Crayfish Soup - Gluten Free

 Zydeco, The music of Louisiana 

Dating back to the Native Americans...then adopted by European settlers and African slaves, the crawfish (crayfish, crawdad or mudfish) has been and vital part of Louisiana culture, and remains that way today.

Most attribute crawfish with Cajun culture. It is believed that since the Acadians (Cajun ancestors) originated from the Canadian Maritime provinces, seafood was already a staple of their diet. Upon arriving in Louisiana after expulsion by the British in 1765 during the French/Indian War, they settled along the bayous, where crawfish were abundant. Furthermore, their interaction the Native Americans, and thier great lobster and fishing experience, led to the integraton of crawfish into their diet; and as the Acadians became Cajuns, the tradition of eating crawfish continued.

However, others argue the first European introduction to crawfish could have gone back as far as 1528, when the Spanish first explored the Louisiana territory...then over a century later when the French arrived.

Slaves didn't come to Louisiana until 1708 from the West Indies. Then, it was only two. By 1724, the slave population grew. This was more a half century before the arrival of the Acacdians, so one can argue that these earlier "residents" could very well have adopted what the Native Americans were eating for over a millennia.

While these different schools of thought may debate well into the night about who was the first to try crawfish, one thing is for certain. Both sides tend to shut up when they are the the table with a pile of freshed boiled crawfish in front of them. 

Until the 1960s, crawfish was largely considered a ''poor man's lobster'' as it was mostly consumed in poor rural areas. 

 

1 lb Crawfish Tail meat
1 1⁄2 cup Johnsonville Andouille Sausage diced (GF)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 Vidalia onion, chopped
3 cups fresh corn kernels cut from the cob
3 cups red potatoes, diced
1Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1⁄2 cup Pinot Grigio
3 stalks celery, chopped fine
4 sprigs of thyme, de-stemmed
4 cups whole milk
1⁄4 cup Bob's Redmill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
Kosher salt
black pepper
green onions, chopped
Zatarains or Old Bay Crawfish Seasoning
Hot Sauce

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat

Add diced sausage, sauté to render fat

Add garlic, onion, celery, and thyme and sauté until the celery wilts

Deglaze pan with Pinot Grigio, stirring the brown bits in the pot with a wooden spoon.

Add corn kernels and potatoes

Add 3½ cups of - set aside remaining ½ cup.

Stir and season to taste with salt, pepper, Old Bay or Zatarains seasoning (both are gluten free), and hot sauce.

In a small bowl, whisk flour with the remaining milk to create a paste

Slowly add paste to soup. Continue whisking to thicken.

Slowly add  crawfish tails

Simmer about 12 minutes

Adjust seasonings to taste

Stir in onions and serve


 

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Alabama Style Fried Cabbage - Gluten Free

From Mom Ollie's Juke Joint Recipes

The Carver Theater

Fourth Avenue N. and 17th Street North

Birmingham, Alabama

The Carver Theatre started as a motion picture theater where African-Americans could see first-run movies. Like most theaters during the Jim Crow Era, the Carver also doubled as a venue for jazz legends such as Duke Ellington and Lionel Hampton.

 

 

 

1 head green cabbage, shredded
1 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Apple Cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Precooked bacon (or sausage) if desired 

Tabasco Sauce

Clean and shred the cabbage head.

Add oil to a skillet and heat accordingly.

Add cabbage to heated oil. Reduce heat to medium and stir-fry cabbage for 3-4 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste, vinegar, bacon or sausage.

Constantly stir the cabbage until it's done.

While the cabbage is cooking it will reduce in volume by half.

At this point check to see if the cabbage is crisp and tender. If so the cabbage is ready to eat.

Add extra salt and pepper if desired.

Sprinkle Tasbo Sauce on top and serve.

Lionel Hampton - 1957

 

Sponsored by:

Maryland Style Navy Bean Soup (Gluten Free)




Civil War sailor, George Commodore

 

 

 

The term "navy bean" comes from the fact that since the Civil War, they were issued regularly to US warships. However, it is suggested the earliest sailors to consume the beans (chick peas) were Spanish sailors as they made their way across the Atlantic. Many believe the "beans" were eaten as a last resort once fresh food ran out.

 

It is estimated that nearly eighteen thousand men of African descent (and eleven women) served in the U.S. Navy during the Civil War. At 20 percent of the navy's total enlisted force, black sailors constituted a significant segment of naval manpower and nearly double the proportion of black soldiers who served in the U.S. Army during the Civil War.

 

According to Joseph P. Reidy,  during the first ninety days after Fort Sumter, when nearly three hundred black recruits enlisted, fifty-nine (20 percent) were veterans with an average of five years of prior naval service per man.  Over succeeding months, the proportion of black men in the service increased rapidly. At the end of 1861, they made up roughly 6 percent of the crews of vessels. By the summer of 1862, the figure had climbed to nearly 15 percent.

He adds, "Not surprisingly, the coastal states contributed the largest numbers of men: New York and Pennsylvania roughly 1,200 each, and Massachusetts and New Jersey more than 400 each. Many of these men had been mariners before the war, and still others had worked on the docks and shipping-related businesses of the seaport cities. Additional recruits with prior maritime experience on the lakes and rivers of the nation's interior also enlisted; these included 420 natives of Kentucky. The largest number of black men from any of the northern states— more than 2,300 in all— hailed from Maryland. The maritime culture of Chesapeake Bay, with its numerous tributaries and the port of Baltimore, offer part of the explanation for the large number of Marylanders in naval service."

 

Therefore, it's no surpise Black sailors took the practice of eating navy beans them after the war; where it eventually made its way into the recipes and on the tables of African American families 

 

1 pound navy beans (rinsed and drained)
1 quart water
1 bay leaf
6 sprigs fresh parsley
6 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 quart Swanson Chicken Stock (Gluten Free)
2 large smoked ham hocks or 4 large turkey legs
1 medium chopped carrot
1 medium white chopped onion
2 stalks chopped celery
2 cloves coarsely chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Place beans in a large saucepan and cover with 1 quart of water (about 2 inches) over medium high heat.

 

When water comes to a boil, reduce heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and let sit covered for about an hour. After an hour, drain beans and set aside.

 

Tie herbs in a bundle with cooking twine. In a large stockpot, combine water, chicken stock, beans, herbs, ham hocks, carrots, onions, celery and garlic.

 

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to its lowest setting. Allow to soup to simmer about 1½ hours or until beans and meat are completely tender.

 

Remove from heat and remove hocks or turkey legs and herbs. Cool enough to be able to remove meat from bone. Discard bones, fat skin, and herbs.

 

Cut hocks into cubes or shred turkey legs and return to soup. Place up to 1½ cups of beans with a small amount of soup into a blender and puree. Stir the puree back into the soup. Heat the soup about 10 more minutes.

 

 

 

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