-Funding for "Kevin Belton's Cookin' Louisiana" was provided by... -I'm Kevin Belton, and today on "Cookin' Louisiana," it's all about Louisiana's crowning glory -- seafood.

So we're gonna start with crab cakes with a lemon vinaigrette.

And then -- oh, yes -- baked Louisiana oyster casserole.

And finally, some sweet pillowcase cookies.

Oh, these cookies are so dreamy.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Yes, it's gonna be all about you.

Don't worry, you're gonna get the attention.

Hi, guys.

Welcome to my Louisiana kitchen.

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

Now, this time, it's about Louisiana seafood.

For hundreds of years, fishermen have been celebrating the bounty of the Gulf of Mexico and Louisiana's inland waterways.

Today, think about this -- one out of every 70 jobs in this state is related to the seafood industry.

Now, many of these jobs are family-owned companies that have worked for generations to bring Louisiana seafood to tables all around the world.

To start, we'll put Louisiana seafood on the map with crab cakes, starring my friend -- lump crabmeat.

That's why I was talking to it, because it's going to be the star of the show today.

So, let's get started right away.

We're gonna start with a little mayonnaise.

We're gonna pop into our mayonnaise an egg.

Let's get in a little lemon juice.

And a little lemon zest.

Now we're gonna get all of this worked together.

Now, today I'm doing this recipe with lump crabmeat.

Often I cook with claw meat.

Now, exactly, that's right -- claw meat comes out of the claw of the crab, alright?

That meat tends to be a little sweeter.

Let's get in a little bit of Creole mustard.

We're also gonna do a little bit of cayenne pepper.

Now, speaking of seasonings, little bit of our Creole seasoning.

We're gonna get in a little bit of salt.

Not too much.

Alright, let's get this all worked in really good.

Now some cilantro.

Come on out of there.

I tell you what -- cilantro... You can use parsley, but cilantro gives it that little pop, just like that Creole mustard gives it a little pop.

Finely diced red onion.

And some finely diced red bell pepper.

And we'll just get all of this tossed in.

So, look at the flavors.

We'll get this nice and spread out.

And then what we want to do, we gently want to fold our crabmeat into this.

So, look -- look at this crabmeat.

Now, I mentioned this one day, that with crabmeat, you always want to pick through it, okay?

So let's gently fold our crabmeat in.

Yes, it's gonna break up some, but just not too much.

Now, to tighten this up, let's go with a little bread crumb.

We're also gonna put this in the oven.

I'm gonna put it on the griddle here to sear the outsides.

Then I'm gonna run it in the oven.

So I want to take a little bit of my bread crumbs and just put it on my sheet pan.

I have a piece of parchment paper here, but this will just help keep the crab cakes from sticking.

So, let's get in our bread crumbs.

And we just want to get this to where it'll tighten up, hold together, keep its shape.

Alright.

Now... Let's go ahead and get our crab cakes formed, and we can get them on the griddle.

So, I have more bread crumbs.

And I'm using a seasoned bread crumb.

You could do this, if you want, with a panko.

But I like the seasoned bread crumbs.

Let's get a little butter going.

Yes, we have to have some butter.

Yes, we do.

I just want to get this spread out.

Something for our crab cakes to rest on.

So, here, let's get our crab cakes.

I'm gonna use an ice cream scoop to kind of get this shaped.

Let's just get it coated with bread crumbs.

Let's get it on the griddle.

Oh, stay together.

Stay together.

Let's get another one going.

See, that's the thing about lump crabmeat.

It's gonna fall apart a little bit, but that's okay.

Alright?

That's okay.

Once we get a little heat to them, they'll sear and they're gonna be fine.

You get here, right in that butter.

Alright.

Do we have room for one more?

I think we have room.

Ah!

Here, let's give them a flip.

That's okay.

I know that one came apart.

They're gonna come apart a little bit.

But you see what we're trying to do.

We just want them to get a little toasty, a little browned off.

Let's get these transferred to our pan.

Now, you see, I put the bread crumbs down just so they don't stick to the pan.

I have a little parchment paper on our pan, but those bread crumbs really help, as well.

Last but not least, you can get right there.

Okay, this just needs to go in the oven for about 5 or 10 minutes tops, because we just want to get it heated all the way through.

So, let's get these in the oven.

375 degrees.

They're only gonna be in about 5 or 10 minutes, but I'll show you how I'm gonna serve this.

Here in my bowl, I have a little olive oil.

Now we're gonna make a lemon vinaigrette.

Okay.

So.

How about lemon zest?

If you don't have a zester, get one.

I mean, that little bit of zest adds so much flavor.

We're gonna do a little lemon juice.

Little bit of sugar.

Okay.

And you see how that lemon juice and oil are coming together?

That's what we want.

Now, we used a little Creole mustard into our crab cakes.

Well, I'm gonna put some here in the vinaigrette, as well.

And we're gonna season this with a little bit of salt, little bit of Creole seasoning.

I just have some spring mix.

So, let's just get a little bit of the dressing on our mix.

And I don't know if you've ever seen anybody do this before, but I tell you what, the tongs are great, because I was gonna pour it on.

And of course, you could refrigerate this and just keep this in the refrigerator.

Alright.

But here, I just want to get this tossed.

I'm gonna get cleaned up.

I'm gonna let this sit for just a minute.

I'll get our crab cakes and I'll show you how we're gonna plate this up.

♪ Crab to me, crab to me ♪ I hope you taste as delicious as you smell.

Look at our crab cakes.

Now, here.

Let's take a little bit of our spring mix, put it down.

Now, I could put some tomatoes in here.

I'm gonna do a little bit of green onion mixed into our salad.

Okay.

The other thing -- let's get our crab cakes.

And -- oh, yes.

You can sit right there.

We'll get you to come and sit right there.

Alright.

Now let's finish this off.

Let's get a lemon.

There's nothing like fresh lemon with seafood.

You know, lemon just brightens everything up.

It gives it a nice little pop.

Now.

Little sprinkle, a little parsley to go on our salad.

These warm, crunchy crab cakes, they play so nicely with the crisp greens and lemon vinaigrette.

There's no place like Louisiana for oysters, so our next dish is a casserole and it's gonna feature that delicious bivalve.

We're at New Orleans Fish House with Cliff Hall.

Why is Louisiana seafood so special?

-Chef, it's incredible because we get fishermen that go out and come in on a daily basis, so the product is just so fresh each day.

We got the best estuary system in the whole Gulf South.

Oysters thrive here.

Blue crabs thrive here.

Shrimp, with our estuary system, are able to come in and grow.

It's just the best.

-There is nothing like the smell that is coming out of this bowl right now.

There's nothing like fresh oysters.

Look, I just want to get a layer down in the pan.

Now, I have to tell you, Croatians from the Dalmatian coast have been coming to Louisiana since the 1900s.

Now, many of them settled in Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes along the Lower Mississippi River.

The Croatians applied skills that they learned in the coastal region of the Adriatic Sea and helped make the Southern Gulf a successful oyster harvesting operation.

They're credited with developing the state's commercial oyster industry.

Alright, I tell you what, oh, I am so happy that they did.

And I tell you, if you've never had an oyster, I'm trying to just figure out how to describe an oyster to you.

They're nice and salty.

It tastes like the water they're in.

So, I'm gonna take a little lemon juice and just sprinkle some lemon juice around.

I'm gonna take a little bit of shallot that I chopped up and just spread this around.

Okay.

You know, I also like to throw in just a little bit of green onion in with the shallot.

A little Worcestershire.

You know, and I tell you, Worcestershire just adds such a nice depth of flavor.

And a little hot sauce.

Now, this will add a little bit of a bite to it, a little kick, but that's okay.

It's alright.

That's what we're looking for.

On top of this, we're gonna go with a little bit of butter.

Yes.

Can you see how good this is gonna be?

Aw, yeah.

We got to show them a little love with the butter.

Now let's do a layer of bread crumbs.

Make sure they get coated really well with the bread crumbs.

Now let's go with another layer of oysters.

You know, I remember getting a wild hair every once in a while and say, "Oh, I'm gonna get a sack of oyster and shuck 'em myself!"

Well, I tell you what, if you decide to shuck them yourself, it takes a little bit of work, alright?

So maybe you won't be in a rush for that.

So, we're gonna repeat our layers one more time, with our lemon juice... ...the rest of our onions.

We've got our shallot there.

Let's get a little bit of green onion here.

We'll get a little bit of that hot sauce, just like before.

And a little Worcestershire.

Now, depending on what you're making, you can make as many layers of this as you like.

You can just keep going and going and going as many layers as you like.

Now, this time, I'm gonna hit the bread crumbs, then I'll put a little butter on the top.

Now, I also have a little half-and-half.

I'm gonna pour my half-and-half in the corners.

And I'm gonna take my butter spoon, just kind of pull from the corners, get our half-and-half in those corners.

We can get a little bit in the middle.

Open up.

Just pour some in there.

Alright, there we go.

That's good.

So... For what we moistened, let's do a little more bread crumb.

And I'm gonna do a little butter on the top because this will help these bread crumbs get a little color and give us a little flavor.

Oh, yes.

Now, this is a little paprika, that I'mma just sprinkle on the top.

Just for a little color.

Nice little pop of color on there.

So, we're gonna put these in the oven for roughly 20 minutes.

This doesn't take long to cook.

And when they come out, I'll tell you all the different ways that it can be used.

325 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes.

We want to get it firm, but it depends on how we're gonna serve it, and I'll show you that in just a second.

Oh, butter and oysters.

Here's the thing.

Often I'll sauté fish, take this, and serve it right over a piece of fish.

Now, when I do that, I don't let them cook that long.

But if you want to serve it by itself, let it go longer to make sure it gets nice and firm.

But let me show you this.

This is just oyster goodness.

Oh, yes, you come right there.

Oh, look at that nice little oyster.

I don't want to miss you!

Come on, we can get you right on top right there.

Now, here.

Let's just finish this.

Little bit of parsley.

A little bit of green onion.

Ah, wow!

That creamy casserole is the perfect showcase for Louisiana oysters.

Next, a melt-in-your-mouth treat with a historic connection to Louisiana seafood -- pillowcase cookies.

-Saltwater coming in, mixing with brackish, just makes the perfect environment for great growth of our oysters.

There are a lot of cultivated oysters now.

There's off-bottom cage-farmed oysters.

That was part of LSU's program that they did in Grand Isle.

And so now there are many farmers along the coastline of Louisiana that are using a triploid oyster that will grow in cages.

So it gives us another alternative to our wild-caught oyster that's still a great product.

-Now, guys, we're gonna take care of a sweet tooth.

And this was the specialty of the oyster fisherman.

I'll get to that story in a second.

Look at our sugar.

This is raw sugar.

The reason it has this color, that's from the molasses.

That's from the molasses that's in that cane.

So, we're gonna use this in our cookies.

So, in our processor, we'll get a couple of cups of flour.

This is just all-purpose flour.

We're gonna do raw sugar in this recipe.

And the reason why -- this is what it was originally done with.

You know, remember, we mentioned St. Bernard and Lafourche parishes for the oysters.

Well, that's an area where a lot of sugarcane is grown, as well.

Let's get a little baking powder.

Now let's give this a pulse just so it can blend together right quick.

There we go.

That's what we want.

Now I'm gonna get in some butter.

I'll drop our butter around, and this will have to go... eh, 20, 30 seconds, because when the butter is getting cut in, it's gonna look like little pebbles.

Alright, so that's our goal, is to get our butter cut in.

So, I'll start by pulsing it.

Let me show you when I was talking about.

See, I'm just gonna take the spoon to make sure our sides are down.

But you see, we're starting to get the little -- like, look like little pebbles right there.

What that is -- that's that butter getting cut in.

Alright.

A couple more pulses.

Tell you what -- that's good.

Now, remember, we were talking about oysters in the previous dish -- it was an oyster dish.

Well, the oyster fishermen, when they'd go out to the oyster reefs, they would be going out for a couple of weeks sometimes.

So to remind them of home, they would take these cookies.

And because they weren't iced or anything, it was a sugar cookie, they'd put them in pillowcases and they would take them on the boats with them because that was their memory of home.

So that's how they got the name pillowcase cookies, because that's what they put them in.

They filled a pillowcase with them.

And can you see walking on the boat?

You know, you think you have your clothes, but hey, you're on a boat -- you aren't going anywhere.

But you have your cookies because of the love for everybody at home.

So, let's get in a couple of eggs.

A little vanilla.

Let's go ahead and get this worked together.

Now, see how crumbly this looks?

Basically, this -- if you notice with the spoon how I can push it together and it's firm and together, that's what we want to do, okay?

Put a piece of clear wrap.

Dump it all out.

Press it on itself.

Put it in clear wrap.

Refrigerate it for 30 minutes.

I like to do it roughly about 30 minutes, just for it to set and relax.

But I have some I've already done.

So, on the board, I'm gonna put a little flour down.

This is our dough that has rested and been in the refrigerator.

See, it looks the same, but after being in the refrigerator, this is how it's gonna look.

Alright?

Let's put it down.

Now, little more flour.

Now we're gonna roll this out.

I like to get it started with the heel of my hand.

You know, it's just something about that.

It -- I don't know, it just feels natural.

It just feels good.

It's relaxing.

But here, let's go ahead and get the roller.

Now, typically, these were rolled out about 1/4 inch.

You all know how I always like to change things up, so you could roll it more, you could roll it less.

Let me get these a little bit here.

Ah, yes.

Alright, how you liking that, gang?

There we go.

See, I try not to put too much flour on the top.

Alright.

Now, let me show you what I have for cutters.

I have a round cutter, but I also have a fleur-de-lis.

Okay.

So, we can just dip it in the flour first.

Cut.

Get it on our tray.

Cut.

Now, on the tray, I just have a piece of parchment paper.

Dip it in flour again.

The reason I'm dipping it in the flour is so that the dough does not stick to our cutter, to our cookie cutter.

Now let's do a little fleur-de-lis.

Get that dipped in.

Alright.

There's one here.

Let's go... Let's go right here.

Alright.

Press it down.

That's all the way through.

Alright, let's take you guys out.

Put those at a little bit of an angle.

You come on out.

So, the oven is preheating -- 375 degrees.

These are only gonna go in and be in there for about 15 minutes.

So, let's get them in the oven.

375 degrees, 15 minutes.

Gives me time to clean up and go look for a pillowcase.

Couldn't find a pillowcase, but I did find a plate.

Alright, now, take them out of the oven and let them cool on a rack.

Look how beautiful they are.

Look at our fleurs-de-lis!

Let's see if I can get them to stay on the plate.

Watch, watch.

See, I'll take the other one, put it right here -- that way, they can rest on each other.

Oh, look how cute they are.

We'll take our others, just lay them right across the top here.

And of course, a glass of milk.

Boy, I tell you what, makes me want to go get out on the boat.

Pillowcase cookies -- the sugar cookie of your dreams.

Thank you for joining me on this culinary road trip.

Now keep the party rolling.

Bring the big flavors of Louisiana to your home.

So, 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.

-Oh!

How are you?

I am so glad you're here.

Thank you for joining me on "Cookin' Louisiana."

No!

Yes!

Of course!

You gonna come out pretty.

I know you are.

I know you don't want to, but you are.

The people want to see you all purdy.

Tender biscuits topped with scratch-made sausage gravy.

Mm.

Now, today!

I'm gonna make a cheesecake!

[ Laughter ] I'm sorry.

Here, we can saudé -- "Saudé."

Have you ever sautéed -- saudéed your vegetables?

It's much better than sautéing.

You should all try to saudé.

♪ ♪ If I cook it, they will come!

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

-Funding for "Kevin Belton's "Cookin' Louisiana" was provided by... ♪