Jambalaya

When In New Orleans most People think of Cajun as lots of spicy rich foods.  But, the history of the food is an interesting one.  Jambalaya comes from Paella, which comes from Spain.  Of course there weren’t the exact ingredients to make everything the same so much improvisation came into play.  Because Louisiana is on the Golf coast and at the end of the Mississippi river, seafood is bountiful with large amounts of shrimp, crawfish and other crustaceans along with fresh and salt-water fish.  Chef Folse (one of my favorite chefs of the area) calls the waters/land around New Orleans “the swamp floor pantry”, which I think explains it all.

And like paella, the meats are interchangeable.  What I mean by that is you could replace any of them with seafood or other types of sausage, pork, etc…  One of the common meats used in Jambalaya is tasso, which is a smoked pork or beef of poor quality that is heavily seasoned and spicy.  When it is smoked, it becomes very hard almost like a jerky.  I had a hard time finding it so I substituted a good quality ham.   

1 ea........... Onion (diced)

½ c............ Diced Pepper

4 ea........... Green Onions (diced)

¼ c............ Diced Celery

2 ea........... Garlic Cloves (chopped)

1 ea........... Bay Leaf

½ c............ Olive Oil

2 c............. Tomato Sauce

1 ea........... Chicken Breast

½ c............ Diced Ham

1 ea........... Andouille Sausage

½ lb........... Rice

1.   Make rice according to directions on the package.

2.   Sauté the first 6 ingredients in the oil until caramelized.

3.   Add in the chicken and sausage and sauté until done.

4.   Add in the tomato sauce and ham and simmer for about 15 minutes.

5.   Mix with cooked rice and place in a preheated oven (350°f).

6.   Bake for about 5 minutes.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!!!

Cobb Salad

The Cobb salad was developed in the 1920’s at the Brown Derby in Hollywood, CA. Sense then there have been other ingredients added or subtracted. The blue cheese is sometimes replaced with cheddar but will never be right in my opinion. I do love blue cheese but if you don’t try going light on some Gorgonzola cheese. This is a milder type of blue-veined cheese. The flavors and textures are all perfectly balanced. If you just can’t do the blue cheese then try another strong cheese like feta.

It would seem that this wouldn't be the healthiest of salads because yes it is high in fat but the fat in this is the really good kind. The dressing made with olive oil and the olives and avocado are all polyunsaturated fats that help control cholesterol.

1 head...... Romaine Lettuce

1 ea........... Avocado

2 ea........... Tomato

¼ c............ Green Onions

½ c............ Sliced Black Olives

½ lb........... Bacon

2 ea........... Boneless Chicken Breasts

4 ea........... Hard Boiled Egg

½ c............ Bleu Cheese Crumbles

Dressing

4 Tbs........ Red Wine Vinegar

½ c............ Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tbs........ Dijon Mustard

1 ea........... Garlic Cloves

to taste...... Salt and Pepper

1. Mix dressing ingredients together and chill.

2. Grill Chicken then cool and dice.

3. Cut cleaned and chilled lettuce into 1” pieces and place in a bowl.

4. Chop bacon into ½” pieces and cook until crispy.

5. Dice avocado, tomato and egg into ½” pieces.

6. Chop green onions into ¼” pieces.

7. Place everything in a bowl with dressing and toss thoroughly.

Be creative, have fun and enjoy!