patti

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!

Will it be a sinful thing to use lamb chops in my lamb curry? My choices were limited, although later I found one small package of lamb shanks at another meat market. Could I combine them in the same lamb curry? This will be new ground for me.

Since joining eGullet, I've made several tweaks that have really made a difference to me. First, I needed to utilize my space more efficiently because I bought many new spices and herbs and other ingredients that take up lots of space. I got rid of a few unecessary items and made a new spice cabinet. Inside the cabinet, I put an expandable step shelf, which is hidden under all the spices: I also put in a small turntable: The pantry door was being underused, so we put in two on-the-door units (um, ignore the laundry on the floor of the laundry room behind the open pantry door, please): There was some dead space on the wall of the pantry, so a unit similar to the two on the door was put in place: And on two of the big shelves inside the pantry, we added small chrome shelf expanders (you can't see the one on the top shelf as it's full of stuff): Inspired by the talk of metro shelving in DavetheCook's kitchen remodel thread, I added similar type shelving in the laundry room for some of my pots. This unit is fairly new and not as well organized as it could be. Looking at this picture allowed me to see that this needs more tweaking: EDIT: Ack! I should've hidden all the things on the shelves I don't want eGulleters to see!

I'm so happy you're blogging! I was disappointed when the biography forum was deleted because I was enjoying reading your thread about cooking for your girls. This is a nice bonus.

Thank you so much for offering us a glimpse into a window of your life in a fascinating city. Great pictures, interesting info, and a thoroughly enjoyable peek.

Someone's mention of rice krispies coated fried chicken in another thread reminded me of one of Mom's cooking disasters. She ordinarily made great crispy fried chicken, but decided to try a recipe calling for pancake batter as the coating. Ew. Pas bon! We couldn't even fake it to save her feelings.

I tried Tom Kha Gai again. We had some leftover boiled crawfish, so I peeled a few tails and added them to the soup. Does that change the name? Anyway, I used the same recipe that I used the first time, with a few tweaks. I used about twice as much fish sauce and lime juice as the recipe called for, and still added a bit more to my individual serving after tasting. Excellent! There's no butter or oil added to the recipe, so I'm guessing that's crawfish fat on the surface of the soup? Oh, duh. I guess it could be from the chicken pieces, although they were skinless, so I didn't figure they'd give up much fat.

My mother's roux was thick like that. I wish she were alive so I could ask her about it.

My mom and grandmothers were all decent cooks, so no horror stories there (that I can currently recall), but I do have a bad memory of something made by a babysitter. She decided to make us what she said was supposed to be cake without frosting, but turned out to be a vile green horror. She used green food coloring on something that resembled cornbread but tasted like nothing I've ever tasted before or since. I'm pretty sure I threw up, and Mom never hired her as a babysitter again.

Your gumbo looks absolutely perfect! Impressive first pot.

Sure, the basis for Cajun cooking is to use what you have on hand, but it doesn't mean it all has to be turned into gumbo!

No! No! A thousand times no! <runs screaming into the night> (But yes to jarred roux.)

John Folse's frozen soups can be quite nice. I usually doctor them up by adding more shrimp (to the shrimp and asparagus soup) or crabmeat (to the crawfish and potato soup). They're good on their own, but sometimes I like to fiddle.

Happy Valentine's Day to me! My Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine arrived today. I've only given it a brief perusal, but it looks fabulous. Can't wait to dig into all of its juicy goodness.

Woohoo! Add 1 more for me. My autographed copy of John Folse's Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine arrived today. Boy, is it ever purty.

I've heard of guinea (hen, not pig) gumbo, blackbird (!), rabbit, dove, quail, duck, venison, and almost anything but cow and pig, except as smoked sausage. My husband and son are not adventurous, so my gumbos are pretty tame.

Smithy, it looks like mighty good gumbo to me, and I'd bet that something like this can be found at a few hunting camps around south Louisiana.

Seafood gumbo with shrimp, crab fingers, and oysters. No pictures of the mis en place or roux making as this gumbo came from the freezer, except for freshly added seafood. There were six measly oysters in the whole pot of gumbo because that's all that was available in the store! (Edited to change crab claws to crab fingers. I wasn't thinking.)

Did it taste as good as it looks? That picture is making me hungry!

I recall being repulsed by the shredded carrot with raisins salad served in the school cafeteria. I never even gave it a chance because it looked so bad. However, I adore broccoli salad with raisins and bacon (and red onion) as an adult, so I'm thinking maybe carrots and raisins probably aren't so bad. Still haven't tasted it yet, though. And Sister Delia can't make me!

Steven, will it be a no-no to have one pot that is larger than the others? My only piece of Le Creuset is 7.25 quarts, while the non-stick Calphalon saucier and the Magnalite dutch oven are 5 quarts, and the Corning Ware is 5 liter (I also have 3 liter, if that would be better). Also (and this one might belong in the stupid questions thread in the other forums) I made stock per the eGCI instructions, but I'm not sure about the proper amount to use. I started off in a 22 quart pot with 11 pounds of chicken and bones (later transferred to a 16 quart pot), and after the reduction, ended up with 4 quarts of stock. In what proportion should I use it?

It's beautiful, Fifi! C'est bon!