Cajun Style Brunch Bake Food

CAJUN-STYLE BRUNCH BAKE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Transfer to a greased 11x7-in. baking dish. Cover and refrigerate overnight. , Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 45-50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Freeze option: Cover and freeze unbaked casserole. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Remove from refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350°. Bake casserole as directed, increasing time as necessary for a knife inserted in the center to come out clean.

CAJUN HOME FRIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Pierce potatoes with a fork and place on a baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until tender, about 1 hour. Let cool completely, 15 to 20 minutes. Dice potatoes, leaving the skin on.
• Heat a large cast iron frying pan or nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil. When hot, add onion, bell peppers, and garlic. Saute until veggies have softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add potatoes, butter, thyme, Cajun seasoning, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Top with parsley.

BAKED BEANS - CAJUN STYLE

Steps:

• Fry the bacon in a large frying pan until crisp. Let cool, then crumble the bacon, then mix all the ingredients together well except for the beans, then add beans and mix gently, so as not to mash up the beans. Precooked, crumbled bacon bits can be substituted for the freshly cooked bacon.
• An alternative to bacon is to use smoked ham. Slice ham into 1/8 inch cubes and place in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle the ham with a mixture of one-quarter cup brown sugar and one-quarter cup white sugar, mix until the ham is well coated, then brown ham in a frying pan until the sugars caramelize and begin to turn brown/black. Then mix all ingredients except the beans together, then add beans and mix gently, so as to not mash up the beans.
• Pour bean mixture into a 10 x 10 inch baking dish, cover with tin foil and bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes or longer, until bubbling well around the edges of the baking dish, then remove tin foil, and broil at 400 degrees 5 to 10 minutes, until top browns/blackens slightly. This browning/blackening adds a very good caramelized flavor to the dish, and does not taste burned at all.
• This makes a mild to medium spicy recipe, to make a very mild recipe, use only 1/4 teaspoon each of the three peppers.