Chef Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen

You will wear out this book until it falls to pieces and the food stained remnants no longer resemble a book. I'm on my third copy and have taken to re-writing them on paper for kitchen use.Many other reviewers have stated this, but it can't be said enough - follow the directions exactly, no matter how incredulous you may be (and on some recipes you will be). It always works out. THAT SAID, there are a few recipes that to my tastes (and probably 99% of other people on this Earth) that have far too much oil. I noted them - well, at least the ones I've tried - at the bottom of my review.Although I grew up in New Orleans and continue to live there, my parents passed no cooking skills on to me worth mentioning, as they, like most New Orleanians who are not professional cooks, only knew how to make a few things well and never wrote anything down. After a few years of being unsuccessful learning to cook from books that were not meant for learners, I finally bought this one in the early 1990's. This book will teach you how to cook, so long as you let it. Follow the directions. No substitutions. The amount of work that went into testing these recipes must have been daunting, especially with regard to seasoning.This book isn't just for Gulf South dwellers. There are a great many recipes here that can be made anywhere in the world; for the seafood oriented ones, you're probably out of luck.Another note: please do use parboiled rice in Louisiana dishes. Stop calling it "processed" - it isn't any more processed than any other rice. All it means is that the husk has been blown off with steam rather than mechanical threshing. It retains the bran this way and the grains make perfect al dente rice. I personally like Zatarain's, but any will do.Some of my personal favorites -Crawfish Etoufée - this version is made with roux, which is not a common way to make it in New Orleans. It's one of those you think couldn't possibly turn out right, but it is sublime. This was my favorite dish in the world as a child and continues to be in my top ten! This is the best version I've ever tasted.Turtle Soup - One of the best recipes in this book, and the best turtle soup I've ever had (and I've eaten plenty of turtle soups around town).Shrimp Diane - shrimp and butter with mushrooms. Delicious over pasta.Barbecued Shrimp - Whole, head on shrimp broiled in butter with black pepper, rosemary, etc. Remember to snip the antennae, eyes and horn off the shrimp's face before cooking them. The antennae will make a gross mess in your pot. You're welcome for this advice. Don't eat this more than once a year if you want to live past 40. This is one of the best versions I've ever had.Shrimp, Chicken or Rabbit Sauce Piquant - VERY hot. If you can eat very spicy Asian food, you will be fine with it. If you want to make a less hot version, make shrimp creole instead.Seafood Stuffed Shrimp - A royal pain to make, but worth it! I like to make this with his Shrimp and Crabmeat butter cream sauce.Cajun Prime RibCajun MeatloafChicken Curry - doesn't taste anything like an proper Asian curry, but is delicious anyway. This has actually been a traditional New Orleans dish for a long time, although out of fashion now, it was very popular in the 1940's - 1970's. Made with a great deal of butter and fruit (raisins, apples, coconut and bananas here) and very spicy.Sticky ChickenCorn Maque Choux - this is a delicious version which is sweet. It isn't commonly made like this in Louisiana, but I like this one better than the normal, savory way with tomatoes.Potato Salad/Green Onion Salad Dressing - I'm not kidding. Make this.Gumbos - all of them. Especially Seafood, but all of them are excellent.Jambalaya - all of them, except the ones where he wants to put oysters in them. No one puts oysters in jambalaya down here, and I find it very weird and off putting, and I don't think it really works. Just my opinion.Roast Pork Loin - GODNow for some of the ones I don't care for, or rather just don't work for me. The big man, as much as I love him, has Cajunified these particular New Orleans classics with too much oil -Stuffed Merliton - this version is somewhat greasy and I don't think the sauce does much for it. The merlitons (chayote squash) Americans find in the store are about 1/4 the size of the ones grown here, which also have spiny, husky skins which stuff well. The store bought ones from Central America aren't big enough, so don't try them.That said you can make a casserole version of this with them, but there are better recipes.Red Beans and Rice - way too greasy with those ham hocks. The seasoning is just right though. You could make this same recipe, except sautéing the trinity with seasoning first, then adding to the pot of boiling water (better: ham stock) with a smoked ham shank. Do away with the ham hocks and use a equal amount of pickled pork shoulder meat as you do beans. Pickled pork is a must in red beans for most New Orleanians.Oyster Dressing - too much oil! Yikes.Chicken Big Mamou (not a New Orleans dish) - too much butter again.

If you like cajun/creole cooking or Gulf seafood this book is an absolute must. I got this book when it first came out in 1982, I believe. I've been cooking with it ever since and make many dishes throughout the year, every year. My copy has lost its dust jacket, the pages are stained, the binding is just about to go, and some of the pages have completely come loose. No matter, the recipes still work and the food still comes out fantastic. Of course, there are a few recipes that don't work for me and my taste buds such as the Dirty Rice. Never cared for this version. Instead I developed a recipe that is almost identical to the dirty rice served at Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen restaurants here in the south. In most cases I find the recipes a little too spicy - even for someone who has Mexican heritage and eats A LOT of chile every day. I usually reduce the amount of cayenne pepper by half and adjust accordingly when the dish is ready. As the old adage says - it's easy to add more, hard to take out too much.Pay close attention when making roux for a recipe. Follow the directions exactly, especially which color of roux to achieve. I think this is the most important thing to watch out for when cooking with roux. To Chef Paul's infinite wisdom he included pictures of the different roux used in his recipes. This is an excellent visual guide. Using a roux that is too light or too dark for a particular dish can ruin it. But if you have the right color it will turn out heavenly.I highly recommend this book. If you have an aversion to using butter, margarine, and vegetable oil in substantial quantities then take a pass. Nevertheless, you shouldn't eat like this everyday, just take one look at Chef Paul, he's a big guy. Use it once a month and you will be fine. I live about 60 miles from the Gulf Coast so I luckily have access to all the wonderful seafood used in this book. Whenever I procure some fresh gulf shrimp, flounder, redfish, speckled trout, blue crab, oysters, and crawfish I always first turn to this book.

The media could not be loaded.  I bought this Louisiana kitchen cookbook in 1984 when I was in college in north Louisiana. I’m still cooking from it!! I am from South Louisiana and they did not have Cajun food in north Louisiana back in 84 so I use this book to make my own. Let me tell you these recipes are unbelievably overwhelmingly delicious.Try the pork roast recipe in this book it will blow your mind. Paul Prudhomme could season food like no other chef. In everyone of these recipes make sure you season exactly like he tells you to and you won’t be sorry. You may want to cut the amount of cayenne pepper and white pepper and a half if you don’t like hot seasoning. Also, in his chicken and sausage gumbo, he fries the chicken. You don’t have to do that you can use bake chicken. You can buy fried chicken to put in there but you don’t have to mess up your kitchen frying chicken. Anyway you do it make sure you cook chicken and sausage gumbo cause it’s sooooo good. His étouffée seasoning mixture is what I use for shrimp gumbo and let me tell you it’s incredible. If you like Cajun food, this is the king of Cajun food cookbooks. I actually think it’s the best cookbook in history and I cook a lot and from a lot of different cookbooks. There’s nothing that can compare so buy this book and get cooking!!!

I love the content and the presentation. The recipes feel more like what you'd find in an old family recipe book than the recipes for a restaurant and the book's rustic style amplifies the feeling.

Fantastic book, very authentic cooking and much admired by my friends who all want a copy.

I have followed Paul off and on over the years but have never bought any of his books. I eventually purchased this book and sat down to look through it and I'm totally loving it. So much history which he explains throughout the book and only what I feel are authentic Louisiana recipes. Cannot wait to start cooking from it. At long last I have it!

Every dish that I've tried so far has been spiced to perfection. Many seafood dishes, but don't let that deter you. Plenty of great food recipes to try out

The recipes aren't exactly straight forward, and neither is his cooking style (go ahead a google him on youtube!) But the results are amazing! The book also includes all of his rub recipes and variations on blackening spices. My favourite cookbook.