Menu #16

This time of year is sometimes hard for me. The holidays are over, and there is a let-down from that, and the weather is still cold. However, it is starting to stay light just a little longer each day and I know that warmer weather and longer days are ahead. These two weeks also have us meeting with our Dinner for Eight group through our small-group at church, we start choir practice back in preparation for Easter, and it’s the Super Bowl. I don’t care too much about the game, although we have become Chiefs fans somewhat since moving to NW Arkansas, but I do love the food!! Normally we get together with our kids and maybe some friends, but this year it’s just us and one part of our family, so it will be much more low-key. So, with all these activities, that is why there are also fewer items on the menu. Depending on the size of your family, though, you should have lots of leftovers, especially if you cook one or more items from the Louisiana Night. You can always freeze leftovers for a quick weeknight meal later. 

I have included the menu for our dinner with our small-group. When we host, we always do a Louisiana Night since most have not had that kind of cuisine. I have had some of it in my menus before, but some other parts are new. I hope you enjoy!

BBQ chicken sandwiches, Baked Crispy Potato Wedges 

This is a quick meal for one of our busy nights. This is where I put that frozen rotisserie chicken to good use. Just thaw out some, mix it with your favorite BBQ sauce, heat it up, and serve it on toasted hamburger buns. My husband likes to put a little onion and some pickles or some sweet and spicy jalapenos on his. The potato wedges are from tasteofhome.com. I actually have the recipe in a cookbook! They are super-easy and so good. I think they are a nice alternative to french fries, especially with the BBQ sandwiches.

Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread

I have shared this “recipe” before, but here it is again in case you need it. My husband could eat this just about every week! This is another one of those semi-homemade recipes. I start with a pound of ground beef and a chopped onion. I cook those together until the meat is browned and crumbled. Drain completely. I usually even rinse mine with hot water to make sure I get most of the fat off. I put the meat back in the pot and add some seasonings to it. We like ours spicy, so I add salt, pepper, chili powder, dried oregano, dried parsley, dried basil, and a little cayenne pepper. Then I add a jar of spaghetti sauce. I just use the store brand. You use whatever you like. Then I add more of the same spices. I have no measurements. I just add them until it is the flavor that I like. I let it simmer for a bit while I cook the spaghetti. Once the spaghetti is cooked, I drain it well and mix it with the sauce in one big pot. Make a nice green salad and bake some garlic bread or garlic toast (I just buy the frozen bread or toast at the store) to finish out the meal.

Salad with chicken and corn

We tend to have this more often in the summer than in the winter, but we love having a big salad with all the “toppings”. We especially like to have some spicy corn on the top. I cook some frozen corn on the cob or just frozen corn in some water seasoned with crab boil. This all came about when we had crawfish boils at our house. If you are not familiar with those, you don’t just cook the seafood. You also boil red potatoes and corn with it. We always had leftover corn on the cob that I didn’t want to waste, so I started cutting it off the cob and using it for other purposes – such as the salad. I have also made some really good corn chowder with it. When we had the crawfish boils, I would also use the leftover crawfish tails on the salad. Now I just cook some grilled chicken to put on the salad. You use whatever ingredients you like to make the salad that you like. I serve ours on big plates with a nice piece of sourdough bread. 

Chicken and noodles, pudding

If you have been following my menus, you know this meal means DKG Night! I am putting the “recipe” again just in case someone is seeing this for the first time.  Boil some bone-in chicken (or a whole chicken) in the oven until it is cooked through. Then move the pot to the stove. When the chicken is cool enough, remove the meat from the bones. Add the chicken back to the pot with the liquid that was still in there from cooking the chicken. Bring it to a boil and add chicken Ramen noodles. The amount depends on how many you are feeding. Only use half of the seasoning packets. Let that cook until the noodles are done. We never have a “normal” side with this, but you can put a vegetable, fruit, or salad with it. 

Tuscan Chicken, Vegetable Medley

Both of these quick and easy recipes are from Taste of Home The chicken recipe can be found at tasteofhome.com. The Vegetable Medley is in the 2011 Cookbook and is below. The meal is very light and comes together in less than 30 minutes. The Vegetable Medley has veggies and pasta, so you get a complete side dish. 

Vegetable Medley

1 cup uncooked medium pasta shells

1 pkg (16 oz) frozen cut green beans

1 Tbsp cornstarch

¾ cup chicken broth

3 Tbsp butter

1 ½ tsp Dijon mustard

½ tsp dried basil

¼ tsp garlic powder

1 can (4 ½ oz) whole mushrooms, drained

1 small tomato, chopped

In a large pot, cook the pasta according to the package directions, add the green beans during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Meanwhile, combine the cornstarch and the chicken broth until smooth; set aside. In a large saucepan, melt the butter; add the mustard, basil, and garlic powder. Gradually stir in the broth mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Drain the pasta and beans; return to the pot. Add the mustard sauce and mushrooms; toss to coat. Stir in the tomato.

Gumbo with rice, Crawfish Monica, Natchitoches meat pies, grilled boudin, caesar salad, french bread, peach cobbler

This is my Louisiana Night menu. I have described some of these before, but I will again for those who need the instructions again. 

I actually make a semi-homemade gumbo. I learned how to make this from my mother-in-law. I start with two different gumbo mixes. I measure out half of each one and mix them together and then I save the other half of each for the next time. I use Louisiana Fish Fry Products gumbo base and Oak Grove Smokehouse gumbo mix. We don’t follow the directions on the package! In a large oven-safe dutch oven – I use a cast iron pot –  place 2 quarts of cold water with the base mixture. Mix it up and then add your veggies. We use a diced yellow onion, a couple of stalks of diced celery, one diced bell pepper, and a package of frozen okra. Then you add in your meat. We use two or three diced chicken breasts and two or three links of sliced andouille sausage. Here is the crazy part. We don’t cook it on the stove! Heat your oven to 350 degrees F, put a lid on the pot, and place it in the oven. It needs to cook for 2 to 3 hours. I stir it every 30 minutes or so just so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. You know it is ready when the veggies are soft and cooked way down. It comes out just right every time! Serve over cooked rice. 

The Crawfish Monica is a recipe that we received at a cooking class with Chef Maudie Schmitt, owner of Cafe Rue Orleans. Shrimp works well in this recipe as well, and it is much cheaper and easier to find. The recipe I have linked is not the exact one that we received, but it is almost the same and should come out just as well. It is from sweetdaddy-d.com

The meat pies and boudin may be a hard one to replicate. Boudin is not easily found (or universally liked). It is something that we have to get when we travel back to Louisiana, or we have friends bring us some if they are headed our way to visit. Boudin (pronounced “BOO-dan,” at least in Cajun country) is a cooked sausage made from pork meat and rice, plus various vegetables and seasonings, all stuffed in a natural pork casing. You can substitute your favorite grilled sausage here. The meat pies are a Louisiana favorite as well. The best ones are found in one of two places. The very best are at the original restaurant – Lasyone’s in Natchitoches. The second best place to find them are at many of the gas stations in Louisiana! We can also get them frozen, but not around where we live. The original ones can be ordered directly from the restaurant, but mini ones are also sold in grocery stores. We have to stock up on these as well when we can. There are recipes available to make them yourself, but I have never tried. The one I linked for you is from southernliving.com. Give it a go if you are interested. Maybe I will try one day!!

I just use a packaged Caesar salad and mix that up. I heat up the bread and cut it into slices. 

I use a mix from Louisiana Fry Fish Products as well for the peach cobbler. You just need a little butter and milk and a can of peaches. It is so delicious, especially with some vanilla ice cream!

Chicken Marinara, salad

Anything that combines chicken, spaghetti sauce, and pasta is a winner for me. And when it is super-easy, that makes it even better. If you don’t like mushrooms, just leave them out. This is another recipe from tasteofhome.com. I have a ton of their yearly cookbooks, but fortunately the recipes can also be found online now. Fix your favorite green salad, and you have a complete meal. 

Best Oven Baked Chicken Breast, smashed potatoes, zucchini 

This is such an easy and delicious chicken recipe for a quick weeknight meal that uses simple ingredients that most people already have in their pantry. It is from savorynothings.com. I planned for smashed potatoes because I have some red potatoes on hand. Smashed potatoes are basically my own creation based on something that I had at a restaurant in Louisiana. Reminder that these are Cajun flavored, so you do you. I wash and cut up some red potatoes, skins on,  and boil them in water that has been seasoned with crab boil. Not too much – it will be spicy!! Once the potatoes are tender, I drain them and add a little butter and milk and just mash them down until they form chunky mashed potatoes. I don’t really have measurements for this. I choose my amount of potatoes based on how many I am feeding. Usually four or five smaller ones are plenty for my husband and myself. I usually use a couple of tablespoons of butter and I start adding small amounts of milk until I get the consistency I want. Start small. You can always add more but you can’t remove what you have added.

For the zucchini I just wash and slice some zucchini into small disks. Heat up a skillet over medium heat, add some oil and let it heat, and put in the veggies. You can add others as well. Add whatever seasonings you like and stir it occasionally until the veggies are the consistency that you like. I use Mrs. Dash and some salt.

Nachos

This is our meal for Super Bowl Sunday. Usually we have our kids and friends over – and sometimes their friends – but this year it is just us and my daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. Many times when we have these, my husband makes homemade tortilla chips. He heats up a pot of vegetable oil, cuts corn tortillas into fourths, and fries them until they are golden and crispy. He then drains them on some paper towels. This year we are using some store-bought chips that are almost as good as his homemade ones. We cook up a pound of hamburger meat – or more, depending on how many people are being served – and follow the directions for seasoning it for tacos. We like the Taco Bell seasoning packet. Each chip is then loaded with refried beans, taco meat, and shredded cheese and placed on a sheet pan – or several sheet pans! Cook at 350 degrees until the cheese is melty. Use whatever toppings you want after that. We like lettuce, tomato, sour cream, black olives, jalapenos, chopped onion, cilantro, avocados, and salsa. We each can eat a lot of these, so be sure and make plenty!