Gumbo

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved to sit and watch my grandmother make gumbo. When she was finished the smell that would permeate the house was intoxicating. But, the problem with her gumbo was that it contained shrimp and crab--two things I can not handle. When my family would get together and have gumbo, I was relegated to bowl of rice with a little bit of juice and few pieces of okra that had been carefully dipped from the pot to avoid all of the seafood.
Later in my life, on a trip to New Orleans, I discover chicken and sausage gumbo. I became totally obsessed! I had to learn to make it. So, with a little help from my mom, I learn to make it. Just like most dishes in the south, the ingredients stay the same, but there is no exact recipe and it's just the tiniest bit different every time.
Ingredient List:
oil (peanut, vegetable, NOT olive)
all purpose flour
chicken--I rarely feel like boiling a chicken, so I get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store
cajun conecuh sausage or andouille sausage
sweet onion
bell pepper
garlic
worcestershire sauce
chicken stock
cajun seasoning
cayenne pepper
chicken stock
okra
celery
tomato
Step 1: Make roux. Roux is the secret to gumbo. You make or break your gumbo with you skill at making roux. I've decided that the secrets are 1. having a nice big cast iron vessel to cook your roux 2. the ability to stir with either hand 3. having seemingly limitless patience.
To make the roux, combine flour and oil--less oil than flour (about 1 cup of flour to 3/4 cup oil). Whisk together till the mixture is smooth while the cooking vessel of your choice comes up to about medium temperature. Then stir. Sounds simple, but you have to watch it and stir it constantly. I like my roux to be about the color of chocolate, some prefer it to be lighter--like peanut butter. I think the darker roux has a better, deeper flavor.
My favorite little tip is to cook your sausage first and use the drippings to make roux--it's already horrible for you, so why not??
Step 2: Combine all of the remaining ingredients in whatever proportion strikes your fancy. If you did not cook your roux in the pot you will be making the rest of your gumbo it, very, very carefully-but very quickly, add your roux to rest of your mixed ingredients. If you made your roux in the pot you will be using for your gumbo, be extremely careful when adding your remaining ingredients.
Step 3: Taste and taste again. Gumbo is a personal thing. To me there is no right or wrong way to do it.

Gumbo is a dish that is best learned from another cook and then adjusted to meet each person's own preference for level of spice, deepness of the roux, type of thickener (okra or file powder or both), amount of juice to meats and veggies.
The most important thing to remember is that gumbo takes time.

Happy cooking and happier eating!

Curacao

A week ago yesterday, my husband and I returned from our vacation to Curacao. He and I like to travel on the cheap as often as possible and this trip was no exception. We found a great deal through http://www.cheapcaribbean.com/ and we jumped on it. The package included our hotel stay and our flights to and from Miami; we added flights on Vision airlines from Destin to Ft. Lauderdale.
Day 1 in Curacao included a brief trip around the resort and a little time in the sun, followed by dinner at Nautilus (the hotel's restaurant). Nautilus is an upscale buffet with a rotating theme. This particular night was Italian themed. There was also a menu, but it was pretty much nothing but the room service menu. The buffet ranged from meatball (totally out of the freezer) with a marinara sauce to a pasta station, olive tapenade, and mini cheesecakes. Most of the foods were dripping in lots of heavy sauce, which is not picky eater friendly. The pasta station was totally customizable, which was nice, but I can't say too much for the quality of the food. After learning to make cheesecake, I was far from impressed with the dessert spread--topping a frozen cheesecake with canned cherry just doesn't do it for me. When we got the bill, we realized that Nautilus was even less fantastic that we thought it would be; the price for one meal was what we thought the total bill should have been--WAY overpriced!  Overall grade: C-
Day 2 started with promise; of course, any day where I get to sleep in as late as I want is a day that starts with promise. After dinner the night before, we decided that we should invest in some bread, deli meat, snacks and drinks. So, we rented a car and headed out to explore and soak up some local culture. I will never complain about grocery stores and the quality of their food again. The grocery store was soooo crowded and hot. There was no such thing as a truly fresh vegetable or piece of fruit; and we had to dig to find sandwich meat that wasn't already out of date. However, we managed to get out with enough food and drinks to pretty well feed ourselves for the rest of the week.
At this point in the trip, everything starts to run together as things often do on vacation.
Steak and Ribs: I got a blue cheese covered steak with a salad and baked potato. I made very few special requests, all I wanted was butter for my potato. The food was good; steak was tender--and I love blue cheese. The service was extremely slow, and the menu was limited, overall grade: B.
We ate at another steak place later in the week and I must say, from the reviews, I had high expectations. All of my special requests were honored with little fuss, which is always awesome, but again, the menu was very limited. The husband ordered a mixed grill type of dish; his ribs were still cold from being taken from the freezer to the industrial sized microwave that occupied the majority of the tiny kitchen. Overall grade: C.
Curacao was not the place for food. With that being said, the people were friendly and accommodating, and our trip was SUPER relaxing.

Happy Birthdays

It has become a bit of a trend for me to bake for the birthdays of my friends and co workers. I find baking for birthdays one of the most enjoyable times in my kitchen because I get to create something specifically to celebrate one special person. Before each birthday--unless I've been given specific instructions--I try very hard to translate the personality of each person into the form of a baked good; this is not always an easy task! However, the last person I baked for made my job easy by picking a recipe from my favorite book...which I sort of followed. So, by request, here is my recipe for a mixed nut, double chocolate torte with bittersweet chocolate ganache...

Ingredients

   CRUST

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon cold butter
• 6 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 
  FILLING:
• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup pecan halves
• 1 cup almonds
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 8 oz bitter sweet chocolate
• 8 oz semisweet chocolate

   GANACHE:

   8oz bittersweet chocolate

   1 1/2 cups heavy cream

   1 tsp vanilla extract

• In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar; cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add cream and vanilla, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased fluted 11-in. tart pan with removable bottom; set aside.
• Place nuts in a food processor; cover and process until chopped. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter and extracts until smooth. Stir in chocolate and nut mixture; pour into crust.
• Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until center is set. Cool on a wire rack. Store in the refrigerator. Garnish with whipped cream and bitter sweet ganache.