Ingredients:

• Heirloom tomatoes of different sizes and colors, sliced or quartered
• 16 oz container Premium Lump Louisiana Blue Crab meat
• 4 oz burratta cheese
• Chopped chive for garnish

Green Goddess Dressing:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup fresh chive, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup fresh tarragon
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 anchovy fillets

Method:

Place all dressing ingredients in blender and blend till smooth in texture. Chill for a couple hours before serving.

To assemble salad, spoon dressing on bottom of plate. Arrange sliced tomatoes on dressing, place desired amount of Louisiana blue crab meat on top of tomatoes. Sprinkle with pinched-off pieces of burrata cheese and garnish with chopped chive.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. shrimp, shells and heads on
• 1 onion, chopped, peel reserved
• 3 stalks celery, chopped, tops and bottoms reserved
• 6-8 green onions, thinly sliced, parings reserved
• 1 pt. oysters
• 2 lbs. okra, sliced into ¼” rounds
• ½ cup oil, plus additional for frying
• 1 cup flour
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 lb. gumbo crabs
• 1 1-lb. can crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp. thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Hot sauce to taste

Method:

Peel shrimp, reserving heads and shells. Make a stock by combining shrimp heads and peels, onion skins, celery bottoms and tops, and green onion parings in a stock pot. Cover with water in excess of 2” over discards and boil for 15 minutes. Strain and reserve liquid.
    
    Drain oysters and reserve oyster liquor; set aside.

    Fry okra in very hot oil until lightly browned.

    Make a dark roux with the flour and ½ cup oil, cooking to the color of milk chocolate. Add chopped onions, stirring until the roux darkens to a bittersweet chocolate brown. Add celery and bell pepper. Satué for 5 minutes, then add the gumbo crabs, tomatoes, okra, thyme, bay leaf, shrimp stock, and oyster liquor. Add garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 45 minutes or longer.

    Ten minutes before serving, add shrimp and green onions. Add hot sauce and salt as needed. Serve over cooked rice. Yields 10-12 servings.

INGREDIENTS:

One dozen medium-sized Gulf oysters. Set aside while you make the stuffing.

For the stuffing:

• Olive oil
• 6 oz. bacon, diced small
• 1 yellow Spanish onion, diced small
• 2 large fennel bulbs, diced small
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt
• Black pepper
• 4 large portobello mushrooms, gills removed, diced medium
• 2 cups Herbsaint liqueur
• 1 cup cream
• 2 oz. Italian parsley, rough chopped
• 1 oz. fresh tarragon, rough chopped
• 1 oz. fresh lemon thyme, rough chopped
• ½ cup dry grated Parmesan
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• Cayenne to taste

Heat large, heavy-bottomed pot before adding in a drizzle of olive oil to coat the bottom. Add diced bacon. (Chef’s hint: Freeze bacon before using to make it easy to dice.) Stir with a wooden spoon to render the bacon, then add the diced onion and fennel. Continue to stir at medium heat until fennel and onions are nicely caramelized.

Add chopped garlic, salt, and pepper. Allow garlic to sweat for a couple of minutes before adding the mushrooms. The mushrooms may need additional oil to sauté fully. When the mushrooms are tender and have reduced a bit in size – about 5 minutes – add in the Herbsaint.

Reduce the liquid down until it is almost gone, then add cream and reduce by half.

Remove the pot from the heat and add in the herbs, Parmesan, bread crumbs and cayenne pepper. Taste and add more salt and black pepper if needed.

Assembling the oysters:

Wash the whole oyster shells in an icy, salty water bath. Use an oyster knife to open the shell of the oysters at the hinge. Be careful here and make sure to protect your opposite hand with a towel. Once you've broken the suction of the oyster shells, slide the tip of the knife into the opening and release the oyster from the connection above. Repeat for the connection below. If necessary, give the oysters a quick dip in clean icy, salty water to remove any dirt or bits of shell. Use a large spoon to fill the shells with your stuffing on top of the raw oysters. Use the convex curve of the spoon to shape the stuffing on the shell to make them look nice.

You can cook the oysters on a grill or smoker or in the oven. The oysters are ready when the stuffing has turned a nice dark color and crusted over and the oyster has begun to bubble on the edge where the stuffing meets the shell.

Remove from heat and serve. Serves 4 as an appetizer. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs. fresh Louisiana blue crabs
• 2 oz. olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 3 ribs celery, diced
• 1 pod garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 oz. brandy 
• 1 cup white wine
• 2 qts. water
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 qts. heavy whipping cream
• 8 oz. Brie cheese
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 lb. picked jumbo lump crabmeat

METHOD:

Using a meat mallet or hammer, crack open crab shells until meat is exposed. In a 1-gallon stockpot, heat olive oil; add cracked crabs and sauté for 5 minutes. Add vegetables and bay leaves; continue to sauté for 5 minutes. 

Add brandy, white wine, and water; bring to simmer over medium heat and cook for 45 minutes. Using a skimmer remove crabs and vegetables from stock. 

In a small sauté skillet, melt butter and blend in flour until smooth and creamy; simmer over low heat for one minute. 

Add mixture to stock using a wire whisk until roux is dissolved. Add heavy cream and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Remove outside rind from Brie and discard, cut cheese into 1” cubes and add to stock stirring constantly until cheese completely melts. Season soup with salt, white pepper, and cayenne. 

Strain soup through a fine strainer; add jumbo lump crabmeat and serve.

Yields 1 gallon.

PIMENTO CHEESE INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. mild shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 oz. cream cheese softened
• 2 red bell peppers, roasted, peeled and minced
• 1/8 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 small onion, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tbsp. hot sauce
• 1/2 tbsp. Leo & Perrins Worchester sauce
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. dry yellow mustard

Combine all ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix until incorporated. Chill before use. 

BACON MARMALADE INGREDIENTS: 

• 1/2 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 1/2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. smoked bacon, diced
• 1 1/2 tbsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup molasses
• Zest and juice from half of the orange
• 1/4 bottle of red wine 

In a pot with a heavy bottom, add butter, onion, and garlic. Let sweat down, then add bacon. Cook 5 minutes, then add remaining ingredients. Cook and reduce down until thick and syrupy in texture. This process takes about 20-30 minutes on medium to low heat. 

PICKLED RED ONION INGREDIENTS:

• 2 red onions sliced thin
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. black peppercorn
• 1/2 tbsp. mustard seeds
• 1/2 tbsp. coriander seeds
• 1/2 tbsp. juniper berry
• 1 bay leaf 
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a pot and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from heat, place in a container and chill in ice bath. Store in fridge.

ASSEMBLE BRUSCHETTA:

Layer pimento cheese, bacon marmalade, and pickled red onion on top of toasted baguette slices. Serve and enjoy!

Best to prepare pimento cheese, bacon marmalade, and pickled red onion the day before serving. Assemble and serve the day of the event. 

Makes 20 appetizer-sized portions.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 onions
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 yellow bell pepper
• 1 red bell pepper
• 4 stalks celery
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup flour
• 1 – 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
• 2 lemons
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
• salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste
• 8 redfish fillets
• cooked rice

METHOD:

Chop one onion and slice the other into long, thin strips. Chop the green bell pepper and slice the red and yellow peppers into long, thin strips. Chop two of the celery stalks and slice the other two into strips.

Add 3 tablespoons oil to a deep skillet. Over a medium high heat sauté the red and yellow pepper strips, the onion strips and the celery strips. Remove from the pan and reserve.

Make a roux by adding the remainder of the oil into the pan combined with the flour. Cook together until the roux is a milk chocolate color. Add the chopped onions and cook until the roux darkens to bittersweet chocolate brown. Add chopped celery and chopped bell pepper. Add the tomatoes and juice, squeezing each by hand into the pot to crush. Zest and juice one lemon and add to the sauce with the garlic and herbs. Simmer together for 25-30 minutes. Add the sautéed onion,  celery and bell pepper and simmer for another 15-20 minutes. Add green onions and cook an additional 5 minutes.

Place the redfish fillets into the courtbouillon. Spoon some of the sauce on top and top each fillet with a lemon slice. Cover and cook for an additional 5 -10 minutes. Correct seasonings – salt, pepper, and hot sauce – and serve over rice.

Alternate method – bake or sauté the fish separately and serve with the sauce on top cooked fish.

Serves 8.

From Louisiana Eats! The People, the Food and Their Stories by Poppy Tooker, c. 2013 Poppy Tooker, used by permission of the publisher, Pelican Publishing Company, Inc.