NOLA red beans and rice

Red Beans & Rice Recipe

1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp Creole Seasoning
1 Cup Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Bell Pepper, chopped
1/4 Cup Celery, Chopped
1 Cup Andouille Sausage, Cubed
1 Cup Tasso, Cubed
1/2 lb. Small Red Beans (soaked overnight or for at least a few hours)
1 Tbsp Fresh Garlic, Minced
3 1/2 Cups Chicken Stock (You could certainly use water)
3 Fresh Bay Leaves
1 tsp Red Wine Vinegar (When I don’t use Pickle Meat, I add a little vinegar because I like the flavor it lends. Pickle Meat makes wonderful Red Beans by the way; recipe forthcoming.)
1/2 Cup Tomato Sauce (I learned this from Louis Armstrong’s Recipe)
1 Tbsp Italian Parsley, Finely Chopped
1/4 Cup Green Onions, thinly sliced on the bias
1/2 Recipe Creole Boiled Rice

Mix together the Holy Trinity (Onions, Celery, Bell Pepper). Drain the beans.
Melt the butter over medium heat.
Add 1/2 of the Holy Trinity, 1 Tbsp of the Creole Seasoning, Tasso, and the Andouille, turn the heat to medium high. Cook this for about 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to get some color.
Add the beans and cook stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.
Add the Chicken Stock or Water, Garlic, Bay Leaves, the remaining Trinity and Creole Seasoning. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Let this simmer for 2- 2 1/2 Hours. The first hour is low maintenance; an occasional stir and making sure the beans are covered with liquid. The second hour, you want to check back a little more often, the beans will really start to absorb some liquid and you don’t want them to stick.
After the beans have cooked for two hours, add the Tomato Sauce, the Parsley and 1/2 of the Green Onions. Make your Rice. Cook the beans for another half hour.
To Serve:
Remove the Bay Leaves. Mound a half cup of Rice each, onto two serving plates, Cover with a generous helping of the Red Beans, Garnish with the remaining Green Onions. Make sure there is a bottle of hot sauce on the table. Perfect compliments to this meal are a simple vinaigrette salad, Good Crusty French Bread, and your favorite Ice Cold Beer.

Serves 2-3

Chuck Taggart's Creole Red Jambalaya

this is from a new orleanian's blog. i added okra and used parboiled brown rice and invited friends.

There are a wide variety of ways to make jambalaya, with chicken and sausage, or shrimp, or ham, or even duck or alligator. Some involve tomatoes and tomato sauce, some use chicken or beef stock instead. This first one uses both tomatoes and chicken stock, and is a New Orleans Creole-style "red" jambalshri

One of my favorite variations is the one in which I omit the rice basis of the dish (gasp, blasphemy!) and substitute pasta. Turns out that my Pasta Jambalaya is very popular among my family, friends and readers. It's a bit of a Creole-Italilan spin on the dish ... give it a try sometime!

By the way, it's pronounced or .

* 1 lb. boneless chicken, cubed; AND/OR
o 1 lb. shrimp, boiled in Zatarain's and peeled; OR
o 1 lb. leftover holiday turkey, cubed; OR
o 1 lb. of any kind of poultry or fish, cubed; OR
o Any combination of the above
* 1 lb. (hot) smoked sausage, andouille or chaurice, sliced on the bias; OR
o 1 lb. diced smoked ham
* 1 large onion, chopped
* 1 bell pepper, chopped
* 3 - 6 cloves garlic, minced (amount to taste; I like lots)
* 4 ribs celery, chopped
* 3 small cans tomato paste
* 4 large Creole tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced; OR
o 1 28-oz. can tomatoes
* 8 cups good dark homemade chicken stock
* Creole seasoning blend to taste (or 2 - 3 tablespoons); OR
o 2 teaspoons cayenne, 2 teaspoons black pepper, 1 teaspoon white pepper, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teapsoon thyme
* 2 bay leaves
* Salt to taste
* 4 cups long-grain white rice, uncooked (Some people like converted rice, others prefer good old Mahatma. I use Uncle Ben's converted, as the rice doesn't get sticky or lumpy that way.)

In a sauté or frying pan, brown the chicken, sprinkling with Tony Chachere's seasoning if you've got it; a bit of salt, black pepper and red pepper otherwise. Don't brown if using leftover cooked bird, but you still might want to season the meat. Tear or cut the meat into bite-size pieces.

Brown the sliced smoked sausage or andouille and pour off fat. In the pot, sauté the onions, garlic, peppers and celery in oil until onions begin to turn transparent.

In the same pot, while you're sautéing the "trinity", add the tomato paste and let it pincé, meaning to let it brown a little. What we're going for here is an additional depth of flavor by browning the tomato paste a little; the sugar in the tomato paste begins to caramelize, deepening the flavor and color. Keep it moving so that it browns but doesn't burn. Some friends of mine hate this step, so you can skip it if you want, but then it won't be Chuck's jambalaya. :^)

Once the vegetables are translucent and the tomato paste achives sort of a red mahogany color, deglaze the pan with the about 2 cups of the stock, scraping the bottom of the pan to mix up any browned bits, and stir until smooth, making sure the sautéed vegetables, paste and stock are combined thoroughly. It should be fairly thick.

Add the Creole seasoning, tomatoes and salt to taste. Cook over low-medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the meat and/or seafood and cook another 10 minutes; if you're using seafood, be careful not to overcook it.

Add the rest of the stock, check seasonings, and stir in the rice, combining thoroughly. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid and is cooked through. If you haven't checked your seasonings before adding the rice, it's too late! It's much better for the rice to absorb the seasonings while it's cooking. Check seasoning anyway, then turn the heat down to low-medium and let the sauce thicken up a bit, with the pot uncovered, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes. Stir thoroughly to combine all ingredients. When the jambalaya has thickened up a bit and has reached the "right" consistency (you'll know), it's done.

Serve with salad and French bread.

Moroccan Lemon Chicken

Found this on epicureous, from a Gourmet 1997 article. I've just prepared it and it took about twenty minutes. It smells divine and I'll bet it will taste great.

* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 whole boneless chicken breast with skin and wings attached (about 1 1/2 pounds; available by request from butcher), halved
* 1 small onion, sliced thin
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/4 teaspoon paprika
* 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
* 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
* 1 1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
* 1/3 cup green olives, pitted and sliced thin
* 1 tablespoon honey
* 1/2 cup drained and rinsed canned chick peas
* 2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander sprigs (wash and dry before chopping)
* Accompaniment:Rice with Almonds and Raisins

Preparation

In a 3-quart heavy saucepan heat oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper. Cook chicken, skin side down, until skin is deep golden brown. Transfer chicken to a plate and reduce heat to moderate. Add onion to pan and cook, stirring, until softened. Add cumin, paprika, cinnamon, zest, and flour and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in broth, olives and honey.

Return chicken to pan and simmer, uncovered, 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to 2 plates. Add chick peas to sauce. Simmer sauce 3 minutes and season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over chicken and sprinkle with coriander.

Serve chicken with rice. Make rice, add raisins, butter, toasted almonds and chopped parsley.

Greek Egg-Lemon Soup (Avgolemono Soup)

GE Recipes



Serves 8
Ingredients

* 6 cups chicken broth
* 1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Preparation

1. Heat chicken broth to a boil and add rice.

2. Cover, reduce heat and cook rice about 20 – 30 minutes or according to package instructions.

3. Beat eggs until frothy.

4. Slowly add lemon juice to eggs while beating constantly.

5. Allow soup to stop cooking and cool for a few minutes.

6. Pour a ladle of the hot broth into the egg mixture while beating constantly.

7. Continue doing this a ladle at a time, until egg mixture is hot and then add the rest of the soup.

Serve immediately.

brown rice with nuts

Even brown-rice skeptics will enjoy this textural dish full of butter-browned nuts.
subscribe to Gourmet
Ingredients

* 4 cups water
* 1 1/2 cups short-grain brown rice
* 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
* 1 1/4 cups mixed nuts, chopped
* 1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Preparation

Bring water to a boil in a heavy medium saucepan. Add rice and 1/4 teaspoon salt, then reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until rice is tender, about 40 minutes. Drain in a sieve.

Heat butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until foam subsides. Add nuts and cook, stirring, until butter and nuts are golden brown, about 4 minutes.

Add rice and nutmeg to skillet and toss to coat.

Mushroom casserole that rocks

this is in the oven and smells great. I didn't have any fresh tarragon but had roasted some peppers last night and subbed them. i can imagine throwing in greens and having a main dish of this.

Mushroom Casserole Recipe

Use any cooked grain you like. Feel free to use low-fat cottage cheese or sour cream if you prefer.

1/2 pound (8 ounces) brown mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 large onion, well chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 cups cooked brown rice, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
a bit of fresh tarragon, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Rub a medium-large baking dish with a bit of olive oil or butter and set aside. The pan I use is slightly smaller than a classic 9x13 baking dish - just grab for something in this ballpark.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat saute the mushrooms in a glug of olive oil sprinkled with a couple pinches of salt. Stir every minute or so until the mushrooms have released their liquid and have browned a bit. Add the onions and cook for another 4 or 5 minutes or until they are translucent. Stir in the garlic, cook for another minute and remove from heat. Add the rice to the skillet and stir until combined.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, and salt.

Combine the rice mixture and cottage cheese mixture in a large bowl, stir until well combined and then turn out into your prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with 2/3 of the Parmesan cheese, cover with foil and place in oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 20 or 30 minutes more or hot throughout and golden along the edges. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and enjoy.

Serves about 8.

Dee Dee's brown rice from recipe xchg

Cookie makes this with a can of french onion soup instead of the consume and a can of water to cut the salt. i haven't tried dee's method but this is really good, and you can use less butter.

One cup of Uncle Ben's long grain rice
1 can beef consume
1 can beef broth
1 stick of butter
chopped onions

Cook ingredients above in a covered casserole dish-350 for about 1 hour
(I use a casserole dish with a glass top)

Dee Dee Kurilla
Campaign Division Director
United Way of the CSRA, Inc.
630 Ellis St., Augusta, GA 30901

wild rice salad with celery and walnuts

I think of this lemony salad as a main dish salad, one that makes a perfect lunch, but it would be a welcome addition to a Thanksgiving table.


From The New York Times

For the salad:

1 quart water, chicken stock or vegetable stock

1 cup wild rice, rinsed

Salt to taste

1/3 cup lightly toasted broken walnut pieces

3 celery stalks, preferably from the heart, thinly sliced on the diagonal (about 1 1/4 cups)

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh sage (2 good-size leaves) (optional)

For the dressing:

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or sherry vinegar

1 small garlic clove, minced

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

3 tablespoons walnut oil

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons buttermilk or plain low-fat yogurt

1. Bring the water or stock to a boil in a large saucepan, add salt to taste and the wild rice. Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 40 minutes, or until the rice is tender and splayed. Drain and toss in a large bowl with the remaining salad ingredients.

2. Mix together the lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper. Whisk in the walnut oil, olive oil, and buttermilk or yogurt. Toss with the wild rice mixture. Taste and adjust seasonings, and serve.

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

Advance preparation: You can assemble the salad several hours before serving. If you wish to toss it with the dressing so that the rice marinates for a while, do not add the parsley. Add just before serving, or the color will fade.

oops: parboiled rice correction

Recipe: Parboiled Brown Rice

Published: February 20, 2008

Time: 20 minutes

1 tablespoon salt

1 cup long- or short-grain brown rice.

In a large pot, bring to a boil 2 to 3 cups of water and the salt. Add rice and boil for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain. Refrigerate if it will be more than a couple of hours before you use it.

Yield: 1 1/2 to 2 cups.

easy cheesy cheap good

Recipe: Rice With Cheese



Published: February 20, 2008

Time: 30 minutes

Salt

1 1/2 to 2 cups parboiled short-grain brown rice (see recipe)

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup grated fontina or other good semisoft cheese

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground black pepper.

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and salt it as you would to cook pasta. Add rice and stir. When water returns to a boil, lower heat and simmer rice until tender but not mushy, about 15 minutes. Drain.

2. Put butter in a saucepan large enough to hold rice and turn heat to medium. When butter melts and just begins to turn brown, add rice and toss together. Stir in fontina, then a handful of Parmesan, along with salt and pepper. Serve, passing more Parmesan at the table.

Yield: 4 servings.

shrimp jabalaya from nyt

Recipe: Shrimp Jambalaya


Published: February 20, 2008

Time: About 1 hour

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 cups diced onions

2 cups diced bell pepper, preferably red or yellow

1/2 cup chopped ham (optional)

Salt and black pepper

1 1/2 to 2 cups parboiled long-grain brown rice (cover rice 1" or more and boil till water disappears and steam holes appear, 30-45 min)

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

1/2 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste

Several sprigs fresh thyme

2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes (canned are fine; drain first)

3 to 4 cups shrimp stock, other stock or water

2 pounds shrimp, peeled (and deveined, if you like) and cut into pieces if very large

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves or sliced scallions (or both), for garnish.

1. Put olive oil in a medium casserole over medium heat. Add onions, bell pepper and ham, if using. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and everything begins to brown, about 10 minutes.

2. Add rice, garlic, cayenne and thyme, and stir for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes, or until tomatoes begin to break up.

3. Stir in stock. Bring to a boil, turn heat to medium and cook, uncovered, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until rice is tender, adding liquid if necessary. Rice should be tender, not soupy.

4. Add shrimp and stir with a fork. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, then cover and let rest for 10 to 20 minutes. Garnish as you like and serve.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings.