Rice Cooker Jambalaya

Last night Sue made the best Jambalaya and it was so easy and super delicious.  The recipe came from the Oak Alley Plantation cookbook. 

Makes 6 servings

1 lb raw shrimp, peeled

1 lb smoked sausage sliced and cut into four pieces per slice

Cajun seasoning to taste

2 cups uncooked long grain rice

1 (10 ounce) can of beef consommé

1 (10 ounce) can French onion soup

½ stick butter, cut into small pieces

½ cap full of Shrimp and Crab Boil liquid

2 chopped green onions

¼ cup chopped yellow onion

Pour everything into the rice cooker.  Cover and cook until the bell rings.  Allow the mixture to steam for an additional 20 minutes before serving.  Of course, Sue and I sprinkled some Louisiana hot sauce on top of ours too.

Snickerdoodles – my all time favorite cookie!

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

1 large egg

1 tablespoon milk

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon cream of tartar

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and ¾ cup sugar together until smooth.  Add egg, milk, and vanilla and blend. 

In a separate bowl, mix together flour, cream of tartar,  baking soda, and salt and add to the creamed mixture.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until dough is firm enough to handle.

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a shallow bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of sugar with cinnamon.  Roll the dough into balls and then roll into cinnamon and sugar mixture.  Arrange sugar-coated balls on ungreased cookie sheets, spacing them 2 ½ inches apart.   If you are making large cookies, you would roll the balls to 1 ½ inch size and place them on the cookie sheet about 2 ½ inches apart and bake about 12 minutes.  This recipe makes about 14 large cookies.  Bake until edges are firm to the touch – do not over bake. 

You can keep baked cookies in an airtight container for 3 days or freeze up to 6 months.  We never have any left over to freeze in our house.  You can also make the dough up ahead of time and keep in refrigerator up to 5 days or freeze dough for 3 months – thaw before baking.

Seven Layer Bars – so delicious and easy!

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

1 stick unsalted butter

9 graham crackers, crushed

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

½ cup white chocolate chips

½ cup butterscotch chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray. Line the pan with two overlapping pieces of foil or parchment paper, leaving overhang to act as handles for lifting the bars out of the pan. Spray with non-stick spray.

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake until the outer flakes just begin to brown, about 4 minutes.

Melt the butter and combine with graham cracker crumbs in a small bowl. Mix well.  Press the crumbs evenly onto the bottom of the pan.

In order, sprinkle the walnuts, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and coconut over the graham cracker crumbs. Pour the condensed milk evenly over the entire dish.

Bake until the top is golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pan about 2 hours.

Remove the bars from the pan using the foil or parchment handles and transfer to a cutting board. Using a sharp knife, cut into 2 by 3-inch bars.

Heavenly Harvest Pork Roast

Sue Patrick Richard shared this recipe.  The roast tastes delicious and smells like fall when it’s cooking.  Helpful hint:  Unless you have a 5, 6, or 7 quart crock pot, cut any roast larger than 2 1/2 pounds in half so it cooks completely.

1/4 cup pomegranate juice

1/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon garlic salt

1 tablespoon steak seasoning

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 pork roast (4 -5 pounds)

2 pears, cored, peeled and sliced thick

1/2 orange with peel, sliced thick

Combine pomegranate juice and sugar in small saucepan.  Cook over low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves, about 2 minutes.  Pour into crock pot.

Combine salt, garlic salt, steak seasoning, and pepper in small mixing bowl.  Rub mixture over roast and let sit for a few minutes.  Place roast in crock pot.  Turn roast to cover with juice mixture.

Top roast with pear and orange slices.  Cover, cook on high for 6 – 8 hours or until tender.  Serves 6 – 8.

Ella’s Peanut Butter Cookies

My Aunt Ella was a big inspiration in my life.  She could cook better than anyone I have ever known and she had a lot of patience.   As a child learning to cook, I was pretty messy in the kitchen; that soon corrected itself when I started having to clean up my own messes. 

This is her recipe for peanut butter cookies and it makes a lot of cookies.  You can always take a plate of hot, fresh baked cookies to a friend. 

If you want, you can add 1 Hersey’s Kiss to each cookie immediately when taking the cookies out of the oven or you can add chocolate chips to the recipe.

5 cups white sugar

5 cups brown sugar

10 sticks butter

10 eggs

5 cups peanut butter

Cream above ingredients together, set aside. 

12 1/2 cups flour

4 teaspoons soda

2 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons baking powder

Mix dry ingredients, set aside.

Add dry ingredients slowly to wet ingredients.  Mix well.  Roll cookie dough into balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten each ball with a fork so that you make the cris cross marks on top.  Bake for 9 minutes.  Cool, then remove from pan.  These are very good!

Does anyone have the recipe for the apple pie that was served at the old Freeman and Harris restaurant in Shreveport, Louisiana?

As you know I had apple pie for my birthday instead of traditional cake.  I love Apple Pie!  I have received several phone calls suggesting that I should get the recipe from the old Freeman and Harris.  Of course they are closed, but if any of my readers can provide this recipe, I would be forever grateful.