We just returned from 5 weeks on the road, three of them with our grandkids. We spent time in Hershey, PA, Corinth, NY and in NE Connecticut. HAD A BALL. Like most little guys these days, our grandkids don't recognize any kind of meat except "chicken fingers!" So..... we cooked in the normal way and told them it was all CHICKEN. Of course, they ate like little pigs.
While in the campground we met some neat folks from Uruguay. We invited them all to come to our campsite for a potluck supper. We had to improvise, but we made a delicious jambalaya from "northern" ingredients. Believe us, Cher, it all passed!
3 lbs. pretty good hamburger, browned and drained.
1 link of polish sausage, finely chopped (we did this in our little Oscar Junior) You might want to saute the sausage a little after chopping.
3 big yellow onions, finely chopped
1 red sweet pepper, finely chopped
1 green sweet pepper, finely chopped
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 to 2 cans undilated cream of mushroom soup
1 to 2 cans undilated brown gravy
l large can mushroom stems/pieces (save the liquid to add if the mixture is too dry)
4 cups uncooked rice
Cook the rice, stir with a fork and set aside.
While rice is cooking, mix all the chopped vegetables and microwave (to saute them) with a little good olive oil for about 10 minutes.
When all components are ready, mix in a huge container, making sure you get all the rice well mixed with other ingredients. You can add salt/pepper to taste.
Our Uruguayan friends nearly foundered themselves on this jambalaya! It was a great time. And, since we'd told our grandkids that all the ingredients were chicken, they enjoyed (and ate it) too!
Another recipe that can easily be made on the road is Vegetable Lasagna.
1 big eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch rounds
2 big onions, chopped fine
1 red sweet pepper, chopped fine
1 green sweet pepper, chopped fine
4 ribs of celery, chopped fine
1 heaping tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
1 qt. of prepared pasta sauce
2 lbs mozzarella cheese (or your choice of cheeses)
Parmesan cheese
Mix onions, peppers, celery and garlic in a big microwave safe bowl and microwave with a little (1/4 cup) good olive oil for 12-15 minutes to saute.
Add prepared pasta sauce and mix well.
In a large lasagna pan, layer the ingredients, starting with sauce, followed by raw eggplant, followed by slices of mozzarella and sprinkle with parmesan. You ought to have enough for two "layerings."
Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.
This will feed about four as a main dish or six when accompanied with your choice of pasta.
We hope you enjoy these dishes as much as we have!
Ellen & Loyd Guidry
Suzie2 and Ozzie2 (Brother/Sister Scottie/White Highland Terrier mix who don't know they're "D-O-G-S"-(We recently lost Suzie1 and Ozzie1 - BUMMER!!)
Grandkids every chance we get
Butte, MT
Thank you for the recipes. Can 't wait to try them. Just came home with 2 eggplants and was going to make eggplant parmigano but will try the lasagna.
You seem to do my kind of cooking (on the road and at home). I use the microwave as much as possible. It saves so much time - time I can use in other ways - sit outside and enjoy the scenery or go walking or bike riding.
Sounds interesting but wondering why you called it Jambalaya? The only ingredients it has in common with Jambalaya in these parts are the Onions, peppers, and rice. It wouldn't even be the right color. I'd have called it something else.
I was taught that just about anything that had meat, rice and peppers in it was actually called "dirty rice." My Cajun Father threw such a fit about what could have been interpreted as derisive, so we kids were instructed to call it "jambalaya." As far as the color is concerned, this jambalaya has the requisite salt and pepper look of dirty rice.
What is your definition of "the right color?" Never mind the color -- try it, you might like it! Remember, too, that I was "up north" when I made this jambalaya -- and had to improvise. Make it and taste it first -- then tell me what you think of it.
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I thought it would be bad, on the contrary, it sounds good. Never have I seen most of those ingredients in Jambalaya however. Didn't know you could do cajun without tobasco and/or cayenne pepper
Dad was RCA from New Iberia, he said Jambalaya red (tomato base) and Dirty Rice brown (chicken gut base), and (in his recipe book) if you don't fry the rice (like a pilaf) the Jambalay is just an Etoffee.
I'm sure there are as many different recipies as there are families.
Have a great family crab and shrimp Jambalaya recipe that I'll share if you're interested.
Yep, I guess recipes do get passed down through families. My Dad (Guidry) and Mom (Breaux) were both registered Cajuns -- Mom from New Iberia, Dad from Arnaudville -- so I guess according to the Laws of Darwin that makes me registered, too. However, growing up in Texas may have "attenuated" a few of our family recipes. Dad used to pretty well burn us out with his use of Tabasco; Mom would tone it down for us kids.
I would really appreciate your sharing your recipe for crab and shrimp jambalaya. We'd love to try it.
We're on our way out the door to go camping for Labor day, when we return I'll dust off the old family cook book and post our Jambalaya recipe. I'll post it as a separate topic from this as it probably isn't what you'd call a "camping friendly" recipe.
PS, As kids we knew better than to fall for dad calling something "chicken". ROFL
* This post was
edited 09/02/04 10:03am by Trukinbear *
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