Smothered Okra

2 pounds fresh young okra
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt and pepper
1 cup tomatoes, canned or fresh

Wash whole okra and dry thoroughly with paper towels.
Slice into
1 /8- to 1/4-inch rounds.
Sauté in oil over medium
heat until okra stops “stringing,” stirring frequently.
This could
take 20 to 30 minutes.
Do not let it brown.
Add onion and garlic
and sauté until they soften.
Add seasoning and
tomatoes (and some juice too).
Allow to simmer at least 10 minutes
or longer.

Serves 6.

Spicy Seafood Gumbo

1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 medium onions, chopped
8 stalks celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
4 (15 ounce) cans chicken broth
2 (28 ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
2 (10 ounce) packages frozen okra, sliced, thawed
1 pound crab claws
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon hot sauce
5 bay leaves
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
2 teaspoons dried whole thyme
2 teaspoons dried whole basil
2 teaspoons dried whole oregano
2 teaspoons sage
1 teaspoon pepper
2 pounds medium-size shrimp, unpeeled
1 quart oysters, undrained
1 pound crab meat
1 pound fish fillets, cut into 1-inch cubes
Hot cooked rice
File powder (optional)

Combine oil and flour in a cast iron skillet; cook over medium
heat for 20 minutes, stirring constantly, until roux is brown, but
NOT black.

Stir in onion, celery, and garlic; cook 10 minutes, stirring
often.
Transfer mixture to a Dutch oven.
Add chicken broth,
tomatoes, okra, crab claws, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, bay
leaves, parsley, thyme, basil, oregano, sage and pepper; simmer 2
hours, stirring occasionally.

Peel and devein shrimp.
Add shrimp, oysters, crab meat and fish
to Dutch oven; simmer 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove and discard bay
leaves.
Serve gumbo over hot rice and, if desired, sprinkle with
file.

Pepper Shrimp

This is a dish made famous by Pascal Manale’s restaurant on
Napolean Avenue in New Orleans.
It was known as “Barbecued
Shrimp.”

5 pounds large shrimp (7 pounds with head on)
1 pound butter
1/2 cup freshly-ground black pepper

Rinse and drain shrimp and place them, unpeeled, in a single
layer in a large shallow baking pan.
Cut each stick of butter in
two to make eight pieces and place on top of the shrimp.
Grind
peppercorns in a spice grinder or blender to make 1/2 cup and
sprinkle the pepper evenly over the shrimp.
Bake at 350 degrees F
for 45 minutes, turning the shrimp at least twice to absorb the
pepper-butter on all sides.

Serve directly from the pan with a loaf of sliced French bread
so that guests can peel the shrimp as they go and sop up the sauce
with hunks of bread.
Provide a platter of hot washcloths, also.

Serves 4 to 8.

Po’ Boy Oyster Loaf with Garlic Butter

This “po’ boy” is made to look like a pirogue, by hollowing out
the insides of a long crusty loaf until it looks like a wooden
canoe plying the bayou.

48 oysters, shucked
1 cup Masa HarinaÂ
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 loaf Italian or French bread (about 18 inches long)
1/4 pound butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
Lard or oil (for frying)

Drain oysters well; if you like, save their liquor for another
use.
Mix Masa Harina with seasonings in a paper bag;
add oysters, and shake well to coat them on all sides.

Split the loaf of brad in half lengthwise.
With a sharp spoon,
scoop out the insides, top and bottom, laving a 1/2-inch thick
shell.
Melt butter with the garlic and brush on the inside, top and
bottom of the loaf.
Toast the buttered sides under a broiler until
golden brown.

Heat lard or oil in a wok or skillet until hot but not smoking
and add the oysters a few at a time to brown quickly, 2 to 3
minutes.
Remove with a slotted spoon and place them in the bottom
crust until all are cooked.
Cover with top crust and present as a
loaf.

To serve, remove top crust, spoon out the oysters, and cut
slices of the crust to go with them.

Serves 4.

Shrimp Creole

2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 cups sliced scallions
1 cup chopped onion
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 (16 ounce) can tomatoes
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
4 tablespoons red wine
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 slices fresh lemon
2 cups water or fish stock
2 pounds raw shrimp, peeled
4 cups cooked rice

In a very heavy kettle heat oil and flour, stirring constantly.
Cook and stir until a medium brown roux is formed.
Add onions,
pepper, garlic and parsley to cool the roux, then lower heat and
continue cooking until vegetables brown slightly.
Mix in tomatoes
and tomato sauce.
Add wine and seasonings and mix.
Bring mixture to
a low boil.
Add water or stock to desired consistency.
When mixture
boils, reduce heat and simmer about 1 hour.
Add shrimp; cover, and
simmer for 20 minutes more; do not overcook shrimp.
Adjust
seasonings if necessary.

Serve over boiled rice.

Yields 6 to 8 servings.

South Louisiana Chicken Spaghetti

4 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 tablespoons flour
1 (4 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (4 ounce) can tomato paste
Salt and pepper
Meat tenderizer
AccentÂ
Season-AllÂ
Cayenne pepper
3 large onions
1/2 bunch celery
1 bunch shallots
1/4 green bell pepper
1 large can mushrooms stems and pieces
1 cup packed brown sugar
5 bay leaves
1/2 squeezed lemon, with rind
AccentÂ
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper
1 cup sweet red wine

In a large, iron pot, slowly heat oil and flour, very slowly and
stirring all the while.
Keep fire low as possible and stir
constantly with a spatula, for this roux burns easily.
Cook until
the roux is the color of milk chocolate.

Meanwhile, prepare an additional roux of tomato sauce and tomato
paste.
In another iron skillet, combine tomato paste and tomato
sauce and cook over very low flame, stirring constantly.
This
usually takes longer than the flour roux.
The roux will be done
when it turns a dark brown color.

While the roux is being cooked, season chicken that has been cut
into small pieces by sprinkling on salt and pepper, meat
tenderizer, AccentÂ, Season-All and cayenne pepper.
Dip
each piece in flour and brown on all sides.
Set aside.

Finely chop onions, celery, shallots and bell pepper.
Sauté in the finished flour roux until vegetables are
tender, stirring constantly.
If the roux begins to stick, add a
very small amount of oil.

Add the browned chicken, mushrooms, tomato roux and enough water
to give a good liquid consistency, but not watery.
Bring to boil,
then immediately turn down to simmer.
Add brown sugar, bay leaves,
lemon juice with rind, AccentÂ, oregano,
Tabasco sauce, and salt and pepper.
Simmer, stirring
occasionally, for 3 to 4 hours, or until chicken begins to fall off
the bone.

Fifteen minutes before the chicken is done, add 1 cup of any
sweet red wine, the sweeter the better.

Serve over cooked spaghetti.