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.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Hush puppies
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.)
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.)
Monday, September 1, 2008
Fresh Red Snapper
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.
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.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Fried okra
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.
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.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Black bean burritos
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.
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.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Do you devil?
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.
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.
Monday, August 4, 2008
Fresh Tomato Salsa
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.
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.
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