Gumbo and Oysters and Po' Boys oh my!

Ron was working in New Orleans last week and I decided to take advantage and go down to meet him.  After I booked my flight I realized that it was Mardi Gras time!  Oh what was I getting myself into?  I figured I'd have to have a hurricane and I'd have to collect some beads.  I mean I've never been to New Orleans before and it was Mardi Gras - I couldn't NOT.  But, what I was most excited about was, naturally, the food! 

Like these crawfish: 

 

Although I'll admit that it wasn't the food that led to this:

Did I mention that hurricane?  What about the hand grenade?  Let me tell you, getting these beads would have been far easier without the knee length jacket and scarf!

Ron also had a gig a few months ago in New Orleans and I swear after he came home we ate nothing but po' boys , red beans and rice and gumbo for about a week.  Obviously, the food had quite an effect on him.  I've been meaning to blog about our first gumbo attempt for weeks now.  But the problem is that we're missing the money shot - that's right, no final product.  I know, I know, but look how cute the pictures are?  

This was Ron's process:  Open wine, prep ingredients (he likes to put things in separate little containers, quite opposite of the mess that I make!), stir roux until you're too afraid that it's going to burn to last another second, all the while sipping wine:

   
   

Add the trinity (you know what it is, you've seen Emeril), then the other ingredients (we did sausage, crab and shrimp but next time we'll go with the more budget friendly sausage and chicken), then seafood stock and let it simmer.  By the time you've waited for the roux to get dark and for all the ingredients to cook you'll have finished your wine and you'll be too hungry to take any more pictures.  So...sorry about that.  

Anyway, this was good, but the gumbo we had in New Orleans - that was GREAT.  But, hey, we're new to this roux/gumbo thing and next time it'll be better.  I'll keep you updated on our gumbo making progress!

Duck, Duck...

Goose!  Ron and I got our hands on 4 goose breasts from one of my mom's coworkers who shot them himself (thanks Rudy!).  They've been sitting in the freezer for a little while now because I had no idea what to do with them.  They're skinless so I worried they would dry out - especially after I asked one of the chefs that I work what'd he do with them and he replied "throw them in the trash".  Well you know what?  He was wrong...oh so wrong. 

I started by splitting one breast and rubbing both halves with olive oil and seasoning them with salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme.

Next I started a side of lentils with mushrooms and turnip greens (inspired by this recipe over at Cooking Books - luckily there are leftovers that I can top with a poached egg!).  I put some french lentils in boiling water with a bay leaf, salt, pepper and a couple of crushed garlic cloves.  They took about a half an hour.  While they were boiling I sauteed some garlic and mushrooms, after a few minutes I added a quarter cup or so of red wine.  Once the wine boiled out I added some turnip greens, balsamic vinegar and seasoned to taste.  While the greens wilted I started the duck. 

I cooked the goose 4 minutes per side.  When it had just about 30 seconds left in the pan I added about a quarter cup balsamic.  The vinegar quickly got syrupy and sweet, I coated the goose in it and then took it out to rest before slicing it on a bias.  

 

I tossed the cooked lentils into the pan with the greens and mushrooms and served up this:

Oh it was good.  The goose was perfectly cooked and the lentils were really good.  I'm looking forward to using the other three breasts in my freezer!  Goose prosciutto perhaps?

Orange Madeleines

I'm searching for recipes with orange in them. My sister sent Ron really great florida oranges for Christmas and we've eaten a bunch but still have a few hanging out in the fridge and they're not going to last much longer. I'd hate to waste them! This madeleine recipe uses the orange zest in the batter and the juice in the glaze. I found this recipe over at the Technicolor Kitchen - it calls for poppy seeds which I didn't have but I'm sure would be delicious.

You start by making the super simple batter, letting it sit for 30 minutes in the fridge then pouring a heaping tablespoon into each mold of your madeleine pan. My pan is from Fante's in the Italian Market, a really fabulous kitchen supply store. It's so packed with great stuff, I could wander around there for hours. You can order off their website too so check it out.



After you pour the batter, put the pan in a preheated 400° oven for 8-10 minutes. When madeleines are golden and poofed up take them out and let the them cool on a wire rack. They should look like this:



Make the glaze using confectioners sugar, fresh orange juice and a bit of the zest. Dip the cooled madeleines in the glaze and let them cool before storing or...eat them immediately! These little cakes are going to be really good with coffee in the morning.



Check out my new red apron! Well, it's new to me but definitely far from brand new. My mother found four of them in my Babcia's house (that's grandma for all you non-polish people out there) in four different colors and gave them to my sister and I for christmas (my mom and aunt got the other two). They're homemade and very vintagey cool - the only problem is that I'm afraid to wear it because I don't want to get it dirty! Sort of defeats the purpose of an apron, huh?

Butternut Squash, Red Wine and Onion Panade

I've been meaning to blog about this recipe for forever.  I made it when my mother was visiting from Long Island.  I'd had all of the ingredients and needed something to do while I was waiting for her to get in!  My mom and I couldn't stop picking at it and I brought it for lunch all week long, every time I finished a serving it made me a little bit sad.  That means it's really good!  Butternut squash isn't quite as easy to find in the store as it was a few months ago - but if you find one, make this immediately.  

The only true definition of "panade" that I can find is this:

panada; panade

1. A thick paste made by mixing bread crumbs, flour, rice, etc. with water, milk, stock, butter or sometimes egg yolks. It's used to bind meatballs, fish cakes, forcemeats and quenelles. 2. A sweet or savory soup made with bread crumbs and various other ingredients. It may be strained before serving.

BUT all the recipes I found involve day old bread, broth, cheese and vegetables.  Now doesn't that sounds better than something that binds forcemeat (eww)?  Molly from Orangette (read her blog - it's seriously awesome) calls her Chard, Onion and Gruyere Panade (next on my panades to make list) a "velvety, voluptuous casserole with a base of soggy bread and stewed onions".  I much prefer this definition because that is exactly what this is:

Another recipe that I don't really understand.  Why is this soggy bread good?  What doesn't it make me gag like a soggy sandwich would?  Oh it doesn't, it doesn't at all.  

I got this recipe from another inspiring food blog The Wednesday Chef.  Tons of stewed onions, red wine, really good day old bread, chicken stock, thyme, parm and gruyere - how could that be bad?  Cheesy, winy, carby goodness.  

"Can I help you little lady?"

I spent Christmas in Florida this year at my sister's house with my whole family including my too cute nephew.  It was really nice to be with family but I must say the 80 degree "winter" was pretty weird.  

My nephew loves to help my sister cook.  Whenever she's in the kitchen he comes in to ask her "Can I help you little lady?" - a pretty funny thing for a 2 1/2 year old to say to his mother!

Here we are making donuts.

   

You'd think me sticking my tongue out would mean that I'm really concentrating but apparently that wasn't the case.  I completely misread the recipe and added twice the amount of butter - I had to throw this batch out (while my nephew wasn't looking) and make a new one!  They were a big hit.

Here he is after helping my mom make some jello coolwhip concoction.  I think this photo was followed by him saying something like "Sasa stop taking pictures I trying to eat" - I got a lot of that.  But with my new Nikon D40 (thanks Ron!) I couldn't help myself!

Oh the cuteness!

French Onion soup...

I don't know why French onion soup is so good.  It doesn't need those gobs of mediocre cheese and bread that you get in some restaurants, it's delicious all on its own.  It's just onions and broth and in this case a fair amount a of booze and for some reason when you cook it super slow it turns into a yummy sweet, savory, rich soup.  Oh I love it, the french are smart aren't they?  

I made this by caramelizing a leek, a huge red onion, a huge yellow onion and a medium yellow onion.  I cut all the onions in half then into 1/4 inch half moons, once they were cut up it was probably around 8-10 cups of onions.  Throw them in a pot with a couple tablespoons of butter, a little olive oil and a bay leaf and let them get caramelizy and light brown.  Don't rush this!  It'll take about 30-40 minutes.  I started with the lid on and took it off about half way through.

Now for the booze!  Add 3/4 cup brandy and let the alcohol cook off, then add a cup and a half of white wine and let the alcohol cook off again.  How will you know when the alcohol has cooked off?  When you can put your face over it and it no longer smells like a St Patricks day party or the Mummers parade you're good to go.  Add 4 cups of beef broth and 2-4 cups of chicken broth - until you think it's the right onion to broth ratio!  Cook for another 10 minutes or so and there you have it.

I don't have crocks so I couldn't top the soup with bread and cheese and throw the whole thing in the broiler.  I bet you that if I did have crocks I'd be tempted to grab the little handles with my bare hands, like I do with every other oven safe dish with a handle, so it's probably safer this way.  Just throw a few slices of baguette topped with a tablespoon or so of really good shredded Gruyere in the broiler for a minute or two and throw them on top of the bowl of soup.  And yes, I said a tablespoon, you don't need to top this with a half cup of cheese because the soup is great all by itself.

We had this for dinner last night with a salad of mixed green, boiled potatoes, blanched green beans, prosciutto, a soft boiled egg (by mistake but now I won't eat this salad any other way!), and a mustardy vinaigrette.  Very french, super simple and oh so good.  So good that I think I'll be having the same thing for dinner tonight!

Stuff it - Pork remix

Remember the pork shoulder from earlier in the week?  Ron just remixed it into yummy stuffed poblanos.  He shredded up the pork and mixed it with rice and a sauce he made with sauteed onions and garlic, chipotle, cumin and tomato sauce.  The mixture was stuffed in some poblanos and topped with jack cheese.  The stuffed poblanos, extra sauce and cheese went into a baking dish and into the oven for 45 minutes and they came out SO GOOD.  We had some rice with beans and corn on the side.

Awesome use of leftovers!