Holiday Recipes
Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2005 3:29 pm
Thanksgiving is this week! And Christmas is right around the corner! Time to share your favorite recipes! Here are a couple of mine (the two most requested from my family members):
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Jambalaya
Ingredients:
- 1 package Zatarain’s Jambalaya mix (or your favorite brand)
- 1 smoked pork or beef sausage (1lb.)
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins, catfish, crawfish tails, shrimp, scallops, or a combination
- 1 green pepper (diced)
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
- 2 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Hot sauce or crushed cayenne pepper (optional)
Directions:
Slice the sausage in half along its length, and then cut into ¼” thick half-circle slices. Heat a frying pan over high heat and add the olive oil. Once up to temperature (oil will begin to smoke) add the diced sausage, onion, green pepper, and minced garlic. Cook until the onion and pepper sweat and the meat begins to brown, then season with salt and pepper (and cayenne pepper if you’re up for it). Remove from heat and set aside.
Add two cups of water and the can of diced tomatoes (undrained) to a large pot. Bring to a boil. Add the Zatarain’s Jambalaya rice mix, the contents of the skillet you set aside, and any diced (raw) chicken you may be using to the pot. Return to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook covered for 25-minutes.
If you have chosen to use seafood instead of or in addition to chicken, it should be added during the last 15-minutes of simmering to avoid overcooking, especially with scallops. If you choose to add shrimp, you can purchase pre-cooked cocktail shrimp and stir it in at the last minute of cooking just to warm it up. Raw shrimp or catfish nuggets should be treated like chicken and should be added after the first boil.
I usually add quite a bit of hot sauce or cayenne pepper during cooking and serve this dish up with a side of cold seafood salad as a welcome relief to the spicy heat! You can also use this recipe as a stuffing for Creole stuffed peppers. Enjoy!
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Dump it Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 can cherry pie filling
- 1 (20oz) can crushed pineapple (in juice)
- 1 classic yellow cake mix
- 1 stick sweet cream or salted butter
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or Grape Nuts cereal
- Cinnamon
- Brown Sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Pour cherry pie filling into a large casserole dish and spread it around evenly. Pour crushed pineapple on top of cherry pie filling (do not drain the pineapple first!) and spread it around evenly. Dump the yellow cake mix on top of the pineapple and spread it around evenly. Slice stick of butter into 1/8” squares and lay on top in a checkerboard pattern. Sprinkle chopped nuts or Grape Nuts cereal (for kids or adults with allergies or aversion to nuts) evenly on top of butter layer. Finally, sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar on top of the nuts and place the dish in the oven uncovered for one hour at 325-degrees. Serve with Breyer’s Vanilla Bean ice-cream.
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Jambalaya
Ingredients:
- 1 package Zatarain’s Jambalaya mix (or your favorite brand)
- 1 smoked pork or beef sausage (1lb.)
- 1 pound chicken tenderloins, catfish, crawfish tails, shrimp, scallops, or a combination
- 1 green pepper (diced)
- 1 medium yellow onion (diced)
- 2 cloves fresh garlic (minced)
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Hot sauce or crushed cayenne pepper (optional)
Directions:
Slice the sausage in half along its length, and then cut into ¼” thick half-circle slices. Heat a frying pan over high heat and add the olive oil. Once up to temperature (oil will begin to smoke) add the diced sausage, onion, green pepper, and minced garlic. Cook until the onion and pepper sweat and the meat begins to brown, then season with salt and pepper (and cayenne pepper if you’re up for it). Remove from heat and set aside.
Add two cups of water and the can of diced tomatoes (undrained) to a large pot. Bring to a boil. Add the Zatarain’s Jambalaya rice mix, the contents of the skillet you set aside, and any diced (raw) chicken you may be using to the pot. Return to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook covered for 25-minutes.
If you have chosen to use seafood instead of or in addition to chicken, it should be added during the last 15-minutes of simmering to avoid overcooking, especially with scallops. If you choose to add shrimp, you can purchase pre-cooked cocktail shrimp and stir it in at the last minute of cooking just to warm it up. Raw shrimp or catfish nuggets should be treated like chicken and should be added after the first boil.
I usually add quite a bit of hot sauce or cayenne pepper during cooking and serve this dish up with a side of cold seafood salad as a welcome relief to the spicy heat! You can also use this recipe as a stuffing for Creole stuffed peppers. Enjoy!
*************************************************************
Dump it Cake
Ingredients:
- 1 can cherry pie filling
- 1 (20oz) can crushed pineapple (in juice)
- 1 classic yellow cake mix
- 1 stick sweet cream or salted butter
- ¼ cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or Grape Nuts cereal
- Cinnamon
- Brown Sugar
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325-degrees. Pour cherry pie filling into a large casserole dish and spread it around evenly. Pour crushed pineapple on top of cherry pie filling (do not drain the pineapple first!) and spread it around evenly. Dump the yellow cake mix on top of the pineapple and spread it around evenly. Slice stick of butter into 1/8” squares and lay on top in a checkerboard pattern. Sprinkle chopped nuts or Grape Nuts cereal (for kids or adults with allergies or aversion to nuts) evenly on top of butter layer. Finally, sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar on top of the nuts and place the dish in the oven uncovered for one hour at 325-degrees. Serve with Breyer’s Vanilla Bean ice-cream.
