What's cooking?

With inspiration from a New Orleans native and friend who explained to me the finer points of a crawfish boil and making a roux and gumbo, I attempted my first gumbo over the weekend.

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My very first roux - this after 1 1/4 hours of constant stirring.

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Mis en place with the shrimp and probably a couple of other things not shown. That's Andouille on the right. My friend gave me the gumbo file.

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The finished product, which was very good the first night and better tonight.

Laissez les bontemps rouler!

Wow- Jay- impressive! I will admit I've never had enough patience to make a real authentic roux. The color on yours looks great!
Deb

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What's everyone cooking today?

I'm doing a pot roast to serve for a late lunch. Got a beautiful beef shoulder roast (which I've never tried before) at East End Valu Market. Seared the roast, browned mushrooms and aromatics, de-glazed with red wine, added a little tomato paste, fresh herbs and beef broth and now slow roasting at 200 degrees for the next 4-6 hours. I'll serve it with white rice and mushroom gravy, and a simple quick-sauteed kale (garlic, red pepper flakes, and lemon juice).

[Robin Garr]

What's everyone cooking today?

I'm doing a pot roast to serve for a late lunch. Got a beautiful beef shoulder roast (which I've never tried before) at East End Valu Market.

Thanks for posting, Joni! Sounds great, and your approach sounds perfect. Let us know how it came out!

Nothing fancy going on over here, I'm afraid ... a busy day outside the kitchen for Mary and me. But I'm looking forward to a cucumber, lettuce and cream-cheese sandwich on Blue Dog baguette.

Hi Robin!

Sometimes simple is delicious! Your sandwich sounds perfect for a quick summer meal. We just ate a late lunch (we jokingly call it "linner"). The shoulder roast turned out great - reminded me of a chuck roast/short ribs. Very flavorful and tender. The sauteed kale needed a little punch so I added some Crystal hot sauce and a little white wine vinegar, and it was a great contrast to the rich roast and gravy.

Now I must make myself not cook for two days so we don't waste! Grilled carne asada for tacos last night, so we have some yummy leftovers between both meals...

Looking forward to next weekend - Greek festival and Jeffersonville BBQ festival. Should be fun, and delicious!

Soooo, what is everyone else cooking???

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Well, it's summer after all. Vadalia onions, Shelbyville tomatoes and fingerling cucumbers from my neighbor's vegetable stand. Little bit of dill.

[Robin Garr]

Vadalia onions, Shelbyville tomatoes and fingerling cucumbers from my neighbor's vegetable stand. Little bit of dill.

Sounds and looks awesome, Carla! The reason they don't show up in the forum by the way, is that they're larger than 600x600 pixels. That also makes the download counter lie. But we can still see them by clicking the link, and they look delicious to me!

Welllll...I was wondering what happened. (And thanks for the compliment!)

What's everyone cooking this weekend?

My mom is in the hospital, so I have been eating whatever/whenever I can, and I found myself craving something really fresh. My brother took over for me last night, and I hit Trader Joe's and Lucky's on the way home and made a huge, delicious kale and quinoa salad. Call it cliched, but it rocked. I loosely followed a recipe I found online - the quinoa cooks in coconut milk and the "dressing" is a pesto made from cilantro and cashews. It was super - a little spicy, herby, crunchy, sweet, and tangy. I added a ton of fresh veggies, just-blanched asparagus, diced plum and mango, and it was so good!. Hearty and filling, and just what i needed to detox a little, and it made a bunch to take with me for the next few days to the hospital (of course, keeping elements separate so nothing gets mushy).

Oh, and it was my first time trying lacinato kale - it's fantastic. It's more tender than standard kale, and sort of sweet and grassy. Really nice. Trader Joe's has fresh peas and edamame, and Lucky's had the organic lacinato, just in case you were wondering where to find some hard-to-find items. And have you tried plumcots? They're supposed to be plum+apricot: I didn't taste apricot, but it was one of the tastiest plums I can remember.

Now, out of the other side of my mouth, I'm thinking about making pasta carbonara tomorrow. I am a little obsessed with pancetta lately, and I'm feeling the need. Kind of the polar opposite of the wholesome salad, no?

Have a great weekend!
Joni

[Robin Garr]

Joni, I'm not a big fan of kale, but I like lacinato kale much more than the regular kind. It seems to me to be more tender, and doesn't have such a strong "kaley" flavor as the regular stuff.

I'm thining Indian tonight. We've got a bunch of okra from the garden, and a cabbage from the farmers' market. I think I'll just chop them, sautee them and cook 'em up with a bunch of Madras curry and other Indian flavors and put it on basmati rice.

What's everyone up to this weekend? I have two beautiful thick ribeyes getting even tastier in the fridge in a nice sweet/spicy rub and planning to make a couple of salads to go with them: grilled watermelon/feta/lime/mint salad [Cliched? Yes. Delicious? Yes.] and a nice herbaceous green salad with a red wine vinegar vinaigrette.

Hoping to go to the Zombie Walk this evening. Anyone else going?

[Robin Garr]

What's everyone up to this weekend? I have two beautiful thick ribeyes getting even tastier in the fridge in a nice sweet/spicy rub and planning to make a couple of salads to go with them: grilled watermelon/feta/lime/mint salad [Cliched? Yes. Delicious? Yes.] and a nice herbaceous green salad with a red wine vinegar vinaigrette.

Hoping to go to the Zombie Walk this evening. Anyone else going?

Joni, I'm not sure I'm up for getting all dressed up and doing the Zombie Walk, but I love the way it's part of our crazy town!

We just got a bunch of beautiful lacinato kale at the St. Matthews Farmers' Market. I'm not crazy about greens, but I'm thinking that turning it into a pesto might be awesome.

Mushroom Soup



Homemade Bread

[Robin Garr]

That boule looks like Blue Dog!