There is no real American cuisine. This is what I’ve heard from numerous people, and when I say that there is I’m challenged to provide examples. Well, instead of just listing off something like cioppino this time around I’d back up my assertion that America has great original cuisine by making a classic myself.
So I first set to the task by attempting to find something I’d never had or heard of. It actually didn’t take longer than 10 minutes with Google to discover that there’s a dish in the south known as Country Captain. It’s a chicken dish made with a curried tomato sauce, and typically currants and almonds. Just to make sure you’re in the south you cook everything using a foundation of bacon fat.
In a way it sounded quite similar to the British chicken tikka masala, which I already know I love. I knew that I’d be making changes to the classic recipe, and I do apologize to my southern comrades if what I’ve made isn’t what they’d classify as Country Captain. But from what I could find I had the base parts: fried and braised chicken, curry tomato sauce, bacon fat, and slivered almonds. The coconut rice was my idea and stems from the Indian inspired flavors present in the classic version.
The Country Captain I ended up preparing is likely to be one of my favorite home style meals of the last few years. It was extremely satisfying, full of rich flavor, and felt like a warm blanket of deliciousness on a cold fall night.
The cranberry stilton cheesecake that came after was actually made late last night. While picking up ingredients at Wegmans for Country Captain I came across a cranberry stilton cheese. Not long ago at the Sysco food show here in Syracuse I saw some flavored stilton’s on display and put it in my mind that I’d have to try one in a cheese cake.
Personally I can’t stand 99% of the cheese cake sold to people at corporate, and even fine dining, restaurants. They’re too rich and sweet. One or the other would work so much better, and that’s what led me to start trying to work other cheeses into a cheese cake. I’ve had some abysmal failures at this endeavor over the years, but I’m convinced that stilton is the way to go. And now that I’ve made the perfect cheese cake, I’ve been vindicated in my beliefs.
Recipes:
Country Captain With Coconut Rice
Cranberry Stilton Cheesecake
