So I couldn't bring myself to make the etouffee after seeing how I gained so much weight in such a short amount of time. So I decided to go with a similar dish, a bit more heart and weight-friendly. Shrimp creole. While it is not what I wanted, I thought it would be close enough. I used Emeril's recipe and it was good. Not great. but good. Whatever. got the cajun craving out of my system.
Now I can't stop thinking about a food from my childhood - Ukrainian sour cabbage rolls. Surprised it's not a korean dish? Well I did grow up in a small Ukrainian town in northernish Alberta. and in all my time there I have never, ever seen cabbage rolls like you see them everywhere - huge, covered in tomato sauce/juice, full of meat, and not sour at all. What the heck is that? I was so shocked the first time I saw these in Edmonton. It's virtually impossible to find sour cabbage rolls anywhere - small, filled with rice and bits of bacon, buttery, sour, and none of that tomato crap on top! I had found one baba vendor at the Strathcona Farmer's Market, but seeing as how I no longer live in Edmonton and we tend to go up on sundays when the market's not open, I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Before Gemma was born, i used to make my own cabbage rolls and freeze them. Of course they don't compare with what the babas used to make, but it's better than the stuff you find at the farmer's markets around here. Where are all the Ukrainians in southern Alberta??? Someone told me I would find a baba in Millarville and so I was excited when I found her little trailer at the Millarville market. Um. What kind of a Ukrainian baba sells "cajun chicken cabbage rolls?" An outrage!
Anyways, I figure i'm only going to get busier once #2 comes, so I am actually going to make time to sit and make a few batches to freeze. It's so time consuming (especially when you're doing it all alone) but oh so worth it. Even if it's not exactly the REAL thing... ugh, I'm salivating just thinking about the sour, buttery goodness... mmm
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