Homemade Chef

I had this new idea for a series of blog post called "Homemade Chef". It's basically my spin of the movie Julie & Julia. I'm a new cook wanting to (hopefully one day) become as good as my favorite chefs off Food Network! What these blog post will entail are just step-by-step instructions of easy meals that I'm learning to cook. I think that it will be a little fun thing that I hope all of you find enjoyable and helpful! Keep in mind that I did not come up with any of these recipes, most of them will probably be recipes that have been passed around and if they're from the internet I will give credit where credit's due :) Anyways! Here goes my first one!

Red Beans and Rice:
1 box of Zatarian's Red Beans and Rice
Sausage of your choice (about 3 links)
1 onion
3 stalks of celery
1/2 green bell pepper
1 can of chicken broth
1/2 can of rice (use chicken broth can as measuring cup)
1 can kidney beans (rinsed)
3 1/4 cups of hot water



The first thing you do is cook your sausage. I only used about half of the sausage that I bought, but if you are a sausage fanatic use the whole thing! I cut it about an inch apart and then cut those inch rounds in half.




You might want to go ahead and finely chop your onion, half your green bell pepper, and your celery since you're already dicing. After your sausage is cut, cook in a skillet and leave your drippings in the skillet (make sure you watch it and stir it often). When they are done cooking I put them on a plate with a paper towel on it to soak up some of the dripping off the sausage and just set it aside for now. (picture below is pan with drippings left in it, it's kind of hard to tell)




You'll sautee the chopped onions, green peppers, and celery in the dripping from the sausage (it only takes a few minutes). While your veggies are sauteing put your box of red beans and rice, chicken broth, rice, kidney beans, water, and sausage into a big pot and start bringing it to a boil. By the time you've put everything in your pot your veggies should be done so put them in the pot now as well. Once you bring it to a boil, reduce your heat and let cook for 25 minutes (stirring occasionally)!



And tada! You're done! We made sweet Jiffy cornbread to go along with ours, but you can choose whatever you'd like as your side! I hope that you give this a try and if you have any questions feel free to ask!

xo kayla
(recipe from Anna McLeod)