Home is Sunday dinner at MomMom's house.  We had 2 meals that alternated weekends....One Sunday it would be pork roast, sweet peas, potato salad, noodle salad, candied carrots and dinner rolls.   The next Sunday it was Chicken Fricassee' & Fried Chicken, maque chou (pronounced mock shoe),  potato salad & my MomMom's "famous" 24 hour coleslaw. 

       {Ya'll, I had no idea that she didn't invent this recipe.  I'm not kidding.  It wasn't until I became somewhat internet savvy that I found the recipe online.....and I know she didn't put it there!  It was the end of the innocence.}

Home is...meeting up with people you know at Wal-Mart and deciding and planning...right then and there...to get together and Bar-B-Que or have a crawfish boil that night.

Home is...not having to get a babysitter just to go over to someone's house for dinner.  Your kids are always welcomed.

Home is...riding 4-wheelers down the highway acting as the "escort" for the big John Deere combine that's moving from one field to the other.

Home is...Strawberry Kool-Aid in an orange Tupperware pitcher.  I'll never forget the "eye headache" that I always got from drinking it so fast, trying to race my other cousins to see who could get it all down first. 

Home is...learning how to make a roux from someone you think can do/never did wrong.  I know my grandma is a regular person.  But, you know, as I would get pregnant and have baby, after baby, after baby...I'd get to hear her pregnancy / baby stories.  I swear the more they were told, the easier they got.  By the time I heard the story about her last pregnancy and birth, it seems she  barely made it ACROSS THE STREET (that is no joke) to the hospital....all the while yelling at my PopPop to make sure he fed the kids while she was gone!  HA HA.  I love hearing that story.  Too bad I'm not having more babies....I know that by the next time I'd hear it, she may have given birth, without making a sound, while walking across the street. 

Today, I can make a mean roux....whether I'm here in NC or back home in Cajun Country....and I owe it all to my saintly grandma.  Without fail, any time I'd say, "But MomMom, how do I get my fricassee to taste EXACTLY like yours", I'd always get the same answer......

"Well baby, first you make a roux....."

Home is...where ever R & my m&m's are.  I guess I never really left after all.

Spot the cornbread! So good (with this really nice unsalted butter that was a bit translucent and nutty at the same time).

Great decor.

I ordered the special of the day - a pecan-crusted halibut with asparagus (some fancier name than that though) over a lemon cream creole risotto (also a fancier name than that, but I can't remember what it was). It was so delicious, I basically licked my entire plate clean.

Steph's Jambalaya. Very cajun. Though I am no judge of cajun food - I've never had authentic Cajun.

We ended with an amazing dessert - pecan pie with ginger ice cream. Perfect and amazing.

A nice garnish ... even the itty bitty salt or sugar crystals...

Live jazz band!

So we went to this newly opened boutique called Vera Bradley ... freakiest place ever! I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland. Everything was decked out in way too colorful paisley print. A bit dizzying and unsettling.

This is what makes me a little queasy.

Anthropologie had nice feathery decorations.

Good night...

flour
butter
milk
cheese: sharp cheddar, moneray jack, colby and gouda; or if you can provide for some good goat medium hard cheeses like queso manchego viejo or queso asadero they are nice regional additions.
onion
pepper
celery
garlic
black pepper
cumin
chili powder
cayanne pepper powder
red pepper flakes
pasta
large pot
large skillet
water

finely dice the onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic and set aside
shred the cheese and set aside
combine in the skillet equal parts butter and flower over low heat
work the flower and butter with a spoon on one side of the skillet until the roux begins to form
once the roux forms add the diced veggies to the other side of the pan with black pepper and let them soften
set up the pot of water with red pepper flakes and begin heating to a boil
cook the roux to the darkness of your liking, a nice brick colored roux will give a good depth of flavor and support the sauce itself
typically by the time you reach this point the water should coming to a rolling boil
add the pasta to the water and cook for 6-10 minutes as instructed on the package to al dente
while the pasta is cooking, combine the roux with the veggies in the skillet
season the roux and veggies with the chilli powder, cumin, black pepper and cayanne powder
slowly begin to add milk to the mixture, it will be about about a 1/2-3/4 a cup of liquid to tablespoon of roux (the radio depends on the darkness of the roux)
the mixture will not begin to thicken until it comes to a boil, slowly increase the heat to induce a boil while adding the milk to acheive the correct consistancy, do not scald the mixture by overboiling
the mixture should be viscous, do not over thicken it as it will become thicker as the cheese is added, reseason to taste
pull pasta from the boiling water, drain and allow to cool slightly, retain some of the pasta water
while the pasta is cooling, add the cheese to the roux mixture and stir it in, make sure the heat is pushed well back to low, high heat will burn the mixture in the skillet
any re-seasoning should be done now
if you feel the mixture is not the right consistancy you have choices: adding pasta water will allow the disovled starches to maintain consistancy texture while adding liquids to thin the mixture out, on the other hand you can add more of the cheeses from the hardest to the softest to thicken things up.
Once you have a desired consitancy you can serve once the entire mixture has a chance to set up for a couple of minutes

or, you can bake it and add yet another layer of flavor... for this, if you so desire, i strongly suggest you use the nice hot skillet you already have and a pre-heated 450-500 degree oven plus the following

a couple of bay leafs
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Pecorino-Romano cheese
fresh cornmeal
ultra crushed dried rosemary

slide under the combined cheese and pasta mixture 2-3 bay leafs
if you have access to the ultra dried rosemary, combine the crushed dried leaves with your mixture
then combine the two dried cheeses and the cornmeal, some additional black and cayanne pepper and spread over the top of the mixture
take the skillet and place in the oven to bake until the top begins to crust, can be anywhere from 2-15 minutes depending the quality of the cheese, temp distribution of the oven, quality and depth of the pan, etc.

if you don't have the two italian hard cheeses any equivenant iberian, latin or southwestern american ultra aged salt cured cheeses will work, goat cheeses would be the preference but any similiar product including those soy based subs might work too.

A ce propos, il y a des pandas géants (ceux du WWF), des petits pandas mais quid des pandas normaux ? Etrange, non ;-)

------Merci d'être revenu.------

Today I had my AFP practical.
As usual we did some cooking.
Today's topic is on Roux.
Okay let me tell you more about roux.
Roux is a mixture equal portions of fat and flour.
Then you are supposed to add liquid such as milk, chicken stock or water.
Basically Roux is actually sauce making.

My group did Macaroni Cheese.
Well it turned out quite nicely =)
Other groups did Cream of Mushroom Soup and Cream of Broccoli Soup.
Here are some pictures.....
Do enjoy! =D

I was playing Age of Empires II yesterday, and it was a Regicide match with 6 other players [1 of them being my ally, 2 being neutral and the remaining 2 being my enemies]. After having defeated 4 hostile civilisations, I was really bored and tired of fighting. So, I let my ally do the fighting while I did something different :P. I built a Wonder [even though building a Wonder in a regicide match is of no use] in conquered territory.

Since I was really jobless, I surrounded the Wonder by two rounds of fortified walls, followed by bombard towers at the gates. Then, I set up a round of palisade walls. If I had had a good stone stockpile, I'd probably have built four mighty Castles around the Wonder. Invincible!

P.S: My AOE player name is Roux, named after Johnny Depp's character in the movie Chocolat. :)

More screenshots below: [click to enlarge]

5:18 PM

1 bag of slightly old broccoli in the fridge + two women determined to make the rest of the family eat healthy (AND enjoy it) = making this recipe

....and the results were good! There was no soup left in the pot the first time we made it, and everyone (and I mean everyone: boys ages 2-12) only had good things to say about this latest cooking endeavor.

Best Cream of Broccoli Soup

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons margarine
1 onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cups chicken broth
8 cups broccoli florets
3 tablespoons margarine
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in medium sized stock pot, and saute onion and celery until tender.
Add broccoli and broth, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Puree soup and return to heat.
In small saucepan, over medium-heat melt 3 tablespoons butter, stir in flour and add milk. Stir until thick and bubbly, and add to soup. Season with pepper and serve.

Now, to make this recipe even just a little better I substituted olive oil for the margarine (both times...yes, I used olive oil instead of margarine for the roux.) I've also put spinach and zucchini in this recipe when we had it on hand...as soon as the soup is pureed, no one will know. ;)

Enjoy!

AdiOSs les touristes!

                                                 -YanKEe

Anke Roux est consciente de son « image de marque ». Femme, européenne et sans étiquette. « C'est aussi pour ça qu'il voulait que je le rejoigne. » Elle pense que la loi pour la parité était nécessaire. « Sans elle, je n'aurais peut-être pas eu le courage. Les femmes ont les mêmes compétences que les hommes mais elles ont tendance à douter. »

On comprend son engagement quand elle raconte son enfance par bribes. Née à Berlin-Ouest en 1964, elle grandit dans une famille où la politique est omniprésente. « Le sujet numéro un à la maison c'était la seconde guerre mondiale. Ma famille a été très marquée. » Aucun homme n'y a survécu du côté maternel sauf son grand-père.

Son père magistrat tenait à sa neutralité mais a toujours poussé ses enfants à s'intéresser à la politique. « Parce que si on ne le fait pas... » Silence. Anke Roux, elle, militait pour la jeunesse chrétienne-démocrate.

Berlin, c'était aussi la « folie, la grande fête branchée. » David Bowie vivait en plein centre. Les concerts rythmaient les sorties. « Les Berlinois ne pouvaient pas aller en week-end à la campagne comme les Parisiens. Dès le vendredi après-midi, on commençait à être nerveux et à se demander où sortir.»

Mais le microcosme est pesant. « Pourquoi ce mur ? C'était difficile à comprendre. » Coupée du reste du monde, elle ne supporte pas le rideau de fer. « À Berlin-Ouest, on ne pouvait voter que pour la mairie. Les députés étaient sans pouvoir. » Le visage fermé, elle lâche: « On n'avait même pas le même passeport que les autres citoyens allemands. »

Berlin ce n'était pas si bien. À dix-huit ans, elle ressent le besoin de «sortir de là ». Elle part comme jeune fille au pair à Paris, alors qu'elle n'a jamais étudié le Français. Tombée amoureuse de l'Hexagone, elle fait depuis vingt ans la navette avec l'Allemagne. En 1989, elle décide de faire sa vie à Sucy et se marie avec Patrick, un judoka professionnel « rencontré en boîte » (elle le dit en rougissant).

« J'en avais marre de ne pas avoir les mêmes droits que les autres citoyens »

Depuis quatre ans, elle est devenue Française. « Cela fait vingt ans que je vis ici, j'en avais marre de ne pas avoir les mêmes droits que les autres citoyens. » Parce qu'elle s'occupe du jumelage à Sucy, les autorités allemandes l'ont autorisée à garder sa nationalité d'outre-Rhin. Émue : « Quand je vois Marianne dans une mairie ou que je regarde mon passeport, je me dis que c'est un peu mon pays aussi ».

Elle continue toujours la navette, « en avion, train ou voiture » entre ses deux pays de cœur. Ses journées sont bien remplies. Elle donne des cours de langues et travaille au centre culturel de sa ville. Français, Allemand, Espagnol, Anglais... Anke Roux, modeste, reconnaît apprendre les langues avec facilité.

La France lui a permis de vivre toutes ses envies. « Ici, c'est facile de tout concilier, les femmes prennent la liberté de tout faire. En Allemagne, avoir des enfants et un travail est mal considéré. Beaucoup de femmes de ma génération ont choisi de ne pas avoir d'enfants ».

La jeune conseillère, elle, en a deux : Alexandra, 17 ans, et Nicolas, 14 ans. Ils ont la double nationalité mais « ont eu un problème d'identité. » « Il y a dix ans, on a visité les plages du débarquement. Ils m'ont demandé qui étaient les méchants... » Anke Roux a choisi d'être claire : ce sont les Allemands. Même si « tous les Allemands n'étaient pas nazis et tous les nazis n'étaient pas Allemands. »

La jeune franco-allemande n'a qu'un seul regret. Les yeux brillants, elle avoue : « J'aurais aimé être plus présente à Berlin après la chute du mur. » En 1989, elle vit le « plus grand moment de (sa) vie » à distance. Sa belle-mère lui dit de regarder à la télé les gens qui passent de l'Est à l'Ouest. « Je ne l'ai pas cru. Quand j'ai allumé la télévision, ça a été un choc. » Enceinte de trois mois, elle cherche à prendre l'avion. Mais aucun vol n'est disponible. «J'étais pleine d'émotions. Pour tout vous dire, j'ai fini à l'hôpital, c'était trop... »

Mélinda TROCHU

Saturday I awoke early (7:30ish), got a lot of work done on http://oldhardwarestore.com, went on a very, very long walk with my beloved mp3 player, then we went grocery shopping. Later we went out to the pier near our house and snapped some random photos.

Sunday, I awoke early AGAIN (7:50ish, not bad), thought about going to church, but by the time I realized I needed to get ready, I would have had to rush srsly. No rushing on weekends, K?

So instead I decided to embark on another neighborhood adventure on foot. I tried to put some new tunes on my Siren, but the piece of junk said "No files" after I waited and waited for the syncing process to complete. Maybe this is why people get iPods and MySpace surveys only acknowledge their existence in the world of mobile mp3 playback? I dunno.

Anyway, I rolled with the punches, and decided to go for a walk sans music and just listened to the sounds of seagulls, ocean, humans, and traffic. It was enjoyable. I walked from my apartment, onto Texas Avenue, then took a left onto some road that runs parallel a block from Highway 90 (i.e. the beach) and took that all the way to Teagarden Road.  It was GREAT! I could see the ocean from where I was (thanks to Katrina knocking down all the houses on that road) without worrying about being pulverized by traffic.

Later that day, we decided to go for a "short ride" in the Firebird, and wound up all the way in Pascagoula. On the way back, we stopped at Sonic in Ocean Springs to feed our ice cream addictions, and found out that, even though I haven't been able to find it on the menu since high school, Sonic still serves CHEDD 'R' PEPPERS!!  Do you remember Chedd 'R' Peppers, Mandy? YUM.

It was a super duper awesome weekend. I hope they are all like this, from this point forward. I do not want my energy and bliss to fade.  I am in love with my Bowflex right now, I am really in a mood where I want to get hot for the beach.

Oh, and Sunday night, I made chicken & Andouille sausage gumbo. It was OMG SO GOOD!!!!!  I am indeed the Goddess of Roux. I think I may have been a Cajun bayou grandma in a past life.

Dickie Brennan’s Palace Café

Labeled as “Swamp Gumbo”, this dark roux gumbo was a muddy mix of alligator stock, frog legs, turtle andouille, and topped with alligator boudin in a flaky pastry. The presentation was exceptional which included a boiled frog leg in every serving. Don’t get me wrong. I love frog legs. A lot. However in a gumbo they can be a bit cumbersome because of the work of getting the meat off the bone. Next time they should stick to frying up the legs for a lunch special or taking the meat off the bone and adding directly into the pot. I loved the use of the alligator boudin pastry in place of traditional white rice. Overall it had a thick, rich roux with minimal spice which was a good contribution to the event. You could tell they were trying hard to make an impression.

Saltwater Grill & Seafood Market

The two gentlemen representing the Saltwater Grill on Carrollton Avenue obviously had their act together and a KISS plan of attack. That meaning, “Keep It Simple Stupid.” In the words of Dwight Schrute, “Great advice. Hurts my feelings every time.” The operation was indicative of their entire restaurant operation. I’m not saying they’re slinging poor quality chow, all I mean is that the atmosphere in their home base and style of gumbo are very basic and standard. The owners are proud of both of these points. The gumbo was a traditional seafood staple with little variation from the textbook. The shrimp were a little tough but there were plenty of them and the amount of spice was perfect. The roux was also a good balance between dark and light. The only seafood was shrimp but they didn’t try and cover that up with fillers. They did make a point to explain that they take pride in always adding okra into their recipe since, technically speaking, a gumbo cannot exist without okra. These boys were traditional purists who had done their homework. If a yankee came to the Gulf Coast to try gumbo looking a standard flavor, this is one to try.

Desire Oyster Bar

You could definitely tell when a restaurant came to just compete and have a good time and when one came to win. These guys came packing gumbo, bread pudding with a whiskey sauce, and all the free shirts, aprons, and sauces you could carry. I liked them immediately. The head gumbo chef was proud of his private recipe, which included andoulle sausage, oysters, shrimp, crabmeat, shrimp stock, and chicken stock. It was served over white rice. The roux, if you could call it that, had a rich tomato basil flavor that was almost like thick soup or seafood bisque. The tomato was almost overpowering but I got the feeling he was aware of this and it wasn’t the normal amount in their house recipe. The chef was very aware of the okra standard in gumbo and explained how people have it wrong when they hearken to the cliché, “it takes a roux..” He instead suggested that you should look to the okra for your answers on how to create the most traditional and flavorful gumbo. Overall it had a unique seafood and tomato bisque flavor and was very filling. It was certainly more of a New Orleans variety and not something you would find in Cajun country.

Chef Raymond Signal

Raymond has his life all figured out. When questioned about his motives for entering a contest dominated by globally renowned chefs he simply smiled, called me a “college boy” and said that he didn’t have to impress anyone but himself. Until I met him I thought the event was for restaurateurs only. I’m glad that wasn’t the case. Raymond decided that his private recipe was better than any hoity-toity restaurant, so he packed his pot and headed to the big city. The gumbo was a rich variety of meats and seafood that included tasso spiced ham, boudin sausage of a mild and hot variations, jumbo lump crabmeat, and shrimp. For those not familiar, tasso ham is not taken from the leg of a pig, but instead from the shoulder butt. His shrimp tasted like they were cooked a few days ago and refrigerated. You can always tell if this is the case by the toughness of the shrimp. The roux was of standard fare and it was lacking in spice. What set this apart was the use of two different types of pork sausages which when combined, added a unique flavor. He also used Jasmine rice and says it’s much better than regular long grain white rice because it’s lighter and has more of a flavor unto itself. I don’t know about a flavor, but it is lighter. I felt like he should have chosen to go the direction of the ham and sausage or seafood. Mixing an equal amount of both in the same pot was a confusion of tastes that should had been made into two separate dishes. I liked his style but I’ve had better gumbo.

The Diplomat Bar & Grill

Designated as “Creole Gumbo”, this variation had a very standard flavor and look but was based around Louisiana Creole tomatoes and okra. Designated under the category of ‘Seafood’ gumbo, it contained shrimp, oysters, crabmeat, okra, and diced/stewed tomatoes. The roux landed right in the middle of dark or light styles and the spice was the perfect amount. I was pleased to see that no one really overly spiced their gumbo. Leave that to the people I always say. This was a good sampling of what Creole gumbo is supposed to look and taste like.

Arnaud’s

The chef was proud to call his entry “Kitchen Sink Gumbo.” It was indeed and all that a title like that entails. The ingredients included a healthy serving of crab, shrimp, andoulle sausage, chicken, turkey necks, and pork necks for added flavor. I was impressed with the great balance created with overall flavor, spice, and roux. Unlike Chef Signals, this seafood and meat creation had more of an organic fusion that blended very well together. I think it was the simmering of parsley and thyme that made a mesh of all of the powerful ingredients. The flavors supported each other instead of tasting uniquely different like in Signals. I was also impressed that they not only brought white rice, but yellow potato salad to use in place of rice. I first saw this when I moved to New Orleans and have yet to get a direct answer of who created it and where exactly. Personally I love the taste of gumbo mixed with a non-heavily mayonnaised potato salad. The chef said he recommends mixing both potato salad and rice, “cause that’s what my wife likes to do.” He said it’s great when you need a quick carbohydrate fix. He ain’t lying neither. Their particular variety of potato salad had too much mayonnaise for my taste, but I still loved that they brought the option to the table and recommended it with confidence. They were also one of two tables that had a jar of file out on the table to thicken or add extra flavor to your gumbo. I asked him if he uses it and why it’s used in the first place. He explained that he likes to use file in his gumbo just like he recommends cilantro in other dishes. The idea is to bring out more of the natural flavors using an all-natural spice. For those readers who don’t know, file is powdered sassafras root that turns a dark green. These guys really knew their stuff and their gumbo was my favorite that was not strictly seafood.

Ralph Brennan’s Red Fish Grill

I was immediately intrigued when I met this chef. It wasn’t his chain-smoking raspy Cajun voice so much as it was the swamp log of mushrooms on his table. Come to find out they were “oyster mushrooms” fresh from Honey Island on the LA/MS border. He was serving up a crawfish gumbo that featured chopped oyster mushrooms, boiled crawfish tails, crawfish sausage (crawfish sausage!), and fried crawfish tails. The fried crawfish tails were used in place of rice and were only added to the gumbo when it was being served. This was a great idea because it kept the fried tails from getting soggy. I was blown away by the amount of local fresh herbs that he used which created a very thin roux, but added an earthy swamp flavor that tastes like what St. Bernard Parish smells like. He also didn’t add any spice, but the natural earthy ingredients were more the point than Cajun spice. The crawfish also had a very fresh and not frozen taste and texture. I would classify this as Bayou Gumbo.

Savvy Gourmet

With the word “Savvy” in the name of your restaurant, you almost have to be gimmicky and exploratory. They did not disappoint the crowds with the concept of their pulled pork and collard green gumbo. They did however disappoint the good peoples taste buds. In addition to the pork and greens, the gumbo also featured andouille sausage and was topped with bacon crumbles and served over rice. As an Alabamian, I was offended by perfectly good pulled pork being made into a gumbo and not into a barbeque sandwich. I see what they were going for. I get it. It simply didn’t work. If you like pork stew and not gumbo, this concoction is for you.

Acme Oyster House

I always viewed the gumbo at acme as merely served out of necessity because the tourists expect to see it on the menu. The entry that they brought was their standard seafood gumbo featuring shrimp, crabmeat, celery, okra, and garlic. It was served over white rice. By definition it had the right stuff, but what it lacked was the love or soul that these other chefs obviously poured into their creations. I felt like this gumbo, although tasty, was just going through the motions. I recommend they stay home next year and concentrate on doing what they do best: serving oysters to drunken tourists from Ohio who wears Mardi Gras beads in the summer.

Bourbon House

After Acme and the Savvy pork stew, this gumbo put me back on track. The head gumbo chef had obviously taken lesson from the Soup Nazi on how to deal with the general public. When a passerby made the comment that he had not seen this particular gumbo on the menu at Bourbon House, the chef kindly recommended that he either take a bowl or move along. He didn’t have time for chit-chat. His recipe included okra, tomatoes, brown gulf shrimp, and crawfish. It was served over a mouthwatering scoop of crawfish dressing. That’s no typo. His brown Gulf shrimp were also the most fresh and tender out of any other contestants. I made this point to the chef who laughed and commented that yes, I was correct in my statement, and that the reason was “’cause all the other sucka’s cooked theirs two days ago!” The trick was to break up the crawfish dressing and let the roux saturate the flavor into the bread. I was extremely impressed with the flavor and spice of this unique crawfish and shrimp gumbo.

Chateua Sonesta

I went into this entry treating it like the “house brand” of the competition. Like they gave them a seat at the table as a courtesy since they were the hosts. I was surprised that they came to play ball and even had one of the best rice varieties of the night. The chef classified the gumbo as seafood and it included fresh shrimp, spicy sausage, and a nice amount of spice. What set this apart was the dirty ‘oyster rice’ that the gumbo was served on. I really think the rice could have been served as a stand-alone side dish. In the words of the chef, the rice contained “an obscene amount of oysters” and this was a great flavor that complimented the gumbo. Not the best of the night, but I liked how they used a traditional ingredient and blended it into the rice, thus blending it into the main dish. A lot of times when oysters are just thrown into a pot they don’t add flavor unless you actually get one in your spoon. This gave the entire dish a tasty subtle oyster flavor.

Café Adelaide

There was certainly a French vibe coming from this corner of the ballroom. Not only did the chef sound French, but he also acted like it was my fault that I didn’t already know what his ingredients were and how his gumbo was made. He simply pointed to the sign, which listed a few of the ingredients and handed me a portion with a smirk. It was labeled as “smokin’ goose and oyster gumbo.” Goose in gumbo? It reminded me of a big budget film with a plot that goes nowhere. The oysters were huge and it had a good amount of spice but the flavor tasted like a sauce that should be smothered over a roasted goose. It also had chanterelle mushrooms and was served over “foie gras dirty rice.” For those red-blooded freedom fry eating Americans, foie gras is the liver of a duck or goose that has been fattened by “gavage”, or better known as force-feeding. Proper fois gras is serious business as it is written into law in France through French rural code L654-27-1. The dish had a rich smokey goose flavor and thick consistency, but it wasn’t what I would classify as gumbo. I would classify it as goose gravy served over goose rice. I moved on.

Black Velvet Oyster Bar & Grill

Enter Rachel Marinovich, the most likeable cook at the event. Divorce attorney, beer drinker, LSU fan, gumbo chef. I had a crush on her immediately. Her variety of gumbo was what I dubbed “tailgate gumbo” because of its distinct smell, ingredients, spice, flavor, and attitude. I don’t know if it was the love involved in making it or the obvious smell and taste of beer, but this gumbo tasted like Death Valley on a Saturday night. The recipe called for chicken, beef, shrimp, sausage, and obviously whatever tigerbait you could find. The spice and roux complimented each other well in what was an Acadian type flavor. She also served her gumbo over yellow rice and explained that she would gladly use yellow and purple rice if she could find it. Well played madam. When questioned about her recipe and motives for entering the contest she simply smiled and explained, “If there was more good gumbo, there would be less divorces.” We exchanged phone numbers are due to be wed in the spring. I won’t tell her I’m an Alabama fan until after the honeymoon.

Brennan’s

Class, class, class. These guys are the Rolls-Royce of the gumbo world and their professionalism exuded in their attitude, presentation, and confidence in their gumbo. Lazone Randolph, Brennan’s executive chef, came to make sure the event went swimmingly. He was a gracious host and explained that they came to impress and would not leave satisfied unless they had the first place award. I was happy to see they brought their standard seafood gumbo served at the main restaurant and didn’t go for the cheap entry with frills or some hail marry experiment. Chef Randolph simply explained that they used to do that, but after years of being in the business they finally got it right. And since they know they have the best, there was no reason to be nervous about their product. I’ll tell you right now, they did not disappoint. They do not use a roux, but instead focus more on fresh ingredients and the combinations of herbs and spices. It had a hint of tomato but it was balanced well with the other ingredients creating a gumbo that wasn’t too heavy. The clincher was after the gumbo was poured over the white rice, a heaping portion of fresh jumbo lump crabmeat was added as the finisher. They keep the crab separate as to not dilute the flavor as it cooks with the rest of the gumbo. This was a good choice as it added a great fresh crab flavor. It was obvious that this recipe had been fine tuned over decades and it was the crowd favorite for a good reason.

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse

You stick to what you know. If Pizza Hut entered a gumbo, I would fully expect it to be pizza gumbo. This was the strategy of Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse and the dividends paid off. The entry brought by Jack Martinez, the executive chef, was a bold and rich “exotic bayou gumbo” featuring rabbit, duck breast, wild boar, and a sausage made of alligator, blue crab, and brown shrimp. Chef Martinez was proud of his entry and explained that as a restaurant that is known for red meat, he thought this gumbo would represent their menu. It was rich and meaty enough to be served as a meal by itself. The dish was served over white rice in a flaky bread bowl. This gumbo would be the perfect side with a steak and bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon.

We practically raised our kids eating those easy, cheap frozen pot pies from the grocery store.  But, I'll bet I haven't eaten one for ten years.  After a while they just didn't do it for me.

Lately though, I've had a hankering for one.  I decided to make them myself.  I wanted something special.  Having never had any other than those cheap store bought ones, I don't have a standard to shoot for.  But, hey, how hard can it be?

I decided to give it a go and after making it twice in a week, with nothing but rave reviews from all eaters, figured it was time to share my recipe.

Ingredients:

• 4 - boneless skinless chicken breasts, steamed and cubed
• 1/2 cup - ham, cubed
• 2 - large potatoes, cubed
• 1 - large carrot, cubed
• 2 - stalks of celery, chopped
• 1/2 - yellow onion, chopped
• 1 clove - garlic, pressed
• 1 cup - frozen peas
• 1/2 - small butternut squash, cubed
• 1/2 cup - Craizins (dried cranberries), chopped
• 8 tbsp - butter
• 4 tbsp - all purpose flour
• 4 cups - milk
• 1 tsp - salt
• 1/2 - tsp fresh ground pepper
• 2 - tsp - chicken bullion
• 2 - Pillsbury pie crusts
• 1  heaping tbsp - fresh sage, chopped
• 1 - egg, beaten

Wash the chicken and place in a steamer basket.  Steam on high heat for 10 minutes.  It'll be okay if the chicken isnt' entirely done at this point.

Saute' onion and garlic in 4 tbsp of butter.

Cube steamed chicken (so nice and tender)  and add to the sauteing onions.  Add sage. Simmer until time to add to the remaining ingredients.

Now steam all of the remaining vegetables.  They too, don't have to go until they're entirely soft.  10 minutes should do it.

In a pot make a roux with 4 tbsp butter, flour, salt and pepper.  A blond roux would be fine, but I want a yellower sauce so I cook the roux, stirring constantly, until becomes a golden brown.  Add milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly until it thickens.  Add bullion.

Add sauteed chicken, vegetables, Craizins and ham to the sauce.

Place mixture in oven proof, individual sized, deep pie dishes.  Unroll the pie crusts and lay over the top.  Trim the edges.  You can piece the pie crust with scraps of crust, it doesn't have to be whole.  Sweetie thought the pieced ones were cuter and more appealing.  With your fingers, press the dough to the edge of the dish.  Brush the crust with egg.  With a parring knife cut four vent holes.

Bake in preheated oven at 350  degrees for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!

Makes four six inch pies or six 4 1/2 inch.  My last batch I doubled the recipe and ran out of dishes.  Not wanting to waste the remaining pie filling I made a couple of Pasties.  To do this you need to let the filling cool.  Lay your crust over a cereal bowl and tuck the crust into a bowl shape being careful not to stretch the crust.  Fill the cavity and then fold the crust up over the filling.  Pinch together in four tucks and trim off the extra.  Carefully turn the tucked side down onto a greased cookie sheet, brush with egg, vent at the very top and bake as before.

Pasties are often served with gravy or melted butter over the top.  We just ate them as they were, right out of the oven.

Meals during the week were a bit hit and miss. One night we even had sandwiches at 9pm :D

I did make Myf and monty's favourite too - macaroni cheese with baked tomato on top. Again, this is just how I do it. There are as many macaroni cheese recipes as they are cooks. This recipe was developed to take into account our tastes: not too much cheese, onion sauteed in the butter when making the sauce, sliced tomato baked on the top, and a very long bake time so the macaroni almost burns and gets crusty around the edges and the tomato dries out a bit.

Let me tell you what I did:

I cooked and then drained about 2 big cupfulls of spiral noodles. I just left them in the colander while I made the sauce.

We always have onion in our mac 'n' cheese. This time it was finely chopped red onion. Sometimes it's the green and white of a spring onion. Other times it's chopped chives. I saute the onion in the butter I have melted to make the cheese sauce. I would guess I used about 2 tablespoons of butter. The onion was cooked until it was soft but not coloured.

I then added about 2 tablespoons of plain, white flour.

Some salt, a grate of nutmeg and some grinds of black pepper went in too.

I stirred this all together really well and then cooked the paste or roux   for a couple of minutes, stirring it all the time. This cooking kind of cooks the flour, so your finished sauce doesn't have the taste of raw flour in it.

Whenever I can get it, I buy this milk:

We first tried it at the Wayville farmer's market. Milk from Jersey cows has what is called the A2 gene. This is as opposed to the A1 gene, found in other dairy cow milk. You can read about the A2 gene and it's purported health benefits here. The health claims remain somewhat controversial. We drink this milk because it is delicious! Unhomogenized, it has a richer, creamier taste and colour than "regular" milk.

I poured about 600mls of the delicious Fleurieu Premium milk into my cooked flour and onion paste and mixed it well. The heat was on low, and it stayed on low until I was certain all the flour/onion paste and milk had been amalgamated and there were no lumps.

Some people heat the milk before adding it. I figure that'a just another jug to wash up...

However, if I ever do turn into somone who isn't basically lazy, I would add a fresh bayleaf to the milk while it was heating.

I turned the heat up and kept stirring until the sauce thickened and came to the boil. Then I put the cheese in and kept stirring until the cheese melted. You can see by the quantity I used that we don't use as much cheese as some would. How much you use is entirely your choice. I used a supermarket cheddar.

 I don't bother with grating the cheese. It doesn't take that much longer to melt and it's one less thing to wash up :) Once it had come to the boil I turned the heat off. In went the cooked macaroni for a good stir around.

I greased my cast iron baking dish with cooking spray and tipped the macaroni cheese into it. Sliced tomatoes, sprinkled with salt and pepper went on top.

The finished macaroni cheese went into a 350F oven for 1 hour. I know it seems like a long time, but like I said, we like it well baked :)

The finished macaroni cheese!

We ate it with a very simple lettuce and ranch dressing salad.

 Lent is a forty day period which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday). The Catholic Church has traditionally used ashes on Ash Wednesday to mark the forehead of believers as a reminder of our mortality and a symbol of mourning and penance. During Lent we are encouraged to reflect on Our Lord’s forty day period of fasting in the desert. Lent is a time to pray, fast and do acts of charity in order to bring us closer to God. The Catholic Church teaches that Fridays are a day of abstinence from eating meat in honor of the Passion of Jesus on Good Friday. This specific form of penance ensures that Catholics will do something as set forth in the law of God for man. (Luke 5:35).

I love Lent and all things that come with it. I am from Alabama, and some of my fondest memories come from visiting Tootie, my grandmother, and eating the wonderful seafood meals she cooked for us. Gumbo is my favorite dish. It is a soup that is prepared with vegetables, shrimp, crab meat, and roux. The roux is at the heart of great gumbo, and Tootie is the queen of gumbo. Roux is a combination of fat and flour heated until it is the color of copper. Making roux is a painstaking and delicate process for even the best of cooks. My first attempt at making roux occurred last night. I consulted many cookbooks and recipes, the most important of which belonged to Tootie, to determine my course of action. After 45 minutes of careful stirring and heating, I felt the process was complete. The vegetables and stock were ready and I added the roux to the mix. I was a little disappointed in the outcome, but experience tells me that perfection comes from repetition and refinement. I only wish that I had had the presence of the queen to guide me in my endeavor.  

Today is Friday and we ate that gumbo for lunch. My palate anticipated the meal from the get-go this morning. I was not disappointed, but my goal is to achieve the perfection of the queen. I am thankful for Lent because it gives me the opportunity to set aside a time for this pursuit through the requirement of abstinence. The Holy Season of Lent is like making roux. It requires patience, repetition, refinement and the constant application of heat to accomplish the proper “marriage” of ingredients. Unlike the absence of Tootie during my attempt at making the perfect roux, we can rest assured that God is present in our pursuit of Him. My prayer today is that my desire to seek him is as strong as the one to emulate Tootie.

To make a roux:

(skip this part if you can buy roux in your area.)

Use equal parts flour and oil. I used 1.5 cup flour to 1.5 cup vegetable oil. Whisk it together and put it on a medium-low flame.
This will take about 45 minutes. Use a spatula to stir the mixture about every 15 seconds. You can cook it faster on a higher flame, but make sure it does not get to the smoke point. If your roux is smoking, it is burnt. Ultimately you want it to be the color of chocolate. You have to turn off the flame just before it gets to that color because the mixture keeps cooking. Here are the various shades of roux as it cooks. I used a jar of store bought roux to compare the color.

Notice I took it off the stove before it got to the desired color. Keep stirring for another 5 minutes. Don't burn yourself. They call it Cajun Napalm for a reason.

Here it is now. Just right.

Now for the gumbo:

Transfer roux to a 2 gallon stockpot or cauldron.

Add about 1/2 gallon of hot water to the roux. Whisk. (for store bought roux, add 12 oz of it to cold water.)

It will look like this, don't worry.

It will come together when it boils. In the meantime, keep stirring until it becomes a suspension or your roux will fall to the bottom of the mixture and burn.

Once it comes to a boil, add another 1.5 gallons of hot water.
Season with a Cajun spice mix. I use Tony Chachere's, enough to where it tastes barely salted. At this point it is very dilute.

Put the fire on medium and boil.

Gather up, chop, and saute:

1 onion, 1 bellpepper, 2 stalks celery, two cloves of garlic. The onion tops are for garnish later.

Throw that in the stockpot and boil down for about an hour and a half. You'll notice the gumbo has boiled down just enough to add one chicken.

Brown chicken pieces before adding to the gumbo. Add two links of sliced smoked sausage. Boil on medium for about 45 minutes. Add chopped onion tops.

Serve over cooked white rice. If you can buy file (pronounced fee-lay) which is ground sassafras leaves, sprinkle some of that on your bowl of gumbo.

Ca C'est bon.

Gumbo is better with a homemade roux. Also, a lot of people who have been asking about how to make it live in places where they don't sell roux. It doesn't seem fair to tell you how to make gumbo with an ingredient you can't buy.

So today I tried to make one and failed. Twice. The first time I failed, it was undercooked. I knew my chances of success with this thing were slim if I put it back on the fire. Tried it anyway. Failed. Burnt it. That is FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Repair).

Thing about it is, you have to take it off the fire before it is cooked because it continues to cook after the fire is off. You just have to know that exact color and consistency and guestimate when it will be done. If it is undercooked, your gumbo will taste like wallpaper glue. If it is burned, it will taste burnt. It would be a waste of time to make a gumbo with either. The window of time between uncooked and burnt is about 30 seconds. Maybe that's just me, I do like a dark roux. Could be using the wrong pot or the flame is too high or too low.

Tomorrow I'll try again. I will keep trying until I can do that gumbo post.

In the meantime, if you want to know how make a roux, go look at Jette's post, "Make a Damn Roux."

If you have any special roux making tips, please tell me. If you've made one, say with one cup of flour and one cup of oil, how long do you cook it? High or low fire? I've talked to people who make it in 5 minutes and others who make it in twenty.

Here's a stew I put together tonight. I went with the "whatever-I-have-on-hand" concept and cooking without a recipe. That is really how I cook. I really don't follow recipes and just do it by taste and my knowledge of what spices, sauces, and just flavors in general go together. Freestyle!

• 2 lbs of venison loin, cubed
• 5 stalks of celery, chopped
• 5 large carrots, chopped
• 8 medium sized Red Skinned potatoes, quartered or halved, depending on size
• 1 onion, quartered
• 5 bay leaves
• Ground Cumin
• Garlic Powder
• Salt & Pepper
• All Purpose flour
• Cooking oil
• 2 large cubes of beef bouillon ( 2 cups of beef broth)

1. In a large pot heat oil. Whisk in a 1/4 cup of all purpose flour until it turns a golden color to create a roux (usually done with butter and flour).
2. Add venison which has been coated with 1/4 cup of all purpose flour and brown meat.
3. Add chopped celery and carrots. Stir and cook for 3 - 5 minutes. Then add 4 boiling cups of water or enough to cover meat.
4. Add potatoes, quartered onion, bay leaves, and beef bouillon. Cook for 10 minutes on medium heat.
5. Add about 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tsp of garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of pepper.
6. Simmer on low to medium heat for 20 - 25 minutes or until meat and potatoes are tender.
7. Serve with bread.

!!!

Ta maladie nerveuse nous a séparés
Ta carrière ambitieuse nous a déchirés
J’aurais tout fait pour t’aider
En échange ne rien te demander

J’ai marché avec l’espoir victorieux
Je reviens meurtri, noirci et vieux
Mais je t’admire femme de feu
D’avoir la force de tes vœux

Peut-être me trouve-tu trop sérieux
C’est le contraste travail de mon feu
Dans mon cœur solitaire aventureux
Je pense à toi en fermant les yeux

En somme, tout ce que tu m’as laissé
C’est un graffiti gravé sur le cœur
Je doute que tu veuilles encore me parler
Alors, je t’écris à la plus haute heure

dédié à MF