1 comments about Cookin' Cajun Cooking School Cookbook.

1. When I lived in New Orleans I met the women that wrote this cookbook, and let me tell you - this is true "Nawlins" cooking. It has the best and easiest recipes for gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish etouffe and more. Yummy food, with great little stories and comments accompanying each recipe. You can't go wrong buying this - but don't expect any leftovers!!!)

No comments about Lee Bailey's New Orleans: Good Food And Glorious Houses.

4 comments about The Best of New Orleans (The Best of ...).

1. I really like this book...I visit New Orleans a few times a year and one day got the urge to cook New Orleans style. I saw this book and thought I'd give it a try. I really like it! It has most of the recipes you would want to cook from New Orleans. It's a good basic New Orleans Cookbook! Now, I just need to throw a Mardi Gras Party!!



2. For a native of Louisiana, long time expatriated, this brings back many memories of fantastic tastes, scrumptious flavors, a savor no one should be denied. Excellent recipes! Merci bouquet, lm



3. Having eaten several selections from the Best of New Orleans Cookbook, I knew the receipes were wonderful. Friends had shared the book back and forth for months. I prepared some of the dishes myself and was elated at how simple the food was to prepare and still how delicious it tasted.
   I have sense ordered The Best of Italy and The Best of France. I know they will be equally as rewarding
   
   These books are definitely among my favorites. Hands Down!



4. My wife presented me with this cookbook as a Christmas gift a couple of years back and I initially sighed to myself, thinking that here was yet another of those flashy, little culinary marketing devices with no real cooking foundation. My pre-judgement could not have been more wrong!
   
   I'll keep it brief but this diminutive 1994 volume features every essential Cajun/Creole recipe that you could ever wish for and they're all first-class renditions. You'll find top entries for all the well-known dishes (jambalaya, gumbo, etc.) but you'll additionally encounter some superb and lesser heard-of entries such as "Cajun Popcorn" and "Crab-Stuffed Mirliton".
   
   Here's the table of contents:
   
   1. First courses
   2. Breads and sandwiches
   3. Egg dishes
   4. Main courses
   5. Vegetables and side dishes
   6. Desserts and drinks
   7. Glossary
   8. Conversion tables
   9. Index
   
   I was thrilled to also discover that Paul Prudhomme had some heavy influence in this cookbook. Paul is "The King" in the realm of Cajun/Creole cooking as far as I'm concerned and some of his K-Paul Restaurant recipes are featured.
   
   This cookbook is 96 pages in length and the dimensions are 6 7/8" x 7". The work is heavily illustrated with beautiful color photographs (by Steven Mark Needham) of the various dishes. This is an especially important feature to the cook with these sorts of intricate ethnic recipes. The fonts, while not huge, are big enough to read easily; the book lies nicely flat when opened; and the paper is a good, heavy, slick stock which will somewhat repel spills and stains and can thus be wiped clean which such accidents occur.
   
   "The Best of New Orleans" is one of a series: all titles begin with "The Best of..." and they include California, China, France, India, Italy, the Mediterranean, Mexico, Spain, and Thailand.
   
   If you're into the exciting and flavorful fusion dishes of Cajun/Creole food this one is a must. The author, Brooke Dojny, has created a treasure with this entry. My highest recommendation.

5 comments about The Prudhomme Family Cookbook: Old-Time Louisiana Recipes by the Eleven Prudhomme Brothers and Sisters and Chef Paul Prudhomme.

1. This book has changed my taste buds forever. The food is SO good! IT takes a little more work than most of today's cookbooks, but the results are worth it. If you like food, you need this book.



2. Unfortunately out-of-print, this great book contains many, many recipes from Chef Paul Prudhomme's family, along with a few from the King of Blackening himself. Meticulously detailed to ensure good results, the recipes are all failproof. Some recipes, however, serve better as conversation pieces than actual things you'd want to make. Hog's head cheese? I shudder to think. Red boudin ( made with fresh pork blood )? Eeek! All the same, the coconut cake recipe is really excellent, worth preparing your own fresh coconut for. A must for serious Cajun cooking fans.



3. This spectacular Cookbook is sadly out of print. I have seen it here on Amazon.com though. Be sure to purchase your copy before they are all gone. I am a big fan of Chef Paul Prudhomme, my entire family is actually. We have all of his cookbooks. This particular book contains some of our favorites. We recommend the Jambalayas. There are several different variations. The Shrimp & Crabmeat Jambalaya is terrific. It's not a spicy Jambalaya so you might want to add some of the optional hot peppers as described in the recipe. We sure did, Wow what a difference it makes. The Fried Green Tomatoes are a wonderful tart snack or side dish. Green tomatoes can be hard to find, try your local farmers market or health food stores that sell fresh produce. These are definately worth the effort it takes to find them.



4. Grew up for part of my childhood in Opalousas LA. We had a local restaurant run by this great family in one of the near-by towns. They used to test out new recipes on my mother and father, but the desserts were always tested by me! This was a wonderful and loving family, full of fun and good food. thank you Prudhommes for the wonderful childhood memories!!! I'm sad that your book is out of print.
   
   Now for others on Amazon. This is REAL cajun food. YOu get a lot of stuff that is buffed up to be cajun because it is supposedly spicey, and contains a few ingredients such as andoille sausage. But truthfully that does not make it cajun!!! Cajun food is supposed to be a mixture of creole, french and carribean influences -- but it is not those foods just mixed up together!!!! You cannot borrow this and borrow that! Cajun food is part of a culture, one of the many diverse cultures that make up our dearest US. So if you want to learn authentic, delicious Cajun cooking, pick up the Prudhomme Family Cookbook and Paul Pruhomme's Louisiana Cooking or Tastes of Louisiana.
   
   This cook-book (written by the whole family)is a treasure, and unforetunately it's out of print. I would highly recommend buying it used even. I must own 20-30 cook-books, and yet I always borrow this one from my mom when I want cajun food.
   
   Great book!! Should be back in print! And you can see a bit about Paul in Bon Appetite this month as well. He and his family are a generous lot.



5. Paul Prudhomme is a well known celebrity chef in the Louisiana cajun/creole culinary scene, as well as a prolific author. This particular book has some interesting information, but it's not one of my favorites.
   
   What I liked:
   
   * There's some good historical information on some old regional specialties that are slowly disappearing ... blood sausage, hog boucherie, salting/pickling/canning meat, etc. Some of this information is not particularly useful or practical for modern suburban cooks (who lack access to fresh pig blood and who have refrigerators and thus no longer need to salt/pickle/can stuff to preserve it), but it's important and interesting stuff that deserves to be preserved ... touchstones from a slowly vanishing era & sub-culture.
   
   * The recipes are no-frills, stick-to-your-guts, feed a hardworking blue collar rural family type fare ... and ya gotta appreciate and respect that. Many of the recipes are well honed, and have the patina of age to them, and will always have their rightful place on the American table.
   
   * There's some good instructional information that many other co-called 'cajun' cooks gloss over ... things like extensive tips of making, storing and using various types of roux, tips for cleaning (and eating) crawfish, etc.
   
   What I disliked:
   
   * PHOTOS: There are none ... only a small scattering of indifferently drawn B&W sketchs. Call me spoiled, but I like books with glossy photos, so that I have a general idea what finished dishes are *supposed* look like, presentation-wise. I also like photos, because it helps me 'windowshop' for recipes that I'd like to try ... that way I can see at a glance if it's something I'd be interested in, rather than having to read through a recipe at length in order to get a general feel for its style/approach/flavor. If I'm paying a premium for a hardbound book, then surely the publisher can include some work by a food photographer.
   
   * COVER SHOT: Another thing that never fails to irk me is books that have photos of dishes on the cover that don't appear anywhere in the book. Case in point - this book features a photo of a whole roasted piglet on the jacket ... something I was interested in attempting for a BBQ I was planning at the time, so I bought the book. You guessed it - nadda. Zip. Zilch. Not mentioned anywhere, not even in the small print buried up front in the publisher's legaleze. Typical bait & switch 'teaser' photo, to entice readers. I wrote the publisher a ... ahem ... nice note about that goof.
   
   * SCOPE & POLISH: This is just a book of some assorted family recipes - it's hardly an exhaustive treatise on cajun cooking, and recipes were duplicated faithfully rather than updated or polished in any way to achieve improved results ... the result is many recipes are lackluster and out-dated. Forget about modern appliances like food processors - this is chop/grind it all by hand cookin. Anyway, just because a given recipe documents the way grandma did it forever, doesn't mean that it's the best, tastiest, or easiest recipe ... as anyone who's serious about cooking will rapidly attest.
   
   Anyway, it's a decent, if unspectacular and rather dated book.
   
   Add a star if you're an old fashioned Louisana dirt farmer, age 50+, who raises pigs on/near the bayou, sans phone or electricity.

5 comments about Gumbo Shop : A New Orleans Restaurant Cookbook.

1. We ate at the Gumbo Shop in August 2004 and had a really good meal there--not great, but really good, and we decided to get a copy of their cookbook since we like cooking Louisiana-style food at home.
   
   We were pleasantly surprised when the recipes we made from this book actually came out tasting better than the food we had at the restaurant! The bread pudding and praline sundae recipes are now among our favorites, and the recipes are all well-written and easy to follow. This book has gotten so much use in the past year and a half that we're buying another copy (the one we have is hopelessly stained and worn from too many kitchen spills.)



2. Excellent recipes that are easy to understand and prepare. The homemade mayonnaise is a no-fail product that is far superior to anything bought from a store. If you like New Orleans style food, this is a must have cookbook.



3. My husband and I had the pleasure of checking out the Gumbo Shop when we were in New Orleans for Thanksgiving some years back. We savored our meals there and would wax nostalgic for our experience even months later. A little while after we got home, they published this cookbook - I immediately bought it for him as a surprise.
   
   This small cookbook is THE creole powerhouse of our kitchen! We've made nearly every recipe in here with stellar results everytime! Our favorites are the peppery Crawfish Etouffee, yummy and dense Chicken Espagnole - with our more vegetarian leaning friends loved the Gumbo Z'erbs. The Vinaigrette Dressing has become our house staple.
   
   We've bought (and been gifted) many Cajun/Creole cookbooks over the years - but nothing has managed to knock the Gumbo Shop cookbook down from it's proud pedestal. Simply the best!



4. This is not a cookbook for the gourmets. This is for everyday people who love food made with ingredients readily available on the Gulf Coast. And the recipes really do yield results that taste like the restaurant's dishes. I've had the Crawfish Etouffe recipe made in Pennsylvania, and it was an exact duplicate of what I order at the restaurant.
   
   Eat at the Gumbo Shop whenever you can. The rest of the time, use their cookbook.
   
   Caroline Jumper
   San Jose



5. I've only tried the shrimp creole but it was delicious and just like the ones I had in new orleans. The only problem might be for this book is the serving sizes are so huge for two people sometimes you need to cut the recipe in half or even more.

2 comments about Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz: A New Orleans Seafood Cookbook.

1. Creole Gumbo (makes 12 quarts = 48 servings, can be made in smaller batches)

   Recipe below evolved and adapted for the beach from "Creole Gumbo and all that Jazz" by Howard Mitcham,who nails it far better than anyone in print. This book is highly recommended.

   6 quarts chicken stock or water 6+ washed tomatoes 2+ lbs washed medium shrimp 12+ washed live crabs (essential, buy 18 before boarding ferry)

   Bring stock to boil. All in same stock, boil tomatoes 1 minute, skin and seed. Boil shrimp 4 minutes, shell and fridge the meat. Boil live crabs 20 minutes. Eat some crab meat for lunch, return all crab parts, well crushed with shrimp shells, to same stock. Boil vigorously 15 minutes, no longer. Strain stock well e.g. through paper towels and colander.

   stick butter flour bunch scallions 3+ onions 1+ heads of garlic 3+ red or green peppers 4+ sticks celery

   Melt butter in heavy nonstick. Add flour bit by bit till thick slurry. Stir with spatula over med heat till deep tan or as dark as you dare, without burning. Add chopped veggies (chop garlic and onions at last minute) and saute till soft. Move to heavy gumbo pot if this wasn't it.

   3 lbs okra, fresh or frozen 2+ lbs good ham 3 bay leaves bunch fresh thyme bunch parsley 2-3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1-3 tbsp tabasco sauce 1+ tbsp freshly ground black pepper 1/2 lb double smoked bacon 2+ lbs fresh Andouille sausage or similar hot sausage, or kielbasa

   Add okra sliced into rounds, diced tomatoes, diced ham, thyme tied into bunch, minced parsley, bay, any meat you crave and have (chicken? beef browned in bacon fat?). Add enough stock to cover solids and keep sloppy. Add some Worcestershire, tabasco, pepper. Slice and cook bacon, crumble and add. Braise sausage in inch of water till ready to eat, poking with fork to release fat. Slice and save.

   Simmer gumbo 2-4 hours, low enough and stirred often enough to never stick at bottom. Tasting over next few hours, remembering flavors will "cure" and salt gets added at end, gradually add more W,t,p to taste. Add sausage 30 minutes before serving, shrimp 10 minutes before serving, add any seafood you crave and have (oysters? lobster? crawfish tails?). Salt generously to taste, serve with ample cooked rice.




2. I have used this book fro over a decade and am about to order a fresh copy. It is a great read and a great, practical cookbook. I have used it constantly.

5 comments about LA Bouche Creole (La Bouche Creole).

1. My wife and I bought this on our honeymoon in 1983 and it has become a staple in my cooking. In fact, I dug this up on Amazon.com on the off-chance I could find a copy, because is so dog-eared and stained that some old favorites are alomost unreadable. Simple recipes, with simple ingredients, pretty much idiot proof. Even the basic sauces are things a novice could use. This is the true creole and cajun cooking before the new cooks on the networks. Also, forget the recipes- this book has a fascinating group of narratives about the old Louisiana and New Orleans. They are worth the price of admission.



2. A little old lady in a New Orleans gift shop recommended this book and promised me that I would be happy with it even though I didn't recognize the author and it wasn't a glamorous book. She was absolutely right. I have made about a dozen and a half of the recipes in this book and every single one of them has been a crowd pleaser. My family is loud and rowdy, so when a meal makes them go silent except for the occassional utterance of "oh my gawsh, that's good", you know it's a winner. Most of the recipes require you to do things "the long way." I haven't noticed any tips on how to shave time. Soniat's writing is personal and folksy, and his stories are touching, and he lets you know that good cooking is a labor of love and you just can't take shortcuts.
   
   My particular favorites in this book are the Chicken-Corn Maquechoux (a delicious, light stew that makes the whole house smell good while it simmers away), and his simple bread pudding recipe (which I've made once as published and ever since by adding some cinnamon and soaking the raisins and apples in a splash of rum for a couple of hours first--take his advice and make sure the loaf of french bread is really stale for this one; the final textures is fantastic).
   
   I cannot recommend this book highly enough.



3. I have used this cookbook for years; it has brought wonderful concoctions to our table as well as being just good reading. It is an insight not only how to prepare an exciting meal but the background into a fascinating culture.



4. This is a very interesting book, with lots of insights into Creole culture and foodways.
   The author has a relaxed and engaging style, and the book is an entertaining read.
   Some of the recipes could have used better editing, but overall even a novice cook should have good results using them.



5. I'm from Louisiana and received this as a wedding present. It is the most authentic book I've found so far. It helped me to not be so homesick when I live in Ohio (the land of bland).

5 comments about Arnaud's Restaurant Cookbook.

1. Arnaud's Restaurant is well known for its leadership in New Orleans cuisine, holding roots from 1918 to modern times and establishing a solid reputation for presenting Creole foods to customers around the world. Now you can enjoy many of these signature dishes at home with Arnaud's Restaurant Cookbook: New Orleans Legendary Creole Cuisine. Each recipe has been adapted for use in home kitchens, translating large-volume and complicated restaurant fare to home cooking. The resulting Creole dishes are very easy to work with - especially given the numerous full-page color photos throughout.



2. A June visit to New Orleans, with dinner at Arnaud's, inspired the purchase of this cookbook. The book more than exceeded my expectations, with interesting anecdotes, beautiful photographs and doable, delicious recipes. The only thing missing is the recipe for the distinctive remoulade sauce they use for Shrimp Arnaud, a great favorite. However, they do sell the sauce so all is not lost. This cookbook is the next best thing to actually going to the restaurant, and offers some truly original recipes.



3. I enjoyed reading this book...have yet to make a recipe from it...I have some Cajun recipes written on paper from friends and each time I wan't to make something Nola...I keep returning to the tried and true.



4. During my last visit to New Orleans my new bride and I became engaged at Arnaud's over a meal that celebrated our happiness. We use Arnaud's Cookbook to make our special occasion meals and when we entertain. The Trout Meuniere and other amazing recipes bring back those memories along with the lavishly photographed restaurant and dishes. The stories and history that accompany it make it special reading, and we keep it prominently displayed on our coffee table. When most cookbooks don't show the finished dish, this one is chock full of delicious pictures to inspire. It you have never been to New Orleans, it will give you a taste and a real feeling of an amazing city.



5. After eating at this restaurant in New Orleans recently and seeing the book on the bar I wanted to purchase it. By ordering off of Amazon I got it for $10 less. It is a beautiful book with excellent pictures (many old) from the restaurant plus all the great recipes.

1 comments about The Picayune's Creole Cookbook.

1. The reprint of this classic cookbook shouldn't be missed: The Picayune's Creole Cook Book reproduces the second, 1901 edition in its entirety, returning to print a classic which preserved traditional creole cooking upon the brink of its extinction. Introductions explain history and recipes alike. No photos, but those interested in Creole history and culture won't miss them.

5 comments about Emeril's TV Dinners: Kickin' It Up a Notch with Recipes from Emeril Live and Essence of Emeril.

1. I tend to think Emeril's books get a lot of low rated reviews because people seem to either love or hate the guy. I've always looked at Emeril as an entertainer first as opposed to a chef whose receipes I'm going to run out tomorrow and try to make. While the title of this book may lead to the belief that these these may be recipes related to those things that camein aluminum tins. The TV refers to his TV show as he presents 150 recipes from his year on the Food network.
   
   There are some very exotic dishes to be found in the pages of this book. Things like Creole Spiced Blue Crabs with Green Onion Dipping Sauce and Rock Shrimp Stuffed Flounder,or Emeril's Potato Truffle Charlotte. From Fall River, MA to New Orleans you get 150 classic recipes. Whether its Cajun or dishes inspired by his Portugese heritage, there's quite a diversified set of recipes to be found here, all with Emerils enjoyable way of presenting them in a fun an entertaining way.
   
   Honestly I will never make most of these dishes. It's just a blast to read. As I said I love wathcing and reading Emeril with his knowledge about food and cooking.



2. I got this because I told someone I liked Emeril (about the five times a year I manage to catch his show). It's a gorgeous book and I highly recommend it for any avid Emeril fan. The recipes are well organized, the layout is beautiful, and it's a collector's item for a fan. For a cook who doesn't love/watch Emeril, it doesn't offer much.
   
   I also tend to do a lot of healthy and low-fat cooking, which this book is not amenable to. The food is delicious, but you pay for that it fat in calories.
   
   Many of the recipes are accompanied by a narrative from Emeril about, for example, the different types of potatoes you might use in this recipe, or the techniques used in cooking it, or a cooking history lesson. These make the book a stand-out item, but again, it mostly stands out for the rabid Emeril fans.



3. My wife and I are big fans of Emeril, and we love watching his shows. This book has some REALLY good receipes, and you can choose ones as simple or as fancy as you like. The directions are spelled out pretty well, and the ingredients lists in the margins make sure you have everything. My wife was born and raised and New Orleans, and even she is impressed with some of "my" cooking from this book. Thanks Emeril!



4. The excellent Fish 'n' Chips recipe alone merits the three star rating. A number of other intesting looking recipes. Emeril's lively style suffuses the text and makes it fun to read.



5. Great food but really fattening. Not really good for the Novice cook.