FoodFunk.ca

Without question, New Orleans has more great food, fun and funk per capita than most of the rest of the planet.   Gumbo, The Saints, The Meters?  Need I say more?

Check out this lesser known band, The Gaturs, who did some local funkin’ around in the Big Easy back in the early 1970s.  Their 1970 album “Wasted” (you think they partied?) was reissued a few years ago and is a gem of soulful instrumental funk groove, fronted by a fellow named Willie Tee.

The Gaturs – Gator Bait

My four year old daughter Alexandra has been saying for as long as she could put a sentence together that she doesn’t like “spicy”.

And yet, that doesn’t stop her from burying a hot dog in mustard, loading up her toast with cinnamon sugar, asking for extra ultra-garlicky dressing for a caesar salad or  drowning some mac and cheese in Pirates Blend Caribbean spice condiment.

She loves big flavour, no matter how much she tells me she doesn’t.

Alexandra has a pretty good palate for a four year old.   She can still take a friggin hour to eat a plate of spaghetti but at least it’s a proper plate with sauce and parmesan.

She’s well on her way to becoming a total pepper head just like her pops, and I couldn’t be happier.

So is Alexandra some freak of nature or is it just a good idea to force the issue when it comes to flavour?  I’m willing to bet it’s the latter for the most part.   I’m really shocked at how many kids I’ve seen that want nothing with their rice, have no sauce on their pasta or no pepperoni on their pizza (that one really drives me up the wall).  The aversion to flavour I find really puzzling.

In my house, the only reason it’s tough to get pepperoni on the pizza is because Alexandra wants to eat it all right off the cutting board.  Yeah, I know, I know, you don’t like “spicy”.

Avoiding chili peppers is a pretty obvious thing for kids but I think proper seasoning with salt and pepper is a must to get a child used to proper flavour.

I think too many parents have the mistaken idea that kids automatically like bland, simple food.

When it comes to widening a kids palate, push the envelope a bit and you’ll find they’ll be receptive more often than not.   Definitely avoid developing bad attitudes toward food.  That’s the stuff they pick up the most and I hear it from parents all the time.   I’ve heard a parent say “broccoli? Yuck!” in front of a kid.   I’ve heard someone say “sushi? Raw fish?  That’s weird” in front of a kid.   And on and on and on.

So last night’s meal for Alexandra was sweet and sour beef and mango with a side of edamame beans, one of her favourite treats that we always have at our favourite sushi restaurant, Sense of Tokyo in Saint John.   Tonight was a caesar salad.  I just asked Alexandra what she liked best about the salad. Without hesitation, she answered while munching on a big leaf of romaine lettuce.

“The garlic.”

More spicy sauce Alex?

Alexandra’s sweet and sour beef and mango with rice

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/4 lb lean ground beef

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1/2 teaspoon finely minced fresh ginger

1-2  teaspoons or so Korean barbecue sauce, hoisin sauce or oyster sauce

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

good pinch of sugar

1/4 cup water or chicken stock

1/2 fresh mango, cubed

1/2 teaspoon corn starch mixed with a couple teaspoons water.

pinch of salt and a couple grinds of black pepper

1 green onion, very finely minced

Cooked rice

Start by preparing your rice as you normally do so it’s ready by the time your beef dish is ready.   Heat a fry pan over medium high heat for a couple of minutes and add the vegetable oil.  Add the beef and brown well.  Add the garlic and ginger and saute for a minute or so.  Add the Korean barbecue sauce, hoisin or oyster sauce, ketchup, rice vinegar, sugar,  water or chicken stock and mango and bring to a boil.   Stir in the corn starch-water mixture and let come to a simmer.   Reduce heat and keep warm for a couple minutes.   Season with salt and pepper and add in the green onion.   Plate some rice and pour over the beef and mango mixture.   There may be a little left over that you can enjoy yourself.  If it isn’t too spicy for you.

The February blahs.

Everybody has them.  Some worse than others.  Some solve the February blahs with a trip to a sunny locale, while others go through five bottles of expensive 4 Copas tequila in February, 2009 *cough*.

This year, the blahs are not so bad with the Olympics in Vancouver giving us a lift each day with a new reason to cheer, but still, the days are long, mostly dark and mostly dank at this time of year.

I find I tend to eat a lot of spicey, garlicky food at this time of year and look specifically for any ingredients that can provide a real lift to a dish.   Sundried tomatoes work magic with all kinds of foods.  They’re cheap, absolutely packed with flavour and healthy to boot.

Here’s a simple dish I came up with to let garlic, sundried tomatoes and pepper shine on your plate.   It goes together in the time it takes to boil some pasta so it’s a great weeknight dish, especially when it’s 6 pm and already dark outside.

Put a little sun in your next dinner!

Pasta with sundried tomato and garlic cream

Pasta for two, any stubby one will do

5-7 sundried tomatoes

2 tablespoons butter

2 cloves garlic, peeled and very finely minced (just smash the crap out of ‘em)

1 cup 18-per cent cream (coffee cream)

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

Basil, pinch of dried or a few chopped leaves of fresh if you can find it

salt and (lots of) fresh ground black pepper to taste

Bring a generously salted, large pot of water to the boil and drop in your pasta.  Scoop out a cup or two of boiling water and add it to your sundried tomatoes in a bowl.   Let that soak for a good five minutes to soften them up.   While the pasta is cooking, heat a fry pan over just medium heat (we don’t need anything browning here) and add the butter.  Once it’s just about done foaming, add the garlic and saute just for 20 seconds or so.   Add the cream and bring to a simmer.   Once the sundried tomatoes are soft, drain and chop them up.  Add to the cream and let simmer until your pasta is ready.  Just before draining the pasta, season the sauce with basil, salt and pepper and then add the parmesan cheese.  Add in the drained pasta and let simmer and soak up the goodness for a couple of minutes.  Make yourself a basil mojito or something like that at this point.   Add a bit more cream if it’s too tacky, then plate up your pasta.   Top with more parmesan cheese.

There’s something really special about a band that truly has its own sound.  Sly and the Family Stone had it, James Brown had it, Parliament-Funkadelic had it and so did The Meters.

The Meters, based in New Orleans, started pumping out the funk in 1969 with their self-titled debut.  Sparse on vocals but heavy on funky riffs and hooks, their sound was against the grain and innovative.   They would release two more instrumental-heavy albums on the Josie label, Look Ka Py Py and Struttin, before switching labels as well as their sound, adding more instruments, vocals and a more radio-friendly-while-still-super-funky feel.   Check out Cabbage Alley, Rejuvenation and the fantastic Fire on the Bayou for other great tracks from the mid-70s by The Meters.

But back to their debut, Here Comes the Meter Man is a great slice of funky drumming and jamming.  I found an original copy of this record in Boston about 17 years ago for a paltry $25 and still treasure it.

The Meters – Here Comes the Meter Man

Check out this hypnotic groove from Mandrill.   This African-influenced funk band put out a number of wild albums in the 70s.   Hang Loose was one of their bigger hits and their live performances of it were pretty great.   Check out this footage from Soul Train.   Other great Mandrill tracks include the epic “Fencewalk”, “Mango Meat”, and the much-sampled “Fat City Strut”.

Mandrill – Hang Loose (live)

Hawk’s Ugly Burger.  If you don’t have fresh hamburger buns on hand, first of all, shame on you, and secondly, use the ends of a loaf of bread instead.   Ugly and fabulous.

Fresh mango.  One of both Alexandra and I’s favourite snacks.   She ate most of it.  Hmph.

Poaching is legal at my house.  Here’s a poached egg with three strips of slowly-fried bacon.   One of my breakfast standards.

Crispy sweet and sour chicken wings.   A low-temp fry made for very crisp but moist wings that were then tossed in a mix of ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, sugar and spicy Siracha sauce.

Spiced pork, beef and rice-stuffed cabbage rolls stewed with tomato, ham hock and sauerkraut.   Crazy good.  Served up with fresh made perogies and sour cream.  Made with New Brunswick-made sauerkraut from Perry’s Meats in the City Market.

Squash-stuffed fresh ravioli.  They were boiled then tossed in a simple sauce of butter and fresh sage.   Nice fall-winter dish.

Fried egg and cheese on a fresh bun.   Simple, small breakfast.