This And That and Creole Catfish...

Okay I'm back at the ready at the keyboard here on a Saturday evening with YouTube playing some of my favorites I think randomly. First up on the player is a live version of Asia's "Heat Of The Moment" from the Live in Japan DVD. This version actually has the the four original members of the band so it's pretty darn authentic. While this band was touring back in 2008, there was an offshoot band touring at the same time called Asia Featuring John Payne. LOL. John Payne joined the band after some original band members left back in the late 80s and somehow he got the rights to the name Asia and is allowed to tour with the Asia Featuring JP name. Okay my theory is that Asia is Steve Howe of Yes on electric, Geoff Downes of the Buggles on keyboards, Carl Palmer of ELP on drums and John Wetton of whatever band he was in on bass and vocals. That's the band. They're the ones that had the hits.

It kind of makes me think of the version of the Little River Band (LRB) that is doing tours now and then in this area. Recently LRB was at Harrah's Cherokee and I wanted to go up there and see them. So I googled the showtime, the location, the travel time etc. etc. only to discover that this version of the Little River Band didn't have a single original member from their heyday back in the late 70s. It would be weird paying top dollar to see a cover band playing LRB songs claiming to LRB. Sorry not biting at that lure.

LOL. I used the lure line to segue effortlessly into the success of one my recent supper dishes. A year or two ago when at J's old house her mother was in town and prepared this creole catfish dish that I found to be excellent and quite low maintenance to make.

From start to finish including prep time it took less than an hour to make and that's only because the brown rice I prefer to use takes 50 minutes to be properly prepared. It got a good review from H as I was rather liberal (imagine that me being liberal rather than conservative) with the cayenne and fresh ground black pepper.

Instead of using the native catfish found here which I found to be overpriced considering I wasn't sure if I was going to be successful with this dish I used swai which is like catfish' fraternal twin as opposed to indentical twin. Swai is cultivated in southeast Asia as a food fish and it's cost here is half of the native catfish.

Usually I mess up fish dishes either by overcooking them or making something that I really don't like eating. I didn't even know that swai was similar to catfish until I googled it when I got home after buying it. My thought process was that it's a white fish; it can't be all that bad. LOL. I know a rather scientific approach employed by me. LOL.

Anyways the end result was that it was great dish and I will add it to my cooking arsenal. I really like cooking it turns out.

Okay that's it for now. I actually started this blog a couple of weeks ago and it had been sitting in draft form and I finally said that I would finish it up before starting on some other topics or blogs.

Sunday Morning Coffee Thoughts...

Is there anything better than the smell of fresh brewed coffee? I just came back from dropping H at work and came back into the house just as the coffee I prepared a few minutes ago had just finished brewing. It was a welcoming aroma as I walked in the door and had to avoid Jynx/Jinx who parked herself next to the door leading to the garage. I think she thinks of herself as a guard cat. The thing is that the only way that she will scare people away is when she embarks on one her sneezing jags when she sneezes twenty or thirty times in a row. It's something to see.

Wow coffee number one is gone already. I needed it to warm me up I guess. It is colder out there than I expected especially when my skinny legs met up with cooler temps out there than I thought would be.

Last night I grilled some chicken and veggies using a real simple recipe. A little bit of sea salt, cracked black pepper and vegetable oil to season the chicken along with a couple of green peppers sliced up along with a red onion. I finally bought one of those grill things for veggies. Hmmmm. I know it isn't called a grill thing. It isn't called a basket though that would be a good descriptor for it. Nevertheless you chop veggies in strips, add a little oil drop in the grill thingee and the put on grill and presto fresh veggies. LOL.

I went to Walmart yesterday. Gawd I hate that store but I needed several things for the house and I didn't feel like going to different stores to get them. This is what basket looked like when I was at the register. I had the grill thingee, gas can for the lawn mower, a package of swai fillets, coffee and a mixed case of Mexican beer. The young lady at the register asked me for identication for the beer purchase. It's like oh goodness gracious nevermind. I've been down that road before. Suffice to say that I am 50 yrs. old and I don't look under 21. They have sign there reserving the right to question those up to 40 if they may look under 21. I'm sorry that policy is effing insane. Okay I guess vented. LOL. I can't help it.

Last thing on the grocery order. Those swai fillets. I have no idea what swai is but it was attractively priced so I figured I can try it and if I don't like I will toss the rest out. I just googled it. It is a form of catfish. Typically the cheaper variety comes from Southeast Asia. I guess that's what I bought. Going to look for a recipe for it this week and see what happens.

Okay that's it for now. Typing about food has made me hungry for breakfast. Time to eat a bit.