How to make any box Jambalaya BETTER

One classic dish associated with Louisiana and the South is Jambalaya. Depending on the recipe, it may take a while. My family loves Jambalaya and when we eat it, usually it came out of a box. This is not a problem, however, because I have discovered little tips and tricks to make it taste a little less "out of the box." Here they are:

Second-Day Steak Fajitas

So! Last night my dad cooked these HUGE steaks on the grill. Needless to say, we could not eat all of it. So today I decided to be creative and exercise my cooking skills now that the semester is over.


Ingredients**:

• Left-over seasoned and cooked steak, sliced*
• 1 green bell pepper, sliced
• 1/2 white onion, sliced
• Butter*
• Tortillas*
• Fajita toppings as desired*

Pumpkin Pie?

This year for Thanksgiving me and my family stayed home, due to the fact that many of our relatives we usually visit were sick.  Along with my Nana's pecan pie (found here), it was my desire to make a pumpkin pie from scratch, not using any of the canned pumpkin puree that i have used in the past.  After searching, we couldn't find pumpkins anywhere.  Remembering something from my favorite cooking show, i made the decision to substitute pumpkin with...butternut squash. Now this might seem crazy and my mother questioned the decision at first, but we went with the squash in the end and it tasted really good. 




 Ingredients:

• 1 unbaked and chilled 9-inch pie crust
• 1 large butternut squash (or about 1 1/2 - 2 cups pureed squash) 
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla*
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon*
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger*
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg*
• A pinch of salt* 

Instructions:

 

 For the squash: 

1. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, romove stem and scoop out seeds
2. Line a baking pan with foil and place squash on top, cut side down. Add about 1/2 cup water to the pan.
3. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 45-55 minutes, or until the squash is very tender and can easily be pierced with a fork.
4.  Let this cool, then gut the soft insides out, leaving a hollow shell of skin which can be discarded.
5.  Pulverize the newly harvested squash guts either with a masher or food processor until smooth.

   For the pie itself:

 

1.  In a mixing bowl, beat the squash and brown sugar together using a electric mixer.
2. Add to that the eggs, half-and-half, flour, butter, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Beat until well blended.
3. Pour the filling into the crust (after stabbing bottom repeatedly with a fork) and bake at 350 degrees for about 45-55 minutes. [tip: a good way to tell when the pie is done is if when moved, the outside (nearest the crust) looks firm and the center (farthest from the crust) is still slightly wiggly.]
4.  Remove and cool pie until warm or room temperature. Cut and serve plain, or maybe add whipped cream!

Refrigerate the left-overs (if there are any!).  Honestly, if you didn't tell me i was eating squash, i would nevar guess that's what it is.

* = indicates not exact measurement

Nana's Pecan Pie

"Nana" is what i call my grandmother on my mother's side. She is an AMAZING cook... Unfortunately, that's one thing she did not pass down to my mother... My Nana taught me this recipe. She is an amazing woman who i hope to learn many more things from...

Zuppa Toscana - My Style

This recipe was found online, posted by a person who had a friend who worked at Olive Garden.  I changed a few things, but it is mostly the same. Lately I have been experimenting with using a cast-iron Dutch oven since cast-iron flavor is amazing. It has turned out very well, but if you choose to use cast-iron remember it heats up slowly and stays hot longer. My advice is this: back off the heat some and watch your food because it's easy to burn! 

Ingredients:

• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 5-6 potatoes, thinly sliced
• 3-4 leafs of kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 lb. ground Italian sausage
• 4-5 strips of bacon, cut into bite-sized pieces (or