Wood Chef

In a discussion over who has what it takes in the kitchen, we bounce back and forth various meals we have made with the ideas and the ingredients we had within arm's reach.

D: Made a huge batch of jambalaya, man it was good.
I've been getting these prepackaged rice meals -- Zatarain's is the brand name I think. Anyway, I mixed one box of Jambalaya mix w/ one box of Red Beans & Rice mix, cooked that separately (w/ 2 bay leaves). In the giant skillet I started with 1 onion & 2 green bell peppers, diced. Cooked those for a while, then added a can of diced tomatoes w/ green chiles. Then I started adding spices (cayenne, cajun mix, cumin, paprika, tabasco, lots of worchestshire sauce, etc). Then I added the smoked sausage, lastly added 1 lb of shrimp. Once everything was done I mixed the 2 pots into a giant serving dish. That was an excellent meal. I had leftovers for at least 3 days.

P: Made a shrimp pasta. Here's the run down:
Bought pre-cooked shrimp (something I'll never do again)
1 red pepper
1 yellow onion
1 clove of elephant garlic
Copious amounts of olive oil
And vermicelli
Diced up the garlic and let is liquefy ever so slightly in olive oil before I put in the diced pepper and onion in a pan. Kept the heat on very low to slow cook. Cooked the shrimp on a griddle on the grill with olive oil and greek seasoning (pretty much greek all-spice). Somehow timed everything perfectly over a bottle of wine and mixed together. The shrimp needed to be sautéed, but I'm going to buy uncooked the next time because they shrank and toughened to almost popcorn shrimp. The ratio of vegetables to noodles was even, which was a good thing because the excess oil made the pasta perfect. Servied with Buckley's Merlot.

D: I've found the same problem with pre-cooked shrimp. It shrinks & gets tougher when you try to sautee it.
Imade a quick fish dish. Got some cod for cheap from dominicks. Put lemon juice & olive oil in a small pan, add fish, coat both sides, then add sliced tomatoes on top of that. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top, cover with foil & bake for 10-15 minutes.
Except I didn't use a fresh tomato, I had a can of diced tomatoes and put those chunks on there. ended up being too much tomato. fish was good though.

P: Not a meal, but a recipe. Steak Marinade:
1 ½ cups steak sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/3 cup Italian-style dressing
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp garlic powder
Mix in a blender, marinate the steaks for 2 hours.

D: For the Superbowl, I think the wings I made were some of the best I've made. Put a rub on them at first, mix of chili powder, salt, curry, cayenne, powdered mustard. Then put a light covering of hot bottled bbq sauce, let them sit in that in the fridge. (I don't remember the brand). Mixed together a mix of the hot sauce, KC masterpiece smokey bbq sauce, tabasco, habanero sauce & chili powder. Cooked them in the over for 30 min at 400 degrees, turning over 1/2 way. Basted with the bbq mix before going in and upon flipping. Served with the sauce for dipping. That was a big hit.

P: At Easter, we made Cauliflower au Gratin. Used 1 medium head cauliflower, some salt and pepper, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese. Preheated the oven to 350F. Chop cauliflower. Cooked in a small amount of boiling salted water 10 minutes. Placed half of cauliflower in a one-and-one-half-quart casserole. Season with salt and pepper. Spread half of sour cream, half of cheese, and half of sesame seeds over cauliflower. Layered same again. Baked for 15 minutes.

D: Prepared rice
Cooked up 5 chicken breasts (in skillet w/ oil, no marinade or spices). As they were finished, I removed them from the skillet, shredded them w/ a knife & fork, and placed in another pan. Added a can of diced tomatoes & a smaller can of green chiles, cooked those together for 8-10 minutes. Took a can of green salsa, poured just enough to cover a full plate. Took wheat tortillas, made sure each side was dipped in the salsa. Put rice and chicken-veggie mixture into tortilla, rolled it up and placed into a dish for the oven. Used all 10 tortilla shells. Grated monterrey jack cheese on top of the tortillas, then poured rest of green salsa over the dish.
Covered, placed in oven for 15-20 minutes. Served w/ sour cream Delicious. Corrections for next time: line pan with something before putting rolled tortillas in it. Use WAY more cheese, maybe even some inside the tortillas?