A Real Southern Meal

Though I was born and raised in the South, my cooking style doesn't tend to follow traditional Southern meals. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy them! So, last Thursday, John and I had some family over to watch the Saints Thursday night game, and we decided to cook gumbo and bread pudding. Unfortunately, the game didn't turn out as great as the meal (...it seems to be a trend...maybe I need to stop serving food during football games!). We're not very good as measuring, so the recipe may not be very exact - but half the fun of cooking is using your own creativity!

Crawfish & Sausage Gumbo

(adapted from recipes from gumbocity.com)

1 cup flour
1 cup vegetable oil
1 bunch celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 white onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can stewed tomatoes, roughly chopped & liquid reserved
1 1/2 cups okra, sliced
5 cups chicken stock
1 lb crawfish
1 1/2 pounds sausage (we used andouille)
Cayenne pepper
1 bay leaf
fresh parsley
fresh thyme
fresh basil
salt, pepper, & Tony's seasoning


First, you need to make the roux. Add the oil to a large stock pot over medium-low heat. Slowly and gradually whisk in the flour, stirring constantly.


Keep stirring - constantly - as the roux darkens to a light brown. This may take about 20 minutes or so. As the color darkens, the flavor will develop...just be careful not to burn it or it will not be usable. (If it smells burnt or you see black specks in the roux, it's burnt.)


Right before you get it to the color you want, turn off the heat and add the celery, bell pepper, onion, and garlic. This will help keep the roux from cooking further.


Turn the heat back on low and let the veggies cook a bit; then add the stewed tomatoes (with the liquid) and the chicken stock. Add the okra, sausage, and the herbs & seasonings and let cook for about 20-30 minutes on low.

Add the crawfish and more seasoning, if needed. Let cook for another 15 minutes.

Serve immediately, or allow to cool and put in refrigerator overnight. Serve with white rice.




Bread Pudding

Use this recipe as a base and make it your own by adding to the bread pudding (chunks of chocolate, blueberries, raisins, raspberries, etc.) or by mixing up the sauces. We actually made this twice during this week...once with white chocolate sauce and then again with blueberries added to the bread pudding and topped with a praline sauce...so I'm including both sauce recipes. Mix and match - almost anything goes!

1 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
6 cups bread cubes
1/2 cup pecans , roughly chopped

Heat oven to 350ºF. Grease bottom and side 8x8 pan.

Mix all ingredients except bread cubes and pecans in large bowl until well blended. Stir in bread cubes. Let mixture stand 30 minutes to 1 hour, gently mixing occasionally to ensure all the bread is moistened.

Spoon into pan. Arrange pecans on top of pudding.

Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes. Serve warm, drizzled with one of the sauce recipes below. Refrigerate any remaining pudding.

White Chocolate Sauce

8 oz. white chocolate
3 oz. heavy cream

Stir white chocolate in a sauce pan over low heat until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and mix in heavy cream. Serve immediately.

Praline Sauce

1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine butter and evaporated milk in small sauce pan over low heat. When the butter is melted, gradually stir in brown sugar.

Continue stirring until sugar is dissolved and sauce is thickened. Stir in vanilla extract. Serve immediately.

Bread Pudding with White Chocolate Sauce

Bread Pudding with Praline Sauce