Seafood Okra Gumbo

My first and only trip to New Orleans was to see my little brother graduate from Tulane in the year 2000. We ate like Kings that week. Dinner at Emeril's, Commander's Palace and Jacquimos. Breakfast of fancy fried donuts called beignets and Nutty Black Coffee at Cafe Dumond. Lunch at the Gumbo Shop and elsewhere.

This recipe comes from the Gumbo Shop in New Orleans. I have tweaked the ingredients and directions a little based on what is available to me in Ojai, Calif. Of course if you can get shrimp with the heads on for the stock and fresh crab, do it!

Serves 6 to 8 hungry people.
Most peeps like a scoop of white rice in there.
Corn bread is almost a must.

2lbs frozen shrimp with shells

Cup of canned or fresh crab meat

(our local market carries this canned crab meat in a black tin that has been pretty consistent)

3 quarts water

2/3 cup + 2 Tbl. cooking oil (peanut oil has proven to be my favorite, but others work)

1 qt. frozen okra, pre sliced (Okra is fresh here in the summer and I almost never want gumbo in the summer...so frozen it is).

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped celery

2 tsp. minced garlic

1 16oz. can of tomatoes (You can't find 16oz. of tomatoes, the 14oz works fine. Lately I use Muir's Fire Roasted Crushed tomatoes and like that the best).

2 Bay Leaves

2 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

1/2 tsp. ground white pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne (I get super shy about the red pepper when serving a large group).

1. Peal and De vein the Shrimp. Set aside in Fridge.

2. Rinse shrimp shells (and heads if you have them). In a non-reactive pot, heat a little of your oil and saute the shrimp bodies until pink. Add 3qts of water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 45 minutes to make stock. Strain, discard the bodies and set stock aside.

3. In a non-stick, heat 2Tbl. of oil and add okra. Saute over medium heat until "ropiness" is gone. This takes an unusually long amount of time, but I also like to "overdo" it and blacken the okra bit. About 25 minutes.

4. Place 2/3 cup of oil in a large (8qt.) heavy bottomed pan Dutch Oven like pan. Add the flour and, over medium high heat, make a dark brown roux. This also takes a crazy amount of time and can be done while the okra cooks. It requires constant stirring. Initially little foamy bubbles will appear, this is the flour frying. Then, once the bubbling has stopped and you start to smell popcorn, you must stay totally diligent. The roux will turn a teddy bear brown and make it's way to a chocolate. You will be tempted to stop before it gets too dark cuz if it's burned you have to start over, but play the edge as close as you can. The darker the roux the more nutty and rich the flavor.

5. As soon as you get the color you want, throw in the onion, peppers and celery. Stir and mix for about 4 minutes and then add the garlic. Saute until soft and the sweetness has been released. The Gumbo Shop suggests letting the vegetables stick to the bottom of the pan and then scraping them off allowing the natural sugars to caramelize but I have never experienced this "sticking" they talk about. Maybe if I was using Cast Iron...? About 15 minutes or so.

6. When the vegetables are tender, add the tomatoes, bay leaves, 3 peppers and salt. (I also usually add some thyme). Again, mixing and sauteing for about 10 to 15 minutes.

7. Add the cooked okra and saute for about 10 minutes more.

8. Add stock, but eyeball quantity. I never add it all. Stir and bring to a boil. Lower heat and partially cover and simmer for about an hour, stirring every so often, adding more stock if gumbo seems to thick.

9. Return to a boil and add shrimp and cook till pink and firm. About 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add canned crab.

Gumbo is best prepared ahead of time cuz the flavors get better with time. So early in the day or day before is best. Reheating gently to not overcook the shrimp.

Ayurvedic Cleanse

I am on a 21 day Ayurvedic Cleanse. Cleanse is the modern spiritual word for a "diet" and can be a dangerous hiding place for eating disorders. But the Ayurvedic method is pretty relaxed. You are still eating and the emphasis is on detoxing the mental and emotional layers as well as the digestive system through a sattvic diet and scheudle. The plan has you eating your biggest meal in the middle of the day and not eating after 6:00pm.

My main reason is that I am in the process of unraveling some old crusty and deep unconscious patterns and food and drink would be the natural escape route and rest place. So, in anticipation of that, I asked my pal Jackie Parker to put me on a cleanse.

For about 15 days I have been eating bowls of basmati rice with ghee, lots of Indian spices and a variety of approved vegetables that I can get at the farmer's market.

I make my meal in one pot. My favorite cutco pot left over from when I used to sell their knives door to door. I heat up the ghee, add mustard seed, whole cumin, whole corriander, whole fennel seed, some other spices Uschi brought back from India, Curry Powder or Garam Masala, Hing and Tumeric. Then a scoop of rice. I add sliced carrots or fennel or turnips. Letting the water come to a boil, I usually throw some green beans or sliced kale or other green on top. Cover with the lid and set timer for 10 minutes.

What do You Feed the World's Spiritual Leaders?

Uma Goswami was just here. Reminding us that we are Divine. She indicated that she would like to cook together and invite 50 or so people over. I anticipate needing to become more comfortable with vegetarian Indian food.

So I am starting this journey and looking for help. Tonight we created a rice dish from what we had in the fridge and spice drawer. I do not recommend it yet. Needs work, but here is a start.

1. Heat some Ghee
2. Add some mustard seed, coriander seed, cumin seed, mixed peppercorns and cardamon pods, fry briefly. Add Madras Curry powder and stir.
3. Add soaked and drained basmati rice
4. Stir and fry rice a little.
5. Add chopped carrot and thinly sliced fennel.
6. Add chopped tomatoes
7. Add appropriate amount of water
8. Stir and bring to boil.
9. Add thinly sliced kale.
10. Salt
11. Cover and cook for 13 minutes or so.
12. Meanwhile, fry up some cashews in ghee.
13. Once rice is done, allow to rest, covered for about 5 minutes.
14. Stir in cashews and serve.

If I had had raisins, I would have put some in.
I look forward to working this out.

xo
k

Red Potato and Heirloom Tomato Gratin, Thursday, April 19th

I have been trying to hit this for a while. I started making a version of it from Deborah Madison's Green's Cookbook when I first started cooking. I was drawn to it cuz she said that she had gotten it from a Cookbook by Picasso and it had all of Eric's favorite ingredients in it.

We stopped by FnC on our way home after a hike on Willis Canyon and got the goods. We also picked up 2 delicious cappuccinos at Coffee Connection. We only had a Credit Card and Taylor trusted us to come back the next day. We put Steve and Olivia down as references.

So I am writing this as I cook, cuz these the first step of browning the potatoes takes time.

Get your OVEN ready. Preheat to 400 degrees/BAKE.
You will need an Oven Proof Pyrex-like Dish and A High Sided, Flat Bottomed Wide Skillet.

The POTATOES
1. Slice Potatoes as Thin as you can without hurting yourself.(Thank you, Edna).
2. Heat too much Olive Oil in the high sided flat skillet.
3. Brown the Potato Slices. You will need to work in batches. As they are browning, sprinkle fresh chopped ROSEMARY, good quality SALT and fresh ground mixed PEPPERCORNS on them. I seem to brown one side more than the other, guessing that this allows it to be both crispy and soft. I think I could have made them more like potato chips as they soften in the oven. Once browned remove to a plate. (If you want a drier dish, drain the chips on a towel. I ususally use paper, but I would love to learn how to use cloth. Maybe cheese cloth could work.)


THE ONIONS
4. While the potatoes are frying, slice up a large RED ONION. I chose to slice it in rings, cuz I thought it would look the prettiest.
5. Once the potatoes are all browned up, start browning the all onions in the same pan.

THE GARLIC
6. While the Potatoes are Browning or while the Onions are softening, Mince the GARLIC.

THE TOMATOES
7. While the Potatoes are Browning or the Onions are browning, core and slice the heirloom tomatoes.

THE OLIVES
8. While the Onions are browning, chop the BLACK OLIVES to a consistency of "chunky". I had a combination of herb cured and kalamata.

Once onions are browned, add the garlic, olives, DRIED THYME, a hint of RED PEPPER FLAKES, more salt, more ground pepper. Saute another 2 minutes or so, or until you first smell the garlic.

THE OVEN DISH
9. Poor a little olive oil into your PYREX-LIKE dish. Tonight I used this pretty Blue Crueset Oven Dish I have.

10. Spread Onions over the Bottom.

11. Layer first layer of potatoes on top of the onions.

12. Layer the slices of heirloom tomato. I had a combination of dark red and orange and I spread them out to create some contrast.

13. Layer the top layer of potatoes on. (I saved the most attractive (to me) potatoes for the top layer.)

14. Put in Oven. Set for 20 minutes

15. During this time, make the SAUCE and prep the SALAD.

16. At 20 minutes, check. Turn the pan 180 degrees to even out oven heat's effect on the dish. And set for 10 to 15 more minutes.

17. When done, remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes or so to cool to a reasonable temperature. As a cook who tastes all the time, you build up a tolerance for heat. People that are not used to tasting HOT food, need more cooling time than you think.

18. THE SAUCE
By hand, mix mostly sour creme, some meyer lemon juice , a smidge of grain mustard and some dry (fresh would be better) dill together.


19. TO SERVE
Use a serrated spatula (I love my Cutco one) to cut the Gratin into a serving portion. Tonight's gratin did not hold and was loose and "Country Style" in the shallow bowl. I kind of like this aesthetic, but it you want a tighter hold, you will use less oil, maybe add a binder, like egg or milk, and allow to cool a little more.

20. Serve the Sauce on the side.