Random Kangaroo, + recipe
Dec. 31st, 2008 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iesikaMostly my holiday trip won't be terribly interesting to anyone, since I just drove in big circles around north Louisiana for a week and visited people, but there was one definitively interesting event during the holiday.
We found a kangaroo! On the side of the road, in a very normal neighborhood in Delhi, Louisiana. He is apparently a pet (named Thumper), belonging to someone in my cousin's neighborhood, and he jumped the fence and escaped. He was very friendly - so friendly we never got out of the car. He made like he was going to climb in the window, and then he chased us when we drove away. After we confirmed that he was tame and friendly (so much so that we were handed a toddler and told to take pictures), we went back, but we couldn't find him. No one seemed worried, though, as he apparently knows to come home for supper. He plays football with the neighborhood boys some afternoons, and does not, as I would have expected him to, eat people's gardens. He's apparently a very picky eater.
I thought I was going to upload his picture, but someone didn't dump the pictures off their digital before leaving for an all-night New Years thing. So, recipe instead! My aunt made a cookbook (through the same company that published our family cookbook) and gave me one for Christmas, and I've been playing around with some of the recipes in it, making vegetarian modifications, etc. This one came out delicious.
Jessie's White Chili (vegetarian)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 oz chopped mild green chilis (1/2 a small can)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne
pinch of ground clove
2 cans while (northern) beans
1 can hominy
1 can pinto beans
1 1/2 c water or stock
filé or corn/potato starch (optional)
Chop and saute the onion, until tender. Chop and add the garlic, and give it a few minutes. Add the spices and chilis and cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Rinse and drain the canned beans and hominy, and add to the pot along with the water or stock. Cook on low for 20-30 minutes. I used a little filé to thicken the "juice" up, since the lack of chicken and stock in my version of the recipe thinned it down. Corn or potato starch would also work.
The chili was delicious. My version is a lot smaller than my aunt's (which was about double in size), and replaced chicken with the hominy and pinto beans. Brother (who is picky) seemed to like it. Minda came over and ate a big bowl, along with some cheater cheater spinach and artichoke quesadillas I made with leftover dip (because I'm sneaky like that). The chili is fairly mild, because I don't handle spicy very well, but it would be easy to add more (or hotter) chilis and more cayenne.
Next time I make this I'll be starting from dried beans and using fresh chilis, but I didn't want to go too far off the recipe on the first try.
We found a kangaroo! On the side of the road, in a very normal neighborhood in Delhi, Louisiana. He is apparently a pet (named Thumper), belonging to someone in my cousin's neighborhood, and he jumped the fence and escaped. He was very friendly - so friendly we never got out of the car. He made like he was going to climb in the window, and then he chased us when we drove away. After we confirmed that he was tame and friendly (so much so that we were handed a toddler and told to take pictures), we went back, but we couldn't find him. No one seemed worried, though, as he apparently knows to come home for supper. He plays football with the neighborhood boys some afternoons, and does not, as I would have expected him to, eat people's gardens. He's apparently a very picky eater.
I thought I was going to upload his picture, but someone didn't dump the pictures off their digital before leaving for an all-night New Years thing. So, recipe instead! My aunt made a cookbook (through the same company that published our family cookbook) and gave me one for Christmas, and I've been playing around with some of the recipes in it, making vegetarian modifications, etc. This one came out delicious.
Jessie's White Chili (vegetarian)
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 oz chopped mild green chilis (1/2 a small can)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp cayenne
pinch of ground clove
2 cans while (northern) beans
1 can hominy
1 can pinto beans
1 1/2 c water or stock
filé or corn/potato starch (optional)
Chop and saute the onion, until tender. Chop and add the garlic, and give it a few minutes. Add the spices and chilis and cook for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Rinse and drain the canned beans and hominy, and add to the pot along with the water or stock. Cook on low for 20-30 minutes. I used a little filé to thicken the "juice" up, since the lack of chicken and stock in my version of the recipe thinned it down. Corn or potato starch would also work.
The chili was delicious. My version is a lot smaller than my aunt's (which was about double in size), and replaced chicken with the hominy and pinto beans. Brother (who is picky) seemed to like it. Minda came over and ate a big bowl, along with some cheater cheater spinach and artichoke quesadillas I made with leftover dip (because I'm sneaky like that). The chili is fairly mild, because I don't handle spicy very well, but it would be easy to add more (or hotter) chilis and more cayenne.
Next time I make this I'll be starting from dried beans and using fresh chilis, but I didn't want to go too far off the recipe on the first try.
