Jamie's America

Who doesn't love Jamie Oliver?!
Some of my favorite classes are from Jamie Oliver cookbooks. The style, the read, the pictures, and of course, the food.
One other thing that made this class really fun was the people that came. They were a rowdy crowd that loved food. Right when everyone had sat down, they became friends, even though they didn't know each other.
The menu consisted of mostly southern American cooking. A bit of Latin/Mexican influence with the Tex-Mex thing. Also a bit of the "Down South" with Jambalaya and Red Velvet.

This what we made.

The Menu:


Mad Dog Salad is a funny name. It gives you no idea as to what is in it. Good thing there is a great picture to go along with it. There are a couple things that makes this salad interesting. One, roasted avocado. I've never roasted avocado before, and I was pleasantly surprised. I thought after roasting in the oven, they would sort of melt away or become soft, but it was the opposite. They not only firmed up a bit, but they browned and crisped up. A revelation!
The second thing that made this salad great was incorporating nachos. Yup, you read right. Tortilla chips, cheese, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds in the oven, melted and used in the salad. The cheesy chips were the base of the salad and the greens were tossed with the avocado. A simple lime and olive oil dressing brought it all together. A really great, refreshing salad with lost of texture.

Next was the Redondo Mackerel Wraps. Again, not really sure what it is except that there is mackerel in it. One of my favorite things to eat is mackerel on the BBQ. That's why this dish really appealed to me. This is a sort of fish taco, Jamie Oliver style. I bought some Spanish Mackerel, which is significant;y bigger than a the regular mackerel we know of. It was simply seasoned and grilled on a hot grill until the skin was crispy and the meat perfectly moist. It was topped with a salad of zucchini, asparagus and radish with lime and olive oil. The base was a tortilla with a smear of guacamole.

Not only did it look beautiful with the charred fish with the colourful salad on top, but it tasted fresh, light and refreshing.

The main was Chicken, Sausage and Prawn Jambalaya. A typical Creole dish meaning "dirty" rice. It's the ultimate in one pot meals that is spicy, extremely flavourful and just plain interesting. Like I mentioned, it is a Creole style Jambalaya that incorporates tomatoes, as opposed to a Cajun Jambalaya what has no tomatoes. The flavour base for this was lots of onions, peppers and garlic. It's also important to use a smoked sausage for this. Traditionally you would use Andouille, but good luck trying to find it in Montreal. We replaced it with Chorizo sausage which gave us the smokiness we needed in the dish. We also incorporated chicken and shrimp into this dish.
Cooking time was a lot faster than I had thought. In total, the dish took 40 minutes. For the intensity of flavours and and heartiness of it all, 40 minutes is nothing. I'll definitely make this dish again. The rice was mildly spicy and smoky. It's also important to not make it too dry. It should still be a bit wet when you serve it. Saucy, meaty and delicious. The perfect one pot meal.

Lastly, we finished off with Velvet Cupcakes. Another southern kind of dessert. Related to Devils Food Cake, what gives red velvet it's distinct look is the use of red food colouring. Traditionally beets were used to give it it's reddish hue. It's a very basic cake batter that uses buttermilk, butter sugar and eggs. A little bit of cocoa and vinegar helps with the colour and acidity. The icing is a standard cream cheese icing with lemon zest and lemon juice.
Red velvet is always a crown pleaser. It's very playful and fun to eat. Sprinkles on top made it even more fun. If you've never made these kind of cupcakes before, I would highly recommend. People love them.

Jamie's America is one of Jamie Oliver best books. He moved away from his typical Italian/Mediterranean/British style of cooking to try something new. But he doesn't sacrifice is style of writing a recipe. The one thing I love about his books is the way his recipes are written. Easy to read, non intimidating, and casual.
This book covers a lot of distinct American cooking with trips to BBQ country, Southwestern Tex Mex, and cowboy country. A great variety of interesting dishes cooked the Jamie Oliver way.

Next Class: Simple Fresh Southern