Southern USA 1 - Disney & Cooking Panda 0

It is a part of my profession to keep up with food news & trends. I have never heard a Frank Ocean tune but I know about a whopperito. I'll listen to Frank Ocean before I ever eat a whopperito but I know what it is. It's my job & this week my job made my Southern mind itch. Disney & Cooking Panda's take on Southern classics were the comical irritants. It is okay for them to be inspired by the classics but Never call a thing a thing if it's not that thing.

When you wish upon the Southern star, make sure you never mess up the gumbo. Poor Disney! They tried to debut a healthy "gumbo" to the masses and failed big time.

Tiana maybe a one of their princesses now but nobody is going to let Disney disrespect gumbo. Clearly they didn't consult Leah Chase on this recipe like they did for the movie, The Princess & the Frog. It didn't have a roux. Adding flour & oil in the middle of the recipe is not a roux. That's just thickens the dish. It had quinoa it. My grandfather, who didn't like rice ate gumbo over mashed potatoes.

Quinoa is still a grain & looks better than mashed potatoes. I could deal with that. But the adding of the kale was the true slap in the face. Disney erased the recipe before it gave a reason for adding kale. My guesses are 1) Another vegetable benefit, 2) To make it thicker without the roux calories 3) Just wanting to be different.

Gumbo is already full of amazing vegetables & fruits like okra, tomatoes, & peppers that kale was not needed. Also, there are ways to make a roux that is less in calories than the traditional recipe. I hope Disney is going back to the drawing board on making a healthy gumbo. I don't understand how they fail at modifying it, hey have a gumbo on their menu at one their restaurants in Disneyland. I do have a few suggestions.

• Use canola oil instead of butter with the flour to make a roux
• Instead of andouille sausage use smoked turkey or chicken or smoked paprika for that "rich smoky" taste. Also that lowers the sodium in the recipe
• Use shrimp stock, vegetable stock, or water instead of chicken stock. Sometimes meat stocks still contain small amounts of fat that weren't fully removed

Disney didn't have to erase their recipe. I know gumbo is derived from the West African word kingombo meaning okra. I know of an old Southern Lima Bean & Okra soup recipe that has survived with slapping a gumbo name on it. I feel calling it a gumbo inspired stew or soup may have been more appropriate. Disney, keep the recipe but ditch the name.

I've seen & eaten a few variations of sweet potato pie in my life. I've seen the potatoes sliced like apples instead of mashing them. Sarah Lee & Pappadeux have products & dishes that combine it with pecan pie that people like.

Then there is  the recipe that Cooking Panda has on their Facebook page. At the end of it the video, the recipe is called "Stuffed Sweet Potato Pie". Maybe if they had lead with the name, I might have not been so freaked out about the recipe.

Though my mind would've thought a "Stuffed Sweet Potato Pie would've looked like a "Sweet Potato Pocket", the blow might have been lessened. The first thing noticeable about this pie recipe was the missing of seasonings. September 1st, everybody but me celebrated the beginning of  Pumpkin Pie Spice time.

The only thing I put pumpkin pie spice in is sweet potato pie. It's a money saver. But you at least put cinnamon & nutmeg in sweet potato pie along with the sugar, milk, & butter (that are in the recipe). But that was not the weird thing about the recipe. They put half the filling in the crust then put parmesan cheese on top of that layer before topping it off with the other half of the potato filling.

Yes, I said parmesan cheese. I am still confused. Maybe Cooking Panda should change the name & idea of this being a pie to a quiche. It's cooked in a spring form pan (makes cheesecakes, flourless cakes & quiches) so, it could be could a quiche. That's what Cooking Panda made a Sweet Potato Quiche!

America is a melting pot. Yes, I know. But it is important that we know the proper names of it's ingredients. Non-Southerners, its like calling every apple organic, even though many of them have be treated with chemicals. I guess recipes like these should be expected. This is the land where Basic Cornbread Dressing is still thought to be Innovative version of Thanksgiving stuffing in magazines & websites. The South may never "Rise Again" but All Southerners will Rise to protect the integrity of it's recipes.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms