecan pie that can top it. You will
frequently see this served with whipped cream, but I prefer to eat
mine naked. The pie, that is, not me.

Pecan Pie

5 eggs
1/4 cup (60 ml) melted butter
2 tsp (10 ml) vanilla extract
1/2 cup (125 ml) brown sugar
1 1/2 cups (375 ml) white corn syrup
1 cup (250 ml) shelled pecans
1 9-inch (22 cm) pastry pie shell, unbaked

In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs slightly. Add the butter
gradually, alternating with the vanilla, sugar, syrup, and pecans.
Mix until smooth and transparent, and pour into the pie shell. Bake
in a preheated 400F (200C) oven for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to
300F (150C) and bake an additional 40 minutes. Makes one 9-inch (22
cm) pie.
Received on Mon Jan 5 22:30:56 2004