The wonderful fall weather we have been experiencing is messing up mother nature a little. With the high temps these days some things in my garden appear to be a little mixed up.
I have strawberry plants blooming, violets are showing their cute little faces, chives are producing some flowers, other herbs are covered with flowers and still producing deep green leaves.
I still have bees visiting my garden daily, visiting the colourful scented flower, in yellows, golds, and oranges.
It is also election time and on Nov. 15 we go to the polls to elect a mayor and six councillors, as well as school board and Cariboo Regional District representatives.
So what has this got to do with cooking?
Very often we have many choices in cooking different recipes, depending upon our level of satisfaction.
Do we want to go with what we think are the best ingredients when putting together a dish or do we want to just throw a whole bunch of different food from the fridge into the pot and let it simmer until everything melds then hope it is going to satisfy!
This next recipe is a tastebud savouring concoction that probably has its roots in the southern U.S. where cajun food was born and is very popular.
Cajun Gumbo
¼ cup of butter
4 minced garlic cloves
½ cup chopped onion
¼ cup of chopped celery
6 ounces of chopped okra
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
4 cups of water
16 once can whole tomatoes, chopped and undrained
½ tsp sugar or splenda
4 tsp fresh parsley
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 bay leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
6 ounces of spicy sausage cut into 1/2 inch pieces
4 ounces of flaked crabmeat
6 ounces of prawns peeled
¼ tsp of hot pepper sauce or to taste
3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
½ lemon
Melt butter in a large pan and cook over medium heat. Cook garlic, onions, celery and okra until brown and set aside, continually stirring.
In a heavy stock pot over medium heat, add in the butter and flour to make a brown colored roux.
Stir in celery, onion and okra, then cook until tender.
Stir in water, tomatoes and sugar. Season with parsley, thyme, bay leaves, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for two-and-one-half hours, occasionally stirring.
Add prawns, crabmeat and sausage to stock pot.
Stir in hot pepper sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
Add lemon juice and simmer for an additional five to 10 minutes until sausage, prawns and crabmeat are cooked.
Take out bay leaves and serve.
This recipe should serve four people.
Have a good fall weekend!
And make sure you know what you want in your political recipe before you go to the store (ballot box).
Bye for now and GOOOD COOKING.