Since retiring from teaching in 2010, my life has generally focused on researching and writing The Petticoat Rebellion in anticipation of the 2018 Tricentennial. Now that the Tricentennial is halfway over and THE BOOK IS FINISHED !!!!!!!, I have to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.
Presently, that is, the 4th of July, 2018, the last eight years of my life, The Petticoat Rebellion: A Culinary History of French Colonial Louisiana, Parts I and II is in the hands of an actual real book publisher ! I still can’t believe it. After one rejection, a second query letter resulted in a request for Part I and a bit more info. That request was soon followed by another for the entire manuscript !!!!! Taken completely by surprise, and still having 2 chapters to wrap up, my family (all writers) and I spent the entire month of June scrambling to finish the chapters, and run the whole thing through four complete editing cycles. Now, dear readers, you can understand why I haven’t been doing much blogging lately. Anyway the book is now at the publishers and I am – naturally – on pins and needles awaiting their next response.
So, now what????
First of all, you will find at the conclusion of this entry the latest recipe test that is included in the book. We made a crawfish pie based on the Massialot cookbook (Paris, 1699) with modern modifications from newer Creole cookbooks at our disposal and our own imaginations. Suffice it to say, at this point, that we decided to leave out or significantly reduce the turnips included in the recipe below.
Now, back to considering the next 10 or 15 years. Of course, a lot of this thinking depends on the publisher’s answer. If the book gods are kind, I expect to be doing a lot of revision and rewriting over the next many months. Otherwise, the self publishing route is to be considered and acted upon. But regardless of any of these outcomes I am thinking primarily of two options. One, continue the culinary history into the Spanish period of Louisiana colonial history. OR Two, an autohorticultural work (new word, anyone?) that is an autobiography of yours truly building a New Orleans garden in the exurbs of the city, the Northshore aka the Florida Parishes.
Before you look at the Crawfish Pie recipe below, I have a request. The New Orleans Tri-Centennial Facebook page (aka this blog) now has over 350 follows. I would LOVE to hear from some of you – even if it is just to tell me whether you like the turnips in the pie or not. There is usually a comment form below the blog entry, please use it to let me know what you think. Ok, enough of all of this, here’s the recipe:
CRAWFISH PIE
• 1 lb. crawfish tails
• A double pie shell
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• Onion, bell peppers, turnip, garlic, celery, mushrooms, salt, cayenne pepper,
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• Basil leaves, thyme, parsley, olive oil, white wine,
Bake one pie shell first about 10 minutes in a hot oven (450) or until brown, cool.
First you make a roux. Sauté some mushrooms and 6 or so 1 inch cubes of turnip in olive oil. Mix up 1/2 cup of seafood stock, 1/2 cup of white wine, 2 tbsp each of butter and flour. Add to the sautéed mushrooms. Reduce by half.
Chop together, as finely as possible, the onions, bell peppers, garlic, and celery and four cubes of turnip. When the roux thickens and is almost cooked, add the chopped vegetables to stop the cooking process. Return to the fire and sauté for several minutes to cook the vegetables through. Add the salt and cayenne to taste. Wait about 5 minutes, taste the sauce and correct the seasoning, then add the crawfish tails. Cook together for 10 minutes.
Mix the thyme, parsley, and basil into the crawfish sauce and pour into the cool pie shell. Top with the second (uncooked) shell. Bake at 400 for about ½ hour or until the top shell is browned and crunchy.
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BTW, The Petticoat Rebellion, Part I is still on sale at Amazon and other online venues, both in trade paperback and as an eBook; as well as – I am proud to announce – The Arcadian Books store at 714 Orleans St. , a half block behind the Cathedral in the French Quarter. Check it out.
(Using that phrase, it also reminds me that you can actually “check it out” from the St. Tammany Parish Public Library).
WISH ME LUCK !!!!!!!
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