Celebrating A Life in Recipes

On July 29th, I posted a farewell to my online buddy Becky. Today, her birthday, I will share with you some of my favorites of the recipes she had shared with me over the years.

I invited some friends for lunch to enjoy Red Beans and Rice, a salad of spinach, sweet potato, goat cheese, and bacon, and a dessert of chocolate meringue pie while I told them the wonderful things I knew about Becky. Her roots in Louisiana, her two daughters and wonderful husband. Her farm in Tennessee and her residence in Alabama. Her dedication to the Huntsville Botanical Gardens and her passion for art deco, Fiestaware, and vintage linens.



Red Beans and Rice

2 cups dry red beans
6 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon Tabasco sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon cayenne
¼ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon thyme leaves
6 grates nutmeg
1½ teaspoons salt
1 lb. smoked sausage, Optional
2 cups uncooked rice

About noon on Sunday wash the beans and put in crockpot with water, onion and garlic. Turn heat to LOW, cover and cook.
Sunday night before you go to bed add the Tabasco, Worcestershire, cayenne, oregano, thyme, nutmeg and salt. Add more water, if needed. Cover and continue cooking.
On Monday morning slice and steam the sausage if you are going to use it; add to crockpot. Again, add water, if needed. Cover and cook till suppertime. Cook rice according to package directions. Place cooked rice in soup plates and ladle the beans on top.
Serves 6



Here is the link to Becky's blog and her recipe for Chocolate Pie.

I have only recently tried Becky's recipe for Pound Cake, and it is truly delicious. Here is the recipe and her history with it.



Pound Cake
In my birth family I was known for never being able to get a cake out of a pan in one piece. However, when we got married, Mike's aunt gave me Southern Sideboards (Jackson Jr. League cookbook). In it was a recipe for Selma's VA Pound Cake. He had requested pound cake for dessert and being a newlywed, I wanted to try to make it. Well, I made it and it turned out of the pan perfectly! No more jinx. I tinkered with the recipe a little, and this is my version of that cake. It's been a success for 27 years now.

1½ cups butter
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups unbleached flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pinch salt
½ teaspoon baking powder

Grease and flour a large tube pan.

Cream butter and sugar till smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Add flour a little at a time. Slowly add milk, flavouring and salt. Put in the baking powder last. Pour batter into pan and place in cold oven. Turn temperature to 325ºF and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool slightly and remove from pan.

The Best Part of Late Summer

School children wimper and wail as Summer winds down and slowly eases into Fall, but those of us past the age of romping barefoot in fields of clover, chasing firelies and sucking honeysuckle have reasons to celebrate. While temperatures still dance in the low nineties, late summer fruits are in full harvest.



Great grapes! It's time for grapes. Not the grapes available year round in the supermarket...those marevelously thick hulled grapes grown on arbors in back-yards and wild grapes with vines climbing sturdy old trees in secret places. Forget the ragweed, pick up your buckets and baskets and head out for Scuppernongs and Muscadines!

If you've never experienced it, you should give it a try. Take a grape and look for the point where it grew from the vine. Place it half-way between your lips and gently bite down until the juicy flesh pops into your mouth. Chew softly, separating the pulp from the seed. Your tastebuds will dance, your nostrils will flare, your eyes will light up.

These delights are native to the southern United States and make marvelous jelly and wine. But truly, they are best enjoyed with your feet propped on the porch rail, popping them in your mouth and discarding seeds and skins into a piece of newspaper while watching the sun set on another late summer day.

If you aren't fortunate enough to have a neighbor or friend with a vine, certain supermarkets will carry them for a short time. I've found them at the Piggly Wiggly, Publix, and even Walmart. Life is an adventure..try something new!

Goodbye, Dear Friend

A woman that I never met, but considered to be a dear friend passed away today. We "met" through an online community that started on the Food Network website as fans of Ina Garten. When the Food Network discontinued the discussion boards, we migrated to a new, ProBoards forum entitled "Contessa's Kitchen".

Beck Turner was a dedicated wife, mother, daughter, and sister. She was an adventurous and creative cook, and an expert at long forgotten food arts like canning and preserving and taught me a great deal. She collected FiestaWare and loved to create "tablescapes" with her beautiful dishes.

If you are reading this, please take a moment to look to the right at some of my favorite sites. There is a link there to her blog, Random Musings of a Decolady. Please visit it to truly appreciate how much she will be missed.

What To Do With All of These Tomatoes?

I've been quite busy, lately, canning and pickling. I made two batches of pickles and a batch of salsa in the last couple of weeks. Then I received a call from my dad stating that his tomatoes were coming in fast and furious and to come get some soon before they were all gone.

I loaded up the cats and headed south to find his garage over-run with tomatoes and many still on the vines. First I made another batch of salsa. Then sat and calculated the amount left. His neighbors and friends have reached the saturation point and are refusing to take his calls.

Today I decided to try my hand and canning tomato sauce and found this recipe.

Tomato Sauce with Fresh Herbs

15 lbs tomatos
2 lbs onions
1/3 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic
2 cups chopped fresh basil
3 TBS salt
1 TBS pepper
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 bottle red wine (optional)


I know the color is wild, but that is 15 pound of tomatoes, pealed and chopped.

Peel and chop tomatoes and set aside. Dice onions and saute in olive oil. Add chopped garlic just before onions become translucent. Add tomatoes, salt, pepper, basil and wine (if using).



Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until reduced by 1/3, about 2 hours. Add lemon juice and cook an additional 5 minutes. Fill jars and place immediately into boiling water bath for 30 to 35 minutes (30 minutes for pints, 35 for quarts). Makes 8 qts if using wine, 6 if not.



My sister contributed the basil from her garden and the smell is divine. I can hardley wait to cook up some pasta and try it! Imagine garden fresh goodness in the middle of winter!

Pie, Pie, Me Oh My!

Say the word pie, and two things immediately come to mind...Andie McDowell's song about pie in the movie Michael and an obscure skit from Saturday Night Live in which Alec Baldwin reproaches diner waitress Jan Hooks for giving away pie with a meal because it made her look cheap.

I am a pop culture junkie.

A pop culture junkie that looooves me some pie!

I was invited to participate in an online event in which over a thousand of us baked pie and posted the photos on Facebook or Twitter and it threw me into a tizzy (for those of you not from the South, I was terribly excited.) What kind to make? Fruit, cream, or custard? One crust, two crust, or lattice top? Which pastry recipe to use? Cold water pastry? Hot water pastry? Pate brisee?

A quick inventory of my pantry and fridge and I decided on Lemon Meringue, a personal favorite.

First, the pastry. This recipe came from Suzie in the Contessa's Kitchen discussion board and was quite lovely.

Perfect Pie Crust
1/2 cup water
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vinegar

Mix together with a fork and set aside.

In a large bowl put
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 & 3/4 cup of Crisco (no substitutions)

Cut the Crisco into the flour mixture (I just use my hands) When it is well blended add the liquid. You don't have to worry about toughening the dough, mix it in. Don't worry if the dough seems wet, divide into 2 or 3 equal discs and wrap in plastic wrap and chill for approximately 2 hours. Roll on a floured board to 1/8" thick and about 12" round.

Place in 9" pie pan and trim pastry so that it is 1/2" larger than the rimmed edge of the dish. Fold under and crimp. Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork 4 to 6 times. Place a piece of foil (I like the non-stick) in the bottom and add pie weights (I use dried beans). Place in a 375 degree oven for 15 to 18 minutes. Remove foil and weights and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Bake until golden brown, about another 15 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.




And then, the filling.

The original recipe is a bit spotty. It is from the Calling All Cooks cookbook by the Alabama Telephone Pioneers. The submitter, Evelyn Gullett, must make this filling by rote and tried to write it by memory. A few things were not very clear, so I've tried to clean it up a bit.

1 1/2 c sugar
3 T salted butter
1 1/2 c water
1/3 cornstarch
juice of three lemons
3 egg yolks, beaten well

Cream together butter and sugar. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add lemon juice. Add sugar mixture and egg yolks and mix well. Place in medium sauce pan and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat and cook approximately 10 minutes. Place in prepared shell.



For the meringue.

3 egg whites
6 Tbs sugar
1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Beat until stiff and spread over the filling, making sure meringue meets crusts to seal the pie. Bake at 350 degrees until peaks begin to brown, about 10 minutes.

The finished product.





Now then, everybody sing along...

Pie
Pie
Me oh my
Nothing tastes sweet, wet, salty and dry
all at once o well it's pie
Apple!
Pumpkin!
Minced
an' wet bottom.
Come to your place everyday if you've got em'
Pie
Me o my
I love pie!

More Southern Delights

A couple of weeks ago, while watching Good Morning America, I saw Martha Hall Foose prepare a few dishes. Martha Hall Foose is the head chef for Viking stoves and specializes in Southern cooking. Two of the on air personalities are from the South and were terribly excited to see a particular dish on the table. It made George a bit curious..."What's the deal with the carrots?"

Robin told him it was a "Southern thing" and MHF explained it was old fashioned Copper Pennies.

This reminded me of how much I adored this dish and how long it had been since I tasted it. So here is my version:

Copper Pennies

2 lbs carrots peeled and sliced a uniform width
1 red onion, sliced thin
1 green bell pepper, julienned
1 can condensed tomato soup
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp Worcester Sauce

Mix soup, oil, vinegar, sugar, and Worcester Sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to blend. Remove from heat for 10-15 minutes.



Place carrots in a 4 qt pan of boiling water and cook until al dente, approximately 10 minutes. Drain.



Place in bowl with onion and bell pepper. Cover with marinade and refrigerate overnite.



Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day for me, and I needed something to take to movie nite with my friends. Of course, it's not like there will be any shortage of food...but I like to cook for my friends. I plan on taking the Copper Pennies and a pound cake, but I wanted to make some pimento cheese.

First, I made my mayonnaise. Then I grated cheese and onions, and mixed everything together and let the flavors meld overnite.

Savory Pimento Cheese

1 lb mild cheddar
4 oz chopped pimentos, drained
1 tsp grated onion
2 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
Celery salt to taste
Mayo to bind



Mix together.



Taste. Season as needed. Refrigerate



For the record, the mayo has cayenne pepper to add a little interest to the pimento cheese.

Great on sandwiches, crackers, or celery.

Fresh Strawberry Scones

I have many failings as a cook. Many of the recipes I try never make it to this blog. I'm too cheap to toss the failures, so I usually wind up eating them. Most taste okay, but a few have not. And I'm lazy. I love recipes that only mess up a single bowl or dish or that don't dirty every dish, pan and surface in my kitchen. I tend to rush through processes because I don't pay as much attention as I should to the recipe. I am impatient.

I am an inexperienced baker. I have little skill but boldly go forward with ill-advised confidence. Oh, I'm good at cookies because I've made plenty. I'm okay at some cakes. I am terrified of bread. All bread. I am Southern born and bred but do not know how to make biscuits. I hope to one day correct this.

But a few things happened today that led me to baking scones...a visit to the farmers market for some lovely, locally grown strawberries and the fact that I spent hours cleaning my oven.

What, you say? You don't want to sully a freshly cleaned oven? Not me...I could hardly wait to toss something inside. So I found a recipe online for scones using fresh strawberries.



Believe me, this recipe was very close to not making this digital record. The dough was very wet and far more a mess than I wanted. The instructions failed me. I will post the recipe as written by Annie Y on Allrecipes.com and then add my notes below.

Fresh Strawberry Scones

1 cup ripe strawberries, cleaned, hulled, and diced
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup light cream
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1 Tbs baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
6 Tbs cold unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place diced strawberries on paper towels to absorb liquid. Combine the cream and vanilla extract in a small pitcher and set aside.



Whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and zest together in a large bowl. Cut the cold butter into chunks and cut into flour until mixture resembles pea-sized crumbs. Gently toss strawberries in flour mixture. Create a well in the flour mixture and fill with the cream mixture. Quickly stir dough together until just blended. Allow dough to rest 2 minutes.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until smooth and satiny, 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer dough to prepared baking sheet and pat into an 8-inch round. Use a serrated knife to cut the round into 8 wedge shaped pieces. Separate wedges on the baking sheet, leaving at least 1/2" space between.

Bake in preheated oven until the tops are light brown and crusty, 16 to 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool 20 minutes before serving.



So, here is what I found. This is a very, very wet dough. Do not skimp on the flour for kneading. I kept adding flour, using at least 1/2 cup, maybe more. The dough was so wet, that I never achieved "smooth and satiny" but did place it on the prepared baking sheet and formed an approximately 9" round. I used my bench scraper to cut the round into wedges and did not separate them. (You can call me a rebel, but my hands were goopy and I was tired of messing with it.)

Also, a small disclaimer...I used heavy cream because that was what I had in the fridge.

Anywho, "all's well that ends well" and this ended very well. The scones are tender and not as dry as scones I've purchased. I really like them, but wish I had used more strawberries. I love the brightness that the lemon zest adds and the subtle hint of the nutmeg. With a little schmere of butter and a cup of tea, they are lovely.