dcbc

That stuff looks clean. 50s Champ will get a pretty penny. I know nothing about pedal steel.

Tree-fiddy?

That's how it happens livin' life by the drop.

Yes, Chef!

I hear it's fun to stay there?

I'm Doing some spares on the WSM today. I'm using some seasoned red oak from all the tree-branch destruction we had from storms in May. The smaller bits are nicely seasoned at about 18% water content. Got some good color at 2.5 hours in.

Start the roux on the stovetop in a cast iron pan while the oven preheats to 350F. Put pan in oven and stir every 20 minutes until done. Definitely not hands off, but not a constant hands-on like doing it on the stove top. If I didn't think the flavor was better, I'd just do it on the stove top. For me, it takes at least 2--2.5 hours to hit that dark chocolate color.

I've just been copying the yarn link into imgbb and posting that image link here. Seems to work fine.

Icy Hot Cuntaz

It's noticeably better. It's the Emeril easy stock @South Austin posted upthread and I reposted. I can post it again, but it's way upthread if not. This is the only roux I regularly make other than the very quick one for enchilada gravy. I rarely make other Cajun dishes. Probably one etouffe and a dirty rice in 20 years.

Just had this batch after letting it sit in the fridge for a day. Solid effort. /pats self on back

According to aforementioned coworker, oven-roux is very common. So not in the non-traditional camp. My opinion. Oven roux is superior in flavor to stove-top roux. The fact that it's more hands-off is a plus, but in my experience, it is in no way a time-saver. If anything, it takes between 30 minutes to an hour longer for me to do an oven-roux than it does to do a stove-top roux. In the end, I do it because I find it to be noticeably better. The ease of doing it in advance to save time the day of the cook is great too. Edited to add that I'm not a person that's going to do something simply because it's traditional. My gumbo recipe has evolved over the years (entirely due to this thread) and when I try something new, the only thing that will cause me to add it to the official recipe is if it (1) makes the gumbo noticeably better and (2) if it's not a pain in the ass either in effort or time involved versus the level of improvement. The biggest flavor level-ups over the years for me have been homemade stock and oven roux.

Some follow up on my earlier post. On the smoked sausage vs. andouille sausage thing, Cajun coworker thinks the closer you get to New Orleans, the more likely you are to see andouille used in gumbo. She thinks the regular, smoked sausage variation is more common in and near Acadia Parish where she's from. The rice she swears by is Cajun Country medium grain rice. It looks like I can get this stuff in east Texas. Why medium grain? "Who can say. It's one of those things we've been doing so long, nobody remembers why we started doing it in the first place." On the subject of potato salad in gumbo. She says, "When we do it, rice in bowl, gumbo over rice, dollop of potato salad on top of gumbo."

Any excuse for me to combine T-giving dressing with some other food, process, or activity like some sort of Costanza-esque Sexcapade is a challenge I'm willing to accept. See Dressing Waffle

This isn't like cutting the bark off of brisket. But then again, I'm from Texas and, while I take the making of gumbo in my house pretty seriously, it's not a religion to me. The aforementioned Cajun coworker might have a stronger opinion about what things go into gumbo as a garnish than I do. She has mentioned that some people use potato salad. She's looked at my recipe and did not bat an eye at the South-Austin-recommended soy sauce addition.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that you can put whatever you like in your gumbo and the world will keep on turning. If someone served me delicious gumbo with brown rice, I'd eat it with a smile on my face.

I don't put a ton of rice in a bowl of gumbo. I think she could get by with 1/2-cup of cooked rice. I've heard about people pouring it over potato salad, but I haven't tried it. I've poured turkey gumbo over leftover Thanksgiving dressing. Did not suck.

My kid is headed to UT next week, is living in a dorm, and, obviously, doesn't want to take any of the nicer guitars he bough over the last couple of years. He gave away his inexpensive acoustic we bought him and bought a twelve-string against my fatherly advice of "you won't play it as much as you think you will." I suggested he take his little Epiphone Special 2xp90 that was his first guitar and just leave the amps behind, but he's decided to take the 12-string. He suggested the 62 GIbson LG-0 that lives in his room. That was a hard "No." His roommate is going to love him. I need to tune it before he goes for all the long-term good it will do.

Watched the movie several times at a friend's house on Laser Disc. Was pretty disturbed by it, but have fond memories of the movie overall.

Five years later? Nevermind? Few here likely have heard of the best Mexican food restaurants in Texas. It exists in the shadows. It ain't Ninfa's. /thread

In this last month before the older boy goes off to UT, I've made a lot of his favorite meals. Last weekend, I was going to make gumbo, but everyone opted to go to the lake to ski; so gumbo was postponed. I made a roux in the oven on Saturday night, jarred it, and put it in the fridge. Tonight, I got cooking. Naturally, I forgot to defrost the stock, but got it done. The only thing I did differently was to add the roux after I cooked up the veggies in the fat from browning the sausage. I'm not convinced I'll taste a difference since we're adding plenty of liquid from the chicken stock, but we'll see. One thing I was proud of was finding the andouille sausage with the grandma's picture on the package my Cajun coworker told me was the one that tended to be used in her family and friend group in Louisiana. But when I sent her a picture to confirm, she responded, "Right brand, but we use the regular Hickory smoked sausage instead of Andouille." D'oh! So I guess I'll try that next time to see what I prefer. I still haven't tried the rice she says is most used since I'd have to order that one. Anyway, a couple of hours to go and it will be served tomorrow after sitting overnight in the fridge. The sausage

And if he doesn't . . .