Gumbo And Other Traditional Gameday Goodies

Ok, maybe gumbo isn't a "traditional" Superbowl snack, but here's your chance to add it to the usual suspect list of tailgating foods.  Just hear me out on this - read on.

Superbowl Sunday is upon us which is the perfect time to crack open either the Ohio State Cookbook or University of Oklahoma Cookbook, and make some great watch party treats!  Don't have hardback copies of these books on hand?  No worries, you can download digital copies of them to your Kindle right now at these links:  OSU Kindle Edition - OU Kindle Edition.  

I personally will be making either my chicken quasadillas, Landrun Casserole (OU Cookbook p. 20) Field Goal Nachos, or Championship Chicken Wings (both in the OSU Cookbook pp. 4 & 10), or all of the above - I haven't decided yet.

But if you want something a little different that will feed a house full of rowdy guests and leave them feeling satisfied, I recommend gumbo.  Good, hearty gumbo will go a long way and it definitely warms you up on cold days - especially the ones this winter season has been doling out lately.

This recipe is a variation of the amazing gumbo recipe given to me by my friend Rachel.  I had never eaten gumbo before I had hers, and after one awesome party at her house with this dish served, I was hooked!  Gumbo is a great recipe for trying out new things.  You can play with the ingredients and add or take away whatever tickles your fancy.  So, I am going to give you my version of Rachel's recipe, then add your own variations.  Also, this is a one pan dish, so less cleanup (Hooray!).  Have fun and be creative! 

This is how this gumbo starts off - you know you want to try it!

Ingredients:

5 or 6 Tbls. of olive oil

1/4 c of flour

1 onion (chopped)

2 ribs of celery (chopped)

2 green bell peppers (chopped)

5 cloves of garlic (minced)

1 box of chicken broth

1 lg can of chopped tomatoes

1-10 oz pkg of frozen sliced okra

1 bay leaf

6 tsp. of Tabasco sauce

4 tsp. Cholula sauce

2 boneless, skinless, and cooked chicken breasts (chunked)

1 pkg frozen shrimp (shelled and deveined)

3-4 flounder fillets (chunked)

2 cups of cooked rice

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp basil

Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions:

Heat 3 Tbls. of oil in a large cooking pot on med-high.  Add onions, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and sauté for about 5-7 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.  Add in the rest of the oil and the flour.  Stir until the mixture starts to thicken. Gradually add the broth, stirring constantly.  Add tomatoes, okra, bay leaf, Tobasco, Cholula sauce, and spices.  Bring the mixture to a boil then add the pre-cooked chicken. Cover and let it simmer for about 35-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove the lid and add in the shrimp, fish, and rice.  Stir it all together and let it cook for another 10-15 minutes, or until the shrimp are heated through.  Serve with oyster crackers.  Don't forget, you can add a whole plethora of other ingredients like spicy sausage, crawdads, oysters, etc.  Just do what you like.

And this is how this gumbo looks when it's done - nomnom!

UPDATE:  For those of you following my Facebook page, you know that I decided to try my hand at making turnovers for the first time this morning.  Most of this comes from an array of pie and pastry recipes, plus theories in my head - this is what I came up with...

Cherry & Cream Cheese Turnovers

Ingredients:

14.5 oz. can pitted red tart cherries in water

1/4 c sugar

1-1/2 Tbsl cornstarch

1 tsp. vanilla extract (separated)

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

2 sheets puff pastry (17.3 oz. box of frozen)

1/2 block cream cheese (softened)

1 c powdered sugar

3-4 Tbls. water (for desired icing thickness)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Get the puff pastry out of the freezer, unwrap and set to thaw on lightly floured wax paper (for about 45 min.).  In a small sauce pan, drain the cherry juice from the can and set cherries to the side.  Add cornstarch and sugar to the cherry juice and heat on medium stirring continuously until mixture is thick and goopy (mmmm).  Remove from heat and add the cherries, 1/2 tsp. of vanilla, and cinnamon. Blend thoroughly and set to the side.

In a small bowl, add remaining 1/2 tsp. of vanilla to the cream cheese and stir until blended smooth. Set aside.

I made triangular traditional turnovers as well as turnover bites to try out some things.  For the triangles, roll out one sheet and cut into four equal pieces starting at one corner and slicing to the one opposite. Repeat.  For the bites, I just cut along the 2 lines left by the folds of the second pastry sheet - giving me 3 wide strips.  Each strip I then cut in half.

Ok, for the turnovers, I put a litte more filling in than it would hold, so it got messy, so after recalculating, I would say put about 1 Tbls. of cherry filling on one half of each triangle, then top the filling with about 1/2 Tbsl. of cream cheese mixture.  Wet the edges of the pastry with water. Take one corner and fold it over the mixture to meet the opposite corner, encasing the cherry mixture.  Use a fork around the edges to seal.  Do the same with the bites, only use about 1 tsp. of cherry filling and 1/2 tsp. of cream cheese.  Fold into a square instead of a triangle.

Transfer to parchment paper on a baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, then remove and let cool for about 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix the powdered sugar and water until thick and smooth.  Transfer to a ziplock bag and snip off a tiny bit of corner of the bag.  Pipe the icing over the turnovers in a zig zag pattern and enjoy!

Red Gold Product Review & Giveaway

Hey guys!  Guess what?  It's football season!  That means cooler weather (well, not yet), team pride, and tailgating parties/cookouts!  We all have our favorite representative colors and no matter the rivalries, we also share a love of Gameday treats.

Now, I have a confession to make.  Before last month, I didn't know there were nacho-making alternatives out there, so I have just been advocating Rotel brand Tomatoes and Green Chilies for any and all Tex-Mex type recipes.  I know, sounds crazy right?  However, Red Gold asked if they could send me a variety pack of their products to try out, and I said that I would try them and review them in an honest post.

*Disclosure: Now mind you, although Red Gold provided me with some of their products for free, my opinions here about those products are my own.  I was not asked to write a favorable review.  I always give honest and straight-forward opinions about all products, services, and restaurants on OMG, Have You Tasted This? and will not sacrifice the integrity of this blog for any reason - ever.

That being said, I have now tried several of Red Gold's products and I want to share my opinion with you about them.

First off,  I like to make chicken quesadillas a few times a month (this recipe has been revised again, I'll update it soon).  They have become a staple in my house.  I have always just grabbed and used Rotel for this recipe, but the last time I made them, I used Red Gold's "Queso Ready" Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies instead, and there was definitely a difference in quality.  When I open a can of Rotel, I usually pick out about 10-20% of the under-ripe tomatoes before adding them to my dish.  Still, the tomatoes I use that are left are rather pale, but I use them anyway, because I didn't realize there were options.  When I opened the Red Gold can, I immediately noticed the vibrancy in the color of the produce, and I didn't find but maybe one or two not-quite-ripe tomato cubes, as opposed to the large quantity in Rotel.  This already told me that the attention to quality detail was better from the Red Gold company, and that is a huge deal for me.  The Red Gold brand also contained much less sodium (380 mg vs. Rotel's 520 mg), more calcium and iron (4% vs. Rotel's 2%), and more Vitamin A (15% vs. Rotel's 8%) per serving.  The flavor of the Red Gold Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies was good, and the heat from the chilies was nicely balanced.  Based on my experience, I will be buying the Red Gold product over Rotel from now on.

Another product that I tried from Red Gold was the Petite Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice & Cilantro.  Remember the blog post I did about the fish tacos?  Well I decided to try them at home.  I had never blackened fish, (or anything else for that matter) and I wasn't sure what to do to make a spicy/sweet pineapple salsa.  But hey, I'm all about winging it, so I read up on how to "blacken" fish and went to the store and bought a can of diced pineapple, still unsure of what I was going to do with it exactly.  I dipped the tilapia in melted butter because I am all about eating healthy that's what I thought sounded good in some of the recipes I found.  I dipped it in the creole seasoning, and fried it for about 3-4 minutes on each side.  Yay!  The fish looked right, now what about the salsa?  I looked in the cabinet and saw the Red Gold tomatoes and thought that the lime juice and cilantro might go well with the fish seasonings. So I opened the can of pineapple and dumped it in a bowl with the drained Petite Diced Tomatoes with Lime Juice & Cilantro and mixed it all up.  It tasted great!  The citrus lime flavor mixed well with the pineapple, and the tomatoes and cilantro blended out the different tones and made a great tasting pineapple salsa for my fish tacos.  I got out the flour tortillas, placed the fish on them, followed by cabbage, the pineapple salsa, shredded Monterrey jack cheese, and topped it all with sliced fresh avocado.  D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!  This would also be good in the chicken quesadilla recipe, just FYI.

Ok, one more product that stood out to me from the Red Gold family, was Mama Selita's Jalapeno Ketchup.  Yes, you read that right.  Jalapeno ketchup!  I was like, holy cow, why haven't I ever thought of this?  Genius!  Ok, so the first thing I thought that it would go well on was meatloaf.  I haven't tried it on meatloaf yet, but I surely will the next time I make it.  What I DID have it on though, was cheeseburgers.  YUM!  Seriously, this is the best thing to happen to ketchup...well, almost.   I had one problem with it - it is made with high fructose corn syrup, which is a bit of a letdown for me.  I never buy ketchup made with HFCS, or anything else if I can help it.  But, if you don't have an issue with HFCS, then by all means, try this because it does taste wonderful!  I liked it because it was different.  In my opinion, Mama Selita's Jalapeno Ketchup is very well balanced between tangy, sweet, and spicy and I really loved dipping my homemade fries in it as well.  So if you want to add kick to your eggs, beef, chicken (oh, I tried this on some fried chicken fingers too, and it was better than the bbq sauce that came with them), potatoes, or whatever else you can think of, get some of this ketchup.

Like I said before, I wanted to give an honest review about some of the products that were given to me by Red Gold.  And I can honestly say, that they have definitely made me into a buyer of their products, at least some of them, over other brands.  Their website has a really interesting family history flip book that I recommend checking out.  You can find it here, along with other information about Red Gold.  

Now through October, Red Gold is hosting the Red Gold Run To Crush Hunger Competitive 5k & Family Walk.  Click on the link to find out how you can help/participate.  Following the run, there will be a chili cook-off as well, with a cash prize for the winner! 

Want to try grilling with these products?  Here are a couple of recipes provided by Red Gold.  Give them a go - enjoy!

Spicy Tomato Burger

1 lb ground beef

1 14.5 oz can of Red Gold Tomato w/Green Chilies

Salt and Pepper

Option: Pepper Jack Cheese

Combine beef & tomatoes (drained). Form into patties. Season. Add cheese to center of each patty for an added kick. Grill.

As desired, serve on toasted bun. use Jalapeño Ketchup or Chipotle Mayo. Layer spicy peppers.

Caribbean Chicken Burger

1 lb. ground chicken

1 14.5 oz can of Red Gold Lime Juice & Cilantro

Salt & Pepper

Combine ground chicken and Red Gold tomatoes (drained). Form into patties. Season. Grill

As desired, served on Toasted bun or lettuce. Layer guacamole or avocado or roasted pineapple slice. Top with a mango chutney or fruit salsa.

Those of you who follow me on FaceBook and Twitter, heard about Red Gold's summer grill/smoker giveaway last month, right?  They also gave away 1000 aprons for their Summer Grillin' Party Sweepstakes.  That was an awesome giveaway and I hope you participated.  If you missed out on the prizes, you have another chance right now.

**The Giveaway**

I have one Red Gold grilling apron that I will gladly give away to anyone who posts the best (most embarrassing) tailgating or grilling story in the comments below.  You have until September 30th, so if you can't think of any stories to tell, get out there and make some!

Sunday Lupper Adventures - Take 2

Ok, I have power now, so Sunday Lupper Adventures continued...

So, the Sunday after Salmon en Croute, I tried another fish recipe.  I just made it up based on what I had on hand.  I call it, um...how about White Fish Dish?  No, no that's terrible, I'm not calling it that.  Ok, I got it - Panko Herb Crusted Flounder.  Yeah, we'll call it that, because that's what it was.  For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you already got a glimpse of the "recipe", but for those who didn't, here's what I did:

Panko Herb Crusted Flounder
Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of flounder (thawed, if frozen)
• 1.5 TBLS. of butter
• About 1 TBLS. of fresh basil (chopped)
• About 1 TBSL. of fresh dill (chopped)
• 1 tsp. of fresh thyme
• 1/4 cup of Panko crumbs
• 1 TBLS of shredded Parmesan cheese 
• 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• Lemon for garnish

In a small bowl, melt the butter and then add in the basil, dill, and thyme.  Then add the Panko crumbs and Parmesan cheese and stir until thoroughly blended.  Spray a baking dish generously with cooking spray (I used Olive Oil Pam) and add the fish fillets to the dish.  Spread the Panko mixture on top of the fish, then add salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley.

Bake, uncovered, for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees.  Cut up a lemon for garnish, or to squeeze on the fish after it is cooked.

Remember the herb new potatoes and sauteed garlic broccoli that I made to go with the Salmon en Croute?  Well, turns out, it's good with this as well.  So if you need some quick and healthy sides, these will do the trick.  Or you can steam some broccoli florets and season with sea salt and a little cheese, which is also tasty.

***Even with the sides, this meal only takes about 20-25 minutes from start to finish.  AND it is totally good for you too!  You can't beat that.***

And of course, I have completely forgotten to take a picture of any of these dishes, so I will have to do that next time I cook them and upload them onto here in place of this awesome string of words!  YAY!  (I will most likely forget to do this, so don't be shocked)

Alright, by the time the next Sunday had rolled around, I was tired of making fish and decided I needed to make my own quesadillas. Love them in Mexican restaurants, but I never tried making them at home, so this was my chance!

I'm sure I could perfect measurements and all that jazz, but honestly, some things are just better when you throw them in together and use measurement descriptions like "pinch of," and "fist full," and "tittle," (which is a word I always just thought my mom made up, but it turns out that it is actually in the dictionary, so...I know, who knew?).  Also, there is my personal favorite cooking phrase that my grandma uses, "until it looks right."  Ok, so here's what I did:


Quesadillas
Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts (cut into chunks)
• Olive oil
• 1 sm can of Rotel tomatoes and green chilies
• 1/2 each of Green and Red bell peppers (seeded and chopped)
• Colby-Jack and/or Cheddar-Jack cheese
• Pepper-Jack cheese
• Fresh cilantro (finely chopped - or as small as you want to do)
• 1 sm lime - for juice
• Taco seasoning
• Paprika
• Black pepper to taste
• 4 flour tortillas (or more if smaller than 8")
• Cooking spray

Heat about a TBSL of olive oil in a medium skillet, on medium heat.  Add the chicken, a bit of lime juice, cilantro some black pepper, paprika, and a light sprinkle of taco seasoning.  Turn as needed, and add more olive oil if needed.  Cook until chicken is tender and no longer pink in the center (or you know, 'til it looks right).  Remove the chicken and set to the side.  In the same skillet add a bit more olive oil and saute the green and red peppers until tender. Add in the can of Rotel (do NOT drain), a bit more cilantro and about a cupped palm-full of taco seasoning.  Add the Stir until all ingredients are well blended and add the chicken back into the pan.  Remove pan from burner and set aside.

Using the same (already hot) burner, get a large skillet and let it warm up a bit.  Get out 2 tortillas and spray one side of each with the cooking spray, and go ahead and spray just a bit in the skillet, but don't overdo it.  Ok, once the skillet is hot lay one of the tortillas spray side down.  Quickly layer on the pepper-jack, then a little Colby/cheddar-jack, then half of the chicken mixture, then more Colby/cheddar-jack. Place the other prepared tortilla on top, spray side up.  When the cheeses on the bottom get melting pretty good, use a wide spatula and slip it under the bottom of the quesadilla.  

Now here's the tricky part - you can use your free hand and place it on top to help with the flip, but be careful not to burn yourself...as I have never done many times.  I however, find it a little easier to flip the quesadilla by lifting it with the spatula, then tipping the skillet sideways, then in one swift ninja-like motion I flip the quesadilla while bringing the pan down level.  Either way, if you have my luck, you will lose some of the filling (just shove it back in there), the tortillas will be cockeyed (adjust it quickly after the flip the best you can), and you are about to set off the smoke alarm because you lost some cheese-covered pepper to the burner, (it's ok, just wave a dish towel around under the smoke detector and it will shut off).  Ta-da!

When that side is done, remove the quesadilla from the pan and cut into four's with a pizza cutter.  Then make the second one the same way.  Only, maybe a little better now since you've had practice with the flip?

***Leave out the chicken to make fantastic veggie quesadillas!***

Serve these with some refried beans and tortilla chips on the side and with salsa for dipping.  If you want to make a quick and easy fresh salsa from scratch, see page 44 for the recipe to Sooner Nation Salsa in the University of Oklahoma Cookbook!

More to come about what I attempted to do did for St. Patrick's Day Sunday Lupper!

As always, thanks for reading!