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rice

Mississippi Chanterelle Risotto

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I’ve not always had great luck with risotto… when I was first married, we had my VERY gorgeous friend who is a SUPER accomplished home cook and hostess over for supper while her fella was on an adventure to the other side of the world. She was (and still is) one of the coolest, prettiest, nicest, funnest people I know in real life. So, you know– I wanted to bring my A-game.

In an effort to impress her with my own cooking skills (insert eye roll here) I tried to make a bacon, lemon, English pea risotto and ACK! It was awful. So bad. Too much bacon, too much lemon, hardly any peas. And the RICE! Oh, it tasted like grains of sand were lodged in the middle of each piece.

Flash forward to a couple of years ago: Rice pudding & Risotto were two recipes I decided I wanted to perfect since Rice is a major, MAJOR Mississippi crop. I’m still working on the rice pudding (but I’ve got a lead!) but the risotto has come a LONG way since that first big huge failure and is something I’m finally willing share. Then, of course, when you combine Mississippi grown Delta Blues Rice (Rice GRITS, no less!) and Jones County golden chanterelles from Wild Woods Cuisine, well, how can it be bad?

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Tradition to Adopt: Stewed Okra and Tomatoes as a Thanksgiving side

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Its about time for me to share this recipe… although I made it back in early September with a HUGE, gigantic sack of okra a friend brought to us and the last of our garden’s tomatoes, it really would be a DELICIOUS Thanksgiving side dish. Also, most recipes I found call for frozen okra and canned tomatoes, so you really can make this year-round.

I’ve always thought of Thanksgiving as an important holiday for Americans to celebrate our “meltingpot” cultural heritage, and okra is an amazing food that does just that. Originating in modern-day Ethiopia, okra was most likely brought to our country by enslaved Africans (like most delicious southern food). It’s also called “gumbo” although it’s more likely that you’ve heard this word in context of soups thickened with okra rather than references to the vegetable itself. Aggie Horticulture writes of the name, “Both of these names are of African origin. ‘Gumbo’ is believed to be a corruption of a Portuguese corruption, quingombo, of the word quillobo, native name for the plant in the Congo and Angola area of Africa.” This dish definitely has its roots in the Cajun and Creole traditions of the south… plus, a version of stewed okra and tomatoes recipe found in Indian cuisine as well. What’s more meltingpot than a vegetable and recipe that immigrated to the US from multiple parts of the world? Definitely a contender for a new Thanksgiving side dish tradition.
Confession: Okra’s hairy-sliminess isn’t always palatable to me… but this recipe breaks down the okra and makes it a smooth texture, plus the flavor of it and the tomatoes comes out beautifully. My grandmother used to make this and for a long time it was the ONLY way I’d eat this vegetable.

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Classic Red Beans and Rice

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OH. MY. STARS. it’s been too long.i’ve had three posts raring to go since late January and then things got busy and the last thing I’ve wanted to do when I got home was turn on my computer…and then I got into Game Of Thrones on Amazon… but it’s time. I miss blogging about food, and taking pictures of food, and just generally talking about food. (plus… my pretty friend Fancy flattered me by asking when I was going to post something new. Fancy, here you go!)
This recipe was supposed to come out around the time of Mardi Gras, since what’s more Louisiana that Red Beans and Rice? Even if the weather has gotten a little warmer (but not much! what’s up with the freaskishly cold weather??) and the confetti and beads are long gone from Beale Street, this recipe still tastes divine. It’s a combination of my grandmother’s classic Louisiana recipe, the Cook’s Illustrated test kitchen version, and the one from the River Road Recipes Cookbook.  Read on.
What you Need:
To cook:
Andoille Sausage (1 package, or a 1.5 lbs)
1 tablespoon of oil
2 onions
5 garlic cloves
1 green pepper
2 ribs of celery
1 cup of Camellia brand dried red beans (washed, dried, and soaked)
2 table spoons beef stock
3-5 cups of water
2 squirts of ketchup
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
Salt
Pepper
 
To Serve
1 bunch green onions
Hot sauce
1/2 cup of rice per serving
What to Do:
Obviously, begin by rinsing and soaking the beans (overnight is best, but 6 hours will do in a pinch. Basically, you want them full of water and tender.)
Dice the garlic, green pepper, onion, and celery. In a large stock pot, sautee’ the onion in the oil until translucent then add in the other three ingredients to release the flavor, stirring for 1-2 minutes.
At the same time, boil the sausage, pricking after a 5-7 minutes to release the oil. I think this makes it just a little bit healther since it gets rid of the excess fat. Once the sausage is parboiled, cut it into 1/2″ or 1″ rounds and brown in a skillet.
Remove from the heat and put it aside to add in later.

 

Add the Stock and liquid to the large stock pot with the vegetables. Add in the bay leaf, the red beans, the red vinegar, the squeezes of ketchup for good measure, and the sausage. Simmer on low heat for 2- 2.5 hours. The longer and slower this cooks, the more flavorful and creamier the red beans will be.

Once the liquid has cooked down somewhat and the beans are soft, take about 2 cups of the beans and liquid and using a food processor or blender, puree’ that amount. Add the pureed beans back into the pot with the rest of the beans. This makes them even creamier and smooth.

Serve with hot sauce, vinegar, green onions, and white rice.

 

 

 

The Perfect Comfort Food: Chicken and Rice

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Chicken and Rice
Serves 6-8
My grandmother was known for her comfort food. She was also one of the warmest, softest, most comforting women that I’ve ever known, so it makes sense that her food would make you feel warm and loved, too. In the summer we snapped fresh green beans together for her to cook all afternoon, and when I’d spend the night with her when my parents were out of town she’d make me chicken & dumplins or creamed chicken and we’d pile up in her bed with my cousins and watch Golden Girls, M.A.S.H. or Designing Women and she’d sew.
I miss her everyday.
It’s to her credit that when Boone and I got married that the first meals I cooked him as a bonafide wife were things out of the notebook she gave me.  It started out as a place for her to write down my favorite recipes in her perfect little cursive handwriting. It turns out that the recipes tell me to measure in units like “pinches” and “a little bit” but I watched her enough times to be able to figure that out. One of those recipes, and the one that my mom also makes that is perfect for blanket weather and when you need a hug. Chicken and rice is one of Boone’s favorites, and I made it a few weeks ago on one of the first cold nights.
 What you need:
4-6 pieces of chicken (dark meat is best here)
1 stick oleo (I used 1/2 stick of butter since I LOVE the flavor…although no healthier. boo.)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cans beef consomme pluc one cup water (or 3 tablespoons beef stock dissolved in 3 cups water…i use better than bouillon)
1 Tablespoon onion flakes (i go with 1 chopped onion instead)
1 Tablespoon parsley flakes
1 can mushroom stems and pieces
1 package of slivered almonds
What to do:
Preheat your Oven to 350 degrees.
Season and brown the chicken in the butter in a large stock pot or dutch oven. Set the chicken aside. pour a bit of the beef stock into the pan to release the goodness from the chicken. Using a little of the butter, saute’ the onions in the same pan, and melt the rest of the butter in the pot. Pour in the rice and stir it for a few minutes to brown it. Once the color has turned a bit brown in color (which somehow releases this really delicious flavor of the rice) then combine all of the other ingredients into the dutch oven…but wait on the almonds.

After you’ve poured in the stock, the seasonings, and the mushrooms, check to make sure that you have enough liquid in the pan with the beef stock to cover the rice just a bit. Put the Chicken on top of all of the rice mixture, and then sprinkle the almonds on the top. Cover and bake for about an hour, at 350 or until the rice is cooked all the way through and the liquid has been absorbed. It’s all i can do not to eat forkfulls of uncooked rice in anticipation of the finished product.

the almonds add the perfect crunch and the rest is warm and comforting. our family serves this with sweet potato sticks and butter beans. something about the sweetness of the potatoes and the saltiness of the butter beans and the savory chicken and rice makes the PERFECT autumnal night.

 

Do you have a favorite comfort food meal?