Discover the spicy goodness of traditional southwestern Louisiana food.
By Janet Groene, F47166
January 2012
French, Cajun, and Creole flavors are the crown jewels of Louisiana cuisine, where good dishes begin with a cooked flour-fat mixture known as a roux. Come to the state’s southwest corner to discover the best in gumbo, boudin, sweet dough pies, and much more. Just east of Beaumont, Texas, and far enough from New Orleans to have its own unique culture, the Lake Charles area is known for traditional Cajun classics, especially the meat-and-rice sausage known as boudin (boo-DAN).
More than two dozen shops make up the area’s Boudin Trail. Some of the stops are restaurants, while others are retail establishments. Most are family-owned-and-operated and are so much a part of the community that hunters bring in their venison to have sausage made with the shop’s own secret spice mix and wood smoke treatment.
To be listed on the trail, shops must make their own boudin on the premises. Many are run by folks whose parents and grandparents started the business and whose children will continue it. They are glad to provide samples, tell you how to prepare different products, and will even heat up a couple of links for you to savor on the spot. Consult www.visitlakecharles.com for information about campgrounds, sight-seeing, and the addresses of shops that make up the Boudin Trail.
These shops sell spice mixes, boudin-stuffed birds, jerky, homemade venison sausage, fresh cracklins, boudin in flavors from mild to extra spicy, and local specialties such as boudin-stuffed ponce (pork stomach).
Here are recipes from the land of boudin, crawfish, crabmeat, gator tail, gumbo, okra, and rice with every meal.
Smothered Seafood
In Lake Charles this would be crawfish etouffee (from a French word that means smothered). However, crawfish isn’t found everywhere, so try this with any firm seafood (shrimp, mahimahi, cod, haddock, lobster tail). It’s traditionally served over steamed white rice.
4 cups bite-size seafood
1 cup butter
½ cup all-purpose flour
1 large onion, diced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 stalks celery, diced
1 quart chicken broth
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Steamed white rice
Cut up the seafood and set it aside. Melt the butter in a large skillet and stir in the flour. Cook the butter and flour mixture over medium heat until it turns beige brown (not copper-colored as for a roux used in gumbo). Stir in the onion, garlic, and celery, and then gradually stir in the chicken broth. Cover; reduce heat; and cook for 10 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Increase the heat and stir in the seafood and Worcestershire sauce. Cook until the seafood is firm. Spoon the seafood and sauce over the rice. This recipe makes six to eight servings.
Lemon Crab Sauce
Serve this buttery sauce over any grilled, baked, or fried fish. It’s a festive way to stretch a small catch.
1 small can of crabmeat, drained and picked over
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons dry white wine
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter
Salt, white pepper to taste
Prepare the crab and set it aside. Combine the cream, wine, and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir in the crab and butter and season to taste. Spoon the sauce over cooked fish. This recipe makes enough for approximately four portions of fish.
Charmoula Sauce L’Auberge
Lake Charles is Cajun to the core, but the city has an international side, too. Impeccable French cuisine shines at restaurants such as La Truffe Sauvage, and L’Auberge casino resort has the Ember Grille & Wine Bar, an upscale American steak house. Joseph Mulligan, senior executive chef at L’Auberge, celebrates local flavors as well as tastes of Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The resort has seven restaurants plus concert venues, shops, a spa, a barbershop, and 24-hour gaming.
This kicky Moroccan sauce is good with anything from tortilla chips to Louisiana shrimp, and it’s also a good marinade for meat or fish. Chef Mulligan makes it in a blender. It also can be made in a food processor or with a hand blender.
16 cloves garlic
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and cut up
½ cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Pinch salt, pepper
2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut up
1 ½ cups extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon paprika
Put the garlic, jalapenos, lemon juice, seasonings, and red peppers in a blender, food processor, or a deep container suitable for use with a hand blender. Process the mixture until it is smooth, gradually adding the olive oil in a slow stream. Add the paprika last. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
Cooks’ note: A hand blender, also called an immersion or wand blender, is a plus for the motorhome galley, because it takes up so little space. Get a heavy-duty brand such as Cuisinart that can whip potatoes, make smoothies, and handle other blender tasks.
Shortcut Tamale Pie
This big casserole is ideal for a campground potluck. Prepare the ground beef yourself or use cooked crumbles from the supermarket.
2 cans tamales
1 12-ounce package fully cooked beef crumbles
1 large onion, diced
1 large green sweet pepper, diced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 can chili with beans
2 cans cream-style corn
Approximately 1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
In a greased 9-inch-by-13-inch casserole, arrange the tamales in a single layer. Cover with the beef crumbles. Saute the onion and pepper in hot oil until softened and sprinkle over casserole. Top with the chili and corn. Bake at 350 degrees until heated through; sprinkle with the cheese; and return to the oven for a few minutes until the cheese melts. This recipe makes eight to 10 servings.
Roasted Louisiana Oysters
1 medium onion, diced
1 stick butter, divided
½ teaspoon dried thyme
2 pints shucked oysters
Hot pepper sauce
1 cup bread crumbs
Saute the onion in 1/2-stick of butter until it softens. Add the thyme and oysters, including the juice. Add four to six drops of hot pepper sauce. When the oysters curl, put the mixture in a baking dish coated with butter or nonstick spray; sprinkle with bread crumbs; and drizzle with the remaining butter, melted. Bake at 425 degrees until the topping browns. This recipe serves four.
Chicken And Sausage Gumbo
This is my version of a gumbo I ordered in a hole-in-the-wall restaurant in rural southwest Louisiana. In that area, roux can be purchased in jars, but it, too, can burn, so use it with care. Powdered roux also is sold there. Make sure to follow the instructions on the package. Pungent local sausages are best when making a gumbo.
Every Cajun cook will tell you “the only right way” to make a roux, so don’t be daunted. Just develop your own “right way.” Basically, every roux begins by combining half fat and half flour, cooked low and slow until it turns the color of a copper penny.
The fat could be vegetable oil, rendered animal fat, vegetable shortening, or butter, depending on the cook’s preferences. In this recipe I start with ½ cup canola oil and ½ cup flour. With practice you may be able to use less oil, although the roux will burn faster if you’re not careful.
To begin, add the flour to the oil in a heavy pan over medium heat and begin stirring. Keep stirring and reduce heat when the mixture begins to turn brown. Continue to stir until the roux turns to a copper color. If it burns, it’s ruined. Discard it and start again. Stirring is also important when using roux from a jar. If you don’t keep stirring, it can burn.
1 deli-roasted chicken
1 pound smoked sausage, cut up
1 cup flour
1 cup canola oil
2 medium onions, diced
2 green sweet peppers, diced
4 large stalks celery, diced
3 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 cups water
1 quart chicken broth
Salt, pepper, hot pepper sauce to taste
3 cups cooked white rice
Cut up the chicken and sausage into bite-size pieces and set aside. In a large, heavy pot, stir together the flour and oil over medium heat to make a medium-dark brown roux. Stir constantly and also keep scraping the sides of the pot to prevent burning. When the roux is the right color, add the vegetables and stir constantly for approximately five minutes. Gradually add the seasonings, water, and chicken broth. Add the chicken and sausage; cover; and cook over low heat until heated through. Remove the bay leaves and adjust seasonings.
To serve, put 1/3-cup rice in each soup bowl and ladle the gumbo over rice. Or, ladle the gumbo into bowls and serve the white rice on the side. This recipe makes eight to nine servings.
Sweet Dough Sweet Potato Pie
When children in the Lake Charles area come home from school, a traditional treat is this “pie” with a glass of milk. Unlike pastry crusts, this dough is thick and cookie-like, enveloping a custard-like filling. Because the dough has to be chilled overnight, it’s a good sweet treat to make at home to bake later in the motorhome.
4 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1½ sticks butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
½ cup milk
1 egg white
Put the flour, baking powder, and salt in a zip-top bag; seal; and shake to mix well. Set aside. Beat the sugar into softened butter, gradually adding the vanilla, egg, egg yolk, and milk. Stir in the dry ingredients to make a stiff dough. Wrap and chill overnight. This makes enough dough for one 9-inch or 10-inch deep-dish pie plate.
Roll out half the dough and line the pie plate. Fill with your favorite sweet potato or pumpkin pie filling. Roll out the remaining dough to make a top crust and flute the edges. Whip the egg white with a fork until frothy and brush it on the dough. Bake at 350 degrees until the crust is golden brown. Cool and cut into wedges.
Louisiana Dirty Rice
“Dirty” rice is a favorite food throughout the South. Before the Civil War, after chickens were cleaned, slaves were given unwanted parts such as the gizzards, hearts, and livers. They turned them into tasty, nutritious dishes such as this one. This Southwest Louisiana recipe uses gizzards or giblets plus ground meat.
½ pound chicken giblets (heart, gizzard, or liver, or all or any one or two)
½ cup water
½ pound ground pork, beef, turkey, or chicken
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ cup water
1 large stalk celery, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup long-grain rice
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning (or to taste)
Bring the giblets and water to a boil; cover; and reduce heat. Cook until the giblets are very tender. Cool and very finely chop the giblets. Save the cooking broth; add more water to make 2 cups; and set aside. Fry the ground meat in hot oil, gradually stirring in the celery, onion, and rice. Add the liquid and giblets; bring to a boil; cover; reduce heat; and cook without stirring or uncovering for 20 minutes. Adjust the seasonings, fluff the rice, and serve. This recipe makes four main dish servings. Pass the hot pepper sauce.
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