Cookbook Thursday: Buffett's 'Gumbo Love'

It’s a rare Louisiana native who doesn’t understand gumbo love. Lucy Buffett isn’t from the Bayou State but she’s connected by way of the Gulf Coast and she gets it. That’s why her latest cookbook is “Gumbo Love: Recipes for Gulf Coast Cooking, Entertaining, and Savoring the Good Life.”Buffett, otherwise known as “Lulu” and the sister of singer Jimmy Buffett, owns two Lulu’s restaurants in Gulf Shores and Destin, both serving over a million customers a year. Buffett hails from Alabama, but has relatives or has lived and worked in Key West, New Orleans and that other coast on the western side of the country. She incorporates those experiences, plus her love of the Gulf and its traditions, in her recipes.

“When I look at a map of the Gulf of Mexico,” she writes, “I don’t think about the places — I say, ‘Look at all the cuisines!’”

The result is a lovely cookbook and homage to Gulf life. Her cooking style mirrors her attitude. The “10 grateful ingredients for a bright life and a happy kitchen” chapter follows philosophy such as “You are what you think…and eat” and “Run toward what you fear: close your eyes, hold your nose, and jump into it.” The book includes a recipe for “Lucy’s Crazy Creole Seasoning,” a variety of sauces and stock, plus offers advice on cooking seafood the proper way. Recipes begin with dessert because Buffett is “a lifetime rule breaker” and follows with entrees such as her father’s famous fried chicken, her mother’s West Indies salad, libations to enjoy on vacation and, of course, lots of gumbo love in all its varieties.

Buffett signs copies of “Gumbo Love” and offers samples from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 8, at the Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans.  

Lucy’s Signature Summer Seafood Gumbo

Serves 14 to 16

3 pounds medium wild-caught Gulf shrimp, heads on

2 pounds cooked blue crab claw meat, picked through for shell, handled carefully to keep the meat in big chunks

4 large, ripe tomatoes, or 1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes with their juices

3/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon grease

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 large onions, coarsely chopped

1 bunch celery, coarsely chopped, including leaves

2 green bell peppers, coarsely chopped

8 cups shrimp or seafood stock, heated

2 to 3 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons dried thyme

4 bay leaves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 tablespoons LuLu’s Crazy Creola Seasoning (recipe follows), or other Creole seasoning

1/4 cup hot sauce

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

4 blue crab bodies, if available (optional)

2 1/2 pounds fresh okra, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces, or thawed frozen cut okra

2 cups finely chopped green onions

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Cooked white rice, for serving

French bread and butter, for serving

Directions:

1. Peel and devein the shrimp. (If you’re making your own stock, reserve the heads and shells to make the stock.) Refrigerate the shrimp and crabmeat until ready to use.

2. If using fresh tomatoes, fill a medium saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Carefully drop the tomatoes into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Remove with a slotted spoon and let them cool. The skins will slip off easily. Remove the cores and coarsely chop the tomatoes over a bowl to retain as much juice as possible. Set aside. (If using canned tomatoes, chop each tomato into eighths and return them to the juice in the can.)

3. To make the roux, in a large stockpot (about 10 quarts), heat the vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, gradually add the flour, whisking continuously, and cook, stirring and adjusting the heat as necessary to keep it from burning, until the roux is a dark mahogany color, 25 to 35 minutes. Be careful: If the roux burns, you will have to start all over again!

4. Carefully add the onions to the roux and stir with a large wooden spoon for 2 to 3 minutes. (The onion will sizzle and steam when it hits the hot roux, so caution is advised. All seasoned gumbo cooks have roux battle scars on one or both arms.)

5. Add the celery and cook, stirring continuously, for 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Add the bell peppers and cook, stirring continuously, for 2 to 3 minutes more. The mixture should resemble a pot of black beans in color and texture.

7. Add the heated stock and the tomatoes with their juices. Stir in the salt, black pepper, cayenne, thyme, bay leaves, oregano, basil, Creole seasoning, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Stir well. Bring the gumbo to a boil and cook for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer. Add the crab bodies (if using) and simmer, uncovered, for about 1 hour.

8. Add the okra and bring the gumbo to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to maintain a slow simmer and cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until the okra has lost its bright green color and cooked down like the other vegetables. If the gumbo gets too thick, add a little water. If it is too thin, continue to simmer it, uncovered.

9. Gumbo is always better the day after it has been cooked, although I’ve never had a complaint when I served it the day I made it. At this point, you can cool the gumbo. Turn off the heat and let it sit for about 30 minutes.

Then place the pot, uncovered, in an empty sink. Fill the sink with cold water and ice around the stockpot (try not to get any in the stockpot itself). Stir every 15 minutes to facilitate cooling. (The gumbo will spoil if improperly cooled.) When completely cool, refrigerate the gumbo in the stockpot, uncovered.

10. When ready to serve, slowly bring the gumbo to a simmer over medium-low heat. Thirty minutes before serving, add the green onion, parsley and lemon juice to the gumbo. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add the shrimp and crabmeat, mix well, and cook for 2 minutes. Cover and turn off the heat.

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Let it sit for at least 15 minutes more to cook the seafood. The gumbo will stay hot for a long time. Remove and discard the bay leaves. Taste and adjust the seasonings; serve over cooked white rice with French bread and butter.

  

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Ann Benoit spotlights New Orleans seafood restaurants in latest cookbook by Pelican Publishing

Ann Benoit and photographer Thomas Fortier Dalferes spotlight the cuisine of the Crescent City in “New Orleans’ Best Seafood Restaurants,” published by Pelican Publishing of New Orleans. A daunting task, to say the least. There’s Acme Oyster House, Deanie’s Seafood of Bucktown, Borgne of the John Besh restaurants, Morton’s in Mandeville, Dickie Brennan’s Bourbon House and plenty more. Each spotlight comes with photos and a recipe.

As many restaurants are included in the book are those that are not. And for every restaurant known to most people, residents included, are those you may not recognize. Or maybe I’m being too ambitious to consider a book of this title would have every one of my favorite New Orleans restaurants. (That’s the problem, dear readers, with a cookbook reviewer from New Orleans.)

It’s a lovely cookbook penned by the award-winning Benoit, with nice restaurant write-ups, recipes and photos. Heck, the recipe for Pascal’s Manale Restaurant’s barbecue shrimp is worth the price alone.
            Benoit has also published “New Orleans Best Ethnic Restaurants” as well as “Broussard’s Restaurant and Courtyard Cookbook,” both of which received the Editor’s Choice for Top 20 Louisiana Cookbooks for Great American Eats — Amazon's Favorite Cookbooks Coast to Coast.

Cheré Dastugue Coen is the author of several Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. She is also the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

Sclafani celebrates Louisiana's unique 'Seasons'

            I first met Chef Peter Sclafani when he opened Ruffino’s on the River in River Ranch. The New Orleans-born chef had just participated in an oyster familiarization tour where he joined others offshore learning about harvesting oysters after the devastating hurricanes and the BP oil spill. He exuded excitement about Louisiana seafood, one reason why he’s a member of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board.

            Sclafani’s new cookbook, “Seasons of Louisiana,” also celebrates Louisiana’s seafood and again his enthusiam jumps off the pages. We’re a state where the four seasons might mean crab, crawfish, hunting and oysters, and his lovely cookbook reflects just that. Chapters include shrimp season, crawfish season, crab season, oyster season, fishing and hunting, Creole tomato season, tailgating and holidays. Concluding the book is a lagniappe section full of his sauces, dressing and seasonings.

            Easy–to-follow recipes run the gamut, with some thinking outside the box, such as the crawfish mac and cheese, redfish beignets and shrimp corn dogs. All are beautifully presented with color photos and chef’s notes.

            Sclafani claims everything tastes better with crab, and I agree. Here’s a very easy recipe for marinated crab claws with a tasty vinaigrette. Sclafani suggests also serving this dish warm substituting crab for shrimp with the cookbook’s shrimp scampi recipe.

Marinated Crab Claws

“Seasons of Louisiana” by Peter Sclafani

2 pounds crab fingers

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red onions, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1/4 cup green onions, sliced

1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chopped

2 teaspoons dried tarragon

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 1/2  teaspoons sea salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

            Directions: Combine all ingredients and mix well. Let stand for at least 1 hour.

Get cooking with these wonderful new titles

             There are plenty of wonderful new cookbooks on the market these days.

             Chef Peter Sclafani, owner and chef for Ruffino’s Restaurant of Baton Rouge and Lafayette, has just published a cookbook with nearly 70 of his favorite recipes titled “Seasons of Louisiana.” The book is categorized by the culinary seasons of Louisiana, including shrimp, hunting, tailgating and the holidays, with the foreword written by Chef John Folse. “Seasons of Louisiana” is available for purchase at both Ruffino’s locations, online at www.shopruffinos.com and Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble in Baton Rouge, in addition to shops in Baton Rouge.

            Tom Bailey, editor for Seacoast Publishing, celebrates the Gulf South, from Tampa Bay to Mexico and all points in between in “The Complete Guide to Northern Gulf Seafood” from Pelican Publishing of New Orleans. In addition to the numerous recipes complemented by the lovely photography of Celeste Ward, the book explains what types of fish frequent the Gulf of Mexico and how to select, prepare, serve and store the best fish.

            Linda Hundt’s “Sweetie-licious Pies: Eat Pie, Love Life” cookbook is a sugary sweet experience, a book that offers delectable recipes and fun photography by Clarissa Westmeyer to coincide with its happy title. Chapters include “Kindness,” “Love” and “Faith,” for instance, and anecdotes tell of the author’s home in DeWitt, Michigan, along with stories and photos of her family. It’s appropo that a pie book would be this warm and fuzzy, and how can you not be happy when indulging in “Aunt Ruby’s Beautiful Butterscotch Praline Pie”?

            Cookbook and food offerings are rather slim for the vegan, especially if you live in Acadiana. Julie Hasson, who’s also authored a pie cookbook, features 50 recipes for dairy-free, meat-free, thin crust artisan pizzas in “Vegan Pizza.” If you think giving up meat means losing taste, think again. There’s Thai peanut, pineapple and jalapeno and cowboy pizza with barbecue sauce, vegan cheese and other goodies.

            Don’t serve ordinary cocktails this New Year’s, spruce them up with infused flavors such as pumpkin spice, blue lavender and brown sugar pecan, all great ideas derived from “Homemade Liqueurs and Infused Spirits” by Andrew Schloss. The book is chock full of wonderful recipes — 159 flavors, 80 cocktails and several simple syrups — with easy instruction on how to create and present them. To give you an idea of the process, the apple spice hooch recipe calls for mixing bourbon, apples, maple syrup and spices together to sit for a week in a cool, dark place. Once strained, the liqueur is ready to be enjoyed, tasting like an apple pie.

            Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl once called Portland, Ore., “the crucible of New American cooking.” I keep thinking of that “Portlandia” episode where the dining couple continually demands to know where the chicken originated (“Is the Chicken Local?”). You can get a taste of the Portland food scene — from small batch coffee roasters to gourmet food trucks — without leaving your table with Karen Brooks’ “The Mighty Gastropolis Portland: A Journey Through the Center of America’s New Food Revolution,” written with Gideon Bosker and Teri Gelber.

Book events

            Johnette Downing, author of “How to Dress a Po-Boy,” will be performing at the Jazz Historical National Park Visitor’s Center from 11 a.m. to noon Friday at the French Market’s Dutch Alley, between Decatur and the River in New Orleans. She will also sign books from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3, at A Tisket A Tasket Book Shop, 910 Decatur St. in the French Market.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana,” both from The History Press, and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.