New Orleans Red Beans, Rice and Greens - The Best of Both Worlds

Red beans and rice OR beans and greens? That was the question. Hmmmm. Why not the best of both?! 

Sunday's dinner was a simple, quick and easy cedar-planked, Cajun-seasoned filet of salmon on the grill with some bright green, thick spears of asparagus grilling right alongside. The side dish of beans, greens AND rice? Definitely simple, too.

A classic Cajun trinity - green pepper, celery and onion - was the base of the dish along with a kick of finely diced Andouille sausage to amp up the bayou flavors. After the veggies were softened and the Andouille had surrendered it's fat and flavor into the mix, I added lots and lots of sweet, green baby kale. 

Once the kale cooked down a bit, rice, chicken broth and, what else(?) Cajun seasonings emphasized the decidedly down home dish. You already know I kept this easy, so I used a bottled Cajun seasoning instead of mixing one up myself. Timesaver!

One thing for sure, this is one delicious, best-of-both-worlds, beans AND greens AND rice dinner decision that will be repeated!

New Orleans Red Beans, Rice & Greens

• 1 T canola oil
• 1 link Andouille sausage, diced small
• 1 small onion, diced small
• 2 ribs celery, diced small
• 1/2 green pepper, seeds removed & diced small
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 5 oz. baby kale left whole or regular sized kale, roughly chopped - feel free to sub-in whatever greens strike your fancy or whatever you have on hand instead of kale
• 2 T tomato paste - I love tomato paste in tubes, don't you?
• 1 T Cajun seasoning - I used Weber's N'Orleans Cajun Seasoning
• 1 can red beans (15 oz) WITH the liquid
• 3/4 C arborio rice or long grain white rice - whatever you have on hand
• 10 oz can chicken broth

Heat the oil in a large heavy pot. Saute andouille, garlic, onion, celery, green pepper until soft. Add kale and stir until wilted. Add tomato paste and cajun seasoning, beans WITH their liquid, rice and broth. Stir well and bring the mixture to a boil.

When the mixture comes to a boil, immediate reduce heat to low cover and cook until rice is tender, approximately 25 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve!

Tomato Smoked Chicken Soup with Black Rice

By now you know I'm not one to let anything go to waste...especially when it would make a good soup stock. Can you believe I JUST realized you can make stock from smoked chickens? Missed that boat, folks! And that error of omission was fixed on Sunday.

All the smoke-infused goodness that was left over from Sunday's Cajun-rubbed-beer-can-style chicken was plopped into my soup pot along with onions and celery (with LOTS of leafy celery tops), halved fresh jalapeno for extra kick and lots of garlic...Jane's Crazy salt, too...you know how I love that stuff. As the stock simmered, it became a deep, burnished mahogany red as a result of all the Cajun spices. The stock was gorgeous!

After the pot of stock cooled, it was tucked away into the fridge to mellow overnight. I'd planned on making a version of tortilla soup, but upon tasting the stock decided to go in a different direction. The stock stood on its own and it would be a sin to mask the Cajun flavor. It was perfectly delicious just as it was. 

Just a few veggies were needed to round it out, so I roasted fresh tomatoes, zucchini and red pepper slivers. I cooked up a pot of black rice to add a little "heft" to the soup and for the contrast in color. (Have you tried black rice? Packs more flavor and nutrients than regular white rice and is so much prettier than brown rice...I think it might make for a very interesting rice pudding!)

So here's the recipe for a rich, colorful and soothing soup to warm you in the last of the cool days of spring. At least we hope it's the last of the cold weather!

 Tomato Smoked Chicken Soup with Black Rice

Serves 6 

• 2 quarts chicken stock (approximately), from the carcass of a smoked chicken (see directions below)
• 6 Roma tomatoes, cut in six pieces each, lengthwise - I used Campari tomatoes
• 1 zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise, then across into thin slices
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1" julienned slices
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 6 large basil leaves, fresh
• cooked chicken, reserved from the stock
• 3 cups cooked black rice - if you can find it, brown or white rice otherwise
• fresh basil leaves, thin slivers, as garnish

Stock: Using the bones, skin and leftover meat from a smoked chicken (that you smoked outside and had been rubbed liberally outside and in with Cajun seasonings), put the chicken pieces into a large soup pot. Add 4-5 celery ribs with ALL the leaves and broken into 3-4 pieces each, 2 peeled and quartered onions, 1 large jalapeno cut in half lengthwise, 2 T. Jane's Crazy salt, 2 T. dried minced garlic and just cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover. Lower heat to a simmer. Simmer for several hours until the meat falls off the bones and the stock is rich and red. Cool and refrigerate overnight. The next day, first remove all the solidified fat at the top of the stock. Then remove all the meat and reserve. Remove and discard the veggies and strain the stock into another large pot. There should be approximately 2 quarts of stock.
 

Veggies: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray olive oil over a baking sheet with sides and scatter the tomatoes, red bell pepper slices and zucchini evenly over the baking sheet. Sprinkle with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Spray again with olive oil and roast until the veggies are soft.
 

Soup: While the veggies are roasting, start warming the stock on top of the stove. Add the tomato paste and basil leaves to the stock and when the veggies are ready, add them to the pot along with any accumulated juices on the baking sheet. Stir. Simmer about half an hour, heat the chicken separately. Heat the cooked rice separately.
 

Serve: Put a rounded scoop of rice in the bottom of a bowl, gently ladle the soup around the rice, add sliced chicken to the top and garnish with slivered fresh basil.
 

NOTE: If you haven't smoked a chicken, you can use the carcass of a store-bought rotisserie chicken or home roasted chicken and use a nice smoky Cajun seasoning to taste in place of the Jane's Crazy Salt. 

Spicy Shrimp & Andouille Jambalaya with Beet Greens

 
On opening the fridge, I realized I had some serious cleaning out to do in there. Where did all those fridge-real-estate-hogging bits and pieces come from? Oh everything was good, but wouldn't be for long if I didn't get crackin'. I needed more space!

There was a big bag of beautiful yellow peppers I'd picked up on my last walk through the Strip District.  $2 for a big basket? You know they came home with me. I'd roasted beets last week and saved the tops - you don't throw out beet tops do you? You won't after this recipe.

There was a nice piece of andouille in the meat drawer, 3 jalapenos that were ready to give up the ship, half a bag of shrimp in the freezer, the last few stalks of celery in a bag and a couple of slices of ham left from last Sunday's dinner. With those ingredients on hand and rice in the pantry, dinner was decided. Hello Jambalaya!

There's a lot to be said about a one pot dinner that can clean out your refrigerator and be an authentic Cajun treat. And it feeds (not literally) an army. Leftovers for the week, YES!

Spicy Shrimp & Andouille Jambalaya 

with Beet Greens

• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 3/4 pound ANDOUILLE, or other smoked sausage, sliced in half lengthwise then across to make half-rounds about 1/4" thick
• 1/2 pound ham, diced small

 

• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeds removed, diced
• 2 medium yellow bell peppers (or use red or orange...whatever you have), seeds removed, diced
• 2 large jalapeno peppers, seeds removed, finely minced
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced

 

• 1 can diced tomatoes, fire roasted is my favorite, add all the juices, too
• 3 fresh thyme, sprigs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 3 Tablespoons cajun seasoning, I used Slap Ya Mama - nice and spicy!!!! (if you don't like big heat, use less)
• freshly ground black pepper, LOTS - to taste

 

• 4 cups chicken stock, I used a box from the store shelf, feel free to use your own homemade if you have some!
• 2 cups long-grain white rice
• beet greens, the tops from 1 bunch, washed and sliced across into about 1/2" ribbons (if you don't have beet green around, kale works beautifully!)

 

• 12 large shrimp, raw, peeled and deveined, tails left on
• 1 teaspoon cajun seasoning

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or other stove to table cookware.  Once the oil is HOT, but not smoking, add andouille and ham and saute until WELL browned. Remove meats with slotted spoon and set aside.
 
Add to the remaining oil in the pot, onion, celery, green and yellow peppers and jalapeno.  Once the veggies are about halfway to translucent, add the minced garlic and continue cooking until the onions are translucent and the rest of the veggies are soft.
 
Next add the diced tomatoes and seasonings and continue cooking for a few minutes until everything is nicely melded.
 
Now add the chicken stock, rice and greens, stirring until the rice is evenly distributed throughout the veggies.  Bring to a boil.
 
Add the meats and stir well again and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer about 25 minutes. 
 
Toss the shrimp with the teaspoon of cajun seasoning. Uncover the pot and place the shrimp on top of the rice, cover and continue cooking until the shrimp are pink.  Do NOT overcook the shrimp. 
 
Spoon into bowls and serve with good crusty bread!


NOTE: Be sure not to overcook your rice OR your shrimp.  Nobody likes mushy rice or rubbery shrimp.
 
   

Mom's Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

So, I have been slacking with posting the past few weeks! Work has been crazy with lots a shows…and that is a good thing! During the week of craziness I got to go to one of my favorite restaurants, Fat Fish Blue, with a few people from work. Unfortunately it was the last time we will ever get to go because it closed this past Sunday. There are a few other locations in the US, so if you see one go!  

Fat Fish Blue is a Cajun and Creole restaurant, serving some of the New Orleans classics like Po Boys, Gumbo, Jambalaya, Craw Dads, and more. Not only do they serve up great Cajun and Creole grub, they are a venue featuring nationally known Blues artists! What else but the blues would make for an authentic New Orleans experience?!

We started off with an order of buffalo tails for an appetizer, they are craw dad (crayfish) tails fried and covered in buffalo sauce…YUMMY! I will say the first time we ordered them I was a little apprehensive, I had never had crawdads before and had no idea what they would be like. I am so happy I tried them, because they are delicious!

Since it was my last time going, I had to get my favorite dish...gumbo! It was a colder day and it warmed me up for sure. It tasted just like the authentic gumbo I had while in New Orleans this past spring.

The good thing about gumbo is that you can make it at home...my mom makes it often this time of year and I love it! Here is her recipe:

Mom's Chicken and Andouille Gumbo

• 1 rotisserie chicken, store bought, cut into pieces

• 4 medium onions, cut in chunks, peeled first, of course

• celery leaves, all of them from a whole bunch of celery

• Crazy Salt - maybe 3 T.

• water, to barely cover

• 10 cups chicken broth, reserved (use the stock from above, adding canned chicken stock, if necessary)

• 8 slices bacon, sliced into 1/4" pieces (nice, thick hickory smoked bacon)

• 1 pound Andouille sausage or smoked sausage, sliced into half rounds 1/4" thick

• 1 1/2 cups onion, chopped

• 2 large green peppers, chopped

• 3 stalks celery, diced (use all the celery leaves you can...that's where the flavor is!)

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 can diced tomatoes, 14.5 ounce can (I like the fire-roasted ones)

• 1 can tomato sauce, 15 ounce can

• 10 ounces frozen corn

• 20 ounces frozen okra (LOVE my okra!)

• 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 tablespoon Hot Shot (if you can't find this in the McCormick section, use 1/4-1/2 t. cayenne and the rest fresh ground black pepper)

• Jane's Crazy Salt, to taste (or seasoned salt...but please, look for this magic ingredient!  Even Paula Deen used to use it before she started marketing her own.)

• 1-2 T. file powder (optional) - If you have a Penzey's near you, you can get it there.  It isn't necessary, but it lends a very authentic flavor and also serves to slightly thicken the gumbo. 

In LARGE soup pot, put chicken (yes, the store-bought rotisserie one), onion chunks, celery leaves and Crazy salt; cover with water. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer about 45 minutes or until chicken is tender. Remove chicken, cool, and set broth aside. Discard onion and celery leaves. Remove chicken from bones. Set aside. (If you wonder why I do it this way...a roasted chicken gives a deeper, richer stock.)

Cook bacon and sausage in the same pot until bacon is crisp and sausage is browned. Remove meats and set aside. There will be lots of brown stuff on the bottom of the pot.  Leave it there!  It will get deeper until you add the stock at the end.  Then, as you stir the soup, the stock will loosen all that browned, rich goodness and give the soup amazing flavor!

Add chopped onion, green pepper, celery, and garlic and cook until vegetables are tender. Stir OFTEN! Add chicken, bacon, sausage, broth, and all the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 1 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally - especially get the bottom to get that flavor up into the soup!

Serve in bowls, topped with a scoop of cooked rice - that's the traditional way. Without the rice is good, too!

GLUTEN-FREE NOTE:   Not all rotisserie chickens are gluten-free.  Read the label and/or talk to the store you buy it from.  I get mine at Costco for a lot of reasons...first, it is gluten-free, but check each and every time you buy one.  You never know when the store's recipe will change.  Second, Costco has the biggest and cheapest and BEST rotisserie chicken anywhere.  Period.  (Boston Market also has a GF rotisserie chicken!)