photo by Darwin Bell

While I am no huge fan of Apple products, I do like my iPhone.  It’s a mostly useful device with some entirely useless applications.  Some time back I picked up an interesting app - Distant Shore.  I liked the company's other app, Koi Pond.  Distant Shore is a simple concept - you walk along a beach picking up shells.  Along the way you might find bottles with messages in them.  When you've collected 5 shells you get an empty bottle you can fill with any message you like.  Other users reply to your messages and you to theirs.  Simple idea.  Distant Shore is the kind of game a four-year-old can enjoy.  I know one and he loves picking up bottles and shells.

I send the same message every time; "what's the best street food where you are?"  Not everyone replies, and not every reply makes sense.  But in the replies come, from all over the world.  Its was from Distant Shore that I learned about "garbage plates".  Thanks - now I know how bad American food can get if you really try.

By far, the most enthusiastic responses, besides "hot dogs!", are about Xiao Long Bao.  The incredibly small number of users out there collecting virtual shells simply love soup dumplings.  I can't really blame them - they truly are amazing.

Thinking about soup dumplings got me thinking about an obvious fusion that would be wonderful - Gumbo Dumplings.  I make gumbo on a regular basis, so I know what happens to leftovers.  When chilled the gumbo becomes fairly gelatinous.  A perfect fit for these fantastic little packages.

Unless you have a dinner party that you're working on, I would recommend only making enough gumbo aspic to make the number of dumplings you plan in one sitting.  That said, these would be a huge hit at any dinner party, assuming you have the time and energy to make the gumbo.

Gumbo dumplings

2 cups gumbo

Frozen dumpling skins (get these at your local asian market)

Directions

1. Strain the solids out of the gumbo and put the liquid in a glass bowl.  Put in the refrigerator, in the crisper drawer, and allow to gel over night.


2. Dice the solids from the gumbo to a small/fine dice.  Store in the refrigerator overnight.


3. When ready to make the dumplings, put the skins out on a board.  Run a wet finger around the edge, making sure the entire skin has water on the edge.  Form the skin into a bowl (see picture above).


4. Into each skin, drop a bit of the sausage/chicken and a bit of the gumbo  liquid.  Don’t overfill.


5. Seal each dumpling with a little twist.  Make sure each dumpling is sealed tight.


6. Finish as you would Xiao Long Bao, but cook for just 8 minutes.

photo by wallyg

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival happens each year in the spring.   The event is at the Fairgrounds Race Track, near a large city park.  It's multiple days of excellent music and food.  I'm sure some big names have played Jazzfest, but my visits have focused on gospel and food.

The Jazz & Heritage Festival has roots in Southern gospel music, and it shows with the quality of bands that play each year.  Maybe the acoustics aren't the same as a small church, but the music makes up for it.

The other highlight is the food.  Its one of the best ways to try different cajun and creole dishes, some that aren't very common outside the fairgrounds.  The list is long, and I hope to eventually cover most, if not all of them here:

• Crawfish bread


• Crawfish balls


• Natchitoches meat pie


• Crawfish pie


• Muffuletta

I have never found a crawfish bread that comes even close to what you can find at Jazz Fest…

Prejean's Restaurant serves an excellent gumbo at the Jazz & Heritage Festival.  This is not their gumbo, but it’s a good one.  Its simple and it never fails.  The only trick to this recipe is that you'll need a whole smoked chicken - easy where I live, perhaps not everywhere.  There are ways to smoke a chicken yourself, but when I realized how fantastic the local version was, I quit doing it myself.

I serve large bowls of gumbo with a lump of packed rice dropped on top.  The heat of this gumbo is heavily dependent on the sausage, so pay attention to what you decide to use.

Smoked Chicken Gumbo

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

2 cups white onions, minced

1 cup green bell peppers, minced

1 cup celery, chopped

10 cups chicken stock

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp thyme

2 bay leaves

1 pound andouille sausage

1 whole smoked chicken

To make the gumbo:

1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat.  Don't let it smoked.  Add the flour a little at a time.


2. Let the flour cook, stirring almost constantly, until it is a dark roux, the color of good coffee.


3. Add half the onions, peppers and celery and cook about 5 minutes.  Add the seasonings and cook another 5 minutes.


4. Add 8 cups of stock to the roux, bring to a boil and cook 30 minutes.


5. Add the rest of the vegetables, garlic, thyme, bay leaves, sausage and remaining stock.  Simmer another 30 minutes.


6. Remove the sausage from the gumbo and slice into 1/4 in slices.  Return to the gumbo and cook for another 30 minutes.


7. While the gumbo is finishing, remove all the meat from the chicken and dice.  Set aside.


8. Add the chicken and let the gumbo cool for 10 minutes.  Spoon into bowls with rice.

If I owned a shrimp shack, this would definitely be top of the menu.  This is a street food inspired snack that I make as a starter when I know I have a shrimp eater on their way over.  Or if the right kind of shrimp goes on sale.  It’s a simple and tasty way to serve shrimp.  Keep some bread handy and nearby.  You can also jack up the spice in this recipe with hot sauce.

BBQ Shrimp Boats

1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, rinsed and deveined.

1/2 tsp red pepper (like cayenne)

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp oregano

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp Worcester sauce

1/2 cup shrimp stock (or chicken if you don't have shrimp handy)

1/4 cup beer

Baguette or bolillo  bread, cut into small cross sections

Directions

1. Slowly melt the butter in a cast iron pan.


2. Add all the seasonings as the butter melts.


3. Turn up the heat to high, add the garlic, Worcester sauce and shrimp.  Cook for 2 minutes.


4. Add the stock, cook for 2 more minutes.


5. Add the beer, cook for 1 more minute.


6. Put the bread in bowls.  Serve the shrimp over the bread.  Make sure to cover the shrimp and bread in sauce.

Sliders are a great invention.  I'm sure White Castle has a higher unit margin than other burger shops - less meat, more bread, more sliders.  I have but one rub with sliders, and it’s a big one - I don't like burgers.

I realize that burgers and hot dogs are all American street food. For many reasons, none having to do with White Castle, I have not had a burger since I was a kid.  But I love sliders,so accommodations must be made.

Sliders aren't just great because they come in cool little boxes. A local spot serves Kobe beef sliders on a fancy plate.  I like them because they are snack sized and you can do all kinds of modifications to them.

Ever since people started blackening things like mad I have been making sandwiches out of blackened fish.  I think it’s a much better delivery mechanism than covering blackened fish in heavy sauces with crab or crawfish.  I'll take that too, if you're buying.

I realize most native cajuns would rather use peanut oil, but I don't like to burn my oils and this recipe cooks pretty hot.  I use a decent high temp oil.

For the fixins, I like to use a combination of red and white cabbage, but spicy slaw works well too.

Blackened Snapper Sliders

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp mexican oregano

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp onion pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Safflower oil

2 cloves garlic, smashed

1 lb red snapper or redfish

Slider buns

Directions

1. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil in a cast iron skillet.  Sauté the garlic until it starts to brown, then remove the garlic.


2. Mix all the seasonings together well, and coat the fish on one side.


3. Make sure the skillet is hot, but not smoking.


4. Put the fish in the skillet seasoning side down, then coat the next side with seasoning


5. Let the fish cook, depending on thickness, for 3 minutes.  Turn once and cook for another 3 minutes.  If the fish is not done, leave on that side until it is.


6. Make the sliders with small pieces of fish.  Top with cabbage or spicy slaw.