Gumbo Cravings

It was either that recipe for Rabbit Gumbo I looked at last week or the knowledge that I'll be landing in New Orleans a mere two weeks from today that has gotten my gumbo cravings flowing.

Have you ever made a real, honest to god, café au lait colored, rich nutty flavored roux, Gumbo? It is a simple, beautiful thing.
But it takes some patience.

Well, patience I've got. And I'm fortunate to have the time to stand around, performing a seemingly endless job of stirring flour and oil together, until the perfectly colored roux is achieved. It really only takes about an hour on our stove, but that hour moves like molasses. And quel catastrophe if little black specks appear in your roux! That means dumping it in the bin and starting all over again.
That happened to me once and I swear, never again. Patience - there's that word again. Remember, rushing the roux will result in little black specks.

I'm making a classic, Cajun Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo this afternoon. I'll post a full gumbo chronicle, the recipe and photos tomorrow. Maybe I can convince some of you to attempt this memorable, mouthwatering dish that has me under its spell?

Chef John D. Folse has a very informative tutorial on roux. Pin It

Curry From the Caribbean

Long before I was making Indian or Thai curries, I often made this rich pork curry from the Caribbean. Colombo is a Creole curry from Martinique and Guadeloupe. Its origins lie with the Sri Lankans, who were taken to the French West Indies to work on the sugar plantations and brought curry powder with them. On the islands, "Colombo'' is now a general term for a curried meat or seafood stew.

This pork Colombo curry is another one of my all time favorite recipes. The pork is mouth-wateringly tender and the sauce is tangy and intense. As the pork browns, the sugar caramelizes, creating a harmony between the sugar and the spice that is truly unforgettable. The sweet potato almost completely falls apart during cooking, thickening what at first seems to be a large quantity of chicken stock. Madras curry powder may be substituted if you don't want to make your own poudre de Colombo. (recipe below)
When I asked my husband what word he would use to describe this dish he replied, "sublime.'' I think that says it all.

Pork Colombo

• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2 inch cubes
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons good quality curry powder, preferably Colombo curry powder (recipe below)
• 5 cups chicken stock
  
• 5 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 green bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried

1. Combine the pork, lime juice and garlic in a bowl and let marinate for an hour.
2. Mix the sugar, allspice and cinnamon together in a bowl.
   
3. Remove the pork from the marinade, letting the excess drip off and mix it with the sugar and spice mixture.
   
4. Heat the oil in a big, heavy pot over medium-high heat. In small batches, brown the pork then remove it to a bowl.
5. Add the onions to the pot and cook until soft, stirring often to make sure they don't stick, about 10 minutes. If the onions begin to stick, add a couple of tablespoons of chicken stock.
   
6. Sprinkle the curry powder over the onions and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
   
7. Put the pork and any juices in the bottom of the bowl back in the pot along with the carrots, green pepper, sweet potato, bay leaves, thyme and chicken stock.
8. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat so the liquid is simmering, partially cover and cook for 30 minutes.
9. Uncover, raise the heat to medium and simmer another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the pork is really tender.
10. Remove the bay leaves and thyme sprigs, if using fresh thyme.
11. Serve with lots of cooked white rice.
12. Serves 6-8
    

Poudre de Colombo

1. Toast 1/4 cup uncooked white rice in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking frequently, until light brown, about 5 minutes. Remove and cool.
   
2. In the same skillet, toast 1/4 cup cumin seeds, 1/4 cup coriander seeds, 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, 1 tablespoon fenugreek seeds and 1 teaspoon whole cloves until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 2 to 3 minutes.
   
3. Cool the spices, combine with the toasted rice, and grind to a fine powder.
   
4. Stir in 2 teaspoons turmeric.
   
5. Makes about 1 cup.

Stored in an airtight container, the powder will keep for several months.


Here is another good Colombo recipe from Food and Wine magazine that I've made. Pin It

My Next Splurge

I've been drooling over this gorgeous book for the last couple of years. It is crammed full of recipes (a mere 700 of them), photos, step-by-step instructions and detailed history of Cajun and Creole cuisine.
In New Orleans I almost broke down and bought it at my friend's shop, The Kitchen Witch, but the damn thing weighs 10 pounds and my bags were already too full! Now I regret not hauling it back to France with me.

Let's see, I just had a birthday. How many days left until Christmas? Pin It

Top 100 - 86 Through 90

86. Phad Prik Moo (pork with red chili sauce). A super easy, quick dish that is full of crunchy vegetables and nice and spicy. I found the recipe in Simply Thai Cooking by Wandee Young and Byron Ayanoglu.

Pork With Red Chili Sauce

10 ounces trimmed pork tenderloin
1/2 medium green pepper
6 long green beans
5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons red curry paste
1 cup water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup bamboo shoot strips
20 whole fresh basil leaves
strips of red pepper
2 1/2 cups freshly steamed rice

1. Slice tenderloin into strips that are 1/4 inch thick, 2 inch long and about 1 inch wide. If you find it difficult to cut thinly through fresh meat, leave it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes to harden slightly, and then slice. Reserve.
2. Cut pepper into 1 inch squares. Trim ends of long beans and then chop into 1 inch pieces. Reserve peppers and beans together.
3. Heat oil in a wok (or large frying pan) until it is just about to smoke. Lower the heat and add garlic and curry paste and stir fry for 45 seconds. Immediately add water and raise heat to maximum. Stir-cook for 1 minute and add fish sauce and sugar. Stir-cook for 2 minutes, until the sauce is smooth and bubbling.
4. Add reserved pork and stir-cook for 2 minutes. Add reserved peppers and long beans, as well as the bamboo shoot strips, and stir-cook for 4-5 minutes, until everything appears to be cooked and the sauce has thickened somewhat. Add 3/4 of the basil leaves and stir into the sauce. Take off the fire and transfer to a serving dish. Top with some red pepper strips and the rest of the basil leaves. Serve immediately, accompanied by steamed rice.
Serves 4

87. The Fried Shrimp Po' Boy. I order it undressed because I don't like mayonnaise, but then pour on lots of Crystal hot sauce. A dressed po' boy comes with mayo, lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. The shrimp are sweet and firm with a hot, crunchy coating. I like them at Elizabeth's, with a side order of praline bacon. (because the fried shrimp just aren't fattening enough!)

88. A French Market Bag. We use them at the grocery store and outdoor markets, for carrying wine and food to friend's houses and they're perfect to take to the beach.



89. Roasted Red Peppers. I like them marinated in olive oil and garlic, on sandwiches, in tarts or quiches, on salads and mixed with scrambled eggs. Making you own is easy, even if you don't have a gas stove.
Turn on your oven's broiler, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and roast the peppers about 6 inches from the broiler, turning them as the skin starts to blister and blacken. Once they are all roasted, take them out of the oven, wrap them up tightly in the foil and cover the bundle with a kitchen towel and leave to steam, about 20-30 minutes. When they're cool enough to handle, slip the skins off and remove the stem and seeds, but never under running water! Even though it makes the process easier, the flavor goes down the drain with the skin. Tear the flesh into strips and either eat that day or cover in olive oil and keep in the fridge for several days.

90. Dooky Chase's Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana. Until August 29, 2005, chef Leah Chase had been serving up some of the best Creole food in the city. Hurricane Katrina flooded the restaurant, but I read that she planned to reopen on January 6, on her 84th birthday. I remember her gumbo and fried chicken were the best I've ever had!

2301 Orleans Ave
New Orleans, LA
(504) 821-0535 Pin It