Stuffed

I've been pretty experimental with leftovers from Thanksgiving this year. On Friday I spent the day making turkey gumbo...my first gumbo ever. My palate is not as refined as a true Cajun but I thought it turned out pretty darn good. I've distributed a couple of jars to some local friends to get the true taste test. So far one positive review has come back.

Today I am trying out an idea I had for the leftover stuffing. Cramming it into an artichoke and making a Thanksgiving stuffed artichoke. Hey...you never know.

Yeasts of the Southern Wild

When I was a junior in high school, in the Ninth Ward, everybody worked at the Reising Sunrise bakery there,” he says. “My first job, I was just picking up, putting away and cleaning out. But I’d look over at the boys in the bread department, and I’d think to myself, ‘Someday I’m going to be in bread.’”

I posted about Beasts of the Southern Wild back in November of 2012 when it was screened here in Lafayette as a part of the Southern Screen film festival, recommend this movie to my friends, and just recently purchased it so that mother-in-law could watch it while she Jozy-sat for us a few weeks back. It was a pleasant surprise to find this article in the March publication of the Smithsonian magazine, a profile on Dwight Henry, the baker from New Orleans who plays the father in the film. It's a fun little read about his business, his buttermilk drops and the possibilities of his future. Click here to read the article. Road trip anyone?

Here's the trailer for the movie if you have not seen it yet and are interested. Highly recommended.

Maple Smoked Grilled Sea Bass with Mango Salsa

Awesome dinner to tonight. Bought a pound of fresh sea bass, threw it on a plank of maple wood and smoked it for about 30 minutes. Then threw some mango salsa (mango, red bell pepper, jalapeño, green onion cilantro and line juice) on top if it. That plus some fresh broccoli from our community garden with toasted almonds and some great wine. Either the fish was just super fresh or we just had a moment of genius or possibly both...it was awesome. Will try to recreate for sure.

Molecular Gastronomy

My wife bought me a molecular gastronomy kit for my birthday this past November. What is that? Well, it's a cooking set that helps you to change the properties of liquids, solids, etc. So for example, you can create pearls of balsamic vinegar if you were so inclined...

A photo of my first foray into this realm is above, taken last night. Fun stuff. Next up may be some lemon foam, whipped asparagus or yogurt ravioli. Who knows where this takes us?

Do it like Bobby

When I have days off from work I sometimes like to spend a bit of time experimenting with a new recipe. I have never had lamb shanks before, so this past Monday seemed like a perfect opportunity. Somehow, I was able to convince my wife that this was a good idea (she is not the biggest fan of lamb).

Step 1 - I found this recipe from Bobby Flay. I figure if I am eating something that is brand new to me, this is a name I can trust.

Step 2 - Follow Bobby's steps. These all pretty much worked out ok. I seared the shanks first (these things look like they are out of a Flinstone's dinner). Here is a photo post searing.

Then I added the carrots, celery and onion. Caramelized those guys.

Added roasted garlic, a bunch of port and some red wine and let them cook in the oven for about 2.5 hours. The fact that this recipe had port wine in it was another factor that tipped the scales. I cooked the toasted orzo as well (another first for me), roasted some tomatoes and threw in some broccoli for color.

The end result was fantastic, fall off the bone lamb with a great flavor and leftovers for the next day.

 You don't need to take my word for it. My wife, not the lamb fan, has said that she really enjoyed it and is ready to have it again. I'd recommend this recipe to anyone looking for a great, and pretty simple lamb dish.

Bayou Brothers

Tried some Bayou Brothers BBQ Sauce this evening. Nothing fancy, just threw it on some burgers that were grilled over some hickory wood. I've been thinking about making my own sauce for a little while now but until I do, a local all natural alternative like this is going to be more than just fine. Check it out at Rouse's or Fresh Market...or if you don't live around here, go to Cajun Grocer.

A Long Weekend Says Hi

This was a crazy weekend around our house. We had about 20 some odd people over for the first time in a long time on Saturday night. My wife is on the board of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) and this weekend was our turn to host a fundraising dinner at our house. This meant lots of cooking and required yard maintenance to make the house semi-respectable. The menu for the party consisted of:

• 3 pounds of local pork and beef sausage from Johnson's Boucanière (love this place)
• 4 1/2 pounds of a standing rib roast cooked via this Emeril recipe (this one cannot fail)
  
• A few chicken kabobs marinated in Thomas Sauce and a sweet chili glaze
• Kale salad with garlic, cheese and lemon vinaigrette
  
• Homemade tabbouleh (my wife makes this and it rocks)
  
• Homemade lemon sorbet (first time my wife has made this and it is amazing)
• Fruit salad marinated in honey and Grand Marnier
• A two tomato tapas recipe that has been a standard for us for years
  
• Tons of local Louisiana beer and wine

We had essentially accomplished no planning for this event until Saturday morning so as soon as Saturday came, it was all business in order to accomplish the make shift list above. Basically, I managed all the meats, and my wife managed all the salads. Somehow, it turned out pretty well. CASA raised awareness, collected some great donations and we had a chance to connect with some friends we have not seen in a long while.

Today (Sunday) has been a blur. Catch up on work, cleaning the house, haircut (whatever is left at this point), cancelled soccer and so on. Tomorrow is the work week and I need a weekend that never happened!

Black Tip Shark

Black tip shark recipe from the other day was a success. Marinated the fish in orange juice, lemon juice, and olive oil. Grilled it for about 15-20 minutes and then covered it with this avocado orange salsa that was fantastic. Leftover salsa the next day was a solo success as well. This link has the details (skipped the kebab part). If you are looking for a great summer salsa, try this and you will not be disappointed.

Applewood Smoked Baby Back Ribs with Butternut Squash and Red Pepper Casserole

The ribs came out spectacularly yesterday. Couldn't have been happier. And couldn't walk afterwards. Literally. I threw my back out moving a concrete stool close to our charcoal grill in order to have a staging station. If I was looking for an event to inspire me to buy a big time charcoal grill with attached smoker, this is it. It hurts to move today.

The ribs were rubbed about 4 hours prior to cooking in Alton Brown's Rub Number 9, and then cooked for 4 hours over indirect heat at 225-250 degrees using the 2 zone cooking method described here. While grilling, I threw about 8 ounces of apple wood chips on the coals during the first hour for a nice sweet smoky flavor. I took half the rack and caremelized a little Sweet Baby Ray's on half of them over direct heat before serving. The side dish was a butternut squash recipe that we found on Epicurious (since we had fresh butternut squash from our local garden). This was a pleasant surprise and will be making a repeat showing. Very easy to make and a great combination of flavors.

Rack of Lamb with Creole Mustard Crust

Pretty excited about tonight's menu. Got a rack of lamb ready to go with some rosemary garlic jus, some sugar snap peas and some red/yellow/green pepper slaw waiting in the wings. That and a glass of nice chianti. Good way to close out the weekend.

Grilled Rustic Rub Red Fish with Rosemary Garlic Potatoes

Awesome dinner this evening. One of my wife's co-workers gave us some fresh caught red fish. I threw them on the grill tonight, basted in some garlic, butter and Emeril's Rustic Rub seasoning. I kept basting it every 3 minutes or so as it was cooking over the coals. We had some golden potatoes on the side, tossed in garlic rosemary and thyme and then baked for about an hour.

If anyone has any good place to go catch some more red fish, just let me know.

Maw-Maw's Slaw

We've been loving the new kitchen and I've been rediscovering the cookbooks in our pantry. The two cookbooks on rotation for the last week have been from Emeril and Bobby Flay. One of the highlights by far has been the discovery of Emeril' s Maw-Maw's Slaw recipe. It involves making some homemade mayonnaise which is actually pretty easy to do. I normally like vinegar base slaws more than mayonnaise based, but the creole/whole grained mustard on this one makes it one of the best slaws I have ever had. A picture of the finished product from today's work in the kitchen is above. This is on the menu tonight along with some of Eggplant Crab Cakes from a recipe I found from Andrea's in New Orleans along with some homemade remoulade. Oh. And dessert? Blueberry cream cheese king cake from Keller's! Is it time to eat yet?

Iron "Earthshare Gardens" Chef

Today was our scheduled pick-up at the local Community Supported Agriculture garden, Earthshare Gardens, which happens every other week. It's always a pot luck type event. You never know what kind of crop you are gonna get. This is actually one of the reasons that we really enjoy these weekends since the random crop always challenges us as far as figuring out new things to cook. Today was no different and the dinner on the table tonight was a veritable feast:

• Fresh caught cedar plank grilled drum (not from the coop but from a friend of ours) topped with thyme, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, olive oil and lemon.
• Tomato, mozzarella and purple basil salad.
• Sauteed eggplant with garlic and banana and pimento peppers
• Lemongrass and cucumber water
• Broiled pears with rosemary
• Pear jam/honey with french bread

These were all small portions so the amount of food was not as crazy as it sounds especially since the pear dishes were more or less small sides made for storage...but still. Crazy assortment. We got about 10-12 cooking pears so I made a jam that turned into honey and the broiled pear dish just for fun. Carlee ad libbed the eggplant dish and the grilled fish has become my favorite dish as of late (regardless of the fish type, the cedar plank and seasoning is an excellent combination). Here's a few photos from the culinary adventure.

Figuring out what all these things are is sometimes hard. Figuring out what to do with them is sometimes even harder. Check out the look of concentration on Carlee's face.

The cajun/creole herb garden area. Based on our recent walks through the garden, I think there are at least 3-4 different herb areas. the purple basil (not even sure if that is the right name) was found somewhere out there.

If I knew what to do with okra...I'd do it.


Lemongrass and cucumber water - artistic and refreshing...

Drum all dressed up and ready for the grill.

I'm trying to figure out how to throw our own Iron chef-like party using the Earthshare Gardens ingredients. Maybe invite a few people over, divvy up the garden spoils in some way, and see what sort of magic happens. That might be kinda fun.