FoodFunk.ca

A western souffle. A western omelet is one of my favourite breakfasts and today I decided to bake it instead of pan-fry. I sauteed the onion, red pepper and ham in a bit of butter first to soften it, added a bit of cream to cool it down, then two eggs, salt and pepper, stirred it up and loaded the whole thing in the oven-proof cup to bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. It actually souffleed (puffed up) really nicely. Delicious!

Phat Tuesday’s gotta mean pancakes. Here’s some of the ones I made for this momentous event.

Here’s the recipe for my pancakes, at least roughly anyway.  I didn’t measure anything and no kittens were harmed.

Hawk’s Roughly Probably Pancakes

1 handful of flour (probably a cup and a quarter or so)
The end of a soup spoon of baking powder (probably a tablespoon or so)
Half the end of a teaspoon of bakiing soda (maybe a teaspoon?)
Pinch of salt (roughly a pinch)
Three finger plunge into the sugar bowl (roughly three tablespoons)
2 eggs (exactly two eggs)
Milk, about the same volume as flour (roughly a cup and a bit)
Good knob of butter, melted (probably three tablespoons)
A bit of vanilla extract (probably a good teaspoon or more. I like the stuff).
Vegetable oil for the pan

Preheat a large stainless steel fry pan over medium heat (I turn it down to 4 on a scale of 1-10 once I start cooking). In a large bowl, toss in all the dry ingredients. In another bowl, whip the eggs with a whisk for a minute to give them some volume. Pour in the milk, stir well and and stir in the butter. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. The batter should be thin enough to easily pour off a spoon (if it rolls off as a big glump, stir in more milk). Add a little vegetable oil to the pan and swirl it around. Pour in a few tablespoons of batter for each pancake. When bubbles form on top, flip them over (I find a dinner fork is the best tool for this). Cook until browned on the other side and transfer to a warm plate. Because you’re just eyeballing it, these whip together faster than you can say Aunt Jemima.

The full stack! And a nice match with some good breakfast sausage.

Special things happen to foods when heat is applied.  It’s why we cook a lot of it in the first place.  Some of the simplest things can hit a whole new level just with the introduction of some heat.
Among the simplest combos that demonstrate this action are oil and flour.  Mixed together, usually in equal parts, they become a roux.  Apply some heat and they become fantastic; a deeply flavourful, nutty paste that forms an important part of southeastern U.S. cuisine, most notably in the gumbos and jambalayas of Louisiana.

A dark nutty roux is what turns a pot of tomatoes, okra, chicken, peppers and shrimp into gumbo.  Too many recipes that have been adapted to be made in standard kitchens skip the step of the roux and I think that’s a mistake.   The roux is where it’s at if you want the real deal when it comes to southern gumbo.
The only ingredient that needs some special care in selecting is the sausage.  Andouille sausage is the most common used in authentic gumbos but

So here’s how I make my gumbo. This makes a nice pot that serves two and gives a bit of leftovers too.

Gumbo

For the roux (see photos below):
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup all purpose flour

Mix the oil and flour together in a heavy-bottomed pot and bring heat to medium.  Stir constantly as the flour begins to darken.    I like to cook until it’s about a medium-brown and nice and nutty.   Set aside.  This makes more than you need because you need a critical mass of material in the pot in order to cook it properly, but the leftovers can just be discarded.

For the gumbo:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 green bell pepper
1 cup chopped okra (optional – I don’t usually bother)
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
28 oz can of tomatoes (roughly chop the tomatoes)
1 cup chicken stock
4 bay leaves
2 or 3 tablespooons of prepared roux
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 teaspoon each dried thyme and oregano
Good pinch of cayenne powder (optional – it should be good and spicy though!)
1 chorizo or andouille sausage (or other cajun-style sausage), cooked and chopped
10 to 15 shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and black pepper taste

Heat a large soup pot over medium heat for a couple minutes and add the onion. Saute for a couple minutes, then add the carrot and celery and okra (if using). Saute for a couple more minutes and add the garlic. Stir for a moment and add the tomato paste. Fry this for a couple minutes then add in the tomatoes and juice from the can, plus the chicken stock. Stir and add the bay leaves, a couple tablespoons of your prepared roux, the paprika, thyme, oregano, cayenne powder and the chopped sausage. Let it all come to a simmer. Let it simmer to blend together and thicken a bit, at least a half hour or so. Add in the shrimp and let simmer for another 10 minutes over medium-low heat. Season well with salt and pepper and more roux if you like, then serve.  Great over any kind of cooked rice or even a polenta.

Making the roux.

Whisking the flour and oil together.

After about four or five minutes, now a sandy colour

The finished roux, deeply browned (but not burnt!), very aromatic and nutty.

Here’s just a few stand-alone pics of various things I’ve been cooking. Some, like the burger and curry, are my own concoctions and others are recipes from some of my favourite sites and cookbooks.

Using the fresh ciabatta bread I had just made Monday night, my Tuesday lunch would be a pan-fried local hot Italian sausage with sauteed onions and peppers. Kuinshoeve hot Italian sausage is actually pretty spicy stuff but in a very good way. Wonderful stuff. That ciabatta is going to become a regular in my house.

This double cheeseburger was lunch on a cold January day. I miss my Weber charcoal BBQ but a cast iron pan did a nice job on these patties. The buns were made with a mix of all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. My usual batch of bread makes two loaves but in this case, I made eight buns and a loaf. Nice burger!

A mix of chilies and spices for a dish of lamb curry.

Just a nice bowl of chili with some crisp charra chips.

My first crack at Italian ciabatta bread. It's a crusty sourdough that's a lot easier to make than a regular sourdough. Really nice bread although the loaves ended up on the small size. I'll double the recipe next time. Cooks Illustrated magazine has the recipe for this one.

A deep dish Hawaiian pizza with ham, mushroom, pineapple and red bell pepper. Another idea from Cooks Illustrated, this pizza is cooked in a spring-form cake pan at a lower temperature (400 F) than regular pizza (550 F) and the dough is made with milk instead of water. Milk has a certain protein that helps to break down gluten structure, making for a softer dough. Really great pizza!

Making some fresh tortellini on Superbowl Sunday. The dough was made with a simple mix of three eggs, 1-3/4 cups of all purpose flour and a half cup of durum semolina flour, and they were stuffed with a mix of ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. They boil for just three minutes and are drained, tossed with a little olive oil and served hot with a simple garlic-and-basil-laced tomato sauce. Something great from super-cheap ingredients.