Innholdsfortegnelse for July/August 2022 i Louisiana Cookin'

HIGH SUMMER is a volatile time in the Bayou State. The seasonal joys of oversize crabs, spicy shrimp boils, and refreshing sno-balls are tempered by the heat and specter of intense weather. It’s part of the joie de vivre, I suppose, of living in Louisiana. So, I’ve enjoyed making early morning farmers’ market runs when I can and stocking up on juicy tomatoes, freshly baked breads, and the cornucopia of produce. In this issue, you’ll find a selection of great recipes and stories to help you make the most of that bounty. From Chef John Folse’s recollections of childhood days angling for catfish in the Mississippi River (page 39) to Chef Mason Hereford’s mind-bending new cookbook, Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin’ in New Orleans (page 89), there’s something for…

Chef Jamie Harson Scratch Farm Kitchen 406 Garfield St.• Lafayette 337.296.2364 WHEN JAMIE HARSON started cooking breakfast under a tent at the local farmers’ market, she never anticipated one day owning a downtown Lafayette restaurant that drew lines out the door daily. She was a mother and a farmer raising goats for goat milk, 500 egg-laying chickens, ducks, and, at one point, 200 rare breed Red Wattle pigs. But Jamie’s guiding force has always been her intuition. “Our business was built by putting one foot in front of the other,” she says. After two years of market breakfasts came a food truck in 2018. Each morning, Jamie would cook and prepare the food, transport it to the truck, and drive it to a location—often the campus of the University of…

HOT SAUSAGE BREAKFAST SANDWICHES MAKES 6 Hot beef sausage is a New Orleans treasure but can be difficult to find outside the city. You’ll love this spicy version. 6 large eggs¼ teaspoon kosher salt⅛ teaspoon ground black pepperNew Orleans-Style Hot Sausage (recipe follows)6 slices Cheddar cheese½ cup ketchup¼ cup mayonnaise1 teaspoon hot sauce¾ teaspoon garlic powder6 English muffins, halved and toasted 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan with cooking spray. 2. Crack 1 egg into each prepared muffin cup. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 3. Bake until whites are set and yolks are cooked to preferred doneness, 10 to 12 minutes. Run a knife around edges to loosen. Gently transfer to a plate. Leave oven on. 4. Divide New Orleans-Style Hot Sausage into 6 portions,…

SUMMERTIME HAS ALWAYS felt nostalgic for me. I still remember the excitement of swimming in a cheap kiddy pool on a hot summer day. It was the simple things that mattered most. Growing up, my family didn’t have much. My dad was a grocery store manager, and my mom was in college working to become a nurse, but when you are a kid, you have no clue when money may be tight. Parents have a special way of always making you feel like you have just enough, and it’s amazing what you discover when you become a parent yourself. Early on as parents, my wife and I both had to find ways to stretch a dollar. Although the stresses were there, our girls would never know it. Our goal has…

IF THERE’S HEAT AND HUMIDITY, there’s going to be okra. Fortunately for us Louisianans, okra thrives in our wet climate, making it a staple ingredient in Southern cooking. Whether fried, stewed, or thrown into a gumbo, there’s always a way to put this versatile vegetable to good use. But just because okra fancies the heat doesn’t mean we have to. With the sun turned up to full brightness, we’re taking advantage of the season’s bounty by pickling okra for a cool and invigorating bite to keep us refreshed and satisfied. Enjoy their vinegary crunch right out of the jar or serve them up in this Pickled Okra Crab Salad recipe. SPICY PICKLED OKRA MAKES 3 (16-OUNCE) JARS These okra pods are full of flavor with a nice crunch. 6 cloves…

THE CORPSE BRIDE is one of the first cocktails I did when I got here to the Southern Hotel as beverage director. I wasn’t particularly happy with the Champagne cocktails we were doing, and I wanted to create a riff on the old-school cocktail: the Corpse Reviver. And so that’s what this is. It’s the Corpse Reviver recreated into a Champagne cocktail with a little bit of modernity behind it. When we run through ingredient lists, one of my favorite things to do is to take an old classic cocktail and find a couple of the ingredients that we can completely substitute for something more modern, edgy and different, or refined. So, right off the bat, instead of using a sweet and sour mix, I went for real lemon juice,…

BIG BAD BITES GONZALES We all recognize the fast-food signs that dot highway exits, but at the I-10 exit in Gonzales, there’s a new quick food stop that doesn’t sacrifice fresh ingredients for time. Big Bad Bites is the latest concept of Cory and Kaitlin Hebert, owners of the food truck Rouge-A-Roux’s. Serving fresh, locally sourced ingredients, the menu features items like a crab cake sandwich and cheese-stuffed boudin balls all made in-house and ready to be served at the window or indoors among the cartoon-muraled walls. bigbadbites.com SPOKE & HUB BATON ROUGE The wheels of Government Street have been turning for quite some time with restaurants popping up all along the strip. Spoke & Hub is Mid-City’s newest spot, with a cycling theme aimed to attract neighborhood families and…

HERE IN THE BAYOU STATE, we do desserts and we do them well. Doberge cake is just one of the sweet treats we’re famous for these days, but it may also be one of the most beloved. In 1933, New Orleans pastry chef Beulah Levy Ledner invented the original recipe, and its iconic layers have captivated dessert lovers ever since. She based her cake on the Hungarian Dobos torte (a sponge cake with nine thin layers) but chose to add four more layers, bringing the total to a whopping 13. Her creation also swapped the buttercream filling with either chocolate or vanilla custard. The titan was then finally topped with buttercream and a thin layer of fondant. Joe Gambino eventually bought the recipe from her, and today, it is one…

PEACH-VANILLA QUEENIES MAKES 6 (photo on page 46) Inspired by the French kouign amann (pronounced “kween ah-mahn”), these are as easy as they are satisfying. 1 cup chopped peeled fresh peaches¼ cup granulated sugar1 teaspoon vanilla extract½ (17.3-ounce) package frozen puff pastry (1 sheet), thawed8 tablespoons firmly packed light brown sugar, divided1 large egg, room temperature and lightly beaten 1. In a medium bowl, stir together peaches, granulated sugar, and vanilla; let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. 2. Preheat oven to 350°. Spray a 6-well jumbo muffin pan with baking spray with flour. 3. Drain peaches*. 4. On a lightly floured surface, roll puff pastry into a 16x12-inch rectangle. Using a sharp knife, cut pastry into 12 (4-inch) squares. Place 1 tablespoon brown sugar each on 6 squares,…

MASON HEREFORD GREW UP in a region of rural Virginia with country-style convenience stores dotted along his family’s morning school runs. Over-the-counter eats like sausage biscuits and turkey-and-cheese sandwiches from those stores stood out to him through the years and kick-started an interest in food that endures. After college, Mason arrived in New Orleans and worked odd jobs around the city before finding himself in fine dining. Eventually, he went back to those rural roots and opened his restaurant Turkey and the Wolf in the city’s Irish Channel district in 2016, bringing country store spirit to the masses. The restaurant’s eccentric, hyper-casual atmosphere and down-home cooking style attracts fans in droves. That same style carried over into Mason’s first cookbook, which he decided to name after the restaurant. Inside, the…

NEXT TO CHRISTMAS MORNING, summer is the sweetest time in a boy’s life. Growing up on River Road in St. James, the possibilities were endless. With the June Rise, the bar pits were overfilled with water, trapping fish of all sizes in these 6- to 8-foot-deep ponds*. My five brothers and I could hardly wait to get down to business. As soon as we topped the levee, we stripped to our Fruit of the Looms, dove into the cool Mississippi River water, and swam to the nearest willow trees. That’s when things got interesting! Because Bo’boy was the oldest, he held pride of place in shimmying up the willow tree with a spool of nylon twine to find the sturdiest branch, preferably 2 inches thick. He securely tied a wad…

SHRIMP-STUFFED EGGPLANT MAKES 6 SERVINGS The fried eggplant “pirogue” was made famous by Chef Paul Prudhomme. We loved it back then, and we love it now! 3 Japanese or small eggplantsVegetable oil, for frying1¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided1 tablespoon Creole seasoning1 cup whole milk, divided3 large eggs, lightly beaten2 cups plain bread crumbs, divided¼ cup unsalted butter, divided1 pound peeled and deveined medium fresh shrimp½ cup finely chopped yellow onion¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic1 dried bay leaf½ teaspoon kosher salt½ cup heavy whipping cream¼ cup dry white wine1½ cups shredded fontina cheese½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided½ cup chopped green onion1 teaspoon fresh chopped thymeGarnish: chopped fresh thyme 1. Peel eggplants; remove tops, and cut eggplants in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, scoop…

Is there anything better than a piece of crispy, golden-brown fried chicken? Short answer: not likely. We all know that it plays a pivotal role in our region’s culinary story as well as the cuisine we serve today. Louisiana-born national chains—including Popeyes and Raising Cane’s—have claimed something of a monopoly on quick-service chicken in the last few decades, but they’ll never compare to the heart and soul you get from each bite into tenders, wings, and more at many of your locally owned restaurants. Countless establishments across the state say they do fried chicken better than the rest, and we wish we could’ve sampled every last one. Maybe another day, though. There was a job to do—find the best of the best—and we did just that. Consider this our ode…

IS THIS RECIPE a shrimp boil? No, it is not. Does this recipe taste like a shrimp boil? Yes! Packed with sweet, tender Louisiana shrimp and a bountiful host of mix-ins (including andouille, potatoes, mushrooms, and more), this indoor weeknight version of the Bayou State pastime has got something for everyone in your family. To improve matters further, we’ve suggested two sauces to help amp up the flavor: an herby garlic butter and your favorite prepared rémoulade. SHEET PAN SHRIMP BOIL MAKES 4 SERVINGS All your favorite shrimp boil flavors in one easy weeknight dish. 1 pound small gold potatoes2 tablespoons kosher salt1 sweet potato, cut into ½-inch pieces1 red onion, cut into 1-inch wedges2 heads garlic, tops cut off2 lemons, halved1 (12-ounce) package andouille sausage, sliced crosswise diagonally2 ears…

SUMMERTIME is for sweets, and if hummingbird cake isn’t making an appearance at your parties and potlucks this time of year, then you and your loved ones are surely missing out. Its fans serve up slice after slice for any occasion or celebration, but Nealy Frentz of LOLA in Covington sends out servings of her favorite cake day after day from the kitchen she shares with Keith, her husband and partner. For her, it’s not just another pick from the dessert menu—it’s a little taste of happiness for guests, using a recipe she’s held close to her heart her entire life. Q What makes this recipe so special to you? This is actually one of my grandmother’s recipes. She loved desserts so much, and she made sure to have one…

RECIPE INDEX Appetizers Chile-Lime Crab Claws 27 Creamy Pesto Shrimp 60 Fried Eggplant Sticks 74 Prosciutto-and-Cantaloupe Canapés 52 Tomato-Shrimp Shooters 33 Beverages Corpse Bride 94 Minty Melon Mojitos 71 Spicy Watermelon Margaritas 52 Desserts Asian Pear Crisp 51 Doberge Cake 37 Hummingbird Cake 92 Key Lime Icebox Pie 85 Nectarine-Plum Upside-Down Cake 51 Peach-Vanilla Queenies 51 Frostings and Glazes Cream Cheese Frosting 92 Chocolate Buttercream 38 Chocolate Ganache 38 Meat, Game, and Poultry Chicken-Fried Steak Sandwich 90 Homemade No-Bean Chili 82 Hot Sausage Breakfast Sandwiches 63 Muffuletta Burgers 63 New Orleans-Style Hot Sausage 63 Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs 82 Sauces, Seasonings, and Condiments Bird Sauce 95 Herb Mayonnaise 66 Rémoulade Sauce 32 Spicy Mayonnaise 66 Seafood Catfish Courtbouillon 40 Fried Catfish 74 Grilled Redfish Sandwiches 66 Pickled Okra Crab Salad…