One pot wonders
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, December 6, 2006
It’s so nice to make a dish in one pot. Some recipes call for all kinds of messes, but a one-pot wonder can help you stay on top of the clutter.
Caveat: Some of these actually call for a separate pot of rice or noodles, and you’ll have to use a cutting board, but that doesn’t really count. Really!
I’ve been seeing quite a few andouille-style sausages in the stores — usually in the section with the smoked sausages and individual ham slices. These are built like hot dogs, so there isn’t a casing to remove — just slice them up. I try to use half white meat, half dark meat, and cut it into one-inch chunks. If I’m using leftover chicken (or turkey!), I just shred it.
CHICKEN &
ANDOUILLE GUMBO
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 lbs. andouille sausage
2 lbs. boneless chicken
Salt and pepper
2 tsp. poultry seasoning
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
4 ribs celery, chopped
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 large onion, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp. to 1/4 cup hot cayenne pepper sauce, to taste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 quart chicken stock (or broth)
3 cups chopped okra
1 (28-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (14-oz.) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 Tbsp. thyme
3 cups cooked white or brown rice
Preheat a large heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil, coat the bottom of the pan, and toss in the andouille. Sauté that for a couple of minutes — it will make some more fat so you can cook the chicken. Toss in the chicken and brown everything well. Season with salt and pepper and a sprinkle of poultry seasoning. Transfer all this to a towel-lined paper plate to drain.
Using the fat in the pan, melt the butter. Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, until it’s fairly brown — not the copper of a dark roux, but more of a honey color. Add the chopped celery, peppers, onion and bay leaves. Season with salt, pepper and hot sauce. You may want to start with a smaller amount and add more later if you’d like more heat. Cook 3 to 5 minutes to soften the veggies, then begin slowly stirring in the broth. Bring everything to a boil.
Add okra, chicken and sausage to the boiling broth, then stir in your tomatoes and thyme. Bring back up to a bubble, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes to combine flavors. Taste and adjust your seasonings.
Serve this lovely gumbo over a healthy scoop of rice, grab a crusty loaf of bread and chow!
Andy (my sweetheart) does a really good job of one-pot meals. If only he’d do as good a job of washing up. You can use thick or thin chops, bone-in or not.
ANDY’S SMOTHERED PORK CHOPS
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 - 4 Tbsp. Emeril’s Essence
4 pork chops
Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 or 5 button mushrooms, thickly sliced
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup sour cream
Freshly ground pepper
Pat the pork chops dry with paper towels to remove any moisture and then dredge them in the flour, shaking off the excess. Sprinkle both sides liberally with Essence. Andy just spreads the flour onto a paper plate so it can be tossed when he’s done.
Heat a large cast iron skillet (or sauté pan) over medium heat and coat with olive oil. When the oil is nice and hot, fry the pork chops for about 3 minutes on each side until done in the middle. Remove the pork chops from the pan and pour off all but about a tablespoon of the pan drippings. Andy has been known to deglaze the pan with a little vermouth at this point.
Sauté the onions and mushrooms until soft. Add a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup and the sour cream, stirring to incorporate (don’t follow soup directions). If it seems a little thick, add some milk. Reintroduce the chops to this creamy goodness and heat through. Serve over a bowl of rice or egg noodles and finish with a lot of freshly ground pepper.
This is an easy version of tortilla soup. If you want to, fry up your own tortilla chips.
TORTILLA SOUP
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. chicken tenders
Salt and pepper
4 slices thick, smoked bacon, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 chipotles in adobo, chopped, plus 2 Tbsp. sauce
1 (28-ounce) can crushed “Mexican style” tomatoes
3 cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
4 cups crushed corn tortilla chips
2 cups shredded fresh mozzarella
1/2 red onion, chopped
Freshly chopped cilantro leaves
1 lime, cut into wedges
1 avocado, sliced
Heat about a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Chop the chicken tenders and sauté them in the oil, adding a little salt and pepper to taste. Remove to a paper plate to drain.
Add a little more oil to the pot (if needed) and cook the bacon until crisp. Remove cooked bacon to the chicken plate. Drain off excess fat, leaving about three tablespoons in the pan. Add onions and garlic to the skillet and cook until tender, then stir in chipotles, tomatoes and chicken broth and toss in the bay leaf. Return the chicken and bacon to the pan and simmer 15 or 20 minutes, tasting to adjust seasonings.
Place a pile of crushed tortilla chips in the bottom of each soup bowl. Cover liberally with cheese then ladle the hot soup down over the top. Sprinkle more chips on top along with the chopped red onion and fresh cilantro (perhaps even MORE cheese?). Have lime and avocado on the side with your favorite Mexican beer. Ole!
This next recipe is one of my creations. It’s a French onion soup with chunks of beef in it (sacre bleu!) so I renamed it. Best of all, you make it in a crock pot. This makes up to eight servings.
AMERICAN ONION SOUP
5 small white onions, thinly sliced
2 cans (14 oz. ) low sodium beef broth
2 cans (10 oz.) beef consommé
1/2 lb. stew beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 packet onion soup mix
8 slices French bread
1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
Layer the onions in the bottom of the crock and add the broth, consommé, beef and soup mix. Cook on the high setting for 4 hours, or the low setting for 8 hours.
Ladle the soup into serving bowls. Top with a slice of French bread and sprinkle about two tablespoons of cheese over each bread slice. Put the soup bowls under a broiler until cheese is melted, or use your handy-dandy kitchen torch like I do.
Next week we’re doing lovely cranberries. I have to warn you that this next challenge is for adults only. I was inspired by that New Orleans cooking pamphlet Betty Boylan gave me, so I want to do an article on Holiday Cocktails! Do you have one (even a nonalcoholic one!) to share with everyone? Send your concoction (and the recipe) to murphysmenu@yahoo.com or Murphy’s Menu, P.O. Drawer C, Emporia by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Let’s get cooking!