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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2009 19:50:19 GMT
I am one of those people who doesn't label the plastic containers that go in the freezer. Just about all of them end up looking like "stuff in brown sauce."
So it is generally a surprise when they return to duty a month or two later.
Tonight I had an amazing chili con carne that I have no memory of having made. Wow, I wonder if it was that good the first time.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Mar 6, 2009 20:10:28 GMT
I love that sort of surprise; eg, opening what I thought was tomato sauce and it turned out to be shrimp shells and heads stock.
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 6, 2009 20:20:38 GMT
Since I make and freeze my dog's food, you can imagine the kind of surprise I get if I don't label.
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Post by bazfaz on Mar 6, 2009 20:58:31 GMT
You are freezer sluts. Not only is everything labelled but it is written down in a book under classifications so I know what shellfish starters or curries or savoury sauces I have.
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Post by Don Cuevas on Mar 6, 2009 22:28:15 GMT
You are freezer sluts. Not only is everything labelled but it is written down in a book under classifications so I know what shellfish starters or curries or savoury sauces I have. Maybe you should enter it into your computer for better, paperless tracking.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2009 22:42:20 GMT
Since Katrina we have not utilized the freezer hardly at all save some small containers of remnants to be used in gumbos. So much stuff had to be tossed...
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Post by bixaorellana on Mar 6, 2009 23:38:16 GMT
Yeah, but if he puts in in the computer & the power goes out, forcing him to start using up freezer items, he won't know what the stuff it.
You can tell that Casimira was traumatized by freezer failure and suffers fear of freezer to this very day.
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Post by mockchoc on Mar 7, 2009 1:28:22 GMT
You are uber organised MrFaz. My goodness.
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Post by hwinpp on Mar 7, 2009 1:56:09 GMT
My freezer section is hardly used by me but occasionally by my GF. I do get the occasional surprise. It's not used that much,l we go to the market every morning to get the day's groceries
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Post by bazfaz on Mar 7, 2009 10:20:48 GMT
Don, I'll stick with my book because it is next to thje freezer and I can easily cross stuff off. The computer is in another room so I would forget to do it. And crossing something off in a book is much quicker doing it on the computer.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2009 11:41:57 GMT
I forgot to share my most innovative use of the freezer. I have a large plastic bag that I put in all the stuff to be composted for my garden. The compost heap is way back in the back of the garden and I'm too lazy to cart the fairly miniscule amount of stuff back there so I stick it into the bag in the freezer. I tried using a little bucket and I know they have these pricey containers available but this is far less messy and smelly. It also prevents the compost pile from being disturbed too often. I should have recommended it to our former U.S. Congressman,they never would have looked in there.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 7, 2009 11:45:58 GMT
My parents used to freeze fish guts and shimp shells in their freezer until garbage day.
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Post by mockchoc on Mar 7, 2009 12:30:55 GMT
I do too kerouac.
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Post by auntieannie on Mar 7, 2009 15:07:00 GMT
we don't have a freezer. much simpler.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2009 17:26:09 GMT
Forgot about this thread until this a.m. Tuesday p.m. when I reinjured my knee in the garden with a friend. She's freaked and I'm in pain and despair. She knows to go get ice and opens my freezer compartment at the same time I'm thinking "oh No" as I hear her "oh F",knowing that there is a long overdue pile up of banana peels,egg shells,coffee grinds, crawfish heads meant for the compost heap,cascading onto the floor.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2009 18:00:49 GMT
Frozen crawfish heads work wonders on an injured knee.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2009 13:14:56 GMT
Reminded of this old thread while posting about my husbands marvellous chilli. It's that time of year,with Thanksgiving upon us that Mr.C starts wanting to find all the little containers of savoury oils and butters and seafood stock items that will go into his Thanksgiving Day seafood gumbo that is the highlight of the day. This means I will have to go "in there" this weekend and do what I have to do.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 20, 2009 13:28:13 GMT
You'll have to post that gumbo in the Gallery, casimira, although I know it is an approximate recipe based on what you have on hand. We can't get decent fresh okra here: is is better to use frozen or tinned (the best is not really tinned, but jarred and comes from Turkey).
We had a huge ice storm several years ago and lots of people lost freezer-fulls as well. Especially sad for hunters who lost all their game; the ice storm was just after Christmas and their freezers were full of the year's hunt.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2009 13:36:58 GMT
Will try to do lagatta.One problem is I never know when he's going to start the thing,sometimes it's 4a.m. I will ask him to try to do at a civilized hour although,I don't want to stifle his creative genius. Not to disappoint but,there is no okra in this gumbo.
We had a friend who moved to Chicago and one evening he phoned and asked T. (I hate using Mr.C.,from hereon,T.) for his seafood gumbo recipe. Not something one can readily recite over the phone on command.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2009 13:38:32 GMT
I keep promising myself to make gumbo again some day, even if the only elements of it currently in my freezer are a couple of small bags of shrimp.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 20, 2009 14:51:30 GMT
Not disappointed, but thought there was okra in gumbo by definition. My mistake.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2009 15:35:18 GMT
Not disappointed, but thought there was okra in gumbo by definition. My mistake. No,not a mistake. Frequently debated and bantered about. By definition,Bantu I believe,Gombo,gumbo translates into okra. Smuggled in by slaves and is the base for most gumbos.Primarily,however,valued as a thickening agent. Enter the classic rouxs which are often used in lieu of okra. My husband is not at all adverse to using okra,simply chooses not to in his seafood gumbo. Uses it quite often in his sausage/duck or chicken/andouille. The one rule he does follow is to never combine poultry or sausage with seafood as many people do. In this regard he is a purist.Says it then becomes "kitchen sink" gumbo.
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Post by bixaorellana on Nov 20, 2009 16:32:06 GMT
(Thanks for changing "Mr. C" to T -- mo bettah!)
About the roux in lieu of okra -- pretty much all the literature about gumbo says the same thing, that roux is a thickener that can be used to replace okra. It's probably lost back in time, but I've often wondered if roux isn't really a component of some African dish(es) which used some kind of meal or flour to enrich them.
I read somewhere that slaves smuggled in okra seeds by hiding them in the whorls of their ears. This seems like a most extreme flight of fantasy, which totally ignores the brutal realities involved with kidnapping people into slavery.
Yikes -- how can "gumbo" be defined? A group of soups from Louisiana doesn't sound right, but is vaguely correct.
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Post by lagatta on Nov 20, 2009 16:59:46 GMT
Some people say the slavers brought over the gombo/okra - along with slaves who had the knowledge of how to plant it, grow it and prepare it. There are many similar stewy dishes in West African cuisine, often served over a grain or other starch.
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Post by tillystar on Nov 20, 2009 17:22:25 GMT
You are freezer sluts. Not only is everything labelled but it is written down in a book under classifications so I know what shellfish starters or curries or savoury sauces I have. Ever since this post, everytime I get something out the freezer I shake my head in disgust at my dirty freezer slut ways.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2009 17:30:01 GMT
I really can't imagine slaves needing to "smuggle" their seeds. The people operating the slave ships couldn't possibly have cared, and US immigration was more interested in trying to confiscate foie gras on the fancy ships. Thanks to the first Africans in America, everybody is now able to enjoy okra, watermelon and peanuts.
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Post by imec on Nov 20, 2009 21:19:50 GMT
Am I totally out to lunch believing that file powder (which I believe is ground sassafras) is an alternative thickening agent to okra?
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Post by lagatta on Nov 20, 2009 21:35:27 GMT
Looks like it. Wonder if we can find it up here?
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2009 21:38:43 GMT
As with okra,many schools of thought on this.The only time T. uses file powder is to sprinkle some atop the rice that he then ladles the gumbo over. And he only uses it in poultry,fowl,sausage gumbos. I think you would have to use a lot of it to be a thickening agent. My understanding is that it becomes bitter when cooked.So,we always use fresh. Opinions on this are varied I'm sure.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 20, 2009 22:13:33 GMT
Looks like it. Wonder if we can find it up here? Many years ago it was hard to find up North anywhere. We used to go up to NY and during hunting season T. would always be presented with either a pheasant,duck or goose to make gumbo with. Brought our own after one year searching about. Then,the cajun cooking craze and it was available at most reputable grocers even seafood shops. I'm sure you wouldn't have too much trouble finding it. Brand name Zatatrain is most popular.
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