This weather stuff is crazy! We went from rain and newly formed rivers in the yard to the 70's with shorts and a T-shirt last weekend. Then we get hit with sleet and a small crop dusting of snow. I don't have all of these different types of clothes for three different seasons in one week. I don't know what to expect next, but I just wish it would be consistent. The dogs normally have no problem when you ask them if they want to go outside, but now they have to investigate the situation before they even come close to walking out the door. I am home alone for a while as the rest of the family headed off to their hometowns to do their own things.
This gives me time to bond with the dogs and celebrate peanut hour in the evenings!
HaHa! Once our house sells I will get to hook up with my wife in Dallas. All kidding aside, we had some good family time as Matt came home from La Tech for a few days during
Mardi Gras break along with Janet and Tyler being here as we celebrated their birthdays at Genghis Grill. Where is everyone headed for Spring Break/Summer Vacation this year? If you need some help, I know a cool
travel agent. He keeps telling me that
cruise vacations and
all inclusive resorts are hot right now. I think I need to give him a call. I am getting hungry! Let's go cook something! As a
foodaholic and a
social networking junkie, I have had the pleasure to meet some really cool people online who love food and are willing to share their recipes.
One of those very special people is Toni Patrick Cox from
Ruston, LA. Not only is she a great cook she is a very nice person and a football junkie. Football and food, what could be better? During the Super Bowl she made Sausage/Chicken Jambalaya and she was kind enough to share her recipe with me. I have to tell you I was blown away. I have not been very successful with making this Creole/Cajun dish, so I was super excited to have an authentic family recipe to try. I have not personally met Mrs. Cox yet, but I hope to one day soon when I travel to
Ruston to watch my son Matt play football at
La Tech. You know me by now as I always have to check out the history of what I am going to make. Jambalaya originated in southern Louisiana by the Cajuns around the bayou where food was scarce, as opposed to the richer part of Louisiana.
The word is said to be a compound word of
Jambon from the French meaning ham, and
Aya meaning rice in African, as there were many slaves in the Louisiana at the time. Common belief is that it originated from the Spanish Paella, which has also transformed in the United States to a dish called Spanish rice. Jambalaya is a bit different many times as it incorporates seafood, ham, link sausage rounds and chicken, although it doesn't have to have all those ingredients.
It can be made (separately or all together) with ham, chicken, sausage, fresh pork, shrimp, duck and oysters, to which is added shortening, rice, onion, garlic, pepper and other seasonings. There is a Jambalaya Festival and World Champion Jambalaya Cooking contest held annually in Gonzales, LA and it attracts area cooks who have spent years perfecting the art of cooking and seasoning this Creole delicacy. Gonzales, LA is called the Jambalaya Capital of The World. Let's get this cooking adventure rolling! The prep work needs to be done, but grab two beers to drink during the process first.
Cut a medium onion to a medium/small dice; chop your celery and green onions into a small dice as well. Then chop your parsley. Don't chop it down to fine as it will cook down some. Then take your smoked sausage of choice and slice it. The chicken breast is next as it need to be cut into cubes. You know the size you like to eat. I think everything is ready to go. I am using a 5 quart ceramic coated cast iron pot. Turn the heat to medium high, add a little oil and fry off your smoked sausage. Remove the smoked sausage and drain on paper towels. Next you take your cubed chicken breast and cook in the sausage drippings like a stir fry.
Once your chicken is browned, remove and set aside. Now take the remaining vegetable oil and add to your pan. I know the oil sound like a lot, but it is not. Take your onions, celery, parsley, green onions and
sauté for several minutes. Then take your long grain rice and
sauté with the veggies for a few more minutes. Now you add one box of chicken stock, chicken, sausage, a 16 ounce can of diced tomatoes, bay leaves, cayenne pepper and creole seasoning. Simmer over medium heat for 10 to 15 minutes, Then cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until the rice is done.
I have to tell you that I made this recipe with no one to share it with. My wife is not very happy! I could not wait to eat. It smelled awesome, it looked awesome and it blew me away. This is what I call the ultimate comfort food. I am in heaven and I am on the floor because I ate too much. I cannot even walk to my bottle of wine! I cannot tell you how good this is. I am so awed with how super delicious this is. You will have to make it and shoot me a note after you get back up off of the floor. I bet you will fall in love with it as much as I did. I paired this incredible recipe with a crusty French baguette and nice bottle of 2007 Red Willow
Sangiovese from the Columbia Winery in Washington State.
Just one quick side note to the recipe as I added more cayenne pepper and one
serrano pepper diced to the recipe. It also called for a 13 ounce can of chicken stock, but it was actually one box of chicken stock. Mrs. Cox, I cannot thank you enough for sharing this recipe with me. It will remain in my family forever. I know I was supposed to make dessert as well, but I will save your bread pudding recipe for another day. I hope you to will try this recipe out and I bet you will be satisfied with how awesome it is. Make sure and invite your family and friends over and make it a big party! I truly appreciate all of you who are reading and following.
Please leave me a comment sometime so I know who is reading. Send me a recipe and I will make it. I would be honored if you share this blog with a friend. Find something you enjoy and just do it! Life is way too short! Have fun and smile! You never know what tomorrow will bring! Until next time, "
Cookin with John" will be playing with some more food ideas to share with you!
PS: I learned a new word the other day! It is called
Cruisitude! My
travel agent told me about it.
The sun has been shining most of the week. With all of this off and on rain we have had as of late things are still a little damp. I will be glad when things start to dry out. I am even stoked that I get to get the mower out soon. I know I am weird, but green grass looks a lot better than the brown dried looking stuff. I got this Aero Garden for my birthday last year and since the house is up for sale I never took it out of the box. Well what the heck! It is set up and the three pods that I planted were basil, dill and oregano. You need to check these things out. It is a hydroponic system with a grow light. It will be fun to see how everything turns out. I planted some strange tomatoes and some exotic peppers in some pots I have on the deck. 
I hope they do well this year. Last year was not a huge success. The travel business is hanging in there. Alaska, River Cruising and All Inclusive Resorts are pretty hot items right now. A summer vacation is right around the corner and now is a pretty good time to get things in place. I don't know what it is, but my mind spins when it comes to cooking. I have been doing most of my experimentations with breakfast and have combined some pretty strange ingredients that work well with eggs. Some of the exotic combinations have been with capers, green olives, jambalaya, enchilada stacks and refried beans inside of an omelet. 
They all have worked for me, but I am not sure the rest of the family would ever eat any of it. One of my all time favorite foods in the world is pizza. Mama Mia it is pizza time! Did you know that the first pizzeria in the United States was opened by Gennaro Lombardi in 1895 in New York City? I am a pizza junkie and love to create different and unique pizzas. My parents went to a small college in Iowa and they used to hang out at this pizza joint called the Pizza Shack. They became friends with the owner and he shared his recipe with them. The only thing was it was for 100 pizzas so they had to cut it down to a recipe for 3 pizzas. Not only is this recipe still with our family it was also the start of Johnny's Pizza headquartered in Monroe, LA. 
Johnny Huntsman the owner of Johnny's Pizza and my parents went to college together and have shared the recipe ever since. Johnny's Pizza has 30 to 40 locations scattered out in Louisiana and Texas. This cooking session was going to consist of pizza made 3 different ways. Pizza #1 is going to be a potato pizza! Pizza #2 is going to be an alfredo pizza! Pizza #3 is going to be a normal with pizza sauce! The dough for 3 pizzas is quite easy. I mix 2 packets of rapid rise yeast to 1 cup of warm water and 2 table spoons of sugar. I let that proof for about 5 minutes. My dry ingredients are 3 cups of all purpose flour and 1 teaspoon of sea salt. 
I mix the wet and dry together with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Once all of this comes together pour it out on a floured surface and knead it into a ball. Then place it in a greased bowl about twice the size of the dough ball, cover it with a towel and put it in a warm place for 2 hours to rise. After 2 hours knock the dough down and dived into thirds and make 3 balls. Cover them with saran wrap and let rise a second time. The pizza sauce recipe is for 3 pizzas, but I am only using it on 1 of the pizzas. 
You take 1 can of tomato paste (Contadina), 1 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 heaping tablespoon of ground oregano, 1 tablespoon of Louisiana hot sauce, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and I add a little water to thin it out some. Mix all of this together, cover and set aside. I normally cook my pizza outside on the grill, but I was bringing the show indoors. I cook a unit called a VillaWare Pizza Grill. It is a pizza stone made into a unit that will fit on your grill or oven. I have used it on my gas grill and my 22” Weber. I put my oven rack at the lowest level and the pizza grill goes on to of that. I set the oven to 500 degrees and let the stone heat up for at least 30 minutes prior to cooking. 
I had some ingredients that I needed to prep first. I needed to make some caramelized some onions, crisp up some bacon, chop some mushrooms, slice some green olives and put the potatoes thru the mandolin. The Italian sausage and mozzarella cheese are the easy part. Once all of the prep work was complete and the onions had caramelized I was ready to roll. I forgot to mention this earlier, but you will need a pizza peel to slide your pizza on and off of your stone. Make sure and sprinkle corn meal on it first or your pizza will not come off. You will not be a happy camper if you forget this part. You can add more as needed. The first pizza is rolled out and placed on the pizza peel. This would be the strange pizza of the night. 
Olive oil would be used instead of pizza sauce. Then I layered thinly sliced potatoes on next. The mozzarella cheese came next. I prefer sliced cheese over grated. It seems to melt easier. I put crushed red pepper on next and she was ready to go. Just slide it on the stone and set your timer for 8 minutes. I was not sure how this was going to come out. I have never made a potato pizza before. The pizza was thin and crispy with a gooey cheesy potato topping. I cut the pizza into 12 slices and was ready to try my first bite. I must admit it was pretty good. It could be a keeper. Pizza #2 was going to be an alfredo pizza with caramelized onions, bacon and mushrooms. 
I used Bertolli’s alfredo sauce in a jar. I know I should have made my own. I rolled to dough out on a floured surface and then placed it on the pizza peel. The alfredo sauce goes on next and the mozzarella cheese. The caramelized onions, mushrooms and bacon go on next. Then it gets a shower of oregano and on the stone she goes for 8 minutes. This one smelled amazing! I cannot wait to taste this one. I have made alfredo pizza before, but not with these toppings. After 8 minutes this girl is bubbling. I slide her off onto the cutting board and let her sit for a minute before I slice into her. The smells of this pizza did not disappoint me. It was incredible. I need to drink a glass of red wine with this one. 
I am in pizza heaven and I still have another one to make. Pizza #3 will be Italian sausage and green olives and the famous pizza sauce. The dough is rolled out and the sauce and cheese go on next. The sausage and green olives join the party next and then it is showered with oregano. 8 minutes on the stone and this bubbling goodness is ready to come out. I don’t know what it is about green olives and pizza for me, but it gets my motor running. 
I know this one is going to be good. I believe it is time for another glass of red wine as I am going to sit down and eat this one. This has been an amazing pizza experimentation night. Another pizza that I make in the summer time when I grill pizza outside is a barbeque chicken pizza. I use barbeque sauce as the base on the dough before the cheese. I then add rotisserie chicken, onions, pickles and a drizzle of barbeque sauce on top of that. I kid you not you will want to do a jig after the first bite. I knew I should have made 4 pizzas tonight. I told you playing with pizza can be fun. Let your hair down and play with your food. This has been an amazing night and my taste buds have been satisfied. I think I need another glass of red wine to finish the night off. I hope this has helped give you some new pizza ideas. It is not authentic Neapolitan pizza, but it backyard fun pizza. 
Authentic Neapolitan pizzas that are made with local ingredients from Naples like San Marzano tomatoes, which grow on the volcanic plains to the south of Mount Vesuvius, and Mozzarella di Bufala Campania, made with the milk from water buffalo raised in the marshlands of Campania and Lazio in a semi-wild state. The dough is made from type 0 or 00 Italian wheat flour. I am sure it is good, but I will stick with the backyard fun version until I visit Naples! If you have any questions just shoot me a message. I would be glad to help. If you try something really weird like chocolate pizza let me know how it came out. I am learning about cooking everyday! Another night of cooking has come to an end and I am truly blessed with my family and friends that I have. Cooking is a passion of mine and I hope you enjoy making pizza as much as I do. I have to give special thanks to my mom for keeping the pizza recipe strong and alive in our family. She still uses these special pizza pans that are over 50 years old. She can achieve the same crispy crust that I get from my pizza stone. I love you mom! 
When you have time send me a recipe and I will make it and then write about it. I would be honored if you would share this blog with a friend who loves to cook. Find something you enjoy and just do it! Life is way too short! Have fun and smile! You never know what tomorrow will bring! Until next time, “Cookin with John” will be playing with some more food ideas to share with you!
