I love the seafood gumbo recipe...if you make it, be prepared to be disappointed any time you get gumbo in most restaurants; it'll be substandard.
Crawfish etouffee, barbecue shrimp, poor man's jambalaya (decrease the hot seasoning by 3/4 for a milder recipe, by the way), all are fun to read and cook, and your friends will be amazed at your accomplishment.
Heck, the *intro* is even fascinating.
Thank you, Chef Paul!
Having said that, can there be anything in this book for people who do not wish to eat a lot of fat? The answer is "yes" and here is why: Chef Prudhomme gives a very useful set of techniques to maximize the flavors that make the complex spice bouquet of real Louisiana cuisine.
As an example, I have used the Jambalaya recipe in this book many times. It is different from most recipes for this rice-sausage-and-meat cassarole. Prudhomme's version is served with a wonderful spicy tomato sauce surrounding a molded cupful of the rice mix. This is a very elegant presentation, adds moisture and flavor to the dish...and allows you to substitute ingredients and still get the sense of the genuine thing. (I use turkey Kielbasa, cut way down on the oil and use lean chicken breast for the meat.) The sauce is what makes this work so well.
Chef Prudhomme recommends "building" flavors by adding spices and herbs in stages. Some at the beginning, sauted at first, some later on near the end, to freshen the taste. He also makes a very important instruction about the miripoix mix--the onion, green bell pepper and celery base of many Cajun and Creole dishes. He says it's best to cut the vegetables, especially the bell pepper, very fine as that preserves the taste. It's true. Larger pieces of pepper taste bitter and flabby.
This kind of advice makes Prudhomme's book extremely useful. If you follow the flavor building advice, you can cut out a lot of the fat and substitute lean meats and still get good results from this book. Of course, you can't make a roux (flour and oil, cooked dark for a thickener) with no fat. So that can limit you. Or you make the recipes as written every once in a while for party occasions when the brakes are off. Either way, the techniques in this book are very useful.
I remember our first attempt at Crawfish enchiladas con Queso. we went over to a bait shop on the sacramento river to get the real thing. After the ordeal of immersing them in boiling water and the tedium of peeling them. we decided bay shrimp may make a good substitute and have used them ever since. It is a wonderful meal that starts me drooling just thinking about it.
Other tasty treats are Chicken big mamou (watch out for the scovil units), Cajun shepherd's pie, paneed veal and fettucini, cajun meatloaf and shrimp creole.
Over the years we have learned to cut down on the butter, without hurting the recipe and adjust heat to our taste. These recipes are not for the timid or diet conscious - but they are Deeeelicious!!