Brie and Spinach-Stuffed Chicken

This is yet another recipe I've adapted from OLOGC 2008. There it's listed as "Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken," but I've changed the stuffing of the breast so as to put the emphasis there, rather than on the accessory bit of pork. Here are the necessaries:

1/2 c. frozen spinach
brie cheese
pinch nutmeg
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
4 prosciutto slices
3 T. butter
3 onions
2 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1 T. flour
1 cup white wine
1 1/4 chicken stock
salt
pepper

Thaw spinach and drain. Mix in cheese. (Works better if it's warm. If it's not mixing, just stuff it in the chicken later without mixing it.) Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper to the mix.

Slice open each breast from the side so as to make a pocket. You can expand the pocket by working it with your fingers. Stuff them with the mixture and wrap the prosciutto around them. If you want, fasten the prosciutto with toothpicks. (There will be some flipping of the chicken.)

Heat up a pan with butter and brown the breasts for two minutes on each side. Move the chicken to a baking dish.

Cook the onions and mushrooms in the pan with the remaining butter until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are slightly browned. Stir in flower and gradually add the wine and stock. Bring to a boil. Pour sauce over breasts and cook uncovered for 20 min. in a 400º oven, then turn them over and cook for another 10 min. Take out the toothpicks, if you used them.

Grammy's Spaghetti Sauce

My whole life, there has only been one spaghetti sauce that I've craved—my grandmother's. She's from Idaho, so this has got a western American twist to it, but don't turn your nose up just yet, even though this varies sharply from the classic Italian tradition.

I remember being about four years old and puzzling over why no one else's spaghetti tasted as good as Grammy's. When I was about ten, I spent a week at her house in the hopes of unlocking the secret. I thought that if I could learn this recipe, I'd be set for life. It looked too complicated for me, so I just gave up.

Today I tried again, and I unlocked the incredible, mellow blend of this bolognese. Here's what you need:

6 medium carrots
1 onion
1lb ground beef or Italian sausage
3 cans tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp celery salt
1.5 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda

Skin the carrots and cut them into 2 inch slices no more than 1/2 inch thick. Dice onion. Boil the vegetables for about an hour. Drain, then mash, then drain them again. Brown beef with salt, pepper, and garlic. Add to vegetables. Add tomato sauce, spices and herb. Here is the secret: up to this point, all the flavors will be there, but it will taste far too bitter and will have too much of that canned taste. Add a bit of baking soda and that flavor goes away!

If there is one recipe that epitomizes my grandmother, it is this one. The idea to use baking soda to mellow out the sauce is brilliant. What you're actually doing is adding a base to a rather acidic mixture. The resulting chemical reaction neutralizes the acid and allows the flavors to blend, rather than compete. That kind of precision in thinking and a determination to get it all to work is the very portrait of my grandma.

Oysters Paltron (à la Wyatt)

This recipe comes from my aunt (first cousin, twice removed, actually) Mary-Elizabeth Paltron. Once, for my birthday we decided to cook oysters three ways using three of her excellent recipes. I like this one because it is so simple and delicious. She has it listed as an entrée served over saffron rice. I like it as an appetizer with hot french bread. Your call.

She asks for two dozen oysters in the recipe. If you're in the South, go for it. If you're in the West, you're probably using oysters from Washington or Portland. These oysters are typically much larger than the ones in the South, so you probably only need to use somewhere between twelve to eighteen. Just use your own judgement. Also, her recipe calls for dried herbs; I use fresh, mostly because I think it looks better on the sliced bread. It really doesn't matter.

1 stick butter
3-4 small cloves of garlic
1 stalk green onion, chopped
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
Worcestershire sauce (several dashes)
Tobasco sauce (several dashes)
salt
pepper
2 bay leaves
white wine
oyster water
Parmesan cheese
Italian bread crumbs
chopped parsley

Sauce:
In sauce pan, melt butter and sauté garlic and green onion until transparent. Then add herbs, sauces, salt, pepper, and bay leaves. Cook until blended.

Oysters:
Lay oysters in a baking dish. Do not stack them. Lightly salt and pepper oysters, then pour in the sauce. Wash the pan with white wine and add to dish along with spare oyster water. Sprinkle lightly with Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs. Bake in 325º for fifteen minutes, or until it starts to bubble. Add parsley and additional cheese when done baking.

Ratatouille

Here's the second (of many a) recipe I've modified from The Friends of Our Lady of Good Counsel 2008. It goes well as a side or a main dish. Modify the quantity of ingredients based on the size of your baking dish.

String beans, snapped
potatoes, sliced
eggplant, sliced
crimini mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
zucchini, sliced
bell pepper, chopped
onion, sliced and ringed
tomatoes, sliced
basil
oregano
salt and pepper
Chachere's
Tobasco
olive oil

Sauté the mushrooms in butter, garlic, and spices. Layer vegetables in the order listed with the beans on the bottom. Tuck different spices between layers, but save the basil for the tomatoes. Bake covered for about an hour at 375. Sprinkle grated parmesan cheese on top. Servings vary on the amount of vegetables.

Lamb Stuffed Bell Peppers

This is a recipe I modified from The Friends of Our Lady of Good Counsel 2008 cookbook. It's great for larger parties.

12 bell peppers of various colors
3 lbs. ground lamb
1 1/2 cups cooked rice
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch of green onions, chopped
3/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 chopped bell pepper
2 cans of stewed tomatoes
1 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup mozzarella
Italian bread crumbs

Sauté onion, garlic, bell peppers, and green onions in either butter or olive oil. Add lamb and brown. Mix in parsley and stewed tomatoes. Stir until mixed. Add cheese. Stir again. Remove from heat. As the meat mixture cools, cut the tops off of the remaining bell peppers and clean out the insides. Stuff with meat filling and coat the top with bread crumbs. Place peppers in a deep, glass baking dish. Add a 1/2 inch layer of water at the bottom of pan, cover with aluminum foil, and cook for one hour. Remove foil for the last 15 minutes of cooking so the tops will brown. Sprinkle with more grated parmesan. Serves 12.

Shrimp/Crawfish Étouffée

I thought I'd start this blog off right. This is my favorite dish in the world and the recipe that gets requested the most. It's remarkably easy to make and absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

1/2 stick butter
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 medium onion
1 chopped bell pepper
2–3 chopped celery stalks
2 lbs. peeled tails (shrimp or crawfish)
2 cups chicken or seafood stock
1 1/2 tbsp. corn starch
Tobasco, Chachere's, crab boil to taste
1/2 cup chopped green onion and parsley mixed

Boil tails in crab boil (peel the tails after they're cooked). Sauté the garlic, onion, bell pepper and celery in butter until translucent. Add tails and cook for about five minutes. Add stock. Move down to medium heat. Cook another two minutes. Add corn starch mixed in with water. Add spices and cook for about ten minutes on low heat. Garnish with green onion and parsley. Plate over rice with hot french bread. Serves about 6.