The man is serious about cooking from scratch. He made homemade french bread, skipping the encyclopedia's recipe which called for vital wheat gluten among other ingredients we didn't have, and instead used Maree Calcote's recipe. In Trent's eyes she gets her credibility from growing up in Natchitoches, LA; otherwise I'm sure he would have been scouring the Pearland HEB for specialty flours.
The french bread was just an accompaniment to jambalaya and crawfish pie, but no file gumbo this time. I mean seriously, let's not overdo it. Crawfish pie proved to be incredibly rich and delicious. The homemade jambalaya was also quite good and I can tell Trent's going to be making this anytime he has a real meat and rice craving as it called for chicken and sausage and pork.
I made my part of the meal, dessert, on Saturday, leaving me free to lounge about on Sunday while Trent chopped vegetables. We finished off the meal with Dolly's lemon squares, which I consider Cajun because they were always made by my mom's friend Dolly who lived in Baton Rouge. Of course we ended up with no pictures of our friends over at our house sitting on the back porch drinking beer or having big fun on the bayou, but hopefully there will be many more nights of Trent's Cajun cooking.
We'll have to wait and see if the quest to make all the recipes in the book ever starts to happen. Julie may have had to make a few aspics and cook a live lobster, but did she make Smothered Nutria (p.572) or Squirrel Jambalaya (p.566)? Not likely. If those recpies ever make it into our kitchen, let's just hope they're followed by Chocolate and Clover Honey Ice Cream (p. 621). I could enjoy a bowl of that right now.
Um... I'm pretty sure my dad can get you a nutria. You know...if you want one...? They have orange teeth, you know? Big orange teeth?
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly do you smother it in? Or with? So many questions.
Please tell Trent I am super impressed and excited and will bring beer and/or dessert to your house in exchange for any kind of cajun food.
And of course Maree Calcote is an expert on everything. Including how to keep greasy little boys from leaving their head-prints on your newly painted walls.