I promised you etouffee...and I made jambalaya instead. My bad. I hope you'll forgive me.
And I guess you should also know something else about me: I don't do recipes. I'm kind of a free style chef. Sometimes I'll see a dish that I like at a restaurant or on TV and try to recreate it, sans recipe. Other times, I'll just go to my pantry and create something from what I have. And when you're cooking on a grad student's budget, sometimes you have to be a bit creative.
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| Ingredients for my jambalaya, sans the container of Cajun seasoning. |
As is typical of me, I never use a recipe. I just go with the flow. C'est la vie.
I used a sweet potato, onion, and green pepper as my veggies. I know, I know, you're probably thinking putting sweet potato in jambalaya is weird, but it's one of the few veggies Matt will eat, so I put it in everything.
Here's the sort-of recipe for my jambalaya:
Pseudo-Cajun Jambalaya
1 green pepper, diced
1 sweet potato (mine was a biggun', so I just used half)
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 can petite diced tomatoes
1/4 c. chicken or beef broth
2 c. instant brown rice (I prepared mine in a microwave rice cooker)
1 chicken breast, chopped into bite-sized pieces
2 links chicken sausage, chopped into bite-sized pieces (I had sweet apple chicken sausage on hand, so that's what I used)
Olive oil
Cajun spices or seasoning
1. In a large pan or Dutch oven, heat about 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and throw in your chicken and sausage. Season with whatever spices tickle your fancy.
2. Once the meat is cooked through, throw in your veggies and cook until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender (I undercooked mine just a tidge, since I like just a little bit of crunch to it).
3. Throw in your rice and your chicken or beef broth and let all the flavors hang out together for about 10 minutes. Then enjoy! Make sure to make enough for leftovers; this is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day, after the flavors have had some time to hang out and get to know each other a little better.
What you end up with is a big, hearty, delicious pile of pseudo-Cajun goodness.
And because no true Southern meal is complete without something fried, I finished off the meal with French Quarter Beignets. I took a recipe from the Food Network's Semi-Homemade domestic goddess herself, Sandra Lee, and modified it a bit. For any true Cajuns reading this, I hope you understand my ineptness about frying foods and forgive my shortcut of using canned dough.
You see, I hate frying things. Loathe it, in fact. It's not that I hate fried foods, really, but I just don't particularly like the greasy, sort-of-stinky, hot, dangerous mess that is frying foods in a pan. But for you, dear readers, I did it anyway.
French Quarter Beignets (a la Nebraska)
1 container buttermilk biscuits
Vegetable oil
Nutella or other hazelnut and chocolate spread
Powdered sugar
Paper towels...lots and lots of paper towels
1. Open the container of biscuits and separate into individual biscuits.
2. Flatten each biscuit into a disc about four inches in diamater.
3. Drop a dollop of Nutella into the center of each biscuit.
4. Bring the edges of each biscuit together and roll into a ball in your hands, making sure there are no open edges.
5. Put about 3/4 in. vegetable oil into a medium fry pan and bring to medium/medium high heat (about 375 degrees Farenheit).
6. Drop your biscuits into the hot oil, making sure not to crowd them.
7. Cook biscuits (beignets) about 2-3 minutes on each side, or until nice and golden brown.
8. Take out the beignets and place them on a paper towel-lined cookie sheet to help soak up some oil. Take some time to reflect on how many miles it will take to burn off this fried deliciousness.
9. When the beignets are no longer oily, dust them with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
10. Go into a sugar coma.
I've already eaten three beignets. I should be ashamed, but I'm too happy from this fried Heaven to feel the shame now.
Until next time!
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