>> male announcer: Funding for Chef Paul Prudhomme's Always Cooking was provided by: >> Prudhomme: Hi, I'm Chef Paul Prudhomme.

We're gonna stuff you up.

Today's menu: stuffing stuff, and we got baked stuff onions, seafood crepes, and a four-cheese stuffed pork chop that's gonna send you home happy, happy, happy.

[lively Cajun music] ♪ ♪ Baked stuffed onions.

Oh, they can be so good.

I mean, really, onions, you know, if you just get them bed enough to get that sweetness in the onions, it is just spectacular.

I mean, absolutely spectacular.

I've actually taken advantage of you guys, and I got started.

I got some onions cooking, and they're starting to get to the color that I need.

You can see a little bit of puff of smoke coming out, and that's because they're browning.

And I don't have much oil in there.

I just put a little bit of butter in there.

I got some pecans that are roasted, and I'm done with the roasting, so I'm gonna put them back in that little container, because they're gonna go in the dish a little bit further down the road.

And I'm gonna start cooking.

And while I'm cooking, I'm gonna do--we've got these onions that we need to work with, and so I'm gonna work with them while I'm cooking over here, and that's gonna be--it's gonna be fun.

And we're gonna take the onions, and we're gonna set them in here, and we're gonna start browning them.

We don't want to cook them, so it's gonna be working on a hot fire, and we just want to get some brown in them.

In the meantime, I've got some onions here that are already brown, and I'm ready to take it to the next step.

I'm gonna put the bell pepper in--onions, bell pepper, and celery.

Oh, those are my treasures.

And then you got some celery in it, and it's--we're gonna put a little bit of butter in.

You could use oil if you want.

You can use almost any kind of oil that you want.

I'm gonna use a little bit of butter, and I love to use butter in as many instances as I possibly can.

See, this is starting to brown already.

I'm gonna show you how to get the onions to stay where you want them, is, you just take and you put a little side on them, like so.

And there... [laughs] That was funny.

But you cut a little side on the onion like this, and you don't want to go too deep, because you don't want to cut all the way through your onion.

You just want to put it where you can brown it.

And so I'm gonna let it brown, and as I go along, I'm gonna be cutting it.

Oh, look at the colors in this one.

It's really--it's really working.

So the bell peppers are starting--the butter's really working there.

And so I'm gonna add the meat to it.

Actually, I'm gonna add herbs and spices first, and I'm gonna put them right in with this, and just a--not all I need for the meat and everything, but I like to stage things sometimes, and staging is one of the things that makes cooking very complex.

Oh, I wish you could smell this herb and spice blend.

I mean, it's just absolutely spectacular.

And so I'm gonna move them to the side like this and put the meat right in and start pushing it down.

Let me get rid of this bowl.

And as the heat applies or as the heat from the pan gets with the meat, it's gonna be easier to take it apart, because right now, it's kind of hot.

Oh, I got stuff going, don't I?

Yeah, but I can handle it, or at least I think I can.

[laughs] Ahh.

I want to let that cook for a second.

I want to lower the fire just a little bit on the meat and the vegetables, and when the meat gets warmed up, I can break it up better.

I'm gonna go back to the onions.

Look-a-there.

Oh, I'm gonna cut another side.

Yes, and just set it down in there and start getting some color on it.

There you go.

This one really worked good.

It's got a great color on it.

Don't want to be too deep, now.

Don't want to cut too much of your onion.

All right, here we go.

I'm gonna turn the fire down, because I don't like the way the color is getting.

So I'm gonna turn the fire down to real low.

And the onion that you get off the onion, just put it right in.

We could actually put it in this, but I'm not gonna do it.

If I wasn't on television, I'd have put... [laughs] I'd have put those in.

Making stuffing's a really great--I mean, it's--stuffings can really deliver enormous amount of flavor, and stuffings are good for creativity.

I mean, you can literally stuff anything--anything that's edible, you can stuff it in something else, and it's just the way the life of stuffings is--are.

And so I'm gonna put the-- a little bit more butter.

I need a little bit more of the juice in here.

I got some garlic I'm gonna put in, and then I'm gonna give it a quick taste, and in giving it a taste, I'm gonna judge how much seasoning I have in it, and then I'll know should I put some more.

And anybody who cooks--anybody who cooks should never hesitate to taste, because let me tell you, you can smell it, you can do whatever you want, but there is no way you're gonna get to understand how this is progressing or what it tastes like unless you taste it, because smell don't do it.

You can't smell salts.

You can't smell lots of different things, so... All right, so we got that going.

We're gonna add--I'm gonna put-- I need more seasoning, so I'm gonna put that in, and I'm gonna add some more butter, because I need a little bit of liquid on the bottom.

Ooh, yes, yes.

Add the butter to it.

I mean, the smell is just absolutely spectacular.

I'm gonna put the pecans in and the mushroom in, and the stages that I've gotten to are really good, because--now, what I'm gonna do with this is, I'm going to add some rice to it, so I got to have stock.

Ahh, yes.

That was a good turn.

Now I see the seasoning that's not been browned, so I'm gonna make sure it gets brown.

Oh, the smell is really great.

I need to taste it one more time, use a different spoon, make sure I have enough seasoning, because the seasoning's got to carry all those liquids.

Now it's right.

Oh, the seasoning's great.

I'm gonna add some stock to it.

Won't add quite all of it, because I need some for another stage.

And now I'm in a good simmering mode.

I'm gonna put the milk in, and then--and it goes all in here, and then I'm gonna add the rice.

See why I needed to make sure the seasoning was enough or was strong enough?

And, you know, if you were to taste those seasonings by themselves or at that stage, if you'd have tasted them not understanding what goes in next, then it probably would have been too strong, but I knew what it was gonna taste like.

Let me get to the onion.

We've got an onion cut.

You see we just made the bottom flat and the top flat.

You want to make the sizes you seen me do flat, and that should be a thin, thin cut.

I mean, it don't have to be very--it don't have to be very thick.

You just want the onion to keep from rolling in there.

And then you start taking a melon baller, you start taking a melon baller, and you just turn like this.

You just take it, and you turn inside, and you're gonna get some onion out.

And all you got to do is just keep doing that until you get the amount of onion that's out of this one, and you see it's a considerable size hole.

I mean, it really is.

It's very big.

Hole is gonna hold a lot of stuffing, so we've got that going.

And if you have any questions about the onion, I'll be happy to explain it even further.

[laughs] I know you can't ask me questions.

I'm just giving you a hard time.

So we got--oh, look at the color on this one.

This is gonna be great.

Yes.

And so we've got everything to stages, and so we need to cover this and let it cook for the rice to come up.

And we're gonna take the onions out, and then we're gonna have this stuffing to put in them, and we're gonna do that, and we're gonna take the time to close down and wait for this to come together.

We're cooking, I mean, serious cooking.

But the kitchen, the support kitchen did a good thing here.

They had some already cooked, so we got some ready to go.

But I want to taste this, and I want to talk about it just a little bit more.

Ahh, absolutely wonderful.

The rice is getting cooked.

It's absorbed in the milk.

And, you know, the reason that we use evaporated milk--this is an old recipe, and it probably came from my family, because when I grew up, we didn't have-- I mean, we had cows that we would milk on a farm, but we'd also pasteurize the milk, because the cows didn't produce milk all the year long.

And so we would have what's called evaporated milk or pasteurized milk, because we'd put it in a pot and reduce it down and put it in jars, and so that was our milk.

And some of the recipes that we have over the years still use evaporated milk, and I love it.

I absolutely--I mean, it's a different kind of taste.

It has a wonderful richness to it, and it's really great.

But let's go back to the onions.

We got the onions.

We got the brown on them.

We got brown on the bottom.

And we got a stuffing, and we're gonna add the stuffing to it.

And I like to pack stuffings.

I think it's important to pack them and just--I mean, and this one, you got to think about it when you're doing it, because we're going to add some cheese to it.

So I won't surmount it really high, but I'm gonna pack it real tight to make sure that it's good.

I'm gonna take a little bit out.

Then I'm gonna take some cheese and put into it, and I'm gonna try to get cheese on the inside as much as I can.

And I could have left room for them, but it's not in my character to do that.

I like for it to be the things that--because the cheese is gonna melt, but the rest of it won't, and so it's really great just to mount up the cheese on top.

And you see we got a whole bunch of cheese to make these with, so we were prepared for it.

And then we take it, and we'll put it in a casserole and put it in the oven.

And we're gonna actually sort of cook it twice.

We're gonna bake it for 20 minutes at 375, and then we're gonna crank the oven up and go to 550 and finish the browning.

We want this to come out beautifully browned.

We want the onions to be cooked all through the inside, and we want it to taste good, and we're working on that.

Matter of fact, we got some in the oven, and maybe I could run over there and check on it and just see how it's doing.

And if it's ready, maybe I could get a bite of it, because this recipe brings back lots of great memories.

I just peeked.

The brown in there.

It's ready.

Let me show it to you.

Oh, look at them onions.

They're just bubbling.

That cheese is just bubbling, bubbling, bubbling.

It's wonderful.

You know, I get so excited over beautiful things, and look at this onion.

I mean, it is about as pretty as you can get an onion, and you know that with all the cooking we've done, it's gonna be tender and juicy, and I wish it was not so hot so I could eat some of it, but I will.

[laughs] Oh, well, it's ready to go.

Isn't this gorgeous?

Can you see it?

Ooh, and it's gonna be good.

I can't wait till it cools down enough to be able to taste it.

This is done.

Yeah, we're ready.

We're gonna go to it.

Seafood crepes, or if you say as the French do, seafood crêpes.

Yes.

Oh, today we're creping it up.

We got seafood crepes, and, you know, the French call them crêpes.

And the reason they call them crêpes is because they're French.

[laughs] No, the crepes are French, and that's literally what it means is a crepe when they say crêpe, so... And they use them for almost everything you can imagine.

I've got some onions brown.

I'm gonna make this pretty quickly, so we want you to get the information here.

We're putting butter in it, because crepes take butter.

I mean, anything you do with crepes need to be buttered, because it is very French, is very French, yes.

And so see the brown is coming?

Now I'm gonna move really quickly.

I'm gonna put some flour in it, and I'm gonna stir the flour, and I'm gonna add some cream to it.

And this is real cream.

The butter is not even melted, but look at that beautiful color.

Oh, yes.

That's gonna make them shrimp and crab meat taste wonderful.

And so I'm gonna add the green onions, and this is just about done.

It's really wonderful.

It's got to come to a boil, and we're gonna--we got to give a little taste of it.

And I got the shrimp left to put in--in the sauce, because we're doing a shrimp and crab meat sauce.

And I really, really don't like to overcook shrimp or seafood of any kind, especially when it's fresh.

And, of course, we're here in New Orleans, so, you know, it's--I mean, it's fresh.

It's really fresh.

I want to taste this, because it's--ahh.

I know that you probably get tired of me enjoying it, but the truth is, it really is good.

I mean, it just tastes--that was, like, creamy and delicious, and the cream came in first, and then the butter came in and then the herbs and spices.

I'm gonna put the shrimp in.

Now, you notice I'm putting the crab meat in last, or if you didn't notice, I'm gonna tell you that.

The crab meat's in last because I don't want to break it up.

It's beautiful Louisiana lump crab meat, and no matter what I do to it, how gently I stir it, it's gonna break up, so what I'm gonna do is, I'm gonna take the shrimp and cook them.

Now, see the thickness of this?

It's gonna back off a little bit.

I'm gonna turn the fire down.

It's gonna back off a little bit when the shrimp start cooking, because all the shrimp juices are gonna go in there, and the shrimp are gonna curl, and they're gonna get a pink color, and it's gonna be absolutely fantastic.

The shrimp would normally be cooked by now, but it's still not--they're still not quite cooked, but they're starting to get that pink color, and so... And I'm gonna let them rest, because they're not ready to go into the--I wanted to do those first, 'cause we're gonna fill the crepes with them.

And so I'm gonna just gently turn this over.

I'm gonna shut the fire off totally, and I'm gonna let the crab meat and the shrimp make love to all that cream and the herbs and spices and the onions and everything else.

Ooh, I got to put this spoon away, and then I got to taste this one more time.

I just know what it's gonna-- well, I'm anticipating what it's gonna taste like because of the shrimp and the crab.

Oh, it's rich; it's wonderful.

Oh, the shrimp.

Man, I love fresh shrimp.

I love fresh shrimp.

The next thing I'm gonna do is make the crepe batter.

And the crepe batter is relatively easy.

There's not a whole lot of-- I mean, you can get recipes everywheres.

You're gonna get one from us.

But, you know, the thing about crepe batter is that you don't overbeat it.

It's never good to overbeat a crepe batter, so that's one of my goals.

And if you're gonna make a batter and you're gonna use it, like, to make crepes and stuff, you know, you're gonna pour it in something, always do it in one of these, because it's got a spout on it, and after I got it made, I can use right out of here.

I can just use this container to pour it into the grill.

All right, I've got some salt, and I got a little nutmeg in here.

I love to put nutmeg on when I'm using creams or milks or those kind of things.

The salt kind of stuck, so I just gave it a beating up.

We've got--just adding a little touch of vegetable oil, and then the last thing we're gonna do is add the flour.

Now, I do not want to make this thick, and I don't want to really make all the flour go away.

I don't mind lumps when I'm making crepes.

I really don't.

There can be small lumps in here, and I'm very happy with that.

If you overbeat it, it's not gonna be as good, and it's not gonna look as good.

I'm gonna pour--I'm gonna check this out, and I think I got it.

Let me see how many lumps are in.

There's a little bit too many lumps.

I'm gonna get another little beating on it.

One more time.

How many lumps--oh, now it looks good.

I've got a griddle, and it's already hot, so I'm gonna pour this right on here.

And I want it to be thin, so I got to be careful with it.

And, you know, if you're in the skillet, you can kind of move it around, but you can if you're in the griddle too.

You can just kind of move it, kind of move it, kind of move it.

Yes, because you're gonna roll it, so it don't need-- but you want it to be thin.

I mean, that's one of the keys to it.

All right, so I'm in good shape.

While that's cooking, I'm gonna start making a crepe, 'cause we got it right here ready to go.

So we're gonna take that wonderful filling and put in here.

Now, there's all kind of ways-- you see how the shrimp got real pink?

And, I mean, they're just absolutely perfect.

When you're rolling, you can tuck it, or you can just roll it, and I think with crepes, you probably should just roll it.

You know, just roll it comme ça.

Do it like that, and then we'll do another one, and then we'll clean the plate.

Put it right in here, and I'm gonna take the plate over.

I'm gonna try not to mess on the plate this time, because it's got all this good stuff in it.

Look at those shrimp.

Oh, those are fresh Louisiana shrimp.

There ain't nothing, nothing better than a fresh shrimp, and I got to be prejudice and tell you, if they're from Louisiana, they're spectacular.

All right, we're gonna clean the plate up, and then we can take and put, if you want to, a little bit of sauce on top, and I try to catch the crab meat in the sauce instead of the shrimp, or you can have a little bit of both, you know, but the crab meat looks good right on top of here like that.

All right, we turned one of the crepes over, and it's cooking on the other side.

I added another one, because I got a lot of hungry people here, and we're gonna crepe it up.

[laughs] Coming up next, four-cheese stuffed pork chop.

And, boy, you've never had it so good.

Four-cheese stuffed pork chops.

Can you imagine: four kinds of cheese and if it's really good cheese like Asiago, caciocavallo, mozzarella, ricotta.

Ooh, man, it's gonna be delicious, so we're gonna start making it up right now, and so-- and this is sour cream going in, and we're gonna just get it right in this dish, 'cause I'm gonna mix the cheese up, and then we're gonna cook the pork chop while the cheese just kind of sits there and makes love to the seasoning, because it likes to do that.

And so we're gonna put the basil in, gonna put the herbs and spices in.

Oh, yeah, start stirring.

Yeah, spread the joy.

Spread the joy.

Got a little bit of ricotta and then the Asiago, caciocavallo, and just good old mozzarella.

All right.

I think I'm gonna switch spoons.

I like the flat one better for this.

So we're gonna mix it up good, and then we're gonna use this to stuff a pork chop.

And I promise you, you will never taste a better pork chop than this one, because, boy--and, you know, you can use any kind of cheese you want.

I mean, really, you can use one cheese, two.

You can--I mean, just anything you want.

It's your pork chop, and you do what you want with it.

All right, so we got a good mixture.

It's nice and stiff.

The seasoning looks like it spread, and so we're ready to go.

I'm gonna set it right here, and then I'm gonna go to this side and get to working on the pork chop, and I'm gonna try to resist eating this pork chop.

You get a small knife.

We call this--we call this a paring knife, and you get into the pork chop.

You get into the middle of the pork chop.

Now, it's really important-- let me show you where I put the knife at.

It's really important that you get into the middle.

Put the knife all the way in, and then you just work to the side.

It's like working to the side, working to the side.

Then you turn the knife over, and you work to the side, work to the side, and that's what I'm going to do.

And then you put--and then the next step--and if the knife's sharp, I'm mean, look, it's there, you know.

I'm just making sure that I got it as far as I can go.

Now, the next step is gonna be to put some seasoning everywheres.

Well, maybe I'll put the cheese in first.

That will be better.

You're gonna get the cheese.

Make sure you got a big enough hole for the cheese, and start stuffing.

It takes a little bit a while, but the bigger the hole is, the more cheese you're gonna lose, so it's important that you take and you make a small hole and be patient and just keep stuffing it.

And see the sides are starting to grow?

I mean, that cheese is getting in there.

All right, the pork chop should be 1 1/2--at least 1 1/2 inches thick, and we're gonna put the herbs and spices on it.

And you can see there's a little bit of cheese on it, so it will make it even easier to stick.

Put the herbs and spices on.

I like to put them all the way around on the sides as well as the bottom, because they got good stuff here by the bone and on the end here, and so we just put it in.

If it falls on the board like this, you just put it-- you just take it and just do it that way and it works.

All right, so we're gonna put it in.

We got the pan hot, and we're gonna raise it up all the way.

I'm gonna move this over, and we're gonna cook the pork chop.

Right, now, remember, you need a really sharp knife to do this with, because it makes it a lot easier.

And you browit off.

Then you put it in the oven at 350 degrees, and it needs to be about 155 in the center, and you take and put a thermometer right in here to make sure you got it cooked.

And it should take somewheres 10 to 12 minutes just in order to get to that temperature, and we've got it.

We've got some right here all ready to go, and look how gorgeous that is, and look at that cheese in there.

Ooh, and that's good cooking, good eating, good lovin'.

We love you guys out there.

Oh, I wish you was here get a bite, 'cause I'm gonna take one right now.

Mmm, heaven.

>> announcer: A cookbook featuring all the recipes from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Always Cooking is available for $15.95 plus $7.95 shipping and handling.

The cookbook features 97 recipes, color photos, and cooking tips from Chef Paul.

To order a copy of the companion cookbook, call: And pay by credit card.

Or send a check or money order to: Captioning by CaptionMax www.captionmax.com >> Okay, look here.

Don't look at me.

Look at-- >> Prudhomme: I didn't look at you.

Why would I want-- [laughing] Oh, does this smell good.

But I don't know what it is.

>> Soy sauce.

>> Prudhomme: [laughs] Oh, this is wonderful soy sauce.

I got to put them on there, and then they-- [laughs] And then the crash.

We're gonna put the plantains in, and I'm gonna start-- hey, did you see that?

Oh, man, I never thought I could do that.

There it goes, all right.

Put your best ugly face on.

[pressure cooker hissing] >> announcer: Funding for Chef Paul Prudhomme's Always Cooking was provided by: