Cajun & Creole

These New Orleans classics will satisfy a serious sweet tooth.

The foundation of this étouffée-like dish is a brown roux that lends a deep, nutty flavor. The gravy pairs well with the Grits Dressing , biscuits, and turkey.

Use this fresh blend of spices and herbs to add pep to the Cajun-Spiced Turkey and Crawfish Gravy , or to season blackened redfish or gumbo.

Plan at least one day ahead to let the turkey—seasoned with the homemade Cajun Spice Mix—cure overnight.

This classic Cajun cake uses Steen's cane syrup, a deep caramel sweetener of reduced sugar cane. Look for it at better supermarkets, at specialty foods stores, and at steensyrup.com.

The paper-thin crust and pillowy crumb of a New Orleans—style French roll is essential to this classic sandwich—as is Crystal hot sauce.

This recipe appears at just about every occasion in Cajun Country. Whether it's a holiday, funeral, family reunion, or potluck dinner, you can bet there will be at least one form of dirty rice or rice dressing. At the Link family reunion in Robert's Cove, I counted six versions, all different. The essential ingredients are few, but flavor and texture vary greatly. The main difference between dirty rice and rice dressing is that rice dressing is generally made with ground beef or pork, whereas dirty rice is made with pork and chicken livers. Many people think they don't like liver, but when it's balanced with other flavors, the liver taste is not overpowering. I've served this deeply flavored rice to many people who claim they hate liver, only to have them love it.

This simple "syrup cake" is a Cajun classic. The dessert's name comes from the cane syrup that gives the cake its texture and flavor. If at all possible, use Steen's syrup.

You are, no doubt, familiar with the so-called trinity of Louisiana cookery: onions, celery, and bell pepper. Susan Spicer of New Orleans, a self-described eggplant freak who cooks in an internationally inflected Creole style, has honed a new sort of trinity: eggplant, oysters, and tasso.
Here, tasso, an intensely flavored smoked pork of Cajun origin, serves as a seasoning, in the same way that a smoked pig trotter flavors a pot of greens. Although Spicer recommends that you serve scoops of this gratin as an appetizer, consider yourself warned: We have done the same. And no matter what we served to follow, it paled in comparison. Your guests might be happier with a large helping of this Creolized casserole and a salad.

Enjoy this soup-stew as is or, for a one-dish meal, ladle it over brown rice. Pass the hot-pepper sauce, please!

Pat O'Brien's famous French Quarter bar in New Orleans gave birth to this libation, which became so popular that a special glass was created to contain it.

These cheesy grits are the perfect base for Veal Grillades or almost anything else.

As you knead the dough for this Mardi Gras cake, watch for it to begin to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl. If that doesn't happen (because the moisture content in flour fluctuates with the humidity), add a spoonful or two more flour.

In South Louisiana, any sauce is called gravy. This dish would be our equivalent of biscuits and sausage gravy, except we've got all this seafood down here that finds its way into nearly everything. Serve this gravy over biscuits ) with Oeufs au Plat , and you've really got something. As a chef, I make this a bit more complicated than it needs to be: I start with the shrimp in the pan, then remove them so they don't overcook, and then I add them back once it's all come together.

Editor's note: Serve this veal with Chef John Besh's Jalapeño Cheese Grits . Grillades is a Creole version of pot roast; the meat is sliced or pounded thin, then slow-cooked in a pungent sauce. If veal shoulder isn't available, substitute boneless, sliced Boston butts of pork. Sure, you can use a leaner cut of veal (and if you do, you'll want to cut the cooking time down by half). But I encourage you to find those cheaper cuts of meat that have much more flavor than either the loin or the leg.

Editor's note: Use this spice blend to make Chef John Besh's Slow-Cooked Veal Grillades and his Busters and Grits. Using this spice blend is truly the easiest way to consistently achieve the flavors I grew up with. Once made, the spices will last for six months in an airtight container.