patti

Spring is the season for crawfish! Although officially, crawfish season starts in November, the best time for crawfish bounty is in the spring. We had a crawfish boil two weeks ago and while they weren't huge, they were very tasty. It will only get better.

This was always my very favorite: There seem to be many fewer pecan pieces in them now, so they aren't quite as special. Mmm, chocolate and pecans, one of my favorite combinations.

Thanks for the kind words, Susan and Marlene. Susan, without your pictures to refer to, I'm not sure I would've waited for the proper 'doneness'. I tasted at several points in the final stages and it seemed good to me, but thank goodness I knew what I was supposed to be looking for. It ain't 'finished' til it's finished. Marlene, I'm so glad you started this thread! Is there a section in your supermarket for Asian foods? Mine doesn't have the best selection, but it does have canned coconut milk. I've stopped buying it there, having read the Thai Cooking at Home thread and discovered that the better brands are found at Asian markets, or are available for purchase online.

Would a book do? Not just any book, but Chef John Folse's Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine. It's even better than you can imagine.

Inspired by snowangel's pictures of Molly's Beef Rendang, I decided to give it a go, even without a mortar and pestle. I gathered my ingredients, as shown below, substituting powdered turmeric for fresh. The paste ingredients include ginger, galangal, shallots, garlic, turmeric, dried chiles and lemon grass. Other spices used in the braise include cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom pods, keffir lime leaves, and coarse salt: The paste ingredients (the top half of the picture) went into the food processor. I fried the paste in peanut oil for 8-10 minutes and then added the cinnamon sticks, star anise, cardamom pods, the meat, and a pinch of salt. Coconut milk is added to cover the meat (not pictured). The mixture simmered for a couple of hours, and when it was reaching the next phase, I noticed that the meat was not yet tender, so I added more coconut milk and let it simmer longer. Had I realized it still needed to cook 45 minutes to an hour more in the final stage, I might not've added more milk. However, it didn't affect anything negatively, except for time. Almost done! (The meat is a couple of shades darker than it appears in the picture.) Finally plated. As much as I love rice, I'm trying to stay away from it for now, so none for me. Yum, snowangel is right. This is a very rich and delicious dish! Notes: I added more dried chiles than the recipe calls for because snowangel noted that she'd add more heat next time. My total was 9 peppers, and I think I could've upped it even more. Also, I added more salt during the last stages, and a bit more right at the end.

What? You can't make life decisions for me, too? Thanks, fifi, I will order the 8" one.

Patti, I did find pounding the paste better than using the food processor (I started in the latter and moved to the former). Also, the lemon grass. I ended up using 4 pieces because by the time I removed the tough leaves and got to that tender center, there wasn't much of it. In lieu of the mortar and pestal, I spice grinder or microplaning some of this stuff might be a good idea. Also, fresh galangal is really fibrous, I can't think of a reason not to used dried. ← Snowangel, I'd like to make this dish today or tomorrow, but I don't have a proper mortar and pestle (only a small wooden set and a small marble set that we used to use for meds for our son). How important is it for this dish? And how important is the kind of mortar and pestle? If I shop for one to use TODAY, it would have to come from Linens 'N Things, or Bed, Bath and Beyond, or a specialty kitchen store, which will probably have something overpriced. I've seen some online at Asian cooking/shopping sites, too. Would you soldier on without one for today and wait to buy a particular one, or would you go out and get what's available today? Any advice welcomed.

I have sliced it both ways. The thinner, crispier bits are definitely the tastiest. For some reason, I can't avoid getting some fluffy pieces at the tip of the florets. I'll work on that for the next time.

This one looks really good, snowangel. It's definitely going on the short list of things to try soon. Thanks for posting the pics and your process.

Wow, what a nice variety of beautiful looking food. Thanks for showing them off!

Great demo of cornbread making, andiesenji. It never even occurred to me that cooking from scratch might mean milling your own corn. I feel all Betty Crocker-ish when I don't use Jiffy. Now I see I'm only Sandra Lee!

I'm not throwing stones. I've only used one of the recipes in the book so far, and while it was a delicious success, I can't tell you what good the parchment paper did. The lid to my Le Creuset pot seems heavy enough and fit closely enough that I didn't really understand how the parchment actually benefitted me or the pork shoulder I was braising. I've braised for years, however, I am new to Le Creuset AND to Molly Stevens, so I bow to the experience of others. As far as the cut of beef roast to choose, I often choose a rump roast, mostly because it's what my mother always cooked. I like sirloin tip, also, but my husband prefers the rump roast.

Wow, that is a comprehensive barstool site! Good thing I'm not in the market, because I'd never be able to make a decision with all of those choices. What's your color scheme going to be, Varmint?

Varmint and fifi, here's a nice selection of counter and/or bar stools.

Are you kidding me?!?! Seriously, this is fun, but it's a buttload of work. I'd rather not keep going after this weekend, thankyouverymuch. When I talked to Stewart this morning I vented briefly about how much work this is on top of an unusually busy week. But I also told him I'm going to move on from this job eventually and back towards writing and teaching more, and eventually there will be a 3-year-old kid and no energy to cook for my family. And then I'm gonna come back and read this blog and wonder how in the world I managed to feed 34 girls every day. It's pretty amazing when I step back and think about it. ← Hehe. Yes, I was kidding, of course. I have no idea how you have the energy to do ANYTHING after the hard work you put in every day. Not only that, but you seem to be providing them with food service above and beyond what is expected. I'm admiring you from afar.

Thanks for adding the pictures, but even without them, your commentary is fascinating. Could you blog forever, please?

halloweencat, I've roasted a pan of cauliflower for as long as an hour, so don't feel alone. We're all after a good tasting result!

Mine seems to vary from head to head. I cooked some today for 45 minutes at 400. I like lots of browned bits and was very satisfied. Any time I've made it and didn't wait for it to brown enough, I was less than happy with the result.

I went to a party years ago (before I learned how to say NO to friends) and I bought my first pizza stone. I loved it until the day it died (my husband broke it). Now pizza stones are commonly seen in retail stores, but at the time, they were not.

With some of your excess budget, perhaps you can have some live crawfish shipped in for a crawfish boil. Mmm, crawfish. Heck, since there's plenty of extra budget, have one of the south Louisiana caterers who provide on site service come to you and boil them, too (or Mayhaw Man).

I'm amazed that for your first time to make gumbo, you even made the sausage to go with it! It looks perfectly delicious. How much sausage do you make in one batch? Congrats on a great looking finished product!

Andie, I bet you've got the best outfitted kitchen ever, bar none. I love reading about what you have and how and where you store things and how you use your kitchen tools. You rock!

Around Christmas time, my husband and I did a little boudin taste testing. It was a spur of the moment thing, so there was boudin from only three different area shops. They included The Best Stop in Scott, Billeaud's in Broussard, and Comeaux's in Lafayette (Kaliste Saloom location). I was positive that the Best Stop boudin would win, and my husband's money was on Billeaud's, but surprisingly, we liked Comeaux's the best. The casing on the boudin at Best Stop was a little tough that day, and it made the eating while driving trick a little less manageable. While this seems like an odd complaint, I thought there could've been a bit more rice in the mix. Billeaud's and Comeaux's both had very tender casings, easy for either the bite-and-pull-the-innards-out method, or any method of attack. However, there was something about Comeaux's that hit the perfect combination of seasonings, spices, meat, and rice. Tres bon! I should add that on any given day, boudin from any of the three locations would be a treat. Luckily for me, this Comeaux's (there are two) is about 2 minutes from my house, while Best Stop and Billeaud's are equally out of the way in opposite directions. Last week I stopped at Poche's for the first time (my hairdresser stopped commuting to Lafayette and now cuts hair from her house, minutes from Poche's). I bought some of their andouille (for the freezer, haven't had any yet) and some alligator sausage as well as some crawfish boudin. I have to say, it's not the best crawfish boudin I've had (that honor goes to Legnon's in New Iberia). The crawfish were sparse and the link was a little too limp and moist. It didn't strike the perfect balance (she said after wolfing down several links). I wish I'd also picked up some of their regular boudin so I could compare to the others I've tasted. However, I'll have the opportunity to remedy that mistake next time I get my hair cut. I found this interesting little boudin review site today which visitors and locals might find interesting as well as helpful: BOUDIN REVIEWS

Patti, I think that the meat on rib chops will be a bad idea for a curry that's braised for a while. It's likely to get more, and not less, tough as you cook it. The braising class that's going on right now can give you the reasons for why that is. Ok, more in a sec. I'm jazzed! ← Chris, my thinking was that I could braise the lamb shanks and add the lamb chops near the end of cooking. So, maybe I'll freeze the lamb chops for now, and search a little further for other cuts. Lamb just isn't a hot commodity here. I found one shop with a leg of lamb for $36 and a crown roast of lamb for whatever price, but since I'm not sure my husband or son will even TASTE this lamb curry, those choices didn't make sense (whether appropriate for the dish, or not). Thanks for your help.

Thanks, Chris. I bought everything at Lowe's. I linked to a picture of an expandable step shelf in my post (couldn't find one at Lowe's online site), but maybe you didn't notice it: expandable wooden step shelf BTW, there are more shelves in my pantry, but I didn't want y'all to see ALL of the clutter. Wow, great idea, Bill!