I ended up taking a number of horrible photos of my lasagna- just before it was completely consumed by myself and the hungry inhabitants of my apartment complex. Only one of the photos is even slightly acceptable, as you see.
That said, I've made a number a reasonably delicious foods lately. The one of which I am most proud is my gumbo! Not to brag, but even my Ohio- grown "southern" fellow (who has an authentically southern Mi-maw) loved it! :)
2 sticks butter
3/4 cup flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
4 sticks celery, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
5 cups shrimp stock (I made mine, by boiling the shrimp shells w/ s&p)
1 bottle clam juice
1 (12 0z) frozen chopped okra
1 can stewed tomatoes (juice & all!)
2 cups smoked sausage
2 Tablespoons Bay Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
4 bay leaves
2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon garlic salt
2 cans chopped clams (juice & all!!!)
2 (16 oz) bags frozen raw shrimp (make sure to remove all inedibles- i.e. shells...)
Melt the butter in a large, heavy bottomed pot, then add the flour. Heat, stirring frequently, until roux is deliciously dark-ish brown. Note: If you burn the roux, it'll all taste bad. Unless you like the taste of Carbon all through your food (I don't). I'm only saying this because I've done it before. It was a very sad, carbony, UNsavory day in my kitchen. You can't fix it. Honestly? I'm not even sure the Neely's, Paula Dean, or Alton Brown could fix burned roux... And we all know how highly I think of A.B. That man can do almost anything with food...
Ahem. Back to my gumbo....
Once you have a beautiful roux... add the veggies, namely the onion, celery, and bell pepper. Cook about 10 minutes, or until barely translucent and add the garlic. cook another few minutes, then SLOWLY add the liquids (shrimp stock & clam juice, including juice from the canned clams- reserve the clams themselves for later! Overcooked seafood is gummy, chewy, unhappy seafood).
Add the okra, tomatoes, sausage, and spices. Cook about 30 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients, which should only amount to the shrimp and clams, at this point, and cook until the raw shrimp turn a pretty pink. Watch the shrimp! They only take a few minutes to cook, and again, if you overcook seafood, it gets cranky, which will make you cranky. and your guests cranky. Can't say I didn't warn you.
I ate my gumbo as they do in L.A. -that's Lower Alabama- over rice, and was soon consumed by the warm, cozy feeling that only perfectly executed gumbo can provide.
As I'm not *hugely* tolerant of super-spicy foods, my recipe only has a moderate amount of spice to it, so if you use this recipe, be sure to alter it to your tastes. Level of Spice is just so relative!
In my seafood-rice-spice-food love craze, I didn't have the sense to take pictures. My house smelled too good and my brain turned off. I'm actually pleased that I even remembered everything I put in that pot... Hopefully I'll have my wits about me next time I make this.
Soon to come:
Vanilla Rice Pudding
Crab Rangoon
crepes???
