Southern Comfort: Biscuits and Gravy

Lately I have indulging in what I like to call struggle meals, Now I know what you,re thinking, biscuits and gravy is quite decadent, but I assure you it is. A struggle meal is when you create something from seemingly nothing because you haven't been able to go to the store.

For this meal the milk and flour were both past their expiration dates. I had butter from making desserts at Thanksgiving and sausage that had been in my freezer. Thus, biscuits and gravy were born and it came out delicious, especially for my first time making either. Both recipes were adapted from ones I found on foodnetwork.com. 

Biscuit Ingredients

4 cups self-rising flour, plus more for dusting
1 stick good butter, plus 3 tablespoons melted
2 to 3 cups cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Biscuit Preparation

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Add the flour to a mixing bowl. Working quickly, cut 1 stick of the butter into the flour using the pastry cutter (or your fingers).

In batches, add in the buttermilk until the dough is cohesive yet still moist. 

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and lightly press into a 1-inch-thick round. 

Using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit cutter or a dry measuring cup, cut out 10 biscuits. 

Place the dough rounds into a heated, round cake pan, right up against each other, and brush with the melted butter. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 25 minutes.

Gravy Ingredients

1/2 lb roll sausage
1 Tb flour
1 cup milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Gravy Preparation

Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, break it up with a wooden spoon, and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned and cooked through, about 7 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a bowl, leaving the rendered fat in the skillet. Whisk the flour into the fat and cook, stirring, for about 1 minute. While whisking, pour the milk into the skillet and bring the gravy to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 2 minutes. Stir in the sausage and season with pepper. Split the biscuits in half and divide them among plates. Top each biscuit with some of the gravy and serve immediately.

SoCo: Jambalaya

I've been craving jambalaya for weeks (probably because I haven't eaten rice in a while). Anyway, I found a few recipes and combined them to create this one. It cam out delicious. Try it!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1 large yellow onions, diced

12 ounces andouille sausage, diced

1 large green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and diced

3 medium celery stalks, diced

3 tablespoons of Cajun or creole seasoning

3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

1 (14.5-ounce) can petite diced tomatoes

2 tablespoon tomato paste

2 cups long-grain white rice

1 box (32-ounce) low-sodium chicken stock or broth

2 bay leaves

2 medium scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions:

1. Heat a quarter size amount of the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot or large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Season the chicken with one tablespoon of the cajun or creole seasoning. Place about half of the chicken pieces in the pot and cook, stirring rarely, until browned all over, about 5 to 6 minutes. (If your pot is large enough to cook it all at once without crowding, do so). Remove to a large bowl and brown the remaining chicken in 1 more batch; set aside.

2. Add the butter and melt over medium heat. Add the onions, scrape the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any browned bits, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions just begin to brown, about 6 minutes.

3. Add the sausage and cook until the meat is browned and the onions are very tender, about 10 minutes.

4. Add the bell peppers, celery, garlic, measured salt, and remaining cajun or creole seasoning. Cook, scraping the bottom of the pot occasionally, until the bell peppers have softened, about 10 minutes.

Stir in tomato paste until fragrant. Add the reserved chicken and any accumulated juices and the tomatoes.

5. Add stock or broth, rice, and bay leaves, stir to combine, and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat. Simmer until all liquid is absorbed. Stir occasionally making sure the rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. Taste the liquid and season with salt if needed; the liquid will give your rice all the flavor it needs. I added cayenne pepper here too. 

6. Remove and discard the bay leaves.  Sprinkle with the scallions and serve.

Day Fourteen: Autumn Soup in Winter

As usual I bought some Johnsonville smoked sausage on sale. As usual I found a lovely Taste of Home recipe to utilize it. Soups on!

Autumn Sausage Corn Soup

10-12 servings

1 lb fully cooked smoked sausage, sliced
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
3 green onions, chopped
3 1/2 cups water
1 pkg frozen corn
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
1 can tomato paste
1/4 tsp salt, optional
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1 In a large skillet, cook, and stir sausage over medium-high eat until browned; set aside.

2 In a dutch oven or soup pot, cook and stir flour in oil over medium heat for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Add the onion, green pepper and green onions; saute until tender.

3 Stir in the water, corn, canned tomatoes, fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, cayenne pepper, ans sausage. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Day Eleven: Country Soup

Another country soup. Simple and quick.

Country Sausage Soup

Ingredients

3/4 lb pork sausage
1 can (14oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp crushed rosemary
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can great northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 can garbanzo beans or chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Directions

In a large saucepan, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, thyme, rosemary, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Stir in the beans; heat through.

*Note: Any time you see ground beef, I substitute with ground turkey.

Day Four: Restaurant Quality

My all time favorite restaurant soup is Zuppa Toscana from Olive Garden. I order it every time I go. I've always wanted to make it at home but I also know that it's high in calories! Over 700 per serving to be exact; yikes! I found this recipe and modified it to cut the calories.

Ingredients:

Servings:
4-6

1 lb Italian chicken or turkey sausage
2 large russet baking potatoes, sliced in half, and then in 1/4 inch slices
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups kale chopped
2 (8 ounce) cans chicken broth
1 quart water
1 cup skim milk w/ cornstarch to thicken if desired

Directions:

1 Chop or slice uncooked sausage into small pieces.
2 Brown sausage in your soup pot then remove.
3 Add onion and saute until tender.
4 Add garlic.
5 Add chicken broth and water to pot and stir.
6 Add potatoes
7 Cook on medium heat until potatoes are tender.
8 Return sausage to pot.
9 Simmer for another 10 minutes.
10 Turn to low heat.
11 Add kale and cream.
12 Heat through and serve.


Read more at: http://restaurant.food.com/recipe/olive-garden-copycat-zuppa-toscana-38298?oc=linkback

Southern Staple

This recipe is definitely worth the re-blog! Yesterday I made a red beans and rice recipe I found on Pinterest. I followed everything to the letter except I only used 5 cups of water and was not disappointed. Perfect recipe, so tasty, and the only change for next time is doubling the recipe! Thanks Little Magnolia Kitchen! Enjoy!

Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice

Ingredients

1 pound red beans
7 cups water
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped or minced
2 cans Campbell's chicken broth
1-1/2 pounds sausage (I used Richards)
2 tablespoons Creole Seasoning (I use Tony's)
Hot cooked rice

Prep

1. Sort your beans taking out the halves or pieces and check for small rocks or pebbles.
2. Rinse the beans thoroughly and pour into crock pot.
3. Add water and chicken broth to beans.
4. Add your chopped vegetables.
5. Slice the sausage into bite size pieces.
6. Add the sausage and the Creole Seasoning to the other ingredients in the crock pot
7. Cook for 7-8 hours on High Setting.