Sunday, April 26, 2009

Funky Chicken Sandwich




This is another Pat Smillie recipe. Well, it's not really a recipe, it's more like a suggestion. It's a tasty, creative way to use up that left over rotiesserie chicken that you got on sale at Dominicks last Friday.
Mix up some cooked chicken, sliced andouille sausage and BBQ sauce in a bowl and microwave until hot. Put it on a big soft bun with a slice of raw onion and some cole slaw on the side. I served hundreds of these sandwiches at Cafe Penelope over the last few years.


As long as we are just mixin' it up, I don't see what would be wrong with
adding some chopped ham or shrimp either. Just clean out that deli drawer, add BBQ sauce--its all good.
As always, your comments are welcome. Try it out and let me know what happens. What is your favorite BBQ sauce?


************************
MUSICIANS:


Pat - lead vocals
Uncle Al - acoustic guitar & lap steel
John - bass
Sambo - percussion & backing vocals
for booking info E-mail: pat@patsmillie.com

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Catfish, Gin and Juice

When I serve this to white people, I call it "Fish with Citrus Sauce" and serve it with mashed potatoes and fresh spinach

Make it Mexican, call it Tequila Catfish. Substitute tequila for the gin and serve with Mexican red rice and refried beans. Or make it Italian "Pesce al Lemone" by using all lemons and lemon juice and substituting white wine for gin and serve it with orzo pasta


3 lbs boneless catfish fillets
¼ cup corn oil or peanut oil

Marinade for catfish
1 cup grapefruit juice
½ cup orange juice
½ cup fresh lime juice
2oz gin
1 lime thinly sliced
1 orange thinly sliced
1 jalapeno thinly sliced

1 tbsp honey
salt and pepper to taste

Marinate fillets for at least one hour. Remove fillets and fruit to plate and set aside while you prepare sauce.

Gin and Juice
Simmer marinade for about 10 minutes. It will thicken slightly. Add 1 tablespoon honey, dash of cayenne, and a pinch salt and white pepper.

Mix ½ tsp corn starch in ½ cup of cold water, use this to further thicken sauce. Set sauce aside while your cook the catfish fillets.

Lightly dust the fillets in flour and saute in oil.
When the thickest part of the fillet is just about done, add back the fruit
and cover with sauce. Simmer until heated through and serve with red beans and rice, kickin collards and corn bread.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Jambalaya Recipe





Pat Smillie handed down this recipe to me back in the 90's, when we used to book live blues bands into Club Penelope.


1 stick butter
2 red onions, diced
5 green onions, chopped
1 large bell pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1 Tablespoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon oregano
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 pound Andouille sausage sliced
3/4 pound ham, cut in 1/2 " dice
1/2 pound cooked, pulled chicken, diced
1 quart chicken or shrimp stock
2 cups diced tomatoes with juice
3 cups long grain rice
1 pound small, cleaned shrimp

Melt butter in a large, heavy pot over medium heat.
Add red onion, green onion, bell pepper, cayenne
and oregano
Cover and cook until vegetables are tender

Add rice, tomato paste, sausage, chicken and ham
Add stock and stir mixture.
Lower heat and cover. Cook for about 1 hour stirring occasionally

About 5 minutes before rice is completely done add
shrimp.

Garnish with chopped green onions and serve.

Serves approximately 10




Beginning on Wednesday May 20th, members of the Pat Smillie Band will perform acoustically at CULLEN'S BAR & GRILL (3741 N Southport Ave) on EVERY Wednesday night. FREE ADMISSION.

Buy the CD
PAT SMILLIE BAND: Down by the River
Buy the CDPAT SMILLIE BAND: Letter to Hampton

Friday, April 17, 2009

Hot Dogs Chicago Style


In the Ghettos of Chicago (yes, plural there’s more than one ghetto in Chicago) fast food tradition follows these rules:

1. bars on the windows and doors
2. bullet proof windows for cash only transactions
3. hot dog stand means just that. You can’t dine in, just take your food and eat standing up, maybe the hood of your car could be a table.
4. painted loud taxi cab yellow with red trim
5. well lighted and open late
6. menu includes Maxwell Street Polish in addition to Italian Beef, Gyros, Fish and cheese fries, Extra cheese? Extra charge!

So imagine my shock when I got off the Eisenhower and turned on to Western and saw the cinder block bunker of a hot dog stand that had been glowing neon yellow for years painted gray. The same gray as the stairs to the basement and the back porches of three flats. What could this mean?

I am so very curious, so everyday I swing by Jackson and Western to see what’s up.

It’s a sunny Tuesday and there is a Mexican guy with paints sketching on the front of the building. Graffiti artist? Muralist? Oh, sign painter…..he paints big sad eyes on the little hot dogs behind bars wearing prison stripes…IT’S FELONY FRANKS…Food so good, it’s criminal.

More weeks go by and they are not open yet. I wonder what’s happening. Johnny B is on the radio and he is interviewing the guy who’s trying to open this place. He is planning to hire ex convicts to work there. There seems to be some trouble with the alderman about getting permission for his sign. I think I understand why the local politicians are worried. If these guys get jobs, who will deal our drugs and who will run our gangs, and who will pimp for our girls. Jay Leno quips on the Tonight Show that he can hire some of our ex governors. And maybe he can hire a few of our ex alderman too.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Jerk Chicken and Island Rice



As Featured On EzineArticles

This is one of my all time favorite recipe combinations. It's good hot when you first set it out on the table. And, it's good room temperature when you go back for seconds. It's good cold when you stick your head in the frig in the middle of the night. And, it can make a fine breakfast too. Just chop up some of the chicken, heat it up and add to your omelet and serve some of the rice on the side..or heat up the whole mess and roll it into you omelet. I think I'll make a double batch.

ISLAND RICE
2 cups of chicken stock
1 cup brown rice
1 can coconut milk
1 small package frozen peas
1 can red kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 small green pepper, diced
1 small red pepper, diced

Pinch of cayenne
Pinch of salt
4 green onions sliced

Cover rice with stock and cover.
Simmer for 45 minutes
It takes about 45 minutes for brown rice to cook which is 3 times as long as white rice but its worth the wait for the nutty taste

Add coconut milk, peas, red and black beans and stir
Recover pot and let set for about 10 minutes.
Add salt, cayenne and green onions just before serving

JERK CHICKEN
2 green onions, minced
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
1 minced jalapeno pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne
juice of one lime
1 tsp fish sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
3 lbs chicken legs if you like juicy, tasty chicken
if you like dry chicken use boneless breasts

Mix up all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. The best way to marinate chicken
in in a big ziplock bag. Add chicken pieces and marinade. Store in frig for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours. If you are cooking in oven set oven to 325 degrees
and cook slowly until it is brown and the juice runs clear when pierced. Usually about 45 minutes.

Serve with fried cabbage, or kickin collards and cornbread.

Monday, April 13, 2009

Smothered Pork Chops





6 thick, center cut, bone-in pork chops
3 large yellow onions


Dry Rub for chops
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 tablespoons ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Rub chops on all sides and then pan fry in a little butter until they're nice and brown. Remove from pan and set aside while you caramelize the onions.

Simmer the onions on low heat until they are brown, juicy and sweet. This step takes some patience, if you turn up the heat too high you will burn the onions before they turn sweet. It's gonna take awhile, (15-20 min)so I suggest that you turn the fire down as low as you can and pop open a cold beer.

When the onions are ready, return the chops to pan, add a 1/4 cup of water, cover pan and simmer for 30 minutes. Then you might as well have another cold one while you wait.