-Funding for "Kevin Belton's Cookin' Louisiana" was provided by the L.E.

Phillips Family Foundation, Inc. -[Gravelly voice] Ahoy, mateys!

Today on "Cookin' Louisiana," we're heading to Pirate Country and Calcasieu Parish in search of delicious treasures!

First up, we're gonna dig up crab beignets.

Then, ohh, for the crew, shrimp and crawfish rolls.

And, finally, spicy red-bean dip with herbed flatbread crackers.

These beans are good as gold!

Arrrgh!

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [Normal voice ]I want you to be nice and bubbly, okay?

You're gonna give off a lot of flavor.

Hi, guys.

Welcome to my "Cookin' Louisiana" kitchen.

Thank you for joining me on this tasty tour of the state's best flavors and dishes.

Now, this time, we're gonna head to Calcasieu Parish in Southwest Louisiana.

The parish seat is Lake Charles.

Now, there, French settlers first arrived in the 1700s.

The city is home to a beautiful lake and is surrounded by inland waterways that provide an abundance of nothing but fresh seafood.

Now, the story goes that Jean Lafitte the pirate -- y'all know who I'm talking about -- hid out in those waterways and buried his treasure in the area.

This legend inspired a Louisiana Pirate Festival.

Arrrgh!

A popular Lake Charles event.

Now, today, we're gonna start with another treasure.

We're gonna do crab beignets.

Now, this is a savory version of a Louisiana sweet morning treat.

So, the first thing I want to do is make the batter.

I have flour.

I have a little cornstarch.

Hop on in.

I have some baking powder.

Now, to give this batter a little fizz, I'm using ginger ale.

The ginger ale, because it's carbonated, is gonna keep the batter nice and light.

And, you know, this is similar to where folks make a beer batter, except I like using the carbonation because it keeps the batter so light.

Plus, ginger ale will give a wonderful flavor.

So anything that you might like that's carbonated, a flavor that you might like, try that in the batter.

I like to cover this and let it sit for at least two hours, but I have some of that I've already done, and let me show it to you.

Here's our better that's already done that I just put in another bow and let it sit for two hours.

So that's our batter.

But let me show you the filling.

For our filling, I have mascarpone cheese.

I'm gonna season this right away.

Little bit of salt.

Little bit of Creole seasoning.

I'm gonna take our fork and start mashing that in.

Just gettin' that mixed up a little bit.

Now, I have shallot, which is a very, very mild onion.

I have a little bit of chive.

Let's get some chive on in.

And we'll get this just kind of mixed up and tossed.

Now, we're making beignets, okay?

Remember, beignet was a French square doughnut, and it was dusted with powdered sugar.

That's what everybody has in the mornings.

But I'll tell you what.

We eat them all day long.

Here this is gonna be a savory version.

So that's why I want to make sure I have a little -- good bit of seasoning in.

So, let's get our crab meat.

There we go.

Now, we're just gonna fold this in real gently.

Guys, this is lump crab meat.

If you want, you can use claw meat.

Claw meat is a little sweeter, but this happens to be lump.

And in our area, plus in that Lake Charles area, they get a lot of blue crab, so this is what we're using.

No matter where you are, use the crab that's there, and I'm sure it's gonna taste just fine.

Now, here's what we're going to do.

I'll move this over a bit.

And remember we have our batter.

And I have the oil heating up really, really hot.

So what I'm gonna do -- I'm gonna use a little scoop.

We'll drop some in.

All right.

I'm gonna take our other fork and just turn it to get coated.

Just want to turn it to get it coated.

And you can see how thick this is.

This is a nice thick batter.

Okay?

All right.

Now that it's coated, I'm just gonna use our fork to drop it right on in.

So, you want the oil hot.

[ Sizzling ] And you see it pops up really quick.

As soon as these get nice and golden.

They just basically have to heat all the way through.

And look.

That batter, it's almost like little spiders.

Look how quick these cook.

Just really, really quick.

Because think about it.

Everything inside is already cooked.

So, the little batter that came off like this in streaks, you can always just go ahead and break those off.

But remember when we fry something... put a little seasoning on it right away.

Let's get a couple more in.

The temperature on the fryer is 375 degrees.

I think you're really going to like this batter.

You just give them a low turn to make sure they cook evenly.

With the oil being hot, it seals it, okay?

It gives us a nice crusty outside.

And what happens on the inside, it makes it warm, it heats up, and that cheese gets just a little melty and good.

And those onions all come together, the flavors inside.

Come on out.

Come on out.

Here.

Let's get a little seasoning on them.

All right.

Look at that.

So let's go ahead and get these on a plate.

So, now we can take our beignets.

Pop one there.

You come here.

You can set it right there.

We're gonna put you right on the top like this.

Let's give you a little color.

Let's put a little bit of green onion on here just for a little color.

And I like the little green onion because, remember, we have some onion on the inside, but this little bit on the outside?

Ooh!

It just gives a nice little [Pops lips] Nice little pop.

Crab beignets.

Pure, golden goodness.

Next up, shrimp and crawfish roll.

Now, this is the Cajun counterpart to the New England lobster roll.

Legend has it that about three centuries ago, the pirate Jean Lafitte and his band of buccaneers buried treasure along the waterways of Lake Charles.

In 1958, the pirate's legacy inspired Contraband Days, a simple celebration that has grown into the Pirate Festival, a unique family-friendly event on the shores of historic Lake Charles.

Shiver me timbers!

Now, guys, cooking is all about flavor.

That's what we want, is a lot of flavor.

So, what I have here -- a little bit of green onion.

You see, I'm getting that little green onion chopped.

To this, we are also gonna have a little bit of celery.

Now, celery.

You know this?

Wider.

Narrower at the top.

This is why you want to split celery.

In this crawfish and shrimp roll, we don't want huge chunks of celery, so I'm just gonna kind of shave this real, real, real fine... so we don't have big bites of celery.

But, of course, if you like big bites of celery, cut it larger.

But that's what we want.

So, here.

Let's get this in our bowl.

Oh, yeah.

So, I have a little mayonnaise.

And, of course, before we go any further, a little bit of Creole seasoning.

Little bit of salt.

We're gonna get this mixed in a little bit.

I have a little garlic sauce here.

Oh, yes Don't you just love garlic?

This really adds that little Cajun flavor, let me tell ya!

To brighten it up... lemon zest.

Along with a little lemon juice.

Because this always brightens seafood, and that's what you want.

And now let's add some more flavors to this.

What I have -- parsley.

Come on.

Come out.

Thyme.

I know.

Thank you for telling me the time just now.

I know -- When I said, "Thyme."

Look at that.

See?

There we go.

Now, of course, you can always taste this to see if you need a little more seasoning -- if you want to put a little hot sauce in it, if you want a little more salt.

But let's get to the stars of our show, shrimp and crawfish.

Now, for those of you who have never had crawfish, okay... You've seen a lobster.

Shrink it down.

About that big.

Picture that tail.

The meat comes from the tail.

There's nothing up in the upper part of the shell.

Here are our shrimp.

Now, our shrimp have just been blanched, okay?

Crawfish and shrimp have the exact same texture.

If you haven't eaten crawfish, crawfish are a little sweeter.

So you should really try them if you have the opportunity to get some.

So let's get in our crawfish.

Let's get in our shrimp.

And let me turn our fire under our pan just to warm up a little bit.

No, we're not gonna cook this.

Don't worry.

Yes.

Get these mixed together.

Now, of course, we need a little seasoning.

Don't be shy on the seasoning.

We need a little salt.

We'll give this a nice toss.

And remember the flavors that we made here?

Let's get this right on in.

All of it.

No one left behind.

There we are.

Now, I just want to get this tossed really good... just so these flavors can blend.

While this is doing this -- And I'll come back and toss this thoroughly a little more.

But I want to get our buns buttered, okay?

That's why I turned on our skillet.

It's just something about having a toasted bun on a sandwich that really makes a difference.

So, now, you're gonna see me do something a little different than most folks.

Most folks will take their bun, and then they butter it, then y'all put it in the pan.

But what I'm doing -- I'm gonna put the butter down.

I'm gonna put the butter in the pan.

And then we'll take the bun.

Move the butter around.

Come on.

There you go.

See?

Get everything coated.

And then lay that bun down right in that butter.

Oh, yes.

Come on.

Pop open.

There we go.

And you see what's nice -- It's gonna brown, it's gonna toast, and then they're gonna get that nice buttery flavor.

But watch what happens in just a minute.

Take your bun.

Remember how we poured the butter in the pan?

Turn them.

If you rotate them, they get to absorb all of that butter!

We can turn the fire off.

Isn't that a neat trick?

All right.

I tell you what.

You know, Jean Lafitte was a pirate.

Now, Jean Lafitte, during the Battle of New Orleans, he was very -- he had a big influence in the Battle of New Orleans, but he used to go to Lake Charles.

And in Lake Charles area, he used to hide his gold and anything he got in the bayous, and they actually named it Contraband Bayou because that's where he buried his contraband.

So they started having this festival, and that festival, the Contraband Festival -- that's what it started off with -- was only one day, but now that Pirate Festival, two weekends.

And I tell you what -- who doesn't want to dress up like a pirate and be able to say... [Gravelly voice] "Arrrgh!

Ahoy, matey.

Is that a lobster roll there?

No, it's shrimp and crawfish!"

[Normal voice] Okay.

All right.

That's my best go.

Hey, let's get these buns loaded.

See that toasty bread?

See how toasted that is inside?

Oh, yes!

All right.

I want you guys to prop each other up.

All right.

Prop each other up.

Ohh... We'll get some in here.

Oh, yes!

Stay in!

Stay in!

We're gonna get some right here.

Oh, yes.

We're gonna get a few more right here.

Just -- Let's load this baby up.

I tell you what.

There is nothing in this world like fresh, fresh seafood.

And you know I have to put a little bit of green onion here.

This is not just for garnish, gang.

I mentioned it's a garnish, but I tell you what.

It adds such a nice little finishing flavor.

Shrimp and crawfish rolls.

How about that?

What a simple and delicious way to show off Louisiana seafood.

Now, next, Calcasieu Parish sits next to the Texas border.

We're gonna give a Lone Star twist to a Louisiana favorite.

Spicy red-bean dip with herbed flatbread crackers.

Lake Charles, the unofficial capital of Southwest Louisiana, rolls out the red carpet in its Downtown district for the city's Crawfish Festival.

The spicy celebration in the parish seat of Calcasieu promotes the history of the crawfish and how the seafood industry has benefited Louisiana for over 200 years.

Gotta love those mudbugs.

Okay.

Who doesn't love a good dip?

But, more importantly, I'm gonna show you how you can make a homemade cracker to go with this dip.

Oh!

I got -- I got disturbed, okay?

Because we're making a red-bean dip, but I take these crackers, ohh, I put peanut butter and jelly on 'em.

I put all kind of stuff.

Cheese on 'em.

Salami.

Oh, they're just so good!

So, I have our flour.

What I'm adding now, if you notice, I have thyme, sugar, black pepper, a little garlic.

Let's get all this in.

We're gonna go in.

We need a little salt.

About a teaspoon of salt.

And we need couple tablespoons of olive oil.

That's about it.

2 tablespoons.

Now, I want to get this processed together, so let's go ahead.

This is making the dough for our crackers, okay?

So let's get this mixed together.

[ Whirring ] [ Whirring stops ] Now, I just wanted to get that together like that.

What we're going to add now to this...

I have 1/2 cup of cold water that -- This is going to bring this all together.

So we'll get the lid on.

And this has to go for about 10 to 15 seconds.

[ Whirring ] [ Whirring stops ] See how it came together?

That's what we're looking for.

Now, here on our counter... Let's get a little flour out.

Spread out a little flour.

Because this is still a little sticky, okay?

This is a little sticky.

And you see those herbs in here.

This will give such a nice flavor.

So we're gonna get this out, since it's a little sticky, right onto that floured area.

I'm gonna sprinkle a little flour on the top of this because our goal is we want to roll this out as thin as we can.

So let's take a little flour.

Put it on the top.

And I'm just gonna take my spatula and start mashing this down.

We really don't need to knead this.

Get it?

You don't need to knead.

All right.

But, see, that little flour helps right there.

Now, let's take our rolling pin.

It's important to get everything floured.

All right.

See how thin?

Thin, thin, thin, thin.

Thin, thin.

I have our pan lined with a piece of parchment paper.

All right.

Now we want to try to take this.

Get a little cut.

Now, it's really thin... so just lay it on your parchment.

See?

That's why you need a lot of flour down.

There we are.

I have the oven preheating at 450 degrees.

Now, we're gonna put this in the oven for 4 to 5 minutes, and after 4 to 5 minutes, we're gonna turn them over, let them go another 4 to 5 minutes, shut the oven off, let him sit for two hours because they need to dry out.

That's why we wanted to get them as thin as possible.

So, let's get our herb crackers in the oven.

So, let's show our red beans some love.

How about some garlic?

How about 1/4 red onion?

And you see how that just kind of falls apart right on in there?

You can break it apart, but it's gonna get buzzed, so you don't have to.

A little nutmeg.

I know you're going, "Oh, nutmeg?"

But, hey, it's flavor.

Now, cilantro.

Parsley.

How about some green onion?

For a little spice... jalapeños!

A little olive oil.

A little tomato paste.

Here.

Let's get that tomato paste out of there.

Come on.

Hop on in there.

We're gonna do a little Creole seasoning.

We're gonna get in a little salt.

Now, we're gonna give this a buzz.

Let's get this blended in.

[ Whirring ] [ Whirring stops ] Now, it's important to keep a spatula around so you can always push everything down... ...so it could get blended in.

Do you like things chunky or do you like things smooth?

You know, this is gonna be a combination of the two because most of it's gonna be smooth, but you're gonna get little bites in there, little chunks in there, so let's get it puréed.

[ Whirring ] [ Whirring stops ] Now let's get in our beans.

Okay?

The beans... Basically, I took a pound of red beans, cooked them in stock.

Just had a little chicken stock, put them in, but I only cooked them long enough to where they got soft and cooked but they didn't burst.

You know, often when you have red beans and rice served to you, they're very creamy.

I just got them to the point where they're cooked but they didn't burst yet.

So in go our beans.

And let's go with a little lemon juice to brighten it up.

Now, let's give it a little zap.

[ Whirring ] [ Whirring stops ] And, of course, we're gonna have to knock this down.

Make sure -- Get your sides.

I'm gonna do just a little touch more olive oil.

We'll give it another zap, and then we'll taste it to see where our flavor is.

[ Whirring ] [ Whirring stops ] Oh, I think we're pretty good.

I think we are good.

So, now, just get a little bit.

Take a little taste.

Oh, man!

This is so good.

So let's go ahead.

Take out our blade.

Be careful.

Let me show you how I'm going to present this.

I'm gonna take...our dip and just put it right in.

And can you see?

You can see the herbs.

You can see the parsley still here.

You can see the -- a little bit of the cilantro, the green onions.

And that jalapeño.

If you thought that jalapeño was gonna be hot... Not at all.

Not at all.

So let's get this on the plate.

Hey.

A little bit of extra parsley.

A little bit of extra green onion right on the top.

And, of course, let's get our homemade crackers.

Look at our crackers.

There's no particular way for the crackers to come out, and then you can just... break them, leave them long.

Put them there.

They just... [ Crack ] ...crack.

Stack them up.

I'll save this one for later.

Yee-haw!

Okay, buckaroos, I'm-a take this spicy red-bean dip and ride off into the sunset.

Thank y'all so much for joining me on this culinary road trip.

Now keep the party rollin'.

Bring the big flavors of Louisiana to your home.

So I'll see you next time for more "Cookin' Louisiana"!

-The companion cookbook to "Kevin Belton's Cookin' Louisiana" is available for $28 plus shipping and handling.

You can also order an hour-long DVD of favorite dishes from the series for $19.95 plus shipping and handling.

Both the book and "Favorites" DVD are available for $43.95 plus shipping and handling.

To order these items, call 1-866-360-4928 or order online at wyes.org.

-Now, I have a king, I have a queen, I have a jack.

-What the heck?!

I don't have anything good!

-But I don't have a 10, a 9, or a 8.

[French accent] Actually, I am 102 years old, but because I've been cooking so long -- Look at my face.

Because the "stem" -- It's the "stem."

The "stem" seasons ze face.

Okay?

It's the "stem."

The "stem" seasons ze face.

That's why I'm 102 and look the way I do.

[Normal voice] Are you lonely?

Have you not been out in a long time?

Well, I have a date for you.

♪ ♪ Come on, baby ♪ ♪ Let's do the twist ♪ Start checking to make sure we have an internal temperature of a hundred and -- No, we don't want to come to you.

I don't want to come to you because we have to go over here to make this sauce, so I'm going back to the oven because we're going over here 'cause we have to make our glaze.

All right.

Thank you very much.

Keep the receipt.

Oh, wait.

Ooh, ooh, ooh!

Look at that!

Wait.

Okay.

Wait!

Don't -- Don't close the register yet!

♪ For more information about "Kevin Belton's Cookin' Louisiana," visit wyes.org.

Funding for "Kevin Belton's Cookin' Louisiana" was provided by the L.E.

Phillips Family Foundation, Inc.