Cajun Gumbo Base

Who said that good Gumbo has to be made with a homemade roux. Well I'm here to tell y'all that it isn't necessary and this alternative actually has zero fat and zero cholesterol with only 30 calories per serving.

So why put yourself through all the fuss and mess when you can have great tasting Gumbo with little work in minutes vs. hours.

1 Lbs Cooked Chicken
1 Packet Louisiana Fish Fry Cajun GUMBO Base
1 Lbs. Andouille Sausage
1 cup diced Onions
1 cup diced Green Bell Pepper
2 Celery stalks diced
2 Tbsp Butter
2  Quarts Chicken Broth
Cajun/Creole Seasoning

Cut the chicken into 1 inch pieces and the sausage into 1/3 inch thick  rounds. Fry the sausage to get some nice color.

Place the diced onions, bell peppers and celery and butter into a pot and saute until the veggies are tender and then add 1 1/2 quart of chicken broth and the packet of the Gumbo base and stir to combine.

Add the sausage, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Adjust for flavor and thickness and then add the chicken and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.

Add in more seasoning if needed based on personal preference.

If you really want the best, let the pot of Gumbo cool and then refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight but if you do this do not add the chicken until after reheating with 10 minutes to go otherwise the chicken will over cook.

Serve over rice in bowls with a ratio of gumbo to rice 2:1

The TUO Cutlery (Black)The TUO Cl Vegetable Cleaver Knife 7" - Chinese Chef's Knife

The TUO Cutlery 7" Vegetable Cleaver/Chef's Knife

There is a cooking site named AlmazanKitchen where most of the cooking is done over a campfire but sometimes on the coals inside a wood-burning fireplace. You remember those, they are the one in your living room that is almost ever used but has a mantle above it to display your family photos. Damn, you mean they don't come with wood logs installed?

The AlmazanKitchen YouTube channel is amazing to watch and is food porn at its best. What I find most attractive is that no one says a single whiney word nor is there a note of irritating instrumental music played or the lyrics of some freaking anti-cop rapper.

All you hear is the preparation of the food, the fire, and nature and you hardly get a glimpse of the hoodie-dressed chef or anyone else for that matter.

But one of the stars of the show is the chef's knife which seems to have the leading role in almost every recipe. They call it a Serbian chef's knife. I guess that if a Serbian chef uses it then the name would be accurate but I suppose that the basic design could be found in other cultures as well.

They sell copies of the knife but you can only order one by sending them a FB private message. The knife is reportedly made from carbon steel and is huge and costs about $350.00 (they don't advertise the price), but hey, it also comes with a sheath don't 'ya know. I admit that the knife has a certain "cool" factor going on but for the modern home cook it's not very practical, not in any respect.

This finally brings us to the 7-inch TUO Cutlery Vegetable Cleaver/Chinese Chefs knife.

The knife arrived in a nice box (with writing that I could not understand because I don't read Chinese) encased in a foam cutout. Thank God they did not pack it in that plastic crap that requires 2 men and a strong boy to rip apart. Nothing annoys me more than having to use my scissors or razor blade to cut through blister packaging. .

The knife is very close in design to the "Serbian" but is smaller and more practical. It is made in China with Japanese Ultra Stainless Steel, whatever the hell that is.

The knife weighs 11.2 ounces and the blade measures 7 inches, imagine that. At its broadest point, the knife is almost 3 inches wide and has an overall length of about 13 inches. Cool down ladies, it's just a knife!

I opine that the handle scales are made from some sort of synthetic material and the handle is not straight like those found on most kitchen knives. Rather the full tang handle is shaped in an arc. The fit and finish is remarkable for a knife at this price point and the blade arrived sharp enough to easily slice through a peanut butter sandwich. I was impressed.

Seriously, the blade is very sharp so please be careful. As of this writing, I have only used it to chop carrots, onions, and celery. If you regularly chop veggies you will adore the wide blade to gather and take them to the pot or pan without dropping 1/2 of them on the floor like I usually do. But WTF, Darwin the Wonder Dog always seemed to enjoy those tasty morsels. After more than 40 years as a home cook, I feel comfortable in saying that this knife can be used for breaking down whole chickens and cutting through small chicken rib bones, etc.

That said, if you don't own a meat cleaver, know what one is, or even know how to use one, this would be a good choice because if you try some freestyle chopping it is less likely to cut off your hand. This doesn't mean that you are not going to end up in the ER but at least most of your digits should remain attached. Tendons and nerves, I'm not so sure.

If you think you'll get a legitimate warranty beyond the, oh heck, what is Amazon's Prime return - 30 days with this knife you really need to get a quick dose of reality so here it is, you're not gonna get one. Got it?

But for a mere $40.00 you can buy your very own on Amazon. No, not the Almazan knife which is outrageously priced. The TUO comes in both black and white so you have to choose to be either a racist or a hypocrite. Choose wisely 'cause your reputation in the internet community could be at risk. 

In closing, I'll say that this knife is a fantastic bargain and is highly recommended.


  

Uncle Henry Filet Knife

Uncle Henry 167UH Large Fillet Knife

By Barr Soltis

Image courtesy of BTI Tools, LLC.

When it comes time to fillet the catch of the day you have two viable options, use an electric knife or a fixed bladed fillet knife. Or you could try using a boning knife, but it is simply not up to the task at hand.

Ideally, a top performing fillet knife will have a flexible blade that is sharp as a razor with a blade length commensurate with the size of the fish you are cleaning. 

Other serious considerations should include the construction of the knife, the materials that are used in its construction, workmanship, the quality of the sheath and the price. Do not expect great results from cheaply made filet knives. 

The Uncle Henry 167UH comes with Staglon handle scales. "Staglon" is a proprietary lightweight and durable polymer cosmetically designed to look like stag horn. It was engineered for excellent long term wear and has proven to be excellent for knife handles. The Staglon scales are textured like stag horn and provide a secure gripping surface.

The Staglon scales are secured in place with brass pins. Nickel silver bolsters at the front of the handle curve gently down to help keep fingers off of the sharp blade. A small lanyard hole is provided at the back of the handle.

Specifications

• Part number: 167UH
• Blade length: 7.5 inches
• Grind: Hollow ground
• Blade material: 7Cr17 stainless steel
• Bolster: Nickel silver
• Handle length: 4.8 inches
• Handle material: Staglon
• Overall length: 12 inches
• Weight: 0.19 pound
• Sheath: Brown leather (included)
• Country of origin: China (PRC)
• 2017 MSRP: $28.54 ($21.79 at Amazon)

Image courtesy of BTI Tools, LLC.

A brown leather belt sheath is included with the 167UH. This is a pouch type sheath, the kind usually associated with fillet knives. It is a decent quality sheath, folded over and heavily stitched. The stitching is reinforced by silver rivets at the top, middle and bottom.

The relatively inexpensive Uncle Henry 167UH fillet knife performs very well. It even excels at trimming silver skin from meats. Sometimes you do get what you pay for, and sometimes even more.

Making Homemade Pasta

If you ever thought that making homemade pasta was difficult, think again.  All you really need is a food processor and a hand-crank pasta machine.  Suffice it to say, it takes about a minute to make the dough in the food processor. 

Assuming that you have a food processor I will concentrate on some of the devices that will make pasta making easy.

Making Pasta..The Machine: I bought the Marcato Atlas 150 Wellness model for less than $70.00 at Amazon.  The unit is made in Italy and I suggest that you stick with any Italian-made pasta machine.    There are two problems with this machine.  The first is that there are settings that determine how thin to your pasta but the instructions are pathetic and don't give much in which setting for are for what kind of pasta, i.e. for spaghetti, fettuccine or ravioli.  The other is that the hand crank does not lock into place so a couple of times it dropped to the floor.  None of these are deal killers but you should be aware of them.  

Marcato-Atlas-Wellness Pasta Machine


Making Ravioli:  A large 3 inch round or square ravioli stamp (or both) is indispensable.  I recommend the Eppicotispai simply because the edges are sharp and easily cuts through dough unlike some of the others that you may find for sale.  This cost me a pasta noodle more than $6.00.  If you are making ravioli as a main course a large stamp is invaluable. Hand Wash Only! 
Eppicotispai Aluminum Ravioli Stamp - 3"

It is advisable to own at least one gadget to make ravioli.  I own two.  The second cost under $14.00 and makes perfectly shaped and filled ravioli in 2.5" x 2/5 inch squares which is a good size for appetizers. You will need a rolling pin and to use this gizmo.  
 Norpro 12 Raviol Maker With Press


Pasta making pasta dough/ravioli videos: 

Laura Vitale Pasta Dough Recipe 

Laura Vitale Ravioli Video 

Note: I know that there are many, Laura Vitale included, recommend that the pasta for Ravioli be thinned to near the lowest setting.  For me, I find that the thickness of setting #6 (of 9 for my pasta machine) makes a pasta sheet that maintains its integrity when  it needs to be stretched to top a well-stuffed ravioli or when dumped into a pot of boiling water.   


Another thing that you will probably need is a drying rack for spaghetti and like shaped pasta.  This one cost a whopping $12.92.  

 Norpro-1048 Pasta Drying Rack


NOTE: Don't wast your $$$ on those all-in-one electric machines where you dump in all of the ingredients that magically extrudes pasta.

The BonaVita Coffee Brewer

In the past few years I have gone through two Cuisinart coffee makers with "thermal" carafes but I was never happy with the taste of the coffee even when using Duncan Doughnuts (DD) coffee.  The first came with a built-in grinder and the second did not but it was fully programmable.  It never came close to the real thing.  

I recently bought a no frills BonaVita coffee maker as a result of a recommendation from Cooks Illustrated.  I bought the more expensive stainless steel carafe version that is glass-lined.  Other than its simple on/of switch with an automatic shut-off feature; that is it!  Like I said, it is a no frills coffee brewer. 

I bought it through Amazon for about $150 and it arrived two days ago.  As soon as I got it I ran a pot of simple water through it just to be sure that it was operating properly.  The next day was its real trial, an 8 cup pot of DD's Coffee.  In about 6 or 7 minutes the coffee was finished and piping hot.  

There is little doubt that this coffee was just as good as what you would get at DD and the carafe kept the coffee piping hot for two hours before I finished the drinking it.  I'm convinced that it would have kept the coffee hot for much longer.

I suspect that what I had been doing in the past was making coffee, but now I'm brewing great coffee.  


Highly Recommended 


For additional product details click on the photo.

Idahoan Real Premium Instant Mashed Potoates - Product Review

Okay, Okay, I can see your eyes rolling. Instant mashed potatoes?

Well, not everyone has the luxury of having the time (or skill believe it or not)  to prepare proper mashed potatoes.  There are many things that are going on in our lives and having to make a side dish that takes more effort or time to prepare than your main course on a weekday evening just ain't gonna cut it.  The nasty instant (dehydrated) potato?, blasphemy you say! 

I may not be totally crazy (although the jury is still is still out on this one) but there is at least one, the only one that I know of, that is pretty damn good of the instant persuasion and it is the Idahoan REAL Premium Mashed Potatoes that I used to buy at Costco long ago in 3.24lbs containers.

For what ever reason, Costco stopped carrying this product but may still may carry some of the Idahoan potato product line but I'm happy to announce that Sam's Club has them.

In short, they taste pretty good by themselves but I have been known to add in some sour cream in lieu of some of the milk, blend in some well-cooked cauliflower, or cheese.  Just follow the directions.  It is that easy.

Also, instant mashed potatoes can also make a good sauce thickener if used in small quantities.

Click on the photo for additional information.