Crowd Pleaser

Do you ever have the occasion to take a dish for a potluck?  Covered dish? Brunch?  I have the knock-out recipe of all time.  My mom found it years ago.  We all fell in love with it, made it non-stop for awhile, then lost the recipe and forgot all about it.  Then, years later, it resurfaced thanks to the Internet.

Once we found it again, I made it one day when it was my turn for snacks at Sunday School.  The guys always love this dish because it's hearty, filling, spicy and it has pork (you know how they are about pork, right?).  The women always love it for all those reasons, but also because it's so out-of-the-norm and interesting.  After that first time of "guinea-pigging" my SS buddies, it's now become a staple.  In fact, when it's my turn to bring snacks, I sometimes get a request for this cornbread.  Most recently, we all met for wings the night before the Carolina-Clemson game and I remembered that two days later was my day.  The request was made.  I complied.  They ate, they smiled, they said nice things!

So, here's my recipe to share with you guys.  I must say...it is damn good and it's totally different, so it always gets people's attention.  It can be a brunch (or Sunday school "snack"), a lunch paired with a salad or soup, or a cool dish to take a sick friend.  I hope you'll try it and I certainly hope you'll love it as much as my family and friends do.

BLACK-EYED PEA CORNBREAD

• 1 lb spicy bulk sausage
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 (15 oz) can black-eyed peas, drained
• 2 cups shredded cheddar
• 3/4 cup creamed corn
• 1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapenos (my husband loves fresh jalapenos, but the pickled ones are hotter, most of the time because of the pickling; fresh ones can be inconsistent in heat)
• 1 (4.5 oz) can chopped green chiles

1. Cook sausage in large skillet over med-hi heat to break up and brown.  I like to drain it well, let it cool and then chop with a butcher knife to make it fine.  This is because I'm not crazy about hunky pieces of sausage.
2. Combine cornmeal, flour, salt and baking soda.
3. Stir together the eggs, milk, and oil until combined. Add to the dry ingredients, stirring until just moistened.  The batter won't be smooth.  Add sausage, peas, cheddar, corn, jalapenos & chiles, stirring well.
4. Pour into a greased 13x9" baking dish and bake at 350 for an hour, until golden and set.

***Freeze baked cornbread up to a month, thaw overnight in fridge. Bake, covered, at 350 for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake 10 more minutes until thoroughly heated through. To reheat directly from the freezer, bake covered at 350 for an hour. Uncover and bake 10 more minutes until heated thru.

So, that's the magic cornbread recipe.  It may look weird on paper, but trust me.  Make it, share it with friends and you're going to get rave reviews.  And, future requests!

The Flop

Looked pretty online, but real life was another story

I am the first to admit it when a dish goes South.  I told you a few days ago that I was making Balsamic Root Vegetables for Thanksgiving.  My reasons were:  I liked the picture, I've NEVER cooked or eaten a parsnip before, and since it was a crockpot dish, that would be one less project going on in the kitchen, one less body.  Well, unfortunately, it sucked.  

My mother-in-law liked it and I think maybe one other person was positive about it, but I was not.  The vegetables weren't overly mushy, but I probably could've stopped the cooking a little earlier.  The flavors were good.  But, for me, the failure was in the look of the dish and the smell.  The vegetables didn't retain their color and all kind of looked alike.  However, it was the smell that really did me in.  I can't quite put my finger on it.  Balsamic sauces usually smell very good, so I'm thinking perhaps it was the balsamic aroma mixed with the red onion?  It wasn't the kind of smell where someone would walk in and exclaim something like "What the hell is that smell?" but it was just "off-putting."  

• I can't even believe I just used that phrase.  Donatella Arpaia uses it ad nauseum on the Next Iron Chef and it drives me up the wall.  I get her meaning, but I'm pretty sure "off-putting" isn't really a word.  But, in this case, it's the best I've got.

Chalk this one up as a "tried and failed."  No big deal; can't win 'em all!

Thanksgiving Prep Work

I'm not sure why, but I'm super excited about this Thanksgiving.  My little sister is expecting a baby, so that's a new, exciting thing.  My aunt Jennie is getting married, so that's a new exciting thing.  And, Vivian is really into cooking now, so that's a new and exciting thing.  I'm suspecting these factors are influencing my excitement level.  I'm a cracker-jack detective, you see.

Neil and I both have today off and have had a great day together.  It's been a long time since we've had just a regular day together.  We have pretty much gotten all of our prep done and will have a low stress time tomorrow!

Neil is the turkey man of our family.  One Thanksgiving, we were in St. Augustine with Neil's mom, Mimi and his dad, Don.  I had heard of brining, but hadn't tried it yet.  Well, Mimi brined the turkey that year and for the first time I really, actually enjoyed turkey.  We lost Mimi shortly after we got engaged and Don a couple years later.  Since then though, Neil tackled brining and instantly mastered turkey roasting.  My mom is a turkey fanatic.  In fact, it has been established that if she ever ends up on Death Row, turkey & dressing will be her last meal.  So, if Dottie says Neil's turkey is good, well... AND, for Dottie to let Neil cook it instead of her, HUGE!

So, today we got the bird in the brine and it's soaking away in the fridge.  My pumpkin ice cream turned out to be nothing short of fantastic!  (btw, if you don't have your own nutmeg grinder, ask for one for Christmas).  I hope that will be a surprise for everyone.  I have toasted pita bread for the hummus, sliced celery, made curry dip, sliced all my veggies for the Balsamic Root Vegetables.  Then, I made the "white" mashed potato dish.  Potatoes with sour cream, cream cheese and evaporated milk.  They will go in the oven tomorrow; I'm pretty excited about this, believe it or not!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

After all that, I'm typing all of this fascinating information to you  as I have a glass of Chardonnay (I'm on vacation, dammit!) and try to think of what, if anything, I've forgotten.  I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  


I'm thankful that you read this blog!

Thanksgiving Prep

I posted this statement on Facebook, so sorry for the redundancy.  Every year at Thanksgiving I remind myself that I desperately need a bigger fridge.  But, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I forget about this until next year...

That's where we are today.  Currently, I have all the usual suspects: Brita pitcher, milk, wine, juice, eggs, a million mustards, jellies and salad dressings.  But, now add the new players:  13 pound turkey, bag of kale (it was a steal, I HAD to buy it), a head of romaine, bowl of ice cream custard chilling, tupperware full of jello, hummus, pie crust, parsnips and carrots.  In short, the damn thing is packed to the gills.  And, tomorrow, the turkey has to get into its brining vessel, requiring the removal of a shelf.  Guess I'll be trucking groceries over to Mom's tomorrow for temporary storage.  That or packing a cooler.  

Yeah, I wish!  Mine has about 1000X this much stuff right now!

I started prep work today.  Made 'sweet and spicy pumpkin seeds' that my girl Trudie turned me onto.  Now, I usually don't mix and mingle much with Lady M, but here's the recipe.  My sister loves pumpkin anything.  So, I'm making homemade pumpkin ice cream and will sprinkle the seeds on top.  I think it's going to work well.  And, I did REAL ice cream.  That's right...cream, egg yolks, cooked on the stove. 

Tomorrow, I'll embark on this crazy tradition from Neil's childhood..."white" mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving!  Never in my life!  But luckily Aunt Jennie is bringing her sweet potatoes so the Earth will not fall off its axis.  That reminds me; I'll have to give y'all the recipe for Jennie's S.P.'s.  If our family doesn't have these at Thanksgiving there is a mutiny. Things could get ugly.

So, here it is.  I hope you'll take the time one day to try this recipe.  They are so perfect and I think you'll be glad you tried it out.  And if you're a sweet potato and marshmallow kinda guy/girl, that's ok. Try these on a non-holiday and see what you think.  I think you'll ditch the marshmallows, but that's just me.

• 3 cups cooked sweet potato
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 stick butter or margarine
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbs frozen orange juice

Mash up your sweet potatoes until they are a nice, smooth puree.  Mix in all this other stuff.  Make the topping:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup pecans
• 1/3 stick butter/margarine

Have the butter at room temp. Blend in the brown sugar and flour; add pecans.  


Spread sweet potatoes in casserole dish.  Spread topping on top.  Bake at 350 until the topping is melty, brown and looks right!

Lamb Chop: Not the Puppet

Can food make a mama proud?  Yes, yes it can.  Lately, my sweet Vivi has been very eager to help in the kitchen, which is something I've waited for.  Even before she arrived on Earth, I always thought about one day having my own little girl and teaching her to cook.  Well, she's here and at 4 1/2, she's very quickly crossed over into "big-girldom."  And, the cool thing is that as long as she helps, she's totally down with trying whatever it is that she just cooked.

A few days ago, some of my beloved Facebook buddies were giving me a hard time about my post:  

Elizabeth Webber Akre It just feels weird driving around with a rack of lamb just laying there in the passenger's seat.

 I got questions like, "Raw or Cooked?", "Seat belt or Booster?"  Then this:

Elizabeth Webber Akre Got the Neilio cooking lamb chops for me and the Vivver.

This prompted comments like:  That's good because the thing has been in your car like 3 days in 70 degree weather. :) I love this one!  Good one, Kat.

 

Neil wanted to experiment with some different marinades with the idea of serving lamb "lollipops" for the holidays.  He's been mixing up all kinds of spice concoctions and cooking 2-3 rib "racklettes" over the last few days.  Sunday, Viv got involved and helped with the next marinade invention, which of course means she was all about EATING the lamb chops.  Remember, she's 4. I mean, 4 1/2.  I'm so glad she wasn't here to hear that faux pas...I would have been sharply corrected.  

 

The point of this story, you ask?  That night, we said "What the hell, let's see what happens."  So, we made her a plate of roasted potatoes, collards (her request; I know, right?) and lamb chops. The child ate 3 lamb chops.  Left nothing but shiny bones behind!  Yes, I'm very proud.  I have my baby eating lamb before the age of five.  I think that's quite an accomplishment, frankly.  This is what I've been hoping for; to have an adventurous little eater who loves to cook.  I think I'm on the right road.

Showing off the carnage.  Nothing but the bone left behind!

Shrimp Cocktail: What's in a Name?

What's in name?  Sometimes a lot. South Carolina's state dance is The Shag.  Start talking to a Brit about all the people shagging on the dance floor and they'll have a friggin' heart attack.  

Back in the early 70's, my parents went on a business trip to Spain.  I would have liked to have been an adult in the 70's.  First, your company sent you on biz trips to SPAIN.  Everybody had a couple of drinks at lunch and when you got an invitation to a party, you WENT, happily.  Today, a business trip is on your dime to exotic places like Myrtle Beach.  If you order a vodka/tonic at lunch some nosy broad at the table next to you gives you the "oh, great, I'm sitting next to an alcoholic" vibe.  And heaven forbid someone actually invites you to a party.  Life is just so darn busy, in a crummy way, that I certainly can't be bothered with a PARTY.  Inserting fun into my stressful existence can't possibly be the answer!  Ok, sorry, I digress...

So, mom and dad went to Spain and they had a blast.  Dad told everyone that mom was fluent in Spanish (a couple semesters = fluency...NOT) so they slipped away from the others as often as possible to avoid her responsibilities as 'official translator.' On one of these outings, they found a little cafe in a teeny tiny town.  They stopped in for some vino tinto and a bite to eat.  They ordered a shrimp salad-type dish.  I don't know what on Earth it might have been called, so all you Spanish majors, don't ask me.  Anyway, they loved it and upon returning to the States, my mom recreated it to the best of her memory.  It's shrimp, shredded lettuce, pickles or capers, and a 1000 Islandish sauce, and boiled egg.  Whenever she made it, she would serve it in these little cocktail glasses, or I guess maybe they're called parfait glasses.  Little glass bowls elevated on stems.  So, the Webber family referred to it as shrimp cocktail.  And, the confusion begins.

On a trip to Fripp, mom and dad had some big party to go to.  Katherine and I were probably about 8 & 10 at the time, so we decided we'd go to the big dining room on our own.  (In those days, you could let your kids roam free on the island because everyone knew each other).  Mom and dad gave us "the card."  Back then, we just showed people "the card" and we could get food, drinks, stuff, seemingly for free.  Just choose what you want, flash "the card" and walk away.  Nice and easy.  So, we got all dressed up and walked over to the dining room.

Katherine is a big fan of mom's shrimp cocktail, so when she saw it on the menu, she was quite excited.  She placed her order.  But, when it came, we locked eyes.  What was this?  I mean, really, what is it?  The waiter placed a cocktail glass in front of my little sister that was filled with cocktail sauce and had boiled shrimp hanging from the rim of the glass!  I'm sorry, were we not clear?  This is obviously some kind of joke.  So, we just politely employed the procedure we'd seen grown-ups do from time to time and sent it back.  That's right; this isn't what I ordered, take it away!  So, then, we had the manager at the table apologizing profusely and asking what else they could bring.  I'm sure that woman was so baffled about what she was apologizing for. I wonder if she still thinks about that night when she sees a shrimp cocktail.

Anyway, we finished eating whatever else we ordered, flashed "the card" and went on our merry way back to our condo.  When mom and dad came in, we told them all about the crazy mix-up.  How could a restaurant not know what shrimp cocktail was?  Then, mom laid it all out for us.  HER shrimp cocktail was really her version of a Spanish shrimp salad.  We just CALL it cocktail.  

That would have been really good to  know.  

There's no telling how many employees of that dining room and kitchen thought either they had lost their minds or that we were two little uppity kids who didn't know jack about fine dining.  Either way, we still maintain that shrimp cocktail is much more than boiled shrimp hanging from a glass of cocktail sauce (probably really humiliating to the shrimp I would think).  Now, we just know that we have to make the distinction between Mom's Shrimp Cocktail and the rest of the world's Shrimp Cocktail.  Nomenclature!