Uncategorized

Seafood gumbo secrets

Oh good gosh, it was cold this morning! I know my buddies northward are laughing at what a wimp I am, but it was 29 degrees when we woke up — way too cold for us thin-blooded Southern weenies. The only antidote is a steaming bowl of gumbo. I’m guessing it’s what everyone around here will be making this weekend.

My go-to gumbo is usually seafood (unless it’s a post-Thanksgiving turkey-bone gumbo), and I’ve played around with the recipe for years. Gumbo is inherently forgiving, but seafood – less so than chicken and sausage. Plus, it’s costlier to get wrong.

Lots of trial and error and plenty of mediocre batches have taught me what it takes to achieve a great seafood gumbo. Sure, dark homemade roux is important. So is using fresh Gulf seafood that you take the time to clean properly. But the most important ingredient in my opinion is patience: Don’t put the seafood in until your broth has had ample time to brew. Overcooking tender shrimp, crab and oysters leaches their flavor and sends their texture in a mealy direction. It’s the easiest way to ruin a batch of seafood gumbo.

Here are a few tips to making a fabulous version of this beloved dish.

  • Make your own roux and bring it to as dark a hue as you’re comfortable. Anything between dark brown to nearly black will provide optimum flavor and color. I don’t get too hung up on the overall color of the gumbo as long as the flavor is there.
  • Use my 1-2-10 rule. One cup of roux, 2 pounds EACH crabmeat, oysters and shrimp and 10 cups of seafood stock.
  • Buy your shrimp head-on, and make a quick seafood stock out of the heads and shells as you’re cleaning them and making your roux. Add onions, celery, carrots, garlic, peppercorns, salt and bay leaves and simmer for 30-60 minutes.
  • Combine the roux, chopped aromatic vegetables (onions, celery, bell peppers) and stock and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes. Taste to ensure the broth has plenty of flavor and is well-seasoned. Remove from heat. Then add the fresh seafood. There’s no need to turn the heat back on. The crab is already cooked. The oysters will curl and the shrimp will turn firm and pink in 1-2 minutes. Remember, they’ll continue to cook in the hot pot, and will cook further each time you reheat the gumbo.
Holiday, Vegetables

Sweet potatoes in fresh orange cups

We eat a ton of fresh Louisiana sweet potatoes around my house. My mother-in-law just dropped off a box she’d procured from a farmer near the Avoyelles Parish town of Hessmer and it came with the same edict it does every time she brings us a batch. “Leave them dirty. Don’t wash them until you cook them.” It’s a sacred procedure among many in the Bayou State. More about that here.

On busy weeknights, I often cube sweet potatoes, toss them in olive oil and chopped rosemary and roast them on a cookie sheet. But during holidays my favorite version involves a simple mash of sweet potatoes blended with just a few ingredients and baked in a fresh orange shell.

Continue Reading…

Local, Vegetables

Casserole conflict? The green bean solution.

How to serve green beans is one of the more hotly debated holiday meal topics, with some cooks sticking with the classic gooey casserole formula and others going minimalist. It’s not unusual for families to be divided along these lines (mine sure has been) with die-hards staying loyal to that homespun pan of creamy indulgence and the texture-conscious going for beans sautéed quickly and perhaps set off by lemons or almonds. Well, here’s a way to make both extremes happy. Cook your green beans simply, but serve them with a topping bar that will allow guests to get as straightforward or saucy as they like. Green beans, God bless ‘em, pair well with a wide range of flavors and textures. A day or two before the holiday, trim and blanch the green beans, then reserve them in a food storage bag until you’re ready to cook. Saute at the last minute in olive oil, butter and minced garlic. Then let your guests have their way with toppings like these:

  • Roasted cashews with fresh rosemary
  • Creamy mushroom sauce with splash of sherry
  • Sauteed pine nuts with lemon peel
  • Toasted almonds
  • Hollandaise sauce
  • Curls of fresh parmesan
  • Mornay sauce (Bechamel sauce with added grated cheese, usually Swiss)
  • Caramelized onions or shallots
  • Diced avocado, fresh tomato and lime (you can still find Louisiana tomatoes at the farmers market into November)
  • Local Meyer lemon wedges
  • Peanut or satay sauce (Amazing with green beans! Really.)
  • Crumbled bacon
  • Homemade chow chow
  • Chutney
  • Toasted pumpkin seeds
  • And yes, even canned French fried onions

 

Uncategorized

Welcome to Hungry for Louisiana!

Welcome!

You’re probably here because you love food – Southern food in general, and Louisiana cuisine in particular. Food is evolving in Louisiana, just as it is everywhere else on the planet. But here, food informs identity in a manner that is distinct and fascinating. Live here long enough and you feel the influence and tug of the culinary culture. Nowhere else are the foodways as specific and intact as they are in the Bayou State.

This blog is a place to park our thoughts about Louisiana’s foodways, its people and culture. It’s also where you can find links to my articles in regional publications, and soon, snippets from my book,Hungry for Louisiana, An Omnivore’s Journey (LSU Press, March 2015) In it, I take a look at how food sets life’s rhythm in the Bayou State, a place where local and seasonal were always a priority – well before it was cool. Each chapter examines a different emblematic food from the Louisiana tableau and why it has such a strong hold on us. I wrote it after years of covering the food and culture of Louisiana as a food and features writer.

Food starts with community, so along the way, I want to hear what you have to say. Stay in touch by commenting on posts, or through Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Citrus, Kumquats

Kumquat honey sorbet

Just for kicks, what would you make for a holiday dessert if pie wasn’t an option? I threw that question out to my Facebook friends before Thanksgiving and, just to be mean, I also forbade bread pudding. Once we got past some initial protestations, a flood of interesting responses rolled in that clearly got everyone excited about the holiday table. I don’t mean to suggest you really can’t serve pie or bread pudding, but thinking beyond them is a fun way to get the creative juices flowing. Turkey and side dishes are often shackled by tradition, but the dessert course is an open playing field that begs for new additions. My friends were all over the map with suggestions like custard, pots de crème, cheesecakes (pumpkin being the frontrunner) and fruit crumbles. A hometown friend said nuts and Port, and a couple of folks tossed out sorbet. Sorbet seemed like a great place to start fiddling around, and the kumquats ripening in my backyard were perfect fodder. This is easy and you can make it ahead. Oh, and it does not require a sorbet or ice cream maker. Long live simplicity.

Kumquat Honey Sorbet

Serves 6

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

2 cups (1 pint) ripe kumquats, plus 3-4 few extra

1 tablespoon honey

Fresh mint and candied kumquats for garnish

Slice kumquats in half across the middle and remove seeds. Add to a food processor and pulse until pureed. Scrape into a medium size bowl. Add honey and simple syrup, which should be room temperature or cool. Pour mixture into an 8×8 glass pan and freeze for a few hours, until mostly firm but not quite set. Working in batches, run the nearly frozen mixture through a blender or food processor. The color will mellow and the consistency will become creamier. Spoon back into glass pan and refreeze a few hours until firm. When ready to serve, allow sorbet to sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Scoop into a pretty glass and serve with fresh mint and candied kumquats.

Candied Kumquats

Bring 1 cup water to boil. Turn off heat and add ½ cup sugar. Whisk vigorously. Slice the extra kumquats crosswise into thin slices – as many as you need for garnish. Remove seeds. Drop into warm simple syrup in saucepan and let steep for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool. When ready, garnish sorbet.