After so much time not wanting to turn on the oven or turn on burners on the stove, it is nice to finally get a chance to cook again!
Tonight we had squash with cherry tomatoes and basil butter and jalapeno basil pork chops. Just from the recipe names you can see that I had to go out and harvest a good bit of basil (that would be 3 or more leaves).
Basil
I’ll leave you with the jalapeno basil pork chops – after the video of my nephew’s audition for History Channel’s Top Shot. Please go and view the video and if you have a YouTube account, leave a comment!
Today’s Lagniappe: Jalapeno Basil Pork Chops
1 (10 oz.) jar jalapeno pepper jelly
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Salt and Pepper to taste
4 (1-inch thick) bone-in pork loin chops
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cook 1st 3 ingredients in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring often. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook 5 minutes or until pepper jelly melts. Remove from heat and let mixture cool completely.
Pour 3/4 cup pepper jelly mixture into a large zip-top plastic bag, reserving remaining mixture; add porch chops, turning to coat. Seal and let stand at room temperature 30 minutes, turning pork chops occasionally. (I recommend a bit more than 30 minutes).
Remove chops from marinade, discarding marinade. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Grill, covered over medium-high heat 7 to 10 minutes on each side.
Thank you for all the prayers and thoughts for my family upon the passing of my wonderful Grandpa, Frank Dicus. The “funeral” was a wonderful celebration of a life well lived.
We shared a lot of wonderful stories, some tears, some laughs and in the great Southern tradition, some wonderful food!
Thank you to all the wonderful cooks who contributed to the wonderful fare we enjoyed while remembering Grandpa!
So, of course, I have to share some recipes, don’t I?
One of the wonderful dishes we had was roasted brisket. Delicious and versatile. it is a great funeral dish!
Today’s Lagniappe: Slow Roasted Brisket
* 4 to 6-lb beef brisket
* 4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/4 cup brown sugar
* 1 tbsp paprika
* 2 tsp salt
* 1/2 tsp black pepper
* 4 large onions, sliced
* 1/2 cup red wine, broth or water
Cooking Instructions
1. In a bowl or small food processor, combine the minced garlic, brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper. By hand, rub this mixture all over the brisket, wrap tightly in foil or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
Live a wonderful life and enjoy as much as you can, and . . . join:
3. Lightly grease a roasting pan with vegetable oil cooking. Place the brisket in the pan and add the sliced onions. Pour the red wine or other liquid and cover the roasting pan very tightly with heavy duty foil (or the lid, if there is one). Place the pan in the oven and roast, undisturbed, for 3 hours. Uncover the pan and continue to roast for an additional hour, basting occasionally with the juices from the pan.
4. If you want to serve the brisket right away, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before slicing. Arrange slices on a platter, skim off any fat from the pan juices and spoon some over the meat. Serve the remaining pan juices separately.
5. If you are cooking this a day ahead of time, let the brisket cool completely, then refrigerate without slicing (it’s easier to slice the brisket when it’s cold). Skim off any congealed fat from the pan juices, slice the brisket thinly and arrange in the baking pan. Cover tightly with foil and reheat in the pan juices at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) for about 30 minutes or until heated through.
So, my message today is to live a wonderful and fulfilling life! Eat wonderful food and enjoy:
I’ve already been out to the Farmer’s Market this morning. Lovely tomatoes and Arkansas peaches – YUM! When we go home, I did a quick cleanup of the driveway before the heat get too unbearable. It is going to be over 100 degrees here AGAIN today! I really love Summer, but this is getting a bit old.
I love the Farmer’s Market – maybe there is just something about shopping outside! Of course, there is also the great benefit of getting local produce and actually meeting the people who grew it. There is the man who is telling me about the corn that he just picked last night. Then there is the lady who picks many of her tomatoes green for the market – “Cause, you know, you can’t just get those anywhere.”
The Amish family had fresh flowers today. I love that. Especially, since I didn’t plant my big garden with the zinnias this year. I have to be content with zinnias from the Farmer’s Market or with looking at pictures of my zinnias from last year.
Do you have a great Farmer’s Market near you? What is your favorite thing about your Farmer’s Market?
Today’s Lagniappe: Ideas for Local Tomatoes
I found this at Sunset.com. There are also a lot of great ideas for other local produce there. Check it out!
Quick idea No. 1: Mix chopped tomatoes and basil with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. Spoon onto toasted baguette slices.
Quick idea No. 2: Cut green grape or cherry tomatoes in half and top with a half-teaspoon of fresh goat cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Figs are in season right now and oh, how I love them. I used to have a fig tree. It was a brown turkey fig tree. It would bear a few figs in the late spring and then really start to flourish in the late summer, early fall. I tried moving it around with me to a couple of different houses in a pot. Unfortunately, it didn’t survive one of the winter moves.
If your only experience with figs is Fig Newtons, then you really have to search out some fresh figs to see how extremely different from the well known cookie filling the fresh fig tastes. I’m not knocking Fig Newtons. I actually think they are very tasty. They just don’t really have that fresh fig taste.
Of course, the fig leaves are also quite attractive. They work great as a foundation for a cheese plate (with which figs would work very well). They are also famous for covering Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Figs are also known as a healing food. They are said to control cholesterol, prevent colon cancer, and lower high blood pressure. That little fig packs a lot of power!
There are several types of figs. I’ll tell you about 3.
Brown Turkey Fig
This is the kind of fig I grew. They have brownish / copper-colored skin, often with hints of purple, and mostly pink/red flesh with some white flesh.
Celeste Figs
The Celeste Fig is very common in the South. They are small and sweet and delicious. The are a purplish-brown when ripe, and have a dark, sweet, moist, purple flesh inside.
Mission Figs
Mission Figs are one of the most well know figs. They were named for the mission fathers who planted the fruit along the California coast. This fig is a deep purple which darkens to a rich black when dried.
Let’s all have a “figgy” day! What is your favorite fig recipe?
Today’s Lagniappe: Fresh Figs with Goat Cheese and Peppered Honey
I found this easy and yummy recipe at Epicurious.com
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 fresh figs
1/4 cup soft fresh goat cheese
Combine honey and pepper in small pitcher; stir to blend. Starting at stem end, cut each fig into quarters, stopping 1/2 inch from bottom to leave base intact. Gently press figs open. Spoon 1 teaspoon cheese into center of each. Arrange figs on platter; drizzle with peppered honey. – 4 Servings.
Late July and Early August are really hot around here and also very humid. It has been said that the humidity is what gives Southern girls their wonderful complexions! It may also be responsible for some really bad hair days. I don’t even try to fight the curls in the summer. Just not worth it. My summer do is definitely of the naturally curly variety.
This is also a great time to harvest all that wonderful goodness from the garden or at least the farmer’s market. I’ve been putting up okra.
Gather it from the garden (get 3 or more pods)
Some people use a buttermilk batter when they fry their okra. That is not the way I grew up eating it. The way my mother made it is by just cutting it in to slices and tossing it in a mixture of cornmeal with a little flour and salt and pepper (I also add garlic powder to mine). It is easy to prepare to freeze that way as well. Just process it and put it in freezer bags and in to the freezer and it is ready whenever you are.
When you are ready, just heat up some oil with a bit of bacon grease to around 350 and gently drop the okra in the pan and fry until golden. YUMMY!
This is also the time of year when there is a good harvest of tomatoes. In my case, this year I have cherry tomatoes in pots with basil.
Looks like a bird dropped a sunflower seed from the bird feeder in this pot.
We have been making frequent trips to Jonesboro, Arkansas this summer for our business. One of the fun/scary sights of summer, we see on our trip over. It is KUDZU! Yes, the kudzu that is eating it’s way across the South!
photo courtesy of dmott9 via Flickr
The kudzu transforms trees and power poles into giraffe like figures and an ordinary bush looks like a green leafy monster. Lots of fun!
This time of year is also when the morning glory really comes in to it’s own.
Yes, it is really hot and really beautiful and quite tasty as well!
Today’s Lagniappe: Bananas Foster Cheesecake
Saw this recipe and thought is sounded fabulous!
Crust:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup finely chopped pecans
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Filling:
2 8-ounce packages creme cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 large eggs
2 cups puréed bananas (from about 4 bananas)
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
Topping:
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 17-ounce jar caramel sauce
2 tablespoons dark rum
2 bananas, peeled, sliced
For crust:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap outside of 9-inch diameter springform pan with 3-inch -high sides with heavy-duty foil. Combine flour, pecans, butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl. Mix well. Press mixture onto bottom of prepared pan.
For filling:
Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar. Beat in cornstarch. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until just blended after each addition. Add puréed banana, sour cream, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Beat just until combined.
Transfer filling to crust-lined pan. Place pan in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come 1 inch up sides of springform pan. Bake until center of cake is just set, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Remove cake from oven. Maintain oven temperature.
Meanwhile, prepare topping:
Mix together sour cream, sugar and vanilla in small bowl until well blended. Spread topping over cheesecake. Bake until topping is set, about 10 minutes. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven until cooled to room temperature, about 2 hours. Refrigerate cake until well chilled. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Cut around cake to loosen; remove pan sides. Transfer cake to platter. Warm caramel sauce in small saucepan over low heat, stirring often. Mix in rum. Drizzle some sauce decoratively over cake. Arrange bananas top cake.
It is still really hot here, but I still try to brave the back porch whenever possible. Today, while I was out, a small rain shower moved in and cooled things just a tad. The sun was still out while the rain fell. Norvelle Turner, who helped raise my husband used to say, “the devil is beating his wife” when it rained while the sun was shining.
We may have to have our meals earlier in the morning or way later in the evening to enjoy them outside, but still, I love to be outside and watch the birds and the rabbits and see the wind blowing the trees. Here is my pink outside tablescape:
The inspiration
A pink table for:
with Between Naps on the Porch
Some pink for:
Pink Saturday with Beverly at How Sweet the Sound
And today’s lagniappe is a summery recipe for:
With Designs by Gollum
Today’s Lagniappe: Summer Squash and Cherry tomatoes in Basil Butter
From Dining by Fireflies: Unexpected Pleasures of the New South – The Junior League of Charlotte, North Carolina
Saute squash and tomato in 2 tablespoons basil butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat 10 minutes or until squash is tender. Serve with remaining basil butter.
Basil Butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, minced
3/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup butter, softened
freshly ground pepper to taste
Process all ingredients in a food processor until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides. Cover and chill until ready to use.
Save any leftover basil butter to slather on hot corn on the cob.
First a note to some of you with blogspot blogs. I went to visit several of my friends with blogspot blogs today and they would not allow me to leave a comment. I’ll try again later. Hopefully, it was just a temporary thing.
Anyway, I was thinking back to my younger days today and remembering some of the things my mother used to make for parties.
Mama back when I was a little girl.
There were the little wienies in the crockpot with grape jelly and barbecue sauce. This sounds strange but it was really good. You put some on your plate and ate them with a toothpick.
Which reminds me . . . I was looking for some cocktail forks tonight and ended up wondering how it is I came to possess so many fondue forks. I actually found 3 sets of fondue forks! Is that strange, or what?
Okay, anyway, where was I? Oh yes, thinking of those things my mother used to make for parties. Oh yes, Rotel dip. Oh yes, I was asked what Rotel was and I never got a chance to reply to that. Rotel is a brand name and it is canned tomatoes with chili peppers. Kind of spicy and when you mix it with melted Velveeta cheese it makes a mighty tasty dip for Fritos!
She made lots of different kinds of cheese balls and party mix and dips for lots of friends who were always there to visit.
One of my favorites was hot cheese olives. The olives on the inside are encased in a kind of cheese straw kind of crust. They are so yummy!
Today’s Lagniappe: Hot Cheese Olives
1 stick of softened butter
2 cups (8 oz.) grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (at room temperature)
1 1/2 cups flour
dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
dash of Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
50 small pimento-stuffed olives, drained and patted dry
Preheat oven to 350. Beat the butter until creamy in a large mixing bowl. Add the cheese and mix well. Stir in the flour salt, cayenne and Worcestershire. Been the egg and add to the dough and mix until just incorporated.
Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and pinch off a piece about the size of a walnut. Flatten the walnut size piece of dough in your hand. Place an olive in the middle and wrap the olive with the dough. Repeat until all of the olives are used.
Place dough wrapped olives on a cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes until done.
Do you ever tweak a recipe? I do it all the time. As a matter of fact, almost every time I read a recipe, I immediately start thinking of ways to change it! That is, of course, unless it is something I have had and loved and want to try to duplicate.
Tonight, for instance, I [...]
One of the great blessings in life is to have a wonderful mother. I enjoy visiting with my own mother and I also enjoy hearing her talk about her mother, my grandmother. I was fortunate enough to have my maternal grandmother on earth until I was in my early 30’s.
It is wonderful to have a [...]
My friend, Paula, brought me some herbs from her garden today. She brought cinnamon basil, lemon thyme and lemon balm. What a wonderful surprise. I had seen a recipe for cinnamon basil cookies before and that is what I will make with the cinnamon basil that Paula brought to me!
You can use Cinnamon Basil in [...]
Got some great little tomatoes out of my garden today along with a few herbs. I put together a little ‘mater salad.
It was really, really good – so it is this weeks entry for
Today’s Lagniappe: Christi’s ‘Mater Salad
Bake one Pepperidge Farm pastry shell for each serving (you can skip this if you are counting calories)
Quarter [...]
We will be really busy this weekend with our local Red, White and Blue Festival! Can’t wait for all the fun and festivities!
As you may know, in the South, we fry everything! Looking at the vendors for the festival I see fried Twinkies and Funnel Cakes and hot dogs and all kinds of crazy things!
The [...]
You know, around here, we love our catfish. We love it fried, grilled, baked, blackened . . . okay, so stop me, I am getting carried away. Including the yummy remoulade, there are 3 (or more) recipes here today!
One of our favorite ways to have catfish during the summer heat is grilled (as in, keep [...]
I have been looking for something refreshing and summery and a little bit sweet. Maybe something with strawberries.
Or raspberries:
Then I came across a recipe for Pink Lemonade Cheesecake – doesn’t that sound divine?
What are you doing pink today?
Today’s Lagniappe: Pink Lemonade Cheesecake
Lemon Cookie Crust
11 lemon sandwich cream cookies, crushed
3 tablespoons butter, melted
In a small bowl [...]
Friday!!!! I love the word. It has been a crazy, crazy week and I’m looking for a couple of days to regroup!
Anyway, for this week I will offer 3 words – Tabasco Praline Peanuts!
Okay, just think about that for a while. We actually have s0me of them here and they are outrageous! Anyway, I will [...]
