Red Remoulade and Some of Its Many Uses

Remoulade is a classic of New Orleans cuisine.  It is used to dress up cold boiled shrimp.  It is served as a dipping sauce for all manner of fried seafood.  It is dolloped on top of fried tomatoes.  It shows up in many different forms, ranging from a mildly savoury sauce based on homemade mayonnaise, to bright reddish-orange and searingly spicy.  The recipe that I offer here is a deep red colour.  It is zingy and savoury but not spicy hot.  It can be combined with mayonnaise if you wish, but I usually don’t.  I adapted it from a wonderful cookbook, Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz, which I bought on my first trip to New Orleans.  If you would like to read a much longer story about how I got this cookbook take a look under the cookbooks tab.

I use half as much oil as the original recipe from Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz.  So feel free to add more if you like.  I also use celery salt instead of regular salt because I LOVE a strong celery flavour in remoulade…but maybe that’s just me.  Remoulade can be used to create many good party, barbecue or picnic dishes, but it is also a pretty useful sauce to have on hand for creating fast summer lunches.  Serving suggestions follow the basic recipe!

RED REMOULADE SAUCE

adapated from Creole Gumbo and All That Jazz

• 4 scallions (including the greens)
• 2 ribs of celery
• 3 small cloves of garlic
• 1 or 2 Tablespoon of fresh parsley
• 6 Tablespoons creole mustard (grainy dijon is an okay substitute)
• 3 Tablespoons paprika
• 1/2 cup vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (The original recipe called for a full cup)
• generous amounts of celery salt (or salt)
• black pepper to taste

1. Chop or mince the vegetables and herbs.
2. Run the vegetables and herbs through a blender or food processor along with the mustard, paprika and vinegar until it is almost smooth.
3. Continue to run the blender or food processor while you slowly add the oil.
4. Season with celery salt and pepper.

SHRIMP OR VEGETABLE REMOULADE

The above recipe makes more than enough sauce for 3 pounds of boiled shrimp.  The shrimp remoulade will taste better after sitting in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight, so this is a great dish to make ahead for a party.  If you have leftover sauce, or if you don’t eat shrimp, remoulade can be used as an amazing dressing or dip for any or all of the following…

• Cucumber
• Avocado
• Red, green or yellow bell pepper
• radishes
• celery
• cherry tomatoes
• crisp lettuce
• boiled eggs

REMOULADE SAUCE ON FRIED SEAFOOD OR TOMATOES

You can  mix remoulade with a bit of home-made mayonnaise and serve it with fried catfish, oysters or tomatoes (green or ripe).  The tomatoes below were dipped in a mixture made from a cup of buttermilk whisked together with one egg, dredged in cornmeal, salt and pepper and fried 3 minutes on each side.

CELERIAC SLAW WITH REMOULADE DRESSING

You can use leftover remoulade to make a slaw with red cabbage and grated celery root (also known as celeriac).  Grate equal amounts of  the vegetables very fine and dress them with 2 parts remoulade, one part home-made mayonnaise, lemon juice, a tiny bit of sugar and more celery salt to taste.

REMOULADE DEVILED EGGS

Remoulade makes wonderful zingy deviled eggs and I bet that it would also make the most delicious egg salad sandwiches.  To make deviled eggs, place eggs in a pan filled with cool water.  Bring the water to a boil and then turn it off right away.  Allow the eggs to sit in the hot water for 12 minutes before running them under cold water.   When the eggs or cool, peel them…or you can leave this until the next day, since old eggs are easier to peel.  Slice the eggs in half lengthwise and carefully scoop the yolks into a bowl or blender.  Add 1 Tablespoon of remoulade for every 2 egg yolks and blend until they are fluffy.  Adjust the seasoning and pile the yolks back in eggs.  If you pipe the egg yolks, they will look prettier than mine (pictured below).  I made mine for a lonely lunch so I just piled them up and ate them!

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