F* I'm Drunk Cooking: Snap Pea and Cherry Tomato Stir Fry

Instant Pot® Snap Pea and Cherry Tomato Stir Fry
Hubby and I attended an amazing craft brew and culinary pairing event today in Denver called BrűFrou. The pours were generous and the food was delectable - so much so that Hubby had to cut me off. I don't mind, it needed to be done and that's why I'm glad to pay joint taxes with this man. 

Arriving back at home, Hubby quickly claimed our big couch and passed out for a nap with Puppy. Slightly drunk and anxious for Game of Thrones to start like right now, I decided to do a little drunk cooking. I ate so many delicious but heavy items earlier that I really wanted a veggie bowl. Drunk + thinking snap peas and cherry tomatoes are all the veggies you ever need in a house + new INSTANT POT + cooked tons of rice in new INSTANT POT = Snap Pea and Cherry Tomato Stir Fry.

Ingredients

2 tbs Tamari Sauce
1 tbs Coconut Aminos - cause it was in my cabinet and almost empty
2 tbs Rice Wine Vinegar - that I spilled all over my work iPad. Awkward.
1 tbs sesame seeds - when did I even buy these???
1 tbs Sriracha - or Garlic Chili Sauce if you are a one or the other type of cook.
2 tbs Sesame Oil
2-3 cups of snap peas - I saw a pretty, skinny girl eat snap peas once and now I always buy them. True story. 
Salt to taste
1/2 plastic thingy of cherry tomatoes - if I had to guess, I would say about 1 cup
Cooked rice

1. Mix tamari, coconut amnios, rice wine vinegar, sesame seeds, and Sriracha in a small bowl and set aside. 

2. Turn Instant Pot® on Sauté function - Ok, really you could do this in a pot on the stove. But I just spent money on this thing so I'm going to use it!! Add Sesame Oil. Once sizzling, add snap peas. Let them sit for about 30 seconds before stirring. Sprinkle with salt to taste and toss. After two minutes add the cherry tomatoes - cut in half if you want their juices to escape or whole if you want to crunch on them. Cook for 3 more minutes tossing only occasionally. 

3. Once cherry tomatoes appear soft, add the pre-mixed sauce. Toss together and let sauté for 1-2 more minutes. 

4. Serve over cooked rice. Makes about 2-4 servings. 

Meal for the Week: Momma's Gumbo and Potato Salad

It's been a cold week here! In the words of my momma"It's gumbo weather." The varieties of gumbo are as numerous as the people who love it. My favorite gumbo has a thick roux base. Think the soup version of fricassee. I don't mind the broth gumbo version but do not try to serve me any with tomatoes in it! That's Creole not Cajun. For potato salad, I prefer a mustard based smooth version. 


Gumbo (NW)

NOTES: 
1. You can use homemade roux. I prefer pre-made stuff because 1) it's just as good if you buy the right brands 2) I hate the smell of my house after cooking roux and 3) if it's good enough for my grandmother than it's good enough for me!
2. You get the best flavor by using a whole chicken with skin on.

Ingredients
1/2 cup of roux
8 qts water
whole chicken, cut up
1-2 lbs smoked sausage
2 onions, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup of celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
bay leaf
1 tbs gumbo file
Cajun or poultry seasoning

Bring 8 quarts of water to a boil. Once boiling add roux. You can always thin a gumbo but you can't add roux later. The roux may drop to the bottom. Be sure to use a spatula to break it up. Once the roux is dispersed and water is boiling, add onions, bell pepper, celery. and garlic. You may leave out the celery and garlic, but never skip the onions and bell pepper. Leave

Cut and  season chicken. I use Chef Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning Blends (Poultry Magic) which is All Natural, MSG Free, Preservative Free and Gluten Free. But most important, it's from Louisiana...like me! Cut sausage. Store cut meat until time to use. 

After 2 hours of boiling, add the sausage. After 1 additional hour, taster for flavor. Add salt, pepper, or Cajun seasoning if necessary. Once flavor is correct, add the chicken and lower temperature to medium low. After 1 hour, add gumbo file and lower temperature to a simmer. After 15 minutes, taste for seasoning. If flavor is correct, skim for fat. 

Serve warm over short grain rice with a side of french bread and potato salad.

Potato Salad

6 potatoes
4 eggs, boiled
Cajun seasoning
1 tbs vinegar
1-3 tbs mustard
3 tbs mayo
pepper

Boil peeled and quartered potatoes with Cajun seasoning. When potatoes are soft enough for a folk to go through, smash potatoes leaving a few chunky. Separate the yolks from the whites. Chop the whites and add to the smash potatoes. Smash the yolks in a small bowl. Add vinegar and mustard. I prefer a more mustardy potato salad so I added 3 tbs. Season the yolk mixture with pepper and add mayo. 

Incorporate yolk mixture into the smash potatoes. Garnish with Cajun seasoning. 

Brunch Alert: Plain Waffles

I tagged this as brunch because that's what time woke up and ate. Hey, it happens. We were supposed to head up to the mountains for a ski day but I slipped on ice while walking the dogs and took it as a sign to stay off of ice for the day. So I snuggled up in bed for a few more hours. When I did finally roll out of bed, I wanted a warm breakfast. This waffle recipe is an old recipe and makes basic, plain waffles. I feel some future waffle variations may happen.

Cooking soundtrack: Bilgewater by Brown Bird

Plain Waffles (NW)

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. of AP Flour
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 tbs butter, melted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Scald the milk and set aside. Sift together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder and salt). I don't have a fancy sifter so I use my whisk. 

Separate the egg yolks from egg whites. Beat yolks until light. Beat the egg white until frothy. Add melted butter and egg white to lukewarm milk. Pour liquid mixture into dry mixture and incorporate well.

Pour about 1/2 cup of batter onto hot waffle iron. Let cook for about 2-5 mins. My waffle iron isn't fancy so it took closer to 6 mins for me. 

Let's take a minute while the waffles are cooking to discuss a decent cup of coffee. People, please give up the $2 coffee brands. I received some amazing French Roast from one of my favorite Louisiana coffee shop, Highland Coffees. YUM!

This recipe makes about 4 waffles. Double recipe if you need more.

Cooking Inspiration

I have many sources of cooking inspiration. Pinterest often directs me to a variety of sites, but only a few have received my approval, trust and bookmark. 

Favorite food blogs:

The Pioneer Woman - Sometimes I feel like I discovered this site for the world. Actually, my foodie bestie first showed this site to me in 2008. I love her no hold back ingredient usage and have never had a recipe fail. Maybe one day I'll actually win one of her fabulous prizes!

Spoon Fork Bacon - Hands down the prettiest food blog. I haven't cooked anything from here but I love browsing the easy to use and pretty to look at site. 

Budget Bytes - Brilliantly broken down by cost to satisfy my budget nerdiness. Be sure to check out the "Top Recipes."

Nom Nom Paleo - A great collection of Paleo recipes with funny stories and pictures. 


Favorite Cookbooks:

Any thing by America's Test Kitchen - Seriously, these people are the science nerd's cooking gods. They test every recipe, piece of equipment, and food product to include only the best. 

Pizza by Dianne Morgan and Tony Gemignani - This is my go to dough and pizza sauce resource. 

Anything by The Pioneer Woman - see above :)

The Picayune's Creole Cook Book - This a collection of recipes published in the Time Picayune (New Orleans) from 1901! I read this book like a novel before bed. 

Meal for the Week: Fiery Cocoa Chili

Sundays are my cooking days. I wake up, prepare my menu and grocery list, brave the Sunday grocery crowd, and spend the afternoon cooking a large meal for the week. Next week will be a short one with New Year's (my company is giving us the day after too) so I don't need too much. This week's meal is inspired from The Clothes Make the Girl. I usually cook this chili on Sunday evenings and refrigerate overnight when done. This way I can skim any harden fat from the top. 

Fiery Cocoa Chili (P, W30)

Ingredients
Coconut oil - may use olive oil or butter
2 medium onions, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 lbs ground meat - Recommended: 1lb beef and 1lb bison 
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbs chipotle chili powder - may use regular chili powder if you don't want it fiery
2 tbs cumin
1.5 tbs unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp ground allspice 
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 can (14.5 oz) fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth
water

Start by chopping your onions and garlic. Heat oil of your choice on med-high in a dutch oven. Once oil is warm, add onions and cook for about 5 mins. Add minced garlic to onions and cook for about 30 seconds. 

*Kitchen Gadget Alert*

If you have Christmas gifts that you don't know what to do with, I HIGHLY  recommend investing in decent knives. I own the Victorinox 4-piece knife set. You really don't need any thing else. That knife set you see in my photos? Never used!

Next, add your meat. I swear organic meat smells more meaty. Here's my brief plug for organic meat: this is a large meal for the week, splurge and get the good stuff. 
Use your spoon to chop the meat to pieces. Now gather your spices. If you want to be fancy and expose the spice flavors to the max, dump all spices in a mortar and pestle. Grind the spices together. I love the smoky smell of chipotle powder. If you aren't feeling kitchen fancy, just gather your spices in a bowl.

Once your meat is brown, dump your spices and mix well. Next dump your tomato paste and mix again. Your meat will be fragrant and tempting! 

Next dump your can of diced tomatoes. Fill the can about 2/3 with water and dump that too. Then pour your beef broth. Bring the chili to a boil. 

Reduce heat to low and simmer for two hours. 

Extra process: Place pot in fridge overnight. Next day skim harden fat off.

Serve warm with perhaps a baked potato and enjoy every bite! 

Start something new

Hello my internet foodie friends! Welcome to my new weekly food experiment blog. Cooking has always been a major part of my life. My grandparents are legit Cajuns - like French as a first language and Olympe as a first name legit. I have vivid memories of fried chicken, homemade beignets, and gumbo from scratch. As I got older and my waist line got bigger, I explored the cooking world for other flavors and healthier options. But I find myself drawn to the traditional methods of cooking. My blog will be a split personality display of cooking. Some weeks you may find farmer market inspired paleo meals and others will contain homemade French bread and gumbo. Variety, it's the spice of life!

Recipe Classification Decoder:

P - Paleo

W30 - Paleo + Whole30

NW - No worries, just eat!