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AntesseÂ’s Italian Gumbo (w/ photo of single serving)
Serves 2
1 can diced tomatoes (I used DelMonteÂ’s variety with basil, garlic, and oregano)
1 zucchini
½ package Portobello mushrooms (~3 oz)
½ onion
2 chicken breasts
Garlic to taste (I used ~1 tsp chopped garlic)
Other Italian spices to taste (I used a pre-made spice blend called “tomato garlic bruschetta”)
2 servings pasta (follow directions on box)
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Alterations:
Add ½ green/red/yellow pepper
Add ½ fresh tomato
Substitute Italian sausage for chicken
Substitute shrimp or scallops for chicken
Directions:
Gumbo base:
Chop vegetables except can of tomatoes and put in Tupperware with garlic, spices, a heavy drizzle of olive oil (just enough to coat everything), and a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Shake mixture until well mixed and coated. Put mixture into a frying pan over medium heat and allow vegetables to sizzle a little bit for a few minutes to soften them and provide flavor. Pour can of tomatoes into pan along with more olive oil and a drizzle more balsamic vinegar and more spices if desired and stir under slightly lower heat until flavors have mixed and all ingredients are hot.
Chicken:
Cook chicken by grilling or frying according to preference. Once cooked, slice chicken into strips and chunks. Add chicken to mixture and stir well to coat the chicken in the sauce. (Or with sausage or seafood, cook as desired, slice, and add to mixture)
Pasta:
Cook pasta according to package directions and drain well.
Bringing it all together:
Once chicken and mixture have been stirred well together and whole mixture is hot, distribute pasta to plates or bowls. Add mixture on top of pasta including liquid.
This dish was the result of experimentation with simple ingredients upon embarking off to graduate school to be a delicious healthy meal for one person and one leftover meal. The use of Italian ingredients and one-pot stew principles created a dish with a consistency close to a gumbo or a stew. In place of Cajun-themed vegetables are Italian-themed vegetables and in place of Cajun spices are Italian spices and in place of rice is pasta. The alteration of the recipe and the addition of different ingredients and spices provides for a variety in meals. This recipe is designed to be easily customized by individual chefs and for individual preferences. For larger portions, increase the recipe size.
Hi Antesse (David!),
Thank you for sharing this recipe with us on the hyperboard. As I mentioned below, I absolutely adore Italian food, and always look forward to my regular feed of spaghetti and meat balls, which I have every Friday night.
I am looking forward to trying this recipe, and it looks like a VERY healthy way of satisfying my craving for all things Italian!
Take care,
(One of the MANY) Dave/Davids on the hyperboard!
I suppose I could also mention that this recipe works well sans-meat or sans-pasta for the vegetarian or diabetic respectively. Also, the "gumbo" portion can be used as a pasta sauce if you reduce the liquid a little or thicken somehow.
This is a good recipe. I think I'll print it out and try it one day. Thanks.
Should we start a recipe thread each week? Longhair favorites!?!?! HA!
To reciprocate, here is my favorite dessert recipe.
Southern Style Banana Pudding:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs
Vanilla Wafers
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
4 or 5 medium sized ripe bananas, sliced
Dash salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Reserve 2 tablespoons sugar.
In top of double boiler combine remaining sugar(1/2 cup less 2 tablespoons), flour and salt. Beat in 1 whole egg and 3 egg yolks; reserve 3 egg whites. Stir in milk. Cook, uncovered, over boiling water, stirring constantly, 10 minutes, or until thickened. Remove from heat and add vanilla.
Spoon about 1/2 cup custard into bottom of 1 1/2-quart casserole dish, cover with a layer of vanilla wafers. Top with a layer of sliced bananas; pour about 2/3 cup custard over bananas. Continue layering, ending with custard. If you find that the bananas turn dark, by simply folding the chopped bananas into the custard gently, then layering the custard-banana mixture, beginning and ending with that, the result is the same.
In a small bowl, beat reserved egg whites until stiff but not dry; gradually adding 2 tablespoons reserved sugar; beat till mixture forms stiff peaks. Spoon on top of custard; spreading to cover entire surface.
Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes, or until surface is lightly browned. Just before serving garnish with banana slices, if desired.
Serve warm or chilled.
Oh, and if you don't have a double boiler, you can use a regular one with a thick bottom, but then you have to watch the custard like a hawk while it's cooking so as not to scorch it.
Or, alternately, you can take a pyrex type mixing bowl that won't sink down in a boiler, set that on top of a pot of boiling water and you have a double boiler.
Antesse, Your recipe sounds yummy and very similar to my Chicken Cacciatore! I substitute black greek calamata olives for the peppers and red wine instead of balsamic vinegar. Served over whole wheat shells or penne. To get it back on topic here's a photo of me enjoying the said concoction with broccoli, red wine and longhair flowing!
bon appetite!
peace, jonalbear
I'll have to try Jonalbear's Not-Quite-Patented Chicken Cacciatore Surprise...
...come on, gotta get a great name for the dish to go with the great mane!
I'd prefer beer to wine personally. I find that a good beer can be paired with food just like a good wine.
Antesse, Being a home brewer myself. Yes I prefer beer with certain foods too. Beer and a burger are inseparable! Beer is also good with brisket or roast beef dishes. Sausage cooked in beer is yummy! I find beer to be a little too heavy for pasta dishes especially if I want the cheesecake for dessert. Prefer a good Pinot Noir or Chardonnay with pasta and a good salad or steamed veggie! I do prefer the Italian name cacciatore to the American name for it, Hunter's Stew! Non of my recipes are patented. They are always a little different every time.
peace, jonalbear
Yeah, man, your culinary ingenuity for whippin' up a healthy
meal when pressed for time and ingredients while away at school
leads me to ask you if YOU yourself are a chef. Are you? That
recipe demands duplicating. Thanks for posting it. Nicely reconfigured from Cajun to Italian cuisine.
However, may I draw your attention to some of us needing our
specific pasta of choice to NOT be gluten-bearing but gluten-free? One can find pastas of whatever configuration (farfalle, elbow macaroni, spaghetti, etc.) at whatever grocery chain they shop at to NOT contain gluten (derived from barley, rye, and wheat and any food "contaminated" by 'em).
These alternate grains include quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah, a Central and South American crop, truly excellent!), tapioca, rice, corn, amaranth, millet, sorghum, and buckwheat (despite its name) among others. Try 'em out in your recipe adventures. Lemme know whatcha think.
BTW, for the ONLY book you'll ever need to read on gluten-free living, read the title by Doctors Peter H.R. Green and Rory Jones, "Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic". I'm attaching a website below on the subject, too.
Maybe I'll start a G.F. restaurant someday. Us celiacs could sure use some more of 'em. Thanks for the gumbo recipe again, Antesse.
Keep on cookin' and feastin' and KEEP IT GROWIN'!
Quenyan
Nope, not a chef. No fancy hat. But I did inherit my father's cooking ability and he was not a chef either but he had a knack for seeing what is available and figuring out the best possible combination of ingredients.
Yeah, sorry for not mentioning how to deglutenize the dish...
But thanks for the thanks!
Elen sila lumenn' omentielvo, Quenyan.
~Antesse
Thanks..
I was reading and posting from the bottom up today so I replied to your earlier post first. It could be we have a new thing for the links page, "Longhaired cooks page"
Kevin
Looks/Sounds REALLY good! I'll have to try it out.
Banana