Remembering Dan Wheldon

 Ribs with grilled sweet potato fries and broccoli salad

Derek made his nonpareil ribs today and I experimented (again) with sweet potato fries.  This time I tried them on a cookie sheet on the grill, and I tried two different methods: one with a kind of glaze I found on Food.com and the other with my go-to recipe of peanut oil and a combination of salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, cayenne and dried thyme leaves.  The ones with the glaze looked good and Derek liked the flavor, but even after twice as much time, they weren’t cooked all the way through, and they certainly weren’t crispy.  The broccoli salad was redolent with garlic and lemon zest, though, just the way I like it.  It’s really pretty, too.  The ribs were so good I could have cried: moist and tender, but not too tender, and with a crunchy salty sweet crust that just could not be better.

Grilled sweet potato fries

We’re watching the Indy 500 on television; it was just too hot to actually go to the track.  I already know who won, but Derek doesn’t, so I’m not saying anything yet.  This post goes out to Dan Wheldon’s widow and their kids.  God bless you.

Grilled Pot Roast a la Frugal Gourmet

We had lunch today at a little slice of NOLA heaven called B’s Poboys in Fountain Square that Derek recently discovered.  It’s a much nicer place than the equivalent in New Orleans is likely to be, with photos of The French Quarter and voodoo dolls decorating the walls, but they actually get their French bread from Leidenheimer’s, which is one of the oldest French bread bakeries in my hometown.  I had a BBQ shrimp poboy, which was fabulous, although unlike any I’ve ever had back home; it was grilled shrimp with actual barbecue sauce.  I had it dressed with lettuce and pickles, just like I would at Guy’s on Magazine St.  Derek had a fried oyster poboy, of course, after discovering that they have Gulf oysters flown in, too.  Their red beans and rice with andouille were real New Orleans style, too.  I couldn’t be happier unless I was twins!  For one thing, it’s very close to home, across the street from the Fountain Square Brewery, in a funky neighborhood of Indianapolis and close to where I work downtown.  I bought a T-shirt and can’t wait to take my Indianapolis friends there to introduce them to an authentic poboy.

Barbecued potatoes, squash and zucchini

Tonight I’m making The Frugal Gourmet’s Graduate School Pot Roast with barbecued potatoes, zucchini and yellow squash, and a salad made with Butter Crunch lettuce right out of our garden.  Here’s the recipe from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American:

Update:  Well, folks, I wasn’t paying attention and I really overcooked the roast, so no pictures of that this time.  There were some salvageable bits that were actually very tasty, so I’m going to try this again sometime.  Maybe I’ll prep it and let Derek cook it!

Graduate School Pot Roast

1 3-lb chuck or pot roast; 1-inch thick
1 T Water
1 T Powdered meat tenderizer
2 T Light soy sauce
2 T Kitchen Bouquet
1 t Coleman s Dry English Mustard
Freshly ground black pepper
1 lg Yellow onion; sliced thin
Wood chips or sawdust (optional)

“Using a metal pot fork, poke holes in the meat. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of water and then one half of the meat tenderizer. Rub it into the meat and then turn the meat over and repeat the process. Let the meat stand for 1/2 hour. Use a salt-free tenderizer such as Adolf”s Salt Free and please understand that there is nothing strange about the contents of this product. It consists of an extract called papain. It is made from the papaya fruit and it is not harmful in any way. After the meat has sat for 1/2 hour, mix the soy, Kitchen Bouquet, mustard, and black pepper together and rub this mixture into the meat on both sides. Grill the meat over a low to medium charcoal fire. Turn over the meat after about 45 minutes. Place the sliced onion over the meat and grill about another 45 minutes. Be careful not to dry out the meat or burn it. If you wish a smoky flavor, sprinkle water-soaked wood chips or sawdust on the fire during the cooking. The result will be a tender and flavorful roast that will be a bit crunchy on the outside and pink and lovely on the inside. This meat is perfect with Barbecued Potatoes” (see recipes below).

The Frugal Gourmet Barbecued Potatoes

4 unpeeled potatoes, washed
3/4 c. vinaigrette dressing
salt and pepper
Bake potatoes in their skins about 30 min. at 450 deg.  While still hot, cut the potatoes lengthwise in half and each half into quarters.  Place in glass baking dish and cover with the dressing.  Let stand 1 hour turning once.  Remove from the dressing and place on the grill.  Salt and pepper to taste and grill the pieces until golden, about 10 min.

Vinaigrette Dressing

1/2 t. oregano
1/2 t. rosemary
1/4 t. Coleman's dry mustard
1/2 t. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 c. olive oil
1/3 c. white wine vinegar
2 T. water
2 t. fresh lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t. Worcestershire sauce

Happy Memorial Day, peeps!

Butter Crunch





Barn in Field Acrylic

Well, so much for my new year’s “intention” to write more.  I have no excuse, but I will say that I didn’t want to post with text only, and I hadn’t figured out how to download and save photos on the computer I’m currently using (which I don’t like, by the way).  I finally had a chunk of time and just sat down and figured it out.   Derek accidentally knocked my laptop on the floor when he fell asleep on the sofa, and sent it to an untimely death.  I was very lucky, though, that he was able to retrieve and save almost everything on the hard drive, including all of my food blog photos.  When I get a little cash set aside, I think it’s time to buy a new computer.  In the meantime, I’ve been taking some painting classes, starting with Wine and Canvas, which is a fabulous idea, by the way.  I started playing with watercolors when I lived in Mexico 25 + years ago, but I think my medium is oil, so I coughed up the cash to take an eight-week oil painting class. That’s wiped me out for a little while, especially after just getting back from New Orleans for Jazz Fest, where we spent a small fortune eating!  Big Surprise there, huh?

Anyway, I have a little time at work this morning while waiting for the last minute rush of psychiatric and detox admissions before the long weekend, so I thought I’d say hello.  We’ve had an extraordinarily mild winter here in Indianapolis; in fact, it would not be completely inaccurate to say winter this year has been a long spring.  I’m afraid we may pay for that with a super hot summer, but I’m not going to dwell on that yet.  We’ve been enjoying fresh herbs for months now, and our tomato plants are happily in the ground.  Derek picked our first lettuce from the garden this week and it was so gorgeous and delicious I could have wept.  We tried some Butter Crunch for the first time this year, and I think it may be my new favorite lettuce.  It has the creamy buttery taste of a Boston, with just a little of the crunch of a Romaine, and it’s spectacularly pretty.  In a week or so, we should be picking baby arugula and mixed baby lettuces.  I can’t wait!

This weekend I’m going to make The Frugal Gourmet’s recipe for Graduate School Pot Roast on the grill with grilled vegetables.  Pictures to come!

Happy Birthday, Drew Brees! Sunday, January 15, 2012

Alas, the Saints will not be coming to Indianapolis for the Super Bowl this year.  It would have been so cool to see my hometown team in my current town – not that I would have actually gone to the game, of course, but I might have caught a glimpse of Voodrew Breesus at the temporary practice field at University of Indianapolis, just a few blocks away from our house.  At any rate, although my heart is heavy, he’s still our hero, and I’m looking forward to next year with the Saints at the Superdome for Super Bowl XLVII!  Geaux Saints!  Who Dat?!  Voodrew Dat!

Osso Buco with Parmesan Polenta

Meanwhile, I will console myself with Osso Buco tonight, and the fact that tomorrow is a holiday.  It seems that I’m experiencing a temporary anhedonia when it comes to cooking.  I can’t seem to work up much enthusiasm for the process these days.  I will rally today, though, and put on my chef’s hat and apron.  It’s unbelievably difficult to find a real butcher in Indianapolis these days, and when you do, the selection of meat is very limited.  I have not been able to find veal shanks anywhere until yesterday at Fresh Market, on the way home from our semi-annual trip up north to Trader Joe’s for supplies.  After re-stocking our kitchen cupboard, we went to our little slice of Louisiana heaven for lunch up in Carmel; if you haven’t been to Mudbugs, you need to get there pronto.  Owned by Abbeville, LA natives Roy and Belinda Leblanc, Mudbugs serves the real thing.  We’ve been there twice now and had the oyster poboy dressed with remoulade sauce; it’s a little different from an oyster poboy in New Orleans, but it combines a couple of classic items in a different way that results in a mouthful of heaven.  Their chicken sausage gumbo is as good as any I’ve had anywhere in Louisiana, including gumbo I’ve made.  Yesterday I tried the daily special: Crawfish corn chowder.  It was yummy.  We’ve also tried the red beans and rice, and let me tell you, it puts YATS to shame.  When I talked to Roy about Louisiana food and told him I detected cumin in the red beans and rice at YATS, he replied, “What was he smoking?” 

Yesterday I was wearing my Saints sweatshirt, and when we walked in, the young lady at the register exclaimed, “Drew Brees!”  She ran back to tell her father that there were Saints fans in the house.  I considered it all a part of drumming up some mojo to help Voodrew Breesus and his incredible teammates win the game.  It didn’t work out that way, but I did find my veal shanks on the way home at Fresh Market.  That’s a good thing. 

Happy New Year/end of the world!

Black-eyed peas, cabbage and roasted beets

Happy New Year, peeps!

Derek and I have had a low-key holiday season this year, the first since 2007 that we didn’t go to New Orleans to be with family and old friends, so I was a little sad and homesick.  We’ve had some fantastic meals, though, and spent some time with our great Indianapolis friends.  2011 was a rather hectic year with a lot of changes that I hope to assimilate this year.  I’m not big on resolutions, since I tend to sabotage them.  As one of my dear New Orleans friends once said, and absolutely without irony, “I can’t make a commitment to anything I can’t divorce myself from.”  That’s kind of how I feel about resolutions. Having said that, I do have some intentions, one of which is to take better care of myself.  It shouldn’t be at all difficult to improve since I haven’t been doing it at all!  Another is to write more often.  I enjoy it and it stimulates the creative part of my brain that’s been in retirement for a while now. 

So here’s to a new year and a new chance.  Now on to some of the great things we’ve been cooking.

Rack of Lamb

Derek cooked a rack of lamb for the two of us for Christmas dinner.  I made creamed spinach and Brandy Milk Punch, which we forgot to drink.  I set the table with our new Dollar Tree $1 plates, candles and a poinsettia.  On New Year’s Eve he made jambalaya for the party at James’ and Shelley’s house, and I wasn’t feeling well, so I didn’t go and forgot to take a picture.  I will say this: Derek’s jambalaya is as good as any I’ve had in Louisiana, and better than most. 

Yesterday I made the requisite black-eyed peas and cabbage, accompanied by some oven-roasted beets.  I don’t know what they’re supposed to bring you in the new year, but if it’s anything that’s the color of beets, I’ll be happy.  Tonight Derek is making a Nicoise Salade with fresh grilled tuna.  I love it and always feel healthy when I eat it, so it’s a good way to start what is likely to be a grueling week at work. 

Happy New Year, peeps, and I wish you all the best of life this year and every year.

Happy Holidays, peeps!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Happy Holidays, dear friends

It’s that time of year again and as always, I’m stunned by how quickly this year has gone by.  Derek and I are staying in Indianapolis for Christmas and New Year’s Eve this year for the first time since 2007.  We usually go to New Orleans for two weeks, and I’m sad about missing our traditional festivities with friends and family.  My niece will be home from Paris and I would so love to hear about all of her adventures, food-related and otherwise.  One of my dearest girlfriends was just awarded her MBA, and has been working full-time while taking the requisite courses, so she will be all full of herself, I’m sure.   I hate to miss that!  Derek and I both have new jobs and can’t take the time off, so we’re planning our own lovely Christmas dinner for two.  We’ve been invited to parties Friday and Saturday night, and of course, we’ll bring something.  Derek made chicken and sausage gumbo for Friday night, and I’m making Classic Creole Turtle soup for Saturday night.  As for our Christmas dinner, we’re planning to do a standing rib roast with parsnip puree and creamed spinach.  I requested crème brulee and I’d like to make a brandy milk punch to drink out of lovely festive green martini glasses.  Derek wants garlic mashed potatoes, which I dearly love, but I was thinking about something a little more elegant, like Pommes Anna,  Scalloped potatoes, or Potatoes Lyonnaise.  We’ll see; after all of the parties and holiday fare, we may feel more like having sushi!

I’d love to hear what some of you are planning for Christmas, whether it’s food or a special family tradition. 

Here’s a toast to all of you with my most sincere wishes for a pleasant and peaceful holiday season and a bright and hopeful New Year.  I’m going to try to do better at posting here more regularly in the upcoming year.  Below is the recipe for Turtle Soup, if you'd like to try it.  It sounds weird, I know, but it is truly delicious, and perfect for winter.



Creole Turtle Soup

Roux:
1 Cup Unsalted Butter, peanut oil, or a combination of the two
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
4 T unsalted butter
1 lb turtle meat cut into 1/2 inch cubes, or any combination of beef, veal, pork and dark meat chicken
1 1/2 C onion, finely diced
1 C celery, finely diced
1/4 C green onion, finely sliced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
2 fresh bay leaves
1 1/2 C fresh tomato, diced
1 quart beef or brown stock
1 pinch cayenne
1 pinch ground allspice
2 T fresh thyme leaves
1 T fresh marjoram, chopped (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice
4 T Lea & Perrins
3 T dry sherry
3 hard-boiled eggs, whites chopped and yolks riced
Lemon slices
5 t Italian parsley, finely chopped
Melt the butter/oil combination in a heavy bottomed saucepan; whisk in the flour, and make a chocolate colored roux. Set aside.
In a large saucepan or dutch oven, melt the 4 T unsalted butter over medium-high heat, add the diced Turtle Meat, or whatever meat you’re using, and saute until nicely browned.
Lower the heat to medium, add both types of onions, the celery, and garlic. Season with salt and black pepper.  Saute until the vegetables are tender.
Add the tomatoes, season with a little salt so they will break down, cook for 10 minutes.
Add the stock, Lea & Perrins, cayenne, allspice, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then down to a simmer. Simmer for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally and skimming off any impurities that may rise to the surface.
Whisk in the roux and simmer until thickened and smooth. Add the thyme, and marjoram, if using, and simmer for 15-20 minutes more.
Add the lemon juice, half of the parsley, and the riced egg yolk, and heat through.
Serve garnished with lemon slices, diced egg whites, and the rest of the parsley. Add the sherry at the table, about 1-2 t per bowl.
Serves 4-6







Nastassja Catski

Be still, my beating heart!

We have a new baby!  It took me a few months to reach the point where I felt ready, but I think we chose the exact right time and place.  I had decided I wanted a gray female, since the Nefarious P.I.G. was a black male, and I didn’t want to be constantly comparing the new kitty to my companion of 18 years.  We went to the Hamilton County Humane Society, which had been highly recommended to me by a dear friend who is a serious animal lover.  We had planned to go the previous weekend, but Derek was intent on cleaning out the garage and the basement, and I certainly didn’t want to disrupt that!  When we walked through the doors, the first thing I saw was a beautiful little gray cat.  As soon as I walked toward her, she started sticking her paw through the cage, and when I got close, she stuck her tongue out at me.  That, as we say, was that.  She is a gorgeous Russian Blue, and if we had been two minutes later, another man there told us he would have adopted her.  Since she is somewhat of a Russian aristocat (!), we decided to give her a Russian name, and since she turned out to be a bit of a nut, her name has evolved into Her Royal Craziness, the Princess Nastassja Catski. 

As it turned out, it was a gorgeous day and we stopped on the way to have lunch in Carmel, at a Cajun place called Mudbugs.  I’m always skeptical of places that call themselves Cajun or claim to have New Orleans food, and I’ve been seriously disappointed 95 % of the time.  This time, however, I was very pleasantly surprised.  We talked to the owner while we were in line, and I mentioned that I would know it was an authentic Cajun restaurant if they put the potato salad in the gumbo, which is a habit I’ve never seen anywhere but New Orleans.  He laughed and said he and his wife are from Abbeville, La, and that they grew up eating potato salad in their gumbo.  I can’t tell you how much that tickled me!  We talked about another local place that claims to serve New Orleans food, but puts cumin in their red beans!  He was as horrified by that as I, and said, “Cumin?!  What is he smoking?”  He said he had tried numerous distributors before he found French bread that he considered worthy, and Derek is a fiend for oysters, so we had to try the highly touted oyster poboy.  I’m happy to say it was a very close approximation to what we expect in New Orleans.  I was in the mood for some chicken and sausage gumbo, and Derek decided to try the red beans and rice as well.  I’m delighted to say that all of the above were excellent, and as close to New Orleans food as any I’ve encountered outside of Louisiana.  Thanks, Roy Leblanc!

Speaking of Cajun/Creole food, Derek is making Crawfish Etouffee tonight, and red beans and rice with tasso and andouille for tomorrow night.  The smells coming out of our kitchen are making me really homesick – and hungry!