Gastronomy - The Food & Drink Thread

[Mara]

If you put it in a bowl and eat it with a spoon, it falls under my understanding of "soup."

Then you should make ice cream.

By the way, here is my perfected jambalaya recipe, which is not a soup by any stretch of the imagination.

Jambalaya

Saute and drain:

1/2 pound chorizo

Add:

1 chopped onion
1 green pepper, chopped and seeded
2 chopped stalks celery
4 chopped cloves garlic

Cook these in the remaining sausage fat until tender. Add:

1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp thyme
2 cups rice (stir until coated in oil)
2 lb. can tomatoes (crushed)
2 cups chicken broth
1 lb. polish sausage, sliced

Season with a little cayenne. Bring to a boil, and then let it simmer covered for 30 minutes. Before serving add chopped parsely and green onions.

(This is another recipe where I often add cooked shrimp if I have it on hand.)

[Raiders]

Sounds great, Mara! Think I'll make that next week. One question: what remaining sausage fat are you referring to for the veggies? Should I not drain the chorizo all the way?

[Mara]

Sounds great, Mara! Think I'll make that next week. One question: what remaining sausage fat are you referring to for the veggies? Should I not drain the chorizo all the way?

In my experience, no matter how much you drain the chorizo, there will be enough fat left to saute the veggies. Unless you dabbed it with a paper towel, or something. But if you don't drain the sausage at all, the jambalaya will be greasy.

Eyeball it.

[Saya]

Holy crap!

[bac0n]

In my experience, no matter how much you drain the chorizo, there will be enough fat left to saute the veggies. Unless you dabbed it with a paper towel, or something. But if you don't drain the sausage at all, the jambalaya will be greasy.

Eyeball it.

I second Mara. Every recipe for making sausage that I've seen has included fatback as an ingredient, so having fat won't be a problem.

[Raiders]

I was just checking. I can be pretty thorough in my draining of meat.

[bac0n]

Here's that chili recipe I mentioned earlier. Please note that Mormons & Muslims may skip ingredient 10 and steps 1, 7 & 13.

Quick Chicken & White Bean Chili

Ingredients:
--------------------------------------------

1. 1 medium store-bought rotisserie chicken
2. 1 large onion, medium diced
3. 2 15 oz. cans white navy beans
4. 1 jar/can (about 4 oz.) of diced mild green chiles
5. 3 tbsp cumin seed
6. 2 tsp dried oregano
7. juice of half a lime
8. 1 cup frozen corn
9. 1 quart (4 cups) chicken broth
10. 3 12 oz bottles of Negra Modello Dark Beer (optional)
11. cilantro to taste
12. 4 large cloves garlic, minced
13. two tbsp vegetable oil.

Tools:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

• You'll want a nice 5-6 qt dutch oven, or failing that, an equivalent sized stockpot or saucepan
• You'll want a small saute or omelet pan for toasting the cumin, as well as either a spice grinder, or a mortal/pestle & a lot of patience. If you don't have means to grind your own cumin, use 2 tbsp ground cumin instead.
• blender. a regular blender works fine, so does a cuisinart-style food processor, but an immersion blender works best if you have one.
• citrus press, juicer or some other means of getting juice out of a lime.

Directions:
------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Open the first bottle of Negra Modello. Take a few sips. Enjoy the roasted malt notes and crisp, yet slightly caramel finish.
2. toast the cumin: place in a small saute pan over high heat, cook until aromatic, about a minute, then grind it.
3. heat the vegetable oil over med-high heat until hot. stir in the onion and saute until soft, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or so.
4. meanwhile, pull apart the rotisserie chicken, being careful to pick out all the bones. chop the meat into rougly bite size pieces.
5. take one of the cans of beans, drain, rinse
6. when the onions are soft & translucent, mix in the cumin, oregano & garlic and cook until fragrant, about a minute
7. By now you should have finished your first bottle of Negra Modello. Open another one.
8. stir in the chicken & chiles and pour in the broth and the first can of beans. bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer briskly, partially covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, drain & rinse the other can of beans.
9. meanwhile, drain/rinse the second can of beans, then puree with a blender or food processor.
10. Stir in the bean slime & the corn and continue simmering for another 5 minutes.
11. Take off the heat & stir in the lime juice.
12. pour chili into bowls, sprinkle on chopped cilantro to taste, serve immediately.
13. enjoy the 3rd bottle of Negra modello.

[Lucky]

Mara, your jambalaya was a huge success for me. I used 1 lb. of chorizo instead (package was 1 lb./knew I'd never use the second half elsewhere), added a few dashes of red pepper flakes to the vegetables, and used chicken stock instead of broth. Excellent. One of the most rewarding simple recipes I've attempted, and now I have a healthy sized pot of food for a few days.

I like the way you write your recipes. It's more of a baseline than a recipe, plenty of room for interpretation and improvisation. Please post more.

[Mara]

Mara, your jambalaya was a huge success for me. I used 1 lb. of chorizo instead (package was 1 lb./knew I'd never use the second half elsewhere), added a few dashes of red pepper flakes to the vegetables, and used chicken stock instead of broth. Excellent. One of the most rewarding simple recipes I've attempted, and now I have a healthy sized pot of food for a few days.

I like the way you write your recipes. It's more of a baseline than a recipe, plenty of room for interpretation and improvisation. Please post more.

ritch:

I'm so glad you liked it! I mess with recipes all the time, and encourage others to do the same. That's how you find out what works best!

[bac0n]

I need to try Mara's recipe. I love chorizo more than just about anything.

BTW - if you're looking for uses for leftover chorizo, it tastes great in omelets & scrambles.

[Spun Lepton]

By the way, here is my perfected jambalaya recipe, which is not a soup by any stretch of the imagination.

I'm gonna try making this one of these days.

[Mara]

Good news: I made one of my best batches of chicken soup tonight, and it's rainy and cold outside, which makes chicken soup particularly delicious.

Bad news: I burned a patch on my stomach when the broth sloshed. I iced it but it's all red and sensitive. Annoying.

[Spun Lepton]

Planning to slap together some Sloppy Joes and tater-tots for dinner tonight, and for some reason I'm really anticipating it. It's been a long time since I've had Sloppy Joes.

[Lucky]

Good news: I made one of my best batches of chicken soup tonight, and it's rainy and cold outside, which makes chicken soup particularly delicious.

Bad news: I burned a patch on my stomach when the broth sloshed. I iced it but it's all red and sensitive. Annoying.

Better news: I am going to share the recipe with all of you! And I'm beginning to write my first cookbook!

ritch:

[Mara]

ritch:

Ha. I'm pretty sure I've gone over my recipe before in here... it's extremely simple. I'm actually making it again today and tomorrow (it's a two-day soup) because my grandfather is coming to dinner. And I still have a burn from the last time. It has become inexplicably V-shaped.

Anyway, if you're curious:

I start with a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket. This saves a ton of time and it's already seasoned, which I think makes for terrific broth. I usually don't use all the meat for the soup, but cut some off for another meal.

I cover the chicken corpse with water and bring it to a boil and then simmer it on low for two or three hours, until the broth is a sort of milky color. I strain the chicken out and chill the stock overnight. I let the chicken remains cool, and then pick through and pull out the meat, discarding the skin and bones and fat.

The next day I take out the chilled broth and scrape off all the fat, which will be hard and easy to remove. I then reheat the broth and add several chopped potatoes (well-scrubbed but skin on), a chopped onion, several smashed cloves of garlic, several stalks chopped celery, and several chopped carrots (well-scrubbed but skin on). I let it simmer for about 30-45 minutes, and then add the chopped chicken and chopped fresh parsley, and simmer for another 10 minutes. I add salt and pepper and that's it.

It's the opposite of fancy, but makes really tasty comfort food.

[thefourthwall]

Sounds awesome. Now I'm torn about what to make--chicken soup, carrot chowder, white chili, or the recipe for corn and red pepper soup I found online....decisions, decisions.

[Spun Lepton]

How to brew pumpkin beer in actual pumpkins.

http://www.sloshspot.com/blog/02-25-...Easy-Steps-125

[bac0n]

How to brew pumpkin beer in actual pumpkins.

http://www.sloshspot.com/blog/02-25-...Easy-Steps-125

Damn. I may need to try this next year.

[Raiders]

Jambalaya

This was awesome! I used andouille instead of polish sausage, but otherwise I decided not to change anything for my first try and it was pretty much perfect as written.

Thanks!

[Ezee E]

Sometimes it's the simple things that taste the best.

Tuna w/olive oil, sauteed poblano and mushroom, with green onions, mayo, and tomato on toasted potato break. So simple, so amazing.

[bac0n]

So, Mara, I have your Jumbalaya recipe on simmer, should be ready in about 25 minutes. I pretty much stuck to the recipe except for:

1) used chicken boullion cuz I didn't have any chicken broth on hand

2) used 6 cloves of garlic cuz I'm a garlic junky, and pressed them instead of chopping cuz I was in a time crunch.

3) I stirred the rice in the oil until translucent ala rice pilaf.

If it tastes half as good as it smells, I fear I may gorge on it till I pop.

[Mara]

Do you know what sounds good? Pumpkin coffee cake. I may need to invent that.

[Mara]

So, Mara, I have your Jumbalaya recipe on simmer, should be ready in about 25 minutes.

Ooh, missed this. How did it turn out?

[bac0n]

It turned out well!

A few other tweaks I forgot to mention - the chorizo I got was a touch on the bland & dry side, so I added about 2 tbsp of olive oil to compensate for the lack of grease, and about 1 tsp of cinnamon to compensate for the lack of flavor, both of which turned out to be good ideas. I didn't have any thyme on hand so I added herbs de provence instead.

I guess if I had to do it all over again, I would have spent less time stirring the rice around before adding the liquid. Added about 20 minutes to the simmer time, methinks. I probably would have doubled the chorizo put in as well, but that's because I love chorizo.

[Scar]

When it comes to meat in Jambalya, I follow the bac0n garlic rule:

Triple it, at least.