Jammin' Jambalaya!!

My mouth was watering hours before dinner since I decided to get started on my Jambalaya around noon. The recipe is super simple. You could easily use leftovers cooked earlier in the week and make this a simple 20 min meal. Or an easy slow cooker meal.

Here's what you need.

6 slices of bacon cut into 1 inch pieces
1 celery stock chopped
1/2 green/bell pepper chopped
1/2 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 chicken breast cooked and cubed
2 sausages cooked and cubed (andouille which I couldn't find here, but hot italian would be awesome, or mild italian for a kid friendly version, kielbasa is also a great alternative I came across)
1/2 pound fresh or frozen shrimp
1 can crushed tomatoes (I used whole tomatoes and an immersion blender)
2 cups beef broth
2 tsp cajun seasoning (I used creole seasoning, but they are very similar)
1c Instant Rice
Franks Hot sauce to taste (optional)

Since the chicken and sausage need to be cooked, you can do this the night before, or earlier in the week.

1. In a frying pan, crisp the bacon. Remove it with a slotted spoon. Add celery, pepper and onion. Cook until tender, add garlic.

2. Add chicken, sausage, tomatoes, beef broth, hot sauce, corn and cajun seasoning. (If you are using frozen shrimp add them now). Bring to a boil.

3. Turn heat down to a simmer, add rice and fresh shrimp. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the rice is tender.

4. Add bacon just before serving. Enjoy!

K didn't even notice that I had done my hair when he got home. The waft of jambalaya was so strong in the air that he was pulled out of his boot and into the kitchen to look in the pot on the stove. Never mind that I had newly dyed my hair, he wanted to know what bowls to use. He wasn't disappointed.



We give this meal an 8.5 out of 10. It's easy, quick and tasty. It could have used a bit more heat, in K's opinion. This will be a keeper for sure!

Really me,
The Chef
Nik

Caramel Crunch Cake by LaRocca

This was the challenge.

And this was my answer...

I've seen this cake in Loblaws, I always wanted to buy it... but as you know, I'm frugal and this cake was $14.99 for a 7" cake. How could I possibly pay $15 for a wee little cake! It's not like spending $23 for a glorified rubber chew toy for the baby (I'll get to that story one day). After years of starring this cake down behind the bakery glass, I finally bought it. (to be accurate, K bought it, I think I would have chickened out at the cash). Let me tell you... this cake was worth the wait. It was fantastic! I was in trouble, because there is no way I could ever bring myself to buy the $15 cake again.

I accept the challenge!

Hazelnut Meringue
What I did What I would do next time
4 egg whites 5 egg whites
3/4 cup white sugar 3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 walnuts 1/4 cup hazelnuts (or walnuts)
2 Tbsp corn starch 2 Tbsp corn starch

Preheat oven to 250 C. Draw 2 8" circles on parchment paper and place on a cookie sheet. Beat the egg whites in a glass or metal mixing bowl (meringue will not form peaks in a plastic bowl) until soft peaks form. Slowly add white sugar and beat until hard peak forms. In a food processor grind nuts and corn starch together until it reaches the consistency of corn meal, or a little bit bigger. Fold the nuts into the meringue. Place meringue in a piping bag (or a ziplock bag as I did). Pipe meringue in a spiral fashion onto the parchment paper circles. Bake in the oven for 1.5 hours or until the meringue is hard throughout. Remove from oven, remove parchment paper when meringue is cool enough to touch, place on a cooling rack.

Caramel
(2) 1 can of sweetened condensed milk

Use one of these methods to make the caramel. I used two methods, I wasted 1.5 hours cooking the milk in the oven. It wasn't the right color when it came out, so I put it in the microwave for another 8 mins in 2 minute intervals. Next time I would cook the caramel using the microwave method or the stove top method, and I would cook it until it was a bit darker and richer in color.
Refrigerate the caramel until cool (approximately 3-4 hours depending on the size of the bowl).

Stabilized Chantilly Whipped Cream
(basically this means a thicker (stabilized) sweetened (Chantilly is a fancy way of saying the whipped cream has sugar in it) whipped cream)

2 cups 35% cream
1/4 cup white sugar (optional)
2 packets of Whip It (in the baking aisle)

Make sure all of your ingredients and your bowl are very cold. Add the Whip It to the cream and beat until soft peaks form. Slowly add in your sugar. Beat until hard peaks are formed. Do not over beat or your cream will turn into butter. Next time, I might try to stabilize the whipped cream with gelatin, I think it might result in a more firm cream that holds up longer, but I would like to test it first.

Assemble the cake just prior to serving. Divide caramel in 2 portions, leaving about 4 Tbsp aside for garnish. Spread caramel onto both of the cooled meringues, pipe whipped cream on top of the first layer. Place the second meringue on top, pipe whipped cream on top. Using the caramel you set aside, place it in a ziplock bag and add a design on the top of the cake. Refrigerate until serving.

$2.99 Condensed milk
$3.49 whipping cream
$1.29 Whip It
$1.25 eggs
Delicious cake... priceless!

Really me,
Challenge completed
Nik

Food = Love

In my world food = love. When you love somebody, you want to take care of them. If you don't particularly care for a person, then you don't really care if they're hungry. Hunger is one of our most primal needs. Therefore, the more I care about you the more/better/tastier/healthier I feed you.

For example, when I bake to bring stuff to work, I usually make cookies or some kind of sweet. Sure I like the people I work for, so the food is tasty, but it's not cooking at my best, and it's certainly not healthy... cause I don't really really care about their health. (oops I think that came out wrong. lol)

I bet you thought this was going to be a touchy feely blog... ha! Wrong! It's a food blog!! But I had to explain all of that so that I could say "I must really love my husband and dad" and have you really understand why I say that.

Father's day Menu... Mojitos, Mules



steak on the BBQ, sausage, Garlic Parmesan Monkey Bread



Cola Ribs, potato salad, and....



Chocolate Banana Split Dessert.



Really me,
Your loving wife, and daughter,
Nik

Weekend of cooking II

K and I had a nice romantic dinner last night. Though Demi did share in the pasta she made in the form of linguine.

Some of the recipes I read called for wonton wrappers instead of pasta. Somebody suggested doubling the wrappers to give you more of the pasta texture. Since I have a pasta roller, I made my own.
The pasta recipe I used can be found here, only I doubled the recipe. The trick to pasta is letting it sit after mixing for about 30mins to come to room temperature, and to take your eggs out ahead of tie so they are also at room temperature. I mixed my pasta in the bread maker, which also warms up a bit. That made life extra easy!

Crab Filling

1 can (4-6 oz) of crab meat
1/2 tub of marcsapone or ricotta cheese
1 tsp of italian seasoning
or
garlic, onion, basil and oregano to taste
salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the crab meat and keep the liquid aside for the tomato sauce. Combine all ingredients. Store in the fridge until you're ready to use it.

Creamy Tomato Sauce

1 can of diced tomatoes
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves of garlic (or as many as you like)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp butter
basil, oregano and thyme to taste
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar or honey

Saute the onion and garlic. Once golden brown add tomatoes, crab juice, basil, oregano thyme and salt and pepper. Let simmer for about an hour so that the juices reduce. Use an immersion blender to puree the tomato mix. You can completely puree the tomatoes, or leave some chunks, whatever you prefer. Add butter and cream. Simmer for another 30 minutes.

To make the Ravioli I rolled out 2 flat sheets of pasta...err. Demi rolled them out. I used a small cookie cutter with a scalloped edge pressed gently into the dough just enough to leave the imprint of the outline. Then I placed about 1/4 tsp of crab in the middle of each ravioli. Use water to wet the ravioli around the edges. Place another sheet of dough on top, press down around the filling to seal the dough together. Then use your cookie cutter to cut out your ravioli. Make sure to use plenty of flour on the cut out pieces to make sure they don't stick to each other.











Really me,
The Chef
Nik

Weekend of cooking I

Crab ravioli with a creamy tomato sauce, garlic bread and banana cream puffs... sound good? That's what I made over the weekend. None of which is half as hard as it sounds. I will say in advance that I have a bread maker, and a pasta roller.

Grandma's Bread

In a bread maker add the following ingredients in order.

1 1/2 cups of warm water (about body temp)
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp butter (or margarine)
4 cups sifted flour
1 package yeast

Turn the bread maker on to dough/pasta setting. Allow the dough to rise once in the bread maker. Turn your oven light on. Flour your working surface, remove dough from the bread maker. Beat it down, separate the dough in two even sections, roll into a loaf, and put a few slits on the top of each loaf. Place the loafs into a greased bread pan. Place the bread pans on the middle rack in the oven, cover with a tea towel, allow the bread to rise for at least an hour, up to 3. Remove from oven, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake bread for approximately 20-25 minutes. *Tip: for a softer crust on your bread place a dish with water on the bottom rack while you're preheating and cooking your bread. You can also substitute shortening for the butter.

Cream puffs, and eclairs are some of my favorite treats. They've always seemed very daunting. But really it's not so hard at all. The recipe below is a combination of a bunch of recipes I found.

Banana Cream Puffs

Prepare 1 box of banana (or whatever flavor you're in the mood for) instant pudding.

1 cup water
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs

In a medium sauce pan bring water and shortening to a boil until the shortening is completely melted.
Add vanilla, sugar, and salt. Remove from heat add flour and mix with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball. Allow the dough to cool until it is just warm (about 45mins or speed it up by mixing it more). Once the dough is cool, add the eggs one at a time stirring vigorously to add as much air as possible. The dough will be thick and gummy.
Preheat oven to 425. Spoon little balls onto a nonstick baking sheet. Cook the puff shells for 20-25 minutes. When they begin to get brown, be sure to poke holes in them (a shish kabob skewer works well). This is crucial to make sure that the inside puffs up and dries out.
Allow the cream puffs to cool. Use an icing bag and medium pipping end to fill the shells with pudding. Top with icing sugar, or if you're any good with a double boiler, dip in a chocolate gnash. I suck when it comes to a double boiler so I just melted some chocolate chips in the microwave and dipped the puffs in that.
I also filled some of the puff with whipped cream. The canned kind made filling the puffs really easy and fun!



Stayed tuned for weekend of cooking II

Really me,
The baker,
Nik

Christmas Baking I

A friend asked for a cookie recipe for a cookie exchange which reminded me that I still hadn't written my Christmas baking blog, and here we are at T minus 1.5 weeks until Christmas! So without further ado, commence the Christmas baking!!

One Cup Cookies

Like the title says, basically these cookies are one cup of everything. This is a very versatile base that you can add whatever elements that you want. My friend requested no chocolate chip cookies…. so please omit the chocolate chips, add some nuts or as Nanna does, use the broken up Score bar bits for a toffee taste instead! (Tip: You can find them already broken up at the Bulk Barn)

· 1 cup brown sugar
· 1 cup white sugar
· 1 cup butter, softened
· 1 cup peanut butter (Tip: you can omit the peanut butter by adding a few Tbsp of milk for moisture)
· 2 eggs
· 1 cup rolled oats
· 1 1/2 cups flour
· 1 teaspoon baking powder
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· 1 cup coconut
· 1 cup cranraisins
· 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in the eggs. Add peanut butter until well mixed. Add dry ingredients, mix well. Drop spoonfuls onto a no stick cookie sheet and cook until the edges are just golden (*edited*about 10-14 minutes). The middle should still look a bit gooey. Let rest for a few minutes before removing from the cookie sheet.

Really me,
The Baker
Nik

30 Minute Meals III

Ok, so this one isn’t quite 30 minutes, it’s more like 40, but it’s still really simple, tasty and healthy. In fact it's probably something a spouse or an older child could throw the last few touches on, and throw in the oven so dinner is waiting when YOU get home! (S I'm looking in your direction ;) )

Fajita Chicken Casserole (one pot wonder!)
You’ll need:
1 chicken breast per person
Chicken Broth
Brown Minute Rice (for two people 1 c is plenty)
Salsa
Cheddar cheese (used to top each chicken breast, so you don’t need a lot)
Fajita seasoning
Beans (1/2 can well drained of any kind you like)
Peppers, julienned
Sour cream

Night Before:
1. Grate cheese
2. In a large casserole dish layer rice, beans, peppers. Place chicken breasts on top of the rice. Top the chicken with salsa and grated cheese.
3. Cover and store in the fridge. (it is very important to make sure there is no liquid in the container or the rice will suck it up and ‘cook’ before it’s time.)

Dinner Time:
1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. Mix the required amount of chicken stock with ½ package of fajita seasoning.
3. Pour into the casserole dish.
4. Cook for about 40 mins or until chicken juice runs clear.
5. Top with sour cream, enjoy!

Since there’s nothing else required after you throw the dish in the oven you can use the spare time to hang out with your family, do some house chores, surf the web etc.

30 Minute Meals I

I’m no Rachel Ray, who could compete with that butt anyways (or at least that’s what my husband says). But I have come to master some pretty simple 30 minute meals since going back to work. Since food, and particularly healthy, quick, budget friendly food always seems to be such a challenge, I thought I would share.

What makes my meals 30 minute meals is a bit of prep work the night before. My husband will do up the dishes and I’ll prep for the next day’s dinner.

One of my favorites is chicken fingers and fries with a side of coleslaw. For this meal I use some homemade food and some pre-packaged food.
You’ll need:
1 chicken breast per person (frugal tip: use dark meat to save money, and if you de-bone it yourself it’s also a lot cheaper)
1 med. sweet potato per person (or a bag of sweet potato fries will work in a pinch. And yes, you can do the recipe with regular potatoes, but they’re not quite as nutritious.)
Bag of premade coleslaw & dressing
½ c Italian Bread Crumbs
1 c Cereal crushed (cheerios, rice krispies, cornflakes, special K, any neutral cereal will work)
Butter (1/4c will do 2 and a bit breasts)

The Night Before:
1. Crush up about 1 cup of your cereal and mix with ½ c bread crumbs and 2 tbs flour.
Melt your butter in the microwave. Cut chicken into strips.
2. Coat the chicken strips in the butter, then place them into the cereal mixture. Coat well.
3. Place them on a baking sheet, cover and put them in the fridge. (Time saver: you can make a large batch when you have more time. Freeze them on a cookie sheet then transfer portion sizes to a freezer bag so they are ready and on hand when you need them!)
4. Cut sweet potato into wedges or strips. Place them on a microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 2-3 minutes or until they are fork tender.
5. Let the potatoes cool (silly me, burnt my hand the first time). Place them in a bowl, dress with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Mix until they are all well coated. (You can use any spice of your choosing to dress these up even more. We like Cajun spice.)

Dinner Time:
1. Preheat oven to 425°.
2. Place chicken fingers and potatoes on a large cookie sheet topped with parchment paper. (Kitchen Tip: parchment paper helps the sweet potato to crisp up).
3. Cook for 25 minutes turning once at 15mins.
4. Open your bag of coleslaw, add the dressing and serve!

Yes, you could use store bought chicken fingers and store bought fries. What I’m trying to avoid is the huge amount of sodium found in pre-packaged food. Homemade = healthier.

Really me,
The Chef
Nik