Passport To Senegal

November 4th, 2013

Happy Monday SFAM! 
For this week's DDD assignment we're heading to Africa! In the November issue of Food & Wine Magazine you'll find an article in search of southern cuisine's roots. Sean Brock (a Virginia native{!} and Chucktown celeb chef) ventures to Senegal to taste, explore and discover the flavors of a nation that has had an important influence on southern, Low Country cuisine. I'm choosing a few recipes from this article for several reasons: 

1.  We will be inundated with autumnal flavors and homey dishes within the next few months, so let's spice it up!
2. I'm obsessed with Sean Brock and southern food,
3. I've never (knowingly) made African or African influenced food before,
4. and the recipes are quite healthy, assisting with the fight against the holiday hump.

Other important reminders:

1. Puppy arrives on Thursday!
2. My birthday is in 6 days
3. let me know of ideal dates for slumber parties during your Thanksgiving visit!

Xox,

Amanda

Smokey Shrimp Purloo

2 1/2 lbs large shrimp, head on, shelled, deveined

2 tblsp peanut oil

1/4 c. drained smoked baby clams

1 onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 1/2 c. Carolina Gold rice

4 oz. smoked trout or catfish, skinned and flaked

1 dry bay leaf

1. In a pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the shrimp heads and shells and simmer for 20 minutes, skimming off any foam from the surface. Strain the shrimp broth into a bowl and keep warm. Discard the heads and shells.
2. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat the peanut oil. Add the clams and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until golden and fragrant, 2 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until the onion starts to soften, about 2 minutes. Stir in the rice, then stir in the trout and bay leaves and season with salt. Add enough of the shrimp broth to cover the rice (about 2 1/2 cups) and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the rice is just tender, 20 minutes.
3. Lay the shrimp on the rice in a single layer. Cover and cook until the shrimp are cooked through, 6 minutes. Discard the bay leaves.
4. Spoon the rice and shrimp onto plates. Scrape up the crunchy rice crust on the bottom of the casserole, spoon some over the shrimp and serve.

Sauteed Collard Greens

1/4 c. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 1/2 lbs young collards, stemmed and thinly sliced

2 c. packed arugula, finely chopped

2 tsp. grated lemon zest

2 tblsp. lemon juice

4 dried arbol chilies, crumbled

Kosher salt

1/2 c. roasted peanuts, chopped

1. In a very large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the collards and arugula in large handfuls, letting each batch wilt slightly before adding more. Cook, tossing frequently, until the collards start to soften, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and crumbled chiles, season with salt and toss to evenly coat the greens. Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Transfer the greens to a serving platter, top with the peanuts and serve.

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/the-senegalese-roots-of-southern-cooking

November 11th, 2013

Hey Alex!

Well, this purloo recipe tasted quite unique-very smokey and salty and interesting! David and I enjoyed it, but I can see how the uniqueness and strength of the flavors may be off-putting for some palates. The peanut collards were an appropriate accompaniment. Because both dishes have such depth of flavor, if I were to make this meal again I would add a fresh veggie recipe or something light and bright to balance everything. Out of necessity I made the following changes:

1. I substituted smoked oysters for clams in the purloo recipe, and I do NOT recommend doing so. The flavor smoked oysters is congruent with smoked clams, but the oysters dd not hold their texture. They disintegrated and add a graininess to the purloo.
2. I could not find Carolina Gold rice, and I sure as hell am not ordering ingredients off Amazon, so I used brown jasmine rice which has a similar, faint nuttiness.
3. For the collard greens, I seeded the dried chilies. The dish was still very very spicy and you know how we enjoy foods that taste like lava, so I believe this was a good move.

I am VERY much looking forward to your opinions on this meal!

Xox,

Amanda

Hi Manda!
So thanks to a little experiment Landey and I are trying, we were short a few of the ingredients. We are trying to plan meals for the whole week before we go to the store. Unfortunately first time out of the gate we forgot our list! So from memory I remember most of the ingredients for this dish.
I really like liked the seafood flavor and it kind of reminded me of a sort of paella, which I love. However the collards were a bit strong in flavor.... but Landey and I both agreed that were really good with a little rice vinegar added.

• We added bamboo and mushrooms... largely because I love them. 
• Instead of peanuts (I forgot :(...)  I added peanut sauce... kinda similar right?
• Also added fish sauce ... 

All in all i thought it was a very interesting dish! Bravo for selecting something exotic!

In other news...

• Are you going to the Leesburg Thanksgiving reunion?
• Are you free the weekend after Thanksgiving to play? 
• How much do you love your baby? Today Landey was like Amanda and David's dog is pretty darn cute!
•  

I will be in VA in less than two weeks! YAY!

Also we have been doing our blog for 7 weeks! Crazy how time flies!!

xoxox

SFAM