Even A Yankee Can Fall For Grits

I couldn’t stand it any longer. George, over at A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse… keeps posting about cooked ground corn and I just had to have some for dinner last night. Bev had suggested the leftover pork loin from our Superbowl party and some asparagus from the frig and after George’s posts, I suggested we had to have grits of some sort. It turned out to be just quick grits with some cheddar cheese stirred in it but it hit the spot for me. His a pic of my plate and as you can see, I prefer mine to be a little runny - hence the bowl.


Everything was delicious and I had to have a second helping of grits for dessert while I pondered why I don’t have them more often when they’re so easy to cook.

But what about breakfast food you ask, fear not. For breakfast this morning, I added a little milk, some diced Czech sausage and nuked it for a couple of minutes, then stirred well and topped with a fried egg.




Definately a good way to start the day. I had fried cornmeal mush and scrapple as a kid, but never grits until I moved south - I'm now a big fan.

Wednesday is BBQ day, so I put this beer can chicken pic in the title block to get me in the mood.

Have a great day and I enjoy your comments and suggestions.

Larry

A Little Super Bowl Get Together At Almost Heaven South

Almost Heaven (WV) had a foot and half of snow on Friday and Saturday, lost telephone, cable TV and power – so I was happy to sit this snow storm out down here at Almost Heaven South.

As we frequently do, we used the Super Bowl as an excuse to invite a few friends over for the evening to socialize - as a non big time professional football fan, I didn’t really care who won, but I enjoy the get together. I do have a tendency to root for the underdog, so congrats to the Saints. I remember watching the Packers win Superbowl 1, and thinking what a great game it was – this was back when it was a football game rather than a television controlled event. Now it seems to be all about hype, money and who has the best commercials, but it’s still a good excuse to get together – I’m off my soapbox now.

We provided some chips with salsa and guacamole, smoked wings, homemade veggie soup, mini smoked pork tenderloin sandwiches, homemade pork/venison Czech sausage, a chocolate cake, and some libations. Our friends brought snacks, veggie tray, meatballs, desserts and wine. Needless to say, we have more than enough food.

We normally just make up the salsa to taste, but since it seemed very similar to Pioneer Woman’s, we decided to use it and as it turned out to very almost identical to ours, we now have a recipe. I didn’t get a pic, but there are plenty at her site – it’s a very good recipe.

I had several pork tenderloins in the freezer and decided to smoke a couple for sandwiches. I marinated them for about 3 hours using the following recipe I found on line but can’t remember where. It’s a recipe for grilling, but works fine for smoking.

· 1/4 cup frozen apple juice concentrate
· 2 tablespoons plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
· 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
· 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary, or thyme
· 4 cloves garlic, minced
· 1 teaspoon crushed peppercorns
· 2 12-ounce pork tenderloins, trimmed of fat

Whisk apple juice concentrate, 2 tablespoons mustard, 1 tablespoon oil, rosemary (or thyme), garlic and peppercorns in a small bowl. Reserve 3 tablespoons marinade for basting. Place tenderloins in a shallow glass dish and pour the remaining marinade over them, turning to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or for up to 2 hours, turning several times.

I then smoked them to an internal temp of 140 and put them into a hot cooler until serving time. We served them pre-game on sliced baguettes with slices of Guggisberg baby Swiss cheese and a choice of several mustards or Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce (Fisher & Weiser). The meat came out a nice pink, which I consider to be perfect. I liked the marinade but Bev thought it was just okay.


For the wings, I used the sauce from Velva over at Tomatoes On The Vine but, I smoked them to an internal temp of 160* and put them in the warming drawer to keep warm until halftime. Here they are out of the smoker.


Then I put them in the 500* oven for 15 minutes to crisp the skin, tossed in her sauce and served.



The hot wing eaters all liked the sauce and next time, I believe I may amp them up a little more by adding more pickled jalapenos. For the non-hot wing eaters, I tossed some in BBQ sauce.


We had vegetable soup available all game made from our usual clean out the pantry, frig and freezer method. It was delicious as always and we had a bottle of sriarcha setting beside it.


The Czech sausage was the pork/venison I’d made a while back – link - and we just served it at room temperature with mustard.


I think we had two or three folks who really cared about the game outcome, a few who wanted to see a good game and several who said “what football game?” At any rate, we kicked back and enjoyed getting together, eating and drinking a little, and visiting. I’d have to call it a successful party as everyone seemed to have a good time.

Have a great day

Larry

Corned Beef And Veggies Two Ways

Early last week, George Gaston over at A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse…, posted about corned beef hash and I’ve been thinking about it since. The meals finally worked out to be able to cook the homemade corned beef I’d froze last summer – still have one more for St. Patty’s Day.

I just put it in the crockpot, covered with water, added some additional pickling spices and off we went. A couple of hours before serving Bev added some carrots, and potatoes for the supper meal, but I was still thinking hash – remember, I love breakfast food. We normally add cabbage as well, but I didn’t want the flavor in my hash. This is my supper plate.


Supper was really good and perfect for a cold rainy evening.

And now for breakfast the next morning. Bev did the cooking for the hash and used the meat, potatoes, and some carrots from dinner. She started by sautéing some onion and green pepper, then added the other veggies, and meat. She seasoned with garlic salt, black pepper, and smoky paprika. Almost forgot, she tossed in a couple of diced green chile’s that had been waiting in the frig for a good use. Hash is a little like vegetable soup – just add what you like.


My plate prior to eggs – she shredded a little cheese on top of the hash as you can see.


My plate after eggs.



I just cut the eggs into the hash and it was delicious. Now I’m looking forward to St. Patrick’s Day.

Have a great day and enjoy the big game if you're watching.

Larry

Chili Pie On A Rainy Day

We made chili last weekend and had just enough left over in the fridge for a nice 12” chili pie and it was the perfect meal for a rainy evening. Bev did the cooking and her process was to heat up the 12” cast iron skillet in the oven. While it was heating, she made up a batch of her cornbread and doctored the chili by adding some canned corn and a small can of green chili’s. When the skillet was ready, she poured the cornbread mix into the bottom, then added the chili on top of it and back into the oven it went. When the cornbread floated to the top and was almost done she topped with some shredded cheddar and jack cheeses and back into the oven to melt – she actually let it get almost crispy, which we both liked.


This is my first serving and we both agreed it was her best ever chili pie – I think it was the green chili’s, she normally just uses the chili as is. I sided mine with a second smaller helping.


When I got ready for breakfast the next morning I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather have than left over chili pie and it was still very good - maybe should have put a fried egg on top. Hum.

Title photo is 12 year old grand daughter, Alex, from last summer.

Have a great day and I enjoy your comments and suggestions.

Larry

Asparagus And Crab Scramble

On Jan 26, Lea Ann over at Mangos, Chili and Z made a meal she called Crabby Uncle Louie and I wanted to give it a try, with a slight modification. Last night, I intentionally cooked extra crab for our surf n turf meal, so we’d have enough leftovers to make it. However, when the time came and I hate to admit this, but I was too lazy to make the sauce, even though it looked easy, so I decided on my old standby – a scramble.

I first sautéed the asparagus in a little olive oil until it was warmed through, then added the crab and warmed it. Here’s these two steps.


I added the beaten eggs to which I’d added some shredded farmers cheese and began the slow cooking process.



I topped it with a little more grated farmers, some grated parmesan and sided it with a piece of toast.


I thought it was very good, but wish I’d gone with my original plan which was to make everything like Lee Ann's but rather than poach the eggs and serve on an English muffin, I was going to bake the eggs in a hollowed out roll, then proceed as she did. Maybe next time.

I will make this again as well, but next time I’ll add a couple more spears of asparagus and use a more flavorful cheese, like Asiago or I’ll top it with Lea Ann’s fake Hollandaise Sauce, as she calls it. Hey, with a green veggie, steamed fish, dairy, and eggs, this is even pretty healthy - at least compared to most of the meals I post, I just needed a little fruit on the side.

The title photo is our cute grandaughter, Alex, who’s been living with us since last May – she’s very photogenic and actually did some modeling in Korea but I couldn’t figure out how to get those pictures to here - techno challenged you know. She's now 12 going on 20 or 7, depending on the situation.

Have a great day and I enjoy your comments and suggestions.

Larry

Surf And Turf At Almost Heaven South

We are finally having the special meal we’ve been planning for several days. Bev and her sister have had a very hectic last week or so with their mom in the hospital and Wende has had a birthday and started a new job after 13 months without – this is exciting. Sounds to me like a good reason to cook surf n turf, so we whipped up some steaks and king crab legs, along with baked potato wedges and salad. I had gotten the steaks out of the freezer a couple of days ago and three nice crab legs today for the three of us I thought would eat them, but on the way home from school I asked Alex and she advised she loved crab – yet another surprise from the weird eater. When I showed them to her and asked how many she would eat the answer was three – I don’t think so, but decided to cook the whole package just in case. Since she can’t eat the steak due to her braces, I didn’t want to run short on the crab, plus I have breakfast plans for any leftovers. She did her part and we barely have enough left for my breakfast plan.

I just grilled up the steaks to medium / medium rare – choice of strip or rib eye – and steamed the crab legs. I considered grilling the crab legs, but I’d never done it and didn’t want to risk messing up the meal. After steaming, I cut down thru them with the kitchen shears from our knife set and served them up with melted butter. The steaks were seasoned with Tiger seasoning, salt and pepper – I forgot the pat of butter again. Bev was the potato cooker and after cutting into wedges, she dried them, tossed in olive oil, sprinkled on some dry ranch dressing mix and baked them. We added a salad and decided to pass on bread since we already had more than enough.

Here are the steaks ready for the grill – the big strip in front is mine.


Steaks a cooking - the one that looks done already is for the sister-in-law who likes hers medium.


The finished products.



My plate.


I thought everything was great and even liked the potatoes done that way. It was worth waiting a few days to enjoy.

The title picture is our wisteria - spring is coming, but a little more winter predicted for the weekend.

Have a great day.

Larry

Bread Three Ways – Way Too Good

Tuesday was bread day at Almost Heaven South, and we decided to change it up a little. Bev’s two jars of starter make a total of six loaves of bread and she usually gives away five of them. So for today, I asked if we could just make two loaves and make the rest into pepperoni rolls and pistolettes. The pepperoni rolls were invented in the town I grew up in and here’s a link if you’d like to know more about them and I’d never heard of a pistolette until I’d seen the ones Chez made over at Fat Johnny’s Front Porch.

First, for the pepperoni rolls or buns to some folks, I just sliced up the pepperoni into strips about 4” long and 3/8” or so square. Many commercial makers in WV now use sliced meat but it doesn’t work as well as the sticks – I want a little pepperoni in every bite.


Bev cut the dough into 3 oz pieces, rolled them out to about ¼” thick and rolled up three pieces of pepperoni into each one, being careful to get the seam and ends sealed together.






Here's the pan full.


We’ve made them many times and this is our SOP.

For the pistolettes, I diced up the remaining pepperoni, some roasted red peppers from last years garden, some shredded Cabot sharp cheddar, and a little Classico marinara. I mixed it all together and Bev stuffed the same 3 oz of bread. She rolled them out the same as for the pepperoni buns, but laid the stuffing on and rolled them the other direction – which made them a little longer.





Bev wanted to try some with cheese on the outside, but it just seemed to make them stick to the pan.


She went off to the hairdresser and left me in charge of baking. I may have let them raise a little too much, but here they are headed for the oven.


And here they are all baked up.


An island full of good eats.


I ate one of each warm out of the oven at 4pm. The pepperoni buns were their usual excellent, but the pistolettes were make-you-wanna-slap-your-mama delicious (common term among BBQers, means super good) – where have these been all my life. I sure know what I’m having for lunch everyday til they’re gone. This is not health food, but if you’re a bread baker and haven’t made these, you are missing a real treat and if you’re not a bread maker, buy you some frozen bread dough and go from there – my aunt made them that way for years.



The pepperoni buns are usually eaten as they come from the oven, but to kick them up a few notches, they can be sliced and adorned with sweet peppers, marinara (or hot dog sauce) and cheese (usually mozzarella) then warmed until the cheese melts. This was my supper bun – I just sauted the peppers in a little olive oil, then added the marinara and put them on the bun along with the cheese - then into the toaster oven.




After watching Punxsutawney Phil's, prediction of 6 more weeks of winter yesterday, I began thinking about the weather. As an aside, even though I’d been through there many times as a child, I remembered nothing of it. So a few years ago we we made a little detour on a trip and went to Punxsutawney, Pa. If you’ve seen the movie, Groundhog Day (one of my favorites), it’s not exactly accurate. While they do have a nice downtown square within walking distance of a boarding house, Gobblers Knob is just that, a knob – from town you go up a long, steep hill to get there, unlike the short, easy stroll Bill Murray appeared to take in the movie. Meanwhile back to winter, it seems as though this year has had more cold than usual in these parts and I’m beginning to think about the view in the title photo (wisteria).

Sorry for such a long post, but have a great day, I enjoy your comments and don't hesitate to give me your suggestions.

Larry