Tag: chicken broth

Shrimp and Andouille Sausage Jambalaya

 shrimp-and-andouille-sausage-jambalaya

Cooking is one of my favorite pastimes. My time in the kitchen is relaxing and therapeutic, and I enjoy making people happy with the food I prepare. However, sometimes writing about food does not come easy. Sometimes there is so much going on in the world around me that writing about food seems trivial.

Currently, Covid is touching so many lives around me that it’s hard to focus on anything else. Even though I had a very mild case, it’s just not that way for everyone.

Currently, I still have no taste or smell. It’s pointless to try new recipes right now. My son made this amazing jambalaya for me over the weekend. I could actually taste it, somewhat.

This is one of my old recipes. Wes changed it up a bit by using chicken and spicy deer sausage. In my world, where everything is tasteless, this was so enjoyable!

This jambalaya recipe is super easy and comes together fast. I used a spice blend from Legion of Spice called Bayou Blue, but any cajun seasoning will work. If you do not use Legion of Spice, I would recommend that you add the seasonings a little at a time. Sometimes the salt content can be high, and you do not want to ruin the pot by getting it too salty.

Hillshire Farms has a Cajun Style Andouille Smoked Sausage that tastes great and works well in this recipe. I typically use shrimp, but as Wes did, you can substitute boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch cubes if desired.

Shrimp and Andouille Sausage Jambalaya
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Shrimp and Andouille Sausage Jambalaya

Course Main Course
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound andouille sausage cut into 1/2-inch rounds
  • 1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
  • 1 large yellow onion diced
  • 1 large green bell pepper seeded and chopped
  • 2 stalks celery chopped
  • 2 large fresh tomatoes chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 tablespoons Cajun or Creole seasoning
  • 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1 bunch green onions green part only, chopped
  • 1 bunch chopped fresh parsley leaves

Instructions

  • In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside.
  • Add a drizzle of olive oilin the pan, if needed. Add the chopped onion, bell pepper, and celery and cook until softened, stirring occasionally.
  • Add shrimp, sausage, tomatoes, garlic, seasoning, rice, and chicken broth to the pan. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cover. Simmer until rice is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
  • Stir in parsley and green onion just before serving.

Notes

To use chicken instead of shrimp:  Add1 pound chicken that has been cut into 1-inch cubes, to the Dutch oven with the sausage.  Cook until lightly browned.  Chicken does not have to be cooked through, it will continue to cook in the last 20 minutes or cooking.  

Chicken and Dumplings (like Grandma’s)

The “crud” has been at our house for weeks now. Thankfully, I have not had it yet, but Greg has been sick at least a month!

What do you want to eat when you are sick? I love Mama’s potato soup, which I have not had in years, or a big pot of chicken and dumplings! That’s comfort food at it’s finest!

Chicken and Dumplings are not challenging to make, but they are a little time-consuming. They are not something I make often, but with Greg being under the weather and the weather being so cold…it’s that time!

It took me years to perfect this recipe, that I’m sure cooks had been making forever. I tried so many short cuts over the years! Flour tortillas, canned biscuits, and frozen dumplings. You name it; I probably tried it. That is until I realized that there is no substitute for homemade dumplings. Why have mediocre dumpings when homemade dumplings are much better and super easy to make.

I promise, even the new cook can make dumplings like grandma! Give this recipe a try, and you will please everyone in your house!

 

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Chicken and Dumplings

Course Main Course
Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • 4 cups water
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ice water enough to make a stiff dough

Instructions

  • Remove chicken pieces, if any, from inside the chicken cavity. Discard and place chicken in a large Dutch oven. Add water to the Dutch oven to cover or almost cover the chicken. Cook until the chicken is completely done.
  • Remove chicken from the pot and set aside to cool.
  • Strain broth in the Dutch oven into a large measuring cup. Add 8 cups of chicken broth back to the dutch oven, set aside. (If you don't have 8 cups of broth add enough homemade broth or canned broth to equal 8 cups.
  • Mix 2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour and 1 tsp. salt in a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds to combine. With the motor running, pour in ice water a little at a time,just until dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board. Roll the dough to 1/8" thickness or less. Cut into 1-inch strips (about 3 to 4 inches long). Let dry while you prepare broth.
  • Combine chicken broth, 4 c. water, 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper, and 4 tbsp. butter in the Dutch oven.
  • Pick cooked and cooled chicken off the bones and add to the pot. Bring to a boil.
  • Drop dumplings into boiling broth. After you have added the dumplings, place the lid on the pot and reduce heat to medium. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to a simmer, leaving the lid on, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes.

 

Cheesy Fish Chowder (Keto, Low-Carb, Gluten Free)

cheesy-fish-chowder-2

 

Living in the country, we often have to take a short road trip when we decide to go out for dinner. There is a restaurant in Augusta, Georgia that Greg and I have enjoyed for years. It isn’t fancy, but the food is always delicious. They serve a catfish chowder that we both love. I have tried to figure out the recipe before, but just never quite got it right.

I recently decided to work on the chowder again, but a low-carb version of it. After many attempts at this Cheesy Fish Chowder over the years, I can finally say that I have one that is quite close to the restaurant version we love! It is wonderfully delicious and incredibly easy!

Because I could not use flour to thicken the chowder, I used cream cheese, shredded Monterey Jack cheese and a little Xanthan Gum. My final product did not end up as thick as theirs, or most chowders, for that fact.  If you add Xanthan Gum start off with a small amount, 1/2 teaspoon to begin with, then gradually add more to your preference.

cheesy-fish-chowder-2
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Cheesy Fish Chowder

Author Amye Melton

Ingredients

  • 12 oz. Cod, or other flaky white fish
  • Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning
  • 4 slices thick-cut bacon
  • 1/4 c. small diced onion
  • 2 1/2 c. chicken bone broth
  • 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp. Tony Chachere's Original Creole Seasoning or more to taste
  • 8 oz. cream cheese
  • 8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese shredded
  • Nonstick cooking spray
  • 1 med. tomato chopped
  • 4 tbsp. sliced green onion
  • 8 tbsp. shredded Cheddar cheese
  • Xanthan Gum if desired

Instructions

  • Spray fish with nonstick cooking spray.  Sprinkle with Creole seasoning and bake in oven until cooked through.  
  • Chop tomato, set aside.
  • Slice green onion, set aside.
  • In the meantime, in a Dutch oven cook the bacon until crispy.  Remove from pan to cool.  Crumble and set aside.
  • Add onions to bacon grease and cook over low heat until softened.
  • Add chicken broth, heavy cream, thyme, pepper and Creole seasoning.  Cook over medium heat until warm through.  
  • Pinch off pieces of cream cheese and add to the broth mixture.  Whisking until melted.  
  • Add Monterey Jack cheese and whisk until melted.
  • If you prefer to thicken the chowder a bit more add a small amount of xanthan gum, whisking well.  
      
  • In a serving bowl, break up a serving of cooked fish.  Ladle chowder over the top of fish.  Top with shredded Cheddar cheese, tomatoes, crumbled bacon, green onions.  Serve.  

Notes

Nutrition Facts:
Net Carbs: 4 g.; Fat 30g; Protein 24 g; Calories 390

 

 

 

Smoky Gouda Grits and Shrimp

Smoky Gouda Shrimp and Grits

We were in Pensacola recently for a long weekend. It was fun and relaxing! We went to the Crawfish Festival, met up with some old friends, visited a favorite antique shop, went to a few of our favorite restaurants and drove by our old house. Most were unchanged, except for some major road work in front of the subdivision and some horrendous apparatus on the back of my house! Yes, my house! We put everything we had in that house, completely changing the floor plan, going out to the site every day, & picking out every single thing that went into it. Miranda Lambert even wrote a song about it! If you’ve built a house, I’m sure you know. It made me a little homesick. I can still call it home, right? After all, there’s a piece of my heart in every city that I have ever lived. We have been fortunate to live in some outstanding places, and I have wonderful memories of each and everyone, not to mention awesome friends.

Our trip would not have been complete without a visit to Joe Patti’s! We loaded up the cooler and have been able to indulge in some wonderful seafood since we returned to the farm. I have taken a very simple Shrimp and Grits recipe and changed it up by using smoked Gouda. This recipe is fast and simple enough for a weeknight dinner, but serve it to guests at your next dinner party and they will be asking for the recipe.

Leftover smoked Gouda grits make a special breakfast treat. I like to heat the grits in the microwave for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes on high. Then stir in a small amount of water, the amount will depend on the amount of grits you have leftover. Warm another 1 to 1 1/2 minutes and top with a sprinkling of cooked and chopped bacon, chopped tomato, chopped scallion.

city grits

5.0 from 1 reviews
Smoky Gouda Grits and Shrimp
 
Author:
Serves: 4
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Ingredients
  • 32 oz. chicken broth
  • 1 c. uncooked quick-cooking grits (not instant)
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 tbsp. butter
  • 2 c. (8-oz.) shredded smoked Gouda cheese
  • 6 slices bacon, chopped
  • 2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
  • 2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
  • 6 green onions, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
Instructions
  1. Bring chicken broth to a boil over medium-high heat; stir in grits. Cook, stirring occasionally for 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in salt, pepper, butter, and shredded Gouda. Stir until the cheese melts. Set aside and keep warm.
  2. While the grits are cooking, start cooking the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until crisp; remove bacon from pan.
  3. Cook shrimp in the same pan over medium-high heat for 3 minutes or until almost pink, stirring occasionally. (I do this in batches)
  4. When all shrimp are to the almost pink stage, add all back to pan, if you have removed any to cook in batches. Add lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, chopped parsley, green onions, and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes. Stir in bacon.
  5. Spoon grits onto individual serving plates or shallow bowls; top with the shrimp mixture. Serve immediately.