Princess And The Frog: Mardi Gras!!

Happy Mardi Gras Disney fans!!!! Well okay … Happy a-little-after-Mardi-Gras-and-well-into-Lent-season. So far this month has already seen a lot of happenings: two awesome shows in Dayton and Cleveland over the weekend, a new job I’ll be starting in a week, and a much needed performer’s break from performing. We finally got snowfall here in Ohio and I must say it is quite pretty … albeit cold and wet.

February is seeing a lot of changes for me personally up here in Ohio. I’ve accepted a new position at my day job. I’m excited to take this step up in my department because it means more challenges, more learning experiences and yes even more money! And that means … A little more wiggle room to save up for Disney DVDs and Dinner Parties!!

February is also prep time for my performance life as I generally take the month off to rest and recuperate and working toward some projects. Part of that project includes gearing up for pageantry season and competing!! I love the artistic process that happens when you bring together a package for competition: the gown, the jewelry, the talent, the costumes, the dancers, the sets … everything coming together to form one solid offering that says “here I am and here’s what I do.”

Well enough about my professional and performance life; let’s dive into this month’s Disney and Dinner. With Mardi Gras happening so early this month, what better movie to feature than The Princess and the Frog. Here we follow the story of Tianna, a hard working waitress with dreams of owning her own restaurant and the spoiled yet broke playboy Prince of Maldonia Naveen as they attempt to break the spell of voodoo villain Dr. Facilier with the help of Ray the Firefly, Louis the trumpet-blowing gator, and Mama Odi the Voodoo Woman of the Bayou. I’ve reviewed the movie in a previous post so (which you and find here) so I won’t bore you with going through it again. On this particular night I was joined by my Disney buddy Rory, and two of my dancers (we had just gotten done with rehearsal) Vivianna and Pandora. And here’s tonight’s menu:

Jambalaya
Crockpot Cornbread
Easy Beignets

Now I know what you’re going to say … In the movie they’re constantly talking gumbo. And I understand gumbo is more traditionally served during Mardi Gras so why Jambalaya? Well … the short answer … I don’t know how to make gumbo. It seems like a silly excuse but I have fond memories of learning to make jambalaya from back in college. My college chamber singers were planning a choir tour trip to Italy and well we needed money. Normally choirs turn to raffles or spaghetti feeds for fund raising and such, well our choir director this time around gave us three new ideas: Raffle ticket to win a car (amazingly successful), a pumpkin pie sale (just in time for the Thanksgiving season) but we kicked everything off with a jambalaya night (much like a spaghetti feed). I was given the task of finding out just how much spice we would need to go from a batch that serves 4 people to 120 people!! Thankfully my math skills hadn’t dwindled at that point. The jambalaya was a wild success and I’ve kept the recipe with me for the last 13 years. What I like about this recipe is first off you don’t need a lot of hard to find spices as you use only four: salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and chili powder. Also it’s easy to adjust the ingredient list to use whatever you happen to have on hand. Here’s the ingredient list:

·         1 lbs boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite size chunks

·         1 lbs Kielbasa, cut into half inch slices

·         One medium sized onion, chopped

·         Three bell peppers, chopped

·         Two to three cloves of garlic chopped

·         Five or six stalks of celery chopped (include the leaves for flavor)

·         One 14 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

·         One 16 oz. bottle of beer

·         4 Cups of water

·         1 ½ cups of rice

·         Cayenne Pepper

·         Chili Powder

·         Salt and black pepper

·         3 Bay leaves

Method:

In a Dutch oven heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Sautee chicken thighs and Kielbasa, seasoning with salt, black and Cayenne pepper. Remove from pan and set aside. Add onion, bell peppers, garlic, and celery to same pot. Cook until the vegetables start to sweat and season with salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper and chili powder. Add the meat back into the pot with canned tomatoes and beer. Simmer on medium heat until the alcohol evaporates. Add water and rice and turn heat down to medium low. Add bay leaves and simmer until rice is cooked.

One thing I definitely recommend is pay attention to what type of rice you use. Being Japanese, I used Cal-Rose rice which is very sticky. This created a very thick jambalaya with little liquid left in the pot. Still good but if you want more of a soup consistency then I would recommend long grain rice as oppose to Japanese style rice.

As you will see in many of my recipes, I love using my crockpot. For anyone who’s busy with everyday life, I think a crockpot is probably one of the best investments you can make. I use my crockpot for main dishes, side dishes, desserts, and even as a center piece for some of my parties (Google ideas for a crockpot chocolate fondue party and you’ll see what I mean). It seems as though many meals from the south have one common side dish you can find: cornbread. So when I did a search for easy cornbread recipes and a crockpot recipe came up … Well of course I had to give it a try!! Here’s the recipe I found from a website called “Tablespoon”

Easy Crockpot Cornbread:

·         2 tablespoons unsalted butter

·         1 ½ cups Cornmeal

·         1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

·         2 tablespoons sugar

·         1 tablespoon baking powder

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1 teaspoon chili powder (optional)

·         2 cups buttermilk

·         2 large eggs

Method:

Melt unsalted butter in a 5-6 quart slow cooker on high heat. Stir together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and chili powder in a medium mixing bowl. Then stir in buttermilk and eggs. Spread melted butter around in slow cooker so it coats the bottom of the cooker. Pour in cornbread batter and spread evenly. Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 2 hours. Let cornbread cool slightly and serve with a spoon.

The end result of this was wonderful. Moist and flaky and delicious; the only thing I toyed with for the future is adding a little more sugar as I’m used to sweeter cornbread. Also I did not add the chili powder so I’m certain that would have changed up the flavor as well. But those details are rather minor; the end result was absolutely worth it (and only two hours in the crockpot!).

Works in progress 

Finished Product

For dessert what can be more appropriate than beignets. These light, airy and crispy pieces of fried dough come with a variety of toppings, from honey to melted chocolate to cinnamon and sugar. I decided to keep this one simple when searching for a recipe and really… It doesn’t get any simpler than this:

Easy Beignets

·         1 12 oz. can of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

·         Vegetable oil

·         Garnish: Powdered sugar

Method:

Separate biscuits into individual round and cut into quarters. Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches in a Dutch oven and heat over medium heat to 350 degrees. Fry biscuit quarters in batches (1 to 1.5 minutes on each side or until golden). Drain on a paper towel and dust generously with powdered sugar.

The best part of this recipe is the beignets pretty much tell you when they’re ready to be flipped (most times they turn themselves over in the cooking oil). These are certainly delicious warm from cooking but even as they cooled down a bit … they were still delicious.

Easy Beignets

With our bowls of food ready to warm us through, the four of us sat down and watched Princess and the Frog. In the course of conversation we started to talk of our own upbringings sparked by the villain of the movie, Dr. Facilier. During the course of the movie, we commented on how each of us has a little Facilier characteristic: I read Tarot cards, Vivianna and Pandora grew up knowing voodoo, and Rory pointed out how the Dr. would make an interesting villain movie remake (maybe a thought for the future huh Disney?).

Well everyone another month of Disney and Dinner planning in the books. Some of you may have noticed than in the course of this blog I rarely mention drink with our meals. Normally when I have a dinner night I like to make it a BYOB affair. Everyone brings something they like and are willing to share so we all get a chance to try something new. I asked my friend Rory to come up with a drink that would complement this meal and his offering will be in a follow up blog called “Rory’s Refreshments.” I hope you enjoy this added blog offering and the recipes presented so far. In the meantime, is there a Disney movie you’d like to see offered for a Disney Dinner? Leave a comment in the comments section and I’ll do my best to come up with a dinner pairing for it!!

I hope it warms up nicely and the spring brings you sunshine!! Next month in honor of St. Patrick’s Day I’ll be cooking up some corned beef and cabbage in the crockpot with a side offering of salt-crusted fingerling potatoes and chocolate stout cake for dessert. And next month’s movie offering: Darby O’Gill and the Little People. 

As always Make It A Magical Day -- Pat A

Links: 

Crockpot Jambalaya -- http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/homemade-slow-cooker-cornbread/6a4d0874-1fbf-4e23-954c-0476cca27a40

Easy Beignets -- http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/biscuit-beignets