Fried Crappie & Catfish with Brown Butter

A couple of years ago, I mistakenly cooked the butter too much while sauteing some Royal Red shrimp and we all loved them in brown butter (especially Big Daddy Dave).  Not sure why, but I don’t believe we’ve made something with browned butter since but then I saw this very simple recipe that needed to be tried.  Amanda’s recipe on her Crafty Cooking Mama blog calls for baking the haddock but I opted to use crappie & catfish and give it a quick pan fry.  Click on the above link for her recipe and more pics like this one.

Carb-a-thon For Christmas – Biscuits & Gravy and Potato Soup – And A White Christmas

For those of you eating more of a Keto diet, you may want to skip this post as our planned Christmas meals were on the opposite end of the spectrum.  It all started when Bev decided upon one of her favorite holiday meals for this year’s Christmas supper - potato soup with cornbread.  Then she was looking on-line and saw several biscuit recipes and said she’d like to try them sometime so I suggested Christmas breakfast as a start.

Merry Christmas and Turkey Salad Melt

MERRY, MERRY, CHRISTMAS

I borrowed this pic from our friends Facebook page as I thought it was a perfect shot.  Hope that's okay Dick and Marge.

Turkey Pot Pie

You may remember that rather than the typical Thanksgiving meal, we had Gumbo but we found we missed the leftover turkey dishes we normally enjoy so we bought a 12 pound turkey and an 8 pound breast in mid-December.  I seasoned them then cooked with orange, lemon, and onion slices and chopped celery.  I roasted them in a 350F oven, covered then uncovered, to an internal temperature of 160F.

Chex Mix & Women’s Hair

Bev decided she wanted to make Chex Mix this year so we added the ingredients to a recent Walmart pick-up grocery order – our first time for this and it worked very well.  We basically used the chex mix recipe from our friend Laurie (Big Daddy Dave’s wife) but changed the ingredients a little to make more.

Homemade Pizza & Swimming Critter Taste Test

I have a wife who makes great homemade bread.  I have a wife who loves pizza. I have a wife who makes great homemade pizza.  This day, she made a double bread dough recipe which she turned into three loaves of bread and one 16” pizza crust.  Her pizzas are generally topped with whatever we have on hand usually includes these veggies.

Polish Gołąbki (Cabbage Rolls)

While it was not my intent, I think this post counts as an around-the-world meal, of which I haven’t done many of during the pandemic - it's been hard to be inspired.  We enjoy cabbage rolls, a classic Eastern European dish, but are rarely willing to put in the effort to make them, however we were motivated when seeing them made on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins and Dives which included the recipe below from Food Network which we doubled and amended a little. 

Braised Beef & Root Vegetables And Covid-19 Hits Close

We last made this dish in March, 2018 and decided it would be a good meal for our Thursday delivery on a cold December day.  I had adapted the recipe from Emeril Lagasse and used the same one again but made 1½ recipes so we would have some as well.  I won’t reproduce the recipe here but it can be found at this LINK.   I only used four cups of beef broth and thickened with seven tablespoons of cornstarch mixed with some water before adding the root vegetables and it was just right.

Disappointing Beef But Good Breakfast

The closest supermarket to us is the Food City in Vonore, TN which is 6-7 miles away and it has become our go-to store since Covid – used to be the much more crowded Walmart in Maryville since we regularly drove by it.  Food City advertises their beef as upper choice, Angus Beef and I’ve not had any complaints until now. 

They had a great deal ($9.99/lb.) on a thick prime NY Strip Steak a few days ago and I couldn’t pass it up.

Thanksgiving Meal and Fish Supply

 In 2018, we decided to stray considerably from the traditional Thanksgiving meal and made Tex-Mex instead and we all loved it so this year we decided to give Cajun a try.  In late summer, while okra was still available from the neighbor’s garden, we made up a gallon of gumbo and stuck it in the freezer for the holiday.

Reuben Sandwich

I may have posted about these before, but they were too good not to post again but let me digress first.  My girls go to Marco Island once a year to lay around at our time-share and one of our favorite places to eat is Hoot’s in part because they make their own bread.  I love their rye and if you order in advance, they will bake you a loaf for ten bucks – equivalent to two normal loaves and well worth it to me – so Bev always brings one home.  We cut it in halves with one of them going in the freezer and the other always devoted to Reuban sandwiches.

Sablefish With Ginger Soy Glaze

I had never heard of Sablefish (Butterfish, Black Cod - they are all the same thing), likely because they come form the depths of the Northern Pacific Ocean and not likely to show up in our local supermarket here in the south.  However, several pieces came in our recent shipment from Sitka Salmon Shares and I decided to give one a try using the suggested oriental recipe.  They sent a recipe with the fish but I opted for a similar one from The Nourish Evolution as I had all of the ingredients.  Their recipe is for four pieces of fish so I divided everything by three to get the one below for my single piece.

This shot is from her site to show how the fish flakes.

Italian Beef

I’m a big fan of Italian beef but Bev is just so-so on it, so while she is in FL, I thought it would be a good Thursday night meal for our friends.  I looked at several recipes on line and because it contained sliced pepperoncini peppers and giardiniera, I opted to use it.  The recipe comes from Kristin on her Iowa Girl Eats blog and the original recipe can be found there along with more pics like this one.

Creamy Swiss Cheese Cauliflower Ala Lea Ann

After our very positive experience with her cheesy microwave cauliflower, I always look forward to trying Chef Lea Ann’s cauliflower recipes like this latest one on her Cooking On The Ranch blog.  I followed the ingredients list with a couple of changes but changed the cooking method by using two cooking vessels.  You can see the original recipe by clicking on the  link and see more of her pics like this one.

Baked Haddock, Salmon Taste Test, and Awesome Chowder

My girls are now on their annual junket to Marco Island and once again I am animal sitting for two weeks – I would have flown down for one week had it not been for Covid-19 concerns.  While they are gone, I’ve decided to try out some different fish dishes beginning with one I know Bev is not particularly fond of – baked haddock.  I rarely see haddock in the local Food City and when I did, I had to buy a few filets and try to replicate the delicious baked fish dishes I’ve eaten in New England.  

The first one I tried was Crispy Baked Haddock from Julie on her Table For Two blog  and I decided to make one per the recipe and another with added shredded cheddar.  I liked them both but the topping was a little too powerful for my thin fish filets.

Catfish For Supper And Fritatta For Breakfast

We had three final eggplant remaining in the garden and Cindy decided to turn them into skillet eggplant parmesan and, while not a natural pairing, fish is always a hit here so she fried up some catfish and made tartar sauce.

Al Capone Roast and Fall Dock Shot

We haven’t made this roast in several years even though we loved it the last time so I decided it would be good for the Thursday meal for our friends along with some creamed gnocchi and peas.

The original recipe for the roast came from All Recipes but I have modified it for the size of roast I had and ingredients I could get.  

Delicious Chicken Pepperoni

If you saw the Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase movie “It Seems Like Old Times” then you have likely heard of Aurora's Chicken Pepperoni and while I don’t think it was a real dish before the movie, several recipes have since been produced.  We’ve made the dish a few times with different recipes and the one below is our favorite.  It comes from Kelly on her Wildflour’s Cottage Kitchen blog and it makes plenty of sauce for the chicken and a side of pasta.

Shrimp Scallop Pasta With Orange Cream Sauce Ala Lea Ann

I had a partial bag each of royal red shrimp and scallops in the freezer and this recipe from Lea Ann on her Cooking On The Ranch blog seemed like a great use for them.  I adapted the recipe just a little to use more shrimp and use on-hand ingredients but you can click on the link for Lea Ann’s original recipe. 

Day Trip To Jonesborough, TN

For some time, I had been wanting to check out a campground near Jonesborough, TN as a possible site for a rally for our RV club so we decided to use this as an opportunity for a day trip. Founded in 1779 as part of North Carolina, Jonesborough is billed as Tennessee’s oldest town.  It is located in upper East Tennessee about 10 miles west of Johnson City and it is the seat of Washington County and was once the capital of the short-lived State of Franklin.

Salsa Verde Baked Chicken

I had saved several baked chicken recipes, from Kevin on his Closet Cooking blog, for our Thursday night meals, and I believe the Salsa Verde Baked Chicken is the third one I’ve made. I adapted the recipe by doubling the ingredients for my seven breasts.  I also made a double recipe of his Taco Seasoning which just fit into a normal size spice jar.  I made a four-breast pan for our friends and a six half breast pan for us. You can go to Kevin’s blog for the original four serving recipe.

Unfortunately, we got no pics, but mine looked very much like Kevin’s below.

Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Shrimp Stir Fry & Eliza Visits

Early last week, I had texted Wende so she could ask Eliza if she would like to come down for a weekend visit and she picked Sunday.  They usually get here around 4pm (after her nap) so dinner is always part of the visit.  We had some pineapple and colored peppers that needed to be used and some shrimp in the freezer so I looked thru my recipes and found the perfect one for these ingredients and a crowd - Mary’srecipe for Pineapple Shrimp Stir Fry. 

White Chicken Chile

We’ve made this recipe several times and I’ve previously blogged about it but after this batch we decided to make some changes to the recipe to make it more hearty by adding more chicken and more & different beans.  Since my blog is my main recipe file, I wanted to post this.

Crappie Puttanesca

A year ago, we made SwordfishPuttanesca using an adapted recipe from Proud Italian Cook and we loved it so we decided to try it with another fish – our favorite lake crappie.  I used the same recipe as for the swordfish but increased everything by 50% to have some leftovers.  Rather than repeat the recipe here, just click on the above link.

Italian Salmon And Fried Eggplant

We had five nice small eggplant to harvest and Cindy wanted to turn them into our skillet (not casserole) version of eggplant Parmesan (basically fried eggplant and we had some salmon in the fridge that needed to be used so we combined them into this meal.  Since it turned out to be Italian night, I used a recipe for Salmon Baked In Foil from Giada DeLaurentis. 

Gumbo & Quesadillas From Leftovers Plus Butterscotch Pie

Gumbo

We had plenty of leftovers from a recent batch of stewed okra and tomatoes and Bev decided she could make it into gumbo, which I thought was a brilliant idea.  She made up a dark roux from flour and butter and added it to the stewed okra along with some Creole seasoning to taste and some chopped rotisserie chicken.

Day Trip to Rugby, TN

After our recent successful trip to Chattanooga, we decided we would venture out again and make a day trip to Rugby TN, located on the Cumberland Plateau about a 2½ drive northwest from home.  But rather than go straight there, we made a few stops along the way beginning with Frozen HeadState Park near Wartburg, TN.

Shrimp and Scallops in a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

A few days ago, we were discussing a desire to eat some of the shrimp we had in the freezer and I remembered the recently published recipe for this dish that I had saved form Chef Dennis on his Ask Chef Dennis blog.  The red pepper sauce seemed like a very different way to serve seafood and Bev gave me a “I’m not sure about this” look but I wanted to give it a try as his recipes have always been good.  

I generally followed the ingredients list but increased everything for the 36 oz of peppers I had to insure enough for five servings.  You can click on the above link to check Dennis' site for the original recipe and several suggestions.

Chili Dog Casserole

Bev saw this recipe on line from All Recipes and as lovers of both baked burritos and chili dogs we knew it was a must try.  I grew up in an area of the country where a hot dog was a wiener in a bun and topped with sauce (special hot dog chili), mustard, and onion and if you ordered a dog with everything this is what you got, but in the spirit of broadening my horizons, I was willing to use chili with beans in the casserole.

As it turned out we had everything we needed on hand with a bag of homemade chili and some type of special wieners (bison we think) in the freezer, and the tortillas, onion, and cheese in the fridge.

Herb Stuffed Pork Loin On The Grill

A while back, I bought a whole boneless pork loin and carved it into chops and a couple of two pound roasts to stuff or use on the spit or both.  For this meal, I used the stuffed and grilled recipe from Marie on her Proud Italian Cook blog and I followed the ingredients list but changed the meat prep process a bit.  You can click on the link for her original recipe.

Eliza Visits And BBQ Sundae Ala Mary

Wende called and advised they would like to come down on Sunday of Labor Day weekend so that Eliza could go for her first actual swim in the lake and we said you bet.  As soon as she got on the dock, Eliza began saying she wanted to go in the big water and we accommodated her by letting her swim with both Wende and Cindy so she could go between them.  

A Day Trip To Chattanooga, TN

After months of leaving the house to only make necessary trips to the store, doctors, etc, we decided it was time to get out and believed we could do it safely.  Bev wanted to go to Chattanooga so along with Cindy and Pat, we got on the road at 9am.  We have only been into downtown two times and the last one was several years ago for a fairly short time with friends.  Bev had four things she wanted to do – visit a bakery, go to the Riverwalk, go to Lookout Mountain, and eat at the Acropolis so I made a travel plan to accomplish those plus drive around downtown, go to the north shore area, and go to Bluff View.

Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts

It was Cindy’s night to cook supper and she chose Spinach Stuffed Chicken Breasts using a recipe from ThatLow Carb Life .  She followed the recipe as written and here is a shot from their site.

Pork Chops And Cheesy Potatoes On The Grill

I believe that I’ve mentioned before that we grilled out most summer evenings when I was a kid and one of the dishes, served on occasion, was cheesy potatoes cooked in aluminum foil and it was a favorite of mine.  Mom made them by just adding cheese (Velveeta and longhorn I think), butter, and canned milk over the potatoes and onions but I have updated the recipe based on what I have learned over the years.

Chicken Marsala

September first was a special birthday for SIL, Pat, and we made her the meal of her choice - she picked Chicken Marsala.  Several years ago, we had made the dish from an adapted Carrabba’s recipe and all loved it, so we used it again.

Cindy Cooks Mushroom-Sausage Ragu & Anniversary

It was Cindy’s night to cook supper and for her meal she chose Mushroom-Sausage Ragu using a recipe from Food & Wine and she followed it except she used the whole pound of sausage and served it over hominy grits rather than polenta which is make from more finely ground cornmeal. 

Mushroom- Sausage Ragu – Slightly adapted from Food & Wine

The Ingredients:

1 cup dried morel mushrooms

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 2 sweet Italian sausages

1/2 pound shiitake caps, quartered

Salt and freshly ground pepper

2 thinly sliced shallots

6 water chestnuts, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Chopped parsley, for garnish

The Directions:

1. Soak the morels in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water until softened. Rinse and pat dry; reserve the soaking liquid.

2. In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the sausages, cover and cook over moderate heat until no longer pink within; slice 1/4 inch thick.

Greek Night At Almost Heaven South - Around The World Meal

The inspiration for a meal can be pretty well out there sometimes as evidenced by this one.  Bev had a cucumber that she had grown and wanted to use and decided she’d like to make it into Tzatziki sauce.  But what are you going to do with it was the next question to which she came up with a souvlaki recipe from Food & Wine.  Then I suggested that we just use this meal as our regular Thursday night offering for our friends and we make Greek potatoes as a side.  So this whole meal began with one over sized home-grown cucumber.

Stewed Okra and Tomatoes

Believing I wasn’t much of a fan, it’s been years since I’ve eaten stewed okra and tomatoes, much preferring my okra to be fried but Bev decided it would be a good way to use our extra tomatoes and the okra we were given so I reluctantly agreed.  It was delicious and while the plan was to put some in the freezer, we ate it all over a couple of days so we had to wait a few days to gather more tomatoes and okra before making the freezer batch using the recipe below which was modified from the one from Spicy Southern Kitchen.  The original recipe and more pics like this one can be found by clicking on the link.

A Few More Random Meals & Events

I sure wish I had more to write about than food, such as RV travels, but we’re just not ready to risk much yet – we are thinking about a short fairly local trip though.

A while back, I posted about my first brisket on the grill and I advised that the meat was a little overcooked but I did find a couple of ways to eat it that were very good.  One of those, which won’t surprise you, is breakfast food achieved by turning it into hash with the addition of onion, green pepper, and par-boiled potatoes.  Topped with a couple of sunny side up eggs, it was very good.

Redneck Tacos (Pulled Pork + Hoecakes)

I’d seen this while watching a TV food show where they feature a food type, a city, or a restaurant, and one of the dishes was Redneck Tacos from a restaurant in Nashville, TN.  So, I added it to my make-someday-list for the next time I cooked pulled pork which came about this past week. 

Pulled Pork Enchilada Verde Casserole

It was once again time for the Thursday meal for our friends and since I had pulled pork from my recent BBQ cook, a big pack of corn tortillas from the local maker, and have been wanting Mexican, enchiladas made the most sense.  I’ve learned after several months that casserole type dishes work best for delivery so I decided on an enchilada casserole.

I did not find a single recipe that I liked, so after reading several to get a sense of the proportions they used, I came up with the one below.

My First Brisket On The Grill

 If you follow my blog regularly, you know, I have recently been barbecuing meat on my grill, which is equipped with a smoker box, and I decided it was finally time to try a beef brisket – the most difficult cut of meat to get right.  And since I was cooking, I decided to do a pork butt just to have some pulled pork on hand.  And since I was cooking the pork, Bev wanted me to wrap it in banana leaves ala Hawaiian Luau.

I used my normal pork rub and harvested a couple of big leaves from our hardy banana to wrap it with.

A Few Recent Meals

For meal one, we had several green tomatoes we needed to use and opted to make a green tomato BLT since we love BLT’s, we love fried green tomatoes and we often see them on menus.  We used the recipefrom Meatwave, homemade bread, and Benton’s bacon.  The first shot shows my bread ready with mayo (Duke’s), bacon, lettuce, and colby jack cheese and it’s followed by two views after the deep fried tomatoes were added.

Cajun Shrimp and Linguine

I like to make Cajun/Creole meals more often than I do and when Mary posted the recipefor Cajun Shrimp and Linguine on her Deep South Dish, I quickly saved it.  I made a few changes to the recipe but it is primarily as she made it – my changes this time are in orange and I show changes I'll make next time - you can see Mary's original by clicking on the above link.

Ham, Broccoli, and Mushroom Quiche - Delicious

Sorry about the print color - don't know what's going on.

When Bev made her tomato pie the other day, she made a double crust recipe and had enough left for a quiche so I combined a recipe from For The Love Of Cooking and Spicy Southern Kitchen plus Bev added mushrooms to get the recipe below.

Homemade Dill Pickles

We don’t eat a lot of dill pickles but we prefer the garlic dills we make ourselves using a particular variety of cucumbers (name unknown) that we get from the Englewood Amish Market.  

Individual Tomato Pies

I don’t know why, but we haven’t made these in years and they are outrageously good.  The recipe comes from the Roseville B&B in Marshall, TX but I don’t have a link for it.

Some Recent Meals & Happenings

Bev works very hard to keep her flower gardens looking good and one of them is around the rock in the middle of our driveway.

A Day Trip Into The Foothills

I’ve been so disappointed at missing our RV trips this year and the recent cancellation of our six week long Colorado trip has me a little depressed.  I’ve considered some short local RV trips, but in the end, we decided to just try some day trips via the car beginning with this one.

Bev wanted to go to a Mennonite Farm Market but rather than our normal Englewood Market we decided to go further south to the Delano Community Market as part of the day trip loop – Delano is a small community south of Etowah, TN.

Jerk Chicken And Caribbean Rice & Beans

We had not made jerk chicken in a long time and we decided it would make a good Thursday supper for our friends and us.  I used our normal jerk marinade to season the chicken but the recipe below is for one and half times.  I like whole chicken for the dish so I spatchcocked one for us but they prefer breasts so I did four large ones for them.