Chili-Cheese Etouffee (40 XP)

Well, I just got back from 6 days in Indianapolis for GenCon. It was great! The convention was much bigger than I would've guessed, with all the tabletop gamers taking over downtown from sometime earlier than I ever woke to the wee hours of the morning, 3-4am. I was lucky enough to have gone with Jarvis, who had lived there for 10 years prior to Vegas. He gave me a pretty good tour of the area and all his favorite places to eat. Among them was WB Pizza (twice), Yats, The Ram, Steak & Shake, and Johnny Rockets. WB's definitely served the best deep-dish pizza and vanilla gelato I've ever had, and Johnny Rockets took the cake pie when it came to shakes. Apple pie to be exact! They just took a whole slice of fresh apple pie and blended it up into a shake. Mmmm...

Okay, what was I saying? Ah, yes. So shakes are delicious, but about this Chili-Cheese Etouffee...! Yats, a fun and cozy little restaurant with a Mardi Gras theme, serves the best. I was already making this dish for some time from a recipe they had online. Having never tasted it beforehand, though, it was very cool to finally know exactly what it’s supposed to be; it was right on the money! It is work, though, and if I lived anywhere near Indy, I would definitely eat at Yats more often than make it myself. Don’t get me wrong-—it’s totally worth it, but if you have a chance to go—-do it. Next mission: Duplicate the bread. “Mmmm” again.

I took step-by-step photos for this recipe, so that you can compare them with your own: The roux turning golden, adding and cooking the vegetables, etc. I also took photos of my kitchen workspace, so you can see I pretty much do everything in advance. It’s much easier that way. Setting all the spices out also helps keep me from forgetting anything.



Chili-Cheese Etouffee

1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
1 cup chopped green onion
1 cup diced celery (I always leave the celery out and sub another pepper)
1 cup diced bell pepper
1 cup diced onion (optional)
2 tsp. minced garlic
1 cup Rotel Original diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. white pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
3 cups chicken stock
1 tsp. chili powder
Pinch ground coriander
Pinch ground cumin
Pinch ground cloves
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Dash Tabasco sauce
8 oz. heavy cream
3 cups shredded aged cheddar cheese
1 lb. cooked chicken, shrimp, or crawfish (I use chicken)
Cooked white rice

Make a roux by heating the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat then blending in the flour, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the skillet. Cook until the roux is golden in color. (You should also begin to smell it cooking as it turns golden. This usually takes 5-7 minutes for me.)

Add the green onions, celery, bell peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, thyme, tomato paste, basil and peppers (black, white and cayenne); cook until the onions have browned and the vegetables have softened, about 7 minutes. Add the stock, chili powder, coriander, cumin, cloves, Worcestershire and Tabasco. Bring to a boil and simmer until the mixture becomes thick (I do 20-30 minutes, letting it simmer while I'm sauteing the chicken and cooking the rice). Add the cream and cheddar cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted and blended in well. Gently stir in the chicken, shrimp or crawfish, and serve over white rice. Makes 6-8 servings.

Mushroom Soup (20 XP)

So I'll start off by saying: This isn't anything like your standard canned Campbell's condensed soup. This is much, much better! It actually reminds me more of Stroganoff-- with mushrooms instead of beef and in soup form. In fact, I wonder if adding egg noodles to the soup next time would make it even better... Hm. Either way, it's delicious. It's vegetarian, too, if you make a batch with the vegetable broth. And a few things I don't think I've made a point of yet: I always recommend getting the prep work out of the way first-- so in this case, rinse and slice your mushrooms and dice up your onion(s). Then set all your ingredients out in the beginning and put them back away as you use them. That way, you'll be sure you aren't forgetting anything along the way and you'll be cleaning up as you go. I took some pictures of those stages just to show you how I set up. I also recommend putting on a movie as you cook-- it just feels more fun that way! I chose Monty Python's Holy Grail for this one last night.

The soup re-heats well, too; just make sure that if you add sour cream to it-- as opposed to the heavy cream-- that you do not boil it at any point. If you do, the soup will curdle and you won't want to eat it at all. I actually prefer this soup with the heavy cream though, because it makes for a lighter flavor. But I also hate sour cream, period... I just happened to have some left over from when I made the blueberry muffins!


Mushroom Soup

4 Tbsp. butter
1 chopped yellow onion or 2 chopped shallots
1 lb. (that's 16 oz.) fresh mushrooms, sliced
1-1/2 tsp. dried dill weed
2 tsp. paprika
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 cups vegetable broth or chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. lemon juice (optional)
1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)
1/2 cup sour cream or heavy cream

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Sauté the onions in the butter for 2 minutes. Add the mushrooms and sauté for 5 more minutes. Stir in the dill, paprika, soy sauce and broth. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

In a separate small bowl, whisk the milk and flour together. Pour this into the soup and stir well to blend. Cover and simmer for 15 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the pot from the heat (Remember: You don't want to curdle the sour cream!) and stir in the salt, ground black pepper, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, parsley and sour cream. Serve immediately. Makes 4-6 servings.

Blueberry Muffins (20 XP and +1 Strength)

There are few foods that I really grew up loving, because I was always such a picky eater. The ones that do come to mind are pizza, macaroni and cheese, chocolate chip cookies, ginger cookies, aaand... blueberry muffins! When it comes to making the foods I adore, I always feel the need to jump into a small quest for the perfect way to make it. If I somehow feel that I already have the perfect way, then I partake in a hunt for all the different ways in which to make it. So this is the newest recipe I tried this morning/afternoon, and so far, I think it has to be my favorite! I'm not big on streusel toppings here, nor am I a fan of a cupcake-like texture. So like Baby Bear in the story of Goldilocks, these are juuust right!

They did seem to be a little trickier than normal when it came to baking, but I'll be able to give you a few hints. And you do need a mixer, whether it's a $20 hand-held like I have, or a $200 stand mixer that's the size of a baby dragon always hanging out on your countertop. Maybe if I had more counter space, I wouldn't mind, or maybe I'm just a little jealous. Anyway, you'll also be leveling up your Strength attribute when you go to stir the last bit of flour and the blueberries in. But you'll have your exercise in for the day, and delicious muffins to treat yourself with afterward.

Okay, so on with the recipe! Oh, but beware! These muffins do seem to attract tiny werewolves. No one could tell me why, but these beasts will rip into their soft berry insides and cause all the other muffins to flee in terror. Don't let them out of your sight for even a second!


Blueberry Muffins

4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups (16 oz.) sour cream
2 cups frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 24 muffins tins with non-stick cooking spray or line with paper cups. In a large bowl, beat eggs; gradually add sugar while beating. Continue beating while slowly pouring in oil. Stir in vanilla.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking soda. Stir the dry ingredients into the egg mixture by hand alternately with the sour cream. (Meaning: Add about 1/4 of the sour cream and stir until combined, then 1/4 of the flour mixture and stir until combined, and repeat until you've got none left.) Gently stir in the blueberries. Scoop batter into the prepared muffin tins, right up to the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Hint: Make sure the oven rack you place your muffins on is positioned in the center and not too close to the bottom. Also, my muffins didn't hardly get brown on the top at all before they were done. Don't worry about it, and don't overbake them just for some browning action-- They'll get hard and dry fast. So watch them, and at 20 minutes, check them by lightly touching one of the tops. If it springs back and feels a little solid, they're done. If you sprayed the tins, after you gently pry them out with a table knife, the sides should be gorgeously golden brown and not burnt.

Streusel-Topped Coffee Cake (20 XP)

Geez, it's been a while since my last post! I was getting tired of fast food and ham sandwiches there for a while. I came down with a horrible cold afterward, and even a Werewolf game (or two?) was canceled, BUT... I passed my class with the first draft of my modeling demo reel! The final draft for graduation will include the remaining half of my projects, and I'll probably end up disappearing again for a minute soon enough. But for now, it's time to get back into the game!

Werewolf's been hosted in Jarvis' and my game/dining room Sunday nights from 4 to 9 PM for the last 2-3 months. We always held it in the evening so that one of our packmates could play and attend his religious services that day. But the scheduling issues changed, and we've been playing from 1 to 6 PM instead. At first, this left me enough time to wake up just past noon, shower, and get a brush through my wet hair if I was lucky. No make-up, no cleaning the spare bathroom, and worst of all, no breakfast. I love sleeping in, but I also looove breakfast. :P

Now, I'm pleased to report that I did manage to adapt and even had the most delicious plate of hot coffee cake to greet the players with when they showed up. I actually had enough to fill two plates, and we still devoured it all. This is my favorite way to have coffee cake, but make sure to bake it until it's golden and baked through (until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean with no soggy batter on it) or the cake will fall beneath the streusel topping and leave you with craters as it cools.


Streusel-Topped Coffee Cake

Topping:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter
1 egg
3/4 cup milk or as needed
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. "Grease" and "flour" a 13x9-inch baking pan: Rub a thin layer of shortening on the bottom and up the sides of the pan-- preferably with a napkin or paper towel-- and then sprinkle a few tablespoons of flour into the greased pan and shake it over the trash to coat it; tap the pan to dump any excess into the trash because you only want a thin layer that sticks. This is a little messy, I know, but you won't be able to get your cake out of the pan otherwise!

To make the streusel topping: In a medium bowl, combine 1/4 cup flour, 2/3 cup sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. "Cut in" the butter: Use the back of a fork to break the butter down into small pieces, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt. "Cut in" the butter again until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Crack an egg into a measuring cup and then fill it with milk to make 1 cup. Stir in vanilla. Pour into crumb mixture and mix just until moistened-- don't over-stir or your cake won't be light and fluffy! Spread evenly into the prepared pan, and then sprinkle the cinnamon mixture over the top. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before cutting it into squares. Makes 15 servings.

Wendigo Burgers (20 XP)

So 5 werewolves walked into a bar...

Well, not really a bar, but rather a diner... A diner on Native American Wendigo territory. When they walked in broke and full of Rage, they asked the nice waiter if maybe they had any "Wendigo burgers" on the menu that evening. The taunt promptly saw them all nearly incapacitated... and it was so worth it!

This delicious creation was something Jarvis and I came up with afterward and played a lot around with. We tried all kinds of burgers... Some with green onions, cilantro, green chiles, even crushed Fritos... Whatever we had on hand to try. Some of these ingredients were a bit much, and we decided to just stick with this good, basic recipe. Just add whatever favorite condiments you happen to have! In the photo, we used slices of an aged white cheddar and some thick-sliced bacon. Mmm... Perfection!



Wendigo Burgers

1 lb. ground bison
1 egg
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. mustard (yellow, brown, Dijon or stone-ground)
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp. (1 clove) minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. sliced green onions
2 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsley (optional)
4 hamburger buns

Combine all ingredients except for buns in a large bowl. Divide the gooey mess in half, and divide each half again, to get 4 equally-portioned patties. Roll each into a ball.

Heat up a skillet or grill pan over medium heat or a Foreman grill (it's what we use). Flatten the balls into patties, just round enough to fit your bun size, and try to get them all into the skillet as quickly as possible. You want to cook each of them for 3-4 minutes on one side, then flip and cook the other for another 3-4. If using the Foreman grill, cook the burgers for a total of 4 minutes. Add any cheese to the top and melt it before throwing the burgers onto your buns!

Fruit Cobbler (10 XP)

I felt like sharing another recipe with you guys tonight, but Jarvis is the one making dinner, and I'm sitting here watching The Spiderwick Chronicles. So I was looking through the collection of recipes I've tried in the past when I ran across this one. Fruit cobbler is one of the absolute easiest desserts you'll ever make, and it's delicious! If you choose a fruit that doesn't need slicing-- like blueberries, raspberries or blackberries-- you'll cut out that much more work for yourself. My favorite fruit to use so far has been strawberries.


Fruit Cobbler

4 Tbsp. butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
2 cups sliced fresh peaches, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination (you can also use a 12 oz. bag of frozen berries)
1 Tbsp. sugar

Adjust your oven rack to the upper-middle position and heat it to 350 degrees. Place the butter in an 8”-square or 9”-round pan and set the pan in the oven to melt it. When the butter's melted, remove the pan from the oven.

Whisk the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. (If you don't have a whisk, just use a spoon.) Add the milk and whisk to form a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the pan and scatter fruit over batter. Sprinkle the remaining 1 Tbsp. sugar over the top.

Bake until the batter browns and fruit bubbles, 50 to 60 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped topping. Makes 4 servings. Cover any leftovers with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

April Showers Bring... Squash Soup! (20 XP)

It's been a chill rainy day here in Las Vegas, and a perfect day to try this new soup. It was amazing. In fact, I just found my new favorite soup. Light, a little bit cheesy, and full of vegetables. Mostly healthy then, right?

Anyway, before you get all skeptical like Jarvis did: "So... You're going to learn something new about me today, babe. I hate zucchini." Just hold on a minute. And BTW, he actually happily took his bowl over to the couch (as I hadn't told him what it was I'd made for him after a long night's work), played in it with his spoon, got right back up, and brought it back to me! Ha! He's "hated" a number of things that I've gotten him to come around to. So I just told him to go sit back down and eat it. Luckily for him, he did. ;) He even had seconds, in fact. It's also worth noting that I really don't care for cilantro. In fact, I think it's gross. But it adds something here and blends in with the soup perfectly. So give it a try. I added shredded chicken to my batch of soup just to make it a more rounded meal.



Mexican Squash Soup

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion (I used green onions)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 (14.5 oz.) cans vegetable or chicken broth
1 (14.5 oz.) can stewed tomatoes
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 (8.75 oz.) can, drained, or 1 cup frozen whole kernel corn
1 (4.5 oz.) can diced green chile peppers (They come mild or hot-- I chose mild)
12 oz. Velveeta cheese, cut into cubes
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Wash and cut each end off of the squash. Slice the zucchini in half lengthwise and, placing the zucchini cut side down, slice into half-moons about 1/4"-thick. Cut these in half again depending on the size. Do the same with the squash, keeping the pieces about the same size as the zucchini.

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat and sauté the onions and garlic until tender; season with the oregano. Mix in the broth and tomatoes. If the tomatoes are in large chunks, just squish and break them up with your fingers before adding them to the pot. Bring it to a boil. Mix in the zucchini, yellow squash, corn, and chile peppers. Reduce the heat to low and simmer 10 minutes or until the squash is tender.

Add the cubed Velveeta to the soup. Continue to cook and stir until cheese is melted; season with pepper. Mix in the cilantro just before serving. Makes 6 servings.