Jambalaya Pasta

Posted on February 18, 2010 by Susan

Living in Florida, Mardi Gras comes and goes some years with hardly a mention, even though my dear husband is New Orleans born and bred with a slew of wonderful Louisiana relatives who really know how to cook, eat and party. At least this year, I was treated to a slice of King Cake by a good friend who also hails from there—but that was it for Mardi Gras for me this year.

I was thinking about that yesterday, craving something New Orleans-y, and thought of this great pasta recipe, which I adapted from quintessential New Orleans chef Emeril.  I do love the classic Jambalaya made with rice, but we’ve also grown to love this pasta version. This is a good recipe to make when you need to feed a crowd.  And once I’ve made it, I can leave it on the stove while I watch the news, and then it reheats nicely while I’m tossing the salad or slicing some bread to go with it.   If you’re not feeding a crowd, it’s also great as a leftover.  So there you have it…Laissez les bon temps roulez!

Jambalaya Pasta

Preparation Time:  30 minutes of chopping, peeling, etc.
Cook Time:  30 minutes
Total Time:  1 hour (unless you’re a lot faster than I am)

Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1 pound farfalle (bowtie) pasta
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 pound peeled, deveined large shrimp
2 tablespoons of Emeril’s Essence or other Cajun seasoning
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1-inch dice
¾ pound andouille sausage, cut into ½ -inch dice
1 medium onion, finely diced
½ green bell pepper, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup chicken stock
1 (14.5) ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dried)
½ cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for passing separately

Cook the farfalle in boiling, salted water according to package directions until it is al dente (tender but still firm to the bite).  Remove the pot from the heat.  Add the shrimp to the pot, cover and let stand until the shrimp are pink and firm, about 2 minutes.  Drain the pasta and the shrimp, reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

While the pasta cooks, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan.  Season the chicken with 1 tablespoon of the Cajun seasoning and 1/8 teaspoon of the salt.  Add the chicken to the pan and cook for 3 minutes, stirring and turning to brown all sides.  Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

Put the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the pan and add the sausage, onion and green pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally until the sausage is browned and the onions are translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the garlic to the pan and sauté for another 30 seconds.  Add the chicken stock to the pan and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Add the diced tomatoes, thyme, the remaining tablespoon of Cajun seasoning, and ½ teaspoon salt.  Cook for 2 minutes.  Add the cream to the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the chicken, the shrimp and pasta, and the reserved one-cup of pasta cooking liquid.  Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the shrimp and chicken are fully cooked through, and most of the pasta cooking water has evaporated. The pasta should have a nice, creamy texture.  Remove from the heat, stir in the basil and the Parmesan.  Toss to combine and serve.

Note:  This recipe has a bit of kick to it—medium to spicy in my book.  You can reduce the spiciness of this by using a less spicy sausage (a kielbasa would also be good) and/or lightening up on the Cajun seasoning.

Posted in Main Course, Pasta, Pasta and Grains | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Beef Bourguignon

Posted on February 16, 2010 by Susan

Brrrr.  With all apologies to our northern neighbors for whining…us Floridians are really sissies when it comes to cold weather, and these last few weeks have been really cold.  While we haven’t had snow (although our brethren in the panhandle have) our tropical plants are wilted and looking quite pathetic, our lips and cheeks are chapped, and almost nobody I know here has enough winter clothes—so we’re all wearing the same sweatshirts, sweaters and pants over and over and over again.  Like I said brrrr.

The good news is that this weather has given us an unprecedented opportunity to cook our favorite winter comfort foods—and eat them in front of a warming fire. And in my family, Beef Bourguignon is at the top of the list of comfort foods.  Who doesn’t like a long-simmering rich, deeply flavored stew studded with beef that is dark brown on the outside and tender to the fork, our favorite sturdy winter vegetable trilogy of onions, carrots and mushrooms with a sauce that is happy to be spooned next to mashed potatoes, over wide egg noodles, or wiped clean with a crusty sourdough or other fresh baked bread.  Add a salad and a glass of red wine or cider, and feel the warmth of family contentment.  This recipe makes enough to feed a party—or for a family of four to enjoy the leftovers through the week.

Beef Bourguignon
(Adapted from The New Basics Recipe by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins)

Serves 8 to 10 generously

Preparation time:  1 hour
Cook time:  2 hours
Total time:  3 hours

Ingredients:

½ pound bacon, diced
3 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups of a hearty red wine (burgundy if you have it)
3 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon rosemary (fresh or dried is fine)
4 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 bag of frozen white pearl onions
8 ounces fresh mushrooms (any kind you like, but wild is nicest)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon red currant jelly

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a Dutch oven or ovenproof casserole, sauté the bacon until crisp.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and set aside.  Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of the bacon drippings.  Brown the beef in the bacon fat in batches so as not to overcrowd the beef.  When all are brown, return the beef to the pot and add the onion.  Sprinkle the beef and onion mixture with salt, pepper and the flour.  Stir to combine well and cook, continuing to stir for 3 minutes (the idea here is to make sure that the flour has cooked enough to lose its “flour” taste—it should brown a bit with the onions and the beef).  Add the wine, the beef stock, the tomato paste, the rosemary and the reserved bacon.  Stir to deglaze the pot and bring the mixture to the boil.  Cover and place in the oven to cook for two hours or until the meat is very tender.

While the beef is cooking, prepare the vegetables.  Drain the pearl onions in a colander (they can be thawing while they’re draining).  Bring water to the boil in a small saucepan.  Add the cut carrots and parboil for about 7 minutes until crisp tender.  Add them to the colander with the onions and drain.  Wipe the mushrooms clean, remove their stems and cut the caps into quarters.  In a small sauté pan, melt the butter and then sauté the mushrooms until they have released all of their juices and are slightly browned.  Set aside.
When the meat has cooked for 1 ½ hours, add the onion, carrots, mushrooms and jelly to the pot.  Return to the oven and continue to cook for another 30 to 40 minutes to heat the vegetables through.  Serve immediately or cool and store in the refrigerator.  This stew improves with age.

Posted in Beef, Soup and Stew | Tagged , , , , , | 19 Comments

Chocolate Bundt Cake

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Susan

This recipe has been around for a long time in one form or another.  The first time I had it was a long time ago when a friend brought it to some gathering.   It was such a hit that every time she came to a party afterwards, we all would ask her to bring “that” cake.  When I started to make it for my family when my kids were little, they started to ask for it by saying “Mom, will you make “that” cake…you know, the chocolate one?”  So to me, it is forever named “that Chocolate Cake”.

I stopped making it a few years ago when we were all warned about the dangers of partially hydrogenated oils in packaged foods.  I vowed to rarely, if ever, use packaged mixes again—no partially hydrogenated stuff for my family!  But oh, I missed “that” cake—the simplicity of dumping everything in a bowl…the chocolatiness…and it was so pretty!

And then, one day I was shopping the aisles of our new Whole Foods Market.  And there, I happened to notice Dr. Oetker’s organic chocolate cake mix.  I looked at the ingredients, and behold!  No partially hydrogenated anything!  Eureka!  I could make “that” cake again.  And so I did.  And served it for dessert yesterday for lunch with some old and dear friends who loved and remember “that” cake too.

Chocolate Bundt Cake

10 to 12 servings

Preparation Time:  10 minutes
Cook Time:  50 minutes
Total Time:  1 hour

Ingredients:

1 package devil’s food cake mix (I used Dr. Oetker’s organic)
1 package 3.9 ounce chocolate instant pudding mix (also Dr. Oetker’s organic)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup sour cream
½ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup water
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Oil a 10-inch bundt cake pan and set aside.

Put the chocolate chips in a bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the cake mix.  Stir and set aside.  (Doing this helps to keep the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom of the cake).

Put the remaining cake mix, the pudding mix, sour cream, oil, water, eggs and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl.  Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until combined.  Scrape down the bowl and blend again, this time on medium speed until the batter is thick and fairly smooth (almost like a mousse).  Fold in the chocolate chips until they are well distributed.  Pour the batter into the bundt cake pan.  Tap the pan on the counter to help evenly distribute the batter.

Put the pan in the oven and bake for 50 minutes.  The cake is done when it springs back when lightly pressed with a finger.  Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes.  Invert the pan onto a serving latter to finish cooling, about 20 minutes more.

Dust the cake with confectioner’s sugar, cut into slices and serve.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

Flank Steak with Asian Marinade

Posted on February 9, 2010 by Susan

At the risk of losing a friend or two, I must confess that we were very happy to see the Saints win the Super Bowl.  My husband (and trusty photographer) was born and raised in New Orleans and we have lots of family there and in the area.  So Sunday was a fun day full of fun and celebration—and we all overindulged in buffalo chicken dip, guacamole, and all kinds of other goodies.

On Monday, feeling the need to simplify the diet and cut back the carbs a bit—we opted for a very simple grilled flank steak that is one of our top five family favorite ways to eat meat.  Even though the beef is a bit of a splurge—flank steak is a very lean cut—so it’s not too bad.  And on low-carb-lighten-up days, we just serve this with a little bit of roasted fennel and a very nice crunchy green salad with light vinaigrette.  The salty, lemony, gingery spice of the marinade is really delicious as a dipping sauce (I serve mine on the side in small lotus bowls).  If you have any leftover, it makes a killer sandwich or topping for a Caesar salad the next day.

Flank Steak with Asian Marinade

Serves 4

Ingredients:

¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
Juice of ½ fresh lemon
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 ½ pound flank steak

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, cilantro and ginger.  Put the flank steak in a glass baking dish and pour the marinade over.  Refrigerate for 8 hours, turning occasionally.

Preheat an outdoor grill (to medium-high heat) or preheat broiler.  Remove the steak from the marinade.  Strain the marinade through a fine sieve into a small saucepan.  Grill or broil the steak for 5 to 10 minutes (depending on thickness) per side for medium rare.  Transfer the steak to a cutting board, tent with foil and let stand for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, bring the marinade to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.  Slice the steak thinly across the grain and serve the marinade on the side.

Posted in Beef, Main Course | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Buffalo Chicken Dip with Celery “Fans”

Posted on February 1, 2010 by Susan

DSC_0010_8

Here it is again, the week before Super Bowl.  And the young (and not so young) men in our household are already plotting their Super Bowl snack buffet.  “Can we have dip?   Wings? Those little cheese thingies?”  “Sure” I reply amiably—happy to oblige and partake right along with them.
You’ve probably never heard of Frank and Teressa Bellissimo.  Maybe you’ve heard of The Anchor Bar?  (Hint:  It’s in upstate New York)  And yes, it was a dark and stormy night (maybe) —sometime back in the 1960s when Teressa Bellissimo is reputed to have created one of the most popular flavors in the western world—Buffalo sauce—to dress up some chicken wings.  Yes, it all started with the wings—as we all know—and it has gotten to the point that there are not only wings, but also all kinds of buffalo stuff like fingers, zingers, popcorn, pizza, and even dip!  If you Google Buffalo Chicken Dip—you will get a whole big list of tips and recipes.  But the beauty of this flavor is that it is really pretty simple:  a vinegary-cayenne pepper and butter hot sauce is the base and while the traditional pairing is blue cheese and celery—ranch dressing and carrots are pretty good too.
So today’s recipe is my version of Buffalo Chicken Dip. This year, I’m going to Buffalo the dip and Teriyaki the wings—next year, who knows?
My kids are Ranch dressing aficionados, but if I were making this for myself, I might be tempted to sprinkle some crumbled blue cheese on top before baking.  And, you really don’t have to bake this, it is good hot or cold, but we prefer it baked on a cold winter’s day.  I’ll offer two “dippers”, celery fans (see below) and French bread toasts that I buy in our supermarket.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Makes about 3 cups

Preparation time:  30 minutes
Oven Time:  30 minutes
Total Time:  1 hour

Ingredients:

2 cups of cooked chicken, finely chopped
½ cup Buffalo wing sauce (any brand you like)
1 cup finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 8 oz package cream cheese (reduced fat is fine), softened
1 cup Ranch dressing
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil; add the chopped celery and cook, stirring frequently, until the celery is softened.

In a large bowl, mix together the celery with all of the other ingredients and transfer the mixture to a small baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes, until heated through.  Serve with celery fans, toasts, tortillas or ay other dippers that you like.

Celery “Fans”

My problem with plain old celery sticks is that if  they’re too long,  and you dip them—one bite—and you have two-thirds of your celery left and you can’t double-dip—yuck!  So, to make a bite size dipper that keeps fingers out of the dip, these are worth doing because they are just the right size and they look festive.

DSC_0007_8

To make them, fill a bowl halfway with very cold water.  Cut the celery stalks into 2-inch pieces.  Using a small knife, slice half of each piece into slivers and then put it into the bowl of water.  After a few minutes, the cut ends will curl into fans.  Drain on paper towels before serving.

Posted in Appetizer, Snack | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

Butternut Squash and Creamed Spinach Casserole

Posted on January 29, 2010 by Susan

DSC_0019

This year during the holidays, my neighbor and I were musing about what vegetable side dishes we were going to serve for our respective holiday dinners.  We laughed as we kept veering off the subject to talk about desserts, or breads, or appetizers, or stuffings, or potatoes, and had to keep reminding ourselves that the topic at hand was VEGETABLE side dishes—why were we having trouble staying on topic?  And I realized that as much as I love vegetables, I didn’t have nearly as many winter vegetable options in my repertoire as I would like.  So now that the holidays have come and gone, one of my resolutions is to remedy this situation and find all sorts of great things to do with vegetables—especially for holidays and other festive occasions.

This recipe is one of my first great finds.  It is adapted from a recipe I found in a back issue of Gourmet magazine.  The bulk of the preparation time is in the thawing of the spinach and the slicing of the squash—those two things are easy, but take a little time—after that, this is a cinch to make.  It is also a really good dish to make ahead of time.  If you do this, just put foil or plastic wrap over the parchment paper and put the whole thing in the refrigerator.  When you are ready to bake, take the casserole out of the refrigerator in time to let it return to room temperature before baking, take the foil or wrap off, and proceed to the baking step.

The result of your efforts will be a rich-tasting, creamy, bubbly treat that everyone (including some kids who don’t yet love spinach…) will love and think you are a genius for making.  Just don’t bring it to my house next year for the holidays—it will already be on the table.

Butternut Squash and Creamed Spinach Casserole

Makes 8 to 10 servings

Preparation Time:  1 hour
Cook Time:  45 minutes
Total Time:  1 hour, 45 minutes

DSC_0033
Ingredients:

4 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed, and thoroughly squeezed to     remove as much moisture as possible
4 tablespoons butter, divided
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 ½ teaspoons salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 large butternut squash, peeled, quartered, seeded and then very thinly sliced either in     the food processor or using a mandoline
1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation:

Thoroughly squeeze the thawed spinach to remove all extra moisture and place in a mixing bowl.

Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a small saucepan and sauté the onion and the garlic until they are softened and transclucent.  Add the onion mixture, the salt, pepper, nutmeg and heavy cream to the spinach and stir to combine.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.

DSC_0043

Place a layer of squash, a layer of the spinach mixture and a sprinkling of Parmesan in the dish.  Repeat the layering 3 or 4 times until you run out of ingredients—but end with squash as the top layer.  Spread the remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the squash and then dot the top of the casserole with thin slivers of the remaining butter.  Cover the top of the casserole with parchment paper (parchment won’t lift the ingredients off, the way foil will—if you have to use foil, be sure it doesn’t stick to the top layer).  Bake the casserole for 30 minutes and then remove the parchment.  Cook for another 15 minutes until the top is nicely browned.

DSC_0008

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment