Last night I had pizza. It was Sicilian pizza. Thick crust and cooked in a pan. Lots of sauce and even more mozzarella cheese. I did not make this lovely creation myself. It was made at Anthony’s Pizzeria and it was very good! I have not had Sicilian pizza in years and this was well worth the wait but that’s not what I’m here to tell you about.

Dessert was the highlight of the meal for Jennifer (I liked the pizza). Jennifer wanted ice cream sandwiches. I don’t know if you remember but yesterday I baked some large chocolate chip cookies. Luckily there were still some left and I had vanilla ice cream in the freezer, so of course you know what happened next…….. ice cream sandwiches.

I left the ice cream out just a bit to get soft. Otherwise, it would break the cookies. They too were just a bit soft having been in a zip lock bag. I put the ice cream between the two cookies and voilà, an ice cream sandwich. I popped it into the freezer for a few minutes to harden up the ice cream again and served it up to Jennifer. She was now in bed.

That is not all I made yesterday. For lunch I made Jambalaya.  

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

Jambalaya (ala Inta-Pot)    

Serves 6 – 8

SPECIAL IMPLEMENTS

Insta-Pot

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of boneless chicken breast

1 pound Cooked Shrimp

2 Kielbasa

32 ounces Chicken stock

2 boxes Zatterans Jambalaya Rice

1 small Onion

2 stalks Celery

2 cloves garlic

½ tsp red pepper flakes

½ tsp black pepper

1 tbls hot sauce (Cholula Sauce)

4 tbls olive oil

1 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS

Set the Inta-Pot to sauté. Brown the Kielbasa in 2 tbsp. in olive oil and set aside. Next cube and cook the chicken in the oil next and set it aside. Cook the onions, celery and garlic until the onions are translucent. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil and add the rice, red pepper flakes, black pepper, Cholula, and salt.

Return the chicken, raw shrimp and kielbasa to the pot. Stir.

Place on the lid. Cook on poultry setting for zero minutes. Leave on warm for 30 minutes. Release steam. Open lid and serve.   

The Drunken Chef (Russ)

This is the second of the famous five (not Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald or Daisy) of the mother sauces from which other sauces are made.

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup onions, diced

¼ cup carrots, diced

¼ cup celery, diced

1 oz. clarified butter

1 oz. all-purpose flour

3 cups brown stock (i.e. beef stock)

2 Tbsp. tomato purée

1 bay leaf

½ tsp dried thyme

3–4 fresh parsley stems

black pepper

Gravy Master (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Fold the bay leaf, thyme, parley stems and peppercorns in a square of cheese cloth, and tie the corners with a piece of kitchen twine. Leave the string long enough so that you can tie it to the handle of your pot to make it easier to retrieve it.

In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat until it becomes frothy.

Add the mirepoix (onions, carrots & celery) and sauté for a few minutes until it’s lightly browned.

With a wooden spoon, stir the flour into the mirepoix a little bit at a time, until it is fully incorporated and forms a thick paste (this is your roux). Lower the heat and cook the roux for another five minutes or so, until it just starts to take on a very light brown color. Don’t let it burn, though!

Using a wire whisk, slowly add HOT beef stock and tomato purée to the roux, whisking vigorously to make sure it’s free of lumps.

Bring to a boil, lower heat, add the sachet and simmer for about 50 minutes or until the total volume has reduced by about one-third, stirring frequently to make sure the sauce doesn’t scorch at the bottom of the pan. Use a ladle to skim off any impurities that rise to the surface.

Remove the sauce from the heat and retrieve the sachet. For an extra smooth consistency, carefully pour the sauce through a wire mesh strainer lined with a piece of cheesecloth.

Serve hot. If not serving the sauce right away, keep it covered and warm until you are ready.

NOTES: Gravy Master can help turn it a nice deep brown.