Hearty Chicken Tortilla Soup

This makes a huge pot of soup.  Enough for several meals.

 

Ingredients:

2-3 tablespoons oil
1 yellow onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 10 ounce can Ro*Tel diced tomatoes & green chiles
1-2 5.5 ounce can tomato juice 
Several cups chicken broth or stock
3 carrots, sliced rather thick
3 celery ribs, sliced rather thick
2 yellow squash, cut in half lengthwise and sliced rather thick
2 zucchini, cut in half lengthwise and sliced rather thick
1 pound cooked chicken

 

You will also need:

Stock pot

 

Method:

Heat oil in stock pot over medium heat.  Cook onion in oil until translucent and beginning to brown just a little.  Add garlic, paprika, chili powder, cumin, coriander, and Mexican oregano.  Cook briefly until fragrant.  Add diced tomatoes, Ro*Tel, tomato juice and 2 cups of chicken broth.  Add carrots and celery and stir everything to combine well.  Add more chicken broth if needed.  Cover and bring to a simmer.  Cook (simmer) on low for about 1 hour until carrots and celery are tender.

Add squash, zucchini and chicken.  Add more broth and/or tomato juice if needed and to suit your own taste as to the ratio of liquid to vegetables.  (Some like lots of liquid.  My man likes the vegetables and meat to be more prominent.)  Cover again and continue to simmer until the squash and zucchini are very tender (at least 30-45 minutes). 

If you need to leave at any point during the cooking like I did, you may cover the pot and place into a 325°-350° oven.

Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, place some broken tortilla chips in the bottom of a bowl and top with grated cheddar or Monterrey Jack cheese.  Ladle hot soup over the cheese and chips.  Top it off with a little more grated cheese and some slices of avocado.

Veal Osso Buco

I was first introduced to this traditionally northern Italian dish in a cooking class that I took at the Disney Institute at Walt Disney World back in the fall of 1999.  Since that time, I have tasted examples that range from mediocre to “change your life good” (Hello, little restaurant in San Francisco of which I can’t remember the name).  I have made several different recipes and have even had to wing it when I didn’t have one of the recipes handy (this is one of those dishes that once you get the basics of it, you don’t need that recipe to follow).

It’s no quick weeknight dinner and more suited to when you have several hours to prepare a meal.  But the end result is like velvet in your mouth and it has become one of my very favorite dishes in the world to both make and eat. 

Serves 2–4

 

Ingredients:

2-4 veal shanks cut approximately 1 1 /2” thick
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced 
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dry thyme
1 tablespoon dry parsley
3 bay leaves  
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1 (14 .5 ounce) can diced tomatoes  (drained)
1 1/2 to 2 cups low sodium canned chicken broth (possibly more if needed)

Gremolata
3 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons minced zest from 1 lemon
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

 

You will also need:

Olive oil
Heavy shallow casserole with a lid (like a dutch or french oven)
Cooking twine
Spare bowl
 

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 325°. 

Tie each of the veal shanks snugly to keep them from falling apart in the cooking process.  Pat dry with paper towels and salt and pepper all sides.  Place French oven over high heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.

Brown shanks for about 5 minutes on each side.  Transfer to a bowl and set aside.  Deglaze pan with about 1/2 cup of the white wine, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Pour into the bowl with the shanks and return pot to medium-high heat.  (Repeat this process until all shanks are browned.)

Add a couple of more tablespoons of olive oil to the pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook until soft and lightly browned (may take 5-10 minutes).  Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute).   Turn heat to high and add remaining wine, 1 1/2 cups of broth, juices from veal shanks, bay leaves, parsley & thyme and tomatoes.  Return the veal shanks to the pot.  Make sure that the liquid just almost covers the shanks; add broth as needed to adjust the level of the liquid.  Cover pot and bring to a simmer. 

Once simmering, cock the lid of the pot so that it is slightly ajar and place in the preheated oven (325°).  Cook until meat is easily pierced with a fork but not necessarily falling off the bone (about 2 hours). 

Prepare the gremolata by thoroughly combining all three ingredients (garlic, zest & parsley). 

When the osso buco has finished cooking in the oven, stir half of the gremolata into the pot with the osso buco and season with salt and pepper to taste.  Allow the osso buco to stand, uncovered, for about five minutes.

Be prepared.  The smell is intoxicating.

To serve: remove the shanks from the pot, cut off the twine and place on the serving dish.  Ladle on some of the braising liquid with the vegetables & tomatoes (but discarding bay leaves).  Top with just a sprinkle of the remaining gremolata and serve immediately. 

Osso buco is traditionally served with Risotto alla Milanese which is a saffron infused risotto. 

It is easy to bump up the ingredients for more shanks to feed a large crowd.  You can easily do 8-10 shanks in a decent sized roasting pan.

 

Now in pictures….

 

Tie the veal shank around the middle.

 

Brown the shanks in oil on high heat and deglaze the pan with white wine.

 

Cook onions, carrots, and celery over medium heat until soft.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Add white wine, chicken broth and canned diced tomatoes.  Return shanks to the pot, bring to a simmer then place in 325° oven for 2 hours.

 

While it’s in the oven, make the gremolata.

When it’s done, the meat should pretty much fall off the bone.  Stir in half of the gremolata and let stand uncovered for 5-10 minutes.

Serve alongside some risotto alla milanese (saffron risotto).

Texas Red Chili

adapted from Cook’s Illustrated, #108, Jan/Feb 2011, page 15

As noted below, I typically make the chili paste in a large batch and freeze it in individual sizes to use later.  You can do this step any time  and doing this saves me time when it comes to actually making the chili. 

There are also several ingredient substitutions or variances in amounts noted below that will help you tailor this chili to your tastes as far as heat and availability of ingredients go.

If you need information about any of the dried chiles mentioned in this recipe, this link is good and has pictures and descriptions of many dried chiles.

Ingredients:

Chili paste:
6 dried ancho chiles; stems and seeds removed, flesh torn into 1 inch pieces
2 dried New Mexico chiles; stems and seeds removed, flesh torn into 1 inch pieces
2-4 dried árbol chiles; stems and seeds removed, pods split*
3 tablespoons cornmeal
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
½ - ¾ cup low-sodium chicken broth
salt

Chili:
salt
½ pound dried pinto beans (about 1 cup), rinsed & picked over (optional)**
2 medium onions, cut into ¾ - inch pieces
2-3 small jalapeño chiles, stems and seeds removed & discarded, flesh cut into ½ - inch pieces*
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes***
2 teaspoons molasses
3 ½ pounds blade stead, ¾ inch thick, trimmed of gristle and fat and cut into ¾ - inch pieces****
1 bottle (12 ounce) beer*****

*For árbol and jalapeño chiles, use the lesser amount for less heat and the higher amount for more heat. 2 árbol and 2 jalapeño chiles provided good heat that even my kids could handle. Also, each árbol chile may be substituted with 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper if the chiles are unavailable.

** Now, tradition holds that real “Texas Red” chili does not include beans. However, I like beans, so I do typically add them. But I have made this without the bean step and it was just fine. I have also added 1 can of each black and pinto beans (Ranch Style beans brand only if they are available to you) at the end of the cooking and that has worked as well.

***For a little more heat, 1 can of Ro*Tel tomatoes could be substituted for the regular diced tomatoes.

****Four pounds of chuck or chuck eye roast could be substituted for the blade steak. I used chuck roast and trimmed as much fat & gristle as possible and it turned out wonderful.

*****Of course, my preferred beer is Shiner Bock. But if you must use another beer because maybe you can’t get Shiner in your area of the country, well, I suppose that’s okay, too.

 

You will also need:

Food processor
12 – inch skillet
Dutch oven or stock pot that can transfer to oven

 

Method:

For the chili paste: I usually make a double or triple batch of the chili paste at one time and then freeze in individual serving containers to use later. This cuts down prep time a lot when you’re going to make the chili.

Place ancho and New Mexico chile pieces in 12 – inch non-stick skillet over medium-high heat; toast, stirring frequently until flesh is fragrant (4 – 6 minutes) reducing heat if chiles begin to smoke. Transfer to bowl of food processor and cool. (Do not wash out skillet)

Add árbol chiles, cornmeal, Mexican oregano, cumin cocoa and ½ teaspoon salt to food processor with toasted ancho chiles. Process until finely ground (about 2 minutes). With processor running, very slowly add ½ - ¾ cup chicken broth until smooth paste forms (about 45 seconds), scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Transfer to a bowl or freeze in individual size bowls as desired. (Do not clean out food processor bowl.)

For the chili: If using beans, combine 3 tablespoons table salt, 4 quarts water and beans in large Dutch oven and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove pot from heat, cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain and rinse well.

Place onions in food processor and pulse until thoroughly chopped (about 4 1 – second pulses). Add jalapeños and pulse until the consistency of chunky salsa (about 4 1-second pulses) scraping down bowl as needed.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion/ jalapeño mixture and cook, stirring occasionally until moisture has evaporated and vegetables are softened (7 –9 minutes). Add garlic and cook until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add chili paste, tomatoes and molasses. Stir until chili paste is thoroughly combined. Add 2 cups chicken broth and drained beans (if using); bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.

Preheat your oven to 300°F.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Pat beef dry with paper towels and season with salt. Add half of beef and cook until browned on all sides (about 10 minutes). Transfer meat to Dutch oven. Add ½ bottle beer to skillet, scraping bottom of pan to loosen any browned bits and bring to simmer. Transfer beer to Dutch oven. Repeat with remaining steak (oil, pat dry, salt, cook) and beer. Once all the meat and beer have been added, stir to combine and return to a simmer.

Cover pot and transfer to oven. Cook until meat and beans are fully tender (1 ½ - 2 hours). Let chili stand, uncovered, 10 minutes. Stir well and season to taste with salt before serving.

Serve with shredded cheese, chopped red onion, chopped cilantro and chopped avocado as topping choices. Flour or corn tortillas also make for good dippers.

This chili can be made up to 3 days in advance.

Hungarian Smoked Beef Braise

From Slow Cooker: The Best Cookbook Ever by Diane Phillips (page 186)

You can see my blog post about this cook book here.

Serves 8

Ingredients:

6 medium Yukon gold or red potatoes, quartered
4 medium carrots, cut into 1-inch lengths
2 teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 strips thick-cut bacon, cut into ½ - inch pieces
3 medium onions, cut into half rounds*
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 chipotle chiles in adobo, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 ½ - 4 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons (plus some extra) canola or vegetable oil
One 14-15 ounce can chopped tomatoes, with juice
Once 12 ounce bottle Guinness or dark ale**

* For the onions, I saw this “cut into half rounds” description a couple of times in the book. As near as I can tell, this means to cut the onion in half lengthwise and then slice (so that the layers of the onion make a rainbow type pattern when sliced).

** We don’t normally have Guinness beer in our house. But, being a good Texan, I do quite often have Shiner Bock. The Shiner Bock worked great in this recipe.

You will also need:

Large skillet
1 gallon sized zip top baggie
5-7 quart slow cooker

Method:

Arrange the potatoes, carrots, 1 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper in the insert of the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp.

Transfer the bacon to the slow-cooker insert and remove all but 3 tablespoons of fat from the pan. Heat the remaining fat in the pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions, paprika, chiles, and garlic and sauté until the onions begin to soften ( 4-5 minutes).

Transfer the mixture to the slow-cooker insert. Put the flour and the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt in the zip top baggie. Put the meat in the flour, toss to coat and shake off any excess flour.

Heat the canola oil in the same skillet over high heat. Add the meat a few pieces at a time and brown on all sides. Transfer the browned meat to the slow-cooker insert. Deglaze the pan with the tomatoes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.

Transfer the tomatoes to the slow-cooker insert. Add the Guinness (SHINER) and stir to combine. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hours until the meat and vegetables are tender.

Skim off any fat from the top of the stew and serve the meat and vegetables from the slow cooker.

Baked Ziti

Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated (March/April 2009, pg. 15)

This, my friends, is pretty much Italian comfort food at its best.  Baked Ziti can be vegetarian/meatless or you can add some Italian sausage for a different twist.  Half of this recipe feeds my family of 4 (2 adults and 2 grade school children) for two meals.  It is easy to make even a single recipe and freeze in smaller containers for later or to take a meal to a friend. 

 

Ingredients:

1 pound whole milk cottage cheese
2 large eggs
3 ounces grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 pound ziti
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 – 1 pound Italian sausage (optional)
5 medium garlic cloves (minced or pressed)
1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt/Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon corn starch (2 teaspoons if using whole milk instead of cream)
1 cup heavy cream (or whole milk)
8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella cheese (cut into 1/4 inch pieces)

 

You will also need:

Medium bowl
Large stock pot / dutch oven
12 inch skillet or another stock pot / dutch oven
13x9 inch baking dish

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Place 4 quarts of water in the large stock pot and bring to a boil.  While the water is heating, move on and do other things to get the sauces ready.  Once the water is boiling, add 1 tablespoon of salt to the water then the pound of ziti.  Cook the ziti for 5 minutes.  Drain pasta and leave in colander.  Do not wash the stock pot.  Take it immediately back over to the stove.  You’re about to use it again.

Lightly beat eggs in a medium bowl then whisk in cottage cheese and 1 cup of grated Parmesan.  Set aside.

If using sausage, remove from casings.  Put olive oil in the skillet and bring up to medium heat and add in sausage while breaking up into small pieces.  Cook until no longer pink.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant but not brown.  Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, oregano and basil (if using dried).  Simmer until thickened (about 10 minutes).  Off heat, stir in 1/2 cup of basil (if using fresh), sugar, and salt/pepper to taste.

Stir cornstarch into heavy cream (while it’s in the measuring cup) and pour into the (now empty) stock pot and put over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer and cook until thickened (3-4 minutes).  Remove pot from heat and add cottage cheese mixture and 1 cup of tomato sauce.  Allow to cool just slightly then stir in 3/4 cup of the diced mozzarella.  Stir well to combine.  Add cooked pasta and stir to thoroughly coat with sauce.  (Pasta will likely be all stuck together, but will gently come apart as it gets coated with the sauce.)

Transfer pasta mixture to 1 13x9 pan or two smaller pans and spread remaining tomato sauce evenly on top being sure to cover as much of the exposed pasta as possible.  Sprinkle the remaining diced mozzarella and grated Parmesan on top.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until  bubbly and cheese on top begins to brown.  Remove from oven and allow to rest/cool for 10-20 minutes.  Garnish with fresh basil on top if available.

 

(My apologies for the complete lack of pictures.  I have no explanation other than I just have been too into eating this dish to take any.)

Spicy Stuffed Shells

As submitted for the Ro*Tel Across America Recipe Contest
(I didn’t make the top 10, but I was one of the 10 runners-up.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.)

Ingredients:

12 ounces andouille sausage
6 ounces (approximately) jumbo pasta shells (about half of a box)
4 ounces monterrey jack cheese (shredded)
4 ounces goat cheese
½ cup roasted red pepper (chopped)
1 ear sweet corn, roasted, removed from cob (about ½ cup)
1 cup chopped fresh baby spinach
1 egg
¼ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 can Ro*Tel tomatoes & green chiles
Olive oil as needed
Kosher salt as needed

 

You will also need:

Indoor or outdoor grill
Large pot
Skillet
Several small bowls
1 large bowl
Large rubber spatula or spoon
1 baking dish
Aluminum foil

 

Method:

Rub corn with olive oil (or butter) and place on indoor or outdoor grill over medium high to high heat. Grill while turning occasionally to get all sides just slightly charred (while doing other things). Set aside to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, remove corn from cob by holding the cob up on end and slicing downward with a sharp knife and pressing against the cob with the knife. Transfer corn to a bowl and set aside.

Put a pot of water on to boil. Add several good pinches of kosher salt. Once boiling add pasta and boil for approximately 8 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.

Cut andouille sausage into pieces by quartering lengthwise then slicing into ¼ to ½ inch thick pieces. Place just a little olive oil in a skillet and set over medium high heat. Once hot, add sausage pieces and reduce heat to medium. Allow the sausage to not only brown but also cook out some of the fat. Once browned, remove to a paper towel lined bowl to absorb some of the grease. Set aside.

Chop up roasted red peppers and baby spinach place in bowls and set aside. Lightly whisk egg in a separate bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl add sausage, peppers, spinach, corn, bread crumbs, egg and both the Monterrey Jack and goat cheeses. Using a large spatula or spoon, mix all ingredients until all are evenly distributed.

By hand, stuff each shell until full but not over-flowing and place in a baking dish. Top the shells with 1 can of Ro*Tel tomatoes. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

~~~

Rub down your corn with some butter or oil and grill, turning occasionally, until there is some browning on each side.

  

Cut up the andouille sausage into small pieces by quartering lengthwise and slicing into 1/4 inch slices.  Cook in a skillet over medium high heat until lightly browned.

  

In a large bowl, combine sausage, cheeses, corn (removed from the cob), roasted red peppers, spinach, egg and bread crumbs and mix together until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

 

By hand, fill each cooked shell.

Top the shells with the Ro*Tel tomatoes and chilies and bake at 350 F covered for 20 minutes, then uncovered for another 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

Tuscan (Inspired) Lamb Chop Skillet

This is one of my family's favorite "one dish wonder" type meals that I got out of one of those little cookbooks in the checkout line at the grocery store.  I have since put my own methods and spin on it.

Ingredients:
4-8 lamb loin chops
Olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 19 ounce can white kidney (cannellini) beans; rinsed & drained
1 8 ounce can Italian style stewed tomatoes
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons snipped fresh rosemary

You will also need:
Large skillet with lid
Crusty bread for soppin' up the awesome sauce!!!

Method:
Trim a minimal amount of fat from chops and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook chops in hot oil over medium heat until well seared and browned on all sides. Transfer to plate.

Pour the tomatoes out of the can into a separate bowl and cut them up if they are not diced. But do NOT drain them. Reserve all juice use in the dish.

Stir garlic into drippings in skillet & cook for just 30 seconds – 1 minute.

Pour in balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan, scraping up the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.  (Add less balsamic vinegar if it is too strong of a taste for you. I up the amount of balsamic because we really like the flavor of it in our house.)

Add cut up tomatoes and juice, beans and simmer briefly.

Reduce heat to low and add chops back in, coating them with the sauce. Sprinkle in the snipped rosemary on top of the chops and sauce. 

Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.  The internal temperature of the lamb chops should read about 140F when they are done.  If you want to thicken up the sauce, remove the chops back over to a plate and turn up the heat  while pushing all the tomatoes and beans to the sides of the pan and allow the sauce in the middle to reduce just a little.  Return the chops to the skillet to serve.

 

Ribs

Want great and tender ribs but don’t have a smoker?  No problem.  This oven method for cooking ribs, while long, is wonderfully easy and turns out perfectly tender baby back ribs every time.

 

Ingredients:

Rub
Baby back ribs (I usually do 1 rack cut in half to feed my family of 4 + 1 guest.  Plan for 2-3 ribs per person.)
Barbeque sauce (optional)

You will also need:

Broiler pan (or sheet pan + cooling rack)
Aluminum foil
Grill (optional)

 

Method:

Cut the racks in half so that they more easily fit on the pan.

Use a spoon to dip into the rub and place it on the ribs.  With your fingers, rub the spice mixture into all sides of the ribs. 

You can cook immediately, but for maximum flavor, wrap in foil or cover and refrigerate overnight. 

Preheat oven to 300º F.

Place the ribs on the broiler pan with the “cup side” up.  Bake, uncovered, for 1 1/2 hours. (If you had the ribs wrapped in foil overnight in the fridge, save the foil as you’ll use it later.)

Remove the ribs from the oven and lower the temperature to 200º F.  Wrap each 1/2 rack of ribs individually in aluminum foil.  Return the ribs to the oven and bake (still at 200º F) for 3 hours.

Remove from oven and unwrap each foil packet of ribs.

You may serve as is, or, if desired, lightly brush with your favorite barbeque sauce and grill over high heat to caramelize on the sauce.  The ribs should be completely tender, but still grip the bone enough to make grilling on the barbeque sauce easy. 

If you like your ribs literally falling off the bone, bump up the low heat baking time to 4 hours or so.

We prefer to not have a lot of sauce as the rub we use gives so much flavor and has such a nice finish with the brown sugar that is in it. 

Mole Chicken and Rice

The more you cook, the more comfortable you become with flavors, combinations and techniques. The more comfortable you become, the more you are able to improvise and cook without any kind of a recipe. That’s what this dish was for me. It was a dish that I threw together based up on techniques and flavor combinations that I have picked up along the way over the last several years.

And you know what? It was really good.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil or butter
1 onion (chopped)
1 celery rib (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (minced or pressed)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon coriander
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano
Coarse kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
1 can Ro*tel tomatoes & green chilies
1 cup mole sauce*
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup water
1 1/4 cup long grain brown rice

3-4 chicken breasts (bone in, skin removed)
3-4 tablespoons all purpose flour
Seasoning salt (like Tony Chacheres's Creole seasoning)
2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

*If no mole sauce is available, you may substitute something else like some tomato paste and chili powder or omit completely.

You will also need:

Oven safe skillet with lid
Heavy skillet (like cast iron)

Method:

Sauté onion in oil or butter over medium-high heat in oven safe skillet to soften, then add celery and carrots and sauté a few minutes more. Add garlic and stir while cooking for just a few seconds. Next, add Mexican oregano, cumin and coriander and stir while cooking until fragrant (about 30 seconds). Salt and pepper the mixture. Next add Ro*Tel tomatoes, about 1/2 cup of mole sauce, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil and add rice. Let the mixture boil on the stove top until chicken is ready to add.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Season flour with seasoning salt, kosher salt and ground pepper. Lightly coat chicken breasts in flour and pan fry to lightly brown in a separate skillet (cast iron). (I did this in some bacon fat and it was awesome!!!)

Once lightly browned on all sides, place chicken directly on top of the boiling rice/vegetable mixture. Cover with a lid and place in a 375 F oven. Bake for close to an hour until chicken is done (170 F) and rice is tender. Remove from the oven and use the remaining mole sauce over the top of each chicken breast and return to oven to heat for just a few minutes. (Or, you may try adding the mole on top of the chicken earlier. It was just a last minute thought for me.)

Note: Resist the urge to reach in and periodically stir the rice. From my understanding, constantly messing with brown rice will make it sticky and gross. Don’t do it. Just let it bake on it’s own and it’ll turn out great.

Italian Sausage Skewers

Ingredients:

1 cup tomato sauce (prepared marinara, spaghetti or pizza sauce works great)
2-3 tablespoon olive oil
Assorted fresh herbs, chopped (i.e. basil & oregano)
Salt and pepper, to taste

3 links Italian sausage, casing removed and cut into 15 thick chunks
1 medium onion, quartered and some layers separated
1 bell pepper (Green, Yellow or Red), cored & seeded, cut into chunks
1 zucchini or yellow squash, halved and cut into 1/4-1/2 " thick slices
1 tomato, cut into eighths


You will also need:

Skillet
Skewers
Grill
Tongs


Method:

If you are using wooden skewers, soak them in water first.

In a smallish bowl, combine the tomato/pizza sauce with olive oil, fresh herbs and salt/pepper to taste. Stir well and set aside.

In a skillet, pre-cook the sausage pieces over medium - medium high heat. (They take the longest to cook and I find that pre-cooking them a bit keeps the rest of the vegetables from getting burned.)

Turn on your grill. (I'm assuming everyone uses a gas grill. If you are using charcoal, then you are on your own.)

Assemble the skewers by alternating all the components but leaving off the tomatoes until the end.



Brush with the tomato sauce.



Grill over medium heat until sausage is done and vegetables are tender and have good grill lines. Brush with remaining tomato sauce as desired.



Serve over rice and enjoy.



This recipe was included in the summer recipe edition of the carnival, Works for me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family. Go pay Kristen a visit to find more summer recipes from around the blogosphere or add your own.

You might also enjoy this easy recipe for Tuscan (Inspired) Lamb Chops.

If you are visiting for the first time, hop on over to my regular blog about faith, family and food at Way More Homemade.

Jambalaya

The great thing about Jamalaya is that it has a few basic ingredients and the rest of it, you can just make up as you go. But here's what I do, some of the time, kind of, in a general sort of way.


Ingredients:

Chicken for filling (click to see recipe) (chunked or shredded)
1 pound smoked sausage (or andouille or other sausage) (halved and sliced)
1 pound uncooked shrimp (thawed if frozen, peeled & deveined)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion chopped
2 celery stalks (chopped)
2 carrots (chopped)
1 green bell pepper (seeded and chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (peeled and chopped)
3 teaspoons minced fresh thyme leaves
Reserved liquid from Chicken for filling
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
2 bay leaves
4-6 cups water or chicken broth
4 cups long grain white rice - or - 3 - 3 1/2 cups brown rice
Salt (to taste)
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley


You will also need:

Stock pot with lid
Hefty spoon


Method:

First prepare the Chicken for filling while reserving the cooking liquid (which is a beautiful deep red color) in a separate bowl and discarding the aromatic vegetables.

In the same stock pot, saute the sliced smoked sausage until it has a nice browned color on both sides. Remove from stock pot and set aside in a separate bowl.

Still in the same stock pot, heat olive oil and add onion, celery, carrots and bell pepper and cook until onions are beginning to soften. Add garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant (30 seconds-1 minute). Next add the reserved cooking liquid from the chicken while scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pot. Then add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves and 4 cups of water or broth. Then add your rice (I suggest a little less brown rice as it seems to absorb more liquid and takes longer to cook than white). Bring to a boil.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 325. Once the rice is boiling and your oven is hot enough, cover and put the whole thing in the oven. Bake for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make sure that your shrimp is peeled and deveined. After the 15 minutes, add in your shrimp, sausage, chicken, and more liquid as necessary.

Here is where some options come in.

-If you are serving immediately, I'd suggest to continue to bake until the rice is fully tender, but you still want a little bit of liquid.

-If you are taking this with you somewhere like a potluck where it could potentially be in a crock pot for a while, I'd only cook until the shrimp is done then remove it from the oven (so just a few minutes). That allows the rice to continue to cook while it is in the crock pot and prolongs the time before it just becomes a sticky over-done rice mess.

Remove bay leaves and garnish with parsley before serving.


Made with brown rice:




Made with white rice: