Daring Cooks May 2011: Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.



I made the Chicken and Smoked Sausage Gumbo and wow what a taste! It's incredible! This was my first go at making gumbo and I have to say I was terrified of cooking the roux for so long but I managed not to burn it. I couldn't get all of the ingredients so had to substitute a few. I used chorizo and bacon for the sausages and I couldn't find file powder at all, but despite that it was truly delicious if not authentic!

Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo
Minimally adapted from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh
Serves 10-12

Ingredients

1 cup (240 ml) (230 gm) rendered chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) flour
2 large onions, diced
1 chicken (3 ½ to 4 lbs.), cut into 10 pieces
2 tablespoons (30 ml) (15 gm) (½ oz) Basic Creole Spices (recipe follows), or store-bought Creole spice blend
2 pounds (2 kilograms) spicy smoked sausage, sliced ½ inch (15mm) thick
2 stalks celery, diced
2 green bell peppers (capsicum), seeded and diced
1 tomato, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Leaves from 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
3 quarts (3 liters) Basic Chicken Stock (recipe follows), or canned chicken stock
2 bay leaves
6 ounces (175 gm) andouille sausage, chopped
2 cups (480 ml) (320 gm) (11 oz) sliced fresh okra, ½ -inch (15mm) thick slices (or frozen, if fresh is not available)
1 tablespoon (15 ml) Worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Filé powder, to taste
Tabasco, to taste
4-6 cups (1 – 1½ liters) (650 gm – 950 gm) cooked Basic Louisiana White Rice (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Prepare homemade chicken stock, if using (recipe below).
2. Prepare homemade Basic Creole Spices, if using (recipe below).
3. Season the chicken pieces with about 2 tablespoons of the Creole Spices while you prepare the vegetables.



4. Make sure all of your vegetables are cut, diced, chopped, minced and ready to go before beginning the roux. You must stand at the stove and stir the roux continuously to prevent it from burning.



5. In a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pan, heat the chicken fat, duck fat, or canola oil over high heat. Whisk the flour into the hot oil – it will start to sizzle. Reduce the heat to moderate, and continue whisking until the roux becomes deep brown in color, about 15 minutes.
6. Add the onions. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir the onions into the roux. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Continue stirring until the roux becomes a glossy dark brown, about 10 minutes.



7. Add the chicken to the pot; raise the heat to moderate, and cook, turning the pieces until slightly browned, about 10 minutes.
8. Add the sliced smoked sausage and stir for about a minute.
9. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic, and continue stirring for about 3 minutes.



10. Add the thyme, chicken stock, and bay leaves. Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring occasionally.
11. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, skimming off the fat from the surface of the gumbo every so often.
12. Add the chopped andouille, okra, and Worcestershire. Season with salt and pepper, several dashes of filé powder, and Tabasco, all to taste.
13. Simmer for another 45 minutes, continuing to skim the fat from the surface of the gumbo. Remove the bay leaves and serve in bowls over rice. Pass more filé powder at the table if desired.

New York

I'm sorry this has been so sporadic recently, bear with me for a month or so until things hopefully settle down. I am so behind that this is actually from the beginning of April! I went to New York for about 4 days and we had some really good food and some not so great food. Although the guy in the diner where we ate breakfast almost every morning did bring us the right drinks without us having to order on the last day! Here are a couple of the highlights:

The first is an amazing apple pie we had for dessert at Rue 57 on the corner of W57th Street and 6th Avenue. We were expecting just a bog standard slice of apple pie but this was something else! Almost a whole apple thinly slice, caramelized on a filo base with vanilla ice cream. So good!



The second is my Mum's Jumbo Shrimp Risotto at Sarabeth's, 40 Central Park South, between 5th and 6th. This looked delicious and the prawn sticking up made us all giggle!



I also spent a lot of time in Borders bookshops, which were closing down, stocking up on culinary mysteries! I came home with 30 books and my suitcase only weighed 15kg!

Spanish Rice with Seafood

Wow, OK so I haven't updated in almost a month. Things have been pretty hectic. I start my new job in three weeks, so am wrapping things up at my current job and I'm currently in the middle of doing two essays due in at the beginning of May, not much time for proper cooking or blogging.

I also had a major disaster a couple of weeks ago, my oven broke, it started sparking when I was cooking fishcakes and I haven't been brave enough to turn it on again since. So I'm ovenless! Despite this I have found plenty of hob top meals to make. The first of these being a sort of paella dish. It was unfortunately a bit bland and I think it could have done with a bit of paprika to spice things up, but not too bad.



Spanish Rice with Seafood (adapted from Olive Magazine May 2010)
(Serves 2)

1 onion, sliced
1 pepper, cut into chunks
olive oil
150g paella rice
pinch saffron
400ml chicken stock, hot
125g cooked mixed seafood
1 lemon, halved
small bunch parsley, chopped

Cook the onion and pepper in 2 tbsp olive oil in a wide, shallow pan until softened. Stir in the rice until coated in all the oils. Stir the saffron into the stock then add to the pan and stir well. Put on a lid and cook for 15 minutes until the rice is tender and the stock absorbed.

Stir in the seafood until heated through completely, then squeeze over lemon and toss through the parsley.

Sizzling Salmon with Bean Mash

I have a new job! I will start as a Librarian at a school in North London in August, my first professional post. I am really looking forward to it and the challenges that it will bring. It's very different from what I am doing now, but there are still archives to play with and I'm looking forward to teaching library and research skills to the girls. This was delicious. I loved the bean mash and will definitely be making it again, it was a nice alternative to potatoes. It looks from the picture as though I burnt the salmon but it wasn't! The picture has just come out very dark!



Sizzling Salmon with Bean Mash (from Good Food magazine May 2002)
(Serves 4)

4 skinless salmon fillets
1 lime
3 tbsp clear honey
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
3 cans butter beans, rinsed
25g butter
5 tbsp crème fraîche
1 garlic clove, crushed
100g bag rocket

Set the grill to its highest setting.

Put the salmon fillets flesh-side up and evenly spaced in a shallow flameproof dish.

Finely grate the zest of the lime into a bowl, then squeeze in the juice and stir in the honey, mustard and a good sprinkling of salt.

Pour the mixture over the salmon and grill, without turning, for 5-6 minutes until it's golden on top and cooked through (check the centre with a fork).

Meanwhile, tip the beans into a saucepan and add the butter, crème fraîche, garlic and plenty of salt and pepper. Turn the heat on to moderate and coarsely mash everything together - a wooden spoon or a masher will do the job - until hot and bubbling. This only takes a few minutes as the beans are already cooked.

Tip in the rocket and stir into the mash until it's hot and just wilted. Serve the salmon on the mash, drizzled with the cooking juices

Hummus, Avocado, Rocket and Cherry Tomato Sandwich

This is not really a recipe, so much as a sandwich that I came up with whilst scrounging in the fridge for something to eat! I love hummus and would eat it whenever I could if I let myself! This was really tasty, so I thought I'd share. It would be even better with homemade hummus rather than store bought.

Hummus, Avocado, Rocket and Cherry Tomato Sandwich

2 slices wholemeal bread

1 small avocado, sliced

5/6 cherry tomatoes, halved

handful rocket

2/3 tbsp hummus

Lightly toast the bread. Spread the hummus on one slice of the bread and put the avocado, cherry tomatoes and rocket on top and then put the other slice of bread on top.

Grilled Pork with Lemon and Thyme Barley

The barley is really the star with this dish. I've never tried pearl barley before but I am interested in trying lots of grains to add more fibre to my diet. One of my friends used to eat it a lot and said it was really good, so I thought I'd try it. This dish was delicious, I love lemon anyway so it's perfect for me. I added some old bay seasoning to the pork which complemented the barley amazingly.



Grilled Pork with Lemon and Thyme Barley (from Good Food Magazine March 2011)
(Serves 4)

4 pork medallions
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves , crushed
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 small onion , finely chopped
1 tsp coriander seeds
200g pearl barley
600ml hot chicken stock
4 lemon thyme sprigs, leaves only
100g bag baby spinach
juice and zest 1 lemon

Place the pork in a shallow dish and add the vinegar and garlic, turning to make sure they're evenly covered. Leave at room temperature for 10 mins. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and cook the onion and coriander seeds for 3-4 mins until softened.

Add the barley and cook for 1 min in the oil, then add the stock and thyme. Bring to the boil, cover then simmer for 30-35 mins until the barley is tender and the liquid absorbed.

Transfer the pork to a grill pan and cook under a hot grill for 5 mins on each side until nicely browned and cooked through. Stir the spinach, zest and juice into the barley and spoon onto plates. Serve with the grilled pork.

New Potato and Smoked Haddock Crush

I seem to have a lot of smoked fish in my freezer at the moment and I am coming up with different ways to use it rather than just making kedgeree. I came across this recipe in Good Food and it looked simple enough to make on a work day evening and tasty as well. It was and very easy and quick to make. I used parsley instead of chives but it worked just as well.



New Potato and Smoked Haddock Crush (adapted from Good Food Magazine May 2007)
(Serves 4)

500g new potatoes, scrubbed if muddy
6 garlic cloves, peeled, but left whole
300g undyed smoked haddock, skinned
full-fat milk
4 tbsp olive oil
small bunch chives, finely chopped

Halve the potatoes if large. Tip into a pan of boiling salted water with the garlic, simmer for about 20 mins until they are on the brink of collapse, then drain. Meanwhile, cover the haddock with milk. Bring to a simmer, then poach the fish slowly for 5 mins until it flakes easily. Drain fish, but reserve the milk.

While everything is still warm, crush the potatoes and garlic with a masher. Flake and mix in the fish, add 2 tbsp of the poaching milk and 3 tbsp olive oil, then mix well - you should have a loose, rich mash. Taste for seasoning. Stir in the chives and serve.

Daring Cooks March 2011: Peruvian Dishes

Kathlyn of Bake Like a Ninja was our Daring Cooks’ March 2011 hostess. Kathlyn challenges us to make two classic Peruvian dishes: Ceviche de Pescado from “Peruvian Cooking – Basic Recipes” by Annik Franco Barreau. And Papas Rellenas adapted from a home recipe by Kathlyn’s Spanish teacher, Mayra.

This is something I would never have thought of eating let alone trying to make. I have seen ceviche before was worried about the whole idea of cooking in acidic liquid, but actually this turned out really tasty and flavourful. The papas rellenas, I had never heard of before but they were really interesting to make and I had to semi deep fry again, hurrah! I did it and again it was not as scary as I thought! I made the vegetarian version as I don't like mince and used black beans and bulgar instead of tempeh and quinoa, mostly because I already had the first two in the house. These were really tasty as well and I ended up making three of them with lots of filling left over, so I've frozen them for another day.



Cheviche de Pescado (Fish Ceviche):

2 lbs. (about 1 kg) firm white fish (scallops or other seafood may be substituted)*
2 garlic cloves, mashed
1 chili pepper, minced (I recommend Aji if you can find it, but Jalapeno or other peppers can sub)
1 cup (240 ml) freshly squeezed lime juice (between 8-12 limes)
Fresh juice only, no bottled. Can use lemons in lieu of limes.
1 tablespoon (15 ml) (4 grams) (1/8 oz) fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Garnish:
1 large sweet potato
1 large ear of corn
Lettuce leaves

Boil sweet potato and corn (separately) if using for garnish. Allow to cool. (Can be done hours or even a day in advance)

Wash and trim your fish. Slice into pieces between ½ inch (15 mm) cubes to 2 inch (50mm) pieces, depending on taste.**

Place fish in a non-reactive, shallow pan in a thin layer. Season with salt and pepper.

Combine lime juice, chili pepper, coriander and garlic. Pour mixture over fish. Stir lightly to expose all the fish to some of the lime juice mixture.

Put sliced onion on top of fish as it “cooks”

Let fish stand for 10 minutes.*** Lift fish out of the lime juice and plate individual portions ,**** garnishing with lettuce, slices of sweet potato and slices or kernels of corn if using.



* It is important to use high quality, really fresh fish. You can use previously frozen (I’ve been using it because I am too cheap to buy this much sashimi grade fish), but it’s not as good. The better your fish, the better your ceviche.

** The fish is going to “cook” in the lime juice – how thick you make the pieces will determine how much the fish cooks, so keep your own preference in mind when you are cutting the fish up.

*** I have looked at recipes all over the interwebs for ceviche, and they all have different “cooking” times – I am going with 10 minutes because that’s what my Peruvian cookbook says. While I was in Lima, all the ceviche I ate was just barely white, and basically raw. I may cause a raging debate about ceviche by saying this, but I think that is most traditional. However, you can thoroughly cook the fish by letting it sit much longer – a few hours or even overnight. When I did this, it made the fish taste of nothing but lime and it was a bit rubbery, so it’s not what I would recommend.

**** The portions can vary; personally I prefer to have ceviche as I mostly ate it in Lima – as a starter, in a fairly small portion. It’s very light and a lovely way to start off before eating something else. You can also eat a full meal portion of it if you want – I think that’s too much, but if you love it, don’t let my taste stop you!



Papas Rellenas (vegetarian/vegan):
Makes 6

Ingredients
For the dough:
5 pounds (2¼ kg) (3 large – 4 medium) russet potatoes
½ cup (120 ml) (75 gm) (2 ⅔ oz) cornstarch (called corn flour in some countries)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (6 gm) (1/5 oz) salt, or to taste
Lots of pepper

For the filling:
1 cup (240 ml) (150 gm) (5⅓ oz) diced onion (any color)
4 cloves garlic
½ chili pepper (Aji recommended)
1 teaspoon (5 ml) (4 gm) (1/8 oz) ground cumin
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) (2 gm) (1/16 oz) sweet paprika
1 cup (240 ml) (115 gm) (4 oz) cremini mushrooms, small dice
½ package tempeh, thin cut and quasi crumbled (Or you can use cooked black beans)
½ cup (120 ml) (90 gm) (3 oz) raisins, soaked in 1 cup (240 ml) boiling water for 10 minutes, then minced
1 handful spinach
1 cup (240 ml) (185 gm) (6½ oz) quinoa (Or you can use another cooked grain, like buckwheat)
¼ c. white wine, water or beef stock for deglazing
Salt and pepper to taste

For the final preparation:
1 large egg, beaten (for vegetarian version) OR egg replacer equivalent to one large egg (for vegan version)
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) all-purpose flour
Dash cayenne pepper
Dash salt
1 cup dry (240 ml) (110 gm) (4 oz) or fresh (240 ml) (60 gm) (2 oz) bread crumbs (you can use regular, panko, make your own or use store-bought)

Oil for frying (enough for 2” (50 mm) in a heavy pan like a medium sized dutch oven)

For the dough:

Boil unpeeled potatoes whole until tender when stuck with a fork. Let potatoes cool.

When potatoes are cooled, peel them and either mash them with a potato masher or force them through a potato ricer (preferred).

Add cornstarch, salt and pepper and knead “dough” thoroughly to ensure that ingredients are well combined and uniformly distributed.



While potatoes are cooling, make filling:

Caramelize onions in olive oil for about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and chili pepper and cook.

Add the cumin and paprika and cook briefly (a few seconds).

Add the mushrooms and cook until soft.

Add tempeh and raisins.

Deglaze the pan with white wine. Add spinach and wilt.

Add the quinoa and season with salt and pepper.

Allow filling to cool before forming “papas.”



Finishing the dough and forming the papas:

Use three small bowls (or other shallow containers) to prepare the papas. In one, combine flour, cayenne and salt. In the second, combine the egg replacer and water. Put bread crumbs in the third.

Flour your hands and scoop up 1/6 of the total dough to make a round pancake with your hands. Make a slight indentation in the middle for the filling.

Spoon a generous amount of filling into the center and then roll the potato closed, forming a smooth, potato-shaped casing around the filling. Repeat will all dough (you should have 6 papas)
Heat 1 ½ - 2 inches (4 – 5 cm) of oil in a pan to about 350 – 375° F (175 - 190°C).

Dip each papa in the three bowls to coat: first roll in flour, then dip in egg replacer, then roll in bread crumbs.

Fry the papas (in batches if necessary) about 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Flip once in the middle of frying to get both sides.



Drain on paper towel and store in a cool oven 200°F (95°C) (gas mark ¼) if frying in batches.



Serve with salsa criolla (or other sauce of preference) immediately

Crepe Suzette

It was pancake day on Tuesday and we made pancakes! I had some of my family round for the evening and my mum brought a fish pie for main course and then we had Crepe Suzette. We didn't do the flaming bit, but the orange butter and cointreau in the batter was delicious, definitely worth making.

Crepe Suzette (adapted from Cordon Bleu Cookery Course)

(Makes about 8 pancakes)

Batter
3 oz plain flour
2 eggs
1/2 pint milk
1 tbsp melted butter or oil
1 tbsp cointreau

Orange Butter
3 oz unsalted butter
6 lumps of sugar
2 oranges
1 tbsp cointreau

Make up the batter. Sift the flour and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl, make a well in the centre and drop in the eggs. Add the milk to the eggs gradually stirring well. When half the milk has been added, beat well and add in the butter or oil and the cointreau. Whisk in the rest of the milk and leave to stand for at least 1/2 hour.

Cream the butter. Rub the sugar cubes over the orange rind until soaked with orange zest and oil. Crush the sugar and add to the butter, working in the cointreau and a little orange juice.

Fry the pancakes paper thin, stack and cover until needed, spread the butter over each pancake, fold in three and arrange overlapping down a fire proof dish. Put in a quick oven for 6 to 7 minutes. Heat a glass of cointreau set light to it and pour flaming over the dish as it comes from the oven.

Greek-Spiced Baked Prawns

I have always been intrigued by baked prawns with tomatoes and feta but never seemed to get around to making them. I finally did a couple of week ago and they were very very tasty and something I will definitely be making again.



Greek-Spiced Baked Prawns (adapted from Gourmet Magazine November 2008)
(Serves 4)

1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon hot red-pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tins chopped tomatoes, drained, reserving juice
Pinch of sugar
1 1/4 pound large peeled and deveined prawns
1/4 pound feta, crumbled (2/3 cup)
2 tablespoons chopped dill

Preheat oven to 190C.

Cook onion and garlic in oil with 1/4 teaspoon salt in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in spices and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Add chopped tomatoes with juice and sugar and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Season shrimp with 1/8 teaspoon salt, then stir into tomato sauce. Transfer to a 2-quart shallow baking dish and top with feta. Bake until just cooked through, 18 to 20 minutes. Serve sprinkled with dill.