Week of 2/4/2002

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Braised Red Cabbage and Pears
Red cabbage and pears are plentiful this time of year and they are incredibly versatile. This is a wonderful side-dish and a recipe that is sure to become one of your favorites.

2 pears, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 Tbls. bacon drippings or vegetable oil
2 cups apple juice
1/2 head red cabbage, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 Tbls. butter

Cook pears in drippings in a medium skillet over medium heat 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Add apple juice and next 4 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes. Stir in butter until melted. Makes 4 servings.

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Easy Chicken-and Sausage Jambalaya
Hearty and quick! A terrific way to use leftover chicken.

2 Tbls. butter
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
1 lb. smoked sausage, cut into 1/2-inch-thick pieces
2 cups uncooked long-grain rice
2 (10 1/2-oz.) cans beef broth
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 cups chopped cooked chicken

Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat; add chopped celery, onion and bell pepper and saute 5 minutes or until tender. Add sausage and saute 5 minutes.

Stir all remaining ingredients except chicken; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes, add chicken and continue to cook for another 8 to 10 minutes until rice is done and chicken heated through. Serves 6 to 8.

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Classic Rice Pudding
Creamy, vanilla-scented, soothing and one of the all-time comfort foods.

4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup raw medium-grain white rice
Pinch salt
1 vanilla bean, split, or 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar

Dump the milk, rice, salt and split vanilla bean into a large, heavy saucepan (if you’re using vanilla extract, don’t add it yet). Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes.

Uncover and continue simmering, stirring frequently, until the rice is tender and the pudding is reduced to about 3 1/2 cups, about 8 minutes. It’s important to let the pudding simmer gently, not boil and you’ll need to stir constantly toward the end of cooking to prevent scorching.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla extract (if using). Slowly add the cooked rice mixture, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan, making sure to scrape the bowl. Set the pan over medium -low heat and cook, stirring and scraping the sides and bottom of the pan constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture has thickened and coats the back of the spoon, about 1 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Transfer the pudding to a bowl or serving dish and lay a sheet of plastic wrap right on the pudding’s surface to prevent a skin from forming. If you’ve used a vanilla bean, fish it out when the pudding has cooled, scrape out the seeds and stir the scrappings into the pudding. Discard the empty bean. Serve warm at room temperature or chilled.