Since it's Friday, and we normally would have fish (or other seafood) at dinner anyway, I decided to go ahead and make it today. I knew it was going to be an interesting experience, because it would be the first time ever I made a roux.
As usual, we also didn't have all of the named ingredients on hand, so we had to improvise - and that is what made this an adventure worth blogging about! The Cajun and Creole cultures aren't that different from the low-country cultures in Florida (where I grew up) and the East coast. People created and consumed things with the ingredients that they had. That's what I did in attempting to create my improvised version of this classic Louisiana Bayou dish; and for that reason, I like to think that it is at least as authentic as any you might see on a popular cooking show.
Ingredients:
| Fish fillets, large, firm, cut into 1" pieces | 2 | each |
| Tomatoes, diced, 14½ oz can | 1 | each |
| Celery, fresh, chopped | 1 | cup |
| Onion flakes, dried | 3 | Tbs |
| Garlic, granulated | ½ | tsp |
| Butter | 3 | Tbs |
| Olive oil (EVOO) | 2½ | Tbs |
| Self-rising flour | ⅓ | cup |
| Salt, common | 1 | tsp |
| Black pepper, ground | ½ | tsp |
| Cayenne, ground | ¼ | tsp |
| Water | 3* | cup |
| Rice, white, cooked (hot) | 2 | cup |
* used as needed
Directions:
The first step in preparing this dish was to re-hydrate the onion flakes and garlic granules. One could use equivalent amounts of fresh ingredients, instead, but I didn't have them on hand today, and we always have the dry ones. Anyway, put the prescribed amount of each into a small mixing bowl (about 2 cup size) and add just enough water to moisten these dry ingredients. You may have to add more from time to time to reach the desired level of moisture. When you are satisfied that this has been accomplished, add in the celery and mix gently, but thoroughly.
Creating the roux is a critical step. Hubby is a big fan of Justin Wilson, so I felt a certain amount of pressure here. I started by melting the butter and olive oil together in a 10" cast-iron skillet, on low heat. When the butter was melted and the butter/olive oil mixture was hot, I turned the heat up and added the flour, mixing constantly with a whisk. When the roux was thick, smooth, and hot I added in the mixed onion, garlic, and celery; and while continuing to stir, I cooked at medium heat until the celery was tender.
When the celery was tender, I stirred in the canned tomatoes, and added the salt, spices and enough water to achieve the desired thinning, stirring until all of the ingredients were thoroughly distributed; then I covered the sauce and let it simmer for about 25 minutes.
The classic recipe calls for catfish, but what I had on hand was Atlantic cod, so that's what I used! To finish, I immersed the fish pieces in the sauce and cooked about another 15 minutes, until the fish was done and flaky; then I served up the sauce and fish over the prepared rice.
Hubby was very happy with the result! I found it to be a little spicier than I really like, but still very good.
Undine
mmmmmm mmmmmm!
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