Love of Cookbooks

I tell you Goodcook.com is the BEST website! I have scored something like 7-10 cookbooks on this site for 50% off the sale price when all is said and done. My most recent purchase was Crescent City Cooking by Susan Spicer. This is a fun Cajun cookbook by a chef from New Orleans. I found a pretty sweet recipe for Caribbean Crab Pilaf with Coconut Milk.

The flavors in this dish sounded awesome together. I'd like to say it was everything I thought it would be, but the flavors weren't as strong as I would have liked them to be and it was DEFINITELY better the next day after the flavors had an opportunity to meld together.

Caribbean Crab Pilaf with Coconut Milk:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups medium- or long-grain rice

1 large tomato, peeled, seeded and diced - we didn't peel it...that's too much work

1 pound lump crab meat, picked free of shells

1 1/2 cups canned unsweetened coconut milk

1 teaspoon Angostura bitters

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon salt

Hot sauce

1 /4 cup finely sliced scallions

1/4 cup each chopped fresh basil and/or cilantro, optional

Heat the oil and butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and add the onion, carrot, and garlic. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, then add the curry powder and pepper and cook 2-3 minutes longer. Add the rice and saute for another 2 minutes. Add the tomato, crabmeat, coconut milk, 1 1/2 cups water, bitters, lime juice, and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand covered for an additional 10 minutes. Stir the rice and season it with the salt and hot sauce. Serve garnished with scallions and herbs.

O.K. here are the pointers you REALLY should not miss out on. 1 teaspoon of salt is no where near enough to make this flavorful. I took leftovers to work the day after we made this and I had to steal salt from the nasty restaurant downstairs. :) Also, the recipe says the basil or cilantro garnish is optional...it is NOT optional. Next time I am going to use chicken stock instead of water for some added flavor.

I definitely think you should try this out. It has a great mesh of flavors.

Mango Chicken, Paul Prudhomme style!

I have to admit. I don't think fruit and meat belong together. I hate it when the fruit breaks down and you lose the consistency. It makes you feel like you are eating mush. Not so with Paul Prudhommes mango chicken. He requires that you add the ingredients in waves, 3/4 of the onions at the beginning and the last 1/4 towards the end. I dig that because you have the flavor of the cooked down onions and the consistency of the fresh onions added later. I am all about consistency...if you haven't noticed.

Today was a rough day for me. I started off leaving my work lap top at home, realizing it when I was 30 minutes from home, had to turn around to go back for it and my gas light turned on. I was an hour late for work and when I arrived at work our computer systems were down ALL DAY so it wouldn't have really matter if I had it or not and it went down hill from there.

At the end of the day when I arrived home after an hour plus commute...my cute husband was waiting at the top of the stairs with sunflowers, two schnoops (our schnoop dogs Ruby and Alice) and the fixin's for Mango Chicken ready to cook up! I kid you not! LUCKIEST GIRL EVER! (in the voice of comic book guy from the Simpson's)

Let's get down to Mango Chicken business!

Mango Chicken:

Seasoning Mix:

2 tablespoons lightly packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 1/2 teaspoons ground dried chipotle chile peppers*

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon white pepper

1 teaspoon ground dried guajillo chile peppers*

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

*you can find these items in the mexican section of your grocery store.

1 (3-4 pound) chicken cut into 8 pieces - we used chicken tenders because they are already cut up.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups chopped onions

1 1/2 cups finely diced red bell peppers

2 bay leaves

8 finely diced fresh serrano chile peppers (we used 3 jalapenos and 1/2 a habenero - 'cause that is what we had on hand...I don't know why we had a habenero on hand, YIKES!)

3 1/2 cups chopped unpeeled eggplant - we used zucchini and it was FABULOUS!!!

1 1/2 cups chicken stock - we ALWAYS use bullion cubes. It is just easier

2 tablespoons tamari

2 large or 3 small ripe mangoes, peeled and diced

2 cups heavy cream.

Combine the seasoning mix ingredients in a small bowl.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the seasoning mix evenly over the chicken and rub it in well.

Heat the oil in a heavy 5-quart pot over high heat just until the oil beings to smoke, about 4 minutes. Brown the seasoned chicken in batches, large pieces first and skin side down first (we totally didn't have the skin on...it was chicken tenders!) about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the chicken from the pot and set it aside.

Add 1 cup of the onions, 1 cup of the bell peppers, the bay leaves, and the chile peppers to the pot. Cook stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes, then add 1 cup of the stock, the tamari, the mangoes, and the remaining onions, bell peppers, and seasoning mix. Stir well, then return the chicken and the accumulated juices to the pot. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally, for 12 minutes. Stir in the remaining stock and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes more. Stir in the heavy cream and cook for 4 minutes. Serve immediately.

HELLO YUMMY SPICY MANGO CHICKEN! If you are not into spicy food, you should substitute the serranos for anaheims or another mild chile. But seriously. This recipe is a perfect blend of heat, sweet from the mangoes and pure Paul Prudhomme flavor! This is definitely worth the combination of the fruit and the meat. You can serve this with rice, but it is just as good without.

This is the second time Alex and I have made this together and it is one of our favorites! Check it out and tell me what you think!

Red Beans and Rice - Pressure Cooker Style!

If any of you know my husband...and I mean REALLY know my husband, you know he LOVES Red Beans and Rice. He makes it at least once a month. Every time he makes it there is some type of variation from seasonings to the type of sausage. Last night as I was cooking up the Martha Stewart Mac and Cheese he was chopping up peppers and veggies for the Red Beans and Rice. I always get a little nervous when he starts up with the Red Beans and Rice because when it rocks, IT ROCKS!!!! But when it doesn't...it doesn't; in a big, bad way.

Alex is all about beans from the bag, not the can, the bag. That means soaking overnight and cooking all day in a crock pot. Sometimes some of the beans are soft and fabulous while others are NOT al dente and other times they are ALL not al dente...those are the bad nights. Today was a busy day for Alex and I and we forgot to soak the beans. CRAP!

Thank goodness for pressure cookers. I have to admit, I have ONLY EVER used my pressure cooker for potatoes. When I bought the thing it came with three cook books and I was surprised to find you can cook meat, beans AND CHEESECAKE, of all things, in a pressure cooker. SERIOUSLY!!!!! Off to the pressure cooker cookbook we went.

We didn't use the recipe for the Red Beans and Rice in the pressure cooker cookbook, we just stole their idea for cooking the beans. Here is the game plan we used:

Alex's Red Beans and Rice...well, Red Beans...not Rice (More on that later):

1 16 oz package of dried red beans

2 stalks celery

2 carrots

1 roasted green pepper - this is from our grilling escaped earlier in the week

1 red jalapeno pepper - it is red and looks like a jalapeno...so that is what I'm calling it.

2 green jalapeno peppers

1 onion

various Cajun spices...pick your favorite + bay leaf & fresh parsley

1/2 bottle of beer

Sausage of your choice

Alex chopped up all the veggies the night before and marinated them in 1/2 bottle of beer (I'm not sure what you would use in place of the 1/2 bottle of beer if you aren't a drinker...so maybe you should just crack down, buy a bottle of beer and use the other half of the bottle for killing snails in your yard.)

Cooking the beans: I am fortunate enough to have a Kuhn Rikon Duromatic Pressure Cooker (Alex bought if for my birthday our first year dating) that comes with a cookbook/user guide called, Quick Cuisine - Delicious recipes for your Duromatic Pressure Cooker. This is what it told me about pressure cooking beans: It suggests you soak your beans overnight...why would I do that when I have a pressure cooker?

Quick Soak: for each cup of sorted, rinsed beans, place 4 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt into the pressure cooker. The book also suggests added some oil to the water to keep the foaming down. Add the beans and bring to a boil. Lock the lid in place and bring pressure to the second red ring over high heat. Reduce heat to maintain pressure at the second red ring and cook 2 minutes. Release pressure and remove the lid. Drain beans and cook as directed in the recipe.

To the 'Cajun Red Beans & Rice' recipe in the book:In a 4-quart or larger pressure cooker, add soaked, drained beans, 4 cups water (because we are using the whole bag of beans), and cut up veggies marinating in beer.

Allow ingredients to come to a boil, stirring often. Close lid and bring pressure to second red ring over high heat. Adjust heat to stabilize pressure at second red ring. Cook for 10 minutes.In the mean time, Alex cut up and browned some fabulous Cajun sausage we found at Costco.

Remove pressure cooker from heat (after the 10 minutes) and use natural release method. We just push down on our button at the top with the two red lines and this releases the pressure.

Add sausage to bean mixture. Close lid and bring pressure to second red ring over high heat. Adjust heat to stabilize pressure at second red ring. Cook for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and use natural release method.

The other conundrum I run into with Alex's Red Beans and Rice is the rice. He uses regular, plain, old minute rice. Hmmmm...boring. Not bad, just boring. Tonight, I took matters into my own hands.

A couple of months ago I took a business trip down to New Orleans...yes, life is tough when you have to do business in New Orleans. I scored a cute little Cajun book called "Talk About Good!" at a book store called, A Tisket, A Tasket in the French Quarter. How can you go wrong with a name like that?

Rice Casserole II:

1 stick of butter or margarine

1 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic

1 tsp summer savory - I didn't have this and it still ROCKED!

3 beef (I used chicken) bouillon cubes

3 cups boiling water

4 oz. can chopped mushrooms - Alex hates mushrooms and I am adverse to canned mushrooms so I left these out.

1 small can Parmesan cheese - I don't do canned Parmesan cheese so I grated one cup

2 cups minutes rice (raw)Melt butter, add onion, garlic, rice and savory - saute. Melt bouillon cubes in the boiling water, add to rice, cheese and mushrooms. Put in baking dish, cover and bake 30 minutes at 350 F.

I am not kidding you when I say, 'THIS IS THE BEST DAMN RED BEANS AND RICE I HAVE HAD IN THE 3 YEARS I HAVE BEEN WITH ALEX!!!!'

Lesson learned from today's post? GO BUY A PRESSURE COOKER!!!!