Louisiana Kitchen Cookbook

Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen Cookbook; William Morrow & Co., New York, 1984

Jambalaya, gumbo and blackening are well known now but were almost unheard of outside of Louisiana until the 1980's. Thanks to Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook and his restaurant in New Orleans, they are now common words in culinary circles and many restaurants. You might say that Chef Paul is one of the fathers of modern Creole and Cajun Cuisine. There have been chefs before him in New Orleans and several others who now spread the word of the particularly seasoned food prepared in that area. Yet he remains as the original celebrity chef of the area who still today cooks at his restaurant and makes guest chef appearances.

Many of the dishes in Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen cookbook are classics. They have been prepared in many of the famous restaurants in New Orleans for years. Paul didn't create a book of current and trendy recipes, it's rather a cookbook of excellent recipes done well---very well indeed. Over the years I have referenced recipes many times and have been successful preparing them. The recipes are well written and easy to follow if you have good cooking skills and understand proper cooking techniques. I love his recipe for Crayfish ‰touffée, it is authentic, very tasty and presents well on a plate. I've had this dish in a few restaurants in New Orleans and I can vouch for Paul's as being right on the mark.

There are few things that you will have to do before you successfully prepare recipes from this book. You'll need to plan ahead and buy the seasonings he calls for, because there are no substitutions and if you leave any of the ingredients out you won't have a good tasting dish or at least not as it was meant to be. You will also need to practice making roux, the oil and flour mixture that is cooked and used to thicken sauces. That's because the roux used in many of these recipes is unique to the cuisine of the area, being cooked to a rich mahogany brown color, which adds a flavor all of its own in some dishes, especially in ‰touffée recipes. And when sautéing vegetables, if you think that the pan isn't hot enough or that you didn't cook them enough---you probably didn't!

This is one of the best American cookbooks ever written!

It's a Good Cooking must buy/must have cookbook for any serious cookbook library.

A Recipe from this Cookbook---Sweet-Potato Pecan Pie on page # 319-20

Sweet-Potato Pecan Pie
Makes one 8-inch pie

Dough:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 of a whole egg, vigorously beaten until frothy (reserve
the other half for the sweet-potato filling)
2 tablespoons cold milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
Sweet-Potato Filling:
2 to 3 sweet potatoes (or enough to yield 1 cup cooked pulp), baked
1/4 cup, packed, light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 egg, vigorously beaten until frothy (reserved above)
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pecan Pie Syrup: 3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
2 med eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract Pinch of salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
1 cup pecan pieces or halves
Chantilly Cream
Chantilly Cream (page 335)

For the dough: Place the softened butter, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer; beat on high speed until the mixture is creamy. Add the 1/2 egg and beat 30 seconds. Add the milk and beat on high speed 2 minutes. Add the flour and beat on medium speed 5 seconds, then on high speed just until blended, about 5 seconds more (over mixing will produce a tough dough). Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into a 5-inch patty about 1/2 inch thick. Lightly dust the patty with flour and wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 1 hour, preferably overnight. (The dough will last up to one week refrigerated.)

On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to a thickness of 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Very lightly flour the top of the dough and fold it into quarters.

Carefully place dough in a greased and floured 8-inch round cake pan (1 1/2 inches deep) so that the corner of the folded dough is centered in the pan. Unfold the dough and arrange it to fit the sides and bottom of pan; press firmly in place. Trim edges. Refrigerate 15 minutes.

For the sweet-potato filling: Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed of electric mixer until the batter is smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes. Do not overbeat. Set aside.

For the pecan pie syrup: Combine all the ingredients except the pecans in a mixing bowl. Mix thoroughly on slow speed of electric mixer until the syrup is opaque, about 1 minute; stir in pecans and set aside.

To assemble: Spoon the sweet-potato filling evenly into the dough-lined cake pan. Pour the pecan syrup on top. Bake in a 325 degree oven until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 3/4 hours. (Note: The pecans will rise to the top of the pie during baking.)

Cool and serve with Chantilly Cream. Store pie at room temperature for the first 24 hours, then (in the unlikely event there is any left) refrigerate.