Last Mango, Celery Side and other Contest Goodies

I ate the last mango in Paris,

I took the last plane out of Saigon,

I took the first fast boat to China,

And Jimmy, there's so much left to be done.

Last Mango in Paris, Jimmy Buffet

Here's our "last mango" of the season <frown>. It was a very tasty year!

FoodFight Write!

I am proud to announce that I've been chosen from the food bloggers of America to be one of 50 participants in FoodFightWrite! in Celebration, FL in early November, as part of the 2015 World Food Championships. 

FFW! is a day of conference lectures and speakers about how to make out blogs better and utilize social media in smarter ways. Day two is tours of local Central Florida food producers' facilities. Day three is a cooking competition -- probably a 'brown bag' -- where we'll all be handed a 'bag' of the same ingredients, probably including one of the sauces made by sponsor Saucy Mama from Oregon. This is going to be a lot of fun, and educational as well! 

Check out Saucy Mama's offerings at:

http://barhyte.com/brands/Saucy-Mama.html?page=2&sort=featured

Check out more about FoodFightWrite!  at their blog:

http://foodfightwrite.blogspot.com/

Next year's Fooding Around With The Kilted Cook  will be better than ever!

Cajun Celery Side Dish

I have long said that cooked celery -- as a side dish -- is the most neglected culinary concept in America.  Luckily Dandy Fresh Foods, producer of giga-tons of the crunchy green veggie agrees that celery is being under-utilized.  They're sponsoring a recipe contest to garner celery recipes for something more than an additive to tuna/chicken salad, soups and stews or a base for cream cheese or peanut butter snacks. 

Here's my entry for the Celery Championship. It's the classic culinary combination of celery, onion, red bell pepper and spices known as the Cajun Trinity, taken up several notches from being just a base for a gumbo or jambalaya.

6 stalks of Celery

1 Red Bell Pepper

1/2 Sweet White Onion (Vidalia, Maui, WallaWalla, etc.)

Cajun Seasoning (see below) to taste

1-2 cups Chicken Broth or bouillon cubes and water

Cut celery into "straws" -- remove white ends and tops. Slice the stems in half -- 5-6" lengths -- and split each stem lengthwise once or twice, to make the straws. Core, seed and remove the veins from the red bell pepper and slice into 1/2" wide strips. Slice the onion into 1/4" wide strips.

Place the ingredients in a saute pan or skillet, cover and simmer for 1-20 minutes until the celery is soft. Serves four as a great side dish for chicken or fish.

Cajun Seasoning

2 tsp White Pepper

2 tsp Garlic Powder

2 tsp Onion Powder

2 tsp Cayenne

2 tsp Paprika

1 tsp Thyme

1 tsp Oregano

Shake vigorously to combine. Make a big batch and save it in an empty spice jar with a new label.

Breakfast Favorite

Saturday and Sunday mornings I make breakfast for Sally and I.  It usually revolves around either a bagel or English muffins. Sometimes it's a toasted bagel with peanut butter and sliced apple; other times it's an egg either as a sandwich or on the side. Our favorite though is some variation on the bagel-wich. I'll make a 3-egg "omelet" with something inside -- cheese, mushrooms, bell pepper or all of the above -- and some herbs and spices. Divide that between our bagels, and inhale!

 

This Bagel-wich features cheese and mushrooms dotted with my favorite Catalan Salsa Apperito

Florida BBQ Sauce

I've become a regular at the new Mission BBQ restaurant here in Fort Myers.  Not only do they make fabulous ribs, pulled pork and chicken, and sausage, as well as classic sides and desserts;   the interior decor honors us veterans and first-responders.  Not to mention the OD green "deuce and a half" parked along the front of their property! This is the only restaurant I've ever been in where at noon, they come over the PA and ask everyone to stand and join the staff in the Pledge of Allegence!!

They also make a wide variety of their own BBQ sauces.  I've been talking with the managers about creating a Florida specific, citrus-based sauce, and they've encouraged me to submit some samples that they can try, as each store or region is encouraged by corporate HQ to come up their on unique things.  If they like it, maybe I'll get BBQ for life if I give them my recipe!

Then along comes the Zintastic! BBQ sauce contest, sponsored by Renwood Winery of California, makers of some fantastic zinfandel wines. Make a sauce and then pair it with one of their zinfandels or other wines. Here are two Q sauces I've worked up.

Gulf Coast Gold #1

 Sour Orange juice

Chipotle Chili

Fresh Ginger

Cayenne

Secret Ingredient

Thyme

Guava

Honey

Gulf Coast Gold #2

OJ concentrate

Chipotle Chili

Fresh Ginger

Cayenne

Secret Ingredient #2

Thyme

Guava

Honey

Meyer Lemon Juice

Have I given you the whole ingredient list??? Heck no.  Not unless nobody wants it and I decide not to bottle and market it myself.  Both are really good!

Compared to commercial sauces these are a bit 'liquid'. I'm experimenting with several ways of thickening them without affecting the flavor profile, including arrowroot powder, classic cornstarch slurry, and agar agar. Which recipe will I submit to who? Find out next week after the folks at the marina give me their answer to the "People's Choice" taste test.

Grilled Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Caramelized Onion Sandwich

This is my interpretation of Sally's description of "the best sandwich she ever had"; which she remembers having grilled eggplant, goat cheese and sauteed onions... I've been working on the "bits" that will make it even better than she remembers

It's not perfected yet, but the initial test was deemed a fabulous light dinner. I'll post a better picture and a real recipe next time.