laissez les bon temps rouler, cher!: making gumbo

mardi gras!
tips for tuesday
notes from maggie's farm

Mais Cher, we're going to learn how to make seafood gumbo!

We (that means you!) are going to learn how to make a gumbo of which you'll be proud this weekend, and a few preparatory pointers will give you the tools you'll need to become a gumbo master.  Or gumbo mistress, if you prefer.  On this edition of Tips for Tuesday, we've collected some links and videos to get you started.

Tips for Shucking an Oyster

(unless, of course, you buy them shucked, by the pint.  But good to know, naturally)

Tips for Peeling Crawfish

(unless you buy them peeled, and packed.  But, still, good to know.)

Tips for Peeling Shrimp

(unless you buy them peeled.  But, ....you know.)

Alton Brown Breaks Down a Roux, and more...

 and get's pretty technical, but that's Alton, you know.

And John Besh and James Carville, native sons, just do what they do...

...talk, mostly.

Other important things to know:
How to Make a Seafood Stock
Tips for Preparing Seafood Video Series
And, from one of my favorite cookbooks for cajun and creole cuisine, a neat interactive site, the hi-tech alternative to the book-in-hand, River Road Recipes Interactive Cookbook.  It's not free, it's not imperative, but it might make a nice little treat for yourself, and packed with several books-worth of notable regional recipes.

Join us this weekend, when you've recovered from the revelry, and we'll stir together all these tips into a fine pot of what can only properly be referred to as........magic.

Happy Mardi Gras, Y'all!

"STORE HOURS: OPEN most days about 9 or 10, occasionally as early as 7. But SOMEDAYS as late as 12 or 1. WE CLOSE about 5:30 or 6, occasionally about 4 or 5, but sometimes as late as 11 or 12. SOMEDAYS or afternoons we aren't here at all, and lately I've been here just about all the time, except when I'm someplace else. -- Bobby D."  Daigle's neighborhood grocery store, Algiers Point, New Orleans