Lexigame Community
General Category => Whatever => Topic started by: a non-amos on July 09, 2009, 03:15:26 PM
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Hi, everyone.
Previous threads indicate that males are relegated to only grilling, BBQ, chili, etc.
I just dragged a really good pot of gumbo into our local Irish pub, and it went over rather well. Not all males are restricted to BBQ, etc.
I really don't know if anyone else is interested in this topic, but gumbo can be a really great thing.
By the way . . . At a tender young age my mamma told me that if I like eating, I had better learn how to cook.
Cheers!
- A :-H
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And believe me, a non-amos, not all women are handy in the kitchen. Thank goodness I live on a street with a lot of restaurants. I'm not sure I've ever had gumbo, though I've had okra at my local Greek restaurant.
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Ah, mmmm, gumbo! Not a Canadian treat, but I have southern roots.
I've tried, but I can't make a roux without burning it. Will you share your secret?
cariboo
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Gumbo is a soup made from andouille and chicken, along with onion, green pepper, and celery (the trinity) and garlic (the pope) It may also have okra and other assorted ingredients. It is usually served with rice.
A good gumbo needs a good brown roux. A brown roux needs grease that does not burn easily, such as vegetable shortening, lard, or bacon grease. My favorite is to cook a pound of bacon, remove the bacon, cook the chicken and sausage in the bacon grease, filter the grease, and make the roux using bacon grease that has been flavored by the andouille and the chicken. If I don't have enough bacon grease, I add a little shortening. Don't use butter.
If you have problems with roux burning, either you are using the wrong grease (butter will burn quite easily), or you need to filter the grease (any food particles left in the grease will burn), or you need to stir it more frequently. When finished, the roux should be about this color.
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Ah, thanks a-amos,
I shall stop feeding the ravens bacon fat and render it for my roux.
Thanks for the tip--now, to find a source of andouille. (I live in a small town in central British Columbia--lots of range fed beef and river salmon, but not a lot of deli meats.)
cariboo
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Be sure to filter it, either with a coffee filter or with a paper towel or similar.
I was pleasantly surprised to find three different brands of andouille in my local Kroger store. Do you have Kroger's in BC?
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Will filter well thoroughly. We don't have Krogers, but we have a Safeway here that will sometimes order in. I'll check. It's not something I look for very often, so they may have some in regular stock, who knows?
Thanks again.
cariboo
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You are the exception that proves the rule A non...
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Another helpful hint:
In most gumbo recipes, the first thing you do is cook the chicken and andouille in the grease, then pick the meat off of the chicken bones. One of the last things you do is add enough chicken stock to make it into a soup.
One of the things I tried on Wednesday: I simmered the chicken bones (and skin, etc.) in the chicken stock while everything else was cooking. It turned out pretty good.
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What an excellent Jewish mother you would make...
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Waste not, want not. In my case: waste not, waist more.
I just returned from the pub, which had more Katrina refugees than is normal. They heard about this gumbo, and felt a bit homesick. They had no gumbo tonight, only the stories of gumbo past.
They also had some conversation with the gumbo's cook, and also talked with at least one NOLA refugee who swore upon the gumbo.
One of them asked me why I would do such a thing, and what drew me to NOLA. I told her about the NOLA benefit I had organized, and what we accomplished. The next time I had some time off from work with no other obligations, we were there.
We fell in love with the French quarter, not surprisingly. The first time we went, the cooking school was closed. That only meant we should try again at some later date. Our continued efforts were well rewarded, hence the gumbo and various other creole recipes. More info on that, but only if requested.
The other question was why I would drag free food into the pub. I do have ulteriour motives. I am planning a Mardi Gras party the likes of which Roanoke has never seen. I need to get the food right, so I need opinions. It is traditional to start this planning on Ash Wednesday, so I am behind schedule. The gumbo is good, so I should move on to either the jambalaya or the pralines.
Cheers!
- A
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And don't forget the King cake with the baby.
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Wow a non-amos, that sounds good. I"m with your mum on the cooking scene. All my boys can cook, Patrick if he has to, but Tim and John are really good.
I gather andouille is a sausage. I'm fairly sure I won't get it here. What is it similar to?
I would love to hear more interesting food ideas and recipes. Why don't we have this thread as a cooking one? I should think there are several of us who like to cook (and eat!!).
Tonight I am pot-roasting warthog. I discovered a shop that has quite a variety of game on sale. You'd think we'd have lots available but, although you can almost always get Springbok, one seldom sees other stuff. I found a recipe on the net and Joan is going to be the guinea pig.
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Hope you're not cooking guinea pig then, Toni.
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That would have to be a South American recipe, Pat. Guinea pigs are domestic animals down there. Though I'm not sure if that is still true.
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Another one that fell through the net :(
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Lol, no that one cracked me up, Pat.
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Fear not! Joan survived and declared it very good. It was easy and I shall do it again, especially when I have visitors from overseas.
It was a recipe from Zimbabwe, tho not typically African, and can be done using pork. I might try that along the way.
I bought Springbok burgers from the same shop and they were much better than the ordinary ones. Also game is much healthier than other meat as there's no fat and very little cholestrol.
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It's just catching the little bleeders first....boy can they jump!!!!!
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Toni, I do not know if this definition is universal, but this is what the cooking instructor told me in New Orleans.
To make an andouille, start with a smoked ham. Make a sausage from that ham, then smoke it again.
This is a rather spicey sausage, so I am sure there is more involved than just that. I really don't know what else is involved. Comments? Suggestions? The floor is open to discussion.
- A
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Tom, you are absolutely correct. That is the tradition. Unfortunately, it will not work here.
As you might have guessed, I have several friends who cook. As far as I can tell, none of them know how to pronounce "andouillle", much less cook it well.
Unless there is some way to ensure that I always get the piece of cake with the Baby in it, this is doomed to failure.
- A
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It ocurred to me that many forumates might not know about the baby Jesus in the cake.
The tradition is to bake a cake with a baby in it (sounds haggish, doesn't it?), no, it's really just a smal figurine. Whoever gets the piece of cake with the baby has to host the next year's Mardi Gras party.
I got to thinking more about this. It is true that I am the only person around here who can do this type of cooking. However, there is nothing in the "rule book" saying that the host has to do the cooking. If someone else gets the baby, the celebration can still continue. Laissez les bon temps roulez!
Tom44, thank you very much for the input! This could work, after all!
By the way, several of my friends have commented to the effect that I am getting way ahead of myself, and that February is a long way off. My response is that the traditional time to stare planning a Mardi Gras celebration is on Ash Wednesday, so I need to make up for lost time. We need to get the food absolutely right, one recipe at a time, ahead of time. Mind you, they do not decline to sample the cooking . . .
A friend showed up that night with his intended. He volunteered to get the two of them some gumbo, but came back with only one bowl and one spoon. His idea was to share, and that they would trade off. Isn't that sickeningly sweet? That lasted a few seconds. He got back to the table and took a bite. She held out her hand for the spoon while he took another bite, then another . . . while commenting that this was really good . . . She was not at all pleased. When he yielded the spoon, she returned the favor. He wanted more, but she was too busy enjoying it. Ah, togetherness.
- A :-H
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One of the (rather sparse!) advantages of getting older is knowing that some things are not for sharing! ;D
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I got the impression that they did not really expect much of it, but I was happy to exceed their expectations. I was ostensibly asking for some input, but in reality my intent was to encourage enthusiasm for the event that is yet to come. Not many around here have had this type of cooking.
On the other hand, they really should have known what to expect. They have had Andy's cooking on a few occaisions (since I do work with the guy), and they should know by now that I don't bring it on until I think it's really good.
Our site manager (at work) has a conundrum. He has heard rumors of this gumbo, and he is a really big fan of a good gumbo, but is not sure he wants me to bring it in the next time we have a suitable event. He does not want to discourage me from bringing in my stuffed mushrooms.
I might need to invent an event, and bring in both. Of course, I will have to schedule time in one of our environmental chambers for the mushrooms . . .
By the way, I don't know if there are any other engineers out there who also cook. If so, time in an environmental chamber can be a really good thing. It can be a refridgerator, or a deep freeze, or a steamer, or an oven. You program the temperature and humidity over time, leave the food in there, and it's perfect every time. Please be careful not to leave a mess, since that can really mess up future engineering work.
- A
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Oh I really like the idea of "multi-purpose" use like that!
What do you stuff your mushrooms with? I usually use feta cheese and garlic, sometimes spinach, or whatever I suddenly think of, but I dont do them very often. The lovely big black mushrooms are pricey for me, so it's a now and then treat.
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Toni, Get some mushroom compost and chuck it on your garden....mushies all the time then....
also:
We can buy 'grow your own mushroom' kits from our garden centres...can you get those ..???
It's worth a try, i had mushies for about 6 months...and am trying more exotic ones now...
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Not that I have heard of. I'd love that! I must see if I can find out more, maybe thay are available here.
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I just got a really big go-ahead from Mrs. A. The next recipe is ready for me to bring into the pub.
Jambalaya!
It took a few tries, but it's better than any we had in the FQ, so it might pass muster over here. It's a traditional brown jambalaya (Creole), not the red stuff you can get from a box.
I don't know exactly when this will happen, but it will happen shortly. Wish me luck!
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Good luck! I'm sure it's far beyond my capabilities, but I love to hear about other people exercising their talents!
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Yes, good luck and tell us all about it. Talking about food is almost as good as eating it, and far less fattening! :laugh:
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I did bring the jambalaya to the pub, but not on the day originally planned.
The state of Virginia is rather strict regarding the proportion of food sales compared to alcholol sales. I really don't want to cause problems for the pub, so this minor event needed to be mostly unannounced and on a day with low food sales.
The jambalaya was the best I have ever made, and I believe better than any we had in the FQ. My friends from NOLA agreed that it was better than what they remembered, be it from the FQ or from their families.
This is not a "cajun" (really Arcadian) red jambalaya. It is a traditional brown Creole jambalaya. There is a big difference.
Some of the younger crowd thought they knew something about jambalaya, since they picked up a box of the instant stuff and added some other stuff to it, but they came to realize that a real jambalaya can also be a form of art. Enlightenment is possible.
I cannot walk into the pub without slaps on the back and hollered compliments. The wait staff were among the first to try it, so I tend to get really good service these days.
This February might get interesting. Oddly enough, Mardi Gras happens to fall on a Tuesday this coming year. Go figure. The pub is always dead on Tuesdays. I intend to bring in a boatload of both the gumbo and also jambalaya, and maybe some pralines if I have some extra time.
Of course, the pralines will need further experimentation and testing . . .
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Pralines! Now you're talking my kind of food - sweet! Hmmm, you're only about4 or 5 hours away...
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The first time Mrs. A and I went there, we bought a selection of pralines from a selection of praline shops. We were uniformly unimpressed. Actually we were impressed, but not favorably.
The last time we were there I went to a cooking school. We made pralines (among other things). They were wonderful.
I came back and did some cooking for Mrs. A, which she seemed to like rather well, then mentioned that I needed to make her some pralines.
She responded to the effect that she does not like pralines, but she would humor me. She had not had these pralines.
Fresh pralines, right out of the pan, are "just wicked good" (quote from Mrs. A.).
Cheers!
- A
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So you've given us a hint - Mrs. A is from New England!
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No, she is not. I'm sorry to disappoint. She was from Ohio and Kentucky, and I was from Indiana and Illinois. We met in a physics lab.
I am told that our publican would like to have a jambalaya competition. He has also made a jambalaya.
I recommended that they publicise the event, and that they open the competition to all comers.
I wish them well, really. I want them to succeed. One way for them to succeed is having really good food, but they also need to advertise it.
Cheers!
A
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Oh dear, I thought the "wicked good" was a dead giveaway!
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No, 'fraid not, birdy.
This weekend I took a day off of work and cooked Mrs. A a big pot of the potato soup. The weather is starting to hint at being chilly, so it's best to stave off the chill with some nice home cookin'!
:-H
- A
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Today our local publican made his jambalaya and brought it in for a tasting.
He immediatley challenged me to a jambalaya competition. That raised some eyebrows. He was absent when I brought mine into the pub. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.
We still have the selection of judges and all that mess, plus the actual cooking (yet to be scheduled).
More news later, unless you would rather not hear anything further from this.
- A
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One nice thing about hearing about your cooking is that I don't gain weight and I don't have to wash the dishes - keep it coming!
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Yes, keep the details of the this dishy battle coming in please! :-H
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There is some news on this, but I can't say much about this quite yet.
The judges have been selected, and the ground rules have been established.
As of this evening, the date has been (very) tentatively agreed upon, but not even the judges know about the date quite yet. The publican needs to confirm that this date is possible before we finalize scheduling of the judges. Their schedules are already rather busy, but they like jambalaya.
:-H
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The ground rules would be interesting in all this. Will there be a time limit? A financial limit? Must there be a witness to the fact that the dishes were presented by the competitor and not Hester Blumenthal? :-H
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Time limit, more or less. Food is presented at approx 6:00. Financial limit, not so much. How much can you spend making a pot of jambalaya? Witnesses? How many do you want? A large amount of prep work is allowed, but the final stages of cooking are to be done at the pub.
Competition is heating up, but not everything is falling into place. The judge I requested has not yet confirmed. He might or might not attend. Is there anyone out there who knows jambalaya?
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The jambalaya competition is confirmed for the day after tomorrow. The judge I first picked has not yet responded, so I have appointed another.
My competition tried to "postpone" the event, due to (irrelevant) circumstances on my side of the competition, but that did not play well. The competition is on, whether he shows up or defaults.
He has worked hard on his jambalaya, and it has improved much in the last few weeks. He has a very long way to go, but I applaud his efforts.
I look forward to Sunday, as do many of my friends. :-H :-H :-H
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I await the results moreso than the sports results on uk tv!!!! And the recipe will no doubt be posted, or is that a secret??
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The judge's decision was ambiguous, to say the least. She didn't want to offend anyone, so she made a general statement that they were two different styles of jambalaya.
The popular opinion was not so ambiguous. They wanted second helpings of mine, not his.
I will post the recipe, if you really want, but I am not sure it will do you much good. Can you get andouille, or Joe's Hot Stuff? When you need to cook it until it "looks like that", this might not translate well into a post. I can try, but this will not be as "neat" a recipe as you might find in a book.
I will do my best, but not tonight. I am tired.
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Congrats! Of course we all knew you would win. :)
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Very well done. The recipe will be fine. I am sure that the multi-epicureans will suggest alternatives to the specialised ingredients. I might even do it for Christmas Dinner. :-H :-H :-H
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Congratulations! I suspect the judge just didn't want to make enemies. She should probably not be asked to judge next time. They need to able to make the hard decisions.
I won't ask for the recipe because I know I'd never make it - I'm sure jambalaya has more than 5 ingredients. But if it's posted, I'll read it with great interest. Armchair cook, that's me.
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I'm still getting chided because I only brought enough for 12. That only means that I am going to have to do better on Mardi Gras.
The recipe will not come this week. I have the week off of work, and have altogether too much to do.
I usually try to take this week off of work and make toys for needy children. I know, it sounds corny. That's me. There is no better way to get into the Christmas Spirit.
This week my time is spent in the wood shop.
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Doesn't sound corny to me at all. Whatever makes you happy - and how nice when the results will make someone else happy too!
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It sounds good to me also. Christmas is about giving.
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The toys went out in time (under the pseudonym of Chuckles the Elf).
Having the week off, I am back in the kitchen to make some other family favorites.
Yesterday's project was country fried steak. Tomorrow's project is pizza. :-H
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! :) :) :)
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And the same to you!
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The holiday season included a wide variety of cooking, leading to an even wider A Non-Amos.
Tomorrow is another chili cookoff. I am requested to provide a double-wide batch of Andy's Hot Blooded Irish Potato Chili. We will see how it does.
Our local pub is already starting to get excited about Mardi Gras (as am I). This is the first time any establishment in Roanoke has done anything about Mardi Gras. I had to tell them this was on a Tuesday. No, they don't speak French. (What's that "Mardi" thing, anyway?)
The menu is jambalaya and gumbo. Rice and beans are more traditional for Mardi Gras, but I don't cook them as well.
The publican asked how many of his staff I will need. I responded that I will need his staff to stay out of my way.
I might need to take some time off of my real job for this.
:-H
- A
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I wish I was your neighbor, A-non. I'd arrange for some kind of barter system. You need your lawn mowed, right? I accept pizza, chicken fried chicken, and other forms or currency.
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Mardi is Tuesday. Gras means "fat".
Mardi Gras is Fat Tuesday, which is the day immediately before the beginning of Lent. This day is also known as Shrove Tuesday.
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Kidding around and irony are when people say things like "What's that Mardi thing, anyway?" even though it's very clear from the context ("I had to tell them this was Tuesday") that they are making an effort to be jocular and are not looking for unsolicited definitions.
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Alonzo, your translation is perfect.
Ensiform, in any other context your comments would have been absolutely spot on and to the point. Unfortunately, the people involved were not making any attempt at sarcasm or humor. This took me aback. Since then, they have called to confirm that this is indeed on a Tuesday. The quote you cited was my immediate thought process, not theirs.
Our region has absolutely zero tradition of doing anything for Mardi Gras. I am trying to break new ground, and maybe introduce some good food in the process.
Ensiform, please consider that not everyone's background is as well rounded as yours. You are fortunate.
- A
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Wow, yeah, I'm gonna quit while I'm behind here. A-non, I knew exactly what you meant in your post, from beginning to end. I knew you were reporting faithfully. And, having worked with severely underprivileged children for several years, I'm also aware that many people don't know a lot of things.
What I was attempting to do what gently chastise Alonzo (heh, sorry Alonzo, no hard feelings, I hope) for leaping in with a definition of Mardi when it was very clear that you (but not the people whom you were speaking about) knew what it was all about.
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It's been a while, so let me fill you in.
My local pub has been running a promotion for the last several weeks (during the playoffs in American football). They go way off-menu, with some strange looking guy bringing in the food. That would be me.
This started out with the jambalaya competition, then went to a chili cookoff, then took off from there. Since the chili cookoff, the publican has declined to compete. So has everyone else. They still show up for some really good eats :-H
One of their favorites was the stuffed mushrooms (see previous thread for recipe). People who detested mushrooms asked for third and fourth servings. I was mobbed.
Last Sunday the playoffs saw New Orleans playing against Minnesota. All things considered, I had to bring in a good gumbo. Note to forumites who have not yet had a good gumbo: stay off of Burbon Street. I brought in an extra huge batch, and was mobbed.
What am I to do next week, with NOLA in the Superbowl? Keep in mind that I have recently brought in both the jambalaya and also the gumbo, and that we still have Mardi Gras looming in the all too near future. Too much of a good thing is not so good.
My idea: a Superbowl soup bowl. I culled the internet for a decent recipe for beef stew. I also looked into some vegetable soups, and gleaned from them what I could. My next thought: how would a Creole ignore these recipes and do it better?
It's really not bad. It takes about 6 hours, but it really is something to write home about. I still need to tone down the spices and bring out the herbs, but even without that this is the best stew I have ever had.
The publican told me that if I enjoy it, no further credentials are needed. He gives it his full blessing, sight unseen.
The soup bowl Superbowl is on!
- A
:-H :-H :-H
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Might you consider calling your creation—
SouperBowl for the Superbowl ???
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Actually, I had considered that.
The alliteration put more emphasis on the fact that this was not simply mispronounced.
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Wow, yeah, I'm gonna quit while I'm behind here. A-non, I knew exactly what you meant in your post, from beginning to end. I knew you were reporting faithfully. And, having worked with severely underprivileged children for several years, I'm also aware that many people don't know a lot of things.
What I was attempting to do what gently chastise Alonzo (heh, sorry Alonzo, no hard feelings, I hope) for leaping in with a definition of Mardi when it was very clear that you (but not the people whom you were speaking about) knew what it was all about.
Well, I think on Lex we take things as we see them. Maybe something is 'tongue in cheek' and used ironically or humorously, but if we are wrong in our interpretation, I think there are no problems.
Incidentally, in UK we call Mardi Gras 'Shrove Tuesday', which is a sort of confessional or penitence day. (Please note all you Forumites!!!! >:D).The nearest we have to Mardi is 'Pancake Day' which is the day we all eat pancakes to use up all the fat and eggs for the period of abstinence we are supposed to endure.
The question is, the hens would carry on laying eggs I presume, so what would folks have done with them??????????
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In the olden days, let'um hatch?
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Maybe they would save the eggs up, paint 'em and use them as Easter Eggs?? Do eggs last for 40 days???(no fridges remember!)