Housewarming & Crawfish Cornbread

We had some friends over this weekend so we could show off our house and eat some cajun food before Mardi Gras!

I made chicken & sausage gumbo and crawfish cornbread. I also brought back crawfish boudain and spicy pork boudain from my trip to Orange last weekend. Mike and I picked up Hurricanes & King Cake for the party as well. Friends brought lots of good stuff - pork tenderloin, jalapeno cheese grits, boudain dip, stuffed jalapenos, and some much needed salad after all the rich food!

Here's the recipe for Crawfish Cornbread - something you'll often find served at my grandparents house!

ingredients
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Tony’s seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 stick butter, softened
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
3 eggs, slightly beaten
½ cup onion, chopped
½ cup bell pepper, chopped
½ cup green onion, chopped
3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1 15 ounce can of cream style corn
1 pound crawfish tails, chopped
1 8½ ounce box Jiffy Cornbread mix

directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 12 pan with Pam. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until combined. Pour mixture into pan and bake for 45 to 55 minutes or until golden brown on top and cooked through.

note
The ingredients listed on the Jiffy box are not needed as part of the recipe. The cornbread is very moist so it might look undercooked but if a toothpick comes out clean and the top is golden, its ready to eat.

Here are a couple of pics thrown through the "Shake It Photo" app:

crawfish cornbread

jalapeno cheese grits

flip cup

Thanksgiving 2010 - Gumbo

Mike and I had my parents, sister, her boyfriend and Kozmo in town for Thanksgiving. We went non-traditional again this year and had chicken and sausage gumbo for our Thanksgiving meal.

Ingredients
Oil & Flour (enough to cover bottom of pot - a few heaping tablespoons usually)
Onion (1/3 cup small chop)
Bell Pepper (1/3 cup small chop)
Garlic (4-5 cloves minced)
Celery (3 stalks small chop)
Green Onions (3 small chop)
Water (6 cups)
Black Pepper ( 1 tsp.)
Gumbo File (1 tsp.)
Cayenne Pepper (1/2 tsp.)
Salt (2 tsp.)
Chicken Bouillon Cubes (4)
3 lbs. mixed white and dark meat chicken (leaving the bones in while cooking gives the gumbo more flavor... my dad does this and then removes near the end of cooking while I skip this part and use boneless)
8 links Zummo brand sausage links (boiling the sausage links before adding to gumbo will help to remove some of their grease)

Directions
Chop vegetables and slice sausage. Turn burner to medium/medium-high.

Cover the bottom of a pot in oil and sprinkle flour to soak up the liquid. Stir frequently and cook roux over medium-high heat until dark brown.




Mix in onion, bell pepper, garlic and celery and make sure to scrape up all of the roux mixture from the bottom of the pot.


Fill pot with water and stir in spices. Add chicken.

Bring to a boil and then lower heat to low. Cover and simmer for two hours, stirring occasionally. Add sausage or shrimp and green onions when 30 to 45 minutes remain.

Serve over rice. I like mine with a good mix of liquid to rice while Mike eats his with mostly rice and a little liquid, more like stew over rice, and my parents eat mostly liquid with only a little rice so its totally up to you! We always have ours with my grandmother's potato salad recipe and oven-crisped french bread slices for dipping.

Kozmo waiting under our table - the little Thanksgiving scavenger

Mom & Dad's Chili

Well, fall is here! Time for warm, one-pot meals that make the whole house smell good (and in this instance, Mike let me know that my hair also did when I brought him some lunch). I made chili for several reasons. One, its super simple and versatile. Two, its a one pot dinner. Three, it freezes well. Four, it screams "cool weather meal."

Another chili-pro is that the ingredients are very "everyday." There's nothing exotic.

Ingredients -
canola or vegetable oil
onion, chopped
bell pepper, chopped
garlic, minced (we like A LOT of garlic)
2 heaping tablespoons of flour
1 lb. lean ground beef (I found 92/8)
1 can tomato paste
2 cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can rotel, drained
2 to 3 heaping tablespoons chili powder
cumin, red pepper, salt and black pepper to taste
2 beef bouillon cubes
water

Directions -
Pour oil onto bottom of a heavy bottomed pan... you want a very thin layer. Saute onion, bell pepper and garlic for 5 minutes or so over medium heat. Sprinkle flour over vegetables and stir. The flour will give you a thick, rich chili. (If you like thinner chili, decrease the flour.) Add ground beef to pan and break apart while it cooks. Add tomato paste, beans, rotel and seasonings to pan and stir well. Add beef bouillon cube and about the equivalent of 2 cans of water (again, for a thicker chili). Let the mixture come to a boil then reduce heat to simmer. You are ready to eat when the meat is cooked, vegetables are tender and the chili has thickened. I let it simmer for about half an hour this time.

I also baked jalapeno cornbread to go on the side and had grated cheddar and green onions on top. This chili is also yummy served over white rice, with saltines or over fritos!

I mentioned at the beginning that chili freezes well. Mike and I are going to be super busy during October so I wanted to make something that I could freeze a few portions of. Now we've got two ready made meals in the freezer that taste WAY better than anything out of the freezer section of the grocery store!

Chicken & Dumplings

I wanted to make some kind of comfort food but still wanted something healthier than the typical comfort foods, like mac & cheese. I made my Mom's chicken and dumplings since the dish has protein and lots of veggies.






Even though it looks (and tastes) rich, there is no butter or cream in the dish. Its the best kind of comfort food!