MY version of Jimmy Dean Sausage

I live in the land of pork, but for 3.5 years I have suffered in silence about the LACK of REAL BREAKFAST SAUSAGE here. Danes don't eat hot meats for breakfast, so I am sure they don't realize they are LACKING in this department!

However after visiting my friend Lisa in Prague last weekend, I found out that I no longer have to suffer.... it IS possible to make your own "Jimmy Dean" pan sausage! And so this morning I did!

The best part is that EVERY SINGLE ingredient can be found in Denmark!

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of ground pork (which in DK is available at ALLLL grocery stores every day of the week!)
• 2 TBSP dried sage (salvie på dansk)
• 2 TBSP brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves (nellike på dansk)
• 2 tsp salt
• 2-3 TBSP of Slap Ya Mama (Here is where you can use your favorite cooking spice -- some recipes call for a tsp of black pepper plus a tsp of red pepper flakes, etc...you decide) But you need a little "kick" in your recipe so that is why I use SYM.

First step is to blend all the spices together in a small bowl so that they can be more evenly distributed throughout the pork. Set aside.

Use your hands to really mix the pork...break up any lumps and try to get it as smooshy as possible. Then sprinkle about 1/3 of your dry mix into the pork and keep smooshing... sprinkle another 1/3....and repeat. This will ensure that each bite of sausage has the same yummy flavors.

Form the meat into balls and flatten before putting in your skillet to fry. You do not need any oil or grease to fry them...they make their own which is just enough to keep them from sticking to the pan. Cook them on a low heat because you don't want the outside to cook faster than the inside. Flip, continue cooking, and most likely flip again.

This morning I served them with buttermilk pancakes and when I dipped them in that maple syrup, I thought I had died and gone to heaven...

Tomorrow's breakfast will be sausage biscuits for the road because we are going to Århus and then I have plenty in a freezer bag to save for the next time I want biscuits and gravy!

Bon Appetite!

Shrimp Cocktail

Buy the shrimp that are already peeled but still have the tails on them. Boil.... Chill....and serve in a bowl of ice.

Cocktail Sauce-- Make the night before.

1 large jar of salsa (make sure it's GOOD Salsa....NOT something that has a BBQ flavor!)

1 large bottle of ketchup

1 bottle of Tabasco sauce

Mix the first two together until well-blended.

Start shaking in the Tabasco....3 or 4 shakes at a time. Blend well.

Taste... not hot enough?

Shake in 3 or 4 more. Blend again.

Taste.... you decide! Keep shaking??

I say YES!

Once it is to your HOTNESS specifications, put in the fridge and chill overnight. Serve in a cute bowl in the middle of your iced down shrimp!

So easy but SO good!

Crawfish Bread

a YUMMY appetizer!

Another item from Mads' Cajun Birthday Blowout!

Ingredients:

1 loaf of French bread (sliced in half, horizontally)

2 cups crawfish tails

1/2 stick butter
1/2 cup chopped yellow onions
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped red bell peppers
1 TBSP minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Cheddar cheese

Slice the French bread in half lengthwise and scoop out the inside of the loaf (but not all the way to the bottom. Leave about half of it there.) Butter the bread and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over a medium heat. Sauté crawfish, and the Holy Trinity (onions, celery, bell peppers) and garlic until the veggies are soft. Remove from the heat and blend in the mustard and mayonnaise. Add cheeses and blend until the cheese begin to melt a bit.

Spread this crawfish mixture inside each of the bread halves. Wrap each half in foil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. Cut bread into slices and serve hot.

Your guests will love you and will most likely be too full to eat dinner if this is your appetizer!

Bourbon Street Praline Cake

I wanted to do something really yummy and really unique for Mads' birthday cake this year! Especially since I am throwing him a "Mardi Gras" themed Cajun Birthday party.... so I poked around the websites of some of my favorite cooks, and used some of their ideas to create my own version of what I am calling the "Bourbon St. Praline Cake".

I made a trial run of this cake a couple of weeks ago for Mads to try..he LOVED it. In fact, he took some of it to the office and 2 of the ladies said it was (and I quote), "the best cake I have ever eaten"! It's not the kind of cake you can eat once a week... but it is definitely something you want to experience at least once!

Ingredients:

• 2 sticks of butter
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup baker's cocoa
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 cup of bourbon
• 1/2 cup of buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Grease a Bundt pan and preheat the oven to 350. In a small saucepan heat the butter, cocoa and water, stirring constantly until the butter melts and the cocoa is well-blended. Remove from heat and while it is cooling, add the following ingredients to a large bowl: buttermilk, bourbon, eggs, baking soda, and vanilla. Add the cooled butter/cocoa mixture and mix until well-blended. Add the sugar and mix well. Then gradually add the rest of the dry ingredients, mixing as you go.

Pour into the greased Bundt pan and bake 25 minutes (or until an inserted toothpick is clean). Cool completely on a wire wrack and then remove from pan.

Once the cake is cooled, you are ready to make your Praline Frosting.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 stick of butter
• 1 cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 cup of cream
• 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups of chopped pecans

Place the first three items in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring often. Remove from heat and add the vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Stir in pecans and stir for about 2 minutes--be careful that it does not harden too quickly. As soon as your pecans are blended in, you are ready to frost the cake.

Pot Roast

I have made roast in SO many different ways, but last night I used an old tried and true Cajun recipe, straight from the cookbook of Judice's Cajun Kitchen in Port Arthur, Texas.... except as usual, I changed it up a bit just to make it my own!

And it was a HIT!

Mads deemed it MELT IN YOUR MOUTH ROAST! So I guess if he asks for that in the future, I will know what he is talking about!

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil in the bottom of a 6qt saucepan-until the bottom is covered. Sprinkle the oil with Cajun seasoning and then brown the roast (mine was about 3lbs) on all sides.

Remove the roast from the oil and then cut it into slices that are about 3/4 of an inch - 1 in. thick. TRUST ME ON THIS PART!

I always cook a pot roast as a whole unit, but cutting it into the slices is what made it OH SO TENDER and "melt in your mouth"ish! Set the slices back into the saucepan, laying them out so that they are spread out.

In a mixing bowl, combine 1 can of cream of celery soup, 1 pouch of dry onion soup mix, 2 cups of water and a few shakes of Cajun seasoning. Pour this over the meat.

Cover and cook for about 45 minutes.

While this is cooking, peel 6 large potatoes (or more, depending on how many you are serving), and cube them. Then peel 6 large carrots and slice them julienne-styled.

After the 45 minutes, add the veggies to the roast, making sure that they are as covered as possible with the liquid. Cook for 45 minutes more.

Just before you are ready to serve, mix together 1/2 cup of water with 3TBSP of Flour. Add to the saucepan to thicken the gravy. Cook until it boils and thickens, stirring constantly.

SERVE!

Beer biscuits

Got beer?

And want something yummier than those regular dinner rolls you usually serve?!

Now that I have found BISQUICK in Germany, I can actually make these!

4 cups of Bisquick

1/4 cup of sugar

1 12-ounce can of beer

2 TBSP of melted butter

Preheat the oven to 375.

Mix all the ingredients well. Pour into well-greased muffin tins (full sized for dinner biscuits; mini muffin size for snack/appetizer biscuits). Bake 15-20 minutes.

And serve with HONEY BUTTER!

Wanna know how to make honey butter? Glad you asked!

Soften 2 sticks of butter.

Whip it while adding 2 TBSP of honey.

Put it in a butter mold (or regular container) and allow to chill.

The best idea is to make it the day before you want to use it!

Twice Baked Potatoes- Cajun style

Mads thought I was crazy when I tried to explain to him what "Twice Baked" potatoes were.... then he tasted them! It is a GREAT alternative to the "normal" potatoes you make....especially in a country like DK where we eat LOTS of potatoes!

Preheat oven to 350.

Wash 6 large baking potatoes. Poke each potato several times with a fork and then lightly coat each potato with oil, sprinkle them with a little bit of Cajun seasoning (of course, I use SLAP YA MAMA) and then place them on a foil covered pan.

Bake for at least 1 hour.

Just before you take the potatoes from the oven, place a stick of butter in a large bowl. (I use 1/2 stick of regular butter and a 1/2 stick of garlic butter as it gives it a bit more flavor.)

Remove the potatoes from the oven and cut off the top 1/3 of each one.

GENTLY scoop out the potato (from the bottom 2/3 AND the tops!)

with a spoon and place into the bowl with the butter. Smash the potatoes until most of the lumps are out, while combining with the butter. Add 2 cups

of sour cream and 2-3 shakes of Cajun seasoning. Mix well. Add 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese and mix.

Scoop this mixture back into your 6 potato shells, being VERY CAREFUL not to break the shells. Pile the mixture as high as possible.

Set the filled potatoes back in the oven in a dish that allows them to "sit up". Bake for 20 minutes on 350. Take out of oven and put a small pinch of cheese on top of each and bake for 10 more minutes.

SERVE HOT!

or freeze for another day!