Globalization in Southern Mississippi

Tasty things I have cooked, oh how you are multitude!

In our continuation of ethnic food Thursdays, we have begun to do some odd stuff. Once Italian, Mexican, and Chinese are off the table, it takes a tad more creativity. Thus, more from the world tour of food in reverse chronological order!


CAJUN!

In honor of the upcoming Mardi Gras and in celebration of anti-V-day, there were spicy food to be had. Since I hadn't done a desert in awhile, I figured cake with cayenne? Who could go wrong! It's an interesting little concoction -- comes out very similar to gingerbread but with kick.

Gateau de Sirop

1/2 c veg. oil
1 1/2 c pure cane syrup
1 egg, beaten
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 c hot water
powerded sugar for topping

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9'' round cake pan. Combine oil, syrup, and egg. STir until well blended. Mix dry ingredients except baking soda. Combine baking soda and hot water. Add dry infredients to the syrup mixture alternately with the dissolved baking soda. Pour into pan; bake 45 minutes. Top with powdered sugar. Consume.

(Altered from a Louisiana Cooking magazine.)



INDONESIAN!

This was done with the help of Meagan and my Indonesian Cookbook (thank you, Norton). And then spilled in my car, which I just realized pre-road trip. Nothing says fun like dried curry on the backseat.

Javanese Chicken Curry

1 tbp ground coriander
1 red Holland chile (I used jalapeno because there were no red chiles to be found), chopped
6 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbs minced ginger
1 3 lb chicken, cut into serving portions
3 tbp peanut oil
2 cinnamon sticks
1 stalk lemongrass (or dried)
1 tbp lime zest
1 can coconut milk
salt to taste


In a food processor, combine coriander, chile, shallots, garlic, and ginger. Pulse until you have a smooth paste (add 1-2 tbp of water if necessary).

Heat the oil in a 3-4 quart saucepan over med-low heat. Add paste and saute, stirring frequently for 5-7 minutes. Add cinnamon lemongrass, and zest. Saute for 1 more minute. Add chicken and rase heat to medium. Saute in flavoring paste for about 10 minutes making sure to turn them so both sides brown. Add 1 cup coconut milk, 3/4 cup water, and salt. Stir and scrape up tastiness from the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 40-50 minutes. Add 1 cup coconut milk and heat. Serve over rice.

(Modified from Cradle of Flavor by James Oseland)
CUBAN!

Because I'm black bean soup crazy, I decided to try new recipe, which may trump Christine's in tastiess. She'll have to be the final judge of that one.


POLISH!

I wasn't there. Which is fine. Because from what I hear it was a total sausage-fest. (Heh.)


ETHIOPIAN!

This is a surprisingly easy and tasty ethnicity to do. Plus way fun if you have people over, provided they are chronic handwashers. Definitely not first date food. Or food to enjoy with mechanics.

The real trick is having the crazy excellent spice rack necessary to produce the berbere, which might be the best smelling spice mix I've ever accidentally inhaled (don't do that).

Injera (flat bread)

4 c Self-rising flour
1 c Whole wheat flour
1 tsp Baking powder
2 c Club soda

Combine flours and baking powder in a bowl. Add club soda plus about 4 cups water. Mix into a smooth, fairly thin batter. Heat a large, non-stick skillet. When a drop of water bounces on the pan's surface, dip enough batter from the bowl to cover the bottom of the skillet, and pour it in quickly, all at once. Swirl the pan so that the entire bottom is evenly coated, then set it back on the heat.

When the moisture has evaporated and small holes appear on the surface, remove the injera. It should be cooked only on one side, and not too browned. If your first one is a little pasty and undercooked, you may need to cook a little longer or to make the next one thinner. But, as with French crepes, be careful not to cook them too long, or you'll have a crisp bread that may be tasty but won't fold around bits of stew. Stack the injera one on top of the other as you cook, covering with a clean cloth to prevent their drying out.

Yetakelt W'et (spicy mixed vegetable stew)

1 c Onions; finely chopped
4 Garlic cloves; minced
1 tb Berbere*
1 tb Sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 c butter
1 c zucchini; chopped
1 c Carrots; chopped
1 c Potatoes; cubed
1 c Tomatoes; chopped
1/4 c Tomato paste
2 c Vegetable stock
Salt and black pepper to tst
1/4 c Parsley; fresh, chopped

Saute the onions, garlic, berbere, and paprika in the Niter Kebbeh for 2 minutes. Add the zucchini, carrots, and potatoes and continue to saute for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, and the vegetable stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes, or until all of the vegetables are tender.

Add salt and pepper to taste and mix in the parsley.

Serve with injera and yogurt or cottage cheese following the same serving and eating procedure as for Yemiser W'et.

Doro Wat (Chicken Stew)

1 3 lb chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces
3 cups onion, chopped finely
3 tbs butter
4 tbs bebere

Soak
Brown onion chopped finely, without fat, until quite dark, stirring constantly. Add butter and bebere and stir. Add one cup water. Stir. Add chicken and cover. Simmer on low until the chicken is tender. Add more water if necessary to bring to a stew texture. Eat!


*Berbere

2 tsp Cumin seeds
4 Whole cloves
3/4 tsp Cardamom seeds
1/2 tsp Whole black peppercorns
1/4 tsp Whole allspice
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
1/2 tsp Coriander seeds
8 To 10 small dried red chiles
1/2 tsp Grated fresh ginger root OR
(1 tsp dried)
1/4 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Salt
2 1/2 tb Sweet Hungarian paprika
1/8 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Ground cloves

In a small frying pan, on medium-low heat, toast the cumin, whole cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, allspice, fenugreek, and coriander for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat and cool for 5 minutes.

Discard the stems from the chiles. In a spice grinder or with a morter and pestle, finely grind together the toasted spices and the chiles. Mix in the remaining ingredients.

Store Berebere refrigerated in a well-sealed jar or a tightly closed plastic bag.


BRITISH!

Everyone knows that the Brits make the best food. Not really in terms of taste, but in terms of funny names. Bangers and mash? Spotted dick? There was so much potential, until we realized these things were entirely inedible. So thanks to Allison's giant cod (hehe) there was Fish & Chips and I topped that off with some Yorkshire pudding with roasted veggies. Not bad. And now I've got extra lard just layin' around for late night snacking. Yum.

Fish, Wine, and Mushrooms = Bliss

Baked fish in mushroom-wine sauce

I’m always ready to cook seafood, especially fish. Today, I visited Vermillionville to watch a somewhat disappointing country Mardi Gras that is supposed to involve costumed revelers on horse back going from house to house begging and dancing for gumbo ingredients that should especially feature a live chicken flying to save its feathers. Instead, this “family friendly” mardi gras featured children scaring costumes, one rubber chicken and a few bags of rice. Not exactly ingredients for anything edible, yet alone a gumbo. During a beignet cooking demonstration, Meagan asks the cook if she has a good recipe for cooking catfish, which she does. That combined with a hope to eat seafood for lunch, made me really want to make some seafood for dinner. One the way home Igrabbed two tilapia filets at Champagne’s and decided to cook tonight. I decided to try out The Frank Davis Seafood Notebook that is half a cookbook and half a book filled with tips on cooking seafood.

Always a fan of cooking with alcohol, I decided to try his Baked fish in mushroom-wine sauce and add a few more vegetables I had in my fridge.

Ingredient list:

5 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
½ cup heavy cream
mushrooms, finely chopped, enough to cover fish filets. (I used Crimini)
lemon juice
6 tablespoons of white wine (per pound of fish)
Fish Filets

Directions:
Preheat Oven to 350

In a frying pan, melt butter, then stir in flour until smooth over low heat. Next, stir in cream. Do not brown. Season filets with salt and pepper. Chop mushrooms and spread over fish in a baking dish. Drizzle Lemon juice and wine. I didn’t have any lemon, but did have lime juice, which I dripped over the filets instead. I also added chopped green onions, Roma tomatoes, and asparagus. Bake for 10 minutes. Then pour butter sauce on fish and cook until tender. It took about 15 more minutes until the filets fell apart when stabbed with a fork. The veggies and fish soak up the wine and butter well, melting not just in the oven, but (clicely) in the mouth too. This is an easy recipe and great use of mushrooms.

Mark

Mark- New Guy in Old Wine Bottles: Tuscan Bean and Pasta Stew

Thanks for letting me post here. When I was home for Christmas in Zanesville, (Think Wright’s “Autumn Begins In Martin’s Ferry, Ohio”) I stopped at the local used bookstore, a retired teacher’s 1940’s house located across the street from a United Technologies Plant and down the street from several bars. Convenient! Since I own three cookbooks and because no one unloads decent poetry books, I perused the cookbook section. Buried between Atkins and Richard Simmons, I found Mollie Katzen’s "Vegetable Heaven" which began a long conversation with the owner about cooking and his theory that there are only so many recipes in the world and that each recipe is just a variation on a theme. Sounds like some narrative theory to me. Anyway, having people over to drink and talk about writing while admiring your amazing Buddha Lamp? This stew will take care of 4 – 6 people.


Tuscan Bean and Pasta Stew

Ingredients

3 Cups uncooked pasta (macaroni, small shells, I used Champenelle)
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups minced onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
(Thanks to sage being MIA that night, Cilantro was used instead and worked well.)
1 tablespoon dried basil (or 3 tablespoons minced fresh basil)
2 10-once packages frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained (or 2 pounds fresh spinach—cleaned, stemmed, and chopped) I used fresh.
2 14 1/2 once cans diced tomatoes
2 15 once cans of ubiquitous cannelloni beans, rinsed, and drained.
Freshly ground black pepper
2 or 3 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese (plus more for the top)
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar (plus more for the top)

Directions:
Heat a large pot of water for pasta. When it boils, add pasta, stir, and cook until tender. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large, deep saucepan. I used a stock pot. Add onion and half the garlic, sauté for about 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring often. Add ½ teaspoon of salt and the dried herbs, sauté for 10 minutes. (If using fresh basil add it later)

Add the spinach to the onion, along with the tomatoes and remaining garlic and salt. Stir, cover, and let stew over medium heat for about 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Soon, it starts to look like stew.

Stir in fresh basil if used, along with beans and pasta. Heat thoroughly and add black pepper, parmesan, and vinegar.

Serve hot in bowls, with extra cheese, pepper, and vinegar. I only added the vinegar after serving it. I’ve never made stew before and this was a perfect introduction. Katzen suggests it would be fine at room temperature as well. I couldn’t wait that long. Next time I will add mushrooms, something delicious in nearly everything. My friend Tina also suggested walnuts or pine nuts, which would complicate the texture of spinach, cannelloni, pasta, tomatoes, and provide an all-important crunch.

White Bean Soup

Here in Chambana, we have 4 inches of snow and haven't seen 20 degrees in a week. Is it the kind of weather that makes a person want to stay in bed all day, or maybe the couch covered in blankets? Only moving to eat more soup? Indeed, indeed.

Winter is when I fall back on all my thick soup and stew recipes. Most of them are geared towards work-week supper nights, when my husband and I both get home cold, tired, and way too poor to order food in. Enter: crock pot.

I know I talk about how magic this thing is all the time, and really I do, but it's truly incredible. Let me prove it to you with a succession of crock pot recipes.

(taken from *Vegetarian* by Linda Fraser, then crock-pot adapted by me)

White Bean Soup, serves 6

1-1/2 c. dry white beans (or a mix of white, garbanzo and lentil--this is forgiving soup)
1 bay leaf

Soak beans overnight (not lentils, if using). In the morning, drain, put in crock pot (adding lentils), cover with water by two inches, and add bay leaf. Cook on high 3 hours or until tender. Then drain again, discarding bay leaf. If you have an immersion/stick blender, then just set them aside. If not, puree half the beans in a food processor or blender, adding a little water as needed.

**Using two cans (for four cups) of white beans is entirely acceptable. Tastes nearly the same. Just drain and rinse the beans.**

5 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 medium tomatoes, diced (or 1 can diced tomatoes and their juice)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t. dried thyme
3 c. boiling water
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil, and saute onion until it softens. Add carrot and celery, and cook for 5 minutes more.

Stir in tomatoes, thyme, and garlic. Bring back to a boil, then dump it all in the crock pot.

Pour boiling water into crock. Stir in the beans and the bean puree. Season with salt and pepper.

Cook on low 6 hours, or High for three. Puree at the end of cooking with a stick blender if the beans weren't already pureed.

---
You have no idea how delicious this is. But trust me, it's exactly what you want to eat when the temperature drops.

Meagan Turns 26, Shows off New Rack

The choices of ways to celebrate my slow march towards death were vast and alluring: an elephant parade down Jefferson Street, a private concert to be held at my apartment, featuring Jenny Lewis, Sufjan Stevens and others, a guest appearance on the Daily Show, a sophisticated fireworks display on Lake Ponchatrain, sponsored by The Society for Awesome People Recently Relocated to the South (SAPRRS).

But after considering the negative aspects of these possibilties--the tedious nature of air travel to New York, the amount of elephant poop someone would have to clean up, the noise complaints the concert would cause, the banality of fireworks, Erin and I decided on an Indian food extravaganza showcasing my spice rack, which, along with my cooking, has improved vastly since my move to Lafayette. Cardamon, cloves, curry powder, tumeric, cumin, garam masala, madras curry, whole nutmeg. Come on, folks. How can you deny the awesomness of a rack like that? Don't ya just want to just reach out and...

Okay, I don't really keep my spices in a rack persay. It's more a cabinet. But i've had just enough red wine such that rack jokes are funny.

Our plan seemed especially apropo considering there is no decent Indian food to be found within 40 miles of my city. Thus, over the course of several hours, Erin and I created what one 2nd year graduate student described as the best food he's ever had in Lafayette. Now the recipes behind the well-spiced magic:

We began with Sara Moulton's beautiful and very simple samosas (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_27198,00.html). Don't be intimidated by the geometry of folding the dough. You're just making lots of small cones, filling them, and closing them up. It's quite relaxing, actually. Just make sure to squeeze the edges closed tightly, wetting your fingertips in a cup of water for each one.

Then there was this recipe for Sweet Potato Breadfrom my newly purchased Sunday's at Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook (1990 edition):

3/4 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
1 tbs. oil or melted ghee
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup hole wheat flour
1-1.5 cups unbleached white flour
oil for deep frying pooris, or oil or melted ghee for cooking parathas

Combine sweet potatoes, oil, salt and cinnamon nd mix well. Stir in the whole wheat flour and enough white flour to form a workable dough. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead for 5-1- minutes, adding at least one cup of the white flour as you go. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 min.

Erin made the dough into 12 pooris, which are basically dense, sweet little balls of dough fried in 2 inches of vegetable oil until "puffed and golden", about 15-20 seconds. Press the pooris down as they rise to the surface of the oil.

Next time I might try turning the dough into parathas, which seem ideal for scooping up extra curry when you run out of rice. To make parathas: "cut the dough into quarters...cut each quarter in half...roll in your hadns to form eight balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 6-inch circle. Brush teh top of each circle with oil or melted ghee and fold in half. Sprinkle lightly with flour and roll out to form a six in triangle. Repeat with the remaining balls.


...Heat a heavy fryin gpan or griddle on medium for 2 or 3 minutes. PLace a paratha in thep an and cook for about 2 minutes or until brown flecks appear on the bottom of the bread. Brush the top with oil or ghee, and turn over. Cook for approximately one minute more and then remove it from the pan. Parathas may be kept warm in teh oven until all of them are cooked."

Next came two beautiful vegetarian dishes; Dal (ie; anything legume based in Indian cooking) with Tomato and Spinach, and an http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35405,00.html?rsrc=search, both also from Linda Dickinson's India section of the Moosewood Cookbook. Both dishes were prepared essentially prepared by the lovely Erin, so while I can't comment much on process, I can say both were delicious and pass on the recipes to you:

Dal:

1 1/2 cups red or brown lentils, yellow or green split peas or split, hulled mung beans
4 cups water
2 dried chilis (we used red pepper flakes instead)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
--
2 tbs. ghee or vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 cup chopped onion
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger (make sure to use fresh...this really brought the dish together)
1 tbs. lemon juice
1/2-1 tsp. garam masala
salt to taste
4 cups spinach
1 cup chopped tomatos

Wash the lentils, peas or beans in severla changes of codl water. In a medium pot, cover them with te water and add te whole dried chiles, turmeric, and salt,. Bring to a boil, reduce th eheat and simmer, stirring often, until very tender This will take about 30 minutes for red lentils, 45 minutes for peas, or an hour or more for mung beans. It may be necessary to add more water to prevent sticking, but only 1/2 cup at a time, because the final consistency should be fairly thick. Use a heat diffuser if necessary.

When lentils are almost cooked, heat th eghee or oil in a small pan, add the cumin seeds, and cook for 10 to 15 seconds. Stir in the onions and ginger adn cook utnil the onions begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatos and spinach and cook for 5 minutes more.

When the lentils are tender, remove and discard teh hot peppers. Stir in the onion mixture, lemon juice, garam masala and salt to taste. Serve, passing additioanl garam masala to sprinkle on top, if desired.

The recipe for Eggplant, Spinach, and Tomato Curry has already been posted here:

http://www.recipeland.com/recipe/8439/

Finally, I made Nigella Lawson's Mughlai Chicken. The complex layering of flavors here made this dish transcendent. The color was beautiful. It smelled amazing. And it was just as decadent with half-n-half instead of heavy cream.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_35405,00.html?rsrc=search

At said birthday party a friend gave me Madhu Gadia's New Indian Home Cooking. Look for future posts on the lovely recipes to be found there, including Sweet and Sour Winter Squash. And remember, getting older should be about cooking better. Forget calls for increased maturity, self-knowledge, and success. Instead, ala Michael Jackson, take a look at your spice rack and make that change. Then, if you actually do accomplish something, you can celebrate it in an appropriatly tasty manner. Because really that's what's important.

Christine's 2006 Countown, Part 2

First, a sincere apology about some recipes in my last post. Black Bean soup definitely has at least 2 cups of broth in it, or else it wouldn't be soup. And Hoppin' John--well. Black-eyed peas, when dry, don't have to be soaked overnight at all--I cooked them without a presoak on New Year's Day (for prosperity, baby!) with no problem at all. And there's a dash of basil in there, and I don't usually use cayenne, so I have no idea why I put that in the list. Also, when I make these on the stove from canned peas, I add no more than a cup of broth, unless I'll be cooking rice with it. Maybe Erin's really is better, or at least more structurally integrated.

Secondly, sorry there aren't any recipes in this post yet. I'm in the middle of revising a 15 page paper on poems about trauma. It's all a mess. Posting recipes in a few days will be a joy. So trauma-free, recipes.

And on to the final five--

5. Nana's (and Paula Deen's) Gooey Butter Cake

I literally have been looking for this recipe for the last decade. Oh Paula, a void in my taste memory is complete. With most of a pound of butter.

4. Kugel with Shredded Apples to Make All Jewish Men Cry for Their Mothers

This kugel won the knock-down Kugel Cook-Off of 2005. Take that, Koritz!

3. Pear Cake with Riesling and Olive Oil, so good I can't even explain it. I will say that more than one beautiful person has requested I make this cake this year. As in, it's so memorable that you will crave it and shrug off how much olive oil you're using. In a cake.

2. Cilantro Ravioli with Pumpkin Filling, and a side of roasted fennel with parmesan is an absolute must--the only time it's been worth it to make my own pasta so far.

1. Corn and Cheese Beggar's Purses. Just wait for the recipe, then you can make them, eat them, and die a delicious death. It's phyllo! And muffin tins! And oh man I'm getting hungry already.

There are so many others that almost made this list:
Tassajara whole wheat bread;
Giada's tuna and artichoke salad with olive tapenade;
snickersnap cookies;
carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and candied carrot peel decoration;
Cooking Light's Roasted Shallot and Butternut Squash Baked Penne;
brownies from a box from Aldi ... that save my life ...
my aunt's signature chicken salad ...
Easy Breezy Apple Cake ...
red wine ice cream ...
lavash crackers and hummus and pan-fried zucchini;
my favorite lasange, and on and on and on. It's been a year of good food. Let 2007 be the same.

Erin's Top Ten Cooking Countdown of 2006 (2/2)

So it's New Years Day, and I'm sitting in my cozy little Mississippi apartment thinking of resolutions for the new year. More complicated baking? Check. Even fewer animal products from the year before? Check. Learn to make pear butter? Check. But in 2006, I got a few things right as well. So let the final half (and I know you've been aching to know!) of my 2006 Best Of list commence!

5.) Pumpkin Ginger Bread

Thanks to Meagan and Martha Stewart for this one. It's easy, portable, and enjoyed by all who have good taste. If you have fresh pumpkin, all the better!

Ingredients:

12 tbsp (1.5 sticks butter), unsalted, melted, plus room-temperature butter for pan.
2.5 cups all purpose flour (spooned and leveled) plus more for pan
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree (1 and 3/4 cups)
3 large eggs
sugar glaze (see below)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter and flour two 8.5 by 4.5 inch loaf pans. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, ginger, and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, pumpkin, melted butter, and eggs; add flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of loaves comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes. Invert pans and transfer loaves to a wire rack to cool completely. Glaze if desired.

For the sugar glaze, in a small bowl, mix 1.5 cups confectioners'' sugar with 2 to 3 tablespoons water until mixture is smooth but thick. Place waxed paper under rack for a quick cleanup. For easy pouring, transfer glaze to a liquid-measuring cup and drizzle over loaves. Let dry 15 minutes before serving. Makes enough for two loaves.



4.) Butternut Squash Soup

This is a simple, elegant, and surprisingly heavy soup. I like to garnish it to make it look pretty (cilantro and pumpkin seeds work better than cheese) and serve it with a light salad. (Christy salad perhaps?) Maybe some bread? And half & half works just as well as cream, in fact, perhaps better simply because the soup is so heavy to begin with.

3.) Hungarian Lentil Stoup

Technically I first made this dish last year and while I have pleasant memories of an unhappy time that are directly attached to the ingredient shopping, garlic chopping, and soup consuming, I try to divorce it from that as much as possible. In fact, when Meagan and I made this again last month pretty much everything in my otherwise depressed world was excellent. Sure you could change some of the ingredients around, but why? It's pretty much perfect as is. And if it's cold where you are (which means anywhere in the United States, with perhaps the exception of South Florida), make this. And pretend it's not a RR recipe. Because her ubiquitousness is pissing me off. And I'm continuing the hate and the boycott.

2.) Salmon with Avocado

This is classy enough for company. Easy enough for a night alone. And requires nothing else to make it a meal except perhaps some coconut rice with some chopped cilantro. Buy Aldi salmon and it's even cheaper. Or if you're in the Hattiesburg area, check out Save-Rite's ridiculously underpriced salmon (color added . . . ew) and you're golden.


1.) Shrimp & Grits

Served now for two birthdays. Made five times this year alone. Being Southern and somewhat amused by my own heritage has made this my signature dish. It's spicy and warm and creamy and has pretty much everything you need right in a heap of delicious. Serve with some collard greens, and you make Paula Dean herself look like a Yank.



So that's it, folks. Erin's top ten dishes of 2006. Tune in soon for a holiday cooking update (brussell sprouts are indeed excellent, Allison) with stories of cauliflower and scallop soup, wasabi sweet potatoes, and cookies aplenty. Happy 2007, all. And remember, you get three opportunities a day to eat. Don't fuck them up.