Pickled Okra

Thank you to everyone who took a peek at my new website and sent comments. Very much appreciated. I know it is not very good at this point but hopefully in a month or so it will be much improved. I'm learning and working.

In the meantime I have been playing with….pickled okra! Really good stuff and extremely easy. I am getting nice fresh okra down at the produce market. I like to add a few teaspoons of pepper flakes and mustard seeds into Mason jars, pack the raw okra on top, and then fill with a boiling mix of salted vinegar and water (about 50:50). Screw the lids on tight and into the refrigerator. I don't have a processor so I just store mine cold.

It's cool how this transforms hairy, slimy okra into a spicy, crunchy snack. Feeling the seeds pop between your teeth is kind of fun too!

Playing with a new site

I'm working on a new site about my Weber grill review.

I'm in one of those situations when I am just figuring out how much I need to learn about making websites. At least it is a fun project to keep me occupied.

Any suggestions or guidance is welcome.

Bland Bresaola

I've been sticking to curing pork tenderloins for the past few months. They are incredibly easy and very tasty; tough combination to beat. Just for kicks I decided to cure some beef and picked up some pretty eye of rounds. They started out at about 3 lbs each and got a standard cure with Morton Tender Quick, black pepper, paprika, garlic powder and some red chili flakes. I let the cure take for about ten days and then air dried for about a month. Everything cured up very well. I ended up fighting a little mold but it was nothing that a few washes with vinegar couldn't handle.

I was first struck by how pretty these guys were. The second thing I noticed was how bland they tasted. Maybe it's because I am just getting over a cold and my taste buds are dead but these guys taste like nothing! These will definitely be part of a side platter with pickles and olives and not a centerpiece. At least the project kept me entertained for a while. Happy curing!

Jasmine’s on the Bayou

In the absence of anything interesting happening in my kitchen I thought I would share what is happening in the kitchen of others. I went out to lunch with family the other day to a little spot that was rumored to make some good sandwiches.

Jasmine’s on the Bayou is located at 6010 Jones Creek in a little strip plaza. It’s easy enough to find but you have to wonder about the name as there isn’t a bayou anywhere in sight. We pulled up and a chalkboard on the sidewalk gave the special of the day as speckled trout with a crabmeat stuffing topped with a tasso cream sauce. Yeah, I am definitely not in Texas anymore.

The place is small; I am guessing it could seat thirty at the most. The décor was nothing special but the music was good and the staff was friendly. I opted not to get the special just so I could try a smattering of other things on the menu. I did not go exotic and tried a cup of gumbo, a side of red beans and rice and a serving of boudin balls with a side of rocket sauce. All were very good and from what I could tell everything else ordered by our table was equally satisfactory.

I was half way through my lunch when I noticed how radically my diet has changed in the short time I have been here. I have historically been a big protein eater with a few veggies thrown in to ease my conscious. I am pretty neutral on carbs..take ‘em or leave ‘em, I really don’t give them much thought. But then I look down at my lunch and realize that what I am eating is rice served three ways. Fried in the boudin balls, served with a seasoned sausage broth in the gumbo and smothered with beans in my last dish. Change is good I guess.

Anyhow…I highly recommend Jasmine’s on the Bayou as a great lunch spot. Good food, reasonable prices and definitely a local joint. Closed on Sundays.

Busted flat in Baton Rouge…

My username of “dmsintexas” is now pretty pointless. We have relocated to Baton Rouge, La and are planting new roots. We are staying with family while we house hunt and I am having the fun yet frustrating experience of cooking out of someone else’s kitchen.

For now I am enjoying the novelty of learning new supermarkets. It’s funny how hard it is to find the tortillas in this town.

I’ve been eating quite a bit of Catfish Atchafalaya, a catfish fillet smothered in a seafood gravy served on a bed of rice. The shrimp po-boys have also been excellent. The local Albertson’s has been running a sale on basa fillets. My understanding is that this is an imported saltwater catfish. They have been grilling up great and I can see myself eating quite a few of these in the near future.

No serious barbequing or sausage making for a few months while my equipment is in storage. For now I plan on enjoying sampling the local favorites.

Eating the bunny

I recently found a local source of young rabbits and have been enjoying them greatly. The folks over at Rab Ranch started raising rabbits this spring and offer them dressed at $8 per rabbit.

One of my problems with the whole "eat local" thing is the massive price differences. For me to get a pastured chicken I pretty much have to drive 70 miles to a farmers market and pay $12 for a bird. That's just too much of an activation energy for me when I can drive 5 minutes to Kroger and get a bird for $4. I want to support local producers but I have a hard time paying triple the price. Yes, I know, if I was really committed that extra money wouldn't matter. I have enough income that the extra $8 doesn't impact my quality of living. Well, I don't care...paying triple is just too damn much.

So I was delighted to find a local source of rabbit that was offering their product at a very reasonable price. Sure, I get less protein on a local rabbit than on a Kroger chicken but it is a differential that I don't mind.

Enough rambling.....I have been eating fried rabbit, grilled rabbit and rabbit stewed in cream gravy. All were excellent. My daughter thinks the rabbit in cream gravy was chicken and I am not going to let her think otherwise. No pictures on this; sometimes you get to take pictures and sometimes you just have to eat.

Perfect Present

Isn't it great when someone picks you up one of those "perfect presents"? My brother got me this lovely salt and pepper set a little while ago. I guess nobody really knows you like your family.