New Orleans Saints Celebration Menu: Jambalaya and Crawfish Gold

From Denny: It's been so long coming that Saints football fans in New Orleans and the rest of Louisiana are downright giddy. Here are some of their contributions to Louisiana recipes to enjoy the moment and the glory.

We have a preference for cooking with iron skillets here for long and slow cooking. These recipes are a perfect fit.





(Black-iron pot) Jambalaya

From: Mrs. W.R. Smith is from “River Road Recipes” published by The Junior League of Baton Rouge in their 50th anniversary edition

Serves: 6 to 8

Ingredients:

1-1/2 lbs. sausage or cubed beef
Salt and pepper for seasoning beef, if beef is used
3 tbls. bacon drippings
3 tbls. all-purpose flour
2 medium onions, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 tbls. parsley, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-1/2 cups water
2 cups rice
2 tsps. salt
3/4 tsp. red pepper

Directions:

1. In a heavy, black-iron pot, brown sausage or seasoned beef in bacon drippings over medium-high heat. Remove browned meat from pot and set aside.

2. Stir in flour and cook, stirring constantly, to make a dark roux. Add onions, parsley and garlic and cook until soft.

3. Add water, rice, salt and red pepper. Return browned meat to the pot and stir.

4. When mixture comes to a boil, lower heat to lowest point and cook about 1 hour, covered tightly.

5. When rice is done, remove lid and let cook for a few minutes until rice dries a little.

Crawfish in Gold

From: Nancy Marionneaux

Serves: about 8

Ingredients:

1 large bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp. minced jalapeño, seeds removed, if desired
1 tbl. olive oil
1 tbl. butter
1 (8-oz.) pkg. fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 tbl. minced garlic
3 tbls. flour
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. dried, crumbled thyme
1 (18-oz.) can chicken broth
1 (18-oz.) can water
1 lb. peeled crawfish tails
1 (24-oz.) pkg. yellow potatoes, sliced
2 to 3 tbls. whipping cream (optional)
Parsley

Directions

1. Sauté bell pepper, onion and jalapeño, if desired, in olive oil and butter over medium heat until translucent. Add mushrooms and garlic. Cook until softened.

2. Add flour and sauté 3 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, thyme, chicken broth, water and crawfish. Turn up heat a little; stir until sauce thickens slightly.

3. Add sliced potatoes and reduce heat to low. Cook, uncovered, until sauce thickens and potatoes are fork tender.

4. Add whipping cream, if desired. Garnish with parsley.


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Winter Brain Food: Parmigiano Pasta with Mushrooms

From Denny: Winter just goes together with pasta and fresh pasta is one of those dishes you enjoy making on a chilly day. Making bread or pasta by hand and from scratch is very relaxing and a great way to stress down from a work week when the slower weekend time comes. Even if you don't have the time or the desire for making the pasta yourself, you can still make this dish with fresh pasta from the store which is easy to find.

Mushrooms are the ultimate "brain food" and we love mushrooms at our house. A mushroom cheese pasta, well, there is nothing more comforting on a cold day! This is such an easy sauce to make with aromatic rosemary and tasty white wine to sweeten it.

Sometimes, when I run out of olive oil - or just want a different taste - I use well browned clarified butter run through a fine mesh sieve to collect the browned bits to deliver a clear dark golden oil. Butter this way acquires a wonderful deep buttery flavor with nutty overtones that goes well with herbs and pasta.

Take a look at this soul-satisfying and easy to make rich-tasting Italian comfort food: Pasta with mushrooms and rosemary

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Stracchi con funghi
(Pasta “rags” with mushrooms, rosemary and Parmigiano-Reggiano)

From: Chef Missy Robbins, executive chef at A Voce restaurant

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

For the fresh pasta

• 4 cups “00” flour (a type of flour available in Italian markets)
• 16 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1/3 of cup water

For the completed dish

• 32 pc. stracchi
• 3 TBS. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. oyster mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
• 1 cup veal stock (can substitute chicken broth if veal stock is difficult to find)
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 3 TBS butter
• 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 2 sprigs rosemary, chopped fine
• Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

For the fresh pasta: Make a well with the flour and place the egg and water in the center of the well. With a fork gradually begin to incorporate the flour into the egg and mix until a ball of dough forms.

Knead the dough for a few minutes by hand until it is smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for at least 20 minutes.

Using a pasta machine or KitchenAid pasta attachment, roll out the pasta into thin sheet and cut into squares approximately 4 inches by 4 inches.

For the completed dish: Heat a large pot of water until it boils. Add salt to taste. Heat a large saute pan to high and add the olive oil. Add the mushrooms and saute on high heat until the mushrooms are golden in color. Add the white wine to deglaze pan, and then add the veal stock.

Cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the butter and mix until emulsified into the sauce. Set aside. Place the pasta in the boiling water and cook until tender (it will only take about a minute).

Add the pasta to the saute pan with the mushrooms and add a touch of the pasta cooking liquid. Finish cooking the pasta in the mushroom sauce for another minute or so until the sauce and pasta are married together.

Add the rosemary and finish with 1/2 the Parmigiano-Reggiano and divide amongst 4 plates. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano.

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Unusual: Funny Music Video of How Americans Sound to Foreigners

From Denny: This is so funny, mainly because the lampooning Italians have us accurately nailed to the wall. If you have ever wondered what Americans sound like to others who speak different languages you will laugh at this. An Italian singer decided to write a song with nothing but gibberish to sound like it was intelligible English. Of course, the funniest thing of all is that often today's music sounds unintelligible to us as well! :) But hey, pop music is really all about the beat that makes you want to dance and have fun! ("That's my story and I'm sticking to it!" as the saying goes in America...) I guess Americans can remind themselves of the other saying: "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery." Anyway, you look at it, this little musical spoof is great fun!




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This Weeks Editorial Cartoons 16 Jan 2010

From Denny: Since I changed this blog to a smaller template to accommodate the cool visually interesting background - and most blog backgrounds are configured to only fit this smaller template - now these wonderful editorial cartoons are too large to fit for proper viewing.

Every Saturday you can find editorial cartoons over at The Social Poets and I'll keep a link on the sidebar for your convenience if you forget.

So, I'm referring you to the original flagship blog that spun off this blog and a gazillion others, The Social Poets:

Haiti Earthquake - Editorial Cartoons 16 Jan 2010

This cartoon is about the late night show dilemma of two competing shows getting their time slots switched when Leno's show did not do well in an earlier time slot competing against prime time shows. To the right is the rest of the cartoon that actually makes it so funny because "the wheels are coming off" of Jay Leno's vehicle. Much funnier on a wider format template over at The Social Poets...

See Cartoons by Cartoon by Dave Granlund - Courtesy of Politicalcartoons.com - Email this Cartoon

The Social Poets: Haiti Earthquake - Editorial Cartoons 16 Jan 2010

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Paula Deens Shrimp Gumbo Casserole

From Denny: Here's an unusual but easy recipe I ran across the other day from Food Network star Paula Deen who lives in Savannah, Georgia. I've seen and cooked a lot of different styles of gumbo but never have I seen anyone choose to put a cornbread topping on it like a Shepard's Pie, very clever, and so easy! Just think, she found a way to skip the step of baking a pan of cornbread by throwing it on top of the stew. Talk about a one dish meal. The winter is the perfect time for this easy crowd pleaser and time saver dish!

From: Paula Deen, Paula's Home Cooking @ Food Network

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 45 min

Level: Easy

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

Gumbo:

1 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup finely chopped celery
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 cup chicken or fish stock
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes
10-ounce package frozen cut okra
2 cups shrimp, cleaned, peeled, and deveined

Topping:

1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk
12-ounce package corn muffin mix

Directions

In an iron skillet, saute onion and celery in oil. Add bay leaves, thyme, lemon-pepper seasoning and House Seasoning. Pour in stock and add tomatoes and okra. Cover pot and gently simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in shrimp.

To prepare the topping, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix together egg and milk, add to muffin mix, and combine until just well-blended. Drop by tablespoonfuls on top of hot shrimp mixture, leaving the center uncovered. Bake 15 to 20 minutes.

*** Paula's Cook's Note: This Southern dish usually is prepared and served in an iron skillet, but may be cooked in a frying pan with an oven-proof handle.

*** Denny's Cook's Note: If you do use an iron skillet, make sure it is well seasoned as tomatoes have acid that can compromise that seasoning layer, putting pits in it, leaching a little too much of that iron taste into the food. After you do use an iron skillet with tomatoes or lemon acid in a dish, make sure to season it again just to make sure the pan is well sealed.

Paula's 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.

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