Jambalaya! Sparks style.....

We kinda went meat crazy while shopping this week and got more than we normally eat.  To use some of it up, I think I'll make one of the family favorites and throw together a pot of jambalaya.... Of course, I'm allergic to shellfish, so it will lack shrimp or other crustaceans that people love so much.  This is a hearty, spicy melange of rice and beans with a few different meats.  Great on cold days, or to stretch a small amount of meat to feed a family (or if you're like us, and just don't like every meal to be heavy on the meats.)

A simple one pot meal that takes little effort to be outstanding.  Also, like most things we make, be creative and change it up.  Heck, I won't link the vegetarians here, because of the amount of meat and meat products in this version, but you could make an all veggie version of this as well, simply substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock, and use heartier veggies like chunks of portabello, beets, carrots, cauliflower and turnips, chick peas and other beans; I just might have to try that.....

Cost: around $7 for the potful
Time: About an hour
Difficulty: 2

Matzo Ball Soup. The Miracle Cure.

Whenever someone in this house gets sick, it's time for soup.  Not sure what it is about a hearty chicken soup that makes flu germs flee like a politician from the truth, but it sure seems to do the trick.  Hell, sometimes I think my kids feign illness just so I'll make soup.  To heck with an apple, a bowl of hearty stock full of chicken, veggies and matzo balls will keep the doctor away, unless, of course, you know the doctor, and they know about your soup.  Then they'll never get out of your hair...

Hot bowl of magic right here.

If you've made the stock in advance, this soup is pretty much a matter of chopping everything up and dropping it in hot stock.  But there's still a step by step after the jump.  Just hit that 'Read more' button down there...

I felt like a basic soup this time, but don't limit yourself to the ingredients I have here.  Yellow squash is wonderful, as is rice, wild rice, pasta, turnips, chard, spinach, broccoli... I could go on and on...

Time: 45 minutes to an hour

Cost: $8 for a good sized pot

Difficulty: 2

An inside stock tip: Make it from scratch

One of the staple ingredients in the Sparks household is chicken stock.  We make it roughly every two weeks from our scraps, and it fuels things like rice, adds a base to soups and flavors simple recipes.  When a recipe here calls for stock, this is what we use... 

Chicken stock in 8 and 16oz jars ready to jazz up simple meals

Home made stock is so much better than the factory made stuff and it takes all of fifteen minutes of attention to make (While it does simmer for 2-3 hrs, you can be doing other things, so I don't count that time).   We can keep the sodium at nearly 0, and the flavor at 11.  Yes the flavor goes to 11. Seriously, from scraps to stock in about fifteen minutes of work.

Time: 15 min (2-3 hrs to simmer, but no attention really needed)

Cost: FREE!!!! It's made from scraps

Difficulty: 1 - They should change the phrase to 'Easy as Stock"

Monday: Pan Seared Chicken with Rice and Veggies

On Monday we made pan seared chicken with broth steamed rice and vegetables for dinner.

This is a fairly straight forward dinner.

I marinated the chicken in a battibecco rub for 2 days prior.  Rubbed it under the skin to really season the meat.  Then I pan seared it over medium high heat in a cast iron skillet. I left the skin on for the first round (20 minutes or so, turning once midway through), cooking with a lid on and pulled the skin off and removed the lid at the end and browned the bare chicken (5 minutes per side).  This way it can cook all the way through without burning, and I can control the sear on the final step.

The rice was just steamed with chicken stock (a staple for the house, next time I make it, I'll post)

The veggies were simple. I parboiled the Brussels sprouts to about halfway cooked.  Then finished them off in a hot pan tossed with extra-virgin olive oil and more battibecco.  I cooked the onions and carrots with the chicken early on so they steamed while the lid was on the chicken.  Then I added them to the pan with the Brussels sprouts and tossed together for a magnificent side dish.

Cooking time: 35 minutes from start to finish
Cost: $9 made enough for four plates
Skill level: 3