Spiced Carrots Recipe - Guest Post

Amazing chef and mother, Jill Redding, from Pianissamma, joins our blog group with an incredibly carrot recipe. Yes, you read that right. An. Incredible. Carrot. Recipe.

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Photo by Tejaswi Kasturi.

When I was a child, I always looked forward to Sunday dinners at my grandmother’s house. Sunday dinners were always worthy of the good plates, especially after a good sermon at church.

It wasn’t uncommon for some of those Sunday dinners to include a roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions. All cooked together in a Dutch oven.

When I decided to become a vegetarian, I realized that I missed that idea of a one-pot meal. Sure, I use my slow cooker to make stews all the time. But to have root vegetables baked with a broth? I had yet to find a recipe that brought those veggies to life. So one Thanksgiving about ten years ago, I decided to make my own. This works well as a side dish.

Spiced Carrots


2 Cups carrots peeled and quartered lengthwise
3 Cinnamon Sticks
1 Teaspoon Whole Cloves
1 Teaspoon fresh thyme
1 Teaspoon chopped basil
1 Teaspoon oregano leaves

Marinade
1/8 Cup orange juice
1/8 Cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon honey (Agave nectar may be substituted)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Pinch of saffron strands
1 Dash of crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Spread carrots evenly in an 8-inch baking dish. Sprinkle cloves, thyme, basil and oregano on carrots. Take your cinnamon sticks, and break them in half lengthwise. Add cinnamon sticks to carrots, interspersed throughout the dish. Drizzle marinade over carrots.

Cover with aluminum foil, and bake for 1 hour. Garnish with sprigs of thyme. Serves 4.





 

Recipe Monday - Some Holiday Sides

I made some really easy sides the other day for Christmas dinner. Now, these won't be winning any awards for the "from-scratchiest-bestest-hardest-ever" category, but if you've only got 30 minutes and you need something to bring to a dinner party, they are delicious.

Candied Yams:

I went right for the canned yams with this one. My mom does it from sweet potatoes proper, but I'm just not at that level right  now.

Large can of sweet potatoes / yams in syrup, drained
cup of mini marshmallows
2/3 cup of packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of melted butter

Mash the yams and melted butter together in a big bowl.

Add the sugar and spices, and 1/2 cup of marshmallows.

Spread in a casserole dish (I used a pie pan)

Spread the remaining marshmallows on top.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350, or until the top marshmallows are golden brown and puffy.



Green Bean Casserole:

I used real green beans for this, but I'm sure you could use canned.

Four to six cups of green beans (steamed)
can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup of milk
salt and pepper
cup of French fried onions.

Mix green beans, milk and cream of mushroom soup in a big bowl. Add 1/2 cup onions and spices and stir well.

Pour into 8x8 casserole dish and spread the remaining onions on top.

Bake for 20 minutes at 350.





 

Guest Post - Andouille Dirty Rice Dressing

I am so pleased to be here today and share one of my favorite Cajun recipes on my friend Darlena’s incredible blog, Tales of an Unlikely Mother. Please, let me introduce myself: I’m Jessica, the girl behind the Cajunlicious blog. When Darlena asked me if I would like to do a guest post on a Cajun twist to a Thanksgiving Day side I knew this would make the perfect side dish for anyone’s Thanksgiving menu.

If you are not familiar with Cajun food, here is a little history.

Cajun cuisine (in French: Cuisine Acadienne) An authentic Cajun meal is usually a three-pot event, with one pot devoted to the main dish, one dedicated to rice, cornbread, or another grain dish, and the third containing a vegetable. The food is regularly spicy and typically makes use of regionally abundant provisions such as seafood, wild game, and rice. Most Cajun dishes begin with trinity, which provides the distinctive flavoring of specific dishes.

To read more about Cajun Culture click here

So, without further ado, I give you my Andouille Dirty Rice Dressing

Traditional dirty rice is made from Boiled Cajun Rice cooked with small pieces of chicken giblets, which give it a “dirty” color and a distinctive flavor, but I love the flavor that Andouille sausage adds to any meal and this side is always on my table for all holidays.

You will need

1-cup long grain white basmati rice

Chicken stock

8 ounces of Andouille sausage, diced

1 & 1/2 cups trinity

3 white mushrooms, sliced

2 garlic cloves, pressed

Tabasco pepper vinegar, to taste

Crystal hot sauce, to taste

Cajun seasoning blend

To make the Cajun seasoning blend mix salt, pepper, parsley, granulated garlic, onion powder, cayenne powder, and a pinch of dried thyme. Mix well and adjust to your liking.

For the rice

Rinse rice 2 times with a strainer to remove extra starch. Place rice in a saucepan and add 1 ½ cups chicken stock, 2 bay leaves, 1-teaspoon olive oil, and a pinch of sea salt. Place saucepan (uncovered) over high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let the stock reduce slightly below the rice. Cover and reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

For the Dirty Part

Sauté the andouille on medium high heat to brown. Once browned and slightly crisp lower the heat to medium and render the fat.

Remove andouille with a slotted spoon into a bowl. Sauté the trinity in the rendered fat until soft and add the garlic and mushrooms and continue to cook until the garlic is fragrant. Add the seasoning mixture and stir.

Add 2/3 cup chicken stock and 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco pepper vinegar and deglaze the pan scrapping up any brown bits. Add the amount of hot sauce you like to season while the cooking in finishing.

Add the andouille and rice. Cook until liquid is absorbed.

View my post about perfect Boiled Cajun Rice.

Thank you so much Darlena for inviting me to guest post with you today, it truly is an honor!

Have a happy, safe, and yummy Thanksgiving everyone!

Recipe Monday - Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites

I got this recipe from my friend Cassie, just a few days ago. They came out so well that my husband is already talking about "the next time" I make them. Haha. Now, trust me, you can make better-looking bites than this. I was using muffin papers that were too big!

1 can pumpkin pie mix (the kind that already has spices in it)

1 can sweet condensed milk

3 eggs

1 package cream cheese (room temp)

1 cup sugar

Pinch salt

1 package ginger snaps (I used Maria biscuits and graham crackers, just a half of a quarter at the bottom of each cupcake wrapper; they rise to the top in deliciousness)

 (Oh, when I took this photo, I was going to try Oreos in some of them. But then the girls woke up and ate the Oreos.)

This makes 24.

Cream together all ingredients except the cookies.

Line cupcake tin with papers.

Drop one cookie in the bottom of each cupcake liner.

Fill with mixture.

Bake at 425f for 15 minutes then reduce oven to 350f and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until firm.

Put them in the fridge and enjoy! (I put the cookie in only half of them, not sure which way would taste better. Go with the graham. Seriously.)