Easy Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 4 oz lean smoked turkey sausages, sliced
• 3 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 1 each, small green and red pepper, chopped
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• Salt
• Italian parsley (optional)

 Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. 
Add rice, sausage, celery and onion, cook, stirring, for 2 mins.
Add water
Whisk flour and Cajun seasoning into Milk, Gradually stir into skillet
Bring to a simmer, stirring often
Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer gently for 15-20 mins or until rice is almost tender
Stir in green and red peppers, cover and simmer for 5 mins
Remove from heat
Sprinkle tomatoes over rice mixture, cover and let stand for 5 mins
Stir gently to combine and season with salt to taste
Garnish with parsley

One-Pot Parmesan Rotini

I am in Ottawa, Canada right now and found a calendar put out by the Egg Farmers with all these awesome recipes.  I have not tried any of these but they look easy and yummy.

 Ingredients

• 3 tbsp flour
• 3/4 tsp each, salt and Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 3 cups milk
• 2 cups water
• 12 oz whole wheat rotini or other short pasta
• 2 cups small broccoli florets
• 1 can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, drained
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 chopped basil

In a large pot, whisk flour, salt, Italian seasoning, and pepper into milk and water
Heat over medium high heat until steaming, stirring twice.
Stir in rotini, cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring often, for 10 mins.
Stir in broccoli
Cover and simmer for about 2 mins, until rotini is almost tender
Uncover and cook, stirring gently for about 3 mins or until pasta is tender but firm, broccoli is tender-crisp and sauce is thickened
Stir in tomatoes and Parmesan
Cook, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon until heated through.

Black Beans – could be dip

This came from John Dent’s Feast of Sante Fe – one of the greatest cook books ever written. Dent does not write recipes so much as he writes concepts. I really like that approach….”here’s an idea and some variations – go with it”.

The big problem here is finding the jalapeno peppers in salt water (en beche?). Do not use the ones in vinegar – I’m tempted to try doing something to fresh peppers since I’ve run out of the salt water ones – or go to the bodega.

2 cans drained black beans – drained, liquid reserved

1 yellow onion

1/2 tsp red pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 stick butter

Monterey jack cheese (optional)

green chilies (if a dip)

chopped jalepenos in saltwater (if a dip)

chop onion

grate monteray cheese

melt butter on med heat. reduce heat to low and add red and white pepper, cumin and onion. cover the skillet and allow the onion to “sweat” until soft – about 5 minutes. Increase heat to med and add drained beans. Mash the beans with a large slotted spoon but do not over mash – there should be some mashed to some almost whole beans.

At this point the beans can be used as a side dish or, say, a burrito stuffing. You can mix in about 4 oz of grated monteray jack and allow that to melt. If you are making a dip, add that cheese then put the mixture in a casserole type dish. Sprinkle on the jalapenos, lay on some strips of chile pepper (canned or, better, fresh roasted) then cover with about 4 more oz of monteray jack cheese. Put in 350 degree oven until the cheese melts and the peppers are heated. Scoop up with tortilla chips. This is really good dip.

Garlic Bread

This is the way I do it – not sure I’ve seen it done this way anywhere else. I use a good crusty baguette.

For 1/2 a baguette:

about 1/2 stick butter

3 or 4 good sized garlic cloves – thumped, peeled then smashed with edge of chef’s knife

on medium heat, saute the garlic in the butter – don’t overbrown the garlic. Put the oven on broil. Slice the baguette and brush with the butter (just push the garlic aside). Toast in the oven.

Basic White Rice

This is probably dumb to put here but everybody gotta start somewhere. I actually use a measuring cup and a clock for this ’cause it works just right.

For 2 cups cooked rice:

1 cup white rice (long or short grain)

2 cups water

tsp dried dill

tsp salt

tblsp butter (optional)

put everything in a pot and stir it around a bit. Put on high heat. As soon as the mixture comes to a good boil, stir, cover tightly and turn the eye to low. Leave for exactly 20 minutes and remove from heat. It will be perfect. The 2 parts water to 1 part rice can be scaled as needed.

Dirty Rice

Since I was born in N’arlins I will proclaim this to be real Louisiana cookin. I guess somewhere years ago I started with a recipe from somewhere but I don’t remember where (maybe Justin Wilson) but now I just do it from memory.

Because there is no fixed recipe or measurements, this nearly always tastes a little different each time – but always very tasty.

this will make enough for about 3 people.

start two cups of white rice (see another post) when you start chopping this stuff up. Have everything chopped and ready to go before beginning to cook.

12 oz pkg of country ham

or

6 oz pkg country ham and 1 or 2 chicken breasts (1 of the hormone monsters or 2 normal ones) in 1/2″ cubes

olive oil – cooking quality not dipping quality.

1/2 to 1 bell pepper – in 3/8″ cubes

1 bunch green onion (thumb diameter best but pinkie sized ok) – 1/8″ slices from the white to about about the green tops in 3/8″ slices.

3 or 4 stalks celery in 1/4″ slices

3 or 4 good sized garlic cloves chopped fine (do your own not prechopped)

can or jar of mushrooms if you’ve got them and like them

red pepper

white pepper

oregano

butter

white wine

In a big skillet (2 – 3 in deep) cook the ham (med to med hi heat)- I’ll add a little olive oil to get it crispier. Remove the ham to paper towels when done but not overdone. If you are doing the chicken thing, add a little oil to the ham drippings and then throw in the chicken and cook till browned. Remove the chicken to paper towels.

Add a little more oil to the pan and throw in the pepper, onion, garilic and celery – should be med high by now (the pan and you if you’ve been drinking properly). Cook this for a little while (5 minutes??) while scraping the bottom of the skillet to mix in the ham drippings. Toss in the mushrooms. Put about 1/3 stick of (real) butter in and stir it around til melted – the heat may get lowered just a bit here if that is the correct feel. Add the red and white pepper – you’re on your own here. My ball and chain does not like as much heat as I – I use my palm for a measuring device but I just went and measured what I generally use – about 1/8 teaspoon of each or a little more. Then some oregano – looks like about 1 1/2 tablespoons. Stir that around and add some white wine – I generally use a 6 oz bottle but a little more from a 750 ml opened for the meal would be better. Tear the ham into bite size pieces and put that in along with the chicken if you included it. At this point you’ve got all the dirty stuff simmering in wine and butter. The longer you cook this the more even the spices are distributed – not necessarily better or worse than quickly adding the rice – just another variable.

Add about 1/2 the rice and stir well. Continue adding the rice but stop before it absorbs all the moisture and gets too dry. Spoon onto a plate and eat with a piece of garlic bread and (hopefully) a glass of that white wine.

Basic Pork and Beans

1 can pork and beans (not baked beans) – Campbells are what I grew up on

equivalent of 1/4″ slice of yellow (vidalia or walla walla best) chopped

Dump the beans and onions into a casserole/pryrex dish. Squirt in some ketchup and balance that with brown mustard. The result should be more yellow than the original not more red (too much ketchup). Add a few splashes of WhatsThisChereSauce. Cook covered in 350 oven until the burgers are ready

Good Burgers

Got the general idea from an article in the Chattanooga Times. I don’t do real precise measures so just use this as a guide.

For 2 large burgers:

1 Lb Hamburger meat – don’t use the lean stuff – something like 85% lean tastes better.

5 strips of bacon fried crisp

the equivalent of two 1/4″ thk slices of yellow (Vidalia or Walla Walla best) chopped into 1/8″ to 1/4″ pieces – go ahead and do half again more if you are going to do baked beans

1/2 cup or so of freshly grated parmesan or sharp italian cheese

give one piece of bacon to your wife and chop/crumble the rest. Add the meat, cheese,onion and bacon in a bowl – salt and pepper – few splashes of WhatsThisChereSauce. Mix well and divide into two patties. I leave mine thick but poke a hole vertically through the center. Sandy likes her’s thin and, therefore, larger diameter. Cook on a charcoal grill – I like the Weber Kettle with the lid on most of the cooking time. If you like cheese, throw on a piece of swiss or cheddar near the end of cooking – about 5 minutes the first side and 4 to 5 on the second. Usual buns and condiments.

Cheesy Broccoli Calzones

I used the refrigerated pizza dough, and it worked well. I highly suggest leaving it as a rectangle and not attempting to re-roll it into a circle. (I made a disaster of one) Very tasty, but also very cheesy, so beware if you have lactose issues.

• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
• salt & pepper
• 1 pound frozen broccoli florets
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (1 lb) balls ready-made pizza dough

Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 475 degrees. Brush two baking sheets with 1 1/2 teaspoons oil each. Combine cheeses in small bowl. Bring 1 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to boil in a large skillet over high heat. Add broccoli, cover, and simmer until broccoli is just tender, 3-5 minutes. Drain thoroughly and roughly chop. Wipe skillet dry, add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil and garlic, and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Toss in broccoli and season with salt & pepper to taste. Roll out each ball of dough and transfer to the two baking sheets. Mound half of cheese on one side of each dough round, leaving 1 inch border around the edges. Top each with half broccoli. Brush the dough with water, fold over filling, press edges to seal and cut 5 slits in top of dough. Bake until golden, 15-20 minutes.

Snow Crab Soup

This is a recipe from the Soup Kitchen of Chattanooga by way of Laura Young. The Soup Kitchen is long gone, but one of my favorite recipes from there isn’t! The recipe here makes one quart of soup. To make more than one quart, see the breakdown in this Google Doc.

Ingredients (first batch):

• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp seafood seasoning
• 1/4 tsp garlic
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 lb cream cheese

Ingredients (second batch):

• 1 tsp parsely
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 lb crab meat

Rue ingredients:

• 3/4 heaping tbsp flour
• 1/3 cup water

Instructions:

1. Under medium heat bring to soft boil the chicken stock (first item), lemon juice, seafood seasoning, garlic, white pepper, and cream cheese. Whisk until smooth and creamy.
2. When cream cheese is melted, and mixture is at a soft boil, add the parsley, remaining chicken stock, and crab meat. Bring to second boil.
3. Make a Rue and slowly pour through strainer while stirring to thicken. Let soup simmer on lowest heat for at least 2 or 3 hours before serving. Keep lid on pot while simmering or soup will scorch. Be sure to stir soup occasionally so that bottom will not become too thick.