Pimento Cheese

Are you ready for major updating on what's cooking? This will be a lot of posts in one day! Super Social Worker brought me some dip to try at the office that was very good and I figured I better get on here and acknowledge it if I ever want her to speak to me again! :) She got the recipe from Pioneer Woman and her recent pita chip recipe experiments. It was delicious and I didn't even have the pita chips to go with mine. Here's the link: Hot Olive and Artichoke Dip

--I was never a big fan of pimento cheese when I was growing up. It wasn't until The Dish Washer introduced me to the Hot Links with Pimento Cheese appetizer at Jim 'N Nick's that I really started to enjoy it. Since I liked it there, I decided to try the Toasted Pimento Cheese sandwich at Newk's and it is really very good. (Then I realized that sandwich has 900 calories in it and decided I better not be a regular partaker!) My favorite way is by far served with sausage, so I decided to attempt to make this at home. (As pictured above.) Mom had made some pimento cheese sandwiches for a party and recommended a very good recipe for pimento cheese, so I decided to try it and it was perfect. Here's the funny part of the story...I didn't actually have pimentos when I made it, so it is really just cheese but it accomplished what it was supposed to. This is what I used...

Bobby's Pimento Cheese

Our pictures look really different...don't know what's up with that! Mine seems more thick than creamy.

Homemade French Fries

I love homemade fries. Ever since I was little, this is how they were made. For Father's day, we were sent packing with some red potatoes from The Dish Washer's parent's garden. Even though he isn't thrilled about eating potatoes (and actually didn't eat one of these...the willpower he has is unbelievable!!) I made these to go with our hamburgers because I didn't want them to go bad waiting for The Dish Washer to eat them.

Homemade Fries

Potatoes (baking, red, etc.)

oil

seasoning

Slice potatoes into circles. I like to get them pretty thin so the fries get crunchy on the edges like chips. Fry in oil (I just put oil in a pot on the stove instead of deep-fryer) and cook until they are to your liking. Season with your favorite. Growing up we always just used salt, but now I love to put Tony Chachere's seasoning on them. So good! (So bad, but so good!!)

Grilled Chicken with White Sauce

This picture is awful but it is the only one I got. Last weekend we grilled chicken thighs and I made this sauce to go with it. It is like a white barbecue sauce, but not as "vinegary" as I would have liked. My favorite grilled chicken with white barbecue sauce is at Cypress Inn. YUMMY! This was close enough for the "home version." I got the recipe out of a cookbook all about our state.

White Sauce

1 c. mayo
1 Tbsp. salt
1 Tbsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. sugar
3 Tbsp. vinegar (I did 6 total because I like that vinegar taste)
4 Tbsp. lemon juice

Combine all of the ingredients in an airtight container; shake vigorously.

Sausage or Ham Quiche

I found this on The Dish Washer's camera where we made this and I forgot to post about it. This is a recipe from his hometown and he has perfected it! I usually just make sure he has everything he needs and tell him this is what we are having and he works his magic. We usually eat it for supper, but it would be great, OBVIOUSLY for breakfast or brunch. I'm going to post the original recipe with the pie shells included, but The Dish Washer leaves those out. Ours ends up being more casserole than quiche, but I sure would love to try it one day with the pie crust! The original recipe also just calls for sausage, but we were in a rock and a hard place this last time with NO SAUSAGE in our house, so we opted to cube the ham steak instead. Either way...YUM!

Sausage Quiche

1 pound sausage

2 (9-inch) pie shells

2 c. grated cheese

4 large eggs, beaten

2/3 c. milk

1 tsp. dry mustard

dash salt

1 (8 oz.) sour cream

green onions, chopped and sauteed

Cook and crumble sausage, drain. Line pie shells with sausage. Sprinkle cheese over sausage. Beat together eggs, milk, dry mustard, salt, sour cream and onions. Pour over sausage. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

For freezing: Freeze before baking. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze. Do not thaw before baking.

While I am thinking of quiche, I will plan to post the recipe I use for Quiche Lorraine soon.

Creamy Squash Casserole

Well, 7 days late and 7 dollars short in getting this to you! I was looking for a different way to make squash casserole and found this online. It was very good. Still doesn't beat our all time favorite squash casserole but still very good!

4 pounds yellow squash, sliced
1/2 stick butter, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
2 eggs, beaten
1 tablespoon white sugar
3 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 (6 oz.) can French fried onions - I had the big can, so I just used enough to cover the top


Preheat oven to 350. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add squash; cook until tender but still firm. Drain, and transfer to a large bowl. Add the butter, mayonnaise, eggs and sugar; mix together. Sprinkle 1/2 bread crumbs on bottom of greased casserole dish. Pour squash mixture on top and sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs and cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, top with onion rings and bake for additional 10 minutes.

Fried Cabbage

This weekend I got to be a part of The Former Roomy's baby shower! It was so much fun to head her way and get to spend time with her and her family. We had brunch with a most delicious spinach/bacon quiche, salad with strawberries and mandarin oranges, and cinnamon sugar bread ball type thing. All of these recipes I am going to have to get because I have tried to research online, but can't find ones that I think is exact to this.

On my way home I stopped at Burris Farms and picked up some onions, squash and eggplant. Would you believe I talked The Dish Washer into just being vegetarians yesterday? I couldn't believe it! He had been with his family while I was away and came home with the biggest head of cabbage I have ever seen. So yesterday, I put up some squash and then we had a meal of Rotel Squash Casserole (which I have decided is a close enough "lazy" version of Stuffed Squash), Broiled Eggplant and fried cabbage. Fried cabbage is a very simple thing to do.

Fried Cabbage

Cabbage, cut into pieces
bacon

In a large frying pan, begin cooking bacon until browned. Add cabbage pieces with a small amount of water. Add salt and pepper to taste and cover with lid. Cook down cabbage pieces and once that is done keep stirring ("frying") until the juices are cooked out.

--
Papa Roni (my dad's new name thanks to a little girl that started calling him this) used to make corned beef and cabbage all the time. I loved the cabbage from that!

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

Looking for a different way to "do" green bean casserole? Look no more! I found this to be very interesting and not bad at all. We had leftovers that we ate again last night and we both thought they may have even been better as leftovers. You'd have to be the judge of that if you give this a try.

Cheesy Green Bean Casserole

2 cans French-style green beans, drained

1 can cream of mushroom soup

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 tsp. dried onion flakes

1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and sliced, optional (I didn't use!)

1/4 tsp. garlic salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1-1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

2 (2-1/2 oz.) slivered almonds, optional (I didn't use!)

Add soup and cream cheese to a boiler. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until cream cheese is melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in beans, onion flakes, water chestnuts, garlic salt, pepper and cheese. Spoon lightly into greased 1-3/4 quart casserole. Top with almonds. Bake, uncovered, at 375 for 45 minutes.