Bonne Bouche

My chicken & sausage gumbo

Since my sis was asking for it, I figured I would try to write it out here!

I cannot believe its been 2 years since I have posted. WOW. Hoping to revive this little food blog since I am loving to cook nowadays being down in New Orleans.

Basically, since we have moved to NOLA, I have been making a gumbo a week mainly b/c we love em and also bc Jasper will eat it & the baby too is getting into gumbo lovin'.

I started out making Paul Prudhomme's seafood gumbo (super tasty but Tallulah can't have shellfish or seafood yet so its chicken and sausage these days). I really like his seasoning mix + his way of making roux via high heat quickly is really easy I think. I have latched onto and kept those elements.

Each time I make it, its a little bit different and especially for Jasper's birthday, I made enough for 25 people so that was a challenge.

This is my "recipe" of sorts which I can now make w/o looking at anything written down.It is always better on day 2 or 3 and beyond if there is any left!

You will need:

a deep pot or dutch oven (we use our red enameled dutch oven)

a large cast iron or otherwise frying pan

a wire whisk

a long wooden spoon

cooling plate for chicken

mesh strainer to catch chicken pieces

a ladle to scoop out the goodness

Ingredients:(to make 8 servings)

cut up chicken thighs & drumettes with skin on the bone preferably (3 pounds is nice and meaty & I use thighs b/c it gives off good fat to make roux!)

1 pound of good smoked andouille or hot sausage (locally we prefer Veron's from laPlace)

1 smoked ham shank

8 cups worth of nice chicken stock (stock not broth)

 

Seasoning Mix:

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne, 1/2 tsp white pepper, 1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp chipotle pepper

(last two are my latest tweaks and not classic by any means- we like em tho)

2-3 bay leaves

The Holy Trinity (2 cups onion diced, 2 cups green pepper diced, 1 3/4 cups celery diced)

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic

2 cups worth of okra (we are not huge okra fans so this is optional- can use frozen too)

3/4 C vegetable oil ( only add to the chicken pan drippings what you "eyeball" to look like 3/4 C in total. Meaning you are building in the fry pan and adding veg oil if you need to to make roux)

3/4 C flour

Okay, first I pour the stock into the dutch oven and get it to boiling with the ham shank in there.

Next, I get the chicken pieces all salted and peppered with freshly ground black pepper.

Place chicken into fry pan and get all sides of it nice & browned up. Takes about 10 min. and if you have a lot of chicken and pan is smallish, do in batches.

If the skin sticks to pan, that is good for roux scrapings.

Remove chicken to plate.

Have all your veggies chopped up and ready & your seasoning mix all together in a bowl.

Its roux-time!

Keep burner on fry pan on the high side and eyeball to see if you need to add veg oil to the pan to make it about 3/4 C in total.

Slowly add in flour, one tablespoon at a time, whisking it in and scraping up the good chickeny bits.

Keep whisking and whisking until roux is a good deep red-brown. Take it as dark as you can w/o burning. It will smell kinda nutty and should take you 5 minutes average.

Then keeping burners high, add in half of the veg mix (if frozen, add okra later to dutch oven). Stir well for a few minutes then add in other half and stir for few minutes.

Add in seasoning mix and stir for a minute.

Add in minced garlic then begin transferring roux to stock one wooden spoonful at a time and dispersing well.

Add the chopped up sausage (remove casing and chop into nice bite-size pieces. I like em to be a 1/4 of the round circles) to the stock.

Get stock to boil then drop burners down to low simmer.

Add in chicken pieces on the bone so all the nice flavors can soak in but remove skins if any are left.

Add in frozen okra now too.

Simmer mix until chicken is well cooked and falling from bone. Usually around 20-30 min. minimum stirring occasionally and skimming fat from the surface with a big flat-ish spoon.

Now pull out using a scoop or mesh strainer, the chicken pieces and the ham shank.

Let them cool a bit. You can place them in the freezer for a few minutes to hasten the process.

Now pull all the meat from the bone. Cut the ham shank's meat up into bite-size nuggets of goodness.

Add it all back into the pot. Skim top with spoon if needed.

Serve over scoop of hot rice.

Can garnish with minced fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley if desired.

Leave out file powder & Tabasco sauce on the table for extra thickening and spiciness.

If you have potato salad, add a dollop to your bowl.Very New Orleans and very tasty though weird it may sound! My photo above has a scoop in there. I will take some pictures this week of what my roux looks like when I am making it and some examples of what a nice deep stock should look like. In my picture above, it really looks lighter due to potato salad.

 

 

 

 

 

Wild for wild boar

Oh wow. I have a new favorite as far as meat is concerned...wild boar. If you can get your hands on some at a restaurant, get some.
Or better yet, if you can find it fresh and cook it at home, I promise you will have a new favorite too!
We were lucky enough to be gifted with 10 pounds of it as a wedding gift in the form of boneless tenderloins and today I made a dish that Matt declared to be a favorite of his.
I made a Cumin Spice Crusted Tenderloin served with Oyster Mushroom & Shallot gravy over Garlic Mashed Potatoes.
Here is a picture of the final result and then I will tell you how I made it-

Wild Boar Tenderloin ( if you don't have any wild boar, pork can be substituted of course) with Cumin Crust:

Start with 1 1/2 pounds of fresh meat and salt and pepper on both sides then coat with cumin as a dry rub of sorts.

If using wild boar, remember that boar is much leaner than regular pork and will cook much faster so you must adjust for cooking times going under rather than over. Also, boar is more "steaky" and can be cooked to medium rare whereas pork cannot.

I then browned the meat on both sides in a dutch oven over a medium-low flame in a bit of olive oil and thinly sliced garlic (3 cloves). Because it is boar and not pork, I did about 4 minutes on each side.
Then I placed the dutch oven in the oven to cook through at a preheated 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes.
When the meat came out, I removed it to a plate and covered it so the juices would seal in.

I then made the Oyster Mushroom & Shallot Gravy building it right in the boar scrapings left in the dutch oven.
I got the oyster mushrooms at a farmer's market choosing them because they looked so nice but if you need to substitute any wild mushroom would be nice like Shitake or Cremini.
I used a flat's worth (approx. 12 oz.) and sliced them coarsely along with 4 more cloves of garlic and a whole shallot bulb.

To the pan drippings over a low flame, I added 4 Tbs. unsalted butter then the garlic for about 30 seconds and then added the shallots. After another minute, I added the mushrooms in.
Once softened, I stirred in a Tbs. of brown sugar, a tsp. of soy sauce, 2 tsp. of white wine vinegar and let this reduce a bit.
Once thickened, I added in a tsp. of finely chopped cilantro, a tsp. of cumin, a tsp. of cayenne pepper, 2 Tbs. of water and a tsp. of Olive Oil.

I had started and worked on the Garlic Mashed Potatoes earlier but here is what I did for tasty potatoes.

I used this recipe from Earthbound Farms' website and only changed a few things.

These just might be the best mashed potatoes you'll ever eat. Chef Cal Stamenov of Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley infuses cream with garlic, then reduces the mixture to sweeten and concentrate the flavor. Choose the freshest new potatoes you can find for this dish: red Bliss, baby Yukon Golds, or fingerlings. Waxy-fleshed potatoes work better than starchy varieties (like Russets) for this recipe.

Serves 4

1/4 cup fresh garlic cloves, peeled

1/4 cup plus 1/4 cup heavy cream

1 pound Earthbound Farm organic potatoes

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place the garlic in a heavy-bottomed, medium saucepan. Cover with 3 inches of cold water and bring to a boil. Drain and rinse with cold water. Repeat this process 2 more times. Chop the garlic coarsely and return it to the saucepan with the first 1/4 cup of heavy cream. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, and simmer gently until reduced by half or to a thick sauce-like consistency, stirring occasionally. Let cool.

Place the potatoes in a medium pan. Cover with cold, salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes.

Roughly chop the potatoes. Set a large-holed sieve or colander over a saucepan and mash the potatoes thoroughly, using a large mallet and an up-and-down motion, forcing the potatoes through the sieve.

Add the rest of the heavy cream to garlic cream and reheat until warm, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, place the potatoes over medium-high heat and stir with a wooden spatula until the potatoes are warm and dried out. Add the butter, several pieces at a time. Add the warm garlic cream in a slow stream while stirring, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mound mashed potatoes in individual molds or spoon out onto four plates with an entree. Serve immediately.

As pictured below, you can see I used baby red bliss new potatoes I got from the farmer's market and I chose to not peel them. We prefer a more rustic presentation and like the skins. I also did not sieve them but used a masher which allowed for a slightly chunky mash.

I also added even more cream in at the very end to give it more smoothness.

the garlic cream reducing down

Then before plating, I sliced the boar tenderloin against the grain in inch thick slices.

This I plated leaning the tenderloin slices on the garlic mashed potatoes and then drizzled with the oyster mushroom & shallot gravy.

A few more shots of the final dish...

The final result was spicy and so melt-in-your-mouth tasty if I say so myself.

For anyone wondering, wild boar is not gamy per say but is reminiscent of venison somehow but cleaner/leaner in flavor. It is very steak-like and has a tighter grain than regular pork.

To order some online from where David got ours (it was Fed Exed to us overnight on ice) go to Marxfood.com

Thank you David!

Secret pizza delivery- shhh!

Okay so over the past year, we have become obsessed with pizza making and getting the dough for thin perfect crust just right. We began to love our handiwork and somehow this evolved into us eating our from-scratch pizza 2-3 times a week. We had some neighbors that asked us about being able to buy a pizza. That got us thinking. Well, finally, two weeks ago, we got some pizza boxes and made up some little menus and started up our in-building pizza delivery service!
I must admit, we are pretty proud of the quality and especially the dough itself. Now we are spoiled for pizza and only want our own. heehee
The pizzas are made with all organic ingredients- from the flour to the sauces & cheese and of course the toppings like uncured pepperoni with no nitrates.
I imagine one day we will tire of pizza but that day will not be coming very soon.
Here are some of our pies for your perusal...

Kime wrote about our pies on her blog The Moldy Doily:

Also this weekend: The Debut of Organic HOMEMADE PIZZA! Delmore-LICIOUS. Viv and Matt have decided that the folks in the building deserve to taste their incredible handmade pies. So for those working and living in the building, we LUCK out! Finally real food delivered to your door/store. Only on the weekends for now. Check out the 4rd FLoor special that Annakim is eating. That's not a typo, my floor was painted way back and they misspelled 4th as 4rd-after the 3rd was done.
This is her reaction when I told her she couldn't eat the whole thing by herself.  She tore into slice after slice

all of these special pizzas are hand tossed up in the air and made with gourmet ingredients- they even come in their own BOXES!

Don't you want a pizza from this happy family?  These lovebirds are tying the knot next month!  Talk about mystic pizza

You can see the original post by going HERE.
Thanks for the pizza plug Kime!

Valentine's lamb dinner for two

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and Matt asked me if I wanted to go out for dinner but being that we had just returned from a nearly 2 week trip in the mountains where we ate plenty of chef prepared meals, I was not that jazzed on going out.
I wanted to make something that was relatively easy, at home, so we could relax and watch a movie together. I wanted it to be something special though and festive. For me, lamb is a sexy-ish menu item I can scarcely resist and it isn't the run-of-the-mill meal so that seemed the ticket.

Here's what I did...
I got some nice organic sirloin cuts of lamb steak and marinated them for an hour in 
3 Tsp Cream (you can substitute yogurt)
2 Tsp freshly chopped mint leaves
1/2 tsp Allspice
1/4 tsp Cumin
1 clove Garlic peeled & chopped

While the steaks were soaking, I cooked up some Quinoa (1 cup dry grain) in a saucepan and then poured it into a serving bowl and added/mixed:
3 Tsp roasted walnuts chopped
3 Tsp freshly chopped mint
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 Tsp olive oil
Salt, Pepper to taste

I got the oven up to 450 degrees with my frying pan heating up on the center rack.
While the oven warmed, I prepped for the roasted asparagus by washing stalks and snapping the fibrous thick ends off. Next I got a baking pan and placed the stalks so they weren't overlapping and drizzled them with olive oil and freshly ground pepper and salt and made sure all is coated well.
I put the pan of asparagus on bottom rack closest to broiler for about 10 minutes checking a few times and rotating pan.
I took fry pan out of hot oven carefully with mitt and placed on front burner set at med-high and put steaks into pan for a good outer sear.
I like my lamb steak medium rare so cooked on first side for 4 minutes or so then turned to other side for 3 more.
Plates were finished with organic micro greens drizzled with touch of organic goddess dressing.
We sipped on sparkling pomegranate juice (on a detox right now) which went well with the whole meal.
Have to say it was one of the easier things I have ever made and was so delicious.
My sweetie thought so too:)

I sure do love me some Paula Deen y'all!

I know I haven't made a post in a long while on here but was just watching Paula Deen's Home Cooking and today's theme was Southern Style. She made Country Ox-Tails and Okra laced Hoe Cakes.
I simply had to run to FN's website to snag the recipes. I adore oxtails and the hoe cakes look positively scrummy so why not share the wealth? As Paula says, the oxtails are "just as tender as your Mother-In-Law's love"- haha- she says this is a Southern saying. Must be a Georgia thang!

Country Ox-Tails

3 pounds oxtails
House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 can beef broth
1 cup red wine
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
6 cloves garlic, large ones cut in 1/2
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2 Vidalia onion, cut into 6 wedges
6 small new red potatoes, cut in 1/2
4 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths
1 pot hot buttered rice
Preheat oven to 300 to 350 degrees F.

Sprinkle the oxtails liberally with House Seasoning on both sides.

Coat the bottom of a heavy oven-proof Dutch oven with the olive oil. Once heated, add the oxtails and sear on all sides. Remove and set aside. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the beef broth, red wine, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic cloves. Stir. Add basil, oregano, bay leaves, hot sauce and tomato sauce, stir to combine all ingredients together.

Cover tightly, place in oven, and bake for 2 to 3 hours.

Remove from oven and bring to a simmer on stove top. Add the sweet onion wedges, red potatoes, garlic and carrots to the pot. Cover and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, roughly 15 minutes.

Serve oxtails with the vegetables over hot buttered rice.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Okra Laced Hoecakes

Nonstick butter spray
2 cups all-purpose cornmeal
2 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sliced, about 1/8-inch, thin rounds okra
Vegetable oil
ButterSpray pan with a nonstick butter spray, heat griddle to medium-high, so it gets hot.

Mix together the cornmeal, water, and salt, and allow mixture to sit for a few minutes. The batter should be very thin. Add sliced okra and stir together.

Reduce heat to no higher than medium. Add 3 tablespoons vegetable oil and pour batter into center of griddle, allowing it to spread to sides. The "lace" will form a crispy edge.

*Cook's Note: Use the "inverted plate on top" technique to flip hoecake.

* When the edges are slightly brown, place a wet glass plate over the hoecake. With a dishcloth, grab the handle of the pan, flip the pan and hoecake onto the plate. Slide the hoecake off the plate back in the pan to cook the other side, until golden brown.

Stir the batter and add oil to the pan before making your next hoecake. Serve with butter.

(recipes from Food Network's website)