Dirty Rice

The other night I found myself faced with an interesting predicament: a pound of ground beef and no idea what to do with it.

It's seems so simple, there are SO many ground beef options out there, but none of my usual weeknight go to's were clicking.

Tacos? Out of shells.
Spaghetti? Had it last week.
Burgers? No buns.

Then I remembered a simple Cajun dish I had heard of years ago, but had never tried. Dirty rice.

On the few occasions when I've had Cajun food I have never ordered the dirty rice. It always seemed like this simpler dish that when put on a menu with Gumbo or Jambalaya gets out shined by its multi-component or roux based siblings.

So I decided to give this easy weeknight dish a try and I was NOT disappointed.

It reminded me a lot of Fried Rice...the Cajun version. The best part is it's made up of inexpensive ingredients I already had in the house. It made quite a bit and when I had some of the left overs the next day it was just as good as the night I cooked it.

Dirty Rice
Serves 6-8
Total Cost: $5.60 (appox. $.93-$.70 per person)

1lb ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, chopped
1 green or red pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cups of cooked rice
1/8 cup chopped parsley
2 tsp Cajun Seasoning or Louisiana Hot Sauce
Salt & Pepper, to taste

In a large skillet over medium high heat cook the ground beef until completely browned. Add the vegetables and saute until soft, about 5 minutes. Finally, stir in the seasoning, rice and parsley and serve.

Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Egg Strata

I owe my friend Nikki full credit for this super yummy casserole recipe.

When I told her I was looking for a new egg dish to serve at my Book Club meeting, Nikki came to the rescue with one of her classic tasty go-to dishes.

You assemble all the ingredients the night before so all you have to do the morning you want to serve it is pull it out of the fridge 3o minutes before you plan on putting it in the oven and you are good to go.

As easy as it is delicious.

Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Egg Strata
Serves 8-10

18 slices firm white bread (such as English muffin bread), crusts removed
6 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
8 ounces goat cheese, crumbled
4 ounces provolone, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
6 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil
5 large eggs
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted

Line bottom of 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish completely with 1 layer of bread, cutting some slices to fit. Arrange half of prosciutto evenly over bread. Sprinkle half of goat cheese and half of provolone over. Sprinkle with half of green onions and half of basil. Top with second layer of bread. Layer remaining prosciutto, goat cheese, provolone, green onions, and basil atop bread. Cut remaining bread into 1/4-inch cubes. Sprinkle over top.

Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, and salt in bowl. Season with pepper. Pour egg mixture over strata; press down on bread with spatula. Drizzle melted butter over strata. Cover and refrigerate overnight. 6

Preheat oven to 350°F. Uncover strata and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake until center is set, about 1 hour. Remove from oven. Preheat broiler. Place strata under broiler until top is golden, about 30 seconds.

Cut into large squares and serve.

Regent's Punch

This weekend I hosted the ladies of my Book Club for brunch. And what brunch worth it's weight in assorted pastries doesn't have a nice accompaniment of punch.

In this case, champagne punch.

Ever since the arrival of my December issue of Saveur magazine I have been compelled to try 2 of the recipes I found within.

One being their preparation of Filet Mignon with Bordelaise Sauce, which by the way I did make and it was D-E-licious.

The other being the recipe for Regent's Punch.

Seeing as up until this weekend I have never had occasion to whip up a champagne concoction in my household (my husband is a straight Heineken/Jameson man) I jumped at the opportunity to host a group of ladies who not only shared of my love of books, but also my fondness of champagne.

And seeing as I had decreed 2009 the Year of the Punch, I had to get my punch year rolling. So here it goes.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Drink-Recipes/Regents-Punch

Instead of using arrack or cachaca liquor I just added extra rum, in this case not dark Jamaican rum but spiced rum as it was what I had on hand. As for the use of a seville orange, I didn't use one. I couldn't find that specific variety of orange at my produce market so I just used the addition of a regular orange instead.