Low-Country Boil

I am resolved to get in the kitchen and start trying new recipes again.  My brain is in recipe overload and I have several that are already on my to do list.  The ingredients are purchased...I'm ready!  I can't guarantee that I will always take a picture which really stinks, because I love looking at pictures with food!  But my pictures are never that appetizing anyway, so I guess it doesn't really matter!  Obviously, my idea of printer friendly recipes is also a disaster and so that shouldn't be expected either.  I'm just going to stick with sharing the recipes!! 

We went the whole summer without having our Sunday school supper club and The Dish Washer and I were really missing it, so we decided to host August.  We love having people over to the house and The Dish Washer decided he wanted to do a low country boil as a good way to end the summer.  First of all, we have never made it before.  Second of all, I HATE shrimp!!!  But I took one for the team and Low-Country we were!  I think it is a pretty basic thing and other than our potatoes getting a little overcooked (meaning they didn't hold their shape and wanted to mash whenever you went to scoop) it was a pretty good success for our first time.  The Dish Washer even built a special cooking station.  He actually built it for frying fish.  We've only done one fish fry since we have been married, but now that we have this maybe we will do more!  It's empty right now, but here is the picture.

Random side note is that you can see one little sprout of basil.  Normally I have basil coming out the wazoo, but this year my basil has disappointed me.  I blame it on a pesky chipmunk living in the vinca you see behind the table.  I tried to scare him off with some dashes of cayenne pepper!  I bet that really woke him up the first morning he got a sniff!  :)  Anyway, from all of my "chatting" you can tell I have missed this.  Let's get to the recipe:

Low-Country Boil

1/4 pound fully cooked, smoked sausage per person, cut into 1 inch pieces

1/4 c. Old Bay seasoning, or more to taste (we used MUCH more but we had a LARGE pot!)

2 small new potatoes per person

1 ear fresh corn, per person, shucked, silked and broken in half (The Dish Washer prefers white corn)

1/2 pound large fresh shrimp per person, shell on

Fill a large pot with enough water to cover all of the ingredients.  Add the sausage and Old Bay seasoning and allow to boil for about 20 minutes so that the sausage can flavor the water.  Taste, and add more seasoning if you think you need more.  Add the potatoes and boil for about 15 minutes.  Add the corn and boil about 10 minutes more.  Finally, add the shrimp and allow to cook for 3 minutes.  Taste shrimp and it is cooked through, drain immediately and serve.  We dropped ours down in a cooler to keep it cooler while everyone fixed a plate and went back for seconds, but I think it more fun to dump it out on newspaper.  And EVEN better if you drop the tailgate and dump it out on newspaper! 

Serve with cocktail sauce and tartar sauce.

Glazed Pork Chops

This is so quick and easy.  And YUMMY!

Glazed Pork Chops

2/3 c. apricot preserves
1/2 c. Italian salad dressing
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
Pork Chops

Mix the first three ingredients and marinate pork chops in Ziploc bag overnight  Save the marinade for basting during the cooking process.  Grill until chops are ready.

Chile Verde Pork Balls

I saw a recipe for beef meatballs using salsa verde and decided to try my own spin on it.  I opted for ground pork instead of beef.  The Dish Washer loved this, but it was WAY TOO HOT for me!!!  Next time, I will look for MILD salsa.  Here's what I did...(already forgot about pictures again)

Chile Verde Pork Balls

2 lbs. ground pork
1 egg
1 onion, chopped fine
1/2 c. oats
cumin powder to taste
salt and pepper to taste
1 jar of salsa verde (watch out for heat!!)
Sour cream

In a bowl, combine first 6 ingredients and form into meatballs.  In a large skillet, cook balls until done.  Once they are done, pour salsa over the top, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  If you would like to have a thicker sauce, uncover and turn up the heat stirring constantly until it reaches the consistency you would like it to be.  Serve with sour cream to cut the heat.

These also went in the freezer once they were completely cooked (with the sauce) and The Dish Washer can eat them later for lunch!

Chicken Florentine

I certainly don't claim to be a good photographer!!  In fact this is more delicious than it looks in this picture!!  Anyway, wanted to have a picture since I haven't been too good about pictures lately!  I wanted to try this recipe and now it is a family favorite!  Such great taste!!!  It would be great for company because it makes so much!! 

Chicken Florentine

5 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 (10 oz.) packages frozen spinach, thawed and drained completely

2 cans cream of mushroom soup

1 c. mayo

1 c. sour cream

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. curry powder

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. dry white wine (can substitute with chicken broth)

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 c. bread crumbs

2 Tbsp. butter

In a bowl, combine soup, mayo, sour cream, cheese, lemon juice, curry powder, salt and pepper, and wine.  Stir together until combined.  Add shredded chicken and drained spinach.  Mix well.  Place mixture in greased 11x7 casserole dish.  Combine Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.  Sprinkle over the top.  Dot with butter.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until bubbly. 

It made such a large amount for the two of us, so I put some of the meat mixture in a freezer bag with directions about the topping and baking.  When I am ready to cook it again, I will thaw completely before baking.

It would be great served with rice, but since The Dish Washer doesn't eat rice, we just ate it as is.  BORING!!

Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

This past weekend, we had The Bun's baby dedication at our church.  Afterwards we had our family over to our house for lunch.  Because we would be at church and had such a large crowd coming, I wanted to do something easy.  So we had all cold foods that I made the day before and just pulled out of the fridge when the service was over.  Our menu consisted of:

Luncheon Chicken Salad with Croissants
Sweet Potato Salad
Roasted New Potato Salad (that I normally serve warm, but served chilled this time)
Not Yo' Mama's Banana Pudding
Granny's Cut Out Cookies (shaped with a cross cookie cutter)
And this delicious trifle!  Chocolate/Peanut Butter lover's dream!!!

I tore the recipe out of a magazine months ago and saved it this whole time for this special occasion!

For the kids, I did have grilled cheese sandwiches and chips.  The sandwiches were baked in the oven and kept warm until lunch time.

Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle

1 fudge brownie mix (13x9 pan size)
1 pkg. (10 oz.) peanut butter chips
1 pkgs. (13 oz. each) miniature peanut butter cups
4 cups cold milk
2 pkgs. (5.1 oz. each) instant vanilla pudding mix
1 c. creamy peanut butter
4 tsp. vanilla extract
3 (8 oz.) cartons frozen whipped topping, thawed

Prepare brownie batter according to package directions; stir in peanut butter chips.  Bake in a greased 9x13 baking pan at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and cut into 3/4 inch pieces.

Cut peanut butter cups in half; set aside 1/3 cup for garnish.  In a large bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes.  Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set.  Add peanut butter and vanilla; mix well.  Fold in 1-1/2 cartons of whipped cream.

Place a third of the brownies in a 5-qt. glass bowl; top with a third of the remaining peanut butter cups.  Spoon a third of the pudding mixture over the top.  Repeat layers twice.  Cover with remaining whipped topping; garnish with reserved peanut butter cups.  Refrigerate until chilled.

Spam and Potatoes

I love fine dining or even just casual dining for that matter, but I am not too proud to admit that I LOVE fried Spam!!!  Just this week our Sunday school had a discussion on Spam and they were shocked to find out I had just bought three cans of it at the grocery store!!! 

I think Spam gets a bad wrap.  I would bet that the majority that say they hate it have never tried it!  The Dish Washer is anti-Spam, but if he tried this he would like it.  It is pork, afterall.  One of his favorite meats.  :)

Spam and Potatoes

3 medium baking potatoes
1 large onion
1 can Spam
vegetable oil

Chop potatoes, onion and Spam into bite size pieces.  In a large skillet, pour some vegetable oil into the pan.  Allow to warm.  Cook the potatoes alone for a little while before adding the onions, so that you don't burn them.  Once onions and potatoes are browned, add Spam and continue until browned.

I only season the potatoes with pepper.  The Spam is salty enough for me, so add salt according to taste.

Very good served with ketchup on top!!  :)

Taco Seasoning

The other day I was planning to make Taco Meatloaf and went to the pantry to get a taco seasoning packet.  Not one!  Bummer!  I went straight to the internet and found out how to make my own.  Very easy and the meatloaf tasted just right.

Taco Seasoning

1 Tbsp. minced onion
2 tsp. chili powder
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Mix all ingredients.  Makes the equivalent of a 1-1/4 oz. package of taco seasoning.