Food good for body and soul
I do the family Easter and July 4th, with my brother Steve and sister-in-law Lorraine hosting Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am expecting the number of folks, that being 14-16. I think 12 if the least amount we’ve had at the Easter table and 18 was …
I have discovered the perfect tomato/pasta sauce. You can leave out the sausage for a delicious vegetarian version, or use another type of meat. Use just one or all or less or more of the optional ingredients, simmer for as short or long a time …
I found a small chuck roast on sale – but really didn’t want to do the typical pot roast or beef stew thing. What to do? Well, I found a recipe with a spicy Cajun flavor and just had to try it.
Here is the link to the recipe I found online: Cajun Roast with Maque Choux. See this link for an explanation of Maque Choux.
I have also copied the recipe here, followed by my comments and photographs.
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Cajun Roast with Maque Choux
Makes 6 servings
Ingredients:
1 (2 to 2-1/2 lb.) boneless beef chuck roast
1 Tbsp. dried Cajun seasoning
1 (9-oz.) pkg. frozen corn
1 small onion, chopped
½ green pepper, chopped
1 (14.5-oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/8 tsp. pepper
½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. hot sauce
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Rub entire surface of beef roast with Cajun seasoning. Place roast in a large slow cooker. Top with corn, onion and green pepper. In a small bowl, combine tomatoes, pepper, salt and hot sauce; mix well. Pour over vegetables and roast. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours. To serve: Cut roast into slices and serve corn mixture with a slotted spoon.
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This recipe was REALLY quick and easy to prepare. Here is a shot of all the ingredients except for the pinch of cayenne. By the way, I might add either another teaspoon of hot sauce or a a few extra pinches of cayenne next time. Although, I had better wait to see how spicy it is the 2nd day around.
I just love the way raw ingredients look in a picture. According to one definition of alchemy, cooking is indeed of that art. From the Webster Online Dictionary definition of alchemy: 2 : a power or process of transforming something common into something special.
Speaking of something special, I really like the Sriracha Hot Sauce that I used in this recipe. I think I saw it recommended in Bon Appetit. See my Recommended Kitchen Things page.
You maybe have noticed that I actually used a seasoning blend called “blackened creole blend” by Frontier Co-op, rather than Creole seasoning. See my Recommended Kitchen Things page. From my research, opinions range from hard-core camps on both the Cajun and the Creole sides who define the two styles of cooking and seasoning as totally distinct, to folks of all levels of expertise saying that much merging has happened between the two cooking styles, or at least the types of seasoning used. However, I want to research that further.
But for now, I can vouch for the tastiness of this recipe using the Creole blend, which is what I happened to have in my spice cabinet.
This really was so easy to put together. Just chop the veggies and put them in on top of the meat….
…and mix the sauce ingredients and pour it over everything. Oh, a note about the called for 1/2 a green pepper. I had maybe 1/3 of one, but grabbed a ripened, and thus red one from the bell pepper plant that wintered over inside at our house. Check it out:
Anyway, after about 7 or so hours, I opened the crock pot,checked the meat, and found it to be nice and tender.
I served the vegetables over brown rice. I was going to steam or saute some greens to go with the meal, mostly just to have something to lighten up the meal. I was expecting the heaviness that goes with the usual pot roast preparation on top of this being a relatively fatty cut of meat. (Chuck has more fat than the round cuts, for example.) But, unlike a pot roast dinner, this meal had a delightful lightness about it.
The hot spices certainly made it more easy to digest and “thinned” out the fatty flavor/texture. And corn and bell peppers are less dense than the traditional potato, turnip, and/or carrots served with a traditional pot roast meal.
In any case, Steve and I both thought this was superb. But visually, I think meal could use some more green. And, upon re-reading the article containing the original recipe, I noted a recommendation to serve green beans with this meal. I have a great recipe for blanched, then quickly sauteed green beans with garlic and red pepper flakes… Next time, again!
You’d think that someone who lived at least 10 years of her life as an ultra “crunchy granola” type (vegan for a while, even) would have made granola before. No pun intended. 🙂 But, I had not until this morning. Why not until now? I …
Talk about easy – and, if ingredients are chosen with a bit of thought, healthier than one would think. And really tasty, too! Just look at this: Note: Click HERE for my guacamole recipe. This was my second time making quesadillas – both times as …
I adore avocados. I love the texture, the taste, and the color. I am happy eating plain slices of avocado, but given my love of garlic, tomatoes, and onions, guacamole is a big favorite of mine.
I have tried many different recipes over the years, some complicated, some less so. I ended up finding what is for me the perfect balance of flavors and textures by using as few ingredients as possible.
Here is how I do it. First, the ingredients:
So simple, so easy. The flavor is clean, fresh, and zesty,and I find the “fork-mashed with some lumps left” texture to be more satisfying than guacamole that is pureed.
If you want some complexity, try adding some cumin or cayenne pepper. And, for a bit more richness, add some olive oil. But, I really enjoy the simple version. And, I NEVER add salt. I did once and found it brought out a bitter flavor, which surprised me, since salt can bring out sweetness.
In any case, if you are new to making guacamole, or have been using a more complicated recipe for years, give this one a try. I bet you’ll like it.
Here are two examples: Note: you need more than 1/2 tsp cornstarch with the second one. And, of course, feel free to make up your own! https://www.recipesecrets.net/blog/recipes/copycat-lawrys-taco-seasoning/ https://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1626,154160-255196,00.html
Leftover chicken, leftover brown rice, leftover whole wheat spaghetti…well, the pasta will have to be used for something else, but I just made a great soup with a bunch of leftovers. From a chicken carcass to finished soup took just a bit more than an …
This is fabulous! I’ve been meaning to try making this from scratch for ages. It was worth the wait.
I found a number of variations online, but you don’t need to go fancy for this soup. A special thanks to Dennis Caswell for the recipe on his Rock ‘N Roll Kitchen blog. You know, I just love the Internet. 15 years ago, who would think that anyone with 1/2 a brain and a computer could easily find recipes shared by a complete stranger living in Great Britain?
Here’s how I made it:
That’s a bit over a pound of tomatoes and closer to 2 lbs of red peppers.
I just sliced the tomatoes in half, seeded and halved the peppers, halved one onion, and peeled 6-8 cloves of garlic. I then rubbed them with olive oil and sprinkled with dried basil.
I started them off at 275 degrees, but it was slow going, so I upped it to 400 at the end. Different recipes give different temperatures and lengths of time, but figure 20-45 minutes depending. In the end, you want them to look like this:
Well, it is a little hard to tell in this picture. And, FYI – I flipped the tomatoes part-way through. But, you basically want the skins split and wrinkled on the red veggies, and it is fine if they get a bit charred.
Next, I peeled off the really tough outer layer of the onion halves. The garlic was a bit tough, too but it ended up not causing an problem with the soup’s texture. however, next time I will roast the garlic with the skin still on and then peel.
I then put the roasted veggies in a pot with 3 cups of puoltry/veggie stock.* I think it was three cups – perhaps 3 1/2. I know I have three cups left:
Well, lets go for 3 cups and add more if you want a thinner texture. I used 8 cups of water when I made the stock that morning but seemed to lose more liquid than usual. See below for how I made the stock.
The final step was to use my handy-dandy new immersion blender and puree the whole lot right in the pot. You can also put part of the stock and the veggies into a regular blender and then add back to the rest of the stock. Then, I seasoned with salt and freshly ground pepper. heated it up, and that was it! I hear it freezes well, but I think we will be eating it all in a short time.
So, there it is. A lovely soup. It would be great served chilled in the summer, also. Now I want to try the variation I found called: “Roasted Red Pepper Tomato Soup With Onions, Garlic, Garbanzo Beans & Oh Why Not? Artichokes” Click HERE to see the recipe on the blog Farmgirl Fare.
*And, for the stock: from the freezer, the neck and innards from one turkey and one chicken, three corncobs (Just pop them into the freezer after you eat the kernels off – the BEST for stock!) a handful of asparagus stems, and, from the fridge, some leftover raw kale, a stick of celery, a carrot or two, half and onion, a bay leaf, and…probably a few cloves of garlic – I can’t remember. Into the pressure cooker with 8 cups of water it went for 30 minutes after it came to pressure. NOTE: you can use whatever you want – more poultry parts, just veggies, whatever. However, I highly recommend corn cobs in all stock. They add a great flavor!
So, that’s it for now. Thanks for reading. 🙂
I meant to post about this with current notes when Lori and I made this dish on December 30, 2009. But, I didn’t. Here is a VERY brief rendition: I used regular bacon and now can’t remember what kind of wine. BUT, it was really …