- [Sara] "Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by Sunsweet and by... - Cooking is the first kind of love you know.

It was starting when I was child with my grandmother doing fresh pasta.

And now I transmit it to all the guests, with something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(dynamic music) - [Announcer] Zwilling, makers of Fresh and Save, the vacuum food storage system.

One of the ways Zwilling has been helping cooks do it all in the kitchen for 290 years.

The Zwilling family of cookware is proud to support "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(upbeat music) - [Sara] Today on "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

This is the best jambalaya I've ever had.

That's right, we're learning how to make a killer jambalaya from the real deal.

New Orleans native, Chef Airis Johnson, shares her kitchen secrets from The Big Easy.

- Onions, celery, and green peppers.

- [Sara] The father, the son, and the holy ghost.

- And then we always have a special guest star that's not part of the Trinity, which is the Pope, garlic.

- Oh dear.

That inspired me to try another New Orleans classic.

Paul Prudhomme made blackened fish very famous in the '80s.

And I loved it so much, it was a wonderful New Orleans dish, that I decided to come up with my own version.

The best part, it's on the table in 15 minutes.

And then...

So you would just come out and forage.

- I mean, that's how the culture was, live off the land and off the sea.

- [Sara] We'll discover the African roots of well-loved Southern foods, when we traveled to the Gullah country of South Carolina.

- Fresh ingredients, that's the basic, because you cannot make a good shrimp dish with Indonesian shrimp.

(Sara laughs) - It's all coming up on "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(dynamic music) You know, Paul Prudhomme made blackened fish very famous in the '80s.

And I loved it so much, it was a wonderful New Orleans dish, that I decided to come up with my own version.

So I have three rules about it.

Find the thinnest fish you can.

Start with the hottest pan.

And preferably use a cast iron pan.

But let's start by talking about the fish.

Now, when I first came up with this recipe, I used sole.

And the reason I liked it is it's so thin.

And there's some sole that you can find that's sustainable, but not all is, so I've switched to something that's nationally sustainable, which is tilapia.

Now the problem with tilapia is half of it is very thin, but the other half of it is quite thick.

So here's my solution.

I freeze it, I've got some here that I froze, for about 20 minutes.

And then it's easy to cut the fat part in half.

The reason we freeze it, anytime you freeze any protein, it firms up, and it's just firm enough that you can cut it easily without hurting yourself.

Here, I'll just show you one of these guys, 'cause I've already got some done.

So you get down at the level of the fish so that you can see exactly where you are.

I can see that I'm about a half inch in.

And you just be very careful and take your time.

And then you see you end up with two pieces that are a lot thinner.

And the reason I like the fish to be thin, because it's all about the crust.

You want a lot of crust in relation to the fish.

So the thicker pieces you cut in half and the thinner pieces of the tilapia, remember I said there's two parts, you just put them in straight up.

Okay, now that I've got my fish ready to go, I'm actually gonna soak it in milk.

Why milk?

Milk is a deodorizer.

Even fish that's not all that fishy becomes less fishy when you soak it in milk.

Okay, I've got some that I've soaked, you do it for at least a half an hour.

And you can do it longer than that, even up to a whole day.

There we go.

Here's some I've been soaking.

So that is ready to go in just a minute.

And I'm gonna meanwhile get started on my side dish, which is grated zucchini.

I love using the grating disk of my food processor, it just does such fast work on grating things.

And also, if you can grate it quickly like this, and not on the coarse side of a four-sided grater, you save your fingers.

Okay.

For years I thought zucchini was the most boring vegetable on the planet.

What makes it boring is all the water in it.

So we wanna lose the water.

Guess what?

Underneath all that water, zucchini has the most wonderful, intense, sweet zucchini flavor.

So I'm gonna topple this into a colander here, and we're gonna add some salt.

It only takes about 15 minutes to drain.

Look at how beautifully that's been grated.

If I did that by hand, I would be grating for the next 20 minutes.

Let me just get a little salt.

We're gonna add about a teaspoon and a half.

And it's amazing how quickly this goes down in volume after you toss it with the salt.

Let me show you now, this is gonna sound so like, oh yawn, I've done that.

How to slice an onion.

And when I say how to slice an onion, there's several ways you could slice it, but there's only one correct way.

You can slice the onion this way, or you could slice the onion following the ribs.

It literally shows you what to do.

Years ago, I was lucky enough to be working with Julia Child.

For a while there, I couldn't work with her and we needed a replacement.

And I brought in a friend of mine who was actually a very accomplished chef.

And, let me get my heat on actually.

And Julia was sort of testing her out, and testing everybody out to see what she thought of them.

Here goes some oil, olive oil, extra-virgin.

And my friend didn't slice the onion the way I am.

She sliced it crosswise.

Based on that, Julia didn't hire her.

Ooh!

This is the right way.

I'm not quite sure why.

You're wondering why.

It just makes sense and gets you, I guess, the best pieces.

Let me get this in the pan.

Let me crank this up a bit.

We're gonna get some color on these guys.

And a pinch of salt.

It's a good idea to season as you go.

All right, time to make our famous blackened spice mix.

So we're gonna start with a tablespoon each.

This is hot paprika.

And garlic powder.

And it's a great mixture to make and have in-house.

And then we need a teaspoon and a half of oregano, thyme, cayenne, onion powder, and black pepper.

Okay, so a teaspoon and a half of the thyme, of the cayenne.

This is spicy.

And you notice how bright red that cayenne is?

That indicates to me that it's very fresh.

Spices lose their color as they get older.

Black pepper, freshly ground.

Sort of looks like a kindergarten art class, huh?

With all these colors.

And that is it.

I'm gonna just mix this up.

And that's all that's involved.

Oh, you know, I think there's a little bit of salt goes in there too.

Here we go.

Mix it up well, so you don't get all cayenne in one bite.

Okay, three tablespoons.

And this'll keep for several months.

You wanna keep all your spices in a cool dark place.

And they certainly don't go bad.

They just get less strong.

To this spice mix, I am going to add three quarters of a cup of all purpose flour.

Now, the reason I have this set up this way is because I like to use the parchment paper to toss the fish around.

Good old, all purpose.

About another teaspoon of salt.

And we're using kosher salt.

It's coarse, it's easy to measure.

Mm, mm, that tastes awfully good.

Just even like that.

All right, my onions are getting somewhere.

And I need to get the rest of the ingredients ready for my zucchini.

I'm gonna go squeeze my zucchini.

So look at all of that liquid.

Wow.

And that's not all, there's even more that's gonna come out.

I'm gonna squeeze it right into the sink.

And what we're doing is concentrating the flavor of the zucchini.

Look at that.

Whoa.

Okay.

Now let me show you what we ended up with.

You remember what we started with.

Now, isn't that ridiculous, how much it squeezes down?

It's like, it's so sad.

But don't worry, it's so tasty it's worth it.

So in this goes with our onions.

Let's dump it in.

And it really, at this point, only takes a few minutes.

So it gives us just enough time to cook our fish.

So I'm gonna start flouring my fish.

And let me just say that when you flour your fish, you wanna do at the last minute.

I generally end up flouring myself too, but.

This is a good trick I learned in restaurants.

And then I'll get my oil in the pan.

And I'm using vegetable oil.

And then right after that, in goes my fish.

You don't need a ton, particularly if your cast iron skillet is well-seasoned.

Okay, here we go.

It's not making a lot of noise, but it is smoking.

So I know we're okay.

All right, so while that cooks on the first side, I am going to go add the seasonings to my zucchini.

There goes our lemon rind.

And thyme is very nice with zucchini.

The juice.

We know we don't need any salt.

And then you just need to taste it and make sure it's the way you like it.

And see, it keeps its nice green color.

Okay, back to here.

Now, when you wanna flip the fish, get all the oil to the end of the pan where you are not.

All right, so the way you know it's done is you take the thin tip of a knife, and you go, I know this is gonna be done 'cause it's so thin.

And if it goes through with no resistance, then you know it's done.

This, oh actually, that's pretty good.

Okay, I think we're ready to take 'em all out.

Let me just put a couple pieces on here.

All right.

Let me get this off the heat.

And let me serve up the rest of our dishes here.

Our beautiful zucchini.

Wonderfully hot.

Really, my kids didn't use to like zucchini when they were little.

And then after I did this, they completely got on board.

Smashed potatoes.

A few lemon wedges.

So you see how easy that was.

I mean, that took less than 15 minutes.

So wow, I'm gonna go have a yummy dinner.

Wow, that looks so delicious.

(funky music) Like New Orleans, Charleston, South Carolina is known for its take on traditional Southern cuisine.

But that style of cooking owes a huge debt to enslaved cooks and farmers.

They were captured from West Africa and taken to South Carolina because they had valuable skills.

- We call 'em Carolina Gold.

That was the name of the rice, Carolina Gold.

Charleston built up off of rice money.

The sweat off the ancestor's back.

- [Sara] Storyteller Caroline Jabulile White's ancestors were slaves who settled on isolated coastal islands.

The Gullahs, as they're called, had their own language.

- But back in the days when I was little girl, madam would catch the chicken and ring them by the neck.

'Cause we had what you call it, the yad chicken.

Yad in Gullah means the yard.

- I grew up on that, the yad chicken.

And whatever was left, the gravy and whatever was left I would, you know, my mother would make this rice.

- [Sara] Charlotte Jenkins is a legendary Gullah cook.

Her rice is based on a style of eating she remembers from growing up Gullah on the South Carolina coast.

- The one thing that I love about it is that you had everything at hand.

We had a farm, they planted vegetables.

We had chickens, we had pigs.

They would go out fishing, and crabbing, and oyster.

- The most important thing about Gullah food, I would think, is that it be fresh.

- Fresh ingredients, that's the basic, because you cannot make a good shrimp dish with Indonesian shrimp.

(Sara laughs) (upbeat music) - [Sara] Fresh food was abundant here by the sea.

Steps away from Charlotte's house, I went crabbing with her nephew, Tori, and Gullah chef BJ Dennis.

So this is Gullah country?

- This is Gullah country.

Sea island culture.

- Okay.

And it goes for how far?

- It goes from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Jacksonville, Florida.

But you know, the Low Country of South Carolina is the heart and soul of Gullah-Geechee culture.

- Wow.

- In food ways.

- And that's where we are?

- That's where you are right now.

- Okay, and this is where you used to go and get crab?

- Yeah, you can go get crabs out here.

My friend Tori is actually out here right now, bringing his crab pot back in.

- [Sara] So you would just come out and forage?

- [BJ] I mean, that's how the culture was, live off the land and off the sea.

So crab, fish, oysters, everything was self-sufficient.

That was the way of life.

- [Sara] Oh wow, you got some guys there.

- You got some fatties in there.

- This is pretty good.

- Wow, I mean, that's a good haul.

I mean, of course, I'm not an expert.

What do I know about crabbing?

That looks good to me.

- [BJ] And he got some rusty ones too, which means they're nice and fat.

- Oh really?

- Yeah.

- That color?

- That, yeah.

- You always want 'em straight out of the water and... - Lively, like these guys.

- Right.

- So you're gonna rush right home and cook these?

- [Tori] Oh yeah, the fresher the better.

- [Sara] Yeah.

- This land right here.

People farm, they fish, they shrimp.

A lot of it comes from West Africa where you lived off the land.

It was a very agricultural place.

- [Sara] In fact, many crops originally from Africa, like watermelon, sesame seeds, and peanuts, became American favorites.

They found their way to Southern cooking through African-American cooks.

Chef Joe Randall runs a Southern cooking school in Savannah, and says ingredients like okra came over with the slaves.

- I can't imagine any other way for 'em to get here.

They were on the ship maybe to feed the slaves.

They brought what they could to feed 'em.

The slaves were the ones in the kitchen doing the cooking.

And they were familiar with okra.

Okra is a dish very prominent here in the South, primarily because it was a dish that was brought from Africa to the South.

- [Sara] Even barbecue was developed in the slave kitchen.

- The slaves were restricted on the things they could eat.

The masters saved the pork loins, or the pork chops for himself.

But a pork shoulder might get left for them.

And so they would smoke it low and slow.

That method of slow roasting was done in Africa.

It's similar way to Hawaiians use hot rocks, and dig a hole, and bury a whole hog.

(upbeat music) - [Sara] So much of Southern and Low Country food traces back to African-American traditions.

BJ Dennis thinks it's not well understood.

- We've gotten away from a lot of the traditional values of how we came up.

The way my grandfather and his grandparents ate was kind of different than what we're seeing now.

So it debunks the whole myth of Southern food being fried and greasy.

And when you raised in it, you really don't realize it until you step outside.

And then you come back and say, wow, we do have a very, very special, unique culture.

(jazzy music) - If you're a fan of the foods of New Orleans, boy, do I have a treat for you today.

I have a native, grew up there.

My good friend, Airis Johnson.

And that's not all, besides the fact that your authorita on Cajun food, correct?

- Yes.

- Yes.

She also has an incredible history.

She's worked at all these fancy restaurants in New York, including for some real screamer male chefs, and she survived.

She's also a two-time winner, well first place and then second place on "Chopped," which is pretty amazing.

So what are we making?

- Today we're making jambalaya.

- [Sara] Oh yes.

- Jambalaya is a rice dish with origins in West Africa.

And it has influences of Italy and France.

And these are all the cultures that came together to make Cajun and Creole cuisine in New Orleans.

- Okay, and what's in it?

- We get started with the base, which is the base of all our dishes in New Orleans.

And it's called the Holy Trinity.

Onions, celery, and green peppers.

- [Sara] The father, the son, and the holy ghost.

- And then we always have a special guest star that's not part of the Trinity, which is the Pope, garlic.

- Oh dear.

- Would you mind chopping the celery?

- Just small dice?

- Yeah, small dice.

So I'm gonna add the celery next.

And this is all flavor building, by adding these vegetables one at a time.

Not gonna cook the celery as long as we did with sweating the onions, because we wanna keep it kind of crisp.

It's actually pretty quick, like compared to some of our other dishes, like gumbo.

- That roux cooking for hours and hours.

I wouldn't have the patience.

- Like the time that it takes to make the roux for gumbo, we'll be finished with the jambalaya.

- Okay, got it.

- So I'm gonna add the green pepper.

All right.

And just let that saute for just a second.

And we're gonna add the Pope.

- Okay, here comes, I feel, well whatever, it's what it's called.

- [Airis] Add the Pope, very important.

- And that was, okay, so that was one onion, one green pepper, three celery ribs, and four cloves of garlic.

- Yes.

Could you grab the andouille sausage for me?

- [Sara] Absolutely, yeah.

And what do we have, about a pound there?

- Yeah, it's about a pound.

Andouille sausage is a sausage made with pork shoulder, and it's fat, and it's smoked.

It's a meatier sausage than most sausages, like kielbasa.

It's more of like, more robust.

All right, let's go right into the pan.

- This slides right in, huh?

- Yeah.

Just like that.

- Look at that, that's perfect.

- Beautiful, right?

And just the smell, like the smell of the Trinity and the Pope together.

- [Sara] Oh my God.

- That's the smell of my childhood.

- Yes, yes.

- Yeah.

So next I'm gonna add chicken.

So we're gonna season it with a little Cajun blend.

This is like the basis of your basic Cajun seasoning, with a few special guest stars.

- Okay, I like that.

- So we have some paprika.

We have some cayenne pepper.

We always wanna have a little heat, just a kick, to remind you you're alive.

Some garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, and salt.

So I'm just gonna season our chicken thighs.

- [Sara] And what do we have, about a pound there?

- Yeah, it's about a pound of chicken thighs.

- And how much seasoning?

- I like to season with my soul.

I'm just gonna saute this in a separate pan.

So I'm gonna add a little grape seed oil.

- [Sara] All right, I have to ask you the million dollar question.

What is the difference between Cajun and Creole?

- Oh, that's a very good question.

So the big difference between Cajun and Creole is one, Creole has the addition of tomatoes and seafood.

And Cajun is from the land, so it's made with meat and things that walk the ground, walk the earth.

So we have our chicken nice and brown.

I'm gonna leave that there for a minute.

And so now we're gonna continue to build our flavors in our pan.

So we're gonna add some crushed tomatoes.

So when you see jambalaya... - Should I stir?

- Yes, please.

- Okay, I gotta be useful somehow, huh.

- [Airis] Definitely stir.

- [Sara] Okay, we just went over into Creole land here.

- Yup.

- Okay.

- So we're also gonna add some chicken stock.

So I added one can of crushed tomato and about a quart of chicken stock.

- Boy, this has everything in it.

This is a one-pot meal.

- It is.

So we're just gonna season this.

And we wanna make sure we season this really well, 'cause this is our flavor.

After the rice is cooked, you usually don't season it again.

- And also 'cause rice can't absorb after the fact.

- Exactly.

- It has to go in to seasoned.

People don't know that, so.

- Yeah.

So I'm gonna add the chicken, with the fat and everything.

- [Sara] Oh, of course.

- [Airis] 'Cause we want all of that.

- [Sara] We want all that, fat is flavor.

- Yes, yes.

So we have some fresh thyme and bay leaf.

Not off the stems, just right in.

Let's talk about the main event.

The rice, because this is a rice dish.

Have about two cups of parboiled rice here.

With parboiled rice, it's a guarantee that you'll get nice, separate grains of rice every time.

And outside of that, parboiled rice actually has like some good nutritional value because there are nutrients added into the rice that helps it cook the way it does.

- [Sara] Who knew?

- [Airis] Time for the lid.

- And then how many minutes?

- 20 minutes.

But right before the 20 minute mark, we're actually gonna add some shrimp.

- Oh, okay.

Here we go.

- [Airis] The shrimp gets seasoned just with simple salt and pepper.

(pepper grinding) So we'll add scallions maybe when we plate it up.

- [Sara] You want me to slice 'em for you?

- [Airis] Yeah, slice 'em.

I think it's ready for the shrimp, let's see.

- Oh wow.

- Ooh, it's looking good.

I'm just gonna go give it a little-- - Look at how it absorbed all that liquid.

I'm always amazed.

There's so many miracles in cooking.

- You're right.

- Don't you think?

- Exactly.

We're just gonna give it a little fluff, but the other thing we're doing too is kind of releasing some steam.

And that steam is gonna help cook the shrimp.

So you can go ahead and-- - Plop it in?

- Yup, just plop it in.

- Plop away.

- [Airis] And I'll use the spoon and kind of spread it out.

Evenly.

- Okay.

So how many more minutes?

- [Airis] About five more minutes, just until the shrimp is cooked through.

- Oh my God.

- Woo wee, this is looking good!

- Gorgeous!

- I think this is ready.

The shrimp looking nicely cooked.

So let's just add those scallion whites, adds a little brightness since it's fresh.

So I'm actually gonna add some hot sauce.

Just for a little extra kick of flavor.

And not too much.

But at the same time, don't be shy.

(both laughing) - Yeah, I'm never shy when it comes to hot sauce.

- So you like a lot, or you like a little?

- Oh, of course I want a lot.

- All right.

- Are you kidding?

I like sausage too, I like it all.

It's all good.

All right, a little garney.

Right, okay, let's go dine al fresco.

I'm gonna bring the hot sauce.

- Yes, don't forget the hot sauce.

- The moment has come.

- I know.

- Too exciting.

Oh geez.

- Let's get into it.

- Yes.

Wow.

(Sara moans) I'm pretty speechless.

You know, that seasoning is really the key.

This is deeply seasoned, and I don't mean salty.

- Yeah, just flavorful, flavorful.

Yeah, that's a big, big misconception.

You know that we get in Louisiana a lot, that the food is spicy.

It's not spicy, it's just very flavorful.

- I'm gonna say this and you're gonna think I'm joking, but I'm not.

This is the best jambalaya I've ever had.

- [Airis] Oh, thank you!

- Not that I've eaten a ton.

My God, this is so deeply flavored.

- Thank you, thank you.

- Well I have to say, it's been such a pleasure.

I mean, it would've been good enough if I would've just got to eat this, but to learn how to make it with you.

Although now I really need to know your secret spice mix, and every last thing in it.

- Oh, I'll tell you.

- But in the meantime, thank you so much for coming.

- You're welcome!

Thank you.

- [Sara] For recipes, videos, and more, go to our website saramoulton.com.

"Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by Sunsweet and by... - Cooking is the first kind of love you know.

It was starting when I was a child, with my grandmother doing fresh pasta.

And now I transmit it to all the guests, with something made specially for them.

- [Announcer] Oceania Cruises, proud sponsor of "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Zwilling, makers of Fresh and Save, the vacuum food storage system.

One of the ways Zwilling has been helping cooks do it all in the kitchen for 290 years.

The Zwilling family of cookware is proud to support "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(dynamic music)