HungryC

I agree that the organization is quite confusing. Overall, it is stuffed with fascinating info, but you must plow through lots of cross-referencing, asides, and a fair bit of repetition to squeeze out the good stuff. Did the editor quit mid-stream? A firm reorganization might have increased the flow & clarity. It isn't quite the masterpiece compared to her first book. One minor quibble: the layout/typesetting/body design appear to have been carried out by a legal secretary only allowed to use the most conservative fonts in MS Word 2000. Times Roman for body copy? Arial Bold for headlines & sub-heads? Part of the confusing nature of the text is caused by the lack of attention to good informational design...too much space between sections, overall weird line spacing. Again, a minor quibble, but if you look at Alford & Duguid's last few books, you'll get a stellar example of good design elevating good material into something extraordinary.

I'm with Brooks: turkey gumbo is the only way to face the post-thanksgiving days. I dragged my turkey carcass across three states to turn it into turkey/andouille gumbo. See the prep stages here: http://bouillie.wordpress.com/2008/12/02/turkey-gumbo/

Regarding oil disposal: it is a simple matter if you're a home cook with a yard or compost heap. Vegetable oil is a natural product; it will biodegrade quickly. Dig a hole in the yard or corner of the compost heap, pour in the cooled oil, and forget about it. n.b., if you have a dog, this won't work, unless it is a very well-behaved or finicky dog. The poor dog can get very sick from eating greasy compost (don't ask). I'm partial to peanut or soybean oil; I abhor the odor of canola oil, which is intensified by frying (to my nose, anyway). Practically every supermarket & sporting goods store in the Deep South carries peanut oil in huge containers (up to 5 gallons), so it's not exactly hard to find 'round here. How long the oil lasts depends on what you're frying--some things gunk it up faster than others. Beware that the flash point of oil decreases as the oil ages/breaks down--old oil is more likely to catch fire than the fresh stuff. Hmm--favorite things to fry, a potentially very long list: beignets, onion rings, leftover boiled potatoes, tempura-battered veggies, fresh fish, oysters, shrimp, bread dough, battered oreos, chicken wings, bone-in chicken, natchitoches meat pies, samosas, pakoras, breaded blue crab claws (already cracked)...but the hands-down favorite at my house is potatoes. Properly made fries are a thing of wondrous beauty.

Our thanksgiving is traditional by the measure of my family, but not by mainstream American standards! It's definitely a south Louisiana thing, from start to finish. We always start with gumbo, usually chicken/oyster/andouille or sometimes seafood, then move on to crabmeat casserole. The crab casserole is a kind of devilled crab concoction of my father's; mostly just lots and lots of crabmeat, seasoned with garlic, browned onions/celery/bell pepper, green onions, cayenne, all combined with a scant amount of cracker crumbs, topped with butter, and baked until golden. The entree is usually a pork loin roast, sometimes supplemented with a roasted turkey breast (a sideways nod to Americana, and a sop to my white-bread husband who whined "no turkey?" through his first few family Thanksgivings). Only, nowadays, we have a big ol' roasted whole bird, as my nephew learned a foolproof high-temp roasting method in his high-school home ec/cooking class--so we've added his turkey to the traditional menu. Side dishes include cornbread dressing (baked in a pan on its own, of course), except that my sister hates cornbread dressing, and she's managed to infect her own daughter with her wrong-headed ideas on dressing. So my mama trots out a pan of scalloped potatoes to accomodate the haters. The first local fresh broccoli & cauliflower of the season also make an appearance, and my sister's sweet potato crunch is inevitable...that time honored mash-up of yams, butter, sugar, and cinnamon--topped with pecans & brown sugar. Whew--then comes dessert. This year, my 10-year-old nephew is bringing his birthday cake to share with us all, and I think we also have a carrot cake. Plus, my mother always makes brownies if more than 2 people are expected to visit!

Boiling again would thicken it slightly, but you're never gonna get "bouncy" texture out of cranberries without some sort of gelling agent. Knox unflavored gelatin...sprinkle half an envelope onto a little liquid to soften, then stir the gelatin into hot cranberry sauce. From then on, treat it like jello....pour into a mould, or into a jelly roll pan and chill. If using a jelly roll pan, cut the resulting sheet into interesting shapes (with cookie cutters, or just into simple diamonds or squares). I would start with a relatively modest amount of gelatin, as you can get a too-firm set with LOTS of gelatin...you don't want to cross the line into rubbery. Plus, if the resulting mixture sets too softly for your taste, you can reheat it and add more gelatin and chill again.

Ooh, I'm jealous--fresh beans are a treat. I usually make cassoulet on Christmas eve, though last year's batch was derailed by my inability to find duck legs to make confit. I'm searching for legs right now, to make a big batch of confit in advance of my cassoulet needs. Anyway, fresh beans need far less cooking time than dried. Other than that, things should be pretty much the same.

Anybody out there have a rec for a food mill? I'd like one that comes apart & is dishwasher safe. TIA.

I love old-school cheese straws. I use my grandmother's best friend's recipe, from the Pine Bluff, AR, Junior League cookbook. It's pretty standard: lots of butter, shredded cheddar cheese, flour, and cayenne, worked into a fairly stiff dough, chilled, then shaped & baked. Whether cut into the traditional long strips or into rounds topped with pecan halves, it's all good. I do tart them up on occasion with a combination of cheeses & some sesame seeds (black sesame seeds make for a nice color contrast with pecorino or parmesan cheeses).

Wow--you micro'd regular grits in just 3 minutes? Wait, why do people buy those nasty instant grits if regular 20-minute grits take just 3 to cook in the microwave? I wonder if it works with more than one serving's worth.

A friend's blog recounts his adventures with grits in the slowcooker. 4 cups water to 1 cup of grits, plus salt, left cooking for 12 hours. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm cooking grits & grillades for a family reunion brunch after thanksgiving, and I plan to give it a whirl. Seems like the easiest way to cook a whole mess of grits with virtually NO effort.

IIRC, the Gourmet Butcher Block folks mentioned by TAPrice are related somehow to the original Hebert's Meat Market in Maurice, and also related to the Richards who produce turduckens in Tulsa. So if provenance matters to you, they're all part of the same branch of the turducken family tree.

My two lemongrass clumps are 4' tall and 2-3 feet wide. I purchased the first one as a single stalk in a small container from the plant nursery---it thrived, I dug it up and moved it twice as it quickly outgrew the original location. After the second relocation, I hacked off a clump and planted it....again, it took off like the grass it is. Never tried to start it from seed, though my plants flower & set seed annually. Overall, they look like the decorative pampas grass clumps seen in landscaping. From digging it up, I know that it has an extensive, fairly fleshy root web, so I'd use a heavy potting mix and a very large pot (as large as what you're using for citrus, or larger if you're growing dwarf citrus). For whatever reason, my plants' stalks are pretty slender, in contrast to the very bulbous ones I see in the produce section of the asian markets. Don't know if it's a different variety, a reaction to cool(ish) winters, or the overall age of the plant. These thinner stalks make excellent skewers for grilled shrimp!

I totally get the point of unbrowned meat...just try a nice bowl of pho ga (chicken pho, made with meltingly tender poached chicken) or pho tai (beef pho with raw thin sliced eye of round added to the bowl, cooked by the heat of the boiling broth). Both are made with unbrowned meats, and both are delicious. The unbrowned, lightly cooked meats/poultry have a silky texture and full flavor. Typical pho broth/stock is made with browned stuff---but it is the ginger and onion that are charred before they are added to the stock. So caramelized things are present, just not the meat. And I really, really love boiled beef brisket or pork roast with horseradish sauce, possibly the most un-browned meats around.

I have both lemongrass AND kaffir lime in the backyard. Lemongrass is scented primarily by citral, while kaffir lime is mostly citronellal. So they're similar, but profoundly different odors. It may seem a subtle difference, but if you smelled fresh samples of both items, the differences would leap out at you.

Lemongrass would be my second choice after kaffir lime leaves. Too bad you don't have a few more days...I'd mail you some off the tree in my backyard.

I like the idea of a lime air, but why not make it a kaffir lime or kalamansi air? A more nuanced lime flavor would complement the dish, as well as provide a specifically asian ingredient connection. Kaffir leaves are fairly easy to find, kalamansi might be a challenge if you're not in an urban area with a Filipino population or good asian markets. You could even steep the kaffir leaves in coconut milk...

"Smother" (etouffee, in cajun french) is a south Louisiana term used generically for any food cooked a bit in fat, then slowly cooked down, either in its own juices or in a little added liquid. Technically not a stovetop braise (which uses a little more liquid, and the pot is most often covered in a braise), but not a saute either. Crawfish etouffee is just one variation of the pantheon of etouffees.

I've seen research (can't recall where) that supports your assertion on dirty gloves: apparently, when people can feel "yuck" on their hands, they're more vigilant about washing. Gloves remove the sensation of dirty hands, leading to more germ-spread, as people will unwittingly touch all sorts of things with those gloves.

Whole Foods usually has Meyers for a while, but they're hideously expensive. Haven't seen 'em at any stands or farmers' markets, but then again, I haven't really ever looked, as I have my own.

I picked one from the backyard last weekend, and oo-wee, it was still quite sour. Mine will need at least another two weeks. The Meyer lemons, on the other hand, are approaching perfection.

Juban's and Mansour's are my old sentimental favorites. I haven't been to the Galatoire's Bistro, so I can't offer any info....might be worth a shot, though.

Frozen beans work a little better than canned (the canned ones can disintegrate if you reheat the dish a couple of times). Southern style slow cooked veggies are a delicious art form; you're aiming for a texture that's velvety and soft, lush and silky. Make sure you bake a big pan of cornbread for sopping. If your friends turn their noses up at honest, tradtional homecooking, go find yourself some less uppity friends.

I have a carbon steel wok, and I seasoned it using a traditional chinese method (according to several cookbooks)....I stir-fried coarsely chopped flat chives in oil until the oil smoked, let it cool, wiped it clean, then it was ready to go. Others use garlic & ginger in the stir fry...I grow chives in the backyard, so I went with the easiest for me method. For cast iron, I follow the grease-with-solid-shortening method, then put the pan (upside down) in a slow oven for 4 hours.

Tasso is like beer--everybody I know has a favorite brand, and loyalty runs deep. I'm partial to the tasso from the Best Stop Supermarket in Scott, LA. Pork and turkey versions are available; both are excellent. http://www.thebeststopsupermarket.com/ I don't think you can order online, though you can place an order by phone. It's way cheaper than the guanciale I recently bought from Niman Ranch!

Microwave roux is easy--almost so easy that it is no fun. Combine flour & fat in a microwave safe pyrex measuring cup (big enough for stirring) and nuke in increments until browned as you like. Nothing to it. Jambalaya, fried rice style--now, you won't convert me on that one. First off, I would never-ever-ever put tomatoes in jambalaya. I'm firmly in the brown jambalaya camp, and I think that much of the flavor of the dish results from browning the seasonings & meats deeply, then parching/toasting/browning the rice before the liquid is added to the pot. You need a good fond on the bottom of the pot in order to fully develop all of the flavors. Your quick jambalaya sounds like what I know as congris. Seasonings are smothered down, odds and ends are added to the pot, and cooked rice is added to the mix. The usual congris ingredients are leftover ham/tasso/smoked sausage and blackeyed peas (or crowder peas or field peas or baby limas), though you can add whatever is hanging around the kitchen. I've had it with leftover diced chicken, fresh corn kernels, a little chopped tomato and petits pois on many occasions.