FistFullaRoux

Honestly, can you really buy a bad king cake in New Orleans? ← yes, at the Winn Dixie on Carrollton also known as the Scary Winn Dixie ← Why on earth would you buy something as definative as a king cake from a grocery chain? Much less one nicknamed "scary"? Especially with so many to choose from...

$48.50 for 5 lbs??? Please tell me that includes shipping. I'm in the wrong business....

Honestly, can you really buy a bad king cake in New Orleans?

Another story from the New Orleans paper.

Carnival season is underway, culminating in the chaos that is Mardi Gras (Feb. 8, 2005). Already the newspapers are talking king cakes. What else is going on? It's going to be a short season this year, with Mardi Gras falling in early February...

And has anyone taken the quiz on his sayings? I was good for 4 out of 5... http://www.bbcamerica.com/britain/brit_qui...rdon_ramsay.jsp

Going back to the fork/knife switching hands issue, I recall reading (I don't even remember when or where) that one of the tricks the Nazis used in France and other occupied regions to discover Americans being hidden away was to listen at doors at dinnertime. The Europeans usually didn't clatter their forks and knives onto the plates while switching hands, but Americans did. Hearing a lot of extra fork and knife noise and no conversation since there was often a language barrier? Bust down the door and see what's going on. I have no idea of the validity of this, but it makes sense, somewhat, in my mind. The noises at dinner would be an unconcious thing, that just might set someone up to be identified as an American.

According to some of the reports I've seen, Doctors Without Borders is a charitable organization that is involved, and could also use assistance. I've been sans computer for a few days here, and CNN is the only info I could get. The only term I can think of to describe this is "Biblical proportions". This is going to affect generations. But in the meantime, sanitary conditions are going to get dire very very quickly. CNN reported an outbreak of chicken pox in some of the evacuation centers. Open sores in that environment are the worst possible things at the worst possible moment. Add my prayers to those of many others.

Gordon Elliot used to do Doorknock Dinners, which was similar, in that a camera crew and a chef invaded homes of unsuspecting suburbanites. Except the chef would cook, generally using whatever he could find in the kitchen... But if it was bad enough, they would make a grocery run... The Iron Chef episode was pretty much a train wreck, and I want to say I saw Tyler Florence do one... And Ainsley Harriott is just plain aggravating. the whole dancing thing while he's flipping the pans... Puhleeze

When and where? I'm always up for ice cream...

If you have to sift cocoa powder, do it first, then the flour. I wouldn't get it wet, but if it starts to get too dusty for your liking, you can use compressed air (you'll want to do this outside) to clean it off.

And I just remembered - you can use a paper clip or binder clips - these things to hold what you need. You can also use a screen splatter cover, and sacrifice it for that use. Just jam the probe through the screen, and use the binder clip to hold it at the proper height....

A quick and dirty trick for keeping the eggnog cold - you can either buy store-bought vanilla ice cream, or turn some of the nog into an ice cream mix, then use the resulting ice cream in the bowl as a way to keep it cold. Just drop it right into the bowl. Works every time.

Nothing fancy - Just some cereal. Maybe a bit of dancing. Maybe a friendly game of Frogger...

The small mechanical probe thermos (like you would use for a roast) aren't really made to handle candy temps. The oil/candy thermo is designed for the higher temps and the typical cooking vessels. The digital ones have a range of operating temps. Check the manual. As long as you can get above 400 degrees, you should be good to go.

Last night's forecast low temp for Birmingham was 17. We made it down to 20 in the city (with a wind chill of 7) Dinner last night was pastitsio from Nabeel's. We went out for an early dinner, so we could get home before my Cajun butt froze solid. But the pastitsio was perfect. Creamy, warm, comforting, full of carbs and tomatoes... What's not to love? rant Okay, I do have a bit of a beef with the restaurant, but am willing to forgive this one since we like the place and they had a major party going on at the time. Time from ordering to app's arrival, 10 minutes. 3 minutes later, salads arrive. Less than 2 minutes later (Andy Williams was still singing about the most wonderful time of the year) dinner was served. One of the few times that service can be too quick. /rant Nabeel's bonus: Since it is tied into a market next door, I picked up a handful of assorted imported candies at the register. But dark chocolate covered prunes taste exactly like you think they would.

I still think that the grandmother (or aunt, or whatever) argument holds true. If my Cajun grandmother, picked up and brought to Tokyo (for example) was asked to prepare a gumbo, she could probably pull it off, with a little translation help at the grocery store. Would it be "the perfect gumbo?" Maybe not. But it would be fine food, it would be enjoyable, and as far as I'm concerned, authentic.

I don't know where you would find another chef of his caliber, with an identical vision for the food. That has to be a major part of it...

I'm a purist, mostly. Butter salt and pepper usually does it for me if it is a side dish. Maybe a little parsley, if it is really nice. If it's a meal on it's own, nearly anything I'd serve over rice will top it. A dark roux based really thick stew, made with shrimp, meatballs, or shredded chicken works really well (along the lines of fifi's mention). Or nearly any kind of cheese (not with the stew listed above. Those stand alone. Chili. Herbs - I like parsley, chives, scallions, and sometimes just a little snip of basil. And coque au vin. Really good with that. I've seen the Jim N' Nicks potato. I just can't handle that. I'm not a really big fan of the sauce around here, so it didn't appeal to me at all. Edited for tyops...

In short, I think it means "Something you could reasonably expect to get from a grandmother cooking it in the region it was developed."

This is the kind of research and hard hitting journalism that I have come to expect from Food Network. This just in: French Canadians missed the boat on the Founding of New Orleans ← Say what????? I've cought FN on things like that before. Where one show says "this developed here", and the show immediately following it says, "Contrary to popular belief, this happed somewhere else." That and that one jackhole who claimed that the trinity was black, white, and red pepper. And he used a mire poix. For gumbo. What could I expect, he was in Baltimore, and on Best Of. Just maybe they would hire a fact checker for some of these shows?

I think we are about to go through a return to comfort food. Well, modern comfort food. Organic chicken and dumplings. Heirloom tomato soup. Macaroni and microcheese. Carbs will be less of an issue, but the lesson will be learned, and many will at least reduce their intake (especially since restaurants will start reducing carb portion sizes). The heat and serve segment is not going anywhere. It will get better, but it will still have too much salt and too many additives to make it an everyday item. Every once in a while, maybe. More "gourmet" frozen foods, and even more kits like Gordon Ramsey is putting out, where you basically buy a box with the sauces made and frozen, meat either fully cooked or ready to throw in a pot, and veggies either ready to quickly cook, or ready to eat. The cheesecake backlash is due any day now. I like cheesecake, don't get me wrong, but the extent of most restaurant's desert menu is cheesecake with a variety of canned toppings. I see the return of the pastry chef, or at least the return of the chef to sweets. I think overall, we will see a move back to the artisinal, or at least small shops for a number of things. But I don't see butchers returning to their full glory. Bakers, green grocers/farmer's markets, yes. I still see meat being bought in grocery stores, where the meat market will simply unpack the cryovac bags and repack the items. And as a result of the heat-and-serve/frozen food kits, people will spend more time in the kitchen. The value of Bed Bath and Beyond and Williams Sonoma go through the roof...

I still have issues with canteloupe. I can handle a slice, maybe, every once in a while. I'm just extrememly careful not to eat more than that. The story goes, I ate several beautiful ripe ones from the garden, in one sitting, solo. Raw oysters on the other hand, that is an instant reaction. Besides, I'm in Birmingham, Alabama - a little too far inland for me to risk them raw. I'll have to try them again next time I go back to Louisiana.

The rolls you mentioned are called pistolettes. They are sometimes hard to find. You have to be looking for them. If you are traveling on a Friday, take the 210 loop in Lake Charles and look for Pitt Grill on Prien Lake Road. A superior seafood buffet on Fridays. Probably a pretty good plate lunch other days of the week, but I've only ever caught it on Friday. There is a great place for boudin in DeQuincy, but the name escapes me at the moment. It's on Hwy 190, if that would help. Jennings has The Boudin King. Don't bother. Better food farther east.

How about a black and tan mix? A Bass sorbet, with a Guinness ice cream... Served in a pint glass.