Top #DDD Creole & Cajun Food Videos with Guy Fieri | Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives | Food Network

You know, on Triple D, we have featured just about every type of food you can imagine. But one that we don't do nearly enough? Creole and Cajun. So guess where I'm at? I'm in Los Angeles, California, in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, to check out a joint that I've been to before, and you're gonna love. This is Harold and Bell's. Just totally unlike anything else you'll find in L.A. That's catfish nuggets for the gentlemen. If you want a touch or a taste of New Orleans, Harold and Bell's is the place to come. This restaurant has been in the same family for 47 years. Going back to 1969, when Louisiana Transplants' Harold and Maribel Legault opened a dive bar serving up gumbo and po' boys. Now five decades and two renovations later, grandson Ryan's still cooking up the Creole. All four of my grandparents are from New Orleans. I have a very Creole last name, Legault, L-E-G-A-U-X. The only people that have X in their name are people that come from Louisiana. I don't find much Cajun Creole food in the West Coast, so when I came here and I met this guy and I tried the food, I'm like, you're the real deal, brother. Large gumbo. The gumbo's one of my favorite dishes. Sausage, chicken, crab. When I think of making true gumbo, I'm thinking of all the goods. All right, buddy, fire it up. Seafood stock. Okay. What we're gonna do next is put in our trinity. In the French cooking, you have mirepoix, which is the onions, the celery, and the carrots. And in Creole cooking, you have the peppers, the celery, and the onions. Have you ever heard the term filet gumbo? This is the ground up sassafras leaf. Creole seasoning. Ground thyme. Okay. Ground basil. Dried parsley flakes. More black pepper. We had some in our Creole seasoning already. We like more. More granulated onion. More granulated garlic. Okay. I'm gonna let that cook down and then we're gonna add our roux, thicken it up. All that in there? Most of it. The roux's the key, baby. Next up? Some boneless, skinless chicken thighs, seasoned with? Harold and Bell's Creole seasoning. Beef hot links. Diced pit ham. Smoked sausage. Really key. You know, a lot of recipes in New Orleans, they use andouille, which is like a combination. Right. Spicy and smoked, so we just do it with two different sausages. Blue crab, this is another key for the flavor. I'm gonna let this cook for probably about 45 minutes. In the last 15 minutes before service, we'll drop the shrimp. Drop the shrimp in there. Okay. Ah, looks fantastic. All right, guy, you ready for some gumbo? Do it. Make sure you get you some blue crab and some shrimp on there. A little parsley. Look at this gumbo. It's not thin like stock. It's not heavy like stew. That's fantastic. You pick up that seafood, even though there was just a little bit of that blue crab, you get velvety texture coming over your tongue from that sassafras and getting it from that roux. Oh, I just sit here and eat it all day. A small filet gumbo. The gumbo is amazing. The spices, the flavor. This is Tara and Kara. Tara's on the culinary team for Guys Grocery Games, and this is Kara, who's actually one of our editors and helps develop the show. So since you both have such wide-range knowledge of the food, take it away. So the gumbo here has two types of sausage, and one's light and fluffy and the other's got like a nice bite. I love both. Having a little bit of soul and a little bit of spice in the heart of LA is a nice balance. Jefferson Park area was a stopping off point for a lot of people that had moved from Louisiana, and Harold and Bill's was kind of an anchor for people to come together. It's like a little hidden gem in a neighborhood. Yeah, I wouldn't even know it was here. Good buddy of mine, Walt, one of our camera guys on Guys Grocery Games. Tell me what you think of the food. It's incredible. Crawfish etouffee ready. Shrimp and crawfish smothered in this beautiful gravy sauce. Okay, now we're into the etouffee. Right, we start with the roux, canola, and olive oil. Once our oil is hot, we're going to stir in our flour. We want this roux to kind of be a brownish color, kind of like the color of peanut butter. When the roux is at the temperature we want it at, we're going to add our trinity. Our red and green bell peppers, our onions, and our celery. Correct. Harold and Bill's Creole seasoning, ground bay leaves, some minced garlic, hot sauce, granulated garlic, more paprika, cayenne pepper, not too much. We have some ground basil. Okay. Some parsley flakes, some black pepper. Worcestershire. Yes, sir. A little bit of extra Creole seasoning, and we're going to stir it all in. The roux's starting to tighten up. We're going to add some tomato soup. I don't know that I've seen tomato soup, but I'll give it to you. Shrimp stock. Okay. Let this simmer for about an hour, and then we're going to add our crawfish. Oh, it's going to work for me. Let that cook down, get the crawfish flavor getting in there. About a half hour is all you need for that. Then we're going to add the cream of mushroom soup. And that's how it was made 40 years ago. This is old school right here. We'll cool it down and then heat it up to order. Because if you held it hot, it would just sit there and continue to cook down. Extra crawfish tails, our etouffee is nice and hot. I'm going to put it in a bowl for you guys. We'll just put a little parsley on there. Tight, but not too tight. My buddy, Kim Gardner, and this dude's Cage. Kim, what's up, buddy? When he's the first time I had real etouffee. And there's so much flavor going on in this. All the spices. I mean, you're just talking deep and rich and creamy. And you get nice little tender crawfish inside of it. Crawfish is an intensified shrimp flavor and a great meaty texture, kind of like lobster. You'll love this. Shrimp and crawfish etouffee. Really, really incredible crawfish. It's spicy, but not too spicy. It always delivers every time you come. You stick into the traditions. You're upgrading the program where you can. And you really embody this. You really celebrate it. Fantastic. This guy. So I'm here with the San Diego legend, the one and only Shane from Hodad's, the son of the late, great Bossman. Now, Shane, where are we in San Diego? Hillcrest. A lot of bars, restaurants, a lot going on here. We're about two miles away from Gaslamp. Okay, good. Because I thought I was lost for a second. I'm trying to take you to New Orleans. Well, at least to a place that's serving up real deal New Orleans food. I hear there's a chef drove all the way out here, and he's doing it right. Let's check it out. This is NOLA on Fifth. Let's go. We got a full house out there. I would gobble up the whole menu any day of the week. Catfish going down. Party home cooking with a little bit of spice. The shrimp and grits here. Feels like New Orleans came to San Diego. Which actually happened by way of Andrew Boyer, a cook from the Big Easy, who came here 27 years ago to help a friend open some breweries. I was just going to stay for a summer. Nobody comes to San Diego for the summer because it's an endless summer. That is a true statement for sure. Right? Yeah. I love New Orleans, love Cajun and Creole. The highlights on the menu here? Gumbo, etouffee, jambalaya. NOLA jambalaya is my absolute favorite. I love the chicken. I'm a big fan of the Andouille sausage they use here. So we're going to start off with homemade seasoning. We put this on everything. Brown sugar. I have never seen that much brown sugar. Who taught you how to cook all this? My buddy, Dave Perdom. Dave Perdom. I wish it was Paul Perdom's son, but it's not. Oh my gosh, I just, my heart fluttered. Garlic powder, cracked black pepper, onion powder, cayenne pepper, kosher salt, oregano, a little basil, dry parsley, thyme. We're looking pretty good. We're going to roast our boneless, skinless thigh meat. Take some Cajun seasoning, put it into our combi oven for about seven minutes on a high steam. Use some of the fat and the juice out of it. That's correct. Now we're going to make the stock. Any great jambalaya has got to come from a real stock. You can tell the difference immediately. Night and day. Roasted chicken bones, mirepoix with a little garlic. Water. Let it cook for hours. Okay, chef. Fire up that pot. We're going to put a little oil in there first to get started. What kind of oil? That's a little extra virgin olive oil. Trinity. Tomato paste. Let this cook down for about five minutes. Chicken stock. A little hot sauce. Crab ball seasoning. Garlic. Cajun seasoning. Liquid crab ball. This is what really spices it up. And then a little parsley. Cook this down for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then we'll put in roasted chicken thigh. Andouille sausage brought in from Louisiana. Now what makes andouille andouille? And do we want to know or what? That's the seasoning blend that's made with it. We'll add our rice. Extra long grain. It cooks perfect every time. 60% of the time, it works every time. Get it boiling and then put it at a low temperature. 25 minutes. And this will get a cover, you said? Do not ever take jambalaya uncovered. It's going to burn the bottom. And every time you'll get that flavor and smell of the burn. Take it off the heat and let it sit 10 to 15 minutes. Let it bloom. Let it dry a little bit. New Orleans jambalaya. That one's for me. I don't think you can eat all that. Green onions on there. Give it a little color. Some Leidenheimer's bread. And you get the perfect bite. A really flavorful jambalaya. That is the best I've ever had. It's mellow heat. This long grain rice, nice and toothsome. Great rendering of the sausage. Love the chicken thigh. You get the uniqueness of having the chicken seasoned by itself, the sausage having its own flavoring, and then the rice having its own base. You get little different bites each time you take a bite. That's delicious. Look at the sausage jambalaya. The sausage and the chicken really make the dish come alive. I am from 45 minutes south of New Orleans. How close is that to jambalaya you remember having as a kid? Spot on. Like no question. Grandma made it. So on the next stop of this Triple D New Orleans tour, here we are in the city of Harahan. Now, it's about 20 minutes from downtown New Orleans and about 10 minutes away from the River Shack Tavern that we shot just years ago. Now, when you drive by this place, first thing you're going to say is, oh yeah, a shrimp and po' boy joint. Oh, don't judge a book by a cover for sure on this one because they've got chapters of culinary good that you just got to read about. This is Scyther's Seafood. I got a people salad. It's what people that are from New Orleans go eat. One boiled seafood platter. All your favorite New Orleans style dishes done in Jason's way. That's Jason Scyther. Making snow. Who grew up in the bayou, boiling crawfish with his dad and cooking in the kitchen with his mom. I'm respecting the old school ingredients, but I'm just incorporating my own style into it. Here's the volcano. A volcano is actually something that I get almost every time we come. It's a lot of familiar things presented in a way you never saw. The volcano is basically like an upside down Asian taco salad, if you can imagine. Oh, you hear about those every day. First, we're going to make the blackening seasoning. I got some paprika right here. Some paprika. Black pepper, sea salt, parsley flakes, granulated onion, granulated garlic, and then the Italian seasoning. Okay. So now we have the fresh ahi. Right, this is local. So if you can't get it fresh, you just won't be serving it. That's exactly right. The best attitude. We'll sear this off next up. Spicy mayo. I call it dragon sauce, just to have a cool name. All it is is mayo. And sriracha. I like to add a little bit of water to it because when I put it in the squeeze bottles, I could like draw with it. I don't speak Cajun. That's how you say draw with it in Cajun? Draw with it. Next. The crab salad. Okay. I'm taking this shredded coni that they use in sushi rolls. Right, so this is pollock. Take some of this sauce. The Cajun measuring system. Right. All right, so I'm going to show you how to make this volcano. On the edge of my seat. Here we go. Gorgeous. Lay the tuna around here. Avocados. Lettuce right in the middle. Put the shrimp on there. Spicy mayo that we made. Eel sauce. Sriracha. Dizzy. Take the taco shell. Turn it upside down. Put some of this snow crab salad on top. Spicy mayo. Eel sauce. A little bit more sriracha. And then I finish it off with sesame seeds. So that right there is the volcano. Cena just erupted. Interesting. Do you jump on it? Do you hit it with an elbow? I mean, you just got to go at it. I was able to build a bite there, folks. Right, so you got like a little nacho right there. I don't care what you do with it. When you serve tuna that fresh, I mean, that's legit. That's really legit. I'm not a huge sauce guy, but I think this is a showstopper. I mean, people see this come out, they're going to go, wow. It's like an awesome little salad and it looks cool too. Can I go? Go for it, dude. All right, walking in the door, I got a volcano. Jason's just sort of pushed the creative envelope. Now I'm about three miles from the French Quarter in an area known as Mid-City to check out a joint that was down for four and a half years due to Katrina. But they're back up and running now better than before. This is Katie's. Crab cakes up. Boudreaux's going on the rock. It's a fabulous neighborhood restaurant. I come here to get great food. It's excellent. Here's your crawfish penne. The food is local flavor. There's no way to fake this. No need to. You born and raised here? Born and raised. Since owner Scott Craig's been doing it all his life. And then all of a sudden, 2005, boom. Seven sheet of water and everything was wiped out. I lost everything. So Scotty and longtime server, Catherine Dakan, had their work cut out for them. After the storm, we drove by all the time to see when it would open up again. It took four and a half years, but Katie's is back. Just a nice place to go have food. Catherine's now part owner. How was everything? And Scotty's decided to mix things up a bit. Order up. Everything's changed here since Katrina, including the food. It's a combination of old and new Orleanian. From grits and griots. Got your griot gravy. That's Creole for grilled veal on grits. Classic old New Orleans dish. To those famous New Orleans sandwiches called po'boys. Fried green tomatoes and shrimp rambalai. And something they call colchon de lait. Cajun roast pig. That's Scotty's throwing on pizza. The Boudreaux pizza has the colchon de lait on it. They cook the pork right outside here on the smoker. All right, what are we doing to this pork butt? Looks like we're making a nice little dry rub for it. We got a little onion powder. Okay. Garlic. Lots of that. Cayenne. The hot stuff. A little black pepper. Some white pepper. Salt. Cumin. Paprika. And then the old secret ingredient over here that I tell you I gotta kill you. The Cajun seasoning. We just stir it up. And I'm going to come over here. Boneless pork butt. Very important to cook it fat side up. Because the fat- Bastes itself as it goes. Bastes itself as we go. And then I make some buttons. Very nice. And I come with a little parsley. Then hit it with a little garlic. My dad taught me that. Never saw the parsley move. Spoon on the rub. Generous application. Rub it down. Come over with our rub. Flip it back. Now out to the little smoker on the street. Nice. Let's roll. Used to have a little unit like this. That's how I started smoking. Tell you what, it's perfect for us. That's a remote temp control. I want to keep it averaged between 230 and 250. An hour and a half a pound. Oh, that's beautiful. That's about 13 hours right there. I have to use a spatula to pick this up. I'm spotting you. Beautiful. Look at that. Huh? Bone comes right out of it. Beautiful. Get a little piece off there. Good rub, man. Now to make a pizza. Here we go. Start with our pizza dough. You just rip off chunks. Yes. Some flour on your table. And then we just kind of knead it a little bit and get it in a little circle and then roll it out. I like to have a very thin pizza. So you're not really concerned that it looks like Nebraska right now. Believe it or not, I will turn that into a perfect circle. Then I hit some semolina so it won't stick. Quickly get it on that pan. Start folding it over. Try to make a nice circle. This is absolutely, unquestionably the most unconventional method I've ever seen. I kind of pinch up my ends there. We start with our jiffy jaffy garlic butter. You know, it's like a creamy butter. That should be strong garlic flavor. And then I come with two different kinds of cheeses. Whole milk mozzarella. And this one is called Provel. It is very popular in St. Louis, Missouri. It melts almost like a brie. Nice tang to it. That's really different. Tons of fresh spinach. Some really nice and chopped red onions. And then we come with our couchon. And you want to spread it. Break it up. Last but not least, a little lot of roasted garlic on top there. That's all she wrote. What temp are you running this at? Almost 400. Bakes on the 10 and then three quarters of the way through and I take it off. Throw it on the rock. We let it cook for a couple more minutes until it gets nice and crispy on the bottom. Ready? She's ready, baby. You're looking pie. One last thing we have to do. You got to put the jiffy jaffy garlic butter. And then we're going to cut it. Here you go. Impressive. The pork is right there where it should be. Not too much smoke. The garlic butter is nice. Underneath the cheese and the spinach coming through. I mean, you talk about cracker crust. It's fantastic. And I can taste that. What's the name of that cheese again? Provel. You rocked that out. Right. Nice job. And here is your Boudreaux. The pork is excellent. This is great stuff right here. Some crazy imported cheese all the way from St. Louis, Missouri. Outstanding. It's phenomenal. Boudreaux up. Oh, this is one of our favorite restaurants. And your Boudreaux pizza. It's a neighborhood restaurant. That's how it feels. Oh, yeah. To come back to someplace that knows who you are and what you're like. That's the spirit of the folks of New Orleans is that you guys rebuilt yourselves. Took you four and a half years, but look what you got going now, man.