Twice Baked Potato Boats

I had planned on making twice baked potatoes for a side dish for a birthday dinner. Four adults, so four potatoes, right? Well, when I went into the grocery store, I found these massive baking potatoes. Just look! I knew that these would be "potato boats!" I added the quarter to provide a size comparison. I quickly decided that two of these beauties would be more than enough for my dinner guests.

After scrubbing with a vegetable brush, I lightly added a little olive oil and sprinkled with coarse Kosher salt. A few little slits cut into them with a knife, then they went into a 350 degree preheated oven for two hours.

When the potatoes were cooked through, I removed them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.

Then I sliced them lengthwise and scooped out the cooked potato from the four halves and placed the potatoes into a medium sized mixing bowl.

I added a softened stick of butter, 1/2 cup of sour cream, salt and freshly ground black pepper. The potatoes were still so hot that the butter melted immediately. Then I added 1 cup finely shredded mild cheddar cheese and stirred to make sure everything was mixed together well. Taste to see if you need additional salt and pepper. You may need a little more sour cream depending on the size of your potatoes.

Using a large spoon, I filled the four halves of the potato with the mixture and topped with an additional 1/2 cup of the cheddar cheese.

Then to finish them to perfection, I chopped 4 slices of cooked bacon and carefully added on top of the cheese.  I placed the potatoes back into the oven for about 4 - 5 minutes until the cheese was melted.  

The last addition? A sprinkling of freshly chopped chives!

These were amazing and won rave reviews.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake

Are you one of those people who love raw cookie dough? (Looks around guiltily.....)

Are you one of those people who love cheesecake?

Hmmm, I thought so.

This is the BEST of both of those worlds.  A three step cheesecake recipe that is ready to go into the oven in just a few minutes combined with our love of chocolate chip cookie dough.

2 (8 oz.) packages, Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

3/4 cup prepared chocolate chip cookie dough, divided

1 Keebler Ready Crust Graham Cracker Pie Crust (6 oz. or 9 inch)

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs; mix until blended. Drop 1/2 cup of the cookie dough by level teaspoonfuls into batter; fold gently.

Pour into crust.  Dot with level teaspoonfuls of remaining 1/4 cup cookie dough.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

From the Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese Cheesecake Cookbook

Fried Green Tomatoes with Sriracha Ranch Dipping Sauce

I love fried green tomatoes. Yes, those gorgeous plump, juicy red big brothers of the green tomatoes get a lot of attention this time of year. But give me a few of the little brother green tomatoes and I'm a happy girl.

If you have a little time, wash the tomatoes and slice into 1/4 - 1/2" slices and spread them on a paper towel or put in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and allow them to rest. The salt will draw out some of the water in the tomatoes and that will help the cornmeal to adhere to the slices better.

Mix a little salt and pepper into about 2 cups of cornmeal. Coat each of the tomato slices with the cornmeal mixture and set aside.

Heat vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet over medium high heat. You will need enough oil to reach about half way up the slices of tomatoes.

When a few drops of cornmeal in the oil sizzles, slowly add the tomato slices a few at a time.

Turn the slices as they brown to allow both sides to get a nice crunchy crust. Drain on paper towels and continue with the remaining slices.

To make the dipping sauce, I mixed about 1/2 cup of Ranch dressing with 1 T. of Sriracha sauce. You can add more or less to meet your heat level.

Cast Iron Skillet Fried Yellow Squash

A true Southern delicacy is yellow squashed battered in cornmeal and fried in a cast iron skillet. These weren't for a meal or as a side dish, I just decided to make a batch of these for a Saturday afternoon movie watching snack!

The smaller the squash the better. When you use larger squash, they tend to be tougher and have larger seeds. In Lolly World, a cast iron skillet for frying is a must.

3 - 4 small to medium sized yellow squash, ends trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch slices

2 cups cornmeal

salt

pepper

vegetable oil

Add the cornmeal, salt and pepper to season it (about 1/4 t. each) to a shallow dish or plate. Coat the squash slices with the cornmeal mixture about half a batch a time.

Over high heat, add enough oil to a cast iron skillet to have about a 1/2 inch of oil. When a drop or two of cornmeal dropped into the oil sizzles, you're ready to begin frying the squash.

Add enough squash to cover the bottom of the skillet without crowding the slices. Lower the heat to medium high. You will need to fry in batches to allow the squash to brown properly. As the squash begins to brown, flip with a metal spatula and continue cooking until the second side is browned.

Remove from skillet to drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Continue until remaining squash slices are cooked.  Serve immediately.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

One of the most simple side dishes you can prepare while other food is cooking on the grill:  Grilled Corn on the Cob.  It's three step dish!

1.  Remove corn shucks and silks from corn.

2.  Place on hot grill.

3.  Grill, turning frequently, until corn begins to char and is softened and hot through and through.

See?  Easy smeasy.  Serve with lots of butter (NO MARGARINE PLEASE!) and salt and pepper.

Friday Night Grilled Monster Burger

I decided early this morning on tonight's meal.  I wanted to grill burgers.  Monster sized burgers.  Monster sized burgers with tomatoes fresh from the garden and all the fixin's.  These beauties cured my craving.

4 - 1/3 pound ground chuck burgers

granulated garlic

onion powder

kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Form the ground chuck into equally sized patties. Liberally season with the garlic, onion powder, salt, and black pepper.

Pre-heat grill to 450 degrees. 

Lower heat to medium high (keep the heat around 400 degrees or so).

Place burgers on the grill and close lid. Allow burgers to cook until they release easily. Turn one quarter turn without flipping the burgers. This will give you those gorgeous grill marks.

Cook another 4 - 5 minutes and then flip burgers. Repeat the steps above.

Cook until your desired level of done-ness.

Load up that burger with your favorite toppings and fixin's!

Bourbon Lime Tea

If you're searching for a new way to enjoy your favorite summer beverage, give this one a try! Wait, sweet tea isn't your favorite summer beverage? Well, it is mine so give this one a try to humor me! You don't want the bourbon? That's fine. With this recipe, you can simply add a shot (or a little more) to each 12 oz. glass and stir to combine right as you're serving. Trust me, even without the bourbon this is an excellent summer time beverage.

6 cups water

3 family sized tea bags (or 9 regular sized)

3/4 cup sugar

6 cups water

1 can frozen limeade (thawed)

Your favorite bourbon

Bring the first six cups of water to a boil. Add tea bags, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep 15 minutes or so.

Remove tea bags and pour tea into large pitcher.

Add sugar and stir until well combined. Add thawed limeade and stir.

Add remaining six cups of water and stir.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Pour into ice filled glasses, and if desired, add a shot of bourbon and stir.  Depending on the size of your glasses, you may need to add a little more than a shot!

Enjoy!

4th of July 2016 Table Setting

It's time to bring out the Red, White, and Blue.  As always, Fiestaware is my mainstay when it comes time to set a colorful table. I hope you enjoy this table as much as I did in planning and getting it ready for guests!

Lolly's Crawfish Étouffée

While rummaging through the freezer, I came across a pound of frozen crawfish tails. Immediately, my tummy sounded the announcement to my brain that Étouffée needed to prepared. This is such an easy recipe and it's true comfort food.

1 stick butter
1 large yellow onion, chopped 
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T. flour
2 t. Cajun or Creole seasoning
1/2 t. hot sauce
1 lb. crawfish tails
1 cup beef broth
3 green onions, chopped
cooked rice
chopped parsley

In a medium skillet, over medium low heat, melt butter. Add chopped onion, pepper, and celery. Stirring, occasionally, let vegetables begin to soften and lightly brown, about 10 minutes.

Slow add flour, and stirring constantly, allow to cook until the raw taste of the flour is cooked away, about 2 - 3 minutes.

Add the Creole/Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, crawfish tails, and beef broth. Lower heat to a simmer.

Let Étouffée cook for about 15 - 20 minutes until it is nice and thick. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Add green onions during the last few minutes of cooking. Serve over cooked rice. Top with chopped parsley.
 

Seafood (and Sausage) Gumbo

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Yesterday was spent making seafood stock in anticipation of a lovely bowl of seafood gumbo by evening time. This version included shrimp, oysters, crab and Conecuh Smoked Sausage.

Let's make our gumbo!

4 - 6 quarts seafood stock

1 cup oil

1 cup flour

1 large yellow onion, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

3 ribs celery, chopped

2 green onions, sliced, include some of the green

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. smoked sausage (I recommend Conecuh brand)

1 lb. okra, sliced

2 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. Creole or Cajun Seasoning

1 t. fresh thyme

1 t. hot sauce

2 bay leaves

1 pound large shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 pint oysters, with the liquid

8 oz. crab meat, picked over carefully to remove shells

Freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Cooked white rice

Parsley for garnish

Bring the stock to a gentle simmer while you prepare the roux.

 The instructions for making the roux can be found by following this link.

 Place the onions, green bell peppers, celery, green onions, and garlic in a bowl together so they will be ready to add to the hot roux.

When the roux has reached the color you prefer, add the veggies all at once.

And stir!

The vegetables will immediately begin to soften.

Lower the heat and let everything simmer together, stirring often, until the roux thickens and the vegetables are soft.

Isn't that lovely?

Remove from heat and using a large spoon, add the vegetable mixture to the simmering stock.

Next you will chop up the smoked sausage and add to the pot.

And now it's the okra's turn.

Bring the mixture to a gentle simmer and add the seasonings. Seasoning and heat levels are highly personal. Add more or less than my suggestions and continue to taste as you go. 

Let simmer 45 minutes to an hour, skimming off any fat that comes to the surface. 

Just before serving add the shrimp, oysters, and crab. Stir gently and when the shrimp are pink and opaque and the oysters begin to curl, you're ready to eat. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Serve with white rice and freshly toasted bread.

Amazingly Rich Seafood Stock

Today was seafood gumbo making day. And what do you need for a great, rich tasting, full bodied seafood gumbo? Homemade seafood stock. Don't be intimidated by making stock. It's easy and makes all the difference in your soups, stews, and gumbos.

Whenever you use shrimp in recipes and you peel them yourself, rinse and then freeze those shells (and tails and heads if available!) in a ziplock bag until you're ready to make stock. Also, it's a great habit to get into to save those onion peels, celery tops, etc. and freeze those as well. I wish you could have smelled the aroma coming from my kitchen while this stock was simmering away.

In a LARGE stockpot or Dutch oven (I used a 9 1/2 quart), add shrimp shells, a quartered onion, a few celery ribs, a bay leaf, a few peppercorns, and several parsley sprigs, cover with fresh cold water and slowly bring to a simmer. I had several gumbo crabs in the freezer just waiting to be used for stock. Into the pot they went as well.

Skim off any impurities that rise to the surface and discard. Let gently simmer for an hour or so without stirring. 

Strain all the solids and you're ready to make your gumbo.  I'll be posting that recipe soon.

First you make a roux........

The first step for any delicious gumbo is the roux. Okay, maybe the second step. You definitely want a rich stock. But this blog post is about the roux. 

For starters, a cast iron skillet is the way to go. It's heavy, retains heat well and heats evenly. A dear friend gave me a "roux spoon" made specially to stir the roux while it browns. It has a slanted end, which fits the curves of a skillet perfectly.

Next, you will need equal parts of flour and oil. I use peanut oil and for this batch I used 1 cup oil / 1 cup flour.

Have your vegetables chopped and ready to add to the roux at the perfect moment because once you start making your roux, you MUST NOT stop stirring or let your attention wander. If you let is stick or scorch you will have to dump that batch and begin again.

Add the oil to the skillet, over medium high heat and let it heat until it shimmers. Add the flour all at once and whisk to combine to remove the lumps. Lower the heat to medium and now you stir.........

After 5 minutes.....

and then you stir some more.......

 la, de, da, de, da.....more stirring......

And I believe this pot of golden brown goodness is ready!

Adding the vegetables all at once, cools the roux enough to keep it from scorching, but it's so hot, it immediately begins to cook and soften the onions, celery, and green bell peppers.

Please be very careful when stirring and when the vegetables are added. If the roux splatters on you, it will burn!!!