
Are you confused?

Does wondering about the difference between curry powder
and
turmeric
hurt your head?

Well,
it doesn't confuse
Dick Butkus, linebacker with the Chicago Bears circa 1965-1973.
Sports Illustrated put Dick on their cover in 1970 and called him
"The Most Feared Man In the Game."

He look a little scary to me.
In fact, Dick Butkus was so mean, that even Mean Joe Greene spit at him on the field in 1971 after what Mean Joe Greene considered a dirty hit on his teammate.
Mean Joe then challenged Butkus to a fight.

Mean Joe Greene was a defensive tackle for the Pittsburgh Steelers, one of the members of the famed "Steel Curtain," along with LC Greenwood, Ernie Holmes, and Dwight White.

The four of them formed a defensive line that contributed to the Steeler's dynasty of the 70's.
one of the top commercials of all time.
But anyway, getting back to Dick Butkus, Dick grew up on the south side of Chicago.
He played college ball for Illinois.
He was drafted in 1965 by the Chicago Bears and played nine seasons in the NFL, all for the Bears, until his retirement in 1973 due to knee injuries.

and
Gale Sayers,
the running back out of Kansas,
were drafted by the Bears in the same rookie class in 1965..

Gale Sayers tied Ernie Nevers and Dub Jones for most touchdowns in a game his rookie year as well.

Here's Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers at a pre-game ceremony at Soldier field in 2009.

From Brian's Song....the story of the friendship between Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers.
The movie from 1970.
Billy Dee Williams played Gale. James Caan played Brian Piccolo.
I dare you to watch this snippet and not tear up at the 1:30 mark...go ahead, try to watch this.
This was the trailer to the movie.
they later showed it in movie theaters?

So apparently Brian Piccolo is kneeling bottom right and
Gale Sayers is standing top right.
Doesn't that look like Dick Butkus over on the far left standing?
I could not find confirmation date on this photo and all the players.

Here's Brian Piccolo #41 and Gale #40 in action for Chicago.

And here's them off the playing field.
Brian Piccolo played college ball for Wake Forest. Even though he led the nation in rushing and scoring his senior year, he never got drafted. He walked on a as a free agent in '65 with Chicago.
Anyone need a tissue yet?? sniff.
What??? I was chopping onions. Geeez Louise.
So what does this all have to do with the difference between turmeric and curry powder?
Nothing! See, that's the kicker.
Absolutely nothing.
But have you ever gone online and googled something
(in this case "turmeric")
and it led you to something and then to something else and then to something else after that and the next thing you know you're watching sad Brian's Song videos over and over and over
and your husband asks what you're doing and you respond that you're looking up information on turmeric
and he looks at you weird and asks, "Is that Brian's song?"
And you casually respond, "Oh, yeah. Huh."
And to get him off your sad, blubbery Brian's Song scent,
you say, "Hey, did you know Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers were drafted as rookies the same year 1965?"
And it works cuz then you listen to him tell a few stories of how Gale Sayers wanted to go to Iowa but Jerry Burns, the Iowa coach, didn't make time to meet Gale at his Iowa campus visit so Gale went to Kansas.
Now where was I???
Oh yeah, the difference between turmeric and curry powder.
Here's the deal:

Curcumin is the actual compound in TURMERIC that gives TURMERIC the famous golden yellow color as well as the anti-inflammatory qualities that TURMERIC is so famous for.
CURRY POWDER originated out of India and is a BLEND of spices but the mainstays are turmeric, coriander, cumin, fenugreek (whatever the heck that is) and red pepper.
And because curry spice is so good for you, I decided to make these
Curry Rubbed Smoked Chicken Thighs with Sorghum-Chile Glaze

These were absolutely fantastic!!!
Tim's exact words when he took his first bite were...in this order:
HOLY ****!
HOUSE ON FIRE!
What's making it so hot?
I need water.
It's great!
It's awesome!
Yeah, we're the King and Queen of Always Appropriate Language-Land here.
For the record, these chicken thighs are not hot!!! They are just full of flavorful curry spice by the way!! Don't let Tim's extreme words alarm you!

And these are the fixins for
Curry Rubbed Smoked Chicken Thighs with Sorghum-Chile Glaze.

In the lower right hand corner is Dried Chiles De Arbol.
See it?
This recipe called for that ground up.

So I put some of the dried chilis in my coffee grounder....

...and ground them up.

And this is ANCHO PEPPER I had to look all over heaven and earth for this at the grocery store.
So anyway, Ima give the abbreviated edition of this recipe cuz this post is already a mile long....

Pour salt and sugar into water into a pan and bring to a boil.
I see my fine cleaning skillz are lacking again on the stove.

Refrigerate 30-60 minutes.
This is called brining the chicken.
Of which I have never done before,
I have read about,
but have never done.

ancho chili powder
corander
cumin
ground fennel
salt
turmeric
cardamon
ground cloves
black pepper
chile de arbol
Mix the spices all up together to form one yummy Curry Rub...
Meanwhile heat up the sorghum,
chili de arbol, and salt and pepper until it forms a glaze.
Okay, now rinse and dry off the chicken thighs and lay them out on a baking sheet, cuz you is a gonna rub these thighs with the curry rub and grill these babies.
Okay, now take the 1/4 cup canola oil and brush it on all the chicken thighs....
Okay, so throw these on the grill.
Now you know,
I DO NOT GRILL WELL AT ALL!!!
I'M TERRIBLE AT IT!!!

I just scraped the burnt stuff off the six chicken things.....

...and threw more curry spice on the scraped off, burnt chicken thighs.

Now pour some of that sorghum-chili glaze on the thighs...

Like this....
No really, do you like this?
Cuz you should.
They're gonna be THAT good.

Now go put them back on the grill.

After the thighs reach a temperature of 160, take them off the grill and drizzle a bit more glaze on these meaty pieces of goodness.
Look them over carefully and take the two best ones and plate them up...


I plated the thighs up with sauteed red peppers and onions and brown rice.

This is definitely one of my favorite meat dishes I've made. Ever.
As you can tell.
Okay,
have I bored you enough into oblivion that you can't wait the heck for this tortuously long post to end?
Well, that doesn't make Dick Butkus happy.

In fact, he's a little steaming that you are bored and probably confused why Angie would tie him in with curry powder, turmeric and curcumin.
He thinks everyone should know the difference between the three and cook accordingly.

But he's over it now.

However, you have some 'splaining to do to Mean Joe Greene.
Okay guys, here's the recipe....don't let all the spices dissuade you from making this!!
The printable version is after.
www.foodnetwork .com from Bobby Flay’s Show ‘Bobby Flay’s Barbeque Addiction’, Excellent show!
Courtesy www.turnkeyqualitycars.com
Ingredients
Chicken Thighs:
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
12 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin on
Sorghum-Chile Glaze:
3/4 cup sorghum
1 teaspoon chile de arbol
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Curry Rub:
1/4 cup tablespoons ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground fennel
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground chile de arbol
1/4 cup canola oil
Special equipment: 1 cup apple or hickory wood chips, soaked in water for at least 2 hours Angie's Note: Huh? I just used my grill.
Directions
For the chicken thighs: Bring 4 cups water, salt and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Cook until the salt and sugar dissolve, about 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat and cool completely. Put the chicken in a bowl and add the cooled brine. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes and up to 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the brine, rinse well and pat dry.
Meanwhile, for the sorghum-chile glaze: Combine 1 tablespoon water, the sorghum, chile de arbol and sprinkle with salt and pepper over low heat in a small saucepan. Cook the glaze until syrupy. Set aside 1/3 cup glaze.
For the curry rub: Combine the ancho chile, coriander, cumin, fennel, salt, turmeric, cardamom, cloves, pepper and chile de arbol in a small bowl. Rub each chicken thigh with some of the spice rub and brush with the oil.
Prepare the kettle grill or smoker for indirect grilling, with medium-high heat over the coals. Put the chicken skin-side down over the direct heat and cook until just crsipy, about 5 minutes. Flip the chicken and cook, about 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a platter.
Scatter the apple wood chips over the coals. Return the chicken to the grill over the indirect heat. Cover the grill. Cook the chicken between 250 and 275 degrees F, until a thermometer inserted in the chicken registers 160 degrees F, 45 to 50 minutes. At about 30 minutes, brush the chicken with some of the sorghum-chile glaze. Just before removing the chicken from the grill, brush with more of the sorghum-chile glaze again.
Transfer the chicken to a platter and drizzle some of the reserved sorghum-chile glaze on top.
Okey Dokey, that's all I got for today!!
Another beautiful Fall day in Iowa huh!!!
Have a good Tuesday and we'll talk at ya soon!
Find some leaves and pile them up and jump in them for me! :)
Nobody will think you're weird, just playful :):):)