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eG Foodblog: Flocko - Dining in the Desert


Flocko

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It's a beautiful Saturday morning in the canyons. It's Farmer's Market Day. The Market is pretty small, but has nice produce and baked goods..........and great music every Saturday, so off we go: First stop, Otter and Son Frybread, Yummm:

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Then to Karuna Farms' Stand:

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Then to Oh Susanna's Bakery:

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Then to Manzana Farms:

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And then on to the music :biggrin::biggrin:

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Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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Slight change in the schedule, which I'm sure everyone will be delighted to hear... Due to the "technical difficulties" in the beginning of Bill's blog and the period of uncooperative weather during the blog, it will be extended through tomorrow, Sunday, 17 September.

:smile:

Life is short; eat the cheese course first.

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Here is the Santa Maria BBQ.  My former father-in-law, who lived in Cuyama, up in th e hills from Santa Maria had it made for me. 

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It looks a little worse for wear, but after 25+ years of cooking, so do I :raz: .  The crank on the side raises and lowers the firebox by means of a timing chain (some Santa Maria BBQs have a chain to raise and lower the cooking grate instead.  There is good ventilation by the vent at the side, and more red oak logs (which is unavailable here :sad: ...........I uses whatever hardwood I can get) can be added through the doors at front.

Whoa--I had never heard of this style of barbecue before! Of course I immediately went looking for the previous topic here on eGullet, and also out on the web ... wow, that's fascinating. (And yummy sounding!) And the grill apparatus looks really cool too--real folk-arty. Next time I take a trip up the California coast, I am definitely going to hunt around in the Santa Maria area and see if I can score me some Q. :biggrin:

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Here is the Santa Maria BBQ.  My former father-in-law, who lived in Cuyama, up in th e hills from Santa Maria had it made for me. 

gallery_8919_3572_61210.jpg

gallery_8919_3572_61039.jpg

It looks a little worse for wear, but after 25+ years of cooking, so do I :raz: .  The crank on the side raises and lowers the firebox by means of a timing chain (some Santa Maria BBQs have a chain to raise and lower the cooking grate instead.  There is good ventilation by the vent at the side, and more red oak logs (which is unavailable here :sad: ...........I uses whatever hardwood I can get) can be added through the doors at front.

Whoa--I had never heard of this style of barbecue before! Of course I immediately went looking for the previous topic here on eGullet, and also out on the web ... wow, that's fascinating. (And yummy sounding!) And the grill apparatus looks really cool too--real folk-arty. Next time I take a trip up the California coast, I am definitely going to hunt around in the Santa Maria area and see if I can score me some Q. :biggrin:

Mizducky, Hi:

Yeah, it's great Q! My son, who is sadly deceased, was an inspired young chef, and made some of the best Santa Maria BBQ ever..................He lived and cooked around Santa Maria and the central coast, and thus had access to the wood and ingredients. I do have some of his recipes :smile:

Bill

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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After the Farmer's Market, I stopped by Moonflower Market to pick up a couple more things, including "Love Nuggs" made by the lovely Melissa. I'm addicted to them :wub: :

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And to look over their additional produce:

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Now I'm home working on my courtbouillon.............This is a Louisiana dish, of my roots. This in Louisiana is pronounced not like in French, but "coobeeyon". It is a seafood soup, made with a roux, usually a little thinner than gumbo, and unlike most gumbos, usually has tomatoes in it.

The day before yesterday I made a fish stock out of leftover shells, scraps, bones etc.

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Then today I made a nice dark roux:

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Then I added the onions, peppers, and celery:

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I trasferred the mixture to a large pot

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And added the stock I had previously made:

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Tp be continued.........

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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I smell seafood gumbo.... (oops, you said courtbouillon...I missed that the first time around)

Nice roux. What fat did you use? Are you from Louisiana? I thought that roux looked pretty native.

Moab looks gorgeous, but all that lush turf next to the "beyond organic" produce looks a whole lot less than organic, methinks...

Edited by bavila (log)

Bridget Avila

My Blog

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I smell seafood gumbo.... (oops, you said courtbouillon...I missed that the first time around)

Nice roux.  What fat did you use?  Are you from Louisiana?  I thought that roux looked pretty native.

Moab looks gorgeous, but all that lush turf next to the "beyond organic" produce looks a whole lot less than organic, methinks...

For this roux, since it is going to be soley fish, I used olive and salad oil. I usually use part bacon fat for most of my gumbos.

I was "bred and buttered" in Louisiana..........till about age 11...........still visit regularly. I'm 6th generation Louisiana/Mississippi stock :wink:

Yeah, the Farmer's Market takes place at our "well manicured", lush, City Park :rolleyes: . It sure makes a great surface to lie on when I listen to the bluegrass and folk music :smile: However, knowing the powers that be in Moab City Government, I would be willing to bet it is "organic"...........or at least naturally fetilized and pest controlled. We have had a lot of controversy over such matters, especially in the field of mosquito control. The "Greens" won!! :biggrin:

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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For my courtbouillon, to the roux, trinity, and fish stock I added fresh heirloom tomatoes I had picked up at the Farmer's Market:

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I also added some allspice, bay leaves, thyme, worstershire, sherry, tomato paste, salt, tobasco. After a coupe of hours of simmering I ended up with:

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Then I added some assorted fish fillets I found and some scallops:

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I cooked the courtbouillon for an additional 20 minutes and made some rice and ended up with this:

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It was really good.............one of the best I've made :biggrin:

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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For my courtbouillon, to the roux, trinity, and fish stock I added fresh heirloom tomatoes I had picked up at the Farmer's Market:

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I also added some allspice, bay leaves, thyme, worstershire, sherry, tomato paste, salt, tobasco. After a coupe of hours of simmering I ended up with:

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Then I added some assorted fish fillets I found and some scallops:

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I cooked the courtbouillon for an additional 20 minutes and made some rice and ended up with this:

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It was really good.............one of the best I've made :biggrin:

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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Jumpin' Johosaphat!

I can appreciate a good seafood dish and that coobeeyon medley is outstanding. Wow. I have to make that - Thanks Flocko!

"I took the habit of asking Pierre to bring me whatever looks good today and he would bring out the most wonderful things," - bleudauvergne

foodblogs: Dining Downeast I - Dining Downeast II

Portland Food Map.com

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Gorgeous. It's all gorgeous. The 'coobeeyon', the scenery, the markets, the SM grill. When/how do you decide which grill to use? Are some foods better prepared on one vs. the other, or is it more a matter of time and convenience?

When I look at your photos of the markets and shops, I'm struck by how much the food options in this country have changed over the last, oh, 20 - 30 years. I expect mixing and changing in cities: New York and L.A, for example, have had so many waves of immigrants that the food scene must be fluid. I think the contrast between "then" and "now" in the interior portions of the country - Moab being a fine example - seems much more drastic. What do you think?

Finally: it's not nice to tell us you have a secret method of making your roux.... :angry:

....unless you want us to beg. :laugh:

So? :wub:

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Gorgeous.  It's all gorgeous.  The 'coobeeyon', the scenery, the markets, the SM grill.  When/how do you decide which grill to use?  Are some foods better prepared on one vs. the other, or is it more a matter of time and convenience?

When I look at your photos of the markets and shops, I'm struck by how much the food options in this country have changed over the last, oh, 20 - 30 years.  I expect mixing and changing in cities: New York and L.A, for example, have had so many waves of immigrants that the food scene must be fluid.  I think the contrast between "then" and "now" in the interior portions of the country - Moab being a fine example - seems much more drastic.  What do you think?

Finally: it's not nice to tell us you have a secret method of making your roux....  :angry:

....unless you want us to beg.  :laugh:

So?  :wub:

I thoiught you'd never ask :biggrin::biggrin:

It's really not a secret...............It's a variation of a techniqueI got from a spiral bound cookbook I picked up on my annual jaunt to New Orleans about 25 years ago. The book is called "Tout Suite a la Microwave". After making roux the conventional way for years, and watching my mother and cook slave laboriously over it............all with mixed results, I decided to give it a try.

Take a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup. Put 2/3 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of oil/butter/fat. Stir with whisk, Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Whisk, Microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk, Once more. Then go to one minute intervals whisking in between till the color roux you want is achieved. In about 20 minutes you have a great roux without burning.................and much quicker than the 2 hours it used to take me.

For this courtbouillon I made two batches. For a big gumbo :biggrin: to cook in my big stockpot, I will make 4 batchs.

Give it a try. It's never failed...................and like I did here, you can fool your "foodie friends" by making it ahead and putting it in a skillet before they arrive so they can see you slaving over the finishing stages of your roux :wink:

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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That explains why your skillet is so shiny! :biggrin: I'm going to try your microwave roux trick tonight.

Loving the blog, and especially your house!

Then today I made a nice dark roux:

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...

Take a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup.  Put 2/3 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of oil/butter/fat.  Stir with whisk, Microwave on high for 4 minutes.  Whisk, Microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk, Once more.  Then go to one minute intervals whisking in between till the color roux you want is achieved.  In about 20 minutes you have a great roux without burning.................and much quicker than the 2 hours it used to take me. 

For this courtbouillon I made two batches.  For a big gumbo :biggrin: to cook in my big stockpot,  I will make 4 batchs.

Give it a try.  It's never failed...................and like I did here, you can fool your "foodie friends" by making it ahead and putting it in a skillet before they arrive so they  can see you slaving over the finishing stages of your roux :wink:

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Thanks to Susan I have an extra day to blog :biggrin::biggrin:

This morning we went to the Eclectica Cafe for breakfast again. The lovely Chelsea served our coffee:

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This morning I had the lox and bagels. My companion had a breakfast burrito.

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Before I left the house this morning, Fred came over for a visit. I was informed yesterday by Mary, Fred (Pesto)'s true owner that he had apparently gotten into a fight and had an ear infections caused therefrom. He looked no worse for wear this morning however as he cheks out my other two pets, Shadrak and Mishak.............er, they're not real dogs

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Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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Wow. Nuke roux. I don't know whether to rejoice at the breakthrough or cry at the sacrilege.

Gotta think on this one, but it sure looks GOOD. I was gonna mention stirring with a wooden flat-paddle thing---I use them for anything that might stick to the bottom and would need constant stirring. That old "Make the creme anglaise/ice cream custard/roux with Grandma's silver tablespoon--that's the secret" is a crock. It just leaves a scraped spot the size of a thread on the panbottom. It's a good clear FLAT scrape you need, with a complete clean of the pan bottom every few scrapes.

Off the soapbox. On to muse about the newfangled method. If it works for you. . .

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That explains why your skillet is so shiny! :biggrin:  I'm going to try your microwave roux trick tonight.

Loving the blog, and especially your house!

Then today I made a nice dark roux:

gallery_8919_3572_98547.jpg

...

Take a 4 cup pyrex measuring cup.  Put 2/3 cup of flour and 2/3 cup of oil/butter/fat.  Stir with whisk, Microwave on high for 4 minutes.  Whisk, Microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk, Once more.  Then go to one minute intervals whisking in between till the color roux you want is achieved.  In about 20 minutes you have a great roux without burning.................and much quicker than the 2 hours it used to take me. 

For this courtbouillon I made two batches.  For a big gumbo :biggrin: to cook in my big stockpot,  I will make 4 batchs.

Give it a try.  It's never failed...................and like I did here, you can fool your "foodie friends" by making it ahead and putting it in a skillet before they arrive so they  can see you slaving over the finishing stages of your roux :wink:

Edsel:

:laugh: The other reason is that is my newfangled nickel plated cast iron skillet. When I was outfitting the new digs, I saw this in a cooks catalogue and had to try it. It is certainly easier to clean and keep clean and rust free than the old kind.......but I still have several sizes of the old Lodge ones :wub:

Bill

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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East coast Louisiana ex-patriate piping in on the nuked roux. Make SURE you cook at ever shorter units of time and stir, stir, stir. Otherwise you'll have a nice lump of coal (or several itty bitty ones) in your roux. Ick.

I'm not bothered by the microwave technique, but it's never seemed to really be any more convenient for me -- maybe having the scalding pot on the stove is just better for my visually-centered brain than trying to remember what the heck I have in the microwave that went off 10 minutes ago. :wink:

Bridget Avila

My Blog

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Last night while I was prepping the courtbouillon, I took a ride down the river again.............this time on the west side of the river about 10 miles downriver from Moab.

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I found a few petoglyphs along the way:

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And here is a shot of our fair town from about 300 feet up one of the cliffs above town, looking down into the valley and town and the cliff opposite.

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Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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East coast Louisiana ex-patriate piping in on the nuked roux.  Make SURE you cook at ever shorter units of time and stir, stir, stir.  Otherwise you'll have a nice lump of coal (or several itty bitty ones) in your roux.  Ick.

I'm not bothered by the microwave technique, but it's never seemed to really be any more convenient for me -- maybe having the scalding pot on the stove is just better for my visually-centered brain than trying to remember what the heck I have in the microwave that went off 10 minutes ago.  :wink:

Bavila, Hi:

Yeah, you're absolutely right. When it starts to get real lumpy/grainy and brown, I reduce my time intervals to 40 seconds then to 30 and 20 and whisk each time hard.

I like this method, cause I never had the guts or skill to do my cast iron roux at high heat like Prudhomme or others more skillful than I. I was always afraid of burning......Therefore 2-3 hours of slooooow browning...........my back would give out before the roux got dark as delta gumbo mud :biggrin: I still use a skillet for lighter roux when I need that color, or need a roux that'll thicken better.

Bill

Bill Benge

Moab, Utah

"I like eggs", Leon Spinks

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California girl that I am, I don't have a dog in this fight - so I'm all for trying the nuke method. My attempts at roux so far have stopped short of something really brown, for fear of burning it. Your method sounds a touch easier to control than the heavy metal pan on the burner. I'll be sure to keep in mind the business about nuking for shorter periods as it gets close to the right color. Thanks!

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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Bill - thanks for the blog. The food looked tasty, the sites breathtaking, the town charming and your home is truly beautiful. I've really enjoyed it.

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I'm really thinking about that roux---my LEAST favorite part of any gumbo. I'm gonna try it---the cool is coming fast, and it will be time to get out all the big pots and roux skillets---maybe I'll sneak a Pyrex one on the family vs. the old black skillet variety, but true to any Southern cook prinking with tradition, I won't tell til they taste it.

It's been a lovely tour; I've especially enjoyed the scenery---all those purple mountain majesties, etc., and the petroglyphs are beyond price. Is that notch a carved-out standing platform for the artists? And far off to the right, I swore I saw someone wheeling a baby carriage. And the elktoes!!!

You go have a quiet one in your beautiful cozy home, and enjoy your incomparable view. The vistas are breathtaking. Thanks for sharing the wonder.

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