Chicken, sausage and black bean soup - DAMN

I wanted to do a simple dinner tonight that could cook up during the debates. This was amazingly yummy for a throw together thing. Yeeeeeah.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken, Foreman'd with the usual spice
2 14.5 can black beans
1 large link andouille sausage (about 2/5 lb)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 big roasted red pepper, from a jar, minced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock

This was a soup that I threw together that ended up amaaaaaazing! The red pepper really set it off. Here's how:

Take the andouille sausage and crumble it and fry it up. Once it's almost done, throw in the garlic. Once that's going, throw in the red pepper. That will steam a bit, keep stirring.

In the background, cook the chicken. Season with the usual: equal parts salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika. Forman it or pan fry for a few minutes a side. Shred or chop it and save the juice for the next part.

Once the sausage / red pepper is going, add in the cumin, paprika, white pepper, thyme and red pepper. Add in the chicken, the stock and the beans. Cook at least ten minutes.

Grub, yum.

Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and naan

I wanted to try something completely different, so here's my experiment for today. It's based on a recipe I found on the blog Can't Live Without. I'm trying to make it in two parts. Many nights I don't have much time to cook but can usually find a half an hour or so during the day to at least prep stuff. But I refuse to include ketchup, so here goes.

Chicken marinade:
1 cup yogurt
1 tbs cumin
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric
3 garlic cloves, smashed
1 inch ginger, smashed
Couple shakes of salt
Couple shakes of crushed red pepper
1 lb chicken, cubed or tenders

For the sauce:
1/2 onion, chopped
3 roasted red peppers from a jar
Small handful cashews
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cardamon powder
1 tsp cinnamon
5 cloves
2 tsp qasuri methi (check an Indian grocery for this one)
2 tbs tomato paste
1/2 cup cream

Saute the onions in 1 tbs olive oil and butter. Once they start getting brown, throw in the red peppers and cashews. Cook a few more minutes, then throw them in the food processor and puree. Add another tbs olive oil to the pan and throw in the spices. Cool a minute or two, then add the puree. Cook another two minutes, then add the tomato paste and qasuri methi. Let this chill out until your'e ready to eat.

Once you're ready to finish up, grill the chicken on skewers or Foreman it like I did. Heat the sauce, add the cream and the chicken and let it all mesh together for a few minutes.

Here's the rice I made with it:

1 cup basmati rice
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 inch ginger, peeled and chopped 1 tsp cardamon powder
1 tsp cinnamon
5 cloves
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 small jalapeno
2 tbs slivered almonds

Saute the onions in 1 tbs olive oil. Once they start to brown, add the ginger and spices. Cook a few more minutes and add the jalapeno. Let it hang out until you're ready to go. When you are, heat up and add the rice, sauteing for a few minutes. Add 1 3/4 cup of water, bring to a boil, lower to simmer, cross your fucking fingers and cook for 15 minutes. (I suck at rice, always have)

Serve the chicken and rice with naan. YUM!

Gumbo gumbo gumbo!!

Apparently, today is national gumbo day. (I made this on the 12th) And therefore I have an excuse to make a big vat o' gumbo. Not that I need one, but what the hell. I've been working on this recipe for years, trying to get it just right. I think it's pretty awesome at this point, but I'm sure it will change again.

Screw the ingredient list, since I'm writing this as I go along. I can never remember exactly what goes in when until I cook it.

This seems like a really tough dish to make, but it's not. The roux is the only tough part, and that just takes patience. It just has a lot of steps, but it is SO worth it.

1: The chicken and broth part: Take one whole cut up fryer chicken. The one from today is about 4 pounds. Throw that in a big soup pot with about 1 tbs thyme and a few bay leaves. Cover it with water (I'm guessing about a gallon and a half went in - there is no measuring in my gumbo, with one exception) and bring it to a boil. Add in a very large pinch of salt and let this simmer for at least an hour. Once it's gone on long enough, dump the bay leaves, pull out the chicken and take the broth off the heat. UPDATE: Don't skip this very important step!! When the chicken starts simmering, some nasty white gunk will rise up as it cooks. Skim it off, you do NOT want to eat that.

2. The sausage part: I have used everything from kielbasa to hot links in this. Today I'm using two andouille sausages and one linguica. These are HUGE sausages, that's why only three are going in. I got them fresh and raw, so I threw them in the oven for about 45 minutes to cook before I messed with them. Once I cooked them and cooled slightly, I sliced them in half lengthwise then into small pieces. Fry those up and put them to the side.

3. The magical roux: This is the exception to the measuring part. If this goes bad, you're fucked and have to start over. 3/4 cup of flour, 3/4 cup of vegetable oil. This is still iffy. The consistency reminds me of slightly runny frosting, so add more of one if it doesn't seem right. Cook this over medium heat, whisking constantly. I've had bad burnt roux experiences, so I cook mine really slowly and probably not quite long enough. It usually takes about half an hour. It is supposed to be a dark brown, but NOT burnt. If it burns, start over.

4. The trinity: This is the basis of most cajun dishes. Equal parts small diced onions, bell pepper and celery. I used 1 yellow onion, 1 medium bell peppers and 3 big stalks of celery. Once the roux gets dark enough, throw this in and keep stirring for about five minutes.

5. The combination: Add the roux and veggies to the broth. I take the broth off the heat because putting hot roux in hot broth is a terrifying experience. It snarls up and can boil over. Once well mixed, let these guys cook together for about half an hour.

6. The rest: Add in the chopped up sausages, a good amount of white and red pepper. Pull the decent chicken off the bone - ie. legs, breasts, thighs - and add that to the pot. Let this get happy for a bit.

7. The finale: Throw in 1/2 lb of shrimp and cook for a few more minutes. Right when you're ready to serve and pull the pot off the heat, stir in some file powder.

8. The grub: This is traditionally served over rice, but I eat mine like a stew. Throw in a good amount of Louisiana style hot sauce and you've got gumbo nirvana.

Chicken Piccata

This is one of my favorite chicken dishes. It's actually gotten my man to enjoy capers. Quite a feat.

2 chicken breasts, sliced in half lengthwise
3 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup flour
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup white wine
1 lemon
2 tbs capers
2 tbs chopped parsley
1/2 lb spaghetti, cooked
Grated parmesan

Season the chicken with kosher salt and pepper. Dredge it in the flour and shake off the excess. Heat olive oil in a deep skillet and brown the chicken well on both sides. Set aside.

Saute the garlic for a minute in the pan. Add 1 cup of white wine and boil down until slightly reduced. Add in the juice of one lemon, capers, butter and the chicken. Cook for a few minutes to heat the chicken and make sure it's done enough. Add the parsley.

Throw in the pasta, cook for one minute. Serve, add parm, grub.

Garlic, lemon and butter salmon with orzo and asparagus

I had a wild craving for salmon today. This is a simple and super yummy way to put it all together in about twenty minutes.

2 salmon fillets
3 tbs butter
Juice of two lemons
Garlic clove, smashed
1/2 cup orzo
Sprig of rosemary
Bunch of asparagus

Melt the butter in a pan with the garlic clove. Bring water to a boil and add salt, orzo, rosemary and a spoonful of the melted garlic butter. Cook according to package directions. Drain and toss with olive oil.

Add lemon to the remaining garlic butter. Brush this on the salmon, reserving at least a tbs. Season the salmon with kosher salt and pepper and grill it for 5 minutes a side. I used my handy dandy Foreman grill.

Break the rough ends off the asparagus. Steam for a few minutes. I threw mine in a strainer and set it on top of the orzo while it was cooking. After the color brightens, throw it in the pot with the remaining butter mixture and cook a minute or two.

Tada. Being a garlic fiend, I grabbed the clove and ate that on top of the salmon. Super fast, super simple and damn, it's yummy.

Pork & Veggie Stir Fry with noodles

I used to make this all the time with soba noodles and their yummy little spice packet. Then I read what was in the spice packet, so I'm doing it all natural now. I need to find a better option for noodles that doesn't have so much extra crap in it, but I'll use yakisoba for now. Let's see how this turns out. This should include scallions, but I was out. Oh well.

Marinade:

1 large pork sirloin chop, sliced thin
3 tbs soy sauce
3 tbs dry sherry
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 small piece ginger, smashed

Put this all together in a bowl and throw it in the fridge to marinate for a few hours.

To make:

2 tbs peanut oil
Marinated pork
1 12 oz package stir fry veggies (or chop up one carrot, 1 broccoli head, handful of snow peas)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1" piece ginger, peeled and minced
3 tbs dry sherry
2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tsp cornstarch, whisked into soy sauce
One 2 serving package stir fry noodles

Heat 2 tbs peanut oil in a large skillet. When hot, throw in the pork and saute for a minute until slightly brown. Pull it out into a big bowl. Add in veggies, garlic and ginger, stir fry for about five minutes until they soften slightly. Pull that out to the pork bowl. Add a splash of sherry and cook down for a minute. Add the soy sauce with cornstarch and sesame oil with about a 1/2 cup of water. Add the noodles and stir with a fork until they separate. Put on the lid to make it happen faster. Once this is hot, throw the pork and veggies in, then cook until warmed, about 1-2 minutes. Grub.

This needed twice the meat and noodles, but other than that, it was super yummy. Boom.

Arabic yogurt beef with herb potatoes and brussel sprouts

This is a marinade I use all the time with chicken, so I figured I would give it a shot with beef. This goes great with herbed potatoes and brussel sprouts. Yes, I absolutely love brussel sprouts.

Marinade:

1 cup greek yogurt
2 large garlic cloves, smashed
1 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs oregano
1 tbs fresh sage, chopped
2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
1 tbs cumin
1 tbs salt
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes

I marinated 1 1/2 lbs of london broil in this, then threw it in the oven at 325 for 40 minutes.

Herbed potatoes:
2 large yukon gold potatoes, chopped into inch sized cubes
Sprig each of rosemary, thyme, parsley and sage
Kosher salt
Olive oil

Put the herbs into a spice grinder, saving a tsp for the sprouts. Toss the potatoes with the olive oil, herbs and kosher salt. Roast under the rack holding the roast for 40 minutes.

For the brussel sprouts, cut off the stems, chop in half and pull off any dead leaves. Toss in olive oil, herbs, a tsp of paprika and a bit of kosher salt and throw in the bottom of the roasting pan for the last 10-15 minutes.

This goes great with tzatziki.

Tzatziki:
3 persian cucumbers, peeled and seeded
1 cup greek yogurt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
2 garlic cloves, smashed
5 grinds black pepper
Kosher salt

Chop the cucumbers into chunks. Put about 2 tsp kosher salt on them and put them in something to drain for at least half an hour. Dry them with paper towels and chop very small. Stir everything together, add salt to taste. Let this sit at least an hour to let the flavors blend.