thanks, giving.

It might seem as though there are a lot of posts happening here. But if you read closely, you'll notice that very little effort is being expended on them by me. I'm just firing them off thoughtlessly like burps after a Duvel.

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My dad gave me a rather awesomely timely cookbook yesterday: The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine by John Folse. It's considerably more than a cookbook actually. Yeah, it's chock full o' recipes, but there's boatloads of history and background detail in there that I just haven't seen anywhere else, 800 pages' worth. And plus the cover photo features the author looking like he's just been brained.

One of my favorite things about the "book" thus far (I use the quotes because I actually only have it on CD, so it's more of a "file" than a "book", truth be told) is the section of menus for festive occasions, because I think of New Orleans food as being festive by nature, so it's nice to see what a big ol' party menu might look like when cooked up by someone knowledgeable. Fer example, here's the pretty over-the-top New Year's Day menu (linked where applicable to recipes on Chef Folse's website):

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Terrine of Smoked Catfish
Crawfish-Stuffed Mushrooms

Duck, Andouille and Oyster Gumbo

Roasted Beet Salad
Seafood Jambalaya Rice Salad

Cajun Black-Eyed Peas
Smothered Cabbage and Andouille

Shrimp and Redfish Courtbouillon
Black-Eyed Pea Battered Shrimp

Baked Long Island Duck

Rosemary-Stuffed Leg of Pork
Fried Oyster Dressing
Pecan Rice Dressing

Sautéed Apples Calvados

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Oh yeah, I have a funny story to tell about my initial discussions with my mom about who makes what on Thanksgiving, but I'll add that later. For now I'll just share Chef Folse's Roasted Turkey with Shoepeg Cornbread Stuffing recipes that we'll hopefully be using for our little ol' Thanksgiving.

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