This is my new go-to meal, especially when I need something quick, easy, filling and delicious!! My bestie friend Stewy made this for me when I was visiting him in Georgia, and his friend made it for him when he was visting him down in New Orleans (cheering for Auburn in the 2004 season Sugar Bowl!). This is authentic, Nawlins Style Red Beans & Rice. It’s so simple and man pleasin’. Stewy & Kevin approved. And tonight, I’m gonna make it for you.

First, make sure your husband is watching football in the background. This is a must.

Ingredients
1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups hot water
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pkg (14 oz) smoked sausage
1 can red beans
Zatarains Creole Seasoning

Now. A word. See that “Ragin’ Cajun” smoked sausage in the picture up there? Yeah. Kevin thought it’d be fun to try that this time. Well let me tell you. It was HOT! HOT HOT HOT. Way too hot for me. I prefer just the regular, Eckrich smoked sausage, especially for this. Now Kevin liked it, mind you, but wow. My mouth was on fire for like a week. You’d been warned.

Directions
Onto the good stuff. Start by adding 1 cup of long grain, white rice to a sauce pan with a lid.

Add 2 cups hot water and 1 tsp salt. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. As soon as it starts to boil, turn heat to LOW, cover with lid and simmer for exactly 15 mins.

Meanwhile, thinly slice the sausage.

Drain the juice from the red beans into the sink.

Add 2-3 tbsp olive oil to to a large skillet and begin heating over medium heat.

Add the sausage, and I usually give a healthy sprinkling of creole seasoning at this point. Stir occasionally for about 7 mins until the sausages start to get sizzly on both sides. Yes, that’s the official term for it. ;)

Add the red beans and stir until warmed through.

About this time, your rice should be done too, so serve it up! :)

I put the creole seasoning on the table- cause everyone likes to add their own amount. At this point, I like to stir mine up real good until my rice gets all brown from the sausage, beans and seasoning. Yummy. Makes about 2-3 servings.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2009. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

Remember last week when we were talking about company recipes? This is one of those recipes. I’ll never forget the first time I had this *perfect* pulled pork. I was a guest in someone’s home and this was their company recipe. And true to company recipe fashion, I immediately fell in love with it and begged for the recipe.

This pulled pork is SO yummy and flavorful and tender, it just melts in your mouth. And it really is *perfect* for company because everyone I’ve ever made this for has just raved over it. You have to try it, at least once. Really. You will be hooked. :)

Let’s pick out the perfect pork shoulder for your perfect pulled pork. The best piece of meat for pulled pork is a 4-7 lb whole boston butt.

Make sure your pork shoulder has a layer of fat on the bottom:

And it should also have a bone going about halfway through it. (It doesn’t go all the way through. Just halfway.)

Now, if you notice, my pork shoulder is 7.91 lbs. I got a big one because I wanted to feed 6 people *and* have tons and tons of leftovers. Normally I hate leftovers, but I LOVE this leftover. People always want some to take home with them and it *just* as yummy heated up the next day. Just pop it in a 350-375 degree oven for about 5 mins. You’ll know when it’s done because the whole kitchen will start smelling so good and your mouth will be watering and you just won’t be able to wait any longer before you yank it out of the oven and put it on a plate. It even freezes really well, although we never want to freeze it because we always want to keep eating it for the next couple of days. lol.

After you pick out your perfect pork shoulder, you may want to pick up a few other items while you’re out..

You’ll need a 3″ deep roasting pan that’s big enough to hold your pork shoulder so that there is at least 1″ of extra room on all sides. Of course you may have a nice roasting pan at home that you can use. Lucky. I don’t, so I just pick up one of these babies at the grocery store. Disposable, yet oh so dependable. You’ll also need something LARGE to brine the roast in. I use a 2 gallon ziploc bag. And the last thing is a digital thermometer with an alarm. You don’t *have* to have one of these, but I find this an *extremely* useful piece of equipment in my kitchen. The thermometer stays in the meat, in the oven while the digital reader sits outside on top of the stove. You set the alarm and it will go off when the meat has reached the desired temp. I LOVE it because I don’t have to constantly keep checking on the roast. I just put it in and forget it! :) You can pick one of these up pretty cheap (less than $20) at the grocery store (and almost anywhere- Target, Walmart, Linens-N-Things, Bed, Bath and Beyond, etc). And you can use it for everything- chicken, steak, burgers, etc. I love it for baking chicken because you know exactly when the chicken is done and it doesn’t get dried out. :)

So! Now that you’ve got all your equipment, let’s start out by making the special dry rub that makes this pulled pork so perfectly seasoned and savory.

Dry Rub

1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp ground pepper
1 tbsp paprika
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix all ingredients together well and store in an air tight container.

This smells absolutely divine. Cover it and set it aside for a sec.

Now for the brine – A brine solution gives the meat the extra moisture it needs for a long, slow cooking process so you don’t end up with tough, dried out meat.

Brine Solution

1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 qts cold water
3 tbsp dry rub mix
2 bay leaves

Add salt to cold water and stir very well until all the salt is completely dissolved. Then add the brown sugar and dry rub and stir well to combine.

Rinse the pork shoulder in cold water and place in a 2 gallon ziploc bag (or a container big enough so the shoulder is completely covered in brine solution).

Carefully pour in the brine solution…

And add two dried bay leaves (found in the spice section of the grocery store)

And refrigerate for at least 8 hours. I like to clean out a spot in my door and keep the pork there because it seems to be the best place to keep the shoulder completely covered in brine.

At least 8 hours later…

Preheat oven to 225, remove the pork shoulder from the brine solution and place in the roasting pan.

Pat the skin dry with paper towels so you’ll get a nice, crisp crust.

Generously, generously, cover the WHOLE thing in your dry rub mix.

And massage it into that skin real good. Be sure and get it up under any flaps you may come across.

It should look like this when you’re done massaging. If you have dry rub mix left, that’s okay. We will be using it later.

Make sure the fat layer is facing UP and stick the thermometer into the thickest part of the shoulder, but not touching the bone.

Place uncovered in a 225 degree oven, yes 225 degrees F, on the middle rack. Resist the urge to use a higher temperature.

Set the alarm on the thermometer for 200 degrees. We don’t want to take it out of the oven until the center of the shoulder reaches at least 200 degrees. The first time I made this, I was like what?? 200 degrees?? Are you kidding?? Isn’t a roast usually done at 170 degrees?? Won’t my meat be tough and dried out?? But here’s what I found out. The pork is finished to the point of being sliceable at 170 degrees, but to get that tender, falling apart shredded meat, the ideal internal temperature should reach at least 200 degrees. And it’s still just as tender, juicy and flavorful because of our seasoned brine solution.

Now, cooking at 225 degrees, this shoulder will take between 1.5 to 2 hours per pound to cook. As it happens, this 8 lb shoulder took 13 hours, so a little over an hour and a half per pound.

Here’s how I normally do it… The morning on the day before I want to serve this, first thing when I get up, I prepare the brine solution and let the shoulder brine all day in the fridge. That night right before I go to bed, I season the shoulder with the dry rub and put it in the oven and let it cook overnight. The alarm has never woken me up the next morning, I’ve usually already been up a couple hours before it goes off. And I am not an early riser. (yeah, yeah I can hear ya’ll laughing at how much of an understatement that is)

When the alarm goes off and the shoulder has reached 200 degrees, turn off the oven and let the roast cool for about 2 hours before removing from the oven. Turn off the alarm, but keep the thermometer in the meat, so you can monitor the temperature. If the bottom of the pan is dry (or crusted with dried spices) then cover the pan with foil to retain internal moisture of the meat during the cooling period. Mine still had lots of juice in the bottom this time, so I didn’t have to cover it.

After a couple hours, when the temperature drops to 170 degrees or slightly lower, remove the shoulder from the oven.

Place on a large, clean work surface such as a cutting board, and remove the large sheet of crusted fat on the top. Using two large forks, begin pulling the meat apart. It will fall apart *very* easily and it should not take you long at all to pull apart this whole roast.

Now remember how I said that a 4-7 lb roast was best, but I ended up getting an 8 lb roast? Well, that was just fine and dandy, but my meat wasn’t as seasoned as it normally is with a smaller roast. But that’s no problem cause I had plenty of dry rub mix left! So take a few taste test bites, then generously sprinkle the shredded meat all over until your heart’s content. Be really generous with the dry rub and really mix it in good. This seasoned meat is fantastic. Keep taste testing along the way. ;)

Our favorite way to eat pulled pork is on hamburger buns. We pile ‘em high and let the meat overflow onto our plates and eat that with a fork.

But it really doesn’t matter how you serve it because it won’t be on the plate more than 3 seconds anyway. ;)

Having a Labor Day get together with friends & family this weekend? Go ahead and knock their socks off with this slow roasted, seasoned and savory pulled pork.

Have fun and enjoy!

This pulled pork is so delicious, it earns two pages in the recipe book.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

Chicken Cordon Bleu is really not that hard to make and we love it! Especially the creamy sauce. And it goes perfectly with these Roasted Carrots.

Let’s start with the ingredients…

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, 3 slices Swiss cheese, 3 slices ham, 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon paprika, 6 tablespoons butter, 1/2 cup chicken broth, 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 cup heavy whipping cream

First, let me start off by saying that these were the absolute worst chicken breasts possible for Chicken Cordon Bleu. :p They were perfectly flat (would’ve been just dandy for grilling :p) and didn’t have that nice tenderloin flap for folding over. But I made do.

So anyway, take your ham and cheese and place them on your chicken breasts. I usually don’t have to make such thin strips of ham & cheese when I have better breasts. Snort. Then fold that extra tenderloin flap (if you are lucky enough to have one) over the meat and cheese and secure with toothpicks.

Mix 3 tbsp flour and 1 tsp paprika in a small bowl and coat the chicken pieces on both sides.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add 6 tbsp of butter. Let the butter melt and get all nice and brown. Now at first it will sizzle and freak out and act like it’s going to boil over…

But just remember — you are the boss and you are way more stubborn than that butter so just hold your ground and don’t give in– and it will calm down from it’s little temper fit in no time.

See? All nice and brown.

Now, put your chicken in the butter with the ham & cheese side down at first and let the chicken get all nice and browned. If you let your butter get all hot and bothered it should only take about 2 mins before it’s just right. Flip over the breasts and make sure they look like this:

Then let the other side brown for another 2 mins or so. Meanwhile, get your 1/2 cup of chicken broth and mix in 1 tsp of chicken bullion granules. When all sides of the chicken are browned, reduce heat to LOW (and I really mean looooooooooooooow people) and pour in the chicken broth mixture. Cover and simmer for about 15 mins, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Remove the toothpicks and transfer the breasts to a warm plate.

Now don’t stop here! It’s time to work on that sauce! Trust me you don’t want to leave out this sauce. I promise. Bump up the heat on the skillet to medium low heat. Blend 1 tbsp cornstarch and 1 cup heavy whipping cream. I always just use the same measuring cup I used to mix the chicken broth and chicken bullion granules. Slowly whisk the cream mixture into the skillet. (You may have to remove some cheese that fell off the chicken breast first… I always do). Continue stirring until sauce is thickened… This usually takes about 10 mins. Generously pour it over the chicken and serve immediately.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

Alfredo Tortellini is a quick and easy meal that can be ready in 15 mins or less for those nights when you’ve only got 30 minutes to prepare it and eat dinner before you have rush back out to take your obnoxious, degenerate of a dog to obedience school. Like tonight.

The rich, creamy sauce makes Alfredo Tortellini one of my favorite meals.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

1. Open box
2. Take bagels out of box…

Just kidding! Don’t worry, we won’t be making bagel bites out of a box. Today we will be making our own pizzas on a bagel. These are great when you need something quick and easy to throw together for a light dinner. Like on nights when Kevin has agility class with Miley and Howie and I only have 30 minutes to…

1. Figure out what to eat.
2. Prepare it.
3. Cook it.
4. Take a photo.
5. Still have time left over to actually eat it!

Thank goodness these bagel bites did the trick and Kev still had five minutes to spare. Another thing I like about bagel bites is that you can make as many or as few as you need. Since it was just the two of us, I only used 2 bagels and we had no leftovers. I love having no leftovers!

Here’s what all you’ll need…

And when it’s done you’ll have this yummy snack:

Another great thing about these bagel bites is that you can put any pizza topping on it you want. Sausage? Green peppers? Olives? Anchovies? Try ‘em out and report back!

Pizza in the morning, pizza in the evenin’, pizza at suppertime…

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!

We love Antipasto Squares as a meal, but this recipe was originally supposed to be an appetizer… hence the name Antipasto Squares! They’re delicious when hot, bubbly, and fresh from the oven.

Here are all the ingredients BEFORE…

And when it comes out of the oven!

This recipe definitely deserves a page in the Recipe Scrapbook.

© kevinandamanda.com, 2008. | Link to this post | Comment on this post | Stumble This Recipe!