Foie Gras & Flannel

Warning: if this post feels a bit disjointed, it’s because I started writing it almost a month ago. The leftovers are long gone, but the thoughts, and the sense of comfort, remain.

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I’ve often joked that I’m going to write a book titled How to Burn Out by 30. I have at least three chapters already outlined in my head–the result of my insistence on learning things the hard way, I suppose.

While the number really doesn’t hold significance, I hit the big three zero earlier this year, amidst feelings of burnout and an urgency for change. Friends have called this my third-life crisis; I’m considering it more of a third-life catalyst, though the former is a much more accurate description most days.

I’ve found this to be an intensely reflective period–I’ve looked more and more to the past to understand the present, and in doing so, I’ve reached for long-lost comforts, the most tangible of which are foods from my childhood.

So imagine my excitement when Saveur published The Essential Louisiana several weeks back. After clicking through to the crawfish étouffée recipe, I knew I had to make it. Étouffée is a rich, roux-based Cajun  dish served over rice–it’s far from healthy, but it’s incredibly flavorful. And it’s comfort food.

Crawfish are seasonal, and they’re available in California, but I have yet to find a reliable source. The local fish market orders them this time of year, but from Louisiana–the three pounds I picked up were shipped in live and boiled with a light seasoning. I’ll gladly take what I can get.

Here’s where I need to make a confession: prior to making this, I’d never successfully made a roux. I mean, I’ve burned my fair share, but a good roux takes a lot of time and attention. A dark roux takes stamina and a bit of insanity.

Saveur’s recipe calls for a “dark chocolate” roux, which took a couple tries, but it’s reminiscent of the style of étouffée I grew to love as a kid, so it was worth it. The recipe really needs no improvements; instead of posting a tweaked version, here’s the stock I made from the crawfish shells.

Crawfish Stock

• 3 pounds of seasoned, boiled crawfish, shelled (save the tails and claw meat for the étouffée!)
• 2 large white onions, cut in half, then quartered
• 4-5 stalks celery
• 6 carrots
• 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• Salt, to taste

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spread the crawfish shells evenly across two 9″x13″ baking pans; place the onions on top. Toss the carrots and celery in the vegetable oil and spread out in a third baking dish. Roast everything for an hour, then remove the veggies, turn the oven to 450°F and continue toasting the shells for another 20-30 minutes.

Place the shells, veggies, garlic and bay leaves in a large stock pot and cover with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for an hour and a half.

The seasoning from the crawfish will flavor the water and may add quite a bit of spice, which is just how this Southern boy likes it. The stock will still need salt–mine needed about three tablespoons.

Strain the stock with a cheesecloth, doubled over (so the shells don’t cut through). Save the excess in the fridge for a few days, or freeze for later use; think, shrimp and grits.

I’d post a photo of the final product, but it looks like mirky water. Instead, here’s the étouffée:

This early summer is messing with the berries. I mean, we were picking mulberries in mid-June last year; this year, we’re we’re almost a month ahead of schedule. Guess that means it’s time for a little urban foraging.

Picture this: it’s 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. A dark SUV rolls quietly down a city street. It stops: two people quickly exit, run across the street, and disappear into the bushes.

Okay, that sounds a bit dramatic, but it really happened. I suppose we could have knocked on the door and asked permission, but where’s the fun in that?! We were gone within a few minutes, anyway–a small collection of ripe berries in our stained hands.

Mulberry-Maple Syrup

• 1/2 cup fresh mulberries, rinsed
• Juice of 1 Meyer lemon
• 2 Tbsps. grade B maple syrup

In a small sauce pan, heat the berries and lemon juice until boiling. Stir in the maple syrup, and reduce heat. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break the berries apart and cook over medium-low, stirring constantly, until the liquid reduces and thickly coats the back of the spoon (keep in mind that the syrup will thicken as it cools).

Simple, right? The lemon and maple really bring out the flavor of the berries.

Drizzle over a stack of Martha’s buttermilk pancakes.

A few weeks back I picked up a bottle of kumquat-infused vodka at a harvest exchange. I sipped a little neat, but decided to hand the bottle over to a professional for mixing. Enter Ephiram, of Anywhere Laboratories.

We met up on a Friday afternoon to talk about mixed-use spaces: I’m researching shared kitchen spaces, and Ephiram has plans for a shared space for mechanics (among many other things).

He brought a few things to mix, and after a little testing, he came up with this recipe.

The Dirty Kumquat

• 1 ounce kumquat-infused vodka*
• 4 ounces ginger ale
• Squeeze of fresh lime
• Splash of grenadine

*I’m pretty sure you’ll need to make this yourself…

Mix (with a chop stick, if that’s what you have on hand), and adjust to taste–we were mixing in Mason jars, so it wasn’t an exact pour.

Enjoy with friends.

All spring I complained about the abundance of citrus, and longed for the first bite of stone fruit. Now, I’m swimming in peaches, nectarines, plums, pluots and apriums. I’ve sliced ’em and eaten them fresh; I’ve soaked them in wine, and covered them with honey whipped cream.

They keep showing up in my CSA boxes.

So I made a cobbler.

I’ve always loved fresh peach cobbler, and covet a good blackberry cobbler, but I think this one takes the cake (pun intended). It marries the texture of the peach with the tartness of the berries, but the plums* also have a character all their own.

*I had a mixture of plums, pluots and apriums on hand, but any plum or plum hybrid will taste good tossed in sugar and covered in a buttery batter!

Ingredients

• 8-10 fresh plums/pluots/apriums (enough to fill a little over 4 cups when sliced)
• 3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Halve and seed fruit; slice to 3/8- or 1/2-inch thick. (Note: This is a great use of over-ripe fruit, though it can be difficult to handle if it’s too soft.) Coat the fruit in a mixture of 3/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon, and spread in the bottom of a 13″x9″ pan—or, do as I did and split the mixture into two small cake pans so it’s easier to share.

In another bowl, combine the rest of the sugar with the flour, baking powder and salt. I like a doughy cobbler, so I cut in the softened butter, but If you prefer more of a crumble, cut in cold butter with a fork or your fingers until course crumbles form. Lightly stir in the milk and egg to moisten.

Gently spread the batter or sprinkle the moistened crumbles over the top of the fruit mixture. Bake for 35 minutes. Serve warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if you dare.

If you try this with a different fruit mixture, please report back!

Last week I received a jar of herb sea salt from Woody’s Gourmet, as a preview of what’s coming in this month’s Tasting Box from Foodzie, and a challenge to use the ingredient in a recipe worth sharing.

After smelling and tasting the salt, my first inclination was to simply sprinkle it over fresh tomatoes, which I’m starting to see at the farmers market. The flavors from the herbs were incredible with the raw tomato! But that’s not much of a recipe, so started to experiment with fava beans (also found at the farmers market).

At last month’s Eat Retreat, I learned how to make a fava crostini from fellow-retreater Lauren Ladoceour. This is my take:

Ingredients

• 3 pounds fava beans, in the pod
• 3-4 Tbsps. virgin olive oil, plus 1 Tbsp. for the bread
• 1 Tbsp. water, plus more as needed for desired texture
• 3-4 leaves fresh mint
• 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp. Woody’s Gourmet Fresh Basil & Lemongrass Herb Sea Salt
• 2 oz. parmigiano reggiano
• 1 loaf seed bread or thin baguette, sliced thin and toasted

Instructions

Fire up the grill (I like mine about 400°F). Line up the fava pods—if you can’t fit all of them at once, grill them in stages. Close the lid on the grill and cook for 4-5 minutes; flip, then cook for another 4-5 minutes. A little char is good for flavor, but if you leave them on too long, the beans will start to dry out and will be difficult to shell.

Remove the cooked pods from the grill, and let cool (this only takes a few minutes). Zest the lemon; squeeze and reserve 1/2 of its juice. Using the zester or a microplane, grate the cheese and set aside.

Once cool, peel the pods and pile the beans in a bowl. Now comes the fun part: use a fingernail to open each bean shell and squeeze the bean out. If you’re scaling the recipe for a larger serving, get comfortable.

Once shelled, combine the beans, 2 Tbsps. of the olive oil, water, mint, lemon zest and juice, and lightly mash to combine—use a stick blender cream everything together. Taste and adjust flavors as desired. Fold in 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil to add texture and make the mixture easy to spread.

Heat an oven to 400°F; slice the bread and toast until crispy. In a small bowl, mix the herb sea salt in 1 Tbsp. olive oil. Brush the mixture over the toasted bread.

To serve, spoon the fava mixture on the oiled bread, and top top with the parmigiano reggiano.

Makes 8-10 servings

Since Mardi Gras, I’ve been craving Southern flavors, and jambalaya is one of my favorite dishes. Ever. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to make.

I’ll be honest: I’m having a hard time sharing this batch with Kim—it only made about 10 servings, and it’s that good. In other words, if you want some, you gotta make it yourself. Here’s the recipe (reposted from TasteFresno):

Ingredients

• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsps. Cajun seasoning mix (like Tony Chachere’s)
• 1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 whole chicken (3-4 lbs.), quartered
• 1 lb. andouille sausage, sliced ¼ in. thick
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2-3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 5-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 bay leaves
• ½ tsp. cayenne pepper
• 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme, roughly chopped
• 2 cans whole tomatoes, drained and chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ½ quarts chicken stock
• 1 good beer
• 2 cups long grain rice
• 4 green onions, sliced
• Parsley, chopped, to taste

Instructions

In a large Dutch oven (I use the 9-quart pot for this), heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium high heat. Season shrimp with Cajun seasoning and saute until almost cooked through (about 4 minutes). Remove shrimp and set aside until later. Season chicken pieces with Cajun seasoning; add remaining olive oil to Dutch oven and when hot, add chicken pieces and saute until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add sausage and cook until browned.

Add onion, celery, bell pepper, garlic, bay leaves, cayenne and thyme and cook until vegetables are wilted, about 6 minutes. De-glaze with the beer, then add tomatoes and stock and return chicken to pot. Season with salt and pepper and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Add rice to pot, stir well and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and cook for 15 minutes. Remove chicken and cut into bite-size pieces; return to pot.

Add shrimp, green onions and parsley to Dutch oven, mixing carefully, and continue to cook, covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 10 minutes before serving. Serve with warm French bread.

Yum.

I found this recipe in a collection of “100 greatest” Cajun recipes. It’s ridiculous. Prep the peppers the day before for an easy weeknight dinner.

Ingredients

• 4 large bell peppers
• Water to cover
• 1 Tbsp. baking soda
• 2 Tbsp.salt
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2/3 cup celery, minced
• 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped fine
• 1/2 lb. ground beef*
• 1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 lb. pork sausage, finely chopped
• 3 cups French bread, torn into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp. Cajun spice mix
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. Tabasco (or 1 tsp. Tapatío)
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

* I use a full pound of ground venison, but realize that may not be accessible to everyone.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

Cut the peppers in half, lengthwise, removing the membrane and seeds. Place in a large sauce pan, cover with water, and add the salt and baking soda. Parboil over medium heat for 5 minutes; remove and refrigerate in a tightly covered bowl until ready to use. (Note that if you’re prepping these a day in advance, the peppers can be parboiled on the second day.)

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat; once melted, add the olive oil to keep it from burning. Sauté the onion, celery, eggplant, chopped bell pepper and garlic until wilted, about 7 minutes; stir constantly. Stir in the parsley and meats, and continue to sauté another 10 minutes. While the meat cooks, mix the bread and milk in a large bowl; once absorbed, squeeze as much milk as you can from the bread and discard it. Combine the bread with the eggs.

Add the bread and egg mixture to meat and vegetables, mixing well. Season with the spices, reserving only the breadcrumbs, and pour into a 13×9″ baking dish. Bake uncovered for 1 1/2 hours. When done, remove from the oven, let cool for 15 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight).

When you’re ready to serve the peppers, remove them from the refrigerator and fill with the chilled stuffing mixture. Top with the breadcrumbs and broil about 10 inches from the top of the oven for 15 minutes, or until thoroughly heated and golden on top.

Kim was craving fish tonight, and I wanted to use up some extra ingredients we had in the kitchen, so I stopped by Central Fish and picked up a whole striped bass. I just threw this together with what I had on-hand, so adjust as desired.

First, I mixed a quick brine using fresh-squeezed orange juice and soy sauce. I laid out banana leaves in a baking pan (to help trap the liquid), bathed the fish, then stuffed it:

• 1 lemon, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 lime, quartered
• 1 orange, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 large white onion, quartered
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 serrano chiles

Pappy’s or other seasoning mix, to taste

I sprinkled a little more of the spice mix on the outside, then doused the top side in Tapatio, closed up the banana leaves, and wrapped everything in foil. I heated the grill to about 350° and cooked that for about an hour.

The fish was tasty, but the best part may have been the onions.

I rekindled my affair with sweet potato pie over the holidays, thanks in part to this recipe. I’ve also shared this on TasteFresno.

Ingredients

• 2 cups peeled, roasted* sweet potatoes (1-2 medium potatoes will do the trick)
• 1 cup sugar**
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon bourbon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup milk
• 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Notes:

* I use yams. Most recipes call for either canned sweet potatoes, or for steamed or boiled potatoes, but roasting them brings out their natural sugars. Just put them in the oven at 400°F until tender throughout, cool and peel.

** If you roast the potatoes, you can cut this down to 3/4, maybe even 2/3 of a cup depending on the potatoes.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F

Combine the potatoes, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, cinnamon and ginger, and mix thoroughly with a hand mixer. Add the milk, continuing to mix until smooth. Pour filling into the pie crust and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool before serving.