There is no better food than the slow-simmered rice and gravies of Cajun Country, but the deep, brown, roux-flavored stews take hours of standing over a stove, far too much time for the average, busy person. Cookbook author Neal Bertrand has come up with a quick-cooking technique that combines those slow-cooked étouffées and gumbos with the ease and practicality of a familiar friend in the kitchen, the rice cooker.

Bertrand discovered he could combine browned meat, vegetables, broth, seasoning, and rice in his rice cooker, stir, press the “cook” button, and let his rice cooker take care of dinner. His first attempt, a jambalaya made with black-eyed peas, sausage, and Louisiana long-grained rice was such a success; he began experimenting with everything in his Cajun kitchen.

Classics like red beans and rice, sausage sauce piquante, shrimp Creole, stuffed roast, crawfish stew, chicken and sausage gumbo, smothered potatoes with sausage and Tasso, and even candied yams with marshmallows are simple to prepare using a rice cooker. No longer tied to the stove, busy people can put together their favorite recipes in minutes, set the automatic timer, and go on with their lives, while meals are cooked to perfection without any attention from the cook.

This book of 60 tested recipes is designed for the most inexperienced cook to succeed and combines economical recipes with the flair of Cajun ingredients and seasoning. It’s the perfect gift for a college student’s dorm room, but will also travel with ease to a tailgating party, into the kitchen of a camper or RV. This new way of cooking can also deliver fresh and hot food for pot-luck parties.