creamy curry broccoli chicken

I love to cook, and I love recipes that take time and energy, but as a mom of two small kiddos I rarely have the time to enjoy this. But after the recent arrival of my son a friend brought over this dish and my whole family really enjoyed it (even the 3 year old). The curry really is such a great addition to what would otherwise be really boring. It does take a while in the oven, but the preparation is so easy that I thought I’d share it here:

2 cups of fresh broccoli, par-boiled (you can use frozen broccoli–just thaw it first)

4-5 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up

Sauce—

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 cup mayo

1 T. curry

dash of Worcestershire sauce

Mix sauce well, pour over chicken and broccoli, cover with foil. Bake at 325 for 1.5 hours.

Serve over rice. I also think this would be really good over linguine, but I haven’t actually tried that yet.

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Tailgaters Jambalaya – Griz Style

The University of Montana School Of Business (my alma mater) faculty has a regular tailgating party before Griz games. Frequently they get together on the eve of a home game and have a “chopping party” to get the ingredients together for their pre-game cookout. Here’s their recipe verbatim:

Ingredients:

• 1 – 16 oz. package Hillshire Farms smoked sausage – cubed chunky
• 3 large chicken breasts – cubed chunky
• 4 Tbs. butter
• 2 onions – chopped
• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper – chopped
• 3 celery stocks – chopped
• 2 cups Uncle Ben’s converted rice (other rice may produce sticky Jambalaya)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. white pepper
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1/2 tsp. cyanne pepper
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 4 bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 2 – 14 oz cans of chicken broth

Melt butter over medium heat. Add garlic and cook briefly, being careful not to burn. Add cubed chicken and cook 1/2 way through. Add sausage chunks, chopped vegetables and seasonings ans stir until veggies are soft. Add the rice and cook for five minutes – you want the rice to absorb much of the juice from the vegetables and chicken. Add the chicken broth. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes or until the the rice has absorbed the broth. It’s Jambalaya Time!

This is a relatively mild jambalaya, so we like to serve it with Louisiana brand hot sauce. Jambalaya keeps well, so it is a great left-over — it is basically a southern stew, so feel free to experiment and add your favorite ingredients. We have hesitated to add shrimp because so many people are seafood allergic. If you improve on our concoction; let us know!

Go Griz

Serves 12

Actually the seasoning and proportions of this recipe are pretty authentic, but I have a few major problems with the outcome, not the least of which is the use of both Hillshire Farms sausage and Uncle Ben’s rice. Also, mild is an understatement. This is cajun food for cripes sakes and it demands more heat.
Here’s my fix:

Substitute the smoked sausage with 1 lb of good spicy andouille sausage or some other spicy sausage.

Use regular long grain rice – it has a richer texture and flavor and, if you don’t peek at the food while it’s steaming, it will turn out fine.

Increase the 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper to at least a 1 tsp. I use 1.5 tsp and it could still use more in my opinion but there are those who have weak pallets – so I’m respectful.

I’ve used shrimp in place of and/or in addition to the chicken. I’ve also used two strips of bacon to get the fat replacing the butter. They’re all good. I made this version and multiplied it by 10 to feed 120 people at my daughter’s wedding last year. Hence, if you have large enough pots you can increase the recipe without much change in the cooking method.

But it’s great food and exceptionally good for a casual crowd like at a tailgate party or at home for guests watching the game.

But there is one sentiment that I embrace with the Business Faculty for sure:

Go Griz

Posted in Cajun & Creole, Casserole, Chicken, Ethnic | 1 Comment »

Shepherd’s Pie

This is not the usual bland British-style (sorry Rachel) Shepherd’s Pie but a variation on a theme from Quebec. Called in it’s native Quebecois “Pate Chinois,”(Chinese Pie) it was probably named first by Chinese railroad workers in Quebec at the time, and had then been kind of passed on to local talent.

1 lb ground beef
1 medium yellow onion
1 Tbsp canola oil plus 1 Tbsp butter
salt and pepper, to taste
1 or 2 (14oz) cans of creamed corn
mashed potatoes : about 5 medium sized potatoes, boiled and mashed with milk and butter. I suppose instant mashed could work in a pinch.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees farenheit.

Heat oil and butter/margarine in a large skillet or frying pan. Add onions and cook until clear, stirring frequently. Add the ground beef, cook until browned and no longer pink and drain. Put into a 1.5 or 2 qt casserole dish. Pour the creamed corn over top of the beef. Drop the mash potatoes on top and cover bottom layer completely, sealing to the edge of the casserole dish. The potato topping should be about 1.5 to 2 inches thick.

Bake for about 35 minutes, until the potatoes turn a golden brown and the corn is heated.

Enjoy!

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Aelplermagaronen (Älpler Macaroni)

I bet you were expecting a kugel recipe or something along those lines?

I don’t remember the first time I ate this dish except that it was Switzerland. It’s simple to prepare and obviously a great source of carbs for quick energy. Most often it’s served “family style” in little restaurants, or in mountain-top cabins at the start of long ski runs. I like to think of it as mountain-top comfort food, a variant of what some might call “Swiss kugel.”

Ingredients for four people:

• 1lb medium sized potatoes (red skinned, yukon gold, etc…NOT russet or other baking potatoes)
• ½ lb macaroni
• ½ lb strong cheese, grated (Appenzeller, ripe Emmentaler)
• 2 oz cream
• 1 oz milk
• 2 large onions
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• enough butter to grease baking dish
• salt
• flour for sprinkling
• butter for frying
• Oven temperature: 400

Method:

Peel the pototoes and cut into cubes (slightly smaller than the macaroni, so that they both cook in the same time).

Cook macaroni and potatoes together in lightly salted water until the macaroni are “al dente”.

Drain well.

Grease an oven-proof baking dish, and lay in it alternate layers of the potato/macaroni mixture and the grated chese.

Boil up the cream and milk and pour them over the dish.

Put the dish in the middle of the preheated oven, and leave for around 10 minutes, until the cheese has melted but not changed color.

Meanwhile slice the onions into thin rings and chop the garlic finely. Sprinkle with flour, and fry until golden in the butter, turning constantly. Allow to drain on paper towel, and arrange over the macaroni.

This dish is served with apple sauce or “Ankestückli”

Tip: Use the thickest possible macaroni for this dish, which remains “al dente” even after long cooking.

Ingredients apple sauce:

• 1 ½ lb sour apples
• 1oz butter
• 2 fluid oz apple juice or white wine
• sugar

Method:

Peel and slice apples, removing the cores.

Heat the butter in a skillet and sauté the apples briefly.

Sprinkle sugar over the apples to lightly caramelize them.

Add juice or wine, allow to cook gently until all the liquid is absorbed.

Serve hot with the Aelplermagronen

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