Jalepeno Poppers

18 jalepenos
16 oz roll of sausage
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup motzerella cheese
Wash peppers. Cut ends off. Slice in half lenthwise.Remove seeds and membrane. Place halves on a baking sheet.
Brown sausage in a skillet and drain. In a bowl cream together softened cream cheese sour cream and mozzarella. Fold in the cook sausage. Stuff the jalapeno halves with the sausage mixture. Top each one with a little extra mozzarella. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
I haven't tried this yet, but I believe this mixture would also work good with stuffed mushrooms.

My Pimento Cheese

I'm kind of a purist when it comes to pimento cheese and quacamoli.  I add very few ingredients to either.  With all the interest in a new "store bought" pimento cheese, I decided it is time to post my recipe.

1/2 cup mayonaise
smallest jar of diced pimentos
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
8 oz bag of finely grated sharp cheddar cheese.

Add black pepper and the whole jar of pimentos, juice and all, to the mayonaise. Stir.
Fold in the grated cheese.
That's it!  Ready to go.
Use your favorite mayonaise, I prefer Dukes, and by all means grate block cheese, if you wish.  I'm just all about doing things the easiest way.

Baked Spaghetti

Half box angel hair pasta, cooked and drained
Jar of your favorite pasta sauce
1 pound of Italian sausage
1 small Onion diced
small package of sliced fresh mushrooms
1 cup (or more) shredded motzerella-enough to cover
1 cup (or more) shredded parmesan-enough to cover
4 oz softened cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
Spray a deep casserole dish with PAM.  Add the cooked noodles.  Cream together the cream cheese and sour cream and spread on next.  Springle the parmesean cheese on next. Cook the sausage, onion and mushrooms together until the sausage is no longer pink. Drain and then add the pasta sauce.  Mix well and then pour into the casserole.  Top with the motzerella cheese.  I baked it cover on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, then I removed the top and let it cook a little longer till the cheese is completely melted and maybe even a little brown, if you like it that way.
I've eaten baked spaghetti before but the cream cheese/sour cream in this made it special.

Caramels

Home made caramels made in the microwave.  Just like the peanut brittle recipe, homemade goodness done easy.

1 cup butter

2 1/2 cups packed brown sugar

1 cup light Karo syrup

1 14oz can Eagle brand milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Butter a 9x13 pan and set aside

In a large microwave safe bowl, melt butter.

Add all the remaining ingredients except vanilla and mix well

Microwave on full power 4-5 minutes. 

Remove from microwave and wisk.

Microwave another 4-5 minutes

Remove from microwave and wisk.

Return to microwave and cook another 4-5 minutes.

Remove and wisk while adding vanilla.

Pour into buttered casserole dish and let cool for 2 hours. 

Cut into pieces and wrap in wax paper.

Recipe says to keep in the refrigerator but I find that makes them hard.  I like chewy.  So, if you aren't planning to eat right away, refrigerate them but take them out and let them soften up before you serve.  

Breakfast Casserole from Anna and Randy's wedding brunch

1 pound sausage, I used Jimmy Dean
1 bag of mini croissants,  24 count
1 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon salt
6 green onions, sliced
3 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups grated Gruyere cheese, I opted for Swiss

Cook sausage, stir until crumbled and no pink is left.  Tear croissants into bite size pieces.  Toss sausage, bread, parmesan cheese and onions  together.
Spray casserole dish with Pam.  Arrange the bread mixture in the dish.
Wisk together the eggs, milk , cream and salt.  Pour evenly over the bread mixture.
Cover and chill for 8 hours.
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Uncover and top with the remaining grated cheese.  Bake 45 minutes until golden.  Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Grits Casserole from Anna and Randy's wedding brunch

6 Cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic
2 cups grits
16 oz mild cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
4 large eggs, beaten
1 stick unsalted butter
8 oz grated sharp white cheddar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
spraycasserole dish with Pam
Bring broth, salt, pepper and garlic powder to a boil.  Stir in grits and wisk until smooth. Lower heat and cook about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the cheddar and milk and stir. Remove from heat and add eggs and butter and stir until combined.  Pour into casserole dish and top with grated white cheddar.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until set.

Gumbo

My husband has loved Gumbo and all things Cajan since he went with my brother Buddy on a company sponsored trip to Louisiana.   I have never made Gumbo because frankly it just seemed like too much trouble.  I rarely tackle recipes that have more than a few ingredients.  Tonight I made Gumbo and it was so easy I couldn't wait to share.

One day Zataran's box mixes were on sale and I had a coupon that made them almost free so I bought several with no idea what I would do with them.  One purchase was Gumbo Mix with rice.  It is the perfect base for gumbo.  Best part, it was easy and ready in about 30 minutes.
6 cups of water in a pot with a couple of chicken breast and let them cook while you do the next step.
Spray a large pot or Dutch oven with Pam for easy clean up. Add a little oil.  Add a diced onion and a package of Cajun andouille sausage sliced or diced, that's up to you.  Sautee the onion and sausage together till the onion is cooked.  If the chicken breast are done remove from water and shred.  Save the water.  Add chicken to the onion and sausage mix and sautee the chicken for just a minute so it can absorb some of the flavor.
Add the contents of the Zataran's gumbo mix.  Add 2 cans of Rotel tomatoes and the water you cooked the chicken in.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simner for about 30 minutes.
Here are a few hints...when you add the oil at the beginning you can add whatever oil you like to use.  I added bacon drippings which I always save for flavoring vegetables.  You can adjust the heat by adding smoked sausage instead if the cajan andouille.  You can add mild Rotel or use the hotter version .  I added about 1/4 cup of extra rice to make it thicker.  You can also add a little chicken broth to make it thinner.  If you like okra that's a good idea.  And you can add shrimp the last few minutes. Cook just until shrimp are pink or they will be tough.
My favorite thing to serve this with is jalepeno cornbread.


Jalepeno corn muffins

I make up my normal corn bread (recipe on blog).  To it I add about a half cup of corn.  I used frozen but canned will work.  I add about a half cup of grated cheese (I used sharp) and I added the jalepenos from a jar. Dice them up.  You control the heat here.  Personally I like the taste of Jalepenos but not the heat so I use the Tamed jalepenos that I've mentioned before.  The amount you add would also be up to your heat tollerance.  I always spray my muffin tin with Pam and then I had a splash of oil to the bottom of each cup in the tin before I spoon in the cornbread mix.  This will give it a nice crust.  Bake at 425 until golden brown.  Let them sit a couple of minutes before you try to remove them from pan.  The melted cheese on the inside can make them soft and a little hard to remove.  A good idea is to run a knife around the sides to loosen them before you remove.
Enjoy experimenting and let me know how you like it.