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:

Chicken for filling

This is a great way to cook chicken that you'll use in another dish. You can use this in tamales, jambalaya, enchiladas, chile rellenos or any number of things.


Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs
1/2 cup Paprika*
2 tablespoons Chili powder*
2 teaspoons Dried oregano*
1 teaspoon Celery salt*
1 teaspoon Ground cumin*
1 teaspoon Ground coriander seed*
Kosher salt*
Ground pepper*
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
2 celery stalks (cut up)
2 carrots (cut up)
1 onion (peeled & quartered)
Water

* Don't hold me too much to these amounts. I just dumped some in until it looked about right. I didn't measure a single THING.


You will also need:

Medium bowl
Stock pot or dutch oven
A little wine to deglaze if you have it


Method:

In medium bowl, combine paprika, chili powder, oregano, celery salt, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Rinse and pat the thighs dry with paper towels. Toss in the spice mixture to coat fully and allow to sit for about 30 minutes.

Heat oil in stock pot or dutch oven over high heat. Once hot, reduce heat to medium-high, add chicken skin side down and cook for approximately 3 minutes. Turn chicken over and cook for 3 additional minutes.

If you have some white wine sitting around that nobody is drinking, splash just a little (1/4 cup or so) in to deglaze all the spices cooked to the bottom of the pan. Allow that to simmer and reduce for a few minutes. Add enough water so that the chicken is not quite completely covered up. Throw in your aromatics (celery, carrots & onion), bring to a boil, cover and place in a 350 F oven.

Cook for 20-30 minutes, until chicken is done and easily comes away from bones. Remove from oven, remove chicken from liquid and allow to cool before removing from the bone. Reserve the cooking liquid to use in another dish as needed.

~~~

The spice mixture. Like I said, I dumped some stuff in & didn't measure anything.




Stir the chicken until well coated in the mixture. It's kind of hard, but they need to be well coated.




Once you add the thighs into the pot skin side down, you can pour what's left on top so that all the spice mixture is used. Flip after 3 minutes or so.




Throw in some aromatics and some water & stick that thing in the oven. Don't think about it again for a good while.




The result is very flavorful chicken that will stand up to being shredded and used in a myriad of ways. I bet you could even just do some shredded chicken tacos if you wanted.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This recipe was inspired by a recipe that a friend gave me. I had to do some work to perfect my technique and tweak the ingredients.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter (room temperature)*
3 cups sugar
8 ounces (1 block/package) cream cheese (room temperature)*
6 eggs (room temperature)*
3 tablespoons vanilla
3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

*I am absolutely serious about the room temperature thing with these ingredients. Plan ahead and set your butter, cream cheese and eggs out on the counter well in advance (like a couple of hours).


You'll also need:

Bundt pan
Butter for greasing the pan
Stand mixer & paddle attachment
Spoonula


Method:

Butter your bundt pan FIRST.

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder.

Cream together your (room temperature) butter and sugar until fluffy. Scrape down the sides of your bowl. Add in the (room temp.) cream cheese and continue to beat for a minute or two. Again, scrape down your bowl.

Add in your (room temp.) eggs one at a time and beat well in between and scraping down the sides of your bowl and paddle attachment as needed. After all eggs have been added and well beaten to add plenty of air to the batter, add the vanilla and mix well.

Add the flour mixture a little at a time and mix until well combined.

"Pour" the batter into your prepared bundt pan. The batter will be very thick and you will likely be spooning it more than pouring it.

Bake at 325 F for 80 - 90 minutes (almost 1 1/2 hours) until toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-20 minutes and then turn it over on to a cooling rack to continue to cool completely.

I hear that this type of cake freezes great, but ours never lasts long enough to find out.

~~~

When you cream until fluffy, beat it until you think it looks smooth, and then go a little longer. You really have to work the air into the butter & sugar to get a nice even texture later.

After everything is added, the batter is quite thick and almost fills the bundt pan.




Once it's done, it rises just a little past the top of the bundt pan, but it will deflate just a bit as it cools.




The resulting cake is beautiful and delicious.

Sourdough Pizza Crust

adapted from the Sourdough Pizza Crust recipe at Sourdough Home

This is a great way to use extra starter if you have it.


Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt


You will also need:

Bowl for mixing
Wooden spoon
Extra flour for kneading & shaping crusts
Rolling pin
Olive oil to brush on crusts
Pizza or other flat stone or rimmed baking sheet


In a bowl, mix ingredients together well using a wooden spoon. Turn the dough out on a flat surface and knead just a little bit using. You're not looking necessarily for the amount of kneading that a loaf of bread requires. Just make sure that your ingredients are well combined and the dough is smooth and homogeneous.

Set aside in a lightly oiled bowl and allow to rest and rise a bit.

Punch down and begin forming your pizza crust using extra flour a little at a time as needed. I roll mine out because we like them very thin. And I tend to make small ones so that our family can have individual pizzas... oh and because that's all that will fit on my rectangle stone.

Preheat the oven to 400 F and also allow your stone to preheat. Place rolled out crust on to hot stone, being very careful to not burn yourself. Brush with a little bit of olive oil on top.

To pre-bake your crust, bake it for about 4 minutes. Remove and allow to cool. The crusts may be frozen and used at a later date. Just thaw and brush with a little bit of olive oil before topping.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

I know this recipe as it is written in my book is old because it calls for a 12 ounce package of peanut butter chips. They only make 10 ounce packages anymore. You could just add in a few chocolate chips like I did to make up the difference. :)


Ingredients:

1 cup butter (or any substitute like Butter Flavor Crisco)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2-3 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder (dark dutch processed)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 package peanut butter chips


You will also need:

Stand mixer (unless you want to mix by hand - ugh!)
Spatula or spoonula
Medium "ice cream" scoop (if you have one)
Cookie/baking sheets
Parchment paper


Method:

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt.

With your stand mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy. Add (room temperature if possible) eggs one at a time, mixing well with each addition. Add in vanilla and mix to combine.

Add the flour mixture in several stages mixing and scraping with a rubber scraper as you go until all the dry ingredients are fully incorporated. Mix in the peanut butter chips.

Cover and refrigerate for 3 - 4 hours until firm.

Make one-inch balls either by rolling with your hands or by using your scoop and place them on parchment paper on your cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes @ 350 F.



Yes, I realize they look like something that is not polite to talk about at the dinner table...

but they are OH. SO. GOOD!



If you like this recipe, you might also like:

Brownies
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Bread Pudding (with Dried Cherries)

Adapted from this recipe




Ingredients:

6 cups, packed, of 1" cubes of slightly stale white bread (challah or french loaf), trimmed of crust
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch processed cocoa powder (sifted)
1 teaspoon salt
4 whole eggs, plus 1 egg yolk (you can save the white for later by freezing)
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. vanilla


Optional Ingredients:

1 cup dried cherries (dried Bing cherries preferable if you can find them)
1 cup orange juice
1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon (or Port if you have it)


You will also need:

Soufflé or round baking dish (7-9” diameter, 3-4” high)
Butter for soufflé dish
Aluminum foil
Metal baking pan (9 x 13)
Heatproof batter bowl
Two sauce pans (one larger, one smaller)
Whisk
Heatproof spatula/spoonula
Ladle


Method:

Slice the bread into thick slices, remove most of crust and then cut into cubes and place in one layer on rimmed baking sheet & loosely cover with plastic wrap. Leave overnight & until you’re ready to cook.

Generously butter your soufflé dish then place the stale bread cubes into the buttered dish – it will be very full.

If using dried cherries, warm the wine and orange juice just a bit. Add in the cherries and let them sit to plump up while the rest of the dish is assembled.

Heat cream over low heat (or in microwave) until very hot. Place chopped unsweetened chocolate into a small heatproof bowl, then pour hot cream over the chocolate and place on small sauce pan with ½” – 1” of simmering water on low heat (do not let water touch bottom of bowl). Whisk/stir often until chocolate is completely melted. Heat milk (in microwave or on stove) until very hot; gradually add to melted chocolate mixture, stirring constantly. Add powdered cocoa and whisk until smooth. Allow to remain over heat for several minutes. Remove from heat. Refill the saucepan with water (to be heated later).

While chocolate is melting, whisk together sugars, and salt in a large sauce pan. Beat in eggs and yolk. Gradually stir in melted chocolate mixture, which should be warm. Place over low heat stirring constantly for 3-5 minutes. Custard should become warm and only thicken slightly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

If using dried cherries, drain the cherries from the wine/orange juice mixture; lightly rinse and dry using paper towels. Toss the cherries with the bread cubes in the soufflé dish.

Slowly ladle all the custard into bread so that every piece gets soaked. Let it sit for about 15 minutes, tossing to rotate the bread cubes after about 5 minutes so that the top layer gets re-soaked.

Bring several cups of water to a boil in the first saucepan. Adjust rack to center of oven and preheat to 325 F. Place your shallower metal baking dish on the oven rack and carefully pour in a thin layer of boiling water. Place filled soufflé dish into the water and cover with aluminum foil, folding it down over the sides. Then continue filling the metal baking dish until it reaches a depth of 1 inch.

Bake, covered, for 35-40 minutes. Remove foil and bake approximately 15-20 minutes longer. Test for doneness by sticking a sharp knife into the center about halfway down and removing. The knife should only be partly clean and still should have a slight smear of custard on it.

Carefully remove the soufflé dish from the oven and pan of water, taking care that the dish will be hot and possibly slippery.

Allow the pudding to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

Refrigerate leftovers and reheat in the microwave for just a minute or so. Eat within two days of making.

Serve alone or with:
Crème Anglaise
Caramel sauce or Cajeta

***

Unlike what you might do for your kids, remove the crusts from the bread then cut it into cubes.




From what I've read, somehow using a combination of solid baking chocolate squares and cocoa powder is the best combination for this dish.



Chop up the chocolate into small pieces. I use my Pampered Chef food chopper. You could use a Slap Chop if you've been sucked into the "You can have an exciting life" line.




If you are using dried cherries, which I highly recommend, soak them in either straight organge juice, red wine, Port, or a combination thereof.



Just look at that chocolatey goodness warming on my stove. Life just doesn't get much better than a big pot of chocolate custard warming on your stove.




Pour just a little boiling water in your large baking dish... I use a disposable one that is marked for just this use.



Then, after placing your souffle dish full of bread pudding inside the metal baking dish, continue to add boiling water until you have it about 1 inch deep. Be careful because the water will dribble down the side of your sauce pan. It's probably best to cover the bread pudding with the aluminum foil first, which I failed to do this time. I was lucky no water ended up in it.



Then you just slide that bad boy on into the oven. Cook it covered for probably close to 40 minutes, then uncover and continue to cook for probably at least another 15 minutes.



And when it's done, you will have the most wonderful chocolate smell throughout your house... mmmmm.

Leg of Lamb with Garlic & Herbs

adapted from a long time ago in the Williams-Sonoma catalog

**I will update with pictures when I have them.**

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped mixed fresh herbs (ex.: rosemary, thyme, oregano)
1/4 cup chopped garlic
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 teaspoon salt (plus more to taste)
5 tablespoons EVOO
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 leg of lamb (5-6 lb, bone in preferable)
20 fresh rosemary sprigs
5 heads of garlic, 1/4" cut off top
1/4 cup Madeira *
2 cups beef stock


You will also need:

Large roasting pan
Sauce pan


Method:

Combine herbs, chopped garlic, zest, 1 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons EVOO and pepper. Coat lamb with mixture.

In a large roasting pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 tablespoons oil. Brown lamb 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter.

Arrange rosemary in center of pan. Place lamb, fat side up on top. Arrange garlic heads around lamb.

Roast at 450 F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 F. Cook until thermometer reads 130 F for medium-rare, about 1 hour. Transfer to carving board, cover loosely with foil and let rest 20 minutes.

Skim fat from pan & set over medium heat and add Madeira, stirring to scrape up browned bits from pan bottom and smash roastic garlic & add stock. Strain into a saucepan; cook over medium heat until thickened, 5-10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Carve lamb and pass sauce alongside.

*In place of Madeira I have used just about any red wine that I have on hand that we will be drinking with dinner; from Merlot to Cabernet. Whatever you've got. Or, you might try just a little balsamic vinegar for a different taste and a non-alcoholic version.