Sausage and Rice: Better Than We Thought

Now that school has started its time to get back in a routine. And one of the things that defines my routine is making family dinner at least a few days a week. Although there is often a call for hamburger (actually a cry and a scream), I am always looking for something new to try. The following recipe is a work in progress, but everyone like it but boy 2 (he thought it was a bit too spicy). The overall effect and technique for this recipe is similar to cooking risotto, except that I used basmati rice. This actually makes a big difference in flavor. It also happens to be a more forgiving rice, meaning its less likely to look like gooey glop if you don't stir constantly.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups basmati rice (I prefer Trophy Gold Brand)
4 or 5 hot sausages (if I use sweet next time, boy #2 says he will like it)
One onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
Two teaspoons rosemary
3/4 teaspoon salt and more to taste
one quart chicken stock
At least one cup white wine (we used some no name Italian White that had been sitting in the fridge for a few days)
Olive oil for sauteeing

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

Two large pans: one for browning sausage and onions and one for rice (you could use one but it would be a pain


INSTRUCTIONS

Remove the sausage meat from its casing but cutting the casings with a sharp knife. Add a little oil to a pan, heat and brown the sausage. Remove, drain, and set aside. Using some of the leftover oil, add the onions and garlic, and brown them. They will pick up a nice flavor from the sausage grease. Remove and set aside with the sausage.

I don't wash the rice prior to cooking with it. Trophy Gold is a clean brand, so look at the rice carefully before cooking with it. Add some oil to the other pan, heat on high, and add the rice. Stir it around and make sure it does not start to brown. Add the sausage and onions and then start adding chicken stock (add a cup first and then keep adding). Add the salt and rosemary. Stir pretty constantly. After about 10 minutes, you can add some wine instead of the stock. Keep uncovered, keep stirring, keep adding stock or wine, and keep tasting. It takes about 20 minutes for the rice to be ready. The rice will be firm and should seperate pretty easily. Scoop and serve as quickly as possible.

Chicken Jambalaya West Side Style

The lovely wife and boys one and two are currently at the Southern Retreat, and I am stuck here in NYC on call. Although I miss them desperately, their absence gives me a chance to make a spicy (boys won't eat), rice (wife will eat under protest) dish that I happen to like: jambalaya. There are a zillion potential ingredients in this dish but, in my mind, there are several key elements to jambalaya: red and green peppers, andouille sausage and white pepper. In this dish I add chicken but almost any protein source can be added, particularly seafood. This will easily feed four people.

INGREDIENTS

1 large red pepper, diced (2 if they are small)
1 large green pepper, diced (2 if they are small)
1 large onion, diced
handful of mashed cherry tomatoes (or one diced regular tomato)
3 celery stalks, cut up
4 cloves garlic, diced

3 andouille sausages (about 10 ounces), cut into large bite size pieces
4 skinless chicken thighs, bone out, cut into pieces
2 chicken brests, cut into 3/4" pieces

2 cups basmati rice (if you use a good rice such as Trophy Gold, you don't need to was)
One quart chicken stock
Olive oil to sautee'

1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon salt or more, depending on saltiness of stock
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon or more Frank's RedHot sauce

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

Large skillet with cover
Second skillet to brown meat

Combine all spices in a bowl and save for later. This will allow you to mix them in evenly and easily. Add olive oil to the skillet and brown the onions and garlic. Add the other vegetables (celery, peppers) and continue to sautee. Meanwhile, brown the sausage and quickly brown the dark meat chicken. DO NOT brown the white meat, it will dry out. Add the browned meat and raw white meat chicken to the vegetable mix and add the two cups of rice. Stir around a bit on medium heat. Add the stock and spices. Stir a bit more, and drop heat to low when mixture starts to boil. Cover. Every now and then, continue to stir mix so it doesn't burn on the bottom and cooks evenly. It takes about twenty minutes to cook. Add a few tablespoons of water if it looks like it will dry out before the rice is cooked. Serve in bowls with hot sauce on side.

Trophy Gold Basmati Rice is Worth Looking For

I made jambalaya last night: it had no flavor. I will try again in the future. However, my inadequate use of spices led me to another revelation: the 10 pound bag of basmati rice that I bought because I thought it looked cool contains superior rice. Even without adequate soaking and cleaning, Trophy Gold brand basmati rice, from India, had excellent flavor and texture. Its not fair to compare it the very expensive "Texmati" brand that I had been using: after having Trophy Gold you realize how mealy and soft Texmati is. If the rice were available in New York City Sizes (2 pounds, say), it would be an absolute no brainer. As is, I'm happy with my large, zippable, bag of rice.

Trophy Gold does not have a website, but it does have email: basmati (at) trophygold.us. It was not on the Fresh Direct web site, but is available at Zabar's. I will try to email them and see where else it is available.

Agozar: Worth a Trip Downtown

The Superbowl has always been my favorite holiday. Although nominally about football, it is really an excuse to have parties and perhaps gamble a bit. I don't gamble, but I do like parties. And with its long commercial breaks, inane halftime show, and often insipid game, the Event itself provides a perfect background buzz that beats any iPod mix I could come up with. The lovely wife and I decided on a Cuban theme this year, in line with the Superbowl's being in Miami. After that, it was time to find a caterer!

There are several Cuban restaurants on the Upper West Side, including Cafe Con Leche and Caridad 78. While I like both of them well enough there was no way I could use either of them for a party. Cafe Con Leche has slow and unreliable service, even in the restaurant. I'm not even going to start in on trying to get take out from them. And Caridad, while often at your door before you can hit the "end" button on your phone, is more "Chinese" than "Cuban," and, to be honest, is something I eat because its cheap and fast rather than actually good. So off to explore we went.

We found Agozar through Sidewalk.Com, which has many more listings than Zagat I often find to be an excellent way to research a restaurant or grocery. After this, we went to the Website, and eventually to the restaurant itself. Agozar is a pretty space divided into two rooms. There is a pleasant bar area in the front, and tables in the back. The food is traditionally Cuban, prepared in an upscale way. Cuban Sandwiches are cut into smaller pieces and served as an appetizer, Chicharrones that the menu accurately describes as "chicken lollypops", Ropa Vieja and a variety of excellent shrimp dishes. For carb lovers, the plantain chips may have been the best I have ever eaten, and yuca fries were crisp and tasty. The sauces were excellent. Dessert was OK, but not a reason to go. The cafe con leche' alone is enough after such a large dinner, anyway. Although the place has been around for more than four years, for those of us who don't live downtown, its worth "rediscovering."

Agozar does an excellent job of catering. It delivery staff was prompt and friendly. Although we over-ordered, it was only because I liked so many dishes and their prices were so reasonable that I thought I was going to get less food than we actually got! The restaurant staff told us which of their dishes would survive catering and which wouldn't.

As a restaurant for for a fiesta in your house, you shouldn't miss Agozar.

Paella, the Male Martha Way

I have to admit, my decision to try to make paella was spontaneous, and I really didn't have a recipe as a guide. I went to Wikipedia, which gave me a very Valencian view of the whole subject. I also Googled the words Paella Recipe and looked at some of them, although I focused mostly on this one. I then decided to do my own thing, using all of this as a guide. This seems to be the general sense of paella anyway: a mix of rice and stuff that would taste good in rice. Oh yeah, and saffron, which really does help. I admit there seem to be a zillion ingredients, but its actually not that bad.

I bought my seafood from Citarella. Although there may be other places to get it, and I'm sure its cheaper at those places (oh, how I am sure of this), their seafood is well cleaned which cuts out a lot of the work you need to do, particularly with squid and muscles. The other thing about seafood is when to put each part into the paella. Although I expand on this more in the recipe, clams and similar thick shell bivalves should be put in pretty early, muscles next, squid after that, then shrimp, and scallops right before serving.

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups Basmati Rice (either clean and dry or soaked)
3-4 Chicken thighs, cut into pieces and skinless
4 ounces of chorizo (I used dry, but fresh may taste better if you can get it)
Chicken stock, 2 to 4 cups
White wine 1 cup (you can substitute 1/2 cup of vermouth)
Water (have at least 2 to 4 cups ready)
Olive Oil to saute'
One onion, thinly sliced
One red pepper, ringed and quartered
Two medium tomatoes
1/2 cup of frozen peas
four cloves garlic, sliced

salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
10 saffron threads

5 ounces cleaned squid, ringed
1 1/2 pounds cleaned muscles
6 clams
4 ounces scallops
3/4 pound large shrimp, deveined and shelled

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

Large, deep pan with cover for paella (you can buy an actual paella pan, but you better a) have a lot of space and b) really like to make paella.

INSTRUCTIONS

Add crushed saffron and white pepper to one cup of stock and set aside. Liberally add olive oil to pan and saute the onions in the pan until golden brown and then remove. Add chicken and chorizo and saute as well. Add back onions and add rice. Toast rice but don't burn. Add the stock with spices and stir. Add the wine. Add two other cups of either stock or a mix of stock and water. You will likely have to add some salt at this time as well (1 teaspoon if minimal stock, 1/2 teaspoon if lots of stock). Add the peppers. Stir, make sure heat is low, and cover for 5 to 10 minutes. Its OK to peek and make sure that the rice is not sticking to itself.

Adding the seafood is a bit of an art. Add the clams first, and cover the mixture. Add the muscles several minutes later. Stir, and cover the mixture. Add the squid several minutes after this and, again, stir and cover. You may as well add the peas at this time, too. You can add a bit of water or stock if things look like they are drying out. If the rice almost tastes ready, add the shrimp, which takes 4 minutes to cook. Scallops should be added right before you turn off the heat (two or three minutes for smaller scallops). Its done when the rice is done, the seafood looks cooked and your hungry and tired from all this work. The shells should have opened on the bivalves. The total cooking time from when you add the stock is a bit more than twenty minutes. Check taste and add salt if needed before serving.

Arroz Con Pollo

On Saturday we had friends over, and I decided to make Paella. This worked out quite well, and I will write about it over the next few days. Given the number of kids that were going to be at dinner, I also decided to make arroz con pollo. Several things differentiate my arroz con pollo from the garden variety you get at the Spanish or South American Restaurant. First of all, I use a lot of dark meat chicken (and I cook the bones in too, although I remove them later). This adds flavor and dark meat tastes better cooked than the white stuff. I do use that as well, mostly to fool the kids. Although you can use saffron, and I do for paella, I think that turmeric imparts a nice color and actually does have its own, subtle flavor. I use basmati rice, which gives a firm long grain taste, and I do not soak it beforehand. Finally, I really sauté the heck out of the onions. This helps greatly with the flavor.

INGREDIENTS

Chicken Breasts, 2, cur into small pieces
4 chicken thighs, skin off, cut into pieces but retain bones and whatever meat is left on them
2 cups chicken stock
2 ½ cups water
salt
pepper
frozen peas, about ½ cup
2 cups basmati rice (use a brand that does not desperately need to be washed)
large whole onion, sliced and quartered
3 sliced garlic cloves
½ tablespoon turmeric
Olive oil
One tomato, cut up

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

Deep large pan with cover for cooking

INSTRUCTIONS

Sautee onions in olive oil until they are soft and starting to turn brown. Set aside. Sautee dark meat chicken (including bone pieces) for several minutes, and then add white meat chicken. When cooked on the outside, add rice and garlic and stir around, without burning rice. Add one cup of stock, and stir. Add the turmeric, ½ teaspoon pepper, and salt to taste to other cup of stock and add that. Add 2 cups water, leaving the rest in reserve. Lower the heat on the stove to low, and cover. After about 10 minutes, open, and stir rice, making sure to get any rice that is stuck on the bottom. Cover again. Keep checking every few minutes and stir. Add peas and tomato pieces. If the mixture looks like its drying out before the rice is fully cooked, add a bit of water (1/4 cup or so) and stir like crazy. Its ready when rice is cooked and still moist. Remove bones prior to serving

New Rice Maker Arroz Con Pollo Recipe

I'm improving. Instead of just eating cheese and rice maker rice, I actually made a rice maker dish tonight. It mostly worked, and for that reason I'm going to post it. Several weeks ago I had tried to make arroz con pollo in the rice maker, and ended up with dessicated evil. Tonight, I added a pan to the mix. By sauteing the onions prior to putting them in the rice maker, I was able to improve the taste of the rice considerably. Rather than add chicken in during cooking, I sauteed the chicken at the last minute and mixed it in the rice right before serving. Although it took a few extra minutes to do these steps, it was worth it at the end.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups rice for rice maker (long grain rice)
Chicken Broth as required to fill to the 2 cup line on the rice maker
One onion, chopped
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon butter
olive oil for sauteing
12 ounces chicken breasts cut into 1" pieces
garlic powder
Tomatillo Salsa (I like Frontera brand)

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

rice maker (it helps to have a "mixed rice" cooking control)
Saute pan
wooden spoons

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash the rice as per the rice makers instructions and add the right amount of broth. You can add a bit of salt if it is "low salt" broth. Saute the onions in olive oil until they start to brown. Add to rice maker. Add butter to rice maker. Mix around, cover and turn on "mixed rice" setting. It is important to stir the rice when it is ready as the sugar in the onion can burn. Right before you are ready add some oil to the saute pan and heat up. Liberally apply salt and garlic powder and place in hot pan. Turn frequently. The trick with breasts is to remove them before they are hard. You can cut into one. If it is white, they're ready. Add the Breasts to the rice and stir. Serve immediately. Liberally use tomatillo salsa.

European Style Rice Maker Rice

I love our new Ricemaker. I have made excellent sticky rice and sushi rice with it. However, I usually cook Western style food and my goddess of proper rice has always been Julia Child. I have always followed her recipe in The Way To Cook, which I feel is the single greatest general cook book ever written. Having said that, if you get distracted for a moment, her rice recipe goes to a sticky, goopy hell.

For my Wester style rice, I wanted to use long grain rice that was not sticky. I also wanted to include three ingredients not used in the preparation of Japanese rice: butter, salt and bay leaf. I had origianlly used Carolina Rice, but found it to be a bit sticky. I then located a brand called "Arroz Rico" at the Grocery Store on 86th Street and Broadway (I'm sure it has a name, but I don't know what it is). Arroz Rico is a Puerto Rican brand, and appears to be mostly sold there and in Florida. It has a very long grain and is not sticky at all when cooked.

The bay leaf presented an interesting issue for rice maker rice. The bay flavor and smell is greatly accentuated in a rice maker, probably because the system is sealed and the rice tends to cook longer than it does in a pot. So I ended up using 1/4 of the amount of bay leaf that I normally would, with a similar taste.

Fortunately, butter is butter, and I was able to use the same amount that I normally would for stove rice.

The recipe is simple. I made two cups which was plenty for two adults and two children as a side dish. You can adjust as needed.

INGREDIENTS

2 Japanese cups rice, washed as per the rice cooker's instructions
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 dried bay leaf

EQUIPMENT YOU WILL NEED

Rice maker
Rice scraper or spatula (usually supplied with the rice maker)

INSTRUCTIONS

Wash rice and add water to 2 cup level. Add salt and stir a bit in bowl using non-scratch spatula. Cut or mush butter into little pieces and stir in. Make sure no rice is stuck to sides. Add bay leaf. Cover and turn on. After it is done remove bay leaf and fluff rice with rice scraper. Eat.