My New Orleans: the cookbook by John Besh, a review

Last winter while on chemo I became very much housebound both by the weather and my health. Therefore I lived for the mail delivery and with it the scores of cookbooks I purchased to while away the many hours I lingered on the couch. I’d dream of the day I had both the energy and the ability to eat anything I wanted and would conspire various scenarios where I would be back in the action of the kitchen again.

These days I’m still occasionally looking for my oft non-existent energy level and then there is the whole now that I can (in theory) eat anything I want; the question becomes should I. I’ve been trying unsuccessfully to address the weight gain from the drugs and have been vacillating between it would taste so good but there are so many other (healthier) choices out there. I'm not averse to healthy eating by any means; it’s just that chicken still has an off metallic taste to it and broccoli lost all its appeal in the hospital when it was served to me both soggy & grey.

Anyway, one of the earliest tomes to arrive during my necessity imposed exile was Chef Besh's My New Orleans.  I love this kind of cookbook, yes you get the the "recipes", but what I loved even more was the  context and history of the region through storytelling and the wonderful photographs.  Throw in some music and you have Mardi Gras waiting to take place.  While I have several cookbooks from New Orleans this has quickly become one of my favorites and instead of languishing away on the bookshelf it's actually a "coffee table" book now on display on the dining room buffet.

During my recovery I spent several weeks pouring over the material...inevitably something would capture my imagination and I'd head off to the Internet "to learn more about it" reminiscent of a weekday afternoon school special.  I think I lost three days alone learning about the various Indian krewes and their elaborate yearly handmade costumes...this obsession came courtesy of a photo attribution appearing in the chapter devoted to Mardi Gras. 

I also enjoyed the chapter on Feast Days including the Passover Seder where one of the items was a Creole Matzo Ball Soup.  Depending on the classic French mirepoix (carrots, onions and celery) rather than the regional favorite the holy trinity of celery, onion and bell pepper it did add tomato and red pepper flakes to give it the local flair.  Given this recipe is suitable for Passover, Chef ignores the whole sinkers and floaters controversy by avoiding the use of club soda or baking powder in the matzo balls.  At other times of the year let your Bubbie be your guide.

Many of the other chapters are seasonally and therefore indirectly ingredient driven like crab or oyster season or chantrelleles and blackberries. Sweet and savory stand side by side in an interesting and dramatic departure from usual cookbook formats that often depend on courses to categorize the recipes.  The annotated table of contents is enough to let you know what will be represented in the chapter and the book also provides a great index. As you would expect there are other holiday chapters like Thanksgiving and Revellion.

I had to laugh when I saw the inclusion of watermelon pickles under "Preserving Summer"; instantly I was thinking of both my mother and grandmother.  Upon further investigation it seems Chef Besh's Grandaddy was just as persnickety regarding his fig preserves as my grandmother was about her watermelon preserves.  It is these kinds of stories that give the book warmth.  I would also personally kill for access to 5+ lbs of fresh figs to try the preserve recipe. 

It should be noted, the recipes are not for everyone.  They are highly regionalized and in some cases not for the squeamish or as the LMF would say involves some potentially fear factor type foods such as shrimp heads, frog legs, pork cheeks and pigs feet.  The cooking techniques are often slow or multifaceted and in many cases not suited for a quick weeknight meal but rather for entertaining and holiday purposes and the minimum serving size is 6-8 and upwards of 12-16. 

One other thing I appreciated about Chef Besh's book, while he does provide a "basic" Creole spice mix, he has not tried to brand it to his own kitchen nor is he heavily dependant upon it in his recipes. While I understand the convenience (and consistency) factor associated with having such a spice blend hanging around if used in everything it begins to lose its impact both literally and figuratively making the food somewhat one dimensional. Chef Besh is also into the "spirit" of recipes rather than strict adherence to the letter of the law taking into account the need for individual taste, seasonal and regional availability of ingredients and the like.  This is the kind of cooking I grew up on, technique first...ingredients to follow.  Not unlike the musician who lays down the beat first and the notes magically sort of happen. 

The $50 price tag associated with the book may be off-putting to many a reader.  Personally I picked it up for song ($12.50 and no postage) given my "frequent flyer miles" with a cookbook club I've belonged to for years. That said, I would suggest trying your local public library to see if a copy is readily available or available through inter-library loan for you to review.  Then judge for yourself if it warrants inclusion in your own collection, don't forget used and/or discount copies should be available as well.

Overall I'd belly up to Chef Besh's bar anytime and he will be given priority on my next trip to NOLA whenever that may be.   

Kitchen Update:

My sourdough starter died earlier this week.  The good news is,it appears my house does not support the growth of wild yeast...the bad news is, it apears my house does not support the growth of wild yeast.  Started a new starter today if it fails will I'll resort to a commercial starter. 

What kind of tape is best for creating a sculpture?

Heaven forbid, I'm at it again...I've been thinking and not just about random questions provided by my blogging software.  In fact have been thinking about social networking/blogging or more to the point how folks use these tools to "share" intentionally and unintentionally. 

I'm a recovering Facebook gamer, along the way I added several hundred "friends" via the gaming mechanism. Pulling the plug earlier this summer I defriended most of the gamers but kept a few as we had developed a connection beyond the game. 

Since that time, I've had a several leave after some very public displays of poor decision making including a couple of drunken co-dependants that would sit across the table from each other and type an argument online when they should have been talking face to face in private.  At the same time they were communicating privately and publicly (online) with mutual friends saying things that fueled their co-dependency even more.  In a "train wreck" sort of way it was fascinating to watch but after a while it just grew tiresome and frankly they hit too close to home on a professional level that in the end I was really happy to see them go. 

Then there were a couple of nasty divorce and custody issues that went into bizarroland rather quickly.  One pulled the plug herself when the briefest of hints of it became public.  I applaud her common sense.  The other example, it seems EVERYBODY had a point/side to make/take including both parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and the kids themselves and they posted it online, to which I ask WTH were these people thinking?  

Are people oblivious to the fact they are sharing this information?  In some cases I think they are...while others are doing it for the attention.  Still I really don't want to know who slept with who, caught what disease, and absconded with how much money.  Again too much like my day job.  Sorry I just don't need it in my off hours particularly with folks I don't even know or want to know beyond  a "number" needed for a game I'm no longer playing.

Seems pretty easy to me...thanks but no thanks and you're gone. Have you have observed such train wrecks?  What was your reaction?  Did you offer support or advice?  Are you still watching the train wreck or did you cut them off?  

If that isn't enough, what happens when folks you do know and care about do something unfortunate online?  For example, when they add less than charitable comments to posts, think better of it and suddenly delete them....do they not realize in many cases recipients may have a copy  in their mailbox anyway?  What about information leaks of a highly intimate nature that could be damaging both personally and professionally appearing in feeds for all to see?  Then there is having secrets outed because information was shared with some but not others or because of carelessness on the part of the secret holder(s).  Do you simply pretend you don't know? In this brave new world, what is the etiquette for this sort of thing?

Then I started thinking what are the rules about the intentional sharing under the cloak of anonymity in a blog?  The blogger is anonymous,  the readers may or may not be.  I've witnessed folks who pour their heart and soul into their blogs in a genuine effort to find comfort and solace; only to find unsolicited advice and criticism flung at them. Then there are those who respond expecting to be lauded for their support and witticism and become angered when the blogger responds only with a polite thank-you (which is the only thing required). 

I still shake my head when I think about the blog I lurked on for over a year, where the author created a charade where all readers were unknowing duped into his wacky world simply for book fodder. Not surprisingly the author received not glowing admiration but scorn from his readers after “coming clean”; thanking them for all the caring and sharing he had put them through and announced the newly finished book could be procured via amazon.com.uk.

For my blog I have chosen anonymity, however in my fledgling state I think it is safe to say most folks either know me in real life or know me from other aspects of my online life. At this time I provide the option of unmediated comments as they are few and I continue to go undetected by spamers. As a reader I tend to be a lurker and if I comment I usually will do so in the form of a private message until I get to know the author and their readers.  A little something that until recently I had not made available to my readers.   That has now been rectified; the biggest chore will be remembering to check it. Feel free to leave a anonymous comment saying check your email ;-)

So dear readers I ask, what kind of an online image have you created for yourself and how do you respond to such twaddle? Am I off base with reactions?  Talk to me please.

Kitchen science or things that go poof in the night

My apologies, last week's post that went poof in the storm isn't coming back together the way I had hoped. I think when the electricity hit it, my ability to compose its content went poof as well. I've set it aside for now and will come back to it on another day. Speaking of things going poof, I spent yesterday researching and getting started on a couple of kitchen experiments that I hope will be long term successes.

First up...was homemade yogurt. As a kid my Mom turned to yogurt and granola in hopes of getting me to eat breakfast. Not being a big fan of milk in my cereal (still not) this turned out well and frankly a little yogurt is still one of my favs almost any time in the day. Back in the day, good yogurt was hard to find, today it's readily available but frankly with prices higher than giraffe lips and sugar content just as high I decided to try my hand at making my own.  

As a kid Mom had a yogurt maker...having neither the desire nor room for yet another kitchen appliance I decided to pull and Alton Brown and figure a way to get double duty of something I already owned.  Enter the crock pot; a quick search on the internet popped up a set of (easy) instructions on how to make yogurt.  Assembling my mise en place I was off and running:  1/2 gallon of milk (butterfat of your choice), 1 cup of store bought yogurt (actually I used a 6 oz container of organic plain yogurt) & 1/2 cup nonfat dry milk.  My equipment consisted of a 5 qrt Crockpot, a digital thermometer, a large bath towel, a strainer and a couple of coffee filters. 

This morning I woke up to a perfectly creamy yogurt.  I myself prefer a thicker Greek style, no problem this is where the strainer and the coffee filters come in.  Note to self next time you make yogurt do it on a Saturday so you can moderate the draining of the whey to the right consistency and not have to worry about being late for work or ending up with cheese (not a bad thing just not what I want today) from over draining. 

The quick bite I had of the still warm yogurt was very good, I didn't find it to be overly tangy nor was there a need for any type of sweetener.  Right now it's very good plain, but if I want to switch it up there are flavor extracts (vanilla, almond, orange or lemon) and/or you can add fruit.  It will be interesting to see how the flavor sets after getting cold in the fridge; yet another reason to leave work in a timely fashion this afternoon.

My second experiment also harkens back to my youth...homemade sourdough. Once upon a time I was the proud keeper of a lovely starter, used mostly for things like waffles and biscuits. Woefully neglected it eventually died a slow lingering death in the back of my fridge and became toxic waste. I’ve decided to give it a try again because bread making is on my bucket list for 2012 (and I need to start planning now) and Pete, a HS classmate, is constantly mentioning on Facebook he’s making sourdough pancakes and it’s been driving me nuts. In an effort to kill two birds with one stone, I began searching the Internet for sourdough starter instructions.

The best way to get started in the sourdough starter business is to receive some as a gift from family or friends. Sadly, no one I know locally is doing the sourdough thing, so it was either purchase a commercial starter (mix) or make my own. I’ve opted to make my own, and if successful I’ll be able to share my starter with others. Not for the faint of heart, making starter takes a minimum of a week and up to a month…with feedings every 12 hours. Heck, even the Gracie unit doesn’t usual demand such a precise feeding schedule.


When I woke up this morning it was alive and proofing; having doubled in size overnight. After giving it a good feed this morning I'm hoping to find the same when I get home tonight. If all else fails I can resort to a commercial starter, but I'm really hoping I can make a go of it myself. Anyway I’m looking forward to honing my mad kitchen science skills and making some tasty treats along the way. I also have a few more science experiments type things I’d like to try. I’ll keep you informed as to my progress, both success and failures.

Sorry....

Post in the works but unable to finish because of an unreliable power grid and storms in the immediate area.  If I can, I will post later tonight or tomorrow morning.

UPDATE: My file (zip drive) was corrupted by power surge must start from scratch will post again on Thursday.....