Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

Hey Y'all! The Southern Foodette is back! Sorry to leave you hanging, but life has been a bit hectic here lately with the new baby and all. I'm glad to say that we are falling into a nice schedule now and I am finding the time to get back in the kitchen for some home cooked meals instead of heating up frozen stuff.

Fall is here that can only mean one thing at our house...soft air pellet guns! We are planning on going to the camp tomorrow for some fun with friends. Since I am the one that brings the food, I decided to make some chicken and sausage gumbo. I would make seafood gumbo, but I would end up being disappointed because it wouldn't be anywhere near my Mama's gumbo!

To start with you will need to slice a pound of andouille sausage into 3/4 inch pieces.

Cook them in a dutch oven for a few mins and remove, reserving the oil.

Next, brown 4 bone in split chicken breasts on each side for about 5 mins and remove.

Add a little bit more oil to the pot and whisk in 3/4 cup of flour. Yes, we are making a roux!

Keep whisking until it's about the color of chocolate. I don't like a really dark roux, so mine isn't that dark.

Stir in the Trinity (chopped onion, celery and bell pepper). Cook for about 8 mins.

Slowly pour in 2 quarts of hot water and bring to a boil.

Add the chicken, 2 bay leaves, Worcestershire sauce, Creole seasoning, thyme and some hot sauce. Reduce the heat and cook for an hour. (Would have had a better picture, but Hayden was crying)

Remove the chicken

Add the sausage and cook for 30 mins

Add 4 chopped green onions and cook for 30 more mins

Cut up the chicken into pieces

Add to the pot and cook for 5 more mins.

Don't forget to remove the bay leaves before serving!

Spoon the gumbo over some rice and enjoy! I'm going to cook my rice in the morning before we leave, so, sorry there is no picture of it plated. I hope you all enjoy this recipe! I know we will. There is nothing like a gumbo to warm you up on a cool, fall day/night in South Alabama!

Peek A Boo

Hey everyone! I'm still here! I promise. Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while but I hope to start back real soon. Miss Hayden Lee Chapple Boltz made her grand entrance September 17 and she weighed in at 7lbs, 6ozs, 20 inches. We are so glad that she is here and we are enjoying every minute. JW is the best big brother!

When I get some time to slow down I will catch you all up on what has been cooking in the Southern Foodette kitchen. For now, please enjoy a picture of my beautiful babies!

Dirty Thoughts

The other night I had a craving "flung" on me, as Bo would say, for some dirty rice. Since I didn't have chicken livers or gizzards (which I LOVE when they are fried) and I only had 2 parts of the trinity (onion, bell pepper and celery), I had to wing it. I actually love to make changes to recipes and make them my own, but I have been know to go overboard. You are reading the blog of someone that has ruined chicken and rice, TWICE. Ask Mark. He won't let me live it down. Guess I will have to tell you about that at a later date.

Anyway...here goes nothing.

Get some water boiling for the rice.

Chop up and onion, bell pepper and garlic. Throw then in a skillet with butter and top with Italian and Creole seasoning.

Saute until soft.

Add a pound of ground beef and cook until brown.

Add some cooked rice, 2 cups of chicken stock and 2 bay leaves. Adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper and more Creole seasoning.

Let simmer until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Remove the bay leaves and serve!

Let me go ahead and say that this turned out SO good. I didn't go overboard on anything and I would make this over and over again. Maybe next time I'll use some Conecuh sausage. My boys loved it and Mark even took some for lunch the next day. Hope you try it and like it. We did!

Shrimp Overload

As you know, I reside in Mobile, AL, just a few miles from Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Living on the coast means fresh seafood year round! Thankfully we have TONS of friends in the seafood industry and they love to share their catch with us. From shrimp and fish to softshell crabs, they drop stuff off all the time. Shrimp are in season at the moment and a friend dropped off 50lbs for my parents who in turn split it when the rest of the family. There were some nice big ones, but mainly it was small shrimp. I'm not complaining though. They were right off the boat and FREE!

The big boys were calling my name!

After peeling them, I decided to marinate them for a little while.

Then throw them on the grill.

Serve with a splash of lemon juice.

After de-heading and peeling the little ones, I put some in the freezer and fried the rest.

For the batter, mix flour, salt, pepper and some Ole Bay seasoning.

Roll them in the flour.

Toss them in a skillet with hot oil and let fry until golden.

Drain and serve.

Talk about a feast! There were no leftovers, of course. Mark and I almost fought over the big boys, but there was plenty to go around. JW loves fried shrimp (who doesn't) and ended up eating most of the small ones.

Hopefully later in the season we will get some bigger shrimp. They have been small this year and not many to choose from due to fresh water draining into the Bay. Fingers crossed that it will get better for our shrimpers. I will go without before I buy shrimp from overseas. Now is the time to support your local seafood, meat, grain and vegetable producers!

Pineapple Salsa

I hope you are all enjoying your summer! We finally got some rain down here after 3 weeks without even a drop! It has cooled off a little but it still seems to be too hot for this time of year. Usually around August it get so hot you can't breath and are compelled to run around with the least amount of clothing on as possible. For some reason June has been almost unbearable.

June 21 this year was not only my mother's birthday, but also Father's Day. Mom wanted to spend the day at the camp and have lunch so we all pitched in to fix something to bring. I fixed mac n cheese and pineapple salsa. The salsa idea came from a Pampered Chef party I went to at Crystal's house. The lady used a really cool pair of kitchen shears with 2 blades that they called a salad chopper to chop up all of the ingredients, but she had to cut them into smaller pieces to begin with so why not just chop it all up the first time instead of messing up another utensil?

Anyway....you will need a pineapple, tomato, cucumber, red onion, cilantro, lime, jalapeno, salt and pepper.

Cut up the pineapple into small pieces.

Peel the cucumber. Scoop out the seeds and chop into small pieces.

Mince about 1/4 of the red onion.

Remove the seed from the tomato and chop.

Remove the seeds and membranes from the jalapeno then mince.

Add all of that to a bowl.

Top with chopped cilantro.

Add the juice of one lime, salt and pepper.

Mix together and serve with tortilla chips.

It was a hit on a hot summer at the camp. Mark isn't a fan of pineapple, but he ate some anyway. I think next time I will add some cumin or chili powder to it to give it a little something extra. Try it out and let me know what you think. I will be making some L.A. caviar soon so stick around for that!

No, I haven't bought a new battery for my camera yet. Yes, I took the pictures with my iPhone. Sorry. It is still on my list of things to do.

Greek Pasta Salad

Well, summer is here whether you like it or not! Mobile, Alabama only has 2 seasons: Hot and Hot as Hell. We have just begun the "Hot as Hell" season and it will only get worse. I happen to love hot weather, just not while I'm pregnant. There will be no ice cold Coors Light or deep sea fishing trips for me this summer. I had to take my wedding rings off and a ring that my Nanny gave me because my fingers were swelling. It's not from the foods that I eat, it's from the HEAT! Now every time I go somewhere I feel the eyes go strait to my left finger to see if I'm married and pregnant or just knocked up. Just because I live in Theodore, doesn't mean I have to act like it!

Hot weather means it is cold food season as well. Salads, pasta salads, cole slaw, potato salad, gazpacho...you get the picture. I am a huge fan of pasta salad so I decided to make a Greek pasta salad.

Start by using a box of Italian style pasta salad mix from a box. Boil the pasta and drain.

While that is going, chop up some cucumber, grape tomatoes and red onion.

Add some black olives and feta cheese to the mix.

Top with some Parmesan cheese, croutons, salt, pepper and some Greek seasoning.

Toss with some chopped Romain lettuce, refrigerate and enjoy!

I skipped the whole "refrigerate" part because I was starving and I am highly impatient. Since my boys are anti-salad, I ended up eating the whole thing by myself. You won't hear me complain about it though. It was so good! A great way to cool down on your lunch break.

Sorry about the picture quality. Yes, I took them with my phone, again. Still haven't bought a battery for my camera but it is on my list of things to do.

If you haven't noticed, there is a new widget on my blog for donations. I'm not begging, but please donate! Any amount is greatly appreciated.

Red Snapper and Fried Green Tomatoes

Last week was the opening day of red snapper season so Mama and Daddy went deep sea fishing with Doug and Carol Pridgen on their charter boat "Movin On Up." They had a wonderful time while I "held the fort down" with JW. I would have LOVED to have gone with them, but someone has to be at the office and I'm terrified I may slip and fall on the boat. It has been done before. At least they shared some fish with me. We are so blessed to live on the Gulf Coast and so close to fresh seafood year around.

Along with the fresh red snapper, Mama send a few green tomatoes from her garden at the camp. I love fried green tomatoes! I even tried out for the movie when I was younger. My family and I have been eating at The Original Whistlestop Cafe or the Irondale cafe for decades. You can't eat there and not order fried green tomatoes. I am not a huge fan of red tomatoes and I probably never will, but I will eat a crate of green tomatoes in a heartbeat!

Pre heat the oven to 350.

Wash off the fish fillets, pull out any remaining bones and pat dry.

On an oiled and foil lined cookie sheet, lay out the fish and sprinkle with salt, pepper, Mrs. Dash and Old Bay seasoning.

Top with some butter and bake until the fish is white and flaky (about 15-20mins).

While the fish is cooking mix together some mayonnaise, creole mustard, green onions, garlic and some Old Bay seasoning making a remoulade to go with the fried green tomatoes.

Wash and slice the green tomatoes.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and let them weep for a few mins.

In a bowl, combine flour, salt, pepper and Old Bay seasoning.

Get some oil good and hot in a cast iron skillet. Dredge the tomatoes in the flour mixture, dunk in milk and dredge again. Carefully lay them in the oil to fry.

When they are golden on each side, remove to a paper towel lined plate.

When the fish is ready, remove and top with lemon juice.

Top the fried green tomatoes with some remoulade sauce and enjoy!

Needless to say, we didn't have any leftovers for Thibodeau to feast on. I think one of the best parts of this meal is that I didn't have to buy anything. Hopefully they will be making more fishing trips soon. I really would like to make some ceviche with some grouper. When I made it last year I didn't tell anyone that it was fish until it was all gone. Even the non-fish eaters loved it. I'll keep you posted!