Seasonings

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, September 13, 2000

ANNA MONICA / L’Observateur / September 13, 2000

Since he was 18 years old and for 23 years thereon, R. J. Keller had BubbyHaydel as a boss at a local store in LaPlace. It was from Bubby, who is like hissecond daddy that R. J. learned to cook.”I just went on from there,” he says.

R. J. has cooked a whole lot of jambalaya in his life but most probably themost at one time was an Andouille Fest at Destrehan Plantation. With GlenHaydel, he served 17 pots of jambalaya, and pots held 300 servings. Heusually joins Bubby and Jimmy Hymel in cooking pastalaya for the Wayne Jones Golf Tournament. When Rainbow Chevrolet held its grand opening inLaPlace, R. J. was called upon to do the cooking, and out of 12 contestantsat the Relay for Life cancer event he won first place. Some of the food wassold and some given away, and they made $7,000.

For the 28th annual convention of the Louisiana State Troopers held in Walker, R. J. did the cooking and proudly wears a shirt given to him by TroopB. He also cooked for a benefit for Rhonda Oubre’s Dance Dimensions toraise money for competition in New York City. It pleased him that the groupwon first place. The Poker Palace Casino invited R. J. to cook for them, andhe also plans to accommodate Mike Boudreaux of the sheriff’s office by cooking for a carnival benefit at the St. Joan of Arc New Life Center. Jacob’s World Famous Andouille donates all the andouille for the benefits.

Recuperating from an accident has left R. J. with more time to cook at homeand for other people, and just about everything he does is free of charge and to benefit others. There are plans to cook for the LaPlace Rotary Club whenthey have their first annual golf tournament and for St. John Therapy fornational rehabilitation week, which raises funds for spinal cord injury research.

Joanie Keller works, so R. J. cooks for his family every day and simply tellshis wife to “get out of my kitchen,” which she probably doesn’t mind at all since he is so good at it. Their children, Kimberly and Kristen, have goodthings to say about their dad’s cooking, with Kimberly preferring the meatballs and brown gravy over fettuccine and Kristen liking jambalaya the best.

The sign above the stove says “R. J.’s Cajun Kitchen,” but it is actually anoutside, complete kitchen at the home of good friend Randy Smith, and the two call it “the men’s kitchen.” R. J. and Randy like to get in there andexperiment in cooking different dishes. They claim that in the next fewweeks they will be experimenting with alligator meat.

Baking is another favorite activity for R. J. Once this year, with his bananacake being so popular, he had to bake six at one time because neighbors, friends and family all wanted some with the caramel frosting that goes over it. Chocolate chip cookies and carrot cake made from scratch are otherspecialties, and after R. J. had surgery he baked every day. “And I helped him,” offers Kristin.

Finally, R. J. says, “You have to have a beer when you cook.”Following are some of his most successful recipes:

JAMBALAYA (for 5 lbs. rice)

5 lbs. ground pork, 5 lbs. smoked sausage or andouille

3 lbs. onion, celery

3 bell peppers

2 bunches green onion, chopped

2 – 10 oz. cans mushroom gravy, Franco American

2 – 10 oz. cans beef gravy, Franco American

2 – 16 oz. cans Rotel diced tomatoes

5 lb. Mahatma rice

1 – 5 oz. Lea & Perrins

1 gallon water

1 – 5 oz. Kitchen Bouquet

1/2 of 5 oz. Tiger Sauce

1/2 bottle garlic sauce Cajun power

Salt & pepper to taste

Brown pork in oil. Add onion, celery and Rotel tomatoes. Cook for about 30 minutes. Add mushrooms and beef gravy, Lea & Perrins, Tiger Sauce andgarlic sauce. Cook about 30 to 45 minutes. Look at gravy; to make dark, addKitchen Bouquet. Before adding water, add green onions. Cook for 10minutes. Add water. Bring to a boil. Add rice. On medium heat, cook rice andthen add more water. Keep stirring rice very slowly. Cover pot and simmerfor 15 to 20 minutes on low.

CRAWFISH FETTUCCINE

1 lb. peeled crawfish tail meat

1 stick butter

2 large onions, chopped

1 med. bell pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 pt. of half & half

1/2 lb. Velveeta cheese

1 pkg. egg noodles

1 cup Parmesan cheese

Season crawfish tails. Melt butter in large pot. Saut onions, bell pepper andcelery. Cook until tender, stir often for 10 onions. Add crawfish, half & halfand Velveeta cheese. Stir and cook on low heat until cheese melts. Season totaste. Cook noodles on side and pour with the sauce into a 3-qt. casserole. Cover and bake in oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Before serving, topwith Parmesan cheese.

BANANA CAKE

1/2 cup margarine

1-1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs, separated

1 tsp. soda

1/2 cup regular milk

2 c. all purpose flour

3 large bananas (ripe), mashed

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 Tsp. vanilla

Cream margarine and sugar until blended. Add egg yolks and beat well. Dissolve soda in milk and add with flour to cream mixture. Stir in banana,pecans and vanilla. Beat egg white until stiff and fold into butter. Pour intotwo 8-inch or 9-inch round cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until done. Cool and frost.

CARAMEL FROSTING

1 1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

1 c. evaporated milk

1/2 cup margarine

Combine all in saucepan and cook on medium heat until softball stage. Beat until spreading consistency. Spread on cooled cake.

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