If the month of October were a day of the week, it would be Sunday afternoon. October is a beautiful month, but also one that lacks ambition. It is difficult to truly enjoy October - in the very near future we will be inundated with Christmas advertisements, family reunions and cold weather. That is all in the future; in the meantime, it is October - time for a nap.
Perhaps October is to blame for why I cannot think of something specific to write about. Folks, here I sit without any particular theme flowing from my fingertips. I already tackled the Midwest last week, and God help me if I use this space to write about politics. One thing is for sure - these leftovers are delicious.
Actually, that is something you may not know about me - I love to cook. I truly enjoy putting together a fabulous meal, complete with appetizer, main course, complimenting wine, and dessert - cooking is a fantastic stress-reliever. I have a Thai chicken curry recipe to die for, and can make cheese fondue that tastes better than Switzerland. Maybe I enjoy cooking because I am in the business of producing high-quality food products, or maybe it is simply because I enjoy eating. Either way, this week I am going to share my personal favorite recipe with you. This dish is easy to make, and is an incredible ego-booster. I have tried it out on my awesome girlfriend, and even invited my parents down for dinner - all of whom gave rave reviews. Even motorcycle-riding compatriot Stewbert gave this recipe two thumbs up. Folks, this is Spicy Seafood and Rice:
You will need two cups rice, one-third cup olive oil, one red pepper chopped, one red onion chopped, one garlic clove sliced, two branches celery chopped, a dash of crushed pepper seeds, an eight-ounce (or thereabouts) can of peas, two and one-third cup water with two vegetable bouillon cubes, 100 grams chopped bacon, and a dash of paprika for color.
Additionally, you will need three or four spicy sausages, chopped; I would recommend Johnsonville Hot Links. And, you will need about 800 grams of mixed seafood, consisting of imitation crab, shrimp (deveined and peeled), scallops, and some sliced fish of some sort, but be creative - make your own concoction! Alternatively, you can substitute the 800 grams of seafood with just shrimp, or chicken if you do not care for seafood.
All right folks, this works best if you have a rice cooker, but if not, do not panic! Simply use a large pot on the stove with maximum heat, but keep it from boiling. OK, cook everything EXCEPT the crushed pepper, spicy sausage, bacon, peas and seafood in the rice cooker (or pot).
While the rice and veggies are cooking, fry the bacon separately in a skillet. Once the bacon is cooked, add the spicy sausage and crushed pepper seeds. Fry for a couple minutes, then separate the meat from the grease.
Separately, fry the seafood. This does not have to be extravagant, especially if you get pre-cooked seafood. It only needs to be barely fried.
When the rice cooker gets to maximum temperature, add everything together and stir clockwise at a rate of one stroke per second - kidding! Just seeing if you are still paying attention. Conversely, if you used the stovetop, add the seafood, bacon and sausage after the rice has absorbed the water and become thick. Cook for about 15 minutes, and then reduce heat to warm - time to make the appetizers.
A good appetizer to have with this meal would be fontains and black bean dip. You can get fontains at Monroe's Pick and Save; they are like big bananas (I am not sure if Piggly Wiggly has fontains - I only go grocery shopping once every six weeks, and have not been in since the renovation).
Anyway, get yourself about four fontains. OK my friends, pay attention to this because it is important: Peel the fontains and cut them crossways so they are in one-inch chunks, or thereabouts. Meanwhile, heat a skillet with about one-half inch of oil on the bottom. Cook the fontains in the oil so they are golden, NOT dark! You will have to flip them halfway through. Once the fontain chunks are golden, remove them from the oil and allow them to cool slightly. Then, mash them into disks using the bottom of a coffee mug. Do this by simply pressing down gently on the CUT SIDE. Using tongs, re-cook the fontain disks in the hot oil until golden. Sprinkle with salt, and arrange them into an attractive pattern on a pretty serving platter. Now it is time to make the accompanying bean dip.
To make the bean dip, throw a dash of olive oil into a frying pan and heat. Add the following: one-half red onion finely chopped, one-half tsp. sugar, dash black pepper, dash soy sauce, dash thyme, dash cumin, and one-half tsp. yellow table mustard. Once the onion starts to sizzle in the oil, add a 450-gram can of refried black beans. Mix everything together rigorously until it is the consistency of toothpaste. As soon as you see little bubbles in the bean dip, remove it from heat and place it into an attractive serving bowl, preferably glass. Do not use a plastic bowl; that is tacky.
The bean dip and the fontains go together, but do not eat too much, lest you suffer from starch overload. This meal will easily serve five, and I would recommend a sweet white table wine as an accompaniment. Enjoy!
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
Perhaps October is to blame for why I cannot think of something specific to write about. Folks, here I sit without any particular theme flowing from my fingertips. I already tackled the Midwest last week, and God help me if I use this space to write about politics. One thing is for sure - these leftovers are delicious.
Actually, that is something you may not know about me - I love to cook. I truly enjoy putting together a fabulous meal, complete with appetizer, main course, complimenting wine, and dessert - cooking is a fantastic stress-reliever. I have a Thai chicken curry recipe to die for, and can make cheese fondue that tastes better than Switzerland. Maybe I enjoy cooking because I am in the business of producing high-quality food products, or maybe it is simply because I enjoy eating. Either way, this week I am going to share my personal favorite recipe with you. This dish is easy to make, and is an incredible ego-booster. I have tried it out on my awesome girlfriend, and even invited my parents down for dinner - all of whom gave rave reviews. Even motorcycle-riding compatriot Stewbert gave this recipe two thumbs up. Folks, this is Spicy Seafood and Rice:
You will need two cups rice, one-third cup olive oil, one red pepper chopped, one red onion chopped, one garlic clove sliced, two branches celery chopped, a dash of crushed pepper seeds, an eight-ounce (or thereabouts) can of peas, two and one-third cup water with two vegetable bouillon cubes, 100 grams chopped bacon, and a dash of paprika for color.
Additionally, you will need three or four spicy sausages, chopped; I would recommend Johnsonville Hot Links. And, you will need about 800 grams of mixed seafood, consisting of imitation crab, shrimp (deveined and peeled), scallops, and some sliced fish of some sort, but be creative - make your own concoction! Alternatively, you can substitute the 800 grams of seafood with just shrimp, or chicken if you do not care for seafood.
All right folks, this works best if you have a rice cooker, but if not, do not panic! Simply use a large pot on the stove with maximum heat, but keep it from boiling. OK, cook everything EXCEPT the crushed pepper, spicy sausage, bacon, peas and seafood in the rice cooker (or pot).
While the rice and veggies are cooking, fry the bacon separately in a skillet. Once the bacon is cooked, add the spicy sausage and crushed pepper seeds. Fry for a couple minutes, then separate the meat from the grease.
Separately, fry the seafood. This does not have to be extravagant, especially if you get pre-cooked seafood. It only needs to be barely fried.
When the rice cooker gets to maximum temperature, add everything together and stir clockwise at a rate of one stroke per second - kidding! Just seeing if you are still paying attention. Conversely, if you used the stovetop, add the seafood, bacon and sausage after the rice has absorbed the water and become thick. Cook for about 15 minutes, and then reduce heat to warm - time to make the appetizers.
A good appetizer to have with this meal would be fontains and black bean dip. You can get fontains at Monroe's Pick and Save; they are like big bananas (I am not sure if Piggly Wiggly has fontains - I only go grocery shopping once every six weeks, and have not been in since the renovation).
Anyway, get yourself about four fontains. OK my friends, pay attention to this because it is important: Peel the fontains and cut them crossways so they are in one-inch chunks, or thereabouts. Meanwhile, heat a skillet with about one-half inch of oil on the bottom. Cook the fontains in the oil so they are golden, NOT dark! You will have to flip them halfway through. Once the fontain chunks are golden, remove them from the oil and allow them to cool slightly. Then, mash them into disks using the bottom of a coffee mug. Do this by simply pressing down gently on the CUT SIDE. Using tongs, re-cook the fontain disks in the hot oil until golden. Sprinkle with salt, and arrange them into an attractive pattern on a pretty serving platter. Now it is time to make the accompanying bean dip.
To make the bean dip, throw a dash of olive oil into a frying pan and heat. Add the following: one-half red onion finely chopped, one-half tsp. sugar, dash black pepper, dash soy sauce, dash thyme, dash cumin, and one-half tsp. yellow table mustard. Once the onion starts to sizzle in the oil, add a 450-gram can of refried black beans. Mix everything together rigorously until it is the consistency of toothpaste. As soon as you see little bubbles in the bean dip, remove it from heat and place it into an attractive serving bowl, preferably glass. Do not use a plastic bowl; that is tacky.
The bean dip and the fontains go together, but do not eat too much, lest you suffer from starch overload. This meal will easily serve five, and I would recommend a sweet white table wine as an accompaniment. Enjoy!
- Dan Wegmueller is a columnist for The Monroe Times. He can be reached at dwegs@tds.net.
