Avgolemeno is one of those soups that I’ve made many times, but rarely from scratch. It’s usually a “there’s nothing in the house” type of thing, made with a carton of broth. Even in its quick-and-easy form, it’s a delicious, and comforting meal, but when you use a fresh, whole chicken, it becomes epic.
This way you get a nice broth, and the meat will still be flavorful when you add it back in. If you don’t want meat in the soup, which by the way, is how my wife Michele much prefers it, then keep simmering until the chicken falls apart and all the flavor has been extracted into the broth.
Some recipes call for orzo pasta in this, but I like the Arborio rice. I think it gives just the right amount of starchiness and body, but any rice or small pasta will work here. The perfect amounts of lemon and egg are also up to you, and experimentation is recommended. I really hope you give this classic Greek soup a try soon. Enjoy!
Makes 6 Servings Avgolemeno Soup:
1 whole chicken, about 3 pounds
3 quarts cold water
2 tsp salt at least, plus more to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp dried oregano leaves
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups finely diced onion
2/3 to 3/4 cup Arborio rice, depending on how thick you like it
Any time someone asks the question, “What exactly is soul food,” the answer should always be a comforting bowl of red beans and rice. Just sit them down, give them a spoon, and when they finish, ask them if they understand. They will.
Like I say in the intro, there are thousands of ways you can make this, using all sorts of smoked pig parts and sausages, but there are really only two ways you can serve it – thin and soupy, or thick and creamy.
Once you slowly simmered your beans, and they’re very, very soft and tender, and your meats are falling apart, you’re ready to serve. If you ladle it up as is, you’ll have something that’s fairly loose, with most of the beans still whole. It’s great like this, and based on my travels to New Orleans, the more common style.
However, another popular technique is to smash and stir some of the cooked beans into the mixture as you continue cooking. This creates a much thicker, and creamier consistency, which I really enjoy when I want something a bit more substantial. It’s closer to a chili texture, and I love how the rice sticks to it.
This is totally up to personal taste, so if you’ve never made it before, try some on rice as soon as the beans are tender, and it’s still pretty juicy. Check it out, and then, if you want, you can continue cooking/smashing/stirring to end up closer to where I did.
Regardless of how thick you make yours, you’ll want to soak your beans overnight in cold water before starting the recipe. If you forget, which you will, you can always use the quick method. Bring the beans to a boil in large pot of water, turn off the heat, and let it sit there for an hour or so to soften up, and become easier to digest.
If you put enough meat in it, this is more than a meal, but it also makes a great side dish for barbeque, or pretty much anything. Throw in some collard greens, and maybe some cornbread, and let the good times roll. I hope you give this easy, red beans and recipe a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 8 portions:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
12 ounces Andouille sausage, sliced or cubed
1 cup finely diced onion
3/4 cup finely diced celery
3/4 cup finely diced green peppers
4 cloves minced garlic
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 smoked ham hock
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
2 quarts chicken broth or water, plus more as needed to adjust consistency
1 pound red kidney beans, soaked overnight
about 2 teaspoons kosher salt, or to taste hot sauce to taste
The first time I had Cajun-style boudin sausage, I was confused. I’d ordered something called “sausage,” but that’s not what I got. Instead of the firm, meaty tube I was used to, I was served a tough, rubbery casing filled with a soft, wet, paste-like meat and rice mixture.
It had pork and alligator in it, among other things, and had I not been in one of the most famous restaurants in New Orleans, I’d have thought the chef had done something drastically wrong. It was incredibly delicious, but the texture, and the fact you had to squeeze it out of the casing to eat, took some time for me to process.
I’ve come to understand how and why it’s done that way, and it’s become one of my favorite foods. However, since the casing is nothing more than a delivery system, I much prefer to form the boudin into balls, and fry them as seen herein.
The textural contrast between the crispy outside and moist, savory inside is a wonder to behold. The taste is just as impressive. Intensely flavorful and satisfying, these boudin balls would win any Super Bowl food table on which they appeared. Hint, hint.
Just don’t leave out the liver! I know you “hate” it, but I don’t care, put it in anyway. It makes this wonder of American cuisine what it is. I really hope you give these boudin balls a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for about 48 Boudin Balls, depending on the size:
1 3/4 lbs boneless pork shoulder, cut in 1-inch cubes
6 ounces chicken livers, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 yellow onion, diced
2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 cup diced poblano chili or green bell pepper
1/2 cup diced jalapenos (seeded first)
6 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons kosher salt (1 1/2 to 2 tbsp if using table salt)
1 1/2 tablespoons black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne
4 or 5 cups fully-cooked white rice,
1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
1/2 cup fresh chopped green onion
Enough seasoned flour, beaten eggs, and plain breadcrumbs to bread the balls
- Fry at 350 F. for 3-4 minutes until browned, crisp, and hot inside.
I believe I’ve posted a few “fool proof” methods for cooking “perfect” rice, but this Persian version takes the grand prize, and it’s not even close for second. The beauty of this method is that it doesn’t rely on any specific measurements, or even exact times. This will make some of you very nervous, but just go with it.
As long as the pot you use to boil and steam the grains is large enough, this will work exactly as shown. Since we are basically steaming rice that’s already been par-boiled and drained, there are never any issues with too much, or too little water.
By the way, I’ve only made this a handful of times, and so I’m sure there are many things I could improve on. I hear that soaking the rice in cold, salted water before boiling it helps improve the texture even more, which I find kind of hard to believe.
I mean, is there a level of rice perfection that goes beyond perfection? Probably too deep a question for a food blog about rice, so I’ll simply close by saying, I hope you give this Persian rice a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 8 Portions:
2 cups basmati rice, rinsed very well
3 quarts water, brought to a boil with 3 tablespoons of salt
2 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 russets potato, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch slices
salt to taste
pinch of ground cumin
5 or 6 slices of butter for top
pinch of saffron, ground and mixed with 1 1/2 tablespoons hot water parsley to garnish
With all the fancy, grilled summer meats flying around, it’s easy to forget about the side dishes. Nobody wants to spend hours in the kitchen, when they could be outside playing volleyball in jhorts, but with this easy bok choy rice, you can have something way more interesting in the same time as it takes to make plain rice.
I believe we’ve covered this before, but yes, I’m cooking the stems about 15 minutes more than is fashionable. I love a crisp stalk of bok choy as much as the next guy, but here we kind of want it to melt into the rice. Conventional wisdom says to cook quick, but I wanted a softer, sweeter, and more subtly sulfuric grain. Think braised cabbage rolls if you’re still having a problem.
By the way, if your rice package says 2 parts water to 1 part rice, ignore it. Too much water is the main reason people screw up rice. I find 1 1/2 cups of water to each cup of long grain rice works way better, especially in dishes like this. So, ignore those directions, and give this delicious side a try soon. Enjoy!
When I first do a version of a classic dish like paella, I try to use a minimum of number of ingredients and steps so we focus on the technique. So, while you experienced paella makers will probably find this quite unremarkable, it really is intended for the first-timer.
Real paella is not baked, but cooked on top of a fire, which results in a similarly textured rice to what you see here, except a layer caramelizes onto the bottom of the pan, and those gloriously crunchy bits are considered the best part. So, basically I’m telling you we left out the best part.
The trade-off is that this method eliminates most of the finesse and monitoring required by the traditional method. Consider this a gateway paella, and the first step to a serious, lifelong addiction. Besides the method, ideally you’ll use a wider variety of ingredients; things like clams, mussels, squid, chicken are all very commonly used, and will make your rice that much more interesting.
No matter how you cook you paella, one thing you must try to include is the saffron. Besides the short-grain rice, this is probably the most key addition. Unfortunately, the flavor and aroma are almost impossible to describe, so you really need to experience it yourself to fully understand. I’ve heard it described using things like “earthy metallic honey,” and “rusty champagne,” but these really don’t do it justice.
Anyway, if you’ve never tried to make paella before, I really hope this inspires you to give it a go. The Arborio we use here is easy to find in the big grocery stores, and as long as you stick to the liquid/rice ratio, there’s not a lot that can go wrong. And like I said in the video, stay tuned for my future attempt at a more classic version. In the meantime, I hope you give this quick and easy paella a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 large portions:
(best to use a 12 or 13 inch wide skillet)
For the saffron broth:
2 tsp olive oil
reserved shrimp shells from 1 pound of jumbo shrimp
1/2 to 1 tsp saffron threads, depending on how strong you want the flavor
2 1/4 cups chicken broth
*Simmer for 20 minutes, strain and reserve. Be sure to season generously with salt, or your rice will be bland.
For the paella:
1 tbsp olive oil
8 oz sliced chorizo sausage, or any smoky, spicy sausage
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/3 cup Arborio rice
1/2 cup green peas
1 tsp regular or smoked paprika, optional depending on how much was in the sausage
2 cups (exactly) hot saffron broth, or just plain hot chicken broth
1 pound peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp
1 sweet red pepper, cut into thin strips
salt and cayenne to taste
garnish top with a light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and freshly chopped Italian parsley
lemon wedges, optional (some love lemon, I prefer without, but give it a try and see)
*Bake at 425 degrees F. for 20 minutes, then finish over med-high flame until rice is just tender. It will be firm and slightly sticky. Don’t burn it, but you can leave it on the flame a little longer to try and get the rice to caramelize and crust onto the bottom of the pan, like the classic version. Be careful.
It’s not often that I post a video for an alternative method on a classic recipe before I’ve actually shown the real deal, but that’s what we have with this incredible baked mushroom risotto.
I was playing around with a baked paella recipe, and began wondering what would happen if I used a similar method for doing risotto. As you’ll see, the beginning and the end of the recipe are pretty standard, but we’ve taken the middle 15 minutes and moved it into the oven, in an attempt to eliminate those dreaded “variables.”
The size, shape, and thickness of your pan, how fast you add the liquid, and how high your heat is are factors that can wildly affect the outcome when done on the stovetop. By using the oven for the majority of the cooking, we don’t have as many things to worry about.
Of course, you still need to finish this thing off yourself, and taste and test for doneness and seasoning, but that goes for any recipe. The goal is to have the rice come out of the oven between 80-90% cooked, so that all it takes is a final addition of liquid, and a few minutes of stirring to recreate that signature “sauce” that makes this dish so famous.
I used a variety of risotto rice called “Carnaroli,” which is known as "the king of rices.” Thanks to a higher starch content and slightly longer grain, Carnaroli produces a beautifully creamy sauce, while still maintaining a firm, toothsome texture. You should be able to find it fairly easily at those fancy grocery stores, but if not, it’s readily available online.
If you end up using Arborio rice, the most popular variety sold for risotto, I’d suggest checking this after 10 minutes in the oven, as I suspect it will cook slightly quicker than the Carnaroli. Besides, you can always cook it an extra few minutes at the end. As many of us have learned the hard way, you can’t un-cook something.
Besides being easier and more repeatable, this method produced a risotto that was identical in looks, taste, and texture to anything I can do on the stove. Having said that, I enjoy standing at the stove making risotto the traditional way, as it’s one of the best meditations ever, so it will be interesting to see which method I use the next time I’m craving the dish.
Anyway, whether you’ve always been afraid to try risotto, or you’ve mastered it and are just curious, I hope you give this a try soon. Enjoy!
Ingredients for 4 portions:
3 tbsp butter
3 cups diced mushrooms
1/2 yellow onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne to taste
1 cup Carnaroli or Arborio rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth, plus more if desired
1/2 cup cream, plus a few tablespoons to finish
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (don’t use that fake crap)
