Gumbo

Gumbo. Yes.

My version of a few authentic New Orleans gumbo recipes. (one of which was passed down from the authors grandmother. That's legit.)

Ingredients:

One large chicken breast, cut into small cubes
1 lb shrimp, cut in half
2 spicy sausages, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 Jalapeño, minced
2 Celery stalks, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
Handful of flat leaf/Italian parsley, chopped
4 green onions, sliced, green and white parts separated
1 cup okra, sliced
5 tbsp butter
4 tbsp all purpose flour
4 tbsp Cajun or creole seasonings (I use a mix of Tony chachere's and old Bay. Emeril makes a good one too)
1 tbsp Italian seasonings
1 Bay leaf
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
2 chicken or beef bouillon cubes
About 4 cups water

Saute the okra in a pan for just a couple minutes and set aside.

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven. Add onions, bell pepper, Celery and Jalapeño and saute until they start to soften, or about five minutes. Add the garlic and white parts of the green onions and stir for another minute or two. Sprinkle the flour on top and stir constantly for 3-5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook stirring until they're mushy. Add the chicken and seasonings and cook until no longer pink. Add the shrimp and cook until no longer pink. Add the sausage, crushed bouillon cubes and most of the parsley, water and okra and simmer for about twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. If it's too thin, add a couple tbsp of flour slurry. Garnish with remaining parsley, green onions and Serve over white rice.

Chile rellenos

This was so easy to make, although a tiny bit time consuming, but was soo yummy!

Ingredients:

4 Poblano chilis
White cheese, like monterrey jack
2 egg whites and 1 yolk, separated, at room temperature

2 tomatoes
1/2 onion
1/2 jalapeno
3 cloves garlic
Salt
1/2 tsp oregano

Char the Poblanos over the open flame of the stove, or under the broiler in the oven, turning to ensure the entire thing turns black. Put them in a bowl and cover. Let them sit and sweat for about 20 minutes

When they are cool, gently scrape off the charred skin with a better knife, slit down the center and then at the top, under the stem, only halfway around. Gently remove the core and seeds. Stuff with cheese and stick a toothpick through to secure.

Heat oil in frying pan. Whip the egg whites with electric beater until stiff peaks form. Whip the yolk for just a minute. Fold the yolk into the white without deflating them. Gently coat the chili in the egg mixture and place into hot oil. I noticed the egg didn't coat the chili too well so after placing in oil, I spread a dollop of egg batter on top of the chili. Flip and cook until golden brown.

Blend the second set of ingredients and simmer on the stove for fifteen minutes. Serve over the Chile rellenos.

Arroz con Pollo

A Mexican comfort food that's much easier to make than I expected and a simple one dish meal! This is usually made with a whole cut up chicken, but I used chicken breast cubes.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken breast, cut into cubes
1 onion,  diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeño, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups rice
4 cups water
4 tbsp adobo seasoning (an all purpose seasoning, I used Goya brand)
1 chicken bouillon cube
A pinch of saffron
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion in oil over medium heat. When it just begins to turn tender, add bell peppers, garlic and jalapenos and saute for a minute. Add chicken and seasonings and cook until no longer pink. Add rice and stir well. Add water, saffron and chicken cube and bring to a boil. When most of the water has dried up cover and reduce heat to low. Rice should be done in about ten minutes.

I served this with chile rellenos.

Indo-chinese chicken wings

I had a version of these from a restaurant once and loved them. I'm also a huge fan of "drums of heaven"  which are Indo-chinese style chicken lollipops. This is my attempt at recreating something similar.

Ingredients:

Chicken wings, skin on, cut in half
1/2 onion chopped
1 jalapeño minced
2-3 green onions sliced, whites and green parts separated
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
A handful cilantro chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sambal chili garlic sauce
4 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper (black will work as well if you don't have white pepper)
1 tsp sriracha
A dash of rice vinegar
Salt to taste
1 tsp corn starch mixed with 2 tsp cold water

Heat oil and saute onion for a minutes. Add jalapeño and white parts of green onions and saute for another minute. Add ginger garlic paste and most of the cilantro and stir. Add soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, sriracha, sambal, white pepper and rice vinegar and cook until boils. Reduce heat and simmer for bout five minutes add about 1/4 cup water and corn starch slurry. Cook until thickened. Add rest of cilantro and green parts of green onion. Toss deep fried wings in sauce.

Khatta khana (spicy tangy rice) with lemon, tamarind or tomato.

This is really simple and is one of my favorite comfort foods. Goes great with kabobs, tandoori, or anything fried.

Ingredients

Cooked, cold rice
1 onion, diced
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp mustard seeds (rye)
1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds (methi)
1 jalapeno, cut lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup whole peanuts (optional)
1/2 tsp red mirchi powder
Pinch of haldi powded
Salt to taste
For lemon rice, about 1/4 cup lemon juice for tamarind rice, about 1/4 cup tamarind pulp
For tomato rice, about 1/4 cup tomato sauce (couple tbsp tomato paste mixed with water)
Chopped cilantro to garnish

Fry onions in oil until they just begin to brown, add jalapeno, peanuts, curry leaves, mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds. Add minced garlic and haldi and stir for about 30 seconds. Throw in the rice and stir. Increase heat to medium high or high. Add mirchi powder and salt and either lemon juice, tamarind pulp or tomato sauce and stir. Garnish with cilantro.

Jalapeno hushpuppies

This is a tweaked version of a recipe I sound online. It was pretty good but needed a bit more flavor hence my variations. They were also surprisingly easy!

1 cup cornmeal 
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon salt 
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder 
1/2 teaspoon black pepper 
1 egg
2/3 cup buttermilk ( or 2/3 cups milk with 3 tsp vinegar. Let it sit for 15 mins)
2 green onions sliced
1 jalapeno diced 
1/2 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced

Heat oil for deep frying. Mix all the ingredients together into a thick batter. Drop batter into hot oil by the teaspoonful. Fry until golden brown. I served this with sweet chili sauce and ranch dressing.