cracklings - life's guilty pleasure

Not that long ago, I would not have thought of eating deep dried pig skin as snacks. While I would eat pig skins when eating roasted pig, I wouldn't know what to do with a piece of pig skin that I trimmed out from a piece of pork butt.

home made boudin - part 2

This is my second time making boudin now, all within a month. The batch I did last came out great. I also learnt a few tips from the experience. I incorporated the learning to this batch.

a seafood gumbo

While I have made gumbo before. It was more of a winking it - kind of Cajun inspired cooking if you will. Yesterday was the first time that I sat down stood up and seriously made a big batch.

home made boudin - part 1

A few days ago I wrote about wanting to give making boudin a try. I got the chance yesterday. Not wanting to drive across town for grocery with the holiday traffic I drove to the Japanese (more aptly called Asian these days) supermarket Uwajimaya near my house instead. Uwajimaya sells pork and pork products from Carlton Farm, like An Dong market that I frequent.

salmon with ocean sauce - 三文魚和海洋汁

Wanting to have a change of dish for dinner, I took out one of the salmon fillets that I cleaned and vacuum-bagged in late summer. Still with some shellfish ingredients I decided to make my version of a fish with ocean sauce I had while in New Orleans this early spring.

pining for boudin

I had boudin for the first time in my road trip to the great state of Louisiana last winter. Before that I had no idea how they taste. Rice in sausage seemed so strange, why would anyone do that, I thought. Immediately cross the state line, I pulled off the highway into a greasy spoon for breakfast. I curbed my expectation as it was a all you can eat buffet. They have one kind of boudin amongst other mostly pork dishes. The boudin was dull with not a whole lot of taste. I would have to wait until I get to the real Creole and Cajun restaurants much later to taste the real boudin.

home made andouille sausage 昂杜耶香腸

Since last night I have been experiencing very poor internet speed. I don't know if it has anything to do with the nation is gripped by the development and the aftermath of the grand jury decision in Ferguson.

a seafood gumbo

I made this seafood gumbo a week ago. I didn't plan it. It all started from my shopping at my Asian seafood store ABC Seafood. Whenever I go grocery shopping at the East side of Portland, I would usually check in to see what surprises Sharon has in store (pun intended) for me. Sometimes there are just the usually stuff. Sometimes something is in season and is good and cheap. In this trip they have live crawfish. I didn't know Oregon produces farmed crawfish until a while ago when I asked Sharon where they are from. Oregon, she said.

road trip - spring 2014, part 11

This is the eleventh installment of the series of post on a road trip during the spring of 2014. I woke up with a cold sweat last night. I realize if I don't grab my blogging by the hone (think unicorn) my series of the recent road trip will never finish.

gumbo in portland

I didn't plan to make gumbo. This all happened spontaneously when I was down to only 6 oyster in shell in the refrigerator with nothing else left to make a full meal. I originally plan to make BBQ oyster (NOLA style that should be called grilled oyster) with them. I remember I still have some okras that are on the way out in the refrigerator. Gumbo - the light bulb in my mind lit up.

home made andouille and tasso

This is my second attempt in making andouille sausages. It is also my second attempt in sausage making endeavor. I did a batch before my first taste of the real thing in Louisiana in my recent road trip.

road trip - spring 2014, part 7

This is the seventh installment of the series of post on a road trip during the spring of 2014. We are about half way through with this road trip series.

I have mentioned in earlier posts of this trip of the bookmarks of places I planned to visit. Here are some in the Louisiana.
like the saying goes "eyes are bigger than the stomach", I was not able to see all of them for reasons of schedule or distance

NOLA Style Grilled Oysters

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I bought some mussels as well as a dozen of Oregon oysters. Normally oysters from Asian seafood stores tend to be the no so good ones because the smaller ones are sold to the oyster bars. For $8 I came home with a dozen of relatively small one than usual.

road trip - spring 2014, part 6

This is the sixth installment of the series of post on a road trip during the spring of 2014.

road trip - spring 2014, part 5

This is the fifth installment of the series of post on a road trip during the spring of 2014.

road trip - spring 2014, part 4

This is the forth installment of the series of post on a road trip during the spring of 2014.

road trip - spring 2014, part 3

This is the third installment of the series of posts on the road trip I took in the spring of 2014. I came home with close to 5000 photos and video clips.

road trip - spring 2014, part 1

This is the first post of many to follow on a recent road trip crossing many states.

more home made sausages - part 2

Home cooks that constantly pursue new skills deserve a lot of praise. There are a lot going against the amateurs. Buying ingredient in small quantity cost a fortune and most of the time you get sub par quality ingredients. Stuck with toy-like equipment handicaps you. Making small batches is very labor intensive and exhausting. A lot of popular and wildly successful restaurants and chefs gained their fame from a very small repertoire. Many foodie home cooks are extremely resourceful and can cook with great depth and breadth.

more home made sausages - part 1

A few days ago I ventured into sausage making for the first time. I have been sitting on the fence about trying cured meat for the fear of indulging into a diet of too much red meat. What pushed me over the fence is the general poor quality of these products available in my town. Invested in a sausage stuffer I did when I seized on the opportunity of an open box on Amazon. Cannot beat a discount on already discounted item and free shipping. I made 2.5 lb of andouille. The result of my first attempt exceeded my expectation.