Sometimes I like to try to find recipes that venture into Cajun flair, since hubby grew up eating Cajun food. I’ve been told it’s impossible to make “real” Cajun food outside of the area, since you can’t get “real” sausage or other essential ingredients, but I thought this recipe would be a good compromise because it has ingredients I can get in Maryland.
I made it once, about a year and a half ago. At the time, I had cut way back on the spice in the recipe, since the reviews all said that 3 tablespoons of creole seasoning is far too much, but even so it was too spicy to enjoy and all the effort was wasted. I had Andouille in the fridge, so I thought I’d try again, cutting back even more.
My ingredients weren’t exactly fresh. Here are some frozen chicken breasts and some frozen green and red bell peppers, which I had cut into strips prior to freezing.
I thawed out the chicken enough to cut it up, and then also sliced up a package of Andouille sausage links. If they look a little funny around the edges, it’s because I’d opened the package a few days earlier for another recipe and didn’t seal it up properly. Oops.
Sautéed the sausage and chicken with a bunch of creole seasoning until they were about halfway cooked. The recipe called for 3 tablespoons of the seasoning. Last time, I used 2 and it was far too much. This time, I think I started with about a 1/2 tablespoon and added more as I went.
Added in the peppers. Should have added fresh mushrooms, but I didn’t have any. And I forgot that I had a can of sliced mushrooms in the cupboard, but those are never as good as fresh anyway.
When the veggies have cooked and become tender, stir in some chicken broth
And milk (I used skim)
I poured them together to give me something to do while I was waiting to dump them in… I don’t think this is necessary!
Also, measure out some garlic powder and lemon pepper seasoning to add to the mixture.
Nom nom nom… it’s starting to look and smell delicious.
However, it’s extremely liquidy. The recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of corn starch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water. I never use that much when I thicken my sauces, but then again this was a LOT of liquid so I figured I didn’t have a choice.
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And then just simmer for a while, letting the whole thing thicken up.
I thought about serving this with rice, since the linguini it calls for seemed odd, but I asked hubby which he’d prefer and he said linguini. Linguini it is.
It did turn out well. Hubby liked it a lot better this time, since the heat wasn’t overpowering to the point where we couldn’t even taste anything. Personally, I thought it tasted corn-starchy. I think it’d make more sense to add less liquid – maybe half the chicken broth and half the milk – and then you wouldn’t have to work so hard to thicken it up. Of course, you could also use cream in place of milk and then use even less, but that’d be a lot more fattening.
But it was good, even the leftovers. A nice, flavorful change up from the usual red sauce.
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