lunaticsinge.com - Cajun Cuisine Notes On Cooking

Salt - Kosher salt is the salt of choice for the clean taste and larger crystals. It's also good because you can see it set up on the food before it soaks in, which allows you to see how much you are seasoning. Iodized salt disappears.

Black Pepper - Use freshly ground.

Flour - Use all-purpose.

Butter - Use unsalted butter for everything.

Eggs - Use graded large; particularly important for baking.

Peppers & Chiles - These should be stemmed and seeded unless specified otherwise. Cajun cooking is more about the flavors of chiles, rather than simple heat.

Bay Leaves - Use fresh bay leaves for a more pungent flavor, but it's fine to use dried. Use less when using fresh bay leaves.

Hot Sauce - Louisiana, Crystal, and Tabasco are great brands to use.

Creole Mustard - This grainy mustard has a spicy horseradish flavor, but you can use any whole-grain mustard.

Paprika - Whether hot or sweet paprika, the variety in not terribly important. Your choice!

Scallions - Trim both ends and use both the white and green parts.

Spice Mix - (makes 1 cup)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons paprika

1 tablespoon ground white pepper

1 tablespoon ground black pepper

4 tablespoons chili powder

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1. Combine spices in a small bowl and sore in a cool, dark place in a tightly sealed container.