jambalaya to serve 8-10

Photo by Ken Williams of the Concord Monitor

To make the jambalaya, you first need to gather all the ingredients....

Start by heating 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large heavy pot over med/high heat.
Sprinkle 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs with salt and pepper and brown in batches, being careful not to crowd pan.

Turn, using tongs when nicely browned, which takes about 4 minutes a side.

When all the chicken is browned, set it aside in a large bowl.
Add 1 pound kielbasa which has been cut into 1/4 inch slices to the empty pan.
Cook the kielbasa for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until lightly browned.

Remove kielbasa with a slotted spoon and add to the reserved chicken.
Cut 2 red peppers, 4 ribs of celery and one medium onion into small dice.
Mince 4 cloves of garlic.
Turn the heat to medium low and dump all the veggies and garlic into the pot.

Cook over medium heat until vegetables and soft and shiny, stirring frequently.

Keep stirring so that the veggies don't stick to the bottom of the pot.
Add a teaspoon or two more oil if the veggies are sticking and the pot seems dry.

Add one and a half cups rice and give it a good stir to get the rice nicely coated with the oil.

Add 2 cans of "original recipe" stewed tomatoes,
3 cans of chicken broth,
2 bay leaves and several grindings of fresh pepper.
Add back the reserved chicken and the kielbasa and push down to submerge into the liquid.

Simmer over medium heat about 20 minutes until rice is fully cooked. Serve immediately if you like your Jambalaya soupy, or let simmer longer. The rice will continue to expand. You may need to add more chicken broth to the leftovers.

making the panini

These are really delish. I know, I know veggies in the grilled cheese sandwiches have a little bit of an ick factor for the rug rats, but Robin and I both got most of our kids to choke a couple of these down. And the day of the photo shoot, we stood around and devoured them bit by bit, (because as we well know, cutting anything into little pieces destroys the calories) slathered with the red pepper herb mayo.

Note: The recipe in the paper calls for adding shredded cheese to the veggies. I didn't have any shredded cheese, and didn't feel like getting out the cuisinart and the special shredding disks, so I just sliced up some cheddar. It's all good.

Here are the steps to make a pan of panini:

First, lube the cookie sheet with some olive oil.

Add the toasted bread (and try not to notice my missing cabinet door).

Here's a look at the veggies, sauteed until fairly dry...

Load the cheese and the sauted veggies onto the bread.


Top each panini with some more cheese and another slice of toasted bread and drizzle with olive oil.

Place another cookie sheet on top of the sammies and place on the oven rack. Top with a really heavy pot or a couple of bricks. This pot is cast iron, weighs a ton and was a super score at TJ's for forty bucks on clearance last summer.


Cook at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.

And Voila!

september 24, 2008: frugal feasts lasagna

Photo by Ken Williams of the Concord Monitor

Lasagna The Frugal Feasts Way

Basic Recipe-makes 1 11 by 15 pan, at least 20 servings.
Fewer if the eaters are really depressed.
1 32 ounce jar marinara sauce - Prego is good here, but whatever is on sale works fine
1 1/2 cups water
6 cups shredded mozzarella
1 cup grated parmesan
16 ounce tub of ricotta cheese
small bottle Wishbone Italian dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 eggs
Fresh ground pepper and kosher salt to taste - approx ½ teaspoon each
1 large package no boil lasagna noodles

Mix together the jar of sauce and the water in a pitcher and set aside.In a medium sized bowl beat together the ricotta, parmesan, 3 cups of mozzarella, eggs, Italian dressing, garlic, salt and pepper and set aside.

Optional fillings

Sausage: remove skins from one package sweet Italian sausage with fennel and place in a large skillet over medium heat. Break into small pieces with a wooden spoon and cook until sausage is no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon and add to the sauce in the pitcher.

Roasted Veggies: Roughly chop 1 pound of mixed veggies (we like zucchini and summer squash but red pepper, onion and mushroom would also be delicious) into 1 inch pieces. Place on baking sheet and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 375 degrees until cooked and starting to brown (about 20 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add to ricotta mixture.

Assembling the lasagna:Pour about 1 1/2 cups of sauce into the bottom of an 11X15 inch pan. Place 4 no-boil noodles in bottom of pan. Spread half of the ricotta mixture on top of the noodles. Spread another 1 1/2 cups sauce on top of the ricotta. Top with four more noodles. Top with the rest of the ricotta. Top with another 1 1/2 cups sauce and four more noodles. Cover the top with sauce, making sure that all of the top layer of noodles is covered. Cover the whole dish with two sheets with foil and seal well. Bake at 375 degrees for one hour. Remove the foil and cover the top of the lasagna with the rest of the cheese. Broil for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and brown. Let sit for 15 minutes before serving.