Happy 2009 everybody!!
It's still winter and it's still cold. I continue with my theme for this winter... don't ALL cooking shows do some sort of Comfort Foods special. So when I was a kid, my mom used to make this killer Etouffee recipe! She used real crab and tons of shrimp and lots of butter and lots of... what do they call that... oh yeah, LOVE. (keehee) It's really jus some kind of seafood stew that you serve over rice. It's not as spicy as gumbo, unless you make it that way.
If you want to get technical about it: When I google "etouffee", here's what I came up with... "Etouffee is a Creole and Cajun dish typically served with shellfish or chicken over rice, similar to gumbo". There's more... but need I say more...
Here's the link to the recipe that I found:
http://www.nolacuisine.com/2006/12/28/shrimp-etouffee-recipe/
I have a confession to make... Occasionally, I have a slight over-seasoning problem. I can even tell you exactly what happened this time. I was being a good cook and tasting while I was cooking... you know, making sure the sauce was coming along the way I wanted it. Anyways, so I'm coming close to the end and I'm thinking... there's not enough creole taste to it. So I put a lil more creole seasoning in to the pot--what I didn't realize was that the shrimp AND the crab (before I have cooked them up) where "marinating in that same seasoning... In the end, people seemed happy with it... but I grumbled to myself. Next time, NO canned crab and careful with the creole seasoning!!
Who says it's too cold for ice cream?!
For the record, it is NEVER too cold for ice cream... hence, the sorbet freeze. So I can't tell you where I got this recipe, but it's so easy you might go out to the corner store right now and have one.
Sorbet Freeze
sorbet or sherbet
club or lemon-lime soda
Put 2 scoops of sorbet or sherbet in a cup and fill up the cup with the desired amount of lemon-lime or club soda. Stir and enjoy!
See! So easy! Told ya so! :o) Picture caption reads... I used Haagan-Daaz sorbet, this is a raspberry-mango combo that was sooooo delicious!! I had two! haha... just kidding. Sharing is caring!
So... my brother used to be known for making chicken parmigiana, and I figure I gotta get me a good chicken dish to get known for. I'm flipping thru my America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook and I come across the Chicken Piccata recipe. I remembered I have capers in my fridge. He would also be so proud... I used free-range chicken too!!
For those of you who do not have a Cooks Illustrated magazine subscription:
Chicken Piccata
1/2 cup all-purpose flour 8 thin, boneless chicken breast cutlets (4 oz's each)
salt and pepper
4 tbsp vegetable oil
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 large lemon, sliced into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons (and ends discarded)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (1 1/2 lemons)
2 tbsp capers, rinsed
tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces, chilled
2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 200 degrees.
Spread the flour in a shallow dish. Pat the cutlets dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Dredge through the flour to coat and shake off any excess.
Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a 12-inch skillet over med-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the cutlets and cook until light golden brown on both sides, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and keep warm in the oven. Repeat with the remaining oil and cutlets.
Add the shallot and garlic to the oil left in the skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in the broth and lemon slices, scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy, about 8 minutes.
Stir in the lemon juice, capers, and any accumulated chicken juice. Turn the heat to low and whisk in the butter, one piece at a time. Off the heat, stir int he parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spoon the sauce over the chicken before serving.
Yes!!! It's been a very long time since I posted and so I've come to post many a things... It's a stupid excuse to blame my missing camera cord for the reason I have not posted in so long. So here goes--as you all know... it's now winter... and you know what that means... the season of comfort foods. I've been making all sorts of warm, gooey goodness (*smile*) ...to comfort me in these times of coldness, wetness ;o), and something that hopefully warms you up from head to toe.
First off the list: I made a casserole today--if you don't know what that is... please ask your mom or your grandma. I feel sad if you've never had a casserole before. It's also uber-easy to make because I was helping my mom clean out her fridge by grabbing her leftover rotisserie chicken from Costco.
Chicken-Andouille Casserole
1-2 lbs. chicken leftovers or boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (I used italian-seasoned bread crumbs.)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 tbsp melted butter
3 tbsps vegetable oil
6 oz. andouille sausage, chopped (I diced mine.)
1 cup chopped yellow onions
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp cayenne
4 oz. mushrooms, stemmed, wiped clean, and sliced
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (I used chicken broth.)
1 can Campbell's cream of mushroom
3 tbsp chopped green onions
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley leaves
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
[If you're using raw chicken: In a heavy plastic bag, combine 1/4 cup all-purpose flour with 1 1/2 tsp's of italian seasoning. Add the chicken and toss until well coated. Shake to remove any excess breading and reserve the remaining flour.)
In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs (If you're not using seasoned bread crumbs, add some additional seasoning.), cheese, and butter and set aside.
In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned on all sides (for raw, cook about 5 minutes.) Transfer to a plate.
Add the sausage and cook, stirring, over medium-high heat until almost browned, about 4 minutes. Add the onions, garlic, and cayenne and cook, stirring, until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are soft and give off their liquid, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the whole can of cream of mushroom condensed soup gradually, and stir until mixed well together. Add the chicken, stock (or broth), green onions, and parsley, stir, and bring to a boil. Sprinkle the bread crumb mixture evenly over the top and bake until bubbly and the top has a golden crust, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven.
Here is my one, very important variation: Emeril's recipe calls for the casserole to be served over toasted French bread--but I suggest taking cooked pasta and mixing it with the chicken and cream of mushroom sauce mixture before sprinkling the bread crumbs over it and putting it in the oven. (See picture as reference--I used shell pasta... one of my favorites!!)
This recipe was inspired by Emeril's Chicken-Andouille Casserole, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/chicken-andouille-casserole-recipe/index.html
I'm not cooking Thanksgiving dinner... so I must be feeling guilty. (haha) I decided I should really make an effort to cook before Thursday, cuz I wanna be the one on the couch chillin and watchin football while... someone... is slaving in the kitchen. I'm joking... we can always watch football while chopping;o).
I had some flank steak sitting in my fridge for a while now. Rather than make my usual Beef Broccoli or Beef Fajitas, I thought I'd try something new--I've always wanted to try to make steak with gorgonzola. I remember when Pasta Pomodoro first opened and it was like the newest thing. They had this Steak Gorgonzola Pasta on the menu--mmm... I just remembered that it was made with shell pasta. Or was that something I created?! I'm not sure...
Here goes:
Steak Gorgonzola Pasta
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
2 pinches dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
14 oz. Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
1/2 lb. flank steak, sliced thinly (like for beef stroganoff)
1/2 lb. spaghetti or fettuccini
1. Cook the pasta al dente (according to the box directions.) While the pasta is cooking, fry the steak with about a 1/2 teaspoon of oil, pinch of salt and pepper. Remove from heat when cooked, not too well done.
2. Heat the cream in a separate pot to just-a-boil.
3. Remove the cream from heat and add parmesan cheese, parsley, salt and pepper, stir to dissolve.
4. Stir in Gorgonzola cheese.
5. Pour over cooked pasta and put the steak pieces on top. (If you're looking at the picture, I actually just mixed the steak pasta and sauce all together. And I let it sit on the stove covered for a few minutes on low heat--that heat up everything and allowed the sauce to thicken a bit.)
Look at me! I'm refining my palette--Thanks Po! ;o) So this past weekend I went to this pretty FAB restaurant called Zinnia's in SF. Besides the mushroom risotto--that was totally creamier than I would ever make it--and the delicious black cod I had, I tried me some Sweetbreads.
Zinnia's sears the Sweetbreads with bacon and sherry vinegar, served with haricot verts (like green beans) and toast. Still wondering what a sweetbread is... the thyroid glands or the pancreas of lamb, beef, or pork. It jus goes to show, that even though your first instinct is "Oh, that sounds gross." But when I tried it, it was really good--it just melts in your mouth and the meat is so delicate almost. You almost forget what you're eating! Try it... it's like green eggs and ham!;o)
Can you say ultimate side dish?! I cannot believe I've been sitting on this all month. I used my Pork Loin with Bay Leaves (see July 16, 2008 post) but modified it so I could do it with a Pork Roast. It still came out pretty good--I made a gravy using a wine reduction, it came out pretty good.
In addition to the pork roast, I'm thinking... I remember making roasted rosemary potatoes a couple days before (so I couldn't do a repeat). I've always wanted to try Potatoes Au Gratin. It turns out that I didn't even need to buy fancy cheese to make this taste good.
Scalloped Potatoes (straight from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook)
2 tbsp unsalted butter
onion, chopped fine
1 tbsp minced fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 1/2 lbs russet potatoes (5 medium makes 6 servings), peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
2 bay leaves
4 oz cheddar cheese, shredded 1 cup
1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over med-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the potatoes, broth, cream, and bay leaves. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to med-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are almost tender, about 10 minutes.
2. Discard the bay leaves. Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch square baking dish. Gently press the potatoes into an even layer and sprinkle the cheddar over the top. Bake until the cream is bubbling around the edges and the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Cooking tip: When you're making the cream mixture, have the onion, garlic and potatoes chopped an ready to go--there isn't really built in prep time.
