Sweet Potato Praline Cake

Listen...this is not healthy!!! Again this is not healthy...but it does contain vegetables :) and it is Delicious!! It has become one of my family favorites and I made it for my class mates and they are still talking about it. Now, I know you are probably thinking...I don't have time to make a cake from scratch...and guess what - you don't have to! I am all about semi-homemade dishes - I mean I work and go to school..I am a wife, mother, grandmother and believe it or not I have friends..so I'm a busy girl! This is a fool proof recipe and thanks to Duncan Hines Butter Recipe cake mix - no one will ever know the difference..and I make it in a bundt cake pan..beautiful! Oh, and the praline sauce......shut your mouth and keep on talking! I am a sweet potato lover...pumpkin not so much so I changed the recipe to make it a sweet potato cake instead of pumpkin...but the choice is yours. You can bake a medium sized sweet potato and get your 1 cup of mashed sweep potato or you can purchase a can of Bruce's baked sweet potato with nothing added. Amazing! Try it..take it to the next family dinner it will become everyone's favorite. Don't forget the Homemade Vanilla Bluebell ice cream. Talk back to me...leave comments after you try this one.

Praline Sweet Potato Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup whipping cream

1 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® yellow cake mix

1 cup (from 15-oz can) Bruce's mashed sweet potato or 1 med. sweet potato baked (you can make it with pumpkin - don't use the canned pie filling)

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1 container (1 lb) Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy cream cheese frosting

Caramel topping, if desired

Additional coarsely chopped pecans, if desired

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 325°F. In 1-quart heavy saucepan, stir together butter, whipping cream and brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until butter is melted. Pour into 2 (9- or 8-inch) round cake pans; sprinkle evenly with 3/4 cup pecans.

2. In large bowl, beat cake mix, sweet potato (or pumpkin if you choose), water, oil, eggs and 1 teaspoon of the pumpkin pie spice with electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes on medium speed. Carefully spoon batter over pecan mixture in each pan.

3. Bake 43 to 45 minutes or until cake springs back when touched lightly in center. Cool 5 minutes; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

4. Stir remaining 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice into frosting. To assemble cake, place 1 layer, praline side up, on serving plate. Spread with half of the frosting. Top with second layer, praline side up; spread remaining frosting to edge of layer. Drizzle with caramel topping and additional pecans. Store loosely covered in refrigerator.

Creole Bread Pudding With Bourbon Sauce

Ok this is the grand ending for today's series of all things Loosiana and it is not at all healthy but it is delicious. So...everything in moderation. Make this for the office or a party or potluck so it's not residing in your kitchen...but do make this. The intro stated that this recipe originates from New Orleans chef Leah Chase, the queen of Creole cuisine (and from Dooky Chase's Restaurant in New Orleans, Louisiana). If this is true then I'm sure it is amazing. I have watched interviews with her and I was so inspired by her passion for cooking good food. I haven't tried this one yet...I'm waiting for an occasion where there will be enough people to make it disappear so I won't eat more than my fair share. Here is a challange..lets try to make a health version of this...after you try the original. If you try it before I do please let me know just how good it is. 

INGREDIENTS
Nutrition
SERVINGS 10-12
Bread Puddin
2(12 ounce) cans evaporated milk6large eggs, lightly beaten
1cup water1(16 ounce) day-old French bread, loaf cubed
1(8 ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1large Red Delicious apple, unpeeled and grated
1 1⁄2cups sugar1cup raisins5tablespoons vanilla extract1⁄4cup butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and softened
Bourbon Sauce
3tablespoons butter1tablespoon all-purpose flour1cup whipping cream
1⁄2cup sugar2tablespoons Bourbon1tablespoon vanilla extract1teaspoon ground nutmeg


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the evaporated milk, eggs and water until well blended. Add bread cubes, stirring to coat thoroughly. Stir in pineapple, grated apple, sugar, raisins and vanilla extract. Stir in melted butter, blending well.
Pour into a greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Bake at 350° for 35 to 45 minutes or until set and crust is golden. Remove from oven, and let stand 2 minutes.
For the Bourbon Sauce (which I prepared while the bread pudding was baking), melt butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, for 5 minutes. Stir in cream and sugar; cook, whisking constantly, for 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in bourbon, vanilla, and nutmeg; cook, whisking constantly, 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
Spoon Bourbon Sauce over each serving of Creole Bread Pudding.

Crawfish Étouffeé with Louisiana White Rice

I'm in a Loosiana kind of mood today and so here we go with another home town favorite...CRAWFISH! Its about that time of year when they become available by the pound - already seasoned and cooked to perfection. I love them..even though you really work hard and break nails to get to this tiny bite of goodness it's so worth it. I add them to my gumbo and to Jambalaya - there are really crawfish pies and crawfish balls but there is nothing quite as good as crawfish etouffee. Ahhhhh all of the fresh herbs and spices that go into making that roux that perfectly coats, flavors and complements the crawfish tails. You ladle that goodness over the perfectly cooked white or brown rice and Tada! you have got yourself an amazing meal! I have not tried this one yet but it is on the list of to-do-soon. 

Crawfish Étouffeé with Louisiana White Rice

Crawfish Étouffeé (serves 6)
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons flour
1 small onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
Half a red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Leaves from two sprigs of fresh thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 small tomato, peeled, seeded, and diced
1 quart Basic Shellfish Stock (see above recipe)
3 tablespoons butter
1 pound peeled crawfish tails (from 2 ½ pounds live)
2 green onions, chopped
2 dashes Worchestershire
2 dashes Tabasco Salt Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups cooked Basic Louisiana Rice (see above recipe)

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk the flour into the very hot oil. It will immediately begin to sizzle and fizz. Keep whisking and reduce the heat to moderate. Continue whisking until the roux takes on a gorgeous dark brown color, about 15 minutes. *I don’t know if I screwed something up but mine only took about half that time* Add the onions, reduce the heat, and cook until the onions caramelize. If you add all the vegetables at the same time, the water that results will boil the onions and their sugars won’t caramelize.

2. When the onions have turned the roux shiny and dark, add the celery, bell peppers, garlic, thyme, cayenne, and paprika. Cook for 5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes and the Shellfish Stock and increase the heat to high.

3. Once the sauce has come to a boil, reduce the heat to moderate and let simmer 5-7 minutes, stirring often. Be careful not to let it burn or stick to the bottom of the pan.

4. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the butter. Add the crawfish tails and green onions. Season with Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt, and black pepper. Once the crawfish tails have heated through, remove the saucepan from the heat.

5. Serve in individual bowl over rice.

Basic Louisiana White Rice (Makes about 4 cups) 

1 tablespoon chicken fat, extra-virgin olive oil, or butter
1 small onion, minced
1-1/2 cups Louisiana long-grain white rice
3 cups Basic Chicken Stock (see above recipe)
1 bay leaf
1-2 pinches salt

1. Put the fat, oil, or butter and the onions into a medium saucepan and sweat the onions over moderate heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Pour the rice into the pan and stir for 2 minutes. Then add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaf and salt.

2. Cover the pan with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 18 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, fluff the rice with a fork, and serve.

The Cheesecake Factory Cajun Jambalaya Pasta

Hold on to your hats! This is an amazing dish - healthy and yes it's pretty simple to make. I made it for dinner a few weeks ago and loved it so I had to share. I am a lover of all things Cajun. Hey, I am a Louisianian after all. If you are a pasta, shrimp, bell pepper, onion lover you must treat yourself to this experience. I love mushrooms with everything so I added some to this along with asparagus. I mixed the pasta in at the end...if you decide to do this make sure to cook the pasta al dente since it will continue to cook when you stir it in with the sauce. If you make it please come back and let me know your thoughts. You are gonna want to tell Ya mom'n'em (your immediate family) about this..lol.

Ingredients

• 1/2 t White Pepper, 1/2 t Cayenne Pepper
• 1 1/2 t Salt, 1/2 t Paprika
• 1/4 t Garlic Powder, 1/4 t Onion Powder
• 2 skinless, boneless Chicken Breasts
• 1/2 lb. Large Shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 5 Qt Water
• 6 oz Plain Fettuccine
• 6 oz Spinach Fettuccine
• 2T Olive Oil
• 2 medium Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 small Green Pepper, sliced
• 1 small Red Pepper, sliced
• 1 small Yellow Pepper, sliced
• 1 small Onion, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups Chicken Stock
• 1 T Cornstarch
• 2 T White Wine
• 2 t chopped fresh Parsley

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Directions

• 1
  Mix first 6 ingredients in a small bowl. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Use about 1/3 of seasoning to coat chicken. In another bowl sprinkle 1/3 seasoning on shrimp. Cook pasta to Al Dente and drain.
• 2
  Heat 1 T olive oil in skillet over high heat. Saute Chicken for 2 minutes per side. add shrimp and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove from pan. Put pan with juices back over high heat and add remaining oil. Add tomatoes, peppers, and onion to oil. Sprinkle with remaining spice and saute for about 10 minutes.
• 3
  Add chicken and Shrimp back in and pour 3/4 cup chicken stock in pan. Cook over high until liquid is almost gone. Add remaining 3/4 cup of stock. Stir constantly scraping blackened stuff on the bottom of pan. reduce broth some and then turn to low. Combine cornstarch with wine in small bowl. Add to pan and simmer until thickens. Serve over noodles and top with parsley for garnish.

Smothered Chicken

I love smothered chicken over rice but I do not like making roux...I know shame of me. I know how to do it and started cooking that way but I stumbled upon a much easier way, which is using cream of mushroom soup.. and I have been doing it this way for years. The gravy is a beautiful color and so smooth and delicious. For all of the roux makers out there..try it and let me know how you like it:)

Smothered Chicken Recipe

Recipe Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 to 3-1/2 pounds broiler chicken (cut into 8 pieces)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper and garlic powder
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 3/4 cup)
• 3 green onions cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 chopped green bell pepper
• 2 stalks of chopped celery
• 2 to 3-1/2 cups hot chicken broth
• 1 can of Campbells cream of mushroom soup

Recipe Instructions:

The recipe for smothered chicken that follows requires some prepare work and cook time, but you'll thoroughly enjoy this chicken dinner.

1. Clean chicken by rinsing under cold running water. Pat chicken pieces dry with paper towels. Season your chicken by lightly sprinkling each piece with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Set aside.
2. In a large deep skillet heat vegetable oil over low heat until hot, about 4 to 5 minutes. Place chicken skin side down in hot vegetable oil and over medium low heat, cook until chicken is golden brown and turn over to brown the other side.Remove chicken from skillet.
3. Next add vegetables consisting of garlic, yellow and green onions, bellpepper and celery to skillet, cook and stir until thoroughly wilted. Remove skillet from heat.
4. In a medium bowl, combine can of chicken broth with cream of mushroom soup. Using a wire whisk stir until smooth.
5. Return skillet with vegetables to stove and add chicken broth and cream of mushroom soup mixture. Over medium heat, cook and stir with wire whisk until it begins to boil and thicken. 
6. Return browned chicken to skillet, stir to make sure everything is blended, reduce heat to low, cover skillet with lid and simmer for 35-40 minutes, stirring gravy and turning chicken until done.
7. Season your gravy to taste.

As a serving suggestion, serve your smothered chicken over a bed of white rice with vegetable medley and corn bread.

- See more at: http://www.soulfoodandsoutherncooking.com/smothered-chicken-recipe.html#sthash.TTytkroJ.dpuf

Red Beans and Rice

You can't get more southern than red beans and rice....oh, and don't forget the smoked sausage! Now that we are in the fall season with leaves changing and cooler temperatures this is a feel good, comfy cozy kind of meal...add corn bread and sweet tea and I'm there!

Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry red beans
• 2 quarts water
• 1-1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 4 bay leaves
• 1 cup chopped green pepper
• 3 tbsp chopped parsley
• 3 tbsp chopped garlic
• 2 tsp dried thyme, crushed
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 lb smoked sausage sliced -( my add to)

Recipe Instructions:

1. Sort through your beans removing any defective beans or small stones that may be present. Place the beans in a colander and rinse several times.
2. Place beans, chopped onion, chopped celery, and bay leaves in a 5-quart pot and cover with two inches of water. Bring to boil, replace lid and reduce to low-heat. Cook for about 1-1/2 hours until beans are tender. When beans are tender remove bay leaves then mash and stir beans against side of pot.
3. Next add your remaining ingredients consisting of chopped green peppers, parsley, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook uncovered over low-heat for about 30 minutes, until red beans mixture is creamy.

Serve red beans over steamed rice.

Makes 8 servings.

Blackened Catfish

 I am a fish lover and when you need to get away from frying and want a depth of flavor trying blacked fish...catfish, tilapia or whatever you like best would be delicious!

Recipe Ingredients:

• 6-8 catfish fillets, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• lemon juice

Cookware and Utensils:

• 1 cast iron skillet or large heavy skillet
• 1 mixing bowl
• 1 spatula

Recipe Instructions:

As always the key to great cooking is to be prepared and to use quality ingredients.

1. Rinse catfish fillets under running cold and then thoroughly pat them dry with paper towels.
2. Make your seasoning mixture by combining crushed dried thyme leaves, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika in a small bowl.
3. Brush melted butter lightly over catfish fillets and sprinkle with blackened seasoning mix. Repeat for other side. Be sure to completely coat each fillet.
4. Heat iron cast skillet until it is very hot, about 10 minutes. Pour the leftover butter into your skillet. Carefully place the catfish fillets into the skillet and cook for about 4 minutes on both sides. This blackened seasoning mixture will produce plenty of smoke in your kitchen, so another way to tell when to turn over you fillets is when the smoke turns gray.

Serve blackened fillets over a bed of white steamed rice. Add lemon juice to the top of each fillet. I also recommend Caesar or Garden salad with baked potato. Enjoy your skillet fried catfish.

- See more at: http://www.soulfoodandsoutherncooking.com/blackened-catfish.html#sthash.6BWmi5kr.dpuf

Quick and Easy Lemonade

Quick and Easy Lemonade Recipe

In my opinion homemade lemonade runs a close second to sweet tea, the southern favorite.  We can all relate to a cool and thrust quenching glass of lemonade on a hot summers day. 

Recipe Ingredients:

• 4 lemons
• 1/2 cup sugar (or your prefered sugar substitute)
• 2 quarts water
• honey to taste
• ice

Recipe Instructions:

1. It doesn't get any simpler than this. Rinse lemons thoroughly. Next you want to prepare the lemons for squeezing. Roll whole lemons with the palm of your hands on the kitchen counter top to break up the pulp and produce more juice.
2. Next cut lemons in half and squeezed out the juice. If you have a juicer use it, if not just squeeze your juice into a bowl. Strain the lemon juice through a fine strainer to remove seeds.
3. Pour lemon juice into a two quart pitcher. Add sugar and water, then stir vigorously until sugar is completely dissolved. Add you favorite honey to taste. Serve lemonade with ice.

- See more at: http://www.soulfoodandsoutherncooking.com/homemade-lemonade.html#sthash.K3JZjQhl.dpuf

Salmon Croquette

Salmon Croquette, another southern food favorite, is simple and easy to prepare. Depending on your family history, salmon croquettes have several other names including salmon patties, salmon cakes and salmon patty. The names may be slightly different but one thing remains the same they're delicious.

This entree is popular among southern families because canned salmon is inexpensive. You can make this dish for breakfast and dinner.

Let me introduce you to a very quick and easy croquette recipe that uses the simplest of ingredient including canned salmon, onions, eggs, corn meal, and fresh ground pepper.

Salmon Croquette Recipe

Recipe Ingredients:

• 1 can (15-1/2 ounce) pink or red salmon
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter or extra virgin olive oil

Cookware and Utensils:

• medium skillet
• measuring cup
• medium mixing bowl

Recipe Instructions:

1. As always, the key to great cooking is to be prepared and to use quality ingredients.
2. Drain juice from salmon. Pour salmon into a medium bowl and using a fork break salmon apart into small pieces.
3. Add onions, beaten eggs, cornmeal, salt and pepper to taste, mix thoroughly. Shape the mixture evenly into four cakes or patties.
4. Heat the butter or oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Brown salmon croquette patties on both sides, 3-5 minutes on each side. Serve your salmon croquettes hot.

- See more at: http://www.soulfoodandsoutherncooking.com/salmon-croquette-recipe.html#sthash.00FVvyZ7.dpuf

Buttermilk-Herb Biscuits

People from the South love bread...especially homemade biscuits. Biscuits and gravy, biscuits and sausage, biscuits and syrup or biscuits and honey. I thought this recipe put a different twist on biscuits - warm biscuits with herbs...sounds delish!

Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Total Time: 40 Minutes
Makes: 12 biscuits

2 cups Gold Medal™ all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons dried herb leaves (rosemary, basil or thyme) or Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/4 cup fat-free buttermilk

Heat oven to 400°F. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, herb, salt and baking soda. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in buttermilk until dough leaves side of bowl (dough will be soft and sticky).
On lightly floured surface, lightly knead dough 10 times. Roll or pat dough about 1 inch thick. Cut with floured 2-inch cutter. On ungreased cookie sheet, place biscuits about 1 inch apart.
Bake 14 to 16 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet. Serve warm.
Makes 12 biscuits

Tips From The Live Better America® Kitchens
How-To
To cut the dough, push the biscuit cutter (dipped in flour) straight into the dough. Cut biscuits as close together as possible, and try not to twist as you cut so biscuits will be the same size.

Success Hint
Lightly press—but don’t knead—leftover scraps of dough together to cut out a few more biscuits (they may be slightly uneven, but they'll taste just as good).

Nutrition Information:

1 Serving (1 Biscuit)

• Calories 120
• (Calories from Fat 40),

• Total Fat 4 1/2g
• (Saturated Fat 1g,
• Trans Fat 0g),
• Cholesterol 0mg;
• Sodium 260mg;
• Total Carbohydrate 17g
• (Dietary Fiber 0g,
• Sugars 1g),
• Protein 3g;

Percent Daily Value*:

Exchanges:

• 1 Starch;
• 0 Fruit;
• 0 Other Carbohydrate;
• 0 Skim Milk;
• 0 Low-Fat Milk;
• 0 Milk;
• 0 Vegetable;
• 0 Very Lean Meat;
• 0 Lean Meat;
• 0 High-Fat Meat;
• 1 Fat;

Carbohydrate Choices:

• 1;

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Tea Time

What’s a southern meal without a tall, cold glass of sweet iced tea? The trouble is, most sweet tea is loaded with sugar—often two cups or more. Make your pitcher better-for-you by replacing sugar with raw honey. First, brew a quart of strong, black tea, using five tea bags and steeping for 10 minutes. Pour the hot tea over ¾ cup raw honey in a gallon pitcher and stir to dissolve. Fill the pitcher with cold water and ice, chill in the refrigerator, and enjoy.

Fried Green Tomatoes....fresh from the garden!

Fried Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette

When I think of Southern Food what comes to mind is cornbread, hush puppies, brisket, ribs, okra, collard greens, baked beans, mac n’ cheese, fried chicken, pulled pork, and a lot of sweet tea, and it is all amazing. But one of my favorite things of all is fried green tomatoes, straight from the garden. So it is only appropriate that I include this recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette - Delish!

PREP TIME : 15 mins
COOK TIME : 15 mins
TOTAL TIME: 30 mins

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS
For the Green Tomatoes:
4 green tomatoes
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 cup flour
¾ cup plain bread crumbs
¾ cup corn meal (yellow or white both work fine)
2½ teaspoons Kosher salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Vegetable oil, for frying
Fresh basil, chopped, to top
6 oz goat cheese, crumbled, to top
For the Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette
7 oz roasted red peppers
1½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar (red wine vinegar works, too)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon honey
½ teaspoon dried Italian herbs (such as basil, parsley, oregano, and thyme)
Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Slice the green tomatoes into ½" rounds, discarding the tops and bottoms.

Combine the eggs and milk in a shallow bowl. Combine the bread crumbs, corn meal, kosher salt, and black pepper in another shallow bowl. Pour the flour on a separate plate.

Dip the tomatoes in the flour to coat, then the egg, then the bread crumb mixture, making sure to coat the tomatoes well with the breading. Set the tomatoes aside.
Add vegetable oil to a high-walled, heavy-bottomed skillet, to about ½" high. Heat over medium-high heat.
As you wait for the oil to heat up, combine the Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette ingredients in a blender or food processor. Pulse until mostly smooth, with just a few small chunks of red pepper remaining.
When the oil is hot (you can test this by dipping the handle of a wooden spoon into the oil and seeing if it bubbles), add in 3-4 green tomato slices, depending on how large your pan is. Fry until golden brown on each side, flipping once. Remove the Fried Green Tomatoes from the oil using a slotted spoon or tongs and place on a paper towel lined plate to absorb excess oil.
Reduce heat to medium and fry the remaining slices, 3-4 at a time.
Once all of the tomatoes have been fried, top with crumbled goat cheese and fresh basil. Serve with the Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette.