Cajun Shepherd's Pie with Very Hot Sauce

Cajun food does not always have to be super spicy. This is a good example: the pie itself is not especially spicy, but the sauce is, and so everybody can control the hotness of their own portion.

This favorite family recipe comes from Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen, and it makes good company food. I like to make the 4 different parts ahead, assemble it, then throw it in the oven when company arrives.

Part 1: Meatloaf
2 pounds ground meat (usually beef, but could use 1/4-1/2 ground pork, turkey, moose, etc -- note that the leaner the meats are, the drier it will be, so may want to add some other fats)
1-2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 c bread crumbs
oil for sauteing veggies:
1/2+ c each onion, celery, bell peppers
1 T+ minced garlic
1/4 c milk (regular, evaporated or half-half)
seasoning (leave out the spicier stuff if desire it mild):
1 T Worcester sauce
Tabasco or other hot sauce, cayenne pepper (I usually leave these out, as the sauce has them too)
1 T each black and white pepper
3/4 ground cumin
1 t dried thyme leaves
1 t salt (or 1.5)

Saute the veggies, let cool slightly, then mix all the ingredients (I use my hands!)
Bake in 13x9" pan for 30 min, uncovered. Drain any liquid and set aside (I de-fat this and use when making the sauce). If not proceeding with next steps, cover meatloaf and store in cool place.

Part 2: Vegetable layer
olive oil for sauteing
1.5 c carrots, julienned
1 c onion, sliced
1-2 c summer squash, julienned
ok to substitute other veggies, such as green beans.
seasoning:
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t each garlic and onion powder

Saute everything, in batches as needed, and pile on top of meatloaf

Part 3: Mashed potatoes
2 pounds potatoes, boiled
1/2 c milk (regular, evaporated or half-half)
1-2 T butter (optional)
1 t each salt and pepper (mix or white and black pepper is great for potatoes!)

Part 4: Cajun Very Hot Sauce
1/2 c each onions, bell peppers, celery
1/4 c minced jalapeno peppers
1 t minced garlic
1-2 c stock (or water, also use de-fatted dripping from meatloaf) Note that the original recipe calls for 3 c stock, but then boils it back down.
1/4 c oil (I use light olive oil that can handle the heat)
1/4 c flour
seasoning:
3/4 t ground red pepper (cayenne, or for milder, use Hungarian Paprika)
1/2 t each black and white pepper
Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce, as desired (I use SriRatcha)
Bay leaf

First make a light-brown roux. Using a whisk, mix flour (little at a time) into hot oil, stirring constantly until desired color is reached (approx 2-3 min). Add vegetables and seasoning (I switch to a spatula here), and cook until veggies are softened. Slowly add stock (watch for splashing! -- best to remove pot from heat, add liquid, then reheat to thicken, simmering on low for 10-15 minutes).

Assemble parts 1,2,3 and bake for 20-30 min or until thoroughly hot (this depends on how warm things were when assembled). Serve with VHS (Very Hot Sauce) as you would a "gravy".

Cooking up a mess of Cajun greens

My men LOVED dinner tonight, praising it as the best batch ever made -- so I'm trying to write down what I did: a little bit of this, and a dash of that...
Originally this dish, called simply FLANKS AND GREENS, came from Paul Prudhomme "Fork in the Road" cookbook, which is a whole lot healthier than his earlier works. His recipe calls for Flank Steak, but you can substitute other beef cuts, or probably other meats as well (moose, anyone?). It's very much a dish along the lines of a meal featuring the vegetables with just a small amount of meat for protein and flavor, without the meat being the central attraction.

Prep-work is the name of the game here -- lots of work goes into getting all the ingredients ready, but it cooks up super fast. Sometimes I make a double batch of meat, and freeze it without any greens, then cook it w/ fresh greens after thawing out (which makes it a super fast meal!)

I slice the meat REALLY thinly, against the grain (stir-fry style) , and work the spice mix into the meat before cooking it. I don't use much meat -- one steak feeds the 4 of us easily.
The spice mix:
1 T cumin seeds, whole
1 t each black and white pepper corns
dried mexican pepper, such as chipotle or poblano
1/2 t mustard seeds
--grind all these in a spice grinder.
1 t each garlic and onion powder
1-2 t thyme
1 t Hungarian paprika
1+ t salt (if that's not enough, add more salt at the end when tasting finished product)
Work this spice mix into the meat slices. Set aside.
also need flour for thickening
optional: Tabasco sauce or other hot sauce (I serve this at the table, esp. if I don't make it very spicy on account of whimpier diners, such as daughters and sometimes myself!)

Vegetables
1-2 onions, chopped
2+ cloves garlic, chopped
1 T+ jalapenos, chopped (fresh or canned)
1 bunch mustard greens
1 bunch red chard or beet greens
1 bunch kale or collard greens
1 bunch spinach
optional: other bitter greens, such as endives, sorrel, dandelion greens

Prepare all veggies ahead of time: wash and remove tough stems of greens. Chop or rip leaves into smaller pieces (don't bother drying the greens in a salad spinner -- you will need that extra moisture when cooking).

Heat oil in pan and saute onions. Add garlic and jalas. Add meat & spice mix. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Make a roux by adding flour (for thickening) and water as needed.
Once there is a good brown roux, start adding the greens (whatever amount fits, starting with the toughest first, usually kale or collards) and cover with lid, checking occasionally until the greens have cooked down and there's room for the next batch.

Serve over rice. This dish is rich and dark -- not exactly pretty to look at, but tasty and VERY healthy!

picture credit: http://www.motherearthnews.com

How to make one chicken stretch for a week

Our family recently rented the DVD of Food, Inc.
An excellent movie -- I highly recommend watching it! Much of it is based on Michael Pollen's work (In Defense of Food and Omnivore's Dilemma) and Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation.

Our family has been switching over to organic food more and more, as we learn more about where our food comes from, and as we see that yes indeed, we afford it! At first glance, going organic seems to cost significantly more, but I'd say that as we're doing this we're not going bankrupt, and not only are we eating healthier, but also we consume less bad stuff.
Take meat, for one. We just don't need to eat all that much. We're not vegetarians, but we're buying better meat and stretching it further. We still get plenty of protein -- such as from legumes, etc... AND THEY ARE CHEAP!
My daughter and I have been splitting the Costco 2-pack of whole organic chicken every couple of weeks (comes to about $10 per chicken). She roasts hers whole and then gets a week's worth of chicken-enriched meals out of that.
My approach is to divide & conquer: I plan several meals around it.
First you gotta actually CUT the bird up, and like many women my generation, that's something I never officially learned. Most women I know buy meat all cut up -- if the recipe calls for chicken breasts, well, they go and buy chicken breasts neatly wrapped with plastic on a styrofoam tray.

I learned to cut a whole chicken from my mother-in-law (#2), when I was a bride in her 30's!
I'm sure she was appalled that I did not know how to do this, but she was a kind woman, and patiently showed me. I'm grateful, for not only did I learn how to save money (Hubby and I were poor graduate students, and buying whole chickens sure is cheaper!), but it also taught me not to be afraid of dealing with bird's anatomy.
Aside: This skill came in later when we moved to Alaska, and in the first week a grouse flew into our window killing itself -- I called hubby at work, and he said "Great, let's have it for dinner!" And I did indeed cook it. I've even learned to fillet fish, but that's another story, and takes way more skill than cutting up a bird. (EOD, End of Digression)

So back to the whole chicken sitting on my cutting board (plastic, not the wooden one!).
First, I make sure I have a sharp knife! And my hands are very clean (trim those fingernails).

I remove the skin, and harvest the 2 breasts (Images from Food,Inc of commercial chickens run thru my head -- breeding for large breasts has gotten so extreme that the poor chickens can hardly take a few steps! Good thing they haven't bred us womenfolk for larger breasts! EOD)
I save the 2 breasts for a meal (it used to be I felt a need to serve each family member one chicken breast each, but I found that those 2 breasts feed the 4 of us just fine!)

Next I remove the leg-thigh ensemble. It does involve finding the joint and cutting through that -- after a bit of twisting till it "pops". Not difficult, just do it. Those 2 legs go into another dinner -- often I will bake those in a casserole with grains (such as rice) and lots of veggies. Once cooked, the dark meat just slides right off...

Now it's time to attack the carcass. I get rid of as much of the skin as I can (if needed, use a papertowel to grab the skin --this really helps when pulling it off the legs). Then I try to find all the meat that's left: using my fingers mostly plus a small knife, I harvest what I can. All those small pieces will go into the first dinner of this chicken -- something ethnic perhaps, like stir-fry, indian curry, Thai Tom Ka Kai, or filling for a Mexican burrito. Again, by stretching this meager assembly of meat with lots & lots of veggies, we get the flavor and protein, but not the heaviness of big chunks of meat.

Last, the chicken carcass (and don't forget the neck and other innards that came in the little bag) goes into the big stockpot. I also add any onion & celery "butts" I may have laying around in the frig, or any sad-looking turnips, carrots from the back of the produce drawer.
I let the stock go for several hours. Often I do the chicken butchering in the morning between when kids have gone to school & I need to get ready for work, and leave the stock cooking on LOW -- I prefer not to have to deal with the butchering in the late afternoon when it's time to cook dinner. Everybody is too hungry, grumpy, etc to wait around for me to do this...
I find it helps me tremendously to plan ahead -- the key to eating less processed food is using fresher ingredients, but they do require prepping...
Remember to clean counters & tools, and make sure the cutting board gets scrubbed, bleached and/or goes thru the dishwasher.

Anyway, the stock is poured into jars, placed in the frig, and defatted. I use the stock in so many recipes -- for example, boil bulghar wheat or quinoa with stock instead of plain water, or use it as stock in a mostly vegetable-based soup.

So here is a sample menu for a week
MON: stir-fry chicken w/ loads of veggies, or Chicken tacos/enchiladas
TUES: White Bean soup, made with chicken stock
WED: Rice, broccoli and Drumstick casserole
THURS: Bulghar pilaf with lots of veggies, plus oven-roasted squash & root crops
FRI: Cajun breaded chicken breasts, rice, and vegetable side dish
SAT: Pizza night - build your own (left-over chicken goes well on pizza)

Gumbo over Spaetzle, or How this family LOVES Cajun Food

Our German-Swedish-American family LOVES Cajun Food.
Since they were toddlers, the kids have been eating their Gumbo and Jambalaya (maybe that's why they're not picky eaters -- they got used to complex flavors early on...)

For us, one of the big feast tradition is to have "Gumbo and King Crab", like on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. I admit that it's actually very "easy" (therefore stress-free on an otherwise crazy day) in the sense that I don't cook it from scratch that day. Rather, the big gumbo-making (which is a HUGE undertaking since we make a giant quantity from the left-over turkey after T-giving & Xmas) was done previously, and cleaned up previously, and the gumbo was frozen in meal-sizes.

As you can guess, gumbo is not exactly something we brought over from the Old Country, but it has become a firm tradition in our German-Swedish-American Melting Pot family --come to think of it, I could serve Gumbo over Spaetzle!

Here's how easy it is to fix that special occasion meal:

GUMBO and KING CRAB dinner
Defrost the gumbo, reheat in sauce pan
Cook brown rice
Heat baguette in oven
Melt butter in microwave (for dipping the crab)
Steam the king crab
Light the candles!

I know this is cheating, because I'm not actually giving you my husband's secret gumbo recipe. But he does make the real deal -- from scratch, with a real roux. It takes an entire afternoon, but then the freezer is full of the most delicious "fast" food you'll ever know.

Next is a quick every-day meal:

Clean-out-the-frig Jambalaya
(this too is not exactly a recipe: I never make the same twice)

Olive oil
onions, chopped
celery, chopped,
bell peppers, chopped
garlic, minced
jalapeno or other hot peppers
cajun spice mix (I make my own: paprika, thyme, salt, pepper, mustard seeds, cayenne, etc)
bay leaf
rice (I use brown basmati)
stock or water (2x the volume of rice)
tomato paste
Andouille or other spicy sausage
left-over chicken or turkey
shrimp or other shellfish
more vegetables (that don't fall apart) -- if they're somewhat fragile, add at the very end (peas)

I usually start by cooking the sausage, then saute veggies. Add spices & cook a little. Then add rice, and coat well with oil and spices, cooking a little before adding the liquid. Turn down to low and let simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
Add fragile stuff at the end: peas, leftover chicken, shrimp (can saute shrimp first, or let cook in the last 5 or so minutes).

PS: one of my favorite quick meals with leftover jambalaya is the heat it in a non-stick pan, then make hole and fry an egg in it!
PPS: In principle, my Jambalaya is not all that different from a Spanish paella, and that's Old Country!

Popeye and Spinach

Spinach -- I love it!
But when I was a kid growing up in Germany, Spinach was about the least favorite vegetable you could put in front of us: Creamed spinach out of a can -YUCK!

No wonder they (whoever "they" are) made the cartoon-character Popeye get his energy from slurping up huge quantities of canned spinach -- why else would kids eat the stuff?!?

I only discovered fresh spinach salad as a young adult (when venturing into vegetarianism -- see more in my introductory post What shall we have for supper?). Hey, I discovered then that spinach is actually very tasty, and it certainly beat the Iceberg lettuce served in the university cafeteria.

Only much later did I learn to actually COOK with spinach, and have since learned to cook with many other tasty greens: beet greens, chard, collard greens, mustard greens, etc. Perhaps that's more of a Southern thing, but these greens ROCK! When I lived in the Appomattox, Virginia, my 80-year old landlady grew her own vegetables, and fried them all up in bacon grease -- there's nothing tastier to even the most ardent vegetable sceptic. In Appomattox is also where I learned what all you can do with zuccini -- because when summer squash ripens, you'll be eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner...

For a wonderful tutorial on how to actually cook spinach (don't dare boil it, just saute it in a wee bit of olive oil or butter) go to Chef Doughty -- this blog is a great approach to thinking like a chef. She teaches how the "basic understanding of fundamental cooking techniques and food so you can spontaneously create your own dishes without relying on a recipe". I really like her product-based approach, rather than a recipe-driven approach: I got a bunch of spinach here, plus a chicken -- so what can I whip up for supper?

One of my new favorite ways to cook up spinach (and other greens) is one I've mentioned before under beets:

Eggs in a Nest
(adapted from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver)

1 onion, chopped
garlic, chopped (optional)
olive oil
several carrots, chopped fine, or grated
dried tomatoes (optional)
1 really large bunch of dark leafy greens (chard, beet greens, spinach, etc)
4 eggs

Saute onions & garlic in olive oil. Add carrots, tomatoes w/ a little water as needed. Cover with lid and let carrots get soft. Add the greens, cover until wilted. Make indentations w/ back of a spoon. Crack eggs and place into dents. Cover w/ lid, and poach for 3-5 minutes. Serve over rice or toast.

Flanks and Greens
(from Paul Prudhomme's Fork in the Road)
This makes a huge quantity -- I cut in half for my family of 4. This cajun dish is not exactly pretty, but surprisingly, it is one of my family's favorite -- I mean, even the kids eat their greens and ask for more!)

Cajun seasoning mix or spice rub (containing sweet paprika, salt, pepper, mustard, onion,garlic, thyme, ginger, cayenne)
1.5 pounds flank steak, scalloped (cut across grain, in strips)
2 c onions, chopped
12 c mixed greens, any that are not bitter (such as spinach, collards, mustard, chard, etc)
up to 6 c beef stock or combination of stock and water
5 T flour (browned -- I make big batch & keep in a jar) optional
6 c cooked rice (I use brown basmati)

1. Sprinke meat with seasoning mix.
2. Heat oil in pan (high), and brown the seasoned meat.
3. Add onions (and more seasoning if desired). Cook until well done, scraping bottom frequently.
4. Add about half of greens. Let them cook down (I cover with lid).
5. Add some stock, browned flour to thicken, if desired. (Ok to leave out the browned flour, but the dish will end up watery -- could also cheat and use other thickener like starch or gravy mix).
6. Add rest of greens, cover with lid, and monitor, stirring occasionally. Add more stock as needed -- this is a delicate balance -- it's supposed to cook down some.
7. Serve over rice.

To-Die-For Indian Spinach recipe
This is a side dish that I don't have an official recipe for --a simple & tasty side dish.

butter
onions, cut in rings
cardamom
salt, pepper
spinach - a lot

Over medium high heat, melt butter and saute the onion rings. Add spices and cook a wee little bit. Add spinach and cover pot with lid. Check often, turning over spinach until all is wilted. Serve immediately.