With Mardi Gras arriving tomorrow, here's how I plan to celebrate:

With food.

For those whose lives were New Orleans-free prior to Katrina, no matter when you came from the rest of the world to New Orleans, you could expect to eat well. OK, not "well" in the sense of "healthily," but "well" in the sense of elegance, in the sense of satisfaction, in the sense of almost uncomfortable fullness.

Here's a simple menu, including nothing more than an entree and a dessert, but it's a good 'un.

Crawfish Etouffee
Bread pudding with bourbon sauce

I'll share my recipes after the fold... and I'm going to include a couple of notes, because there are some things that the cookbooks don't tell you. I don't know who here cooks and who doesn't, but I know that everyone here has to eat. And if you've been to New Orleans, perhaps you could share some thoughts in comments -- whether it's a memorable meal, a lingering memory, a particularly late night, a favorite haunt, or just some damned character that you met (he mighta bet you dat he could tell you where you got 'dem shoes).

more!

Andy's Annotated Crawfish Etoufee (serves 4)

This recipe doubles or quadruples quite easily.

Fo' da roux:
1/2c (whole stick) butter (not margarine, not light butter -- butter)
Just shy of 1/2c all-purpose flour (not a level cup, not quite full, but not 1/4)

Fo' da res':
2 med onion, diced
1 bell pepper, seeded/cored/diced
2 rib celery, finely diced
2 fat garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp basil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
1 can (12 oz) stock (seafood if you can find it, chicken otherwise) *
Salt/pepper to taste
Couple of dashes of white pepper if you have it
1/2 tsp Tabasco (accept no subs)

1# peeled crawfish tails **

1 bch green onions, finely chopped (stems OK)
Couple of sprigs of parsley, diced

Steamed medium grain rice (1 c. dry rice to 1 1/2 c. water, follow the bag instructions if you don't know how to steam rice).

This recipe is borrowed from The Gumbo Shop's recipe book, and I'm pretty much doing it from memory.

Do all of the prep beforehand, i.e. (aieeeee, cher!) have the veggie ingredients at hand ready to go.

Then, when you're ready… Firs', you make a roux.

Roux: Melt the butter in a sturdy stockpot over a low to medium low flame (or heat, if you do electric). Then throw in the flour and stir constantly until you get a peanut-butter roux. (If you know what that is, skip to the next section. If not, here's the deal: roux is the root of most all Cajun cooking. It's made by blending an oil with an equivalent or less amount of flour. Peanut butter roux is a medium color, as opposed to a light roux (sometimes called tight), or a dark roux. The variance is in the cooking time. For the uninitiated, this is not a process that can go unattended, esp. with butter. If you don't stir constantly, you may scorch the roux, and then you either have to start over or order out. A peanut butter color comes at around the 7 or 8 minute mark, but varies. If you're not sure, have a can of PB handy, look through the clear plastic at the color, and compare that color to what you have in the pot. Seriously. That's how I judge.)

The rest:

When the roux is the appropriate peanut-butter color, add the trinity. (Trinity = onion, bell pepper, celery. The holy trinity of Cajun cookery.) Then sautee those until the onions are translucent. It should be pretty gooey. Then add the stock. Then the seasonings (garlic, basil, papkrika, cayenne, salt, pepper, white pepper, tabasco). Taste & adjust. I like a thick etouffee, but if this is too thick, add a bit of stock or wine until it thins out enough for you. Simmer that for about as long as you want (covered), but at least 30 min is good. Then, at the very last, add the crawfish tails. Mostly when you buy tail meat the tails are already cooked, so all you have to do is heat them through. You don't want them on the fire too long because they'll get rubbery on you.

Garnish with green onion & parsley.

That's it. Serve with cold Abita ale, some crusty French baguette, and the steamed rice.

* If you feel like doing the work of boiling your crawfish yourself, by all means, do so. Just reserve the stock for your etouffee! You can also make a decent quickie seafood stock if you can find a handful of head-on shrimp and some clams/oysters/mussels… toss 'em in a pot with ample water, some onion, some peppercorns, salt, maybe a clove of garlic or two.

** A note on crawfish: Katrina hit the crawfish industry pretty hard. Even so, even on a good year, Louisiana tails are kinda hard to find at a good price if you live out in the rest of the world (i.e. anywhere north of Alexandria outside of Louisiana, per many a Cajun I know). Chinese tails are fine, but only if you rinse them. This has been a subject of some controversy, as the yellowish gooey fat which adheres to a crawfish tail is what gives the genuine flavor of a crawfish dish. Problem is, though, that Chinese tails tend to taste a little, shall we say, muddy when you don't rinse them. So rinse them. This is a lesson hard learned.

Dessert:

Prep time: 2 hr unattended + 1 hr cook time

Bread pudding with bourbon sauce.

1 Tbsp butter
4 large eggs
1 c light brown sugar, packed
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c Bourbon (i.e. Maker's Mark)
2 c. half-and-half
1 day-old baguette (cut or torn into small 1/2" pieces)
1/2 c. raisins
1/2 c. pineapple

Whisk together butter, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, & vanilla, bourbon. Beat until smooth. Mix the half & half in. Pour over the fruit & bread mixture and let stand 2 hr. so that the bread gets soaked. Then preheat the oven to 350. Pour mixture into a greased square baking dish and bake for 45 - 55 minutes, until the pudding is set in the center. Serve warm with some bourbon sauce (recipe follows).

Sauce:

1 c. sugar
6 Tbsp butter, melted
1+ Tbsp bourbon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla

Mix in a saucepan and bring to boil. Remove from heat after 1 min boil. Sauce should be fairly thin.

Yes, it's rich. Butter and cream probably put the "fat" in "Fat Tuesday." Still, that's a part of the experience, and that's what life is all about.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

I don't think there's a low-cal or no-cal version of New Orleans cooking. If there is, someone send it to me. (I just have my doubts that it's got much flavor at all.)