I don't know about you, but I've been hungry during this challenge. Fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch... oy. I'm on a diet. I have to admit, we just weren't prepared on Wednesday to begin the challenge. During the busy work week it was a challenge to gather all the ingredients and cook as much as needed. Thank god for Saturday. I got to the CCFM around 8:30 to make sure they hadn't run out of anything and I got some hearty food. I got great stuff! Cheese, meats, veggies, and (phew!) onions. I was worried I might not find any, and they are a staple in my kitchen.
Ran home and got this in the fridge and went over to Hollygrove at 10am, again, to make sure they weren't out of what I needed. By this time I was starving a guzzled a DELISH Smith's Creamery Chocolate Milk for breakfast.
Seth and I then took a trip over to the Sankofa Market in the Lower 9th to see what they had. It's a little market, but there were a few nice items. Next time I'll go over there before the other two big markets. We took a little afternoon tour of the city and had lunch at Satsuma. I've been meaning to get over there, but never have before. Since it's on the list of approved Locavore restaurants we tried it out. The place is adorable. My sandwich was good. The chef said it was all local, except the swiss cheese, which I still ate. A girl's gotta eat.
Roasted Veggies, Arugala Pesto, Swiss Cheese on locally made bread
I'll spare you the non-food related details of the rest of the day and on to dinner...
Roast Chicken with Tomatoes and Okra over Rice
Thank you, thank you, Donald Link. If you don't have Donald Link's cookbook, Real Cajun, I highly recommend it. I cook from it regularly, but it will be a lifeline during this challenge. Almost all his ingredients are local. Except I'm dying for lemons to make some of the recipes... The Tomato and Okra Recipe is almost exactly from Real Cajun, with a couple exemptions to meet the local challenge. You will find in most my recipes I've cheated a little on some of the staples like oil, vinegar and garlic.
Roasting Chicken - Coq au Coin - CCFM
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Place a thawed and rinsed chicken in some kind of roasting pan. Rub on a layer of olive oil and salt and pepper. Place it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes and then bump the heat to 425 for another 10-15. You should have a golden skin and your chicken needs to reach 165 degrees inside to be cooked through.
Put on a pot of Louisiana rice to serve.
It should look like this or a little darker when done
Okra, about 2+ cups chopped - Hollygrove
3 medium tomatoes ( I used creole and hierloom) - CCFM
1/2 onion - CCFM
1 jalapeno - Hollygrove
3 cloves garlic - Rouses
1tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp rosemary needles
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Chop the onion, jalapeno and garlic. Cook for 3-5 minutes until softening in 1 tblsp of butter, oil or bacon fat. Add the chopped tomatoes, red wine vinegar, rosemary, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Allow this to thicken and the tomatoes to thicken a bit. Meanwhile, pan fry the okra in another pan with a little oil. This takes the stickiness out of the okra. If your tomato mixture is dry, add a little water (chicken broth preferably, if you have homemade) and add the okra. Cook together until desired consistency - about 5 more minutes. Cook longer if yours is too liquid-y. I like a little sauce, but it should be fairly thick. Smother over Louisiana Rice.
