Gumbo a Go Go – Duck, Andouille Sausage, Smoked Pork Hock, Gulf Shrimp and Langoustine Gumbo

It’s not easy to pry gumbo-making secrets from a cook in New Orleans, but you should have better luck if you slip them some truth serum, in the form of several well-made sazeracs. 

This particular gumbo, featuring duck, andouille sausage, smoked pork hock, gulf shrimp, and langoustine, was inspired by my recent trip to New Orleans, where I sampled a half-dozen varieties.

One rye whiskey-induced tip was to cook the famous Cajun roux in some duck fat instead of the more common and mundane vegetable oil. The roux is the soul of the gumbo and one of the challenges of this recipe is giving the fat and flour enough time to turn into that deep brick red-brown color.

My little trick here is to add a couple extra spoons of flour after the roux is browned. The dark roux gives the gumbo its signature flavor, but it doesn’t have much thickening power. I just cooked it a couple minutes, and then stirred in the stock.

Another tweak is using pickled okra instead of fresh or frozen. This particular perversion was born out of necessity rather than some brilliant thought on my part. Of course, if this technique catches on, that story will change. The pickled okra gave the gumbo a great flavor and added a little bit of acidity, which is always welcome in something this substantial.

This can be made with hundreds of different combinations of smoked meats, game, poultry, and seafood; and in my opinion, the more the merrier. As usual, I’d love to hear about any variations you may come up with. As you’ll see, the procedure is pretty straightforward, although you’re talking about a full day’s project. This is a dish that takes time, but I still hope you give it a try. Enjoy!

2 duck legs

1 tbsp vegetable oil, more as needed

1 cup flour, plus 2 tbsp for second addition
6 cups chicken broth

1 pound andouille sausage

1 large onion, chopped

4 green onions chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup diced peppers (any combination of sweet and hot)

1 cup diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 bay leaf

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 smoked pork hock
2 cups water, or as needed
1 cup sliced okra, fresh, frozen or pickled
1 pound gulf shrimp
1 pound crawfish tail meat or langoustine
rice to garnish

Millet with Carrots, Mushrooms and Mint

Gluten-free millet makes a tasty grain side dish.

To be honest, the only thing I knew about millet was what I read in fairy tales. You know, some evil, jealous stepmother or warty witch in the spooky woods would capture a flaxen haired and beautiful Princess down on her luck and pining for true love. The lovely but modest and misunderstood maiden would then be forced to find needles in haystacks or pluck wool off surly sheep or sort millet seeds. 

Tasks any one of us can relate to, right?

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Valentine's Special: Average Betty and Fabio Sexy-Up Chicken and Rice!

I'm still in West Chester, PA, after a fascinating day of training at QVC. Since I have no new video recipe to share, I'll have to do the next best thing, and use somebody else's. 

Here's my buddy Sara from Average Betty getting all female on international playboy, and Top Chef All-Star, Fabio Viviani, who in return gets all Fabio on her. Together they bring you a rustic Chicken Marsala recipe served with an unusual, but erotically charged Strawberry Champagne Risotto. This menu is so Fabio and Average Betty, it hurts.

I've posted my slightly less steamy version below, and it's one of the recipes I always recommend for Valentines Day, especially for new cooks. It's fast, easy, and always impresses that special someone. I hope you enjoy both videos!

Be sure to check out the full blog post on Average Betty, which includes recipes and lots more information! 

Chef John's Chicken Marsala


See Chef John's original Chicken Marsala post here, and get all the ingredients and more info.

Black Eyed Peas with Pork and Greens – Good Luck with This!

I love the New Year's day tradition of eating beans and greens to bring luck and prosperity. This video was posted a few years back, and features black-eyed peas, and not one, but three kinds of pork. How can that not bring good fortune?

This is a very old tradition, and I don't mean colonial America old, I mean really, really old. There are records of black-eyed peas being eaten for good luck on New Year's Day all the way back to ancient Babylonia. It must have worked, because look at all the good fortune that has befallen the middle east since then. Okay, maybe that's not the best example.

This video recipe is my variation on something called "Hoppin' John," which is black-eyed peas, rice, and pork stewed together, usually served with some kind of greens and cornbread. Speaking of which, I highly suggest clicking on my cornbread recipe video and doing this thing right.

I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! May your 2011 be filled with much happiness, and lots of new adventures. Stay safe, party hard, and as always, enjoy!



Ingredients:
1 pound black-eyed peas, soaked overnight
3 strips bacon, sliced in 1/2-inch pieces
1 pound pork neck bones
6 oz smoked ham, diced
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
3 cloves chopped garlic
6 cups water
1 (10-oz can) diced tomato with green chilis
1 tsp salt
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
cayenne to taste
1 tsp dried thyme
1 large bunch kale, leaves torn
cooked rice

New Math for Stuffed Bell Peppers: Half was Twice as Good

Here's a video recipe of the new and improved stuffed bell peppers. I posted the written recipe a little while back, but wanted to provide a video tutorial also. There have been some significant and shocking changes, so I hope you're sitting down.


The peppers are now cut in half lengthwise, so that the meat/rice-to-pepper ratio is much more in our favor. The bad news is you must find evenly sized, and boxy shaped peppers so the halves cook evenly, but the good news is I just doubled your number of servings.

Also in this version we chose to use the classic green bell pepper. This recipe's roots can be traced back to the Great Depression, when farmers first began selling the unripe peppers out of necessity. Of course, we did what Americans always do when faced with a new variety of food, we stuffed meat in it.

I'll have to admit, I bowed to conventional wisdom, and called for the sweeter red bell in the cookbook, but as any true stuffed bell pepper aficionado will tell you, green is the money pepper. The bitterness of the green pepper serves as a perfect foil to the tangy, but subtly sweet stuffing.

Finally, after several attempts, you have here the final official Food Wishes stuffed bell pepper recipe. I hope you give it a try. Enjoy!



Ingredients:
For the sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 cup beef broth
2 cups prepared marinara sauce, or other tomato sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
For the peppers:
1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 pound hot Italian pork sausage, casings removed
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup finely grated "real" Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
4 cloves garlic, minced very fine
1 can 10-oz diced tomatoes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
4 large green bell peppers

Building a Better Stuffed Pepper

I reworked the stuffed pepper recipe for the cookbook, and this was the result. I've posted the written recipe below the photo, and I highly encourage you to try it out. Enjoy!
































Stuffed Bell Peppers

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 cup beef broth
2 cups prepared marinara sauce, or other tomato sauce
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional

For the peppers:
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound sweet Italian pork sausage, casings removed
2 cups cooked rice
1 cup finely grated "real" Parmesan cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano)
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
4 cloves garlic, minced very fine
1 can 10-oz diced tomatoes
2 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne
4 large red bell peppers

Add the olive oil to a saucepan, and lightly brown the onions with a large pinch of salt over medium-high heat. Remove half and reserve for the stuffing. Stir in the rest of the sauce ingredients and bring to a simmer. Pour the sauce into the bottom of a large deep casserole dish.

Add all the filling ingredients to a mixing bowl, along with the reserved onions, and stir with a fork, or your hands, until the mixture is combined. Tip: you can cook a small piece of the filling to test the seasoning.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to remove the stem, seeds and white membrane from each pepper. Place the bell peppers in the casserole dish, and fill each pepper with the stuffing. A little additional cheese can be grated over the top if desired.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil and bake uncovered for another 20-30 minutes, or until the peppers are very tender. Exact cooking time will depend on size, shape and thickness of the peppers. Best to let rest for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with the sauce spooned over the top.

Green Peas-tomato soup

Ingredients:
½ cup fresh green peas
10 medium size ripe tomatoes
2 medium size onions
1 small piece of ginger
1 tbsp pure ghee or butter
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp red chillies powder
½ tbsp sugar (optional)
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:
Step 1: Cut the tomatoes into two parts and ginger into small pieces and onion into medium pieces. Step 2: Add one cup water and cook into medium flame with lid over the vessel.

Step 3: When tomatoes become soft then remove the skin of tomatoes with steel spoon.

Step 4: Blend this material with blender until it becomes smooth.

Step 5: Drain this pulp if the skin and seeds of tomatoes in it.
Step 6: Heat a thick pan and add pure ghee on low flame.

Step 7: Add cumin seeds when ghee is mallet.

Step 8: Turn the flame on medium and then add the fresh green peas in it.

Step 9: Simmer until they are very tender.

Step 10: When skin of peas is slightly change then puree tomatoes pulp in it.

Step 11: Stirring while and cook it for 10 minutes on medium flame.

Step 12: Then add red chillies powder, salt and sugar in it.

Step 13: When it begins to slightly thicken turn off the flame.

Step 14: Add fresh coriander leaves after the turn off the flame.

Step 14: Serve hot into serving bowl.

Step 15: Garnish with coriander leaves and cream.

Step 16: I like to eat with plane simple rice and roasted papad. But you also serve as soup in your menu. Note:
1. You also add carrot and another vegetable which you like the taste and it goes good taste with tomatoes.
2. Also add garlic or cloves or pepper powder or cinnamon if you like this type of taste.

Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto

A delicious acorn squash risotto that is vegan and gluten-free.

Looking for a perfect fall side dish? Or a vegetarian knock-your-socks-off bowl of creamy goodness? Risotto might fit the bill. This is one of my all-time recipe favorites. In fact, it was the first dish I turned to eight years ago when I discovered I had to live gluten-free.

Way back then (insert hazy slow-mo flashback) I would add freshly grated Parmesan to the cooked risotto. Shaved Reggiano, to be exact. But these casein-free dairy-free days I enjoy this risotto strictly vegan. No cheese. And guess what? I don't feel deprived. Seriously. The flavors hold their own without the whole moo cow cheesy thing.

In fact, this risotto is so creamy-good and comforting I only think one thing as I taste bite after velvety bite: How could anything so simple taste so unbelievably good? Well, that, and, Who the heck needs cheese or butter, anyway?

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Asparagus Leek Risotto Recipe

Creamy asparagus risotto  for spring.

May I just take a moment and express my deep appreciation for risotto? And tender-crisp spring asparagus? A week like we've had triggers a need for comfort food- but not the heavy, spice laced comfort food of winter. Something fresh and light and creamy. Asparagus risotto to the rescue. For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you know that it's been a roller coaster week for us. From opening a bottle of Veuve Clicquot to learning that our buyer had run into a snag. He missed the deadline for obtaining a mortgage. We remain hopeful and knee deep in book stacks and boxes, however. He's still trying. Still interested. 

And us? We're practicing our best zen detachment.

With bourbon.

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Roasted Brussels Sprouts Medley with Refried Butter Beans & Rice

Roasting Brussells sprouts brings out their inherent sweetness.

Happy March! We made it through. The days are stretching inch by inch, noticeably longer. And just in the nick of time for this winter weary gluten-free goddess and her serotonin deprived little brain. Let's do a collective happy dance, Steve Martin style. We're sneaking up on a big turning point in the year. You know the one- when daylight equals darkness. The Spring Equinox will be here before you know it (March 20, 2009, to be exact). And then? You know what then. Luxurious long days, evening walks warmed by the sun. Sprouting going on everywhere you look. Buds bursting. A brand new season. Fresh. Life.

After the winter we've had- with all the Wall Street inspired doom and gloom infused with a shaken-not-stirred cocktail of fear and hope? I choose hope. This shouldn't surprise you. It's in my nature. New paradigms and inventive beginnings? Bring it on. 

I love learning a new skill set.

So in the spirit of celebrating the whole sprouting and greening thing that is waiting for us right around the corner (if the wheel of the year could sport a corner, that is), the impending balance of the coming Vernal Equinox, I offer you a budget-friendly vegan meal that is fresh and earthy, green and nutty, savory and sweet. You know, that whole yin yang Real Food Daily approach to eating (how cool is Anne Gentry?). Food to feed you, body and soul, as the March winds blow and scatter the remnants of winter into memory.

I know some of you don't believe me when I tell you Brussels sprouts can be tender and sweet. You think these tiny cabbages are mushy and smelly and not worth consideration. To those of you in that particular camp, I must ask. Have you ever roasted Brussels sprouts? Because here's the thing. When you roast these little green babies they get all caramelized and nutty and they take on a whole new demeanor. And the best part? Roasting vegetables makes for an easy dinner. It's almost a night off from cooking. Well. Okay, maybe not a night off, but. 

Pretty darn simple.

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Gluten-Free Beef and Mushroom Rice Casserole

Tasty beef and rice casserole with cranberries, mushrooms and olives.

Here's a cozy autumn casserole recipe with crumbled beef (or turkey), mushrooms, black olives and tart cranberries. Vegetarians can change out the meat with cooked black beans or white kidney beans.

The recipe is an improv, so the measurements are close approximations, but most of you readers are creative cooks who do your own thing and toss together your own improvisations, anyway, right? You're my kind of people. 

You can handle it.

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Pinon Rice Bake with Artichokes and Goat Cheese

Brown rice with artichokes, roasted corn, chiles, pine nuts and goat cheese.

Here's a favorite make-ahead rice dish recipe with Mediterranean flavors- artichokes, plum tomatoes, pine nuts and goat cheese. Entertaining made simple. And there are never any leftovers.

Having someone new over for dinner always sends me into a flurry of activity fueled by nervous energy and worry. I obsess over obscure details (like an iTune playlist), change my mind about the menu (wait- enchiladas or lasagna?), forget ingredients (dagnabbit! the green beans are still in the car). So I've learned (yes, the hard way) to always make a few key dishes ahead of time. Then dinner is basically done.

And I'm not stuck in the kitchen spilling olive oil on a new silk shirt.

I can relax (well, sort of). And- goddess willing- I won't set the oven on fire because I'm too busy discussing the yummy Anderson Cooper and sipping my second vodka martini to a Diana Krall tune.

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Gluten-Free Spanish Rice Bake

Like Spanish rice? Try using brown rice and kick up the nutrition.

One of the more popular recipe searches here at Gluten-Free Goddess is brown rice. And why not? It's naturally gluten-free. It's an excellent grain choice for the Mediterranean Diet and the South Beach Diet. It's good source of fiber for both sensitive tummies and hearty omnivore appetites. And it's a complementary protein for earthy vegan tastes.

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Idli,Sambhar and Chutney

Idli
For making fluffy soft idlis you need:
4 cups idli rice
1 cup split urad dal
1\2 cup Fenugreek (methi) seeds

Soak:
* Wash and soak the urad dal, idli rice and fenugreek seeds separately in water for at least 6 hours.
To Grind:
* Drain the extra water from fenugreek seeds, rice, urad dal and mix all together.


* Grind this material in mixer with adding minimum water.


* Make a smooth batter and add salt. The final batter should not be too thick or too watery.


To make idlis:
* Allow the batter to ferment for at least 12 hours.

Preparation:
Step 1: Heat 1 cup of water in idli cooker.
Step 2: Add the 3 tablespoons of batter in each of the idli plate and put it in idli cooker. Close the idli cooker with lid.


Step 3: Cool for about 10-12 minutes. Let stand for 1 minute and unmould.


Step 4: Serve hot with chutney of your choice and sambhar.



Cooking Tip:
* Well fermented flour will give really fluffy and soft idli’s.
* If you live in US or any cold country, try keeping the flour in a conventional oven and keep the light on inside the oven.
* Fenugreek seeds is good for health so I add this in batter.

Sambhar

Ingredients for sambhar masala:
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
6 curry leaves
1\2 tbsp asafetida powder
1 tbsp urad dal
4 cloves
2 small pieces of cinnamon

Method for the sambhar masala:

Step 1: Roast all the ingredients individually in a pan.

Step 2: Grind them together in a grinder.

Step 3: Make smooth powder. If you made more than you required than you store it in an air-tight container and use it when required. I was always made fresh smabhar masala for nice aroma.

Ingredients for sambhar:
1\2 cup chopped white gourd
1\2 cup chopped carrot
2 big size drumstick (diced)
1 big size finely chopped onion
2 cups tuvar dal
3 tbsp sambhar masala
Few curry leaves
1\2 tbsp cumin seeds
1\2 tbsp mustard seeds
1\2 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tbsp red chilli powder
A pinch of hing
2 tbsp oil
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish.

Method for the Sambhar:

Step 1: Wash the tuvar dal. Cook it in cooker with sufficent water. Grind with grinder.

Step 2: Boil the vegetables and add salt to taste.
Step 3: Drain extra water form cook vegetables.

Step 4: Heat the oil in another pan and crackle mustard seeds. Then add cumin seeds and a pinch of hing.

Step 5: Add finely chopped onion in it and fry for few minutes.

Step 6: Now add the vegetables in it and cook for one minute.

Step 7: Pour the tuvar dal and add turmeric powder, red chilli powder in it.

Step 8: Add sambhar masala and simmer over medium flame for 15 minutes.

Step 9: Turn off the flame and garnish with coriander leaves. Serve hot with Idli and dosa.

Tips:
* To ensure that the smabhar tastes fresh, do not use sambhar masala that is over two month-old.
* If you prefer your smbhar strong, then add a pinch of clove powder to tuvar dla while soaking it.
* If the smabhar is too thick, dilute milk in water and add it to the smabhar.
* If you add more water while cook the tuvar dal then can be reused to cook vegetable this will help retain the flavor and nutrition of the sambhar.

Idli Chutney

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh/frozen coconut

½ cup dalia (Pottu Kadali/ fried gram dhal)

4 green chilis

Salt to taste

For seasoning:

2 tbsp oil

1/2 tbsp mustard seeds

1/2 tbsp urad dal

3-4 curry leaves

Method:
Step 1: Grind coconut, ½ cup dalia, salt and chilies to a smooth paste adding required amount of water.

Step 2: Heat oil and add mustard seeds. When they start popping, add urad dal.

Step 3: When dal turns slightly brownish, add curry leaves. Fry for a little while. Pour this seasoning over chutney.

Step 4: Mix well and serve with hot dosa or idli.