Jambalaya, Me-0, My-0

When I got home from work yesterday, Mike was channeling Hank Williams. He'd started out to make Crawfish Pie and Jambalaya, but the bugs were scarce and so he changed his mind and made a Seafood Empanada and some Seafood Stew with just a great roux for a base. So you know I couldn't let that rest. Today's entry is about the Jambalya I'm making from his stew.

My refrigerator inventory included the leftover stew and some remants of a green bell pepper, celery and a tomato. The pantry yielded some onions and some brown rice. So all I really needed to get at the store was a can of red beans and some andouille sausage.

Once I got home with the loot, I chopped most of the remaining green pepper, half an onion, about a stalk and a half of celery and a good sized garlic clove and put them in some olive oil to sweat. A few minutes later, I put in 2 chopped andouille sausages and let them mingle. Then I added a chopped tomato to the mix. When they were all nicely mixed, I put in the remaining stew and stirred them all together. Then I drained the can of red beans and put that in. They're over there getting cozy even as I type this.

I'm also making some brown rice, so I have a lot of time to kill before I can combine everything and dig in.
See?

Homemade Pasta Carbonara

So the cake I made on Friday used 6 egg whites...which meant I had 6 egg yolks just sitting there in the fridge looking for meaning in their lives. Their collective destiny was fulfilled in a marvelous way on Sunday. I used them in the homemade pasta I was making to use in Pasta Carbonara.

It was a collective effort between Mike and me. I made the pasta in the afternoon, very similarly to how I made the Peanut Butter Pasta, but without the peanut butter. I used the rest of the whole wheat flour I had on hand. It rolled out beautifully, and I hung them to dry on the tented cooling racks as before.

Michael browned some pancetta perfectly, and then added some mushrooms and onions to the same pan after removing the pancetta. When they were softened and yummy looking, he added some halved baby carrots and let them blend. I heated up some frozen homemade chicken stock, and added some herbage to the pot. While that was warming, I beat the remaining egg yolks and set them aside.

Mike boiled a big pot of water and added some salt. I tossed in the dry noodles. At the same time, I put some chopped tomatoes in with the veggies in the pan. Five quick minutes later, the pasta was happily floating on the top of the water, so I checked, and it was done. After reserving some of the cooking water, I drained it.

Just because I didn't feel like dragging out my enourmous pasta serving bowl, I put the veggies in the now empty pasta pot over low heat. The noodles went in next and I tossed them to combine. I whisked some of the hot stock into the beaten eggs to temper them, then tossed them in with the noodles. Tossing them about 2 or 3 minutes made sure the noodles were well coated and the eggs were cooked. I added the rest of the stock, a little bit at a time, tossing and turning the pasta with tongs the whole time. They soaked up the sauce and got really well coated. I tossed in the pancetta, and sprinkled on some Parmasan cheese. 

This got placed in some serving bowls and that's it!

Success!

Blood Orange Soda Cake

There was an article and recipe in the Orlando Sentinel a few weeks ago that has just been intriguing me. The article dealt with the new "grown up" sodas that have come on the market recently, and how they could be used in traditional recipes to give them a modern twist. This one for a Blood Orange Cake just grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go, so I decided to make it today. This is one of those rare times when there are NO LEFTOVERS involved!

Cake baking, or more accurately, cake decorating is definitely not my forte! But this one did come out kinda pretty, don'tcha think?

I can't wait for Michael to get home so I can cut it...and taste it!
I'll add a pic of what the slice looks like later...

It's later...here's the pic. (It tasted good!)

-J