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Archive for the ‘Southern’ Category
This weekend was a tad on the carby side for me. Not because of rich desserts or decadent cocktails. No, it was due entirely to this:
Sweet Corn
Yes, it is the extremely tasty evil Georgia sweet corn, and is entirely the fault of the guy at the farmer’s market who forced six ears on us Saturday morning, shortly before the guy at the meat market twisted our arms and made us buy 3 racks of baby back ribs. All of which we were then compelled to grill, then consume, later that evening, entirely against our will. And we won’t even go into the watermelon. *sobs*
It was a heartbreaking experience.
So we smoked a turkey breast and beef brisket on Sunday. And I felt the need to do something with the three ears of roasted corn we had leftover from our excess Saturday evening. Once I realized I had a bag of dried black beans in the pantry, this dish was on the menu. (You can, of course, make it with canned black beans.)
We ate it as a side with our brisket and turkey, but it would be marvelous served with good quality tortilla chips.
Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa
Black Bean Salsa
makes…a lot
4 cups (or two cans) black beans, drained and rinsed
3 ears roasted corn, kernels cut away (about 2 cups)
1 large tomato, chopped
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced
1 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, torn
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Cover (and refrigerate if desired) for at least 1 hour to allow flavors to develop. Bring to room temperature and stir before serving.
Printable version (requires Adobe Reader)
Work is kicking my behind again today, so another short and sweet recipe.
“Coleslaw” comes from the Dutch koolsla – literally “cabbage salad.” And a very good, easy salad it is, especially when made with bagged, shredded cabbage. You can shred your own cabbages and carrots, of course, but I’ve found that it’s not all that much more expensive to use the bagged stuff unless you are making a really, really large quantity. But I’ve included instructions for both, just to be on the safe side.
And the dressing? YUMMY.
Happy picnicing and barbecuing this summer, y’all.
Coleslaw
Coleslaw
Serves 6 – 8
One 16-oz. bag of shredded green and red cabbage with carrots OR
5 cups shredded green cabbage
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 large carrot, shredded
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar or Splenda
1 teaspoon celery salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
Place the cabbages and carrots in a large bowl.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, sugar (or Splenda), celery salt and pepper together until well blended.
Pour the dressing over the cabbages and carrots, and toss until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate for an hour to allow the flavors to blend.
Printable version (requires Adobe Reader)
No Random Tuesday Thoughts this week. Perhaps I’m just losing my randomness?
Nah.
Actually, I think I’m suffering slightly from blog-burnout, a lingering after-affect of blogging every day last month, then continuing to blog every weekday this month. I don’t think I’m losing my mojo – it’s just tired and needs a break. I think I’ll give it one next weekend when we go to Hocking Hills, and won’t post Friday through Monday.
At any rate, while thinking about what I would write about today, I started thinking about the weather (cool and wet – Fall is definitely here) and dinner, which should go with the cool, wet weather. With Beloved out of town for more than a week, I am going to have to just cook for myself; if I let The Young One choose the menu like I did last night, we’ll end up eating chicken nuggets or pizza rolls with carrot and celery sticks and mac ‘n’ cheese every night (while watching 3 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation on DVD – but hey, we had a nice evening). So, tonight I’m making this:
Hoppin’ John.
If you asked Oldest Son what his favorite dish is, he’d probably come back with “Spinach-stuffed pork loin with fruit sauce” (another recipe I’ll have to post soon) accompanied by this simple casserole of black-eyed peas and rice. Hoppin’ John is fairly ubiquitous in the South and is traditionally eaten on New Year’s Day; in our house, it’s served far more often. Growing up, my mother made this with canned black-eyed peas and Minute rice and while instant rice is not allowed in my home, I’ve made it upon occasion with the canned peas. However, having said that, it is best made with dried peas and since black-eyed peas require no soaking and cook up fairly quickly (compared to other dried beans, which is what black-eyed peas really are) you can have this dish on the table in fairly short order. It’s a great side dish for pork – which is how Oldest Son prefers it – or by itself with just some hot, buttered corn bread on the side. For me, it personifies comfort food.
This is a very basic recipe; you can jazz this up just about any way you like, and add bell peppers and celery to the onion, throw in some tomatoes, substitute the bacon with salt pork or a small hamhock (pick the meat off that hock and add it back in before serving!) or a good, spicy smoked sausage like Andouille. It can be made vegetarian by leaving the meat out all together and spicing it up with some cumin, cayenne or thyme and bay leaf.
Hoppin’ John
makes 4 – 6 main dish servings, or 8 side dish servings
6 thick slices of bacon, chopped
one medium onion, chopped
1 cup dried black-eyed peas
5 – 6 cups water
1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
Sort and rinse the black-eyed peas. Fry the bacon in a large saucepan (or small pot) over medium heat until almost crisp; remove with a slotted spoon and reserve. Lower the heat and saute the onion in the bacon fat in the saucepan until soft and almost translucent.
Return the bacon to the saucepan and add the peas. Pour in the water and remove any peas that float to the top. Gently boil the black-eyed peas, uncovered, until tender but not mushy – about 1 1/2 hours – and about 2 cups liquid remain. Add the rice to the pot, stir, cover, and simmer over low heat for about 20 minutes, never lifting the lid.
Remove from the heat and allow to steam, still covered, for another 10 minutes. Remove the cover, fluff with a fork, season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
This is my recipe for chicken and dumplings. It is a little unorthodox, as chicken and dumpling recipes go, but every time I’ve served it I’ve been told it’s the best chicken and dumplings ever. Even The Young One gets enthusiastic about the dish, and he rarely gets enthusiastic about any food (oh, that I should have such an ability).
My chicken and dumplings has a secret ingredient: canned biscuits. Cheap canned biscuits. The kind that are not “flaky” or “grand” and come 10 in a can. You know, the kind you used to be able to buy 10 for $1 but now are 50 cents each. The kind that resemble little hockey pucks when baked.
I believe I’ve mentioned a time or twelve that Mom wasn’t big on cooking when we were kids – she was all about cheap, fast and easy. The biscuit thing was something I think she read in one of her beloved cookbooks that contained recipes from the backs of packages, boxes and cans – she had a total of three. At any rate, her version of chicken and dumplings was cheap pieces of chicken – thighs, legs and wings – boiled with a few vegetables like celery, onion and carrots and a minimum of seasoning. She’d strain the broth, shred the chicken, put it all back on the stove and when it was boiling, drop in those cheap biscuits, torn in half, and let it all cook for about a minute. Voila – it was done.
The dish was uninspired, perhaps, but cooked properly the dumplings made out of these cheap biscuits were feather light, fluffy and delicious. When I moved away from home and had a family of my own, I made chicken and dumplings frequently because it was a cheap dish to make and I began to experiment, especially with the dumplings. I tried a ton of different recipes, ranging from old cookbooks to the one on the back of the Biquick box, and while I liked the flavor and texture of these dishes overall better, the dumplings were always a disappointment. Usually heavy and chewy, they just weren’t like Mom’s.
The recipe I’m giving you here is the result of years of trial and error and is one the kids all beg me for, either to cook it or for the recipe itself. It includes the cheap biscuit dumplings, cooked separately and added at the end, and is the epitome of comfort food. Assembled with leftover roast chicken and stock made from the carcass, it is not only delicious but economical as well.
Chicken and Dumplings
6 – 8 generous servings
3 – 4 cups cooked chicken, chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 – 3 large stalks celery, sliced
1 cup frozen petit sweet peas, thawed
1 stick butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
2 cups chicken stock or broth
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 – 2 cans cheap biscuits, depending on how many dumplings you want (I usually use 2)
In a large, heavy skillet, melt the butter over medium heat; add the carrots, onion and celery. Lower the heat a bit and cook the vegetables until the onions become soft and transparent, but not brown.
Stir in the flour, mixing well, and cook until it becomes a smooth paste and is beginning to brown just slightly, about 5 minutes. Gradually stir in the chicken stock, whisking constantly to prevents lumps, then gradually stir in the milk. Add the chicken, lower the heat a little more, and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken a little.
Lower the heat to simmer and gently stir in the peas. Taste; add salt and pepper as needed.
On another burner, bring about 6 cups of water to a boil in a large sauce pan. Working in batches, tear two of the biscuits into three equal pieces each, and carefully drop them into the boiling water. Cook them for about 30 – 45 seconds, stirring and flipping them, then remove them with a large slotted spoon. Place them in the chicken mixture.
Repeat with the remaining biscuits until they are all cooked and have been added to the chicken and vegetables. Gently stir together, and serve.
Well, here it is Friday. Yay! And we’re looking at a three-day weekend, too. Won’t that be nice?
Since Monday is a holiday, I may post, but it won’t be my usual recipe so I thought I’d give it to you today. That way, if you’re interested in making it you’ll have it handy. Isn’t that convenient? Aren’t I thoughtful? Aren’t I weaseling my way out of having to actually write something?
Shortcuts Recipes. I love ‘em.
Anyhoo, I made this to accompany the Grilled Honey Rosemary Pork Loin we made last weekend, and it was delicious. The dressing is very similar to that of my Sweet Potato Salad, but what can I say – we Southerners love our mayonnaise and sweet pickle relish. I’m working on a recipe for an olive oil-based dressing that should be marginally healthier; when I’ve got one I like, I’ll post it.
Tricia, feel free to leave the onion out. It will still be yummy. *wink*
Macaroni Salad
serves 6
8 ounces elbow macaroni, cooked, rinsed and cooled
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup sweet onion, such as Vidalia, chopped
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 cup frozen baby sweet peas, thawed
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon sweet pickle relish
1 teaspoon prepared mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all of the ingredients except salt and pepper in a large bowl and toss gently until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate for an hour before serving.
Have a lovely weekend, y’all