Jambalaya

I have tried a few jambalaya recipes in my time, and this one is BY FAR my favourite.

I didn't take any "during" photos, because I didn't know it was going to turn out so well! This is a great 30 minute meal!

Recipe:
1/2 cup onions
1/2 lb. ground sausage
shrimp (as much as you want to add)
1/2 cup basmati rice (makes about 1 cup cooked)
1/2 cup broccoli
1/2 sweet peas
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cajun
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp salt (optional - I didn't add it, since sausage is already salty)
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Cook the basmati rice according to directions. Usually it's 1/2 cup of rice, 1 cup of water. Boil water, then add rice. Let it have a hard simmer (around mid-high on the stove) for 20-25 minutes, or until the water has dissolved. If the water has dissolved and the rice isn't done yet, just add a bit more water. I know you're not supposed to do that, but I've done it before, and it works fine.

2. Meanwhile, cook up the onions in some olive oil.

3. Then scramble fry the ground sausage with the onions until brown. There will be some juice, since the sausage fries up that way. Keep letting it fry until all the juice is gone (took me about 5-7 minutes).

4. Add the paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, cajun, Worcestershire sauce, salt & pepper. Mix through the sausage thoroughly.

5. Stir in the broccoli and peas. These guys took only 5 minutes to steam.

6. Add the shrimp. Since we had pre-cooked shrimp, it only took another 5 minutes to heat through.

7. Combine the rice with the meat and veggies.

8. Serve and enjoy!

Homemade Apple Sauce Donuts

These donuts are SO scrumptious! WAY better than I thought they were going to be!

Here's the lowdown (lol): 

• 2 quarts oil for deep frying
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for dusting

Heat oil to 375 F. We don't have a deep fryer, so we had to use a dutch oven. It worked great!

In a large bowl, mix together white sugar, butter, eggs and applesauce.
In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, mace and cinnamon.

Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Mix until a stiff dough is formed.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll into a 3/4" sheet.

Cut the donuts out with a donut cutter. We didn't have one, so I used a cup.

Carefully slide donuts into hot oil. Fry on each side until they are a golden brown on both sides. It took me about 3 minutes each side.

Drain donuts on paper towels and dust with confectioner's sugar (icing sugar). Serve hot.

They really are best eaten when they are hot and freshly made. But they are also very good cold. Just ask Alexander. He ate EIGHT of them while I was upstairs with Isabel one day. EIGHT of them. sheesh. 

Here is the nutritional stats for one donut:

Apple Pie in an Apple

I saw this on tumblr a while ago, and I wanted to make it! Jeffery left for training down in the states today, and I made this yesterday for dessert:

I used Cortland apples for this, since they do not break down when they are baked.

You want to make the dough a head of time.

Preheat oven to 375 F.
You cut off the tops of the apples, and then scoop out the insides with a spoon.

Remove any skin and seeds.

Cube apples. Mix in:
6 tsp white sugar - I will use brown sugar next time
3 tbsp flour - I will use less flour next time - I will probably use 1 tbsp instead
2 tsp cinnamon

Fill the apple bowls.

Roll out the dough and cut circles (I used a cup) to cover the top of the apple hole.
Poke holes in the dough with a toothpick to vent the vapour.

Pour water into a 8" x 8" baking pan, only to cover the bottom of the pan.
Place apples into pan, cover with foil  *shiny side IN*.
Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes.
Remove foil, and bake for another 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

You can sprinkle the pies with icing sugar if desired. Serve with ice cream.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Jam, canned

Strawberry jam, canned. mmmm. This was the first time we've tried it, and it was Jeffery's idea. I'm glad he initiated this. We made pectin-free jam.

We picked the berries from the Tigchelaar Berry Farm in Binbrook. We got two 7-litre baskets full.

I hulled them and put them into a bowl of clean water. When I got 13 cups, I put them into the dutch oven for the first batch.

Jeffery mashed them with the potato masher into the consistency we wanted. Then we added 1/2 cup lemon juice and 5 cups of sugar (it was supposed to be 6 cups, but Jeffery added only 5). Then we boiled it for about 40 minutes to get to the thickness we wanted. The jam also turned a really dark red as it was cooking.

Meanwhile, we boiled the cans in a stock pot . . .

. . . and heated the lids.

There was lots of foam appearing on the top of the jam during cooking, and we had to skim the foam off while constantly stirring.

When the jam got to the thickness we wanted, we started pouring the jam into the cans!

After the jam was poured and the lids were on, we put the cans back into the boiling water for 15 minutes, making sure the water was well covering the cans.

After we took them out, it was only a few minutes before we heard the "pop" of the cans, and we knew they had sealed properly! There was one jar that didn't seal, and that was because I had accidentally put two lids that were fused together on one jar - obviously, that would not seal properly. We let the jars sit while they got to room temperature, then they would go into the basement for storage.

With the two 7-litre baskets of strawberries, we made thirteen 250mL jars of jam, and one jar of strawberry-vodka compote (for strawberry-vodka cheesecake). 

Yum!

Pulled Pork

This pulled pork is so easy to make, and it tastes SO GOOD!!

Place refrigerated (shouldn't be frozen) pork tenderloin (or any other pork cut that would work for pulled pork) into the slow cooker with one can of root beer. Cook on high for 4 hours or until internal temperature of pork is 170 degrees.

Remove pork from slow cooker and place into a large container. Use two forks and start pulling the pork apart.

Add the barbecue sauce to make it as saucy as you like. We used this PC Bold Original bbq sauce, but we also enjoy PC Sweet Baby Ray's.

Put on a bun, and dig in! Pulled pork goes really well with coleslaw, in case you've never tried that before. :)

Banana Muffins

Yummy banana muffins! Possibly the best you will ever eat!

3 large bananas
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
chocolate chips

Mash bananas. I used an electric beater - much quicker!

Add sugar and egg. Mix together. Add melted butter.

Add dry ingredients together. Mix well.

Add chocolate chips. so many as you want. :)

Spray Pam into the muffin tin. Pour mixture into tins. (I use the large muffin tins)

Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. It takes about 25 minutes in my oven.

Let the muffins cool for at least 10 minutes before taking them out of the tins. The Pam spray allows them to come out quickly and easily.

Just a tip for storing them: I don't have a container large enough to fit these muffins, so I individually wrap them in cling wrap so that when Jeff needs a quick bite to eat before an appointment, or wants to take a snack on the road with him without worrying about melting or going bad, he can just grab one of these out of the fridge and he's got a snack!

Enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

This chicken cordon bleu is SO simple to make!

You take chicken breasts and slice them down the middle to make a pocket of sorts. Fill that pocket with swiss cheese and ham.

Combine 1/2 cup of flour, 3 tbsp paprika  1 tbsp black pepper, 1 tbsp garlic powder in a container.

Dip chicken breasts into the mixture to coat.

You can put toothpicks through the chicken, if you wish, to keep the ham and cheese from falling out. I didn't have any issues with that.

Brown both sides of the chicken in a lightly oiled frying pan.

Bake the chicken at 375 F for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, cook the fettuccine noodles according to the package directions.

Make alfredo sauce. I used the package that you just add milk and butter. It's easier that way.

Voila! Yummy chicken cordon bleu with fettuccine alfredo. You can add green beans or asparagus or broccoli to this dish as well, if you wish - whatever floats your boat!