Comfort Food From Louisiana: New Orleans Chef Recipe: Jambalaya For A Crowd

Comfort Food From Louisiana: New Orleans Chef Recipe: Jambalaya For A Crowd: From Denny:  Need an easy recipe for a crowd during Mardi Gras season?  Chef John Besh of New Orleans paired with Zatarain's to create this faster version of jambalaya using Zatarain's Dirty Rice mix.  In fact, the famous chef has a lot of great recipes on their site.

What makes jambalaya so tasty is the browning of the chicken and andouille sausage, mixing in the veggies like celery and onion, some liquid (some people like to use chicken stock in place of water) and then the rice to cook in all those tasty seasonings and juices.

It's a fabulous one-pot meal that is easy to make and a real crowd pleaser.

Funny Friday Weekend iPhone 5 Case

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* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new! 

Comfort Food From Louisiana: New Orleans Chef Recipe: Jambalaya For A Crowd

Comfort Food From Louisiana: New Orleans Chef Recipe: Jambalaya For A Crowd: From Denny:  Need an easy recipe for a crowd during Mardi Gras season?  Chef John Besh of New Orleans paired with Zatarain's to create this faster version of jambalaya using Zatarain's Dirty Rice mix.  In fact, the famous chef has a lot of great recipes on their site.

What makes jambalaya so tasty is the browning of the chicken and andouille sausage, mixing in the veggies like celery and onion, some liquid (some people like to use chicken stock in place of water) and then the rice to cook in all those tasty seasonings and juices.

It's a fabulous one-pot meal that is easy to make and a real crowd pleaser.

Funny Friday Weekend iPhone 5 Case

Tell the world how you really feel about coming back to work

* * *  Support Warriors Pearl Foundation - contributing to fund efforts to help homeless female military veterans come home.  Visit Denny Lyon Gifts  @ CafePress.com  -  see what's new!  

Video and Recipe: Whole-wheat creamy fettuccine with chicken sausage, olives and rabe

From Denny: This looked really great! As a pasta lover, I've never quite adjusted to whole wheat noodles. However, one of the toppings that tastes good with the heavier more flavorful whole wheat noodles is anything with spicy tastes like sausage or olives and this recipe has both.

This is a healthy version made with chicken sausage and lots of yummy garlic. Any time you add greens you are addings lots of minerals like calcium to your diet. She's using milk instead of heavy cream like so many fettacine dishes. Whew! Tastes good and fewer calories, works for me. This is a great easy and quick dish for busy parents at the end of a busy work day!

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Whole-wheat creamy fettuccine with sausage, olives and rabe

From: Chef Cat Cora

Serves: 4-6

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 pound fennel or hot light Italian turkey sausage, cut into 1/2-inch slices

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 1 pound fresh whole-wheat fettuccine

• 1/2 pound broccoli rabe, cleaned and rough chopped

• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted (about 1/4 pound)

• 1/4 cup milk

• 1 teaspoon pepperoncini or chili flakes

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

• Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Put water on to boil in a large pot or a pasta pot, fitted with a strainer.

Pour the olive oil into a skillet and set over medium heat. Cook the sausage slices just until they begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Toss the minced garlic into the skillet and cook just until fragrant and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add the broccoli rabe and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. If the water in the pot is boiling, add the fresh pasta to the pot. Cook until al dente, about 5 minutes.

Now add the olives to the skillet. Saute 1 minute, then stir in the milk. Strain the pasta and transfer to a large pasta bowl. Add the olives to the pasta and toss. Season with oregano, pepperoncini, salt and pepper before serving.

Recipe: Seafood Gumbo from a Louisiana Chef

Image by Southern Foodways Alliance via Flickr

Seafood Gumbo

From: Chef Forest Dillemuth


Ingredients:

1 lb Louisiana crawfish tails

1 rabbit (store-bought will work)

1 duck breast (trim any fat and again, store-bought will work)

1 lb Andouille sausage

1/2 lb boneless buffalo stew meat

1 lb shrimp

3 cloves garlic, chopped fine

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1 tsp ground thyme

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp oregano

1 chopped purple onion

2 bell peppers (1 red and 1 yellow)

2 gallons water

2 Tbsp of roux mix

1 tsp filé powder

2 cups white rice

1 Tbsp olive oil


Directions:

Bring two gallons of water to boil. Add 1 clove of chopped garlic, parsley, thyme, oregano and salt to water. Once boiling place whole rabbit and boil slowly (until meat is soft and tender). Once rabbit is boiled pull from pot, let cool, remove all meat from bone and set aside. Also pull out 4 cups of water from the stock and set aside.

In new pot add olive oil and heat. Once heated add remaining garlic, onion and bell pepper and sauté until vegetables are tender. Now add sausage, duck, buffalo, shrimp and crawfish and sauté until cooked. Then add 2 tablespoons of roux mix and 1 teaspoon of filé into pot and sauté at high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add remaining stock from rabbit and cook on medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

To cook the rice take the 4 cups of stock you set aside and place into small pot. Bring to boil and add 2 cups of rice. Stir and then reduce to low heat. Cover and let simmer for 20-25 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.