Recipe: Mexican Gumbo

Hey y'all!  So long time no see...like a few years long time no see!  I've been a busy gal but clearly not busy on here.  I am hoping to change that a little in 2016!  I will share more of what I have been up to and what I am hoping to do in the future but first fooooodddd.....

Have you ever been to Coyote Blues? If you are in Louisiana I am telling you to go there today!  Order their 'Chicken & Sausage Tortilla Gumbo' and have your life forever changed!  It is soooooo good!  We hit up their Lake Charles location a year or so ago (sigh...just thinking of the South makes my eyes well up.  Take me back!  I miss it so much).  ANYWAYS... this place on the outside is not a  make you swerve your car into their parking lot must check it out type place but no lie their gumbo is to die for.  Seeing as we lived in Texas it wasn't just a quick 15 minute trip when we craved it so I had to figure out a close enough recipe to tide me over and this is it!  I have never measured before so you may need to tweak the seasonings to your taste buds.  We like spicy and a lot of seasoning.  You may want to start with half and add more if needed.

Mexican Gumbo

Ingredients:

4 C. shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken works great here)

1-2# Andouille Sausage

1 can Rotel

1-2 cartons chicken broth

1-3 jalapenos; depending on level of spice

1 tsp garlic

.5 tsp onion powder

.5 tsp chili powder

.5 tsp Mexican oregano

.25 tsp cayenne

.25 tsp cumin

optional for topping but delish:

cilantro

avocado

sour cream

Roux

.25 C flour

.25 C fat of choice (I use vegetable oil for this dish)

Poblano Rice

from Rick Bayless via Epicurious

2 poblanos, stems and seeds removed, roughly chopped

1 2/3 cups chicken stock

12 sprigs cilantro

1 cup basmati rice

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon canola oil

½ white onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

For the rice:  Head over to Rick Bayless or My Madison Bistro for instructions.  I pour mine in the rice cooker with basmati rice and substitute the green liquid just as I would use water.  Works perfectly.  I tried their pot method twice and am not much of a natural when it comes to rice cooking that way.

Mexican Gumbo

1. In a large pot make your roux.  If you don't know how to make a roux, bless your heart.  Girl you need to learn how and quick!  Here is a video.  We are going for a light brown roux.

Put your fat in the pan, let it warm a little and put your flour in.  Whisk/stir pretty much nonstop.  Once you have that golden brown color let it cool just a bit and dump your chicken stock in.  If your roux is too hot and/or you dump too slowly it will absorb that stock and you'll have more of your roux and no liquid.  Not a big deal in the end but does eat some of your liquid up and is a little harder to get mixed back in to the liquid.  If you pour too fast your roux will float around and you'll have to stir a little more to incorporate it.  Whisk until your roux is all mixed in, no lumps floating around.  At this point I have typically used just the one carton of chicken broth.  I like to have the second on hand in case I need to thin it out a little more.  Some times I need it, others I don't.

2.  When your roux and broth are combined, add your rotel (no need to drain)

3.  Add your seasonings.  You can add an extra can of Rotel or more green chilis if you'd like.  My husband is super weird about chunks of tomato so at this point I use my immersion blender in the pot to destroy those tomato chunks.  Not necessary at all!  I also rough chop a few fresh jalapenos and toss them in.  I keep them pretty big so I can scoop them out easily later. 

4.  Let this simmer while you brown your sausage.  You don't have to brown it but it does add a little deeper flavor and keeps some of that grease out of your pot.  Add sausage to the pot.

5.  Add your shredded chicken to the pot and simmer. Your gumbo is essentially done!  Let simmer to desired thickness and serve over your Poblano Rice.  No time for the green rice?  Serve it over white or brown rice!  Promise me one day you will make the poblano version though...it really is better!  So much flavor! I've even served it over the packages of chicken flavored rice.  Gasp I know the cancer that must be in that envelope but poblano rice is a little time consuming and well sometimes a girl needs a shortcut! 

Enjoy!!

Green Bean Bundle Recipe

MMMMM......Green Bean Bundles...... {wiping drool off my keyboard and moving on}

Have you ever heard of green bean bundles? I hadn't, and honestly the first time I tried them I wasn't crazy for them but now I love these little bundles of deliciousness. My dear husband is OBSESSED with these things!  Chris's family makes these green bean bundles for most of the holiday gatherings. Finally after a few years of dreaming of the holidays solely for this beloved side dish he asked for the recipe. He is now the green bean bundle pro! He was so kind as to let me assist him...err...snap a few pics and jot down the recipe....so I could share with you all. I don't think he was devastated that we'd be having them for dinner either. 

Green Bean Bundles 

1 stick butter, melted  

3/4 - 1 Cup brown sugar 

 2-3 Tbs worcestershire sauce 

 3 cans french style green beans 

1-1.5 pack of bacon (thin is actually better)

Sorry for the iffy measurements. A lot is preference, if you like sweet use the full cup of sugar (we usually do), same with the worcestershire sauce...if you like it go for the full 3 tbls...we do. The amount of bacon you'll need will depend on how many green beans you put in each wrap. We usually use almost 1.5 packs for a pan full of bundles.  

Preheat your oven to 350.  

Cut your bacon in half 

place a bundle of beans on the bacon and roll up.  

Once your bundles are all rolled.  Mix the melted butter, brown sugar and worcestershire sauce together and drizzle over your pan of rolled bundles.

all ready for the oven!

Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, drain BUT SAVE THE LIQUID.  Put bundles back in the oven until bacon crisps up to your liking.  Once they are cooked how you like pour the reserved sauce back over. Let stand for a few minutes and eat!  If you prefer you can just cook them until the bacon is done, this will result in a little soggier bacon which is why we crisp it up a bit.  

We aren't soggy bacon lovers in this house!

Freezer Cooking Round 4

After a little hiatus I am back in the saddle again.  Did you miss me??  I missed my freezer meals that's for sure!  I have shared my love of freezer cooking along with some recipes and my feedback on them; you can find all previous freezer cooking posts here if you are interested.  

Freezer Cooking Posts

I haven't been doing big days, it's just not my thing.  I prefer to make dinner and just triple it and freeze the 2 extras.  Some meal groups I don't mind making a few meals at once (soups, items with shredded chicken, etc...)  but I don't usually go that route...plus it's a little more expensive (up front) than my budget allows these days.

ok, onto what you came here for

First up....

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Beef
{recipe and picture from The Kitchn}

I used a different cut of meat than the recipe called for but it still worked well.  I loved that she recommends cooking it for a few hours and then switching it to warm overnight.  It shreds super easily this way. The flavor was still not quite what I wanted.  I like a spicier, more mexican vibe.  The cloves in this just didn't do it for me.  Being fair, cloves aren't really my favorite.  I debated not putting it in but decided in order to properly share my opinion I should do the recipe as stated.  My husband thought it was good and my in-laws ate it so I guess it must have tasted ok, or they were just being polite!  This meat like all shredded meat I've ever made freezes and reheats well.  We usually eat it for dinner and another meal or 2 then freeze the rest.  When we are ready to eat it again I just pull it out of the fridge that morning and warm it up for dinner.  

Next....

Crockpot Italian Turkey Meatballs
{recipe and picture from skinnytaste.com}

These went over well!  The 13 and 2 year old didn't eat them but they don't eat anything.  Husband, myself and 1 year old thought they were delish!  I did switch them up a little.  I did half turkey and half pork sausage.  {I may try straight turkey next time but I do think the pork keeps them from being dry plus it has a little kick to it that I dig}  I also subbed almond flour for the breadcrumbs.  I froze the meatballs on a plate not touching until they were pretty solid.  Then I transferred them to a ziploc and poured in the sauce and other ingredients.  Pull the bag out the night before or the morning you want them to thaw a little and toss them in the crock pot!

and last for today

Craaazy Good Crock Pot Carnitas
{recipe and pic from Kait's Primal Kitchen}

This was delish!  My family has a favorite crock pot pork recipe and this may just replace that.
{The other one has brown sugar and a can of soda so really how can it not taste good.  We are cutting out as many processed foods and sugar as possible so that one is no longer welcome in my crock pot :)  It is on Freezer cooking Round 1 post if you are interested}

It's savory, not too sweet, not spicy...just...well, good!  I made paleo tortillas to go with it and they were not so good so I just ate the meat and some guacamole.  Yum!  Like all of our shredded meats we eat it for a few meals and then I put the rest in bags to freeze.  Pull out and thaw in the fridge and then rewarm when you are ready.  I tossed this one in the oven again (as recipe states) to reheat and it was perfect.

Love all these recipes but want to come back later?  Pin it so you don't forget :)

Pin It

Freezer Cooking Round 3

Freezer Cooking Round 3

First up Steak Chili from Buns In My Oven.  When I made this it was tasty.  It was SPICY!  I love, love hot, it was good for me but way too hot for the kids.  I also think simmering for 3 hours was too much or perhaps I just stirred it too much because mine looks more like shredded meat and not cube chunks.  Gross looking?  yes.  Tasty?  yes.  Day 2 in the fridge this resembled dog food.  I really think I just cooked it longer than needed.  Perhaps my meat was more tender.  Anyways.  I will make this again but won't cook as long.

click here for picture credit

Also from Buns In My Oven, Corn and Chicken Chowder.

picture credit

Confession:  I am not a fan of corn.  Gasp!  I know it's so anti American.  Yeah I can eat it but it's not my favorite.  This soup was pretty good though!  Chris loves corn so I made this more for him but how can you go wrong with bacon on top of almost anything?  This soup is a great freezer meal.  I added a little more milk when reheating but Chris said it was just as good if not better so thumbs up!

Next up,  Buffalo Chicken Rolls from Can You Stay for Dinner.

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I thought these were pretty tasty.  I hate bleu cheese so I left it out but I do think next time maybe I'll add some feta or something.  They freeze well and do the trick when it comes to wanting a quick snack or lunch.  I froze these uncooked and just baked as I wanted them.

Next....Chicken and Gnocchi soup from My Favorite Recipes.  This recipe was recommended from someone on my Inner Hooker page.  {Thanks Donna!}

picture credit

This is supposed to be an Olive Garden replica.  I have never tested OG's before so I am not sure but I thought this soup was amazing!  Creamy and garlic-y, truly just perfect.  It does use a lot of half and half (fatty, fat, fat...seriously, someone stopped me the other day to tell me Dex was a fat boy!  Then proceeded with "fatty, fat, fat!  Man I love me a fat boy"...ok, so I was at Walmart and maybe shouldn't be surprised but I really didn't know what to say!  PS he isn't even fat!  Now fatty, fat, fat is a joke in my house) (back to the half and half is fattening justification here) but I tried to remember that one of the recipes made 2 dinners worth for my family of 5 so I guess if I broke it down it's not totally terrible.  Better than a happy meal right?  Truly this was my favorite recipe of this group.  This soup freezes well but I thought the gnocchi got too soggy so in the future I'll either cook less or I'll freeze without them in it and just cook them and add when we reheat the soup.  They don't take long to cook at all.  

Recipe #5, Alfredo Sauce from Utah Deal Diva.

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I just made the alfredo, not the recipe that is after and uses the alfredo.  That may be key here.  I just thought this was ok.  It was very cream cheesy.  If you have tried those new Philadelphia Cooking Cream Cheeses, it tastes like that...in alfredo flavor (do they even have that?)  I mixed half with penne pasta (cooked the noodles about half way so they wouldn't be soggy) and froze the other half.

Last up... another recipe that was just ehh to me but could be my fault...stick with me.

Sausage Breakfast Muffins from Love From Texas.  

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I love the idea of these but they just didn't work for me.  I greased my pan and they still stuck like crazy!!!  Like I couldn't get them out of the pan in one piece stuck.  I may have thrown out the pan but don't tell my husband!  I may try them again in maybe a silicone pan or freeze them in the pan and try to pop them out that way.  The boys love eggs for breakfast so this would be a nice break for me some days.  For now I'll stick to scrambling but am not writing these little guys off just yet.

Enjoy!

Virtual recipe round up!

If you’ve been around awhile you know I did this for Christmas cookies and we had a great turn out especially for how short notice it was!

It doesn’t have to be a specific type of recipe, but something springy/summery would be nice! Please send the recipe as a word document attached to the email. Please no pdfs. Please type up pattern so that it looks nice. It doesn’t have to be perfect by any means, but it would be nice if there were an ingredient list, steps/directions, maybe run spell check and a picture would be a perk but not required.

I will combine all of the recipes into one document and convert it to a pdf. If you send in a recipe you will automatically get the final recipe collection. You can request the collection if you did not submit a recipe though I am encouraging you to send one ☺

Any questions?? Email me at innerhookerblogs@yahoo.com

Please send your recipes there as well! I will accept recipes through the end of April then get them together and out a few days after that!

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to some fresh ideas!

Wanna Make it Wednesday 05/05

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

I have meant to post this project for quite some time but for some reason I couldn't "borrow" the pictures from her blog. (yes, I did email for permission first) I decided it was good enough to hunt down again and retry and TADA! it worked! This is a great Wanna Make It for my crochet folks!

Mary Jane slippers! These are quick to whip up and did I mention FREE?? We love free! Go check out Good Knits for the patterns I did find them a little small for me following her directions. I will add another 2 rows or so for my size 6.5-7 foot next time I make them.   Just a heads up for ya!

She also has a toddler version that is adorable!!

Next up and perfect dinner tonight....Fish Tacos! These look absolutely drool on myself delicious! I wonder if I could get the family to eat them???? Get the recipe at Our Best Bites. If you aren't following their blog...do it. They make some tasty stuff!

Now let's try to get this theme a link up!  Go back to your blog, make your Wanna Make it (even if it only has 1 project) come back here and link up to share with all of us.  It's great for sharing good projects and helps keep an actual list of sorts of things you want to make!  I always come back to mine :)

Tasty Brown Sugar Meatloaf Recipe

I am not sure why I have always wanted to like meatloaf. It's totally weird I know. Most people hate meatloaf and growing up I did too. As an adult though I really, really wanted to find a great meatloaf recipe. After a few not so tasty ones I took ingredients I liked from a few different recipes and combined them...the result is DELISH! It is sweet, moist, and lovely. I hope you enjoy!

Ingredients

Loaf:

1.5 lbs lean ground beef (the leaner the better)

1/2 C milk

1 egg

1 package onion soup mix

3/4 C crushed Ritz crackers (approx 25)

splash of Worcester

garlic to taste (few shakes)

Sauce:

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C ketchup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix all loaf ingredients well.

press into a 8x8 glass pan

bake for approximately 30 minutes, remove from oven and drain fat.

Mix sauce ingredients and spread across the top

Put back in oven for an additional 15 minutes or until cooked through. I like to turn it to broil for a just a few at the end so the sauce gets nice and gooey.

Hope you enjoy!