Cajun Food Recipe

Take a look at Cajun food recipes - characteristic of the New Orleans region. It has shades of French and African food and has become a hot favorite among ethnic cuisine options. Learn more about this regional specialty cooking that is marked by wholesome and tasty dishes.

Cajun Food

Cajun food has evolved as a popular cuisine in the past couple of days. Sample jambalaya, gumbo or etouffee and you will surely be coming for more. This regional cuisine from Louisiana has influences from French, Italian, Spanish and African food. With abundant seafood from the seawater, you can find Cajun food recipes with oysters, crabs and crawfish.

The distinction between Creole and Cajun food is subtle. While Creole dishes tend to be more continental, Cajun food has a local touch with more spice. No Cajun recipe is complete without onion, celery and bell pepper. Gumbos are thick stews, laced with sassafras leaves and hot peppers.

The Cajun sausages or andouille is a popular dish. Boudin is a spicy Cajun sausage make of pork rice dressing and wrapped in pork skin. The roux is often used in Cajun food recipes as a thickening agent. It is a mixture of flour and fat that is cooked till it turns brown. Rice is used in abundance in Cajun food. In fact it formed a predominant part of the Acadian diet. If you have not had a Jambalaya, you haven't sampled the Cajun food of New Orleans. This simple dish is a meal in itself and can be made with seafood or chicken and sausage or vegetables. Simmered with onions, garlic and bell peppers, this rice dish is a mainstay of Cajun cuisine. A typical Cajun food seasoning consists of paprika, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, oregano, onion powder and thyme.

Cajun Food Recipe - Cajun Meatloaf

2 pounds ground beef

2 eggs beaten

1 tbsp Tabasco sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup milk

Bay leaves

1/2 cup of celery finely chopped

1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/4 cup chopped greens onions

12 teaspoon of minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup finely chopped celery

Melt butter in a pan and add onions, celery, bell pepper, green onions, garlic and sauces and seasonings. Stir till it thickens and add milk. Keep stirring and allow it to cool. Place ground beef in a baking pan and add beaten eggs and cooked vegetables and coat with breadcrumbs. Bake the loaf for about half an hour on low temperature and then at higher temperature for another half an hour.

Seafood Gumbo - Cajun Food Recipe

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped green sweet pepper

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 14-1/2-ounce can stewed tomatoes

1 can hot-style tomato juice

1 cup frozen cut okra 1

1 frozen, peeled, and cooked shrimp

1 package frozen crab-flavored

3/4 cup quick-cooking rice

1-1/4 cups water

Add oil in a pan and cook sweet pepper and onions till tender. Add tomatoes and tomato juice and simmer. Add okra and cook on a slow flame for 10 minutes. Stir in the seafood and rice and cook till done.

Dirty Rice - Cajun Food Recipe

Don't get put off by the name - it describes the brown color that the rice takes on after mixing with the sauce. Liquify bell pepper, onion and garlic and add to the ground beef. Add green cayenne peppers, red pepper, mushroom steak sauce and chopped garlic. Cook till meat is well done. Allow the mixture to simmer and then add to the rice.

Lobster - Cajun Style

Boil crab with seasoning, onions, lemon, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper. Whip up a sauce with butter, garlic powder and liquid hickory smoke.

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

Chopped chicken

Smoked pork sausages

Rice

Beef consomme

Chopped green onions

Chopped celery

Chopped garlic

Butter

Hot pepper sauce

Chicken broth

Cook chicken with pepper till tender. Cook sausage for about 10 minutes and cut into pieces. Sauté butter in a pan and add onions, celery and garlic. Mix chicken and sausage pieces, rice and other ingredients and bring to a boil in a large pan. Simmer on low heat fr about 45 minutes till done.