How Hard Cider Leads to Jambalaya

For what seemed like hours Shane and I debated what I should cook for dinner. I offered him two choices: leftover vegetable soup OR rice and chicken. And he responded with, "How about just chicken?" I said, "What will we have with it?" He said, "I don't know, just chicken?"

So we finally ended up settling on rice and chicken. I sent him to the man cave to play Little Big Planet while I created dinner out of 1.5 cups of leftover rice and a chicken breast.

I started by dicing the chicken and putting it in to fry with a little olive oil, lightly seasoned with coarsely ground black pepper and sea salt. I added marjoram for good measure, you can never over-marjoram chicken. (Use basil if you don't have marjoram, they are similar but not quite the same.)

I cooked the chicken for a few minutes, then stirred/flipped it to fully cook all sides. I was a little frustrated by the chicken flipping itself back over so I covered it in chicken broth and covered the pan to promote more even cooking. After a few more minutes I added the rice and pressed 2 cloves of garlic into it and stirred again.

About this time a nice Woodchuck Hard Cider sounded delicious, and I also thought about the recipe I had been meaning to make that I found on my Nintendo DS game Personal Trainer Cooking. You see, I was making rice and chicken which just happen to be a couple main ingredients in jambalaya. To the DS I did go, I found the recipe and decided I was not going to put squid or prawns into my rice and chicken, mostly because I didn't have them. I did add chopped bell pepper, vidalia onion and canned diced tomato, as the recipe called for. The recipe called for celery but I hate celery so I added celery seed, I know they are nothing alike and taste nothing alike, but I still add celery seed to recipes calling for celery. It makes me feel like I'm at least trying to follow along. I also threw in a bay leaf, it seemed like a good idea.

I added 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup hard cider (no wine, plenty of cider) and then since Shane has a cough and sore throat I omitted the chili peppers in favor of a few dashes of chili powder, 1 tsp of paprika and a healthy sprinkle of parsley. I tasted the rice and chicken turned jambalaya and added more black pepper and more hard cider, simmered about 10 minutes to reduce the liquid by more than half.

I tasted again, pronounced it delicious and called Shane for dinner. He burned his tongue, but loved it anyway! Even though I severely deviated from the recipe, what was in our bowls looked exactly like the picture, it was amazing.

By the way, I had an epic battle reattaching the v key in order to post this blog. I valiantly persevered to bring you this tale. Darn dirt under the keys, anyway!

This Sounds Good Rice

Sometimes when I cook I just add whatever sounds good and is at hand. I made rice this way a couple days ago.

I cooked the rice regularly and while it was steaming I got out some frozen chicken. I used my Micro-Cooker to thaw the chicken, I love that thing! I diced the chicken and then cooked it in a non-stick pan with pressed garlic - when it was fully cooked I added a splash of Pomegranate and Blood Orange Vinaigrette. It's light and fruity and goes wonderfully with many things, even if it does turn your chicken sort of purple.

When the rice was finished I mixed in the chicken. I melted a little butter in the pan that the chicken was in and then added back half the rice and chicken. I added soy sauce, Buffalo Rub (spicy!) and parmesan cheese and gave it a good frying. In the pot where I had steamed the rice I added more Pom Vin (I appreciate a nice abbreviation every now and then). When both were cooked to my satisfaction I mixed them together. It was amazing!

To this add any vegetables that sound especially delicious - onion, broccoli, carrots, green beans, I'm sure many others as well!

The lesson we learn here is that if it sounds good, most of the time it also tastes good. So experiment and make your own version of "This Sounds Good" rice :D

An Asian Essential: Egg Drop Soup

This is my recipe for egg drop soup, distilled from about five or six sources. Everyone has their own way of making things, and of course this recipe is no different. Some people call for a pile of chopped vegetables for egg drop soup, others insist upon noodles, and still others say it's not egg drop if there are more than eggs in it. This recipe is simple, flavorful, fast and easy. I have received only raving compliments (no exaggeration) whenever I've made it. So here I'm sharing with you my special recipe for egg drop soup.

2 cups chicken broth
2 cups beef broth
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 T soy sauce
1/2 T sugar (or less)
ginger and white pepper to taste, I use a few dashes of each
1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (optional, but add it before the eggs if you use it)
4 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup water (optional)

Combine everything except the eggs and the onions in a medium to large sized sauce pan, bring the broth to a bowl and then reduce it to a simmer. In a bowl mix the eggs, you can use a fork or a whisk, I use a fork since a fork is required for the next part.

Stir the broth and remove the stirring-spoon so the broth continues to swirl, then slowly pour the eggs over the tines of a fork. When the broth stops moving, stop pouring and gently stir again - repeat until you run out of egg. (This will make the long thin strands of egg, if you like big clumps, slowly add all the egg into a still pot of broth, but not all in one spot, move the bowl as you pour so it isn't one giant piece of egg.) Immediately add the onion and simmer for about 2 minutes.

Do not boil the soup after you've added the eggs unless you like your egg pieces to be smaller than grains of rice.

Some people add noodles to egg drop soup, and you can if you like, I would use egg noodles or ramen if you think noodles are a good idea. I've also heard that white rice is good in egg drop soup, cooked first of course!

I say the last 1/4 cup of water is optional because of salt preference. Without it I think it is a little too salty, but then I don't care for salt, so your soup may not need it. The optional sesame oil adds a slight smoky flavor, it is good, but I only add it about half of the time. It is pretty strong, so you only need a small amount. (It's also good for making peanut chicken - I'll blog it eventually because it is so good and so spicy!)

Now you can prepare a simple but crowd pleasing soup. It is easy to make half the amount or double the amount. The measurements above serve 4-6 depending on bowl size. This is a great (light) meal on its own, or a great precursor to your main dish. Try pairing it with Chinese cabbage salad, fried rice, teriyaki chicken, or even sushi. Or you can do like I did on Wednesday and pair it with penne Alfredo and asparagus. It tastes so good, it can go with any type of food! :D

So let me know if you like it! And when you prepare it, give me a little credit, since I took the time to experiment for the last four years to make it perfect!