I haven’t had a functional kitchen since we bought this house, a year ago. The kitchen, as we bought it, was only barely functional – you may have seen the “before” pictures and description on twitter. Don’t worry, I’ll be posting the awful “befores” when I can finally post the “afters”!

This weekend is all about building the cabinetry to surround the slide-in oven, which has been free-standing since we moved in. By Monday, I should not only have the base cabinets, but tiled counter AND backsplash there, also. *CANNOT WAIT*. I’m not being facetious there, either. We’ve been discussing all of the great foods I haven’t been able to make in a long time, as well as the recipes I’ve been mentally designing ever since losing my kitchen. All of this takeout food… ugh.

So, we went to the store to pick up groceries for the first couple of meals I’ll be able to make, and I used one of my new counters – and my freshly-installed sink area! – to make Cod au Gratin on Friday night. Aw yeah. Cod au Gratin is a traditional Newfoundland dish, and one of my all time favorites. Generally speaking, it consists of cod, Béchamel sauce, and cheese / bread crumbs on top… but – of course – I started bastardizing it the first time I made it. Béchamel because a hearty cheese sauce, filled with tons of sharp cheddar. I’ve made this with dill, with asparagus, with bacon, and with other seafood involved. It’s just one of those recipes that I make by “feel”, and I’ve never written down measurements or anything as I’ve gone. Til now.

This version is for a good base cod au gratin – there’s a lot more going on in it than the basic, traditional recipe – but that’s how I like it. This version uses a lot of my favorite flavors to combine with fish – lemon, parsley, garlic, onions. Feel free to add or substitute items as you like… dill instead of parsley. Add some veggies. Change the cheese. Top with buttered bread crumbs or smashed potato chips… it’s a very versatile recipe!

Note: Yep, I’ve made this gluten free, because I’m self serving like that If you’re a purist, feel free to start this with a Béchamel sauce, rather than my milk-and-cornstarch base!

Cod Au Gratin

4 lbs boneless cod loins*
1/4 cup corn starch
4 cups milk
3 Tbsp prepared Dijon mustard
2 tsp minced garlic
1 small onion, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1/3-1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt
Pepper
2 cups shredded white cheddar
1 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut cod into 1″ pieces, arrange in a 9×13″ baking pan. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, whisk cornstarch with 1 cup of milk, until smooth and no lumps remain (floating, or stuck to the bottom edges of the pan. Add remaining milk, mustard, garlic, and onions, whisk till well incorporated. Heat over medium, until steaming.

Once sauce mixture starts to thicken, add lemon zest, parsley, and 1 1/2 cups of white cheddar cheese, stirring until thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour sauce over fish, stirring to coat and distribute evenly. Scatter remaining white cheddar cheese across the top of the fish mixture, followed by all of the Parmesan.

Bake – uncovered- for about 1 hour, or until fish is cooked through, and sauce is bubbly. Serve hot.

Makes 8-12 servings

* If using frozen fish, partially thaw it, cut it, then allow it to fully thaw and DRAIN before putting it in the baking pan.

He’d been raised by a single father, on a diet consisting of things like Rice A Roni, canned soup, and Hamburger Helper. Not too long after he’d moved out on his own, he became deathly ill and learned to hate food, as eating made him even more sick. Though he eventually had life saving surgery, he wasn’t the biggest fan of food.

On my end, I’d grown up with a single mom. Money wasn’t always there, sometimes we had to live on donated army ration packs… but whenever she’d have a little money, she’d cook amazing meals, being very creative with what she had. We ate some GREAT food, growing up. When I met my husband, I’d just come out of a long relationship with the pickiest eater I’ve ever met, and I hadn’t been *allowed* to cook many dishes in the house – chili, lasagna – because he hated the smell. I was dying to get back to cooking something other than meat and potatoes.

I must say, he adapted nicely to having someone cook for him. He got over his hatred of food, and has come to love trying new things. I’ve actually kind of created a bit of a monster . He’s a sushi fiend. He loves all kinds of ethnic foods, and I can make almost *anything*, and he’ll love it. He does have a few sticking points, though… which brings me to today’s recipe.

The man doesn’t like cooked fish!

Yes, he will plow through a plate of salmon sushi like nobody’s business, but won’t touch cooked salmon. It smells/tastes “too fishy” for him. Although I prepare it in ways that are less offensive to him than he’s experienced in the past… well, we just don’t serve salmon here. Any cooked fish has to be fairly bland, and only served in extreme moderation.

Well, last night I wanted seafood chowder. We happen to have a fair amount of seafood in our freezer, and I’ve been dying to get into a pack of frozen cod we picked up a couple weeks ago. He loves shrimp, scallops, etc… so I figured I would pull together a “husband-friendly” seafood chowder.

In addition to basing the meat in cod (acceptable to him) – as well as shrimp and scallops – I added other very “husband-friendly” elements. A fair amount of bacon, along with mushrooms and red peppers brought other non-fish flavors to the table. As he is obsessed with corn, I made sure to incorporate a fair amount of it. I actually chose to use a can of creamed corn, for texture. As much as I love chowder, too much dairy really turns my stomach. Creamed corn goes a long way to achieving a good chowder thickness, without relying on TOO much milk – only 1 cup in the whole recipe!

This turns out a wonderfully thick, chunky, and colorful chowder. Hope you love it as much as we BOTH did!

Easy Seafood Chowder

½ lb bacon, sliced into small pieces
½ small onion, finely chopped
4-6 oz button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1 red pepper, finely chopped
4 medium potatoes, washed and cubed
3 ½ cups water
1 can creamed corn
1 cup milk
1-2 lbs cod loins, cubed
1 cup bay scallops
½ – 1 lb shrimp, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper

In a medium saucepan, cook bacon over medium heat until cooked but not yet crispy. Add onion, mushrooms, and red pepper. Continue to cook, stirring every once in awhile, until onions are translucent and all veggies are softened.

Add chopped potatoes and water. Bring heat to high, cook at a rolling boil for 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are almost cooked through.

When potatoes are about ready, add creamed corn and milk, bring back to a boil. Add cod and scallops, continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Add shrimp, cook just until shrimp is cooked (will turn pink)

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 8ish servings.

Hubby and I actually planned to do a Low Country Boil for our own rehearsal dinner, but his stepmother already had something planned. Figured I’d put that out there for those of you looking for new and unique ideas to employ in your own wedding plans!

This Southern dish can be done so many ways, and we never do two exactly the same. It can be a quick and easy meal for 2, or it can be the basis for a GREAT cookout party with friends. Additionally, it can be a frugal, thrifty thing.. or as extravagant as you want.

The basic ingredients are very basic: Corn, Smoked Sausage, Shrimp, Potatoes, Lemons, Seasoning

You get a big pot of seasoned water boiling, and one by one add the ingredients to the pot, starting with potatoes (take the longest to cook), and ending with shrimp (take very little time to cook).

Of course, I never do anything the way you’re supposed to.. and besides, I’m not even southern. That means I’m exempt from any rules that may be applied here, right? LOL.

The big change I like to make is with the seasoning. You’re “supposed to” use Old Bay Seasoning for this. Not only is that boring, but the salt content is insane, and besides.. customization is always more fun! I like using a mix of fresh (onions, garlic, green onions, jalapenos, etc) and dried (sage, pepper, dried mustard, parsley, bay leaves, etc) ingredients to flavor my broth.

You can also start your broth off in different ways – use some chicken broth, boil fresh shrimp shells (without the shrimp in them!) for added flavor – just remove the shells before adding your food and other seasonings in! Also, adding a can or two of beer to your water / broth adds a great flavor. Any of these is a much better option than just water and Old Bay Seasoning, in my not so humble opinion!

The ingredients are also customizable. Corn, Potatoes, Shrimp, and Sausage are a good solid foundation.. but feel free to add clams, mussels, and even crab legs. It’s your stew!

Now that I’ve made the whole thing sound way more complicated than it is, let me give you a basic recipe for it, and let you just have at it . This makes a substantial amount of food, so don’t be surprised if you have leftovers. It also makes ridiculously good food, so don’t be surprised if you don’t have leftovers because everyone gorged till they had nothing left to eat!

Marie’s Low Country Boil

Broth:

1 onion for every 3 people being served – quartered
1 lemon for every 3 or so people being served, quartered
Beer – about 1 can for every 2-3 people being served. Maybe more, maybe less – it’s entirely optional.
Chicken broth (optional, use as much or as little as you want)
Garlic – as much as you want
Green onions (optional.. a couple chopped green onions for every few people is usually good)
Jalapenos, habaneros, or whatever (optional, chop a few for every few people being served)
Dried sage – 1 tsp for every 3 or so being served
Pepper – as much as you like
Dried mustard powder – as much as you’d like.
Bay Leaves – 1 for every few being served
Dried Parsley – add a handful for color.

Main Ingredients:

1/3 lb new red potatoes, halved or quartered (per person)
1/2 lb smoked sausage (like Kielbassa) per person
1/3 lb uncooked shrimp per person
1-2 ears of corn per person

Whatever else you want – clams, crab, mussels, etc

Directions:

Get a pot of an appropriate size for the amount of food you’re looking to cook. The more people being served, the bigger the pot!

Fill it about 1/3 full (to start) with water. Add chicken stock and/or beer if you’re going to, as well as everything else from the broth ingredients that you’re using. Also, whatever else you want to use to flavor it. Bring it to a boil.

Add potatoes and sausage, adding more water if necessary. Sausage doesn’t take long to cook, but it will add a great flavor to the water – and potatoes. Cook for 30 mins or so.

Add the corn, cook another 5 minutes.

Add the Shrimp, and any other seafood you may want to add. Cook another 5 minutes, or until it’s done – Shrimp should be pink, clams and mussels fully open, etc. Discard any mussels, clams, etc that do not open.

Traditionally, you’re supposed to strain everything out, and dump it out in the middle of a newspaper-covered table for a savage free for all. While this is great fun for a cookout, we usually end up straining everything into a large mixing bowl. In either case, serve it up with cocktail sauce, dijon mustard, or whatever else you’d like to dip your food in. Dig in!

We usually save the water for the next batch, but we don’t usually use the potatoes. If you’re cooking potatoes, the water may be too starchy to bother. Saving the broth is not only thrifty and makes it SO fast to slap on supper on a moment’s notice, it also grows the flavor. We’ll add another lemon, or more jalapenos, or whatever… Yum.

I LOVE jambalaya! Actually, ever since a trip to New Orleans back in 2005, I have a particular affection for most cajun and creole food in general. It’s always full of flavor, and very, VERY satisfying!

This recipe makes a ton of Jambalaya. With flavoring the stock as I do, and with all of the chopping involved, it is a bit more labor intensive than the average dinner recipe. I like making a huge batch of this on a weekend, then pretty much living on it for a week or two – it makes GREAT leftovers! It freezes fairly well, but never lasts long enough to make it to the freezer

Chicken, Shrimp, & Sausage Jambalaya

2 lbs large raw shrimp. (deveined, shell still on)
8 cups chicken stock
2 lbs Boneless skinless chicken breast, cubed
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 lbs Andouille sausage (substitute kielbassa if unavailable)
2 large onions, chopped
2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
4-6 ribs celery, chopped
1 small can tomato paste
2 28 oz cans diced tomatoes
6-8 cloves garlic, pressed
3 tsp cayenne
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried sage
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp crushed bay leaves
1 tsp salt
2 lb bag rice

Start out by flavoring your chicken stock. This is optional, but very much worth the effort!

Peel all 2 lbs of your shrimp, putting shells and tails in a medium or large pot (not the LARGE pot you’ll need to make the jambalaya though!). Cover raw shrimp and keep it in the fridge for later. Cover shrimp shells with the chicken stock.

Optionally, feel free to add any celery you have left after reserving 4-6 ribs, some onion, or whatever else you’d like to flavor the stock with. I like just celery and onion in mine, leaving additional flavors for later! Heat stock on low for 30 minutes to an hour or so, until it smells and tastes amazing. Strain everything out, and reserve the stock.

In the meantime, brown chicken in vegetable oil, set aside.

In LARGE, heavy pot: brown sausage. Add onions, peppers, and sausage. Cook vegetables until soft.

Add tomato paste to vegetables. Cook, stirring frequently, until tomato paste starts to caramelize/ brown a bit. This will add a lot of flavor to the finished jambalaya. Keep a close eye on it, do NOT allow it to burn!

Add diced tomatoes, cooked chicken breast, shrimp stock, and all of the herbs and spices – everything remaining, aside from the rice & raw shrimp. Turn heat down to low, and simmer for 10-20 minutes. Taste, and adjust seasonings if desired.

Add rice to pot. Cover and cook on low for 20 minutes or so, stirring fairly frequently – you don’t want it to burn onto the bottom of the pot! Remove lid, allow to cook uncovered for another 5- 10 minutes or so, depending on your rice. When rice is almost cooked through, add shrimp to pot and stir well. Cook until rice is done, and shrimp is cooked through.

Serve hot!