Man/woman Cave

[tho9900]

ok let me know if you need anything tho... would happy to oblidge.. same goes to all here...

 

[Sludge]

Okra roux is easy: Slice a boil, The drain of water and cook it down to mush in a skillet. Works best with cast iron. Didn't know there was any other roux to use with gumbo.

 

[Wagon]

I use flour and butter or oil. Don't you have to scorch the okra?

I started a food thread somewhere around here.

 

[tho9900]

ya its 1/4 cup of flour and 1 TBS of oil or butter, and you have to use real butter for the flavor otherwise it gets kinda acrid... you only want to get it to a golden brown as it keeps cooking till you put it in the gumbo... And let me call my mom when she gets home from church, she knows about the okra... I prefer not to put okra in mine.

It's kind of a regional thing, the very east side of LA doesn't use okra, closer to Lafayette and west it starts appearing... the okra is an addition the creoles and the slaves added in.. All my family comes from around Lafayette (Broussard, LA ... and ya I am a Broussard, it used to be my whatever back grandfathers plantation there) So it's hit and miss...

Also on the east side the gumbo is a dark umber color (roux cooked to a golden brown) towards central LA it becomes darker almost black as you go along (roux cooked like coffee grinds before you put the water in color)

I'll start a new Cajun food thread today, well I'll throw in some Creole too for good measure....

I might start a Latin American food thread too... My ex wife was from Colombia and the girl I dated before her from Uruguay.. lots of recipes there...

 

[tho9900]

just read back and ya that would work too Sludge... just takes a little longer.. and YES cast iron is a must in my book!!!! everything tastes better cooked in cast iron with the exception of vegetables... glad you brought that up.. a cast iron dutch oven is like a Swiss Army knife.. roast, chicken, gumbo, chili etc always taste better in that...

 

[Wagon]

Ok. I get it. Gumbo is like Chilli. So many variations. I do go for the darker roux's, but sadly I don't have the nerve to go that far. Once you burn it, you're f'd. Start over.

 

[tho9900]

ya only get it to a light brown, darker than golden but not too far... the roux is the secret to a good gumbo it doesn't matter what you put in it... it is only as good as the roux... maybe put out a tsp of coffee grounds (unless you drink community coffee or some of the south american blends lol) watch the roux till it gets about that color and immediately take it off the burner and slide it into the liquid...

the biggest mistake people make is trying to make the roux as dark as they want their gumbo...

 

[Wagon]

Ahh Haa. It is a fine art. I make a chocolate lamb stew starting with a dark gumbo roux. I just add a a couple table spoons of raw chocolate powder and fresh ground cumin. Onion and bell pepper Balance it out with a Habenaro or Chipolte pepper. And a few tble spoons of tomato paste. Add some bits of chopped up lamb that have been in the dutch oven for 3 or 4 hours. The chocolate makes the cumin taste deeper and more drawn out. Nice if you get the balance right. I have failed once.

 

[Sludge]

Hence the cast iron pan- you get better control of the heat even on an electric range. Sadly, the mother-in-law won't cook cajun anymore as I'm the only one alive that eats it....and no one likes Yankees...LMAO

 

[Jimmy1]

lol you gotta love Cajun women.,, this is a fave of mine... Heather LaCroix...

you gotta love these home grown women...

Awesome shooting, Awesome woman. Thanks man.

 

[Jimmy1]

Photo's to come. I finally moved into my Man Cave yesterday.
The kids and the boss are happy because the glare from the screen in the wee hours of the morning no longer wakes them up.

Yeah

 

[Anglesachse]

Man cave is so last week.

Any body want to meet up this summer?