Gumbo

It's really easy to get stuck in a rut, cooking and eating the same thing over and over again. I try to avoid this by carefully selecting my recipes each month, and keeping a log/journal of the ones that I have done. This is all very well, but there is only my husband and I, so when I pick recipes, I have to carefully check that although the recipes are different, the ingredients are either something I will have in my pantry or are the same, after all I have a budget to stick to. I suppose as with most places it's cheaper to buy in bulk, the problem is the waste there's little point in buying a pre-packaged container of 6 tomatoes, because it's cheaper than buying say 3, unless you are going to use them. So I tend to try and pick several recipes with tomatoes (I'm using tomatoes as an example). The other thing I do, more for my own sense of need than anything else is, research recipes I am unsure of. Gumbo, I knew it came from, New Orleans - Louisiana, way. Creole food, but I wasn't sure what that meant? Turns out it has several meanings, or means different things to different people. For example in the west indies and Latin America Creole would imply you are of mixed European and African descent, and in the Gulf coast of the U.S, French descent. Then of course food - I'm still confused.com. Okra though is what really started my research for this recipe, I was none the wiser as to what it was, what it tastes like or what it is used for. I've since found out it's a vegetable. African slaves, smuggled the Okra seeds on their bodies when they came to America, and then planted them. Okra is used as a natural thickener in Gumbo, which by the way is a stew type soup thing, *no offence intended by the use of the word thing.* Okra worried me slightly because although you can find it in abundance in America, I have yet to see it here and Okra goes in Gumbo - I wanted to make gumbo but could I call it Gumbo without the authenticity of Okra? Turns out I can because you can also use a roux to thicken it. So here's Gumbo.... As always I am open to any suggestions, in which I can improve the recipe!

Chicken Gumbo

15g Butter

450g Chicken breast, cubed

12 button onions

1 Rasher bacon, diced

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp corriander

1/2 tsp chilli powder

225g Okra or a roux can be used, or simply use cornflour/cornstarch with water (this last one won't add any flavour to the dish)

1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 green pepper, roughly chopped

225g canned tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 large bay leaf

1/2 tsp dried oregano

600ml chicken stock

salt and pepper

225g long grain rice

1 tbsp fresh parsley

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan (dutch oven if you have one, I don't). Add the chicken and brown, stirring continuously over a high heat for about 3 minutes. Next add the onions, bacon, turmeric, coriander, and chilli powder. Still stirring cook for another minute.

2. Except for the rice and parsley add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover and very gently simmer for an hour. Cook the rice according to package directions (allowing the hour for the gumbo to cook).

3. Remove the bay leaf. Taste the gumbo and season if necessary. Serve in warm bowls on top of the rice and a sprinkling of parsley.

I served mine with naan bread, only because I had some which needed using up, and I thought it would be nice to mop the sauce up with!

Dad's icky.......... Fried Rice...... Ammended

Fried rice with lamb – it’s one of those, I’ll give it a try but I don’t know if I’ll like it type recipe. I am not a huge fried rice fan, and it stems back to childhood – one of those really disgusting meals your parents would make – that make you gag….. I gagged a lot. My Dad would make this really awful fried rice, thing (literally pulling a face at the thought) rubbery rice, solid, black, from being burnt, peas (wondering about my aversion to peas now?) We would usually be served this culinary feast after a Sunday roast chicken dinner, my mum would cook it beautifully, then my Dad would come along and put it in his, fried rice killing it – Yuck!

I can’t begin to imagine what he did with it, but the end result was foul – crispy, dry, chewy stab your gums, chicken, with burnt icky peas. Worse than ALL that was the egg – usually added to early, resulting in over cooked egg with that glassy type of texture you get – hmmmm…… Now wondering if this is why I am so fussy about my eggs? Wow one dish has made me an awfully fussy eater – or one cook’s interpretation of fried rice has. This is my interpretation and to be fair it’s not too bad for fried rice.

Fried Rice With Lamb
2 beaten eggs
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
300g lamb strips
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 julienned medium carrot
½ cup frozen peas
2 spring onions
A few broccoli florets
1 leek, sliced
1 cup snow peas, give or take
1 pouch of cooked rice
2 tbsp soy sauce

1. In a small bowl, mix together the eggs and a teaspoon of soy sauce.
2. Pour 1 tsp evoo (extra virgin olive oil) into a large skillet, or a wok if you have one. Place over a medium heat, when it’s hot, add the egg and the garlic; stir to scramble. Once the egg is set, take it out of the skillet or wok, making sure that you break up any big pieces. Take your skillet off the heat.
3. Pour the remaining oil into the skillet, and return to a medium heat. Stir fry the lamb, when it’s cooked remove from the pan and keep warm. Then add all your vegetables and stir-fry until crisp tender.
4. Finally add your cooked rice, lamb and soy sauce. Cook and stir for a few minutes until heated through and then add the egg and stir for 1 more minute.

Sausage risotto

Also from my School text book came this simple sausage risotto. I suppose with it being a childs school text book it should be. That said with everything I have read and seen on television, risotto is not that easy to make. So with that in mind I either have it down or I don't, in any case we quite like it, most definitely a simple supper.

Sausage Risotto

250 grams sausage

1 tbsp evoo
75 grams rice
1 onion, finely diced
100 grams mushrooms
100 grams frozen mixed vegetables
375 ml  hot water
1 chicken stock cube
salt and black pepper to taste
dash of Worcester sauce

1. Grill sausages until cook and set aside.

2. Heat the oil and add the onion and rice, stirring for about 7 minutes.

3. Add the mushrooms, frozen vegetables, stock cube, water, sauce and seasoning, simmer gently until rice is soft and all the water has been absorbed.

4. Slice the sausages and add to the rice.

School Chicken Curry

At school we had to take "Tech" which covered woodwork - boy was I bad at woodwork, Mr Cassidy would refer to me as "trouble" - mostly because if someone ended up with a drill in their thumb, due to forgetting to use the vice, it would be me, the kiddy hiding in the store cupboard, because of wanting to commit the ultimate school sin, of skiving off but not having the guts to actually do it - would be me, the student randomly sawing away at anything, was me!!! I really was very bad at woodwork..... We also did food Tech, which I did enjoy. We covered the basics of food and food hygiene, and made a few recipes, the only dish I really remember making though, other than toffee, was, ironically a stuffed bell pepper........ Ewwww icky, icky ick!!!! The point behind this tiny tale? I ended up somehow in possession of the text book we used (probably due to failure to hand it in) this curry came from that.. It's basic to make, not too hot and quite versitile, I've also made it with shrimp and lamb. 

Chicken Curry

500 grams chicken breast, cut into 1 to 1 1/2 inch pieces
2 onions coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp evoo
1 tbsp curry powder (more or less as you like)
250 ml vegetable stock
tomato purée
200 ml cream
salt and coarsely grounded pepper
rice to serve

1. Gently fry the onions and garlic, until soft add the chicken stirring until the chicken is browned.

2. Add tomato puree, curry powder, some of the stock and cream, salt and pepper to taste.

3. Simmer over a low heat until chicken is cooked through.

4. Serve with rice.

Servings: 4

I do sometimes I add vegetables to this, mushrooms and spinach in particular.



Chicken and almond sauce

In an earlier blog I mentioned about making sure you read the recipe all the way through before making or even before deciding on making a recipe, just in case you need a piece of equipment, that you don't have, like say a food processor!!!! Which when I made this the first time around I didn't have, I didn't even have a rolling pin.... So I ended up trying to grind up almonds using a mixing bowl and a flat bottomed glass - unfortunately (no surprises there) this idea didn't work out to well. I ended up with toasted almond bits instead of an almond paste........ I would like to say that I had learned my lesson, however this is not the case, as I am sure you will find out. It seems I very rarely learn from my mistakes - husbands excluded....

Chicken With Almond Sauce

1.4 kg chicken breasts cut into strips

2 large onions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
50 grams almonds
45 ml evoo
½ tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
150 ml yogurt
300 ml water

1. Put almonds in a blender with the water (150ml) and work until smooth.

2. Heat the oil and add the onions, garlic and all the spices. Cook over a high heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring all the time. Add the almond puree and cook for 1-2 minutes, add the chicken and stir to coat in the spices.

3. Lower the heat, then add the yogurt a little bit at a time, followed by the rest of the water. Season with salt and pepper. Lower heat, cover and cook gently for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked.

Servings: 4