Mardi Gras!

Long time no post, I know, but it's a new day and I've got tons of new things to talk about.  We held a Mardi Gras party last Saturday (which took me THREE days to recover from) and had a cornucopia of delicious food.  Below are what we had and their accompanying recipes....  Yum!

In This Post
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
Ham Jambalaya
Cheese and Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Dip
Honey Mustard Sausage Pinwheels
Spinach Pinwheels
Deep Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls
King Cake
Hand Grenades
Hurricanes

Phew!  That's a lot to get through, so without any further ado....

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Now, just a word before I start talking about gumbo here... well, it's more of a disclaimer.  This is in no way meant to be an 'authentic' recipe and I am in no way an 'expert' in gumbo (or jambalaya for that matter.)  If you want the real deal, I'd suggest getting yourself on a plane and going down to Bayou country (and can I take this opportunity to send a shout-out to my friends at A-2-Fay who sell delicious cajun products)  for some proper cajun eats.  That being said, I must say this gumbo was pretty delicious and a fairly good substitute for real gumbo if you're stuck in Edinburgh like me. 

  1 cup roux (see below for methods for using bought roux and for making your own)
  2 large onions, finely diced
  2 large bell peppers (one red, one green), finely diced
  4 ribs of celery, finely diced
  5 cloves garlic minced
  4 quarts chicken stock WITHOUT SALT (works out to about 4.5 litres)  
  3 bay leaves
  2 tbsp cajun seasoning (see below for a note on cajun seasoning)
  1 tsp dried thyme
  1 large fresh chicken
  2 lbs (about 1kg) andouille or any smoked sausage (Polish kielbasa's pretty nice), sliced into bite size pieces
  Filé powder to taste (filé powder is dried and ground sassafras leaves)

First things first: butcher the chicken.  I won't go into the technique of doing that here as there are so many different ways of doing it, all of which work for different people.  I personally recommend the technique laid out in La Varenne Pratique by Anne Willan (or, simply, 'The Bible.')  You should end up with two breasts, two thighs (deboned) and two drumsticks (also deboned.)  If you personally don't fancy butchering a chicken (I understand - it's pretty grim) then feel free to buy the meat pre-packaged or ask your butcher to do the job for you.  The one disadvantage of buying the chicken parts in a supermarket is that you don't end up with a carcass that can be used to make the chicken stock needed later in the recipe, and unsalted chicken stock can be hard to find (as I found out the hard way.)  If you get your butcher to cut your chicken for you, then do remember to ask for the carcass.  Cut the chicken meat into bite size chunks.

You can cook the gumbo one of two ways:

If making your own roux:

A note about roux: Roux in Louisiana is a little different than the classic French roux.  The concept is the same (equal parts fat and flour), but oil rather than butter is used and the roux is cooked to a dark, milk chocolate colour for a deep flavour.  You can buy roux at specialty stores if you're a bit nervous about making your own.

Brown the chicken and sausage (unless sausage is already cooked) pieces in oil over high heat and set aside.  Turning down the heat and in the same pan, heat 1 cup oil (not olive) and 1 cup flour and cook until it's the colour of milk chocolate.  Add the onions, peppers and celery (the combination of the three is called the 'holy trinity' and is the base for many cajun dishes), and sweat, stirring constantly for about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic, cajun seasonings and filé power, then add the chicken stock, sausage and chicken and bring to the boil.  Simmer for about an hour.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Skim fat off the top before service and serve over boiled rice in bowls. 

If using store-bought roux:

Brown the chicken and sausage (unless sausage is already cooked) pieces in oil over high heat and set aside.  In the same pan, and turning the heat down a little, sweat the onions, peppers and celery (the combination of the three is called the 'holy trinity' and is the base for many cajun dishes), stirring constantly for about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle in the roux powder (if using powder) or stir in paste (if using jarred pre-made roux) and mix with the veg.  Add the garlic, cajun seasonings and filé powder.  Then add the chicken stock, sausage and chicken and bring to the boil.  Simmer for about an hour.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Skim fat off the top before service and serve over boiled rice in bowls. 

A note about cajun seasonings...  There are more types of cajun seasonings than you can shake a stick at.  Everyone seems to have their own secret recipe.  Usually you'll find paprika, cayenne, garlic salt, onion podwer and pepper or some such combination.  There are loads of recipes on the internet.  I was pretty lazy this time and used Slap Ya Mama mix, which I find pretty tasty!


Jambalaya

Jambalaya is one of those rice dishes you can pretty much throw anything into and it tastes lovely.  Normally I make a chicken and sausage jambalaya but this year I decided to use ham instead.  I don't know if I'll ever go back... it was amazing!

  3 tbsp oil (I used groundnut)
  2 large onions, finely diced
  2 bell peppers (I used red and green), finely diced
  4 ribs celery
  3 cloves garlic, minced
  2 tins chopped tomatoes
  500 g (1 lb) uncooked smoked gammon (in the US just buy cooked smoked ham and dice it)
  1 tsp dried thyme
  1 tsp dried basil
  2 tbsp cajun seasonings (see note above in gumbo recipe)
  1 cup American rice (no idea what this works out to in grams, just use a mug to approximate!)

Cut the gammon into smaller pieces, removing the fat, and mince it roughly in the food processor.  It shouldn't turn into a paste or even the consistency of minced hamburger.  Really it should just be quite rough.  If you are using cooked smoked ham, just dice it into bit sized pieces.  Heat oil in a large pot (preferably a dutch oven) and sweat the onions, peppers and celery (the 'holy trinity.')  Add the ham and saute briefly.  Then add the herbs and seasonings.  Add the rice and cook slightly (about a minute) so that it absorbs the flavours in the pot.  Add the tomatoes.  Finally, add an equal amount of water as you did rice (so 1 cup rice, 1 cup water).  Let simmer for around a half an hour, until all the liquids are absorbed and the rice is tender.  You may have to add more water to the rice during cooking.  For that reason, it is important to check the rice every 10 minutes or so to make sure it isn't drying out. 


Cheese and Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Dip

Yeah.  This thing is totally addictive and decadent, and will probably be the first thing to go at a party so make double what you think will be eaten.  Seriously.  The recipe was given to me by a friend in Louisiana and originally called for pepper jam instead of the roasted raspberry chipotle sauce (from Fischer and Wieser, can be found here - they ship to the UK!!) but I decided to change it and I'm so glad I did!

  500g (1lb) mild cheddar cheese, grated
  1 cup mayonnaise (or enough to cover the cheese)
  1 bunch spring onions, chopped
  150 g (about 6oz) pecans, chopped
  1 jar Fischer and Wieser Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce

Combine the cheese, mayonnaise, spring onions and pecans and spread the mixture into a flat dish with raised sides (such as a pie dish.)  Pour the raspberry chipotle sauce over the top. Serve with crackers and enjoy!


Honey Mustard Sausage Pinwheels

These are really, really addictive and so simple to make.  Make sure to defrost the logs a little bit, but not completely, before cutting into pinwheels.  For the sausagemeat, use either Bob Evans sweet italian sausage in the US or sweet chilli sausages (remove casings) in the UK. 

  500g (1lb) sweet-spicy sausage
  1 large dollop (or to taste) American mustard
  1 large dollop (or to taste) honey
  1 packet puff pastry

In a bowl, combine sausage, mustard and honey. Roll out the puff pastry until it's about 1/8"-1/4"thickness and into a rectangular shape.  You can use the pre-rolled puff pastry if you wish.  Spread the sausage mixture onto the puff pastry and roll up as you would a jelly roll.  Wrap in tin foil and freeze, at least three hours.  This will keep in the freezer for quite a while so this recipe can be made well in advance.  When ready to serve, cut 1/4"-1/2" slices from the roll and either bake straight away or put back in the freezer until ready to bake (bake at 200C or 400F until golden).  The great thing about these is that that can (and must) be baked from frozen so they are really convenient for "spontanteous" parties (i.e. Phuza Thursday.)


Spinach Pinwheels

These are prepared in exactly the same way as the sausage rolls above except for the filling (which is as follows)...

  1 packet washed, ready to eat fresh spinach (preferably baby spinach)
  1 container cottage cheese (this will work out to about 1 cup)
  1 egg
  1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  salt and pepper to taste

Blanch the fresh spinach in salted boiling water until wilted.  Drain and cool.  Meanwhile, combine the cottage cheese, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper into a medium size bowl.  Squeeze the excess moisture out of the spinach and add to the cottage cheese mixture.  Combine thoroughly.  Spread onto puff pastry and roll as you would a jelly roll.


Deep Fried Macaroni and Cheese Balls

A friend of mine here in Scotland said "I didn't think there was any way to make Macaroni and Cheese better... but then again I never thought to deep fry it!"  Ironic, seeing as we're the home of deep fried Mars Bars.  In all seriousness, whilst these things are delicious , they should probably only be eaten once a year!  Serve these with marinara sauce, or if you have American white trash leanings like I do, ketchup.  BBQ sauce is another amazing dipping sauce (and it'll compliment the smokiness of the gouda)...

  1 lb (500g) elbow macaroni
  2 tbsp (15g) unsalted butter
  2 tbsp flour
  2 cups (240ml) milk
  1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
  1 lb (500g) mild cheddar cheese, grated
  1 lb (500g) smoked gouda cheese, grated
  2 large eggs
  3 cups breadcrumbs, seasoned
  groundnut oil for frying

Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.  Drain and set aside.  Meanwhile, make a roux from the flour and butter.  Once the flour is cooked (but not bowned), add the milk and nutmeg and lightly cook until thickened (if the sauce is not thickening, turn up the heat slighly.)  Add the cheeses and let them melt into the sauce over low heat (don't let it burn!) 

Combine the pasta and sauce and spoon the whole lot into a tray and let cool in the fridge for at least two hours.  After the macaroni and cheese has set, use it to form meatball size balls and freeze them overnight.

When ready to serve, coat the balls in egg and breadcrumbs and fry in a pan with about 1/4"-1/2" full of groundnut oil.  Once golden, drain balls and tranfer them to the oven (180C/350F) for about 10 minutes to ensure the centres are piping hot.


King Cake

King Cake, the yummy brioche-y cake served every year at Mardi Gras.  Whoever gets the feve (the bean or miniature plastic baby put into the cake after baking) will be crowned the king/queen of Mardi Gras and will remain so until the next year.

For this recipe I used one I found off Epicurious and it worked out fairly well.  I must say I couldn't find coloured decorative sugar so I just put food colouring into the icing itself. 


Hand Grenades

Oh my good gracious me I think that these (and the hurricanes) are the bad boys partly responsible for my three day recovery period after this party.  Drink these sparingly (or not...)

Hand Grenades were created for the 1984 (I think) World's Fair in Louisiana.  They're now sold mainly on Bourbon Street in New Orleans and are the main cause for many girls to, ahem, "go wild"... The recipe remains classified but these are a good approximation.  They come out STRONG so it might be a good idea to either dilute them with water or even sprite/lemonade for a hand grenade 'cocktail.'

  1 part gin
  1 part grain alcohol
  1 part melon liqueur (like Midori)
  1 part rum
  1 part vodka
  Sugar to taste

Now, since we don't really have everclear or anything over here, I left that part out and added extra midori.  Goodness.


Hurricanes

This cocktail is absolutely delicious and we ran out of it about a hour into the party.  They're deceptively lethal though, watch out!

  2 parts light rum
  2 parts dark rum
  2 parts passion fruit juice
  2 parts passoa (or any passion fruit liqueur)
  1 part orange juice
  1/2 part lime juice
  lime slices to garnish



Well there you go!  Mardi Gras is over for another year... already looking forward to Mardi Gras 2012!!

Christmas!

Well this year Christmas was certainly a gastronomic delight!  I'm dreading walking on the scales in 2011.  That, however, is something for another day as today I'll be posting about yummy Christmas hors d'oeurves.  Mmmm.

In This Post


Bell Burgers
Pear Bellinis
Beetroot and Dill Blini
Smoked Salmon Blini

Bell Burgers

We've been having Bell Burgers for as long as I can remember at Christmas.  For me, it's not Christmas without them!  My family and I were discussing this year the origins of the Bell Burger, and for the life of us we couldn't say.  Some people say that my mother introduced them, others say my aunt Gwynne.  I think this recipe has been kicking about in various forms (according to my research) since the 1970s but they never fail to delight those who eat them.  I'm always surprised that such, well, humble ingredients can make something so tasty!

Because the recipe uses ingredients that really can only be found in the US, I'll include a UK version that's almost as good (and that took me five years to get right...)

US Version

It's so simple...

  1lb ground beef
  1lb loose sausage (like Bob Evans)
  1lb Velveeta
  1 packet of party Jewish Rye bread (available in the bread aisle of most supermarkets)
  1 dash of Worcestershire Sauce

Using these proportions you can make as little or as many Bell Burgers as you like.  Now, I usually make two batches at a time so I get the maple Bob Evans sausage and the hot Italian Bob Evans sausage and mix the two so you get a sweet-spicy thing going on.  With the saltiness of the Velveeta it tastes brilliant.

First brown the sausage and beef in a heavy skillet over medium-high heat, making sure you break up the meat with a spoon or spatula.  Once browned, drain off the excess fat and try a little while longer.  Add the Worcestershire sauce to taste.  Then cut the Velveeta up into smaller pieces, turn the heat down to low and melt the cheese into the sausage and beef mixture. 

You're good to go, just spoon about a dessertspoon's worth onto the party rye breads and either broil them until they're brown or put them in some tupperware and freeze them until you're ready to use them.  You can put them directly from the freezer into the oven and in about 10-15 minutes you've got Bell Burgers!

UK Version

  500g mince beef
  500g sweet chilli sausages, meat taken out of its casing (available at Tesco, Sainsbury's or Asda)
  500g primula cheese (it usually works out to about three tubes)
  1 dash Worcester sauce
  Rye bread


Now, the method is the same as the US version, however a little more work is involved in the UK version.  This is because the party rye breads described above can't be found in the UK.  Believe me, I've looked.  What I do is actually make my own rye baguettes (with caraway seeds - very important!) using a recipe in one of our bread books.  You could also try using stale caraway rye bread and cutting it to size but that doesn't really work out that well as the bread usually becomes soggy without a crust to support it.  


Everyone does enjoy the UK version of my Bell Burgers, but it really can't beat the original!  If anyone has any suggestions for improvement, do get in touch...

 
Pear Bellinis


  1 can pear halves
  1 sprig rosemary (plus more for garnish)
  1/2 lemon
  dried cranberries (for garnish)
  sparkling wine or champagne (preferably off-dry)

We saw this recipe in Bon Appetit I think it was and adapted it for our own use.  

Puree the pear halves in the blender along with some rosemary leaves, a little lemon zest and the juice of half a lemon.  Test for sweetness.  The puree should be sweet but tangy.  If you are not satisfied, add lemon or sugar to taste.  

Then spear four or five cranberries onto rosemary sprigs (with the leaves removed, except for the very top) and put in a champagne flute.  Then spoon a good amount of the pear puree into the glass.  Now the trick with these is to make sure you put enough of the pear puree in the glass to make the cocktail sweet and pear-y enough, but not too much so that you can still taste the wine.  It's a balance thing.  Try experimenting to match your own preferences.  I don't like the fact that I can't see the cranberries in the glass though.  Next time I might strain the pureed pears through a cheese cloth or use the pear nectar in the tinned pears for a clearer colour.



Beetroot and Dill Blini


This idea came to me from a friend who made this for a charity event we were organising.  It was so delicious I decided to try this myself.  I hunted high and low for buckwheat flour and finally prevailed, but if you can't find any feel free to use plain flour.  

The blini recipe I used can be found on Epicurious here.  The only difference was that I served the blini cold and used beetroot, sour cream and dill (plus smoked salmon and dill for some of them).  

What a yummy Christmas!  

Lxx