WELL-SEASONED FISH IS A MUST...

AN AVOCADO SLICE - JUST BECAUSE, NAH...

How to explain the goodness that is Coo-Coo & Callaloo? 

It's such a strangely named dish, but it's one of the most delicious and satisfying Trinidadian staples I know. Back home, anyone worth their salt can whip this together in a few minutes, and I'd like to think that I'm fairly good at doing the same. Although, having a full-time Trinbagonian chef to make these things for me wouldn't hurt, either.

The trick to a sumptuous Coo-Coo & Callaloo is the consistency and flavour of each dish. The corn meal used for the former has to be boiled in water with cut ochroes and a pinch of salt till it's well bound, but not too smooth. Nobody likes a lumpy Coo-Coo, but a putty-esque version is even worse.

Callaloo is a little more complicated. Callaloo bush - or dasheen leaves - hold the key to the taste, but since its notoriously difficult to find outside of a West Indian hub in the US, I approximate the flavour with spinach leaves. It's not the exact thing, but its as close to my mother's Callaloo as I can get without hovering over her pot.

Then, there's the ochroes again. These have to be steamed in their own water with some onions & garlic, then beaten along with spinach, coconut milk and the all-important scotch-bonnet or habanero pepper; you've got to be careful not to whip the Callaloo mix into a fine frazzle, because if you only crush that pepper in the mix...

Stewed fish or bits of crab is usually served with this dish, and once you get the right, wild-caught sort, you're essentially halfway home. This was my grandmother's 'Saturday' dish, and I remember going to her house on a weekend and waiting for the fishman to roll around with his cart, singing 'Fiiiiish! Redfish, Carite and Joshuaaaaa!"

As soon as he popped around with some fresh Carite, you knew Coo-Coo & Callaloo wasn't too far behind.

Alas, there's no fisherman coming to my front door with Carite, so I generally use Tilapia or Mahi-Mahi, rubbed down with ground black pepper and green seasonings - I prefer a mix of cilantro, chive, and Spanish thyme. A squeeze of lime finishes off the whole thing nicely.

With the substitutions and consistencies worked out, all that's left is to quickly bubble those pots and spoon out the Coo-Coo into whatever lightly greased vessel you prefer; small to mid-sized ramekins does the trick for me. Let it stand and cool for a few minutes, and it will form into a jello-like shape, albeit one made of corn meal. 

And, of course, nothing is complete without a teeny piece of zabocah on top...

NB Images copyright © 2012 Au Courant Studio, LLC, All Rights Reserved

This is why it pays to play nice on Twitter, kiddos.

I was randomly checking out Au Courant's Twitter page and responding to tweets sometime ago, when I noticed The Daily Front Row's series of cheeky Q&A mentions. As it were, the resident fashion-week magazine was asking questions such as 'what was the name of the first designer perfume' for their #TriviaTuedsay tweet-up.

Non the wiser about the competition aspect of the Q&A, I promptly jumped in the fray, and a back-and-forth match ensued between The Daily, other followers, and Au Courant. 

And what do know?

Your's truly actually won a competition that I had no idea I was competing in. The prize was a sweet swag-bag filled with all sorts of little goodies such as L'ancome lippy, Cynthia Rowley band-aids, and an intriguing, post-hangover drink called Mercy. I'm actually quite curious about that one...

From the bottom of my heart, do allow me to thank you!

Of course, no swag-bag from a magazine would be complete without an actual issue of the publication. Thus, I also received another over-sized issue of the The Daily Front Row to add to my collection of past issues from fashion-weeks gone by. 

Which also got me to thinking about the smaller, Fashion Mini magazine they used to publish.

I've got quite a few issues of the travel-sized publication, which I used to buy from the newspaperman on the corner of my old street in the West Village. They were the most delightful things, chock-full of witticisms, designer quotes and photoshopped, fashion-y goodness available at three bucks a pop.

What ever happened to The Mini, guys?!

NB Images copyright © 2012 Au Courant Studio, LLC, All Rights Reserved

Things are coming along quite nicely for the spring, what with the temperatures inching up and the new pieces for Au Courant Studio rolling in, one by one.

Gaze not upon my bony, protruding ankles but upon the heather-grey design, if you will.

Here's the second version of the sweatshirt I wore sometime ago; I'm having a tough time deciding whether I prefer the logo print, or this one with the large seal.

Either way, I'll essentially be living in these as the season turns over...

Wearing: Tory Burch sunglasses; Au Courant Seal Logo sweatshirt; H&M skinny jeans; Vintage leather clutch;  Cooperative patent leather pumps.

NB Images copyright © 2012 Au Courant Studio, LLC, All Rights Reserved