Jambalaya

 

     Jambalaya is comfort food with an attitude!  I love this crowd pleasing Cajun special with a light beer such as a Corona.  This is a fun meal to make too, and mine never comes out the same twice.  Guidelines are all you'll need to make up a great variation of this meal to call your own.  I'll get you started with what I use, how I use it and when I add it.  For example, the shrimp only take a few minutes, so they go in last.  The kielbasa, on the other hand, it cooks slowly from the beginning and adds flavor as we go.  You may want to use beer rather than wine, or seafood stock rather than chicken stock.  Which, by the way, I would have used if I had it in on hand.  Hot peppers?  Brown rice?  Sure, it will work.  You can own this dish.  I must apologize for this posting if it sounds a bit forced.  I wanted to add to my blog this week, but time has been short as my second grandson was just born and the whole gang is living with us until their house is built.  It has been crazy.

     Next week will be a fun post as I'm going to a great friends house, Dave Sampson, and we are going to make kielbasa sandwiches.  I'll try to stay sober enough to blog the event for you!  Also, up-and-coming, are Utica Greens.  I actually had a request for this from my cousin's wife in Colorado.  If you're not from Central New York, you're in for a treat.  On to the Jambalaya!

     Missing from picture is ketchup

     Ingredients-

32oz Seafood or Chicken Broth

1/2 Stick Salted Butter

2 Can Chopper Tomatoes with Chilies

Tomatoes Paste

4 Cloves of Garlic

1 Large Onion

2 Bell Peppers 

1 1/2 cups of White Rice

Kielbasa 

Fresh Shrimp- cleaned with veins removed

Red Cooking Wine

Worcester Sauce

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Red Pepper Flakes

Fresh Parsley

Olive Oil

Scallions

     I start this dish by opening a beer, then I chop the celery, bell peppers and onion.  Melt about 1/2 stick of butter in a deep large fry pan, or an electric skillet works great.  Toss in the chopped vegetables and season them generously with kosher salt, black pepper, and hot pepper flakes to your taste.  Yes your taste, or whomever you're making this for.  Drizzle with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and start simmering over medium heat.  Add some red wine and reduce by about half.

     While that's working, I mince the garlic and cut the kielbasa into 1/2 inch slabs.  Don't forget to mix the vegetables occasionally as they cook, and remember you have a beer open.  Cooking should be fun and relaxing; beer is a catalyst for this event.  Now add the kielbasa, rice and garlic.  As always, I must remind you not to burn the garlic.  Nothing will make a dish more bitter than burnt garlic.  I like to have the rice in there early so it actually fries for a bit to give it more flavor.  Keep mixing and as the flavors combine the resulting smell is better than any silly candle burning.

     Taste often as you go adding more salt and pepper if needed.  You may even want more heat, so have the hot pepper flakes ready.  If the dish looks too dry, hit it with more olive oil.  This is not exact and you don't want it to be.  You're having fun creating a wonderful dish.  Oops, I forgot to add a healthy drizzle of Worcester sauce.  Do it now.

     One last intense flavor I want is tomato paste.  Be generous and stir that in.

     Now that all the ingredients are enjoying each other's company we need moisture.  I start with two cans of chopped tomatoes and chilies.  The rice will thank you as it quickly sucks up the moisture and looks for more.  As you simmer and stir the dish, add enough stock to keep it very wet.  I cover it for a few minutes then open it up to mix the dish, making certain nothing is sticking to the bottom.  This gets harder as the rice softens and nears completion.  At this point, we are so busy even your beer might feel neglected.

     Now for the big finish.  When the rice is cooked just right, taste the dish.  Checking for salt, pepper, heat and anything else that might be off.  I found mine needed some sweetness added.  I used a bit of ketchup to balance the final flavor.  Now with the flavor right, make certain there is just a bit more moisture than you want for the finished look.  Toss in your cleaned shrimp.  Fold them in uncovered and stir them within the dish as they will only take a few minutes to turn pink.  The rice will take in that extra moisture in a flash, and you're ready to serve. 

     Top your jambalaya with chopped scallions.  I had a cheddar cheese biscuit with it as my side. Enjoy!

Shrimp & Crab Bisque

     I love a great bisque soup.  For myself, soup can be the entire meal, but a good bisque is a fancy intro for a number of meals.  When friends and family are over, meals become an event for me.  Salads work good with comfort meals where pasta is the show, but when meats and starches are given their own identities, I like to introduce them with a soup.  For example, serve this bisque to guests before a meal of surf and turf with a twice baked potato.  That's a meal they'll not soon forget!

     This creamy French favorite is best served with a sturdy bread, not crackers!   What I look for in a bisque is intense flavor with a bit of heat.  The texture should be creamy, yet the ingredient identities should still be intact displaying a bold show of the hosting seafood.  Finally, someone enjoying your bisque should know that there is wine within by the flavor alone.  You don't want the wine to overwhelm the soup, but If you don't taste it then you just made chowder.  This is not chowder!

 

     As usual, the picture is lacking one ingredient.  Onions!  How could I forget the onions?

Ingredients-

1-2 lbs Raw Shrimp

1 lb High Quality Canned or Fresh Cooked Crab Meat

4 cups Seafood Stock

1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream

1 1/2 cup White Wine or Sherry

3/4 Stick Salted Butter

1/4 cup Flour

2 Stalks Celery

1 Big Onion

6 Baby Carrots

1/4 Red Bell Pepper

1/4 Green Bell Pepper

3 Cloves Garlic

Fresh Parsley  

Smoked Paprika

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper

To serve-

Parsley Garnish

French Bread with Butter

Beer

Make it-

     For a bisque soup I usually prepare all ingredient beforehand. The timing of each step is important and you don't want your soup to wait while you're chopping something.  Once the ingredients are prepared this soup is easy and fast to make.  Open a beer, get out the chopping board along with a sharp knife.  Let's get started!

     I start with the shrimp.  Remove shells, veins, and tails, then rinse the shrimp.  I like to cut large shrimp in half, but small shrimp can be left as is.  Toss the shrimp with a bit of kosher salt and pepper before letting them rest.   Grind celery, carrots, onion, and garlic in a small food processor, keeping each ingredient separate.  Chop peppers with a knife to 1/4x1/4 inch pieces.  Mince the parsley with a knife.

     This soup is all made in one large pot on the stove.  Melt your butter and add the carrots, then simmer over medium heat for a few minutes stirring often with a wooden spoon.  This might be a good time to open that second beer.

     Next, add the onion and celery while seasoning with kosher salt and pepper.  Let that simmer several minutes, then add the peppers and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper again while simmering until the vegetables are tender.  You should be tasting your creation for seasoning as you go.  Lower the heat and incorporate the flour, mixing as you add it.  Raise the heat again; add wine and a generous amount of chopped parsley.  Simmer this mix stirring constantly to reduce the wine and intensify the flavor.  

     Reduce heat before adding the seafood stock, heavy cream, 3/4 teaspoon of paprika, and cayenne pepper to taste.  Obviously everything is "to taste" as these are cooking guidelines only, but the cayenne sets the heat of the bisque and that's a very individual taste.  Try to keep the palate of those eating your food in mind when you season it.  Turn the heat up stirring often - bring the mix to gentle boil.  Next, add shrimp. Cook until they turn pink, just a few minutes should do.

     Finally, add the crab meat and bring it to temperature. Then reduce the heat to keep warm.  Serve topped with fresh parsley and a nice French bread with butter.

     This dish goes well with a beer!

     

Texas Style Chili

     Every cooking hack, like myself, thinks they make the best chili in the world.  I don't think any dish lends itself better to weekend cooks and braggarts better than chili does.  We guys love to get in the kitchen and toss manly ingredients into a bucket and see what we get.  Here in the Northeast, it's our winter equivalent to a guy's barbecued chicken.  If you are following my blog then you know these are only cooking guidelines; they are suggestions and ideas.  This approach will allow you to refine my chili to become your famous chili, which will be the best chili you have ever had.  I made this chili at our first annual Post Christmas Chili Off!  At the time of this entry, I don't know how I'll do, but I am always overconfident.  I have some general info on all the other chili recipes in this competition, and they each incorporate beans.  This is a common ingredient of local chili recipes, but my choice is a bold move against the local palate. This recipe is a classic Texas chili with no beans.   The recipe you're about to read is a combination of various other chili recipes and cooking methods combined to make it my Texas chili.

     Now on to the recipe!

   
     There are three things missing from the above picture.   First is the beer that I usually enjoy while preparing food, second is sour cream, and finally cornbread mix.  The beer is absent because I prepared this meal in the morning for our afternoon chili off contest and I try not to drink before 12:00 pm.  As the chili cooked down, I realized it needed thickening.  As cornbread is a great side for chili why not use cornbread mix to thicken the chili.  Of course, I made the remainder to go with this dish.  Finally, the heat of my chili suggested a bit of dairy, thus the sour cream at serving.

Ingredients-

2 1/2 to 3 lbs Beef Chuck

2 Onions

4 Garlic Cloves

1 1/2 cups Beef Stock

2 Chipotle Chilies in Adobe Sauce

2 Small Cans Mild Chili Peppers

2 10 oz cans Chopped Tomatoes with Chili Peppers

1/3-1/2 cup Brown Sugar

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Chili Powder

Cumin

Cilantro 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Worcester Sauce

2 tablespoons Cornbread Mix

To serve-

Cornbread

Chopped Scallions

Sour Cream

Pickled Jalapenos

Let's make it-

     First I trimmed the meat of most fat while chopping it into 1"x 1" cubes.  Next, the meat is seasoned with kosher salt, pepper and cilantro.  Let it stand for a few minutes.

I sautéd the beef in an electric skillet over medium high heat in a few teaspoons of olive oil.  While the meet is simmering, add at least half the brown sugar.  Cook until browned and the sugar is carmeling a bit then remove from pan with a slotted spoon, leaving the juices behind.

      While that was cooking, I chopped 2 onions fine and seasoned them with kosher salt, pepper and cilantro.  After the beef was out, I added the onions to the beef juices and simmered them until they were soft.  While the onions simmered I minced 4 cloves of garlic and 2 chipotle peppers. 

     Add the minced garlic stirring constantly and reduce the heat a bit to prevent burning of the garlic.  After a few minutes add the chipotle peppers, seeds, sauce and all.  Stir well, to break the peppers up and blend them into the mix.  After a minute or two add 2 cans of chopped chilis.  After a bit more simmering, add the rest- 2 cans of chopped tomatoes with chilis, 1 teaspoon cumin,  2-3 heaped tablespoons of chili powder, a splash of Worcester sauce, 1 cup of beef stock and the remaining brown sugar.  Simmer this for about 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Be certain to gently scrape the bottom of the pan while stirring as flavorful sugars are hiding there.

     Transfer your mix and the beef to a slow cooker to simmer on high for about 4 hours.  After that time, mix 2 heaped tablespoons of cornbread mix with 1/2 cup of beef stock and add this to the slow cooker to thicken the chili.  Reduce heat to low and cook another hour or so before serving.  

This picture is prior to "cooking down".  The final chili should have a dark, rich, homogeneous look, as the ingredients have melted and blend together.

     Serve with a sprinkle of chopped scallions, a few pickled jalapeños, a glob of sour cream, and cornbread.

                                                 Don't forget the beer!

     How did the contest end?   Everyone was surprised by the lack of beans and they were a bit skeptical until they tasted it.  The chili eaters loved it; my Barbie, who has a 10 year old's palate, hated it.  That alone told me it was the winner.  There were compliments for all the chili recipes and anyone of them alone would have been a smash at a party.  Still no formal winner was announced as we wanted to avoid a drunken brawl, but I'm going to publish this recipe. So who do you think won?  Keeping in mind the theme of my blog, we all think we won, of course.  Try it and you'll have a winner.

Mexican Chicken Corn Chowder

           As this is my first recipe on this blog, let me introduce myself.  My name is Joseph Chubbuck and I live in a small Central New York community that is surprisingly rich with culinary variety and flavor.  Well represented are a number of heritages that include- German, Polish, Italian, Irish, and most recently Mexican.  All of these people brought a treasure of foods and flavors to our region.

           What is my flavor preference?  It's simple,  I like spicy and fully flavored foods of any background.  My spin on a comfort food like corn chowder meets and exceeds that criteria with a savory dish of complex flavor.  Complex, when compared to basic corn chowder.

          My style of cooking will exclude type "A" people immediately.  I will be giving you "cooking guidelines" only, and the lack of  concise instruction may limit my followers.   I do this because "your corn chowder" should taste better to you than mine does.  You know what you like and how you like it.  I'm here to inspire "your" Mexican Corn Chowder, or whatever dish my chowder inspires in you.  I encourage you to take everything I say "with a grain of salt," it's the way I do it or I make it, that hardly makes it the best.  Though I know it is! 

          I enjoy food, family and friends.  As a side note- I love to drink and my wife of 28 years, Barbara, keeps me out of trouble as best she can.  I like to think that our guests always feel welcome with a full glass and a plate of great food.  Nothing raises my spirits more than watching someone truly enjoying a dish that I have made.  So on with the recipe!

     Note: there are 3 beers in above picture (next to them is a bottle of white cooking wine)

Ingredients-

3 Chicken Breast

6 Red Potatoes

2 Medium Red Onions

1 Bag Sweet Corn

2 Small Cans Chopped Chiles

1/2 Stick Salted Butter

3/4 Quart Heavy Cream

1/2 Red Bell Pepper

1/2 Green Bell Pepper

Fresh Garlic

Kosher Salt

Black Pepper

Hot Red Pepper Flakes

Parsley

Deep Fry Pan

Slow Cooker

3 Mexican Beers (for your cooking pleasure and to help in timing)

White wine for cooking

Scallions to garnish

Enjoy more beer if you like!

How to-

     Chop chicken breast into cubes about 3/4" x 3/4".  Toss with kosher salt, black pepper and parsley.  Sauté in 1/2 stick of butter over medium heat while covered - stirring as needed.  Don't over cook as the chicken will get tough.  

     As the dish sautes, peel and chop the potatoes into 1/2" x 1/2" cubes.  Toss the potatoes with kosher salt, black pepper, and parsley.  Microwave the potatoes, covered, for about 6 minutes or until soft.

     Remove the cooked chicken with a slotted spoon and leave the remaining juices in the fry pan to continue cooking with.  Chop 2 red onions, 1/2 red bell, and 1/2 green bell into fine pieces.  Mince garlic and set aside.  

      By this point, you should have your first beer under your belt. If not, that's ok too.

     Add the onions and peppers to the liquids in the fry pan.  Season with kosher salt, black pepper, parsley and hot red pepper flakes.  Sauté over medium heat, without a cover, until onions are soft.  Add garlic and fold into mixture.  Take care not to burn the garlic as it will get bitter.

     While this is going on, toss the corn with kosher salt, black pepper and parsley.  Microwave covered for about 4 minutes.

     Add the 2 small cans of chiles to the pan, the cooked sweet corn, and a good splash of white wine.  Simmer this for several swigs of beer, stirring constantly to reduce and sweeten the wine. You should be finishing up that second beer by now - drinking at a casual pace, not a guzzle. 

     Just a note-  you should be constantly tasting each stage of cooking for seasoning. For example-you should taste a potatoe after microwaving, if you need more salt add more while cooking the peppers and onions.  If your potatoes are too salty back off on the peppers and onions as the potatoes will add salt later on when we assemble the dish.

     To finish this dish we add the contents of our fry pan to the slow cooker.  To that we add the potatoes and about 3/4 a quart of heavy cream.  Toss well and turn slow cooker to medium.

     Serve anytime - as the dish is ready once the ingredients are mixed in the slow cooker.  They do get better as the starch from the potatoes thicken the dish and the flavors blend. To me, it tastes the best after an hour or so.  Serve with a garnish of fresh scallions, bread with butter, and a fine beer.  Enjoy!