Watch and Learn - {Seafood Stew a la Provence (with an American Twist)}

About a year ago, I was contacted by the owners of Wolf Ranch Farmers' Market about helping out at the market. It was an open-ended proposition with a couple of different objectives; one was to write a series of posts in which I shop the market and use the purchased products to make a dish that would help other shoppers also use the seasonal bounty available to them; the other was to actually cook at the market. Over the course of the past year, I wrote a number of posts, and did only a couple of demos at the market. The position morphed rather quickly, and soon, I found myself in the titled role of Special Events Coordinator. In this role, I have recruited a few farm-to-table chefs to come and do demos at the market, coordinated the first chef battle at the market between 2 of those chefs, and organized the 1st Anniversary Farmer's Breakfast Celebration. 

One of my favorite parts of this work has been having the opportunity to watch the chefs create food on the fly using what is at the peak of freshness at the market. I've learned so much about cooking via this observational learning - from flavor profiles that work well together to how a chef sets up their station to knife skills. As is the goal of these demos, I've also walked away with some truly great dishes that I've replicated in my home kitchen for my family.  For instance, last weekend, Chef Jacob Hilbert from The Hollow in Georgetown, Tx. was our guest chef. He is an inspired chef who wholeheartedly embraces locally sourced ingredients. He is a true artist who works very hard to ensure that there is a reason for the ingredients he selects to be included in a dish or on the plate. He takes care of the ingredients. The dish that he was creating at the market was a Provencal-style Fish Stew. He selected traditional ingredients, such as tomatoes, sweet green peppers, onions, fennel, garlic, basil, olive oil, scallops and fish (drum from the gulf) and put a local, decidedly non-European twist with the addition of local, sweet corn. The results of his labor were absolutely divine. The stewed tomatoes made such a great base for all of the other flavors and the fresh fennel and splash of Pernod (an anise flavored liqueur) added a fresh, sweetness to the mix. I knew I had to make this at home - trouble however as El Syd has that inconvenient allergy to finned fish. After speaking with Chef Jacob, he assured me that eliminating the fish and subbing in other seafood with the scallops would be equally good. 

With that knowledge and watching closely, I set out to make this for El Syd's belated birthday dinner. Not a true recipe per se, but more of the type of cooking that I like best - cooking by suggestion. While this might not be exactly what Chef did, I feel it does it justice. Here's what I did: 

Seafood Stew a la Provence (with an American Twist)adapted from Jacob Hilbert

• 5 or 6 large ripe tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 sweet green peppers, diced
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced (reserve fronds for use later in the dish)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 4 or 5 ears of corn, shucked and cleaned, kernels cut from the cob
• 1/2 lb dry scallops
• 1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 lb mussels, cleaned  and washed
• a couple of splashes of Pernod (or other Anise-flavored liqueur)
• generous amounts of olive oil
• 1 C basil leaves, roughly torn
• 1/2 C fennel fronds, finely chopped

1. In a large dutch oven, heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes cut side down into the hot oil. Sear until the tomatoes begin to break down and then lower heat a bit to allow the tomatoes to stew down until soft and crushable with a spatula. Add a couple of splashes of Pernod to de-glaze pan.
2. In a separate pan, lightly roast the corn cobs (reserved from removing the kernels) and then cover with water and simmer to create a corn cob stock. If you'd rather skip this step, use water at the end of step 3.
3. Add a splash more olive oil, return heat to med-hi, add the onion, peppers, fennel and garlic to the tomatoes and allow to cook until all items are softened and the onions are translucent. Add the cob stock(or water) to the pot (enough to get a loose stew consistency).
4. Continue to cook the mixture until all of the vegetables are tender. Add a bit more olive oil if you like and then add scallops - allow to cook a minute or so and then add mussels and shrimp. Seafood is done when the scallops and shrimp are no longer translucent and mussels have popped open (discard any mussels that don't open.)
5. Add torn basil, and fennel fronds and perhaps a splash more Pernod if you like. Stir well and serve with a delicious French bread (to sop up all of that delicious liquid).
6. Enjoy!

Notes: 

• Just about any combination of fish and seafood will work well for this stew - or even all one type.
• There are other substitutions for Pernod - any anise-flavored liqueur would work in a pinch (eg. Anisette or Herbsaint)
• When buying sea scallops, they should be fresh, large (U10- meaning there are under 10 scallops per pound), and slightly sticky to the touch. The best kept scallops will be designated as "dry", and that's really the only kind you want. If the scallops you see are in a white liquid, then they've been dipped in phosphates to extend their shelf life and to add water weight. These scallops will also appear pure white when the natural color of sea scallops range from white to off-white to pale shades of orange, pink and tan. When cooked, these wet scallops will seep out all of that retained water and fill up your pan with that liquid, resulting in a steamed type item(more important when searing than when adding to a stew, I suppose, but who needs extra chemicals?) and a less than satisfactory result.
• Mussels are alive when purchased. Thus, it is imperative that they not be sealed off from fresh air. Be sure that you carry them home on ice and with the bag partially open. Once at home, place into a bowl, cover with a damp towel and place in the fridge until ready to use - recommended the same day as you're cooking. Follow this link for great info on mussels. 

This dish was very well-received and will definitely earn a place in our Summer dinner rotation.  El Syd loved it and paired it with a lovely McPherson Cellars Roussanne. This recipe makes a healthy amount of stew - we had enough for 2 nights worth of dinners and a lunch portion left over. To reheat, do so slowly over lower heat as to not rubberize your seafood.

Happy Cooking!
sld 

Warm & Hearty {Texas Mama's Seafood Gumbo}

Based upon the frequency of my posts of late, you could say that I'm somewhat of a crock pot of writing. Low and Slow. The past month has seen whirlwind of activity here at the TGKHQ; a 12th birthday celebration for the daughter, a series of rehearsals and performances for said daughter, as well; the arrival of Grandma Selma, my mother-in-law; the menu decisions, the preparations, and finally, the big feast itself. Add to that the usual daily schedule of insanity (Scouts and Karate for son, the aforementioned dance and other middle school stuff for daughter, various and sundry meetings for me, El Syd's over-the-top November schedule) and you've got a jam-packed month. 

Thanksgiving was wonderful. While I've got the basic menu down pat, I do make some tweaks here and there every year just to keep it fresh. This year, I did a Bourbon-glazed Turkey (a keeper with more details planned for a future post) and I switched up the desserts a bit. Pie Bars - a solution for the "which pie should I have?" dilemma as it is simple to have a tiny square of each. After a few days of leftovers followed by a week of cleansing the systems, it was time to get cooking again. 

We're currently in the midst of some of our coldest weather. A Siberian cold-front, which is probably gripping your neck of the woods as well, has our temps hovering at just below or just slightly above freezing. Weather like that calls for a warm, hearty dish. Soups, chili or stews are what immediately come to mind. I wanted something a bit different and a recipe from my dear Mama came to the forefront.She calls it Seafood Gumbo, and I suppose it is a gumbo of sorts since it does start with a roux and does have okra in it. But, I think of it more as a Mixed Seafood Stew. It is a super simple recipe that starts with cooking the base and adding the seafood only when you're about ready to eat. I love that you can add whatever seafood your family prefers and change up the combination for a variety of flavor sensations. Served around an island of steamed rice, it is a perfect dish for one of these icy cold days.

Texas Mama's Seafood Gumbo

• 1/4 C butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 green bell pepper, thinly sliced (discard seeds, ribs and stem)
• 1-26 oz can chopped tomatoes (or tomato puree - whatever you prefer)
• 2.5 C fresh okra cut into 1/2 in rounds (sub frozen okra cuts when okra is not in season)
• 1-6 oz can tomato paste
• 3 Cups beef broth
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 Tsp chili powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1.5 - 2 lbs of mixed seafood (raw shrimp, peeled and deveined, shucked oysters, gumbo crabs or cleaned crab meat, firm white fish fillets cut into bite-sized pieces, your choice)
• 3 Cups cooked white rice
• Chopped parsley for garnish

1. As early in the day as you like (even the day before): in a large heavy dutch oven, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook over low heat until it reaches a nice nutty brown. Add garlic, onions, pepper and cook slowly until vegetables are tender.
2. Add tomatoes and rest of ingredients except seafood, rice and parsley. Simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. (At this point, you can add seafood if you're ready to eat or cool and refrigerate until you're ready to use.)
3. To finish dish/serve: If base is cold, heat over medium flame until just bubbling. Add seafood, simmer covered for about 5 minutes until shrimp is pink and tender and the rest of the seafood is cooked. Serve gumbo in individual shallow dishes with an "island"of rice in the center of each plate. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Be sure to have some bottles of Louisiana Hot sauces on the table for folks to add a little spice and vinegar to the mix. We love Crystal and I also love Trappey's Hot Peppers in vinegar to shake on top. Tabasco or any other similar sauce is a great addition to this warm, tomato-based, seafood stew.

Happy Cooking!

sld

Happy Mardi Gras!

Anyone who knows me knows that, while I love learning about cultures from all over the globe, I am magnetized to the food, history and culture of New Orleans. I swear I must have lived there in a past life or something from the way I'm drawn to that place. So, in honor of today being Mardi Gras, I decided that a proper gumbo was in order. 

So, what is a proper gumbo? Well, after searching through my multitude of cookbooks, it seems that in order to be a gumbo, that thick, dark, rich soup containing vegetables, meat and/or seafood, a couple of things remain constant -  gumbo is served with/over rice, and it must be thickened with something. Generally, gumbos are twice thickened. First, with a roux. This traditional mixture is made by cooking flour in a fat. In order to get a nice dark roux, vegetable oil provides a fat with a high smoke point which stands up to the longer cooking times needed to get the rich nutty brown color. Then, it is thickened again with either okra or file powder, but according to true connoisseurs, never both. Otherwise, anything goes. From a sausage and chicken gumbo, to wild duck gumbo, to a light gumbo of squash and corn, and every other conceivable combination of ingredients to toss in the pot, all qualify as gumbo.

Using my variety of recipes, and their described methods, I concocted my own for tonight's dinner. No matter what you decide to do, I strongly recommend that you follow the professional kitchen technique of mise en place (pronounced meez on plas). This technique refers to organizing all ingredients and tools that you'll need before you start cooking a dish. Recipes are reviewed to check for necessary ingredients and equipment. Ingredients are measured out, washed, chopped, and placed in individual bowls. Because some of the action of this particular recipe happens pretty quickly and can go South on you before you know it, it is helpful to have everything planned out so you can easily add things without turning into a sweaty mess.

Seafood Gumbo (adapted from Louis Lambert & John Folse)

• 1 1/2 C yellow onions diced
• 1 C green bell pepper diced
• 1 C celery diced
• 2  bunches green onion, thinly sliced (both white and green parts)
• 2 Tbsp Creole seasoning (I used "Slap ya Mama")
• 2  bay leaves
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 3/4 C vegetable oil
• 1 C all purpose flour
• 6 C shrimp or chicken stock
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/3 C flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 lb medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 gumbo crabs 
• 1 pint shelled oysters with their liquor (juices)
• 1/2 lb crab meat, picked over for bits of shell
• 1/2 lb frozen sliced okra(or fresh if in season)
• 4 Cups cooked white rice
• Hot Sauce, for serving (We love Crystal)

You'll roux the day....

Nutty Brown and ready to go.

• In a large bowl, combine the onions, peppers, celery and half of the green onions (set aside rest of green onion for later). In a small bowl, mix together the creole seasoning, bay leaves, salt and cayenne to make spice mix.
• Pour the stock into a large soup pot or dutch oven, and begin heating it to a simmer. Meanwhile, heat oil in large, heavy sauce pan over medium high heat. Stir in the flour to make a smooth roux. Reduce heat to medium and cook roux, stirring constantly, until it turns a deep, nutty brown color. This will take a while(about 30 minutes) and you really cannot leave it once you start. If you see any flecks of black during this process, you've burned some of your flour which in essence ruins your roux. Dump it and start over.  
• Add the onion, bell pepper and celery mixture (aka the Holy Trinity) to the roux and stir to combine well. Cook an additional 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and spice mixture and cook for another minute or so. (Ingredients will be a big clump.)
• Turn heat up to high under the stock and add the roux mixture to the soup pot in multiple additions. Whisk well between additions to make sure the roux smooths out and doesn't remain clumpy. Once all of the roux is in the stock, add the okra, and bring the gumbo to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the rest of the green onions, the parsley and the shrimp and crabs and cook for 3 minutes. In order to avoid overcooking the seafood, keep the mixture at a low simmer from this point on. Stir in the oysters and their liquor(juices) and continue cooking at low. Finally, stir in the crab meat.

• Serve immediately - ladling gumbo over cooked white rice and hot sauce on the table.

A Pot of Deliciousness!

Note: With the exception of the time it takes to make the roux, the rest of this dish really comes together quickly.

Happy Cooking!

sld