Hushpuppies

My husband loves hushpuppies and I just don't make them but I have decided they are worth the effort. These are deep fried in oil but we want to experiment with making them in the abelskiver pan which would reduce the calories and fat but I didn't have enough dough to experiment with when I came up with this recipe.
Normally, hushpuppies are made with baking powder but I was out that day and since I was using yeast for the beignets I thought it would be easy to make them with yeast. The result was awesome.

Hushpuppies
1/3 cup onion, diced
1 cup cornmeal
4 TB flour
1 TB yeast
½ cup buttermilk (whey)
1 TB sugar
¼ teas pepper
Cooking oil
Heat buttermilk to about 100 degrees. Add yeast and sugar and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile add onions, cornmeal, flour and pepper to a medium sized bowl. Add buttermilk. Mix gently until completely wet. Pour oil into cast iron skillet, about 2-3 inches deep. Heat to 375. Form 1 inch patties and cook until golden.

Beignets

With winter here, I have been craving fried foods like crazy. I think it has to do with the perpetual chill that has settled over our home and lives. Fried foods are little bits of joy. Beignets are the most perfect food. Traditionally, they are served as a dessert with powdered sugar but there is nothing in this recipe that demands they have to be a dessert. We eat them with soups and sauces like biscuits. Pieces not eaten with dinner are often covered with butter and honey. They are not unlike Indian Fried bread except that this particular recipe uses yeast instead of baking powder. I make small pieces but you can easily make larger ones to use in place of bread for sandwiches or for tacos.

Beignets
1 cup milk
1 TB yeast
1 egg
2 TB sugar
2 TB oil
3 ½ - 4 cups flour
Cooking Oil
Heat milk to about 100 degrees. Add yeast and sugar. Let sit 5-10 minutes. Add egg and oil, beat well. Add flour ½ to 1 cup at a time until the dough is firm but still sticky. Remove from bowl and lay on floured surface. Knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky and still pliable. Roll out to ½ thickness and cut into squares. Heat 2-3 inches of oil in a deep skillet to 375 degrees. Fry until golden.

Winter Mint Julep

I'm working on a home spa party book. It's been a project near and dear to my heart for years. I thought it was finished and decided to change how I did the food part. Because of this, I had to experiment with some dishes so I could offer complete meal ideas. My biggest problem is drinks. I'm really a water or tea drinker. I've never liked punches and I'm really picky about juices. As a kid at class parties I would beg the teacher to let me just drink water. I never have liked those punch drinks parents bring to kid's parties. Sunny Delight was like poison to me. I hated it. As an adult, I still can't stand most drinks. I'm very basic - water, tea, cocoa, and coffee. I can make great presentations and variations of those (except I have developed a sensitivity to coffee). The idea of creating punches just makes me crazy.
Well, when writing a menu for a party it's important to offer drink ideas. Not so easy for me. I make a lot of Southern/Cajun/Creole dishes and thought a party centered around these foods would be fantastic but then I had to find at least one drink idea. Mint Juleps are the stereotypical dinner party drink for the South. I've never had nor made a Mint Julep so I did a search.
Then I hit another problem. I do grow mint but mint's not available in January, not here in my Washington home. I came up with an idea that resulted in the most amazing drink I have ever had in my life. I don't know if Mint Juleps are always this tasty but I found me a keeper. Starting with a syrup made with Spearmint Essential Oil (make sure you use a food grade variety or I bet you could substitute with an all-natural mint extract like Watkins sells).
We tried the syrup in a variety of alcohols. For whiskey, I used Jack Daniels. That was awesome. We tried some tequila and that wasn't a great blend. Then we tried Irish Cream which made a nice drink but I preferred the whiskey. We wanted to try rum only to find we were out. I put all the stuff in the freezer before dinner so it would be nice and cold when it came time to mix the drinks. Alcohol can be stored in the freezer but the syrup should be stored in the fridge.

Winter Mint Julep
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
20 drops spearmint essential oil (in summer use 6-8 mint sprigs, let sit overnight)
Combine water and sugar. Bring to boil and let reduce slightly. Add mint. Will be overpowering.
Add ½ oz syrup to 1 oz whiskey. Best served ice cold.

Fried Green Tomatoes

One dish my husband looks forward to every fall is fried green tomatoes. I was able to get some green tomatoes from a local organic farm. I paid more than I would have normally ($1 a pound) but I felt this was a special request and a gift for my husband.
Making fried green tomatoes is really easy and I have finally found a breading that everyone loved. The only thing about the frying is that I use little oil and it gets dirty so after every 3-4 batches I would have to clean out the pan. I don't have a good solution but it didn't really detract from the process. I set up a funnel with a coffee filter in a jar to dump the oil into and used a paper towel to quickly wipe away the crumbs left behind.
I don't have measurements because this is not really a measurement sort of recipe - it's more a technique.

Fried Green Tomatoes
Large, firm green tomatoes (at least the size of a tennis ball)
Flour
Milk
Eggs
Cornmeal
Seasoning Salt (I used New Orleans Seasoning)

Slice the tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices, try to keep them uniform but it's okay if there is some variation. Set out four bowls. Pour milk in the first bowl. Place 3/4 cup flour in the second and add seasoning, mix with a fork. Add 2 eggs to the third bowl and beat until combined. In the last bowl put about 3/4 cup of corn meal.
Take a deep skillet and add about 1/2 inch of oil. Let heat up while prepping the tomatoes.
Dip the tomato in the milk. Let drip until not dripping anymore. Cover with flour. Shake of excess. Dip in egg - make sure the entire surface gets egg on it and stays. Let excess drip off. Dip in cornmeal.
Set tomato in oil and let fry until golden. Flip and fry until golden. Let tomato drain on a baking rack layed over a baking sheet.
Serve with gravy or ranch dressing and enjoy.

Southern Peanut Butter Pie

This is a family favorite but I haven't had a chance to work on pie experiments so I don't have a crust recipe and I am not sure there isn't anything I would change with this recipe to make it more healthy. I know pie is not always meant to be healthy but it should have something about it that makes us feel like we're nurturing more than our junk food genes. There's something about pie that brings us back to a more simple time - fruit pies cooling on the window sill. This pie is not so bad since it's packed with protein powered peanut butter. Use an all natural peanut butter and it would almost come across as a health food (almost).

Southern Peanut Butter Pie
9" pastry shell
3 eggs
1 cup dark corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 teas vanilla
1 teas orange zest
1 cup salted peanuts, coarsely chopped.
Preheat oven to 400 - make sure shell has been refrigerated 1 hr. In bowl beat eggs until frothy. Add corn syrup, sugar, peanut butter, vanilla and zest. Beat until smooth. Stir in peanuts, the pour into shell. Bake for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake an additional 30 minutes. Cool thoroughly before cutting and serving.

note: I don't think I have ever added orange zest to this recipe and I can't tell you where I got it from.

Picnic Salads

Sunday, we thought it would be fun to make corn dogs and have picnic salads. We put off the corn dogs til later in the week and opted for chili dogs. That works for me because corn dogs are work and I really want to share with you the whole technique (secret is in a corn dog maker which is wonderful but that's for next time. Picnic salads, to me, are potato salad, macaroni salad - anything you'll make for a picnic or barbeque. Sunday's weather was unseasonably warm and sunny which made us want to spend time outside. Even though it was warmer, it wasn't warm enough for a picnic.
My son requested potato salad for dinner and my husband wanted macaroni salad. Both salads are best when they sit for awhile but we couldn't wait.

Macaroni Salad
This can easily be made gluten free by subing gf pasta. To be dairy free omit the cheese.
1 pound macaroni (I actually made 2 12 oz boxes of spiral pasta because it was on sale)
onion powder (or finely chopped onion - I don't like raw onion so I sub)
3-5 hard boiled eggs (depends on the amount of pasta, for 24 ozs I used 5 eggs)
3-5 TB sweet relish (I just use a big spoonful)
1/2 cups shredded cheese
3 celery stalks, sliced thin
Miracle Whip salad dressing

Boil noodles until firm tender. Drain and rinse with cold water until the noodles are all cold to the touch.
In a large bowl, mix celery, onion powder and relish. Add noodles and mix thoroughly. Add Miracle Whip by the spoonful until all the pasta is thinly coated. Stir in cheese and give the salad a good stirring to catch anything that might be sitting at the bottom. Chill for 1-2 hours before serving for a good flavor, overnight for a better flavor (can be eaten right away but may be a little bland).

Potato Salad (gf,df)
6 medium potatoes
4 eggs
mayonaise
mustard
seasoning salt
finely chopped onion, if desired (I often leave out the onion)
Boil potatoes until they are tender but not soft (too soft and they won't cube) in a large pot. In a small pot (with lid) bring eggs to a boil. Turn off burner and let sit until potatoes are ready. If you have time, let potatoes and eggs cool. Peel eggs and potatoes. Chop into bite sized peices. Add mayo until all ingredients are lightly covered (not dry but not soupy). Add 1-2 TBs mustard, to taste. Season with seasoning salt.

Super easy salads for any time of the year. Best served with hot dogs, hamburgers or fried chicken but really anything is good.
I prefer to heat my potato salad just a little before eating so it has the best flavor.

Xavier's Dutch Oven Contest

My son entered the annual dutch oven contest for the second year this year (it's also the second year of the contest). Last year he did the one pot competition but this year he strove for the 3 pot division.
I promised I would share his recipes - I have shared the cornbread recipe before and it didn't quite work in the dutch oven (sadly costing him a ribbon) but the other two recipes were well received.
Low Country Boil
6 quart Dutch oven
Serves 6
Ingredients
• 8 teaspoons Bay Seasoning (or to taste)
• 12 red new potatoes
• 6 (4-inch) smoked link sausage (good high quality sausages will add better flavor)
• 6 ears corn
• 3 pounds fresh shrimp, peeled (I prefer peeled shrimp but you can use unpeeled for more flavor)
• 4 quarts water
Directions
Add water to Dutch Oven. Add Bay Seasoning and bring to a boil over hot coals. Add potatoes and sausage. Boil for 20 minutes. Add corn and cook for 10 more minutes. Add Shrimp and let cook for 1-2 minutes or until the shrimp is just done. Drain off water and serve.
*note – you can boil the sausages for 10 minutes prior to adding potatoes to give the water more flavor and then boil them 20 minutes.

*We used Andouille sausage which is slightly spicy but held up really well. Cheap sausages will lose their flavor so use a good quality sausage. Also be aware that shrimp shrinks so you want to use a larger size - we used Thai Shrimp which was a good size shrimp. We also ended up using only 2 pounds since it comes in 2 pound bags and it was plenty of shrimp.

Corn Bread
6 quart Dutch Oven
Serves 6
Ingredients
• ½ stick of butter
• 2 cups corn meal
• 2 teas baking powder
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk
Directions
Melt butter in Dutch Oven. In a bowl, combine corn meal and baking powder. Add eggs and milk. Mix together. Pour most of the melted butter into the batter, leaving a good film on the Dutch Oven. Pour batter into Dutch Oven. Cover with flat lid and top with coals (should have coals top and bottom, want to replicate a 350 – 400 degree oven). Bake 20 minutes or until Corn Bread is firm to the touch and browned.


Peach Caramel Cake
6 quart Dutch Oven
Serves 6
Ingredients
• 1 box White or Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 can of ginger ale
• 1 large can peaches with juice
• 1 cup brown sugar
• Oil
Directions
Lightly oil Dutch Oven. Sprinkle brown sugar around bottom of pot evenly. Top with peaches. Layer on cake mix but do not stir. Pour over ginger ale. You can press down on cake mix to moisten but do not stir. Cover with flat lid and coals. Set on additional coals (you want to replicate about a 400 degree oven). Bake 45 minutes or until cake is firm. Careful not to overcook the bottom.

*We experimented with this recipe in the oven with a regular cake mix and it worked fine. This past weekend I made a version of this with fresh apples instead of canned peaches and the Betty Crocker gluten-free white cake mix. It worked really well - I had to add a little more soda to compensate for the apples not being canned. It had good flavor and texture, even though the Betty Crocker mix is 1/2 a normal cake mix.