HungryC

Dried chickpeas are delicious....a long soak (overnight) is best, as the little devils can take forever to cook without proper hydration. I buy in bulk, cook with little/no seasoning, and freeze in smaller portions rather than spend the dough on canned. Right now I'm stuck on chickpeas cooked with tamarind...absolutely delicious, and since I discovered tamarind paste in a jar, even easier. Homemade hummus will make you wonder why anyone bothers to buy the prepared stuff, and chickpeas are great tucked into any mixed vegetable soup or stew.

I'd argue that the above statement isn't accurate....cooking, like many other aspects of material culture, doesn't evolve/change smoothly. At certain times in human history, foodways changed quite rapidly. Consider capsicums: the New World native chile pepper is introduced to the world after Columbian contact. It soon spreads around the globe, thanks to Spanish colonial trade, and becomes such a key part of south and SE asian cooking that we have a hard time imagining those cuisines without chiles' heat. The whole Columbian exchange provides a wonderful example of various cultures' willing- or un-willingness to accept new foodstuffs: potatoes, corn, turkeys, chocolate, chiles, black/red/pinto/lima/green beans (only some beans like lentils, chickpeas, cowpeas, green peas, favas were known in the old world)...pick your favorite regional cuisine and imagine it without those ingredients. Every single one of those ingredients was unknown globally before 1492. Fusion is as old as humanity, isn't it? Creolization & syncretism are the rule, rather than the exception. Borrow from your neighbor, make something new, repeat what tastes good. Alford & Duguid quote an anthropologist in "Flatbreads and Flavors" who did fieldwork in the mid-east (sorry, can't remember where). Anyway, this scholar hated the local flatbread and worked with his camp cook to bake a loaf to his liking. Fast forward 25 years; he goes back to the area and discovers delicious bread baked all around the area. He runs into his old camp cook and says why did you feed me that bad bread when such good bread existed? But that IS your bread, the cook replies: I liked it too, and so did everyone else. We bake nothing else now.

Lots of great tips on this thread....efficiency in the kitchen is one of the best ways to trim your food budget. Make sure you've used all parts of everything you buy. Waste nothing, just as our forefathers & mothers did. Buy whole things, not already cut apart things; hit your farmer's market or farm stands for good deals on whatever's in season. Find out which local grocery store has the best price on eggs: an affordable source of high-quality protein (typically protein is the most expensive dietary need). Make a weekly food budget and stick to it. See it as a challenge to your creativity! Salvage grocery stores are great, too. If you don't mind the whole down-at-the-heels aesthetic offered by some salvage stores, you can find incredible bargains, and not just on packaged/processed foods. I got a gallon of olive oil for a fraction of the price of a mere quart recently....and some salvage stores honor coupons, too.

Another meat market worth a visit is Poche's, just outside Breaux Bridge (technically in Poche Bridge). A few miles north of I-10: Poche's Aside from the usual meat market stuff like sausages, cracklins, boudin, ponce, etc., Poche's has plate lunches. Also in Breaux Bridge is Cafe des Amis, which has a zydeco brunch on the weekends. The lovely culinary antiques shop Lucullushas a Breaux Bridge outpost. Closer to NOLA, a short hop off of I-10 at Laplace gets you to Wayne Jacobs smokehouse & restaurant on West 5th St. I highly recommend the hogshead cheese poboy.

I have no clue what to do with leftover steamed oysters...but if you'll just bite the bullet & shuck 'em, the sky's the limit: raw on the half-shell with mignonette, char-grilled on the halfshell, fried oyster poboys, oyster stew, oyster dressing, oyster patties, chicken & oyster gumbo, good ol' angels on horseback (oysters on water chestnuts, wrapped in bacon & broiled), oyster pan roast w/rosemary & cream & garlicky bread crumbs. I could go for a couple dozen char-grilled right now, topped with a little minced garlic, some butter, and the merest whisp of parmesan & parsley.

This brings up an interesting question to me as I occasionally cook for gluten intolerant friends: What other grains CAN you make a roux with? Does rice flour work outside the microwave? (white or bown?) What about corn or potato or amaranth or chickpea? I'm sure that wheat is the best but are there acceptable alternatives? ← Consensus on my stretch of the bayou points to rice flour as an acceptable substitute (browned in the oven or on the stovetop, not in the microwave). Several gluten-insensitive older people have mentioned it to me. I don't think I've run across any folks using chickpea, potato, or amaranth. Cornstarch's qualities are so utterly and completely different--both physically and chemically--I can't see it browning at all, and it imparts a distinctive mouthfeel quite objectionable to traditional cooks. In fact, the use of cornstarch as a thickener will get you talked about--and not in a good way. As in "what a waste of seafood--they put CORNSTARCH in their crawfish etouffee. Eat before you go to visit them!"

The microwave roux does have an element of danger: it is exceedingly easy to burn, especially if you're going any shade past peanut butter. I made one over the Thanksgiving holidays that burned in the half-a-second it took me to press the opening latch on the microwave and remove the bowl from the oven. It was amazing to see something go from pale to carbonized literally within a few eye blinks.

Generally, a wide, shallow vessel is preferred by traditional cooks for roux-making. According to folk wisdom, a deep, narrow pot makes it difficult to gauge the color of the roux; it is also considered much easier to burn a dark roux in a narrow pot, as the flour will settle more thickly in its bottom. Sure, you don't need cast iron--but you do need a pot with a smooth, blemish-free bottom surface. A pot with a gouged & dented bottom, or even one with deep scratches, will almost certainly lead to a burned roux. Those tiny flour particles catch in the crevices, and no amount of stirring will dislodge them. It only take a small bit of burned stuff to make the whole pan taste of it.

Hey B--how about crawfish stuffed mushrooms? Or little crawfish pies--either the small, open ones, or folded-over, turnover style pie....both can be baked in advance & reheated as you need 'em. A spicy cold crawfish salad would also be nice in endive leaves, and it's a break from typical pastry- and starch-heavy canapes. John Folse's "After the Hunt" cookbook has a recipe for crawfish boulettes, which are deep fried. I've made shrimp boulettes in the usual way, with cubed/grated potatoes, seasonings, egg, & ground shrimp, but never tried the crawfish kind. Small, golf-ball sized boulettes with a spicy mustard dip definitely have potential as cocktail food.

Please share your method: do you use heavy cream, evap milk, or just plain sugar? Brown sugar or white sugar? I know what you mean about cooking a dish frequently enough to know the exact moment when a sugar mixture has reached the appropriate temp based on appearance....I make toffee this way. The few times I've bothered with a thermometer, the results were inferior to my usual "eyeball" method.

Plain Lay's, even after the switch to sunflower oil, are my platonian ideal of salty-crunchy junk I can't live without. Homemade or specialty chips don't even come close. On the other hand, I can't eat mass-market American chocolates; they're downright inedible, with the sole exception of Reese's peanut butter eggs (or trees, at christmas). The holiday-theme shapes have more peanut butter and less chocolate than the standard cups. Oh, and the dark chocolate on the outside of Junior mints still tastes of real cacao. But the chocolate in Snickers, M&Ms, Milky Way, Sno-Caps, etc? A mix of congealed insecticide, sugar, and fake vanilla. Blech. I'll trade every Milk Dud on earth for just one de Rubeis milk chocolate barwith himalayan salt!

I will eat less meat and more bitter greens. I will make more jams, jellies, and pickles. I will find more space in my garden for asian greens. I will learn to properly sharpen my knives. I will teach someone to bake bread. I will read more of Escoffier. I will not buy supermarket roasted chickens.

No need to hope for a well-browned roux if you use a heavy pot. I do this with three pounds of flour & an appropriate amount of oil at a time in a 14-quart ancient magnalite pot, and I haven't burned one in years. The trick is to use a very heavy pan....you want lots of thermal mass....stop when it is a few shades lighter than you like, remove from direct heat and place the pot on a heavy cutting board. Keep on stirring, and the residual heat of the pan, insulated by the wood, will continue to cook the roux. As long as you keep stirring, it can get damn dark wtihout burning--no need for an ice bath.

Cajun Grocer's got you covered, with a selection of premade rouxs: http://www.cajungrocer.com/prepared-mixes-...CFQrAGgod81i5TQ

Why buy roux? Because it is nothing more than browned flour in oil. No magic, no voodoo, no mystery. Whether I make the roux myself or John Folse does it in his factory down the road in Donaldsonville, what difference does it make? The end result is indistinguishable. It's not like a stock, where store-bought equivalents are decidedly inferior to the commercial product. So many of our traditional dishes start with a roux; people who only make the occasional roux don't see the beauty of the jarred roux as a convenience food. But if 2/3 of your traditional cooking begins with a roux, it sure is nice to have a jar on hand for a quick crab stew, or chicken fricasee, or peas in a roux, or as the base of a brown gravy. On a weeknight, I sure as hell am not going to make a roux to turn out a quick batch of crawfish etouffee (especially since my version uses just a tiny dab of roux). Practically every LA native cajun home cook I know keeps some sort of premade roux on hand. Some only use it for "emergency" purposes (like whipping up a last-minute gumbo when the neighbor's grammaw dies unexpectedly and you need to feed 40 people, or thickening a dish that has ended up too thin). Others virtually NEVER make a homemade roux. Some are partial to the powdered kinds without oil, others prefer a particular brand or shade of browning. Just as many people make roux in the microwave, a quick and easy process, albeit with none of the romance of the black iron skillet and slow stirring. Still, daily home cooking for a family has never been about romance. I'm happy that all of these people are still cooking traditional foods, and I'm happy that Louisiana entrepreneurs have developed convenience foods that make it easier for the home cook to stick to traditional dishes on a daily basis, rather than relegating them to special occasions or turning them into inaccessible symbols of a cuisine practiced only by those with lots of time. Of course you don't get it, just like I don't get why people buy pasteurized crabmeat in little cans.....

I haven't found a dehydrated pho base woth a hoot...but I am going to try making pho ga in the crockpot. I've made it the usual way, and the long, slow simmer seems to lend itself to a translation to the crockpot. I'll char the ginger & onions, then dry-toast the spices (star anise, coriander, black pepper, a few cloves), then toss it all into the crockpot with chicken backs & necks for a long, slow, overnight cooking.

Cafe du Monde locations in the local shopping malls (Esplanade, Lakeside) as well as the stand-alone location on Veterans Highway in Metairie all feature big plate glass windows into the production areas. You and every kid under 50 can watch the beignets being made, including the cool, square-cut roller that shapes each beignet. For the life of me, I can't remember if you can see into the prep area in the "original" location. I almost never sit inside, which accounts for my missing memories. You do have to traverse part of the kitchen on the way to the restrooms, but it seems that I recall just coffee urns & other beverage apparatus in the easily accessible area.

I've been to the Teaism near Dupont Circle, and it was far more lunch spot than tea shop. Fusion-y asian food, lots of snacks. Not bad, just not really all about the tea. On the other hand, here's one that IS all about the tea: Red Blossom Tea on Grant Avenue in Chinatown in San Fran is a great place that definitely deserves to be on any list of "best tea shops". Family owned; knowledgeable sales staff, wonderful products. Will brew anything on hand for you to taste before you buy.

We bought the Baratza Maestro, directly from the manufacturer. The first one was DOA right out of the box. Customer service couldn't have been more apologetic, and the Maestro is quite satisfactory as a grinder--it is easy to use, and the hopper holds enough for many shots of espresso or a big pot of filter/drip coffee.

Salt in coffee is a trick employed by many fishermen I know--the potable water on big fishing boats can taste flat or strange after long storage in tanks. So I always heard that salt was added to mask the taste of the water, rather than to compensate for inferior coffee.

I like merguez grilled, then wrapped in a pita w/lots of spicy sauce....I whip up a quick, sort-of middle eastern salsa. Basically, sizzle a little whole cumin & red pepper flakes in olive oil, then add sliced onions. Once the onions are soft & golden, toss in a diced tomato or two (no need to peel or seed) and a couple cloves of garlic, diced. Cook until the mixture thickens. Fresh tomato provides a nice, bright flavor...if you have to use canned, a healthy squeeze of lemon juice, at the end, will help to freshen the taste. I also braise merguez with roughly chunked veggies--carrot, celery, potato, a little tomato, onion, garlic. Not really an official stew, just some good-tasting things to soak up the pan juices. Serve over couscous or rice pilaf. One good thing about merguez in lamb casings is their relatively slender diameter, which makes for very quick cooking. Great for busy weeknights.

OF COURSE it's about turning a profit. That's the whole point of a restaurant. If you're not interested in turning a profit, perhaps a volunteer position at your local soup kitchen or meals-for-seniors operation might fit your needs, yet still allow you to practice your knife skills, learn basic food safety, and understand the environment of a commercial kitchen. Why would you think that a commercial kitchen would be interested in teaching you? In a down economy, the chef or manager can pick any of the dozens of trained people who apply every day--he/she has limited space and limited time in that kitchen. Go learn some real skills before you enter the kitchen....many community colleges offer basic cooking courses. At the very least, sign up for the equivalent of ServSafe training (http://www.servsafe.com) in your area. Or sign up for a ServSafe online class. You'll at least have a food-world credential to your name.

Custom plates & flatware certainly aren't new or avant-garde, but are rather seriously retro (in a Western European context)...see the Victorian & Edwardian eras, please. My turn of the century silver service has ice cream forks, short-handled oyster forks, long-handled cocktail forks, lemon forks, snail tongs, fish forks, ramekin forks, bouillion spoons, gumbo spoons, blah, blah. Don't even get me started on the serving pieces. Dinnerware from the same period includes a blinding array of specialty dishes for particular food items. Similarly, the idea of a plate specially chosen for the season or dish being served is an important component in japanese high cuisine. I'd like to see family-style service, too. I don't want a whopping serving of something, and family-style saves me the trouble of pushing around half-eaten food, or trading plates with a dining companion who wants a taste.

Go to a four-year school; pursue as diverse a course of study as possible. Meanwhile, you can get a job in campus foodservice, work at a restaurant at night and on weekends, and cook yourself silly with a hotplate in your dorm room. Network like mad in your region; find the chefs & tastemakers who matter. A purely culinary education won't provide the breadth of knowledge necessary for someone interested in the avant-garde of the food world. Too many aspiring chefs receive a rather narrow technical education...keep studying music, add some art history or studio art courses when you hit college. Haven't we all suffered through ridiculous meals where it was clear that the chef had cooking skills, but no diversity of taste, no knowledge of the cultures referenced on the plate, no true refinement of palate? Becoming a well-educated, well-rounded person will lift you above your peers, no matter your field of endeavor.

I'm no fan of crocs--they're awful on my feet. Get a pair of Dansko clogs (or any Dansko shoe, for that matter). I walked 10-15 miles a day thru Italy for 2 weeks, and my plantar fasciitis didn't even twinge. Worth every stinkin' penny you pay for 'em. Dansko feel odd at first, but your feet will quickly adapt and like nurses, cooks, etc, you'll never go back.