Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipe. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

College Boy's Chicken Gumbo


I don't post a lot of my own recipes ( not even chocolate ones) primarily because most of them I make up as I go along and don't measure precisely.  But my camera was in the kitchen when I was making this ( another reason I don't post a lot of recipes...it's usually in my craft room) so I decided to share. 

Somewhere in his Senior Year of HS, my genes kicked into now College Boy's palate. I came from a background where a pot of pepper sauce was on the table at all times ( the kind where you use a toothpick, not a spoon to apply to your food...guests were warned and didn't alway listen) and hubs came from a background where salt was the spiciest thing in the house. After I made this the first time it became College Boy's ongoing request for special meals. His graduation dinner, when he first came home from college, on each college break. 

For this recipe you will need: 
  • 1 medium onion chopped
  • 1 red pepper chopped
  • 1 green pepper chopped
  • 2 ribs of celery chopped

  • 2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped (you could even use a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store)
  • 1 "box o chicken broth"
  • 1 can crushed tomatoes and 1 can tomato sauce ( or two cans tomato sauce if you think you have crushed tomatoes in your pantry and you don't
  • 1/2 C flour
  • Salt , cajun spice (can omit if you're from my husband's family) black pepper to taste
  • 2 Tsp Gumbo File powder ( cannot omit!)
  • Olive oil
  • 1TBSP Butter


I'm not from New Orleans or Louisiana but love gumbo and started making this recipe a few years ago. 

  • Coat the bottom of a heavy pan ( dutch oven ) with olive oil, add butter til melted
  • Add flour and stir (and stir and stir). This will make your "roux" which thickens your gumbo. Ideally you want this to brown and not burn.
  • Add your chopped onion, peppers, celery
  • Add your salt, pepper, cajun seasoning 
  • Stir until your roux is well blended into your veggies
  • Add a little chicken stock, stir
  • It should be a thick gravy consistency
  • Keep adding chicken stock and stirring and watching it thicken
  • Add tomatoes / tomato sauce and stir
  • Add gumbo file powder 



While I'm chopping my veggies, I poach two chicken breasts. You can also do this ahead of time or as mentioned above, you can use a rotisserie chicken from the store. Depending on your family's level of pickiness, you can also add shrimp, andouille sausage etc. You'll notice those aren't here lol. You'll also notice that there's no okra in this. Yuck. Sorry. Tried it. Yuck. 

Let your pot simmer for at least 30 minutes but I usually make this a couple of hours before we eat it or I make it ahead and refrigerate so the flavors really settle in. If you do let it simmer for a while, stir periodically so it doesn't stick to the bottom. 


Serve over rice or you can eat like a soup. If you really want your family to swoon, make garlic cheddar biscuits with melted butter. 




Friday, August 13, 2010

Ssshhhh....It's Not Chocolate!

I can usually forego dessert if it's not chocolate. But, nature has provided us with a bountiful supply of blackberries. Despite Mr. Chocolate's persistent cutting back of these ( much to my chagrin), each year we end up with "a bunch o berries". They don't ripen until later in the summer here so I was excited last night when I was able to pick these:
About 5 cups. Not enough to make any jam but certainly enough for a homemade cobbler! Actually I only used 3 cups for the cobbler and the rest are in the freezer, added to some from last year and awaiting future pickings from this year.


Super easy recipe:
Heat Oven to 350
Melt 1 stick butter ( yes, 1 stick....and I say Paula Deen's trying to kill me with butter) and pour on the bottom of a 12x12 pan ( or whatever you have that's close)
Mix:
1C Flour
1C Sugar
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
Pinch of Salt
2/3 C Milk

Pour on top of melted butter. Top w/ 3 C blackberries. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake 40-45 min until brown.



We had ours warm with Vanilla bean ice cream. Mmmmmm....Summer!

Welcome to those stopping in from:

New Friend Fridays

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Look what a new bloggy friend made!

I was reading a comment from a new follower , Laurie ( thank you!) and went to check out her blog Simply Scratch  , because I try to always do that. If someone is nice enough to visit me and comment, I do try to do the same in return. Anway, imagine my little chocoholic heart's delight when the first post I saw on her blog was THIS:


Yeah, that's what I said. Want NOW! Simply Scratch isn't just a blog about chocolate (a girl can dream) but about something I try to do as much as possible which is cooking from scratch. Not to fulfill the part of my brain that has a Martha Stewart personality disorder ( said lovingly) but because there are so many chemicals and junk in processed food that where I can do it from scratch I'd rather. Anyway and needless to say, this recipe caught my eye so go check it out and some other yummy ones too!

Black Forest Chocolate Cake With Chocolate Ganache

Friday, May 28, 2010

Chocolate Barbeque Grill Cake ! How Perfect is This For Memorial Day BBQs

or even for Father's Day! I haven't made it, and the weather being what it is in my neck of the woods, there aren't any barbeque plans in sight, but maybe those of you with better weather need something fun for your weekend plans:

It's from the Hershey's Kitchen Recipe Collection (recipe at link) complete with the instructions for the "Cocoa  Fudge Burgers" and "Shish Kabobs". If anyone tries it, let me know!