11. A Spicy Chicken Gumbo for a Cold Day

Photo Wikipedia

Spicy Chicken Gumbo

     
Hot and spicy comfort food beckons us at this cold, wet and windy time of year. Slow-cooked meat and veggie hotpots, pasta bakes, steak and kidney pies oozing rich aromatic gravy, hot Indian curries and Creole dishes from the southern States of America help to keep out the cold out of our bones while we wait impatiently for the renewed warmth of Spring.

     
This chicken recipe is my own take on the spicy Creole chicken gumbo I enjoyed on a number of occasions in the US, when I ventured south of the Mason Dixon Line to participate in winter re-enactment events in the Carolinas and Georgia.  

     
The basic Gumbo stew of meat and/or fish, vegetables and spices originated in Louisiana among the Creole people in the 18^th century. It has gained rapidly in popularity and variety of recipes and ingredients in the past four decades thanks to the inspired culinary support of TV Chefs and the internet.

     
I note that my favourite TV Chef, Jamie Oliver, does a rich and robust  Gumbo recipe to which he has added Spanish chorizo sausage, fresh crabmeat and king prawns, among other things.  It’s quite a recipe, as you would expect from him! but you may have to search a bit for the fresh crabmeat, king prawns and okra that he has included.  My recipe is made up of ingredients I found at Barrow Boys, my local greengrocer on the Isle of Wight, and fresh chicken from the butcher.

Ingredients: Serves 4

3 tbsp. olive oil; 4 chicken breasts, (skinned and cut into chunky pieces); 200 grams bacon lardons; 1 chopped Onion; 2 cloves crushed or finely chopped garlic; 2 sliced celery sticks; 3 tbsp. plain flour; 1 tsp. Paprika, 1 tsp. ground cumin; 1 fresh red Birds eye chilli, deseeded and finely chopped; 1 tsp. dried basil; 600 ml chicken; 1 liberal squirt of tomato concentrate; 1 green bell pepper (deseeded and chopped); 2 chopped spring onions ; 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley.

Method: Prep: 20 mins. Cook 45 mins

Prepare chicken stock with 1 ½ stock cubes and a liberal squirt of tomato concentrate. Heat 1 tbs of the oil in a frying pan and fry the chicken and lardons for a few mins to brown. Reserve on a plate. Add the onion and garlic to the pan with 1 tbs more oil and fry until translucent.  Reserve with the chicken. Add the remaining oil and flour to the pan and stir-cook into a roux paste until golden brown. Stir in the spices for 2 mins. Gradually stir in the stock until you have a smooth sauce.  Return the chicken, bacon and onion mix to the pan, add the peppers and celery, cover and simmer gently for 20 - 25 mins, stirring occasionally as you reduce the liquid. Check for seasoning, garnish with the spring onions and parsley, and serve.

Further Reading:

• The history of Gumbo   
• A New Orleans Gumbo Recipe  
• Jamie Oliver's Gumbo Recipe

Food for thought: It is not really an exaggeration to say that peace and happiness begin, geographically, where garlic is used in cooking.

X. Marcel Boulestin

Happy Valentine!

Happy Valentine to all you lovely Cooks! 

10. Grilled Avocado Cheese

Photo: Sustainable Gardening Australia

Grilled Avocado Cheese
     When last in California I was entertained to lunch at a Russian River Valley Winery. We were served grilled avocados as a starter.  This sticks in  my memory as I had never eaten avocado other than cold with a vinaigrette sauce, sliced in a salad or as a guacamole dip.  I was delighted with this dish - and with the chilled local gewürztraminer white wine that we sampled with it. 
     Here is my take on this dish. There are in fact a number of interesting ways to cook avocados and we are perhaps unadventurous in our treatment of this wonderful fruit which the Spanish conquistadors first discovered when they pillaged Mexico in the 16th century in their bloodstained quest for the Aztec's legendary El Dorado.  
     Barrow Boys, my local greengrocer, stocks them throughout the year and, depending on the month and fruit variety, (there are at least 40 varieties), will have come from Peru, Chile, California, Israel, Kenya or South Africa.  The fruit comes originally however from Mexico where vthe Aztecs cultivated it. The word 'avocado' stems from the Aztec ahuacatl.  The Aztecs believed the fruit was an aphrodisiac, calling it  "the fertility fruit", and kept virgins indoors during harvesting to avoid any promiscuity. 

Ingredients: Serves 2
1 Avocado; 1 tbs Tabasco sauce; Juice of 1 lime; 2 tomatoes chopped;  Sliced Buffalo Mozzarella cheese.  Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Method: 
1.  Slice the avocado in half and remove stone. Prick all over with a fork.  2. Pour sauce and lime juice over each half, add salt and pepper.  3. Fill stone cavity of each half with chopped tomato.  4. Place under the grill for 2 minutes.  5. Top with Mozzarella cheese and grill for a further 2 or 3 minutes until the cheese has melted.  6. Serve garnished with wedges of lime. 

Health Benefits of Avocado
     Avocados are a nutritional powerhouse. They are high in monounsaturated fat, contain 60% more potassium than bananas as well as being an excellent source of vitamins B, C, E, K and folate. They are rich in phitochemicals and consequently may offer an advantageous dietary strategy in cancer prevention. Other dietary advantages of the fruit is that it may reduce the risk of of diabetes, stroke and coronary artery disease as well as being higher in protein and lower in sugar than most fruits. 


Further Reading:
Medical News Today  : The Health Benefits of Avocados
California Avocados : Avocado Recipes


Food for thought: To care for oneself by eating excellent dishes and drinking excellent wines - that is the proper, the true medication.

                                                                                                 M Chatullon-Plessis

q. in Pleasures of the Table by G. Ellwanger 1903

9. Banana, Cranberry and Apple Chutney

Photo Fairtrade.

    Finding a surfeit of ripe bananas and fresh cranberries in my kitchen larder after the Christmas festivities, I decided to make a chutney with them. The recipe I created produced a spicy sweet and sour chutney that will make a perfect accompaniment to cold ham, chicken or cheese – or even stand alone as a piquant spread on an oaten biscuit or crisp bread.  The use of fresh cranberries in this recipe, rather than the more usual dates, raisins or prunes, gives the chutney a pleasing added bite. 

     

Ingredients. Makes approx. 3 x 450 jars

6 ripe Bananas, sliced; 1 medium Onion, diced; 1 sweet eating apple, peeled, cored and diced; 2 red Chilies, deseeded and diced;  100g.  fresh Cranberries;  1 tsp. Cinnamon;  1 tsp. Cardamon;  3 ground  Cloves; 1 tbs. Salt;  1 tbs. mustard seed;  50g. root Ginger, diced; 250g. Light Brown Muscovado Sugar; 300 ml. Cider Vinegar.

Method.  Preparation: 20 minutes. Cook 30 minutes.

Place all ingredients into a saucepan, bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer gently for approximately 30 – 35 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened. The bananas will reduce to a smooth pulp. Spoon into sterilized jars, seal and label. Store in a cool dark place for one week. Refrigerate after opening. 

     I have not cooked with bananas before as I don't normally eat puddings or cakes. However, this culinary foray has whetted my appetite for more and there are a number of Indian and Asian dishes using bananas that look interesting. I also like the idea of combining bananas with fish as per a Portuguese recipe.  I remember dining on Dover sole done in a banana and white wine sauce many years ago at the famed Wheelers Restaurant in St. James, London, (a restaurant now reincarnated by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White). A wet fish shop selling fish and seafood caught locally by the proprietor, has finally opened in my home town on the Isle of Wight after a hiatus of more than a decade since the last one closed its doors, so I look forward to recreating such a recipe with fresh, locally caught, sole in the near future. 
     
     The banana has many healthy dietary attributes.  It is packed with natural fructose for energy and is a good source of vitamin B1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9, potassium and manganese.

Further Reading:  
Botanical-online  The Medicinal Properties of Bananas
Food Matters  25 Powerful Reasons to Eat Bananas

Food for thought: There are neither raptures nor ecstasies, nor transports of bliss in the pleasures of the table, but they make up in duration what they lack in intensity, and are distinguished above all by the merit od inclining us towards all the other pleasures of life, or at least consoling us for the loss of them.

Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.

La Physiologie du gout  1825

                                                                                                                         

8. Potato Dauphinoise

Photo Ludovic Peron

   8.   Potato Dauphinoise

   This is a delicious way of cooking potatoes that originated in the Dauphiné area of southeastern France, the Alpine foothills, centered on Grenoble. 

     Every celebrity chef has his own take on this dish which has titillated palates since its first recorded introduction at a banquet in 1788.  Some suggest using waxy potatoes, (Elizabeth David and Raymond Blanc), while Michel Roux Jnr and others like prefer a floury variety.  My personal preference for this dish is a floury potato, Maris Piper or King Edward for instance, which soaks up all the delicious creamy cooking liquid.  

     James Martin adds mozzarella cheese as a covering to his recipe while Jamie Oliver makes a major production, adding onion, anchovies, olive oil, bay leaf, and thyme, and topping it off with Parmesan cheese. The legendary Auguste Escoffier, writing in his Guide Culinaire in 1903, adds eggs and cheese to his recipe.

     I prefer, where possible, to keep cooking simple in both preparation and method, and Potato Dauphinoise needs no additional ingredients.  However, I do sometimes ring the changes by alternating the layers of potato with layers of thinly sliced parsnip.

     Potato Dauphinoise is scrumptious as a side dish to spring lamb but I think I enjoy it best on its own as a main dish, (particularly if I add the parsnips), complemented by a simple tomato salad dressed with a little olive oil and cider vinegar. 

     The Dauphiné area of France is also noted for its Croze Hermitage AOC wine from the northern Rhone wine region; a soft fruity red, available in UK from most wine merchants and supermarkets.  A glass goes nicely with this dish…. and helps the digestion. 

Ingredients.  Prep: 20 minutes.  Serves 4.

5 large potatoes;  300ml of double cream;  250ml of whole milk;  Three cloves of garlic, minced;  Small piece of butter;  Salt and pepper; pinch of nutmeg, (optional) 

Method.  Cook 90 -100 minutes

Pre-heat the oven to 190 C/gas 5.  Rub a 10” baking dish with oil and slice of garlic.  Peel and thinly slice the potatoes (about 4mm thick) and rinse them in cold water.  Mix the cream, milk and minced garlic together and season well with salt, (and optional nutmeg).   Layer the potatoes in a baking dish, pouring a little of the milk mixture over each layer. Dot the top layer of potatoes with butter and pour over the rest of the liquid.  Cover the dish with foil.  Bake for 60 minutes in the middle of the oven.  Remove the foil and bake for a further 30 minutes until the top layer is golden and bubbling.  Check with a fork that the potatoes are soft.  If they still feel a little hard, return to the oven for a further 10 or 15 minutes. 

                                                                                                                                                                

                                                                     

                        

    The nutritional value of the humble potato is vastly underrated.  Due to the increased interest in low-carb or low-glycemic index foods, the potato has unjustly earned a bad reputation because of its starchy makeup, leading many to believe that it should be cut out of the diet altogether. This nutrient-dense tuber, however, is packed with a variety of vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that help to ward off disease, including cancer, and benefit human health. It is  rich in potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sulphur and copper. It also contains good amounts of the following vitamins: beta-carotene, vitamin A, C, B1, B2, B6, and folic acid as well as small amounts of fibre and protein.

Further Reading:

Medical News Today  The Health Benefits of Potatoes

Food for thought: A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch.

James Beard

quoted beneath his portrait in Charley O's Bar, New York City.

A glutton digs his grave with his teeth

Anon. 

French Proverb

7. Pineapple and Apple Chutney

    In the heady euphoria of last minute food shopping on Christmas Eve at Barrow Boys, my local greengrocers in Ryde, I bought a fresh pineapple. Pineapples do not normally feature on my list of 'must have' groceries -  the Costa Rican growers typically use large quantities of pesticides that have carcinogen properties and consequently cancer potential.   And pineapple, whether fresh or tinned by Del Monte, is not one of my  favourite fruits.  However 50p for a fresh ripe pineapple was a bargain I couldn't resist, and I had visions of a juicy wedge garnishing a festive pina colada rum cocktail or two over the holiday!
      I never got around to that pina colada on Christmas Day, and by Boxing Day I was thinking of a different destination for my 50p pineapple!  Browsing through my collection of cookbooks and recipes which extends back to the days of the British Raj, (meet Colonel Kenny-Herbert a.k.a 'Wyvern', whose book 'Culinary Jottings for Madras' published in 1885 provides Anglo-Indian culinary gems of that bygone era), I came across this Pineapple Chutney recipe in My Favourite Recipes, (Ellice Handy, pub. Singapore 1952).  
      The late author was the first Singaporean principal of the state's Methodist Girls School when she wrote this book. It appears to have been the first Malayan cookbook to have been published; the precursor of today's many cookbooks by celebrity TV chefs from Singapore and Hong Kong.   
      While her European dishes seem old fashioned now, her Asian dishes, (which include Malayan, Chinese,  Indonesian and Indian recipes), have stood the test of time.
      Handy's chutney recipe needs adapting to modern cookery terms - she measures quantities in 'dessertspoons' and refers to a 'Batu Geling grinding stone consisting of a granite slab with roller placed on a brick stand' as essential kitchen equipment for grinding spices which we now buy in a packet.  Handy specifies 12 chillies in her recipe to"add taste to dull dishes"; her understated way of saying it will blow the top of your head off!  I have reduced the number of chillies by half in my adaptation of Handy's recipe, but if you like your chutneys really hot, add more chillies to taste.   
      This chutney will add an oriental zing to meat curries, roast chicken, hot gammon, sausages, cold meats, and cheese.  It can be eaten immediately, (I polished off a jar over the 12 Days of Christmas), but, like most chutneys, it will improve if you can keep your hands off it and allow it to mature in the jar for a week or two. 

Ingredients :  Preparation time: 30 minutes.

1 fresh Pineapple, peeled and cored;  2 Bramley cooking apples, peeled and cored;  1 medium white Onion, peeled;  100g Fresh Ginger;  2 cloves Garlic;  6 fresh bird's eye Chillies; 250g Sultanas; 1 stick Cinnamon;  1 tbs Salt;  300g Light Muscovado Sugar;  300ml Cider or White Wine Vinegar. 

Method : Cooking time: 45 - 60 minutes.

Finely dice pineapple, apple, onion, preserved ginger, chillies. Grate fresh ginger. Place vinegar, sugar, salt,  cinnamon stick, chillies in a deep pan and bring to the boil. Add the rest of the ingredients and reduce heat to simmer, stirring often to prevent sticking.  Maintain heat until chutney has reached a thick consistency and the apple is broken up. The pineapple will remain in pieces.  Discard cinnamon stick and place mixture in hot sterilised jars, seal and label.  Makes  3 x 450g jars.  This chutney will keep for months.
                                                     

King Charles II being presented with the first pineapple grown in England.

1675 Hendrik Danckerts

      The pineapple has been used for centuries to treat digestion problems and inflammation.  It is a vitamin C bomb and an important source of vitamins and minerals including thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B-6, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, manganese and potassium, and antioxidants and polyphenols, such as beta carotene.

Further Reading

Medical News Today : The Health Benefits of Pineapple
My Favourite Recipes, Ellice Handy  2014 updated edition of Handy's cookbook.


Food for thought:  An empty stomach produces an empty brain; our mind, independent as it may appear to be, respects the laws of digestion, and we may say with as much justice as La Rochefoucauld of the heart, that good thoughts proceed from the stomach.

Honore de Balzac

q. in Pleasures of the Table by G. Ellwanger 1903

6. An Aromatic Salad Dressing

Photo Elain Lemm

    I was delighted with a salad dressing recipe for leftover Christmas turkey which I found on the web pages of Elaine Lemm, About.com's admirable British and Irish Food Expert.  She incorporates  dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds and nuts with an added zingy bite of Asian spices in her recipe which was inspired, Elaine tells us, by TV Chef Jamie Oliver.
      Elaine's dressing has the benefit of being useable on other occasions as a dip for crudités like carrot and celery sticks, stir fries and to spice up cold chicken or duck.
      I had added a couple of pomegranates on Christmas Eve to my weekly health order of oranges, limes, red onions, fresh chilli peppers, ginger root, herbs, nuts and spices from Barrow Boys in Ryde.  And as my kitchen is never without olive oil and dried cranberries, we were able to make this dressing for cold turkey leftovers on Boxing Day.
      This fruity, nutty, spicy, salad dressing is a healthy and aromatic powerhouse of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. I shall use it at other times of the year for salads and stir fries, as Elaine suggests.  Maybe I can modify the dressing slightly to come up with something appropriate for a spicy wild salmon salad.

                                                                                                               

Further Reading                                                                                                                                       

Elaine's Salad Dressing Recipe :  Elaine's Cold Turkey Salad Dressing  

 British Food About.com :  The Best of British cuisine from Elaine Lemm.                                           

Chilli Facts :  The health benefits of chillies               

Medical News Today  Therapeutic benefits of Ginger in Cancer prevention and treatment.

Food for thought: You first parents of the human race…who ruined yourself for an apple, what might you not have done for a truffled turkey?

Jean-Anthelme Brillat Savarin

La Physiologie du gout  1825