Etouffe

The basics of Creole/ Cajun food I learned these from my grandmother. Her methods for measuring spices did not include any sort of spoon or cup. She’d pour whatever spice into her hand and dump into whatever she was cooking never pausing between handfuls. So, no need to follow these 100%. It’s simply a guide.

The Trinity
Every Cajun/Creole dish starts with the trinity - onions, peppers and celery. A base trinity consists of 1 onion, 4 to 5 stalks of celery and 1 to 2 bell peppers. It is advisable to throw in 5 to 6 green onion tops as well as cayenne, serrano or jalapeno peppers. With the peppers you’re more interested in the taste rather than heat, so you may want to remove the seeds. How finely the trinity is chopped completely depends on your preference (or stress-level).

Roux
Another base of all Cajun/Creole food is a roux. The time it takes to make a roux is totally based on how dark a shade you want for a particular dish. Everyone has a different technique and you can find a billion different opinions looking around the internet. Simply a roux is equal parts flour and butter or oil or bacon grease.

Sift your flour into a pan or skillet on a medium to medium high heat. Slowly brown the flour until it is the color for which ever roux you are preparing. Typical cook times are 2 to 4 minutes for a white roux, 4 to 6 minutes for a blonde roux, 6 to 15 minutes for a brown or red roux and 15 to 25 minutes for a dark roux.

Once you have your flour ready you should heat your butter, oil and/or grease and mix with your “toasted” flour. For etoufee I will use:
Roux Flour Butter Oil Bacon Grease Tomato Paste
Red 1 cup 3/4 cup none 1/4 cup 6 oz. can