Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta with Sausages

 

Back on Facebook and found this gem.

Ingredients

1/2 pound large shrimp

1/2 pound andouille sausage

3 tablespoons cajun spice mix (divided)

Olive oil

1/2 medium yellow onion

1/2 red bell pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon brown sugar

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup crushed tomatoes

3/4 cup chicken broth

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

3/4 cup heavy cream

12 ounces fettuccine

salt and pepper

Grated Parmesan and chopped parsley ; for serving

Stuff you will need

Cutting board with sharp knife

Pot to boil the fettuccine noodles

Colander

Mixing bowls

Deep sided frying pan

Directions

Bring large pot of water to boil for pasta. 

Toss shrimp with 1 – 2 tablespoons of cajun seasoning and coat well. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat and drizzle bottom of pan with olive oil. Add shrimp and cook for 2 minutes or so until starting to curl. Flip shrimp over and cook another minute or two and then remove to a mixing bowl and set aside. 

Drizzle pan with a little more olive oil, add sausage and brown until nicely caramelized, about 4 – 5 minutes. Remove to a separate mixing bowl, set aside.

Add pasta to salted boiling water and cook until al dente, a minute less than package instructions.

Lower heat to medium and add another good drizzle of olive oil to the pan, add the onion, red bell pepper, thyme, smoked paprika, 1 tablespoon cajun seasoning, brown sugar and a generous pinch of salt. 

Sauté until onion and pepper have softened a bit, scraping up any browned bits that you can. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add crushed tomatoes, chicken broth and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pan, simmer a couple minutes. 

Add cream and stir to combine, bring to a simmer. 

Once simmering, add cooked pasta and andouille sausage and stir to combine and heat through, 2 – 3 minutes. 

Add more chicken broth or cream if it seems dry or you’d like more sauce. 

Salt and pepper to taste and then lastly, add blackened shrimp and combine, or place shrimp on top of pasta. 

Sprinkle with some more freshly cracked black pepper, grated Parmesan and chopped parsley. 

Enjoy!

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcomed.

Stuffing balls

The ideas you can find on the internet.  Tonya found this one and posted it on Facebook.

Ingredients

2 loaves white bread
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup water
1/4 cup butter
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 teaspoons ground sage
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
Turkey broth

Stuff you will need

Cutting board with sharp knife

Frying pan

Baking tray or Cookie sheet

Pam cooking spray or parchment paper

Mixing bowls

Directions

Tear the bread into 1-1/2″ pieces including the crusts.

Preheat the oven to 275 F.

Spread the bread out on a cookie sheet and bake for 50 minutes.  This will toast the bread.

Transfer the bread to a large mixing bowl.  

Beat the eggs with the milk and water; sparingly, drizzle this mixture over the bread and mix it in just to moisten.

Saute the celery, and onions, in the butter until translucent. Salt and pepper to taste.

Add the warm celery, onion and butter mixture to the bread.

Add the parsley and sprinkle in a little rubbed sage.

Cover lightly with poultry seasoning.

Gently toss with your hands.

Gently push the stuffing mixture into the corner of your mixing bowl and allow to sit for 30 minutes to absorb the liquid in the bread.

Form the stuffing into balls about the size of a baseball.  Or, if you have the patience, about the size of large meatballs.

You may freeze the balls at this point by arranging on a baking sheet and flash freezing.

When frozen, place stuffing balls in the bread bag wrappers.

When ready to bake, place balls in a 9 x 13 inch pan with about 1/4″ hot broth in the bottom of the pan.

You can bake them frozen or defrosted, adjust your time accordingly.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes, basting a few times until browned

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

Cast Iron Personal Pan Pizza

 

First off, I've got to take a better picture and get the color balance correct.

My sister in law, Kim, says that I make the best pizza she has ever tasted.  

Well Kim, this is the next level pizza.  Got this recipe from the YouTube channel, America's Test Kitchen.

Ingredients

11 oz bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp instant yeast, or could be called rapid rise yeast
8 oz water
3 tbsp olive oil or Crisco lard

Pam cooking spray

Stuff you will need

2 Mixing bowls

Wooden spoon

Cast Iron Skillet

Plastic Wrap

Directions

Make sure the water is between 105 and 110 F.

Add all the dry ingredients before adding the water.

This dough is going to be very hydrated.  So you don't need a stand mixer for this. Just a wooden mixing spoon.

When the dough comes together, knead the dough, right in the bowl.

Transfer to a previously sprayed (Pam cooking spray) mixing bowl.

Flatten out the dough and more cooking spray on top of the dough.

Cover that pan with plastic wrap.

Leave in the fridge for 12 to 24 hours.

Take out of the fridge, about 30 min so that the dough can come up to room temperature.

Grease up the cast iron skillet.  Or about 3 tbsp of olive oil.  Put some grease/oil on your "working hand".

Transfer the dough to the skillet and push the dough out towards the sides.

Let the dough sit in the pan for about 90 minutes.

Heat up the oven to 400 F,

Put your toppings on the pizza.

Bake, 30 minutes in the oven.

Let the pizza sit in the pan for about 3 to 5 minutes.

If it hasn't browned as much as you like, turn the burner on medium and cook for another 5 minutes.

Let the pizza rest for 10 minutes.

When you are cutting the pizza, start from the middle and cut towards the edge.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.

Loaded Potato Soup

I am always on the hunt for a new soup recipe.

When I was in the Navy (25 years), we had soup at 10 am each and every day.  This was a staple of life.

Ingredients

8 slices bacon chopped
4 tablespoons butter
4 large Russet potatoes peeled and cubed
1 medium onion finely chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ cup flour
2 ½ cups low sodium chicken broth
2 ½ cups 2% milk
2 cups shredded cheddar
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup chopped chives
Salt and pepper to taste

Stuff you will need

Dutch Oven

Vegetable peeler

Cutting board with sharp knife

Whisk

Slotted spoon

Ladle

Directions

In a Dutch oven or heavy stockpot over medium heat, brown the bacon.  

Using a slotted spoon remove the bacon from the pan reserving the grease.  

Add enough butter to make 2 tablespoons of fat. Melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the potatoes and onions to the pan cooking for 5 minutes or until the onions are soft.  

Add the garlic and the cayenne pepper; cooking for 1 minute stirring constantly. Using a slotted spoon remove the potatoes, onions and garlic to a bowl or plate; reserving any fat in the pan.

Melt enough butter to make 4 tablespoons of fat.  Sprinkle in 1/4 cup flour and whisk to combine.  Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly.  

Whisk in the chicken broth and milk in several intervals alternating between the two.

Add the potatoes, onions and garlic back to the pot and simmer until the potatoes are tender.

Add shredded cheese and stir until melted.  

Remove from the heat and stir in the bacon, sour cream, chives and salt and pepper to taste.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Mac and Cheese

 

Cruising Facebook and ran across this.  Posted by Christine Ann Lynch.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup of flour

3 cups milk

2 tsp dry mustard

4 cups grated cheddar

3 cups macaroni

1 tsp salt

Pam Cooking Spray

1/4 cup bread crumbs (optional)

Stuff you will need

Dutch oven

Whisk

Pot big enough to cook your macaroni

Colander

Wooden spoon

Casserole Dish

Directions

Cook 3 cups macaroni noodles and drain in colander.

Melt butter in a Dutch Oven, along with flour. Cook and stir until well blended and smooth. 

Pre-heat oven to 400F.

Gradually add 3 cups whole milk. Continue to cook and whisk until thick and creamy. 

Remove from stove and add 2 tsp dry mustard and 4 cups grated cheese. I used Old Cheddar this time. Add 1 tsp salt and stir. 

Add cooked macaroni noodles and stir.

Add everything to a pre-sprayed casserole dish with Pam Cooking spray and top with more grated cheddar and bread crumbs or fried cubed bread, if desired.

Bake for about 30 mins at 400 or until golden and bubbly.

Salt dough

Tonya asked me to find a recipe for salt dough so that she could do this with the grandkids.

Ingredients

4 cups flour

1 cup table salt

1.5 cups water

Stuff you will need

Mixing bowl

Mixing spoon

Parchment paper

Rolling pin

Cookie Cutters

Acrylic paints

Instructions

Mix the ingredients together in a large bowl using a wooden spoon. When it becomes too stiff to stir, use clean hands to bring the dough together.

If the dough is too wet and sticky, knead in a little more flour, about 1 tablespoon at a time. If it's too stiff, add a little more water, about 1 tablespoon at a time. There is a big range in the way different flours absorb liquid, so there is a normal range of variation here. It should be easy to work with—soft and not too stiff and not excessively sticky.

Knead a few times until the dough is uniform and soft, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Divide dough into 2 or 4 sections and roll out to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick between two sheets of parchment paper. This will help prevent sticking.

Cut out with cookie cutters. Transfer shapes to a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Repeat rolling and cutting out shapes to use up the dough.

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Do a 4-5-inch circle and press in a child's handprint if desired.

Use a paper lollipop stick or a skewer to make a hole to hang as an ornament.

If making ornaments, bake for 90 minutes to 2 hours; if baking handprints, bake for 2-3 hours. Continue baking both ornaments and handprints as needed until they are until just firm to the touch, checking every 20 minutes. (It's not a problem if yours take longer than the initial baking time—it varies based on thickness and size...which will likely vary if you are baking these with kids!) They do not need to be rock hard, but should not feel squishy. Handprints will likely take longer than smaller ornaments and may take closer to 4 hours.

Remove from oven, let cool, and paint if desired with acrylic or washable tempera paint.

Once paint is completely dry, seal with Mod Podge if desired.

Divide the recipe in half to make a smaller portion of dough if desired.

Use paper lollipop sticks or a skewer to make your holes.

Use a 4-5 inch round cookie cutter to make handprint ornaments.

Tie on baker's twine or thin ribbon to hang as ornaments.

Try to get the dough to an even thickness before baking so the ornaments bake evenly.

Bake for the time indicated and then longer if your ornaments still feel soft. They should be firm to the touch without much give but do not need to be rock hard. It is not a sign of a problem if yours take longer than mine did to bake—flours and ovens vary!

Let cool fully before painting.

If you want to paint the background of a handprint ornament, do that before you paint the inside of the hand. Let dry before adding a second color.

Use regular acrylic paint for older kids who can be trusted with paint and washable tempera paint with younger toddlers.

To help preserve your finished dried ornaments, you can coat with a layer or two of Mod Podge or spray with a sealer.

Home made bologna

 

Back on the internet and look what I found.

No preservatives and will fill all corners of your sandwich.

Ingredients

3 lbs ground beef

2 lbs ground pork

1 cup dry milk

12 ice cubes, crushed

2 tsp sugar

2 1/2 tbsp salt

1 tbsp white pepper

1 1/2 tsp garlic

1 1/2 tsp cardamom

1 1/2 tsp coriander

1 tsp sage

3/4 tsp mace

3/4 tsp allspice

3/4 tsp pepper

Stuff you will need

Meat grinder

Stand mixer

Loaf pan

Mortar and pestle

Directions

Grind the meat 1 or 2 more times to make it finer.

I would also use my mortar and pestle to fine grind the spices.

Preheat oven to 275 F.

Mix the meats together, then add the dry milk and ice.  Add the spices and continue to mix.

Transfer to a greased loaf pan and cook for about 3 hours or until internal temperature reaches 160 F.

Honestly, it is still going to be cheaper to just buy your bologna at the store.  But at least you are controlling what is in your bologna.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome.