Shrimp & Sausage Sauce Piquant

I am loving the cooler weather. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE me some warm weather, but when I lived in Sarasota Florida, I truly realized then, how much I love and appreciate the seasons. I never wanted to see leaves changing so bad in my life. It's something I will never take for granted. I love each season, with their changes in landscape, weather and moods.
This cooler weather has my family wanting some comfort foods. A good friend of mine shared this recipe with me. Her family is from New Orleans and is quite cultured in true traditional cajun and creole dishes. That is what my family loves. Over the years I have collected many of her recipes and these are some of the ones that my family request to warm their stomachs on cold blustery days.
Last night I fixed Sausage & Shrimp Sauce Piquant. It's real comfort food and a family favorite.

Shrimp & Sausage Sauce Piquant


Ingredients:
1 lb sausage (I cut into coin sized pieces)
1-3 lb shrimp (depending on # of people)
1 lrg can tomato paste
1 small can tomatoes
1 small capful of liquid crab boil
1 Tbsp powder crab boil
1 small onion (Chopped)
1/2 tsp celery seed
½ bell pepper (Chopped)
4 cloves garlic, chopped  (or to your taste)
2 C water
1 cooking spoon flour
1 cooking spoon cooking oil
1 Tbsp
Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp beef boullion
sticky rice (prepared)

Directions

1. Brown sausage in a non-stick skillet.
2. Drain any fat and set aside.
3. Make a roux by browning oil and flour, stirring constantly until the roux is about the color of peanut butter.
4. Add onion, bell pepper, garlic and butter
5. Saute.
6. Add cooked sausage, tomatoes, water and seasonings.
7. Cover and simmer at least one hour.
8. Serve over rice.

Now, go.....make some friends.

Rustic and Wonderful Pasta Primavera

My husband is going out tonight with his coworkers for hot wings and beer. I love those nights because it means I can cook something that I wouldn't ordinarily have a "pass" to cook...meaning something that doesn't contain meat, for supper. Big Daddy is a carnivore through and through, unlike myself. So, tonight on the menu, one of my favorites...Pasta Primavera.

I love this dish because it's rustic and flavorful. Its also so colorful, a kaleidoscope of colors. It's honestly one big circus in a bowl! And it's sooooo easy its ridiculous! I make even simpler by cutting corners sometimes and using bagged vegetables. But if you have it in your garden fresh...even better!

Ingredients

• 1 bag of baby carrots
• 1 bag of  fresh broccoli
• 1 bag of fresh cauliflower
• 2 yellow squash, cut into thin strips
• 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced into strips (I then cut those strips in half)
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 4 heaping Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil + 1/4 cup reserved for later
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs or herbes de Provence
• 1 pound ziti noodles
• 1small container cherry tomatoes, halved (I didn't have any today so those aren't in the picture I took)
• 1 small tub (or 1/2 cup or more, depending...I like allot) shaved Parmesan
• *balsamic vinegar

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. On a large heavy baking sheet, toss all of the vegetables with the oil, salt, pepper, and dried herbs to coat. Transfer half of the vegetable mixture to another heavy large baking sheet and arrange evenly over the baking sheets. Bake until the carrots are tender and the vegetables begin to brown, stirring after the first 10 minutes, about 30-40 minutes total.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain.
Toss the pasta with the vegetable mixtures in a large bowl to combine.  Season the pasta with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in remaining olive oil.  Sprinkle with the Parmesan and serve immediately.

*I LOVE to give my pasta a splash of balsamic vinegar atop prior to eating. YUM!

Blackberry Cobbler

It's summertime! There is nothing better than cobbler!
We picked our berries yesterday at the Black & Blueberry Festival. Now we are reaping the benefits.
Hope your Father's Day weekend is also bountiful and delicious!

Ingredients :

1 stick Butter

1-¼ cup Sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

1 cup Self-Rising Flour

1 cup Milk

2 cups Blackberries (or your fav fruit)  

1/4 C chopped nuts (optional)

 

Preparation Instructions

Melt butter in a microwavable dish. Pour 1 cup of sugar and flour into a mixing bowl, whisking in milk. Mix well. Then, pour in melted butter and vanilla and whisk it all well together. Butter a baking dish. Now rinse and pat dry the blackberries. Pour the batter into the buttered baking dish. Sprinkle blackberries over the top of the batter; distributing evenly.  Sprinkle on nuts. Sprinkle ¼ cup sugar over the top. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour, or until golden and bubbly. If you desire, sprinkle an additional teaspoon of sugar over the cobbler 10 minutes before it’s done.

Banana Bread

Overripe Banana's = Tonight's Banana Bread. My family  just loves this treat. I think they intentionally avoids the banana's  so I'll make this bread.

And its sooo easy...


Banana Bread Recipe
Ingredients
3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour


Directions: No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.
Yield: Makes one loaf.

Tonight's Dessert, tomorrows breakfast!

 

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

This cake is so easy to make. And so easy to devour! My family can clean off this small cake in one serving after supper, I recommened doubling the recipe.



Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

Apple Cake:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)


Brown Sugar Glaze:
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon heavy cream


For the cake: Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch pan (round or square) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.Stir with a whisk to mix everything together.

In a large bowl, mix the eggs with a hand mixer til light in color and foamy. Add the oil and vanilla and beat well.

Stir in the flour mixture with a spoon and continue stirring the batter til the flour disappears. Add the apples and nuts (if using) and stir to mix them into the batter.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Place the hot cake on a wire cake. While it's still hot, prepare the glaze.



For the glaze: Combine all the ingredients into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a gentle boil. Cook for 3-5 minutes.

Spoon the hot glaze over the still hot-from-the-oven cake. Let the glazed cake cool completely before serving straight from the pan.

 

 

Spicy Meatballs

This is strictly comfort food. Big Daddy loves him some "meat and potatoes", so this weekend I gave him just that. I served these spicy meatballs with creamy potatoes, green beans, marinated cucumber salad and apple cake. He was a happy, happy man. It's the little things in life, huh?

Spicy Meatballs

Ingredients

Meatballs:

• 1 1/2 pounds ground beef

• 3/4 cup quick oats

• 1 cup milk

• 3 tablespoons very finely minced onion

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• Plenty of ground black pepper

• 4 tablespoons canola oil

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

•

Sauce:

• 1 cup ketchup

• 4 to 6 tablespoons minced onion

• 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar

• 1 tsp sugar

• 4-5 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

• Dash of hot sauce, such as Tabasco

2 tsp horseradish

1 Tbsp Meat Marinade, I used Moore's.

Directions

For the meatballs: In bowl, combine the ground beef and oats. Pour in the milk, and then add the onions, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Roll the mixture into tablespoon-size balls and refrigerate them for 30 to 45 minutes to firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Dredge the meatballs in the flour, and then brown the meatballs in batches until light brown. As they brown, place them into a rectangular baking dish.

For the sauce: Stir together the ketchup, onions, vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. Drizzle the sauce evenly on the meatballs.

Bake until bubbly and hot, about 45 minutes.

 

Creamy Potatoes

Creamy Potatoes

5 lbs potatoes, peeled, cubed and cooked in boiling, salted water for 10 minutes. Drain
4 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp.
1 stick butter, melted
1 8 oz sour cream (I use light or no fat).
Shredded cheese

Put potatoes in a casserole dish. Cream together melted butter, sour cream and cream cheese. Pour over potatoes, stirring and coating. Top with shredded cheeses. I used cheddar and parmesaun. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until bubbly.

 

Taco Pasta!

My family are big taco eaters. They love it. So, when I saw this recipe over on Pinterest, and thought it looked good, I knew it would be one to try out on the family. Its called taco pasta.

Ingredients:1lb ground beef
1 package taco seasoning
1 4 once package cream cheese
12 large pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese (shredded)
1 ½ cups tortilla chips (crushed)
3 green onions (chopped)
1 cup sour cream
 

Step 1: In a fry pan cook ground beef and add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions. Add cream cheese cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well. Set aside and allow to fully cool. While burger is cooking cook the pasta shells, drain and toss well with butter.
Step 2:  Pour salsa in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
Step 3: Stuff each shell with the meat mixture. Place the stuffed shells in the baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with taco sauce.
Step 4: Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Step 5: After 30 minutes, uncover, and sprinkle crushed chips and shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses on top.  Cook for about 15 more minutes. Serve with sour cream, additional salsa, black olives or whatever you think goes good with tacos!

My family LOVED this recipe and requested it be put into a regular monthly rotation.

Recipe from here.

And if you haven't discovered Pinterest yet....you need to. But warning.....addictive!

Yummy!

I have been busy this morning.

Making.

Baking.

Stirring the pot with good stuff....

Strawberry Bread for kids after school snack

My Homemade Salsa

cutting and chopping....

Salting and draining.
Cucumbers for marinated salad tonight.
It's one of the kids favorites.
I salt my cucumbers and allow them to drain the water on paper towels on a cookie sheet before I prepare them in my marinade.
This keeps from watering down the marinade.

I just LOVE cilantro!
I love the smell!
I love it in my salsa.
In salads.
And in so many of my recipes.

All of which I will be sharing really soon!

What are you making, baking, stirring and chopping today?

Manly Man's Sandwich

For lunch yesterday I made the fam a Manly Man's sandwich. You know, one with lots of meat and gravy and cheese. And the kids were pretty pleased with it too.


Seasoning we will use:

Gravy with onions (or not, your preference), season salt, lemon pepper, Tabasco (to taste), Worcestershire (about 2 tsp...or 8 if you are related to me!), and a meat marinade (2-3 tsp). Garlic (to taste.)

Begin with cubed steak. I cut it into 1 inch strips, going against the grain.
When you have all of your steak cubed, line steak your pan in a single layer.
Season your meat as it cooks in the pan.

For me, it takes two separate cooking of the meats.

Allow the meat to cook about 1-2 minutes per side, and transfer to another plate and do the remainder of the meat.

 While the meat is cooking add in some minced garlic. We LOVE minced garlic! We use it in just about EVERYTHING!!!

And this dish is no different.
I add in about a tsp per skillet.

After meat has coked on each side about a minute or 2, then
add in the gravy with onions to the pan and allow the meat to finish off cooking.
This will take about a minute.

While meat is in it's final stages of cooking, grill your sub rolls. Begin by adding about 2 Tbsp butter to your griddle. And allow it to melt and bubble up..

I use these subrolls, but you can use whatever bread you prefer. These hold up nicely to the filling of the sandwich.

Now, Split the subroll in half and leave it there to get crisp and brown in the pan. You want your bread happy. Like a summer tan.  It will take a few minutes.

After bread is nicely golden brown, add some cheese if you want.
We prefer Swiss on this sandwich.

Now spoon the meat onto the sandwich bread...

It makes for the perfect marriage.

Big Daddy is a happy man!

Angel Chicken

This is a dish that pleases even the most picky eaters in my family. It is much like chicken alfredo.
What You Need

4oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, softened
1can (10-3/4 oz.) reduced-sodium condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4cup Kraft Tuscan House Italian Dressing and Marinade
1/4cup dry white wine
1-1/2lb. boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2lb. angel hair pasta, uncooked
2Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Make It
BEAT first 4 ingredients with whisk until well blended;

pour over chicken in slow cooker.

(how I love the invention of the slow cooker liner!)

And even though the recipe didn't call for it, I am going to squeeze in some lemon, for freshness!

Cook on LOW 4 to 5 hours (or on HIGH 2 to 3 hours).
COOK pasta as directed on package; drain. Serve topped with chicken mixture and parsley.
Enjoy!

 

Creamy Chicken Soup

Recently, while at the cabin, my cousin Elaine served up Creamy Chicken Soup. It is a recipe that was given to her by a friend, Barbara White who is battling cancer. This is a soup that can almost cure anything that ailes you, so Elaine made it in honor of her friend who gave her the recipe.

It was kid approved. Which is HUGE with the inclusion of one Sister Sledge in the decision making. That kid is PICKY!

(Pictured L to R: Sister Sledge and her friend T-Mac)

Sister Sledge ate about four -five bowls throughout the day.

Barbara's Recipe for Creamy Chicken Soup....in honor of Barbara.

Such an easy recipe, for such a delicious soup. The only thing I would change, and it's a personal choice.... Rotisserie Chicken rather than canned chicken (which I am not a fan). Fresh, delicious!

Prayers are lifted for your health.

Patricia's Jackolantern Cheeseball

Patricia's Cheeseball

3 Green Onion, divided
2 package 8 oz cream cheese
1 pkg cheddar cheese, shredded
c red bell pepper (chopped)
2 slices pepperoni

Combine onion & cream cheese together, mix well. Add 1 C cheddar cheese and mix into cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate 1 hour. Mold into a ball and then roll ball into more shredded cheddar, allowing it to coat ball. Stick 2 slices pepperoni for eyes. Green Onion for stem. Use remaining peppers to make nose, mouth.

Italian Style Cauliflower

Mark Twain once said: "cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with college education".


I love this recipe that is an Italian staple in many an Italian village. Served as a side dish, its a delicious accompaniment to any main dish. Its a simple, rustic dish that will leave you craving for more. Even the cauliflower hater might can be converted with this dish!


Italian Style Cauliflower

• 1 head Cauliflower, outer leaves removed
• 4 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• *extra seasoning of your choice (see directions below)

Directions:

Cut the bottom of the stem off of the head of cauliflower.

Break apart the florets, into large pieces. Boil the cauliflower. for about 7-10 minutes, until fork tender.

* In a small skillet, heat the olive oil. I like to "kick up" my breadcrumbs with a lil seasoning salt, sometimes it might be Cajun seasoning, you can also try 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon dried basil, 1 pinch oregano....even Parmesan.

I use Italian seasoned crumbs, so it already is seasoned, then I sometimes add a lil somethin', somthin'. You can customize the flavor to your liking!

When the oil is hot, add breadcrumbs and brown, not leaving the skillet. It will burn if you do.

Continue to mix breadcrumbs so that the oil is absorbed into the crumbs.  I just use a fork to work it in, so there is a mutual love there. You know what I'm saying?

Now, drain the cauliflower! Then put into a serving bowl or serving plate.

Take your toasted and seasoned bread crumbs and Spoon atop the cauliflower.

And as they say in Italy...

"Mangia bene, vivi felice"

Which means, " Eat Well Live Happy" It's my philosophy too.

ENJOY!