The Spicy Life of Paul Prudhomme

Watching Paul Prudhomme scoot down the hall of The Times in his therapeutic golf cart, waving and calling, “Hi, howaya, come have lunch!” to everyone he passes, you’d say this guy has not changed one bit since 1979, when he opened K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen and introduced Cajun cooking to the nation--and the world. He’s still puppy dog-friendly and so relaxed he’d put Dan Rather at ease in three seconds flat.

Indeed, desire to please is a way of life for Prudhomme. “I love to feed people,” he says. “I love to watch them enjoy what they eat. What better reward can there be for a chef?”

He has come to this interview carrying two gallons of heated, ready-to-eat Chicken Cacciatore air-expressed from K-Paul’s in Louisiana, just in case the staff needed lunch. “I always bring food wherever I go,” he says. “People expect it. . . . Hi, howaya! Come have some food!” he shouts to a bewildered Times pressman.

Ever since his first book, “Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen,” caused a national hot-and-spicy rage that helped reduce Americans’ freezer-temperature seasoning taste a few notches, Prudhomme has become something of a prophet of seasoned foods. He’s determined to persuade every American to throw away the salt and pepper and make a grab for hot seasonings--any hot seasonings, if not his very own line of them (sold through Magic Seasonings, one of his six companies).

Prudhomme, the businessman, happily juggles two K-Paul’s restaurants (the other one is in New York); a Louisiana sausage company called Ouberspruedel; a cookbook company called Blackened Red Fish; a mail-order business that ships cryo-packed pralines, jambalaya, sweet potato pie and other K-Paul specialties throughout the world; Magic Seasonings, the company that ships Louisiana seasoning mixes as far away as Japan, and a somewhat less active video company.

He still cooks up a storm on his own television shows and makes dozens of guest appearances on network shows every year. Now he has written “Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Seasoned America” (Morrow: $23) to pass on the word: seasoning.

This book too is selling like hot cakes. Earlier this month, during an appearance on the Home Shopping Network, about 4,000 copies of his new book sold out in 12 minutes. “They threw me off the show the second the last book was sold,” he says with a laugh.

Food demonstrations are his thing, he thinks. A showman at heart, he beams for the cameras as naturally as a child star, throws one-liners like an improv comedian and enchants every audience with his verve and vigor, despite his stupendous weight. Even after 54 book promotion events during a 10-city, 13-day tour, he is as lively as a chile pepper.

“I love talking to people when I do demos around the country,” he says. “But I found only about 10 to 12% of the people I talk to eat seasoned foods daily. The rest use only salt and pepper. People tell me they love my book ‘Louisiana Kitchen,’ but use it only on special occasions. Now I want to show them how to apply seasonings to their everyday American cooking, using dishes and ingredients they recognize. I want them to see how herbs and spices can really make a difference in the taste of food.”

Few cooks have ever put as many seasonings in everyday American dishes as Prudhomme. One of his dishes might include as many as eight spices and herbs. For instance, his cowboy stew with cornmeal dumplings is seasoned with mustard, chile pepper, thyme and cumin. “For this recipe,” he says, “I tried to put myself in the place of a cowboy on the range, tasting what he might want to taste.”

A New England chicken casserole is not only baptized with a hefty blend of paprika, garlic, thyme, basil, onion and sage but given a custard sauce. (“It needed a sauce,” he says, “so I used the leftover eggs and drippings from cooking the chicken and dumplings.”) Sally Lunn, a bread that goes back to Colonial days, gets a novel dash of thyme. Red flannel hash is hyped with oregano, nutmeg, onion, garlic and mustard. You get the message fast.

The book is a sort of culinary tour of America, based on Prudhomme’s travels over the years. There are Cornish pasties from Michigan miners, smothered potatoes and hoppin’ John from the South, Ohio ham loaf, Chicago roast pork with dill sauce, Texas shrimp and rice and New England clam chowder. All have gotten a Prudhomme seasoning touch.

America’s eclectic cuisine, already thoroughly interlaced with international dishes (sauerbraten, sopa de albondigas and cioppino , among others), becomes Prudhomme-ized as well. To borscht , which normally relies on nothing but turnips, cabbage, salt and pepper for flavor, he adds thyme, onion and garlic powder, coriander and paprika--no Brooklyn borscht -eater ever tasted a borscht as spirited. And Lower East Side potato latkes have never seen so much ground ginger, allspice and nutmeg. But it works.

The difference for salt-and-pepper-only seasoners could be a revelation or a repulsion, depending on the individual’s palate and sense of adventure. The question is, after using a few Prudhomme recipes, will readers go back to their old way of cooking? Or, as Prudhomme himself would wish a thousand times, will they continue to cook with spices?

“Time will tell,” he says. “I’ll know better in a few months when I start autographing books. If the book they bring for me to sign is dog-eared and matted with gravy, I’ll know the message got through.”

CHICKEN CACCIATORE

5 tablespoons plus 1 1/4 teaspoons Seasoning Mix

1 (3- to 3 1/2-pound) chicken, cut into 8 pieces, fat removed

2 (16-ounce) cans whole tomatoes with liquid

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup chopped onions

1 cup chopped green pepper

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1 cup dry red wine

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup julienne-cut onions

1 cup julienne-cut green pepper

1/4 cup sliced garlic

3 tablespoons dark brown sugar

2 cups sliced mushrooms

Cooked pasta

Sprinkle 4 teaspoons Seasoning Mix over chicken pieces. Rub well into chicken with hands. Pour tomatoes, with liquid, into bowl. Crush tomatoes with hands. Set aside.

Heat oil in 8-quart pot over high heat until hot, about 4 minutes. Add chicken pieces, skin-side down, and cook, turning pieces over once or twice until just golden brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. (Cook chicken in batches if necessary.) Remove chicken pieces to bowl and set aside.

Add 1 cup each chopped onions and chopped green pepper and mushrooms to oil in pot and scrape up browned bits on bottom of pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly browned and beginning to stick to bottom of pot, about 5 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup wine and scrape pot bottom clean. Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook, scraping bottom of pot occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons Seasoning Mix and cook, stirring about 1 minute. Stir in crushed tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic, scrape bottom of pot clean and bring to boil. Add remaining Seasoning Mix, remaining 1/2 cup wine and 1 cup chicken stock. Stir in 1 cup each julienne-cut onions and green peppers and 1/4 cup sliced garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, 4 minutes.

Return chicken pieces and any accumulated juices to pot, stir and bring to bubbling boil. Cover pot, reduce heat to medium and simmer 2 minutes. Stir in remaining 1 cup stock, cover pot and simmer 7 minutes. Stir in brown sugar, cover pot and simmer 5 minutes. Add sliced mushrooms and simmer 5 minutes. Sauce should be rich, dark, reddish-brown color.

Serve 2 pieces of chicken per person with about 1 cup sauce over pasta. Freeze any leftover sauce for pasta dinner. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Seasoning Mix

1 tablespoon salt

2 1/2 teaspoons dried sweet basil leaves

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves

2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon white pepper

3/4 teaspoon black pepper

Combine salt, basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, white and black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Makes 5 tablespoons plus 1 1/4 teaspoons.

Each serving contains about:

405 calories; 1659 mg sodium; 78 mg cholesterol; 18 grams fat; 25 grams carbohydrates; 31 grams protein; 1.76 grams fiber; 41% calories from fat.

DOWN-HOME COCONUT-PECAN CANDY BAR CAKE

3 large coconuts

Sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

7 eggs

1 1/2 cups evaporated milk

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla

Filling

Frosting

Punch holes through eyes of coconuts with screwdriver or other sturdy, sharp-pointed tool. Pour off coconut milk and reserve.

Crack open coconuts with hammer and remove coconut meat. Remove thin brown layer from meat and discard. Rinse meat. Place coconut meat in bowl of food processor and process until finely shredded. Measure out 3 cups for toasting for cake, 3 cups for Filling and 2 cups for Frosting.

Toast 3 cups coconut in 10-inch non-stick skillet over high heat, flipping coconut and shaking skillet frequently, until coconut is deep brown, about 14 to 15 minutes. Coconut will reduce to about 1 3/4 cups. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine reserved coconut milk and 1 cup sugar in 10-inch skillet over high heat. Bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid has reduced to 1 1/2 cups, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and set glaze aside.

Combine flours, baking powder, salt and 1 1/2 cups sugar in bowl of food processor and process until well blended, about 25 seconds. Add eggs and process to blend. With processor running, drizzle in evaporated milk, butter and vanilla. Add toasted coconut and process 10 to 15 seconds.

Coat 4 (9-inch) layer cake pans with non-stick cooking spray and divide batter evenly among pans. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 35 minutes or until wood pick inserted in center of each cake comes out dry. About 3 minutes before cakes are finished baking, bring back to boil reserved coconut milk glaze over high heat.

Turn cake layers out onto wire racks and immediately spread hot glaze over with pastry brush. Turn layers over and brush other sides. Repeat process to brush each side of each layer 6 times. Cool completely.

Choose best layer for top of cake and set aside. Place second layer, top side down, on cake plate and spread 2 cups Filling over top. Place another layer on top and cover with another 2 cups Filling. Repeat process with third cake layer. Place reserved layer on top, right side up, and spread remaining Filling in middle of top of cake.

Frost sides of cake with Frosting, then spread on top to meet Filling. Makes 1 (3-layer) cake.

Filling

4 1/2 cups pecan pieces

1 cup unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed

3 1/4 cups whipping cream

3 cups reserved shredded coconut

1 tablespoon vanilla

Toast pecans in medium skillet over medium heat until golden brown, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Measure 2 cups and chop finely in food processor.

Melt butter in 12-inch skillet over high heat until sizzling. Add granulated sugar and whisk until it begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Whisk in brown sugar, then 2 3/4 cups cream. Heat 2 minutes, whisking occasionally. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups toasted pecan pieces and coconut and cook about 17 minutes, stirring often. (Watch carefully, to prevent mixture from burning around edges.) Stir in 2 cups chopped pecans and cook 3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla and remaining 1/2 cup cream. Pour mixture into mixing bowl and whip vigorously with wire whisk as it cools slightly. Spread in large shallow pan to cool to room temperature. Makes about 8 cups.

Frosting

1 (16-ounce) package cream cheese, cut into pieces

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

2 cups reserved shredded coconut

2 teaspoons vanilla

Combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, cinnamon, allspice, coconut and vanilla in bowl of food processor and process until thoroughly blended, about 1 to 2 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Each serving contains about:

1699 calories; 884 mg sodium; 367 mg cholesterol; 124 grams fat; 141 grams carbohydrates; 18 grams protein; 2.33 grams fiber; 66% calories from fat.

WEST VIRGINIA SWEET-AND-SOUR SHORT RIBS

2 cups chopped onion

1 1/2 cups chopped green pepperd

1 cup chopped celery

Seasoning Mix

4 pounds beef short ribs, about 8 ribs, cut into individual ribs, excess fat removed

1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup distilled white vinegar

1/2 cup bottled chili sauce

1 cup beef stock

Combine onion, peppers and celery in large baking pan. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Seasoning Mix and rub well over vegetables with hands. Place ribs on top of vegetables in single layer. Sprinkle ribs all over with 2 tablespoons Seasoning Mix and rub well with hands.

Cover pan tightly with foil and bake at 300 degrees 1 hour. Remove foil and bake 1 hour longer. Makes 4 servings.

Seasoning Mix

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Combine salt, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard, thyme, turmeric, black and white peppers, and cumin in small bowl. Makes 1/4 cup plus 1/2 teaspoon.

Each serving contains about:

763 calories; 2325 mg sodium; 154 mg cholesterol; 42 grams fat; 42 grams carbohydrates; 57 grams protein; 2.66 grams fiber; 49% calories from fat.