We had an absolute blast. Fred set the table even before we got there with this E-mail Menu
MENU FOR ST. JUDE'S TRIP
Tuesday Night (January 8th):
I figure we’ll be busy telling lies and introducing ourselves, so we will keep it quick, but oh so good. I was thinking grilled steaks with Kip Manuel’s famous crawfish etouffee piled on top. Add a salad and bread ... SA CE BON!!!
Did I mention Corn Soup with Shrimp for an appetizer? pure heaven guys!
Wednesday Night (January 9th):
This is a little piece of heaven from Avoyelles/Evangeline Parish which speaks to the essence and soul of this proud land. You will “feel” like a lifelong resident from the first bite. We are going for super simplicity tonight, but that doesn’t mean we are letting our cooking talents wavier. In fact, gaining strength if anything! This guy could make you eat your shoes AND SOCKS in a gravy! My good buddy, Josh Townsend (aka the Ragin Cajun himself) will be cooking pantoilettes, maque choux, loaded potatoes, and rice and gravy … THAT’S IT!
I know it may sound simple when compared to last nights menu, but don’t let simplicity cloud your judgment. This is just plain ….. simple ….. soulfully good food that has to be eaten to be appreciated. TOTAL consumption is the goal. Throwing the last bit of the potatoes into the remaining smidgen of gravy as a way of getting every drop is a great plan too.
Appetizers ….. I guess backstrap would be good.
Thursday Night (January 10th):
Let’s see, we have menus for Tuesday and Wednesday nights. Time for a change of pace ….. Thursday Night’s Menu is seafood, and lots of it.
The main course is going to be catfish courtboullion on a bed of Louisiana rice. The St. Landry Parish chef I have in mind does not use any cooking utensils when preparing this dish, preferring to shake and swirl the pot instead of stirring it with a spoon. This prevents the fish from falling apart (and extends the cooking time those few extra minutes) for absolute cooking perfection. While he makes it look easy, absolute heat control is the key to this dish, and I can assure you he has perfected it.
BTW, I have never seen this dish cooked without A LOT of beer being consumed. I’ve tried not to interject anything about the quantity of beer we drink during our cooking escapades, but the subject was bound to come up sooner or later. For the novice, we would like to caution him/her that this shaking/swirling action is MUCH harder than it looks and it can get REALLY complicated after a dozen or so beers. For this reason, it’s the one receipt that WE WOULD NOT RECOMMEND EVER TRYING AT HOME.
A generous side of fresh homemade potato salad from Dennis Soileau (good Cajun name) and hot Sister Shubert bread rounds out the main meal. Why the bread you say? Well we have found that having bread to “slop up” the final contents of the bowl GREATLY reduces the embarrassing occurrence of watching first timers trying to lick the bowl’s final contents! It’s that good guys.
Appetizers ….. hmmmmmm, well I was thinking alligator legs, fried oysters, and fried frog legs would be a nice change of pace ..... and if the season permits, we’ll add some fried crab fingers. All this from Chef Bowfreak himself!
It’s a large menu and you will be stuffed, but it will be worth it. As always, I will be supervising every one of these dishes to assure it reaches absolute perfection. After all, my camp has a reputation to uphold!
Friday Night (January 11th):
My brother MAY be on hand to cook a “little” seafood gumbo for an appetizer …. a sample of what’s to come tomorrow. The best gumbo is started the night before and be allowed to reach “maturity” the next day. Tonight’s about recharging the batteries in anticipation for Saturday’s blowout.
We’ll be at Al Huguet’s Camp. We’ll be hunting in the wet thick stuff trying to get on a good deer at his place. We’ll also be eating at his camp tonight. Pot roasted teal (heck I might even stir the pot tonight), black eyes with andouille sausage and some grilled backstrap.
Saturday (January 12th):
Saturday will be a day of rest (well sort of) ….. I think I have saved the best for last ….. the “joie de vivre” I’ve been promising y’all. You are about to experience Cajun life to it’s fullest, or at least as full as I can share it with you in the short amount of time you are going to be here. A little day of celebrating the many blessing we have here in Louisiana. I’m not sure how many people will be there, because no one is ever turned away from a good Cajun party. We’ll kick the party off about 2:00 PM (after a morning hunt), but you can bet some fires will already be lit.
I can’t speak to the exact foods on the menu because I have decided that an event like this can only be handled by my twin brother Freddy. That’s right, my name is Fred (actually Frederick) and I have a twin brother named Freddy! I may get to that story later, but safe to say it is pretty funny. Some people would say we are the Barry and Gene of Cajun Land!!!
To be honest, I almost hate to get him involved, because he is the definition of overkill and cajun hospitality. The last time I put him in charge, a little party of 20 turned into a completely unannounced party of 120 people or so that he “just couldn’t turn away” …… and still we had food left over, but that’s my bro, and I love him. I figure the leftovers can be used to top off care packages for the homeless or Yankees. Figure on at least 10 dishes being cooked by him and his cooking crew over the afternoon and NOBODY actually eats dinner by the time it rolls around. I am sure you will also leave with a few of his Cajun cooking secrets and stories. I would try and get some specifics from him, but he’s not much on “advanced planning” ….. he kind of lets it come to him and his crew at the very end. I will say, however, that his resources are nearly endless (his crew cooks for 1,000 as effortlessly as we cook for two) so who knows what or who will be there. I will go out on the limb (just to wet your palette) and say that you can pretty much count on seafood gumbo, baby backed ribs with a Cajun twist, Cajun microwave pig (whole hog), jambalaya, red beans and rice, boudin, cracklins (I might get someone to cook them from scratch so y’all can see how it’s done), crawfish fettuccine, bacon wrapped jumbo shrimp, bread stuffed with crawfish etouffee, fried everything, more stuffed chickens and our own version of a hopped up BANG BANG SHRIMP …. oh and pecan pies and king cakes. Drinks ? … we usually fill the 14’ wooden pirogue (handcrafted by my Dad and I almost 35 years ago) full of beer, wine, and other drinks! Rule #2, no one ever gets thirsty. The camp fire will be roaring, the Cajun music will be playing, and you will see, hear and be constantly surrounded by the “joie de vivre” that is CAJUN LAND!
Sunday (January 13th):
Whoa, I’m worn out!!! A couple of Hebert’s Boneless Stuffed Chickens tonight. This is a meal in itself.
Topic: Cajun Getaway (Read 1343 times)
