Saturday, December 31, 2011
Sausage Gravy
Now that you can make biscuits, you just have to make sausage gravy. Take a pound of good sausage and cook it until the pink is gone. Add 1/4 cup flour and stir until the grease from the sausage absorbs the flour. Add milk. The milk will thicken as it cooks so you may need to add more milk until you get it just right. Season with salt and pepper. Break open the biscuits and spoon the gravy over them.
Biscuits
My parents owned Franklin Country Music Park back in the 1980s. I remember listening to Jerry Clower one night talk about "whop biscuits". He said that all over America on Sunday mornings, you could hear this sound "whop, whop, whop...." He said it was the sound of canned biscuits hitting the corner of the counter. I knew that night I would never make "whop biscuits". My Mama made the best biscuits. I could make biscuits, but they were never as good as hers. My children reminded me of this often. One day I discovered Pioneer Baking Mix. It changed my biscuit making life. If you take Pioneer Baking mix and add buttermilk (the proportions are on the box) and you work in a little flour until the dough is stiff enough to handle. If you cut out the biscuits (I have my Mama's biscuit cutter) lay them on a pan that has been sprayed with Pam, pop them in a 425 degree oven until they are golden brown, you will have yourself a pan of my Mama's biscuits, or at least a good copy.
FYI This is no time to be on a diet. Butter them with REAL butter.
FYI This is no time to be on a diet. Butter them with REAL butter.
Corn Bread
With all this soup talk we simply must cover corn bread. There are several ways to make good corn bread. You can make muffins, you can fry it or you can cook it in a black iron skillet. Either way the method and the recipe are the same. My brother had a restaurant and Ms. Hazel made the best corn bread. Before she retired she shared her secret with us. It's mayonnaise.
First turn the oven on to 425 degrees. While the oven is heating mix 2 cups of self rising cornmeal.
Add 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk. Thicker if you are planning to fry it. Ms. Hazel said you add a "glob" of Hellman's mayonaise. I find this to be a HEAPING tablespoon full.
Whether you use muffin tins or a black iron skillet, you need to spray with Pam and add just a little cooking oil, enough to cover the bottom of the skillet or muffin tin. Pour in your mix. The oil will ooze up around the mix and give your cornbread a good crust.
Bake until it is golden brown. You can almost smell when it's ready.
If you are frying, you will need to pour oil into a frying pan. When the oil is hot you will drop the mix into the grease with a tablespoon. How much you drop depends on how big you want your corn bread patties. Cook until they are golden brown and then carefully turn them over to finish cooking. You may need to add more oil. The cornbread patties tend to absorb the oil. This is MY favorite cornbread.
Every good pot of soup deserves good cornbread.
First turn the oven on to 425 degrees. While the oven is heating mix 2 cups of self rising cornmeal.
Add 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups buttermilk. Thicker if you are planning to fry it. Ms. Hazel said you add a "glob" of Hellman's mayonaise. I find this to be a HEAPING tablespoon full.
Whether you use muffin tins or a black iron skillet, you need to spray with Pam and add just a little cooking oil, enough to cover the bottom of the skillet or muffin tin. Pour in your mix. The oil will ooze up around the mix and give your cornbread a good crust.
Bake until it is golden brown. You can almost smell when it's ready.
If you are frying, you will need to pour oil into a frying pan. When the oil is hot you will drop the mix into the grease with a tablespoon. How much you drop depends on how big you want your corn bread patties. Cook until they are golden brown and then carefully turn them over to finish cooking. You may need to add more oil. The cornbread patties tend to absorb the oil. This is MY favorite cornbread.
Every good pot of soup deserves good cornbread.
Vegetable soup
This is how I use left over vegetables and make the best vegetable soup. I get a bowl with a tight fitting lid that can go in the freezer. Every time we have vegetables left over after a meal, I add them to the bowl. When the bowl is full, it's time for soup.
1 pound ground beef
1 onion diced
1 large can of diced tomatoes
vegetables from the freezer
salt and pepper to taste
Add ground beef and onions to your soup pot. Cook until the ground beef is no longer pink. Add the can of tomatoes. Add a can of water. Dump the bowl of frozen vegetables from the freezer. When the vegetables have thawed and the soup is heated through, it's done. You can add diced potatoes, rice or noodles also. It's really a matter of taste. If you don't like having the pieces of tomato in the soup, you can make it with tomato juice instead. Don't add the water if you use tomato juice.
1 pound ground beef
1 onion diced
1 large can of diced tomatoes
vegetables from the freezer
salt and pepper to taste
Add ground beef and onions to your soup pot. Cook until the ground beef is no longer pink. Add the can of tomatoes. Add a can of water. Dump the bowl of frozen vegetables from the freezer. When the vegetables have thawed and the soup is heated through, it's done. You can add diced potatoes, rice or noodles also. It's really a matter of taste. If you don't like having the pieces of tomato in the soup, you can make it with tomato juice instead. Don't add the water if you use tomato juice.
Corn Chowder
Winter is the best time to have soup. I love this recipe and I think you will too.
1 pound package of smoked sausage
1 small onion diced
1/4 cup flour
1 can whole kernal corn
red potatoes
milk
1/2 stick butter
salt and pepper
Melt the butter. Slice or dice the smoked sausage and add to butter along with the onion. Cook until the onions are done. Add the flour and stir until the butter is absorbed by the flour. Add milk. The amount of milk you add depends on how thick you like your soup. It will thicken as you cook. You can add more milk if it gets too thick. Add the can of corn, juice and all. Add the red potatoes that have been diced. The amount of potatoes you add again depends on how thick you want your soup to be. When the potatoes are done, the soup is ready.
1 pound package of smoked sausage
1 small onion diced
1/4 cup flour
1 can whole kernal corn
red potatoes
milk
1/2 stick butter
salt and pepper
Melt the butter. Slice or dice the smoked sausage and add to butter along with the onion. Cook until the onions are done. Add the flour and stir until the butter is absorbed by the flour. Add milk. The amount of milk you add depends on how thick you like your soup. It will thicken as you cook. You can add more milk if it gets too thick. Add the can of corn, juice and all. Add the red potatoes that have been diced. The amount of potatoes you add again depends on how thick you want your soup to be. When the potatoes are done, the soup is ready.
You can also use half chicken broth and half milk.
Potato soup with Sausage
Our friend Allen is quite the cook. He suggested I try this soup. I did last night, with some minor adjustments to make it easier. It was delicious!
Italian sausage
Onion diced
1/4 c. flour
bag of Simply Fresh diced potatoes
Milk
Salt and pepper
Remove sausage from their casings, add onion and cook until sausage is no longer pink. Add the flour and stir until the flour absorbs the grease from the sausage. Add milk. The amount of milk you add depends on how thick you like your soup. It will thicken as it cooks. You can add more if it gets too thick. Dump in the bag of potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
If you are not a fan of italian sausage, regular pork sausage will work as well.
Italian sausage
Onion diced
1/4 c. flour
bag of Simply Fresh diced potatoes
Milk
Salt and pepper
Remove sausage from their casings, add onion and cook until sausage is no longer pink. Add the flour and stir until the flour absorbs the grease from the sausage. Add milk. The amount of milk you add depends on how thick you like your soup. It will thicken as it cooks. You can add more if it gets too thick. Dump in the bag of potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste.
If you are not a fan of italian sausage, regular pork sausage will work as well.
Brunswick Stew
If you've never tried this, you must. You can put it together in 5 minutes. All the ingredients can sit on the shelf till you are ready for them so it's a go to in a pinch kinda recipe. In recent years the ingredients have been a little hard to find so you may have to check more than one grocery store.
1 can Castleberry's Bar B.Q. beef
1 can Castleberry's Bar B.Q pork
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 large can (or two small) swansons white meat chicken
2 cans of cream corn.
Dump it all in a pot. When it's heated through, it's ready to eat. I just serve it in a bowl with bread. Hot sauce optional and vinegar and salt potatoe chips.
1 can Castleberry's Bar B.Q. beef
1 can Castleberry's Bar B.Q pork
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 large can (or two small) swansons white meat chicken
2 cans of cream corn.
Dump it all in a pot. When it's heated through, it's ready to eat. I just serve it in a bowl with bread. Hot sauce optional and vinegar and salt potatoe chips.
Why me, why now?
All my adult life I have had friends tell me that I should write a cookbook. I've had it on my back burner. I even made an attempt once to gather my best recipes into my computer. I find myself without work for next four months and I decided that now is the time. Rather than write a cook book, I decided to try my hand at writing a blog. It will be a new experience. I need new experiences in my life.
I am known for being a good cook, but what I know about myself is, I won't cook it if it's not easy and only has a few ingredients. There's got to be lots of friends and friends I'm yet to make that could benefit from my ability to take a recipe and figure out an easy way to prepare it. So here I go...trying something new. Hope you'll try it with me.
I am known for being a good cook, but what I know about myself is, I won't cook it if it's not easy and only has a few ingredients. There's got to be lots of friends and friends I'm yet to make that could benefit from my ability to take a recipe and figure out an easy way to prepare it. So here I go...trying something new. Hope you'll try it with me.
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