Red Beans and Rice

Continuing with my cajun kick, I made Red Beans and Rice today.  My mom's cousin, Bob, gave me this recipe and he credited Emeril with it.  You can find Emeril's original recipe here.  Bob had altered it just slightly, and naturally, I altered it more.

Due to time constraints, I typically make a double batch of Zatarain's Red Beans and Rice and add andouille sausage.  While more "authentic" red beans and rice has a red bean thick sauce poured over white rice, we like it all mixed together like Zatarain's, so that's what I did.  Feel free to make your rice separately if you like.  If you do, I'd subtract one cup of water from this recipe.

1 pound dried red beans, rinsed and sorted over, or 5 cans of red beans
3 tablespoons of bacon grease
1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
3/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon (2 if you like it hot!) cayenne pepper
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons fresh thyme
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
1/2 lb andouille sausage, split in half lengthwise and cut into pieces
2 smoked ham hocks
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
7 cups water/chicken stock (I used water and added some chicken bullion)
minute rice

Place the beans in a large bowl of pot and cover with water by 2 inches.  Let soak 8 hours or overnight. Drain and set aside. If you use canned beans, skip this step, but be sure to drain the beans anyway.

In a large pot, heat bacon grease over medium-high heat.  Add onions, celery, and bell peppers to the grease. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and cook, stirring, until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes.  Add bay leaves, parsley, thyme, Cajun seasoning, sausage, and ham hocks, and cook, stirring, to brown the sausage and ham hocks, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about a minute.  Add the beans and stock/water, stir well and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender and starting to thicken, at least 2 hours (the longer the better!).  If it gets too thick, you can add water, 1/4 cup at a time.

After about 2 hours, remove ham hocks.  Let them cool enough that you can handle them. Cut through the skin and fat. Remove and chop ham from hocks and return to pot.

With a spoon smash some of the beans against the side of the pot.  This will help thicken and make it more "creamy."

Finally, add 1 1/2- 2 cups minute rice.  Put the lid on, and remove from heat.  After 10 minutes, stir and serve!

Serve with hot sauce (if that's your thing!)

This was SO good.  I definitely liked it better than the box mixes I typically make, but it does take quite a bit of time.  The good news is that this is a pretty big batch so it makes leftovers.  Cajun is always better the next day!

Drunken Chicken

This is the latest edition to my cajun repertoire. I made my first visit to J. Gumbo's while I was in Evansville Christmas shopping.  The Drunken Chicken was fantastic.  I had to recreate it.  I looked at a couple different recipes online, took bits and pieces from them and came up with this.  This requires some morning work, and then it can cook the remainder of the way in a crockpot.

2.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
3 tablespoons oil or butter (depending on how healthy of a mood you are in)
1/2 cup flour
2 (15 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 bottle of beer (I used Bud Light)
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon molasses
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon file powder (you can find this with the seafood boil seasonings)
1 teaspoon paprika
4 bay leaves

To start, heat oil or butter, add flour and make a roux by stirring constantly for at least 20 minutes.  Wait until the mix starts turning darker, just a bit darker than peanut butter.  When it reaches this stage, add everything else but the chicken.  Stir well.

Put chicken in crockpot.  Pour mixture over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
When you're almost ready to eat, remove bay leaves and shred chicken using two forks.
Serve over rice.

Turkey (Carcass) Sausage Gumbo

Yum! What a delicious sounding name for a soup, right?!  Every year for Thanksgiving, my dad Cajun deep frys a turkey.  It literally PAINS me to throw away the turkey carcass after getting every single last bit of turkey off of it because of all the delicious seasonings that are being thrown out. Pains me.

Enter Turkey (Carcass) Sausage Gumbo.  This is a time consuming recipe, I'll be honest.  Probably best suited for a lazy Sunday at home.  It makes quite a bit, but luckily it can be frozen. I'm going out on a limb and assuming any turkey carcass you'll be using WON'T be a cajun seasoned turkey, so I've adjusted this recipe accordingly by adding Cajun seasoning. Just for you! :)

Turkey (Carcass) Sausage Gumbo
Stock
1 turkey carcass
12 cups of water
1 large celery rib with leaves
3 large carrots
1 large onion
1 bay leaf

Soup
1/2 cup of canola oil
1 cup flour
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 lb andouille sausage, sliced
4 cups leftover turkey,  in bitesized pieces
Okra (I used a bag of frozen okra)
Salt, to taste
Cajun Seasoning, to taste
Hot Sauce

Put turkey carcass in a large stockpot, add water, cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer.  Skim off any foam after 20 minutes. Meanwhile cut celery and carrots into large chunks. Cut onion into large wedges.  Add vegetables, a few pinches of salt and the bay leaf.  Simmer for 2-3 hours.  Strain stock into another pot. Discard veggies and bones.

At this point, you can stop and freeze the stock if you like.  If you'd like to continue on with the gumbo...

Make a roux with the oil and flour. (Heat oil over medium heat, gradually add flour, stirring constantly, until it turns a deep brown, about 30 minutes).  Add the celery, onion, and bell pepper.  This will turn into a gloppy (technical term) mess.  It will all clump together.  Keep stirring for another 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir for another couple minutes.

Add about 3 soup ladles of the hot stock to the roux.  Stir until blended.  Add one ladle at a time until it's well blended.  Add remaining stock. Increase heat until it reaches a boil.  Meanwhile, brown sausage in a pan.  When stock begins to boil, reduce heat, add sausage, okra, Cajun seasoning, and salt, and simmer for 2-3 hours.  Add turkey at the end.  Serve over rice and with hot sauce!

Ham & Beans

I've made ham and beans a number of times, but I'm pretty sure this time I perfected the recipe.  It's a great Sunday afternoon recipe.  It requires a lot of time to simmer but, trust me, it's worth it!

2 Tbsp vegetable oil
3 ham hocks (I had the best luck finding these at Walmart. They came in a package of 3 and were pre-smoked. Pre-smoked is highly recommended for this recipe!)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 bag (mine was 1 lb 4 oz) of Great Northern Beans
Pepper
8 cups water
Chicken bullion
Hot sauce
Salt

Sort beans.  Throw away any shriveled ones or any small rocks that made it into the bag.  Soak in water over night in a large bowl.

The next day, heat oil in dutch oven or soup pot.  Add ham hocks.  The point here is to draw some of the fat and grease out of the ham hocks.  Sounds delish, right?  After about 5 minutes, remove ham hocks and set to the side.  Add onion and fresh ground pepper to the same pot.  Be generous with the pepper! Saute for 3-4 minutes.  Add garlic. Saute another minute.  Add beans (be sure to rinse after soaking them!) Saute for 3 minutes.

Add water and hot sauce.  I added just a little bit of chicken bullion powder for taste.  This is completely optional, it would still be great without it.  Another option is to do half water, half chicken broth.

Bring this to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer.  After 2-3 hours, remove ham hocks, cut through the outer layer of skin and fat and keep the ham.  Return ham to pot.

To thicken, remove a few ladles of beans and mash.  Return to pot. Salt to taste.  Remember ham is very salty, so it may not need any additional salt.  Be sure to taste it first!

From this point you can go ahead and eat, or continue to simmer until you're ready!

Serve with corn bread and other desired toppings.  It doesn't need it, but I add ketchup to mine.  That's how I ate it growing up.  David adds hot sauce.  Let me know if you grew up with different add-ons to a a bowl of ham and beans.  I might be willing to give it a try!

Jessica's Chili

It's soup season.  I love making a pot of soup.  Some of my favorites are chicken tortilla soup, black bean taco soup and, of course, chili.  This recipe is my own.  Bits and pieces taken from here and there until I was satisfied.  Here it is!

2 lbs ground meat (turkey/bison/beef)

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15 oz) can pinto beans

1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans

1 (15 oz) can black beans

1 (12) bottle of beer (are you really surprised?)

1 (14.5 oz) can beef broth

1 (6 oz can) tomato paste

1 (4.5) can chopped green chilies (I only use half of the can)

1 can diced tomatoes

2 Tbsp chili powder

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground red pepper

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp hot sauce

Optional garnish: Shredded cheese, chopped onion, sour cream, parsley

Start cooking chopped onions over medium heat, after 4 minutes add garlic, after another minute, add ground meat.  Cook until meat is cooked and onion is tender.  Drain and return to soup pot.  Drain and rinse canned beans.  Seriously.  Have you ever touched canned beans? They're slimy and gross and should never be added to anything before being rinsed off. Add beans to pot. Add remaining ingredients except option garnishes.  Bring all to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer 2-3 hours or until thickened.

Add desired garnishes.  Serve with cornbread/crackers and enjoy!