Put some south in your mouth with this healthy, well spiced chicken gumbo with okra.

chicken gumbo with okra

A bowl full of chicken gumbo. Over rice or not. Runny like a soup or nice and thick like a stew. It all works. There are two types of gumbo. Those made with a roux and those that aren’t. This is the latter. It’s lighter and heavy on the vegetables. As healthy as a gumbo gets I guess. But it’s still damn tasty.

Making a roux takes time. It’s time well spent when you’re looking for that rich, focus on the chicken and sausage kind of gumbo. Can’t beat it for that flashy cajun, explode in your mouth meal.

Salmon with rice noodle salad makes a great weeknight meal.

salmon with rice noodles

Fish and rice noodles isn’t something that just pops into your head when you’re thinking about what to make for dinner. At least it doesn’t pop into mine very often. Don’t know why. When I do think of it this is one I like.  Salmon with rice noodles. It makes a fast, yet elegant weeknight meal.

Individual spices on a plate with recipe card and measuring spoons.

indian restaurant spice mix

This Indian restaurant spice mix is a blend of key Indian spices that gives restaurant curries that big blast of flavour. It’s one of the ways restaurants are able to crank out curries in no time.

This is about easy. Easy and fast. No measuring a ton of spices every time you make a curry. This is the baseline. The signature blend.

Bacon jam is a salty, sweet, savoury bacon flavour bomb. Serve it along with baguette or use it in the ultimate bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich.

bacon jam

Someday I’ll type not quite nigella bacon jam and won’t get a hit. It keeps me up at night. An internet treasure gone forever. That’s why I’m posting my minor tweak on that recipe. It’s very close to the original. Certainly I can’t take any credit for this recipe. I’m just following along here.

Chicken with creole cream sauce on a bed of green chili, garlic mashed potatoes.

chicken with creole cream sauce and green chili mash

Chicken with creole cream sauce on a bed of green chili, garlic mashed potatoes. It takes a rustic cajun dish up a couple big notches.

It goes from down and dirty stew to dinner party. Don’t get me wrong. I love a creole chicken stew. It’s comfort food with spice. But sometimes upscale is the way to go.

Braised leeks sprinkled with parmesan and flash broiled.

braised leeks with parmesan

Make braised leeks with parmesan. Be a trend setter. Dare to be different. Leeks gets a bum rap. They are the ignored vegetable. Shunned. They’re not an onion, not a scallion, not a shallot. What are they then? “Hmm… They’re big. I’m not really sure. I hear they are good in soup. I think you can put it in a stew? Maybe? I don’t know… What do you do with them?”

Turkey noodle soup with carrots in a white bowl.

turkey noodle soup

Turkey noodle soup from scratch is about the best thing you can do with your leftover turkey. Deep turkey flavour, tender noodles and incredible mouthfeel make this version special.