Christmas recipes from Bayou | National Post

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Our cookbook of the week is Bayou by chef Melissa Martin, owner of Mosquito Supper Club, a Cajun restaurant in New Orleans.

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Jump to the recipes: lump crab, spinach and artichoke dip, turnip gratin and fried oyster, radicchio and grapefruit salad.

There’s a reassuring rhythm to the holidays in South Louisiana that Melissa Martin loves. Christmas never changes on the bayou, where she was born and raised in the small fishing community of Chauvin. “Every year, we ask my mom, ‘Can we do Italian Christmas? Let’s have a new theme this year,’” says the James Beard Award-winning author and chef-owner of Mosquito Supper Club, a Cajun restaurant in New Orleans. “But we don’t — it’s like blasphemy. And so, I like the consistency.”

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Martin’s parents have lived in the same house for 56 years, where they raised her and her five siblings. Over the holidays, the street fills up with kids as it did when Martin was growing up, reading the Cajun Night Before Christmas, featuring friendly alligators instead of reindeer. This energetic atmosphere reminds her that she was a child there once and that life is moving on.

“When my mom says grace — which always makes us cry — she talks about everyone we lost, and we give thanks in a certain way. And then there’s a realization that if life works the way that it’s supposed to, we will lose our parents one day. And we are all getting older, so there’s that sort of bittersweetness of it. But you gather together, eat the same food, eat too much pie, and sing karaoke or play games or whatever else we do to entertain ourselves, and it’s a beautiful time.”

In her second cookbook, Bayou (Artisan, 2024), Martin documents the seasons of life in South Louisiana and the dishes that mark the moments large and small, from the feasting of Mardi Gras to the brightness of spring. “I wanted a book based on feelings, nuance and simplicity,” she says.

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Martin titled the chapter devoted to Christmas and New Year’s Love, and she believes that giving and sharing food for the holidays is an expression of it, whether a spinach and artichoke dip (with or without crabmeat) or fried oysters in a fresh radicchio and grapefruit salad. “All the dishes that come together to make a holiday meal are acts of love. What matters is that you put love into the act of preparing them and that you share them with people you love.”

Bayou is more personal and a “bit more ephemeral” than Martin’s James Beard Award-winning cookbook debut, Mosquito Supper Club (Artisan, 2020). In her first book, she shared the Cajun way of life and expressed the importance of the seafood industry, which is essential to her work at the restaurant. In Bayou, Martin conveys “the subtle things that turn the clock.” Driving past the sugarcane trucks on her way to her parents’ house, some of the load leaving a trail on the road, boats camouflaged by duck blinds during hunting season and the Mardi Gras parades her parents took her to every year, which are among her “core memories.” These details ground you in the place you grew up, says Martin. In Bayou, she translated the feelings and nostalgia they evoke into essays, stories and remembrances.

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Martin feels she “took a leap” in organizing the book by themes such as Abundance, Simplicity, and Warmth instead of quintessential bayou ingredients such as shrimp, crawfish and crab. As she wrote throughout the years, distinctive themes naturally emerged — from the epiphany, when Louisianans eat king cake, to New Year’s Eve. Martin recalls her essay on onions from the Resilience chapter, which was 7,000 words before her editor trimmed it down to 300. “I could write a whole book on onions. I love this relationship between everything that happens in the natural world that mirrors the emotional world and our journey as humans.”

The ideal onion grows 13 leaves. When they topple and begin to dry, it’s a sign that the onion is ready to be harvested and cured for two to three weeks. “Only then it’s ready for its purpose.” Martin recounts that in some Italian villages, a new batch of balsamic vinegar marks births, which ages over a person’s lifetime. “I love when the natural world shows us everything we need to know about what it’s like to survive a life. I feel like all the answers are around us at all times, but we make it complicated.”

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In Mosquito Supper Club, Martin even educated her mother about the history of the Cajun dishes she’s been cooking for decades. Cajuns tend to think they created everything, says Martin. As in her first book, she set out to give credit where it’s due. For example, andouille is from Germany, boudin noir and roux are from France, and okra is from Ethiopia, Eritrea and eastern Sudan.

“We did not invent hot sauce,” says Martin, laughing. “It’s important to put our culture in the world — connected to the world around (us). But also show it as a sophisticated culture. Whenever I drop in in places like the Basque Country or little towns in France, I think our culture is just as sophisticated as these cultures, although it’s been portrayed differently in the media, movies and books. But it’s a very sophisticated, evolved culture for such a short amount of time (with) very distinct flavours. I had a soup in Cadaqués on the Mediterranean coast of Spain that tasted exactly like a gumbo. But when I asked these people, ‘Have you ever had gumbo?’ They said, ‘No, we don’t know what you’re talking about.’ And so, you’re having a conversation across the Atlantic you don’t even know you’re having.”

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Martin has a collection of old Cajun cookbooks from fairs and churches, which don’t include much technique. She says she’s not reinventing the wheel with her recipes but sharing what she knows in the hope that readers will apply the techniques to make dishes their own. Whether through her restaurant or cookbooks, Martin considers herself a curator, passionate about documenting Cajun culture and cuisine, and endlessly inspired by the bayou.

“It still is an Eden of resources. It’s just been battered, but it is. It’s an Eden of resources. It’s a sustainable ecosystem that we’re going to lose. But right now, there’s still so much beauty in it,” says Martin. “(It’s) 30, 40 per cent of what it used to be. It’s been stripped almost bare, but it’s still there, and it’s still working. And how long do we have left? I don’t know, but to keep sharing it and to keep expressing the feelings it evokes in me throughout a year is, I guess, that’s just my art.”

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LUMP CRAB, SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE DIP

Serves: 6 as a snack

2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
8 oz (225 g) fresh spinach, roughly chopped into 2-inch (5-cm) square pieces
8.5 oz (240 g) frozen or canned artichoke hearts, drained
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
6 oz (170 g) cream cheese, cut into small chunks
1/2 cup (120 mL) sour cream
1 lb (455 g) jumbo lump crabmeat, picked clean of any shells
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Toast points, for serving

Step 1

Warm a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat for 1 minute, then add the butter. When it has melted, add the garlic, 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and the red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until the garlic is fragrant and shows a little colour, about 2 minutes.

Step 2

Add the spinach a handful at a time and let it completely cook down, about 5 minutes. Once the spinach is wilted, add the artichokes, lemon juice, black pepper and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt and stir to combine. Add the cream cheese and stir continuously until melted. Add the sour cream and stir until completely combined; you should have a beautiful dip now.

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Step 3

Remove from the heat and mix in the crabmeat, cayenne and nutmeg; stir until combined. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Transfer the dip to a heatproof serving dish that’s the right size for dipping, and serve immediately with toast points.

TURNIP GRATIN

Serves: 8 as a side dish

2 oz (60 g) unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for the pan
1 1/2 lb (680 g) turnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick (1.3-cm) rounds
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp mustard powder
1/4 cup (30 g) all-purpose flour
2 cups (480 mL) whole milk
4 oz (115 g) grated Swiss cheese or Gruyère, plus 2 oz (60 g) for topping
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, plus 3 to 5 sprigs
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Butter a deep 8-inch (20-cm) round cast-iron pan or deep casserole dish.

Step 2

In a large bowl, season the turnips with the salt, white pepper and mustard powder. Arrange the turnips in layers in the prepared pan, spiralling them out from the bottom and layering until all the turnips are used.

Step 3

Warm a heavy-bottomed 4-quart (3.8-L) saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes, then add the butter and flour simultaneously and cook, stirring continuously, for 2 to 3 minutes to make a blond roux. Slowly stream in the milk while whisking constantly and bringing the mixture to a simmer, then remove the pan from the heat and stir in the 4 ounces (115 g) grated cheese. Add the thyme leaves, cayenne, and a touch of nutmeg to the cheese mixture and stir well. Pour the mixture over the turnips in the pan.

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Step 4

Place the pan on a rimmed sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the remaining 2 ounces (60 g) of cheese evenly on top of the turnips, crown the gratin with the thyme sprigs, and return the pan to the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes more, until the top is golden brown, the turnips are al dente (not mushy), and the liquid has been absorbed. Let the gratin sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.

FRIED OYSTER, RADICCHIO AND GRAPEFRUIT SALAD

Serves: 4

Canola oil or peanut oil, for frying
1 head radicchio (about 13 oz/370 g)
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more as needed
1/4 tsp cracked black pepper, plus more as needed
1 lb (455 g) Ruby Red grapefruits
2 tbsp white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, plus more as needed
1 tbsp finely diced shallot
2 tsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil or canola oil, plus more as needed
2 cups (320 g) cornmeal
Cayenne pepper
20 to 24 oysters, shucked (reserve the liquor for another use)
Sea salt
1 oz (30 g) Parmesan, shaved

Step 1

Prepare a tabletop fryer with canola oil and heat to 350F (180C). Alternately, fill a large heavy-bottomed pot with 4 inches (10 cm) of oil and heat the oil over medium-high heat to 350F (180C).

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Step 2

Cut the radicchio into manageable bite-size pieces, then wash and dry. (If you have smaller radicchios, you can leave them whole or simply slice them in half.) Place in a salad bowl and season with the kosher salt and black pepper.

Step 3

Use a sharp knife to segment the grapefruits over the bowl of radicchio so you capture all the juice (see below), letting the segments drop into the bowl. After you have released all the segments, squeeze the rind of the grapefruit over the bowl to get the last drops of juice. Gently mix the radicchio and fruit together with your hands or salad tongs.

Step 4

In a small bowl, mix together the vinegar, shallot and honey.

Step 5

Drizzle the olive oil over the radicchio. Add the vinegar mixture and gently toss with your hands or salad tongs.

Step 6

In a medium shallow bowl, season the cornmeal with a touch of cayenne and kosher salt and black pepper to taste. Dredge the oysters in the mixture.

Step 7

Working in batches of 10 to 12, add the oysters to the hot oil and fry for 2 minutes. You will hear whistling and popping noises when the oysters enter the oil; this will cease quickly as oysters cook quickly. When the oil quiets down, the oysters are near done.

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Step 8

Use tongs to transfer the cooked oysters to a paper towel-lined plate or brown paper bags to absorb excess oil. Sprinkle them with a bit of sea salt and place on top of the salad immediately.

Step 9

Top the salad with the Parmesan. Taste and season with more sea salt and black pepper, if needed. If the salad seems too dry, add a little more olive oil and vinegar.

HOW TO SEGMENT A GRAPEFRUIT OR OTHER CITRUS

Holding the grapefruit (or orange or lemon), slice off the stem end and then the opposite end to give you flat ends. Place one flat end down on the cutting board and, using a very sharp knife, begin to remove the peel and pith of the grapefruit. Do this by carefully running your knife down the grapefruit, following the curve, and finding the sweet spot between the flesh and the pith. You should be able to release all the flesh with eight peelings. Take your time when you do this.

Now hold the grapefruit in your hand and use a very sharp paring knife. I cannot express how important sharp is; if you do not have a sharp knife, you will mush the grapefruit instead of releasing the segments. There are natural lines between each segment, so bring the knife as close as possible to each line and carve down to the centre, releasing the segment. You will be cutting in a triangular fashion. Do all of this over a bowl so you capture the grapefruit juice as well.

Recipes and images excerpted from Bayou by Melissa Martin (Artisan Books). Copyright ©2024.

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