Murray learned cooking with grandmothers
Jabie Murray is a 19-year-old who loves fried chicken, pasta, and hanging out with her closest friends.
A few times each weeks she loves to gather with them, catch up on the events of the week, and cook.
When Murray was younger she’d love to go over to her grandmother, Debra Turk’s, and they would make cookies, brownies, and more cookies. Her grandmother would fry some chicken for her because that was her favorite. Murray would even help her cook Thanksgiving dinner each November.
Murray would also cook with her other grandmother, Jody Bruce, and the two loved to make dressing together. “Yeah we loved making thanksgiving together and I’d always help her with the dressing and I remember it being so much fun whenever I was younger.”
Murray’s favorite restaurant to visit when outside of Philadelphia is Georgie Blue because of how much she loves their chicken parmesan.
“I just love Georgia Blue like they are the reason I love chicken parmesan so much because of how much I love theirs!”
Murray is originally from Meridian but she now lives with her mom, Tonya Jayroe, her step dad Eli Jayroe, and her little brother, Eli Jayroe, in the Spring Creek community. She graduated from Neshoba Central in 2021 and currently works at First Methodist Daycare as a floater. Her goal is to become a pediatric nurse practitioner.
CHICKEN PARMESAN BAKED ZITI
Ingredients:
12 OZ DeLallo Penne Ziti
2 Cups Shredded, Cooked Chicken
1 (25 OZ) Past Sauce
1 ½ Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1/3 Cup Freshly-Grated Parmesan Cheese
¼ Cup Packed Fresh Basil Leaves
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cook the pasta al dente in a large stockpot of generously –salted boiling according to package instructions. Drain. Return pasta to the stockpot and add chicken and tomato sauce. Gently toss to combine until the pasta is evenly coated. Pour half of the pasta into a greased 11x7 inch or 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, half of the parmesan cheese and half of the basil. Layer the remaining half of the pasta evenly on top. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining ½ cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and just barely starts to turn golden. Remove and sprinkle immediately with the remaining Parmesan cheese and fresh basil severe warm.
CREAMY CHICKEN RITZ CASSEROLE
Ingredients:
3 Cups Cooked Shredded Chicken Breast Meat
10.75 OZ Cream of Chicken or Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Cup Sour Cream of Plain Greek Yogurt
2 Sleeves Ritz Crackers Crushed
1 Stick Butter, Melted ½ Cup
2 TBS Poppy Seeds
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray at 2.5-3-quart baking dish. In a large bowl, mix the soup and the sour cream until well blended. Fold in the shredded chicken. Turn into prepared pan. Top with cracker crumbs and poppy seeds. Drizzle melted butter over the top of the crumbs. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until crumbs are golden brown and casserole is hot and bubbly in the center. Serve with a green vegetable like broccoli.
SWEET POTATO CASSEROLE
Ingredients:
4 Large Sweet Potatoes
½ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
½ Cup Unsalted Butter, Melted
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
½ Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Cup Chopped Pecans
½ Cup Unsalted Butter, Melted
Directions:
Cook sweet potatoes in desired manner, until soft. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 2 qt. baking dish with nonstick spray. Set aside. In a large bowl, combined cooked sweet potatoes, granulated sugar, salt, vanilla, eggs and melted butter. Beat with an electric mixer for about 4-5 minutes, until fluffy and smooth. Pour into prepared dish. Bake for 25 minutes. While baking, prepare streusel topping by combining brown sugar, flour, pecans, and melted butter into a small bowl. Mix with a fork and set aside. Sprinkle the baked sweet potato mixture with streusel and return to oven for about 10-15 minutes until crumble is lightly browned. Serve immediately or cover with foil and serve in 30 minutes.