Red Beans and Rice

Tonight we're having a Traditional Monday Dinner.  You've probably heard of a Traditional Sunday Dinner, but did you know that there's such a thing as a Traditional Monday Dinner?  There is.  In New Orleans, Red Beans and Rice is traditionally served on Mondays.  A long time ago, Monday was the day on which the women of New Orleans did the laundry, which used to be a labor intensive and physically exhausting task that took all day.  It did not leave much time or energy for cooking.  So on Monday mornings, the women would put a pot of beans on the back of the stove and let it simmer slowly there all day, until it was ready to eat at dinner time.  It's a simple dish, but very flavorful and filling.  I first learned to make it when we lived in Louisiana, and over the years I've tried many different versions.  I like the one below because it is fairly uncomplicated and easy for a week-night meal.  It does take a long time to cook, but you can always put it in the slow cooker in the morning if you want to, and let it cook all day, just like the women of New Orleans used to do years ago.  Here's the menu:

Red Beans and Rice

Sensation Salad

Sensation Salad is another traditional South Louisiana recipe. When we lived in Baton Rouge, just about every restaurant I can think of served Sensation Salad.  It was extremely popular to say the least.  I hope you love it as much as they do in South Louisiana. 




Red Beans and Rice

1 pound small red beans

1/2 pound andouille sausage, thinly sliced

3 celery ribs, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon Creole seasoning

7 cups chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

3 cups uncooked long-grain rice

Garnish: sliced green onions

 

1. Pick beans over, rinse well, and drain. Place in a large bowl and add water to cover beans by 2 inches.  Let soak overnight. Drain.

2. Sauté sausage and next 3 ingredients in Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 10 minutes.  Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add beans, Creole seasoning, and 7 cups broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, and simmer 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Meanwhile, cook rice according to package directions. Serve with red bean mixture. Garnish, if desired.

 Slow-cooker Red Beans and Rice: Omit Steps 1 and 2. Stir together first 7 ingredients and 7 cups water in a 4-qt. slow cooker. Cover and cook on HIGH 7 hours or until beans are tender. Serve with rice.

 

The Week in Review: September 16-21

Here's a summary of last week's dinner menus:

Sunday:

Red Currant-Glazed Pork Chops; Gratin Dauphinois; Steamed Asparagus; Country Apple Pie

Monday:

All-American Burgers; Onion Rings*; Watermelon

Tuesday:

Teriyaki Turkey Kabobs; Pineapple Rice; Steamed Green Beans (recipes follow)

Wednesday:

Herbed Ham and Vegetable Quiche; Simple Green Salad; Spiced Peach Muffins

Thursday:

Schezuan Noodles with Chicken and Broccoli**; Cantaloupe

Friday:

Grilled Fish Tacos; Corn, Tomato, and Black Bean Salad

*I used frozen onion rings.  Two brands I recommend are: Alexia Onion Rings or Ore Ida Gourmet Onion Rings.  (Ore-Ida makes two styles of onion rings, and the regular ones are not nearly as good as the gourmet ones; in fact, I wouldn't say they're good at all.  They are sold in packaging that is nearly identical, however, so you have to read the label carefully.)

**I made some modifications to this recipe.  I made so many modifications that you might say I didn't actually make this recipe at all.  First of all, I cut it in half, which was more than plenty for four people.  I used 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves, and they took more than 35 minutes to cook -- I would say about 45 minutes.  I still used the whole bunch of broccoli, and I used one whole red pepper, and omitted the yellow one (instead of using 1/2 of a red and 1/2 of a yellow).  I also used linguine instead of spaghetti because I thought it would look nicer.  Then the number of ingredients required to make the sauce started to give me an anxiety attack, so I purchased an 11.5 ounce bottle of House of Tsang Bangkok Padang Peanut Sauce and used that instead.  Sorry Ina, I kind of hacked your recipe to pieces.  But everybody still really liked it, and that's all that matters. Right?

Teriyaki Turkey Kabobs

(This is a recipe that has stood the test of time.  I've been making it for almost 20 years and it's still a favorite.)

 

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 tablespoon ketchup

1 clove fresh minced garlic

1 ½ lbs. fresh turkey breast, cut into 1 ¼ ”pieces

1 large red pepper

1 large green pepper

1 Vidalia or other sweet onion

1. In a medium bowl combine lemon juice, soy sauce, oil, brown sugar, ginger, pepper, ketchup, and garlic. Stir in turkey pieces. Cover, and refrigerate for 3 to 4 hours.

2. Cut vegetables into 1 inch pieces. Alternately thread turkey and vegetables on skewers. Bring any remaining marinade to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

3. Grill kabobs for 15 to 20 minutes, brushing occasionally with marinade.

Pineapple Rice

 

1 cup long-grain converted white rice

½ teaspoon salt

1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons canola oil

1. Cook rice with salt according to package instructions.
2. To cooked rice, add pineapple chunks, scallions, ginger, and oil. Season to taste with pepper and additional salt if needed, and fluff with a fork.
 

Adios Verano!

This morning I realized that today is the last day of summer.  You know what that means?  It means it isn't over yet.  Not yet.  Although this afternoon, when I was sitting with my friend Cary, having lunch by her pool, covered over now with a big, black tarp, and in view of the fallen sunflowers, hanging their weary heads, it sure seemed like it was.   As much as I love autumn, I couldn't help feeling a little sad at the thought of letting summer go.  And later, as I drove past acres of brown cornfields on my way to the farmers market, I started to feel a little sadder still.   But when I pulled into the market, and saw that the bins were still overflowing with sweet corn and tomatoes,  I was happy again.  It isn't time to let go yet.  As long as the corn and tomatoes are still holding on, why shouldn't we?  So tonight we'll have one more summer dinner on the grill.  And this is what it will be:

Grilled Fish Tacos

Corn, Tomato, and Black Bean Salad

My brother Dennis turned me on to Fish Tacos a while back, and I am so glad he did.  They were a hit-- even with the kids.  Any recipe that will inspire my kids to eat fish is truly a winner in my book.  Of course, my children's love for tacos is such that I think they would eat just about anything in taco form, even, maybe, brussels sprouts.  Hmmm... I wonder?  No, that could never work.  Anyway, for now I'll stick with Fish Tacos, and everyone will be happy.   Even though summer is coming to an end.  In exactly eight hours.  We still have 8 more hours.  Yay!


Corn, Tomato, and Black Bean Salad

4 large ears fresh corn
1 can black beans rinsed and drained
4-5 scallions, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced (you could use the whole thing or even omit it entirely if you want)

Vinaigrette:
2 limes, juiced (if you want a stronger lime flavor, use the zest too)
2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon basil (use 1 tablespoon fresh if you have it)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/3 cup canola oil (you can use olive oil if you prefer it)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste (DO NOT FORGET to salt it -- I probably started with a 1/4 teaspoon of salt and adjusted up from there, after the salad was all mixed together.)

1. Cut the corn off the cob. Saute the corn in a nonstick skillet in a tablespoon (or less) of oil for just a couple minutes to take away the raw taste. Transfer to a large bowl to cool. When cool, add the remaining ingredients.
2. Place all vinaigrette ingredients, plus salt and pepper to taste, in a small jar and shake well. Pour over salad and mix. This should be done at least an hour before serving so the flavors have time to blend. It can stand at room temp or you can chill it in the refrigerator. Taste before serving and add salt if needed. (Are you getting the feeling that salt is very important to me? It is. :))

P.S.  I usually make this salad with lime juice, however, because the fish taco recipe I am serving it with already has so much lime juice in it, I decided to omit the lime juice in the vinaigrette tonight and substitute 2 additional tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar.  I don't want everything to taste like lime.  That would be too much of a good thing.

P.P.S.  Instead of making my own salsa verde for the tacos, I purchased a jar of Frontera Tomatillo Salsa.  Frontera is a product line by Chef Rick Bayliss which I haven't noticed in the store before today.   It was excellent and I highly recommend it.  Whatever you do -- whether you make it or buy it -- don't skip it.   (Also, feel free to substitute flour tortillas for the corn ones -- that's what I did.)

Applehood and Mother Pie

I spent one whole period of my life collecting recipes for apple pie, trying to find the perfect one.  I read all the best baking books, by all the most notable authors, and found some widely differing opinions on the subject.  But there was one thing that everyone seemed to be in agreement on, and that was the primary importance of choosing the right type of apple for pie-making.  There was a general consensus of opinion about which apples are good for pie, and which are not.  Everywhere, it was repeatedly stressed that McIntosh apples, in particular, are not good apples for pie;  the reason being that they tend to turn to applesauce when cooked.  So for years, I made pies with every type of cooking apple known to man, except for McIntosh.  And I turned out every conceivable type of pie: crunchy pies with hard apples that refused to soften, gummy pies with too much thickener, soupy pies with too little thickener, under-cooked pies that might have thickened if only I'd been a little more patient; pies with burnt crusts, soggy crusts, sugared crusts, glazed crusts, flaky crusts, cakey crusts, fancy crusts, lattice crusts, and crusts with cute little cut-out apple appliques. You name it, I made it.  Most of the pies turned out to be edible, and some of them turned out to be pretty good, but none of them turned out to be the apple pie of my dreams.

One day, I decided to think long and hard about the apple pie of my dreams.  What was I looking for anyway? What exactly would that pie be like?  Well, I thought... it would be like... that apple pie we used to have at Thanksgiving when I was growing up... that had a soft, brown filling.... and that must have been made by.... my mother?  Oh.   And that's when it dawned on me that apparently the apple pie of my dreams was none other than the one my mother used to make.  Go figure.   So, as a last resort, I called her up and asked her what kind of apples she used when she made pie. "Oh, you know,  just a bag of apples", she said, as if she'd never given it much thought.   "You mean a bag of McIntosh apples?"  "Yes", she said, "McIntosh."  You've got to be kidding me, I thought.  Didn't she know that it was a well-known rule upheld by every apple pie-making expert on the planet that you should never use McIntosh for pie?  "Well, that's what I use", she said.  Apparently, she was completely unfazed by the rules of pie.  And I'd had just about enough of them myself.   So I went and got a bag of Macs and made this pie.  And then I closed the chapter on My Search for the Perfect Apple Pie forever.   I don't know if this recipe is going to turn out to be the apple pie of your dreams.   But if you are still searching for that recipe, I could probably save you a whole lot of time and heartache by suggesting you call your mother first.   I have a feeling she probably has it.

Country Apple Pie

1 Double crust pastry for 9-inch pie

6 cups McIntosh, Jonagold, Golden Delicious or other cooking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick

 1 teaspoon lemon juice

 1/2 cup sugar

 1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

 3 Tablespoons flour

 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

 2 Tablespoons butter

 

1. Roll half of pastry to 1/8-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface; fit into a 9-inch pieplate; set aside.

2. Combine sugars, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.  Add apples and lemon juice, tossing gently.  Spoon filling evenly into pastry shell, and dot with butter.

3. Roll remaining pastry to 1/8-inch thickness; transfer to top of pie.  Trim off excess pastry along edges, leaving a 1-inch overhang.  Fold edges under and flute. Cut slits in top crust for steam to escape.

4. Cover edges of pastry with strips of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.  Bake at450 degrees for 15 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 degrees, and bake an additional 35 minutes, or until juices bubble thickly through crust.

P.S.  Personally, I don't see why we couldn't just have this lovely warm apple pie and some ice cream for dinner, with maybe a side of cheddar cheese for protein.  However, I know from experience that my husband would look at me like I have three heads if I tried to get away with that again, so here's an actual dinner to go with it:

   

Red Currant Glazed Pork Chops

Gratin Dauphinois

Steamed Asparagus

Country Apple Pie

The Week in Review: September 10-15

It's mid-September, and corn, tomatoes, and zucchini are still in season here.   The peaches are just about done now, and the local apples and squash are in.  I love this time of year at the farmer's market.   This week was our first full week of school, and while we've been getting into the swing of things, there hasn't been much time for blogging.  Still, there has been time for cooking, so here's a list of the menus from this past week:

Monday:

Hearty Baked Rotini; Simple Green Salad; Italian Ice

Tuesday:

Chicken and Asparagus Stir-Fry; Rice; Tropical Fruit Salad*

Wednesday:

Hoisin and Bourbon Glazed-Pork Tenderloin; Mashed Potatoes; Spinach-Apple Salad

Thursday:

Macaroni and Cheese; Garlic-Roasted Tomatoes; Green Bean Salad

Friday:

Creole-Style Baked Cod; Triple-Corn Spoonbread**; Sugar-Snap Peas

Saturday: 

Tuscan-Style Grilled Chicken Sandwich;  Broccoli, Grape, and Pasta Salad

* I made my life easy and used a jar of Dole Tropical Fruit Salad. Serve it chilled.

** If corn is still in season in your area, substitute 2 cups of fresh corn for the can of whole kernel corn in this recipe.

Hearty Baked Rotini

There was a chill in the air this morning that made it almost seem like fall.  I decided it would be the perfect day to break out the cold weather recipes and make something cozy and comforting for dinner.  So I picked out a hearty baked pasta recipe and headed to the store (I hadn't been there in almost 48 hours, which I think is a personal record.)  I forgot how deceiving September mornings can be though, because by the time I picked the girls up from school the temperature was back up to 80 degrees.  Oh well, we can always turn down the air-conditioning and pretend it's fall.

Here's the full menu:

Hearty Baked Rotini

Simple Green Salad

Lemon Italian Ice

At least the Italian ice makes sense for an 80 degree day. :)



Hearty Baked Rotini

1 pound ground beef

1 small onion, chopped

1 small green bell pepper, chopped

1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

8 ounces rotini, cooked

2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup Parmesan cheese

1. Cook first 3 ingredients in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring until beef is browned; drain and return to skillet.

2. Stir in tomatoes and next 7 ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes. Stir in rotini and cheese. Spoon into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish and bake at 350° for 35 minutes.

Update:  Overall, this one's a keeper -- everyone really enjoyed it.   I would definitely make it again, maybe on a cold and rainy October day.  For now though, it's back to the grill for awhile.

The Week in Review: September 3-8

Here's a summary of last week's dinner menus. 

Monday: Brown-Sugar Brined Pork Chops with Peach Barbecue Sauce, Potato and Green Bean Salad with Bacon, Cucumbers in Sour Cream

Tuesday: Turkey and Sausage Jambalaya, Roasted Cauliflower, Simple Green Salad with Creamy Buttermilk dressing, Honey-Moist Cornbread

Wednesday: Broccoli Frittata, Bruschetta with Roasted Red Peppers, Honeydew Melon (recipes follow)

Thursday:  California Burgers, Corn on the Cob, Coleslaw with Orange-Ginger Dressing (recipe follows)

Friday: Roasted Shrimp and Orzo, Sliced Tomato Salad, Strawberry-Yogurt Parfaits (recipe follows)

Saturday: Chicken Korma, Rice, Steamed Green Peas

Recipes

Broccoli Frittata

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups finely chopped onions

2 cups small broccoli florets

6 ounces mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

5 eggs

1 cup half and half

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch pie plate or quiche dish (or any low-sided ovenproof casserole dish that will hold 4-3/4 cups liquid.)

2. Heat the oil in a heavy saute pan. Add the onions and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the onions become transparent. Add the broccoli and saute for 3 minutes longer, stirring the mixture a few times.

3. Transfer the vegetables to the prepared quiche dish. Scatter the mozzarella over the vegetables.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, half and half, salt, and pepper until smooth. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables. Sprinkle with the Parmesan and parsley.

4. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the frittata has puffed and is nicely browned. Remove and let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 to 8 servings.

NOTE: This can be made 1 day ahead of time, covered, and stored in the refrigerator. When ready to serve, uncover and reheat for 10 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven.  Vegetables such as leeks, red bell pepper, or fresh spinach can be substituted for or used in addition to the broccoli.

Bruschetta

¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon minced garlic

½ teaspoon pepper

6 (3/4-inch thick) slices rustic country bread

Kosher salt to taste

1. Adjust oven rack to approximately 6-inches under broiler and preheat broiler.

2. Mix olive oil, garlic and pepper.  Brush over both sides of bread.  Place bread slices on foil lined baking sheet and broil until golden brown, approximately 2 inches on first side and 1 to 1-1/2 minutes on second side.  Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste.

Note: If desired, toss some roasted red peppers, cut into strips, with a drizzle of white balsamic vinegar and some basil.  Serve with bruschetta.

Coleslaw with Orange-Ginger Dressing

3 Tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoons honey

 Grated zest and juice of half an orange

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

½  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½  tablespoon peeled, grated fresh ginger

¼  cup canola oil

Salt to taste

1 package coleslaw mix

1 red bell pepper, diced

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

      Combine the vinegar, honey, orange zest, orange juice, red pepper flakes, black pepper, and ginger in a bowl.   Add the oil in a slow, steady stream while whisking constantly until well blended.  Season with salt to taste.      Add coleslaw mix, red bell pepper, and cilantro.  Toss to mix,  check seasoning, and add salt to taste.

Strawberry Yogurt Parfaits

Strawberries

Sugar

Vanilla flavored, low fat, Greek-style yogurt

Granola (without raisins)

Sweeten strawberries to taste with sugar.  Layer in glasses with yogurt and a sprinkling of granola.