Friday, July 28, 2023

Chicken Bayou Lafourche

 In my opinion, this will probably the best recipe I will ever share with you. It is certainly a tasty dish that will make folks believe you are a first-class Cajun chef, worthy of praise and admiration.

About thirty years ago, I belonged to the University Club. It was located on the top floor of the DGB building in Jackson, MS. I have no doubt it was the best restaurant in Jackson back then, with the restaurant at Jackson Country Club a close second or the other way if you frequented both and disagree. A trip to the University Club Restaurant was always a rare experience of grace, sophistication and really good food. In those days, it was the very best place in Jackson, perhaps in Mississippi, to entertain a friend or business associate, and we used it for that many times. Sadly, it is now gone and I miss it a lot. 

This recipe comes courtesy of the Chef at the University Club and is a huge step above country eats, unless you live somewhere on Bayou Lafourche and are a first rate cook of Cajun cuisine.

 


Bayou Where?

Bayou Lafourche (pronounced La-Foosh) is a long, winding bayou that runs from the west side of the Mississippi river in Donaldson, LA, to the Gulf of Mexico at Golden Meadow and Port Fourchon, 106 miles south of its origin. At one time, it was a tributary of the mighty Mississippi, but now would only connects with the river if a very high-water condition were to develop. On the bayou’s journey to the gulf, it runs through three Louisiana Parishes and for most of its course, is flanked by LA-1 on the west side and LA 308 on the east. It runs through the middle of some of the most distinctly Cajun land in Louisiana. If you want to experience Cajun life, this would be a good place to find it.   


Chicken Bayou Lafourche

This recipe will serve 4

Ingredients:

Start with 4 boneless chicken breasts – pounded flat and thin.

Stuffing for Chicken

1/2 pound chopped crawfish tails chopped medium fine
1/4 pound Lump Crab Meat (be certain to carefully pick out any shell pieces)
1 Tablespoon good sherry                                               
1/4 cup finely diced onions                                               
1/4 cup finely diced celery                                
1/4 cup finely diced red bell pepper                               
1/4 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
1/4 teaspoon fresh rosemary, stripped from stem and chopped 
1/4 teaspoon tarragon, chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup finely sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup Béchamel Sauce
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon finely diced garlic
1 teaspoon Herbsaint or Pernod. Both of thee liquors have a distinct anise (licorice) taste and are not a part of my liquor cabinet, so I substitute a teaspoon of the extraction liquid from 6 Anise stars soaked in 6 Tablespoons of Absolute Ethanol (everclear) for a few days then stored in a sealed bottle until needed.

 

Breading for chicken:

1 cup, seasoned flour (salt, black pepper) 

For frying the chicken rolls:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Andouille Tarragon Cream Sauce               

1/4 cup melted, unsalted butter                                         
1 Tablespoon tarragon, chopped
1 Tablespoon shallots, chopped                      |
1 ounce good (dry) white wine
1 Tablespoon garlic, chopped.                         
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup andouille sausage (removed from casing and finely diced or crumbled as it cooks)
salt and pepper to taste           

Béchamel Sauce

In a saucepan over medium-to-medium high heat, Cook 1/4 cup of flour in 1/2 stick of unsalted butter at medium heat for 2 minutes with constant stirring. This is a white sauce and although the flour needs to be cooked to take away the raw flour taste. It should not be browned. Béchamel is intended to be a white sauce.



Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper and 8 ounces of heavy cream or half and half. Stir until thickened and remove from heat. If needed, add a little more cream or water to keep the Béchamel thick, but not congealed.


To make Andouille Tarragon sauce:

Heat butter over medium heat. Add shallots, garlic and andouille. Sauté three to five minutes or until the vegetables are wilted and sausage is cooked. 


Add tarragon and deglaze the pan with white wine. Add heavy whipping cream and reduce to one half volume. Season to taste using salt and pepper. 


Serve on plate under Chicken Bayou Lafourche.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly oil a baking pan and set aside.
Pound the chicken breasts lightly between two layers of plastic wrap to flatten (to 1/8 inch thickness if possible) and season with salt and cracked black pepper. 


Prep all of the ingredients for the stuffing.



I make my own breadcrumbs from toasted bread so I'm sure they are fresh.


In a mixing bowl, combine all of the stuffing ingredients. 



Add bechamel sauce and mix to make a creamy wet mixture.



Portion an equal amount of the stuffing onto the center of each breast and season with a little salt and black pepper.


Roll into a cylinder or turban shape and secure with toothpicks. Dust the stuffed chicken rolls lightly in the seasoned flour and set aside. Preheat the 1/2 cup of oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat and sauté the stuffed chicken portions until they are browned on all sides. Cook the seamed side first, then rotate and continue cooking until all sides are browned.



Place the stuffed chicken portions on pre-oiled baking pan and finish cooking by baking in preheated 375 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes. (drain on paper towels for 5 minutes after baking).

 


Cut the cooked chicken roll into 1/2 or 3/4 inch medallions and plate on top of (a pool of) Andouille Tarragon Cream. I will usually drizzle a little over the medallions, because tarragon cream sauce with andouille sausage is very good stuff.





Serve with a vegetable, such as asparagus or broccoli or a green salad and a glass of white wine.

As always, thanks for looking at my post.

God Bless You.

Kingfish note: Lafourche? Why not post this.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dude, please open a restaurant somewhere in Rankin or Madison Counties!

Bill Dees said...

Great recipe, but Bayou Lafourche was never a tributary of the Mississippi River. It was a "fork" of the Mississippi, thus the name "la fourche", which is French for "the fork". Bayou Lafourche was once the course of the Mississippi, and was a branch when the French Canadians first explored the lower Mississippi River.

Anonymous said...


Yeah, Bayous in Louisiana but Old River Loops are called Billabongs down under. I've had "Waltzing Matilda" in my head for two weeks now after mirthful reaction upon learning Aussie Women's National Team is called the 'Matildas'.

This elegant recipe is very presentable and putting its sauce 'under' was appropriate.

Anonymous said...

This looks like too much work for my lazy ass, but I would have to second the motion made at 11:50 and state that I would gladly eat this in your restaurant.

Anonymous said...

I gha-rawn-tee I'll be trying this!!

ZeroBear ROCKS!

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

Friends,

My chef experience was at T-Willies Frostop, many many years back, when I was in full charge of the night shift kitchen in a burger joint, three or four nights a week, as often as I could convince my parents to let me work until 10:00 pm on a school night while not allowing my grades to suffer.

My time as the grill guy at a burger place, certainly allows me to claim I was a "Burger Chef" back then.

However, to show you guys I am no dummy, I want to assure you running a restaurant kitchen and restaurant front operation is tons and tons of work in a business with an incredibly high risk of failure. I will allow anyone here to correct me, but I think 80% of restaurant startups fail sometime in the first 5 years.

I do like to cook, but there is no way I would ever attempt to open a restaurant.

Thanks for the compliments though. It is fun sharing these with you and I appreciate the King of Fishes allowing me some time here with very few restrictions.

Anonymous said...

4:42pm
Try a foodie truck near the med hospital/clinics on Lakeland at State St, or near same at "T" of Highland Colony at 463, Queen permitting, of course. Rent a used food truck/trailer such that rent is 0 until operation is profitable. Open only for lunch, hire the help, don't cook, just manage. And/or partner with Primos type place to cater clinics and med offices, a HUGE business, especially healthy sandwiches and salads which can be prepped the night before.

Anonymous said...

What a coincidence, I just listened to this! Dixie Cryptid - Bayou Lafourche Bigfoot

Robert W Neill Jr, Land Broker said...

That looks really good.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for a great recipe,

It looks more NOLA Creole than anything remotely Bayou Lafourche Cajun.

I dated a girl from outside of Port Fourchon.
(Gawd she was a wild little Cajun LSU fan).

Anyway, I watched her family and friends cook everything they caught in those swamps ( yard birds were always in the mix as well)

Never once did anyone mention 1 teaspoon Herbsaint or Pernod or Anise stars soaked in 6 Tablespoons of Absolute Ethanol (everclear) for a few days. That is Creole, not Cajun.

Whatever they caught, they either immediately boiled it, smoked it or fried it.
And it was always great.
But thanks for a great dish !

One day I do hope to attempt this.






Anonymous said...

I was a kid in late 80s early 90s. My grandparents were members of the university club. Going was a rare occasion at night. Coat and tie. I remember it was the first time I saw a waiter make Caesar dressing table side in a huge wooden bowl egg yolk and all. First time I had scallops. Delicious to 8 or 10 year old kid not used to such fancy dining. Good memories. Both of my family and the club. Ate there with work group right before it closed and it was not the same by any means. But the competition was stiff and downtown was already slowing down. This looks delicious. I’ll make it.

Anonymous said...

I actually made this last night and it’s challenging but not too bad. A couple of tweaks I will make next time is instead of making the chicken stuffed , make it butterfly and pan fried , and place the stuffing on top, so the actual
Chicken has more of that flavor kinda like a Cajun chicken Parm

I also added a shake of old bay and a teaspoon of sugar to the andouille sauce

Other than that , this one is fun! I appreciate you positing it

Side note : due to the ingredients this is not a cheap dish to make, I spent about 100 bucks on supplies

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

7:38 am Always good to take a recipe and make it yours.

I spent about 100 bucks on supplies.

Sigh. I know, but it should have fed four to six folks and is not intended to be an everyday dish. I save it for special occasions, or folks I really like.

Glad you enjoyed it. I have been known to make it for two (the wife and me), and take the leftover stuffing, add an egg and a little flour or panko and fry croquets with it. Talk about tasty croquets!
.
Oh, and I serve them with the leftover Tarragon Sauce and a green salad

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

OH, you could call it Chicken 7:38.

Anonymous said...

I just learned more about coon-ass pronunciations than I needed to know. But I'm that guy who still pronounces Bayou...BY-OH, having grown up in the Mississippi Delta not far from Mound-BY-OH.

You'll never make me say BY-YOU, no matter how flat you pound my chicken.

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

8:10

Shaw, Cleveland, Marigold, Mound Bayou, Clarksdale.

We lived in Cleveland for several years back in the 70's. I was with Baxter, or as they said in Cleveland back then, "At the Lab".

Anonymous said...

8:30 - If that's true, then you should know how to spell Merigold. Half of Shelby worked at Baxter as well.

But, to your point, here > Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...
OH, you could call it Chicken 7:38....I came away from this recipe with full intentions of grilling three chicken thighs and simmering them in a can of Campbell's mushroom soup.

Anonymous said...

4:57 pm

I grew up on ground beef cooked with chopped onions and topped with Campbell's Cream of mushroom soup, served over cooked rice. Was big eating for us kids. Then I got fancy and added a jar of mushrooms to the mix. At some point, I learned how to make a very respectable cream soup with mushrooms and added a little wine and wide noodles to take the place of the rice. Keep growing friend. There is real hope for you.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand why be a smartass like 4:57 when its not warranted.......Its a good recipe, it warrants a little conversation for a novice prior to making it because its got a few aspects that need to be discussed, why all of that "I came away from this recipe with full intentions of grilling three chicken thighs and simmering them in a can of Campbell's mushroom soup." is beyond me.

By the way, your words do not even make sense, I am just assuming that was a dig at either me (who is 7:38) or the guy who originally posted the recipe.


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