Having spent a few years in Louisiana, I became quite enamored with Cajun cuisine. Jambalaya is one of the dishes I very much enjoy so I tried several approaches and combined elements to make a dish that I could really enjoy with my family. This version is slightly less spicy than I would like, but I toned it down so my kids would eat it. You can always increase the Tony Chacheres (the original recipe called for 4tbsp in this quantity). Or, you can add cayenne pepper, hot sauce, etc, either at the table or while preparing. For this version, I use pre-smoked chicken - in other words, I slow smoke some whole chickens over a hardwood fire when I have an opportunity, pull the meat from the bones and freeze it for use in this or other dishes. I then use the carcases to make the chicken broth. Two whole hens will typically yield 3-4 lbs of meat and 3-4 quarts of broth.
Ingredients:
2 lbs smoked chicken (pulled)
2 lbs smoked sausage (sliced)
3 cups long grain rice (uncooked)
1 tbsp butter
3 medium onions (diced)
6 cups chicken broth
1 tbsp salt
3-4 cloves garlic (diced)
1 cup green onions (chopped)
1/2 cup bell peppers (diced)
1/2 cup celery (diced)
1 tsp black pepper
2.5 tbsp Tony Chacheres or similar cajun / creole seasoning blend
Directions:
1. Saute onions, garlic, celery, and bell pepper until soft
2. Add cooked chicken and sausage
3. Add chicken broth and seasonings and bring to a boil
4. Add rice and bring back to a boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Turn rice
6. Cover with tight fitting lid and steam for 15 minutes or until rice is tender.
7. Turn rice once more and turn the fire off. Let stand for 10 minutes and then serve.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Creamy Coconut Zucchini Soup
Wanted to try something different tonight. Ran across a basic coconut zucchini soup recipe and modified it to suit me. This turned out to be quite tasty.
Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 large onion (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
4 cups zucchini (grated)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth, if preferred)
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (Thai Kitchen brand)*
1.25 tsp red pepper flakes
* I normally don't specify a brand because everyone has their own preference. However, I've discovered that there is a wide range of differences in taste and consistency between different brands of coconut milk. So, I thought it best to specify the brand I used because using a different brand could alter your results.
Directions:
1. Saute onion, garlic, and zucchini in butter until onion and zucchini are softened.
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Add broth and bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes
4. Puree solids in blender and return to broth. Stir to mix.
5. Add coconut milk and stir to mix.
6. Add red pepper flakes to taste
Ingredients:
1 tbsp butter
1 large onion (finely chopped)
4 cloves garlic (more or less to taste)
4 cups zucchini (grated)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
4 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth, if preferred)
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk (Thai Kitchen brand)*
1.25 tsp red pepper flakes
* I normally don't specify a brand because everyone has their own preference. However, I've discovered that there is a wide range of differences in taste and consistency between different brands of coconut milk. So, I thought it best to specify the brand I used because using a different brand could alter your results.
Directions:
1. Saute onion, garlic, and zucchini in butter until onion and zucchini are softened.
2. Season with salt and pepper
3. Add broth and bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes
4. Puree solids in blender and return to broth. Stir to mix.
5. Add coconut milk and stir to mix.
6. Add red pepper flakes to taste
Monday, May 24, 2010
Spicy Shrimp Bisque
Not the most authentic shrimp bisque ever made, but it turned out to be quite tasty. I may have gotten a bit over-exhuberant with the red pepper flakes (the 2.5 tbsp listed below is a guess of what I actually dumped in). The batch I made was quite spicy, but very flavorful as well.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 cup fish stock
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2.5 tbsp red pepper flakes
½ cup ketchup
1.5 – 2 lb salad shrimp
Directions:
1. Melt butter in saucepan.
2. Add flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and stir to combine and brown.
3. Add milk and fish stock and stir to combine. Heat until thickened.
4. Add worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and pepper flakes and stir
5. Add shrimp and simmer until desired temperature and thickness.
Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
1 cup fish stock
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2.5 tbsp red pepper flakes
½ cup ketchup
1.5 – 2 lb salad shrimp
Directions:
1. Melt butter in saucepan.
2. Add flour, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and stir to combine and brown.
3. Add milk and fish stock and stir to combine. Heat until thickened.
4. Add worcestershire sauce, ketchup, and pepper flakes and stir
5. Add shrimp and simmer until desired temperature and thickness.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Semi-Traditional Gazpacho
I've been reading and hearing a bit about gazpacho, of late, so since I'm in my cold soup phase right now, I thought I'd give it a whirl. One problem, though, is that traditional gazpacho seems to be heavy on the tomatoes and cucumbers - neither of which I like. So, I attempted to make a semi-traditional gazpacho, but substituted some of the ingredients. Here is what resulted:
Ingredients:
3 cups chopped celery (approximately 4 stalks)
2 cups chopped bell pepper (approximately 1 pepper)
2 jalapeño peppers, sliced
2 cups diced onion (approximately 1 onion)
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp garlic powder (or 4 medium garlic cloves)
3 cups bread crumbs
2 cups V8 vegetable juice
2 cups heavy whipping cream
Directions:
1. In a saucepan, melt butter and sauté 2 cups of the celery, 1.5 cups of the bell pepper, 1 cup of the onions, the jalapeño peppers, and garlic.
2. In a blender, mix the V8, cream, and bread crumbs until smooth. Add the sautéed vegetables and puree. Stir in remaining raw vegetables and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve chilled.
Let me preface this by saying that I have never eaten gazpacho before, much less prepared it, so I have no basis to which to compare the end results. That being said, I think this turned out quite well. Due to the mixture of cream with the V8 juice, the end result was more peach-colored than red. Also, with the addition of the jalapeño peppers, it is moderately spicy. If you prefer less crunch in the garnishes, you could sauté the remaining vegetables and simply not puree them.
Ingredients:
3 cups chopped celery (approximately 4 stalks)
2 cups chopped bell pepper (approximately 1 pepper)
2 jalapeño peppers, sliced
2 cups diced onion (approximately 1 onion)
4 tbsp butter
1 tsp garlic powder (or 4 medium garlic cloves)
3 cups bread crumbs
2 cups V8 vegetable juice
2 cups heavy whipping cream
Directions:
1. In a saucepan, melt butter and sauté 2 cups of the celery, 1.5 cups of the bell pepper, 1 cup of the onions, the jalapeño peppers, and garlic.
2. In a blender, mix the V8, cream, and bread crumbs until smooth. Add the sautéed vegetables and puree. Stir in remaining raw vegetables and refrigerate until ready to serve. Serve chilled.
Let me preface this by saying that I have never eaten gazpacho before, much less prepared it, so I have no basis to which to compare the end results. That being said, I think this turned out quite well. Due to the mixture of cream with the V8 juice, the end result was more peach-colored than red. Also, with the addition of the jalapeño peppers, it is moderately spicy. If you prefer less crunch in the garnishes, you could sauté the remaining vegetables and simply not puree them.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Creamy Vegetable Soup
Lately, I've been pondering the idea of cold soups - which I must admit are intriguing but in some ways don't sound very appealing to me. After all, cold food is what I have BEFORE I cook something. Anyway, I saw some recipes for lettuce soup and celery soup and the like which could be served cold for a nice summer treat, so I decided to try a variation of my own:
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1-2 cups lettuce leaves
2 sliced jalapeño peppers
1 cup sliced green onions
8 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1-1.5 tsp garlic
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk or cream
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp volcano spice - this is a medium hot commercial blend of paprika, onion, garlic, fennel, chiles, and other herbs and spices that a friend brought from her trip to Hawaii.
Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the flour and garlic to form a light roux.
2. Add the carrots, celery, onions, lettuce, and jalapeño peppers and allow to saute until tender.
3. Add the chicken broth and milk / cream and bring to a boil.
4. Add the worcestershire sauce and volcano spice.and stir.
5. Add the contents to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
I had my first bowl while the soup was hot and it was absolutely delicious. After that, all of my plans to take leftovers to work for lunch or to try this as a cold soup went out the window - four bowls of soup later, the sauce pan was empty and I was pleasantly stuffed. Better luck next time on the cold soup, but I'll definitley be making this recipe again.
Ingredients:
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup chopped celery
1-2 cups lettuce leaves
2 sliced jalapeño peppers
1 cup sliced green onions
8 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1-1.5 tsp garlic
2 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk or cream
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp volcano spice - this is a medium hot commercial blend of paprika, onion, garlic, fennel, chiles, and other herbs and spices that a friend brought from her trip to Hawaii.
Directions:
1. Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the flour and garlic to form a light roux.
2. Add the carrots, celery, onions, lettuce, and jalapeño peppers and allow to saute until tender.
3. Add the chicken broth and milk / cream and bring to a boil.
4. Add the worcestershire sauce and volcano spice.and stir.
5. Add the contents to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
I had my first bowl while the soup was hot and it was absolutely delicious. After that, all of my plans to take leftovers to work for lunch or to try this as a cold soup went out the window - four bowls of soup later, the sauce pan was empty and I was pleasantly stuffed. Better luck next time on the cold soup, but I'll definitley be making this recipe again.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Cream Sauce, Bechamel, Roux, or Gravy?
When I was first starting to expand my culinary skills beyond ramen noodles and spaghetti, I began incorporating a versatile white sauce (Better Homes and Gardens. New Cook Book. 1981. p.355) into several of my dishes. This recipe essentially calls for equal parts flour and butter (1-2 TBSP each) combined with a cup of milk and salt and pepper to taste. I'd use this for soup bases, or cheese sauce primarily, and the cookbook listed several potential variations. Then, one day, I asked a family member for a cream gravy recipe. That, too, turned out to be equal parts butter and flour combined with milk (can't you make glue with a similar recipe?).
Recently, I was watching a cooking program and they spoke of a bechamel sauce. That sounded somewhat exotic, so I thought I'd incorporate it into my cooking. Lo and behold, it was nothing more than the simple white sauce I had been using all along.
Then, I decided to experiement with some Cajun cuisine - gumbo, in particular. Well, gumbo is all about the roux so I had to make sure I could get that right. Do you know what roux is? You guessed it. Equal parts flour and butter combined with some liquid (milk, stock, water, etc.) The only real difference I found was that you typically want to cook the flour and butter mixture a bit longer to darken it up... nobody ever heard of a good light-colored roux for gumbo. The additional cooking does add flavor as well, so it's not entirely cosmetic.
So, whether you're into French cuisine, Cajun / Creole cuisine, or simple southern cooking, a basic mixture of flour, butter, and liquid can be a much-needed element in your cooking, regardless of how you choose to actually label it.
Recently, I was watching a cooking program and they spoke of a bechamel sauce. That sounded somewhat exotic, so I thought I'd incorporate it into my cooking. Lo and behold, it was nothing more than the simple white sauce I had been using all along.
Then, I decided to experiement with some Cajun cuisine - gumbo, in particular. Well, gumbo is all about the roux so I had to make sure I could get that right. Do you know what roux is? You guessed it. Equal parts flour and butter combined with some liquid (milk, stock, water, etc.) The only real difference I found was that you typically want to cook the flour and butter mixture a bit longer to darken it up... nobody ever heard of a good light-colored roux for gumbo. The additional cooking does add flavor as well, so it's not entirely cosmetic.
So, whether you're into French cuisine, Cajun / Creole cuisine, or simple southern cooking, a basic mixture of flour, butter, and liquid can be a much-needed element in your cooking, regardless of how you choose to actually label it.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Tuna Ceviche
I have been reading and hearing a good bit about ceviche, lately, so I decided I'd like to try some of my own. For those who, like me until recently, don't know what ceviche is, I offer this article from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche
Now, as I scanned through numerous recipes, it appears that ceviche can range from a seafood stew of sorts to almost a salsa ( a la pico de gallo) to a salad. Like most foods, there seem to be many interpretations. The version I am making is somewhere between a salsa and a salad and the fish I opted to use was tuna, though orange roughy, red snapper, or any firm-fleshed whitefish would work, as would other seafood items, depending on the recipe used. I also chose a recipe that did not use tomato (though most recipes do) because I'm not fond of tomatoes personally:
Prep Time - 4.5 hours
Serves 1-2
1/2 lb fresh tuna
4 tbsp lemon juice (approx the juice of 1.5 lemons)
4 tbsp lime juice (approx the juice of 1.5 limes)
1/8 tsp garlic powder (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
1/2 onion, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped fine
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
salt (to taste)
1 avocado, sliced (optional)
1. Soak the fish in salted water for 10 minutes. Gently pat dry with a paper towel. Cube the fish and place in a shallow dish.
2. Arrange the onions on top of the fish and cover with the remaining ingredients. Allow to refrigerate at least 4 hours
3. Serve chilled, garnished with avocado (if desired)
I opted not to serve with avocados this time. This version of ceviche is more salsa-esque in nature. I tried eating it like a salad but it was a bit overbearing. However, when served atop a salted tortilla chip, it was quite refreshing. In future renditions, I would attempt to chop up the ingredients a bit finer in order to blend the textures a bit more. Otherwise, though, this was not a bad dish.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceviche
Now, as I scanned through numerous recipes, it appears that ceviche can range from a seafood stew of sorts to almost a salsa ( a la pico de gallo) to a salad. Like most foods, there seem to be many interpretations. The version I am making is somewhere between a salsa and a salad and the fish I opted to use was tuna, though orange roughy, red snapper, or any firm-fleshed whitefish would work, as would other seafood items, depending on the recipe used. I also chose a recipe that did not use tomato (though most recipes do) because I'm not fond of tomatoes personally:
Prep Time - 4.5 hours
Serves 1-2
1/2 lb fresh tuna
4 tbsp lemon juice (approx the juice of 1.5 lemons)
4 tbsp lime juice (approx the juice of 1.5 limes)
1/8 tsp garlic powder (or 1 garlic clove, minced)
1/2 onion, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped fine
2 tbsp finely chopped cilantro
salt (to taste)
1 avocado, sliced (optional)
1. Soak the fish in salted water for 10 minutes. Gently pat dry with a paper towel. Cube the fish and place in a shallow dish.
2. Arrange the onions on top of the fish and cover with the remaining ingredients. Allow to refrigerate at least 4 hours
3. Serve chilled, garnished with avocado (if desired)
I opted not to serve with avocados this time. This version of ceviche is more salsa-esque in nature. I tried eating it like a salad but it was a bit overbearing. However, when served atop a salted tortilla chip, it was quite refreshing. In future renditions, I would attempt to chop up the ingredients a bit finer in order to blend the textures a bit more. Otherwise, though, this was not a bad dish.
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