Jan-chan’s Tidbits

I’m sure this recipe is out there but I made mine after reading Rachael Ray’s Poor Man’s Gumbo. I made this recipe to serve about 6 people. It was enough for 2 nights’ dinner for the three of us and Al’s lunch. We’re not big eaters though so keep that in mind.

Chicken, Sausage & Tomatoes Stew

Ingredients:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast - cubed
1 cup of smoked sausages - cubed
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion - cut into big pieces
2 carrots - cut into small pieces
3 stalks of celery - cut diagonally into small pieces
2 cans (796ml) diced tomatoes
1-2 can(s) tomato paste (use two if you want the sauce to thicken up faster)
dash of paprika, chili powder, pepper flakes (add to suit your taste)
salt & pepper

1. Marinate chicken with paprika salt and pepper for about 15 minutes. In a big pot, heat 1 tbsp of the oil and brown chicken pieces on all sides, for about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and add in the sausages. Cook sausage for about a minute or two. Remove from pan and drain off excess oil, leaving about 1 tbsp (if there isn’t enough, add some olive oil).
2. Return pot to medium heat and add onions. Cook until it start to get translucent. Add in celery, carrots and the tomato juice from the two cans of diced tomatoes. Cook, scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan, for about 3-5 minutes. Add in the diced tomatoes and tomato paste.
3. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and let it cook for about 5 minutes. Add in the chicken and sausage. Reduce heat and let it simmer for another 15 minutes or until it’s thicken to the desire consistancy. Add the chili powder and pepper flakes.

Serve with rice or crusty bread.

Note: I don’t like my tomato sauce too sour so I add a few tbsp of sugar at the end. Just add it a little bit at a time and taste test it to find the right amount.

Sorry, I didn’t have my camera with me this week so no pictures for the recent recipes.

This week the twin’s parents are away on a cruise trip so it’s time to play “Jan’s Kitchen” at their house. The challenge is to have food on the table in about an hour or so after we get home from work. I’m a very slow chopper, so it seems to takes twice as long to prepare the food.

My solution to a quick meal is one pot dinners. Well ok, that’s not exactly true. It’s actually two if you count the rice cooker as a pot. On Monday night I made a chicken and sausage stew with tomatoes served with rice. I found a recipe on Rachael Ray’s website and modified it. It turned out pretty well and I’ve made enough to last for next day’s meal also.

Yesterday was pasta night. I didn’t want to make tomato sauce because we already had the it for the stew for two nights. So it was pretty much a basic toss pasta with veggies and sausages. Just throw everything in a huge pot and toss. Again it turned out better than I thought considering the fact that I didn’t have a recipe to work with.

Wild sockeye salmon were on sale this week (2 for 1!) so we got two fillets which I’m planning on pan searing tonight. It should be enough for tomorrow’s dinner as well unless the twins decided to eat it for midnight snacks. Will update on how it turned out later.