Straight Outta Cajun: Gator Gumbo

To fully appreciate this post, you must know that I’ve spent this beautiful, sunny day not parked in a beach chair, but hard at work. That being said, hard work doesn’t seem so hard when it involves sitting on a warm porch with a cold drink, wearing the staples of any good Southern gal's wardrobe (white cotton tank paired with tiny shorts that used to be jeans) Skynyrd and Allman Brothers pumping out of the iPod as I scribble down my thoughts on my latest culinary creations inspired by my recent vacation. Folks, you’ll need to bear with me—I am still in my Floridian food phase, and in addition to Caribbean and Latin-tinged flavors, the third major influence I noticed in the Sunshine State's cuisine is the flavor of the Bayou—Cajun and Creole.

 

Braising gator legs

While South Florida is not at all rural like the locales featured on the History Channel's Swamp People, many of the culinary traditions are one in the same. Several of the bars and restaurants I visited over vacation featured gumbos, jambalayas, and fried alligator (better known as gator) on their menus. Yes, they really do eat alligators down there. And if you’ve never tried alligator meat, that is your loss—gator meat is similar in texture to dark meat chicken, and its flavor is a rich blend of game meat and mild freshwater fish. Alligator meat is high in protein and low in fat, which has increased its popularity in areas of the U.S. north of the Mason-Dixon Line as well as west of the Mississippi.

I managed to find gator legs at Savenor’s Market, and due to the ever-growing market for its meat, alligator is now easily available via mail order from many online retailers.

Alligator Gumbo

Stirring the gumbo

2 T / 30 g butter

1 green pepper, diced

1 medium brown onion, diced

½ lb. / 230 g Andouille sausage, diced

12 oz. / 340 g cooked alligator meat (recipe below)

2 large tomatoes, diced

½ lb. / 230 g fresh okra, sliced crosswise

3 c. / 690 g seafood stock

1 t. / 15 g chipotle flakes
2 large bay leaves
1 t. / 15 g dried thyme
1 t. / 15 g smoked sea salt
½ lb. / 230 g raw shrimp, shelled
1  3 oz. / 185 g tin smoked oysters in olive oil, drained
Generous amount coarsely ground black pepper
Cooked quinoa, to serve (recipe below)

Melt the butter in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the green pepper, onion, and Andouille sausage. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the onion and pepper have softened.

Next, add the cooked alligator meat, tomatoes, okra, seafood stock, chipotle flakes, bay leaves, thyme, and smoked sea salt. Cook for 25-30 minutes, uncovered, stirring frequently.

Finally, add the shrimp, smoked oysters, and a very generous amount of coarsely ground black pepper. Cook for 3-5 minutes so that the shrimp is cooked through, stirring frequently. Remove the bay leaves before serving, and spoon over cooked quinoa.

Nutritional information: serves eight.  310 calories, 11.5 g fat, 29.5 g carbohydrates, 30.5 g protein.


Braised Alligator Legs

1 lb. bone-in alligator legs
½ c. chicken broth or dry white wine
1 bay leaf
1/2 t. thyme
Freshly ground black pepper

Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat, then add the alligator legs. Brown on all sides, 8-10 minutes, or until the outside turns a pale golden brown.

Add the chicken broth or wine, bay leaf, thyme, and a few grinds of black pepper. Bring to a boil, then cover and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for 25-30 minutes.

Remove the alligator legs and discard the broth. If using the meat for the Alligator Gumbo recipe, allow the legs to cool, then use your fingers to remove the meat from the bone and shred into bite-sized pieces.

NOTE: 1 lb. bone-in alligator legs yields about 12 oz. cooked meat.


Cooked Quinoa

2 cups water
Pinch sea salt
1 cup quinoa

In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the sea salt and the quinoa and cook for a minute, stirring constantly. Cover, lower the heat to a simmer, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed. Uncover, let stand for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Blackened Grouper with Tequila Sunrise Slaw

I’ve been back from Florida for over a week, but apparently no one told my tastebuds. Each day since I’ve been back has been filled with citrus fruits, Island-inspired seafood recipes, and a few lovely Cuban-style black bean dishes. When I opened Mercato del Mare’s newsletter on Friday and saw that they had fresh Florida grouper for sale, I began to truly believe that while my brain belongs in Boston, my stomach belongs in Key West.

I wanted to serve something crunchy and cool with a little bit of a kick alongside the grouper, which I immediately knew I’d serve blackened. I’m still a little hazy on how my idea evolved and how I ended up inspired to make a slaw based on the tequila sunrise, a classic cocktail made with tequila, orange juice, and grenadine, a dark red syrup made from pomegranates or black currants. However I landed here, I sure am glad I did—this dish worked so well that it may be my signature summer dish going forward!


Blackened Grouper with Tequila Sunrise Slaw

For the Slaw:
1 large orange- zest in thin strips, segments diced
1 small jicama, grated with the large holes of a box grater
1 fresno chile, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 green onion, sliced
½ t. / 3 g dried chipotle flakes
2 T. / 30 mL tequila
2T. / 30 g pure pomegranate juice
1 T. / 15 mL olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Grouper:
6  2.5 oz. / 70 g portions grouper fillet
olive oil
Cajun seasoning

First, prepare the slaw by mixing all the ingredients in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Now, prepare the grouper. Heat a large cast-iron frying pan over the highest heat. It is hot enough when a drop of water dances across the surface rather than sizzling. Brush each grouper portion with olive oil, then coat in Cajun seasoning. Add the grouper to the hot frying pan and cook for about 1-2 minutes per side, or until the coating starts to turn black. Note, this process will create smoke – if you don’t want to deal with your smoke alarms, make sure to have your windows open and air circulating.

Divide the slaw into six portions and place on small plates, then place a portion of blackened grouper on top of the slaw on each plate.

Nutritional information: serves 6. 144 calories, 4 g fat, 10 g carbohydrates, 16 g protein.

Conch Chowder – The Boston Version

Of all the foods I tried in Key West last week, Conch Chowder was the recipe that struck me as The One – the one I had to duplicate, that is. The intermingled sounds of reggae, country, and Cuban jazz competing with each other from the nearby bars, the scents of cigar smoke, fried seafood, and suntan lotion, and the company of friends that I can only see after I’ve been felt up by TSA may have enhanced the flavors of the warm, mildly spiced tomato broth and the bits of salty, rich shellfish, but I did not want that bowl of soup to end.

The soup ended. The vacation ended. While city lights and potty-mouthed cabbies immediately conjure up a strange sense of home in my brain, my tastebuds still longed for the Keys, so I went on a mission to find conch and duplicate that delicious chowder.

This mission, while not impossible, was not fruitful. Tropical Foods, a Latin American/Caribbean Grocer located near Boston’s Dudley Square neighborhood, sells conch. Unfortunately, $55/pound is just not feasible for me, so I ended up back at square one – yearning for conch chowder, no conch.

Quahog

Fate must have been on my side, because just when I had mentally given up on my conch chowder, I spotted live quahogs at the grocery store. For my non-New Englanders, quahogs are large, hard-shell clams that weigh about a half-pound each in the shell. Once shucked, the meat inside is about the size of a golf ball, with a texture resembling calamari more than New England’s beloved steamer clams. Interestingly, one of our first stops in the Florida Keys was Alabama Jack’s, a roadside bar known for its conch fritters and sassy elderly dancers—where the New Englanders among us tried conch fritters for the first time. One girl compared the flavor and texture of conch to our quahogs.

To me, finding live quahogs was the equivalent of having my cake and eating it too – I could have my conch chowder, with a New England twist!


Conch Chowder – The Boston Version

Quahog, shelled

8 quahogs*
3 slices streaky bacon, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 potato, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
3-4 leafy celery stalks, chopped
8 allspice berries, crushed
2 large bay leaves, torn
1 t / 5 g dried thyme
5 roma tomatoes, diced
1 canned chile in adobo, minced
2-3 carrots, shredded using the large holes of a box grater
3.5 c / 830 mL shellfish stock
Juice of 1 lime
1 green onion, sliced
Large handful cilantro, chopped

First, prepare the quahogs. Place them in a large pot with a splash of water, and steam for about 6-8 minutes, or until the shells open up a bit. Quahogs will not open like small clams or mussels, they simply gape a bit. Remove from heat, and once the shells are cool enough to touch, pry the shells apart and remove the meat. Chop into small bits and set aside.

In a large stockpot, heat the bacon over medium-high heat. Cook 3-5 minutes or until the bacon is crisp, then add the onion, potato, red and green pepper, and celery. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened.

Place the crushed allspice, bay leaves, and thyme in a mesh tea ball or in cheesecloth (if using cheesecloth, tie it into a small packet). Add the tea ball or cheesecloth packet to the stockpot, along with the tomatoes, the chile, the carrots, and the shellfish stock. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Now, add the conch meat, lime juice, green onion, and cilantro. Cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, and serve hot. Note, this tastes much better when served outdoors with cigars burning and reggae on the iPod!


* If you do not live in New England, quahogs may be difficult to locate – the landlocked can substitute a half-pound (500g) regular fresh steamed clams or canned whole clams. For authenticity’s sake, you can also substitute canned conch (available at Amazon.com), but it is quite expensive.

Nutritional information: serves six. 437 calories, 8.2 g fat, 70 g carbohydrates, and 20 g protein per serving.

Are You Forking Kidding Me?

I'm a bit late on this one - today, I stumbled across a copy of Marie Claire, and while skimming the letters to the editor, I found comments regarding a previously published article on a new fad diet called "Le Forking." Le What-ing? Did yours truly miss an opportunity to pass judgment on a new cringe-inducing fad diet?!?

               Click here to read the article on Marie Claire's website...

Hmm...so under this plan, I could only eat foods that I can pick up with a fork. No spoons, no knives, no hands, no chopsticks, just a fork. Being the ex-law student I am, I immediately began listing potential loopholes in this "fork only" rule - is a spork considered a fork or a spoon?

Like the author, my thoughts on the diet are mixed. First, I am awfully surprised that this diet originated in France - I was under the impression that Americans were the only people dysfunctional enough to jump on bizarre weight loss methods. I always pointed to the French as an example of a healthy, rational food culture. Maybe I'm stuck in the past, or maybe "Le Forking" proponents are just a vocal, media-savvy fringe group?

Next, who made these rules? How does fish count as a fork-friendly food, but chicken does not? I've certainly had crappily-cooked chicken with a texture that would make the soles of my Doc Martens seem buttery in comparison, but properly cooked chicken is easily eaten with nothing more than a fork. These rules are far too arbitrary for one to be able to truly commit.

My last thought, however, swings the pendulum the other way. I've written many times before about how America's eat-on-the-run culture saddens me. I am highly suspect of "food" that is designed to be eaten while rushing from place to place, meeting to meeting, point A to point B. In defense of "Le Forking," perhaps eating this way is a step towards recognizing that taking the time to sit down to eat a meal is a noble goal.

What are your thoughts?

Live From The Florida Keys!

Dear Readers,

I'm writing this post from lovely Key West, Florida. On a whim, I decided to spend the holiday weekend in the sunshine with one of my best friends, and naturally, being away from home means that I'll get to sample plate after plate and glass after glass of delicious dishes and drinks that I just can't find in New England!

Stay tuned, and follow me on Facebook and Twitter for photos and updates!

Sweet Potato, Kale, and Shiitake Mushrooms with Miso Sauce over Millet

Recently, during a trip to Central Square in Cambridge, I passed what I thought was a café called Life Alive. I didn’t stop in, but I looked it up on my train ride back to the city and discovered that Life Alive is a vegetarian/vegan restaurant. I checked out the menu and a few Yelp reviews, and I wished I’d stopped in! Instead, I did what I thought was the next best thing—I cooked a vegetarian dish full of nutrient-rich vegetables and whole grains, seasoning it with a sauce made from soy sauce, sake, miso, and pungent ginger & garlic paste, a condiment that can be purchased at Indian markets or grocery stores with a good selection of ethnic foods.

Next time you feel the need to clean up your diet, give this recipe a try!


Sweet Potato, Kale, and Shiitake Mushrooms with Miso Sauce over Millet

For the millet:
2 ½ c. / 550 mL water
1 t. / 15 g salt
1 c. / 230 g millet

For the vegetables:
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
12 shiitake mushrooms, halved
1 bunch kale, mid-ribs removed, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. / 15 g salt
2/3 c. / 150 mL water

For the sauce:
½ c. / 115 mL sake
¼ c. / 60 mL low-sodium soy sauce
¼ c. / 60 g miso
2 T. / 30 g ginger & garlic paste

1-2 sliced green onions, to garnish
Butter or vegan butter substitute

First, cook the millet by bringing the water to a boil. Add the millet, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes, covered. Let stand for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

In the meantime, add the sweet potatoes, kale, garlic, salt and water to a large stockpot with a lid. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the kale has wilted and the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.

While the vegetables and millet are cooking, make the sauce by combining the sake, soy sauce, miso, and ginger & garlic paste in a small saucepan over high heat. Whisk until the miso and the garlic & ginger paste have dissolved completely.

Once all the components are cooked, serve in individual bowls by adding the millet, then the vegetables, then the sauce, and finally, finish with a few sprinkled green onions and a pat of butter or vegan butter substitute.

Nutritional information: serves four. 340 calories, 2.2 g fat, 65.8 g carbohydrates, and 11 g protein per serving.

Ingredient Spotlight - Fava Beans; Recipe - Fresh Fava Beans with Tomato and Pecorino



from Popscreen.com

Can anyone in the US hear the word “favas” without thinking of Hannibal Lecter and his nice Chee-antee? (It’s one of my favorite movies, but I still curse it for launching 100,000 mispronunciations of my favorite wine!) Outside of mentions in movie references, favas are not often featured in American cuisine. The Italians, however, have been spinning up great fava bean dishes for centuries, and the June issue of La Cucina Italiana features an entire spread of recipes starring these beans.

Tonight, I spotted a basket of fresh fava pods in Savenor’s market, so I added a few handfuls to my bag. Originally, I was going to bring them home and set them aside until I procured the ingredients necessary to make one of La Cucina’s recipes, but instead, I chose to use them immediately and make one of my tried-and-true springtime favorites - favas with tomato and pecorino.

If you come across fresh fava bean pods during your next trip to the market, be sure to try this recipe. It takes some time, but the fresh, clean flavors make it worth the effort.

Fresh Fava Beans with Tomato and Pecorino

4 lb. / 1.75 kilo favas in pods (about 4 c. when shelled)
4 medium sized fresh tomatoes, seeded and cut into small dice
4 T / 60 g pecorino romano, chopped or coarsely grated
1 large clove garlic, crushed with the flat edge of a knife
5 T / 75 mL top-quality olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 t. / 15 g smoked sea salt

First, you must prepare the favas. This step can be done ahead of time. Some people like to boil the pods whole and then shell them, but I prefer to peel the pods open and pop the individual beans out - it takes a little longer, but if you’re cooking with others, this is a great shared task to do over a glass of wine and some great conversation. Or, if you’re cooking alone, pop on your hands-free headset and call someone you haven’t talked to in a while, or do it while you’re watching your favorite TV show.

Once the favas are out of the pods, boil them for 1-2 minutes in boiling water. Once they’ve cooked for about 2 minutes and they’ve swelled a bit, drain them immediately and rinse in cold water. Now, you’re ready to slip the beans out of their skins - simply pierce the skins with your thumbnail and squeeze; the bean should pop right out. Once the skin is removed from all the beans, you’re ready to prepare the salad.

Combine the shelled and peeled favas with the tomatoes, pecorino, garlic, and olive oil. Gently stir to combine. Refrigerate for about an hour, checking at 10-15 minute intervals to gently toss.

Once the salad has chilled for at least an hour, remove the garlic clove, and add the smoked salt and a generous sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper. Stir to combine, and serve in individual bowls with a crisp Italian white wine.


Nutritional info: 4 servings. Per serving - 505 calories, 22 g fat, 34.6 g carbohydrates, 24.2 g protein

Feeding Tube Diets: It’s Official; the World Has Gone Mad

It’s not too often that I see a news headline that actually shocks me. I’m used to the media’s “if it bleeds, it leads” approach to journalism, but this one left me with a deer-in-headlights stare, asking myself, “Did I read that right?!?”

The K-E Diet: Brides-to-Be Using Feeding Tubes to Rapidly Shed Pounds  

Photo taken from Yahoo/ABC News link

After reading the entire story, my brain morphed into a melting pot of shock, anger, confusion, pity, scorn, and frustration. Once my head stopped spinning, I sunk into a low place of despondency and helplessness.

As my loyal readers know, I do not believe in restrictive dieting. I believe that food is a great source of pleasure, and we should not deny ourselves that pleasure. That being said, I don’t encourage overindulgence and gluttony. I sigh and shake my head when I hear people expressing the belief that enjoyment can only be achieved by eating portions large enough to feed an entire county, desserts that contain a month’s worth of sugar, and extreme combinations of meat, cheese, and fats that are overly processed and deep-fried to the point where one cannot distinguish the individual flavors of each ingredient.

On the other end of the spectrum is the diet industry. I abhor the concept of restrictive dieting, and I am sickened by the things that people are willing to do to themselves in order to drop a few pounds. As we get wider and otherwise less healthy, the diet industry laughs all the way to the bank. This makes me so angry, not only at the diet companies, but at our society in general. What have we become? We’re more willing to spend obscene amounts of money on books, powders, potions, pills, and other snake oils when simply buying and eating more fresh vegetables and taking the stairs instead of the elevator would produce more sustainable results.

People receive praise, or at least social acceptance, when they prove that they’re willing to kill themselves at the gym, malnourish their bodies, and choose drastic surgical options like gastric bypass and liposuction, all because carrying a few extra pounds is viewed as a mortal sin in our culture. Offenses such as lying, cheating, and stealing are often waived off and sometimes even encouraged, but gaining ten pounds is unforgiveable. I hate watching what people, especially women, are willing to do to themselves just to conform to some random, arbitrary societal standard that changes every five minutes and rarely has anything to do with physical or emotional health. And just when I thought nothing the diet industry foists onto the masses could shock me, I find out that women are willfully shoving feeding tubes up their noses just to fit into goddamn dresses?!?

I have no choice but to close my eyes, lower my head, and say, “I give up.” I can spout off about the joys of eating real food. I can lend my Michael Pollan books to everybody in my social circle. I can write blogs and send tweets and encourage my representatives to vote in favor of truth in food labeling, ending industrial agriculture, limiting food marketing targeting children, taxing soft drinks, and supporting small organic farmers, but what the hell good is it going to do? If it’s not dirt-cheap and it’s not a quick fix, nobody fucking cares.

I am struggling to keep my composure and not cry as I write this post. Our culture is broken beyond repair, and it breaks my heart to know that I can’t fix it.

Chickpea and Rice Salad with Lime Pickle

“If you marry him, you’ll live on pickles and rice!” So goes the admonition of Indian fathers in many of the curry-flavored versions of the familiar Gatsby-esque Rich Girl/Poor Boy love story. Thanks to a Groupon for Shalimar, an Indian market in Cambridge, MA, I was able to try these famed pickles, and frankly, I don’t understand why living on pickles and rice is a bad thing!

Lime pickle is made throughout India and in other Southeast Asian countries as well. Recipes often vary from region to region - some versions use sesame oil, others use castor or peanut oil. The spice blends also vary. Once blended, the pickle mix is set aside for at least two weeks, and then it is ready to be used as a condiment or a punchy seasoning, as I’ve done in the recipe below.

If you do not have a reputable Indian grocery in your area, jars of lime pickle can be purchased online via Amazon.


Chickpea and Rice Salad with Lime Pickle

2 ears fresh corn, kernels removed
½ c. / 115g. lime pickle
2 16oz / 439g cans chickpeas, drained
1 8.5oz / 240g can Le Sueur peas, drained
1 large tomato, chopped
½ t / 2g brown mustard seeds
½ t / 2g yellow mustard seeds
½ t / 2g ground cumin
2t. / 10mL malt vinegar
3 c. steamed basmati rice
Handful chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper to taste

First, prepare the corn by microwaving the fresh corn kernels for one minute. Alternatively, heat them in a pan with a splash of water, cook them for a minute or two, then drain. Set aside.

If the lime chunks in your lime pickle are large, use a sharp knife and chop them into small bits.

Now, combine the corn, the lime pickle, and all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Stir until blended well. Cover with plastic film and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Serve cold, or serve hot with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream.

* Usually, I post at least one photo with my recipes.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this one before I ate all the leftovers.  OOPS!

Nutrition information: serves 6. 488 calories, 7.7g fat, 59.6g carbohydrates, 15.3g protein

Orechiette with Sausage, King Oyster Mushrooms, and Roasted Red Pepper Crème

Sausage and peppers - a classic flavor combo that really can’t be beat! Whether served on some sort of toasted bread, spooned over pasta, or stewed together and served as a simple side dish, this is one pairing that everyone seems to love in one form or another.

For every written recipe for sausage and peppers, there must be 100 unwritten variations, passed down over time from one person to the next. Here, I tried an unusual variation, roasting and pureeing the peppers, and blending them into a creamy sauce with bits of hot Italian sausage, shallot, pecorino romano, and flavorful, meaty mushrooms.

I chose king oyster mushrooms for this recipe because of their ability to hold their firm texture during cooking. These large, trumpet-shaped mushrooms (shown left) are recognized by their thick, trunk-like stems and a small caps, and they may be labeled with other names, such as king trumpet mushroom, French horn mushroom, trumpet royale, or in an Asian market, xing bao gu or eringi. Although the flavor is not overpoweringly rich, the texture is very meaty, so if you cannot find these, substitute a mushroom like portabella or porcini - something with a texture that won’t wilt and become lifeless during cooking.

Try this recipe when you need a break from the same old sausage and peppers!


Orechiette with Sausage, King Oyster Mushrooms, and Roasted Red Pepper Crème

16 oz. orechiette or other short pasta
Splash olive oil
8 oz / 230 g hot Italian sausage, removed from casing
8 oz / 230 g king oyster mushrooms, sliced
1 large shallot, minced
2-3 red bell peppers, roasted*
1 cup / 240 ml dry white wine
½ c. / 115 g coarsely grated pecorino romano
Handful basil, cut chiffonade-style
Salt and pepper to taste
Extra basil leaves, to garnish

Cook the pasta in salted water. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, then add the sausage. Brown the sausage for a minute or two, then add the mushrooms and the shallot. Cook for 5-7 minutes, or until the sausage is browned, stirring occasionally and breaking up any large chunks of sausage into smaller bits.

While the sausage, mushrooms, and shallots are cooking, put the roasted red bell peppers and the white wine in a blender or food processor, and puree until mo large chunks remain and the mixture is somewhat emulsified.

Once the sausage has cooked, add the red pepper and wine puree to the pot with the sausage. Cook for another 5-10 minutes or so, stirring frequently to ensure that the sauce is not sticking to the bottom of the pot. Next, add the pecorino and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently, or until the pecorino has melted and blended completely into the sauce.

Finally, drain the pasta and add the cooked, drained pasta to the pot with the sauce (if the mixture seems a little dry, add a small splash of the pasta cooking water). Stir until each piece of pasta is coated with sauce, then add in the basil, salt and pepper. Give the pasta mix a few gentle stirs to work in the basil, then serve in a decorative bowl or on individual plates, garnished with the extra basil leaves.

* As I’ve said many a time, roasted red peppers in a jar ALWAYS taste like roasted red peppers in a jar. Roasting them yourself gives a much better flavor, and it is very easy. Click here for instructions on how to roast red peppers!

Nutrition facts: Serves four.  858 calories, 11.5 g fat, 100 g carbohydrates, 35 g protein