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RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - ShadowsDad - 11-29-2020
Fuzzy, roux is so simple to make. Don't make it with oil. Instead put dry flour in the oven. Keep it dry and it stores forever. Add the oil or not, the flavor is the same, but adding it dry will require a good way to whisk it in.
For those who don't know, it adds a wonderful flavor to beef gravy. It's not so much for thickening, just flavor. But it will thicken if enough is used.
Here's the recipe and such:
Dry Roux
Roux: What’s All The Fuss About?
Without roux there is no gumbo.
For gumbo, a traditional roux is equal parts oil and flour. Essentially, you are frying the flour in the oil until it becomes the color of dark chocolate (but without burning it!). Why do we do this? Because roux adds a depth of color and flavor to the gumbo that it would not have otherwise. It also thickens up the gumbo, setting it apart from any other kind of soup.
Why a Dry Roux?
Making a roux is a delicate process. It is easy to lose your patience, turn the heat up, and accidentally burn the roux. Burnt roux does not smell very good. And a burnt roux means you have to start over from scratch… if you want gumbo, that is.
Making a traditional roux can take up to 30 minutes, if you do it right. When asked how long it takes to make a roux, many Cajuns will respond indicating the number of beers or Martinis it takes, not minutes. “It’s a two Martini roux.”
I’ve seen rouxs made with olive oil, canola oil, vegetable oil, and Crisco vegetable shortening, but I tend to stay away from those. I’ve seen rouxs made with butter, reduced chicken fat, goose fat, coconut oil, and even the grease from andouille. I like those. When making a roux with oil, you need to choose something with a high smoke point. You don’t want the oil to burn.
Any kind of flour will do. All-Purpose. Bread flour. That really doesn’t matter much. The main thing is that you use equal parts oil and flour, and that you don’t burn it. Recently, I’ve started adding a little more flour that oil. I find that it speeds the process up a bit.
An alternative to the traditional oil and flour roux, is a dry roux made in the oven. It takes longer to make the roux, but it demands less attention. In my experience, the results are the same. Just less mess and more time to chop onions, bell peppers, and celery.
INGREDIENTS
3 cups All-Purpose Flour (I prefer King Arthur flour)
DIRECTIONS
For Preparing the Roux
Distribute 3 cups of flour evenly over the dry bottom of a large iron skillet or heavy Dutch oven (or baking pan).
Place skillet in a 400 degree oven for an hour to an hour-and-a-half. Stir well every 15 minutes so that the flour will brown evenly. Note: toward the end of the cook time (maybe the last 20 minutes or so), you will need to stir more frequently. Let your nose dictate the time. The kitchen will be filled with the wonderful nutty fragrance of roux… but you don’t want it to burn.
Once it has reached the color of peanut butter, remove the skillet from the oven and let it cool. Note: The roux will actually darken in color when added to water, oil, or when added directly to a gumbo.
For Use
Use the amount called for in the gumbo recipe. For example, 1 cup or 3/4 cup. Whatever it may be.
When ready to use, you can mix equal parts dry roux and water until smooth. Or you can add an equal portion of dry roux to heated oil in a skillet and mix thoroughly. No need to brown it any further.
I like to add the dry roux by itself to the pot of onions, bell peppers, and celery as they finish sautéing. Then I add the andouille (after degreasing and slicing) and let that sauté for a bit before adding the stock.
This dry roux can be stored in a glass jar for future use.
Charging cells for the flashlights tonight. Tomorrow I'll make sure the PV system is fully charged and switched over to "whole house UPS". The forecast is for heavy rain and wind on Monday. A low altitude mini jet stream wind is expected to drive humid air up to us from the Atlantic (gulf stream) and that could mean power outages from the high wind and rain as the humid air collides with the cold air. I'll make sure the gas cans are filled too just in case I need to run the generator.
Good thing the cold air isn't going to collide with 10° air or we'd have a blizzard and no good way to plow it. The ground isn't frozen yet. We're still in a drought condition but I suspect this weather will finish that off.
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - ShadowsDad - 12-01-2020
We got the biggest part of the storm last night. Lots of heavy wind. It was just short of a hurricane, what we get for hurricanes anyway. Lost power at 10:30ish last night and still are without utility supplied power. Lots of rain too, I have no idea of how many inches, but it was a lot.
The storm is still happening in northern Maine, but we're just getting the tail end of it now.
Edit: Just after posting the above I went out to shut down the generator since the batteries in the PV system were charged. The plan was to run off of them for a few hours until starting up the gen' again, the same as we did last night. In doing so I made the connection to utility power in case it came back on. By the time I got back inside the inverters "saw" utility power and started to charge the batteries again. So we now have cheap power again. Or cheaper than the power I can make with the generator. Why not solar? Hey! It's heavily overcast, the PV panels are putting out squat today.
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - Wchnu - 12-06-2020
Oh I can make roux. Just lazy about it. I will be trying out the dry roux. Thanks!!
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - ShadowsDad - 12-08-2020
Yes, to make it right it's time consuming.
I recently saw a very well known LA chef making roux and he burned it while on the air. Still used it though. This time he didn't say "Bammm!".
I have never used dark roux for any LA based recipe, but for gravys it gives a wonderful taste. Thickening not so much as you know.
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - GAW9576 - 12-08-2020
ShadowsDad thanks for the roux recipe. I'm going to see if my wife is willing to try making it.
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - ShadowsDad - 12-08-2020
You will love it added to dark gravies. Not so much for poultry, there it would be out of place IMO unless maybe that's a LA thing. But white roux for poultry is even easier to make.
If you need directions for that just let me know.
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - ShadowsDad - 12-12-2020
Today was a day of changing weather and at one point we had spherical snowflakes aka graupel. We get that frequently under these conditions. One might mistake it for sleet except that it's not solid ice. It a flake in a spherical form. I quite like it since it's not "normal" snow and I never saw it anywhere but Maine. I assume many other northern states also see it.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.W_hQrgU0Be49X1p3UzpzLQHaJ4%26pid%3DApi&f=1
https://snowslang.com/graupel-definition-precipitation/
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - mayer57619 - 12-12-2020
(12-12-2020, 10:12 PM)ShadowsDad Wrote: Today was a day of changing weather and at one point we had spherical snowflakes aka graupel. We get that frequently under these conditions. One might mistake it for sleet except that it's not solid ice. It a flake in a spherical form. I quite like it since it's not "normal" snow and I never saw it anywhere but Maine. I assume many other northern states also see it.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.W_hQrgU0Be49X1p3UzpzLQHaJ4%26pid%3DApi&f=1
https://snowslang.com/graupel-definition-precipitation/
We get that here in ND, but it is pretty rare since the conditions need to be just right.
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - ShadowsDad - 12-13-2020
If I remember correctly we see it mostly during the changing of the seasons when the warm moist air from the south fights for supremacy with the cold northern air. Once winter is fully set in I can't remember seeing it and that makes sense because our air is just too dry at that time. Right now the 2 air masses are still fighting it out. I'd like to see that continue right through to April as long as the southern warm air mass kicks the butt of the northern air mass over and over. I'd like to see a winter with rain and no snow to plow. There's just no chance of that happening, but I can hope.
RE: The Seinfeld thread (or the thread about nothing) - Ordinaryshaver - 12-13-2020
Was warming up nicely here for about a week or so. Rain kicked in yesterday and we have had close to half inch since then.