Midweek supper 2025 March 12

[taxlady]

I had already cooked food for supper. I had the second serving of the macaroni with rapini and Italian sausage. I had that with the bean mash with artichoke bottoms and asparagus, the one I couldn't find Monday. That reheats really well. There seems to be enough for another two times as a side dish. I think the pasta dish would reheat better in a pot with smidgen of liquid. It was just a little bit dry. I fixed that with some grated Pecorino Romano. I thoroughly enjoyed that meal and not having to cook.

What did you have?

 

[blissful]

We had planned over Greek lemon spinach lentil soup and 1/2 of the meal sized salad, for dinner. The soup was better the second day. Mr bliss spent 1/2 day burning wood from 2 trees we had taken down. There'll be more burning in our future too, there's so much there.

 

[pepperhead212]

I made some jambalaya today, that I took out a pound of frozen, leftover ham for, and also thawed some shrimp, which I add a serving at a time, and I'll be eating a bunch of servings of this (there's well over 2 qts of it left!).

I made it with some brown basmati, that I soaked in hot water, but only 2 hours, so it didn't have much effect on its cooking time, though I was just guessing at it, anyway, since I was cooking on low pressure.

I started with 2 smaller diced onions, in some olive oil, in the Instant Pot, on Sauté. When it started browning, I added the celery and bell pepper (usually use green in this, but only had ripe on hand today), and cooked 6 or 7 minutes, while getting other things ready. I then added the garlic, herbs (5 fresh bay, 1½ tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp marjoram, and ground Thai pepper,for heat, plus two 4 oz containers of tomato paste I had frozen, and cooked this until the fond was starting from the paste, and I added 1/3 c white vermouth, and scraped the bottom, then added the ham, and cooked a couple of minutes. Then I added a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, 3 water (rinsed the can out with this), and the 1½ c soaked brown basmati. Brought it to a boil (the ham and canned tomatoes had enough salt, I didn't add any more), then hit Off, and Manual, and adjusted level to low pressure, then 35 min - as I said in the beginning, soaking didn't affect the rice much, so I had to replace the lid after checking the rice, and I set it Manual on low, for another 10 min, let the pressure release 5 min, and the rice was done. Then, I cut 6 of those oversized shrimp (don't remember the size) in half, and let them heat, on top for just 2 minutes, and it was ready to serve.
Onions for the Jambalaya, in sauté mode in Instant Pot, cooking before the bell pepper and celery is added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bell pepper, celery, garlic, and remaining herbs and spices, ready to add to IP. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cut up leftover ham, to and to the IP, after cooking the veggies a while. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Jambalaya mix, after adding the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, and rice, just before adding remaining liquid. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Jambalaya, almost finished, ready to put the serving of cooked shrimp on, to heat briefly. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Single serving of shrimp, heated on top of the Jambalaya, and ready to serve. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Jambalaya. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

 

[caseydog]

I made some jambalaya today, that I took out a pound of frozen, leftover ham for, and also thawed some shrimp, which I add a serving at a time, and I'll be eating a bunch of servings of this (there's well over 2 qts of it left!).

I made it with some brown basmati, that I soaked in hot water, but only 2 hours, so it didn't have much effect on its cooking time, though I was just guessing at it, anyway, since I was cooking on low pressure.

I started with 2 smaller diced onions, in some olive oil, in the Instant Pot, on Sauté. When it started browning, I added the celery and bell pepper (usually use green in this, but only had ripe on hand today), and cooked 6 or 7 minutes, while getting other things ready. I then added the garlic, herbs (5 fresh bay, 1½ tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp marjoram, and ground Thai pepper,for heat, plus two 4 oz containers of tomato paste I had frozen, and cooked this until the fond was starting from the paste, and I added 1/3 c white vermouth, and scraped the bottom, then added the ham, and cooked a couple of minutes. Then I added a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes, 3 water (rinsed the can out with this), and the 1½ c soaked brown basmati. Brought it to a boil (the ham and canned tomatoes had enough salt, I didn't add any more), then hit Off, and Manual, and adjusted level to low pressure, then 35 min - as I said in the beginning, soaking didn't affect the rice much, so I had to replace the lid after checking the rice, and I set it Manual on low, for another 10 min, let the pressure release 5 min, and the rice was done. Then, I cut 6 of those oversized shrimp (don't remember the size) in half, and let them heat, on top for just 2 minutes, and it was ready to serve.
Onions for the Jambalaya, in sauté mode in Instant Pot, cooking before the bell pepper and celery is added. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The bell pepper, celery, garlic, and remaining herbs and spices, ready to add to IP. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Cut up leftover ham, to and to the IP, after cooking the veggies a while. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

The Jambalaya mix, after adding the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, and rice, just before adding remaining liquid. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Jambalaya, almost finished, ready to put the serving of cooked shrimp on, to heat briefly. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Single serving of shrimp, heated on top of the Jambalaya, and ready to serve. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Finished Jambalaya. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

That's a lot more ingredients and more complicated than the cajun jambalaya I grew up with, but it looks like good food. Vermouth? That caught me by surprise.

BTW, I rarely use green bell peppers in my Trinity. I usually red (ripe) bells. They just taste better, IMHO. Also, the right ham for that dish is Tasso, which is hard to get outside of SE Louisiana. I have to cure and smoke my own. If you ever want to try it, let me know, I'll tell you how to make it.

CD

 

[dragnlaw]

Had my Potatoes O'Brien that I made and posted about on St Paddy's Challenge. Very tasty indeed.

I had actually prepped all on Tuesday. It never made it into the pan, ergo Wednesday's supper. So easy when all the prep work is already done. Just parboil the potatoes for minutes, toss into the pan to brown up, add the onions and then the rest of whatever you found in the fridge. Salt & pepper or any spice you'd like, eg. a favourite steak spice, creole maybe? I just used S & P.

 

[forty_caliber]

Ravioli with Italian sausage baked in 1/2 tomato and 1/2 alfredo sauce. Caesar salad. Fresh sourdough bread.

.40

 

[Kathleen]

I baked biscuits for the rest of the Chicken Pot Pie soup.

 

[pepperhead212]

That's a lot more ingredients and more complicated than the cajun jambalaya I grew up with, but it looks like good food. Vermouth? That caught me by surprise.

BTW, I rarely use green bell peppers in my Trinity. I usually red (ripe) bells. They just taste better, IMHO. Also, the right ham for that dish is Tasso, which is hard to get outside of SE Louisiana. I have to cure and smoke my own. If you ever want to try it, let me know, I'll tell you how to make it.

CD

CD Thanks for the idea, but I don't think I'll be curing and smoking any meat to make jambalaya with, but I'm sure it would be good! This recipe is one I've been making since back in the 70s, when my roommate and I were trying every recipe we found for it, in our early days of "collecting cookbooks", and found this favorite in a CB I got at one of those huge book sales they had frequently at the school - don't recall the author, just the name of the book: Damn Yankee In A Southern Kitchen. By Helen Worth - just looked it up. That recipe was the only one I ever saw the white wine in, but it was delicious, so that was something I always used, along with the ground bay leaf, cloves, and thyme, for the seasonings. The only tomato in the original recipe was a 6 oz can of paste, but I usually add some other tomatoes, too. And this is something my family would always roast a much larger than necessary ham, so this was a dish I had to make at least 2 double batches of, with the leftovers, and a large batch of Navy beans, with the bones, and some cornbread, for that dinner. Those were the days!

 

[caseydog]

CD Thanks for the idea, but I don't think I'll be curing and smoking any meat to make jambalaya with, but I'm sure it would be good! This recipe is one I've been making since back in the 70s, when my roommate and I were trying every recipe we found for it, in our early days of "collecting cookbooks", and found this favorite in a CB I got at one of those huge book sales they had frequently at the school - don't recall the author, just the name of the book: Damn Yankee In A Southern Kitchen. By Helen Worth - just looked it up. That recipe was the only one I ever saw the white wine in, but it was delicious, so that was something I always used, along with the ground bay leaf, cloves, and thyme, for the seasonings. The only tomato in the original recipe was a 6 oz can of paste, but I usually add some other tomatoes, too. And this is something my family would always roast a much larger than necessary ham, so this was a dish I had to make at least 2 double batches of, with the leftovers, and a large batch of Navy beans, with the bones, and some cornbread, for that dinner. Those were the days!

When I make tasso, I make about five pounds, split it into vacuum sealed bags and freeze it. That easily lasts me a year (once I give some to friends).

I use it in gumbos, jambalayas, and red beans and rice. It's also good in some black bean soup (more of a cuban dish).

It is very salty, so you use it in things that you cook for awhile, and don't add salt to the pot until the very end, because the salty tasso is often enough seasoning by itself.

CD