Geocooking

This weekend I made dishes from Louisiana, the South more generally, from Morocco, and (sort of) from Ireland.

Gumbo

I mentioned a previous attempt to make gumbo that was foiled by suspect shrimp. Sunday, I had better luck. Gumbo, if you're not familiar with it, is a spicy roux-based stew from the Cajun country of southern Louisiana. However, the roux is not a thickener here: it is cooked to a copper color and contributes flavor instead. Traditionally, thickening is provided by either okra or file' powder: I used neither and it was fine.

The tricky part of gumbo is cooking the roux to that copper color but not past it. The recipe I used had the roux doing most of its cook time in the oven, providing the cook with a greater margin of error and freedom from near constant stirring. However, I screwed it up anyway and the first batch burned.

(Free tip: if you ever burn a roux, don't pour it out in the sink. What a horrible mess!)

The proteins I used were chicken, shrimp, and andouille sausage. Beside the sausage, the only seasonings were a little cayenne powder, a little thyme, salt, and pepper. Nonetheless, the finished dish has an intense, complicated flavor.

It makes me happy.

Okra

One of the things that spurred me on to do the gumbo this weekend was that I had been able to find some fresh okra. I was conflicted about using it, however – the neighbor lady I sometimes share with really dislikes okra, and I’d once had a different application of okra for which I had been wanting to try.

So I took that okra, and I pickled it! Here's the recipe I followed -- I'll let you know in a month how it turns out.

Roasties

OK, I confess: there's nothing that I know of that makes this dish especially Irish. But I learned about it from my friend Kate, who LIVES in Ireland, so it's SORT OF Irish, right?

Saturday evening, Kate was telling me about the polenta crusted roast potatoes she was planning to do for her mother's birthday party. I was intrigued and did a web search, and she confirmed that this recipe was indeed what she was talking about.

I used lard instead of duck fat - I don't even know where I'd BUY duck fat. (Kate says that she uses vegetable oil except at Christmas.) The amount of potatoes called for works out to around 4 lbs. (I cut this in half), and I used russet potatoes. The oven temperature works out to around 400 F.

They were delicious after salting! Crusty yet tender. Next time I make them (and there WILL be a next time), I'd like to try a dusting of parmesan and maybe some fresh herbs when they're right out of the oven.

Preserved Lemons

Years ago, I read about preserved lemons, an ingredient often used in Moroccan cooking, and always wanted to try it. I'm not even sure what I'll DO with them, but I often find the combination of "easy" and "exotic" to be nearly irresistible.

The procedure I used is on americastestkitchen.com. Basically you're cutting Meyer lemons so they're not quite quartered lengthwise, rubbing a LOT of salt into them, and putting them in a Mason jar and covering with fresh lemon juice. I'll shake them once a day for 4 days then let them continue sitting in the refrigerator for another 6 weeks. Again, I'll let you know how they turn out.

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Whew! And I don't even have a passport!