Art, Gardens and a Shrimp Boil

Arbor at the Indianapolis Museum of Art

The leaves are starting to change and the air is cool.  It's been the kind of weather that really makes you want to be outside, a welcome change from the hellish heat we've had all summer.  Yesterday was a perfect day for a bike ride to the Penrod Art Festival, held annually on the grounds of the Indianapolis Art Museum.  I love visiting the gardens there because the landscaping is exquisite: it has enough structure to give it a sense of design and purpose, but with a touch of wildness that lights me up and feels like freedom.  Sadly, the food at the festival is nothing to speak of, but it’s unfair to compare any festival food to that at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.  I’ll just leave it at that.

Eggplant Parmesan

After a full day of festivalling and a trip to Trader Joe's to replenish our dwindling suppy of wine, cheese and saffron, I really didn’t feel like cooking last night.  Derek was going to have to work today, so we traded chef duties.  He made some delicious Eggplant Parmesan with gorgeous, shiny purple eggplants from our garden.  We had some leftover homemade tomato sauce that he had made earlier in the week from our beautiful tomatoes.  It made a perfect sauce for the eggplant. 

Boiled Shrimp

Tonight we’re having a traditional Louisiana shrimp boil.  I found a place nearby that sells fresh heads-on shrimp, and as any Louisiana shrimp aficionado will tell you, it’s important to leave the heads on when making boiled or BBQ shrimp.  As I’ve mentioned before, my grandfather Boo owned New Orleans Imports, where Rex Crab Boil and spices were processed and packaged, as well as some of the other well-known brands of spices in New Orleans.  For many years, New Orleans Imports had the only spice mill in town, so he blended the spices for other brands as well.  It’s been many many years since Boo died, but I still use Rex Crab Boil whenever I can find it.  It’s still locally made, and it tends to be less expensive than the other brands, but much much better, of course.  ;-)  I like to use a combination of liquid and powdered crab boil, with a lot of salt, some cayenne pepper and some lemon slices.  I bought some really pretty new potatoes and some baby Yukon golds and I'm cooking them in the crab boil along with some fresh corn.  I’ll slice up some of our heirloom tomatoes and that will be dinner.  Yum!

Geaux Saints, leftovers and Mediterranean chicken

Italian Sausage and peppers

Tonight is the first game of the NFL season, and the Saints are playing.  I honestly don’t even remember who they’re playing; I lost interest in football last season after the Saints and the Colts were out of the playoffs.  Although I’m far away from New Orleans,  I’m showing my support for my peeps by wearing my black and gold fleur de lis rain boots today, along with various gold fleur de lis jewelry items.  Tonight’s game is preceded by President Obama’s speech, so we’re going to be occupied.  I’m making a salad and heating up the leftover sausage and peppers Derek made earlier this week.  I’m betting it will taste even better tonight.

Chicken with Mediterranean flavors

Last night Derek roasted a chicken with vegetables and Mediterranean flavors.  It was beautiful and scrumptious.  We didn’t have any fresh fennel bulb, but we did have eggplant in our garden, so he used eggplant with some fennel seeds.  The eggplant was still firm to the touch and tasted like fennel bulb.  I adore fennel, so that alone made me very happy.  Our garden is winding down and we don’t get much sun back there this time of year, so fall gardens tend to be disappointing.  I’m hoping our tomatoes will keep producing for a while longer; last year we were picking tomatoes the night before Thanksgiving.  Failing that, I guess we’ll have to set aside a day to try canning and drying tomatoes.  I couldn’t bear to see them go to waste. 



 Geaux Saints!!!

A Hint of Autumn: Braised Lamb Shanks with Red Wine and Herbes de Provence

I love the fall, especially here in Indianapolis, where the leaves really do change color and take my breath away with their fiery beauty.  There’s always a tinge of melancholy, though, knowing that a long cold winter is just around the corner.  This weekend we went from nearly 100 degrees on Saturday to the mid-50’s on Sunday night.  Derek and I went to see The Romantics at Rib Fest on Sunday evening and then went to a lovely little Italian restaurant with outdoor seating for dinner: Linguine con le Vongole for me, and Lasagna for Derek, preceded by Calamari that we shared.  It was a lovely evening and seeing The Romantics brought me back to the wilder days of my youth.  We never eat the ribs at Rib Fest anymore, because I’m totally spoiled by the way Derek makes them.  After the concert, we drove up to an area of town called Broad Ripple, which is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Indianapolis; there are lots of restaurants and quaint shops overlooking the canal, and I knew we’d find somewhere we could eat al fresco.  It was delightful, but toward the end of our meal, it was becoming too chilly to stay outside! 

Braised Lamb Shanks with carrots

During the fall, in order to keep the melancholy moments at bay, I try to take advantage of the weather by cooking things that I wouldn’t consider in the hot months of summer.  It’s finally cool enough to turn the oven on, so tonight I’m making braised lamb shanks with red wine and Herbes de Provence.  I use Cook’s Illustrated as a guide for quantities, but it’s a very simple dish.  You just brown the shanks on all sides in a dutch oven or roasting pan, remove them when they’re browned, add onion, carrots and celery and cook until tender.  Then add garlic and Herbes de Provence and cook until fragrant.  Mix in a spoonful of tomato paste and cook for a minute or so.  Add some chicken broth and red wine, scraping up the bits from the bottom and bring to a simmer.  You could use beef broth if you don’t have chicken broth, but it’s heavier and can sometimes be overpowering.  Add the lamb shanks, cover, and cook in a 350 degree oven for about an hour and a half, or less if the shanks are small.  Turn the shanks over and cook for another 30 minutes or so until the shanks are browned on the other side and the meat is falling off of the bone.  There are two really important things to remember when braising meats.  First of all, put just enough liquid for it to come about halfway up the shanks.  You don’t want to boil them!  Two, let the meat rest for 15 minutes or so before serving.  This dish is delicious with boiled or roasted new potatoes, some good chunky bread and a green salad; it’s a very simple hearty dish with loads of flavor.  We even made this once when we were camping! 

Roasted Potatoes

It’s in the oven now, creating mouth-watering aromas through the house, and I imagine, outside, too, since the windows are open.  Tonight I’m serving the lamb with my olive-oil roasted potatoes and salad.  Bon Apetit!

Friends, food, history and cupcakes

Grilled oysters

Last night we had our friends Lezza and Chris over for dinner.  I’m delighted to say that Lezza is now a convert to grilled oysters, so that makes two for me.  I think I should win a prize.  In a way, I already did, because they brought us a cookbook that is a revised edition of what may be one of the first U.S. cook books written in the 20^th century.   The Picayune Creole Cook Book, originally published in 1901, is a “glimpse into old Creole hospitality, customs and traditions,” with some of the original Creole recipes on which the popular and ubiquitous cuisine is based.  It’s full of quaint old-fashioned comments such as “…has been animated by the laudable desire to teach the great mass of the public how to live cheaply and well.”  That sounds like my motto!  I wish people still valued vocabulary.

For dinner we had grilled oysters, green salad with garlicky red wine vinaigrette and Shrimp Etouffee with Wild Pecan Rice.  This particular type of rice, which is partially hulled, is grown in the area around New Iberia, Louisiana, where my maternal grandmother was born and raised.  The rice contains no pecans, but it has a very appealing nutty fragrance that fills the house.  I like to serve it with shrimp or crawfish etouffee, partially for reasons of nostalgia and authenticity, but mostly just because I really love the smell, taste and texture of it. 

One and a Half Cupcakes

Lezza and Chris also brought us some cupcakes from a place down the street: Red Velvet (my absolute favorite of all time) and Maple Bacon (my new favorite).  My niece Remy, who is currently a resident of Paris, France, has been proclaiming the deliciousness of bacon combined with sweet things for ages.  Now I see what she’s been raving about. 

The night before, Derek had made some absolutely sinful chocolate ice cream for dessert; I think it had two pounds of dark chocolate in it!  That left the cupcakes for breakfast today. J

Chicken Vesuvio for my bodyguard

Derek drove me to work yesterday and then took my car to our mechanic to fix a loose belt that had been causing a god-awful screeching noise every time I turned on the engine.  I really really appreciate that because I hate dealing with car stuff, although our mechanic is great and wouldn't even accept any payment for his services.  I took Derek up to my office/cubicle to meet my new co-workers and later somebody asked who that guy was with me.  We have a bunch of fun people at work and we're always in a chat/IM, so someone else said, "Bodyguard," which became the source of jokes for about half an hour yesterday morning.  The man has many nicknames, but that one might stick for a little while. 

Chicken Vesuvio

For dinner last night, I made my bodyguard a bastardized version of Chicken Vesuvio in a skillet using boneless, skinless chicken thighs, which I messed up a little by burning the browned bits at the bottom of the pan.  I cannot cook well when I have to rush, and that's all there is to it!  I brought home some of the fantastically beautiful salad greens they sell at our cafeteria.  I swear, I’ve never seen more perfect greens in my life, and they’re less expensive here than at the grocery store, even if they were as pristine.  I made a salad of lightly cooked broccoli, tomatoes, red onion, red bell pepper, parmesan cheese and pine nuts dressed with my lemon vinaigrette.  If you’re not familiar with Chicken Vesuvio, it’s a very garlicky dish with herbs, wine and potatoes.  Derek makes a fabulous traditional version, but he’s faster in the kitchen than I am, and I figured that with all of the flavorful sauce, we could forego the crispy skin this time.  It turned out pretty well, considering its inauspicious beginnings, and Derek really liked the sauce.  I wish I had thought to bring some for lunch today!