Posts from Michelle

Cajun Soup ; not quite gumbo

August 6, 2014 by Michelle

I love me some gumbo ! Go ahead Grammar Police – do your worst. But, remember, this is The South. OK, moving on…

Good gumbo is hard to beat. It’s also hard to make. It takes forever and requires a special technique to making rue. That slow cooked oil and flour mixture that gives it that thick brown syrup that sticks to the white rice that it’s poured over. Yes, it’s yummy, and just think of the caloric count of oil+flour! I’m not going to spend hours cooking something too fattening to eat! Oh, no I haven’t got time for all that today (or most any day). What I have got are all the ingredients for a decent pot of that Southern classic, super quick style.

I’m not sure I should even bother with a recipe, this is just a ‘dump’ soup. But ok, here’s it goes…

Gumbo Soup:

2 Cups Chicken Stock (I like mine homemade and frozen in 2 cup packages)

2 Cups Water (to make shrimp stock out of)

3 or 4 links of Sausage – yes, leftovers from grill-night are perfect! (Chicken sausage from Aidells)

2 Cups Shrimp, thawed (ok, maybe a bit more)

1 bag Gumbo Veggies* (or a soup blend that includes okra)

1 tsp Cajun Seasoning (I like Tony Chachere’s, but it’s HOT)

1/2 tsp Emerils Essence seasoning

Step 2:

OK, this is the tricky part – Everybody into the pool ! I use my favorite ‘Wonder Pot’ (5 qt LeCreuset) but you could easily do this in a CrockPot and have this ready to go after work. BTW, yes, there were leftover grilled onions in the fridge so they went in too!

Step 3:

As it all melts, and becomes actual soup, peel the shrimp and get them back in the fridge. They go in last. Why? If you cook them all day they’ll be tough like shrimp flavored bubble-gum.

But, do take some water (2 cups or so) and put the peels/shells in and boil them up. They’ll turn pink just like the shrimp will later. Let them simmer a bit (10 – 15 min) to make a somewhat decent stock. Now, if you opted for the crock-pot version, wrap these shells up in a cheesecloth and let them float in the soup all day. Fish out the bag and discard later.

Step 4:

Strain that shrimp stock into the pot. This really does add to the flavor. The shrimp themselves will go in shortly before serving and won’t get a chance to add that much to the flavor party.

Finale:

Let it cook up for 45 min or and hour. Or leave it in the Crock-Pot on low for the day. Just before you turn off the heat, add the shrimp. I cut mine up into spoon-friendly size pieces. When they’re pink, they’re done.

No, it’s not gumbo. The thickness comes from the okra, a veggie, just imagine! Low fat gumbo?? Yes, please! I’ll hold the rice for mine, thank you. And I’ll save my calories for a second helping.

Enjoy, y’all.

[yumprint-recipe id=’9′]

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Roly Poly Zucchinis

July 30, 2014 by Michelle

It’s summer and that means a couple of things. One of which is that the Farmers Market is filled with summer veggies,…and school’s out*. I confess to being a sucker for odd veggies – golden beets, giant lemons, and these ‘roly-poly zucchini’s’. A little bit bigger than a baseball, they were just so cute, I had to have them! But what do you do with them? It seems that many people slice them like eggplants and fry them. No, frying, thank you. Next is stuffing. Oh, yes I can do that! I love stuffed peppers, and these would work sort of the same way. Better yet, I had some leftover rice dish from a day or two ago that was awesome (http://www.pbs.org/food/kitchen-vignettes/tunisian-spinach-rice). You could use whatever you have, leftover fried rice from Chinese take-out, a rice pilaf from a couple of days ago, maybe a stuffing tidbit you could add some more diced and sautéed veggies to to make it go further. Mac n’ Cheese, ramen noodles,….Any way you do it, they’re fun and a cutesy single–serving veggie goodness bomb!

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Roly Poly Zucchinis

Roly Poly Zucchini’s (aka – Stuffed Zombie Heads*)

Step 1:

Get those little zukes out and wash ‘em up. Preheat that oven to 350deg.

Step 2:

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Roly Poly Zucchinis

Decide what you’re going to fill them with. Get an 8”x 8” dish and put a little olive oil in the bottom. Find your mellon baller (or a round spoon) and a paring knife.

Step 3:

Cut off the tops as if you were carving a pumpkin – they are cousins you know. Using the melon baller, scoop out the seedy innards ,…eewwwww! But leave the flesh – it’s yummy.

*This is about the part where my son, who’s been off from school and spending his rain-days binge watching The Walking Dead, comes in and says “Hey, they look like little zombie heads…” – “…braaaaains….crrr..crrrr!” So we all had a good laugh and, yup, it looked like a shrunken zombie head when I was done – LOL

Step 4:

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Roly Poly Zucchinis

Fill them with you delicious mix and top off with a little parm cheese, just to be showy! If you aren’t feeling all vegetarian, those Chicken Meatballs from Murrays are a perfect fit too. Find them in the fresh Organic chicken section – perfect if you’re feeling both healthy and lazy (no, that’s not an odd combo here). Pre-made and delicious for the lazy me, lower fat, GMO free Chicken for Ms.WannaBeHealthy.

Step 5:

Set them in the baking dish. You can put their lids back on (cause they’re cute), but put a bit of oil on them to keep the cheese from sticking.

Step 6:

Get those bad boys into the hot box for about 30 –45 min., depending on what you filled them with. These zukes have a slightly tougher skin so they stand up to being filled, but not like a hard squash so you can eat the whole thing.

Finale:

Everybody got a ‘serving’ (zombie head! – LOL) and it made a vegetarian side dish for some summer burgers that was fun for all. Even my meatarians were impressed !

Michelle Beal

http://badzoot.com

Adventures in the Kitchen with Michelle, Roadhouse Butter

July 23, 2014 by Michelle

One of my favorite restaurants around here is Cody’s RoadHouse. Yummy steaks, huge salads, great prices – I don’t ever remember being unhappy with them. One thing that makes me happy is getting my favorite meal as a carry-out. A ginormous salad, with fajita meat, and those rolls ! Mmm, they’re basically dessert for me because not only are they warm and sweet, they have this awesome cinnamon honey-butter to accompany it. OMG – it’s soooo not on my diet ! I always rathole those tiny tubs and use it sparingly. One day I thought about it as I looked at a tub of honey-butter at the store. Ouch! How much is that?! Come on, it can’t be that difficult, and with Pinterest, somebody must’ve made it already. Wow – everybody has a version of it. Mostly labeled Texas Roadhouse Honey Butter. Now, I’ll confess, I’m not a fan of that ‘roadhouse’. Ours is always packed and really loud, and I don’t even remember the butter from when I was there last. So, this is a ‘Cody’s’ version.

Roadhouse Butter

Step 1:

Get out a stick of butter and make sure it’s room temp. Gather up the rest.

1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick)

1/2 Cup Honey

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon

– really, could it get any easier??!

Step 2:

Roadhouse Butter

I gave the butter a quick whip to see if it’s smooth enough. Notice the mixer, with ONE beater – yes, you can do that. Great for small things.

Step 3:

I added the cinnamon to the butter and then the honey…kinda sloppy.

Step 4:

Roadhouse Butter

When the powdered sugar goes in it’ll come together like a loose icing – that’s good, cause it’ll icing my toast just fine! Their’s seems to be a factory whipped butter. That’s ok, I like mine better. (I really should wear my glasses when I take photos!)

That’s it – I don’t know why I bothered with 4 steps. Now get a ramekin to store it in. If you want to get all fancy, line a ramekin with wax paper and fill it, chuck it in the chill chest and it’ll be a stylish pat. Ours is next to the regular butter on the counter. It’s so good, and a little goes a long way. It’s a nice morning treat and a change from my homemade jams. Next time you make those crescent rolls, slather this inside! Waffles?, oh yeah! Honestly, what’s better than warm butter, sugar, cinnamon, AND honey – It’s just Heavenly !!!

Michelle Beal

http://badzoot.com