fifi

Sheesh. You guys are asking real questions. I think the zucchini is what did it. We grow a lot of squash, corn, peas, eggplant and tomatoes. And yes . . . some grow okra. Brooks, what is a gumbo but a soup with roux? Think about it. But it is that roux that makes a world of difference. It elevates gumbo to an etherial plane. Well, that and the trinity. So . . . Let's say you do up a roux, dump in the trinity, add maybe a rich chicken stock. Cook it down for a while so the trinity blends in. With that base, you add in chunks of vegetables. At this point, I am inclined to think of tomato, onion, celery, pepper maybe, still thinking about eggplant, fresh cut corn may not hurt. Hell, it might even be good. I am inclined to slip some sausage in there, though.

I love baby bok choy. They are so darn cute. I often even do them in a non-Asian style. I have steamed them whole mostly and then varied what I sauced them with. I leave the trimmed end on so that they hold together. Talk about cross cultural . . . One time I steamed them and served with hollandaise. It was surprisingly good. Other bok choy, I will saute briefly in whatever floats my boat at the time. I don't separate the greens from the stalks but that is because I like the stem parts to stay really crunchy. I just chop it up and dump into the pot with some oil and garlic. I may add red pepper paste and a splash of soy. Sesame oil and other flavors are a whim.

An immersion blender is going to be a gift to myself really soon. (typical after-holiday exercise) Sur La Table is holding a Bamix for me. I can't wait. I have had similar ideas to jensen's broccoli soup. That meshes well with my quest for eating more of the vegetable kingdom.

I took a furlough from soup. Last week I was knee deep in gumbo and etouffee. Then, it has been unseasonably warm here. It got up to 80 degrees F today but is supposed to cool down tonight. But I am not ready to give up on soup. I still have to work on making little pots of it and I have beef and chicken stock in the freezer.

Jason's evil Tater Tot thread has made those a recent freezer must have. The freezer is naked without them and I start feeling just a bit insecure. Sam's used to carry bags of these big stuffed pasta shells that were really very good. Add a quick tomato sauce or a cheese sauce with pesto and we were in business. I haven't seen those in a while, though. And thank you, Mr. Birdseye, for inventing frozen vegetables. I keep Stouffer's spinach souffle on hand for a veggie snack. I need all the vegetables I can get. And, sometimes, nothing will do but a chicken pot pie. I prefer the ones with full crust. After all, that is why I eat the darn things.

*bump* We are having a heck of a gumbo cook off over in the Cooking Forum. Then something came up (actually hatched out of my brain unexpectedly) starting here. In all of my years of cooking and eating gumbo, I don't think I have ever run into, and certainly never made, anything like a "summer vegetable" gumbo. (I am not counting gumbo d'zherbs as I think of that as a whole different dish that just happens to use the word "gumbo.") I thought I would throw the idea out here to you local experts. What the heck. I can take a few brick bats.

Corn. Check. Actually I was kinda sorta kidding about that gumbo, but the more I think about it, the more I am intrigued by the idea. I may bump up the thread in the Louisiana Forum and see if anyone has ever heard of anything like that. I mean, I have eaten and have made seafood gumbos with more and bigger vegetables but never one where the vegetables are the main star. (I don't count gumbo d'zherbs. I think of that as a whole different dish.)

I admit, I keep jarred roux in my pantry. I was really happy to see my groceries start to carry the lighter as well as the darker roux. I use it when I want to whip up a couple of servings of some dish. I agree with Jack that it tastes pretty much the same to me. But, for gumbo, what I would miss is the hiss, scream and smell of the trinity hitting the hot roux. I really think it adds to the experience and the flavor. I have never tried it but I wonder if you can successfully get jarred roux that hot without burning it. Does anyone have experience doing this?

For some of the new folks, a little interesting eGullet history: I think the "Okra Wars" started here. I don't think I need to restate my position on okra. The action accelerated with my search for a crock pot. I was really particular about the decoration of said pot. This culminated in this classic post by mudpuppie here. There is some interesting discussion up-thread from that post. The issue of okra has since permeated my relationship with Mayhaw Man, even though it is, otherwise, a warm and friendly relationship. To retain that warm relationship, I will refrain from criticizing his blatant lobbying for YES votes regarding this loathsome vegetable.

Jack, Are you familiar with Monica Pope's efforts in the Heights and next to her newish T'afia restaurant? I haven't been yet but my sister has and says that they have the germ of an idea but hardly anything like I have seen in DC or Chicago. I know that we have growers in the area that are supplying restaurants and places like Hong Kong Market. I would think that we have the makings of a good market. I also think that the chef's here would welcome one place to go pick up their specialties. Houston is so spread out I was even thinking that rotating venues would be a good idea. You know, "it is Tuesday so the market is in West Houston" type of thing.

What a cool idea, getting to draw on walls. I hope you got a shot of what everyone wrote. That will be nostalgic gold in a few years.

Hellman's in my house. Even better, my local grocery has started carrying the Hellman's Mayonessa which is made with lime juice. I rarely make my own. I also admit to preferring mayo over mustard on hot dogs (the dog must be burnt) and cheeseburgers. The one habit that I picked up in the Netherlands is french fries dipped in mayo. That raises some eyebrows. But, they have these wonderful stands for "frites" and this lovely mayonaise that is somehow lighter and often carries some flavoring, like Sambal, my favorite. I am told that the stuff they serve is a Belgian style mayonaise. I would like to learn how to make that.

Welcome to the Society, Jack. So glad to have you. Yeah, I agree with what you say about "real Texas chili." But I still like what chocolate does to a bowl. I don't think the chili queens in San Antonio used chocolate. I think that Pedernales chili recipe comes closer but it does have . . . um . . . tomatoes. Could you expound on the CASI rules, please?

I have to agree with Brooks here. (OMG! What is the world coming to?) I like my gumbo juice to be thin enough to wet down into the rice and leave a puddle at the end to be sopped up by a peice of buttered baguette. And, there are exceptions, but the dark rouxs lend themselves to stronger flavors like birds and sausage. I do make a fricassee with beef that I have adapted from Emeril's recipe that calls for dumping beef cubes into the scorching hot dark roux. It is just amazing but is a whole different thing. It is thicker but I wouldn't say "mud." Laniloa, thanks for my chuckle for the evening.

Laniloa . . . Now that is in the true spirit of gumbo. Zucchini? Outrageous! Inspired! And a darned good idea. Next summer, when my zucchini growing friends dump the latest truckload on my doorstep, I know one thing I am going to make. Hmmm . . . What if you made the dark roux base including the cooked down trinity, then added in chunked vegetables: squash, eggplant, tomato, onion. A summer gumbo maybe?

I have always thought about this but have never done it. How extremely wise to make up the gumbo base and freeze it so you have it ready for whatever seafood might come your way. Wisdom. True wisdom.

I forgot about that. Susan makes an excellent suggestion. I did get the chance to cook in friends' kitchens, some of them extremely high dollar. I came to one conclusion . . . I hate island cooktops. In the kitchens I was in, they were always in an awkward place, they couldn't use gas because of local codes, and the ventilation sucked. (Well, not really, the problem is it didn't suck, in the literal sense.) Also, and this is a strictly personal opinion (sort of like not liking orange), I find that I hate granite. That saved me the price of a pretty good car.

I think you have hit on the important thing. It is not where you are now, but where you are in the journey. And it is a journey. If I ever felt that I knew it all, had nothing else to learn, nothing new to explore, I think I would slit my throat! That is one of the magic things about food. It is needed. It is life sustaining in so many ways. And the variety is endless.

I have made venison and sausage gumbo several times. Sometimes that is the only thing to do with that hunk-o-bambi. My nephew did a "game gumbo" one time for the big game cookery get together for CCA. I think it had duck, venison and maybe goose. I am pretty sure he used goose stock. Smithy, yours looks just fine to me. Like I said, sometimes I like the veggies still being in evidence. Your impatience is certainly understandable. In my mind, the smell of gumbo making is one of those things that you can't get out of your mind. (Or house, either. ) This topic has to go down in history as one of the great ones. It is so cool that folks are making their first gumbo and getting such spectacular results. There are lots of styles represented here and lots of innovation. Great stuff. Next, a disclaimer . . . Any good information in any of my recipes or techniques described have to be credited to my Gumbo Goddess, not me. As she stirs the pot for St. Peter (in more ways than one, I am sure) I hope she is smiling down at seeing the magic of gumbo spread across the world.

In my area of the country and within my group of family and friends, the funeral party usually decamps to the house of the family closest to the loved one after the services. This may be a regional thing, not really related to any particular denomination. It sounds strange to some folks that the immediate family gets stuck with holding this typically large party. Actually, those most bereaved have to step up to the plate and soldier on. I think that starts the healing process. I have seen it happen. Last year, a dear friend passed away, way too young. We were cooking buddies and she had many such buddies. We organised so that everyone brought that special recipe that she used to request for get togethers, or things we had cooked together. It was quite an international and eclectic menu but we had a great time remembering that special person and the warm hospitality her home always held for all of us. It was a great way to celebrate her life.

Crunched up Fritos or Doritos (or is that Tostitos?) Gold chips, splash on picante sauce, grate some cheese on top, nuke for a minute.

Yep. Nothing like good sweet shrimp in that buttery sauce. That was really a good batch of shrimp. I am glad I did the etouffee with it rather than a Shrimp Creole.

Having made the gumbo, today calls for a shrimp etouffee. This is my drop dead simple version. 1 stick of butter 2 tablespoons flour 2 cups diced onion 1 cup diced celery 1 cup diced bell pepper (I like the red ones) 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoons salt or more to taste 1 cup shrimp stock (or chicken if you didn't make shrimp stock from the shells) 1 pound of shrimp peeled and deveined Melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook for maybe 3 minutes. You don't want to brown the flour, just cook off the raw taste. Stir in the chopped vegetables, cayenne and salt and cook until the vegetables just begin to wilt. Add the stock slowly. Add the shrimp and cook until just done. Serve over white rice adding chopped parsley and green onion if you wish.

Heh . . . The smell is something to be savored or despised. It is 60 degrees F here and I have the windows open. The smell has dissipated after 24 hours.

Thanks for the kind words. If you go for seafood gumbo, use whatever is cheap and available. I will say that my crabmeat did not come cheap but I was wanting some. The tomato did not disentigrate into the sauce as you can see. No, no ketchup was added. I only added the Worchestershire after tasting. The peanut butter roux generally has more thickening strength than the really dark. In this case, that didn't work. That is why I said that when I do this again, I won't use as much liquid. Please post your recipe.