Smoked Sausage Creole

Life has been super hectic here!  Work, kids, husband, you know the drill.  I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while.  But here is a delicious recipe that's sure to be worth the wait.

SMOKED SAUSAGE CREOLE

1/2 lb smoked sausage, sliced thinly
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oil (vegetable or canola)
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups water
Creole seasoning
hot sauce
salt/pepper

In a large pot (I like to use cast iron) make a light roux.  Here's how:  Heat oil over medium-low heat. 

Whisk in the flour until smooth.

Stir constantly, slowly.  Do not stop stirring or your roux will burn and be ruined. 

Once it is lightly browned (the color of cafe au lait, or coffee with milk) it is done.

Add the chopped onion, celery and bell pepper.  Stir well.  This will slow the cooking of the roux.

Season the veggies with Creole seasoning.  I like Tony Chacheres.

Add the sausage and diced tomatoes with juice.  Stir.

It will be thick.

Add the water and stir well.

Season to taste again with Creole seasoning, hot sauce, salt and pepper.

Turn the heat up to high, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

It will thicken up nicely.  Serve over rice.

My family loves this dish.  My daughter even likes it better than my gumbo.  It's really easy and so comforting.  Perfect for a cold or rainy evening.  Warms up your soul.  Enjoy!

Cajun Pork Tenderloin

The renovation is still happening.  We were supposed to be done by now but of course we're not.  Delays with the flooring, the bricks, etc have pushed things back.  But, at least I'm able to cook in my kitchen.  Last night I made pork tenderloin.  It was slightly spicy with a touch of sweetness and super tender.

 

CAJUN PORK TENDERLOIN

2 pork tenderloins (mine were about 1 1/4 lb each)
1 small onion, sliced
1 small bell pepper, sliced
Cajun or Creole Seasoning
salt/pepper
onion powder
garlic powder
2 TBS oil

Sauce:
1/4 cup oil
2 TBS brown sugar
1 tsp hot sauce
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 420 degrees.

Pour 2 TBS oil to bottom of baking dish.

Add sliced onion and peppers to dish.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stir.

Place tenderloins on top.

Season with salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, onion powder and garlic powder.

Make the sauce by combining 1/4 cup oil, brown sugar, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce.  Whisk until thickened.

Brush the sauce evenly over the tenderloins.

Bake for 20-25 minutes per pound or to an internal temperature of 140 degrees.  My tenderloins were about 1 1/4 lb each so I baked them for 25-30 minutes.

The sugar in the sauce caramelizes and makes a beautiful color on top.

I like to serve the tenderloin with the onions and peppers on top. They add great flavor to the pork and cook down in the juices to make lovely sauce.

The pork comes out tender and juicy.  It's a little bit spicy, a little bit sweet, and a lot delicious!

This is so easy to make and so tasty.  You will definitely want to make this one!

Crawfish Cornbread

It has been a month and a half since I've posted.  Sorry.  Believe me I'm not happy about it.  My crazy husband has decided that we need to renovate our home yet again.  Didn't we just finish a reno?  Why yes, we did.  But my hubby needs a project at all times.  We're adding a new living room on to the house and opening up our kitchen for a more open floor plan.  So, I was unable to use my kitchen for over a month.  Now, you might think that eating out at restaurants and getting take-out every night is a dream come true.  Not me.  I love cooking.  It relaxes me.  It's my therapy.  With all the craziness of the renovation (and believe you me, it has been insane), I need some therapy!  So, when I was finally able to cook, I wanted something awesome.  My brother boiled some crawfish on Saturday for my goddaughter's birthday.  I took home some leftovers, peeled them and made this delicious crawfish cornbread:

CRAWFISH CORNBREAD

 1/2 lb crawfish tail meat
Cajun seasoning
1/2 an onion, diced
1/2 a bell pepper, diced
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can creamed corn
1 (8.5 oz) box corn muffin mix (like Jiffy)
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1/2 stick butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Season the crawfish tails with Cajun seasoning.

Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients well.

Pour into the greased 9x13 baking dish.

Bake in a preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until set and lightly browned.

Let it sit for a few minutes before cutting.

(Sorry for the disposable pan and paper plate in the pics.  All of my kitchenware is still in storage).

This crawfish cornbread is awesome!  It's slightly sweet, slightly spicy and a little creamy with a great crust.  

This recipe is super easy to make and turns out great!  You've got to give this one a try.

Crawfish Spaghetti

We had a crawfish boil for my daughter's 21st birthday this past weekend.  Her boyfriend came down from New York so we had to school him on Cajun food and traditions.  He loved the boiled crawfish!  Of course, we bought too much (we always over do) so I peeled the leftover crawfish and made a delicious pasta dish today for lunch.  He loved this dish, too.  I like this kid, he knows good food.

I have been making this simple recipe since I was a teenager.  I would use the left overs every time we had a crawfish boil, which was often.  We lived on the river so all of my Aunts and Uncles and Cousins would come over to our house and we'd hang out and boil crawfish.  Some of my best memories are of those boils.  Many members of my family have passed on, but I will always have those memories to remind me of my childhood.  Isn't it wonderful how food can create such lasting memories.

CRAWFISH SPAGHETTI

1/2 lb crawfish tails
1/2 an onion, diced
1/2 a bell pepper, diced
2 green onions, sliced (plus more for garnish)
1 TBS oil
2 TBS butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
Cajun Seasoning (or salt and pepper)
1/2 lb. spaghetti
2 TBS reserved pasta water

Boil a big pot of water to cook the spaghetti.

Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil and butter.

Add the onion, bell pepper and green onions.  Season with Cajun Seasoning.

Cook until limp, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add crawfish and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add broth and simmer about 10 minutes.

When your spaghetti is cooked, reserve some of the water you boiled it in.  Add 2 TBS of this reserved pasta water to the crawfish mixture and stir (this helps the sauce cling to the pasta).

Stir the drained spaghetti into the crawfish mixture.  You can do this in the skillet or, if it's easier, dump the pasta and the sauce mixture into a large bowl and toss well.  Garnish with extra sliced green onions.

This pasta dish is simple, but delicious.  You could easily swap out the crawfish for shrimp if you'd rather.  This would be a great weeknight dinner because it's so quick to make.  It has a great buttery, spicy flavor.  Ca cest bon!

Cajun Kabobs

In Cajun cooking we use a lot of smoked sausage, chicken, onions and bell peppers.  I was thinking those ingredients would make a tasty kabob.  Thread them on a skewer, grill them and baste them with a great sauce.  Sound delicious?  It is!  Here's how I made them:

Note:  the reason I don't give exact amounts on the meat and veggies is because you can make as many or as few as you want.

CAJUN KABOBS

smoked sausage

boneless chicken breasts or thighs

onion

bell pepper (red, green or a combination)

salt and pepper (or Cajun Seasoning

Sauce:

3 TBS butter

1 TBS Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp hot sauce (more if you like it spicy)

juice of 1/2 a lemon

2 TBS brown sugar

Slice the sausage into slices about 1/2 inch thick.  Cut the chicken into small cubes.  Cut the onions and bell peppers into small chunks.

If you have wooden skewers soak them in water for 10 minutes or so.  This prevents them from burning on the grill.

Thread the sausage, chicken and veggies onto the skewers.  Season with salt and pepper (or Cajun Seasoning).

Place the kabobs onto a preheated grill (oil the grill first so nothing sticks) and cook for 5-7 minutes or until nicely browned.  Then flip them over and grill another 5-7 minutes.

While they are grilling on the first side, make the sauce by combining butter, Worcestershire, hot sauce, lemon juice and brown sugar in a small pot.  Heat to boiling then lower the heat and simmer until reduced and thickened.

After grilling the kabobs on both sides, brush them with the sauce.

(Notice I made some without veggies for my pickiest eater ever son).

Flip and brush on the other side.  Let them grill with the sauce for a minute or two on each side.  This will help them caramelize and get nice and brown.  It also adds great flavor.

These are so yummy!  Smoky and tender with a great crunch and natural sweetness from the grilled veggies.  I served these with white beans and rice.

This is a very easy meal that's fun to make and fun to eat.  Kids (and grown men) love to eat anything on a stick.  So give these a try and have some fun with your food!