Louisiana Gumbo

Ingredients

oil for frying
275g/10oz onions, chopped
225g/8oz green peppers, chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
25g/1oz spicy sausage, sliced
25g/1oz smoked pork or bacon, cubed
1 tsp crushed garlic
½ tsp dried oregano
½ tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1 tsp salt
1½ tsp cayenne pepper
1½ tsp paprika
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp freshly ground white pepper
1 tbsp Tabasco sauce
300ml/10fl oz puréed fresh tomatoes, strained
crab shells to flavour (optional)
450g/1lb large prawns (reserve the shells and heads for the stock)
1 dozen oysters
225g/8oz crab meat
6 freshwater crayfish
200g/8oz cooked rice to serve

For the fish stock:

fish heads, tails and trimmings
1 onion
2 carrots
1 stick celery
1 leek
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs parsley
black peppercorns
prawn shells and heads

Preparation

1. Place all the ingredients for the stock in a large saucepan and cover with about 1.7 litres/3 pints cold water. Simmer for as long as possible - 4 hours if you can manage it - and strain. Set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan, add the onions, green peppers and celery and let them sweat for a few minutes. Add the spicy sausage and smoked pork.
3. Stir in the garlic, herbs, salt and spices.

4. Add the Tabasco sauce, puréed tomatoes and 1.1 litres/2 pints of the fish stock. Simmer for at least 45 minutes.
5. Add crab shells, if you have them, to give a little extra flavour and colour, the prawns, oysters, crab meat, crayfish and Simmer for another 10 minutes.
6. To serve as a main course, place a quarter of the rice in each bowl and top up with Gumbo.

Five Spice Duck Breast

Ingredients

• 4 duck breasts , look for free-range
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
• olive oil for frying
• 2 star anise, broken in half
• 4 bok choi , halved
• 4 spring onions, cut into lengths
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• chicken stock fresh, cube or concentrate, made up to 100ml
• 2 tsp runny honey

Preparation

Cut slashes through the skin and fat of each duck breast, making sure you don't cut into the flesh. Rub the duck breasts with the five spice and season well. Heat a little oil in a heavy frying pan and when it is really hot add the duck breasts skin-side down. Turn the heat down a little and fry for 8-10 minutes or until the skin is very crisp and brown and the fat has started to melt out from under the skin. Tip out any excess fat.

Turn the breasts over and add the star anise to the pan. Cook for another 5 minutes or until the duck breasts feel firm to the touch but not too solid - you want them pink in the middle. Take the duck out and leave to rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the bok choi to the pan with the spring onions and cook briefly. Add the rest of the ingredients and bubble together briefly. Plate the duck, bok choy and spring onions and spoon the sauce over.

Quote Voltaire

Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.

Cajun dirty rice and blackened ribs

Ingredients:

• 3/4 pound chicken gizzards
• 3 1/2 cups hot chicken broth or beef broth
• 1 to 2 tablespoons bacon drippings
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1/2 pound ground lean pork
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions with tops
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or a few dashes Tabasco sauce
• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
• 1/2 pound chicken livers, finely diced

Preparation:

Simmer gizzards in the chicken or beef broth for 20 to 30 minutes. Remove gizzards with a slotted spoon; grind or mince. Reserve broth. Heat bacon drippings and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy casserole. Sauté the pork and gizzards over high heat until pork is no longer pink. Lower heat; add vegetables and seasonings and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add rice and reserved broth; bring rapidly to a boil, stir once, cover, and lower heat. Simmer for 15 minutes, until rice is tender.
Sauté minced chicken livers in remaining butter for 3 minutes. Toss with the rice, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper if necessary. Cover and let rice fluff in a 225° oven for 10 minutes .
Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients:

110 g brown sugar

4 g ground cumin

15 g ground black pepper

10 g ground coriander

30 g chili powder

30 g salt

60 ml soy sauce

65 g chili powder

25 g Cajun-style blackened seasoning(see below)

2725 g prime rib roast, bone in

475 ml water

Preparation:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, cumin, black pepper, coriander, 1/4 cup chili powder, salt, and soy sauce. In a separate small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup chili powder and blackened seasoning. Set aside.
2. Cut ribs from roast, and place in a roasting pan. They will act as a roasting rack. Rub the meat all over with the soy sauce mixture. Then rub and coat with the Cajun seasoning mixture. Let marinate for at least one hour or wrap in plastic, and chill overnight.
3. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C).
4. Remove any plastic from roast, and place pan into the preheated oven. Roast uncovered for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Pour water into the pan to produce moist heat. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and continue roasting for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until the internal temperature is at least 130-140 degrees F/55-60 degrees C) for medium rare, or (145-155 degrees F/63-68 degrees C) for medium . Let the roast stand for 30 minutes before carving to let the juices return to the centre.

Cajun Style Seasoning

2 teaspoons ground paprika

4 teaspoons dried leaf thyme

2 teaspoons onion powder

2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper, or to your taste

1 teaspoon dried leaf oregano

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Mix

Technorati Tags: Food,Blackened Ribs,Dirty rice

Delicious Beef Curry

Dry spice mixture

• 1 dessertspoon ground coriander
• 1 dessertspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek seed
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon fenugreek leaves
• 1 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 1 teaspoon green chilli (finely chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground red chilli

Wet spice mixture

• 4 oz creamed coconut
• 4oz tomato puree
• 1/2 teaspoon tamarind puree
• 1 dessertspoon honey
• 1 crushed garlic

Spice mixture

• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon cassia bark
• 1/2 teaspoon curry leaves

Fried mixture

• 2 Spanish onions, chopped
• 1 garlic clove crushed
• 1 cube of fresh ginger, finely chopped

Method

1. Mix together the dry spice mixture and roll 1lb cubed beef until well covered.
2. Chop onions, garlic, ginger and fry for a few minutes in ghee. Add the meat and gently fry a few pieces at a time.
3. Separately dissolve wet mix ingredients in warm water. Then add to the fried meat, combine and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add spice mixture and gently simmer for a few minutes more.
5. Put curry in an oiled casserole dish and simmer for half an hour, stir regularly to prevent the curry from sticking.

Sea of Life

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain.

Things a dog must remember

---

1. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
2. I do not need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm lying under the coffee table.
3. I will not roll my toys behind the fridge, behind the sofa, or under the bed.
4. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house.
5. I will not eat the cats' food, before they eat it or after they throw it up.
6. I will stop trying to find the few remaining pieces of clean carpet in the house when I am about to get sick.
7. I will not throw up in the car.
8. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc. just because I like the way they smell.
9. "Kitty box crunchies," although they are tasty, are not food.
10. I will not eat any more Kleenex or napkins and then redeposit them in the back yard after processing.
11. The diaper pail is not a cookie jar.
12. I will not chew my humans' toothbrushes and not tell them.
13. I will not chew crayons or pens, especially not the red ones, or my people will think I am haemorrhaging.
14. When in the car, I will not insist on having the window rolled down when it's raining outside.
15. We do not have a doorbell. I will not bark each time I hear one on TV.
16. I will not steal Mom's underwear and dance all over the backyard with it.
17. The sofa is not a face towel. Neither are Mom's & Dad's laps.
18. My head does not belong in the refrigerator.
19. I will not bite the officer's hand when he reaches in for Mom's driver's license and car registration.
20. I will not play tug-of-war with Dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
21. I will not eat mint-flavoured dental floss out of the bathroom garbage, to avoid having a string hanging out of my butt.
22. I will not use "roll around in the dirt" as an option just after getting a bath.
23. Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is not an acceptable way of saying hello.
24. I will not hump on any person's leg just because I think it is the right thing to do.
25. I will not fart in my owners' faces while sleeping on the pillow next to their heads.
26. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt across the carpet.
27. The toilet bowl is not a never ending water supply, and just because the water is blue, it doesn't mean it is cleaner.
28. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch when company is here.
29. Suddenly turning around and smelling my butt can quickly clear a room.
30. The cat is not a squeaky toy, so when I play with him and when he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.