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Written by kmcgra
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Tuesday, 11 March 2008 |
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We had not gone shopping for a while and we were running low on items in our pantry. Actually, we virtually had nothing to eat in the house and it was getting close to dinnertime. My wife kept pestering me for dinner but I was low on ideas and had no ambition for cooking. I thought of just suggesting take-out. But, after contemplating a little bit, I suggested jambalaya to my wife and she agreed that it was something we could make. The thought of trying my hand at jambalaya perked my interest enough to get me off the couch and into the kitchen. Jamabalaya is basically a creole version of paella, consisting of several meats and seafoods and rice. It is a very simple dish to make, with lots of flavor. On this particular night I realized the we had most of the needed ingredients to make a respectable chicken and sausage jambalaya.
Here is a list of the ingredients I had on hand to make this dish:
2-3 lbs of chicken breast with bone
1 lbs of smoked sausage
olive oil
Paprika
an onion
A green pepper
several celery stalks
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
2 cups of uncooked rice
thyme
a bay leaf
cayenne pepper
a dash of Lea & Perrins' Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
And here is the process I use for making the jambalaya: Trim the bone from the chicken breast. I always save the chicken bones. These bones will make a fine chicken broth for future use. You can freeze the bones for future use in a soup, or you can make a broth for this dish. Coated each breast with paprika, and saute them in a little olive oil. Heat the oil just below the smoking point so that the breasts blacken up real nice on each side. Olive oil has a low smoking point, so not much heat is needed. Lower the heat and allow the chicken to cook through.
When the breasts are cooked, remove from heat and set aside. Save the meat drippings, by placing them into a large pot. Dice the sausage and vegetables. Place the garlic in the meat drippings into the pot and saute. Add onion, celery and saute some more. Dice the chicken breast and add them to the pot. Then add the peppers, a can of diced tomatoes, the chicken broth, a bay leaf, and bring to a boil. Then add the remaining spices. If you like it spicy, then add a little extra cayenne pepper. You can also add hot pepper sauce here. I added a dash of Lea & Perrins' but this is not needed.
Once you have a good boil add 2 cups of uncooked rice. Cover and place the heat on the lowest setting. Keep the pot covered for at least 20 minutes and do not stir, or else you will end up with crunchy rice. After 20 minutes, fluff the rice. If you have shrimp, then toss them in the pot too, and let them cook for a few minutes.
Do not use Uncle Ben's minute rice. Get the real rice that comes in a bag. It lasts forever, tastes better, and is much cheaper.
The trick to making a good jambalaya is using the correct amount of liquid to cook the rice. The best way to get it right is to use equal amounts of rice to liquid. Thus of you have 2 cups of broth, then use 2 cups or uncooked rice. Remember to include the liquid in the canned tomatoes.
I was pleased with how this dish turned out. It was missing shrimp, and that is one thing I will definately add to the pot in the future, just as the rice is completing. I had this as leftovers for lunch the next day, and it tasted even better. This is one of the dishes that always taste better the next day, as the spice get more chance to flavor the food. |
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Written by kmcgra
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Friday, 22 February 2008 |
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There are some great food blogs and recipe websites on the Internet. As I started thinking about setting up a website devoted to food, I knew that there was going to be no way that I could ever hope to compete with some of the more established sites for traffic. My only goal is to have a little corner of the web were people with some of the same food interests can share what does, and what does not work for them in the kitchen.
There are established recipe databases with thousands of entries, and other sites with professional looking photography. These websites have been around for many years, have an established base readers and are well entrenched with the search engines. At the time it seemed to me that it was a hopeless task to create something from scratch. But, I am slowly becoming more comfortable with sharing what we run into when we are in the kitchen. My only regret is that I do not get more time to write about what we encounter. As you can see from the cruddy pictures of the food I make in my kitchen, the images are all created with a cheap digital camera. Recently, I started playing around with image processing software, but photography, image processing, and image design are not my cup of tea. Maybe someday, I'll go out and buy a decent set of dishware and cookware, along with better camera equipment. I also need a new kitchen table. For now, what you see is what you get. I do have favorite food sites that I visit nearly daily, and here is one that I recently found with outstanding recipes and design. The site is found at redcook.net. This is a relatively new site, written and maintained by Kian Lam Kho. He focuses more on Chinese food, in which me an Ann (who is from Taiwan) have a special interest. He is a guy that loves to cook and eat just like us. He lives in New York and has access to good ingredients. The first thing that struck me when I found his site was his WordPress theme. The color choice works well with the theme of the site and the food. The other thing is the photography, it is beautiful. The site gets its namesake from his favorite dish which is red cooked pork. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 22 February 2008 )
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Written by kmcgra
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Tuesday, 12 February 2008 |
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Step into any Mexican Restaurant in the the Southwestern United States and you will find Green Chili on the menu. My favorite are green chili burritos, and I decided to make these to chow down during the superbowl last week. It was a great game, and my wife and I had great food.
We got ourselves a "thermal pot" shortly before Christmas, and I wanted to give a go at making green chili in the thermal pot. The cooking process for green chile calls for a long simmer to allow the meat to break down and become tender. Once it is tender then you can shred it with a pair of forks.
What better way to do tenderize the meat than in the thermal pot. Temperatures are kept just below boiling point for long periods of time during the cooking process.
The one thing I was concerned about was that the chili would come out with too much liquid. The pot seals tightly, and does not allow steam to escape. Thus, there is no chance for the liquid to boil down. I like my chili to be a little on thick side. This concern turned out to be a valid one, but there is a simple work around. The overall cooking time in a thermal pot was a little longer, but I did use less energy than using the stove.
First, cut about about 3 pounds of pork into 1 or two inch cubes. I used a pork loin roast, with some of the fat trimmed off. Place the meat in the inner pot, Pour in equal parts of chicken broth, water, and your favorite beer. Yes, beer. Put in just enough liquid to cover the meat.  I am serious about spices, and I use a wide variety in my chili. I drop a little bit of each of the following:
A Bay leaf
Celery salt
A dash of powdered chicken bullion
Black pepper
Red pepper
Coriander
Garlic
Basil
Chili powder
Paprika
Cumin
Basil
Other ingredients you will need:
A can or bottle of your favorite beer
6 or 7 (or 8) 4oz. cans of green Chile peppers.
Chopped cilantro
Chicken broth
water
Also, if you can get your hands on Mexican oregano, use that as well. Mix all the spices with the meat, water, broth, and beer, yes beer, together well. Put in whatever else you may like. Place the inner pot on the stove and and bring to a boil. I let it boil for a few minutes. Then I placed the inner pot into the thermal pot and sealed it. I let it sit for 3 hours in the thermal pot. Do not open it to check! Just let it go. The thermal pot is extremely well insulated and will retain a nearly stationary temperature for that time period with no use of electricity. After three hours I opened the pot, and I was greeted with a steaming hot pot. It was as if I had never taken it off the stove. Now, remove the meat from the liquid and place it into a large bowl. Place the inner pot on the stove and start to boil some of the liquid off. This is how I dealt with the excess liquid. Grab two big forks and shred the meat in the bowl. With a three hour cook time at around 200 degrees, the meat will be very tender and pulling it apart should be easy. Add the shredded meat back to the liquid, along with 6 or 7 cans of green Chile peppers. If you like more, than add more. Let everything cook down for about another hour. Add a little cilantro near the end.
If you think the sauce still has too much liquid then add a little cornstarch to a cool cup of water, and mix it into the chili while it is boiling. That will help it thicken.
Serve the green chili on a warm tortilla with a little lettuce, tomato, cheese, and whatever else you like.
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Last Updated ( Friday, 22 February 2008 )
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