Hot Sausage Po-Boy

On the menu tonight, is an Andouille Hot Sausage Po-Boy grilled and smoked on a charcoal grill with mesquite chips over a real hardwood charcoal fire.  Andouille is a flavorful Cajun Sausage that is basically ground pork and special seasonings that is used in a variety of Cajun cooking and recipes like chicken and sausage gumbo, red beans and rice,  and dressings and stuffings.

These hot sausage New Orleans style sandwiches are called Po-Boys here in Louisiana.  According to Wikipedia, a po boy, or po’boy, poboy, po-boy, or poor boy, is a traditional submarine sandwich from Louisiana.

Anyway you say it or spell it, Po-Boys are a tasty treat and not a week goes by that a Louisiana Cajun doesn’t have some sort of Po-Boy.  Our favorites are Fried Shrimp, Fried Catfish, Fried Oysters and Hot Andouille Sausage Po-Boys. What we’re making today we just call a hot sausage po boy.

Note:  If you do not have Andouille sausage available in your area, try grilling any quality sausage available in your area.  You can cook your sausage on your grill, or inside in your oven or however you like.

Ingredients for Andouille Hot Sausage Po Boys

6-8 links of fresh Andouille sausage
(1 link per person at least)
Po-Boy buns or Hoagie rolls
Cheese
Mustard
Tomatoes
Relish or pickles
Shredded lettuce
Mayonnaise
Spicy Creole mustard

Grill the Andouille Sausage

(See the Grilling Tips Video if you need help with grilling.)

Serving Suggestions for Andouille Hot Sausage Po-Boys

Open the buns and butter each side.  Heat the buns in the oven to toast and melt the butter.  Don’t take to dancing or you might burn the buns.

Layer on the condiments of your choice.

Spilt a link of Andouille sausage down the middle.

Open up and place on the buns.

Close the bun and take a big bite of deliciousness.

This is one of our favorite Cajun recipes Saturday lunches.

How to Cook a Crock Pot Roast

A  crock pot roast is a wonderful thing. If you’ve been afraid of cooking a large pot roast, a slow cooker is the way to go.

This slow cooker  roast recipe contains simple ingredients and is oh so easy with a sprinkling of Cajun Cooking.

As I write this, yesterday it was like 80 degrees and summer like temperatures in December. Right now, it’s dropping into the 20’s.

A crock pot roast with vegetables and mashed potatoes is a perfect way to warm up on a cold night.

If you’re looking for an easy crock pot roast recipe that’s sure to impress, you’ll love this one!

Note: Recipe updated August 18, 2016 –

I cooked a rump roast for dinner last night, and strayed a little bit from the recipe, so I’m updating…

Ingredients for a Crock Pot Roast

Beef roast (3-4 pounds)
6-8 garlic cloves (cut in half)
2 cups Cajun Trinity (or 1 10-ounce bag of seasoning blend)
2-3 turnip roots (peeled and quartered)
1 (1-pound) bag baby carrots
1 can or carton of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 cup water
Tony’s Creole Seasoning
Garlic powder
Canola or olive oil
All-purpose flour

Cooking Directions for a Crock Pot Roast

Pour your Cajun Trinity (or seasoning blend) into your slow cooker and turn on to start heating it up.

On a platter, cut slits in the roast and slide in garlic cloves all over the roast. Push deep down in the meat.

Sprinkle the roast all over with salt, Cajun seasoning (like Tony’s) and Garlic Powder.

Then, coat your roast with all-purpose flour.

Heat some oil in a large skillet or pot, and place your roast in it and brown it on all the sides that you can.

Place the roast in the slow cooker on top of your seasoning blend.

Add in turnip roots, baby carrots, cream of mushroom soup, and any other seasoning you like.

Add about a 1/2 cup of water water.

Cover and let cook for 4-5 hours.

The roast should be done. You can poke it with a fork or a knife to make sure it’s tender enough for you. If it’s not tender enough, you can continue cooking it for a while.

Serving Suggestions for your Crock Pot Roast

Remove from slow cooker and slice for sandwiches or cut into chunks for eating with mashed potatoes and gravy. Enjoy!

Don’t know how to make great mashed potatoes?

Check out this video and recipe.

Mashed Potatoes Recipe and Video

How to Make Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken Pot Pie – sounds like a blast from the past. I never hear people talking about actually making Chicken Pot Pie from scratch. Chicken Pot Pie is truly described in its name – some cooked in a pot and then cooked in a pie shell.

Do you remember back in the 70’s and frozen foods were really only able to be cooked in the “real oven”? There were no microwaves back then so for Chicken Pot pie you had to wait the long 45-50 minutes to eat that oh so crusty pie crust and tasty pot pie filling inside.

Well, rather than have that small frozen food portion, you can easily make Chicken Pot Pie from scratch and big enough for your family. It will still take about an hour, but so much better and it’s a complete nutritious meal in one pie shell.

Ingredients for Chicken Pot Pie

1 package frozen prepared deep dish pie shells – usually 2 in the pack.

1 (one-pound) bag of frozen mixed vegetables

1 full grilled chicken breast – cubed

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups milk

White pepper

Salt

¾ cup sharp cheddar cheese (finely shredded)

Deep skillet or saucepan

Saucepan to cook the vegetables

Baking Sheet

Foil

Early in the day place your frozen pie shells in the refrigerator to thaw.

At cooking time, preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook the frozen vegetables according to package directions.

Drain and set aside.

In a deep skillet, melt the butter on medium heat (#6).

Gradually add the flour and stir well cooking for about 1-2 minutes.

Slowly add 2 cups milk. Stir well and constantly for 10 minutes.

You should have a thick soup consistency white sauce.

Turn off heat.

Add about a ¼ teaspoon or to taste white pepper and salt.

Whisk in cheddar cheese.

Stir in vegetables and cubed chicken.

Mix well.

Pour mixture into one pie shell and pat down.

Cut off the crust edge of the second pie shell.

Carefully peel the pie shell to position on top of the pot pie mixture.

Seal the two crusts together with a fork.

(You can dab your fork in warm water to help the sealing process.)

Cut 2-3 slits in the top of pie crust to vent; otherwise the white sauce will come leaking out wherever it can escape.

Place the Chicken Pot Pie on a baking sheet lined with foil.

(There is nothing worse to clean than burned on Pot Pie on you baking sheet or the oven.)

Take the empty pie tin and place on top of the Chicken Pot Pie.

(This will prevent the top pie crust from baking faster than the bottom pie shell.)

Bake covered for 30 minutes and 20 minutes uncovered for a total of 50 minutes baking time.

Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.

Serving Suggestions for Chicken Pot Pie

Cut into sections and serve.

Since Chicken Pot Pie consists of all the nutritious elements such as meat, vegetables, milk, and bread – it’s a complete meal in one. Of course a cool side salad is a nice accompaniment.

Enjoy this wonderful and easy Chicken Pot Pie recipe, which is a great reminder of what some call “comfort food”. We just call it “some good groceries”.

P.S. You can substitute making the white sauce with a can of mushroom soup. I can’t eat canned soup because of the preservatives and MSG. But this is a quick alternative.