Cajun & Creole

This is just the ticket for spicy-food aficionados. Serve it over rice-and keep a fire extinguisher nearby. If your taste is a little less adventurous, start with only 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes; then adjust as the mixture cooks.

The original recipe for oysters Rockefeller, created at the New Orleans restaurant Antoine's in 1899, remains a secret to this day. The appetizer, oysters topped with a mixture of finely chopped greens and copious amounts of butter and then baked in their shells, was considered so rich that it had to be named after the richest man of the day, John D. Rockefeller. A few years later, no self-respecting restaurateur would be without his own version on the menu. This lighter take features spinach, watercress, green onions and grated Parmesan.

Active time: 1 1/4 hr Start to finish: 1 1/2 hr

"My mom taught me how to cook — mostly the meat-and-potatoes fare favored in my native north Texas," writes Judy Wilkins of Tyler, Texas. "I'll always have a fondness for that kind of meal, but now that I live in a town closer to Louisiana, I've developed a love for Cajun food. Out of necessity, I've also developed a love for quick cooking. Between my musician's hours (nights and weekends) and teacher's hours (daytime piano lessons), my schedule can be nuts. When I do have the chance to cook dinner on a weeknight, whatever I make can't take too long — and it has to taste great." With this communal dish, the mess is part of the fun. Lay down newspapers on the table and invite guests to peel-and-eat. And serve crusty bread for sopping up the juices.

If you can, buy fresh shrimp with shells and heads still intact. If the heads have been removed, don't worry. Peel the shrimp and use the shells to make shrimp stock. Put the shells (and heads) in a small stockpot. Add 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for about 1 hour. Remove from the heat, strain through a fine sieve, and set aside. If you don't have shrimp stock, water can be substituted.

Serve these spicy grilled shrimp with bread for sopping up all the sauce.

Begin marinating the steaks a day ahead.

This recipe was created to accompany Gumbo Z'herbes with Red Beans , Shrimp, Crab, and Oyster Gumbo , Chicken, Sausage, and Okra Gumbo , and Beef Filé Gumbo . Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

A low-fat sausage will work here, though it will not produce as flavorful a gumbo.

Can be prepared in 45 minutes or less.

All Southern cooks have their own ways of making gumbo. Our recipe contains neither okra nor filé powder, producing a thinner, lighter gumbo.

If you can't find one type of the greens for this recipe, you can either increase the other two kinds proportionally or substitute kale and/or chard.

These crab cakes are flavored with the "holy trinity" of Cajun cooking: onion, green bell pepper, and celery. Serve them with a helping of coleslaw or a green salad.

The following recipe calls for filé powder, a spice made from the dried, ground leaves of the sassafras tree. Although often added as a thickener to gumbos while they cook, filé powder can also serve purely as a seasoning. As in this recipe, it is then sprinkled over the gumbo at the penultimate moment.