A Dinner O’Cajun

Isn’t it a pity New York seems to have a relative dearth of really good cajun restaurants? There’s tons of barbecue and even soul food spots, but New Orleans-style cajun cookin’ is hard to come by. Menupages.com listed only 25 restaurants in the “Cajun and Creole” category, and from just eyeballing it I noticed some that were definitely not. I wondered about this after visiting Portland last summer and eating at a great, cute restaurant called Montage which served an extensive cajun-inspired menu and was crammed with locals every night. They even served dishes with gator meat; this was Portland, about as geographically far from New Orleans as you could get in the continental US. So why have I never seen gator meat in New York before?

Needless to say, there was no gator to be found at butchers, but that didn’t stop me from making a few cajun dishes for a bunch of friends this long weekend. According to wikipedia, a common theory for the etymology of jambalaya is that the first half of the word refers to “ham,” a key ingredient, and the second half derives from a creole word for “everybody talking at once.” Basically, it’s a party with ham, I thought. But no party is complete with just ham (unless you were at my birthday party at the Cherry Tree), so along with the Jambalaya I made some Green Gumbo or Gumbo Z’Herbes which happens to be vegan, deep-fried hush puppies, pecan pie and a few types of bruschetta pictured above that I call Bayou Crackers.

None were difficult to make at all; it’s the old chop-and-throw-in-the-pot type of dishes that really need little attention, which is good for entertaining. I researched and combined recipes from various online recipes like this one in epicurious.com. The basics of cajun cooking are just beginning to come together–making a roux, the holy trinity of onion, celery and green pepper. I was breaking the first rule of having a dinner party: never cook something that you haven’t tried making before. Luckily, it wasn’t a disastrous move.

Jambalaya gets soaked with broth made from the shrimp shells and chicken bones

Green Gumbo or Gumbo Z’Herbes, a traditional New Orleans lent gumbo


Pecan pie made from the recipe on the Karo dark corn syrup label–tried and true

Bayou Crackers
(Makes about 25 pieces)

Shrimp variation:
1 lb tiger shrimp, whole
12-15 half-inch thick slices of a baguette, lightly toasted
Fresh parsley for garnish
(for the marinade)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp olive oil
(for the spread)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp chipotle sauce (optional)

Veggie variation
4 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tb olive oil
1/8 tsp salt
About 12 half-inch slices of a baguette, lightly toasted
Same spread described above (optional)
2 Tb fresh parsley, chopped

Peel and de-vein shrimp, saving shells for another use. After the shrimp have marinated in the spices, garlic, and olive oil for about 20 minutes, heat a frying pan. Cook shrimp on both sides until done, about 2-3 minutes per side depending on how large the shrimp are. Spread the slices of bread with the spicy mayonnaise, and place shrimp on each one. For the veggie variation, combine the tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, and salt and let sit in the refrigerator for at least half an hour before placing on top of bread. Can be served with or without the spread (I served three variations for the vegan and vegetarian guests). Garnish with fresh parsley, and serve before bread gets soggy.

Cost Calculator
(for about 25 different pieces)
1 lb tiger shrimp: $6.99
1 baguette: $2.00
4 plum tomatoes (at $0.99/lb): $0.80
1/2 yellow onion: $0.20
1/2 cup green pepper: $0.30
Few handfulls fresh parsley (at $0.99/bunch): $0.35
Olive oil, mayonnaise, tabasco, chipotle sauce: $0.25
Spices, garlic: $0.10

Total: $10.99

Health Factor

Three brownie points – bruschetta can be one of the most pure and healthy appetizers there are, a salad on a large crouton. So dressing it up a little bit can’t hurt too much. The best part about it–the leftover veggie bruschetta, which I used the next morning to scramble into an omelette.