Smoked Hen, Sausage, Aundouille, Gumbo

Those of you who read our blogs may recall the smoked hens I brought home from our buddy Sam's smokehouse.

Those of you who have not come across the tale of me going to friend Sam's outdoor kitchen to help him break is and season his new cypress smokehouse the story is here:
http://cappyandpegody.blogspot.com/2014/11/saying-goodbye-to-old-friend.html
It was an aromatic trip home with all of that 'smokeylicousness' assaulting my nostrils to be sure, and when I hit the door back home, hens in hand, Peggy said, "One of those birds goes in the fridge for gumbo."  The other 2 got stored in the freezer and the next morning Peggy had one boiling away on the stove.  After it cooled she took it out and pulled it off the bone before returning it to the stock it boiled in.

To the well-seasoned smokey stock she added onion, peppers, celery and sausage and homemade andouille sausage, and as usual, our own Cajun spice, some 'woo', and hot sauce.

The andouille sausage pictured above was made and smoked by our good friend Todd.  While the stock simmered, I took out Peggy's special gluten-free flour mix to make a roux.

 This stuff makes a good roux; the only thing is ya hafta use more than ya would a regular flour roux.

Some of you may be thinking I am nuts making a roux with a spoon but this aint no ordinary spoon.

Part spoon part spatula, its a Cajun creation, a roux spoon.  The flat end allows ya to cover the bottom of the pot and prevent burning.  With me stirring and the burner set pretty hot it didn't take long for me to have a nice rusty colored roux.

 We added the roux to the gumbo and let is simmer for an hour or so and it made a really nice gravy.

This was a wonderful pot of gumbo and like most things of this nature even better the next day.

The amazing thing is that there was any left for the next day cause we both had a couple servings of this amazing Cajun soup.

A Sudden Steamy Summer Saturday BBQ.

So there I sat one hot summer Saturday, having just put some spur-of-the moment chicken on the pit and some redfish thawing in the sink. I was opening my first beer to the sounds of "the Blues" coming from my outdoor speakers when it suddenly dawned on me, "Oh snap!!! (or some other sailor expletive) I forgot to take pictures!"  So I jumped up and dashed into the house in such a hurry that my unopened beer was left teetering on the table.  I ran back outside with my camera, threw open the pit and snapped a picture, hoping it not too late to be able to catch some photos to include in this blog post.  The result was about what ya would expect after taking a camera from an air conditioned house to the steam-bath that is our back patio these days.

My camera fogged up so bad I could barely make out the chicken.  It was some time till the camera warmed up and was able to not fog back up every time I wiped the lens, and by that time the chicken was half done and my beer was hot, but as yet unopened so I traded it for another from the ice chest and settled down again to commence my relaxing Saturday.

After a couple beers, (they make great timers),  I went back into the kitchen for a smooch and to season the Redfish.

When we filet fish for the grill we leave the skin and scales on the filet and this makes it much easier to grill, because the support of the skin and scales keeps the fish from falling apart. In this case, the seasoned Redfish were placed skin and scales side down on the pit and basted with a spicy butter lemon basting sauce.

Now things were going well; the fish were cooking and the chicken was almost done.

The only problem was, it was too early and I was looking forwards to an afternoon of bbq, beer drinking and da Blues.  So we sauced the chicken with Peggy's home made BBQ sauce, and put it in a dishpan with a little water to keep it moist, parked the fish on top and sat around enjoying the afternoon for an hour.

  Peggy added her bbq'd beans and bread-and-butter pickles and "Wha-Lah-Lah-Dee-Dah!Well worth the wait and none too shabby for a sudden urge to fire up the old pit.

Pegody's EASY Bread and Butter Pickles

Our first batch of cucumbers came in, fast and furious, and, try as we might, we still couldn't gobble them up or give them away quickly enough, so right away, we took to making our bread and butter pickles. So easy. There are three things that I have to get to the same heat temperature, put them together and tah-dah...pickles!

The First thing I need to get to the right temperature of 212 fahrenheit (boiling temp.) is the pan of veggies in a pot on the stove with their spices.

The Second thing I need to have at boiling temp. is, all the lids, rings, funnel and utensils in a pan of boiling water.

The Third thing I need HOT (212 degrees) is clean, hot canning jars in the oven.

So, first slice the cucumbers...no measuring; just a big dishpan full, like so. 

 Slice three large onions, four if kinda small, add to the cucumbers.

 Take two bell peppers and slice them, then slice those in half and peel a bulb of garlic, using all the cloves. (I take a wide cutting knife, put it on each clove, lean hard on it, then it's easier to peel them.)  

 I leave the garlic cloves whole and add them and the bell peppers to the cukes.

Next I add about four double handfuls of ice cubes, along with 1/2 cup of kosher or non-iodine sea salt.

I add the salt and ice cubes, then stir them all around either with a large spoon, or my hands, to get it all stirred in well, then let it sit for three hours, stirring them about every 15 min. or so, whenever I remember, lol. But they do have to be stirred, to get the ice and salt around and kind of evenly dispersed.

While I'm waiting and "lolling" around eating bon bons with me feet up (yeah, RIGHT) I put the spices into a large stainless steel pot. (spice recipe @ the bottom of this page)

I put all the utensils I'll need to assemble the jars. Everything that comes in contact with the jars, I sterilize. The rings, the lids, the food funnel, the tongs (to get the lids and rings out of the boiling water), the spoon that I'll used to get the pickles out of the big pot and into the jars. I'll put them in water on the stove at the ready...not heating yet, but ready.

I'll take the jars that I've first run through the dishwasher, put them into the oven at 212. It won't hurt them to sit in the oven hot and waiting.

 After three hours,I turn the heat on for the pot of utensils and get them simmering, then I drain the veggies, and do not rinse them, but put them directly into the pot with their spices, then heat them to 212 degrees. I use a thermometer to make sure the pickles are at 212, so that all three things: veggies, jars and utensils are all at the same temp.

This is just me, I'm sure, but I am always nervous about getting burned, so I mentally practice how I'm going to put them all together before I start. I have the towels and pot holders laid out.
   I take a towel, open the oven, carefully grab a hot jar, set it on the counter ON a towel(!), take the funnel, set it on the jar, put in a set of hot peppers, take the spoon and fill the jar with the pickles, take a lid with the tongs, put it on the jar, take a ring with the tongs, put it on the jar, take a towel, and screw the lid and ring on tight. Set it aside and repeat until all the jars are filled.

 Boy, oh boy, I sure hope I have't made all this sound confusing, because it really is easy, fun and rewarding. Once you learn you 'can can' this way, you are SPOILT. It's too easy.

Okay, as promised, here's the spice ingredients.

   3 cups of apple cider vinegar
   2 1/2 cups of honey (I use raw...healthy) 
   2 Tablespoons mustard seeds
   1 teaspoon of peppercorns
   1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds
   2 teaspoons of whole cloves
   1 Tablespoon of tumeric 

I've gotten so many compliments for these pickles. Once I made them and saw how simple they were to make, I almost felt guilty for all the praise that was being lavished on me. 
   Have fun; give it a try and let us know how it all went, and how people can't get over how "really, REALLY good your pickles are!"

Southern Fried Catfish and All Da Trimmin's

Earlier today I seasoned up a bowl of catfish strips with our own Cajun seasoning mix and parked the fish in the fridge.  I do this so the salt in the seasoning draws some of the moisture out of the fish and they up fry better that way.  About the same time, I started a pot of white beans to simmer with some leftover holiday ham pieces that we had squirreled away in the freezer for this very purpose.  I added some fresh onions from Sam's garden, our own Cajun seasonings and chopped onion green tops.  These simmered on the back burner, getting stirred  "watered" when needed.  
      This afternoon I took the seasoned fish out of the fridge and whooped up some egg wash:  Three eggs, a splash of milk and a Tablespoon of Grey Poupon mustard. ( The fancy mustard not cause we are snobby, as ya can more than plainly tell,  but 'cause it is wheat and gluten free.  We prefer regular ole Frenchy's yellow mustard but alas, due to recent changes over there, we can no longer trust them.)  ...So, our fish went through the egg wash and landed in a zip lock bag full of Zaterains Wonderful Fish Fry, which is a lightly seasoned corn flour that we use to fry everything when we want a good crust on it.  

The fish sat in the corn flour while Peggy sent me to the store for a jug of hamburger dill pickle slices.  Ever since I first turned her on to fried pickles we can't fry anything without dropping a batch of these in the grease.  Since I don't like to season my flour or egg wash, she waits to do the pickle slices last after the highly seasoned fish has passed through the egg wash and flour.

The most important thing about frying stuff is the temperature.  Folks who claim fried food is bad for you don't know how to fry food.  The magic temperature is 300 degrees.  As long as the temperature does NOT get below 300 degrees, the escaping steam from what you are frying escapes fast enough to keep grease from creeping into the food.  With thin things like fish strips or shrimp or thin cut chicken strips you can fry hot like 375-400 degrees  and they will crisp up and float when they are done to perfection.  With thicker things like chicken you have got to lower your cooking temp to like 325 so they can cook in the middle before the outside gets burnt.

 When done correctly your fried food will be crispy and delicious and take virtually no oil at all into them.

Add to that some white beans and rice and some gluten free pasta salad and you have a feast fit for a couple Round Robins 

Cajun Style Chicken Spaghetti

A favorite family supper when I was growing up, was Chicken Spaghetti.  I know when ya think of Cajun food, this aint the first thing ya think of. Cajuns are resourceful, and when I was a kid, we had chickens, and pasta was very cheap.  Tomatoes and peppers, etc. were from our yard, too, so this meal was a family favorite and very cheap to make.  The area I grew up in, this dish was often brought to church dinners, family gatherings and such.  My mother made her version that was very popular among friends and family, and was often requested.  Here is how she made it.
The recipe:
                              Cajun-Style (wheat and gluten free) Chicken Spaghetti


3-4 lbs of chicken (we used thighs)
2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrins is gluten free)
1 tablespoon Crystal Hot Sauce (most any 'GF' hot sauce will do)
2 tablespoons of oil
3 cups chopped onions
1/2 lb of smoked sausage
1- 7 oz. can mushroom pieces, drained
1- 10 oz. can original Rotel diced tomato with green chilies (do not drain)
1  can Hunts diced tomato (do not drain)
1/2 cup of Heinz catsup
1 tablespoon of Steen's Cane Syrup
1 bell pepper chopped
6 garlic cloves smashed and chopped
     (That's all for the sauce. For the spaghetti part, we used about a pound of Gluten Free Pasta. Schar's was the choice of the day.)
   In a bowl, season the chicken with the Cajun seasoning, Crystal hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  Brown the chicken in the oil till it is browned on both sides and about half-way cooked, for around 15 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the pot, then add the onions and sausage to the pot and brown them for 10 minutes or so till they tender and translucent.  Add the mushrooms, garlic, and both cans of tomatoes and cook them down till they have completely reduced and begin to caramelize, stirring frequently.  Add approximately a quart of water to build the sauce, then add 1/2 cup ketchup and a tablespoon Steen's Cane Syrup, and the bell pepper. At this point, return the chicken to the pot and simmer for half an hour while you prepare the pasta. 
    We used 1 lb of Schar Gluten free pasta. (One package, plus enough of another pkg. to make about a lb.)  This is one of the best pastas we have found so far.  We cooked it in water until it was half done,  then drained it and added it to the sauce, where it could continue cooking.  
   This is far and above my favorite chicken pasta dish, and Peggy says I have forever ruined her and she feels guilty leaving her Yankee spaghetti recipe on the sidelines. 

Here is our instructional video, in case ya get kinda confused about the products, etc.

I hope yall enjoy this as much as we do.  Let us know.

Cappy's Cajun-Style Gluten Free Chicken Etouffee

   Etouffee is an old Cajun sauce made from cooking down lots of onions into a rich golden brown gravy.  It can be done with most any meat and lends itself well to seafood and chicken.  The done-in-a-hurry restaurant version is usually thickened with flour or cornstarch as a shortcut, and is not traditional.  Our version is slow-cooked like Cajun country folks have been doing for hundreds of years.  It is simple and naturally Gluten Free so it fits Peg's diet requirements, with no changes needed.  The Recipe:


         Cajun Style Chicken Etouffee


1 tablespoon of oil (or meat drippin's)
2 or 3 lbs of chicken thighs (they were on sale)
1 tablespoon of Cajun Seasoning
1 tablespoon Crystal hot sauce (most any hot sauce will do)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (Lea and Perrins is gluten free)
1/2 lb smoked sausage sliced
6-8 cups of coarse chopped onion
1 small can of mushroom stems and pieces, drained 
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/2 cup of green onion greens

   Season the chicken thighs with the Cajun seasoning, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  Place it in a hot saucepan with the oil in it.  Sear the chicken on both sides, let cook for about 10 minutes and remove the chicken from the pot.  Put the onions and sausage in the pot and let them 'cook down', stirring often, and deglazing if necessary, till the onions have reduced and turned a golden brown color and the oil has separated.
    Replace the chicken to the pot, add enough water to cover it, stir and let simmer for an hour.  Uncover and skim any free oil from the surface of the etouffee, then add the bell pepper and green onion greens.
     Let simmer for another half hour and serve over cooked white rice.  This delicious dish is a Cajun country staple, and this is how they did it the "ole-fashioned' way.   

Now that ya know what it looks like, here is a Youtube video we made for yall to show how you, too can make this "slap yo mama good" Cajun wheat and gluten free dish.  Give this a try, and as always, we invite all comments, questions and criticisms.