Port Arthur is officially Cajun and we have the "real gumbo book.

 

Port Arthur is now the official Cajun Capital of Texas and we’ve got the goods to celebrate. Gumbo is one of our favorite foods and Jim LaBove has a new book about it. No matter how much you already know, you’re sure to learn something new from the man who grew up harvesting seafood out of Sabine Pass waters with his dad. Cotton’s Seafood fed the area. LaBove’s many books and drawings, which often pop up at farmers markets and craft booths, share his “Cajunisms.” Look for talkative Jim and his ever-smiling and friendly wife, Dodie. You’ll leave as friends.

               His latest release is “The (Real) Gumbo Book,” offering “A Deep Dive into the Lifeblood of Cajun Culture.”  If you’re lucky enough to have met LaBove, you know that his writing is just like having a conversation with him. Drawings of local ducks, boats, musicians, kitchen tools and even the plant that gives us file help complete the feeling of being down on the bayou.

               I always say everybody should think their own grandma’s gumbo is the best. There’s room for plenty of good recipes, though. I’d love to try all the different duck and seafood ones discussed in this book. Just follow the recipes.

               Here’s what LaBove says: “Gumbo is an evolving dish that seems to be in a constant state of evolution. Her opinion aside, my Mama would be the first to tell you to make gumbo the way you like it and make the final recipe your own.”

In “The (Real) Gumbo Book,” Get the basics on the components of what makes various types of gumbo sing:

·       *  Roux? Basic and important.

·        * Eggs? Sometimes.

·        * Sausage? If you like.

·        * Holy Trinity? We need that.

·        * File? A thing unto itself.

Lagniappe:

·                Okra and the Cajun Diaspora is a chapter title that makes our bowl of gumbo seem legendary.

·        Learn about dried shrimp and water gumbo

·        The glossary includes words such as lapin, La PAN, Cajun French for Rabbit and

poisson rouge, as in redfish.

Flagship Mailroom and Emporium features some of LaBove's oeuvre. You can shop online at www.cottons-seafood.com. Now as for me, I gotta go get some gumbo.

Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie already awaiting the next crawfish season in Port Arthur. darraghcastillo@icloud.com

January is Soup Month. Can that mean gumbo?

My family thinks I don’t like soup. It’s because I told them I don’t like soup and have avoided certain soups from them. But I actually mean I tend to really hate vegetable soup or bland and salty canned soups. Bring on a good French onion, potato or gourmet cream version. In January, when one craves a bowl of warm comfort, I’m all about gumbo. I’m about gumbo in steamy summer months as well. My husband loves gumbo, but he always brings up his musings of if gumbo is really a soup. This is tedious, as he’s still going on about it as he dishes his second bowl. Readers, let me know what you think. Do you consider gumbo as soup? Or is it a special category of Cajun elixer?

Moocho Fiesta “Let’s YUM this thing,” the shreds say. “Mmm-oo-cho.” If every night was taco night, except when it is enchilada night, you might need to examine your cheese habits. You might need to go non-dairy, into Moocho’s world of Fiesta, Mozzarella and Cheddar shreds plant-based, non-dairy shreds. HEB has added plant-based options including Moocho. They work like cheese for me and the aged Fiesta Blend melted into a skillet full of refried beans on my last Taco Tuesday. If cheese should not be an everyday thing in your life, yum up with Moocho shreds. Circle B Ranch, Rogersville, Mo. Do Texans treat themselves to pork chops? We smoke our brisket and grill our steaks, but pork chops don’t pop into my mind until I see a beauty packed up at the store. And I sure didn’t realize there’s a think called Big John’s Chop and Steak Sauce that is tomato-based, molasses spiked ease for dipping, marinating, pouring on pork steak or poultry or, as makers say, great on fresh garden tomatoes. Big John’s Uncured Hickory Smoked Pork Pineapple Snack Stick is thicker in more moist than most options, in my opinion. Uncured Bacon Pork and a jalapeno version of that are great hiking snacks to tuck into a backpack. www.circlebranchpork.com The Paleo Sheet Pan Cookbook Jennifer Bumb challenges us to get our sheet together. Pumpkin update: Pumpkin Spice Pancakes is the first recipe to greet readers. You slice them into squares. Sweet Potato Bennies, using the potatoes instead of bread for a benedict, is the second breakfast option and the rest of the section makes eggs look artistic. Then you’ve get to stuffed poppers, salmon, meats and nuggets in the main dishes. I can hardly stand it. Bumb is founder of “Pretend it’s a Donut” and her writings are popular and funny. I noted a sheet pan in the tempting photos looks like it has been around, then I noted her observation that kitchens ought to have real, dog-eared cookbooks with blotched pages. I like her. And I like her dishes. Spaghetti Squash Pork Chow Mein and Buttermilk-Drenched Caveman Pops, what I used to call turkey legs, are calling my name. A sheet pan is an easy way to get dinner in the oven and to the table and it helps with cleanup, too. I’ll bet you’ve got one that you haven’t touched in a while. Have you ever jerked your carrots? Roasted your mini sweet potatoes Reuben style? Invited an avocado into your brownie mix? If you by into the sheet pan ease idea, don’t think there are just a few recipes to try. These come from all over the world and they have varied textures. Don’t worry. The sheet pan is still good to make dessert. How about fruit roll ups? Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who’d love to hear how you have already changed your habits in January. Let her know if you consider gumbo as soup. Reach her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

January is soup (or gumbo?) month

                            

What could be more satisfying than a hot bowl of soup on a cold January evening?

                             I actually have an answer to that: gumbo. Of course in some regions where gumbo comes out of a can, those two phrases may be akin. Around here we call soup a hot meal and gumbo a festive occasion. It’s hardly ever a one-person affair.

                             I can also go on about chili. It’s another great meal-in-a-bowl option.

                             January is deemed soup month and for some folk that means a can of chicken noodle. For others its about beef stock, bone broth, boiling down carcasses and combining leftovers from the fridge. While I still consider “soup” to be a more plain option than my gumbo and chili affairs, I sure do appreciate that soup made one day is often still there the next, and usually better, as the flavors steep. It’s the cooking day that keeps on giving.

                             Since the calendar always “reminds” me that it’s soup month, I foraged in my pantry to move potential soup ingredients to the forefront, and I’ve put a can of fish powder, bullion cubes and dried mushroom strips to the forefront. Looks like we’re going Asian. Egg drop maybe?

                             May I suggest some other options that will warm you up and give you more space in the pantry?

                             * Lentels – If you have some colorful yellow, green and tan lentils displayed in a glass jar so that it looks like you cook that way a lot, go ahead and cook like that this week.

                             * Cans of corn and/or beans – They’re there for “emergencies.” A quick soup can be one. If using canned beans, try mashing up some along the inside rim of your cooking pot with the back of your spoon to make a creamy texture.

                             * If you’ve ever used a can of tomato sauce as a soup base, it’s not a stretch to try using up a bunch of collected ketchup packets instead.

                             * Stuff you didn’t like much to begin with. Did you ever whip up, say, a vegetable side dish, not enjoy it and yet freeze the rest of  it? Try it again in the soup. Run it through the blender first if you have to. The other ingredients should overwhelm what you didn’t care for.

                             * Like pho at your favorite Vietnamese restaurant? Port Arthur markets sell the seasoning in blocks, so you can recreate this at home.

                             * Menudo:  When I was younger I wouldn’t touch the stuff. I’ve had some great homemade stuff with my husband’s family and I’ve enjoyed it in from a can. It’s also considered a hangover remedy. Ironically, his people in the Valley may liken canned menudo to my dismay over canned gumbo.

                             Darragh Doiron is a Port Arthur area foodie who is ready to have a bowl of any variety of gumbo in any calendar month. Talk soup to nuts with her at darraghcastillo@icloud.com

Bacon-wrapped boudain; Taste of Gumbo is on the way

I hate to miss a party. Especially when I hear what I what all I missed. In this case, I’m told there was bacon-wrapped boudain. Once I heard that sentence, the room kind of got blurry. I could not concentrate on anything else but making this treat and wondering why I’d not heard of it or thought of it myself. 

We’re “on the boarder” of Texas and Louisiana, people. I Googled it. I told others about it. I put it on Facebook to see if other “foodies” I know had tried it.

The consensus among them was: That sounds great, why didn’t I think of that?

At this writing, I have not tried what sounds like a gift from Heaven. But I think I have successfully planted the idea in my mother’s head that she ought to make some for all of us.

I suppose one should cook the bacon a bit, then wrap it around an inch or two of boudain, perhaps with a jalapeno sliver, the broil it.

Readers, have you done this? Does it sound good? Let me know what you think.

Rotary Taste of Gumbo, Etc.

The day the Rotarians gather the gumbo lovers in Port Arthur is one of my favorite times of the year. I won’t get to go this time, so everybody, please go and eat gumbo for me. It’s from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19 at the Robert A. “Bob” Bowers Civic Center.

“Come visit your neighbors, grab a taste or two of gumbo and do a little shopping while supporting the community through the Rotary Club of Port Arthur,” Janie Johnson, Rotarian, said.

 Rotary Club of Port Arthur has been doing this for 29 years and you know their proceeds, from $10 tickets at the door, is going to good causes.

There’s a silent auction, vendor booths and door prizes.

We can thank this group for the Rotary International Avenue of Flags that welcome seafarers to the Port of Port Arthur.

Johnson reminded that Rotarians internationally work to eradicate Polio through vaccines, water, sanitation, health care and better quality of living. Locally Rotarians have  invested in a quality community through support of grants to local charities, college scholarships, early literacy and feeding the hungry.

“Our motto is Service Above Self and as Rotarians we are honored to serve in our community first,” Johnson said.

darraghcastillio@icloud.com

On the road with Southern Living and summer gumbos

 

Morgan Murphy starts with corn salad from Tin Top café in Grady Alabama and ends with the Ranch Burger from Jim's Drive Inn in Lewisburg in West Virginia.

It’s enough that traditional state plates make the section art in this Southern Living romp through the south. This new book is "Off the Eaten Path:On the Road Again." 
I remember Murphy’s great friendly style of writing, his making friends of people who want to feed him and even his napkin notes of great music to listen to as you take a road trip toward these great restaurants and meals.

Sweet Tea brined pork chops? It’s how they do in Florida. Caramel cake in Georgia, a sorghum bacon cookie in Kentucky…. It’s all too good!

“Dallas,” by our own Johnny Winter, is on the Texas Soundtrack list.

Something exciting to me is that I met Mimi Montgomery Irwin, whose dad kicked off the kolache craze at The Village Bakery in Texas. The family recipe for Kolache dough is in this book. There’s a bit of definition in the book, but go ahead and get with Mimi in West (West, comma, Texas as the locals say) for the whole story. Kolaches are supposed to have fruit, like apricots. The same dough, filled with sausage, can be called klobasniki, but not a sausage kolache.

Morgan Murgphy, give me a call before your next book. I’ll come with.

Summertime gumbo

January is National Soup Month. The first feeling of fall in the air sets my mouth watering for chili. But when do you crave gumbo?

In Southeast Texas it’s a year-round thing.

It’s my comfort food, hands down and it wouldn’t be Christmas Eve without it.

Seafood, chicken, sausage or okra make me happy, and I bet it does most of you all, too.

Readers, do you have a favorite summer version of gumbo?

Let me share your stories. Share them at:

darraghcastillo@icloud.com