Jostage Kitchen's Orzo Recipe

What is Orzo?
Until recently, I didn't even know what it was. It is a rice-shaped pasta, similar to risotto.  The way I'll be making this dish is through having the orzo soak up the "broth" that it cooks in, giving it a thick texture and rich flavor. This is a recipe that, to my knowledge, I have invented, with inspiration from Mediterranean cooking. It has been a favorite of mine, and several guests have enjoyed it as well. I hope you will too!



Ingredients
1 1/2 cups orzo
3 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp unsalted sweet cream butter
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
Dash of cinnamon
1/2 tbsp lime juice

Step 1: In a medium sized sauce pan, pour in 1 1/2 cups orzo, 2 1/4 cups water, and 1 tsp salt. Turn burner onto high. Stir orzo around as it begins to heat up. As pot heats up, add in the butter. This will give the dish its creaminess. Continue to stir pot's contents with a wooden spoon.

Another cooking tool that I use a lot is a wooden spoon. This dish requires a lot of stirring, and as such it's good to have a wooden spoon handy. Metal spoons, while they have their place, are not good for this kind of dish, as they may scratch your pot, which over time and repeated scratching causes food to stick to the pan/pot, and often burn.

Step 2:  When the water starts to boil, turn the heat to medium. At this same time, add in 1 tbsp of tomato paste. Continue to stir-if not, the orzo may begin to stick to the bottom of the pot (even if you've been using a wooden spoon all along!). If the orzo sticks repeatedly, I lower the heat even further, while continuing to stir. It's also important to stir continuously at this stage to break the tomato paste up.

Step 3: Once the tomato paste has broken up, turn heat to low and add in the remaining 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste. At this point, I also often add in another 1/4 of water if the orzo is getting too thick. It's a fine balance-you don't want too add too much water at the beginning, so the orzo doesn't get too watery. I usually start out with the 2 1/4 cups of water (as discussed in step one) and then gradually add more water (up to an additional 3/4 cup) to get the orzo to my desired thickness. I also add in a dash of cinnamon once the second addition of tomato paste has broken up. The cinnamon really gives this dish a very special and distinct flavor.

Step 4: After about 10-12 minutes, take a taste and determine whether the orzo is cooked to your liking. I like orzo, and all of my pasta, al dente, so  I'm careful not to over cook. I like my food to have a bit of acidity, so at this stage, I also add in 1/2 tbsp of lime juice-you can either use bottled lime juice or juice from 1/2 lime. Continue to cook on low heat until orzo is at your desired consistency.

Your Orzo is now ready to eat! Enjoy !

Total time: 15-20 minutes
Serves: 6

Recipe for Cajun Blackened Chicken Easy Recipe

Blackened Chicken with Orzo (see our orzo recipe)

 We fell in love with this type of chicken when we went to New Orleans at K-Paul's Kitchen. I actually had blackened drum (a bayou fish) , but the techniques and flavor profiles transfer very well to chicken.This is a very simple recipe and quick to make. This recipe feed 4-5 people. 

Recipe Ingredients
1 1/4 lbs of chicken tenderloins
4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (1/4 to make it hot)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder


Preparation
Step 1: Combine paprika, salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, thyme, pepper and onion into small bowl.  Before adding the thyme, crush it a bit with your fingers. This helps to break up some of the leaves and releases the flavor. Mix all ingredients with a fork.  Pour blackening mix into container into which you can coat chicken.

Step 2: Place chicken into container with blackening mix. We're using previously frozen chicken that we defrosted under cold water. You can also defrost in the microwave to speed up the process, or of course, non-frozen chicken. If you do use previously frozen chicken, make sure that it has been thoroughly defrosted, otherwise the blackening seasoning will not stick well to the chicken.

Step 3: Move chicken around in blackening mix until it is well-coated.You will notice that the paprika sticks to the chicken exceptionally well, while getting the other elements of the mix (particularly the thyme) to stick might take a bit more effort.

Step 4: Coat the frying pan with vegetable oil-just enough to coat the bottom of the pan, any more and it will take the blackening mix off of your chicken. Tilt the pan to make sure the little amount of oil that you use covers the whole bottom. We use vegetable oil, rather than olive oil, because vegetable oil has a very mild flavor that won't distract your taste buds from the key element of this dish: the blackening seasoning.
 
Step 5: Once the oil has heated up, drop the chicken tenderloins into the pan. At first, leave the pan on high so that the chicken "blackens"... the paprika caramelizes and literally "blackens" during this process.  Let one side of the chicken cook on high for two minutes, and then flip.  Let the other side cook on high for two minutes. Flip again and turn the heat to medium. After approximately four more minutes, the chicken should be done. You can tell whether the chicken is done by its firmness. Poke at it, and the softer it is, the more raw it is inside. Of course, you don't want it to be "too" firm, because then it is probably overcooked and dry. Figuring out the right "firmness" takes time. In you're still learning, you can always cut into a piece of the chicken-if it is white all the way through, then it is safe to eat.

Your cajun blackened chicken is now ready to eat! Enjoy!

Note:  we are using chicken tenderloins for this dish. If you choose to use a different cut, cooking times may vary.