Cajun Burgers

This recipe has become the main burger recipe I use for cook-outs.  Everyone seems to like them, and in my last cook-out, the Turkey Cajun Burgers disappeared faster than the regular Cajun Burgers.

Cajun Burgers
 
Recipe type: Main Course
Ingredients
  • 3 pounds of ground beef
  • 1 pound of pork Andouille sausage
  • 1 Tbsp of Cajun Seasoning
  • Worchestershire sauce
Instructions
  1. Remove the sausage casings from the Andouille sausage.
  2. Mix the sausage, ground beef together, and seasoning together.
  3. Add Worchestershire sauce to taste.
  4. Form mixture into patties.
Notes
Will make about 12⅓ lb. patties. For a Turkey-version of this recipe, substitute: - Ground Turkey for the Ground Beef - Chicken Andouille for the Pork Andouille - Add 1 egg into the mixture to allow it to stick together and form the pattie.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 5.3 ounces

Bob’s Sauté Trout

  • Trout, fillets or bone-in (without the skin, head, or tails)
  • 1 cup chopped onions
  • 1 1/2 sticks butter
  • lemon
  • salt
  • pepper
  • garlic salt
  1. Melt butter in skillet.
  2. Add onions and sauté.
  3. When onions become transparent, add fish (pre-seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic salt).
  4. Cook on medium / medium high heat.
  5. Squeeze lemon juice over fish as it cooks – use juice of 1/2 a lemon per pan of fish.
  6. Brown fish and onions or lightly blacked.

Chicken and Brown Rice

I visited a Navy buddy in San Diego a while back, and while I was out there, his girlfriend at the time made this for dinner.  It was the first time I had ever eaten asparagus and brown rice, and like it.

Chicken and Brown Rice
 
Cook time
Total time
 
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 4 chicken thighs
  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 4½ cups low sodium chicken stock
  • 1 cup asparagus cut into inch pieces
  • ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 teaspoon dried, ground thyme
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • ¼ cup half/half or whipping cream
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 shallot minced
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
Instructions
  1. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with thyme and black pepper.
  2. Melt the butter in deep large skillet, and sauté the shallot and garlic.
  3. Add the chicken thighs, cook on med-high and brown on both sides. they don’t have to be fully cooked yet.
  4. Add brown rice and kind of toast it. then add the chicken stock and reduce heat and cover, stirring occasionally. (rice takes about 40 minutes to cook, the brown rice needs a little extra…it took about 45 minutes for me).
  5. When rice is done to your liking, the chicken will have braised in the chicken stock/rice.
  6. Add half/half and cut asparagus, stir well. Let it simmer on low until the asparagus is tender.
  7. Add half of the grated cheese, and stir once more. Top with the rest of the cheese and serve.
Notes
Prep time for me was about 5 minutes…you can sauté and season the chicken at the same time, then it takes about 45 minutes to cook based on the directions for the brown rice. You’ll need the extra liquid because the chicken will absorb it too.

 

 

Chicken Carbonara

So, compared to many of the other recipes here, this one is a little more complicated, but well worth the effort.

Chicken Carbonara
 
Recipe type: Main
Ingredients
  • 2 tsp. Olive oil
  • 4 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 2 ½ cups whipping cream
  • 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
  • 8 large egg yolks
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh basil leaves
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
  • Salt
  • 1 lb. Spaghetti (I use cellentani pasta)
  • 4 cups coarsely shredded chicken (from 1 roasted chicken)
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts, toasted (I usually leave these out)
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest (finely grated lemon peel)
Instructions
  1. Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta ans garlic and saute until it is brown and crisp, about 8 minutes. Cool slightly.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, cheese, yolks, basil, and parsley to blend.
  3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the spaghetti and cook until it is jut tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Drain.
  4. Add the chicken to the pan with the pancetta and stir to combine.
  5. Add the spaghetti and the cream mixture and toss over medium-low heat until the chicken is heated through and the sauce coats the spaghetti thickly, about 4 minutes (do not boil or you might end up scrambling the eggs).
  6. Season the pasta to taste, with pepper and salt if needed (the pancetta will likely add all the salt you need).
  7. Transfer the pasta to a large wide serving bowl. Sprinkle the walnuts and lemon zest over, and serve.