$90 is a hard sell when he's got so much free content on youtube and an authoritative $20 book.
Go buy this book. Don't steal it, pay money for it. It's one of the few things you'll buy that's worth every damn penny. Read it cover to cover. Go practice. This is the BBQ bible.
https://www.amazon.com/Franklin-Barbecue-Meat-Smoking-Manifesto-Aaron/dp/1607747200
This is Texas and good BBQ has gotten me Money, Liquor, and Women. This is a religion.
Talk About Good!!!
One of the best cookbooks with some fabulous Cajun and creole recipes. The Lafayette and Baton Rouge junior leagues had a friendly rivalry and both put out some of the best selling junior league cookbooks.
For those interested here’s an amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Cookbook-Louisiana-Lafayette-Junior-League/dp/0935032029
And here’s a great article in the Washington Post about it: How a 50-year-old community cookbook became a mainstay in almost every Cajun kitchen
Source: from Lafayette, LA. Mais cher dat cookbook good good yeah.
Buy this: https://www.amazon.com/Cookbook-Louisiana-Lafayette-Junior-League/dp/0935032029 It’s Junior League of Lafayette’s cookbook originally published in the 70s or 80s. It’s basically everybody’s grandma’s best recipes
EDIT: first printed in 1967 now in it’s 30th printing
https://www.amazon.com/White-Trash-Cooking-Ernest-Mickler/dp/0898151899 White Trash Cooking - old school classic southern cookbook that embraces stereotype and refuted them all at the same time
https://bittersoutherner.com/the-short-and-brilliant-life-of-ernest-matthew-mickler For a more detailed and deep look at this cookbook and it’s author
For centrist, more like this book
My grandmother used one called River Road Recipes. Here is the Amazon link.
The Cajun Ninja is a great Youtube cooking channel.
Aaron Franklin has a book with the recipe in it. It is a great book that talks about the science and methods of smoking. It’s also less than $20
Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto [A Cookbook] https://www.amazon.com/dp/1607747200/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fab_ffpBFb623K589
I've been on the BBQ train for some time now. As a New Orleans native living in Michigan, it's hard to find good smoked meats up here, so you end up having to do it for yourself. And every time we throw a shindig, that's really all that gets requested.
My suggestions are as follows:
Franklin Barbecue
I love this book. It's not a recipe book, although it has a few basic ones in the back. He tells the story of how he came to BBQ, and then breaks down each individual aspect of BBQ process. You'll learn a lot.
Herbs and Spices
This book is really more fun than anything else. It's essentially wikipedia for herbs and spices, but there's so much in it that you can always come back and find something new.
The best advice I can give you is to never stop trying something new. When I first got in to BBQ/Grilling, I went to Amazon and bought a mess-load of books for $1-2 a piece about the basics, recipes, processes, and ideologies. Bobby Flay was my first read. I've strayed away from him now that I have my own style. And that's a phrase you'll here a lot among people. "Style". I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just light a fire and put some meat on it. Worst case scenario. You've got cooked meat.
Try smoking a Turkey with a Cajun rub (that you make, don't use prepackaged Cajun rubs) over hickory or apple wood. Patience and eventually it'll all be second nature too you.
Welcome to the game.
Doesn't exactly answer your question, but Toni wrote Jubilee, which was a follow-up cookbook to The Jemima Code.
Thanks for the recommendation! Here's a link to buy Talk About Good! from the Junior League and it appears Amazon carries it, as well.
I would also recommend River broad Recipes for southern Louisiana/Cajun style cooking
How cool! San Angelo is very nice, but I understand the desire to get out. New England has a charm that I have always loved. It's far more kind than Southern California, where we are currently. It's nice, but fake here. I'd rather someone yell at me for doing something stupid and correct me than the opposite.
Houston is my heart. It's a lot easier lifestyle than where we are in California, but for as big as it is, it can be small and not have a lot of touristic options. It has a lot of restaurants and jobs, but didn't have the right opportunities for my wife, and that's why we moved.
Check out this book:https://www.amazon.com/Homesick-Texan-Cookbook-Lisa-Fain/dp/1401324266
It helped me when I was in Connecticut ;-)
Magnolia Table cookbook has a really awesome recipe for Tortilla Soup that rivals what I’ve had in restaurants around here. 😊
Malcolm Gladwell's How To BBQ Right is exemplary, and Aaron Franklin's videos are top notch too - as is his book
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Franklin-Barbecue-Meatsmoking-Manifesto-Aaron/dp/1607747200
River Road Recipes: The Textbook of Louisiana Cuisine https://www.amazon.com/dp/0961302682/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_9FCHC3PWP1GV65NE714C
Talk About Good Cookbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/0935032029/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_i_KJHEXN1P7ATZXV1449HZ
This book is one of my favorite cookbooks. Filled with historic African American food that is the foundation of many types of southern food. https://www.amazon.com/Jubilee-Recipes-Centuries-African-American-Cookbook/dp/1524761737
Start him off with a cheap offset (Oklahoma Joe) and Aaron Franklin's inspiring book on Texas barbecue.
I was at a wedding in Austin and a friend of the bride catered the event with 4 briskets and HEB tortillas for brisket tacos, I asked him if he had any advice for someone wanting to get started with smoking and he just said read Aaron Franklin's book. Good advice and a good start for anyone, especially if you want to do Texas bbq.
Oklahoma Joe is not great quality, you get what you pay for but it does a decent job. If you have more money to invest look for something with thicker steel to retain heat better. But def get him the book
Lisa Fain's "Homesick Texan" cookbook. Look no Further.
Hayden Block is inspired by Franklin Barbeque in Austin, Texas. They use Aaron Franklin's cookbook Franklin Barbeque: A Meat Smoking Manifesto for most of their menu.
So if any place is going to beat Hayden Block, it'll be Franklin Barbeque - but it's a lot longer drive... ;-)
I've lived in Houston my whole life, so yeah, it can definitely change between parts of the state too.
But anyway, the book I'm talking about is The Homesick Texan. https://www.amazon.com/Homesick-Texan-Cookbook-Lisa-Fain/dp/1401324266/
I know people can get chocolate turtles anywhere, but the Longhorns from Lammes in Austin have been a hit with family and friends around the country. https://www.lammes.com/
I see you've already sent your Dad Rudy sauce, that's an excellent choice.
Aaron Franklin has a great book on BBQ you could send, challenge your Dad to read it and step up his game.
I HIIIGHLY recommend this book By Myron Mixon. Google him. He gives up damn near all his championship winning recipes from rubs to sauces and smokes. You won’t be disappointed
For more basic/beginner, less pretentious/ambitious Louisiana recipes try
River Road Recipes or Talk About Good
These are tried and true recipes collected from the people who used them to feed their families, not from a professional chef. They were both originally published in the late 50s and are still in print today.
Yes. He’s incredible. He does a great job of incorporating the German influence in his cooking.
And there are so many more. LA has so many James beard award winners and hundreds of thousands of people come here every year just to eat and enjoy our culture. OP can google that and come up with a ton of chefs that have published recipes.
Also - river road recipes is an amazing cookbook for the region. Produced by the BR junior league - lots of good basic/classic dishes.
https://www.amazon.com/River-Road-Recipes-Textbook-Louisiana/dp/0961302682
People on here mentioned jokers as a good spot for Cajun. I haven't tried it myself, their jambalaya looks really good though.
If you're willing to try cooking it yourself, this book is definitely the best one out there for Cajun food.
Growing up in Louisiana, everyone who could throw down in the kitchen had this. It doesn't get any more authentic than these recipes really.