GUMBO!

A couple of weekends ago,  I went home for my sister's volleyball regional tournament... Which they won! So I stayed the weekend and my parents and grandparents got together to watch the Baylor vs. KU game, Sic em bears, (not OU vs Texas) and I made gumbo with sausage and chicken. (I changed the ingredients and spiciness based on my families preferences).

Chicken, Sausage, and Shrimp Gumbo

I didn't add the shrimp because my grandmother is allergic, and I didn't add okra because I forgot to buy it (which my mother said was a sin against cajun food). So let me know how this recipe turns out with those added!

My family loved this gumbo and all went back for seconds! It's very hearty and is great during half time of a football game!

Tip: to save on time, I bought precooked sausage and chicken, I just didn't think it was worth all the extra work!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbl olive oil  (only is cooking chicken and sausage)
• 1 cup skinless, boneless chicken - chopped (I bought a de-boned a full rotisserie chicken (Sam's has the best))
• 1/2 pound pork sausage links, thinly sliced (I used a spicy sausage- precooked)
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbl minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1 can or bottle beer (I used Miller Lite)
• 6 stalks celery, diced
• 4 roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 sweet onion, sliced or diced
• 1 cup okra, sliced (you can use frozen and thaw, or fresh)
• 1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, with liquid (Rotel is great)
• 2 Tbl chopped fresh red chile peppers or any kind of pepper you prefer
• 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup Cajun seasoning (I used half Old Bay and half Tony Chachere's spicy seasonings, and it was still very spicy!)
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions:

If cooking raw chicken and sausage: Heat oil over medium heat in a med-large skillet, add chicken until no longer pink. Add sausage and cook together until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.

In a large saucepan, add the oil and flour and make your roux. Stir continuously or the roux will burn. Stir until brown and bubbly. (A roux, is used to thicken soups, sauces, etc its equal parts flour and fat (butter, oil, etc)). You want to roux to get brown and dark. Add in garlic and cooking for an additional minute.

Gradually add in the chicken stock and beer into the roux. Stirring frequently, bring to a boil. Add in celery, okra, onion, tomatoes, rotel tomatoes with chiles, parsley, and your choice of cajun seasoning. Turn down the heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes. Stir frequently.

Mix in the chicken, sausage, and shrimp and stir frequently for about 20 minutes. You can turn the gumbo on low for a while to keep it warm before you serve it.

This will serve about 10-12 people. And the total time is about 2 hours. It helps a lot to chop all the ingredients before hand.

Serve with white rice and crusty bread or cornbread for dipping. Enjoy!

Tips: I would not make this cornbread with the gumbo, just a plain cornbread is better. There is so much going on in the gumbo and the cornbread, that the cornbread takes away. I think buying the pre-packaged cornbread (ex: Jiffy or Marie Callender's) are both delicious and time saving!

 Here's our yummy breads!

BBQ Chicken, Veggies, and Apple Crisp!

Tonight, Whit, Kyle, Cameron, and I all cooked out at our house! Cameron and I went to Central Market and found this delicious sweet barbecue sauce... and the rest followed!

Menu:
BBQ Chicken
Grilled Veggies
Whit's Potato Casserole
Apple Crisp for dessert

For the BBQ chicken all you need is a good barbecue sauce and chicken. Marinate the chicken in the BBQ sauce (season with salt and pepper, or a grilling seasoning) for about 2-4 hours (and as long as overnight). Then grill! Have more BBQ sauce on hand for serving!

I love grilled veggies! Tonight we grilled red pepper, jalapenos, squash, and red onions. All you need is a little evoo and salt and pepper. Make sure you try to cut the veggies to the same thickness so they cook the same!

Whit's potato casserole I'll need to cook again for the recipe. Its delicious and super easy though, stay posted!

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:

• 5 apples (about 5 cups), peels, cored, and sliced
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 11/2 tsp all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/8 cup water
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

After you peel, core, and slice the apples (use Granny or another cooking apple), layer them in a baking pan, add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and water. Mix well and evenly.

For the topping, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and butter, mix together and sprinkle evenly on top of the apple mixture, back for 45 minutes.

Serve with ice cream!

Salmon Tostadas with Katie

Katie came over yesterday to cook some dinner with me and my family after work! We made Black Bean and Salmon Tostadas, they were really good, filling, and so easy to make. We're both in Oklahoma for a couple of weeks. Then Katie's on to Chicago and I'm on to Dallas! So we'll probably make a couple more dinners together before we head off to new cities.

Salmon Tostadas

Ingedients:

• 8 6-inch corn tortillas
• Canola oil cooking spray
• 1 7 ounce can boneless, skinless wild Alaskan salmon, drained (or use frozen or fresh salmon, cook and flake)
• 1 avocado, diced
• 2 Tbl minced pickled jalapeños, plus 2 tablespoons pickling juice from the jar, divided (or use fresh jalapenos with pickled jalapeno juice, or red wine vinegar)
• 2 cups coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage
• 2 Tbl chopped cilantro
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 3 tsp reduced-fat sour cream
• 2 Tbl prepared salsa
• 2 scallions, chopped
• Lime wedges, for garnish

Directions:

Position racks in upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375°F. Coat tortillas on both sides with cooking spray. Place on 2 baking sheets. Bake, turning once, until light brown, for about 12 minutes. Don't over cook them or they'll get hard and tough.

Combine the salmon, avocado and jalapeños in a bowl.

I only added half the jalapenos and half the juice because my mom really doesn't like spicy food. But you couldn't taste it at all. I'd recommend using both tablespoons of jalapenos and all the juice, and if you like it spicy, add more! But you can barely taste the jalapenos if you half it, so don't be afraid to add them in!

Combine cabbage, cilantro and the pickling juice in another bowl.

Process black beans, sour cream, salsa and scallions in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on High until hot, about 2 minutes.

To assemble tostadas:

Spread each tortilla with some bean mixture

and some salmon mixture

 and top with the cabbage salad.

Serve with lime wedges and/or tomato wedges. Enjoy!

Katie and I cooking away!