No doubt for those who reside in North America you know it is Earth Day, celebrated April 22, it is a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. It is held annually during both spring in the northern hemisphere and  autumn in the southern hemisphere. It was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year.

What follows are a few noteworthy items of interest that I came across today. And then I’ll wrap up with a few new things on the Cajun Chef Ryan (CCR) blog that I started today.

This year’s Earth Day will see the launch of the Green Generation(tm)  Campaign; a  two-year project that will end on the 40th anniversary of  Earth Day in 2010.

The special focus areas of the Green Generation(tm) Campaign will be:

• A carbon-free future based on renewable energy that will end our common dependency on fossil fuels, including coal.

• An individual’s commitment to responsible, sustainable  consumption.

• Creation of a new green economy that lifts people out of poverty  by creating millions of quality green jobs and transforms the global education system into a green one.

On Facebook today, Donna McLoughlin of Slow Food Urban San Deigo posted a link to Fertile Ground USA a site that Celebrates the people behind the plow, a zine investigating the sustainability of sustainable agriculture cropping up. This got me to digging more and as I read a few more articles it hit me that I needed to add a new link category to the CCR blog, more on that later.

This past weekend the Wake Forest Herb Festival started in what is now a 10 day event. And after dropping $197 on plants including many culinary herbs, vegetables, heirloom tomatoes and perennial flowers,  we then trotted home Sunday afternoon and planted 1/2 of them in the ground just before the rain set in.  The tomatoes got put into 4 deck planters yesterday afternoon and now only 8 more herbs remain to be set into the ground.

Also, today I ran across the the NO GMO Challenge, a 30 day challenge to avoid all foods with GMO’s. It’s a rolling challenge — you can join in anytime. You can also participate as long as you like. You don’t have to stop at 30 days.  GMO’s – short for genetically modified organisms – are man-made organisms created in a laboratory and patented by a corporation or the USDA. GMO’s are created by a process called genetic engineering.

A weekend of planting in the garden, the Wake Forest Herb Festival, Earth Day today, a Facebook posting and the No GMO Challenge  got my wheels turning and so this has led to my new link (blogroll) category on the CCR blog:

Sustainability

And with the new sustainability category there are three new links and the No GMO widget with the hope of adding more as I grow this new focus.  Which is similar in focus to that of the “Slow food” movement, it is my hope to contribute in this idea as a way of living and as a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.

• Sustainability Links

  • Eat The View
  • Fertile Ground USA
  • Food System Creators Cafe
  • Slow Food Urban San Deigo

For Good Friday this year we decided to finally make the trek to the south side of Raleigh and check out two seafood markets we have been hearing about over the years. Coming from Louisiana we always had our choice of seafood on a regular basis, especially in the spring months when crabs, shrimp and crawfish are always plentiful. I wrote a short wish list of items we would look for such as halibut, cod, oysters, crabs and shrimp.

We first went to Earp’s Seafood Market (1414 South Saunders Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27603) and after spending $73 and change we walked away with 2 lbs. catfish fillets, 1 quart fresh shucked oysters, 1 lb. jumbo lump crabmeat and 2 lbs. large shell-on shrimp. We asked about live blue crabs and the owner said his blue crab supplier was in Florida for a week and it would be next weekend before he gets any in again to sell.

A few mental notes for the next visit to Earp’s – they do sell frozen crawfish tail meat imported from China, so that will only do in an absolute pinch. But they also have frog legs, scallops and just about any fish. Grouper, salmon, catfish, haddock, pollock, trout, red snapper, and flounder were also available on our visit.

We then drove just a few minutes away to Capital Seafood (676 Maywood Ave, Raleigh, NC 27603) and they had live blue crabs available for $4.99/lb so we picked out 10 of our own and they weighed in at around 2 lb. We were happy with our “catch” and drove home to proceed with our seafood extravaganza.

Once home I immediately set up a stock pot with 3 quarts of water and some seasonings to boil the crabs and shrimp, in the meantime we started eating the raw oysters. Of course we had to whip up a small batch of remulade and cocktail sauces to go with the bivalve delights. Once the crabs and shrimp were done we sat down to our Good Friday Seafood Dinner complete with raw oysters, boiled crabs and boiled shrimp with potatoes, garlic, onion and celery. Lassez le bonne temps roule!

Monique picked about 4 ounces of crabmeat from the remaining crabs and the next day I combined that with the 1 lb of jumbo lump we bought and created a crabmeat stuffing. We saved the crab shells and I cleaned them up allowing them to dry overnight before stuffing. What follows is a simple yet delicious crabmeat stuffing, perfect for stuffed crab shells which we did, or stuffed founder (Bruning’s Style) or for stuffing anything from artichokes to catfish.

Crabmeat Stuffing / Stuffed Crabs Recipe

On my drive into work each morning I listen to the local NPR affiliate (WUNC) and periodically they have a story about a family run business, today’s business story Duarte’s Tavern: A Family Tradition For 115 Years by  Susan Stamberg featured Duarte’s Tavern of Pescadero, California. I have to admit that I had never heard of this place before listening to the broadcast, but if I ever make it to Pescadero I will be making plans to grab a lunch table at Duatre’s. This place sounds like many of the family run restaurants that I just adore and love, and also  seem to be a dying breed.

A refreshing story and quite a relief from the usual drone during these hard economic times. This story reminds me of what makes good business sense; not just for the restaurateur, but for any business person.  Steeped in 115 years of history spanning many generations, this family run business has built a tradition of quality while preserving a solid customer base. I yearn for places like this, and when on vacation I like to find these places where the locals and regulars go every day. I can get franchise food at home so why go to California to order the same menu items that I can get in Louisiana, North Carolina, or Maine.

The online version of the NPR story also has two recipes from the restaurant, the Crab Cioppino and Artichoke Soup, which are both two of their specialty signature items that folks rave about. The story also mentions their pies which Emma Cardoza Duarte started a tradition of making them in the 1930’s. Their dessert menu includes apple, blueberry, lemon meringue, apricot, peach and ollalieberry, which is a cross between a loganberry and a youngberry. Sounds like enough to get me there just for the desserts.

I hope that the next generation of Duarte’s keep the business in the family, a hertiage and tradition to last this long is a feat in itself. Having seen so many family owned  businesses fall out of running, makes me appreciate places like Duarte’s so much more. For New Orleanians who have any memory at all can recall the days of yore and bygone businesses such as McKenzies Bakeries, K&B Drug Stores and their soda fountains, Woolworth’s soda fountains, D. H. Holmes Outback Deli and Cafeterias, Sears Cafeteria at Oakwood, Brunings Seafood Restaurant, Danny and Clydes Deli’s, Schwegmann’s Giant Supermarkets and Wise’s Cafeteria.  I know there are many more, but I cannot recall them now.

This is one of those Cajun dishes that always brings back memories of when times were good, no I mean great! But I really believe anytime is a great time, even in this state of the world with it’s economic woes. I have air in my lungs, water in my glass, fire to heat my food and the blessings of the Holy Spirit, another day of life is better than to not have lived!

OK, on with the etouffée….Aieeee!

In the Food Lovers Companion, Second Edition by Sharon Tyler Herbst, published by Barron’s (1995) and found on page 205 is the definition of this sauce.

etouffée; à l’etouffée [ay-too-FAY] This popular CAJUN dish is a thick, spicy stew of CRAYFISH and vegetables served over white rice. Its rich, deep color and flavor come from the dark brown ROUX on which it’s based. The word etouffée comes from the French étouffer which means “to smother” or “to suffocate.” The term à l’etouffée refers to the method of cooking food in a minute amount of liquid, tightly covered and over very low heat. This method is also call à l’étuvée.

The first recipe is one that I make at home, and it is perfect for 1 pound of crawfish tail meat or 1 pound of shrimps. The second recipe is from the one we used to make years ago in the Columns Hotel Restaurant, back in the day I was the Sous Chef and we used a lot of bacon fat in our Cajun and Creole dishes. Heck, it was free, as long as we saved it when we cooked the bacon, and it adds so much flavor to the dish too. But in today’s home style recipe I use butter. The last recipe is one from the Hyatt Regency Hotel New Orleans where I was an apprentice for my first 2 of 3 years; and my last duties before moving to the Columns Hotel was that of the Saucier in the main kitchen for all food operations of the facility.

So here you have it, a trifecta of etouffée recipes that span over 26 years from my culinary and Cajun heritage. Each of the two professional recipes had different uses, the Columns Hotel version was made in small batches for restaurant standards. The Crawfish Etouffée was used in a seafood combination plate which also had a portion of blackened redfish and portion of crabmeat imperial which was served in a ramekin. The version from the Hyatt was made in large steam jacketed kettles and the shrimp or crawfish was added at service time in the Courtyard Restaurant, Top of the Dome Restaurant or for banquet dinner functions, where on occasion the recipe was doubled or tripled depending on the size of the banquet party.

Let’s get started smothering some crawfish or shrimp, the two typical crustaceans that end up in such a fine mess. By the way, my favorite etouffée is the crawfish version, which is the one I am sharing with you today!

Crawfish Etouffee

Crawfish Etouffée – Home style

Yield: ½ gallon, or approximately 6 to 8 entree portions

Crawfish Etouffée – Columns Hotel Restaurant on St. Charles Avenue
Circa 1985 – 1987

Sous Chef

Yield: 1 ½ gallons, or approximately 20 entree portions

Etouffée Sauce – Hyatt Regency Hotel New Orleans
Circa 1983 – 1985
Saucier in main kitchen

Yield: 7 gallons sauce or approximately 110 entree portions