No Place for Picky Eaters

WE'VE MOVED!

2009-05-11T10:49:00.002-05:00

You can now find Foodie and Cooking posts mixed in with our impatient rants and social observations at Country Girl / City Girl.

Y'all come on over!

The beef over noodles thing

2009-05-04T10:12:00.002-05:00

Picked up a pack of stew meat, marked down. A big pack. The Big Boy isn't THAT fond of any beef other than tenderloin, but this was on sale and hey, he's only one vote. THIS WAS SO GOOD. I used to have a recipe for something like this, lost it, then kept thinking I needed some special stuff to make this right. WRONG. They all took this to lunch the next day.

Beef Tips Over Pasta (aka Stew Meat & Noodles)
1 pound diced stew meat
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 can beef or chicken broth
1 cup red wine
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon chopped garlic

Heat some oil in a Dutch oven, add the garlic and lightly toast. Add the meat and saute until brown. Add the tomatoes, red wine, broth and bay leaves and bake in a 300 degree oven for three hours. Cook a package of egg noodles according to directions. Pour up the noodles to drain, put half a stick of butter in the pan and let it melt. Return the noodles to the pan and coat with the melted butter. (Scream at your kids here to LEAVE THE NOODLES ALONE. Kids LOVE buttered noodles.) Arrange the noodles on an oval platter and pour the meat down the middle. Bread. A salad. A bottle of red wine. Fruit or cheese for dessert. Life is good.

I am not a wine snob. I like good wine, I like rich wine, I like liquid wine. I do NOT do sweet, but that's just me. There are a couple of "two buck chuck" wines available here...not the real thing but Oak Hill and Five Oaks make $3 wine that cooks just fine. So there. Also, had there been a package of mushrooms in the refrigerator? They'd have been in here.

Well!

2009-04-16T16:19:00.001-05:00

I came in here to post a beef-over-noodle super recipe for people who have kids. They (the kids) don't have a CLUE about the half-bottle of red wine that's in it. But now I have to go take a shower and run to the store because CityGirl has given me a REASON TO LIVE. Or at least, go buy mushrooms.

Leftover Night

2009-04-09T15:36:00.004-05:00

Now that I'm cooking three meals a day, seven days a week (3/7?) we have a fridge FULL of leftovers.

And as tomorrow night is date night - and I KNOW Hubster will take me out for date night since he totally blew me off last Friday - this stuff needs to be eaten, post-haste.

So here's the dilemma: How to tie together roast pork, roast chicken, barley salad, biscuits and gravy, and fruit salad.

I guess I'll freeze the gravy and serve the biscuits... OOOO!!!! No! I'll put the pork on the biscuits for breakfast tomorrow with poached eggs...sort off Eggs Benedict, but more like Eggs Dumpster because their primary purpose is to use up leftovers. With the fruit. Brilliant.

So tonight, roast chicken, the barley - I could saute green beans in butter, shallots and thyme - to tie that mess together. Loving this idea.

This is like playing Door Knock Dinners. All by myself...how sad.....

Tomorrow afternoon's project: Pierogi assemby. This house has run dangerously low on Polish carbs.

Image Credit: http://followproductions.com/Series/door_knock_dinners/dkd.html

Filling the Lunch Pail

2009-04-07T13:45:00.010-05:00

"Lunch meat is the protein of the devil." ™

- City Girl

If you follow us at Country Girl/City Girl, you know that instead of one full-time job with a full-time commute, I'm now working two part-time jobs...basically from home.

How wonderful it is to - and this sounds crazy - eat breakfast. Sitting down. At a table, not in the car. Tea and toast (and a fried egg, truth be told) have been elevated to "sit down meal" status!

Hub's only request when I signed on for this new odd work situation was that I put breakfast together for him in the morning and pack him a lunch. I can do that. I used to do that...a decade ago.

Apparently he has finally - thank you, sweet jeebus - reached The McDonald's Tolerance Threshold and is ready to begin eating real food during daylight hours.

So Saturday I scoured cooking websites and magazines (see Food and Wine post below) for cold lunch ideas, but didn't find anything I really liked, so I got ::cue the spooky music:: - creative.

First I roast (roasted?) a loin of pork for sandwiches, because:

I. Hate. Cold Cuts. Except for salami, lunch meat is the protein of the devil. Ugh. Gah. I can't even THINK about what they do to a perfectly good turkey breast to get it shaped like that.

Ahem. Sorry. Then I made a barley salad with toasted walnuts, feta and a vinaigrette - wasn't sure how that'd work out, but it is de-lish, hot or cold. (Recipe to follow if I can remember what I put in it).

Finally, I cut up a pineapple, half a dozen oranges, a quart of strawberries and mixed in a $5 thimble full of blueberries then dished the salad into individual containers.

And then I baked brownies.

Ya gotta balance all that good with something bad.

The result? A pretty kick-ass lunch menu, if I do say so myself. Today I added leftover asparagus and roast carrots to the barley. Vegetables. For lunch. Hubster's system might not be able to take it.

Oh, as for breakfast? Biscuits and gravy. Not exactly healthy, but at least I know what's in it, since I made it.

CityGirl's Half-Cheater Raspberry Cheesecake Brownies

1 Box of Dark Chocolate Brownie Mix (I used the Target store brand)
+ The Eggs, Water, Oil, etc. called for on the box

Random Butter

2 8 oz. Blocks of Cream Cheese, at room temp
1 Cup of Sugar
2 Large Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 tsps. Lemon Juice (fresh, pleaseandthankyou)
1/2 tsp. Salt
4 Tblsps. All-purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Raspberry Jam

Butter the bottom and sides of a 9x13 baking dish.

Preheat oven according to brownie box instructions.

Prepare brownie mix according to instructions on box for "cake-like" brownies, not "chewy" brownies. Spread brownie batter in prepared dish.

(This dessert, she is easy, no?)

Combine cream cheese and sugar - it would probably be best to use a mixer, but I just use a wooden spoon - add eggs and combine. Add vanilla and lemon - combine. Finally, add salt and flour - combine.

Spread cream cheese mixture on top of brownie batter in pan.

There is no benefit to being neat here, as a matter of fact, it is better if you let the two batters mix it up a bit.

Think Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder.

Lastly, dollop teaspoonfuls of jam in 1" increments on top of cheesecake/brownie goodness. It will melt and spread a bit when baked.

Throw the whole thing into the preheated oven and bake according to - what? - that's right: brownie box instructions plus 10 minutes. Check when the timer goes off.

If the middle of the mix jiggles when you shake it, pop it back into the oven for another 10 minutes. Check every 5-10 minutes after that.

Image Credit: http://www.schadenfreude.net

Eggs - They're What's for Dinner

2009-04-03T12:59:00.003-05:00

Usually when I'm thinking "eggs for dinner" I go for the old Neapolitan-American classic, Uova in Purgatorio.

But in this month's issue of Food and Wine - which I look forward to getting in the mail like a crack whore looks forward to getting her monthly government check...that is to say, anxiously - I found an article for Sherried Mushrooms with Fried Eggs on Toast.

So I made it last night, and it was goo-ood.

Slight CityGirl modification to the recipe: Used pre-sliced baby bellas and threw a handful of fresh-out-of-the-garden thyme into the mushroom mixture.

Made the eggs sunnyside-up rather than over medium, and the presentation was really lovely.

Hubster loves him some eggs, and really liked this dish. His only request was fewer mushrooms next time. (This does serve four, but I divided it between two. *I* can never get too many mushrooms).

PS - My apologies to Food & Wine for referencing your fine publication in context with crack whores...but it really is an accurate analogy!

Image Credit: Tina Rupp

Moroccan Night

2009-03-29T18:49:00.005-05:00

The Hubster and I were invited, a few years ago, to join a newly-organized Supper Club. It's just us, three other couples and occasionally a "wild-card" couple.

Every month we rotate hosting and when you host, your reward for spending three days super deep-cleaning your house for inspection by your friends is that you get to pick...The Theme.

Damn, but I love a theme.

So yesterday the party came to our house and The Theme was Moroccan.

Why Moroccan? Why not? I have two great Moroccan stew recipes that appear in the regular rotation at Chez City and every time I prepare one for Hub I think, "Damn, this would make a good Supper Club" entree. (One is chicken-based, one is vegetarian).

It is the perfect Company Dish: One pot, minimum investment, highly flavorful and served with couscous. I'd cook camel hump if the recipe called for it to be plated on a bed of couscous.

Everyone took the Moroccan theme to heart - it was amazing. The Appetizer Couple brought a whole pineapple studded with shrimp - the presentation was spectacular. Accompanying the fruit-and-prawn sculpture were three African-themed dipping sauces.

Salad Couple brought a carrot dish they found at Marrakesh, a restaurant in Philadelphia.

Dessert Couple were the stars of the night - rose petal ice cream. OMG. It was exotic, beautiful, the texture of frozen silk and so sweet and subtly flavored. Heaven.

All-in-all, an amazing meal.

I don't remember where I originally found this recipe, but I've tweaked it enough over the years that I feel pretty confident in calling it my own.

Moroccan Chicken Stew Serves 4-6, depending on the size of the thighs

12 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs - Rinsed and Patted Dry

1 Large Eggplant, Cubed

Kosher Salt

1 14 oz. Can Chickpeas, Rinsed

2 Large Onions, Sliced or Frenched

6 Garlic Cloves, Minced

1 Tbsp. Sweet Paprika

1 Tbsp. Hot Paprika

2 tsps. Turmeric

2 tsps. Coriander

1 tsp. Cumin

1 tsp. Ginger

1 tsp. Fennel Seeds, Toasted

1 tsp. Black Pepper

1 Tbsp. Kosher Salt

2 tsps. Marjoram

1/4 Cup Fresh Minced Parsley

1 28 oz. Can Diced Tomatoes in Sauce

1/2 Cup Water

1/4 Cup Fresh Lemon Juice

Olive Oil, Preferably Spanish

1/2 Cup Blanched, Slivered Almonds - Toasted

Half of 1 Lemon

Cooked Couscous

Preheat Oven to 400, coat rimmed baking sheet with oil, toss eggplant with additional oil, spread eggplant on sheet and lightly salt. Bake for 10 minutes, stir, bake for an additional 15 minutes.

In your largest saute pan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil, add onion and garlic, cover and cook until soft and translucent - about 15 minutes.

Add paprikas, turmeric, coriander, cumin, fennel, ginger and salt and pepper. Cook until aromatic, 1-2 minutes.

Add undrained tomatoes, water and lemon juice, cover and bring to simmer.

Add chicken in one layer and cool on medium-low for 10 minutes. Turn chicken and cook for another 10 minutes.

Add baked eggplant, chickpeas, marjoram and parsley. Simmer for final 15 minutes.

Serve over couscous, top with almonds.

The Evolution of a Cake

2009-03-11T13:23:00.001-05:00

It's called That Damn Cake because of the year I made so many. Sixty-three, I think. Or four. But like so many things you do over and over, it has evolved. Through mistakes or ingredient shortages. And this version is, trite as it may seem, new and improved.

I actually made this for a friend (whose birthday party I missed) last week. Turns out? She gave up sweets for Lent. I will NEVER get used to these Catholics! (I actually thought they all quit drinking for Lent.)

Really the Best Strawberry Cake
1 Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Butter Recipe Golden cake mix
1 small box jello
2 whole eggs
4 egg whites
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 package frozen strawberries
1 box confectioners sugar
1 stick butter, room temp
3-4 ounces cream cheese, room temp
2 tablespoons cherry preserves

Dump frozen strawberries into a bowl and chop. Let thaw.Preheat oven to 325. In large mixing bowl combine cake mix, jello, oil, eggs, whites and one cup strawberries. Mix to combine and then beat for two minutes, scraping down sides. Grease (WELL!) and flour a tube pan. Bake cake for one hour. Remove from oven, let cool in pan for ten minutes and then invert onto a cooling rack. Cool completely.

While cake is baking, beat 1/2 cup strawberries, butter, cream cheese and confectioners sugar until light and fluffy. Refrigerate. Combine remaining strawberries with cherry preserves and set aside.

After cake has cooled, use a long serrated knife to slice it into two layers. Spoon strawberry/preserve mixture onto the bottom layer. Spoon dollops of icing over the strawberries and top with the second layer. Ice the entire cake and refrigerate.

Red Beans & Rice

2009-02-25T09:08:00.002-06:00

I have a friend who is in New Orleans today...Ash Wednesday...his (I think and at least) 40th Mardi Gras. For real. And one of the things we research and save is...the best recipe. For whatever dish or food or selection it is but, we want the best recipe.

(This is going to be really hard to post because Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, the real one with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor, is on. And these might be the two most beautiful people God ever put on this planet and it's hard not to watch them together.)

Red beans and rice is the dish of poor people in Louisiana, on Monday wash day. They took the leftover Sunday ham and put it in a pot with some red beans and let it cook all day, while they washed clothes in a cast iron pot over an open fire. True story.

So in keeping with the spirit of things...keep it simple. Good and simple.

Red Beans & Rice

1 bag red beans
1 large onion
Cooked ham...literally cut off the scraps from the bone, before you cook white beans w/it!
Garlic...I use chopped from a jar, a big scoop
2 bay leaves
Worcestershire
Smoked sausage

One of the things I've realized with people who have...issues...with their food is that beans? Put 'em in the pan, cover them with water and bring them to a boil. Let sit for an hour and then DRAIN OFF THE WATER. That's where the digestion-dissenting things are. Recover with fresh water. Bring to a boil again and cook for an hour. Then...add the chopped onion and garlic, the ham and sausage (cut into your preferance of dice) and the bay leaves. Cook on really low heat, what you're doing here is melding flavors, and every now and then while the beans are simmering use a spoon to mash beans against the side of the pan.

When you have this lovely, thick, soupy mix...salt and pepper to taste and add Worcestershire.

Cook sticky rice. The Big Boy likes jasmine rice; rinse it, cook it and it comes out in sticky clumps. Put some in a bowl, spoon the red beans and rice over. Serve with french bread...RE THE ARTISAN BREAD I love!!!! and life doesn't get any better.

The "Other" Hot Reuben Dip

2009-02-25T08:50:00.005-06:00

With all due respect to and admiration for those who came before me - this is THE best Hot Reuben Dip out there.

You could, if you wanted to but I'm not recommending you do if you have a weak heart, use it to top a baked potato and call it dinner.

This is my Hot Reuben Dip recipe - Dip Reuben a la City Girl, if you please.

I doubled it for our Superbowl party, served it with toasted cocktail rye bread and it vanished.

I'll never make another hot dip again. Sayonara, Spinach and Artichoke dip. Adios, Velveeta-Rotel Dip-o. (Yes, we actually eat that - it's football food - stop wincing).

Hot Reuben Dip

8 oz Cream Cheese

1/2 cup Sour Cream

1 cup Drained Sauerkraut

2 tbsps Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 cup Milk

1 cup+ Chopped Dried Corned Beef (I use a package of Buddig instead of the jar)

Loosely combine all ingredients in a bowl. Microwave for 3 minutes or until cream cheese softens. Stir to combine. Microwave another 2 minutes - 4 minutes until hot. Stir.

Mixture will appear thin, but it thickens as it cools.

Serve with toasted cocktail rye slices.

Serves 1 - 12 as an appetizer, entree or breakfast hangover remedy.

Old Fashioned Bread Pudding...Fat Tuesday!

2009-02-24T13:34:00.003-06:00

Several years ago...The Not Nice Kid was less than a year old...a couple of my best buds and I went to a wedding in Jackson, TN. The rehearsal dinner...which one of my friends was catering as a wedding gift...was held in an old building that used to be a library...and was round!! Lots of shiny old wood and tall windows and...a refrigerator with a wired-up shelf that when you sat 40 pounds of pasta salad on it? Collapsed. Different blog.

But one of the best ideas I've never had (again) is this bread pudding, which was a specialty of the mother of the groom. The secret? The one people do NOT believe when they try it? Hamburger buns. Nasty white soft spongy cheap hamburger buns. Cut into cubes with kitchen scissors. They make for a light and airy bread pudding which not only tastes great out of the oven but freezes well...that's why we had 19 of them in the back of the van on the way to the wedding. (This was the wedding where we went out for breakfast the next day and I lay in the back floorboard of the van until they found me a Taco Bell. I can't do that anymore.)

Sharon Raines Old-Fashioned Bread Pudding

2 cups milk, scalded
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 package hamburger buns
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons bourbon

Lightly grease an 11x9 glass baking dish. Combine milk and butter in a small saucepan and stir over low heat until butter is melted. Let cool. Mix sugar, salt and cinnamon together. Pour milk and butter into beaten eggs; add sugar mixture. With kitchen scissors, cut buns into cubes. Put bread cubes into a large bowl and pour liquid mixture over. Toss to moisten, but don't overdo! You'll get mush.

(You can always throw in extra things that make your family happy. I like a few toasted pecans. Dried cranberries are good, too...but that's because I don't like cooked raisins.)

Pour into baking dish, place that dish into another baking pan filled half full of water. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 mintues. Remove from hot water. Best served warm with Whiskey Sauce.

Whiskey Sauce: Melt one stick of butter, add two cups powdered sugar and bourbon. Mix until smooth and serve warm. (Sharon insisted on Jack Daniels and she would NOT forgive us, but I'm a bourbon person so that's what I use.)

If you freeze this, remove from the freezer and let thaw and then pour the Whiskey Sauce over it. Reheat.

I have a new best friend. Country Girl meets raclette.

2009-02-16T19:10:00.003-06:00

I have NO idea why I know what raclette is. No clue. But the weekend I was in Bham I went to Whole Foods (yeah! cheer!) and there it was...a display of raclette. So my best bud Mary and I each bought a chunk. And came home.

This household runs on perpetual chaos so for whatever reason, we didn't eat it last week. I checked out the potential and while the computer stressed boiled potatos and pickles, I kept looking at that cheese. Got home Friday night and The Big Boy had eaten half of it, cold and salty and lovely to the tongue. Damn.

Tonight we made the artisan bread and IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN LISTENING, this needs to be one of the top five things you do every week. Then I took a small oval black cast iron skillet that I got in Texas to cook fajitas, took the bread out of the oven and put the raclette in and gave the bread five minutes to crust up and the cheese five minutes to melt down and...oh. Y'all. This is one of the five best things I ever had in life, including sex. This just ROCKED.

The Big Boy is on the road this week and you better believe he has been given instructions to be on the lookout for Whole Foods/gourmet shops/cheese places. Of any kind, but if you can find me a couple of blocks of raclette?

You gonna get real, real lucky.

I'm just saying.

SW's Hot Reuben Dip

2009-02-10T09:26:00.004-06:00

This should NOT have been so good...but having said that, IT'S FAT AND SALT! How wrong can you go with this?

Had this at a birthday party Saturday night, at a house famous for its spreads, and this simple dip was the hit of the bar. It is SO good...and how easy is this?

Hot Reuben Dip

1 (18-ounce) can sauerkraut, rinsed/drained/patted dry
2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
2 cups grated Swiss cheese
1 (8-ounce) package corned beef, chopped
1 cup mayonnaise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and stir well. Spread misture in a 13x9 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Serve with cocktail rye or baquette slices.

The closest to summer I can get right now...

2009-02-09T13:11:00.002-06:00

And having said that, The Little Kids requested a repeat. Tonight.

The Big Boy picked up some fresh mozzarella somewhere. Sometime last week. And I've been sitting here rolling my eyes because, Hellloooo! We only do that in the SUMMERTIME. Dumbassss.

But since it was here and it needed to be used and I walked into the new Publix in Athens last week and they had potted herbs...we're on. I SHOULD have my own potted herbs but I don't, so I bought a pot of basil. And Cherry Berries which, in the winter-time in Alabama, are the only tomatoes worth eating.

So last night, we halved the Cherry Berries, large-diced the mozzarella, chiffonaded(?) the basil, and grated us some black pepper. A pinch, or two, of kosher salt which reminds me I need to buy more, a spritz or five of Ricatoni's olive oil and a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar.

The Big Boy didn't even eat the lasagna because he gorged on the salad. The Little Kids ate their designated helpings and then ate what was left in the bowl. I need to go take a shower so I can buy more mozzarella before I pick up from school. We're doing this again tonight.

German food for now

2009-02-07T13:43:00.000-06:00

Get thee over to Slashfood and check out the spectacular article on German food for the times. My grandmother used to make kraut, but I'm pretty sure insane amounts of vinegar were used...this article talks about simple kraut you can do at home for fun. There's also a recipe on pickled mushrooms and that sounds like a REALLY good thing.

The Obama-Rama

2009-02-03T16:23:00.002-06:00

It has been mentioned that I'm missing the shopping gene. I'm also missing a sweet tooth. Neither of these, I have discovered, is required for a happy life.

Another thing I don't do is mixed drinks. Probably because 99% of the time, it comes back to that "sweet" thing. This weekend, I had a lovely brunch with the ladies in Birmingham, and one of them ordered this drink.

Turns out, the NYT had run the recipe in an article. The Pink Door (must) be a restaurant in D.C., and this drink has become a national fad. The problem was, at brunch, that the drink calls for a specific vodka...Crater Lake, a handcrafted vodka from Oregon...of which I have never heard. Neither had the bartender. And then there was the fresh-squeezed grape juice thing (I got tickled and swallowed the wrong way picturing a grape juicer...wonder if it gets lost in the drawer like my lemon juicer?) and...something else.

At this point, the waiter goes to the bar and gets a bartender who shows up with pencil and paper. And we go through the entire spiel. Again.

HOWEVER. The four ladies who ordered this liked it so much...they ordered it again. To much acclaim.

I had a bourbon and water. Gratefully.

The Obama-Rama

2 ounces vodka

2 ounces freshly pressed grape juice or bottled white grape juice

1/2 ounce Cointreau

1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

Dash of blue Curacao

Sugar, for frosting the glass

To frost the glass, spread sugar in a saucer and wet rim of glass with a lemon slice. Dip rim into sugar, rotating so that sugar adheres evenly. This is best done in advance, to allow the sugar time to crystallize.

Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice, shake and strain into the prepared glass.

That's a grape in the bottom of the empty glass.

Chicken and Sausage, ala New Orleans knockoffs

2009-01-24T15:00:00.002-06:00

The lady across the street made this Thursday, and since there are only two of them she sent the extra over here. I don't know WHAT makes this super-simple recipe so good...but it is lovely. We cooked a loaf of the artisan bread and made a salad with smoky bacon bits...lovely. Just luhvly.

Ms Jean's Chicken & Sausage Jambalaya

1 POUND OF SMOKED SAUSAGE CUT INTO 1/4 INCH SLICES ( I USED HILLSHIRE FARMS)
2 RIBS OF CELERY, CHOPPED
1 MED ONION, CHOPPED
1 MED GREEN BELL PEPPER, CHOPPED
THREE AND A HALF OR FOUR CUPS COOKED CHICKEN
1 32-OZ CONTAINER CHICKEN BROTH
1-1/4 CUPS UNCOOKED LONG GRAIN RICE
1 TBSP CAJUN SEASONING

COOK SAUSAGE IN DUTCH OVEN OR REALLY LARGE SKILLET ABOUT THREE MINUTES, ADD CELERY, ONION AND BELL PEPPER AND COOK 6 TO 8 MIN OR UNTIL TENDER. STIR IN CHOPPED CHICKEN, RICE AND CAJUN SEASONING. BRING TO A BOIL. COVER, REDUCE HEAT AND COOK ABOUT 45 MINUTES OR UNTIL RICE IS DONE AND LIQUID IS ABSORBED. REMOVE FROM HEAT AND LET STAND 10 TO 15 MINUTES BEFORE SERVING.

Creamy Mac 'n Cheese

2009-01-07T16:07:00.002-06:00

I confess...I like the stuff in the blue box. Happy-time comfort food...courtesy of Kraft. I'm in. However, New Year's Day I had a baked mac 'n cheese that was honestly good...it was creamy. People always SAY their M&C is creamy but it's NOT. It's dry and tough and has too much pasta. This stuff, on the other hand, was so good that I had to get the recipe for The Not Nice Kid, who had more than one serving.

Mary's Creamy Mac 'n Cheese
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/8 teaspoon granulated garlic
2 cups half-and-half
2 cups milk
2 10-oz blocks sharp Cheddar, shredded and divided
1 10-oz block extra-sharp Cheddar, shredded
16 ounces corkscrew pasta, cooked al dente

Melt butter, whisk in flour until smooth and cook for two minutes, whisking constantly. Stir in salt, peppers and garlic. Gradually whisk in half-and-half and milk and cook, whisking constantly, 8-10 minutes or until thickened. Stir in half of sharp Cheddar. Stir in extra-sharp Cheddar and mix until smooth. Remove from heat. Combine pasta and cheese and pour into a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining Cheddar. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. (Instead of the granulated garlic, I mixed a clove of roasted garlic, mashed to a paste, in with the cheese sauce. Yum-yum.) When I protested that cheese doesn't COME in 10-oz blocks but in EIGHT ounce blocks it was pointed out that KRAFT comes in 10-oz blocks. So I'm guessing this started out as a Kraft recipe. Whatever...it is REALLY good.

Cheese Straws

2009-01-05T10:22:00.003-06:00

I've probably already done this but you need to hear it again. Because Cheese Straws are really important in the Grand Scheme of Things. And in TGSofT, you need to get it right.

Center Star/Neiman Marcus Cheese Straws
(Those are NOT mutually exclusive terms.)

1 pound sharp Cheddar cheese, grated
2 sticks butter, room temp
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Cayenne pepper
3 cups all-purpose flour

Buy your cheese in blocks and grate it. Do NOT buy grated cheese in bags; I don't think that stuff is really cheese. It's easiest to grate the cheese cold into the bowl, and then let it come to room temperature. Add the butter, salt, baking powder and cayenne. For public consumption, I use one teaspoon cayenne; for The Inmates here, I use a tablespoon. Mix all this together with your dough hooks until well blended. Add three cups flour (don't use King Arthur or other high gluten flour...White Lily or another soft Southern winter wheat is best) and mix with the dough hooks JUST until the mixture starts to lose its crumbly texture. You need a cookie press, with a star extractor disk...usually there are two star disks and you'll need the larger one. Pack the cheese dough into the cookie press and pipe long straws onto ungreased cookie sheets...you should have two large baking sheets of straws. Have oven racks in the two center positions in the oven and bake at 350 degrees for ten minutes. Swap the sheets, moving the top to the bottom and the bottom sheet to the top rack, and bake an additional ten minutes. Swap sheets again and bake five minutes, or until just beginning to lightly brown...usually on the bottom. Remove from the oven and cut across the pan, forming roughly three-inch straws. Lift onto cooling racks and let cool completely. Store (if they last long enough) in a paper bag or loosely covered container.

My friend, Bobby, makes wonderful cheese straws and he has a suggestion. He uses one stick butter and one stick margarine...preferably that "baking" margarine they came out with last year. If you are making cheese straws and the dough gets warm, the cheese straws will spread. So either make sure the dough is cool, or use half butter and half margarine.

Standing Rib Roast

2008-12-30T15:56:00.002-06:00

Before last Christmas, every holiday season my family did the same thing for Thanksgiving and Christmas: ham, turkey, rolls, sweet potatoes, green casserole, fruit salad, cranberry sauce, etc. Etc. And then last year we realized that the week before Christmas? WE JUST GOT RID OF THE TURKEY and no one wanted to see another one.

So last year we switched and we're agreed...this is a keeper. It's simple, it's REALLY good and it works. Standing rib roast, mashed potatoes...garlic or horseradish or both, a really good salad, an onion confit/casserole and homemade rolls. Coconut cake and boiled custard because that's what people from waaaay back in the hills of Tennessee do.

Roasted Garlic Standing Rib Roast
8-10 rib roast
4 heads whole garlic
Fresh rosemary, chopped
Fresh thyme, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
*Slice the top third off each head of garlic. Put garlic onto a square of aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and seal packet. Slow roast at 300 degrees for 90 minutes; set aside to cool.
*Let meat come to room temperature. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a bowl mash garlic (squeezed out of the skins), rosemary and thyme. Rub roast with garlic paste; salt and pepper. Put in roasting pan and bake 20 minutes at 450, then lower temperature to 350 and bake to an internal temperature of 130 degrees. DON'T cook it any further...130 will give you rare for the rare people and done-on-the-edges for the done people.

Beer Cheddar Spread & Hearty Tomato Soup

2008-12-15T10:27:00.003-06:00

This went to a party, as a dip, Saturday night and disappeared, and then we used the other half I had kept at home (HaHaHa!) for grilled cheese sandwiches. With hot soup. Ummm.

Beer Cheddar Cheese
2 lbs sharp Cheddar, shredded
2-4 slices smoky bacon
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon Tabasco
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 can beer
In the bowl of a small food processor finely chop the onion and garlic. Add the Tabasco, paprika and bacon and pulse until mixed, scraping down as necessary. In a large mixing bowl of a stand mixer, blend onion mixture and cheddar. Gradually beat in beer and mix until blended, about one minute. Cover and refrigerate at least two hours.

MzJean's Hearty Tomato Soup
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1-1/2 teaspoon dried basil
6 ozs room temp cream cheese
1-1/4 cup milk
2 cans condensed tomato soup
2 cans diced tomatoes, undrained
Melt butter in pan and cook onion and garlic until wilted. Remove from heat; stir in paprika, basil and cream cheese. Whisk until smooth. Stir in tomatoes, soup and milk and heat through.

Bigos: The Dish of Polish Royalty

2008-12-08T20:22:00.010-06:00

No, that title is not supposed to be a joke.

Poland was, for centuries, ruled by monarchs, thankyouverymuch (Hello? Boleslav the Bashful? Vladislav Spindleshanks? What do they teach in public schools these days?)

Ahem. Anyhoodle.

Bigos is a perfect food: Hearty, soul-warming, immensely tasty, easy to prepare and cheap if you have leftover pork in the fridge.

Personally, I use a fresh, lean pork roast because I like what cooking it in the kraut does for the texture of the meat.

Totally de-lish and 100% authentically Polish. This is my recipe, culled and cobbled from a dozen other recipes over the years.

Bigos Dziewczynka z Miasta (City Girl Bigos)
2 lbs Pork Loin, Pork Roast or other whole cut of pork
2 Bags Sauerkraut (Boarshead is good)
1 Kielbasa, sliced into 1" thick pieces
1 Large Onion, sliced
1 oz Dried Mushrooms
4 Cups Hot Water
4 Bay Leaves
1 tbsp Juniper Berries (about 12)
Kosher salt

Salt pork and let rest for 1/2 hour.
Preheat oven to 350.
Reconstitute mushrooms in water.
Line bottom of small roasting pan with kraut, top with half the sliced onion.
Lay roast on top of onions.
Arrange two bay leaves on top of roast, top with additional onions and remaining kraut.
Nestle sausage slices, remaining two bay leaves and juniper berries into kraut.
Pour mushroom broth - with 'shrooms - into roaster. Cover tightly.
Cook for one hour, turn pork, stir kielbasa and kraut.
Cook for another hour.

Serve with buttered rye bread or - better - potato pancakes.

Smacznego!

Note: If using pre-cooked pork, reduce the number of bay leaves to 2 and cook the whole thing in a Dutch oven on stovetop for one hour, or simmer all day.

More Leftover Turkey Stuff

2008-12-08T10:39:00.002-06:00

Soup. Plain, minimal-ingredient soup. So good that they ate all but one cupful and The Nice Kid took that to lunch today.

Turkey and Noodle Soup
2 cups chopped turkey
1 can chicken broth
2 cans water
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1/2 bag egg noodles

Saute the onion, celery and carrot in olive oil for a few minutes. Add the broth, water and turkey and throw in a couple of bay leaves. I stopped here because The Inmates were at the afternoon symphony, and just let it set. When they got home, I brought the soup to a boil and added the egg noodles...the curly kind because that's what kids like. Cooked until done, salt and pepper to taste, then pulled the hot cornbread out of the oven. These kids luuuhve their mama.

And thank the Lord that was the LAST of the turkey!

Turkey Stuff

2008-12-04T16:54:00.002-06:00

The other day I was noticing that there are some things I eat that...probably aren't mainstream. I'm not sure where the cut-off is between family and region...I know other people eat this way, too, but is it because we live in the same area or because we're related? Hard to call.

Campbells Tomato Soup and mayonnaise sandwiches. I eat until I'm sick. One slice bread, slathered with Kraft mayo and folded over. Lots of cold milk.

Cottage cheese with mayonnaise stirred in. (There's a fat thing going on here, I think.) And that's not lowfat cottage cheese.

My sister, my dad and my grandparents like/d glasses of buttermilk stirred with crumbled cornbread. I have been trying to like buttermilk for 50 years and it hasn't kicked in yet and...that doesn't make sense. But I don't like it.

But one of my five favorite things on the planet involves leftover Thanksgiving turkey. This just HORRIFIES The Big Boy, who doesn't eat food that touches, but you better believe ONE TIME A YEAR, we're gonna dig in.

Leftover Turkey Hash (a glorified name)

Chopped turkey
2 hardboiled eggs, chopped
Turkey broth
White roux
2 stalks celery
1 medium onion
Sage to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Mashed potatoes

Saute celery and onion in butter until translucent. Meanwhile, in a small pan mix butter and flour and stir for 2-3 minutes...don't let it brown. Mix roux, vegetables, chopped turkey, eggs and 2 cups broth and stir until smooth. Let simmer to thicken. Add sage and salt & pepper to taste. Serve over mashed potatoes.

Ideally, you have leftover homemade yeast rolls, leftover cranberry sauce and leftover green bean casserole. You don't have to eat the green bean casserole (especially since you didn't eat it Thanksgiving), but it looks good on the plate;)

Lebanese Chicken

2008-11-30T20:06:00.006-06:00

So here's a perfect example of starting out with a perfectly good recipe, reading it through a few times and thinking, "Eh. I can do better than that."

This weekend I finally got around to trying a recipe I ripped out of the December 2005 Goumet magazine...except that I didn't really "try" it - I improvised, as usual.

The result was DE-LISH. Hubster practically licked his plate. Since clove is my favorite flavor (sorry, ginger) I was ALL about this dish.

So if you like spice and are an adventurous cook, here's the list of ingredients and rough instructions:

2 lbs boneless chicken thighs (approximately 8)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp clove
8 bay leaves
Olive oil
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
Salt and pepper to taste

Season chicken evenly with cinnamon, allspice, cumin, clove, salt and pepper. Add a bay leaf to the top of each thigh.

Halve onions and slice cross-wise, or French. (Just watch your tongue around the sharp blade). Mince garlic.

Add oil to a hot (med-high heat) skillet large enough to hold chicken comfortably.

When oil is hot, add onions. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic and cook until onions are nearly translucent.

Scoot (I learned that term at Le Cordon Bleu) the onions and garlic to the outside of the pan. Add chicken - leaf side down - to the center of the pan. Cover with onions. Lower heat to medium, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Turn chicken and cook, uncovered, for another 3-5 minutes. Serve over rice.

Rice
2 cups basmati rice
2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
6 whole cloves
1 tsp kosher salt

Rinse rice. Combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer, cook 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove stick, leaves and cloves. This rice is AMAZING.

I served the chicken and rice with fresh spinach dressed with extra virgin olive oil (there is no way in HELL you will catch me saying XVOO - sorry) and kosher salt.

Super easy, super fast, super delish.

Not Black-Eyed Pea Cornbread Eggs Pablo

2008-11-27T13:24:00.002-06:00

What a stretch for a name. Supposed to be a play on Eggs Benedict but I may have pushed it a bit!

I think there is a Tex-Mex gene, and everyone in this institution has it. We could easily eat Mexican five nights a week, and never get tired of it.

There were five or six pieces of the cornbread (preceding post) left. I split and toasted them, topped each with a poached egg, melted queso from a jar and salsa. Sprinkled fresh cilantro about the plate and we INHALED them.

In fact, it was so good I made another batch of the cornbread for us to have breakfast this long weekend.

Not Black-Eyed Pea Cornbread

2008-11-23T14:36:00.004-06:00

City Girl and I have antique dealer friends who are also fun cooks. They LOVE putting out a spread, and are very good at it. A while back they sent me a recipe from a client, for Black-Eyed Pea Cornbread. A couple of times after that they made reference to the dish; having used it for a couple of dinners and things. So yesterday, when I had to cook for The Other Family's Thanksgiving, this seemed like a good idea.

Except, I don't like sausage and this recipe had a pound of sausage in it. I like the IDEA of sausage, and I like most KINDS of sausage, but I don't like country sausage. No idea why...this isn't in my genes...but I don't like country sausage. So off we went.

I knew when I started that I was going to substitute chorizo (I like chorizo), but the rest of the recipe was going to stand. Except then, I remembered that there is a black-eyed pea cornbread recipe in the Neiman Marcus cookbook and when I pulled it out...there were some improvements that could be made. Starting with substituting creamed corn for cream cheese.

And THEN...when I got to Aldi on the Friday afternoon before Thanksgiving...they didn't have black-eyed peas. But they DID have black beans and...that's 50% of the equation so that's what I went with. A wing and a prayer. And this was SOOO good that this morning, I made breakfast out of the leftovers. That's another post.

Chorizo & Black Bean Cornbread
12 ounces chorizo sausage
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cups self-rising cornmeal mix (around here, that's White Lily)
2 large eggs
2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup grated cheese
1 small can creamed corn (I threw away the can, but I think it's 8 ozs. Or so.)
Canned jalapenos, to taste, I used about 1/2 cup and it was warm
1 14 oz can black beans, rinsed

Brown the sausage and onion in a skillet, breaking the sausage up into a fine crumble. Drain well; I put it into a metal strainer and rested it on four layers of paper towels. Just get the grease out.

Measure the cornmeal mix into a large bowl. Add the grated cheese, creamed corn, sausage & onion, and black beans. Don't stir. Put the jalapenos, eggs, oil and buttermilk in a blender and process until the jalapenos are finely chopped. Add to cornmeal mixture and fold with a rubber spatula.

Pour into a greased 13x9 pan and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting.

Mushroom Pate

2008-11-19T11:46:00.003-06:00

When we lived in Decatur, Betty Sims had opened Johnston Street Cafe and it was a wonderful place to go. They served this, and 20 years later it's still one of my favorites. She served it on curly red lettuce with Bremner wafers.

1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Sherry to taste

Soften the gelatin in the cold water in a small glass cup for five minutes. Place the small cup in a larger cup half filled with boiling water, stirring until the gelatin is dissolved. Saute the mushrooms in the butter in a skillet; drain well. Combine the mushrooms, gelatin, cream cheese, sherry and garlic salt in a food processor. Process until smooth; chill thoroughly.

(I added the sherry, and it might be smart to let the sherry be part of the 1/4 cup water...so that you can add to taste.)

Roux-less Gumbo

2008-11-14T11:10:00.004-06:00

And while I would love to say this is my idea...it's not. The original recipe came from the Neiman Marcus cookbook and...it's a keeper. Not cheap, but you can have a LOVELY dinner around this, with a salad, good bread and a special dessert.

Seafood Gumbo

28 ozs crushed tomatoes
8 strips bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
14 ozs stewed tomatoes
8 ozs clam juice
1 cup dry white wine
1 T lemon juice
1 T fresh basil or 1 t dried
1 T cayenne
Bay leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 T Worcestershire
Tabasco
1 t salt
1/2 pound cut okra (fresh or frozen)
1 pint oysters, rinsed and cut in half
1 lb scallops, cut in half if sea scallops
3/4 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/2 lb crabmeat
10 ozs whole baby clams
1 T file

Thaw frozen ingredients. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove from the pot and set aside. Saute onion and garlic in bacon fat over medium heat until golden. Add green pepper, tomatoes, clam juice, wine, lemon juice, basil, cayenne, bay leaves, parsley, Worcestershire, Tabasco, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add reserved bacon, okra, oysters, scallops, shrimp, crabmeat and clams. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in file. Cover and let stand for 10 mintues. Remove bay leaves. Serve hot over rice, with French bread.

Fall Weather Soup

2008-11-07T09:18:00.003-06:00

Supper is almost ready. And it's 9:18 in the morning.

Last night because the leaves are beautiful, and since this is Alabama we're running the air conditioning in the daytime and the heat at night, we had turnip greens with smoked sausages, black-eyed peas and baked sweet potatoes. And when I got up this morning? I stole an inspiration from Southern Living. I haven't SEEN the inspiration, but it involves soup and my sister-in-law told me about it. (Which is the point at which I realized that this months SL? Is in a pile somewhere.)

The Soup

2 cups cooked black-eyed peas
2 cups turnip greens
12 oz smoked sausage
28 oz crushed tomatoes
3 bay leaves
1 pkg frozen seasoning blend (onions, peppers, celery)
1/2 pound smoked & shredded Boston Butt

I didn't even get cute...just dumped it all in the pot when I got up this morning, left it on low while I took the kids to school, and came home to heaven. I had a bowl for breakfast. Tonight? We'll have hot soup, crusty artisan bread and red wine.

I just love it when that happens.

I just threw in a can of whole kernel corn. Because.

Just a reminder

2008-11-06T10:46:00.002-06:00

There haven't been any recipes lately because...WE'RE NOT COOKING. Between the winter-time crud and too many hours at work and holidays and elections...who has time?

But when I looked back over the week I realized...y'all need to make sure you have the baked ham and cheese squares, the ones with the crescent rolls, in your repertoire. For real. Too, too easy and too, too good. We throw them together for dinner once a week...leftovers go great in lunchboxes. (Did you know lunch at the private school is THREE DOLLARS AND SIXTY CENTS? By the time you buy drink and ice cream? It's only $1.25 at the public school but it's inedible.)

The other dependable, and this one we do three to four times a week, is the artisan bread. I just keep it going, in an inverted cake carrier, in the refrigerator. Haven't washed the carrier yet...you just keep mixing in the same container and the little yeasties get better and better. Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Well worth the price of the book, but you DO need a baking stone.

Maybe after this holiday weekend, we'll get back on schedule.

Better Baked Chicken

2008-10-20T14:44:00.004-05:00

OMG, y'all, I made the best baked chicken last night!

Okay, so it wasn't exactly Coq au Vin and baked chicken is as common in the South as katydids and kudzu.

But really GOOD baked chicken is rare as hen's teeth.

Every mother-in-law has some God-awful recipe to pass onto unsuspecting brides.

Ignore them! Follow this recipe, fix it every-other Sunday (alternating with ham, of course) and your husband will love you forever.

That's a money-back guarantee.

Not-Your-Mother-in-Law's Baked Chicken

1 whole chicken, cut into either 8 or 16 pieces

1 stick unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, preferably White Lily

2 tsps kosher salt

2 tsps dried thyme

1 Tbsp sweet Hungarian paprika + additional for color

Fresh cracked pepper to taste

Put butter in roasting pan. Place in oven and preheat to 425. Watch butter to make sure it doesn't burn.

Wash chicken and set aside.

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Dredge damp chicken in flour mixture, shake off excess, place on a cooling rack, skin side up. Do this to all the chicken.

Lightly sprinkle tops of chicken pieces on rack with paprika for additional color and flavor.

When butter is melted, place chicken skin-side DOWN in butter. Return to oven and bake for 30 minutes. turn chicken over and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the biggest piece reaches an internal temp of 160.

Remove pan from oven and transfer beautiful, golden chicken to clean wire rack.

Gravy

Pan juices

1/4 cup+ All-purpose flour

1-2 cups Chicken stock

Place pan across two medium-heat eyes on stovetop. Bring pan drippings to a boil, scraping up bits with a spatula. Add 1/4 cup flour to pan and whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk in stock until desired gravy consistency is achieved. (I like mine thick so I use a little more flour).

Bask in accolades of appreciative family and/or guests.

Coffee Blond Brownies

2008-10-14T09:25:00.002-05:00

My friend, Mary, has lovely taste and is always surprising me with the nicest gifts (she and City Girl have this in common). A LONG time ago she gave me The Silver Palate Goodtimes Cookbook, and the original for this recipe came from that. These are always good for a change of pace when you're taking something somewhere.

Coffee Blond Brownies

1 pound brown sugar
1 stick butter
2 tablespoons espresso powder, or strong instant coffee powder
1 tablespoon hot water
3 eggs
2 tablespoons Madagascar vanilla
2 cups unbleached AP flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Heat the brown sugar and butter in a saucepan until the butter melts; stir the coffee into the hot water and stir into the butter. Let cool.

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly grease an 11x8 baking dish. Beat the eggs and vanilla into the cooled butter mixture with a hand mixer. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and stir into the butter mixture with a spatula. Stir in the pecans and chocolate.

Spread the mixture in the pan and bake 25 to 30 minutes until lightly browned...don't overbake, they're brownies and they won't look real done when they are.

Bread Salad/Panzanella

2008-10-01T11:30:00.003-05:00

I knew The Residents weren't going to go for this and IN SPITE of the fact that it was very good and I ate a lot of it, they didn't. Go for it OR eat a lot of it. In all fairness, I think it's a cultural thing. Wet bread. We be callin' it dressing, I do believe.

But I'll make it again, if just for me. The tomatoes here are on their last legs...we're hoarding them now, and real tomatoes are a necessity here. As is fresh basil.

I had half a loaf of the artisanal bread we're so in love with. I had four medium sized tomatoes. I had a branch of fresh basil, and a medium red onion.

About 30 years ago my grandmother planted elephant garlic, and I have some of it growing in the backyard. When I dug it up this year, I took several cloves, roasted them sweet, and then pureed them with olive oil and put it in the refrigerator. So last night I took a couple tablespoons of the garlic puree, put it in the bottom of a baking pan with a couple of swirls of additional olive oil and heated it up in a 350 degree oven. Cubed the leftover artisanal bread, tossed it in the garlic puree, and then roasted the cubes until they were nice and brown. That was to keep them from getting soggy and it did.

I have a wonderful old McCoy bowl...a dark maroonish color with scallops up the side. Deep. I put in the toasted and cooled bread, the cut-up tomatoes, the finely diced onion and the basil...chiffonaded (?). Poured in about 1/4 cup Newman's Own Olive Oil & Vinegar dressing, a pinch or two of kosher salt and a couple of grinds of pepper. Tossed it and let it stand for about five minutes.

THE BREAD WASN'T SOGGY, it was lovely crisp with the juices soaked into it, but The Not Nice Kid wasn't having any of it and when she told The Big Boy that it was wet bread, he didn't even taste it. The Nice Kid ate some straight out of the bowl, but she wasn't crazy about the concept.

And that's the problem...it wasn't the food, it was the idea. My bad. I TRIED to explain that this was about a 200-year-old recipe so obviously SOMETHING about it must be right, but they weren't having it. Wet bread.

But that's okay. They tried it, liked it, chose not to eat it. I thoroughly enjoyed it and like I said, it will be back!!

The other baked sandwich square recipe

2008-09-30T13:26:00.002-05:00

Okay, I was wrong. Bound to happen sooner or later. This recipe does NOT use frozen dough, it uses the "Sister Schubert" type rolls. Which you can get in 13x9 pans from Sysco. Had it for a family get-together last year and it is REALLY good. Really good.

B's Family's Baked Sandwich Rolls

(Except that they got the recipe out of the church cookbook. These instructions are verbatim from his aunt, so interpret.)

Ham and cheese Krystals (don't know where that name came from)
Spread:
1/2 pound butter
3T. poppy seed
3T. prepared mustard
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 small onion chopped very fine

Mix spread ingredients together. Beat well. Slice rolls in half. Spread mix on top and bottom layers. Layer ham and cheeses. Bake 30 min at 400 degrees. Makes three pans. Freezes well. That temperature sounds a little hot to me for that extended amount of time.

3 packages party rolls (Paige used Sister Schubert in large aluminum pan from a wholesale grocer--I have not seen in regular grocery) I have used the little rolls in aluminum pans in the bread dept. They are not much larger than your thumb. Pepperidge Farm has some that are more round.
1 pound thinly sliced deli ham
6 oz. swiss cheese

Baked Sandwich Squares

2008-09-24T15:11:00.003-05:00

Last year (at one of the two times a YEAR my husband's family gets together) one of his cousins brought a dish with ham and cheese layered with yeast rolls, but the trick was that it used yeast dough from Sysco. I meant to get the recipe, forgot, and then had this recipe Sunday at homecoming at church and it is lovely. Not as good as the yeast roll thing (and I've emailed for the recipe and will share if I get it) but much more do-able...you don't have to track down a caterer friend or restaurant friend to get the dough. We ate a third of this before the nice people got out of church. That'll teach 'em.

Baked Ham & Cheese Squares

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 13x9 baking dish.

2 8-oz cans crescent rolls
1/2 pound sliced salami
1/2 pound sliced swiss or provolone cheese
1/2 pound sliced boiled ham
7 eggs
1 cup parmesan cheese

Unroll one can crescent roll dough into the bottom of the dish, pinching together to form a solid crust. Beat SIX eggs and add the parmesan cheese.

Layer the salami, cheese, egg and cheese mixture, and ham...in that order. Top with the remaining crescent roll dough, pinching to form a solid crust.

Beat the remaining egg and brush over the top. Cook for 30 minutes covered with foil, then 30 more minutes uncovered. If you use a glass dish you may need to cut down the cooking time...or cook the full time at 325.

Obviously, you can substitute any luncheon meats, and I've been looking at this since Sunday thinking: Roast beef and blue cheese. Since 1/2 pound blue cheese would be awfully strong for the masses, that would probably work using Swiss AND blue cheese. I'll let you know.

(P.S....I made these this weekend for the soccer/birthday party/volunteering/football/last pool party/shrimp boil marathon that was going on and they were SPECTACULAR. Hit of the party. I did add a tablespoon of Dijon mustard to the egg mixture.)

Shepherd's Pie

2008-09-22T17:41:00.004-05:00

Fifty percent of the inmates loved this...that would be The Nice Kid and me. The other two don't eat food if it touches, so that pretty much rules out THIS. Their loss...this was so good the two of us ate it three times yesterday.

Shepherd's Pie

1-1/2 pounds cooked beef
1 package small carrots, cut in half long-ways
1 large white onion
1 can beef broth
8 russet potatoes
1 cup buttermilk
1 stick butter
1 package four-cheese mix

Use the beef you prefer...TNK likes hamburger. For this I used leftover sirloin tip roast, or stew meat would be good. Cook the meat until well-done and tender...season to taste. Set aside.

Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and add the diced onion and carrots. Cover and cook until tender. Add the cooked beef and the beef broth and heat to a simmer. Stir in a slurry of two tablespoons cornstarch in 1/2 cup cold water and heat through. Cover and set aside.

Wash potatoes well. Cut unpeeled potatoes into eighths, cover with cold water and cook until tender. Drain and return to pan with the stick of butter. Cover and let the butter melt; then add buttermilk and cheese and mash with a spoon until chunky and blended.

On a large ovenproof platter or in a 13x9 baking dish, spread the potatoes over the bottom, pushing the sides up a little higher to make a potato "bowl." Spoon the hot beef into the center of the potatoes, sprinkle with extra cheddar cheese if you like, and heat for 10 minutes in a 325 oven.

This was groaning good.

Chocolate cake in a cup

2008-09-21T20:51:00.004-05:00

This is so lame. SO very lame...but it has been the hit of the weekend (and in all fairness? It IS good.)

My mom sent this; I'm guessing some recipe site sent it to her. The point was that maybe the kids would have fun with it, so this afternoon when The Nice Kid checked her email and found it, she decided it was too cool not to try. And it WORKED. It made a mess...it runs over in the microwave and we had to leave the cup in the sink to soak but for the effort involved? This is great. And the Wow! factor is cool.

Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

1 Coffee Mug, lightly sprayed with cooking oil
4 tablespoons flour (that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional)
Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well. (The mug TNK used is slightly oversized, but nothing special.) Add the egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in the milk and oil and mix well. Add the chocolate chips if using (TNK couldn't find any so we didn't use them) and vanilla, and mix again. (If you have it, Madagascar vanilla would STAR here.) Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts (we have a small microwave and it took six minutes.) The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but that's okay. Allow to cool a little and tip out onto a plate if desired; we ate it out of the cup with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the first bite space.

Chicken and Dressing...sort of

2008-09-19T12:10:00.003-05:00

It's homecoming at church Sunday and since I don't GO to church (my mom takes my kids and I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT IT since I spent a large portion of my younger life in that church and it wasn't good) I'm sort of obligated to go to homecoming. Which means taking a LOT of food because...there's that thing about my kids. And how much they eat.

There used to be a tearoom in the town we lived in 20 years ago, and the house specialty was Poulet de Normandy. Now, I'm guessing if you had ASKED, they'd have told you Normandy was a big car manufactured by Ford, but the point is this worked. Really well with a cranberry salad and homemade yeast rolls. (And something else...but I'm blank.) So I think I'll make a grocery run tomorrow and bake up a dish of this. And then we can eat it all ourselves when we get to the dinner.

Poulet de Normandy

1 16 oz package stuffing mix...your preference, we use cornbread
1-1/2 cups chicken broth (or hot water with bouillon)
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2-1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk
1 can cream of mushroom soup
Grated cheddar cheese

Combine the stuffing mix, butter and broth and set aside. Mix the onions, celery and mayonnaise well, then add it to the stuffing mix and mix well. Spread half the stuffing in a lightly greased 13x9 baking dish. Sprinkle with the chopped chicken, then layer with the remaining stuffing mix. Beat the eggs in the milk and pour over the casserole; refrigerate overnight. The next day, take the casserole out of the refrigerator at least two hours before cooking. Spread the top with the mushroom soup. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 45 minutes; sprinkle with the cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Blue Cheese Slaw

2008-09-11T13:16:00.004-05:00

Last night I had a roast in the oven, seasoned with Spicy Spaghetti Seasoning and smoked paprika. We had white beans, because I MEANT to make baked beans but I've been hauling mulch and was too tired to grill the ribs that the beans were supposed to go with.

So...beans and roast. That works. But the only fresh green thing in the refrigerator was a head of cabbage, so we had slaw. And it was SO good that we're having it again tonight. With roast beef sandwiches.

Blue Cheese Slaw
1/2 head cabbage
2 carrots (or a handful of small ones)
1 red onion
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon coarse ground mustard
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 to 3/4 cup blue cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Chop the cabbage, onion and carrots the way you do it...I use the slicer blade on my food processor. My mother puts it in a blender with water and then drains it. My nephew hand chops everything. Whisk mayo, mustards, vinegar and celery seed. Toss the cabbage and carrots with the dressing and blue cheese. Chill for an hour or so, to let the flavors make friends.

(A little aside here. I had a piece of the Point Reyes blue cheese I got for Christmas, frozen. I used it and while the taste was OUTSTANDING, if you're not a blue cheese person it might be too strong. So do the blue cheese to taste, depending on the quality of cheese you have.)

This was SO good.

Seriously Good Burgers

2008-09-10T12:26:00.002-05:00

In the early 90's, when I was working on that graduate degree I don't have, the health craze of the moment was low-fat. Turns out low fat doesn't work for me, but I didn't know that at the time and since I was spending five or six hours a day in the physical education department, controlling my diet was no problem. I cut lower and lower until I was eating less than 10 grams of fat a day. I was hungry ALL the time, and losing muscle for no reason.

Later on, I realized that my particular body likes low carb. Fat and protein are my friends. At some point in time I hope to convince my MOUTH that IT likes low carb because right now? I'll kill a man over a loaf of good bread. Or pasta.

But a few things stayed around because they worked, and one of them is the hamburgers we eat. Most people have no idea what's in them...just because they taste just like hamburgers, texture and all. But they are a lot better for you.

Mushroom Burgers
1-1/2 pounds hamburger meat (chuck, sirloin, ground round: your choice)
8 ounces fresh mushrooms
1 clove garlic
1/4 Worcestershire (or Dale's if you're from around here)

Chop the garlic into 8-10 pieces. Put the rinsed mushrooms and the garlic in a food processor and process until it's finely chopped...scraping down the sides as necessary. Add about 1/4 cup hamburger meat and process thoroughly. Add the mushroom mixture to the remaining hamburger in a large bowl and use your hands to mix in the Worcestershire. Shape into patties (you DO know to put an indention in the center of the patty so it won't puff up, don't you?) and sprinkle with smoked paprika or R.L. Schreiber's Mesquite Seasoning. Let stand for 10-15 minutes, then grill to taste.

Hush puppies

2008-09-03T13:32:00.002-05:00

The Big Boy kept insisting that the dealer who sent the fish left the skin on the portions to be grilled, and took it off the portions to be fried. I suggested that YOU DON'T FRY red snapper, but he was positive. So last night we took the last two small filets and fried them.

It was awful. TBB ate his, but I took one bite and quit. IT WAS FISHY. Waaay too fishy for me, although in fairness it's highly possible that my redneck self only eats fried catfish. (Redneck has nothing to do with it...that fish didn't taste good.)

What DID taste good were the hushpuppies. So good, in fact, that I didn't mind that hushpuppies were all I had for supper.

Really Good Hushpuppies
1-1/2 cups White Lily cornmeal mix
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup corn...I used leftover creamed, because that's what I had
1 large or 2 small peppers...I used banana because that's what was on the bush
2 eggs
Cayenne to taste
Buttermilk
Frying oil

Mix everything together, adding the buttermilk to the desired consistency. I used about 3/4 cup...you want it thick enough to stay on the spoon when you scoop it up.

Heat frying oil to 350 degrees, and keep an eye on it. Too hot, the hushpuppies are raw inside; not hot enough and they're greasy. Using a teaspoon, scoop up a portion of batter. CAREFULLY lower that spoon to the surface of the oil and push the hushpuppy off with another spoon. If you drop the hushpuppy into the oil it will scatter off into smaller pieces that will burn. You want to slide the batter into the oil so it firms up immediately. The hushpuppies will float around, happily cooking in the oil and then on their own...they'll flip over. Cook them another couple of minutes, then scoop out onto a platter lined with a brown paper bag topped with paper towels. Serve with ketchup.

You won't even miss the fish.

(A note: This is best done outside, and in the South everyone has a fish cooker. That's a metal stand with four legs and a burner, that runs off a propane tank. The pan you cook in has a perforated liner, so that you just lift it out of the oil. Keeps the house from smelling like old oil the next day.)

Fresh Red Snapper

2008-09-01T20:23:00.002-05:00

We told the kids this wasn't any good, and ate the entire thing ourselves. Luckily for them, there were smoked ribs left over from last night.

The Big Boy was in the Gulf last week, THANK YOU LORD. On business, but because he's such a salesman a lot of his work involves sports and food, and this dealer is a serious deep sea fisherman. So they got in a boat and went 50 miles out and fished all day. Came in, cleaned the fish, packed it on ice and brought it home to me the next day.

It doesn't get any better than this.

I opened the package thinking there was half a fish in there, but there was a half and three filets so the filets will show up tomorrow tonight. But tonight? Oh, y'all. We really ate it all.

Red Snapper with Salsa
1 whole red snapper filet
Cavender's All-Purpose Greek Seasoning
Smoked paprika
2-3 fresh tomatoes
1 small onion (I used a white, and it wasn't too strong)
1/2 cup green olives
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 avocado
1 jalapeno, seeded or not your preference
2 limes

A couple of hours before dinner, season the filet with the Cavender's and paprika, put in a ziplock bag and squeeze out the air and put it back in the refrigerator. When you're ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking dish with olive oil, place the fish in the dish :) and spray with olive oil. Bake to desired degree of doneness: I set the timer for 15 minutes, did another five and then another five and it was PERFECT.

I think I've mentioned that my dad sleeps half the day and is up all night, and we get strange gifts from late night infomercials. One of my things was one of those boxes that dices things with a push and it is AWESOME. Especially for salsas. It gets a lot more use than that AbLounger.

Dice the tomatoes, the onion, the olives (I just put them on the grid and push), the avocado and the jalapeno, and combine in a bowl. Add the chopped cilantro, and the juice of one lime. Stir well and leave to get friendly. Thinking about it, I didn't add salt but it didn't need it. Which is strange.

To serve, squeeze the juice of the other lime over the fish. Plate with the salsa spooned over the fish.

It says something, not a good thing, that the Aldi store here has some of the more exotic items to be found in this neck of the woods. And one of the lovely things it carries is bags of small frozen green beans. I melted three tablespoons butter and added 1/4 cup pecan meal and one diced elephant garlic. Browned it a little. Cooked the green beans six minutes in boiling water, drained them and then tossed them in the skillet with the nuts and garlic. Sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

We ate all of them, too.

I wish I had taken a picture. The salsa was lovely.

Fried okra

2008-08-21T09:38:00.003-05:00

Supper was ready the other night. Shrimp and corn bisque. A loaf of the artisan bread that WE ARE IN LOVE WITH. Salad fixins' fixed. And then the lady across the street called, to ask if we wanted any fresh okra and of course, we did. I had in my mind...dinner the next night.

Y'all, that okra was BEAUTIFUL. And it sat on the counter and just SANG to me until finally...let's do okra. Now, The Big Boy and I grew up with our grandmother's okra and it's still our favorite...you slice the okra into a bowl, pour some milk or buttermilk over it, sprinkle it with flour and dump the whole mass into hot bacon grease and cook it down. When it's done, it's...homogenous. Crispy, one hair short of burnt, the stuff dreams are made of.

But in this day and time, when frying is a special-occasion event, my kids are accustomed to the okra you get in lunchrooms and Cracker Barrel...the individually fried okras. So that's what I did. Appetizer style, and we ate the ENTIRE BATCH before we ever sat down to dinner.

Oooh. This brings us to another thing. I have some buddies who are in Baltimore, working on a nuclear plant. And they come home for the weekend, get ready to go back and have these "altercations" at the airport trying to take back loaf bologna and White Lily cornmeal. Which you can't get up there. And since I don't think you can cook okra without White Lily, you may have to fake it. (Although White Lily just shut down its Tennessee plant and moved to some godforsaken Yankee town like...Cleveland or something.)

Fried Okra
Okra
Buttermilk
White Lily cornmeal mix
Bacon grease plus vegetable oil

Wash and dry the okra. Slice it into a large bowl, discarding the tops and ends. Pour enough buttermilk or milk over to coat each slice, and let sit for a little while. (A little while would be however long it takes to get the rest of supper started.) If you're cooking it appetizer-style, drain the okra in a colander. Take a gallon ziplock bag and put about a cup of White Lily in the bottom. Add the drained okra, pour another cup of White Lily on top, seal the bag and shake until each slice is coated. Pour the okra out onto a baking sheet, in a single layer.

Using (preferably) a large black cast iron Dutch oven, pour in bacon grease and vegetable oil to about two inches. Heat to 350 degrees, and then fry the okra in batches. When it's done, scoop it out onto a platter lined with paper towels and SALT IT IMMEDIATLY. For appetizers, we use cayenne, or smoked salt, or Tony Chacheres.

If you're frying the old-fashioned way...after you add the buttermilk, just sprinkle the White Lily into the bowl and fold to combine. Then fry, stirring occasionally.

If you can't get White Lily, you can mix white cornmeal and white flour, 2 cornmeals to one flour.

Black bean burritos

2008-08-19T11:36:00.004-05:00

Supper last night WORKED. Very well. When I bought tomato plants this year, I bought some just because I didn't know what they were. Turns out, it was just a glorified roma and not too interesting. So last night I made salsa. (To go with the margaritas left from Saturday night but that's another post.) And since we were having salsa we obviously needed Mexican so...here we are.

Black Bean Burritos
Tortillas (I do half corn and half flour to please the masses)
1 large can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups cooked rice
1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
1 package four cheese Mexican blend
1 large can enchilada sauce (red or green)
1/2 cup sour cream

Prepare the tortillas...heat a griddle over low heat and lay each tortilla on the griddle. Sixty seconds first side, 30 seconds other side. Put each one in a covered casserole/tortilla holder as you finish.

In a saucepan, combine the black beans, rice and 1/3 of the can of sauce. Heat just until warm, remove from the heat and fold in the cheese and cilantro. Spoon a line of bean mixture down the center of each tortilla, roll up and place in a casserole dish. Put in a 325 degree oven for ten minutes...just to heat through.

While the burritos warm, put the remaining sauce in a small saucepan and heat just to simmering. Remove from the heat and stir in the sour cream. Ladle sauce over burritos as you serve them, with extra sour cream on the side.

In hindsight, a small can of corn kernels would have been a healthy addition.

Do you devil?

2008-08-16T09:19:00.003-05:00

Eggs, that is? Everyone in this house LOVES deviled eggs; and every time I make them I wonder why I don't do it more often. It's not much trouble and it's AMAZING at the possibilities...my favorite spice company in Fort Worth even sells a deviled egg cookbook. Maybe I should teach the kids how to do it!

Basic Deviled Eggs
One dozen eggs
Dill pickle juice
Mayonnaise
Mustard
Paprika

Put the eggs in a saucepan, cover with cold water and pour in about 1/2 cup white vinegar (it helps keep the eggs from cracking.) Set on a cold stove eye and turn the heat to high. Bring the eggs to a boil, remove from the heat, cover and let sit for 14 minutes. Remove from the hot water and put into a bowl of cool water, until room temperature.

Peel the eggs. Cut each egg in half longways, put the yolks into a bowl and arrange the empty whites on your egg plate. To the yolks add about one tablespoon mayonnaise, one teaspoon mustard, and the pickle juice a little at a time, mashing with a fork until you have a creamy consistency. Spoon back into the whites and sprinkle with paprika.

The possibilities are endless. Last week we added crumbled bacon, used smoked paprika and topped each egg half with a jalapeno slice. Chopped chives work. Most country people use sweet pickle relish but we don't like a lot of sweet in our regular food, so we stick with the dill pickle juice.

Fresh Tomato Salsa

2008-08-04T12:23:00.002-05:00

My friend's sister, Mz Pam, used to make us salsa in the summer. She'd make two batches...one with jalapeno and one without and you'd start with your favorite and then finish up the other one. It is, to this day, one of the great pleasures in life.

I started with her recipe, then when we moved to Texas I learned a LOT. And one of those things was that...if it's fresh? It's gooood.

Fresh Tomato Salsa
12 ripe tomatoes
6 large, firm tomatillos
1 bunch fresh cilantro
Peppers...I try to use three different kinds with each batch, one of them jalapeno...to taste
Fresh garlic, to taste
1 large onion
Juice from one lime
Salt and pepper to taste

Mz Pam used to peel the tomatoes and blanch the tomatillos but in Texas they said...Don't bother. They were right. But because you're not peeling things, they have to be clean. I actually take a large Dutch oven or clean dishpan, fill it with hot water and liquid dish detergent, and wash my vegetables. Just drop them in the water, swish them around and move them to a basin of cold water. Lay out on towels to drain. I even do the cilantro this way...hold the stems, swish the leaves around in the water for 2-3 seconds and then rinse it under cold running water. (This would be because pesticides are petroleum based and if you're going to get ANY of the poisonous stuff off your produce, grease-cutting dish detergent will help.)

The trick here is to turn some of this stuff to mush while keeping most of it chunky. Take one of your tomatoes, cut it into quarters and drop it in the food processor. Peel and smash your garlic...Mz Pam used a clove, we use the whole head...then quarter it and drop it into the processor. Peel and wash your tomatillas and the onion, quarter them and add them to the processor. This part you want well-processed...process it, scrape down the sides, then process it some more. Empty it into a large bowl.

In the processor, quarter another tomato and then add your peppers. Usually, if you do one bell pepper, a couple of banana peppers and jalapeno to taste, it works out well. Seed if you like, leave 'em in if you're brave. Quarter the peppers and process this until chopped (but with character.) Scrape into the big bowl.

Quarter another tomato into the bowl, add the cilantro and pulse until the cilantro is finely chopped, scraping once. Pour this into the big bowl.

Quarter the rest of the tomatoes and coarsely chop; pour into the big bowl. (Adding one tomato to each processor container gives just enough moisture to make sure everything chops evenly.) Mix everything, add the lime juice and season with salt and pepper. It seems to me that no matter how it tastes when I first season it, I end up adding more salt later so taste it again before you serve it.

Sometimes we char the peppers on the grill...if you have time you can char half the tomatoes and get a lovely smoky taste. Fresh roasted corn kernels, cut off the cob, are a neat addition, too. Serve this with good tortilla chips and really cold beer. And a lot of fun people.

Fresh tomatoes and mozzarella

2008-07-24T14:59:00.002-05:00

I thought everyone made this every year...but every time I take it somewhere people fall in love. So, here. Make this. When it's time.

Tomatoes, Mozzarella and Fresh Basil
4 large tomatoes, out of your yard or from the farmer's market
Fresh mozzarella balls
Fresh basil
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Slice the tomatoes, generous slices but not TOO thick. Slice the fresh mozzarella balls, thinly. On a platter, alternate the tomatoes and mozzarella in a circle around the platter. Julienne the basil and sprinkle over the tomatoes and cheese, then drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. If you're doing this for guests, fill the center of the circle with basil sprigs.

At home, when I don't have four big perfect tomatoes, we cut the tomatoes and cheese into chunks, mix everything in a bowl and serve it over lettuces. The balsamic vinegar discolors the cheese so while it's not the best idea for parties, at our table it's a favorite.

Smoked Chicken Pasta

2008-07-16T12:40:00.003-05:00

Truthfully, I did not stage this picture...I'm not that good. I just turned around and there it all was and...life looks good.

When we have the big Branch Parties we fire up the big grill...a major undertaking. It takes four of those big bags of charcoal, that you get at Sam's, just to get going. More than one case of chickens and you're looking at eight to twelve bags of charcoal, plus the hickory wood that has to be cut. And split.

The point is...that meat comes off the grill and it's not smoked, it's SMOKED. It literally screams "I'm smoky! I'm smoky!" And every little tidbit that doesn't get eaten comes home, to show up later as the guest of honor in another dish of something.

Supper this night was the artisanal bread (I am telling you...this stuff ROCKS), mesclun salad from the garden and an apple torte. The pasta was the traditional fettucine recipe, with benefits.

Smoked Chicken Pasta

1 stick butter

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano

Freshly grated nutmeg

1-1/2 to 2 cups shredded smoked chicken

1/3 cup basil, finely chiffonaded (?)

12 ounces pasta

Melt the butter, add the cream and let sit over low heat until warm. Add the cheese in four spaced-out batches, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. (I use a whisk.) Stir in freshly ground nutmeg, just to scent the sauce. Cook the pasta al dente. (I cook my pasta in a pasta pot, which has a liner. If you lift the cooked pasta out of the water and pour it into the cream sauce before it completely drains, the pasta water will keep the sauce from thickening too quickly. You could also just spoon pasta water into the sauce as needed.) Add the chicken and basil and fold to combine. Serve with freshly grated black pepper, and grated cheese for sprinkling.

Jalapeno cheese bites

2008-07-09T07:52:00.002-05:00

Not for the faint of heart or those who worry about their cholesterol, but these cheese squares have been the hit of branch parties for the past three years. This year, I remembered to get the recipe.

Jalapeno Cheese Squares
1 jar Trappey's jalapenos, drained and chopped (the coarser the chop, the hotter the pie)
1 dozen eggs, beaten
2 pounds cheddar cheese, grated (Chef's comment: This looks like a ton of cheese 'cause IT IS! The is recipe is not for 98 lb. weaklings or those with a cholesterol problem.)

Layer cheese and jalapenos in a 13x9 inch baking dish. Pour eggs evenly over the top and bake at 350 degrees. Chef says the recipe says to bake for 20 minutes, but it usually takes 30 to 40 minutes for it to set and get slightly brown.

These go like hot cakes...when the Chef handed the platter to my sister-in-law, SIL took two for herself before she put it on the table!!

That artisan bread thing...

2008-06-28T12:16:00.005-05:00

Remember I said I had brought home a copy of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day? Oh, people. This is SOOOO good. And I'm not going to share the recipe because that's...stealing. Just wrong. And even if I did (share the recipe) I couldn't began to share all the tips and recipes so you're just going to have to take my word for it...go buy this book.

You make the dough once a week. It sits in the refrigerator and when you want to make bread, you get a chunk of dough, let it rise for 40 minutes and have bread. REALLY, really good bread....like bread that you can't make too far ahead of time or there won't be any for supper. (We've done that twice.)

So get thee to a book store. I promise, you'll be glad you did.

Red Onion and Gorgonzola Bruschetta

2008-06-25T18:48:00.006-05:00

When my mother was eight years old, her mother died a week after giving birth to her second child. They were in Detroit for the "war effort," so my grandfather loaded up my mother on a train and brought her back to Tennessee, to his in-law's. The newborn stayed in the hospital for three months, and as soon as she was old enough he brought her to Mama's house, too. (Mama was 65 years old when she took in the eight-year-old and the newborn.) At one point, during the war, there were 17 people living in that house. It was a two-story Sears and Roebuck house and they were financially successful merchants but hey...17 people? Rationing? Oooh.

They told the story for years about how Mama liked chicken neck. On Sunday, when she fried chicken, everyone had a favorite piece and Mama's was the neck. It was only years later, when everyone was grown that they realized...Mama liked the neck because by the time she got to eat, it was the only piece left.

I tell that story to tell this story. (That's a direct quote from Ron White and if you didn't know that, well, you ort to.)

We had three tomatoes from the garden yesterday. Now, these are cheater tomatoes because the blooms were on the plants when we bought them and that's...just not right. You have to bloom the blooms yourself. But regardless, the taste of these (after the winter tomato famine) is divine. So here we sit...we have tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and fresh basil. We have home-made bread. This is REALLY looking good except that I birthed these babies and I know...three small tomatoes isn't even going to scratch the surface, so there better be a back-up plan. These kids are going to eat ALL of everything I make with the tomatoes so I'm going to have to have an alternative dish if I hope to get even a single bite. Hopefully, a dish that will let me have a bite of the (chicken breast) fresh tomato.

The back-up plan was SO good that it shared center stage and everyone was fed and happy. I didn't have to do without my share of the fresh tomato and the kids were ecstatic about some onions. Go figure.

Sweet Onion Bruschetta
1 red onion, very thinly sliced
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Roasted garlic
Good blue cheese
I heated a cast iron griddle, poured in some olive oil and let it get hot. I added the sliced onions (I love me a mandelione) and turned the heat down. While I was fooling with the other stuff, I let the onions wilt, stirring them occasionally. After a while I poured in about two tablespoons balsamic vinegar, sprinkled some kosher salt and black pepper and stirred. I left the onions on low heat and stirred them every now and then.
I sliced the bread I had about one-half inch thick, smeared it with roasted garlic and then brushed it with olive oil. Toasted it just until it was no longer soft and then topped it with the onions. I sprinkled the onions with blue cheese (this was the last of the Point Reyes I got for Christmas...I had frozen the last handful) and toasted the bruschetta to soften the cheese. When we got to the table I realized...I'd been a little stingy with the cheese so we added more and popped them under the broiler again.

Oh, Lordy. I should do this more often. Summer time and the livin' is easy.

Fresh Berry Cobbler

2008-06-22T11:41:00.004-05:00

Southern Living published a recipe for an easy blackberry cobbler in the July issue, which came last week. We have ACRES of blackberry bushes, which is what happens when you have a farm and you don't...farm. Every year, one weekend day, we pack up and go pick blackberries. Picking real blackberries off wild bushes is NASTY...everything bad you ever read about it is true. There are chiggers in them thar bushes. There are mosquitoes above them. There are snakes lurking in the depths...the saving grace is that when you have a pack of kids, the snakes tend to leave as soon as they hear the commotion. Those that are too dumb to slither off make themselves fair game for the dogs...and that's a whole 'nother entertainment committee.

ANYWAY. The recipe in the magazine looked interesting...I hate that cobbler topping where you take one cup milk, one cup flour and one stick butter, mix it all together and pour it over a dish of canned peaches. I HATE that stuff. This topping, however, had more of a crumb texture so we decided to give it a try. (For a family that doesn't usually do dessert, this season is a LOT of fun.)

Problem is, blackberries won't be ripe until the week of the Fourth. We have some bushes in our side yard, and they're pretty loaded, but only with bright red (re: not ripe) blackberries. So we took the last of the peaches from the peach farm, about 1/2 cup raspberries the fat little toad next door hadn't poached, and about...12?...ripe blackberries and made a cobbler. Nice, very nice. Not nice enough that when we pick the first real batch of blackberries I won't have to do that double crust, prebaked interior crust, lattice thing, but still really...nice.

Easy Fruit Cobbler

Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish and fill with four cups of assorted seasonal fruit. We had peaches, raspberries and blackberries. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Stir together 1 egg, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup all-purpose flour, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. (I added a couple of gratings of fresh nutmeg into the topping because...that's what I do.) Sprinkle over the fruit and drizzle with 6 tablespoons melted butter. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbly. We served ours in a bowl, with a scoop of Blue Bell vanilla bean ice cream alongside, slowly melting and seeping into the fruit.

Summer is good.

(The picture is one The Not Nice Kid drew of the blackberry bushes when she was four. We use it on the labels when we make jam.)

Zabaglione...and raspberries

2008-06-17T21:22:00.002-05:00

Sometimes everything just...comes together. And supper last night was a meeting of all things good. Fresh mesclun greens out of the garden. The artisanal bread thing is LOVELY...I'll get into that in a couple of days. And then, for dessert, we had fresh peaches and raspberries off our bushes...with zabaglione. Heaven in a dish. The small children actually groaned.

Zabaglione
6 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup champagne (or white wine, but if you use champagne then you have to open the bottle and if you open it, well, then...you have to drink it.)

In a double boiler (or a metal bowl set over a pan) over simmering water, beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and lemon colored. Add the champagne and beat until mixture coats the back of a spoon. That's it. The only trick is NOT to let the water boil...the eggs will scramble and it's not even passable. You can also add, with the champagne, a spoonful or two of Grand Marnier, or a couple of gratings of orange zest. I added a couple of turns of fresh nutmeg, just because I put fresh nutmeg in almost everything.

Roast Beef Sandwiches for everyone!

2008-06-14T10:32:00.003-05:00

Even though my kids will eat anything, they still have preferences. Which, occasionally, conflict with mine...and roast beef sandwiches are one of those conflictions! So we compromise when we have them, make everyone happy, and give the participants the opportunity to change sides with each meal!

Roast Beef Sandwiches
1 3-4 pound chuck roast
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can coffee
2 cups sliced onions
1 jar Cheese Whiz
Optional: 1 batch homemade sandwich buns

Pour a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a dutch oven/heavy covered roasting pan. Let it get hot, then brown the roast on both sides. Sprinkle with the onion soup mix, then spread the cream of mushroom soup over that. Pour in one soup can of coffee. Bake in a 325 degree oven for about four hours until fork tender, adding additional water if needed.

For the adults: When the roast is done, remove it to a plate and tent with foil. Melt four tablespoons butter in a heavy saucepan, add the onions and saute over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. Stir one tablespoon cornstarch into 1/2 cup COLD water, then stir that into the leftover juice from the chuck roast in the roasting dish. Heat to boiling, to thicken. To serve, spread buns with mayonnaise, top with shredded beef and then sauteed onions. Use roasting juice for dipping.

For the kids: Pile roast beef on bottom half of bun. Spread the top half with a liberal tablespoon of Cheese Whiz (these are mini-buns, regular ones take a little more), top sandwich and wrap in a paper towel. Microwave for 20-30 seconds, so that the Cheese Whiz oozes down into the roast beef.

We got all about some homemade sandwich/hamburger buns this spring, and make them about once a week. That recipe is in a previous post.

I may take over the world

2008-06-12T10:54:00.005-05:00

There are about...six or seven...blogs I love to read. I have a rule, Monday's and Friday's. I check blogs ONLY on those days because if I don't have a rule well, I'm sitting here all day frantically waiting on one of these brilliant people to post.

And earlier this week, over in Badger World , she mentioned her new favorite cookbook, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. And since I'm still sort of...confined...and looking for alternatives to watching the same Monk episodes three times a day, I bought it.

I love it. I left the house this morning to deliver a kid somewhere and on the way home I stocked up on unbleached all-purpose flour and jar yeast.

I am on a mission from God. (That's a Blues Brother's quote and if you didn't know that, you don't need to be here.)

You need this book.

(Maybe City Girl can make that picture bigger. I'm not fooling with it.)

Spinach quesadillas

2008-06-05T16:43:00.003-05:00

I am temporarily a semi-invalid, and while everyone's been great about keeping the residents fed, last night we sort of stalled. And while The Big Boy means well, his shopping skills just SUCK and the raw materials list around here is sadly lacking. So, dealing with what was available, we ended up with one of the better meals this week...thank you very much. We had, straight out of the box, Zatarain's Dirty Rice. I had half a pound of real pork sausage from Smith Farms in Cullman, seriously smoky so that made the box stuff a real treat. And in the bottom of the refrigerator was a bag of baby spinach, contemplating going bad.

Spinach Quesadillas
8 small flour tortillas
1 bag fresh spinach
Shredded mozzarella
Fresh nutmeg
I have a lovely cast iron griddle...just a round, flat pan. Beautifully seasoned and even The Not Nice Kid knows...hot water and a scrub brush. You will die if you put detergent on Mama's cast iron. (I once fired a housekeeper because she put my grandmother's cast iron cornbread skillet in the dishwasher.)

I sauted the spinach in a little butter, then squeezed it as dry as possible. I smeared the griddle with a little butter and put a tortilla on to heat...about 15 seconds on medium heat. Flipped it and sprinkled it with 1/4 the spinach. Sprinkled that with about 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella because that's what was here...preference would be Monterey Jack) and grated a dusting of nutmeg over the cheese. Topped it with a second tortilla and flipped it and let that heat about two minutes. I made four quesadillas, holding each one on a cookie sheet in the oven on warm until I was finished. Cut them into quarters and we ate them plain...they didn't really need any assistance!

The OTHER baked beans

2008-05-25T11:04:00.002-05:00

And I promise you...no one will care you didn't soak those damn beans for an hour.

Third time this week. I have to take beans somewhere. And I am just beaned out so here...Bachelor Guy...for you. Beans to make everyone happy.

Best Easy Baked Beans
1 restaurant size can baked beans...doesn't matter what brand
1 package frozen seasoning blend (onions, bell pepper and celery)
1/2 package smoky bacon
1 can beer
Your favorite barbecue sauce

Pour the beans into a colander and rinse off all the boughten sauce. Chop the bacon, put it in a big pan and cook it crisp. Add the seasoning blend, stir, cover and cook for ten minutes. Pour in the rinsed beans, the beer and enough barbecue sauce to taste. Cook over low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I LOVE Cattlemen's Barbecue Sauce. Traditional.

Can I really do baked beans?

2008-05-20T11:10:00.005-05:00

There are only two or three nights a week we come home from school and...get to stay here. So on those nights, I sort of make an attempt to keep everyone happy and what makes people happier than hotdogs on the grill with homemade baked beans, eaten outdoors?

This recipe, as happens so often, started out as Emeril's. But while Emeril gets to have people buy him what he needs, I tend to make do with what's here. And oh, people, this made-do very well!

Homemade Baked Beans
1 pound white beans
2 slices smoked bacon
6 ounces Harpers country cured ham pieces
1 package frozen seasoning blend (onion, green pepper and celery)
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup brewed coffee
1/2 to 1 cup barbecue sauce
1 cone piloncillo sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon Tabasco
Pepper to taste
8 cups water

Rinse the beans, put them in a saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat and let sit for an hour. Drain. Snip the bacon into small pieces and saute in a cast iron Dutch oven until crisp. Finely chop ham pieces and add them to the rendered bacon...cook until crisp. Add the frozen seasoning blend and garlic, cover and cook ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the beans, thyme, celery seed, coffee, barbecue sauce (I love Cattleman's) piloncillo, mustard, molasses and hot sauce. Add pepper and water. Stir well and bring to a boil. Place Dutch oven in a 300 degree oven for two hours, undisturbed. Remove the pot from the oven, uncover and stir the beans. Recover and bake one hour. When the beans are tender, remove the cover and cook until you have a thick, sauce-like consistency. Adjust the seasonings and serve warm or room temperature. (An adjustment: when I made them again the next day, for a picnic, I added 1/4 cup brown sugar and a large can of tomato sauce. Because.)

Leftover Barbecue=Barbecue Quesadillas

2008-05-15T08:53:00.002-05:00

The leftover Boston Butt was supposed to be barbecue sandwiches. It was, after all, a FIVE POUND roast. But alas, between the really good Schreiber seasoning and the really good butt rub and six hours in a low oven and an hour on the grill...there's not enough meat left for sandwiches. I hate it when that happens.

A mom-friend told me about this a couple of years ago and I was...skeptical. This doesn't sound right. She had found it in Southern Living, and swore by it. I just sort of blew it off; but then last year, it turned up in the best of the best of all-time recipes so...why not? It is a hit. The kids love it, The Big Boy loves it and it's easy. Doesn't get any better than that.

Barbecue Quesadillas
1 pound pork barbecue
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
Chopped fresh cilantro
Grated cheese...your choice
1 package flour tortillas
Heat a griddle over medium heat...I use a cast iron skillet. You can spray it with Pam, but we like to brush melted butter on the flour tortillas. Mix the pork with the barbecue sauce, and spread half a flour tortilla with the meat. Sprinkle with cilantro and cheese and fold over. Grill on each side until lightly browned. Because I can't keep up with the appetites, I go ahead and make all the quesadillas and hold them in a warm oven. That way, I get to eat.

Sconcigli who?

2008-05-13T09:48:00.002-05:00

The high end grocery store in this town is...a WalMart. And I HATE me a WalMart. But they opened an Aldi here last year and while I can't do it...I just don't get the diggin' around mentality...The Big Boy loves going to Aldi. So on Saturdays, while he's chauffeuring small children round and about, he usually makes an Aldi stop. And he finds some really cool stuff...stuff I could have sworn wasn't even in the store. And one of his finds this weekend was an Italian pasta called sconcigli. "A tricolor blend of tomato, spinach and traditional pasta." The pastas look like a cross between a cornucopia and a nautilus shell...imagine that. Which means the ends will hold sauce well.

So for supper tonight, we're going to use the recipe on the box as a starting point and have Crawfish Sconcigli.

4 tablespoons butter
1 package frozen seasoning blend (onions, celery & green pepper)
Finely chopped garlic...to taste
1 can diced tomatoes
7 ounces crawfish meat (I buy it frozen in bags)
Pinch of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh thyme

Melt the butter, add the seasoning blend and garlic and let it sweat for about ten minutes. Add the tomatoes (use whichever size can suits you...we like tomatoes so I use a big can, with a squirt or two of tomato paste) and the sugar and simmer another five minutes. Add the thawed crawfish and simmer just until cooked through, then stir in the chopped fresh thyme. Cook the pasta according to the package; serve the pasta with the tomato sauce and crawfish and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Tomato and basil biscuits

2008-05-04T11:47:00.003-05:00

One of the nice things about this weekend was brunch with friends Saturday morning. My friend Mary recently remodeled her house, to the tune of "Let's see how wonderful we can make this." It is the perfect house/kitchen for entertaining. So we went to Whole Foods Friday night and then Saturday morning, had fruits and cheeses and steaks with red pepper/feta omelets and these biscuits. Oh, and I drank an entire bottle of champagne because my phone died. But that's another blog.

Mary's Tomato and Basil Biscuits
2 cups self-rising flour (if you live here, it better be White Lily)
1/4 cup butter
2/3 to 3/4 cup cream
1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and diced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
Cut the butter into the flour until you have coarse crumbs, then add the cream to form a soft dough. Fold in the tomato and basil. We couldn't find a biscuit cutter so Mary just patted out the dough into a rectangle and we cut them into squares. You have NO IDEA how good these were.

Smoked Chicken and Sausage Gumbo OR Part 2 of "Failure Builds Character, My Ass"

2008-04-29T10:40:00.007-05:00

(Tuesday) I'm sitting here staring at the computer because I'm making roux. I put it on about 8:30; it's 10:41 now. At first, I just left it to cook on low heat and stirred every now and then. It's the color of peanut butter now, so I have the timer set and every five minutes I go in and stir. Since I'm going for the really dark roux, the next hour promises to get tricky...that timer's not very loud and in a little bit I'm going to have to stand there full-time. That's okay...when The Not Nice Kid had her birthday party this year, I had it at a smokehouse restaurant and there was chicken left over...not just smoked chicken, but smoked chicken. This has potential.

Is it talking to you? Because it is sooo talking to me.

(Wednesday) This is the first time in 22 years I've made something that was totally inedible. I've made things we didn't like, but this wasn't just bad. It was AWFUL. It was beautiful, everything seemed to be working and the only thing I can figure is that I used too much roux. I know it wasn't burnt, and everything else that went into the pot was top notch so I'm guessing...a couple of tablespoons was all I needed. But nooooo, I was so damn proud of that beautiful caramel toasty mass that I used it all.

Live and learn. Just live and learn.

Asparagus Pasta

2008-04-28T10:43:00.005-05:00

The salmon was good...not absolutely positively over-the-top good but as good as frozen grocery store fish can be good.

THIS, however, was great. The Big Boy rolled in from Aldi Saturday with asparagus...lovely tiny frozen ones and slightly larger fresh ones. (Remind me sometime...I just can NOT get the Aldi thing down. He does great...fresh German sauerkraut, with real German knackwurst a while back. Ninety-nine cent pineapples. Twenty-four cent cucumbers. I go in there and can't get past the stacked boxes and and the influx of people from Wayne County.) A while back he bought a box of Italian fusilli. I meant to do it with chicken in a cream sauce but...I didn't. It happens.

Asparagus Pasta

1 pound pasta...I used fusilli because it was here but I think bowtie would be nice

1 bunch fresh asparagus

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1/2 cup water

1 bouillion cube (dissolved in the water)

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh thyme

1 cup grated hard cheese...I used Asiago; Parmesan or Romano would be nice

1 cup toasted pecan pieces

Cook the pasta just until done...rinse and set aside. Cut the asparagus into bite-size pieces, minus the ends, and saute in olive oil/butter for about four minutes. Add the red pepper and garlic and saute another two minues. Stir in the bouillion water and simmer another two minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Toss together the asparagus, pasta, cheese, thyme and pecans.

On the way to the grocery store I swore I wasn't going to pay $3.50 for a red bell pepper. Got there and lo and behold! There was one in the sale bin! Still had to pay $1.40 but when the dish came out, it was well worth it. I also used fresh lemon thyme, because that's what I put on the salmon. This was very good the next morning, cold out of the refrigerator. If I were going to serve it cold, as a pasta salad, I'd throw in a splash or two of balsamic vinegar.

(I know that picture's blurry and...can't help it. Don't know why. I'll worry about it later.)

Plank Salmon

2008-04-26T09:27:00.003-05:00

When we lived in Texas, The Big Boy went to Alaska every year...actually, British Vancouver, I think. To go salmon fishing. They fished salmon and flounder (flounder? that may not be right. It was a flat, tasteless fish with a lot of bothersome bones) but after the first year we realized...we ain't messin' with the flounder. You fished for a week, lived in a cabin with full-time chefs, and ate everything cooked over a fire. Chocolate chip cookies cooked over a fire that to this day, he swears were heavenly. Everything was flash frozen on the boat as they caught it and then on the day you left, your fish was overnighted to your house...there were years the fish got there before he did. After the first year, he always traded out his flounder for salmon and they would mail me 90 or 100 pounds of real, out-of-the-creek, salmon.

This is how they cooked the salmon, creekside. The first time TBB told me how to do this I was doubtful...this sounds like too much seasoning for fish, even if it IS salmon. But after the first time we made it at home I was hooked. THEN, along came the cedar plank craze and it's like beer butt chickens...it's a keeper. Yesterday I was in another town (one with real grocery stores) and I bought a whole salmon fillet, plank included. So guess what's for supper tonight?

Cedar Plank Salmon

Salmon...steaks, fillets, your choice

Dried thyme

Seasoning salt

Worcestershire

Rinse the salmon in cold water and pat it dry. Put it on a baking sheet or platter and sprinkle with seasoning salt and thyme (tonight, because I have it and it looks so pretty, I'm using fresh lemon thyme from the garden). Sort of pat the salt and thyme into the flesh, then sprinkle liberally with Worcestershire. Set aside. Submerge the cedar plank in salt water and soak for an hour.

Heat up the grill. Remove the cedar plank from the water and arrange the fish on the plank. Grill until your preferred doneness...most recipes call for flaky but we like it one hair short of total flaking. Serve with a crisp green vegetable and pretend you are surrounded by whales and icebergs.

HALIBUT!!! It was halibut and it was awful.

Green beans dressed from the yard!

2008-04-22T11:43:00.005-05:00

It's possible I need to do some research on growing sage...that little plant is bearing definite resemblance to something blobby from outer space, as it attempts to take over the entire bed in which it is planted. It's getting ready to bloom, too, which sort of makes you wonder if James Arness is going to show up in the next couple of days.

The Big Boy came in last week with frozen green beans...small delicate beans he found at Aldi, of all places. Last night, after vacation and take-out for ten days, we ate "real" food...center cut pork chops, wild rice and green beans. But since going to the grocery store STILL hasn't renewed its appeal, I had to work with what we had. So...bacon and sage. I'd eat cardboard if it had bacon and sage.

Bacon and Sage Green Beans

1 pound fresh/frozen thin green beans

3-4 slices bacon

1/4 cup fresh sage, julienned

Salt, pepper and as a last thought, balsamic vinegar

Dice the bacon and cook until crisp. Throw in the sage, turn off the eye and stir. Set aside. Plunge the green beans into boiling water and cook for six minutes...I timed this from when I put the beans in the water as opposed to when the water came back to a boil, and they were a lovely crisp-tender. When they're done, drain well. Put the bacon/sage back onto an eye, turn it on high and wait just until mixture starts to heat up. Dump in the green beans and toss to combine...heating just enough to dry out the last bit of cooking water on the beans. Season with salt and pepper. After we got to the table, I splashed a little balsamic vinegar onto my portion and then...dressed the entire batch. Good!

Tomato Bites

2008-04-12T10:28:00.004-05:00

My aunt in Columbus sent this recipe, and the first time I made it I messed it up every which way from Adam. And it was WONDERFUL!! These are yummy, and open to interpretation...I'll bet a couple of spoonfulls of corn would be good...or chopped tomatillos, simmered just until soft, instead of the tomatoes. Or a few black beans. So much food, so little time.

Tomato Bites
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 green onions, white and green part, finely chopped
4-6 strips bacon, cooked crisp, drained and crumbled
1 can Rotel, drained
1-1/2 cups four cheese blend
Mini phyllo shells or extra-flaky canned biscuits
Mix mayo, green onions, bacon, Rotel and cheese. Spray mini-muffin tins with Pam. If using biscuits, separate each biscuit into three layers (This was a little tricky because I was trying too hard to keep the layers equal. Just do the best you can.) and press into mini-muffin cups. If using phyllo shells, just set them into the cups. Spoon filling into each cup and bake at 350 degrees for about ten minutes. (This made 30 bites, with about one-half cup filling left over...so if you added some corn or beans, you could probably fill 60 bites which would be two cans of biscuits.)

First time I made them...got halfway in and realized those weren't green onions in the vegetable bin. I chopped a small red onion and it was fine. The recipe called for a package of Oscar Meyer Real Bacon Bits, but why? It also called for Hellman's, but I don't LIKE Hellman's so I used Kraft. AND, after I mixed up the filling and opened the biscuits I realized they were...cute biscuits. Too small. So I refrigerated the filling for a couple of days, until I remembered to buy the right kind of biscuit, and just spooned it cold into the shells.

Real Pie Crust

2008-04-11T08:52:00.003-05:00

One of the things I'll pay for, when the time comes, is not appreciating the things my grandmother did for us. And right up there on the top of that list is...pie crust. Looking back I now know: that pie crust was a work of art. Heaven in a mouthful. But, at the time, I just didn't realize that getting a pie crust right? Can't be done. Just flat out...can not be done, the way my grandmother did it. I've tried.

Having said that (!), this comes pretty close and in this day and age...works a lot better. It makes five single crusts. You freeze them. You can use the food processor. I can do that.

Anne's Pie Crust

4 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1-3/4 cup shortening
1 tablespoon vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 large egg
Mix unsifted flour, sugar and salt in food processor. Add shortening, in chunks, and pulse just until crumbly. In a small bowl, mix water, vinegar and egg. Add to dry ingredients in food processor, just until mixture forms a ball. Divide into five portions, wrap in wax paper and chill at least 30 minutes. To freeze, wrap in plastic wrap, then aluminum foil.

Cabbage and Polish sausage

2008-04-08T08:11:00.002-05:00

This is one of those dishes that...happened. And since I wrote it down, will happen again.

My friend, Ann, had been telling me about cooking cabbage and Polish sausage. She layered them in a baking dish and baked it. And that was it. Layer it. Bake it. Well, maybe.

So when they came for St. Patrick's, she brought the dish and it was...surprisingly good! She drizzled the top with a little olive oil, covered the dish with aluminum foil so the cabbage sort of steamed and then cut it into squares. Served it with sour cream. Interesting.

But because we had a TON of food, there was about half the baking dish of cabbage and sausage left over. I scooped it onto a sheet of aluminum foil, wrapped it and put it in the refrigerator. And then?

A couple of days later I took it out and since it was chilled, it was solid. I chopped it into small pieces, put it in a dutch oven with some olive oil and sauteed it. Chopped an onion and added it. After everything was steamy and well-acquainted, I added a 28-ounce can of tomatoes. A chicken bouillion cube and some extra water. And then about 12 ounces small, cooked tortellini. It looked really good, but I stirred in a couple of tablespoons of grated Parmesan on general principal.

It was a hit! A great hit! I served it with hot cornbread and butter, which I guess worked with the rustic theme.

Hawaiian Brie

2008-04-04T12:26:00.003-05:00

This weekend is the first weekend...ever...that we don't have three million things to do. Best I can figure out as of now, other than a junior high dance tonight, we don't have to do anything anywhere. I am overjoyed.

So on my way out this afternoon I'll pick up goodies for the weekend, and for breakfast tomorrow, we'll have brie. The guy who taught me how to do this only used the bread and cheese; and he and his wife would open a bottle of wine and eat this and pears for supper, in front of the fireplace. I'm guessing he got lucky.

Tomorrow we'll have this for breakfast. I'm even thinking there's a cold bottle of champagne left over from something.

Hawaiian Brie
1 round loaf Hawaiian bread
1 round Brie
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup slivered and toasted almonds
Turn the bread upside down and slice the bottom off. Hollow out a circle in the top half, the size of the cheese. Set the round of cheese into the indention, pour the honey over the cheese and sprinkle with the toasted almonds. Place the bottom half of the bread on top of the top half, and wrap the entire concoction in aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 15 minutes...you want to soften the cheese without totally melting it. To serve, unwrap and place on a round platter and slice into wedges. Serve with pears. And champagne. And good company.

Center Star Chicken Stew

2008-04-02T08:19:00.004-05:00

Chicken Stew is a Center Star staple...all fundraisers, get-togethers and family reunions include a pot of chicken stew. GOOD chicken stew comes out of a black cast-iron kettle, over an open fire. That, however, also involves a lot of beer and an entire Saturday so sometimes, we fudge.

My mother grew up about 25 miles north of here, in another state, and she never heard of chicken stew. I moved to Fort Worth, in the middle of nowhere, and no one in my neighborhood had ever heard of chicken stew (although they all consider it a staple now.) I have NO concept of life without chicken stew...it fixes a lot of ills, it's really good and it's really simple. There is only one rule to follow and that is: Five Things. You only put five things in chicken stew. Get cute, add some other stuff and you have sinned and God will get you. Just mark my word.

The basic ingredients are chicken, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and corn. That's the five things. The proportions vary by family, and by occasion. If you're cooking for home? Half as many potatoes as chicken. Cooking for a crowd/fundraiser? Equal chicken and potatoes. No one will notice.

Center Star Chicken Stew

5 pounds chicken...whole, packaged, all-white, all-dark, your preference. Best is whole chickens, where you stew them, let them cool, debone and de-little black things and return the meat to the broth. This method also requires a Friday night before the Saturday. Next best/easiest is a bag of boneless, skinless breasts and a bag of boneless, skinless thighs.

2-3 pounds cubed potatoes

1-2 pounds diced onions

2 28-ounce cans diced or pureed tomatoes

1 small can tomato paste

1 28-ounce can corn

Chop the chicken, put it in a large stewpan and cover with water. Add a bay leaf or two and the onion. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer at least until done and an hour or so if you have the time. Peel and cube the potatoes and add to the chicken...no salt and nothing else. (For some reason at this point, if the other ingredients are in there the potatoes won't get done before Christmas.) When the potatoes are done add the tomatoes and stir well. Then add the corn and simmer for about 20 minutes to let everyone make friends. Salt and pepper to taste. (And if someone says, "This needs pepper," don't pour in an entire red and white can of pepper because if you do, the next day we'll have to pour out the entire kettle-full.)

Individuality...My sister-in-law likes tomato soup as part of the tomatoes. I like half whole kernel and half creamed corn. My sister doesn't like the smell of corn (I didn't make that up) so she uses shoe-peg, but that gets expensive for a crowd and besides...well, never mind.

When you first make this, it's all this stuff sitting in a pot. After it's cooked for a while everything melds...at a Chicken Stew (the event) there are no chunks of potatoes, they've all cooked down. And there are no chunks of chicken...just strands of meat throughout the pot. You eat this with slices of white bread or saltines. You season each bowl with Tabasco. You have a lot of cold beer.

And life is really good.

(Last year I paid...over $200...for this house-friendly black cast-iron pot. Number one, because I could make chicken stew at home and still have a semi-kettle, and number two because it came from a foundry that used to operate here.)

White Sauce for Chicken

2008-03-30T08:26:00.003-05:00

We call them Beer Butt Chickens. Other people call them other things. But they're the chickens you cook on the grill, impaled on a 1/3 full beer can with your choice of spices and flavorings. The crowning touch, however, is White Sauce. Our friend who normally makes it moved to Denver and when we got her recipe, we adjusted. It happens. But if you have baked/grilled/roasted chicken? This can't be beat.

White Sauce for Chicken
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 cup white vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons lemon pepper
3 tablespoons black pepper
1 teaspoon celery seed
Put it all in a jar and shake it up. Well. The originator of this insisted on WalMart mayonnaise and nothing else, but WalMart mayo is a little too mayo-y for me. So I stick with Kraft.

Polish Pork Roast

2008-03-26T17:25:00.004-05:00

Every Easter - okay, not EVERY Easter, but every Easter that I feel like it - I make a big-ass Polish Throwdown of a Feast.

Mushroom soup? Check.

Pierogi from scratch? Check.

Imported* Kielbasa? Check.

Various imported* Polish delicacies that I can neither pronounce or accurately identify?

Galubki? On the good years - Check.

Pork roast with root vegetables? Oooo...Mmmm...Check.

Poppy seed cake? Check.

*Imported from Chicago, that is.

Easter Pork Roast

Feeds 4 as the star of a regular meal or 6-8 as a part of The Feast

Meat

1 Pork Tenderloin, trussed, 2-3 lbs.

Rendered grease from 4 strips of bacon (or reserved bacon fat)

2 tsps Salt

1 tsp Pepper

1 tsp Allspice

1 tsp Caraway seeds

Veg (VERY IMPORTANT STEP)

1 Large onion

4 Carrots

4 Stalks Celery

2 Parsnips (turnips if you MUST)

1 Hour Ahead

Season roast with salt, pepper, allspice and caraway. Let roast come up to room temperature.

Rough chop vegetables.

Show Time

Preheat oven to 375.

Brown roast in bacon grease in the roasting pan, if possible.

Set roast aside.

Add one half stick butter, 1 additional tsp allspice and 1 tsp marjoram to the pan.

Sweat vegetables for about 5 minutes.

Return roast to pan and nestle among vegetables.

DO NOT ADD LIQUID. This is not pot roast. This is an expensive holiday roast.

Tightly cover roasting pan and place in oven. Count on 30 minutes per pound of meat, but check with an instant read thermometer and make sure it reads 170 at the thickest part.

Remove roast to platter, tent with foil, let rest.

Strain out vegetables, add to platter.

Gravy

Make a loose roux with 2 Tbsps butter and 1 Tbsp flour. Brown roux. Add liquid from roasting pan. If gravy is too thick, thin with chicken stock.

Serve. Bask in accolades.

Sour Cream Pound Cake and no, that's not Jaba the Hut

2008-03-25T10:16:00.004-05:00

Eight years ago we moved into this house, the "emergency" house, for one year. I was 44 years old and seven months pregnant and things weren't going well.

I'm still sitting here. The thought of moving makes me physically ill. But one of the reasons this isn't the worst place in the world to live is a few of the neighbors...namely, the one who brought me this cake when I moved in. It is the best pound cake I have ever tasted and I don't even eat cake. It's easy, doesn't need refrigeration and is better the day after you make it. Just put it in a carrier and hide it for one day and honey...you're the star.

Houston Town Road Pound Cake

1 box Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden Cake Mix

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

4 large eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 ounces cream cheese

8 ounces sour cream

Spray tube pan with Pam; dust with flour. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix sugar, water and eggs, add cake mix; scraping sides of bowl. Add oil, sour cream and softened cream cheese. Beat on medium speed for 3-4 minutes, scraping down sides. Pour into prepared cake pan and bake on middle rack of oven for 54-56 minutes. Turn out immediately onto a cooling rack. Do not refrigerate; but keep covered in a cake server for best taste.

THEN. Several years ago my mother-in-law gave me a cake pan with matching carrier. I took one look at that cake pan and thought, "That ain't gonna happen." Have you ever SEEN so many nooks and crannies? For stuff to stick to? Finally used it this weekend and honey, that cake popped right out of there and was beautiful. Just lovely.

How a Reuben can save your life.

2008-03-22T15:32:00.003-05:00

This early Easter stuff is messing with my timing...last week was St. Patrick's, this week is Easter and The Not Nice Child has a birthday next weekend. There's not enough of me to go around but right in the middle of my franctic juggling came...this. Reubens with the leftover corned beef. Thank you, Lord.

I found seeded rye bread at the local grocery. I had chopped the corned beef, then reheated it and drained it on paper towels. Drained the kraut. And then we made this:

Russian Dressing
3/4 cups mayonnaise
1/3 cup chili sauce
2 tablespoons sour cream
2 teaspoons chopped parsley
1 heaping tablespoon minced red onion
1 heaping tablespoon minced dill pickle
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon grated horseradish
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
Combine the mayonnaise, chili sauce, sour cream, parsley, onion, pickle, lemon juice, horseradish and Worcestershire sauce in a blender and mix until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. Makes about two cups.

We actually got a sandwich maker for Christmas and oh, my goodness! Spread each slice of bread with the Russian dressing, then layer the corned beef, kraut and Swiss cheese. Spread the outside of the slices with butter and grill. Lovely, just lovely.

You did WHAT to St. Patrick's Day?

2008-03-19T09:31:00.004-05:00

The first thing I did was the wrong day...the 17th was a Monday so my buddies came Saturday night. We had the Seafood Bisque and even though crab was on sale I threw in crawfish too because...I like it that way. I DID do homemade Irish Cream and oh, honey. It was a hit. The Potted Cheese was a hit. The corned beef, cabbage and potatoes were hits. But where I normally make bread pudding? I didn't. I can't remember why I didn't; I just know I didn't. Instead we had banana bread, with goat cheese spread. Not sure why or at what point I decided this was appropriate but there wasn't any left so it must have worked! Didn't it?

The trick to banana bread is really, really ugly bananas. We are NOT talking speckled here; those babies have to be black. Ugly black. Smelly black. Throw-away black. It's a color in the Crayola box, trust me.

Best Banana Bread
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 large bananas
1 stick butter at room temperature
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
2-1/3 cups self-rising flour
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Stir soda into buttermilk and set aside. Cream bananas, butter and sugar until smooth. Add eggs, soda mixture, spices and salt; mix. Then add flour and beat just until smooth. Fold in nuts. Bake in a WELL-greased and floured tube pan at 325 degrees for one hour.

Goat Cheese Spread
1 3 oz package goat cheese
1 teaspoon fresh thyme...lemon thyme is best
1 teaspoon orange zest
Blend ingredients with a fork. Serve as a spread for banana bread.

Potted Cheese

2008-03-16T16:16:00.006-05:00

Last year I made potted cheese with cheddar and beer and while it was okay, the texture wasn't right. This year I went with port and according to the people who ate two containers-full and took the third home with them, this works. So here, just in time for St. Patrick's Day, is a really easy appetizer.

Port Wine Potted Cheese
10 ounces sharp cheddar, diced and at room temperature
3 ounces room temperature goat or cream cheese
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Freshly grated black pepper, to taste
1/3 cup ruby port
1/4 cup chopped green onions or chives

In the bowl of a food processor, combine cheeses, mustard and pepper and process until smooth. Pour in the port and sort of mix it in with a spoon...I just turned on the processor and spewed it all over the countertop...and process until blended. Add the green onion (I didn't have any so I cut chives from the garden) and process in short bursts just until they're finely minced. Serve with crackers.

A Black&Tan, Irish Cream, raw eggs and who wants to live forever anyway?

2008-03-14T11:35:00.006-05:00

For some reason, I agreed to cook Irish for some friends tomorrow night. They don't have kids. Their house is clean. They know where the Bundt pan is. Why the HELL I agreed to this, I can't remember.

My Some-Timers is getting worse...I make mistakes typing I never made before. And this morning I'm standing in front of the beers in the grocery store and my mind...went blank. A Black & Tan. I know the black is Guinness stout. The tan part? I was clueless. A liquor rep showed up but that wasn't his product and he didn't know, either. The check-out girl didn't know. My friend I called didn't know. The store manager I grew up with didn't know. I need more educated friends. Or a better class of drunks. So I bought the Guinness and came home and looked it up and, for all practical purposes, it's pale ale. There were a couple of discussions about the difference in a Black & Tan and a Half&Half, but for my purposes we'll stick with whichever pale ale is on the shelves when I have to go back tomorrow. If we're lucky, it'll be Bass.

The directions seem to depend on where you are when you order the drink. In Ireland, it seems both beers are just poured into the glass. To layer them, there is actually a Black&Tan spoon...to make your own you bend a spoon bowl back. But the light beer goes in first...poured heartily so as to build a nice head. Then the dark beer is poured over the spoon, onto the edge of the glass so as to "float" this layer over the bottom layer.

I think I'll let everyone get pretty far into the bottle tomorrow night and then set them to pouring. If I drink more than they do (that's a joke), I may bring out the spoons, some needle-nose pliers and this picture. This ought to be interesting.

THEN, there's the Irish Cream. Why didn't I buy Bailey's? I can't remember. But at eight o'clock this morning I'm in the kitchen making Irish Cream and the recipe wants me to combine the first four ingredients, heat them, beat an egg yolk and stir in one-fourth of the hot mixture, then stir the egg mixture into the rest of the hot mixture and cook for two minutes, stirring constantly.

Good Lord. It's just salmonella. The whiskey and rum will kill it. (They do in eggnog because I've ALWAYS made it that way.) So I just put everything in a jar and shook it really well and put it in the refrigerator. I'll serve it in little chocolate tasting cups and everyone will be so impressed and if they get sick well, it was probably the Black&Tan.

Which brings us to another thing. I don't like Irish whiskey. So I'm using bourbon. From Kentucky. I think most of the people in Kentucky got there from Ireland so...I'm not too far off the mark. The Maker's Mark.

Anyway, here's what I ended up with for Irish Cream. I need to remember to go by and pick up some chocolate milk for the kids so they'll stay out of this.

Living Dangerously Irish Cream
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1 can Eagle Brand
1 tablespoon instant coffee
1 egg yolk
1 cup Kentucky bourbon
1/3 cup gold rum
2 tablespoons chocolate syrup
1 tablespoon Madagascar bourbon vanilla

Beat the egg well, put all ingredients in a jar and shake well. I'm guessing the Irish were too poor to have nutmeg (I know MY branch was), but I think I'll grind a dusting over each serving.

Our Bad

2008-03-13T10:57:00.004-05:00

Stephen over at Stephen Cooks is a great friend of ours.

Because we're practically BFFs we totally did not even think to redirect you to his site (well, we did, but upon closer inspection it is a little hard to see).

You know, friends borrow shoes and jewelry and you never really thank them appropriately.

To remedy that, let me just ask you to go over to his site and show him some love.

Click here and give him a smooch.

What's for supper? Toasted Ravioli & Mini-Burgers!

2008-03-13T08:25:00.006-05:00

Oooh. Potluck worked out last night!

We had cheese ravioli a couple of nights ago, and had some un-sauced leftovers. And so, because it seems like every time the weather gets above 55 degrees someone around here starts squalling for grilled hamburgers, last night we had toasted ravioli and mini-burgers.

I don't get the mini-burger thing but then, maybe that's why I'm not a marketing genuis. And the problem last night was that while I had the mini-burgers, I didn't have the mini-buns. So recipe hunting we went and things worked out beautifully! We snacked on the ravioli as soon as The Big Boy got home, then he and The Not Nice Kid grilled the burgers.

Toasted Ravioli

16 large square cheese ravioli (mine were already cooked)

2 eggs, beaten with 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup pecan meal

1 teaspoon garlic salt

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Vegetable oil for frying

Mix breadcrumbs with pecan meal and seasonings. Heat vegetable oil in skillet, to about 350 degrees. Dip the ravioli in the egg wash, then the crumb mixture and ease into the hot oil. Fry until lightly browned, turn and brown the other side and drain on paper towels. Serve with marinara sauce or, since we didn't have marinara sauce, pizza sauce works!

Mini-Burger Buns

1/2 cup cream

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup butter

4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 package yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

1 egg

Mix cream, buttermilk, water and sliced butter in a mixing bowl. Microwave just until warm and butter has softened. Using dough hooks, mix in 1 cup flour, yeast, sugar, salt and egg. Mix until combined, then add remaining flour one cup at a time. Knead until smooth and elastic. Let it rise for about 45 minutes. Then punch it down, divide into 24 balls and put them on lightly greased baking sheets. I flattened them to where they sort of looked like biscuits, but next time I think I'll leave them a little fatter. Let rise another 30 minutes, then bake for 12 minutes in a 400 degree oven.

These were so GOOD! I actually cut the salt to one teaspoon and added 1/4 cup finely grated Asiago cheese. And according to several recipes I looked at, if you use instant yeast you can skip the first rising.

Focaccia...this one WORKS

2008-03-11T08:25:00.003-05:00

After the pizza debacle, I wanted one of the recipes I go back to over and over. Instead, here's this one from StephenCooks, that I found last week and am currently in the process of having engraved in stone.

This recipe rocks and the reason is...that real life thing. See where it calls for 1/2 cup olive oil and 1 and 3/4 cup water? I set out the measuring cups and had reached the point where I had poured in one cup water and was getting ready to add the other when there was this...wham. And the sound of breaking glass. After I got through dealing with the kid who is NOT allowed to kick a soccer ball onto the top of the house because if you DO, you might hit the storm window and BREAK IT, I came back and finished the recipe. Only I added 3/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 cup water. That's backwards. THEN, I realized that I don't have a CLUE what instant yeast is. I normally either use yeast from the Mennonites or that stuff in the three-pack. I don't have TIME for a lesson in yeast so I dumped in a package of plain yeast.

This. Was. So. Good. Cutting rosemary and bringing it into the kitchen at this time of year is sensory overload...I haven't smelled anything that lovely since the basil froze. The leftovers went into a bag in the freezer and the kids are making lunchbox sandwiches out of it this week. So, put this in your file because it really is a keeper.

Quick Rosemary Focaccia from StephenCooks
5 C all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur unbleached)

4 tsp SAF instant yeast

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

4 T fresh rosemary, chopped (optional)

1/2 C olive oil + more for baking

1-3/4 C warm water (about 105 - 110º)

coarse salt

1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tsp water

Place the flour, yeast, sugar, 2 teaspoons salt and half the rosemary (if using) in the food processor bowl. Process in a few bursts to mix. With the processor running, slowly add 1 cup of the water, then the 1/2 cup olive oil and finally the remaining 3/4 cup water. Process until the dough coalesces into a ball and starts riding around on the blade. Turn out on a floured board and knead a few strokes. Dough should be relatively stiff but still pliable. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place 'til doubled, about 1-1/2 hour.

Place the baking stone in the oven and preheat to 450º. Punch the dough down, divide into 2 balls and flatten each ball to a disk about 8 - 10 " in diameter. Place on a corn-meal covered board or peel, cover with a clean towel and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1/2 hour.
When the dough has finished the second rising, use your forefinger to poke deep dimples all over the loaf, about 1-1/2" apart. Drizzle olive oil over the loaves, scatter on the remaining rosemary (if using) and slide them onto the stone. Bake 10 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 375º and bake 20 - 25 minutes more, until the bread is a nice dark golden brown. Two minutes before the bread is done, brush with the egg wash and sprinkle generously with the coarse salt.
Allow to cool on a rack for 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

Notes:Yeast. If you are using regular yeast in the foil packets, dissolve one packet yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water and mix in the sugar and a tablespoon or two of the flour. Allow to stand for about 20 minutes, 'til a good head of foam has developed. Then proceed with the recipe, omitting sugar from the flour mixture, adding the yeast mixture to the flour in place of the first half-cup of water, and reducing the amount of flour by 1 tablespoon.

That character thing again

2008-03-09T09:52:00.005-05:00

It snowed here Friday night and snow in Alabama ranks right up there with...rewriting the constitution. So the kids and I brought out the blow-up bed, put it in front of a window, raised the blinds and opened the drapes and turned on the outside lights. So that everytime we woke up during the night, we could see the white flakes hurtling down through the light.

God throws you these little moments so that, during the course of REAL LIFE, you don't throttle your offspring.

Last night we decided to make homemade pizza. Not complicated, on-the-grill, roast up some vegetables pizza; just...pizza. For some reason we've never owned a pizza stone and last week we were re-gifted with one so...homemade pizza it was. The Nice Kid went online to find a good dough recipe and a little while later I realized she was making the dough and coming back into the den to look at the computer every 60 seconds. When I asked why, turns out the computer wouldn't print out her recipe. When I asked why again, it seems she had disconnected the printer to hook up her iPod and had forgotten to reconnect the printer. (When I fixed everything this morning, I got three color copies of a recipe for pizza dough.)

Then I realize she's making the dough with her hands instead of using the dough hooks and she's not skilled enough at this yet to approach the dough from a well-floured vantage point and we have the mess from HELL all over the kitchen but hey, it's just pizza dough. Bread, water and yeast are pretty hard to mess up.

Why do I still say things like that?

The dough didn't rise. Or, didn't rise in the time it was supposed to. The package had been opened and there was 1/8 teaspoon missing, and that shouldn't have made an enormous difference but still...the dough wasn't rising. We ate something else and then about an hour later I looked and the dough had made some progress so we decided to go for it.

Mistake number one: "Sprinkle the surface generously with cornmeal" isn't a suggestion and you need to make sure your child understands the extent of "generously." Mine didn't. So when we got ready to slide the pizza onto the heated stone...it wasn't budging. It could be lifted in sections but we didn't want sections, we wanted a pie. Didn't work that way. After a few hilarious moments while she juggled the hot stone and I disfigured sections of pizza, we just scooped and prayed. We had a...lumpy...looking concoction but think about it: Bread, sauce, pepperoni and cheese. We're having a loaf. A foccacia. This will work.

Into the oven. We played with the temperature and timing a little so that the thick parts had a chance to at least get done, without totally burning the thin spots. It looked pretty good. Not showpiece good but in-your-mouth good.

Mistake number two: Double check. Double check about forty times because I don't care how much time and effort and good flour and happy oil you put into bread of ANY type...you gotta have salt. And believe it or not, salt is secondary for taste because it's FIRST for texture. And somehow, in the not-printing-out-the-recipe and the not-paying-attention and the trying-to-also-talk-to-Carrie Ann-on-the-phone, TNK forgot the salt.

She announced it wasn't that bad...sort of like a pretzel pizza. The Not Nice Kid ate the pepperoni off the top.

I mixed a drink.

So here, not building character in any form and wasting about ten dollars worth of pepperoni and cheese sits...The Lump Who Came To Dinner.

The kitchen still looks like a hurricane came through and I have no idea how to get this stone clean but as they headed out the door for church both kids announced..."We're going to try again tonight!" I hope there's extra bourbon.

Blue Cheese Chips

2008-03-07T11:06:00.004-06:00

Truthfully, this isn't a recipe either. I'm just passing on a concoction and a view on missing out.

I have a friend whose husband is all about some...appearances. Severely about appearances. So one of the things I enjoy about going to visit them is...whatever Bon Appetit or Gourmet or the NYT had to say about good living, last week? They're in. And I learn a lot of fun stuff.

At the same time, the big kids in this family work for a major restaurant chain. Now, this chain uses artesan cheese, organic greens and never-frozen, slaughtered-to-order Angus beef but it is still...a chain. And some people, particularly my acquaintance in the Big City, have carried conspicuous consumption snobbery to the point that they wouldn't be caught DEAD in a chain restaurant. No matter what.

Last spring I stopped by Chain Restaurant to see one of the kids. While I was there, he brought out a new dish they were introducing and honey, it was Luhve. Luhve at first bite. Blue Cheese Chips. Last fall, I was in the Big City and my trendy friends took me to the trendy Place of the Moment for lunch. We ate in high-backed leather-covered booths, with exposed ductwork and lots of chrome and windows. Lots of really skinny people in really skinny-people clothes, watching all the other skinny people. I sat my fat and happy self in my slippery booth and studied the menu. Drank out of a too-small glass but hey, I guess you stay that skinny you down-size everything. And the newly invented "specialty" of the house was...Blue Cheese Chips. And so I'M thinking...the high end version! If these were so good in the Chain, then just imagine the possibilities here! So I paid about $22 for an appetizer of Blue Cheese Chips and guess what? They didn't get it right. So here's the recipe/directions for how to do it right. And Single Guy doesn't even need separate instructions.

Blue Cheese Chips

1 package kettle-fried potato chips...the thicker and crunchier the better
1 recipe/jar thick Alfredo sauce
Really good blue cheese
Bacon, fried really crisp and crumbled

Pour the alfredo sauce into a pan and warm it. In an oven-proof dish, spread a thick layer of chips. How many depends on how many people you're feeding...I fed the four hearty eaters in this institution with about 2/3 of a bag. Place the chips in a 350 degree oven for five minutes...just to heat through and crisp up. Remove from the oven, pour the warm alfredo sauce over the chips, sprinkle with the blue cheese and crumbled bacon and return to the oven. Heat for another 5-7 minutes, to warm the blue cheese.

My friend made this with half a jar of bottled alfredo sauce. I made a sauce with one stick butter, one cup cream and one cup Romano cheese.

The problem with the high-end Blue Cheese Chips? The sauce was a blue cheese sauce, instead of Alfredo. Blue cheese is so strong, you can't really get enough in the sauce to thicken it up, and when it melds with the cream you lose that sassy bite. The Alfredo in the Cheap Version has just the right smoothness to complement the blue cheese sprinkles and then, of course, there's BACON. Life is good.

Gringo Burritos

2008-03-05T10:26:00.011-06:00

This is not a recipe. I'm not pretending it is, but every damn time I make it Hubster says, "This is one of my favorites!"

Never MIND the Beef Burgundy that takes half a day to prepare, or the 47 ingredient wallet-breaking Portuguese Fish Stew (future post).

This is economical, meatless (good for Lent), fast and not counting the sodium content, reasonably healthy.

Gringo Burritos
Serves 4

One small packet of Vigo brand Spanish rice, cooked as per instructions on package
One can of black beans, drained and rinsed
Four large flour tortillas
Olive oil or butter
Two cups of shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa, taco sauce or whatever Mexican American condiment you have on hand

Preheat oven to 350.

While rice cooks, place two tortillas on baking sheet. Brush with oil or butter - make SURE edges are coated. Evenly sprinkle with 1/2 cup cheese.

Put tortillas in oven for approx 4 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and edges are NOT browned.

While tortillas cook mix drained beans into cooked rice and remove from heat.

Remove tortillas and put next batch into oven.

Place 1/2 cup of bean and rice mixture on cheesy tortilla, offset from center and top with taco sauce. Fold short edge of tortilla over rice, fold over side edges and roll up like an eggroll or a, you know, burrito.

Do the same for remaining burritos and serve with choice of condiments and guacamole salad.

Chunky Guac Salad
Two avocados
Two minced garlic cloves
Juice of 1 small lime
1/2 tsp of chile powder
Any addition you like such as diced tomatos, minced red onion, cil-UGH-antro

Cut avocados lengthwise, twist open, remove pit. With the edge of a paring knife slit avocado meat - in the 'shell' - in a crosshatch pattern. Remove avocado chunks with a spoon and place in a bowl. When each shell is empty and garlic lime juice and chile powder to the bowl and stir just to combine. Serve along side Gringo Burritos.

PS - No, it is not your imagination, I dumbed-down this post for Elementary Cooks of the Male Persuasion (ECMPs). My apologies if you were offended.

Mango Salsa

2008-03-03T08:48:00.003-06:00

I have a nephew who can create, as opposed to just cook. (Me? The only creating I do involves errors and you just pray that I err on the side of good taste. Which I sometimes do and where my best ideas seem to come from.) So when The Nice Kid comes in last week and announces she's been invited to her friend's family's annual Mango Feast, I knew I had an IN.

My nephew originally created this to serve alongside fish at an upscale restaurant we used to have here. Now, we just make it in mass quantity, get out of the kids' way and hope there's enough for everyone.

J Miller's Mango Salsa

3 mangos diced
1 apple diced
1 onion diced
1 each of green and red bell dice
2 small tomatoes diced and seeded
1 fresh jalepeno seeded and diced
Generous amount of chopped cilantro
Garlic, salt, and pepper
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Honey to taste

My dad is up at all hours of the night and he orders some weird stuff off late-night TV. And actually, some of them work. (Gorilla Glue was originally on paid programming.) One of the things he got me was one of those onion dicing box things...you raise up the lid, put your food on the metal dicing grid and push down the top. Beautiful little dices...and I put everything in this recipe through that dicer. It was so pretty! All the uniform little perfect squares...I'd be OCD except I can't get it right.

Then, of course, I didn't have any honey. We have beehives at the farm and that's where I usually get my honey...except there is some sort of little foreign mite destroying all the native honeybees and last year my dad let the mites get an advantage. You have to keep these small flaps, treated with a substance that destroys the mites, over the entrance to the hive. And everytime a bee brushes through it, the mites die. Sad state of affairs, especially when the bees were here FIRST.

ANYWAY. I didn't have honey so I used a teaspoon of molasses. It worked. The only complaint, as usual, was that there wasn't enough!

White Beans and Potato Cakes

2008-02-29T13:44:00.006-06:00

Sometimes when I write stuff in here I wonder if people who aren't from...the South...look at my food like I look at Andrew Zimmerman.

Weird stuff. But if you're from here, this just makes sense.

Last night we had pork chops, greens, mashed potatoes and cornbread. The leftovers include (barely, The Nice Kid is all ABOUT some mashed potatoes) mashed potatoes and greens. The greens would be half collard and half mustard, since that's what caught my eye in the grocery store yesterday. So we're cleaning up the kitchen last night and I scrape the potatoes into a container and announce, "Tomorrow night we'll have potato cakes." And TNK asks what potato cakes are and I tell her...it's what poor people do with leftover mashed potatoes.

Needless to say, this set off an uproar. After I calmed everyone down and explained that no, we're not poor (but truthfully, poorer than we would be if George W had never been elected) and that some of the best food on the planet is traditionally the food of poor people...we moved on to supper for tonight.

White Bean Soup

I have a cousin who married a German, and the first time he ever served White Bean Soup we all looked at each other because...it's just white beans. He uses a different meat. But this recipe came from about three recipes...adapted and adjusted to fit what we eat and what's in the refrigerator.

1 bag white beans
Bacon grease...or olive oil if you must
1 onion, chopped
16 ounces smoked sausage
Chicken broth or water
Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
Bay leaves
1 bag or two cans (drained) turnip greens

Pour the white beans into a large stockpot, cover with water and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and let the beans soak in the water for at least one hour. Drain them (this removes a lot of the gas-forming things), return them to the stockpot and cover with water/broth. Bring to a boil again, reduce heat and leave them to simmer. (I can't seem to keep chicken broth on hand, so bouillon cubes are my friends.)

In another pan melt the bacon grease or heat the olive oil, and saute the onion until tender. Add the sliced sausage (this can be smoked, polska keilbasa or...because this is what was in the freezer last night...andouille) and saute until the flavors make friends.

Add the sausage, onions, and greens to the white beans. Add everything else, stir and cover. Here's where you can get creative...per the following recipe fresh thyme is nice. Sage would work. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the beans are tender. Serve with cornbread and...

Potato Cakes
For every cup of leftover mashed potatoes, add 1/4 cup self-rising flour, one egg and 1 tablespoon diced onion. Stir to combine and season to taste...salt and pepper, Emeril's, Zatarains, whatever cranks your tractor. Fresh thyme is good, especially if you throw some into the soup. Heat some oil in a skillet...here it's bacon grease and cast iron...and drop the batter into the hot grease by heaping tablespoon fulls. Tablespoons full. Tablespoons-full. Don't mash the cakes down yet...when the first side browns turn the cakes over and THEN pat them down with a spatula.

This is so feel-good it's probably a sin. Damn good thing I'm Methodist.

Buy This Book

2008-02-28T08:53:00.006-06:00

I am not in any way financially connected to this book - I just LOVE it.

So there's something you should know about me: I do not have children, therefore MY birthday is the most important day of the year, marked in crimson on the fam-bly calendar.

(Hubster's birthday is a close second, but he doesn't make as big a deal of it as I do, so the cumulative Big Deal Factor tips in my favor).

Hub is a very good gift-giver. The BEST birthday I've had so far - sorry this year did not, could not, top it - was the year he gave me pearls and my very own full-size, do-some-serious-damage tool kit.

This year I got a gift card for a massage... mmmmm...zzzzzzzzzzzz .... and a Starbucks gift card - always much appreciated - and a book.

But not just any book. I got The Big Book of Cheese. Actually, the title is Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the Very Best.

I know cheese is usually Country Girl's area of lactic passion but, kids, this book rocks.

I am a beginner in the world of cheese, and so is Hub, so this is perfect for us. Notice I said "us," as he readily admits this was a totally selfish gift - ya gotta respect his owning up to it.

It explains ripeness and the difference between the milks used, the aging process - the whole shebang. THEN, in alphabetical order, it lists the cheeses - each one gets its own page - with a photo, a description, place of origin, a stinky meter, a list of wines for pairing and a list of cheeses it is related to.

How awesome is that? So it's perfect for beginners, but it's also a good, quick reference guide for the cheese-experienced. Putting together a cheese board for company and you're not quite sure what matches with a cool-looking Cabrales you stumbled across at Sam's Club? The book will tell you.

Seriously, go to your local bookstore and just leaf through the pages. You don't have to buy the book, but it's worth spending time with this tome if for nothing other than inspiration.

(Yes we have no recipes today, but here's a tip - eat more cheese).

Uncle Dee's Dutch Apple Cake

2008-02-26T09:29:00.002-06:00

My mother had an aunt whose name was Mary Biffle Liles. When Mary Biffle was young, her siblings couldn't say "Mary Biffle," so...as so often happens in the South...Mary Biffle ended up being "Titter", which was the closest the little kids could get to "Sister."

Good Lord.

Titter and Uncle Dee never had children so they thoroughly enjoyed the great-nieces and nephews. You know...feed 'em and send them home. And when we had family gatherings in Tennessee, where my mother is from, Titter and Uncle Dee would bring this cake. It was really good, the first time. So they kept bringing it, and bringing it, and bringing it and being the rude ignorant little kids that we were...we stopped eating it. Looking back, I'm gonna go to hell for this one...they were so proud of this cake!

A couple of years ago, I hunted up the recipe from a cousin and..goodness gracious! This cake is just lovely! It's good, it's easy, it's cheap and it travels well.

I actually married a man with those qualities, once.

Uncle DeWitt's Dutch Apple Cake

1-1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups sliced apples
1 cup pecans

Mix oil, sugar, eggs and flour. Add vanilla and soda. Fold in apples and nuts. Bake in a greased and floured tube pan at 350 degrees for one and one-half hours.

(This is the original recipe but...hey. Look at that. Obviously, we're going to add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg.)

Supper tonight...Banana Pudding

2008-02-24T22:21:00.006-06:00

All my kids were here...so we're feeding the multitudes. We had steak and shrimp...steak on the grill and the barbecued shrimp from a previous post. French bread with dippin' sauce. Salads.

But then...what shall we put out for dessert? Quickly? And good-ly? The Big Kid grew up an only child for 15 years, so she got the star treatment for a long time. And one of the old favorites, from waaay back, has to be:

Real Banana Pudding

2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup sugar
2-1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 medium bananas
1 box vanilla wafers
1 large egg
6 egg whites
2 tablespoons sugar

Spread half the box of vanilla wafers in the bottom of a two-quart casserole. Thinly slice bananas over the vanilla wafers and top with the remaining wafers. Combine flour and sugar in a heavy saucepan, add one egg and enough milk to make a smooth paste. Add remaining milk and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, just until mixture starts to bubble. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Mix well and pour over bananas and wafers. Make meringue with egg whites and two tablespoons sugar, spread over pudding and bake at 350 ° until lightly browned.

Ummmm. Banana pudding. This is one of the great pleasures in life and it DOESN'T have instant pudding in it. Slice the bananas really thin, so they meld with the pudding; and WATCH IT while it's in the oven. Be sure to use a rubber spatula to spread the meringue, so that you can make those lovely peaks. If you DO burn the top, and I've heard of people doing that, you can just peel off the burned part and rebrown.

Oh, and do not use madagascar bourbon vanilla with this recipe. It clashes.

Image borrowed from: llcskitchen.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html

Feta & Olive Meatballs

2008-02-21T12:29:00.004-06:00

One of our great pleasures in life, before all this soccer and basketball and chicken living in the garage stuff, was going to one of the two exquisite steak houses in this neck of the woods and having...the Greek tray. Given that the founder was born in Greece and his son still runs the place, we can be forgiven for forgoing the house specialty...which happens to be steak...and gorging on an appetizer. Although I kinda think we had both.

Feta & Oive Meatballs

1 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped green olives
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

Preheat the oven broiler. Mix all ingredients together (yep, you gotta use your hands) and shape into 16 meatballs. Place them two inches apart on a baking sheet. Broil about three inches from the heat until browned on top, then turn them over and brown the other side.

This is NOT the recipe from our local eatery, but it works well for home cooking because the olives give it a little extra punch. To serve, cover a big round platter with lettuce leaves. Place a small bowl of your favorite dressing in the center...we stick with blue cheese. Scatter the meatballs around the dressing then arrange, in clusters around the platter:

*cucumber spears
*pepperoncini
*chunks of feta cheese
*Greek olives
*wedges of fresh tomato
*anchovies

Good warm bread with good butter. A fun wine. Include the anchovies even if you're not a fan...my kids eat them and once you've tasted them with the other items you might convert!

Un-Frittata-ble

2008-02-19T12:47:00.006-06:00

When was the last time you made a frittata?

On weeknights, you're tired and you mill around the kitchen grousing that there's nothing to eat, so you order pizza.

But wait! Do you have a potato (or leftover rice?), a couple of eggs and some cheese?

*smacking forehead *
You could have had a Fritatta!

Also, this is an excellent way to use up leftovers.

Basic Fritatta For Two
(That probably sounds better in Italian)

Butter, oil or bacon - just some kind of fat
5 eggs, beaten
A starch - a microwaved potato, diced or leftover rice
An aromatic root - onion, shallot, scallion, leek - chopped
A veg - spinach, zucchini, leftover stir-fry, anything soft
A cheese - parmesan, gruyere, swiss, shredded, sliced - does not matter, but the more the better

In an oven-proof* skillet, over a medium flame heat the oil/butter/bacon, add onion/shallot/scallion and cook until soft about 5 minutes (remove bacon if appropriate - eat).
Add potato or rice and press into the bottom of the pan - cook for about three minutes.
Turn down heat to medium low.
Put veg on top of potato/rice, without stirring.
Pour eggs on top of veg, turning pan so that eggs get evenly to the bottom of the pan.
Put a lid on it and cook for 5 minutes. Preheat broiler.
Take lid off pan, add cheese to the top of the mostly-cooked eggs and slip under broiler.
Check after two minutes. You're looking for firm eggs and bubbly cheese.
Remove, let set up for two or three minutes, slice and serve.

*No plastic handles!

Image courtesy of http://www.recipetips.com/images/recipe/vegetables/asparagus_frittata.jpg
But it is exactly what my frittata looked like last night.

GoodTrue Salad Dressing

2008-02-18T12:38:00.002-06:00

There is a word for when you hear a phrase in a song and you sing it that way for years and then one day you see the phrase written down and...you've been doing it wrong. The Not Nice Kid sang, "Ho ho the missing toe, Hung where you can see, Somebody waits for you, Kiss her once for me," all through Christmas until we figured out what she was saying.

Turns out? It's not GoodTrue dressing. It's Gertrude's. Gertrude's Dressing. My sister-in-law, JA, has been in this family for 15 years and I always thought it was...GoodTrue. Damn.

Many years ago, the mother of a friend of JA's would go somewhere and someone would make this dressing for her. (Good guess is, it was Gertrude.) The friend's mother eventually got the recipe, and then passed it on to her daughter. And when JA grew up, she got the recipe and now she makes it for us. This is one of those trademark things and it is GOOD. No matter what you call it.

GoodTrue Salad Dressing

This is a "double" recipe...halve it for personal use. Or make the whole thing and give some to someone just to be nice.

In a small bowl combine:

1 tablespoon dried basil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
Then...shake in some crushed red pepper flakes and tarragon.
Let this sit.

In a larger bowl whisk together:

2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup hot water

Then add:

1/2 cup lemon juice
3 teaspoons horseradish
2 tablespoons Worcestershire
4 teaspoons prepared mustard
2/3 cup ketchup

Then stir in the basil/vinegar mixture.

Then add:

1 cup various vinegars (garlic, red...whatever's on hand)
4 cups oil (JA uses Wesson Best Blend)

Pour the dressing into a container and put it up in a cabinet. Let it sit for at least two days and do not refrigerate. Over time it keeps getting better and better.

So, how did Valentine's Day go?

2008-02-15T22:56:00.003-06:00

We had spaghetti, which we have every year because we don't do quiet, romantic VD's...we have Family Mayhems. More kids than adults and The Big Boy plays DJ waaaay too loud and everyone starts drinking when they get off work and so they're happy when they get here.

So, VD dinner. Spaghetti, which I won't even THINK of telling you how to make. A couple of years ago I realized that I didn't make just...GREAT...spaghetti, so I sent out a plea to all my cooking buddies and asked for tips. One that stuck was from my sister-in-law, who...after the sauce is simmered...puts a wedge of parmesan in the sauce and then simmers it while the cheese melts. Luscious. Another tip involved a tablespoon of blackberry jelly to emphasize the caraway in the Italian sausage but OMG...I HATE caraway. I hate liquorice. I hate fennel. Something in my genes just does NOT get that taste. But then, that's me.

So we had spaghetti, my SIL's salad and we're waiting on permission to share the GoodTrue dressing recipe. Parmesan bread sticks. Flourless chocolate torte. (Both in preceeding posts.) A chocolate fountain but that's another blog and another post. And then. CG and I have a friend, Mary Virginia. And MV is one hell of a cook and one HELL of a cook for a crowd. And this appetizer is one of her specialties and once you make it you'll know why. Last year for VD I put it in the den and my little brother was just sitting on the floor scooping it up. There's something about the fresh vegetables, the shrimp and the cheese...this WORKS.

Mary Virginia's Layered Shrimp Dip

1 pound grated Mozzarella cheese
1 pound shrimp, boiled, peeled and deveined and chopped
1 12 oz jar cocktail sauce
2 8 oz packages cream cheese
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T Tabasco
4 garlic cloves, pressed
6-8 green onions, chopped
Fresh parsley
2-3 tomatoes, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped

In a springform pan layer mozzarella evenly, then shrimp and cocktail sauce. Blend softened cream cheese, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco and garlic in a bowl. Spread evenly over the layers in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour. When ready to serve, unhook the pan and invert onto a serving platter. Top with green onion, parsley, tomatoes and bell pepper. Serve with crackers.

I use cooked, frozen shrimp and add horseradish to the cocktail sauce. You can always tell where this is on the buffet because...that's where the crowd is.

2008-02-13T14:23:00.003-06:00

Now see, this is how inventions are invented and wars are warred. Two people hear the same, identical words and get two totally opposite meanings from them

The way I understood the guy’s request for recipes? He wanted to get laid. (It has been pointed out to me that we are NEVER going to make Good Housekeeping’s Blog of the Month list if I don’t clean up my mouth. Next week. I promise.)

Simple as that…he needed recipes to impress. Without impressive skills. Well, honey, I am SOOOO good at this. (Ask my friend, Nameless. He’s 43 years old and his live-in girlfriend is 27. She’s Venezuelan with an MBA, hanging around this neck of the woods because she’s in luhve. Nameless has four kids and a grandkid by two ex-wives…and a wealthy, educated live-in hottie with jeans tucked into spiked heel, pointed toe boots. Trust me…this and a grill for steaks and you are IN.)

The Desperate Guy's Dinner for Getting Laid

*Salad
*Bread
*Fettucine
*Wine
*Chocolate

Your shopping list:
1 bag salad (that’s how it comes…in a bag. Read the label and get one that says it has everything…dressing, croutons, dried cranberries, whatever. It’s in there.)
1 bag/box/container grated Parmesan or Romano cheese (Bag is better)
1 package fettucine (it’s pasta, in with the spaghetti)
2 cups whipping cream
1 box (with four sticks in it) butter
1 loaf French bread (don’t buy the fat loaf…get one of the skinny special-looking ones)
1 bottle Chianti wine ($15 bottle. Preferably with the straw wrapping.)
1 bottle back-up wine, red and cheap. It won’t matter after the first bottle.
Something chocolate…the bakery has it.

Dump the salad in a bowl. Put the other stuff in the bag on top of the lettuce and put the bowl in the refrigerator. Set the table…plates, silverware, bread/salad plates. (Entire sets come in a box for $19.95.) Put a serving of the chocolate dessert on two plates and set them aside.

Open the wine. Let your date watch you and explain to her that if you open the bottle now, it will have time to breathe by the time the pasta is ready (call it pasta. Not noodles, pasta.). Pour some wine into each of your two matching glasses and leave them out on the counter, breathing. Fix her a drink of something else. The overkill thing.

Fill your big pot with water and set it over high heat. Turn your oven to 350. Put one stick of butter on a salad/bread plate and set it on the table.

Put one stick of butter in your other pot and turn the heat to medium. Let the butter melt, then pour in the two cups cream and stir. Let that mixture heat up over low heat, then sprinkle the Parmesan cheese (save a couple of tablespoons for the finished dish) into the butter/cream mixture. Stir it a lot so the cheese melts, then turn it down to very low and let it sit.

When the water boils, add the pasta and read the directions to see how long it needs to cook. Put the bread in the oven. When the pasta is done, drain off the water (best way you can) and then add the pasta to the butter/cream/Parmesan pot. Stir it up.

Take the bread out of the oven and wrap it in a clean dish towel. Take the salad out of the refrigerator. Bring the breathing wine to the table. Dish the pasta straight onto the plates, and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese you saved.

You are in. Like Flynn. Or Bogey.

There really is a great simple recipe embedded in here…this is the ultimate alfredo. If you’re old and settled, you have a block of Romano on the table, with a vegetable peeler to make shavings. And I grate fresh nutmeg into the cream sauce. But then, the request wasn’t for old and settled. The way I understood it.

The Real Recipe for Fettucine Alfredo
12 ounces fettucine
1 stick butter
2 cups cream
1 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Freshly grated nutmeg
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the two cups of cream and after the cream is heated, add the grated cheese one-fourth cup at a time, stirring well as you sprinkle it over the cream. Let the cream sauce sit over very low heat while the pasta cooks, stirring occasionally. Right before the pasta is done, grate fresh nutmeg…just until you can detect the nutmeg odor…into the cream sauce. Pour the cream sauce into a deep bowl and add the cooked pasta. Fold to combine. Serve with extra cheese shavings.

Comfort in a Crockpot

2008-02-11T20:43:00.002-06:00

It may be true that "nothin says lovin like something from the oven," but nothing says comfort like something from the slow cooker.

Last week we got a request (from a male reader, who is not exactly Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen, bless his heart) for an easy recipe.

"I don't know the difference between chop and mince."

Fair enough. We love the newbies as much as the cooks who are serious enough to be in jeopardy of losing their amature status.

So I give you: The Best Baked Mac and Cheese.

Only not baked.

There used to be a soul food restaurant in Florence, Alabama that was iconic. It actually was featured in the Travel section of the New York Times. The meatloaf, baked chicken, sweet potatoes and mac and cheese at this place were IT. Man, if something ailed you, all you needed was a plate from The Hollywood to set you right.

I found this recipe a few years ago in a great little just-for-crockpots cookbook, "Fix-It and Forget-It." It tastes exactly like Sonja's Hollywood mac and cheese.

As an old boss of mine would say, "So good it'll make you slap your Momma."

Almost Hollywood Inn Macaroni and Cheese
8 oz. package elbow macaroni, cooked but not mushy (al dente)

13 oz. can evaporated milk

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

2 large eggs, beaten

4 cups grated/shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

pinch pepper

In the bowl of the crock pot, combine (mix up) cooked macaroni, evaporated milk, whole milk, melted butter, eggs, salt, pepper and 3 cups of the cheese.

Top with remaining 1 cup cheese. Cover.

Cook on low for 3 hours.

Serves approximately 8.

Image Credit: NYTimes

Getting ready for Valentine's Day

2008-02-11T09:09:00.000-06:00

The Big Boy and I have been (legally) married 20 years this month...there is significant time before that. We have three kids, the oldest and youngest 20 years apart. We have parents and siblings and lots of little kid relatives running around and so Valentine's Day today is...about our family. About the people we love/hate/fight with every day of the year.

We have spaghetti, with salad and bread and chocolate desserts but then last year I bought a chocolate fountain and GOOD LORD! What did we do for entertainment before that? No idea. I have token gifts for everyone...small plants or special foods or just something that says, Fun Night. It's madness and mayhem and I was gonna SKIP IT this year but everyone nearly had a heart attack so...we're on.

These bread sticks came from somewhere, at least 20 years ago. I make an early batch, for the plunderers, and then a couple of batches for the meal. They're comfort bread, warm, yeasty, soft and just good. Really good. (And, not that it MATTERS, easy.) So there.

Parmesan Bread Sticks

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup powdered milk
3 tablespoons butter, sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 package yeast
1/4 cup water
1 large egg
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. In a mixing bowl, beat one cup flour, dry milk, butter, suger, salt, egg, parmesan and yeast with enough water to make a soft dough. Add remaining two cups flour and enough water to maintain a soft dough. Knead until smooth and elastic. (Obviously, I do this with a mixer and dough hooks.)

Let rise until doubled in bulk, usually one hour. Punch down, pat out and cut into strips. Roll the strips between your palms into long rolls, then twist and lay out on lightly greased cookie sheets. Let rise until doubled again, usually 30-45 mintues. Bake at 375 degrees until light golden brown.

When I first started making these I had never heard of Asiago cheese. Then Atlanta Bread Company moved in next door and...they have a good idea. So now we use Asiago when we can get it.

David's Crown Room Olives

2008-02-09T11:57:00.000-06:00

(That's what olives look like on the tree. Cool.)

City Girl and I know a guy who travels alot. Several years ago he showed up at Christmas, bearing gifts, and these olives were in the basket. O. M. G. They are wonderful on buffets, at parties, as gifts, and for an eye-popping snack. Turns out, he got the recipe from a guy in a lounge in an airport. Or something like that. Doesn't matter...these should be in your repertoire, your refrigerator and your tummy. They're good.

1 jar queen olives
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon celery salt
6 pinches freshly ground black pepper
6 shakes Tabasco
6 dashes Worcestershire
1 bottle Frank's hot sauce

Take the olives out of the jar, drain and remove the pimientos. Mix salts, pepper, Tabasco and worcestershire in the olive jar, fill one-fourth full with Frank's and shake well. Pack the olives back into the jar and fill with remaining Frank's Sauce. Shake well. Store upside down in the refrigerator, at least 48 hours but the longer they sit the better they get.

David takes out the pimientos, I don't. I'm lazy that way.

It's Ash Wednesday and we're not Catholic!

2008-02-07T08:28:00.000-06:00

It takes my Methodist kids a couple of Lenten seasons to grasp the Catholic/non-Catholic modus operandi. They can’t participate in the Epiphany mass. They can’t even take communion, and where they come from everyone takes communion, whether they’re sorry or not. (See that’s one of the big differences…Protestants put all the burden on the sinner. Catholics just pass it off to the priest.) So yesterday, they come in and announce they’re giving up candy for Lent. Because.

While I did explain that it would be thoughtful to give up something for Lent, just as sort of a snuggle with God, I pointed out that because we’re not Catholic we don’t have to give up anything. Especially when it comes to food. And that’s how we got to…

Duck for dinner. Around here, wild game is a part of the culture. (Not a part of MY culture, but a part of everyone else’s.) There are Wild Game Cook-Off’s around here that bring in people from all sorts of interesting places, and spawn rivalries and competitions that go on year after year. (My little brother nearly SHOT a competitor once when the opposing dish showed up…straight from a restaurant kitchen.) And somehow a couple of years ago, I got caught up in cooking duck on a grill and saucing it. And this is what we ended up with.

Duck with Blackberry Sauce

25 ounce can blackberries
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
2 cubes beef bouillon
1 cube chicken bouillon
1-3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons sherry

Drain blackberries, reserving syrup. In a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Add wine, 1/3 cup blackberry syrup and vinegar. Add bouillion cubes and water and simmer until cubes are dissolved. Add drained blackberries and simmer for 25 minutes, crushing berries with the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in sherry.

To roast the duck:

Quarter a small onion, halve five or six cloves of garlic and cut up some kind of fruit…an apple is good. A pear is good. An orange works well. Rinse the duck, salt and pepper it inside and out and rub it with olive oil. Carefully prick the duck all over, piercing just the skin. (This lets the fat drain out and helps crisp the skin.) Stuff it with a couple of pieces of onion, garlic and fruit. Place on a rack on a roasting pan and cook at 450 degrees for 45 minutes. Baste with juices and/or butter, reduce the heat to 350 degrees and cook for approximately another 45 minutes. I never HAVE found the thigh muscle with a thermometer, so go for a moveable drumstick.

This is the oven method. If you have the patience and a really good temperature-controlled grill, use that. But keep the duck on the rack over the roasting pan. You need those juices.

To serve, let stand for five minutes. Cut into quarters and serve with sauce and pan juices.

Wednesday night we had this with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, with extra roasted garlic cloves to squeeze on French baquettes. And salads, with bacon, blue cheese and Newman's Own...MY FAVORITE. And hot gingerbread for dessert. This doing penance stuff is rough.

When in Pittsburgh

2008-02-05T14:34:00.000-06:00

Our Super Bowl fete went very well, thank you.

Loads of hot appetizers provided by everyone, and ham sandwiches with good, hot soup at halftime provided by yours truly. Lordamercy we were full by the end of that boring-ass game.

The good, hot soup in question was my famous Pittsburgh Soup.

Pittsburgh Soup?

The recipe is based on "Dan's Vegetable Soup" in the Three Rivers Cookbook Volume II. The book was presented to me by my near-miss in-laws (who were lovely, lovely people - wayhay lovelier than their son) and is still inscribed, "To: (Me) From: Mom and Dad R."

The relationship died but the soup lives on. If you've ever been to Pittsburgh, this actually sounds like the city:

Pittsburgh Soup

1 lb lean ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

3 big stalks celery, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 very large or three smallish russet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 large bag (I think it's about two pounds) of frozen soup veggies*

1/2 a head of cabbage, shredded

1 46 oz. can or bottle of V8 (NOT low sodium)

2 cups chicken stock

Several good dashes of Maggi seasoning (or Worcestershire)

1 tsp celery salt (DO NOT overdo the celery salt - you'll regret it)

2 tsps kosher salt, divided

50 cranks ground pepper

OPTIONAL - Small-diced polish sausage

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed stock pot. Add the onion and celery and cook until it begins to fade, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Add beef, 1 tsp of salt and half the pepper. Break up the beef and brown it thoroughly (10-15 minutes).

While the beef browns, prepare your potatoes if you haven't already.

When meat is browned, drain off the fat. Add the remainder of the ingredients, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for at least 30 minutes.

This soup, as with so many dishes, is MUCH better the next day although it's pretty damn good right off the stove.

Serves 8-10 alone or more than a dozen with sandwiches.

*If you insist on cutting your own (out-of-season) corn from the cob, dicing your own carrots, shelling your own peas and snapping your own green beans, knock yourself out. I applaud you. However, I can't begin to tell you how much of each to add to the pot. Experiment and let me know how it turns out!

PS - Why the hell won't the Blogger Spell Check button work? HELP!

It's Fat Tuesday! Let's have a drink.

2008-02-05T08:11:00.000-06:00

A couple of years ago The Big Boy REALLY pissed me off. (The feeling was mutual, but I wasn't worried about his side of the story.) So I called my college roomate and we got on a plane and went to New Orleans for the weekend. So there.

Breakfast at Brennan's is an international stock phrase for a reason...it DOES NOT get any better than this. We had the whole nine yards: Grillades and Grits, champagne, Bananas Foster. But the quirkiest thing was how much I enjoyed the Ramos Gin Fizz. I don't do sweets, but the richness and smoothness of this drink just made me happy. (The champagne didn't hurt.) In fact, I was sooo happy when I left that I bought their cookbook.

So, happy Fat Tuesday. Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, when my little Methodist children come home from their little Catholic school with black smudges on their foreheads. And hopefully, forgiven. (Reckon that extends to the sins of the fathers?)

Ramos Gin Fizz
1-1/2 ounces gin
1/4 teaspoon orange flower water
1/8 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons simple syrup
1 egg white
1/2 cup half and half
1/4 cup crushed ice

Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend for 15 seconds. Pour into a chilled old-fashioned glass to serve.

For my parent's fiftieth wedding anniversary we had a celebration planned, but the morning of the actual date my sister and I cooked the Brennan's breakfast for our parents and the couple who were the attendants at their wedding. I could NOT find orange flower water (if you don't live in Rural Heaven like I do, it's not a problem), and tried this first with orange extract. Wrong. We ended up using about 1/2 teaspoon fresh orange juice. Not the same, but it didn't overwhelm like the extract did.

(Simple Syrup: Combine one cup water and one-half cup sugar in a small saucepan, and boil for five minutes. Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.)