I am sure many of you have seen Emeril Lagasse give his food a giant "BAM" while tossing in some of his Essence spice mix. After trying his, and a few others, I have refined my own personal mix that I think you'll like.
Cajun / Creole Seasoning Mix
Try this recipe for a seasoning mix with a New Orleans kick. Less salt than Emeril's with more Garlic and a touch of Cumin for a little smokiness.
Wisk all ingredients together and pour into an empty spice shaker. You can take the one used for the Onion Powder, bag the powder, and rinse and dry the container.
2 TBS Paprika
3 TBS Granulated Garlic Powder2 TBS Cayenne Pepper
1 TBS Salt
1 TBS Black Pepper
1 TBS Onion Powder
1 TBS Thyme
1 TBS Oregano
1/2 tsp Cumin
I will be posting a "Basic Kitchen Set-up" that will tell you all of the spices and gadgets you should have. For now, you could make a trip to Big Lots to buy all of the spices needed for the Cajun / Creole mix.
Also, this could make a cool little gift. Just print up a label... "Your Name's Secret Cajun/Creole Spice".
Hi Dan! Just cruised over here from Laura's and I am totally jealous of her! :) I can't wait to try out that jambalaya recipe tonight - yum! Keep up the great posts *that's my tummy talkin'*...
ReplyDeleteThanks Martha! I think I will put up my Summer Stew recipe in a couple of days... it is hearty enough for fall, kind of like a good chili.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, if you like your spice mix extra fine, put the whole mixture into a coffee grinder for a minute... but not too long or it will be a powder (harder to work with).
ReplyDeleteOK... you got me intrigued! I may have to try this! How do you go about blackening something anyway? I remember high heat and heavy smoke at the restaurant I worked at, so I've been reluctant to do it at home, even on the grill. I love to buy all of my spices and mixes at "Penzey's" on the web. LOVE that place! BTW how come this site has spell check, but Laura's doesn't? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteDanny Boy - I love your Cajun/Creole mix, you know I do, just please don't put it on EVERYTHING! Teehee. Just kidding.
ReplyDeleteHey, Becky! As far as spellcheck on my blog, I don't know... perhaps I have to enable it. Dan's not only the cook in the family - he's also the techno-genius!
Becky, not sure about the spell check feature, I think Laura may simply have it turned off.
ReplyDeleteAs for blackening fish/seafood, it is all about not burning. You can do it inside (which does tend to smoke a lot) if you have a good exhaust fan on your stove, or you can do it on the grill. When it was first made by Paul Purdhomme, it was simply a heavily seasoned redfish with a nice blacked (but not burned crust). What I would do is melt a stick of butter/marg. Dip the fish / seafood in the melted butter, coating completely. Then season it with a fair amount of cajun/creole seasoning (to your tast). Put the remaining butter into a frying pan (cast iron works best) turn to med-high. As soon as the butter starts to bubble, add the fish / seafood. Do not turn until the bottom starts to blacken. Depending on your stove, you may have to increase / decrease the heat. Once one side is blackened, turn over... it should only take about half the time for the second side to blacken.
You can do this on the grill in the cast iron pan, or skip cooking in a pan all-together and go for the easy grill-version... coat fish/seafood in olive oil, season heavily with cajun/creole seasoning, and grill until blackened... This is not the traditional way (see above), but it really does achieve the same results... you could even melt half a stick of butter, add 1 TBS seasoning, and drizzle the end product... spicy hot!!
Mmmmm thanks! I may have to give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI may be really tied up for a day or 2. Our dog just got a mouth full of porcupine quills tonight. Called the vet, on call, and we're keeping him quiet until first thing tomorrow morning. I'll be in Gaylord ASAP. Poor pup!