Granny's Fried Okra

I LOVE fried okra! My husband's Granny makes the BEST! A couple of years ago I had her show me how she makes it.
Now old school cooks don't measure anything. They just throw it in there or tell you to throw 2 "big" spoons of oil in or use butter the size of an egg ( that is what my granny would tell my mom) anyway it's really hard sometimes to get recipes from some of these cooks who have been cooking for so long that they have it all in their head and never write anything down. So I sat down with granny and watched. This is what I came up with.


Ingredients:


a bunch of okra
2 parts self rising corn meal (not the yellow stuff)
1 part all purpose flour
a pinch of cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying


NOTE: I usually start off using 1 cup of cornmeal and 1/2 flour. Adjust this amount depending on how much okra you are frying.


Directions:

1) Rinse the okra off in a strainer.

2) Chop up okra into bite size pieces removing the head and the tip of the tail. Just throw those 2 pieces away.

3)  If you like a thicker breading like in the picture then place the okra in a bowl with water in it. This helps to bring out the slime and the breading sticks to it better. (yes I said slime, you will see what I'm talking about in a minute) After you soak the okra for about 2 

minutes or so, drain them and set aside.

 4) Dredge the okra in the flour mixture and throw those bad boys in the fryer.

 5) *If you don't like your breading too thick then do not put your okra back into the water after it is cut. Just dredge into the flour mixture and throw them into the fryer without crowding too much.

6)  Fry the okra in oil at 375 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. If you don't have a fryer then place then in oil in a deep frying pan and cook over med- medium high heat till golden brown, turning when necessary.

7)  Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt.

 *TIP: you don't want your whole okras much more than 2 1/2 inches long. The bigger okras tend to be too hard and do not fry up very well. You can also squeeze them and see how hard they are.

Ethiopian Tomato Salad

This salad really surprised me when I first tried it. It was so refreshing! The bold flavors meshed together perfectly. My husband and I were fighting over who got to finish it off. This is the perfect summer salad.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 sm onion
2 sm tomatoes
1 sm jalapeno

DRESSING
 2 Tbsp lemon juice
 2 Tbsp rice wine vineagar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
 1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp white sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1) Coarsely chop or dice onions and tomatoes.
2) Seed the jalapeno and dice finely. You can put the seed in too if you want it a little spicier.
3)  Mix dressing ingredients together until well combined. Pour dressing over vegetables and stir together gently. Let stand for 10 minutes for the flavors to blend and use a slotted spoon to serve.

Asparagus With Lemon Butter Glaze

I know what your thinking. How is asparagus romantic? Well I will try and educate you on this. Read on people, read on...Our love affair with this member of the Lily family dates back hundreds of years. Asparagus "stirs up lust in man and woman," wrote English herbalist Nicholas Culpepper in the 17th century. In 19th-century France, bridegrooms were served three courses of the sexy spears at their prenuptial dinner. Apparently for a good reason: asparagus is a great source of potassium, fiber, vitamin B6, vitamins A and C, and thiamin and folic acid. The latter is said to boost histamine production necessary for the ability to reach orgasm in both sexes. So are you blushing yet? Well I KNOW I will be making a run to the grocery store! What about you? Here is a yummy, easy way to prepare these sexy little spears!


INGREDIENTS:

1 lb	fresh asparagus
1/4 c	butter
1/2	lemon, juice and zest
	salt and pepper
	bacon bits for topping (optional)

DIRECTIONS:


1)Break tough stems off root end of asparagus. Cut asparagus into pieces about 1 1/4 inch long.

2)Heat butter over medium-low heat in saute pan until melted. Adjust heat down as necessary to prevent butter from browning. Saute asparagus in the butter about 5-7 minutes, until tender-crisp. 

 

3)Squeeze the juice of the lemon over the asparagus, cover, and remove from heat. Let sit 2-3 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. May top with a little grated lemon zest if desired. Also good topped with a tablespoon or two of bacon bits.

New Years Day Food Tradition Southern Style

In the south we have a tradition for New Years day. No I'm not talking about recovering from a hangover but a food tradition. We like to eat greens and black eyed peas. The greens are supposed to bring you wealth in the New Year and the peas are to bring you luck, (who doesn't need money and luck?) Well rather it works or not I don't want to take a chance so I do both. This year I am enjoying a twist on the old tradition and trying out these 2 recipes.  The Grits and Greens are my friend Debbie Wright's recipe. How can you go wrong with this combo? The black eyed peas are courtesy of Ms. Paula Deen. There is no butter in Paula's recipe this time but there is bacon! I hope you enjoy both of these fantastic recipes! Whats your New Years day tradition?

Grits and Greens

INGREDIENTS:

1	med onion chopped
6 or7	pieces of bacon cooked and crumbled
2 c	grits..not instand
1	large bag of frozen greens..your choice, i like collards or spinach
2	sticks butter
1 c	grated parmesan cheese
2 c	monterey jack cheese(reserve a little for topping)
	salt and pepper to taste
8 c	chicken broth--divided
2 c	half and half or heavy cream

DIRECTIONS:

1)Preheat oven to 350

2)In a skillet cook your bacon..when done drain almost all the grease reserve some and saulte onion until the are carmelized.set aside bacon and crumble for topping.

3)In a large pot combine 1/2 and 1/2 and 6 cups of chicken broth. Bring to a boil, stir in grits, bring back to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer. Stir often to keep from burning. Cook aprox 25-30 min. You want normal grits consistency. I use a wisk to get the lumps out.

4)while grits are cooking ... cook greens in remaining 2 cups of broth. Cook approx 10 min, or until tender. Drain and squeeze out all liquid.

5)Add butter, cheeses, onion and salt and pepper to grits. when butter is melted stir in greens.

6)Place mixture in a greased 13x9 dish. Top with crumbled bacon and a little reserved cheese.

7)Bake in oven until golden brown ..approx 15 min

Spicy Black-Eyed Peas

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 slices bacon
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (16-ounce) package dried black-eyed peas, washed
• 1 (12-ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chiles
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cups water

 DIRECTIONS:

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon, crumble, and set aside to use as a topping for the peas. Saute the onion in the bacon drippings until tender. Add the peas, diced tomatoes and green chiles, salt, chili powder, pepper and water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the peas are tender. Add additional water, if necessary. Serve garnished with crumbled bacon.

2 Great recipes for the holidays!

I know I'm from the south and I should eat "dressing" but this is what I ate growing up. My mom calls this Yankee stuffing. This is one of my grandmother's recipes. She got it from a 1950's cookbook. This was the one thing I got to help my mom with for Thanksgiving dinner when I was little. I would sit at the table and tear up the bread pieces watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. I usually double this recipe for a large crowd.

Fluffy Stuffing

1 c	onion. chopped
1 c	butter or margarine ( i like to use margarine because it doesn't burn as easily as butter)
6 c	soft bread, cubed or just torn
6 c	rice krispies
1 1/2 tsp	poultry seasoning
1/2 c	chicken broth ( you can use canned broth or homemade broth from the turkey giblets)
	salt and pepper to taste

1) tear up or cube the bread. You can use white, whole wheat or a mix. Pour the 6 cups into a large bowl add the 6 cups of Rice Krispies. Toss together. 2) cook onion in butter or margarine until golden and onions are clear. Add poultry seasoning to this a stir. 3) Pour over rice Krispies and bread cubes. . Mix well. 4) Place the mixture in a baking dish. Drizzle the broth over the mixture. 5) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes ( cover if desired soft and uncover for crunchy) TIP: GIBLET BROTH: Boil the neck, liver, and other things stuffed in the turkey when bought. Simmer for about 1 hour. Use 1/2 cup of broth for the stuffing. Discard the rest.  This is my mom's recipe. I have been eating this awesome pie for years. It is easy to make and best served cold. I like to make it the night before and put it in the fridge to chill. I once had a boyfriend that loved this pie so much that he called it Buttermilk dream pie! LOL This recipe makes 2 pies but of course you can half it and make 1. Enjoy! Mama's Buttermilk Pie

1 Cup butter, melted 6 eggs, beaten 2 Tbsp Cornstarch 2 Cups sugar 1 tsp. Salt 1 Cup Buttermilk 1 tsp Vanilla 2 (9in) deep dish unbaked pie shells Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 1)Add butter to eggs 2)Add combined dry ingredients, buttermilk and vanilla. 3)Pour into pie shells evenly. 4)bake for 50mintues to 1 hour. TIP: If you have a pie shield place it on top of crust about 35min into cooking. If you don't you can cover the crust with foil to keep it from burning.

Grandma's Cranberry Salad

I grew up with my grandmother and mom making this every year for the holidays. This is not your standard cranberry out of the can mush.You make it the night before and let it chill overnight. This is one less dish you have to make the next day. I have carried on the tradition and serve this for my family and friends. It is super yummy!

INGREDIENTS:

1 sm	package of cherry jello
1 c	hot water
1 c	sugar
1 Tbsp	lemon juice
1 c	drained crushed pineapple (juice reserved)
1 c	pineapple juice (use the reserved juice and add water to make 1 cup)
1 c	ground cranberries
1	orange (ground)
1/2 c	pecans, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

1)boil the cup of water. Dissolve the jello in the hot water in an 8in square pan mix well. Add the sugar, lemon juice and pineapple juice. Stir to dissolve well.

2)Add the remaining ingredients and mix. Chill overnight. 

*Grandma's Tips:Chop up the pecans first before getting blender wet. Or you could just buy pre chopped pecans and save a step. Use the blender to chop up cranberries, then orange, seeded partially peeled. The chopped peel gives it that special zing!

Butterscotch Isle Apple Salad

I recently made this for a church picnic. I made the sugar free, fat free recipe and it was pretty good. Well I didn't want it to be "pretty good" so I decided to make the real deal, so now it is DELISH!

1 pkg of instant butterscotch pudding
2 cups of milk
1 cup (1 8oz can) crushed pineapple packed in fruit juice, undrained
1 cup of coolwhip
1/2 tsp coconut extract
2 Cups (4 small cored, unpeeled, and diced Red Delicious apples)
1/4 cup of  flaked coconut
1 Tbsp of flaked coconut to sprinkle on top

In a large bowl combine the pudding mix and milk with a wire wisk. Let it set in the fridge for 5 minutes.

Next after pudding has set, blend in the cool whip, crushed pineapple with juice and coconut extract.

Add the apples and coconut to the butterscotch mix. Blend it well.

Finish it off with a sprinkle of the extra coconut on top.

Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Tip: You can do two apples and two pears to change it up a bit too!

Ceole Mac & Cheese

I have a little recipe site that I go to that I get recipes from and post my recipes at too. Well today I got an email saying that the owner of the site picked one of my recipes to feature as a blue ribbon winner. I was so excited! No I didn't win money but I guess I get really excited when someone picks one of my recipes as their favorite! The recipe will be featured the first week of June, so check it out! So I thought that I would share that recipe with you and the website too that I go to. First off the website is www.justapinch.com

PS. If you make any of my recipes that I post please leave me feed back! I love to read comments even if you didn't like them!

1/2 c elbow macaroni, cooked
2 c cottage cheese, lowfat
8 oz sour cream, lite
1 egg, beaten
3/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
3 c grated sharp cheddar (divided)
1 1/2 TBL tony chachere's creole seasoning (divided)



Cook Macaroni noodles according to package directions. Drain rinse and set aside.

Combine next six ingredients. Except divide 1 cup of the cheddar cheese and set aside. Combine the other 2 cups with the mixture. Also set aside about 1 tsp of the 1 1/2 TBL of creole seasoning to sprinkle on top.

Add macaroni to cheese mixture and stir well. Spoon into lightly greased 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining Cheese and creole seasoning.

If you don't like creole seasoning you can always add paprika instead. Just adjust the amount to taste.

Bake uncovered at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes

Ranch Potatoes

These are so yummy and super easy to make. Everytime I make these someone ask for the recipe! They can't believe how simple they are.

Preheat Oven to 450
2 1/2 lbs of red potatoes quarted

1/4 cup of veggie oil

1 to 2 packs of Hidden Valley Ranch packs

Wash and quarter the potatoes to bite size pieces.
Put them in a gallon zip lock bag pour oil on top and shake.
Next pour the Ranch seasoning on top, close bag and shake.

When thoroughly covered pour the potatoes into a greased 9x13 dish.
Cook for 30-35min at 450 uncovered.

The Best Coleslaw!

This is my most favorite Cole Slaw. I tend to be a coleslaw snob so you know that is has to be GOOD! I got the recipe from a book that has Charleston, SC restaurant recipes in it. This is from Hyman's Seafood. I even ate there when I visited and it was yummy! I hope you enjoy this super easy recipe.

2 bags of cut up coleslaw cabbage (you can get what ever kind you prefer)

1/2 cup relish

1 tsp. celery seed

1/2 cup Mayo

1/3 cup mustard

1/2 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. You will probably think that that can't be enough ingredients to cover all the cabbage mix but it is. I always make mine the night before so that the slaw has time to absorb and marinate. stick in the fridge and let it chill overnight. The next day you will notice that it has shrunk quite a bit but that's normal. Stir it real well again and enjoy!