Adouille Hash
By: Andrea Madigan-Wilken
The mere idea of me "whipping up" dinner from ingredients found in MY cupboard is laughable. That isn't to say I don't appreciate the skill and creativity that this challenge presents, but rather, it has exposed my inability to maintain a stocked pantry. During my "hunt" for ingredients/ideas I was stunned at the paltry amount of food I keep on hand. Just call me Mother Hubbard! My usual routine is to shop for that nights dinner ingredients, that day, resulting in a near empty refrigerator and essentially deserted cupboards. So due to this " culinary awakening " I am making a change in the way I shop for groceries. Although I will miss all my Ralphs employees, (who I see more often then my own family), I will only go to the store once a week, not once a day! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 Bag Frozen French Fries Chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper Diced
1 Small Onion Diced
2 Ribs Celery Finely Chopped
1/2 Cup Frozen or Fresh Okra Chopped
1 1/2 Tbs. Cajun Seasoning
3/4 Lb. Andouille Sausage Cut Into Bite Sized Pieces
Tabasco Sauce To Taste
4 Eggs
1 Tbs. Vegetable Oil
Directions:
- Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.
- Saute onion, peppers, celery, and Okra until tender and onions are golden.
- Add Sausage saute for 8-10 min. or until andouille is crisped slightly and heated through.
- Carefully add french fries and toss to incorporate.
- Sprinkle Cajun seasoning evenly over hash and stir.
- Continue to cook for 8-10 minutes more to cook french fries until golden.
- In a different pan, fry up the eggs.
- Serve by plating up hash and topping with a fried egg and doused with Tabasco Sauce to taste. Delicious!!
Spicy Beef and Sausage Stew
By: Vanessa Madigan
It seems as though I always have random cuts of meat in my freezer. We buy a package of 3 steaks, but, only eat two or buy the jumbo pack of spicy sausage and get burned out half way through. This week I dug through my fridge and found just those things. You can make this recipe with all different cuts of beef, omit the sausage, add bacon throw in some straggling carrots from your fridge, the ingredients are up to you! Its all about using what you've got!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs beef roast or similar, cubed (about 1in x 1 in)
1 link andouille sausage (diced)
1 medium yellow onion
1 habenero
2 jalapeno peppers
1 tbsp Tabasco Sauce
1-6oz can of tomato paste
1 packet of Lipton's beefy onion soup mix
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp pepper
Water
Directions:
- Place all ingredients in slow cooker add water to cover with about an inch extra to cover.
- Cook on high for about 3 hours or until the beef is very tender
- Serve with rice and enjoy!
Fried Baked Potatoes
By: Vanessa Madigan
This yummy twist on your average potato is easy and delicious. The exterior is crispy and the interior is tender and delicious. Give it a try with those pantry potatoes that are about to grow eyes and lead a spud revolt. Your family will thank you!
Ingredients:
4 small baking potatoes
oil for frying
salt (for seasoning)
chili powder (for seasoning)
paprika (for seasoning)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Rinse potatoes and prick repeatedly with a fork
- Place potatoes in oven and let bake for about an hour or until cooked
- Remove potatoes from oven and let cool for several minutes
- While the potatoes are cooling heat your oil in a large skillet or deep fryer to about 375 degrees
- Using a kitchen mallet or rolling pin smash each potato once or twice.
- Carefully drop the potatoes, one by one into the oil and fry until golden.
- Remove from oil and set on a plate to cool, season them with salt, chili powder and paprika and serve!
Chocolate Hazelnut Mayonnaise Cake
By: Vanessa Madigan
So, I don't know about you, but, I always have a random box of cake mix hanging out in my pantry. I make a lot of cupcakes with my perfectly awesome niece Riley and my fiance is quite the fan of dessert. The problem is I don't always have the eggs and oil and the olive oil that lives in my pantry tastes nasty in cake mix. When I decided to make a cake for dessert I dug through the fridge to find a suitable egg substitute and guess what I found it...Mayonnaise! Mayo is oil and egg so all you need to do is substitute it for the oil and eggs in the mix. The result is a tender, moist chocolate cake that will please all of the dessert fans in your house.
Ingredients:
1 box of your favorite chocolate cake mix
Mayonnaise
1 cup Nutella or Chocolate Hazelnut spread
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
Directions:
- Follow instructions on the back of your cake mix box, substituting an equal amount of mayonnaise for the oil, omit the eggs completely.
- Bake the cake and let cool completely
- Using a toothpick poke holes all over the cake, lots and lots of holes! Your yummy "frosting" is going to soak through these holes.
- Place the Nutella in a sauce pan with the milk and butter. Allow them to heat slowly over low heat, stirring to ensure the chocolate does not burn. If the Nutella starts to get too thick add a little more milk to thin out. You will want is to resemble a glaze so that it will cover the cake and seep into the holes you poked.
- When Nutella spread is complete drizzle over your cake
- Top with chopped hazelnuts. We like to put ours in the fridge before serving, but, its up to you!
