When it's cold outside my family craves comfort food. Tonight I felt like taking a dinner trip away from the icy Midwest to somewhere in the Creole part of the country. I made our version of Jambalaya. Jambalaya Purists may not agree with my ingredient choices or of the methods, but our appetites were satiated for sure.
Ingredients:
12 or so Shrimp - peeled and shelled (the 41-60 per pound size)
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts - cubed roughly 1-1.5 inches
1/2 Kielbasa (or smoked sausage, anduille, chorizo, etc. whatever you have and like)
1 can diced tomatoes (12.5 oz I think it was)
1/2 large sweet onion cut into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces
1/2 chopped green pepper
1 large clove of garlic - minced
a few Bay leaves
1 T or so of Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup or so of long grain rice
2 cans chicken stock
1-2 teaspoon vinegar (I used Apple Cider Vinegar)
2 Tablespoons or so of Olive Oil
Seasoning for meat:
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons oregano
Step 1: Veggies
Pour olive oil into a warm-hot pan
add onion and green peppers. cook 1-2 minutes - until they are barely soft
Add garlic - cook 1 minute. Do Not Scorch The Garlic!
Dump in the can of tomatoes with juice, Apple Cider Vinegar and Worcestershire Sauce. Cook another minute or so
Add rice. Cook a minute or 2. Stir
Add chicken stock. Simmer while preparing meats.
Step 2: Chicken
Toss cut up chicken with 1/3 of the seasoning
Lightly brown in an oiled sautee pan
Stir partially cooked chicken to simmering rice mixture
Step 3: Shrimp
Toss thawed peeled shrimp in 1/3 seasoning mix
Cook 1 minute per side in the chicken pan just to being pinkish..
Stir partially cooked shrimp into simmering rice
Step 4: Sausage
Toss sliced sausage in remaining seasoning mix
Fry in the same pan until slightly golden
Stir sausage into the simmering rice.
After about 20 minutes the rice part should be done. Take a taste of the rice for doneness. If your rice takes longer to cook, then allow the mix to simmer until the rice is fully cooked.
Scoop into bowls and enjoy. B says this would go well with an ice cold beer.
This recipe made enough for 2 adults for dinner and a couple of lunches - probably 6-8 servings.
We cleansed our palates tonight with lemon curd and cream crepes.
Ingredients:
2 crepes (made last night. See yesterday's post for details)
2 Tablespoons of Lemon Curd
3/4-1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 Tablespoons confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whip cream, sugar and vanilla to soft peaks.
Gently mix lemon curd with 2/3 of the whipped cream mixture
Spread 1/2 of mix onto middle of each crepe. Roll up burrito style. Top with a dollop of whipped cream.
Enjoy
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
What do you do with Duck eggs and a bunch of lemons?
If you've read early posts, you know that we made a home for a pair of Pekin ducks. The lady Pekin, Ming Ming, had begun laying eggs like a little machine. Not having taken the big leap of faith to eat a duck egg straight up, I use them to bake. Christmas week I made banana bread with them. They are marvelous. Today though, I had a different problem.
I need a vessel to hold some leftover Beef Bourguinon from yesterday. I don't want biscuits again, so I thought why not go all out French tonight? I have Crepe batter chillin' in the fridge right now.
Crepe Batter:
1 cup cold milk
1 cup cold water
1.5 cups flour
4 tablespoons warm/melted butter
4 chicken eggs (I used 2 duck eggs - those things are HUGE)
Mix up the mess in your blender. (Don't tell B that I used the smoothie machine. The blender was liberated to bath fizzies)
Let the mix sit in the fridge for a few hours.
Cook the crepes in a large pan (about the size you want your finished crepe to be)
Fill the crepe with whatever you feel like having
Eat (the best part)
So, we'll be having the beef as the main course. You can add a side of boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes. I think I'll stick to a green salad tonight.
Having more duck eggs to use and spying a bag of lemons when I put the crepe batter into the fridge, I thought of something: Lemon Curd. That would make a nice dessert crepe. Diet, Schmiet.
Lemon Curd:
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks (I used 2 duck yolks and one chicken yolk)
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (3-5 lemons depending on size and how old the lemon is)
1 stick butter
lemon zest from juiced lemons (this is simplest before you juice your lemons)
Step 1: Begin the emulsion
Beat the egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl until they seem blended together. I used a whisk. It took about a minute to complete.
Step 2: Gently cook
Place the bowl over a simmering pot of water. The bowl should NOT touch the water. Bad things will happen. Trust me.
Keep whisking while the mixture cools. Some recipes say to heat to 160F. Basically, you'll see the texture lighten up as it nears the right temp. It will coat the back of a wooden spoon. Drag your finger through the coating and your finger path will remain there. This step took me about 5 minutes
Step 3#: add the luscious butter
Add your room temperature butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Whisk it in until you can't see it any more before adding the next bit of butter. Repeat until there's no more butter. This step took about 2 minutes.
Step 4: Add the zest.
Step 5: Enjoy.
Smear it on toast, scones, crepes, ice cream, as a layer in cakes, cookie sandwiches, whatever. This recipe filled a pint sized canning jar with a few good sized spoonfuls for the chef. It's chilling in the fridge now waiting for tonight's dinner to make its entrance. It will thicken A LOT while cooling. Kept in the fridge it will last up to 2 weeks (yeah right this stuff will be gone by tomorrow). You can freeze this stuff too.
To me it tastes like a sour pudding. Work slowly and at a low enough temperature and it will be smooth as silk. Rush it and you'll have lumps. Ick. Take your time, it's worth it.
Happy Food Dreams
I need a vessel to hold some leftover Beef Bourguinon from yesterday. I don't want biscuits again, so I thought why not go all out French tonight? I have Crepe batter chillin' in the fridge right now.
Crepe Batter:
1 cup cold milk
1 cup cold water
1.5 cups flour
4 tablespoons warm/melted butter
4 chicken eggs (I used 2 duck eggs - those things are HUGE)
Mix up the mess in your blender. (Don't tell B that I used the smoothie machine. The blender was liberated to bath fizzies)
Let the mix sit in the fridge for a few hours.
Cook the crepes in a large pan (about the size you want your finished crepe to be)
Fill the crepe with whatever you feel like having
Eat (the best part)
So, we'll be having the beef as the main course. You can add a side of boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes. I think I'll stick to a green salad tonight.
Having more duck eggs to use and spying a bag of lemons when I put the crepe batter into the fridge, I thought of something: Lemon Curd. That would make a nice dessert crepe. Diet, Schmiet.
Lemon Curd:
1 cup sugar
5 egg yolks (I used 2 duck yolks and one chicken yolk)
1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (3-5 lemons depending on size and how old the lemon is)
1 stick butter
lemon zest from juiced lemons (this is simplest before you juice your lemons)
Step 1: Begin the emulsion
Beat the egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl until they seem blended together. I used a whisk. It took about a minute to complete.
Step 2: Gently cook
Place the bowl over a simmering pot of water. The bowl should NOT touch the water. Bad things will happen. Trust me.
Keep whisking while the mixture cools. Some recipes say to heat to 160F. Basically, you'll see the texture lighten up as it nears the right temp. It will coat the back of a wooden spoon. Drag your finger through the coating and your finger path will remain there. This step took me about 5 minutes
Step 3#: add the luscious butter
Add your room temperature butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Whisk it in until you can't see it any more before adding the next bit of butter. Repeat until there's no more butter. This step took about 2 minutes.
Step 4: Add the zest.
Step 5: Enjoy.
Smear it on toast, scones, crepes, ice cream, as a layer in cakes, cookie sandwiches, whatever. This recipe filled a pint sized canning jar with a few good sized spoonfuls for the chef. It's chilling in the fridge now waiting for tonight's dinner to make its entrance. It will thicken A LOT while cooling. Kept in the fridge it will last up to 2 weeks (yeah right this stuff will be gone by tomorrow). You can freeze this stuff too.
To me it tastes like a sour pudding. Work slowly and at a low enough temperature and it will be smooth as silk. Rush it and you'll have lumps. Ick. Take your time, it's worth it.
Happy Food Dreams
Happy New Year!
A kind "Disher" help to remind me that it has been a very long while since the last topic. Once I turned 40 last September, the year just kind of escaped. As you can imagine, the holiday months were busy and simply flew by, leaving me at January in Chicagoland where I have to look forward to cold, cold and more cold. On the bright side, I'm only looking at about 10 more weeks of it before Spring.
Filling time is pretty easy. I have so many hobbies that I run out of time to do them. One of my favorites is cooking. Yesterday I made a traditional Bouf Bourguignon. What a fancy name for a beef stew with red wine. I don't often follow an exact recipe, but rather take bits and pieces from many other recipes and follow instinct on the rest. Here's what I did:
Beef Stew with Red Wine:
2 # Sirloin Roast cut into 1 - 1.5 inch cubes.
A bunch of Carrots peeled and cut in half so they were about 5 inches long. I love carrots, so I used about 8 large. Not traditional, but it's my recipe!
Celery - I love celery in stews - 5-6 large ribs cut in half to make 5 inch long pieces
A small bag of peeled pearl onions. Frozen is OK. (Peeling Tip:boil the whole onions for 2 seconds. The peels fall off with nearly no tears.)
2 cans of stock (I had no fresh available, so I used 1 chicken and 1 beef I had on hand.)
A bottle of Red Wine (Used Menage a Trois today).
A little flour
A couple tablespoons of veg and.or olive oil
A few Bay Leaves
Step 1: Brown the beef
- My beef was partially frozen from the fridge (woops...). If it were thawed I would have dried it with paper towels, but it was dry being frozen. Put a handful of beef in a hot pan with olive oil. Brown all sides, then move cubes to a bowl while the next batch of beef browns.
- When all beef is brown, sprinkle a bit of flour on the cubes and return to pan to form a little crust.
Step 2: Load the crockpot
- Move beautiful brown beef into crock pot set on low.
- Deglaze beef suate pan with 1 cup wine. Reduce to a few delicious tablespoons and get every last bit into the crockpot.
- Add vegetables, bay leaves and stock to the crock pot.
- Wait patiently all day long with tummy rumbling in anticipation
-Had I thought to buy mushrooms I would have cooked them down in butter and oil at this point.
- Make your side(s). Potatoes go well with this!
Step 3: create the sauce
- About 30 minutes before ready to devour, pour crock pot liquid into a wide sautee pan.
- Reduce by 2/3
- Add 2 cups of wine to the reduced liquid.
- Reduce again to equal roughly 2 cups.
-Season with pepper, herbs, etc. as you like.
Step 4: EAT!
-Remove bay leaves (if you can find them easily)
- Spoon crock pot contents into bowls
- Add some sauce
- the rest is history.
We had fresh buttermilk biscuits as a side. They come in very handy to sop up and stray sauce.
Buttermilk biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
2 tablespoons lard
2 tablespoons cold butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar
1 cup Buttermilk
Step 1: Bowl ingredients
Combine all but buttermilk in a bowl until the mix resembles crumbs or very small peas.
Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and mix around. If the mix seems dry, add the remaining 1/4 cup.
Mix slightly.
Step 2: Knead and Cut
Turn mix onto counter (I use wax paper at this point)
Knead 4-6 times, then flatten the mixture out in a disc roughly 3/4 to 1 inch thick.
Cut into whatever shape suits you. I make 4 inch circles with frilly edges, but that's me.
Ste 3: Bake
Bake in 425F oven for 11-14 minutes - when they just start to turn golden brown and delicious.
Happy winter!
Filling time is pretty easy. I have so many hobbies that I run out of time to do them. One of my favorites is cooking. Yesterday I made a traditional Bouf Bourguignon. What a fancy name for a beef stew with red wine. I don't often follow an exact recipe, but rather take bits and pieces from many other recipes and follow instinct on the rest. Here's what I did:
Beef Stew with Red Wine:
2 # Sirloin Roast cut into 1 - 1.5 inch cubes.
A bunch of Carrots peeled and cut in half so they were about 5 inches long. I love carrots, so I used about 8 large. Not traditional, but it's my recipe!
Celery - I love celery in stews - 5-6 large ribs cut in half to make 5 inch long pieces
A small bag of peeled pearl onions. Frozen is OK. (Peeling Tip:boil the whole onions for 2 seconds. The peels fall off with nearly no tears.)
2 cans of stock (I had no fresh available, so I used 1 chicken and 1 beef I had on hand.)
A bottle of Red Wine (Used Menage a Trois today).
A little flour
A couple tablespoons of veg and.or olive oil
A few Bay Leaves
Step 1: Brown the beef
- My beef was partially frozen from the fridge (woops...). If it were thawed I would have dried it with paper towels, but it was dry being frozen. Put a handful of beef in a hot pan with olive oil. Brown all sides, then move cubes to a bowl while the next batch of beef browns.
- When all beef is brown, sprinkle a bit of flour on the cubes and return to pan to form a little crust.
Step 2: Load the crockpot
- Move beautiful brown beef into crock pot set on low.
- Deglaze beef suate pan with 1 cup wine. Reduce to a few delicious tablespoons and get every last bit into the crockpot.
- Add vegetables, bay leaves and stock to the crock pot.
- Wait patiently all day long with tummy rumbling in anticipation
-Had I thought to buy mushrooms I would have cooked them down in butter and oil at this point.
- Make your side(s). Potatoes go well with this!
Step 3: create the sauce
- About 30 minutes before ready to devour, pour crock pot liquid into a wide sautee pan.
- Reduce by 2/3
- Add 2 cups of wine to the reduced liquid.
- Reduce again to equal roughly 2 cups.
-Season with pepper, herbs, etc. as you like.
Step 4: EAT!
-Remove bay leaves (if you can find them easily)
- Spoon crock pot contents into bowls
- Add some sauce
- the rest is history.
We had fresh buttermilk biscuits as a side. They come in very handy to sop up and stray sauce.
Buttermilk biscuits
Ingredients:
2 cups AP flour
2 tablespoons lard
2 tablespoons cold butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar
1 cup Buttermilk
Step 1: Bowl ingredients
Combine all but buttermilk in a bowl until the mix resembles crumbs or very small peas.
Add 3/4 cup buttermilk and mix around. If the mix seems dry, add the remaining 1/4 cup.
Mix slightly.
Step 2: Knead and Cut
Turn mix onto counter (I use wax paper at this point)
Knead 4-6 times, then flatten the mixture out in a disc roughly 3/4 to 1 inch thick.
Cut into whatever shape suits you. I make 4 inch circles with frilly edges, but that's me.
Ste 3: Bake
Bake in 425F oven for 11-14 minutes - when they just start to turn golden brown and delicious.
Happy winter!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
The inspiration behind "Cootie"
Meet the Polyphemus Catepillar.
He has a face only a mother could love. He crossed our paths in our driveway on this lovely September 1 afternoon. Fortunately he likes to travel alone or the mess would be horrific!This thing is over 3 inches long and likes to eat just about every tree and shrub in my yard. When he emerges from his chrysalis he should have a wing span of over 5 inches. Imaging that hitting your windshield! Ewwwww.
His backside is decorated too:
Happy almost Fall!
He has a face only a mother could love. He crossed our paths in our driveway on this lovely September 1 afternoon. Fortunately he likes to travel alone or the mess would be horrific!This thing is over 3 inches long and likes to eat just about every tree and shrub in my yard. When he emerges from his chrysalis he should have a wing span of over 5 inches. Imaging that hitting your windshield! Ewwwww.
His backside is decorated too:
Happy almost Fall!
Monday, August 3, 2009
It's official. I am a country girl.
A few months ago I was buying a few new chicks when the owner of the farm noticed a tote bag I had made from empty Capri Sun juice pouches. She said - in all seriousness - "You should enter that into the Fair." I can honestly say that thought never once crossed my mind before, but after a good bit of thinking and researching competition categories I took the plunge. I made a Capri Sun shopping bag, a Capri Sun lined Tote Bag, a greeting card and a soap display.
There was not a specific category for soap (surprise, surprise) so I am competing against miscellaneous decorative items to include wood and metal.
Here's the group of items:
Reduced: 50% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image
The greeting card closeup. Inside it reads, "He loves me!" I originally made this one for a cousin's bridal shower. It was so much fun to make that I had to make it again.
Reduced: 50% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image
Here's a closer look at the soaps I sent in. I feel sorry for my soapy creations still on the shelf that didn't make the cut
. Had I finished before 2:00 am I would have asked you for layout ideas. I may enter these into the Boone County Fair in a few weeks, so if you DO have suggestions they will still be helpful!
Reduced: 50% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full image
I hope I did everyone proud... The judging is tonight. I should find out on Wednesday how I fared against all of the other 'decorative items'. If there was a "Best Smelling" category I think I'd be a lock. Am I weird for feeling a little excited about this?
*** Update***
The results of the judging .... Drumroll please....
Soap Display: First.
Card: First.
Red lined bag: Second
Unlined bag: Third.
Not a bad way to end up! Now to improve on this for next year!
<>
<>
Shannon
There was not a specific category for soap (surprise, surprise) so I am competing against miscellaneous decorative items to include wood and metal.
Here's the group of items:
Reduced: 50% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full imageThe greeting card closeup. Inside it reads, "He loves me!" I originally made this one for a cousin's bridal shower. It was so much fun to make that I had to make it again.
Reduced: 50% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full imageHere's a closer look at the soaps I sent in. I feel sorry for my soapy creations still on the shelf that didn't make the cut
. Had I finished before 2:00 am I would have asked you for layout ideas. I may enter these into the Boone County Fair in a few weeks, so if you DO have suggestions they will still be helpful! Reduced: 50% of original size [ 1024 x 768 ] - Click to view full imageI hope I did everyone proud... The judging is tonight. I should find out on Wednesday how I fared against all of the other 'decorative items'. If there was a "Best Smelling" category I think I'd be a lock. Am I weird for feeling a little excited about this?
*** Update***
The results of the judging .... Drumroll please....
Soap Display: First.
Card: First.
Red lined bag: Second
Unlined bag: Third.
Not a bad way to end up! Now to improve on this for next year!
<
<
Shannon
Friday, July 10, 2009
Ack! Linnie is a Lennie!!!
I knew it was a 50/50 possibility that the rescue chicken, AKA Linnie, could be a Roo. I have been in denial a LONG time (well 6 weeks or so at least). A week or so ago I heard an odd sound from the barn. It was a cross between a rusty door hinge and a turkey gobble. Having neither in the area, the suspect became Linnie.
As time wore on I started hearing the odd sound more often. Still hoping, and researching madly about hens crowing, I kept faith the Linnie is a good little hen. Then came the first 'attack'. Ming Ming has been separated from her chicken for a few weeks now. I let them all loose in the barn together so Teagan and a friend could play with the birds. Mingy made a bee line to her chicken for a little birdie hug. Linnie fluffed up big as a turkey and bit chunks of feather from Mingy's neck.
Out came the broom to break up the mele. Poor Mingy was still in need of a little Linnie love and went right back over for a hug. Again, beaks full of neck feathers.
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN I have a ROO!!!! An ATTACK ROO at that!
There must be a bright side somewhere. Will LEnnie protect his harem while free-ranging? I have yet to try this out. Will LEnnie be able to hold his own with the cats and dogs? Methinks yes. Oh yes he will. Can I post a "Beware of Rooster" sign? That should scare the crap out of anyone who thinks they'll trespass. You should see how people run from him now!
Now I am fearful that the other birds are also roo's. What will I do with 5 Roos? You can't exactly collect eggs from Roos! I need to reload with GIRLS soon. I don't know if I want to wait until next spring to hatch out new birds again taking the 50/50 odds. The county fairs are coming. Maybe we'll take a few hand-raised hens home that have already proven gender by producing actual EGGS!
To be continued...
As time wore on I started hearing the odd sound more often. Still hoping, and researching madly about hens crowing, I kept faith the Linnie is a good little hen. Then came the first 'attack'. Ming Ming has been separated from her chicken for a few weeks now. I let them all loose in the barn together so Teagan and a friend could play with the birds. Mingy made a bee line to her chicken for a little birdie hug. Linnie fluffed up big as a turkey and bit chunks of feather from Mingy's neck.
Out came the broom to break up the mele. Poor Mingy was still in need of a little Linnie love and went right back over for a hug. Again, beaks full of neck feathers.
DAMN, DAMN, DAMN I have a ROO!!!! An ATTACK ROO at that!
There must be a bright side somewhere. Will LEnnie protect his harem while free-ranging? I have yet to try this out. Will LEnnie be able to hold his own with the cats and dogs? Methinks yes. Oh yes he will. Can I post a "Beware of Rooster" sign? That should scare the crap out of anyone who thinks they'll trespass. You should see how people run from him now!
Now I am fearful that the other birds are also roo's. What will I do with 5 Roos? You can't exactly collect eggs from Roos! I need to reload with GIRLS soon. I don't know if I want to wait until next spring to hatch out new birds again taking the 50/50 odds. The county fairs are coming. Maybe we'll take a few hand-raised hens home that have already proven gender by producing actual EGGS!
To be continued...
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Fetus Soap
A few people got me inspired to whip up a few batches of soap yesterday. One of which was a new facial formula I'd not tried out yet. I try to add some color to keep things interesting, this time using a funnel to swirl the colors in the mold. Look what I saw on the top of the loaf when I unwrapped it. Does that not look like a baby ultrasound image? This is a little unsettling considering my DH was commenting about how he'd like to have another...
The cut slices look pretty nice. I can't bear to cut the fetus section though.
Don't forget to remember me
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