Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Prep Time: 2 Hours
Yields: 8–10 Servings

Comment:
Chicken and sausage are the most popular gumbo ingredients in Louisiana. The ingredients were readily available since most Cajun families raised chickens and made a variety of sausages. Oysters were often added to this everyday dish for a special Sunday or holiday version.

Ingredients:

• 1 (5-pound) stewing hen
• 1 pound smoked sausage
• 1 cup oil
• 1½ cups flour
• 2 cups diced onions
• 2 cups diced celery
• 1 cup diced bell peppers
• ¼ cup minced garlic
• 3 quarts chicken stock
• 24 button mushrooms
• 2 cups sliced green onions
• 1 bay leaf
• sprig of thyme
• 1 tbsp chopped basil
• salt and cracked black pepper to taste
• Louisiana hot sauce to taste
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• steamed white rice

Method:
NOTE: You may wish to boil chicken 1–2 hours before beginning gumbo. Reserve stock, bone chicken and use meat and stock in gumbo. Using a sharp boning knife, cut hen into 8–10 serving pieces. Remove as much fat as possible. Cut smoked sausage into ½-inch slices and set aside. In a 2-gallon stockpot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until golden brown roux is achieved. Stir in onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic. Sauté 3–5 minutes or until vegetables are wilted. Blend chicken and sausage into vegetable mixture, and sauté approximately 15 minutes. Add chicken stock, one ladle at a time, stirring constantly. Bring to a rolling boil, reduce to simmer and cook approximately 1 hour. Skim any fat or oil that rises to surface. Stir in mushrooms, green onions, bay leaf, thyme and basil. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce. Cook an additional 1–2 hours, if necessary, until chicken is tender and falling apart. Stir in parsley and adjust seasonings. Serve over steamed white rice.

roasted bell pepper

Hi there.
Does anyone have a good Red Pepper Terrine recipe? I have a lovely Vegetable Terrine recipe and I want to combine the two. By combining the two I actually want to layer the two recipes in the same terrine dish.

Vegetable Terrine

Makes 1.36kg

340gm Chicken Breast Cubed - raw
1 egg white
180ml cream
10gm salt
Ground White Pepper as needed
100gm spinach, sauteed and coasly chopped
1/2 roasted bell pepper, meduim diced
120gm green baby marrow, diced and blannched
220gm carrots, diced and fully cooked
14gm powdered gelatin
14gm minced herbs
pinch nutmeg
1gm ground cardamon, grounded
Salt and pepper as needed

Blend the chicken, egg white, cream salt and pepper in a food processor until smooth. Test the mixture by poaching a small amount adjust seasoning if necessary. Toss the vegetables into bowl with powdered gelatin, herbs, nutmeg, and cardamon. Season with salt and pepper. fold vegetables into the processed meat, working over an ice bath.
Oil a terrine mold and line with plastic wrap, leaving an overhang of at least 10cm on all sides. Pack the mixture into the lined mold, making sure to remove any air pockets. fold the plastic wrap liner over the mixture to completely encase the terrine.
Poach the terrine in a 77C hot water bath in a 149C hot oven until an internal temperature of 74C, 60-70 minutes. Refrigerate the terrine weighed with a press plate, for at least 12 hours.

Can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.

North Douglas Chocolate Cake

North Douglas Chocolate Cake
From Fiddlehead Restaurant in Juneau,AK
is also in The Fiddlehead Cookbook

Prep time: 30 minutes—after first time, it seems to go together much faster.
Baking cooling: 1 hour
Completion time: 30 minutes
Cake:
1 cup water
¼ pound butter
½ cup safflower or corn oil
3 ½ Tabls. Sifted Dutch process dark cocoas (other cocoas will produce a lighter, sweeter cake and icing, like milk chocolate)
2 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teas. baking soda
½ teas. salt
2 eggs
½ cup buttermilk
1 teas. vanilla extract
Icing:
¼ pound +4 Tabls. butter
4 cups confectioners sugar
½ cup Dutch process cocoa
3 Tabls. milk—I like to use strong coffee here instead
1 ½ teas. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375F.
Butter and flour two 8 or 9” cake pans

Combine water, butter, oil, and cocoa in small pan and bring to boil.
While mixture is coming to boil. Sift together next four ingredients in large bowl.
Whisk eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla in small bowl and set aside.
When butter mixture comes to boil, pour over flour mixture and stir until just combined.Add egg mixture and fold together gently.
Pour into prepared pans.
Bake 20-25 minutes, 8” will take slightly longer. Remove from oven when tester comes out clean. Let rest briefly, then turn out on racks to cool completely.

In medium bowl, beat butter until smooth, add confectioners sugar and cocoa. Stir until they are partially combined. Stir in milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and spreadable. Additional confectioners sugar may be necessary if it seems too soft.

Place one layer on plate top side up, ice, sides and top. Place second layer, top down, and ice sides and top. Use any remaining icing for decorating
Chill briefly to set icing.

For a bigger crew, I double it and bake in a rectangular pan.

Italian Pork

Shambles six hour Italian style pork

A couple of ounces of olive oil
One oz margarine
2 ounces of butter
One carrot diced small
One onion diced small
One stick of celery diced small
two bay leaves
Two cloves of garlic, crushed
One pepperoni medium diced

1 cup of red wine
1 kg boned leg of pork (fat removed, we turn the fat into pork crackling)
400 g of concentrated tomato purée (yes 400 g trust me on this one)
1 pint of chicken stock
one sprig of rosemary and one sprig of thyme

Add the first nine items to a large heavy-based pan with a lid, and simmer slowly until soft now add the pork cook on a very low heat for an hour and a half to two hours, turning the meat occasionally. Leaving the lid on
Remove the pork to a side plate

You may find quite a bit of liquid in the pot at this time; reduce, until most of the liquid has disappeared. Add the wine and reduce by half. Now add the tomato purée. Keep stirring in cooking the purée mixture until the colour turns from red to brown (this can take up to about half an hour, boring, but it's essential for the final flavour)

Add the chicken stock and return the meat to the pot on the lowest heat possible with a lid on for four hours.
Now remove the meat, and reduce until you have a thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper if necessary (depending on how salty pepperoni is)
Slice the pork and serve with the sauce.

(Note) When the sauce has been reduced and the gas turned off, you will find oil and butter residue on the top of the sauce.
Skim this of into a pot, and refrigerate. I use it, added to the fat on oven roasted potatoes, although it can be added to almost anything that you want to add flavour to.

We always make sure that we have plenty of the sauce left, it is great with pasta, in fact we sometimes make this just for the pasta sauce. The pork will slice and freeze for sandwiches at a later date, or served cold with salad (I will often add to the sauce some crispy bacon and mushrooms, to serve with the pasta).

Pork Chops with Mango Pineapple Sauce

Ingredients

4 (3/4-inch-thick) loin pork chops
2 teaspoons salt
1 3/4 teaspoons black pepper
1 (1-lb) firm-ripe mango, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup drained canned pineapple chunks (from a 14-oz can)
1 cup mango nectar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4 whole cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves

Preparation
Sprinkle both sides of pork chops with 1 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper (total), then chill, covered, at least 4 hours (to allow seasoning to permeate meat).
Purée chopped mango in a food processor until smooth, then force through a sieve into a bowl. Bring mango purée, butter, pineapple, mango nectar, brown sugar, mustard, cloves, and remaining teaspoon each salt and pepper to a boil in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart heavy saucepan, stirring until butter is melted, then simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 12 to 15 minutes. Discard cloves.
Pat pork chops dry. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then brown chops in 2 batches, about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate as browned.
Pour off all but about 1 1/2 tablespoons fat from skillet, then cook onion over moderate heat, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add sauce and pork chops (with any juices) and simmer, uncovered, turning chops over once, until just cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro.


Cooks' note: •Seasoned uncooked pork chops can be chilled up to 10 hours.

Acapulco Chicken

Acapulco Chicken - serves 6
2 cup unsalted chicken broth 1 tbsp olive oil 2 tsp ground cumin 2 tbsp pickling spice 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced 1 lbs boneless chicken breast halves 1/2 yellow bell pepper, sliced 2 tbsp minced jalapeno chili with seeds 1 onion, halved, thinly sliced 1/3 cup rice wine vinegar 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves 3 large garlic cloves, minced
Baked (no oil) tortilla chips boil broth and pickling spice in heavy large saucepan ten minutes. Strain and return liquid to saucepan. Add chicken, onion, vinegar, garlic, oil and cumin to pan. Simmer over very low heat until chicken is just cooked through, about ten minutes. Transfer chicken and onions to shallow dish. Top with bell peppers and minced chilli. Boil cooking liquid until reduced to 2/3 c, about ten minutes. Pour liquid over chicken and let cool 30 minutes. Add cilantro to chicken mixture. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, turning chicken occasionally, about 4 hours (can be prepared one day ahead). Slice chicken and transfer to plates. Top with marinated vegetables and some of the juices.

Apricot-Glazed Chicken with Peaches and Raisins

Apricot-Glazed Chicken with Peaches and Raisins
6 lb chicken breasts boned and skinned Salt Minced garlic 1 pkt dried peaches (12 oz pkg) 3/4 cup golden raisins 1/4 cup butter, melted 1 cup dry white wine 3/4 cup apricot jam Parsley sprigs
Season chicken with salt and garlic to taste. Place peaches and raisins in bottom of buttered 16x12-inch baking pan. Top with chicken pieces. Brush with melted butter. Drizzle 3/4 cup wine over. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 325 degrees 45 minutes for chicken parts and 30 minutes for breasts. Warm apricot jam in small saucepan. Press jam through sieve into bowl. Stir in remaining white wine. Uncover chicken and baste with apricot-wine mixture. Continue baking at 325 degrees, uncovered, 30 minutes for chicken parts and 15 to 20 minutes for breasts, basting frequently, until chicken is tender and deeply glazed. Garnish with parsley. Makes 8 to 12 servings.