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Dave, you are reminding me of a jambalaya that I made one time the day after a party. There was some leftover white wine hanging around. There were also some cocktail sausages that were pretty good, close to andouille in seasoning. Adding the leftover boiled shrimp didn't hurt either. Anyway, I used the leftover white wine for just about most of the liquid. That was a kickass jambalaya. We ate it for breakfast. Keep in mind that the origins of jambalaya are to stretch ingredients, maybe leftovers, to make a meal.

Hmmm... that sounds more like some kin folk to sauce piquante. Very good stuff. The essence of jambalaya is the rice being cooked with the ingredients. The worchestershire is also another tip off. BTW... The combination of worchestershire and tomato is what I believe is at the root of Brennan's turtle soup deliciousness. Brennan's turlte soup is one of the most delicious and haunting foods on the planet. Bond Girl... Try this one.

Help out a neighbor here. I am on the hunt for some really good tasso. I can't tell from the various web sites how the offerings are prepared. I do know that tasso has a very distinctive taste. I have bought it in Houston and haven't found it yet. My son found me some a few years ago at a Cajun market somewhere in town and I have found it at a place called Abe's Cajun Market here in Clear Lake (I think they are out of Lake Charles) and both examples tasted like not-so-good-ham... not tasso. What I am thinking of is the tasso that nothing else tastes like. I have had it in tasso cream sauces on pasta and in omelets when in New Orleans. I would even toy with the idea of making my own with a good recipe. I have a Weber Smoky Mountain smoker so that is a possibility. But a mail order option has a lot of appeal.

I just had to make jambalaya tonight. Ronnie Suburban's food blog got to me. The only andouille I could find at my local grocery was Aidell's. I was dubious. It is made in California for chrissakes. That and a little package of flash frozen shrimp (the best to get if you don't meet the boat) and I was off. Actually, the Aidell's wasn't half bad. It had just the right level of seasoning and smokiness. It was the perfect counterpoint to the shrimp so I would suggest using that combination. I had about 22 ounces of meat total and used the quantities I gave above. I decided not to do the tomato thing this time. One warning... Use a heavy pot. I used one of my Le Creuset and still had a little crusting of the rice on the bottom. (Not an altogether bad thing. I have been known to complain about that then scrape it off and hoard it for myself.) But then, I will never get used to this electric stove. Let us know how it goes, Bond Girl.

Hey, Ronnie. I am now munching on a bowl of pretty darn respectable jambalaya. It is an andouille and shrimp version. I left the tomatoes out of this one. (I can go either way.) Thanks for the inspiration. I also checked and there is no recipe in RecipeGullet for jambalaya. I nominate you to provide your version. Cut down to less than 5 gallons of course.

I don't see why not. I mean it sounds like you are satisfied that it isn't spoiled, just poorly cooked, right? I would think of maybe braising in some chicken stock or what have your for an hour or two before adding the beans. If the beans are already baked, they may turn to mush before the pork got tender. BTW... The last pork butt that I smoked wasn't all that good. Even though it got to the pulled pork phase, it just didn't have that porky taste and was not melt-in-your-mouth tender like it usually is. Maybe your pork came from the same pig. The pork butt looked good enough when I bought it... good fat cap, generous marbleing, etc. it just wasn't a good piece of pork. I don't know how you tell something like that ahead of time.

Yeah... I can picture her now. I think I just picked on Urvwater because I find her so intensely annoying.

Now THAT is a mighty fine looking pot of jambalaya. I have some chicken stock to use up. I know what I am going to make. I just wish I could get good tasso.

Isn't that BOILING? I am not kidding. She actually said she was sauteing. I can still picture the onions and celery getting boiled. It is driving me nuts who she was. Michelle Urvwater (sp?) maybe?

One word... GUMBO! I make this every year with turkey. There is a gumbo thread in the Louisiana forum that might interest you if you pursue gumbodom.

what are the round disc things you refer to? Ha! I found it! You can buy the disks at Bed, Bath & Beyond-type stores (at about half the price you see listed here): The green disk thingy HOORAY FOR TOLIVER! I drove myself NUTS looking for those things on the web. Somehow googling for "green disc thingy" wasn't working for me.

I have been eyeing that bottle of Mexican Crema in my fridge with the intent of beating the crap out of it to see what happens. Crema is real close to cream fraiche and is very good on those stewed apricots I fixed.

Bond Girl... Don't let the exchange between Dave and I intimidate you. Jambalaya is not a big mystery. It is basically cooking rice with a lot of yummy additions. If the first one isn't something that would win a cooking contest, don't worry about it. It will still be delicious. Give it a go.

I did get corned beef hash. I am nibbling on the last crispy bits out of the frying pan. I haven't had corned beef hash in a very long time. I am still not sure this rises to the level of weird as the original corn dog episode. (See the original post.) snowangel... Come on... BACON? That can't be weird.

Yeah... I wondered about that. Reviewing all of the recipes in my collection, they all call for the 1:1 volume ratio for the rice to the liquid, tomatoes or not. I haven't made jambalaya in a while, but I may have been known to dump in a little more chicken stock until it "looks right". I do a lot of cooking by look and feel so it is sort of hard to distill that down to a recipe. That is why I went to the books. Of course, they could all be wrong. That has been known to happen in this type of cookery.

Hmmm... I would check with klink on the smoking thing. PM him, maybe. I don't even know anyone that has tried it so I am no help there. Wouldn't it be absolutely cool if the 13 year old pulls this off? She will certainly come out of it knowing how a bird is put together. Maybe another science geek is being created. (OK... That is a particular prejudice of mine. ) It would be SO neat if you started a thread on this whole experience. Sort of a 13-year-old-does-turducken blog.

Oh snowangel... How fun. I have never done a turducken but, from what I have read and from the experience of friends, you had better start two days ahead. There are the dressings to be made as well as birds to be deboned, then assembled. Steingarten's experience has also convinced me of this. He also found that Prudhomme was the originator of the darn thing. So, if he has instructions in any of his books, that is the way I would go. Sounds like a trip to the library may be in order. Smoking one is intriguing and if you can control the temperature in your smoker over the very long haul, that would be an interesting approach. I would be a little more timid on my first outing and go for the oven where I have more control. But, what the hey. If a 13 year old is wanting to tackle this, I say go for it.

There is nothing at Pass Manchac either, except Middendorf's... the palace of thin (and I mean thin) fried catfish.

The cream thing drives me nuts. All I can find is the ultrapasteurized stuff and it has carageenan on top of that. I could probably find the real stuff at Central Market or Whole Foods but that is a 40 mile drive so it ain't happenin' very often. And I really, really want to know how much butterfat. (Needless to say, the more the better.)

I can't find a recipe that isn't copyrighted. I generally use one of Emeril's or Marcelle Bienvenu's recipes as a starter. Tomatoes can be controversial. I have never seen it with beans but then, there are as many jambalaya recipes as there are cooks in Louisiana. Type of meat, ratio of meat to rice, seasoning tweakings, the tomato issue result in all sorts of variations. I don't think I have ever made it the same way twice. I think of it as a "technique" rather than a recipe. Rough proportions for a pound or two of whatever kind of meat or seafood: 1 cup chopped onion/ 1/2 cup chopped green pepper/ 1/2 cup chopped celery. Some recipes are heavier on the onion. Salt, cayenne, bay leaves, thyme is the typical seasoning profile. 1 cup long grain white rice/one cup liquid, water or chicken broth are typical. One can chopped tomatoes (or not). You saute the veggies, usually seasoned with salt and cayenne, in oil or butter until at least wilted. I have seen recipes that saute the veggies until they begin to caramelize. Add the meat and saute for a few minutes. Seafood is sometimes added later in the cooking so it doesn't overcook. Add the rice, liquid, tomatoes (if you are using them), bay leaves and thyme, possibly some more salt and cayenne, maybe some hot sauce. Cover and cook over medium to medium low heat (depending on your stove) for 25 to 30 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is done. It is usually served with fresh chopped green onion as a topping. Let us know how it comes out.

Welcome to eGullet Tahoe! Do you know what the modified atmosphere is in the bags? I am guessing that they increase the nitrogen. I am also guessing that the funny smell on just opening the bag is also a product of whatever the lettuce is "breathing off" anyway. Actually that happens with a lot of (all?) produce. Picked fruits and veggies are not dead. They continue to metabolise and respire. As to the deleterious aspects of that on nutrition, I would expect anything that retards spoilage is more likely to preserve the nutritional value longer. With fast turnover of the bagged product, that whole head of lettuce may very well have spent longer getting to you than the bags, whether purchased in your local grocery or in the farmer's market. The only way you are going to know what you are getting is to go out into your own garden and pick it. I don't have any nutritional data on salad greens and degradation over time. That would be interesting. Produce has a very broad range of sensitivity to nutritional degradation depending upon time and storage conditions. You can get all kinds of funky smells on opening a closed container of just about any produce. (I find the smell on opening a plastic box of strawberries particularly unpleasant for some reason.) I suspect that most folks just don't expect it much with lettuce and the bagged product is fairly new so it seems to be a new phenomenon.

Thanks for the review on Sudie's. I STILL haven't been there. Now, I may be prompted to go. Thin and crispy caught my eye. I am glad to hear that the coleslaw is not too sweet. Actually, I prefer my coleslaw not sweet at all but search for that anywhere out of my kitchen seems to be futile so I will often settle for not-too-sweet.

Welcome, Lone Star. So glad to have another Houstonian aboard. The Texas Forum is growing nicely and I am sure it will provide you with a lot of information and entertainement. The rest of the eGullet universe is vast and interesting as well. If you need any guide services, feel free to PM me. We are a friendly lot. We don't even discriminate against our bretheren to the east of our Great State and, indeed, there is a lot of "cross-fertilization". However, I do believe that trying to smuggle okra tamales into Texas is a felony offense.

Now THAT is a brilliant use for andouille sausage. I must go get some andouille and get on this. Poured over cream biscuits would be good.

Damn. Must... Get... Corned Beef Hash... Must... Get... Corned Beef Hash.