PopsicleToze

When I use a premade roux for a gumbo, I saute the trinity first in a large cast iron fryer with high sides (not sure what it's called -- we call it a "chicken fryer"). After the trinity is sauteed, I add the roux from the jar to the skillet. It's separated with some oil on top and the flour portion packed pretty tightly in the jar. It comes out in big clumps. I smash out all of the lumps and get everything up to heat again. I whisk in stock to make a thick liquid -- then transfer all to a pot big enough for gumbo -- add the rest of the stock and seasonings and take it from there like you would on any gumbo.

I admire you for wanting to give your best effort to the senior citizens, and it's definitely okay to let off some steam in here. However, at this point it seems it's time to decide who you're trying to please -- your tastes or the tastes of the senior citizens you're paid to cook for. For your happiness and contentment, maybe you've gone as far as you can here and need to find a new outlet -- one that will allow you to experiment and do creative foods more diverse than this setting.

A few more ideas... In the spirit of not wasting anything, when you buy 1 bunch of green onions for a dish, save and plant the ends of green onions for future use. I chop the green and most of the white for use leaving about 1" white onion at the bottom and the little roots. Stick them in a little glass of water for a few days to help the roots, then plant them in pots on the patio. They grow like weeds, and when you need green onions, just go snip some in the back. I have a little forest of green onions now. If you don't want to bake bread and your city has day-old bakery places, you can find some great deals. Look for grocery market sales on frozen vegetables. Since they pick the vegetables at the last minute before freezing, some of these vegetables can be quite good.

I like Fabio, but I don't see him lasting too much longer. The taste of his food evidently is not up to par with his confidence level. Too bad, though. Instead of taking the criticism about his elimination challenge dish, he just shrugged it off saying something like, In Europe it's all about Italy vs France, then said something about Italy beating them in a sports event, therefore, this guy's comment was just to put Italy down. What a cop out. He's still a very likable guy.

We grew up thinking that Kitchen Bouquet was a necessary ingredient in gravy. New Orleans cooking authority, Tom Fitzmorris, comments on the customary practice here

Wish I could help but I don't know that I've ever purchased oat bran -- but I do use wheat bran and it needs to be refrigerated after opening. Is that the case with oat bran? If so, I hope you have an extra refrigerator in the garage.

Our Christmas dinner sure qualifies, unfortunately. I usually do all of the cooking for family events. This year was at Mom's and she and one of my cousins planned the menu and decided that they didn’t want me to “have” to do the “work” this year (they will never understand that it is not work – but fun). Anyway, they were trying to be nice. This girl lives in Manhattan and her idea of cooking is choosing a restaurant. She’s a great girl, but why oh why did she want to plan the menu?!? The 2 entrées – fried turkey and ham – sound fine. The reality of the situation was that the turkey was burnt and crisp on the outside, but the portion I was served included part of a bloody leg. The person bringing the ham bought one of the supermarket spiral-sliced hams. She carried it in the door still in the plastic grocery bag with the ham still in the cryovac packaging. The cooking method – slice open the plastic and serve cold. It doesn’t get much better after that. Instead of my mom’s great cornbread dressing, my sister made it. She hates to cook but thinks she can. Her latest culinary insight is that people eat too much salt, so she omits it when cooking saying the eater can always add it later. I cringed when I heard the plop of that dressing hitting my plate. The sides were forgettable. The only dessert I remember was the pecan pie, and that was so soupy that it had to be eaten in a bowl with a spoon. We improvised and served it over ice cream. We had a great visit, however, but I was sure drooling looking at all of your great Christmas dinners.

I think I found the news article for the coupon lady: Queen of Cheap Shares Grocery Game Secrets ABC News - Jan 5, 2009 Teri Gault has been called both the "Queen of Cheap" and the "Coupon Queen," but the penny-pinching advice on her Web site, www.thegrocerygame.com, ... However, ABC's site says it can't find it. Anyway, the picture on her site looks like the woman I remember (blonde and pretty) Click for The Grocery Game Site

Another place off I-10 is Benoit's Country Meat Block in Addis, LA. It's on La Hwy 1 -- you'll exit in Port Allen just before you get to the new Mississippi River Bridge. It's only a few miles detour, and it's worth it just for the smoked beef jerky. It's terrific and the best I've found around these parts. They have great sausages, meats, etc., too. It's not a big place, but it is excellent. I stop at Best Stop, too, for the boudin, but the past few times I've been their cracklins haven't been up to par. They seem to skip that second fry that makes the skin pop and it's hard to eat. We still manage to eat it, however. There is a better place for cracklins just up I-49 in Lafayette. It's at a gas station. They have terrific cracklins, hot and homemade, for $11.00/lb. I do have a picture from the trip we made in December. I'll try to locate it. But I don't know the name of it. Maybe someone from the area will know it. Another place is Hebert's Specialty Meats in Maurice, LA (south of Lafayette). They have the best stuffed, deboned chicken. I believe a member of the same family opened up a place in New Orleans, but we still stop by Hebert's in Maurice. If you forget your ice chest, they have styrofoam ones there for sale. Have fun! Rhonda

Can you tell us where to find such a coupon site? ← I wish I could remember the one where the lady received $300 of groceries for $77. It had her name in it, so it's not easy for me to Google and find. I'm just now starting to look for coupons, but check out this article with sites. It seems like a nice place to start and the comments include readers suggestions for other sites: Click Here for Smart Money Article

Another thing I don't recall seeing mentioned before is coupons. There are coupon sites that allow you to print your coupons on your personal printer -- and the variety is great. There are sites that help you "match" the current coupons to the sales in the grocery stores located within your area. It can definitely be worthwhile to look into this. I was watching a news show and they interviewed a lady who took advantage of the coupon deals in her area. Her $300 purchase went down to $77. And good luck to everyone in trying times. Hope things turn around real soon. Meanwhile, it's always a good time to save money. Using coupons are one of my 2009 resolutions. It's almost like free food -- and that helps any budget.

Chicken leg-quarters are on special frequently in 10-pound bags. At about $0.49/lb, they are a steal. The day I buy them I trip, brine the thighs and make stock with the rest. However, you can make some meals with the drumstick -- really nice deboned and then stuffed, cooked then served with a great sauce. Chicken giblets are also underutilized. My favorite way to have chicken livers is to simply fry them, but you can make some nice meals with them, too, sautéed and served in a sherry sauce, paté, etc. A big money saver for me was to eliminate carbonated drinks from my diet. It was rough at first as I started my mornings with a huge Diet Coke, but after reading about the harmful effects of the sweetener in it, I quit cold turkey. I keep iced tea on hand at all times and lemons by the bagful. Just a splash of lemon in water is a great refresher. Have you considered making your own homemade fresh mozzarella and ricotta cheese? For the cost of some milk, you can make some great cheese. With this group you’ll have some great meals. One picture that keeps running through my mind is fish-head soup.

Using the head for head-cheese would be a great project. I think someone (Daniel??) has a thread on pig with the head and it houses some good ideas. There is an excellent illustrated thread about pigs legs (maybe named pigs trotters). I have it saved it my "must try" file, but I forgot to note whose thread it was and I'm not good with the search feature. I hope you can find it. Also, don't waste an opportunity to make homemade cracklins. We just went through Cajun country a few weeks ago on our way to Natchitoches and stopped to get some. The picture is still on my camera so I can't upload, but they were so sood. Good luck and please post lost of pictures of what you decide to make. Rhonda

I've always popped popcorn on the stove. It's so fast and so good and it never burns. The few times I've tried the microwaved popcorn (in hotels or at the office), I always burn it. I've tried all types of oils, spices, herbs, etc., and my favorite is to pop it in Crisco's butter-flavored shortening. It tastes buttier when popped when cooked in the butter-flavored shortening than if it had popped in actual butter. Best topping -- just a sprinkling of sea salt and some Creole seasoning. I buy the popcorn in the bag and then store it in an old Orville Redenbacher jar in the freezer. It pops clean without any burning and almost every kernal pops. (Orville's popcorn is good -- but about 4X the price of the popcorn in the bag, which is just as good.) Rhonda P.S. - Jaymes, I made some of your caramel corn with pecans and peanuts, and now the office is addicted to the stuff, too. We use the nickname someone else gave it -- they come to my office and ask for some "crack".

Oyster & artichoke soup would be a great way to use up some of your oysters. It's on my short list of fabulous recipes. Rhonda

Mom's cornbread dressing -- made in a huge roaster -- has a dozen raw eggs and a dozen hard boiled eggs. Base is 1 cast iron skillet of cornbread. I never can understand how one skillet of cornbread can be the base for that huge dressing. It has a huge pot of sauteed vegetables in butter, several cans of golden cream of mushroom soup (yeah, I know -- we've discussed -- they stay, lol) a couple of chickens deboned and I'm sure a few other things. The raw eggs in addition to a binding makes it rise a bit -- kindof like cornbread chicken dressing souffle. Sometimes it has oysters and sometimes it doesn't. The description sounds whacked, but it is possibly the best dressing I have ever tasted. Rhonda

Toast and soft eggs in the morning. Toast and toasted cheese in the afternoon. I'm thinking that fresh baked bread is big on my list

Cooks generally use a cast iron skillet to make rouxs -- and OMG do they get hot. I don't know what would happen but the absolutely last thing I would do is put one of those hot babies directly from the fire to an icewater bath. Something would happen, and it wouldn't be something good.

Roux powder or oil-less roux -- it's just browned flour, and it works well. Many people go to this method when they want to reduce fat in their diet. Moi? Bacon fat makes a pretty good roux, too. OIL-LESS ROUX: 2 cups all purpose flour Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spread flour evenly across the bottom of a 15-inch cast iron skillet. Bake, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 hour. Make sure to stir well around the edges of the skillet so flour does not scorch. Cook flour until light or dark color is achieved, depending on use. The roux will become darker when liquid is added. When desired color is reached, cool on a large cookie sheet, stirring occasionally. Store in a sealed jar for future use. 1 cup of oil-less roux will thicken 1 ½ quarts of stock to a proper gumbo consistency. from John Folse

You don't have to freeze jarred roux. It keeps indefinitely in the refrigerator. You could probably keep it at room temperature -- I don't recall anything saying "refrigerate after opening" on the jar, but it doesn't take much room in the fridge. I make my own. However, just like stock, I am rarely without an emergency back-up on hand.

It's a great idea. Treat a fresh ham as you would a regular pork roast. I brine (last time in a mixture of apple cider, beer and water) but it's probably not necessary. Stuff it with garlic and rosemary. It tastes great!

WOW! Those are works of art. They look fabulous!!!

It sure is. When I saw it in Southern Living, I thought I had seen that cake before -- so I read the article and lo and behold -- it was Brooks' cake. It was my first cake ever made from scratch. Everyone loved it.

Thanksgiving was a success with no great disasters. We didn't even burn the rolls, and I think that's a first. These were my contributions: Fried turkey Garlic and Rosemary Roasted Pork Loin Rolls - rising (the camera ate the picture of them baked evidently) But the star of the show was definitely the Coconut Almond Cream Cake. I baked the cake and made the filling the night before, and iced the cake Thanksgiving morning. It was a bit time-consuming, but definitely well worth it. I was worried because I'm definitely not a baker and the instructions said to "pour the batter" into the cake pans. The batter was not really pourable and had to be spread into the pans with a spatula. I crossed my fingers and kept going. Coconut almond filling -- ready for top layer Finally finished

Thanks! I've never seen them and will look for them at the market.