New Orleans inspired ready in 1/2 hour - Chicken Etouffee

 A New Orleans style dish you can make in the time it takes to cook the rice.  This dish gets its flavour from the roux - cooking the butter (or margarine) and flour until it is the colour of a copper penny.  The taste of the browned flour gives a richness to the sauce.  Cut the onion while the chicken is cooking cut the celery and peppers and mince the garlic while the onion is cooking. We like it spicy with a teaspoon of red pepper flakes.  Add spice to your taste or eliminate it altogether and still have a very tasty dish.  You can use brown rice, or a quick cook brown rice to make a healthier meal.  I will cook some brown rice for my picky eater, Naomi, as she prefers it.  Lauren, Andrew and I prefer white rice.  

When I told Naomi what we were having she moaned - once again and told me that cooking for the blog was more important than cooking to her taste.  I put my foot down and said "too bad this is what we are having".   Once again she really liked it and once again she had seconds.  My mother only made one meal and we had to eat it.  My brother told his kids that my mother gave us two choices for dinner "Eat or I'll shove it down your throat".  I do try to respect their tastes but when I know that all of the ingredients are ones they like, then they have to eat or.....

You can also substitute cooked shrimp for the chicken.  Just put them into the sauce at the end with the vegetables and heat.  

Chicken Etouffee

Ingredients

1 cup raw rice, 2 cups water

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces

1 tablespoon Olive oil

1 large onion chopped

1 large sweet red pepper chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 clove garlic minced

2 tablespoons butter (or margarine)

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup chicken stock

½ tsp. Dried thyme
salt to taste

red pepper flakes to taste

Instructions

In a small saucepan, add rice and water, cook on high until boiling and reduce to low for 20 minutes.

Place a large skillet on medium heat, when heated and add oil. Add chicken and cook until no longer pink (let the chicken cook without stirring until it is lightly browned which is also when it no longer sticks to the pan, then stir it up to get it lightly browned on all sides).  Remove chicken and put in a bowl

Add vegetables and sauté vegetables until crisp tender.  Add garlic, thyme, salt and red pepper flakes -  mix the spices into the vegetables for about 1 minute.

Remove vegetables from skillet, place in bowl with chicken

Place butter and flour in skillet, cook over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture is the colour of a copper penny (about 5 minutes).  Add chicken stock, stir until bubbling scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir.  
Add chicken and vegetables; simmer 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated.  Serve over rice.