Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

So Delish

Honestly, I was considering going shopping today.  Luckily, for Mark and Matt anyway, I decided to stay home and cook.  It has been so long since I posted, I thought this was a great opportunity to do so, and what luck, we have the jack pot!  Since I have not yet posted a basic chicken stock or roux (pronounced roo) I will be including them in this post.  I realize many people will already have a chicken stock recipe, but it never hurts to be thorough.  I lived in the New Orleans area for many years and it if you learn nothing else living there you learn that to cook almost anything, first you make your roux.  

So, we will start with the roux.  For a basic roux recipe you will take equal measures of flour and your fat (normally butter or olive oil) and heat them together at a low temperature until your have a dark brown mixture.  You will want to stir the roux almost continuously.  I can usually get away with not stirring constantly in the beginning, but once the color starts to change you really will need to stir constantly.  A good roux will take about 30 minutes, but it is so worth it.  For this gumbo recipe I have used 2 sticks of butter and 1 1/2 cups flour.  It is important that you add nothing else to the roux until it is done. 

When you first start the roux it will look like this, not real appetizing yet.

Hot and bubbly, use a whisk to mix and to keep the flour from clumping.

Be careful as you are stirring this as it will burn if it splashes on you.

Getting darker, and the texture is different too.  Make sure you are stirring constantly.  There is a very thin line between the perfect roux and a scorched roux. 

Now you have made your first roux.  Believe me when I say it is worth the work!
 

Chicken
1 onion quartered
2 stalks celery halved
2 carrots halved
2 tablespoons pepper corns
3 sprigs of fresh thyme

For a basic chicken stock you will need a chicken, left over is fine. We will take a rotisserie chicken and make stock with what is left over.  If we do not have a rotisserie chicken to use, we will get leg quarters or what ever bone in chicken on special.   To Place the chicken, onion, celery, bay leaves, whole pepper corns, carrots thyme sprigs and 10-12 cups of water in a stock pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for around 45 minutes.  Remover the chicken (pull the meat and use for a soup or gumbo.  Strain the stock and discard the solids.  If we are not ready to have gumbo, but we have prepared a meal with a whole chicken, we will make the stock and freeze it until we need it.  To freeze the stock, put cooled stock in zipper freezer bags and lay them on a flat freezer shelf.  Once the stock is frozen, you can stand the bag of stock up and it will take up minimal freezer shelf space.

So now you know how to make the stock and the roux.  The hardest part of this particular dish is done.  For this dish I like to have all my prep work done before I start the roux.  As I mentioned earlier, there is a very thin line between the perfect roux and a roux that taste burnt, so once the roux is ready, you will want to have the other items readily available.  The addition of the andouille (Cajun seasoned smoked sausage), celery, bell pepper, and onion will quickly cool the roux and keep it from scorching once it is the desired color.

If you are not in Louisiana, you may not be able to find a good andouille, but if you are near a Harris Teeter, they carry a very good one at the meat counter.  You can substitute smoked sausage, but we really prefer the andouille.

The addition of the onion, celery, and bell pepper will require you give up the whisk for a spoon to get it all mixed, if you have not already switched.

Add your stock and continue to stir until the roux and stock are thoroughly blended.

Your gumbo at this point should be a rich brown.  Add the garlic.

Mix in the chicken and continue to cook for about 20 minutes.

Serve over rice with a crusty bread.  If you can get a good French loaf, this is the perfect dish for it!

Chicken Sausage Gumbo

2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cup flour
1 lb shredded chicken
1 lb andouille (or other smoked sausage)
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 onions, coarsely chopped
6 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely minced (we use around 9, but most people do not want as much garlic as we do)
1 tablespoon creole seasoning
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Cooked white rice

Make your roux with the butter and flour following the directions in the roux recipe above.  Add the andouille and continue to cook until the sausage begins to release the fat it contains.  Add the chopped celery, onion and peppers and cook for a couple more minutes.  Add stock (8 to 10 cups), garlic, and seasonings.  Stir well, making sure the stock and roux are thoroughly mixed.  Stir in the shredded chicken and cook for another 15- 20 minutes.  Serve over cooked rice.  

This dish does have some heat.  If you prefer milder food, cut down on the amount of cayenne pepper called for.  When tasting the dish, remember the rice will temper the heat a little.  Enjoy and let me know what you think of this one.  I have some other Cajun/Creole recipes that I am holding on to fro another day.

 Creole Tomato Basil Soup

I have a recipe for Shrimp Creole that me and mine dearly love.  It is wonderfully good.  Not the recipe for today, but it prompted this recipe.  On a cool fall day, who could argue with a steaming cup of tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich?  Anyway I was making shrimp creole one day and it occurs to me that the creole itself is wonderful and as much as I love shrimp, I could eat the creole by itself.  

Many creole or cajun recipes start with "first you make a roux", the rest of them start with sauteing this flavor tri-fecta!

The wheels were turning.  It was not more than two weeks before I was making my own Creole Tomato Basil Soup. I hope you enjoy this cozy (quick and easy too) dish as much as I do.  This soup is perfect to whip up after a long day at work and is ready in no time.  This recipe makes enough for 3 generous mugs of soup.  

At this point your mouth will start watering, smells so good!

Just simmering now, waiting patiently, or you could be making those grilled cheese sandwiches.  Gouda, havarti, try different cheeses.

The butter mellows the color of the soup, but what else does it do?

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, diced 

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, strain juice and reserve

2 1/2-3 cups chicken stock

1 teaspoon creole seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons butter

Add the olive oil to the pan and saute the onion, garlic and bell pepper until the onions are beginning to get translucent (do not brown the veggies).  Add the reserved juice from the tomatoes and continue to simmer. Meanwhile, puree the diced tomatoes (this can be done easily right in the can with a wand or hand blender ). Retain some of the texture of the tomatoes, but not chunky.  Add the tomatoes, chicken stock and basil continue to simmer (about 10 minutes more).  Add the butter and simmer until the butter is melted.  Spoon into mugs and top with fresh ground black pepper

I don't know why, but adding the butter at the end of the cooking adds something vital to this soup, helping to create a richer texture and flavor.

Italian Sausage and Lentil Soup with Fennel

So, we are all out to dinner at Carrabba's or Olive Garden one, I can never remember.  What I can remember is the soup.  I really enjoyed the soup.  No huge surprise there, I generally love soups and will almost always be in the mood for a good soup.  When we got home, I logged on to the internet and began searching for a similar soup.  Unfortunately, all I could find were casseroles.  We tried a couple of them and they were pretty good, but I longed for the soup.  Finally, I decided to wing it and see what I came up with. This is not exactly the same, but it is very similar.  

If you cannot find a fennel bulb, you can use the fennel seed from a jar, but the bulb gives a richer flavor.

Chop some of the fern like part of the fennel too!

Saute your onion, celery and garlic.

Stir in the ferny part of the fennel you chopped.

Once you have added everything allow the soup to cook until the lentils, carrots and potatoes are cooked through.

We like our soups hearty, so it definitely has more "stuff".  Overall the flavor profile is the same.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

1 lb Sweet Italian Sausage (if links, slice into bite sized pieces)

10 cups chicken or vegetable stock (you can add more if you like a less hearty soup)

6 cloves garlic chopped (this amount is for normal people which we are not, we like garlic, so I use a whole head of garlic when i make this soup - choice is yours)

1 medium onion chopped

4 stalks celery, sliced

4 carrots peeled and sliced

4 potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized pieces (none in the original, but I like them)

1 bulb of fennel diced (use the white part of the bulb)

1 tsp chopped fennel leaf (the fern looking part of the fennel)

1 cup diced canned tomatoes

1 1/2 to 2 cups lentils - the type is your choice.

salt and pepper to taste

A bowl full of yum!!!

Brown the Italian Sausage in a skillet.  Remove the sausage from the skillet and put to the side.  Take one tablespoon of the drippings from the sausage and put it in your stock pot (8-10 quart pot).  Add you garlic, onion and celery to the stock pot and saute until the onions are just translucent careful not to burn the garlic.  Add the stock and the lentils and cook on medium for about 15 minutes.  Taste at this point and add any necessary salt and pepper.  Add all the other ingredients, except the sausage, and cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Add the sausage and continue cooking on medium heat until the lentils, potatoes and carrots are done.  Adjust the amount of stock as needed for your taste, and remember lentils are a dried bean, so the different types could require more or less, so be flexible.   

Let me know what you think.  I hope you enjoy this soup as much as we do.

Southern Chicken Salad Plate

We love chicken salad, but to make it a meal inclusive of veggies, you have to make it more than just a sandwich.

Well, I guess we could call that blog interrupted.  We have still been cooking, and I have even thought to take some pictures, but I have just not had the time to get here and document any of the meals we have been preparing.  So, what has been keeping me so busy?  Probably the same thing that keeps all of you busy.  Family, work, and a nasty cold, yuck!  However, it seems all is much better on that front and it is time for me to do something just for me.  Something like posting on here.

I am also busy working on Christmas presents for a few people, but I can't put those on here until after Christmas.  It may end up being the same few people who check out the recipes.  Speaking of which, I guess some people consider chicken salad a summer dish, but for me it is a year long favorite.  There are as many recipes for chicken salad as there are people in my home town, so you probably already have one, but if you are like me, you never turn your nose up at a new way to try something.  For this particular version I have used a bread and butter pickle relish and Dijon mustard.  So here goes:

4 chicken breast - boneless, skinless are easiest, but not necessary
Salt
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning or sage
1 medium bell pepper, diced (the salad is really pretty if you can use a variety of colors, but this time of year I stayed with just green as the others are getting too expensive)
5 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup pickles chopped or pickle relish
3 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Cayenne pepper to taste, I use about 1/4 a teaspoon when people other than family will be eating
1 teaspoon Nature's Seasoning (seasoning blend from Morton's, different flavor profile than a season all and works really well with chicken and vegetables)
15 grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup sliced cucumbers
2 cups chopped lettuce, the type is your choice, we use romaine
half dozen eggs

Rinse the eggs and the chicken and place them in a pot of salted water, add poultry seasoning (or sage) and bring to a boil.  While the chicken and eggs are cooking, prep the bell pepper, celery, tomatoes, lettuce, etc.

Remove the eggs from the water after it has boiled for 5 or 6 minutes.  Place them in a bowl and run cold water over them until they are just cool enough to handle but still warm.  Crack the shell of the egg thoroughly and peel it away from the egg.  Put the eggs to the side.

If you have ever had trouble peeling boiled eggs I have found the key being plenty of salt in the water you are using to boil the eggs, the temperature of the egg when you are peeling it, and finally when you crack the shell, you will need to get under the membrane that is between the egg shell and the white of the egg.

Dice the chicken being careful to remove any fat, gristle or bone.  As a side note, I don't always dice the chicken.  Sometimes I will shred it by using two forks to pull it apart (a favorite, but labor intensive), sometimes I will put in the food processor, or I will vary the size of the dice.  The version pictured is a medium dice.  All of these variations can change how your chicken salad comes out.  Place the diced chicken in a bowl with the celery, bell pepper, mustard, mayonnaise, pickle or pickle relish (I have substituted diced jalapeno on occasion, which is also good) and the seasonings (celery seed, Nature's Seasoning, cayenne pepper and mix well.  You will notice the salad is not real wet with mayonnaise.  When you are having a chicken salad sandwich, the salad requires more mayonnaise, but a plate only requires enough mayonnaise to help bind the salad.  This is great if you have someone who doesn't like mayonnaise (like my hubby).

If you can get Duke's Mayonnaise and Mt Olive Pickles, I encourage you to try them.  Your salad will love you for it.

 Now that your chicken salad is all prepped and ready to go, all you have to do is put your plate together.  We start with a bed of lettuce, scoop on the chicken salad and add the veggies and halved boiled eggs to the side.  It is a beautiful plate that is also healthy and oh so good.  And, if you know me this makes a difference...the left over salad makes a great lunch the next day. :)

Doesn't that look great!

Creamy Chicken and Asparagus

You will absolutely love the creamy goodness!

Last Friday Mark and I decided to skip what we had planned for dinner and go out.  We have lived here since 1995 and we had never been to the Village Steakhouse.  We heard good things about them and decided it was time to give it a try. We were less than impressed.  So this Friday, we stuck to our planned menu for dinner and we were thrilled with the results!

This particular meal is a twist on Chicken Piccata.  The major difference is cutting way back on the lemon and adding cream.  The sauce becomes this rich, creamy, buttery sensation.  This dish takes about 35 minutes from start to finish.  Enjoy!


Asparagus is one of our favorite vegetables and it is extremely good for you.

Heat the olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter together as you dredge your chicken in flour.

Brown your flattened chicken for 3 to 4 minutes on each side


When you add the wine to the pan you used to brown the chicken, make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the flavor created while you were browning the chicken.  Reduce the wine by half (cook out half of the liquid).



Once the wine is reduced, add the chicken stock, lemon juice, capers and sun dried tomatoes and reduce by half again and add the remaining butter.

Add the cream and return the chicken to the pan.  Simmer for a few minutes (3 or 4 max).

Add the asparagus during the last minute of cooking.

 Serve over pasta.  You will love this dish!!!!!!!!!

Ingredients
 

• 4 Tbsp butter, divided 
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
• 2 cups chicken stock 
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup white wine, chilled  (not a sweet wine)
• 2 Tbsp capers, drained
• 2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped
• 1 bunch asparagus (approximately 1/2 pound)
• 1/2 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/2  cup heavy cream
• flour 
• salt & fresh cracked black pepper to taste
• pasta

Directions

For the asparagus, you need to remove any part of the stalk that is not tender.  To do this, hold an end of the asparagus in each hand and bend.  The asparagus will naturally snap in the perfect spot to make sure what you are preparing is tender and delicious. For this dish we want the asparagus in bite sized pieces so cut each stalk into 3/4 to 1 inch pieces.  Rinse the asparagus and set it to the side.

Slice each chicken breasts into 3 to 4 pieces (you could use tenders if you would like).  Pound chicken pieces between plastic wrap until it is about 1/4 inch in thickness. Sprinkle salt and pepper on the flattened chicken.   Dredge the chicken pieces lightly in flour and shake off the excess.  Heat the 2 Tbsp olive oil and 2 Tbsp butter to a pan. Once the oil and butter are hot and sizzling, add in a few of your prepared chicken pieces.  Saute the chicken on med-high heat for about 4 minutes on each side until light brown. Having pounded the chicken, it will cook really quickly. The pounding will also make sure your chicken is very tender. Remove the browned chicken.  Continue until all chicken has been browned.

Start heating your water for the pasta. When water comes to a boil, add pasta and cook according to package directions, about 10 - 11 min.

In a separate skillet add 1/2 tablespoon of butter and heat on medium until melted.  Add the asparagus and cook for about 3 minutes.  Do not over cook the asparagus as you want it to still be crisp in the final dish.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

On med-high heat, add the white wine to the pan that the chicken was cooked in and reduce to half.  Make sure you scrape up all the goodness (browned bits stuck to the bottom) to incorporate all the flavors into the sauce.  Add the chicken stock, lemon juice, capers, and sun dried tomatoes.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the sauce by half again.  Add the remaining cold butter and the heavy cream.  Add chicken back to the sauce and allow to simmer for a few minutes. In the last minute of simmering add the asparagus.  Plate the chicken over your drained pasta.

Fried Rice

I mentioned on the Krapow post that we often make extra rice and will then have Fried Rice within in the next day or two.  Fried Rice is another dish that is quick and easy for work nights and makes an excellent lunch to take to work.  We will usually serve this with a simple salad so we are getting our veggies.  

Start by scrambling 2 eggs

Many people will tell you that soy sauce is soy sauce, but I would not agree with that. There may be little difference between the different brands, but there are different types of soy sauces.  If you remember the Krapow recipe, there were two different soy sauces used.  The black soy sauce has a slightly sweet flavor.  The Tamari soy sauce is a dark soy which means it has a richer more robust flavor.

A more robust flavor in the Tamari soy could allow you to use less

From start to finish the fried rice takes less than 20 minutes.  

Chop and saute 2 onions and 2 teaspoons of garlic

The time you spend sauteing the onions is what is most time consuming.  You want them to begin getting soft and turning translucent.

Add your cold rice to the sauteed onions.  The rice being cold is important.

This recipe will work best in a wok, but can be done in a regular skillet.  You want the heat to be very high and will need to work quickly to make sure nothing burns.

Fry the rice and add some soy sauce, salt and pepper.

You control the amount of salt, pepper and soy sauce you add.  Determine the amount that works best for you!

Add the egg back to the pan and stir well.  

2 Onions chopped

2 teaspoons garlic minced

2 cups rice chilled

2 eggs scrambled

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

2-4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Salt and pepper to taste

Scramble the eggs in a small amount of the sesame oil and remove from the pan. Add the rest of the oil and saute the onions.  When the onions are starting to turn translucent, add the rice and stir to ensure all of the rice gets hot. Add the soy sauce and continue stirring.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Right before removing the wok from the heat, add the sesame seeds, and stir well.  

 

Krapow (Spicy Basil Chicken)

What a beautiful dish!

We, both my husband and I, enjoy flavorful food and we have found few dishes to be as full of flavor as the Thai dishes we have sampled.  Thai food is generally spicy, but when you make it at home, you can control how spicy the dish is.  This dish is perfect for a weeknight.  It is quick, easy and will reheat well for my lunch the next day. 

Slice you chicken breast about 1/4 of an inch thick 

Slice your onions very thin.  The thinner you cut everything, the more quickly it will cook.

Bell peppers, if you want more color, you can use red and/or yellow.  It does not change the flavor.

The one thing I like most about this dish is that it is one that Mark, my husband, prepares (as much as I love to cook, I love not cooking on occasion too!).  We try to include this dish in the menu when I will be working late or we know he will be the first one home.  If I am home, we will work together in the kitchen.  I will usually do all the chopping while he does the measuring and cooking.  We like to make extra rice and have fried rice sometime in the next couple of days.

Serrano peppers are quite hot and you should be careful of how much you add.  

For this recipe we are using Thai Basil.  We plant the Thai basil in early spring and will use this basil in all of our recipes during the spring, summer and fall.  If you plant herbs, Thai Basil is more resilient than sweet basil, has more robust licorice tones and has the added benefit of pretty purple flowers.

Chop the basil, but not real small; cutting it will help release the flavor. 

This dish will cook quickly, so it is best to have all your prep work done before you start cooking.  Once you begin cooking, it will be ready in less than 10 minutes.  Total prep time will vary, but if you are used to working in the kitchen, you should be able to have the prep done in 15-20 minutes at the most.  If you have never had Thai cuisine, this is a great way to try it!

Krapow (Spicy Basil Chicken)

·         2 cups cooked jasmine rice

·         4 tablespoons of toasted sesame oil

·         4 cloves of garlic minced

·         2 chicken breast - sliced thin

·         1 onion - sliced thin

·         1 Green Bell Pepper - sliced thin

·         8 tablespoons of oyster sauce

·         4 tablespoons of Tamari soy sauce

·         2 teaspoons of black soy sauce

·         2/3 cup of water

·         1 - 2 cups of fresh basil

·         3 fresh serrano peppers sliced (the more Serrano peppers you add, the hotter the dish will be, you can all less)

·         3 teaspoons of Sambal Oelek (Ground Fresh Chili Paste) this is also spicy, if you have a low tolerance level for spicy, leave this out)

Turn on the stove to the medium heat

• Heat the oil

• When the oil is hot add the garlic

• When the garlic is soft (don’t let it burn) add the chicken

• Stir the chicken until it is cooked

• Add the onion

• Add all the sauces (oyster sauce, soy sauce and black soy sauce) and stir it together

• Add water and stir for about 2 minutes.

• Add the chili peppers and basil, stir it couple of time and it’s done