Pepper Roasting Day

Most Chile Peppers have a cellophane-like skin on them that is unpleasant to eat and is usually removed by blistering it over high heat and peeling it off – jalapenos are an exception to this and are usually not peeled.  I recently picked my first batch of green and ripe Poblano (called Ancho when dried) and Anaheim peppers and roasted them on my gas grill.  Before roasting, I make a small slit in them with a knife point to allow steam to escape – they actually move around on the grill as this happens.

Here they are on the gas grill and this is not the best place to do them as it cook’s the flesh more than I’d like.  Next time, I plan to remove the flavorizer bars to expose them to the direct flame or used the charcoal grill like Chris over at Nibble Me This.

After blistering, I tossed them into a lidded bowl to steam for about 10 minutes.

Then I peel the skin off – resist the urge to use water to help this process as it will wash away some of the good flavor you’ve just added.

After grilling and peeling, I removed the tops, seeded, and froze the red ones and stuffed the green ones.  For the stuffing, I mixed either my pulled pork BBQ or fried chorizo into my normal ABT cheese recipe:

1 pack of cream cheese

1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp your favorite rub (I used Head Country)

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp mayo

Then I froze them for later smoking, grilling, or baking.

I also stuffed some of my Santa Fe chile’s and wrapped some in bacon as ABT’s for smoking in a couple of days.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Turkey Salad

Two years ago: Another Blog Inspired Meal

Larry

Fresh Frittata

Bev found a recipe for Emeril’s Farmers’ Market Frittata in the newspaper the other day and decided to whip it up for breakfast.  But remember she’s a cook and not just a recipe follower like me so when I asked her if she followed the recipe she replied yes then proceeded to tell me the 6 changes she’d made to adapt to what she had on hand. 

Fresh Fritatta

Adapted from Emeril Lagasse 

Ingredients 

6  eggs (she mis-read the recipe calling for 8, which would have been better)

3  tablespoons heavy cream

1/2  teaspoon salt

1/4  teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3  tablespoons butter

1  cup thinly sliced onions

1  cup diced green, red or orange bell peppers, or a mix

1  ear roasted corn kernels (left from another meal)

2 ½ links of chorizo, removed from casings and browned

1 clove minced garlic

½ cup diced seeded tomatoes

2  tablespoons chopped fresh herb mix of chives, basil, oregano

1 cup grated Swiss cheese (about 4 ounces) 

Instructions 

1. Whisk eggs, cream, salt and pepper together in a medium bowl until combined.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a 10-inch ovenproof sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and cook, stirring as need, until soft, 7 to 8 minutes.  Add tomatoes and garlic and cook a few minutes, then add the corn and chorizo and cook until warmed. 
3. Pour egg mixture over the mixture, top with grated cheese and herbs.

4. Cover with a lid and cook over low heat until eggs are set.

5. When eggs are set put under broiler for a couple of minutes to lightly brown. 

(As an alternate, after adding eggs, reduce heat to medium and cook, undisturbed, 3 minutes, or until the surface begins to bubble and the bottom starts to set.  Immediately place pan in oven and broil until golden brown on top, 3 to 4 minutes.)

6. Remove pan from oven. Using a rubber spatula, loosen frittata from sides of pan. Tilt pan and gently slide frittata onto a platter. Serve hot or warm. 

I don’t know what the original tasted like but this was delicious and with the chorizo it could be made southwestern by subbing cilantro for the basil and oregano.

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Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  Steak Kebabs

Two years ago: Not Your Typical BBQ Meal

Larry

Grilled Chicken Tenders

A while back we had Jalapeno Pesto Chicken using the recipe from Robyn at Grill Grrrl followed a couple of days later with beef fajita’s using a marinade from Chris at Nibble Me This and we still had some of both marinades remaining.  We also had a package of chicken tenders open and decided to use them to finish off the marinades.

I put the tenders in for a two hour soak (had more of the fajita marinade) and before grilling added some additional salt and pepper to the meat – both needed it the first time.  I grilled them over medium heat so the chicken would have time to cook before the crust got too dark.

I pulled them at 160* and let them rest about 10 minutes.

We sided them with an Italian salad that included some anchovies (on mine only) I’d discovered in the fridge.

The chicken and the salad were both delicious and Chris’ marinade for beef worked very well on the chicken.  Thanks Robyn and Chris for two very enjoyable meals.

I normally keep all things political off here but I had to post these two.  While watching CBS Sunday Morning they conducted an interview with Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels regarding his decision not to run for president.  I didn't get the exact quote but during the discussion, he
said something like - it can't be about doing things to get re-elected, it must be about doing the things necessary to save the Republic while there's still time - I have to wonder how many of our 535 Senators and Congressmen are operating with Daniel's philosophy.

This was sent to be me by a new BBQ customer.

Two Story Outhouse

Can't even think of anything to add to this...

Yep!!! This pretty much says it all.

Needs no additional comments!!!

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Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  New Orleans Trip – The Last Day,Downtown

Two years ago:  A Beautiful BBQ Day

Larry

A Nice Family Visit

I’d mentioned earlier that Rhett and his daughters spent a couple of days with us on their way to the new home at Ft. Bragg, NC.  While here, he had a couple of things to do including going down to the county seat, Loudon, to get a replacement title for his car.  Since his Harley was being stored in our garage, he decided he’d better exercise it a little, so he donned all of his Harley rider gear and off he went.  Upon returning, he advised he failed in his mission but enjoyed the ride so much he was heading out for another – since Meme was off shopping with the girls for who knows how long – she’s such a typical soft-touch grandmother.

When they all got back I had them pose for a couple of photos - first is Rhett with his four (not a typo) babies.

Then with most of the women in his life.

One of Bev’s favorite childhood memories is the Tennessee A&I Fair and she had to take the girls and she insisted Rhett go as well (but she was nice enough to let me babysit the dogs).  Before they left I whipped up a little dinner of reheated ribs – warmed in the oven then grilled to add a crust, grilled potatoes and green tomatoes.  The potatoes were tossed in rosemary infused oil and topped with some hot sauce.  The green tomatoes were drizzled with oil and dusted with Emeril’s Essence – I’d never considered grilled green tomatoes until Larry did them over at the BBQ Grail.  I love fried green tomatoes but don’t do them often due to the calories and mess involved, but these were very good and the effort was minimal.  I also grilled a couple of small pimento peppers which are great on the grill due to their delicious flavor and meaty walls.

The ribs were perfect for Bev as they were falling off the bone (I considered them overcooked and somewhat dry) and I will definitely cook green tomatoes this way again.  The potatoes develop somewhat of a tough crust when completely cooked on the grill and next time they will basted with flavored butter several times.

It was nice that their visit just happened to match up with my 65^th BD – yep I know I only look about 40 (LOL) but I’m now on Medicare and officially old as dirt.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  New Orleans Trip – The Last Day,Downtown

Two years ago: A Beautiful BBQ Day 

Larry

An Un-Cajun Is On The Loose

A year ago, Bev and I made a trip to NOLA and brought back several items so we could make the local cuisine at home, but each time I’d mention it, she’d rather have something else.  When son Rhett, who I know likes Cajun, stopped off for a couple of days on his way from Ft. Knox to his new assignment at Ft. Bragg, I decided it was now or maybe never.

I believed I had some crawfish tails, gator bites and boudin which I’d planned to turn into crawfish pie, gator cakes, and boudin balls.  I’d saved a recipe for the crawfish pie from Katherine over at Smoky Mountain Kitchen, a recipe for deep-fried  boudin balls from About.com, and planned to use my crab cake recipe with different spices for the gator cakes.

I’m sure you’ve heard the term “the best laid plans…”, when I went to the freezer I found the tails and boudin, but not the gator bites, finding some gator sausage instead – no problem as it would be grilled sausage rather than gator cakes and my job just got easier. 

So I turned to boudin and the recipe says remove the casing and crumble, then form into balls. 

I removed the casing from one of three and it crumbled like dry rice and would not form a ball, patty, or anything else. 

I considered adding and egg or other binder, but decided to just grill the other two along with the sausage – my job got easier yet.

We ate them while the pie baked and I’d made up a couple of sauces using a 50/50 mix of Big Bob Gibson’s Mustard Sauce and mayo and doing the same thing with some homemade mustard sauce I had - they weren't half bad.  This was our first time for boudin and Rhett and I both really liked it – preferring it to the gator sausage.  This was the mild and it was still pretty spicy - I can only imagine the spicier version was a flamer.

Earlier. I’d made the pie filling and just had to heat it up, fill the crust, and bake.  I tried to follow Katherine’s recipe to the letter, but I ended up with more of an etouffee in a pie crust and the more I baked it, the soupier it became. Check Katherine's site for what it's supposed to look like.

Several possibilities for this – perhaps I didn’t cook enough of the water from the veggies, or I didn’t reduce the sauce by half after adding the shrimp stock and cream, or my tails were not packed it fat and even though I drained them, they still added water. 

Like many recipes, even though you follow it, there’s a feel or look to the dish and you know when it’s right – just as I will next time.

Bev wasn’t interested in any of the NOLA dishes but Rhett and I both thought the crawfish pie was delicious and perhaps I’ll cook up some rice to put under the leftovers.  I'll make it again and maybe arrange for a lesson from Katherine in the meantime.

As for the remaining very crumbly boudin, you guessed it – scrambled eggs.  I just sautéed it in a little oil, added 4 eggs beaten with a little cream and hot sauce, scrambled moist and served with the leftover gator sausage which I’d split lengthwise and heated cut-side down in a skillet and added to a croissant with some of the mustard sauce.

Now this was my kind of Cajun food and Rhett's comment was "yep, I'm definitely a fan of boudin."

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  New Orleans Trip – Almost Over

Two years ago: A Little Fun In The Sun

Larry

A Visit With An Old Friend(s)

I’ve commented in the past about how easily I let go of relationships and I’m actually realizing I don’t like that about myself, so when I ran across an old friend, Jeni, from work on Facebook, I invited her down for a catch-up get together.  She advised she’d like to bring her significant other and we were so pleased when he turned out to be someone else we’d had worked with and was also a friend and Bev’s old boss, Ken.  It was such a pleasant surprise to get a two-for-one visit with old friends.

It was a gorgeous fall day so we decided to have it at the dock and I’d advised Jeni we’d provide a lite lunch – well you know how that goes.  Our original plan was for only Avocado and Shrimp Salad With Mango Dressing using the recipe from Lea Ann at Mangoes, Chili, and Z, which we’d had twice before.  Then Bev suggested we serve the salmon cakes we had in the freezer as an appetizer.  This was followed a day or two later with a desire to make a corn chowder recipe she’d seen in the paper.  And finally she advised we’d have to have some type of dessert, so a full blown lunch was at hand with:

Course 1 – Salmon cakes served on a bed of cheesy spinach with remoulade sauce

Course 2 – Corn chowder (I can’t believe she didn’t think of cornbread – I kept quiet)

Course 3 - Shrimp salad with Naan bread Ala Lea Ann

Course 4 – Ice cream topped with hot chocolate, whipped cream, and a cherry

For the salad, we followed LA’s recipe including the shrimp pot ingredients.  For large shrimp that I consider perfectly cooked, I bring the water to a boil, add the shrimp, top with a lid, turn off the heat, and set a timer.  After 7 minutes they go into an ice bath to stop the cooking.  The time can be varied a little for shrimp size.

Bev made the corn chowder starting with a recipe out of USA Weekend, from Pam Anderson of Three Many Cooks and adjusted it to suit her.  It was designed to be made without a dairy product but Bev decided it needed some.

Grilled Corn Chowder With Peppers And Cilantro

Adapted from Pam Anderson 

8 ears husked corn - 4 ears left whole and kernels cut from remaining ears and the cobs scraped to release juice

1 large onion - peeled and sliced ½” thick

½ red bell pepper - stemmed and seeded

½ green bell pepper - stemmed and seeded

1½ pounds potatoes - ½” slices

1½ Tbs - olive oil

To taste - salt and ground black pepper

8 slices bacon - chopped

1 tsp - dried thyme leaves

1 quart - chicken broth

2 Tbs - chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

1½ “ - Velveeta cheese, from regular size block

To taste - roasted garlic hot sauce

To taste - garlic powder

Brush the 4 ears of corn, onion, bell pepper and potatoes with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Purée cut and scraped corn in a blender (you should have about 2 cups).

Heat gas grill, igniting all burners on high for at least 10 minutes, or build a hot charcoal fire.  Clean grate with a wire brush and lubricate with an oil-soaked rag.  Place vegetables on hot grate and cook until just tender about 10 minutes.  Cook corn until browned on all four sides.

Remove vegetables from grill; set aside until cool enough to handle.  Chop potatoes, peppers, and onions, and remove corn from cobs

Meanwhile, fry bacon in a large soup kettle over medium-high heat until crisp.  Add thyme and then corn purée; cook until it begins to bubble.  Add chicken broth and bring to a boil; add vegetables, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, partially covered, until flavors blend, about 5 minutes.  Then add the cheese and when melted, taste and add salt, pepper, garlic powder, and hot sauce.  Stir in cilantro, ladle into bowls, and garnish with cilantro leaves.  This is it in the pot.

We thought the soup was delicious and so did our guests – we ate nearly all of it.  One change Bev said she'd make is to omit the hot sauce and add a roasted jalapeno or two with the other veggies.

The shrimp salad was once again delicious and the heated chocolate topping on the ice cream was left from the Kaluha cake she made a while back – it was delicious this way.

We washed it down with a variety of liquids, including a few sips of Cherry Moonshine brought by Ken - it was pretty tasty.

We had a wonderful visit and promised to work harder to get together more often.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago: New Orleans – Day Six, French Market

Two years ago:  Black And Blue Salad

Larry

Roan Mountain Day Trip

In an effort to get out and do more, Bev, the two small dogs, and I took a day trip up to Roan Mountain State Park, because we’d never been there and wanted to check out the park campground for RV suitability.  The park is located between the town of Roan Mountain and the base of Roan Mountain (kinda confusing huh?) in upper East Tennessee near the North Carolina Border – which is at the top of the mountain.  I’m normally a-get-to-the-end-point rather than enjoy-the-journey type of person, but I’m working to change that as well, so we took the non-interstate route up.  We traveled the old highways going thru Sevierville, Newport, Greeneville (for a lunch stop), and Johnson City. 

We watch a local PBS show called “90 miles with Chef Garrett”, where Knoxville restaurant owner and chef, Garrett Scanlon, travels around the area within 90 miles of Knoxville visiting restaurants, farms, farmers markets, and other food suppliers.  One of his stops was at a little place in Greeneville, called Tipton’s Café (since 1966) and since Bev and I had never been to Greeneville, we decided to stop off for lunch.  Talk about your hole-in-the-wall, this place was no more than 12’ wide and with the cooking area along one wall, the service counter with stools in the middle, and 2 small tables on the other wall, there was barely room to get through – I wish I’d remember the camera.

Chef Garrett had been there for breakfast and it had high on-line ratings, but we were there for lunch.  The only lunch special on Friday was pinto beans and cornbread (fortunately un-sweetened), which I ordered with chopped onion of course, Bev had a hamburger, and we split a homemade banana pudding.  We were plenty full and everything was very good, but I wish I’d asked if they served breakfast all day – my favorite food you know.  With a Coke, a giant iced tea, and sales tax, the bill was a whopping $10 – what a great value for the food we had.

Shortly after leaving Greenville, we saw a sign for the Davy Crockett Birth Place State Park (there is also a Davy Crockett State Park) and decided to have a look - with two state parks, one might think ole Davy is a favored son here in Tennessee.  It’s a small, but nice, state park in a beautiful location along the Nolichucky River.

I don’t know if this is the original cabin or the exact location, but if it is I can see why they settled in this valley along the river, but high enough to be above the flood plain.  We’ve come alone way in 250 years.

The lower level about 15’ below the cabin.

A typical East Tennessee barn along the way.

It was an overcast day and we knew we might be inhibited by the weather but we went anyway.  The Roan Mountain State Park was nice and the campground could accommodate the RV and we decided while we were there, we needed to drive to the top of 6200’ Roan Mountain .  On the way up, we could see the cloud we were about to drive into.

And we took a shot under it to the valley below.

We arrived at the state border and crossing of the Appalachian Trail

Then we drove on up to the famous rhododendron gardens where we found the parking lot empty – not surprising for 5pm on a foggy Friday.

These are some of the rhodys on the way out to the site of the former Cloudland Hotel – hard to believe this place was famous in the late 1880’s.

There were also a lot of sumacs (we think) in fruiting stage.

And on the way back down, there was a little break in the clouds for a shot of the valley on the other side of the mountain.

Now that we’ve checked everything out, we are thinking of a trip up for camping the week prior to the Rhododendron Festival next June.  It was a nice day, but it took us 10½ hours – about 5½ to drive up and 3 to drive back – it’s easy to see why Ike thought interstates were a good idea.

The Blue Ridge/ Smoky Mountains are just a beautiful part of the world and I’d love to have a time machine so I could see them about 1600.

All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

One year ago:  New Orleans Trip – Day Five, Tabasco

Two years ago:  Roadside Chicken

Larry