Food Musings: Red Beans and Rice

Red beans and rice is one of those dishes I learned to cook while in New Orleans and it never fails to bring back memories of my time in the Crescent City. It's something I make quite often, maybe twice a month or so, but tend to make it on Mondays as is the tradition. Apparently, back in the day, women in the Big Easy served ham on Sunday and used the ham hock to make Monday's red beans which could simmer on the stove while they did their cleaning chores. One can find red beans and rice most days in touristy New Orleans restaurants, but good ones usually keep the tradition by serving it as a Monday lunch special.

I don't use a recipe for it, and whether it's because I don't have a certain ingredient, or I want to experiment a bit, my red beans come out different every time. First, I never use a ham hock. I've never liked ham all that much, and while I know I can buy just the ham bone, I never actually do that. Instead I start with a bit of oil, chopped onion and celery, although if I don't have fresh celery in the house, I've been known to use a few sprinkles of celery flake instead. While the onion/celery mix is softening, I add some spices - usually salt and black pepper, sometimes thyme, always a bay leaf or two. Then I decide if I feel like going vegetarian or not. If not, then it's time to add sausage, about a pound of it - andouille is my number one choice, but kielbasa, linguica, chorizo, and the like have worked well. If yes, then it's time to add the beans. I'm not organized enough to plan to make this dish ahead of time (which means soaking dried beans overnight and all that) so I rely on canned red beans, four 14.5-ouncers or 2 large cans, sometimes using a pretty mix of light or dark for aesthetic reasons only. I tend to use an immersion blender to puree one can's worth so the dish has a creamier texture. Once the beans are in, I add the heat - several dashes of Trappey's Louisiana Hot Sauce and plenty of Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning. On these two things I remain a purist. I give it all a taste, adjust my seasonings accordingly and let it simmer for as long as it takes. The rice part? Usually a nice basmati I make in my handy rice cooker, but sometimes even I resort to Uncle Ben's "boil-in-the-bag." It doesn't matter to me - one bite and I may as well be walking along the Mississippi.

I doubt that these musings will help anyone make a decent pot of red beans. And while I'm sure there are New Orleanians out there who would balk at my laissez-faire attitude toward one of their best-known dishes, I would argue that laissez-faire is what NOLA does best. A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and a little bit of cooking time - that's the best recipe for any dish in my opinion.

Chicken, Sweet Onion and Potato Paprika

It's been a year since Chris and I went on our trip to Prague and Budapest, and in that year, we have really come to love Hungarian paprika, so much that the usual McCormick's or Spice Islands brands just don't cut it any longer. We add Hungarian paprika to many of our dishes, especially fall and winter ones, to give them a nice, deep, smoky spiciness. I was thinking about paprika when I decided to create a new chicken dish this past weekend. We tend to do the same chicken dishes again and again, and I wanted something different, something with a little zing. It was an experiment, and one that turned out well. The potatoes were brown and crispy, the onions were soft and caramelized, and the chicken was juicy, so I knew it cooked for the right amount of time. As far as the spice blend goes, the heat was bold with that hint of smokiness only paprika can offer. Since we cooked it all in one baking dish, everything had a vibrant orange-brown color. Chris and I both deemed it worthy of working into our chicken-dish repertoire, especially since it was both delicious and easy.

Ingredients:

2 split chicken breasts, with skin and bone
1 large sweet onion, chopped roughly
3-4 small potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons Hungarian hot paprika
1 1/2 tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 550 degrees. Combine the olive oil and spices in a large Ziploc bag then add the onion, potatoes and chicken. Toss everything in the bag so it is coated well with the spice blend. In a baking dish, lay the potatoes and onions down in one layer, then rest the chicken, skin side up, on top of them. Bake for 40 minutes.

Reminder: Restaurant Report Cards

Back in October, I did a short post announcing that my friend and co-teacher Joanne and I would be starting up a blog together called Restaurant Report Cards. Both of us love to cook, eat and drink, and like most women we know, we also love having girls' night out. On these nights (or afternoons on occasion...), we tend to peruse the menu online beforehand, order different dishes (the more to taste!), share samples, linger over the wine, and talk, not only about work or the men in our lives or whatever else is going on, but about the food. And since we were each already writing our own blogs, we decided to start one up reviewing the restaurants we visit. Now that we have a dozen or so reviews posted, we're officially "debuting" to our family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and of course, our readers. We've gotten business cards and sent postcard notices and now we're just putting it out into the universe that maybe something will come of the venture we've come to call "RRC." If you love to read about food, or are wondering about restaurants in the Connecticut/Massachusetts area, we hope you'll check it out.

School Lunch

As many of you know, Chris and I are both high school teachers. I work in a district-run public school and he works in a state-run tech school which has a culinary program. When he sent me a copy of their lunch menu for today, I knew I had a great blog topic. Let's compare the lunch that was available for the adults in each building today.

My school:

Soup of the Day: Vegetable, $1.50.

Choice One: Deli bar - choice of ham or turkey "roll" with sliced American or mozzarella cheese on a white hard roll or wrap, served with a 2-oz. cup of shredded lettuce and one slice of anemic-looking tomato, a 4-oz. cup of vegetable soup (made with yesterday's leftovers), and a portion of canned pineapple chunks for $3.50.

Choice Two: Hot lunch - Chicken fajita wrap (an ice-cream scoop of shredded chicken with taco seasoning on a cold white tortilla) served with salsa and shredded cheese, that 2-oz. shredded lettuce and tomato cup (see above), seasoned corn (no matter what it is, the vegetable of the day is always "seasoned" which means it has plenty of salt, and maybe some pepper), and a fruit cocktail cup for $3.50.

Hey, at least the main "entree" isn't the once-a-month fan favorite (yes, I'm being sarcastic...)Chicken "Fryz" (picture something the size of a McDonald's French fry only browner and soggier with a dental-floss-size strip of chicken in the center, and yes, they spell it that way).


His school:

Soup of the Day: Crab Bisque, $2.00.

Choice One: Chicken Quesadilla: "Toasted tortilla shell filled with cheese, diced tomatoes, onions, jalapeno peppers and roasted shredded chicken accompanied by salsa and sour cream." $6.00

Choice Two: Manicotti and Meatballs: "Pasta stuffed with ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese with marinara sauce and meatballs, served with a side salad and garlic bread." $6.50

Choice Three: Grilled Flank Steak: "Grilled marinated flank steak served with a loaded baked potato and vegetable." $6.50

Heart Smart Choice: Baked Cod Fish: Cod fish baked in a lemon beurre blanc with a brown rice pilaf and vegetable." $6.50


It's just not fair.

Chinese New Year - Crispy Orange Beef

Today is Chinese New Year, and it's the Year of the Ox. When I was in grammar school, a Chinese family moved into our neighborhood. As I spent afternoons teaching their Ya-ya (the grandfather) English, they taught me about their culture, sparking a life-long appreciation and fascination. I have taken some Chinese brushpainting classes and dabble in Chinese calligraphy now and again, but there's something I really love about being able to celebrate the New Year once again, with food. In the past, I've thrown small gatherings, or at least have broken out my blue-and-white porcelain dinnerware on which to serve my Asian creations, but this year the New Year is being celebrated on a Monday, during my school's midterm exams, so we're going low-key. Oranges are China's most plentiful fruit, and tradition says that dishes made with them represent wealth and good fortune. Since we all could use a little bit of that, I decided to make Crispy Orange Beef. Although it was a bit labor-intensive for a weeknight, it turned out well. Using a small portion of beef and lots of vegetables is how we kept it relatively light. The crispy, savory beef and fresh vegetables got a real boost from the sweet yet mildly spicy sauce. We suggest serving it with steamed rice. Here's the recipe, for two as usual. Happy New Year!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. top sirloin beef, still slightly frozen if possible
1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup champagne vinegar (white wine vinegar or rice wine vinegar would work too)
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried orange peel
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 cup canola oil (for frying)
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon (2-3 cloves) minced garlic
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha sauce

3 cups vegetables (we used broccoli and snap peas)

Slice the beef into thin strips and lay them out in a single layer over paper towels. Allow them to finish thawing and to dry for about a half hour. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together the sugar, vinegar, orange peel, orange juice, salt and soy sauce and set the mixture aside. Coat the beef slices with cornstarch and put the beef in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes so the coating will stick. In the meantime, steam your vegetables. Heat the oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Fry the beef in the hot oil in small batches until the beef is crispy and brown. Be careful not to cook the beef too long, especially if it's sliced nice and thin. When all the beef has been fried, set it aside and get rid of all but a tablespoon of the frying oil. To the wok, add the ginger, garlic, sriracha and sesame oil and cook it briefly, taking care not to burn the garlic. The add the orange juice mixture to the wok, bring it to a boil and let it cook until it thickens and looks syrupy, about six minutes. Add the beef and vegetables to the wok and stir everything so it is coated with the sauce. Serve with steamed rice.

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Chris and I just love roasted garlic mashed potatoes. They used to be my go-to side dish whenever we ate out until one day I realized how easy they are to make at home, and now we have them often. In the past, I've usually just roasted a head of garlic (see below), pinched out a bunch of the cloves, and mashed them up with my cooked potatoes, 1/2 stick of butter, 1/4 cup of milk, and salt and pepper. These days, I'm substituting Olivio (butter mixed with olive oil) for the butter, and fat-free milk for the milk, but the flavor of the roasted garlic more than makes up for any calorie-cutting. Here's my tip for roasting garlic the easy way:

Cut off the tip of the garlic head so that each clove is exposed. Place it on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle the whole head of garlic lightly with olive oil and season it with salt and pepper. Pinch the foil around the garlic like a packet - loose enough so that steam can form, but tightly enough so that the steam doesn't escape. Then bake it at 400 degrees for about a half-hour. It's done when the garlic pinches out of the skin easily and is nicely browned (see photo). You can spread it on bread, toss it with vegetables, or just put it in anything that would be improved by a little roasted garlic flavor, such as mashed potatoes!!!

Shrimp and Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo

Given that my husband and I are trying to lose a few pounds, "Shrimp and Spinach Fettuccine Alfredo" doesn't seem like your normal diet food. Nonetheless, I think making small changes is the surest way to stick to "a plan," so that it doesn't seem so much like "a plan," but a new-and-improved way of cooking and eating. At least, that's what seems to be working for us at this point. After a hard week at school (exams and all that), I was craving comfort food, and for me, that means pasta, in particular creamy pasta (think my mom's macaroni and cheese - delicious and satisfying but laden with fat and calories). I was thinking of making fettuccine alfredo. Now you may be asking yourself, "What is light about fettuccine alfredo?" Well, that's the challenge. I made some minor changes to my usual recipe by removing butter and oil, using Simply Smart fat free milk (which Chris and I like more than usual skim), and using spinach fettuccine instead of regular pasta for a vegetable boost. Both of us were pleasantly surprised at the excellent flavor, so much that this new way of making alfredo may become our usual way. Isn't that the point?

Ingredients:

Note: This recipe made enough for two dinners and lunch-sized leftovers for one.

1/2 lb. spinach fettuccine

2 slices bacon

1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tablespoon flour

1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper

1 cup fat-free milk

pinch of nutmeg

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Prepare the pasta according to package directions. In a medium-sized sauce pan, cook the bacon and remove it, leaving the drippings in the pan on medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and garlic to the pan and cook until the shrimp is pink, 2-3 minutes. Take the shrimp and garlic out and set aside in a small bowl. Add the flour to the pan and season it with the salt and pepper. Stir it over the heat for 30 seconds, then slowly whisk in the milk. Put in the pinch of nutmeg and cook the milk about four minutes, stirring often, until it thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the parmesan cheese. To serve, toss the pasta, shrimp and milk mixture together with the bacon crumbled on top.

Inauguration Celebration: Soup and Champagne

Politics aside, Chris and I invited some friends to our house on Tuesday night to celebrate the peaceful transition of power known as the Inauguration of the President of the United States. We DVR'd the ceremony and speech as well as some of the pre- and post- festivities so we could all view together while sharing a simple meal. It being a school night, and a not-so-hot economy, our menu was simple: a variety of soups and breads and of course, celebratory pseudo-champagne (a $6.99 per bottle brut rose cava we found at Trader Joe's).

For our part, Chris and I bought some sourdough rolls, baguettes and peasant breads, made the roast pork chili that we posted about in early January and did a basic chicken noodle soup with homemade stock. The guests pitched in the rest and the result was a six-soup feast. Foodie friend J. brought dhal, a wonderfully spiced curried lentil soup. Neighbors the W's brought a hearty and flavorful venison stew. Neighbor J. made a white chicken chili with a variety of toppings that gave it a nice Southwestern kick. And our other neighbor J. did a thick and creamy kielbasa-potato-cabbage soup. Friends E. and M. rounded off the meal with a berries-and-cream angel food cake while neighbor B. brought her famously delicious chocolate-chip cookies. Latecomers the G's brought a zesty taco-dip and chips for those needing a post-meal snack.

The spirit of hope and togetherness was in the air as we enjoyed each other's culinary creations and good company, then, silent for the good part of an hour, witnessed history in the making. Politics aside, we're thinking this should be an annual thing.

What Do You Mean We Have No Panko???

Like most foodies, I love me some Food Network. Lately, my fave chef is Anne Burrell. I love her pure, unabashed enjoyment of the whole cooking and eating process. I love that she's not stick- thin. I love that her enthusiasm is contagious. And I love that she shares her restaurant-chef secrets. She did a pretty simple Chicken Milanese on Saturday morning's program that inspired last night's dinner.

I convinced myself that we had everything we needed for this easy recipe, but didn't actually check. Lesson learned. We had no panko. Sure, normal or even Italian-seasoned bread crumbs would have sufficed, but panko would have given them that light crunch Chris and I love, so any way it came out would have been disappointing.

Nevertheless, we carried on. I butterflied two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and put them through what every chef I know calls "the standard breading procedure" - dip them in seasoned flour, then beaten egg, then bread crumbs, and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes to set. While they were in the fridge, Chris went about prepping the side dish.

For her side, Anne had done an escarole salad, but that would have meant a trip to the store. Figuring that lemon is a traditional flavor in Chicken Milanese, we decided on lemon green beans. That involved the simple act boiling trimmed green beans for four minutes in well-salted water and tossing them in a tablespoon of lemon juice and a teaspoon of lemon zest. Easy!

When it was time to cook the chicken, I covered the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and waited patiently for it to heat. I gently placed the chicken in and let the oil do its thing, flipping once to make sure both sides were nice and brown (as Anne says, "Brown food is good!"). I squeezed a little lemon juice over the chicken and that was dinner.

Could it have been better? Absolutely. First, the lemon on both the chicken and the green beans made the dish just too lemony. Also, the chicken, although perfectly cooked if I may say so myself, had little flavor since I had used plain breadcrumbs. It just needed more seasoning, so much that we ended up dipping the pieces in barbecue sauce. Yes, it's true - not everything we cook is fabulous. But it only took about 1/2 hour, it was relatively wholesome even though we had pan-fried the chicken, and it wasn't the worst thing we've ever eaten. Nevertheless, panko is the first item on the grocery list now.

Classic Restaurant Supply

We found ourselves in Hartford on Saturday in a quest for firewood (they were closed) and stopped into nearby Classic Restaurant Supply to see if they had a 12'' magnetic knife strip (our collection has gotten too large for the one we have). They didn't have one in stock. We were 0 for 2 on our errands today, but we did enjoy a 1/2-hour browse through this store that is so fun for professional and home cooks alike. Everything you could ever want in your kitchen - every pot, pan, knife, gadget, tool, appliance, et al. - is in there. We went down every aisle, pointing out this or that to each other, with cries of "Oh! I want that!" repeated again and again. I knew we had to leave when I spotted Chris trying on a red chef's jacket. He turned and said, "Wouldn't it be fun to wear these when we cook..." and while I did think that would be fun, we paid for our cast-iron grill press and headed home in the snow.