Comfort Food : Jambalaya

I usually make this recipe once a month or so and it's never the same. Jambalaya is something that usually contains some kind of proteins like sausage,chicken or shrimp some rice and some decent spices. A good stock and some crushed tomatoes add deep flavour to the mix.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound cleaned shrimp
• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 1 pound of bacon, chopped into slices
• 2 medium onions
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 4-5 cellery stalks
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 peppers, i use a red and an orange
• 3-4 cups of stock ( vegetable or chicken )
• 3 cups of rice ( preferably brown or wild rice, Long grain )
• 2 tbs of butter
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 tbs chilli paste
• Various spices ( I use 1 tbs Cumin,  2-3 tbs Cayenne, 1 tbs paprica, 2-3 tbs oregano and a dash of cinnamon )
• Can use any kinds of spices but main ones are Cayenne and Cumin

Instructions
1. Clean shrimp, cut chicken into thick slices and chop onions,garlic and peppers. At the same time, fry bacon in a large pot. ( if you add a bit of water to the bottom the bacon will crisp faster )

  

2. Once bacon is done crisping, add vegetables and cook for 5 mins or until the brown bits disappear from the bottom of the pan.

 

3. Cook chicken in a cast iron pan with half the spices. Add the rest of the spices to the vegetable and bacon mix and cook for 5 more minutes. Add chicken and shrimp to the mix and cook for a few mins.

 

4.  Add rice and tomatoes, add stock to barely cover the whole. Cook for 45 minutes or until rice is done.

5. Serve with some beefy wine or a good ole' glass of Guiness!

Romanian Jewish Beef Sausage Patties

This is my second time making homemade sausages. If you don't have a meat grinder (they are decently cheap, and worth it!), you might be able to use ground beef, though most supermarkets pump their ground beef with saltwater to make it cheaper per weight. This recipe was inspire from a similar one in Peery & Reavis's Home Sausage Making book.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs beef chuck (or the cheapest beef you can find)
• 1/4 lb lard
• 2 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoon whole mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon ground pepper
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground bay leaf
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 4 garlic cloves, minced

Instructions

1. Cut the meat and lard into 1/2 - 1 inch cubes.

2. Put mixture in freezer for 30 minutes to make it easier to grind.
3. Mix spices and garlic together in a bowl.

4. Grind meat mixture using the coarse disk.

5. Mix meat and spices thoroughly with your hands.
6. Place in freezer for another 30 minutes.

7. Grind meat mixture once again using the coarse disk.
8. Form 1/2 inch thick patties, put in fridge or freeze overnight. Sausages keep for 2-3 days in the fridge or 2-3 months frozen.

9. Once ready to cook, thaw if frozen (in the fridge or in the microwave).
10. Heat lightly oiled pan over medium heat.
11. Cook for 4 minutes on each sides.

12. Let rest for 2 minutes and enjoy!