Happy Mother’s Day, Laura … and to all those wonderful mothers out there!
Roger
happy mother’s day
fee fi fo Seafood GUMBO!
It takes me a few days to make my seafood gumbo… but then, I have to ‘taste it’ as we go along so it isn’t really a problem for me!
I am reminded that some home cooks complain about wonderful old cookbooks like the Epicurean because a recipe may be for 24… and not for 2!  However, I really don’t see the problem? If you make a lot of Seafood Gumbo and you are ‘forced’ to freeze the leftovers… oh darn!
In any event, when I talk about seafood gumbo, I am talking about the use of : diced clams, crab, lobster ( if you can get a bunch cheap) and little shrimp! After making a nice saffron rice ( Bomba is my favorite), place larger cooked pieces of crab and shrimp on top of the rice then pour over it your Gumbo mixture! Sublime!
If you make it, make it for someone you love!
it’s hot & miserable outside, so it is time for GUMBO!
I get asked questions like: How much seafood do you put into your gumbo? The answer is… it depends. I use chopped crab, tiny shrimps, and diced clams in the sauce. I use larger pieces of shrimp and crab when I am assembling the gumbo at the end. The reason is simple, when you cook seafood together it tends to blend into a harmonious wonderment… but you do want your friends to be reminded of what is in it, so you naturally add some larger cooked pieces into the sauce prior to serving.
Most of our spices don’t give up their flavorings easily and it is nice to have your first taste of gumbo have all of the original spices up front. For this reason, I add my various spices to my wine, stock, and clam juice cocktail and let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days… a spoonful of this and… ZOW-WEE!
Tomorrow, I make the rouge and begin putting this all together.
Bon appetite!
remembering Australia
Casanova toward the end of his life wrote that all he had to comfort himself was his memories. I do agree that happy expreiences and fond memories can be a comfort in anyone’s life. I am reminded on how we took some time and traveled to the South Seas, Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti and some other very special places with our young family.
Share your travel with your family and open a world to them.
the never ending pursuit of the perfect shortbread
Shortbread is an amazingly simple recipe and with very few tweaks you can make almost anything else… it is all so very yummy. As a child my first and favorite cookie was called Russian Teacakes… but they came by many names such as Mexican Wedding Cakes and Sandies. Shortbread is a more buttery alternative and i have merged it with some of the things in my favorite cookie…
Now, a little coffee and it’s perfect!