soup's on

Inspired by Willow Manor

on a cold rainy day i love, love, love soup.  and since last weekend was new years - i needed something to substitute for black-eyed peas (the southern good luck charm)...and as you know, since i blogstalk, i had stumbled upon life at willow manor and all of her luscious recipes.  i didn't have a meaty ham bone so i adapted the recipe a bit.  the original recipe is linked above, i will post my adaption below.  this is one of my new favorite soups...i highly recommend it (the right on the left is my version of the soup)

ham & bean soup (inspired by life at willow manor)
1 bag dried navy beans (i think any of the white beans will do)
3 carrots diced (i wished i had used more, but they were smallish carrots)
3 ribs celery diced
1 onion diced (i'm not an onion fan so i used 1/2)
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp thyme (had to use dried - couldn't find fresh)
1/4 tsp white pepper (i used black)
1 tsp salt (i tasted first before adding a smidge - the ham was pretty salty)
1 1/2 to 2 cups diced ham (depends on your desire for lots of ham versus not so much)

directions:
prepare dried beans for cooking by following directions on the bag (i soaked mine overnight).  rinse beans and put in a large stock pot. i used a combo of chicken stock and water to simmer beans but any stock you prefer would work (i think).  add remaining ingredients. if you are using a ham bone, then place ham bone into the pot, (about a 7 quart size) cover with water (about 2 inches from the top), cover and simmer on stove top (the recipe instructs that you bake all combined ingredients in a 300 to 325 degree oven for about 4 hours.) check periodically and replace any water that may have cooked off. broth should be dense and beans soft. 

remove ham bone and cut up any large chunks of meat, and return meat to pot. check for flavor and adjust seasonings.


totally yummy!!!  i served it with fresh from the oven cheddar rolls that i picked up from fresh market but i think it would be great with either biscuits or cornbread too.

what you discover

today i discovered i had all but one ingredient for each of the following:

lemon pie
pecan pie
and santa fe soup

so...i bought the things to complete them. i'm happy to report the soup was very much loved on a cold, rainy, wintery day. it's nothing fancy but a quick put together for when you're in a hurry. (so good with fresh cornbread if you're so inclined - today we just had fritoes with it)

santa fe soup:
1 lb ground round, browned and drained of any excess fat
1 can rotel tomatoes (i used mild but i bet hot would be good if you like)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can corn (yellow or white, either one)
1 can green chilies, chopped
1 can pinto beans (i use chili beans for the extra flavor)
1 package taco mix
1 package ranch dressing mix

dump all ingredients together and simmer for at least 15 minutes. you can garnish if you like with cheese and/or sour cream. add jalapenos if you dare.

in a few minutes i'm going to get up and start on the pecan pies (and maybe an apple too). the lemon pies will be tomorrow...because, well, the lemons had to come out and play today.

just the ticket

inspired by julie and julia, i knew i had to try something new and different today. this recipe was in the august 2009 real simple and i thought it would be the perfect summer light supper. i usually try a recipe once the way it's written to get a feel for the flavors and then i start 'tweaking' to our individual tastes. tonight my brother and sister agreed to be the experimental subjects as we watched the movie 'defiance'(by the way - the movie was great - definitely put it in your netflix cue.)

Shrimp Tacos with Citrus Cabbage Slaw
Ingredients
* 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
* 2 tablespoons sour cream
* kosher salt and black pepper
* 1/4 small cabbage (8 ounces), shredded
* 1 cup corn kernels (from 1 to 2 ears)
* 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
* 8 small flour tortillas, warmed

i'm proud to report i used a mandolin for the first time and . . . no fingers were damaged. (victory dance) if you have one of those nifty gadgets, it makes this recipe so much easier! or, you can just buy the pre-shredded angel fine cabbage shreds at the grocery. it being summer and cabbage is so cheap at the market, i went for the whole head. warning: if you haven't handled fresh jalapenos before, the majority of the heat is in the rib membrane and seeds. so slice the pepper lengthwise and clean to your taste. if you like a bit of heat, leave in a few seeds. (i'm a whimp)

corn is also cheap and so sweet right now (though the frozen is very handy and very easy to use). clean it well and slice off the cob. now toss the cabbage, peppers and corn together. in a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, orange juice, lime juice and then season it to taste with the salt and pepper.

this is important: do not dress the slaw (mix the sour cream mixture and cabbage mixture) too long before using. the high acidic mixture of the dressing will wilt the cabbage and you will want all that crunchy goodness in the tacos for texture.

heat the olive oil in a nice heavy skillet and stir in the deveined and peeled shrimp. luckily, we're close enough to the gulf to get beautiful wild caught alabama shrimp. it cannot be said enough - get wild caught whenever possible. if you can't get that, just use the flash frozen stuff from the grocery - it's better than the stuff you get in the grocery fish market which has been frozen twice and has practically no taste. (don't hate - appreciate *grin*) continue stirring the shrimp until they turn pink and are no longer opaque. warm your tortillas, dress the slaw, and spoon a generous dollop over the shrimp. yummmmmmmmmm! - goes great with beer or a nice crisp wine.

my brother doesn't really care for cabbage much, so to appease his appetite, i also made another recipe from real simple for his shrimp. it is easy peasy lemon squeezie.

Pineapple-Jalapeno Salsa
Ingredients
* 1 cup chopped fresh or canned pineapple (about 4 ounces)
* 1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
* 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
* kosher salt

i picked up a smallish container of fresh pineapple, already chunked so all i had to do is chop it into smaller bits and use part of the previously chopped pepper from the slaw. the recipe says one teaspoon of lime juice, but basically i halved a lime and squeezed the juice over the pineapple-pepper mixture. and, the kosher salt makes all the difference in the world. the flavor it brings to the sweet acid of the pineapple and the mild heat of the pepper is perfection.

all-in-all, a very successful supper. the next time, i think i will chop up a few cherry tomatoes into the pineapple salsa and serve it over grilled chicken. doesn't that sound delish?

do i have to give titles?

when i was little my mom had this old black cast iron skillet that she used for absolutely everything - frying chicken, making gravy and even making cakes. in particular, one of my most favorite cakes - pineapple upside down cake. she would make sure that each pineapple ring had a bright red cherry in the middle and because we all loved cherries so much, she would place cherries inbetween the rings too. for the longest time, i thought pineapples always tasted vaguely of aluminum. imagine my surprise years later when i tasted fresh pineapple - the difference is just night and day.

which brings me to this recipe i got from smitten kitchen. if you decide to make it - go through the extra bit of expense and buy fresh pineapple. it's heaven when caramelized.

pineapple upside down cake

topping:
1/2 medium pineapple, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and cored
3/4 stick unsalted butter
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (i used dark brown since that was on-hand - that's why my caramel is so dark)

batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon dark rum (i omitted the rum as i didn't have any on hand)
1/2 cup unsweetened pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350°F. If you do not have a cast iron skillet, you can use a cake pan.

make topping: cut pineapple crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick pieces. Melt butter in skillet. Add brown sugar and simmer over moderate heat, stirring, four minutes. remove from heat. arrange pineapple on top of sugar mixture.

make batter: sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in granulated sugar. add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. beat in vanilla and rum. add half of flour mixture and beat on low speed just until blended. beat in pineapple juice, then add remaining flour mixture, beating just until blended. (batter may appear slightly curdled.)

quickie short-cut tip: you can use a butter cake box mix, just substitute pineapple juice for the water in the recipe. duncan hines moist butter cake is a good one.

spoon batter over pineapple topping and spread evenly. bake cake in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 45 minutes. let cake stand in skillet five minutes. invert a plate over skillet and invert cake onto plate (keeping plate and skillet firmly pressed together). replace any pineapple stuck to bottom of skillet. sprinkle rum over cake and cool on plate on a rack.
serve cake just warm or at room temperature.

in other news....i received the cutest handmade birthday card from elk today and it just brightened my day tremendously. thank you my friend - that was the sweetest thing. they say that friends are the family we pick instead of the family we're born with....i'm so proud she picked me.



and yes...the first bite of the cake took me back to summery days of cake, hopscotch, and running through the sprinklers.

ps - i'm guesthosting at laura's today if you want to take a peek.

another year older....

thank you for the birthday wishes yesterday - they were much appreciated and warmed me up. i read so many people with the ambitions for the year and i suppose i should make such a list (since i'm a listmaker) but realize my entire energy lately has been focused on finding employment and keeping myself occupied so i stop the slow slide into complete and utter boredom with my life.

so, these are my lessons from the past year leading into the birthday:

be grateful and cherish what you have because you never know when it all could be snatched from underneath you. i don't know if anyone really realized how dark the employment horizon was. i know that i thought i would be re-employed fairly quickly.

explore the simple. in the downsizing and streamlining of my life, i've found how much i enjoy just the simple things in life. cooking, sewing (new), photography, reading, thrifting... not that i was really fancy before - but i wasted more money than was rational.

love your family and your friends. they will be the support and strength in the tough times. they say things happen for a reason - part of what i've found is how much my family and my friends love me. being on my own in another city, it was easy to feel independent but isolated. what i found is that love knows no distance but going home to love is the most wonderful feeling and was exactly the balm i needed.

rediscover things about yourself. once upon a time i loved to cook for family but i let fall by the wayside when it was not fun to just cook for myself. time now gives me time to challenge myself to cut portions and preparations to enough for two or make enough for family. i have started sewing. i challenged myself to shoot everyday and i think my photography improved as i read and tried new styles. i found that i really love to watch the squirrels scamper and enjoy the comfort of a pretty yard. so my first garden attempts drowned in the rains, there is time to try again.

go out on a limb. i opened an etsy shop and have made respectable sales so far. rome was not built in a day and neither was a business. if not given these months off, i would have never had time for this. i would still be dreaming.

so...those are good starters. now - for this little recipe (super simple).

rose cottage blueberry muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking power
1 large egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

sift together flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a bowl. in a separate bowl, mix egg, milk and butter. add in dry ingredients, stirring until just blended (batter will be lumpy). add in blueberries (i used blueberries and raspberries). bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

enjoy with your favorite morning beverage - the muffins are not too sweet and the amount of fruit make them burst with moisture and happiness.

christmas in july

there is something i love about driving - in the dark - with the radio low and just talking to whoever is sitting there. sunday night after a good day at the lake, my brother and i were reminiscing (as usual) about cooking and that always leads to talking about my mom. i know that people say that their mom makes the best dressing in the world....but i swear, my mother did. she did. ask anyone. i watched and helped for many years. so when my brother said, "it's been almost two years and it's hard to believe i'll never have her dressing again."

i took that as a challenge. now it may not match mother's...but i watched enough that i thought i could come pretty close. if you tackle this dish - please put aside three to four hours - it's just that labor intensive. and another thing - i rarely measure so a lot of this is to taste.

it starts by doing three things almost simultaneously. put your chicken on to boil with water and a palmful of salt and black pepper to taste. i highly recommend a whole bird (instant sandra lee tip: you can use a rotiserre chicken from the deli if you're in a hurry) but all i had on had on hand was breasts so i supplemented with boneless, skinless thighs. then put on two to three eggs to boil (while you're boiling, you might as well boil some extra for some egg salad - always a yummy lunch treat). and then, yes, the holy trinity of southern cooking - bell pepper, celery and onion. chop each of the following to a fine chop: a bell pepper, onion (medium-sih) and three stalks celery.

after chopping - add 1/4 cup oil to an oven proof pan (if you have cast iron - fantastic!) saute the pepper, onion and celery until the veggies are soft. check your eggs (my trick to perfect eggs - place eggs in cold water, bring to a boil and boil for five minutes and then turn the heat off and let them sit another five to ten minutes. perfect every time.)

in a separate bowl - prepare cornbread according to package directions (sans oil) - i love while lily cornbread mix but i'm not sure if that's a regional brand or not. stir in the cooked veggies (with the oil) and a good palmful of poultry seasoning. now, if you have a herb garden you can use fresh sage, thyme and rosemary (half the seasoning because fresh has more flavor than dried). make sure the herbs are finely minced.

while cornbread is cooking, shred cooked chicken and set aside. peel boiled eggs and set aside. after cornbread is done, turn into a large bowl - and i do mean large as you will need room to mix. now, comes my mother's secret ingredients - cream of chicken soup and a raw egg. crumble the cornbread and stir together with the chicken. mix in the soup (i was out of chicken so cream of mushroom works well too) and then add chicken broth until mixture is fairly soupy. dice the boiled eggs and stir in. turn the entire mixture into a large roasting pan. bake at 350 for about an hour - check frequently to make sure it doesn't dry out - you can add extra chicken broth throughout the baking to ensure the dressing is moist.

my brother said it was pretty darn close. yay! i needed a bit more seasoning i think and maybe i should have used some sage in addition to just the poultry seasoning mix (which is sage, rosemary, thyme, nutmeg and maybe one other herb.)

now...just so i could work harder? i decided to try a cream cheese poundcake that i got during the recipe exchange. i tweaked it a tad, blending it together with another basic poundcake recipe i had - the main difference is that i added more flavoring (hers called for vanilla only and i added some lemon extra. i used all butter - susan used one-half cup butter and one cup margarine.) at the last minute, i decided to go with the cake flour instead of the all purpose/baking power combo as shown in the photograph of ingredients.

Cream Cheese Pound Cake by Susan Jones
1 ½ cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
3 cups sifted cake flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract

Combine first 3 ingredients, creaming well: gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour to creamed mixture stirring until combined. Stir in vanilla and lemon extracts. Pour batter into a well greased 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 1 hour 45 minutes at 325 degrees or until cake tests done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely. Yield: one 10-inch cake.



excuse the slice....you know I had to do quality control!! it's light, yummy and the perfect foundation for fresh sliced fruit and a dallop of whipped cream.

yummy

observations - i'm not as young as i used to be and i think, perhaps, that i'm pretty glad about that. of course there are days i complain - like in the morning when i get up and my heel is killing me (the shift to hardwood floors and my bad habit of going barefoot has kicked in a case of plantar fasciitis). so, the quiet gathering last night was a perfect evening. we all brought dishes, laughed on the back patio and watched the almost full moon rise over the treetops as we heard the distant booms of fireworks. (can you believe the size of these strawberries? they were humongous and so sweet)

some of you wanted the recipes for the ranch potatoes - but after making it last night, i'm not sure if i'm happy with it yet. i made some adjustments that didn't quite work yesterday so i'm going to try again. plus, i'm not happy with it's appearance - not attractive. but, wow - the goat cheese spread? soooo yummy. someone offered to lick the bowl last night. it's my friend carol's recipe and i finally snagged it when she participated in the recipe exchange we did about six weeks ago. (next time i'll take photos - but this time i didn't think about it)

ingredients: one or two logs of goat cheese, basil pesto (i used store bought because my basil drowned), one red bell pepper, one orange or yellow bell pepper, golden raisins.
putting it together: about an hour before, place the goat cheese out to soften.

one reason i've hesitated making this dish is that roasting bell peppers has always intimidated me. it was way easier than i thought it would be. put your peppers on a cookie sheet, turn your oven up to broil, and then put the peppers in the oven. (people say you can put the peppers on a fork and do this over a burner, but they drip so the cookie sheet is less messy) let the skins char (blacken) in the oven, turning so all sides are charred. take them out of the oven and immediately place in either a brown paper or plastic bag and let them cool down to room temperature. this steams the skins where they are loose and easily removed. so, peel and de-seed your peppers (if you pull the stem gently - most the seeds come away with the core). lay the peppers flat and chop into a coarse dice.

while the peppers are roasting, unwrap the goat cheese and place in bowl. add a healthy tablespoon of pesto to the cheese and stir together until mixed well. taste to make sure you have enough pesto to make you happy. stir in a good handful of golden raisins (the raisins add a sweet burst of flavor to this dish and a chewy texture; however, if you don't like raisins - you could leave them out.)

after the peppers are chopped, stir them into the cheese mixture. simple, right? if not serving immediately - refrigerate. let it soften a bit before serving so it's easily spread on crackers or bread. i am not kidding - the bowl was scraped clean before dinner.

don't even get me started on the salad nita made with the homemade lavender syrup dressing, the fresh corn salad or the homemade ice cream. serious eating my friends.

mmmmm, shrimp

the shots that were published in the brochure last week for those that asked. i've tired taking shots of the brochure, but the paper is so slick (good for advertising) that it doesn't read well so i will wait for the pdf to show you the final product. since the brochure is for a living and shopping development, these shots were to promote individual stores and the restaurant. i learned a lot from this experience and would love to do this again as there are so many additional things i would do.



saturday, i went back to sit with both girls to help get them packed for the beach (i didn't get to go to the beach as planned but will go later this week). they were adorable and funny and so very excited. the afternoon was lazy and slow and all that a rainy saturday should be. although i will say, we have a small pug herd at home as we're babysitting petunia (my other brother's pug) in addition to our two, moses (mo) and lizzie. so cute to watch the little herd gallop to the food dishes and out the front door.



of course, mo and lizzie are always camera ready but petunia hasn't mastered posing yet. give her a couple more days. she's also not really into commands but with her little head resting on my foot or looking up at me begging, i'm willing to overlook a lot. can you imagine how difficult it is to get all three pugs looking at you at the exact same time? yeah...that hard times three. (here is some mosaic monday linky love for my friend, mary.)

and finally, in honor of the true blood season premiere tonight - i made shrimp and grits. it is a recipe from a charleston restaurant but i think it needs a few tweaks before it's camera ready...plus, i'm a really messy cook. hahahahaha and..i so did not have the timing down. but, overall, the recipe was voted a keeper. here are the tweaks i'm planning. the amount of cheese for the grits was rather vague - in my case, i used eight ounces - too much. the grits were too rich and too thick. also, i think next time i will use skim milk instead of whole milk (i didn't say the dish was figure friendly did i?). now, the changes i made, sort of involuntarily: i used dried garlic as i couldn't find the jarred minced garlic at teh market where i buy my wild shrimp. also, i made the mistake of not checking bacon before i went to the market and only had two slices left. so i added some olive oil to the recipe.

hominy grill's shrimp and grits (copied from southern living may 2009)
2 lbs raw, unpeeled shrimp - medium
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
5 bacon slices
1 package sliced fresh mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cups thinly sliced green onions
2 tsp hot sauce
cooked grits (recipe follows)

peel and devein shrimp. toss shrimp with flour until lightly coated, shaking to remove excess. cook bacon in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until crisp. remove bacon and drain on paper towel, reserving drippings in skillet. saute mushrooms in hot dripings four minutes (until mushrooms begin to release their liquid). add shrimp and saute three minutes (until they turn pink). add garlic and saute one minute (do not brown garlic). add lemon juice, onions and hot sauce. serve immediately over grits. sprinkle with crumbled bacon.

creamy cheddar cheese grits
4 tbsp butter
5 cups milk
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1 garlic clove, pressed
1 1/2 cups uncooked stone-ground white grits (i used the old fashioned kind instead)
1 block sharp white cheddar, grated

bring two tablespoons butter, milk, salt, hot sauce, garlic and five cups water to a boil in a medium size dutch over over medium-high heat. gradually whisk in grits and bring to a boil again. reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, one and one-half hours or until thickened. stir in cheese and remaining two tablespoons butter until melted. serve immediately.

for dessert: i took the blueberries and blackberries (well, the remaining blackberries) and put them in a boiler, added some water and a lot of sugar and made homemake blueberry compote. too much water, so it was really more like a syrup. bought a pound cake and served the blueberries over the cake and topped with a whipped topping. very yummy.

i'm such a domestic diva. hahaha...or not. as i say, my timing is still off but who cares. the food was good, the company enjoyed the dish and we had a warm and cozy evening with the vampires.

Since you asked....

EAGLE BRAND LEMON ICEBOX PIE

1 can eagle brand milk

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 graham cracker crust

** This is for two generous pies so I tripled the recipe. I also used store bought crusts - making them at home is very easy with graham crackers, butter and a bit of sugar. But I cheated today - easy.

I hand-squeezed enough lemons for one and one-half cups lemon juice (it took about 14 large lemons). As I said, I had the concentrate handy if the lemons were not enough. Turns out, I didn't need it.

Open three cans of eagle brand and spoon into a bowl. Separate nine eggs. You can reserve the whites for making a meringue or use them later for an egg white omelet. Mix together the milk and the eggs until creamy.

Slowly add the lemon juice as you are beating the milk and egg mixture. The filling will thicken - continue beating to make sure it is smooth and creamy. Pour filling into crusts.

Some people have an aversion to uncooked eggs in recipes. I only use eggland eggs which are safe, however, if you like, you can put the pies into the oven at 350 for about eight minutes to make sure the eggs are cooked. Then you can cool the pies and put them into the fridge to completely cool.

This recipe is from an old cookbook but a classic. I got it on a recipe card during my bridal shower (everyone was told to bring me two recipes). I'm sure this was around in the fifties when my mom learned to cook. It is one of the few from that bridal shower collection that I continue to use.


Of course ... supervision in the kitchen is always desired if you're unsure of how to work the appliances or need a taster. Lizzie, the eternal optimist, tries to assure me that pugs indeed like lemon icebox pie.



and....the finished product (before adding a whipped topping or meringue).