Pecan Crusted Catfish Nuggets and Barbecued Chicken Wings - 8/28/11

Catfish nuggets are odd shaped pieces of catfish, ends and such, that are delicious but esthetically displeasing.  No neat fillets there.  At $3.99 a pound, I had to come up with something tasty.  And I did, using some of the pecan meal I picked up on our last trip to Atlanta.

Pecan meal is just finely chopped pecans, so you can certainly chop 'em yourself, but I like buying the meal because it is just the right consistency for breading fish and chicken.  For a pound of fish, all I do is  take some of the pecan meal and season it with garlic salt, pepper, dried thyme and paprika.  I then melt a stick of butter, and dip each piece of catfish in the butter, then the seasoned pecan meal.  Lightly butter a baking pan or dish, and place the prepared fish on it, single layer.  Bake in a 350 degree oven until the pecans are toasty, then carefully turn each piece over and return to the oven until that side has toasty nuts as well.  Yes, I really wrote that.

And that's the whole dish.

Now, the chicken wings - easy, no frying, but still crisp and juicy.  I like to use whole chicken wings.  Don't cut or separate any of the pieces.  Rinse the wings, don't worry about drying them.  Season both sides however you like.  I like salt, pepper, a little paprika, some garlic powder.  Place the wings on a rack over a baking dish and broil each side until the skin is nice and crispy.  People seem to have forgotten how to broil food.  My grandmother used to broil everything she didn't pot.  Potting is what we now call braising.  My grandmother used to braise her meatloaf.  Quite a gal.  But really, broiling seems to be a lost art, which is sad because it produces a nice char and crispy finish without having to fire up the grill or heat up 10 gallons of canola oil.  Makes clean-up a snap.

While the wings are broiling, set up a deep bowl or baking dish with an entire bottle of good quality barbecue sauce.  For this, I like KC Masterpiece Original.  When the wings are crispy, switch the oven to bake, and at 350 degrees, let the chicken finish cooking and warm the baking dish of sauce - maybe 10 minutes, no more.  With a pair of tongs, move the chicken wings to the sauce and carefully stir or toss to coat.  That's it, that's all you have to do.  Since I don't like spicy wings, this is the best way for me to enjoy them.

I suppose you can use any sauce that suits your fancy, including variations on the hot stuff.  I still don't get the attraction of eating food so incendiary it can blow the top of your head off while you sweat pure capsaicin from your pores.  And speaking of afterburn ... laugh while you can monkey boy, the truth is we all have to use the bathroom eventually.

Cindy's Spectacular Jambalaya - 8/21/11

This is totally my version of jambalaya, so I have no one to blame but myself if you find it displeasing.  But if you love one-pot dishes with everything and then some, please try this.



6 slices bacon, quartered crosswise
2/3 cup canola oil, divided
1-14 oz. package Johnsonville New Orleans Brand Andouille, sliced
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
10 cloves garlic, chopped
3 onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped, including leaves
2 large green bell peppers, chopped
3 stalks of fresh thyme, with multiple stems on each
2 bay leaves
2 cups uncooked rice
1-14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes with garlic, basil, and oregano
1-10 oz. can Ro-Tel Original Tomatoes with Green Chilies
1/2 pound chopped ham
1 quart chicken stock
1-8 oz. container fresh oysters, drained and rinsed (optional, but we love oysters)
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Seasoning:  kosher salt, coarse black pepper, Emeril's Original Essence.  No exact amounts are given, so season to taste.  Remember that the sausage and the Ro-Tel tomatoes will add quite a bit of spice to the dish.

1 tablespoon light brown sugar
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Slap Ya Mama white pepper blend seasoning

You will need a large, deep, very heavy pot for this dish.  Cook the bacon until crisp, then remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined dish. Add about 1/3 cup canola oil to the pot.   Add the sliced andouille and saute for about five minutes, then remove to the same dish as the bacon.  Season the chicken with Emeril's Essence, using your fingers to distribute evenly, and saute in the same pot till the chicken is no longer pink on the outside, but not completely cooked through.  Remove and add to the dish with the bacon and the andouille.  Crumble the cooled bacon with your fingers.

Add another 1/3 cup of canola oil to the pot and bring up to heat.  Add the garlic, and once it becomes fragrant (within a minute) add the onions, celery, bell peppers, bay leaves and thyme (throw in the whole stalks).  Season well with kosher salt, coarse black pepper, Essence, and 1 tablespoon of light brown sugar.  Saute for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to avoid sticking.

Add the rice, stirring to coat with the cooking liquid.  Add the tomatoes and the ham.  Pour in the chicken stock.  Add back all of the cooked bacon, andouille and chicken.  Stir, bring up to a boil, reduce to low, cover and cook until the rice is tender and the liquid almost gone, about 25 minutes.  Check about halfway through to make sure the rice is not sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Add the oysters, cover and cook 2 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook another 2 minutes until the shrimp are pink and the oysters firm.  Discard the bay leaves and thyme stalks. 

Taste to check the seasoning.  I added more salt and pepper, Slap Ya Mama seasoning and some (quite a bit) Tabasco. We like ours spicy but not painful. 

Cheesy Spicy Garlicky - Cauliflower? - 8/14/11

That's right.  And broccoli.

Here's the skinny on vegetables that may blow off the top of your head.  I bought a bag of Publix's "Alpine" frozen veggies - a simple blend of cauliflower and broccoli, two of my favorite vegetables in the world.  I took my mother's recipe for Italian broccoli, raided the pantry for stuff that comes in a jar, and played loosey-goosey with the spices.  Served this vegetarian wonder along side oven-barbecued ribs, not-so-spicy Buffalo chicken wings, and my home fried potatoes.  I love fresh ingredients, don't get me wrong, but there is something so wonderfully retro about pulling cans and bottles out of the pantry and coming up with a winner.

1 lb. bag of mixed frozen cauliflower and broccoli
canola oil or garlic oil (I use Boyajian brand) to coat the bottom of the pan
5 or more really large cloves of garlic, chopped with abandon
kosher salt, black pepper, granulated garlic, and dried pepper flakes
1-10 oz. can of Ro-tel tomatoes, drained
1 jar of Ragu brand cheese sauce (available in the pasta sauce aisle)

Coat the bottom of a large frying pan with the oil.  Add the garlic and the frozen vegetables.  Season with the salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and dried pepper flakes, to taste.  Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.  The vegetables are actually steaming in the water they give off as they defrost, while the garlic cooks in the oil.  Weird, but it works.  If the garlic starts to get too brown, add a few tablespoons of water.  Forget tender-crisp or al dente, you want them nice and soft.  Then add the tomatoes and the cheese sauce, stir, cover, and cook a few more minutes until hot.

Cindy's Home Fried Potatoes - 8/14/11

5 slices bacon, diced
2 tablespoons butter
1-8 oz. container Incredible Fresh brand diced red onion
1-8 oz. container Incredible Fresh brand tri pepper mix
4 or more large cloves of fresh garlic, chopped
2-14 1/2 oz. cans DelMonte brand diced new potatoes, well-drained
Kosher salt, black pepper, Emeril's Essence and Hungarian paprika

Start to cook the bacon in a large frying pan.  When some of the bacon fat is rendered, add the butter.  When the butter is melted, add the onion, peppers, and garlic.  Season with salt, pepper, and Essence and cook 2-3 minutes, or until the bacon is well-cooked (it will not be crispy).  Add the potatoes and the paprika, stir everything together gently, and cook over medium heat another 5 minutes.  Serve now, or move to a baking dish and heat in a 325-375 degree oven (depending on what else you have in there) until it is heated through and a little brown.

Rather Good But Untraditional Clam Chowder - 8/13/11

I had an idea in my head about what sort of chowder I was trying to make.  For some reason I am obsessed with "pink" chowder, a diplomatic compromise between the creamy New England variety, and the earthy, tomato-based Manhattan variety.  I debated long and hard between Worcestershire and Vermouth, and decided that the Worcestershire better represented my seasoning goal in this case.  Except once I got started, I realized there had to be a touch of sherry to finish it off.



It is a rather good, but untraditional clam chowder.

4 slices bacon, diced small
1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 large cloves garlic, minced
4 stalks celery, medium-diced
3 carrots, medium-diced (about 15 baby carrots)
2 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves (1 1/2 teaspoons fresh)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 tablespoons tomato paste
2-8 oz. bottles clam juice + the juice reserved from the drained clams
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
4 drops Tabasco sauce
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup milk, heated in the microwave
3-6 1/2 oz. cans chopped clams, drained, juice reserved
1-6 oz. can lump crabmeat, drained
1/4 cup sherry

In a stockpot, cook the bacon until crisp and the fat is well-rendered.  Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon, drain on paper towels, and  add 1 tablespoon of butter to the bacon fat in the pot.  Add the onions and cook over medium low heat for 10 minutes.  Add the garlic, celery carrots, potatoes, thyme, salt and pepper and saute for 10 more minutes, adding another tablespoon of butter if necessary.  Add the tomato paste, stir well, and cook another 30-60 seconds.  Add the clam juice, the Worcestershire, and the Tabasco, and simmer uncovered until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.  Add the clams and heat over low heat while you prepare the roux.

In a small pot, melt the butter and whisk in the flour.  Cook over very low heat for 3 minutes, whisking constantly.  Whisk in a cup of the hot tomato clam broth then pour this mixture back into the chowder.  Simmer for a few minutes until the broth is thickened.  Add the hot milk and the crabmeat and heat gently for a few minutes.  Stir in the sherry.  Taste for salt, pepper, and Tabasco.  Serve hot.

Tomato-Chicken Soup with Chick Peas and Chicken Sausage - 8/7/11

I made soup today with chicken stock, chick peas, fire roasted tomatoes, feta and spinach chicken sausage, and a sofrito of onion, carrot, and sweet bell pepper.  Some fresh parsley.  It was okay.  No umami there, in my opinion, but sometimes my tastebuds get wonky.  I even forgot to take a picture.  Some cooking blog.

I'm in some shape.  There was exactly one egg in the house, and I ate it.  With cheese.  I never run out of eggs.  This is all because I did not step outside this house today, not even to duck into Publix.  Instead I sat with my knitting and watched most of the entire first season of Torchwood.

Here is the recipe, which is probably better than I am making it out to be.  Rob and Cory enjoyed it, and it takes under 30 minutes to prepare, and another 30 to simmer everything together.

1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
2 chicken sausage links, halved and sliced
1 pound can chick peas, drained
1 pound can diced fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
6 cups of chicken stock

Coat the bottom of a sauce pan with some olive oil.  Heat, then add the onion, carrot, pepper, and garlic.  Season with kosher salt and black pepper and a pinch of sugar.  Saute a few minutes, then add the parsley and sausage.  Continue to cook on medium low heat until the vegetables are soft and lightly browned.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. 

This is a light, brothy soup, so if you like a little more body, add more sausage, or some cooked pasta, like a small shell shape.  Or croutons, I'm a sucker for croutons in my soup.  You can also sprinkle some parmesan cheese over the top of each serving.  Tasty.

Since I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish, I offer instead a picture of my knitting.  Yes, it is a new project - actually, it's the second part to an existing project.  When it's all done, I'm sure it will make perfect sense.

You Get No Bread With Your One Meat Ball - 8/1/11

The waiter hollered down the hall:
You get no bread with your one meat ball.

Little man felt so very bad,
One meat ball is all he had.
And in his dreams he can still hear that call
You get no bread with your one meat ball.

Oh, but what a meatball!

3 1/2 - 3 3/4 pound ground beef (I use Publix market beef or you can use ground round)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cup whole milk ricotta
1/2 cup panko
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup cornflake crumbs
2 tablespoons granulated garlic
2 tablespoons parsley flakes
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
1 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon Hungarian sweet paprika
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
crushed red pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons ground mustard
1/2 cup ketchup
4-26 oz. cans Hunt's garlic and herb pasta sauce

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and lightly spray the bottom of two casserole dishes, preferably the aluminum 9x13 size with deep sides.

Loosen up the ricotta by mixing it with the eggs.  Then combine all the ingredients except for the pasta sauce, in a very large bowl, take off your rings, and start mixing.  When everything is well mixed, take a small portion of the meat, form a very small patty and cook it in a pan.  Taste the cooked meat and make any seasoning adjustments to the meat mixture in the bowl.

Using a 3/4 cup measure, divide the meat into 16 portions.  Form the meatballs, and place eight in each of the prepared pans.  Place in the oven, uncovered, for 15 minutes.  Remove, carefully turn the meatballs over, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.

While the meatballs are baking, heat the pasta sauce.  Ladle half the sauce into each pan of baked meatballs, cover with aluminum foil, lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees, and return the pans to the oven for 45 minutes.  Check for doneness with a thermometer - it should register 165 degrees internal temperature.  Add more time as needed to finish the meatballs.

Then eat your one meatball with as much bread as you like ... garlic bread for me.

My Chopped Salad - 8/1/11

You have really got to be in the mood to chop, and possess some mad skills with the santoku.  Wear comfortable shoes, you're gonna be standing for a while.

I should call this recipe "Une Salade pour les Patients Gastriques de Déviation" or maybe even better, "Una Ensalada para los Pacientes Gástricos de Puente" because I can read and pronounce Spanish while my French sucks.  Although I studied German for three years in college, I'm not going to even attempt it.  If you like twisting your tongue into a half hitch knot, run it through Babel Fish.  This salad for gastric bypass patients would have certainly satisfied my craving for all things green, which cropped up around two weeks after my surgery.  There was no way my tampered-with digestive system could have dealt with all that glorious roughage, but crave I did.  When the time came my doctor cleared me for salads, I found I still could not easily enjoy any kind of lettuce or cucumber in their raw state.  Even now, 8 years post-surgery, I will dive happily into a big bowl of salad, only to have it return the favor, so to speak, within the hour.

As I worked on developing this recipe, I realized I was chopping the food a lot smaller than in any other similar recipes I had seen.  Loving radishes as I do, I went ahead and grated them, as I did the carrots.  The end result of all my micro-chopping is a delicious salad that is easy to eat.  You certainly have the option of leaving the pieces a little bigger.  Just don't approach that state of chop known as "chunky" and you'll still have an authentic chopped salad.

For the dressing, I used Ken's Lite Northern Italian.  You can make your own vinaigrette, but why?  Just asking ...

1-10 oz. bag of Italian salad mix (romaine and red cabbage), finely chopped
1/3 bag of Angel Hair Cole Slaw, finely chopped
1 large or 4 baby cut carrots, freshly grated
4 red radishes, grated
3 shallots, finely chopped
1 small green or mixed colors of bell peppers, finely chopped (I used about 6 mini-sweet peppers)
1/3 of a large cucumber, seeded and patted dry, finely chopped
8 black olives, cut in quarters lengthwise
8 grape tomatoes, cut in quarters lengthwise
1-8oz. container Cedar's brand Fresh Chick Pea Salad, or 1-7.75 oz. can chick peas, drained and roughly chopped

Thinly sliced Italian cold cuts, chopped - I used hot calabrese, pepper salami and hot capocollo, but you can use whatever you like.  I think I used a total of about 10 thin slices
shredded extra sharp Cheddar cheese - to taste
shredded Asiago cheese - to taste.  Again, you can use any cheese you like; provolone is a natural with this, as is mozzarella

Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently.  Add the meats and cheeses and toss again.  No doubt you can already see where you might like to make substitutions or revise the amounts uses.  Go for it, this is a virtually no fail salad.

Now just before you are ready to eat, take your portion and place it in a deep bowl.  Drizzle on just enough dressing to moisten the salad, and toss it gently.  Once you have dressed the salad, eat immediately.