Recipe: Seafood Stuffed Bell Peppers

Here's another typical Louisiana favorite comfort food dish. This recipe comes from the famous restaurant of Mike Anderson's in Baton Rouge.

Seafood-Stuffed Bell Peppers

Serves 6 - 8.


Ingredients:

3 - 4 green bell peppers, whole

3/4 cup chopped yellow onions

1/4 cup chopped celery

2 Tablespoons minced fresh garlic

2 Tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon butter/margarine

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 pound crawfish tails, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup cooked white rice

2 1/2 Tablespoons chopped green onions

Paprika

Grated Parmesan cheese



Directions:


Cut bell peppers in half, removing seeds.

Boil until slightly tender. Drain and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, slowly saute yellow onions, celery and garlic in butter.

Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes over low heat. Stir frequently.

Add salt and pepper. Stir.

Add mushroom soup and crawfish tails.

Cook 8 minutes or until creamy.

Add rice and green onions. Stir well.

Fill each pepper half with stuffing.

Sprinkle paprika and Parmesan cheese on top.

Bake 20 minutes at 450 degree F., serving hot! Enjoy!

Note: If you are in a part of America or another country where crawfish tails cannot be easily found, maybe too expensive, just substitute small shrimp - equally tasty!


Photo by turtlemom4bacon @ flickr of a stuffed bell pepper with ground meat

Note: For other recipes visit my other fun blog –
Romancing The Chocolate

Recipe: Turnip Greens Casserole

Southerners have a love affair with greens! It's no wonder since greens contain a lot of minerals and are HIGH in calcium. Turnip greens are quite good if they are cooked with a smokey meat as flavoring. That leftover Christmas ham or ham bone is a good candidate for cooking greens, especially fresh greens when you can find them.

This recipe uses canned turnip greens. A wonderful brand - if it is in your area - is the Glory brand. Around our house we jokingly call it the Hallelujah! brand. These people know what they are doing as anything by them is awesome straight out of the can; you don't have to doctor a thing as there is plenty of good seasoning. Try looking on the internet for a source if you can't find this brand. It really is awesome and they do many kinds of vegetables besides greens.

Eating greens are done for good luck in the New Year. Why not add another version in the form of an easy casserole to your recipe box?

Turnip Greens Casserole

Serves 4 to 6.

From - Shall We Gather: Recipes & Remembrances of a River Town

Ingredients:

2 large (14 oz.) cans turnip greens or kale

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

2 Tablespoons prepared horseradish

2 eggs beaten

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 to 1 cup saltine cracker crumbs

1 cup (4 ozs.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese


Directions:

Combine the turnip greens, soup, mayonnaise, vinegar, horseradish, eggs, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well.

Spoon the turnip greens mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 to 35 minutes. Sprinkle with the cracker crumbs and cheese and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer or until the cheese melts.

Note: You may substitute 4 cups drained cooked FRESH turnip greens for the canned ones.

For your copy of this cookbook, Shall We Gather: Recipes & Remembrances of a River Town, go to http://www.trinitywetumpka.org/cookbook.

Or you can call (334) 567 - 7534.

Cost is $26.95, which includes postage and handling.

Published by Trinity Episcopal Church
5375 U. S. 231
Wetumpka, Alabama 36092-3168

Note: For other recipes visit my other fun blog –
Romancing The Chocolate

Recipe: Country Captain - chicken

This dish has remained popular in Louisiana since the 1940's when then President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced it was his most favorite dish after having tasted it while traveling in the South, notably Columbus, Georgia. It was developed by the cook, Arie Mullins, for the physician who hosted the President.

FDR often went to The Little White House in Warm Springs, Georgia for treatments for his polio and as a general retreat. When we lived in Georgia my husband and I visited this Warm Springs site; the small scale of the place as well as the humble cabins is quite surprising considering the dignataries who joined him.

For those who don't know this dish is basically a very glorified chicken stew with curry seasoning. “Country-captain” is an expression in Bengal, the name of a particular dry kind of curry, often served as a breakfast dish. We might imagine it was a favorite dish at the table of the skippers of ‘country ships,’ and they in turn were called ‘country captains.’ Legend has it that the dish was brought to Georgia by a British sea captain who had once served in the Bengal area of India.

Country Captain

Serves 8 - 10

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon paprika

2 teaspoons, salt, divided

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 (3-1/2 lbs.) chickens, cut into serving pieces

3 Tablespoons oil (I prefer canola oil)

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, divided

2 cups chopped red Bermuda or Vidalia sweet onions

2 cups chopped green/red/yellow bell pepper (all are good!)

1 cup chopped celery

1 bay leaf

1 Tablespoon curry powder (I like Sharwood's brand, the mild curry version)

1/2 teaspoon ground dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes/cayenne pepper powder (we like the cayenne pepper)

1 Tablespoon minced garlic (I usually triple the garlic amount)

6 cups canned, whole, peeled tomatoes, crushed with their juice
(Plunge into a huge bowl of these tomatoes and squeeze and crush with your hands. Keep your hands under the juice level and it won't squirt all over you! Definitely a messy process!)

1 cup chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth

1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 cup dried currants

Steamed brown or white rice for serving (we like brown rice)

6 ounces toasted slivered almonds for garnish


Combine the flour, paprika, 1 teaspoon of salt and black pepper in large, shallow dish and stir to blend. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture, coating evenly. Shake off any excess. Set aside.

Heat the oil and 1 Tablespoon butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in batches until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to paper towels to drain. Set aside.

Add the remaining tablespoon butter to the saucepan and add the onions, bell peppers, celery, bay leaf, curry powder, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the tomatoes, chickenn stock, brown sugar and the remaining teaspoon salt. Stir to blend, then reduce heat to medium. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until very tender, but not falling off the bones, about 50 minutes. Add the currants and cook 10 minutes longer. Serve over steamed rice. Garnish with toasted almonds. Yum!

Note: For other recipes visit my other fun blog –
Romancing The Chocolate

Photo by Bill Feig

Recipe: New Year's Black-Eyed Pea and Collard Green Soup

Looking for an interesting soup to cook on New Year's Day? From our friends over at Whole Foods Market comes this New Year's Day special soup that tradition believes brings good luck in the new year to us!

Serves 6

This hearty soup combines two lucky foods, black-eyed peas and collard greens, with vegetables and smoky ham. Enjoy on New Year's Day, or any day, for a satisfying, warming meal. Serve with thick slices of toasted crusty bread. When reheating the soup, add additional broth if needed to obtain desired consistency.

Ingredients

2 cups dried black-eyed peas

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (you could use canola oil)

1 large onion, chopped (give me a sweet onion any day!)

2 cloves minced fresh garlic (more is always better!)

1/2 pound slab cooked all-natural Black Forest ham or smoked turkey breast, diced (try using Richard's Turkey sausage, it's awesome!)

2 stalks celery, chopped (I like 4 stalks celery as celery is a digestive that keeps down the gas.)

6 cups gluten-free chicken broth

Sea salt and black pepper

Cayenne pepper, to taste (try 1/4 teaspoon at first, especially if you use Louisiana sausage as it already has spicy heat!)

4 cups packed thinly sliced collard greens, leaves only, stems discarded

4 medium carrots, chopped (you can always get a package of those small sweet baby carrots, easier and tastier)

Method

Soak black-eyed peas in water for 6 to 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse.

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Add onion, garlic, ham and celery.

Cook 5 to 8 minutes, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent.

Add drained peas, broth, salt, pepper and cayenne. Simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes or until peas are tender. For a thicker consistency, smash some of the cooked peas against the side of the pan and blend them into the broth.

Add greens and carrots. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until collard greens are tender. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Nutrition

Per serving (18oz/532g-wt.): 310 calories (150 from fat), 16g total fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 17g protein, 27g total carbohydrate (8g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 20mg cholesterol, 760mg sodium

Note: For other recipes visit my other fun blog –
Romancing The Chocolate

Recipe: Chocolate Pinwheel Cookies

Those of us who LOVE chocolate know one thing: keeping sugar around is a must to combine with chocolate in a recipe. What to do when you go to your pantry only to find there is too little of white granulated sugar? Well, you can switch over to light or dark brown sugar which actually gives cookies a great flavor. (Might be too heavy a sugar for some cakes.)

Then your hopes are dashed when you realize there isn't even any brown sugar available. You pull down the box or large bag of powdered (confectioner's) sugar. What can you do with this sugar? Most times it's used for icing but in this case you can use it to make pinwheel cookies! Yay!

So, here you find your pantry a bit depleted from the holiday cooking and baking. You really don't feel like yet another trip to the grocery store. Make these lovely cookies from Betty Crocker.

After spending for the holidays these inexpensive cookies are easy on the wallet AND you get a chocolate fix. Doesn't get any better than that! Bake up a few to enjoy right now and freeze the cookie dough for later when someone shows up at your house hungry for a little sweet.

Chocolate Pinwheels

Prep time: 50 minutes
Total time: overnight in the refrigerator, about 10 hours
Makes: about 4 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 1/4 cups butter

1 egg

3 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsweetened Hershey's baking cocoa

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon chocolate sprinkles, if desired


In large bowl, beat powdered sugar, butter and egg. Stir in flour and salt.

Divide dough in half. Stir the cocoa into one half. Stir chocolate sprinkles into the other half, if desired.

Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Roll half of plain dough into 9 x 8-inch rectangle on lightly floured surface. Repeat with half of chocolate dough; place on top of plain dough. Roll doughs up together tightly, beginning at long side. repeat with remaining plain and chocolate doughs. Wrap and refrigerate at least 8 hours but no longer than 24 hours. (The butter can make the dough like a little brick if it chills too long.)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut rolls into 1/4-inch slices. Place slices about 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Immediately remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

Nutrition: 1 cookie is 90 calories of which 45 calories are from fat. Nothing like a little reality check! :) Guilt advisor: Remember your New Year's resolution about losing a few pounds. That's why this cookie is so great. Temptation can be relegated to the freezer, tightly wrapped, for up to 6 months! Enjoy!


Note: For other recipes visit my other fun blog:
Comfort Food From Louisiana

Photo from BettyCrocker.com