Suriname: Pork and shrimp pepper pot

Suriname sure sounds like one of those obscure places where an interesting meal could be hard to come by. At least that's what I thought. Talk about a misjudgment. The dish I served up from this South American country is probably one of my favorites since I started cooking my away around the world. Who knew!

Like every other kitchen voyage, I pulled Suriname out of the wine bag and then started with some research and planning. I learned that its location in the northeastern part of South America has given it both Latin and Caribbean influences. Its culture and food has also been inspired by the various and eclectic mix of cultures that colonized it over the years, including French, Dutch, Indian and Indonesian. In some U.S. cities - namely NY - Surinamese cuisine appears to be popular enough to sustain entire restaurants.

Now I see why. Some of the popular foods are similar to Indian dishes - curries, chutneys and flat breads. I found recipes that seemed to be the Surinamese take on chicken and rice or pork and beans. Even Emeril has a recipe for a Surinamese vatapa, a shrimp and fish stew.

As tempting as any Emeril recipe is, I opted instead for a pepper pot, a meat and vegetable stew spiced with habanero peppers. I found this recipe on the Food Network web site and made a few alterations, namely using pork instead of chicken. My Publix was out of okra so I threw in a few brussels sprouts (don't ask me why ... I always thought the two veggies tasted kind of similar). And I seasoned the meat with the Badia Sazon Tropical spice blend that I picked up at the SoBe food festival.

The result was a thick and flavorful stew with layers of complex, yet complimenting flavors. The sweet potatoes end up melting into the broth, making for a creamy backdrop to the meats and kale, and balancing the kick of the habanero pepper! This one was a huge winner.

Oven Baked Chilean Sea Bass

Since I didn't make it (yet) this doesn't count as Chile for the blog, but this dish from the Publix Chilean food and wine demo was sooooo spectacular I had to share it. The tomato onion mix melds nicely with the cream sauce, wrapping the meaty Chilean sea bass in yumminess. It's kind of like a fish wrapped up in lasagna. Delish! They served it with a cabernet sauvignon from Castillo de Molina.

What you need:

4 1/2 pounds Sea bass or grouper, scaled with skin on

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup butter

2 tbsps. vegetable oil

1 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tbsp. flour

1 cup whole milk

2 tsps. paprika

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

2 tsps. dill, dried

What to do:

Season both sides of the fish with salt, pepper, dill and let sit at least two hours.

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Heat two tablespoons of butter and oil in a pan and saute the onions until brown. Add the paprika and tomato paste.

In a separate pan, heat two tablespoons of butter and brown the flour in it. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly until smooth. Slowly add the cream, simmer and season with salt and pepper.

Butter a baking dish large enough to hold the fish. Cover the bottom with half of the sauteed onion mix, place the fish on top and cover with the rest of the onions. Pour cream sauce over top and sprinkle with cheese.

Place in oven for 10 minutes to cook. Insert a knife to check doneness.

Serve with sauteed potatoes.

La vida lenta

The debate on whether to purchase a ticket for the Chilean food and wine demo started out like so many others: Is it really worth spending $45.

As the week went on, work took a toll on my energy, the weather turned crappy and my friends all decided they couldn't make it. By the time Friday rolled around, all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch in my comphies with some nice vino. There were so many reasons to just not go. Was it too late to get a refund?

But when the woman from Castillo de Molina vineyards stepped to the front of the Apron's Cooking School classroom and started speaking, I knew I ended up there for a reason. If nothing else, this evening was meant to renew my perspective on living.

"You all probably heard that in my home today there was an earthquake," Carolina Rivera started, referring to the 7.2 magnitude aftershock that hit Chile that morning.

As she continued, she didn't dwell on mass destruction, death or devastation. She talked something much simpler: wine cellars.

"A lot of people had wine cellars with years worth of wine stored away that got destroyed," she said. "They were all saving it for some special occasion. Now it's gone. They will never be able to enjoy it."

Call me all zen and metaphorical, but her words struck a chord. Her story of the wine cellars may seem superficial, but it's really about something so much more. Something everyone can relate to and learn from.

How many times do we put off doing things we enjoy, let work or a standard of practicality keep us from happiness. Instead, we save our money, make our plans, keep climbing to the top. But where are we really climbing?

And what if something beyond our control - health, natural disaster, an accident - keeps us from ever making it? Maybe it's not making it to the top of the pyramid that matters. Maybe just the fact that we got to climb it at all is what's important.

The story of the wine cellars reminded me of a story I heard in Israel. Our tour guides told us how many people in the country are buried in credit card debt. In a country where terrorist attacks have taken thousands of lives, people live in the moment, even if that means being somewhat indulgent. They may not be around when the bill comes.

Sure, that is probably a little extreme. But the point is to live for the day. On a small scale, enjoy that bottle of wine if you have it. Sign up for that cooking class. Go after that bigger thing you always wanted. You may not always have a chance to do it.

She called it the slow life.

"The slow life is the best life," she said.

That was the start of a lovely two hours where the team of Publix chefs paraded out a four course meal complete with salmon, a Chilean sea bass dish to die for, empanadas, tamales, and merlot poached pear. Of course there were four types of vino. I even made a new local foodie friend.

Chile has become a new fascination for me, largely because I've taken to the rich red wines they produce there. I had started making plans to visit at some point this year, but put them off.

Maybe it's time I reconsider ...