Zatarain's is a friend of sausage

One of my fave rice brands is Zatarain's. New Orleans is practically next door to Texas.

In fact, Houston is kind of 'Big Brother' to New Orleans. There's been commercial and familial interaction between the two cities for generations. And they love to share food.

When Hurricane Katrina tore into New Orleans, the cities of Houston and San Antonio played major roles as refugee centers. For one season, the New Orleans Saints played half their football games in San Antonio's Alamodome.

We like their Cajun dishes. And they like our Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes. And looking for a Zatarain's rice box on the grocery shelf is as natural as looking for a favorite brand of tortillas.

I wanted to take some Opa's Jalapeno Smoked Sausage, chop it with some vegetables and pair it with some Zatarain's dirty rice. I chopped broccoli and added some frozen peas and carrots.

In one pot, I cooked up the dirty rice. And in a skillet, I had the sausage bits cooking on low heat. I made a simple sauce with water, vegetable oil, corn starch, salt and basil. Then I tossed into the skillet the veggies.

Once the veggies go in, let it cook for another five minutes or so. I don't like to cook so long that the broccoli gets mushy.

The box instructions suggest 25 minutes for the dirty rice, but I've had luck with 20 minutes. I guess it depends on how hot the pot is simmering and how soft you want the rice.

Spoon out the proportion of rice you want and heap the sausage and veggies over it. I served this dish with a merlot wine.

Zatarain's dirty rice with sausage, veggies

More recently, I made a similar dish with Zatarain's Jambalaya rice. I cooked Opa's German sausage in a pan with some slices of pork loin.

What I had on the cutting board was a sweet potato and cabbage, both were chopped and throw into the jambalaya rice pot. The sweet potato and cabbage is stirred in and it cooks fine. I didn't have to add more water than what was suggested on the box instructions (2 1/2 cups).

It really turned out great. Of course, my version ended up with a spicy dose of my homemade hot sauce, but the seasonings in the Zatarain's jambalaya are great; it doesn't need anything else.

I know! Jambalaya is supposed to have shrimp and okra. Maybe next time!

Buen provecho.

Kleenex soup

Now these are Christmas colors!

Last week of 2010, I was back in San Antonio, and I took a walk in the garden. It was time to harvest the Asian peppers; those pinky finger length red chilis. And we have three three chili petin bushes. I cleaned them out.

The red Asian peppers are fairly hot, but the chili petins (those small red beads) are serious business. Idea rather munch on three Asian peppers than put one of those little red beads in my mouth.

Chili petin grows wild in Texas. You don't have to go to a nursery. If they don't pop up in your yard on their own, you can always take a couple chili petin peppers from a neighbor and just toss them in your soil.

I packed them in my suitcase along with about 10 brands of Texas sausage (all necessary provisions in the far southeast of the USA) so I could make my own hot sauce. I boiled the Asian peppers with the chili petin, a few cloves of chopped garlic, one chopped onion and two large chopped tomatoes. As it cooks, add salt and  a little vegetable oil.

What I end up with is concentrated. I wouldn't serve it up on anything this way. Most of it went into a plastic storage container and straight to the freezer. I kept about a half cup out and ran it through the blender. Then I diluted it with a half cup of water and I now have a cup of hot sauce that is quite spicy but it won't kill me.

Now that we have the heat, it's time for Kleenex soup. I'll explain the name later.

One of the sausage brands I came back with was Opa's Jalapeño Smoked Sausage. Opa's comes from the German town of Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country. You can find it in most supermarkets in Central and South Texas.

I chopped the sausage and  grilled it on a skillet with low heat while I warmed up a pot of red beans soup. The sausage goes into a soup bowl with the red bean soup and I poured in two spoonfuls of that homemade hot sauce. On top, I sprinkled fresh chopped onion and a little crumbled queso costeno.

That's a white, salty cheese.




Now, let's eat!

During the winter, I'm more prone to chow into a spicy soup. It's hot. Mmm, very hot! I've had Vietnamese soups this spicy, but I don't come across very many American soups with this much kick. 

Opa's Jalapeno Smoked Sausage from Fredericksburg, Tx

As I work my way to the bottom of the bowl, the hot sauce starts to clear out my sinuses. If I had anything in my head that was bothering me, it's on its way out now.

Having a tissue or two would come in handy. So by the time I'm done with it, I'm grateful for the Kleenex box.

Kleenex Soup!

Buen provecho.