Mental Gumbo

So in my search for the perfect taco, I’ve come across many different salsas. The one I always find intriguing is the salsa roja. You almost always have to request it if you’e at a Mexican restaurant, and they always have it. At taquerias they usually have it off to the side somewhere. I find the spiciness and smokiness to be delicious, but I always think it’s missing something to make it a solo condiment. I decided to experiment a little. I made a few batches of this before I settled on the final version.

One thing I found out quickly is how easy it is to make this salsa too spicy hot. It is, after all, mostly dried and somewhat re-hydrated chilies. *Edit*(Though it seemed really spicy at first, I think it mellowed out after a day or two in the fridge.)  The dried chilies I used are called guajillo, and are only about a 3 or 4 on a hotness scale of 1 to 10. I’m not going to get into the Scoville rating, in order to keep this simple.

Traditional salsa roja is just a few ingredients: dried chilies, tomatillos, garlic, and salt. I added a few items to make this beautiful condiment come alive, but it’s still pretty easy to make. I purchased everything from my local grocery store, so these ingredients are all readily available.

Salsa Roja

10-12 tomatillos

5-6 Roma tomatoes halved

8-10 dried chili gaujillo

2-3 chipotles and extra sauce from can

4-5 cloves garlic

1/2 lemon

1/2 bunch cilantro

water

salt

pinch of sugar

 

 

Tomatillos look like little green tomatoes with a husk on them. You’ll need about ten of these and about five roma tomatoes, depending on the size. Set your oven to about 350-375. Remove the husks and wash the tomatillos, then dry them and place them on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven until they are starting to develop brown spots and get soft. This should take about twenty minutes.

Use scissors to remove the top portion of the dried chilies, and dump out seeds. Don’t get fussy about the seeds, though, a few won’t hurt. In fact, I think the seeds in the sauce are what give it such a distinctive look. This is where you’ll have to use some judgment. How spicy do you want it? These peppers aren’t supposed to be very hot, but I’ve found them to be quite different from batch to batch. I say a safe number is about eight to ten. We’ll also be adding one or two chipotles, depending on your spice need. So for now take your dried chilies and throw them in a skillet without any oil on medium-high heat. Move them around the pan while they are toasting for about six minutes. You’ll see some blisters develop and you will probably have to sneeze or cough as the fumes waft up from the skillet.

When you think they are toasted put in the garlic cloves and the Roma tomatoes and stir around for about a minute or two. Add about half a cup of water and let simmer for two minutes or so and turn off the burner.

Put the tomatillos in a blender or food processor. Add a nice pinch of salt, probably about a tablespoon. Place the chopped cilantro in next, followed by the tomato and chili mixture. Put one or two chipotles from a can in with some of the sauce. Add the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of sugar, maybe a half teaspoon. Blend all of this until smooth. Depending on how much water you had left in the pan, you may have to add a little water. Taste it, and then add any more seasoning you think it needs.

I’ll say that it seemed spicier at first taste than it did after a day in the fridge. It also gets better. I put this on carnitas the other day, and I thought I heard angels singing. See what you think.

After a great trip to the French Quarter Festival in New Orleans, I was still craving Louisiana food.  For some reason, I really craved rice dressing Sunday.  So I went to the grocery store and purchased supplies.  Luckily, I live close enough that my grocery stores carry staples of Cajun country that can’t be purchased probably another twenty miles further away.  By the way, outside of central and parts of south Louisiana, this is called dirty rice.

One item I needed is called dressing mix.  This may not be what you’re thinking.  This dressing mixture contains ground liver and gizzards and some other giblet type goodies.  Before you freak out, I can’t stand liver either.  But for some reason I can’t get enough of this dish.  It doesn’t really taste like liver when finished, but it’s not the same without the dressing mix, although you could leave it out and use fresh sausage instead.  I used both, and some ground beef.  The sausage I used is fresh pork sausage with green onions, which may also only be available in certain locations.  You could use some Jimmy Dean and just add some green onions.

This was my first time making this, even though I’ve eaten it many times in central Louisiana, where it is served at every pot-luck or family gathering I’ve ever been to.  It isn’t particularly difficult, but takes time, like many one pot meals.  Though, to be fair, I guess this should be a side dish.  I’m unfortunately a bit of a glutton and a craving freak.  If I really have a craving for something, I make too much and can eat the same thing for days straight.

After this attempt, I came to the conclusion that most people at least partially cook the rice before mixing it in with everything else.  I cooked the rice directly in the pot.  I like the way it turned out, having an almost risotto like effect.  But it looks different than what I’ve had in the past.

 

Cajun Rice Dressing Ingredients

1 bell pepper

1 onion

2 stalks of celery

3 cloves garlic

1 pound fresh sausage

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 container of dressing mix

tbsp creole mustard

tbsp worcestershire

tsp  tabasco

tbsp butter

1 small bag of rice

3 cups chicken stock

3 cups beef stock

 

In a Dutch oven or stock pot, start browning the sausage and ground beef.  While this is cooking, dice the vegetables.  Add them to the meat when diced.  Season with black pepper and creole seasoning.  Then add the dressing mix and garlic.  Cook until veggies are soft and clear.  Drain about half of the grease, returning everything to the pot.

Add the butter, mustard, hot sauce, and worcestershire to the pot and stir.  Add the rice and cook for a few minutes.  Yes the whole bag.  This makes a bunch.  Add enough broth to come to the top of the mixture and stir well.  Cover and cook on low for about twenty minutes, keeping an eye on the liquid level to make sure it isn’t drying up.

At this point, add more stock when you think it is necessary, watching the rice to see how done it is.  Remember that the dish is not supposed to be runny at the end.  It should be about the consistency of jambalaya.  So don’t add too much stock towards the end.  Taste rice grains as you go to see how close it is to done.

I hope you and the army you feed this to enjoy it as much as I did.

 

So I had a pound of lump crab meat in my refrigerator, and couldn’t figure out what I wanted to do with it.  I thought about making a gumbo, or perhaps some kind of seafood dressing.  As  much as I love a good gumbo, I’ve never really made it.  I didn’t want my first attempt to be with expensive crab meat, a first try for a dark roux gumbo (that’s the way I like it) is better served for chicken or sausage.  It was about that time that I was driving home from work and heard a commercial for Bonefish Grill on the radio.

I started thinking about how much I used to love the crab cakes and the most delicious green sauce they were served with.  They changed the sauce to a remoulade about a year or so ago, I’m not sure why.  I made a call to someone I know who’s worked there for a long time, and found out it was called wasabi herb sauce.  I didn’t get the exact recipe from this source, but I got enough to do some internet research and find what promised to be the instructions for making this great green masterpiece.

So with these instructions, and some adjustments and changes of my own, I created the sauce.  I may be biased, but I think it is pretty spot-on for what I used to get a Bonefish.  This stuff is so good with crab cakes, but would probably be really good with a pork loin or chop, or a piece of fish, or grilled chicken.

Try this one and you’ll be very pleased with yourself.

Crab Cakes

1/4 c. mayonnaise
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
1/2 lemon juiced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp chopped parsley
1/4 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
1 tsp creole seasoning

2 tbsp white onion
2 tbsp celery
2 tbsp red bell peppers

1/4 c. bread crumbs
1 lb lump crab meat

Dice the onion, celery, and peppers in about two tbsps of butter until soft and translucent.  Remove them from
the heat and allow to cool.  Mix the first set of ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the sauteed ingredients
and mix again.  Gently fold in the bread crumbs and crab until mixed.  Shape them and put some extra bread
crumbs on the outside of each patty.  Put them in the refrigerator for to help them keep their shape until
you are ready to cook.  Add a blend of olive oil and butter to a pan and cook the crab cakes over medium heat
for about five minutes per side.  If necessary, finish in the oven.

 

Wasabi Herb Sauce

1/4 cups chopped celery
1/4 cups chopped scallions
1 bunch italian parsley tops
1 lemon juiced
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp anchovy paste or 4 filets
2 tbsp dijon mustard
2 tsp wasabi powder
1 tbsp chopped garlic
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp dry mustard
1 dash tabasco
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Put all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
Refrigerate until ready to use.

Serve the crab cakes with the sauce and lemon wedge.  I decorate the plate with the sauce and siracha, or as I like to call it, red gold.

Enjoy!