Duck & Andouille Jambalaya, Creamed Collards, Red Peas & Heirloom Cornbread, Truffle Slaw, Goat Meatballs, Pizza & More!
This includes a lot of my Thanksgiving week cooking, but I still figured I’d share because a lot of it isn’t Thanksgiving specific and the dressing/stuffing for Friendsgiving was so good, it’s making me want to make make it much more often throughout the year!
There’s also a really good pasta using leftover roasted squash, cashews and broth, a somewhat non-traditional jambalaya, red peas and heirloom cornbread, a rainbow veggie truffle slaw, herby goat meatballs and another pizza party!
Creamed Collard Greens with Nutmeg
It’s been a long time since I’ve cooked some proper creamed greens and I almost forgot how good they are!
Usually, also commit to slicing the stems very small and cooking those, too, but this time I let myself save the stems for another use and just went with pieces of the leaves for a uniform kind of texture.
I started by steaming the collard greens until bright green and then rinsing in cold water to stop cooking.
Then, separately, I sautéed diced red onion in a little avocado oil and butter, then adding minced garlic once the onion was soft and starting to brown. Then I added cream and simmered to thicken, seasoning with white pepper, dry mustard and the nutmeg that I personally think makes the whole dish come together. I’m sure freshly grated nutmeg would be even better, but I rarely have that on hand.
Then I added back the steamed collard greens and folded it all together until all the greens were coated in the creamy sauce. I prepped in advance of having guests over, so I stored it in a ceramic baking dish and then reheated in the oven with a little extra cream.
Duck and Andouille Jambalaya with Fennel
Grant recently did the long overdue task of butchering some of our resident muscovy ducks and we promptly used some of the leg quarters to make jambalaya!
This is a pretty non traditional jambalaya because I didn’t have the traditional celery or green bell peppers for the trinity. But I looked at some recipes that included fennel and thought the flavor and texture would work well in place of celery. Then I got really non traditional and added some of the sliced collard stems as well as finely diced carrots to the vegetables. French mirepoix and Spanish sofrito typically include carrots, so why not?
The more I have gardened in South Louisiana, the more mystified I am by the Cajun and Creole use of the Holy Trinity of onions, bell peppers and celery, mostly because celery grows terribly here and has a very short season and you very rarely can be harvesting bell peppers at the same time as celery.
I am convinced that other things were used traditionally (like stems from collards or mustard or other greens and even bull thistle) and that the Holy Trinity as it is known today only became solidified in recipes with prominence of large supermarkets and produce being available from all over the world in any season.
But I digress!
I started by pressure cooking the duck leg quarters, letting them cool and pulling the meat off the bones. I used the broth from that for the jambalaya, along with some other chicken broth from the freezer supply.
I also used our andouille sausage, sliced very thin and sautéed and then removed from the pan until adding back later.
I was making the red peas (below) at the same time, so I used two pans to brown the andouille, so I could use some of the rendered fat to sautéed the onions, peppers and garlic for the red peas, as well.
For the jambalaya, after removing the andouille, I cooked down the onions first, then added diced fennel, carrots and some purple bell pepper and orange bullhorn pepper and added the minced garlic last once the other veggies were soft to avoid it browning too much.
Then I added a little tomato paste and let that toast a bit, plus Cajun seasonings like onion and garlic powder, paprika, oregano and thyme.
I used Two Brooks basmati rice, the duck and chicken broth and then added back in the shredded duck meat and sausage. I got it simmering on the stove, then transferred to two oiled pans to bake in the oven. I love the crispy edges of baked rice and this is much easier to achieve (with more surface area) in the oven! It came out so delicious and the flavor from the fennel and carrots was subtle but worked well!
Red Peas and Heirloom Cornbread
While the jambalaya was finishing cooking in the oven, I made Marsh Hen Mill’s Sea Island Red Peas in the Instant Pot to go with it, along with some heirloom cornbread with Marsh Hen’s Jimmy Red Cornmeal.
For the cornbread, I even used some leftover bacon fat in place of some of the butter, along with four eggs and buttermilk. The cornbread came out really tasty — fluffy and dense at the same time, somehow.
I normally would put andouille in the red peas, but since there was plenty of ando8ille in the jambalaya, I just went with smoked pork hocks instead and no sausage. I sautéed yellow onions, scallions, peppers and garlic, then added Cajun seasonings and bay leaves, before transferring to the Instant Pot with the hocks, soaked and rinsed peas and broth.
I pressure cooked it for an hour and then switched it to the sauté function to thicken up and cook off some of the liquid, mashing some of the peas on the side of the pot with a wooden spoon.
The whole meal was so delicious together — the peas mixed with the jambalaya, the greens and the cornbread. We served it to guests from Vermont for a real Louisiana treat!
Kielbasa & Cornbread Dressing with Fennel, Apples & Sage
Ok, a well down stuffing/dressing is SO good!
For many years, we often did a rustic oyster dressing and/or shrimp stuffed mirlitons and even though we have raised pork for years, haven’t typically done dressing with sausage. That might be in part because some years we skipped turkey for a pork roast as the centerpiece and you don’t really need a side with sausage if you have pork!
So, I did want to use our sausage and Marsh Hen Mill’s cornmeal for cornbread for a dressing for Friendsgiving this year and I was actually blown away at how delicious it was. I think the concept of it confused me sometimes — how do you make it not too eggy, but not too dry, but not too soggy?
Initially for Friendsgiving I was going to make a cornbread dressing with Andouille. But then I panicked with some last minute RSVPs and the size of the turkeys we had and since I was planning to make jambalaya for our friends’ visiting on Friday, I’d just increase the batch size by a lot to also have jambalaya for Friendsgiving.
So then I decided to go with some breakfast sausage links (leftover from the squash and sage pizza) and kielbasa for the dressing.
I looked at so many different recipes and combined some elements, so now I can’t find the one I mostly used to share!
It started with the usual aromatics (onions and garlic) and once again I used fennel since I didn’t have celery, but it went even better here than in the jambalaya! I also used fresh oregano, parsley, rosemary and sage and a Cameo apple added just the right amount of sweetness and moisture. I deglazed the pan with sherry and added the diced up sausage links, then all the heirloom cornbread, turkey stock and eggs.
We’re doing turkey again for Christmas and I am absolutely making a version of this again because it was so good!
Herby Goat Meatballs with Broccoli & Salad
This was pretty much entirely a pizza prep meal (I wanted both the goat meatballs and the broccoli as later pizza toppings), but it was delicious as served the first night, too!
In the summer, I do a lot of herby goat meatballs with rosemary and oregano that can survive in our brutal heat. Goat with basil pesto or mint is pretty delicious, too.
But having River Queen’s deep green cool season herbs (cilantro, dill, garlic chives, parsley and scallions) back in season makes equally delicious meatballs and a nice change of pace.
For these I went with a combination of dill, garlic chives, parsley and scallions and skipped the cilantro. I also added goat feta, breadcrumbs, an egg, black pepper, coriander and sea salt.
Per usual, I like to start the meatballs in cast iron pans on the stove top and transfer to the oven to finish cooking. They were so boldly seasoned with bright herb flavors that they needed no sauce and the first night we had them with steamed broccoli with butter and parmesan and a big salad, but they were destined for an herby pizza the next night.
Pizzas!
Making a bunch of pizzas for guests is basically our favorite party trick now.
Sometimes I make my own dough with Barton Springs and Bellegarde stone-milled flour, but it is also so nice to have Bellegarde’s frozen pizza dough balls in the freezer for when I don’t want to or don’t have time!
And this batch of dough was especially perfect — really easy to stretch!
For the toppings, we did:
The (sliced) goat meatballs with whipped feta and olive oil as a base, plus mozzarella and harvati cheeses and topped with more herbs — scallions and cilantro!
A veggie pizza with basil pesto, steamed broccolini, homegrown cherry tomatoes and marinated artichokes, with fresh mozzarella, harvati and goat cheese.
A roasted squash and sage pizza with sliced breakfast sausage, mozzarella and gouda cheeses.
And a simple but very delicious salami and olive pizza with some salami brought by our Vermont friends, along with mozzarella and provolone cheeses and castelvetrano olives.
And of course, nothing goes better with pizza than a good salad! We had River Queen Green’s spring mix with Fuyu persimmons, goat feta, pistachios, crunchy scallions and a zippy homemade vinaigrette.
Truffle Slaw with Rainbow Veggies & Dill
A good slaw is great for a party because you can make it ahead of time and it improves in the fridge and then it works much better as leftovers, should you have any, than another salad with tender greens does.
For this one, I used a bunch of Napa cabbage and grated orange and purple carrots, purple daikon and watermelon radishes and kohlrabi. I also cut a Granny Smith apple into matchsticks (it juices too much if you try to grate it) and also added a bunch of dill, garlic chives and scallions.
For the dressing, I used my favorite truffle mayonnaise, a little yogurt, Meyer lemon vinegar, dijon mustard and a bit of honey, plus garlic powder and sea salt.
It was super delicious and maybe it’s best use was on leftover turkey sandwiches with roselle jam (in place of the cranberry element!).
Creamy Cashew Pasta with Leftover Squash, Bone Broth, Bacon & Scallions
I made a bunch of roasted squash for the squash, sausage and sage pizza, so that came in very handy to make a luscious pasta sauce once we went through most of the Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving leftovers.
There was plenty of dairy in other dishes, so for the creamy element, I used cashews instead! I put those in the blender first, then nutritional yeast, then the peeled cooked squash, sautéed onions, garlic and a few cherry tomatoes that needed to be used up and poured in chicken broth as the liquid.
It turned into an absolutely delicious, creamy, velvety sauce! I also had cooked a bunch of bacon ends for stuffing/dressing and then changed my mind and used sausage instead, so those went into the pasta, along with bunch of sliced scallion tops. And it made so much sauce that I was able to freeze half of it and I’m sure it will come in handy for a quick meal soon!