HungryC

Nice job, Danno, esp the steen's in the filling. Ever tried putting marzipan filling inside? Beats the heck out of those goopy commercial cream cheese concoctions. Marzipan inside, then a simple glaze on top incorporating some citrus zest.

Well, VISA does gift cards, too! And I'm more surprised these days about who takes plastic rather than who's still cash-only. If the VISA/AM-Ex idea is too impersonal, wrap it with a dining guide to NOLA and a nice note listing a few suggested restaurants....as for restaurant suggestions, I'd send a young volunteer to: --Cafe Reconcile for down-home food and a good cause (it's a nonprofit venture training at-risk youth for hospitality jobs); okay, Todd's right--they're cash or check only right now. --Casamento's (damn, Todd's right again...cash only) on Magazine near Napoleon. Classic oysterbar w/great fried oysters, softshells, etc. --Bon Ton; hah! BT does indeed accept plastic. Lunch only in the CBD. --Liuzza's on Bienville for a frenchuletta (does accept credit cards) --Parkway Bakery & Tavern (Hagan St.)....yes, another cash-only joint. Poboys, cold Abita & Barq's. All of this is beginning to seem complicated: you could probably get a gift certif to K-Paul's and simplify the whole thing, I guess!

What a generous thing to do....on his part and yours, too! FYI, AmEx offers gift cards...you can purchase them in amounts ranging from $25 to $500. http://www10.americanexpress.com/sif/cda/p...41,16130,00.asp I'm suggesting this b/c he might enjoy several meals at neighborhood joints rather than one big meal at a swanky place (or he might want to treat a friend and share his gift, if he's the generous sort).

I must say: all of Kim Severson's pieces on Louisiana have been thoughtful & way-better-than-decent.

I sometimes soak frozen seafood (fish fillets, peeled shrimp) in milk before cooking....it seems to perk up the flavor & remove the "frozen" taste, but I can't say that I've ever done a soak/nonsoak comparison. It's just part of my family's culinary culture, I guess.

I put pom seeds in guacamole....think I got the idea from Diana Kennedy.

Goose gumbo! But you'll need another goose to go into the pot as well. Use some of that stock for cooking savory rice, too.

Why not use it as the liquidy part of a veggie pot pie? Cut up your favorite vegs, stir into the soup, add a couple handsful of grated gruyere, and put into individual pie crusts. Or bake it in a casserole-style dish with herbed drop biscuits on top. You could also vary the flavor of the soup a little by adding ginger, garlic, tumeric, and cardamom.

Brooks, what time do y'all plan to get started on Sat & Sun?

That's because they sprinkle all the food with fairy dust. ←

Hey--thanks ever so much for the Vermillionville tip...I haven't been there in years. I'll have to check it out & make some inquiries. I wonder if the oven is just a display or if anyone cooks in it?

Yes, I am referring to exactly those ovens...typically elevated, made of mud over a lightweight shaping frame. LSU's archives include some information gathered/compiled by Fred Kniffen from the first half of the 20th century, and use of the ovens survived into the second half (as best I can tell) as a sort of "quaint" or occasional practice. I'm trying to track down any contemporary survival, either of the ovens as artifacts or of the skills to build the ovens and/or the skills to bake bread in them.

Ahem, pardon me for being pedantic, but we're treading on my home turf here: A roux gives a completely different mouthfeel to a dish than cornstarch....roux-thickened dishes don't have the gelatinous, slightly gluey texture imparted by cornstarch (think of cheap lunch specials floating in sauce at cut-rate faux-chinese restaurants). Roux has a nutty flavor and provides a significant "brown" bottom flavor note that is unmistakeable for anything else...some would call it bitter, or dark, or smoky. I can't think of anyone in southeast Louisiana, professional or home cook, who uses cornstarch in traditional savory cooking. (N.B, a few aberrant crawfish etouffee recipes from SW LA do use cornstarch, but these are distinct exceptions). RE: "poorly done"--there one traditional way to do a roux--brown flour in fat until it reaches the color you like. The starches in the flour caramelize/denature after just two or three minutes (long before it colors at all)...it will have thickening power and a nice, light flavor as soon as the flour is cooked. The longer it is cooked, the deeper & toastier/nuttier the flavor becomes, but the thickening power decreases as the roux darkens. If the flour is insufficiently cooked, you'll certainly taste it in the finished dish, but it will taste like raw flour and will not provide any thickening power...taste/finish of an undercooked roux won't be anything like cornstarch. (You can also carefully brown the flour without fat, very carefully on the stovetop in a heavy skillet or in the oven in a baking pan. Two weeks ago, while doing a presentation on gumbo at a folklife event, I heard from an old cajun lady about her no-fat rice flour dry-heat roux, concocted after health issues forced her to give up most fats & gluten, too. So innovation lives alongside tradition, as always.) I reaffirm my earlier assertion: anyone who confuses a roux-thickened dish with one thickened by cornstarch needs to lay off the martinis and do some serious cooking and eating.

We usually start T'giving dinner with seafood (shrimp/crab/oyster, with a little pork sausage) gumbo, but it is so seriously un-kosher that it doesn't fit the stated parameters! It is good made ahead and reheated, though.

I'm searching for info or contacts relating to outdoor "beehive" mud ovens in South Louisiana...seeking info in print, or (even better) if you know anyone who has one lingering out behind the garage, or if anyone out there knows-someone-who-knows-someone who can still construct such an oven. TIA.

what TAPrice said: you're missing neighborhood New Orleans. Liuzza's on Bienville, Liuzza's By the Track, Ye Old College Inn, Domilese, Parkway Bakery, Casamento's, Cafe Reconcile (a good meal AND a good cause), Fury's (esp the fried chicken), Crabby Jack's.....

The roux vs. cornstarch comment alone should get him disqualified from EVER reporting on food again. My eight-year-old nephew can taste the difference between the two!

While Plaquemines lost quite a few trees & producers, other southern parishes have decent-sized crops...here's the LSU Ag Center's take on citrus production in Lafourche & Terrebonne parishes: http://www.lsuagcenter.com/en/crops_livest...l+But+Sweet.htm

My backyard tree also has a light crop, due mostly to the fact that my area of LA has a year-to-date rainfall deficit of +20 inches. All of my citrus set quite a bit of fruit, but it didn't stay on the trees through the hot, unusually spring. I haven't picked any yet--the first blush of yellow-orange is beginning to appear through the green. I'm waiting a few weeks more before harvest.

Robert, did anyone in your party have the italian sausage? On my last visit, the sausage machine was still broken. Just wondering if it's been fixed.

In my experience, the sugar bloom is caused by the ambient humidity in the room after you spoon out the pralines. In damp weather, sometimes the pralines start sugaring right away.

I would even steam the boudin (no "a" in the word) so that it is completely cooked (including the casings) before freezing. Fist is right; most commercial packaged boudin sold in LA is completely cooked...all you do is heat-and-eat. Personally, I like a 6-to-1 ratio of liver; it needs some liver or it's not really boudin. Another suggestion: divide your ingredients into two or three batches and make a couple of variations...more veggies/green onions/parsley in one batch, hotter in another, etc. Hey, you're in the part of the world where pork blood is readily available; why not try some red boudin (also called boudin noir, and yes I know that noir=black) for your next adventure? Nobody in my family will use the frozen pork blood sold in tubs at the asian markets here, they all insist on "fresh" pork blood, which requires a little effort to secure. So I haven't had any good red boudin in a long time...

Is it just roux, chopped vegetables, stock, seasoning and crawfish? ←

Those headless "meatballs" are called "boulettes" by people on Bayou Lafourche. Most people I know don't bother with the heads unless they want the dish to be "fancy". No tomatoes in my bisque, which isn't the cream-and-butter kind (like the more familiar creamy shrimp bisque). It's brown all the way, nice peanut-butter colored roux...and you don't call it stew if you go through the trouble of making the boulettes to put into it--it is still termed bisque, even if you don't stuff the boulettes into the cleaned heads.

Ralph's is a lovely setting; the upstairs rooms have balconies overlooking City Park. FYI, the TU Homecoming game will take place at the Superdome, with pregame tailgating on the plaza level outside the 'Dome. I'd definitely put August on the list, as well as a poboy or two...