Gumbo night in Canada

Well, tonight I followed through and made that Gumbo that Sophia suggested I make. It was fantastic. Nadine, Sophia and i all enjoyed it very much. I had a double dose of inspiration this week. First off, Sophia and her "What's Gumbo" remark and second Wade with his trip to New Orleans (who are going to lost to the Colts in the Superbowl by the way). He even mentioned something today that I thought would be perfect for my blog. The fact that there are two ways to do a Gumbo. One is to thicken the stew with Okra which has a slimy texture when cooked and the other is to thicken with a Roux (butter or oil and flour mixture). This is the way I went, for the sole reason that I think butter is tastier than Okra, as healthy not so much, but tastier yes. I will add the link to the recipe I used so anyone can try it if they want. I grabbed the recipe from allrecipes.com which is a site I use all the time. I stuck with the recipe and went with Shrimp, chicken and sausage and it was great but you could add any meat or even go meatless and add extra veggies if you want.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Boudreauxs-Zydeco-Stomp-Gumbo/Detail.aspx

Princess and the frog and the gumbo

So we took Sophia to the Princess and the frog last weekend. She loved it and I thought it was pretty good as well. Very old school disney. Anyway, yesterday out of the blue Sophia asks "How do you make gumbo?" It's funny what kids remember and how it just randomly comes out later with no rhyme or reason. I was confused at first but then I remembered that in the movie the princess makes a gumbo when she is in the swamp. This really has no point other than I am going to make gumbo with Sophia next week. I'll take a pic and add the recipe if it turns out to be good. Speaking of gumbo, my buddy Wade is in New Orleans this weekend for some football and some fine food. That will be a great time.

Curry continued...

This took me a couple days to get on here but this is the vindaloo from the night I made my first post about curry.

Just diced pork, can of diced tomatoes and a jar or can of vindaloo with a garnish of cilantro. I served it over some coconut rice. Very easy and very good.

Curry

I thought I would make my first post about curry, wonderful, wonderful curry. We eat curry in one form or another at least once a week in our house. Back in the day I used to think that curry powder was a spice like cinnamon or nutmeg. Curry is in fact a blend of alot of different spices. They almost all include coriander, tumeric, cumin and fenugreek(which I have yet to find in Grande Prairie but will have to pick up next time I'm in Edmonton), blended with a combination of other spices such as ginger, nutmeg, fennel seed, cardomom, garlic, cloves. I have made my own curry powder a few times and I love making it and using it. It smells amazing and is pretty great when you blend all those spices together and the end result smells just like a a curry powder you would buy at a store.

The word "curry" has come to mean almost any Indian dish in North America and Britain. Curry is not an Indian word but many think that it may have come from the south Indian word "Kari" which means a spiced sauce.

I have heard from many people that they never eat it because they have children in the house that "wouldn't like it" or "it's too spicy". We have a 4 year old in the house and she eats it with us all the time. I think it's just a matter of exposing them to big flavors young so they don't become overwhelmed by them later. Curry especially is so diverse, I find that "Korma" is nice and mild with a great coconut taste. "Vindaloo" on the other hand, at least the ones I have found around here is on the whole pretty spicy and we tend to keep that one away from the kids. Thai curries are nice as well. I made a Thai curry paste last week and used it this weekend with some coconut milk, prawns, kaffir lime leaves(hard to find but Epicure has them if you know someone who sells it) and veggies. It was great. I love the "Pataks" curries in a jar or can and use them all the time but lately I have been using the "VH" Thai curries alot as well.

All this talk of curry is making me pretty hungry so I think since the rugrat is going to Grandma and Grandpas tonight it's going to be Vindaloo.

First post.

God of Cookery.

Let's make something clear right off the bat. God of Cookery is just a name, it's actually my favorite food related film. It's by Stephen Chow and you should check it out if you get a chance. I don't in the least bit think I am any sort of expert or God when it comes to the culinary arts. Quite the opposite, I have no schooling or professional experience whatsoever. I just enjoy cooking and eating and discovering new foods and dishes. I could watch the food network all day and have been known to do just that on many occasions. I'm new to this whole blogging thing but Im going to give it a shot so bear with me and I hope you enjoy.