Ga-har-lic!
I have a Mardi Gras party every year, in preparation of which I make a big ol’ pot of red beans & rice from scratch. Beyond the two crushingly obvious ingredients, the recipe calls for various veggies, ham, andouille sausage (hot!), lots of spices… and fresh chopped garlic. I’m not a terribly experienced cook, and the first time I made it there was one teeensy, little, inconsequential mixup.
Partway through the process of chopping ingredients, my mother called me for something or other (or more likely I called her to ask some Duh Ralph cooking question), and in the course of conversation I told her I was chopping up a pile of garlic. She paused a moment and asked, “You know the difference between a ‘clove’ and a ‘head’, right?”
I of course laughed and said “…Uh …what?”
So rather than five or six cloves of garlic, that pot had about 2 and a half heads. (For the non-cooks out there, a head of garlic can easily have 6 or 10 cloves in it. Do the math.)
I acted casual, served it up, and people loved it. Thank goodness for a forgiving recipe and the power of Hurricanes1.
Inspired by this post by Ryan
Tags: cooking, garlic, Mardi Gras, mistakes
April 15th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
What veggies, pray tell? I hope only onion, and maybe celery (unless you’re counting the beans themselves…)…. 🙂
Sounds delicious….
April 15th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Onion, garlic, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, broccol… scratch that last one. [edit: and yes, celery]
You can get the recipe at http://gumbopages.com/. Truly worthwhile. (it doesn’t double well though — if making a lot, make two pots instead of one big one! If tripling, make two “1.5” pots.)
Yes, I triple for this party. Next year I’m going to have to figure out how to make 4….
April 15th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Got the recipe. Thanks!
Y’know, I don’t recall ever using bell pepper, Worcestershire, OR pickled onions in my red beans. Sounds like it has a kick, and might be a bit on the salty side? (What with the pickled pork, which I have used….)