Scrumptious Jambalaya with Roasted Red Pepper Sausage Recipe

On August 12, 2020August 12, 2020 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Louisiana, Recipes1 Comment

When visiting New Orleans, you will have the option to try a variety of wonderful regional dishes, including Jambalaya. Jambalaya is a rice dish that usually has Andouille sausage, but we’d gotten a roasted red pepper sausage from our butcher and decided to use it instead. It turned out to be delicious and was really an easy recipe for a weekday dinner. Shrimp, chicken, or pork can also be added in addition to the sausage, but we chose to keep it simple and just use the sausage. If you like it spicier, you can also add more cayenne pepper.

INGREDIENTS

1/2 lb Roasted Red Pepper Sausage (or Andouille sausage) – cut into slices
1 cup Uncooked Rice
1 Red Bell Pepper – diced
1/2 Yellow Onion – diced
2 stalks Celery – sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup Diced Tomatoes
3 cups Chicken Stalk
2 tbsp Ground Smoked Paprika
1 tbsp Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the paprika, cumin, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl. Heat the butter and oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage in the butter and oil until it is golden-brown. Stir in the spices and cook for another minute before adding the tomatoes, onion, celery, and red pepper. Continue to sauté for about another 5 minutes until the vegetables become soft. Turn the heat down to low and add the chicken broth and rice, cover, and cook for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the rice from sticking. Serve in bowls.

Enjoying a Nice Bowl of Jambalaya with Roasted Red Pepper Sausage

Moroccan-Style Chicken

On August 5, 2020August 5, 2020 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn morocco, Recipes2 Comments

We love the spices of Moroccan food and one of our favorite memories of visiting Morocco was going to the market and buying spices to bring home with us. We also bought a tajine while we were in Morocco, but we chose to use a slow cooker for this recipe. Obviously, you can use a Dutch oven or tajine if you prefer. In addition to the spices, this dish also features olives and raisins, which again reminds of our time in Southern Spain as well as Morocco. Especially when cooking with olives, it is important to use high-quality olives whose flavor you really enjoy. We used olives stuffed with pimentos, which just added to the flavor of the dish. The chicken turned out tender and even though there are a lot of spices, it is certainly not a spicy dish. We did the recipe just for the two of us, but it can easily be increased to serve a crowd.

INGREDIENTS

2 Large Chicken Thighs
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Ground Cumin
1/2 tsp Ground Coriander
1/2 tsp Turmeric
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp All-Spice
1/4 tsp Salt or to taste – but don’t over salt as the olives are salty as well
1/8 tsp Fennel Seeds – crushed
1 dash of Fresh Nutmeg – about 3 or 4 scrapes of the nutmeg across a micro-plane
1/2 Yellow Onion – roughly chopped
1 1/2 cloves Garlic – minced
1/2 cup Olives Stuffed with Pimentos – cut in half
1/4 cup Golden Raisins
1/2 Fresh Lemon (or 1 small Lemon) – thinly sliced
2 to 3 cups Chicken Stock – just enough to cover the chicken
Basmati Rice – cooked to the package directions
Parsley for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix all of the spices in a small bowl to combine thoroughly. Spray the inside of a slow cooker with non-stick spray. Add the onion and place the chicken thighs on top of the onion. Cover the chicken with the spice mixture, being sure to thoroughly coat the the chicken with the spices. Add the garlic, olives, raisins, lemon, and add the chicken stock just until the chicken is covered. Cook on low for 5 hours, stirring once close to the end of cooking. Serve over Basmati rice.

Large Variety of Olives in the Moroccan Market

Moroccan-Style Chicken over Basmati Rice

Chicken Fried Rice

On May 20, 2020May 27, 2020 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Asia, Recipes6 Comments

Fried rice is one of those dishes that tastes wonderful and can be a vehicle for many different ingredients. It is a common dish in Asia because it is so versatile, inexpensive, and delicious. It is a great way to use up leftovers or vegetables that are starting to get a little old. We went pretty traditional as we had leftover basmati rice, a whole cooked chicken, and carrots that needed to be eaten. The sesame oil and soy sauce provide the flavor and frying the rice gives a nice mix of textures. Because it is a simple dish to make, it is a great weeknight meal or it can also be used as a side dish if you prefer. We only used two eggs, but the next time we make it, we’ll probably do three eggs instead. It was truly delicious.

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
5 tbsp Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Fresh Ginger – grated
3 cups Basmati Rice – cooked and dry
1 cup Cooked Chicken – cut into bite-size pieces
1 cup Carrots – diced
1/2 cup Celery – diced
3 Scallions – white and light green parts chopped, the green part cut thinly on a bias to use as garnish
2 cloves Garlic – minced
2 Large Eggs
Salt and Pepper to taste

Sauté the Vegetables, Ginger, and Garlic

INSTRUCTIONS

Whisk the eggs and set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the carrots to skillet and simmer until slightly softened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add the celery, garlic, and ginger and continue simmering for another 3 to 4 minutes, being sure not to let the garlic burn. Add the rice as well as the white and light green parts of the scallion to the skillet. Add the soy sauce and sesame oil, stirring to coat the rice. Using a spatula, gently press the rice mixture down against the bottom of the skillet. Fry until the rice on the bottom begins to crisp, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chicken and cook for 1 to 2 minutes to heat the chicken. Add the eggs and continue to stir the rice mixture until the eggs are set, about 1 minute. Transfer to a serving dish or to individual plates and sprinkle the green scallion over top.