Beer Poached Jambalaya

Tonight was a first go of beer-poached jambalaya. The recipe is extracted from this excellent work - Cooking With Booze which I highly recommend as being worth the $20.

• Chorizo (well, I substituted Hot Italian due to supply issues) Sausages
• Shrimp
• Chicken Breasts
• Rice, Bell Peppers, Onions
• Minced Garlic, Thyme, Oregano, Bay Leaves, Chili Powder, Hot Pepper Seeds
• 24 oz. Dark Ale (Warsteiner in my case)
• Chicken Stock and Crushed Tomatos
• Instant Rice
  
• Jalapeno Pepper (my addition for heat)
  

The end result was a hearty tomato-based stew with lots of protein that was very tasty. Makes enough for six normal sized servings or 4 very hearty ones. Would be excellent accompanying a cold beer or a sparkling or white wine with some fruity flavour as a counterpoint.

Cooking time is around 40 minutes and you can try to do the prep as you go or ahead of time. I think the entirety would be about an hour or hour and ten minutes.

A good multigrain bread or flatbread would make a nice accompanyment. Something like a fruit pastry with some whipped cream or ice cream would make a good desert and cool the palate.

While it cooked, I had myself a drink I must thank Kevin for introducing me to:

• 341 mL (1 Can) Ginger Ale
• 150 - 200 mL of Ginger Beer (Soda)
  
• 1 to 2 oz. of Rum (your call on variety - I used Dark and it gave the whole a nice golden colour)

A slice of lime might have been a good garnish.

Don't Panic!

Some interesting recipes for a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster and Vegan Rhino Cutlets. If you don't know who came up with these (Douglas Adams) or where they were from (The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy), then you need to read some more classic sci-fi.

PGGB and Rhino Cutlets

Canadian Valour

http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/index_e.asp?results=1&Firstname=&Middlename=&Lastname=&City=&Province=&TypeID=mvd&Honours=&AwardStart=&AwardEnd=&npp=25

My friend the Bugbear posted this on his blog. Unlike his usual rambling, skeptical rants or his inexplicable fascination with things involving hot coals, this link was one worth spreading around more generally.

We, living in Canada, often take for granted the efforts of our Armed Forces. They go to places we would shy from, they face horrors we would quail if faced with, they deal with implacable foes and confounding allies, they try as best they are able to execute the missions given them by our Government with skill and integrity, and where they are permitted and able, they work to make the world a better place - safer, more secure, and better for normal, peaceful folk to live in.

As Canadians, they put their lives in our wonderful country on hold, leave their families worried, and go off into harm's way at the behest of our Government and effectively at the behest of our people. This commitment to public service and to a life of sacrifice and risk willingly endured so the rest of us can be safe and our Country's goals in foreign policy can be realized is something alien to most of us who consider rush hour commutes on a 400 series highway to be high drama.

It's worth taking a few minutes to visit the attached link and read some of the citations. The shocking thing isn't that these men and women rise to the heights of courage that they do, the shocking thing is how few of them are reported and how commonly acts of at least as much courage go unheralded - we only see the tip of the iceberg.

Canadian Forces, part-time or full-time, active service or retired, I salute you.