Red Beans and Rice

As the weather get colder and the days get shorter all I want to do is cozy up to the couch eat something hot and comforting and watch the fire dance in the fireplace. Since I live in Houston the weather here is mostly on and off as far as cold day so when it is cold I like to make a warm meal that fills the soul with good feelings. This time I made a home favorite...Red Beans and Rice. Above you will find the ingredients for this and below you will find a picture of all I used.

The best thing about this meal is I could use a crock pot and let it cook without any fuss. The other best thing about crock pots is the crock pot liners!! No more soaking for this woman!

One thing I did forget to mention about cooking this is you have to soak the beans overnight like below.

So just pull out our crock pot and line.

Next cut of the onion and pepper

Next just throw everything into the pot. First the beans, then the veggies, lastly the spices.

Stir and set to cook on low for as little as 4 hours. As I said before I like to cook mine all day but if you don't want to you can cook it for the afternoon or morning for lunch time.

The last hour the beans are cooking you should cook the sausage. I use andouille because it is a little spicy and that's what I am used to.

The lat step to this process is smashing some of the beans to add thickness to your brew. I just took a regular potato smasher but sometimes people like to make it quicker and use a blender. You just make sure it comes out looking like refried beans.

Put the sausage and mashed beans into the pot and stir.

Look how yummy!

Now just make your rice and you are all set.

One secret of mine is to put some ketchup in it at the end.

Enjoy!

Shrimp Po Boys

This week I was craving shrimp Po boys. Well I really wasn't craving the Po boy but just thinking while I had my freezer open, if I don't get rid of these shrimp soon they will be freezer burn so I thought what better than to make it in a sandwich. The ingredients you will need is of course shrimp, flour, Emeril's original spice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, cayenne, oil, milk, eggs.

First thing you need to do is heat up your oil. I always use a pan but since I had a grease fire I am thinking about getting a deep fryer. People say it is easier to cook with and it comes with a lid to keep all the grease from splattering all over the place. Who knows I might get it for Christmas.

Second, peel the shrimp. 

 Here is the difference between what size I like to eat and what size my boyfriend likes to eat..Funny huh?

 Next, after you test the oil by putting a pinch of flour (if it fizzles then the oil is ready) you can make your what I like to call it your dip n shake routine. You will need to make your dip- a bowl with eggs n milk to dip your shrimp in.

 And shake- your zip lock bag with flour, and spices as seen below, plus some salt.

I like to peek in the bag just to make sure all of the meat is covered. It is easy an doesn't leave flour everywhere if you use a plate.

 After that you fry up the shrimp. Just until they brown, it doesn't take long for shrimp to cook. Really only shrimp takes less that 5 minutes to cook.

Nice and Crispy!!

 After you cook the shrimp you can assemble your sandwich. Some people do fancy dressings for their Po boys but I like the good ole mayo and ketchup. I learned this trick in high school when I lived in New Orleans. Every day for lunch there were three lines....Hot Lunch, Pizza, or Hamburgers. My friend used to combine the mayo and ketchup and one day I asked her if I could taste it...Wow I fell in love and we have been partners ever since.  

You can dress it however you like but I like mine the old fashioned way..Fully Dressed and going to the ball! Basically it is lettuce, tomato, pickles. Looks good right?!

 When you are in New Orleans there are different choices to make when picking a meat for the Po boy. There is shrimp of course, roast beef, crawfish (love this too), fried oysters (my mom's favorite), and hamburger. Even though it didn't take much effort I made this for my boyfriend. He doesn't like seafood as much as I love it.



Crispy Chicken Tacos

One of my boyfriend's favorite dishes is crispy chicken tacos. They are really delicious and easy to make. The ingredients are:

Shredded chicken (any kind will do thighs, breast, wings)

Oil

Corn Tortillas

Taco toppings ( tomato, lettuce, cheese, avocado, etc)

I usually don't cook chicken for this recipe. I buy the already roasted whole chicken made at the grocery store. It is always easy to shred and tastes fantastic.

The rest of the fixings are tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, cheese and sour cream

First you want to lay out all of your tortillas on the counter. I do this because the frying goes fast and you can cook a lot faster when everything is ready to go.

Next lay out the shredded chicken on the tortillas 

While you lay out the chicken you can heat the oil.

When the oil is heated, probably will take 10 minutes to heat up. You fry the tacos. You can use your hands to hold the tacos in place for about 30 seconds or tongs just in case you don't want to burn yourself with the oil for those of you who are inexperienced.

After you hold the tacos up you are going to fry them on each side for about a minute or two so they get slightly darker in color.

After they cook you can set them on paper towels to let the access oil drain. I like to put the cheese on right when they come out of frying, that way the cheese melts before you put on the other toppings.

After the tacos are drained and you have the cheese melted you can put on the rest of your toppings. I start with sour cream, then diced tomatoes, avocado, and lettuce. My boyfriend loves jalapenos so I throw those on his along with some hot sauce.

Don't they look yummy? Enjoy!

Banana Pudding

For Christmas this past year I cooked for my co-workers for our holiday party. It was Italian themed except for the desert. The first desert I made was Triple Chocolate Truffle. Try saying that 3 times fast! And the second desert was banana pudding. Everyone loved it so I thought I'd share. The ingredients are..bananas (3 or 4) condensed milk, vanilla instant pudding, milk, vanilla wafers, whipped cream (not in the picture because I was trying to keep it cold or I just forgot, whoops!) and a container to put it in. I used an aluminum one because I didn't want to wash anything a week later.

 First, you need to make the pudding according to the package directions. Milk, vanilla mixture and just beat with  a mixer or whisk for 2 minutes.

After you see that the pudding is thickened a little you can pour in the condensed milk and combine.

 Stir in whole container of whipped cream and fold. This might take a while so you might want to pull out your patience cap and wear it.

 After you can layer the container as such...wafers, bananas (sliced) and pudding mixture.

After you are finished you can not decorate it or put whatever crumbs are left in the bag on top. Looks pretty huh?!