Vegetarian Dirty Brown Rice

October 7, 2006.   This is rooted in things along the lines of Cajun Rice, but uses Textured Vegetable Protein for the protein, rather than the diced Andouille Sausage.  One thing to keep in mind is that the TVP will absorb some of the water pretty quickly, so extra water is needed beyond what the rice will take in.

------------------------
1 med. onion
1/2 large bell pepper
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
2 medium and one small jalepenos (only one of these was actually hot, after licking the inner disk when i cut the stem off, which is why so many)
2T olive oil

1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)
3 cups of water

1 vegetable boullion cube
1 teaspoon rubbed thyme
1 tablespoon parsley
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 teaspoons hot sauce (i used Captain Rodney's Corazon del Fuego)
2 tablespoons soy sauce

dice the vegetables heat up a large, deep skillet with the oil. when it's hot enough to make ripples in the oil (or you can smell it), add the vegetables & sautee until they're limp (or at least until the onion is translucent) (5-10 minutes). add the rice, and stir that around in the oily vegetables for a minute or two, you want it taking on some color again, but not to the point of turning brown, add the water. then add all of the seasonings and the TVP & bring it to a boil. turn the heat down to low, cover, and let it simmer for 45 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed.

Cajun rice

This particular recipe is from August 29, 2005, but I make a variation on this at least once a week, seems like.  It's one of my "go-to" dishes.   Part of the beauty is that it's so adaptable.   I'll probably try and put together a base recipe once I get everything consolidated over here, and then go into variations, etc.
------------------------------------
1T olive oil
1T butter
1 med. onion
1 med. green pepper
2 stalks celery
1 large tomato
2 small jalepeno peppers
1 thai dragon pepper
1 clove garlic
1/2 lb. andouille sausage
1 cup dry brown rice
2 1/2 cups water
1T soy sauce
1T pepper sauce
1t paprika
1t chipotle powder
1/2t file powder
1T parsley
1T basil

diced the sausage and sauteed it in the butter and oil until it was starting to turn brown on the sides (i'm pretty sure that stuff is just "heat & eat"... at least what i got). added the chopped vegetables after about 3 minutes, i guess, and cooked them a little beyond the point where the the onions were translucent. i actually used a big handful of yellow, cherry-style tomatoes, but i think it was about the equivalent of a single medium-large tomato. once a bit of the water had cooked out of all that, i added the rice and stirred it around and once it started turning opaque, i added the water and the flavoring. brought it back to a boil and then turned it down to simmer for around an hour, i guess. the parsley and basil are approximate, as they were fresh, too.

Blackening Something

This one is from November 18, 2004.   I'm pretty certain that I was blackening a fish of some sort, but that's about all I know.   Go ahead and take the batteries out of your smoke alarms when you blacken something, but be sure to put them back in when you're finished.   It's not blackened if it's not smoking.
--------------------------
1t black pepper
1/2t chili powder
1/2t paprika
1/4t file powder
1/4t mustard powder
1/4t garlic powder
1/4t ginger powder
5 dried thai peppers (~1/4t cayenne)

mix in a coffee grinder and cover whatever you're blackening in it. this totals out to a little over a tablespoon, which should cover a single fillet pretty well. would probably do a boneless chicken breast (probably a hunk of tempeh or tofu, too), as well. last night i put about 2-3 tablespoons of peanut oil in the iron skillet and set it to med-high. waited til the oil did the orange-peel thing and gave it a little more time (ideally you want it in the 350F-ish range, i think), then gently laid the fillet in the skillet. cooked for 1-1/2 to 2 minutes on each side. i also didn't move it while it was cooking (other than to flip it), in order to get the proper kind of crustiness. i think if you're doing more than one, you should interleave placing them in the skillet by about 20-30 seconds, so that it can get back up to temperature.