Texan Magazine
By Matthew Harvey
It’s late spring in Texas. The temperature has warmed up, the rains are falling (well in some places), and the wildflowers have come out. For some that means not quite using the outdoor grill just yet. Why? Well, my guess is mainly that we have it ingrained in us as Texans to wait until it’s scalding hot outside before we actually decide to do any outdoor cooking. For some reason we can’t even think about doing that before it’s 100 degrees outside. Some folks do, but let’s face it, grilling and barbeque are an entirely different article and doesn’t pertain to this. Well, I mean it could, but it doesn’t in the context here. Anyway, back to cooking. Time to make some delicious dishes the family can enjoy.
There is a new buzz word going around for a few years now (probably longer, I don’t actually keep tabs on these things) called “meal-planning.” Some see this as some new way of cooking and prepping meals for a better way to eat and to save on the cost of prepping something every day. But, we’ve been doing this for generations. It’s called…… leftovers.
I guess meal planning just sounds better? I’m not sure. However, I love to cook with leftovers in mind. It allows you to stretch a meal over several days, pack for lunch if you commute to work, or have something quick to grab when you’re just not sure what to make and don’t want to sit down and plan out a menu on a weekly basis like you’re part of a school cafeteria.
I love being able to think I’m going to cook enough to feed my family and have some left over for the next few days of lunches and/or dinners. Now that doesn’t mean we’re eating massive amounts of food. You can actually plan out leftovers and still have properly proportioned meals.
Today I’m going to discuss a variation on a couple of easy dishes that I prepare for my family that we can then have again.
Not Your Traditional Jambalaya
One great meal I have always loved is jambalaya. However, when you live in a house where folks don’t like spicy food, or seafood, adaptation is key. So I spent time researching different recipes for jambalaya and then began playing around with a couple of recipes that I derived that taste amazing and that my family will eat without worrying if there’s anything like shrimp in it. And it can be quite budget conscious as well. The first of these is a more traditional style with homage to creole roots.
The Seasoning
In a small “dipping bowl” size container combine smoked paprika, white pepper, garlic salt, celery salt, and onion powder. About a tablespoon of each with the exception of the white pepper, then that’s just a teaspoon. Combine these together and set aside.
Chop up the following:
2 small yellow onions
2 small bell peppers (use any color you want, but I prefer one red and one yellow)
4 celery stalks
2 scallions (or green onions)
4 cloves of peeled garlic
Add these to a bowl and combine. Now set aside.
Next, slice up 1 package of sausage. This can be andouille, kielbasa, smoked sausage or any type of sausage. Slice into medallions.
1 package of chicken thighs (boneless, skinless) diced. Mix with a spoonful of the seasoning.
You will also need 1 or 2 boxes of chicken broth
2 tablespoons of oil (canola works, I use sunflower)
I package of parboiled rice (or any rice you prefer).
You will also need a large pot.
Set the pot on the stove over medium to medium-high heat. Pour in one tablespoon of oil and after a few minutes pour in the sausage and a spoonful of the seasoning. Let this cook, stirring occasionally for about 4 minutes, or until there’s a nice cooked appearance to the sausage. This normally means there’s browning or a slight amount of char. Once this is cooked, return it to a bowl and set aside.
Next pour in the other tablespoon of oil and toss in the diced chicken thighs that were coated earlier. You can add more seasoning if you choose, or just go with what you coated them with earlier. Stir consistently in order to prevent sticking. This should take no more than 5 or so minutes.
An easy way to test to see if the chicken is done is to take a wooden spoon and you should be able to “cut” a small piece in half without much effort. You should be able to see once the piece is cut that it’s cooked all the way through. Once this is done, pour into another container and set aside.
Now that the meats are done, it’s time to cook the vegetables. Take the vegetables, that you either mixed, or kept separate (you know you’re out there, Mr. or Miss my-veggies-must-be-in-a-separate-container). Add in a pinch or two of kosher salt and sweat the veggies. This shouldn’t take longer than 3 minutes over medium heat. Afterwards, I prefer to remove the veggies back into another bowl and set aside, but if you choose to leave them in for the next step you can. It’s your call, it’s your kitchen.
Pour in about 2 to 3 cups of rice (I used Mahatma parboiled) and toast it in the pot for the next 4 minutes. I find it easier to do this without the vegetables in with it. After a few minutes, you should smell a toastiness to the rice. I know it sounds odd, but you will smell a distinct “toastiness” to the rice. After the rice has been toasted, pour in 1 box of chicken broth. Stir occasionally until the broth begins to boil. Once it’s boiling, pour back in the veggies, the sausage, and the chicken (including all the drippings that have collected with the chicken and sausage) and stir to combine. If there is not enough liquid to cover the top, add either more broth or water until everything is covered, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and allow to cook for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After 30 minutes, give everything another stir, make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom, cover, and let sit for another 10 minutes After 10 minutes, grab some bowls, some hot sauce if you wish, and enjoy. We have this and usually there’s enough left for another two days or so to take to lunch or have again.
Another Texas Twist On Jambalaya
I like to blend Texas barbeque with jambalaya in what my kids have called “Texjalaya”. Most of the ingredients are the same with a couple of exceptions. The chicken thigh meat is replaced with diced boneless, skinless, breast meat. Corn takes the place of the celery, and the seasoning is different.
For this I use a blend of Kirkland Signature Sweet Mesquite Seasoning, McCormick’s Grill Masters Barbecue seasoning, and Chuck’s Rub, All -Purpose Rub & Seasoning (this one is actually made by my neighbor in honor of his dad and can be found at https://www.chucksseasoning.com/). I also will marinate the chicken in one of three sauces, Garage Oil Slather sauce, G.Hughes Sugar Free Mesquite, or Kinder’s Zero Sugar sauce. This adds a nice flavor, and when cooking the chicken, imparts some amazing flavor. The rest of the directions are the same as are the ingredients. The difference though, man, you go from creole inspired to a flavor that makes you want to fire up the grill and get some meat going. It’s just all kinds of amazing. And if you haven’t had a chance to try out Chuck’s Rub, I suggest you go get ya some. It works on just about any meat, either as a quick rub, or as a combination in a marinade.
Now these are just a couple of dishes that I’ve used before that are my way of “meal prepping.”
This will feed the family, have them coming back for more, and have them fighting for the leftovers. Heck, I’ve made this for guests, and end up sending them home with leftovers that they can eat the next day. Give it a try, and I’m sure you’ll be surprised.
One side note:
Occasionaly, you will end up with some “crispy” rice near the bottom of the pot after it’s been cooking. This is some of the best part. Don’t chalk that up to burnt. It’s got tons of flavor just waiting for you!
What About Dessert?
My daughter has long had a dream of becoming a baker and owning/opening her own bakery. Over Easter weekend, she decided she wanted to bake cookies as she saw my wife already baking. We went into the pantry and looked over some of the ingredients she had previously bought from the store for bundt cakes to see what she had. I found a box of instant vanilla pudding and told her to see if she could find a recipe to incorporate this into a cookie.
Now usually, like most 16 year olds, my daughter would grunt, groan and walk away, but not this time. She grabbed her school laptop and began the art of Googling and found a few recipes that included vanilla pudding mix. After picking and choosing, based on ingredient availability and removing things she deemed as “gross” she set out with her recipe and baked two batches.
Mind you, this was two batches on top of the 6 my wife and I had already made that consisted of chocolate chocolate chip, chocolate chip, chocolate white chocolate whiskey, peanut butter, and peanut butter and chocolate whiskey cookies. Now, out of all the ones made, (and they were amazing), my daughters cookies became the overall favorite. I asked her if she would share the recipe in this article, and she said I could, so without further ado:
Lexi’s Wonderous Vanilla Pudding Sugar Cookies
¾ cups of butter – softened to room temperature.
¼ cup shortening
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 – 3.4 oz box instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp of salt
Preheat the oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer, or in a mixing bowl, cream the butter, shortening, and sugar together until well mixed.
Add in the pudding mix, eggs, and vanilla, mixing until it is thoroughly combined.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt.
Gradually add the dry mixture into the mixing bowl slowly, a cup at a time taking time between cups to scrape down the sides of the bowl until all the ingredients are mixed together.
For the next step you can use a dough scoop or spoon, but come on, have some fun and use your hands. Grab about a tablespoon of the dough and roll it into a ball, press two fingers into the ball to made a thick looking disk and place on the parchment lined pan. Don’t press them completely, they will flatten as they cook.
Bake between 12 and 15 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown.
Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool. And as much as you are going to want to, avoid eating them immediately. You’re going to want to. They are going to call to you. They are going to tempt you, but trust me, you don’t want that amount of fire in your mouth at one time. I might know this from experience, but I can’t say for certain. These simple little cookies will be a hit with anyone you serve them to (or with yourself and family if you decide that others outside your circle are simply unworthy). Trust me on this, you will want to make these over and over again. Since my daughter did this originally, we’ve made these several times over the last month just to have them in the house.
And there you have it. A couple of twists on a great creole classic that will give you food for a few days, and a nice, delicious and surprisingly light dessert. As always, have fun with this stuff. Don’t be afraid to add or remove ingredients and seasonings to fit your style. And share them, share them with me at chefmattcooks44@gmail.com, or if you have something you’ve made that you want to see what I’d do with it, let me know. I’m always up for a culinary adventure.
