Purple Hull Peas

One meal that really hits home with my husband and I are purple hull peas. It was a staple meal that my mother cooked quite often and was a great meal that lasts for days.

The purple hulls were grown in our very large family garden that our entire family cared for and harvested each year. My mom would freeze a large amount of peas so that we would have plenty to last us until the next gardening season.

My husband had never had purple hulls until a couple years ago when my mother had made a pot while we were visiting my folks. He was hesitant to try them at first, but my mother has a way to get anyone to try anything once.

Since that first taste he was fan.

Purple hull's are similar to Black Eyed Peas, but have double the flavor. Plus, there is something magical that happens when you combine smoked ham hocks and purple hulls.

Be sure to soak the peas for about an hour or so if you are using dry beans. If you don’t have any ham hocks on hand throw in some salted pork or bacon stripes. But you have to use bacon grease….it’s one of the important ingredients to making purple hulls “oh so good!”

My Mother’s Purple Hull Peas
4 cups shelled purple hull peas
1 - large hunk of smoked ham hocks or some bacon stripes
2 cloves of minced garlic or garlic powder
1 onion chopped
Throw in some dried parsley flakes
Enough bacon grease to cover the bottom of the pot
Salt, to taste
Black or White Pepper, to taste

Sauté the onions until they are lightly browned from the bacon grease. Add the hocks and cover with water and boil for about an hour. Cut away all the meat and return the meat back to the pot. (If using bacon add when you add the peas.)

Add the peas and cover with water, cover. Bring to a boil then reduce to medium-high heat, simmer for about 40 minutes. Stir occasionally. Add parsley, garlic and stir. Cook uncovered. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Cook for about 2 hours.

Note: You will probably have to add water occasionally to the pot during the cooking process. Peas are done when they are soft and tender. I like to mash some up around the sides of the pans to thicken the mixture up a bit.

No Knead Bread

My friend John, a native Iowan, passed along a great article from the Des Moines Register the other day about a girl that foudn the pefect bread recipe that requires no kneading!

The recipe they're talking about, "No-Knead Bread," was published in the Nov. 8 New York Times in a column by "The Minimalist," Mark Bittman.Bittman authored
the straightforward recipe book "How to Cook Everything," but based in the popularity of this recipe he could have made a career off bread alone.

He adapted the bread recipe from a Manhattan baker, Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery. The innovative "no-knead" technique attracted the food-blogging community - a massive network of online diarists who trade recipes and product reviews.That group turned the idea from an easy-to-bake bread into a phenomenon, moving the recipe for a simple loaf onto the New York Times' most-e-mailed stories list.The loaf takes 24 hours to make, but very little work.

No-Knead Bread
Yields a 11/2 pound loaf
Recipe time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours of rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
11/4 teaspoons saltCornmeal or wheat bran as needed

In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at room temperature, or 70 degrees, for at least 12 hours (up to 24 hours is OK). Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.

Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) or Silpat mat with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal.

Cover with another cotton towel and let rise 2 to 3 hours.

When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats.

When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up.

It may look like a mess, but that's OK. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned.

Remove from oven. Cool on a rack.This recipe was adapted for the New York Times from Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City.

Notes: Be sure yeast is labeled instant or rapid-rise. Use King Arthur flour.

The recipe works with up to 20 percent rye flour, up to 30 percent whole-grain flour and up to 50 percent whole-wheat flour, according to Mark Bittman of the New York Times.

Want to add seasoning or other ingredients? Bittman recommends putting in herbs, nuts, dried fruits, olives or other additions after mixing the dough, but they can be incorporated during the folding, before the dough's second rising.

Goulash Anyone?

I posted about my Beef-licous casserole a while ago and received some great comments from everyone.

My friend Cyndi had a great story to go along with her family’s version on my dish. I think we all probably have our own family versions of every meal.

Mom used to make a hamburger dish we called "goulash." Doesn't every family have their own version? It was a popular Friday supper after school and before basketball games. My cheerleader sister and basketball playing boyfriend loved it. It was also a hearty dish after we had all been out working cattle or hogs. There are variations, depending upon what you have on hand, and I often improvise just as she did. My husband loves it and it makes great leftovers.

Recipe:

Boil water and get macaroni started.

Brown 1 pound of hamburger in a skillet.

Add chunks of Velveeta cheese and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Once the meat and cheese mixture is warmed through and the cheese melted, your macaroni should be ready to drain. Mix drained macaroni into the meat/cheese mix. Salt and pepper. I usually add a drained small can of mushrooms.Best served
with a glass of milk that has been in the freezer for about 10 minutes. . .

Thanks for sharing Cyndi!

Another Great Dip

As I've said before I love experiementing with recipes and trying new ways to make a good recipe GREAT.

I did just that with a shrimp dip recipe from Paula Deen. I turned a good recipe into a GREAT one. I made this recently at my work's St. Pat's Pot Luck. It was a hit adn I've been asked for the recipe....here you go.

Shrimp and Crab Dip
by Lane

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
1 large chopped red bell pepper
1 8oz. cream cheese, room temp.
1 pound medium fresh shrimp, peeled coarsely chopped
3 small cans of crab meat
1/3 cup sliced green onion or 1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 T. lemon juice
¼ tsp. red pepper
½ tsp. basil
1 T. parsley
Salt and pepper
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup mayonnaise
Assorted Crackers or bread for serving
Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add red bell pepper, and cook 3 minutes. Stir in shrimp, salt, parsley and green onion; cook 3 to 4 minutes, or until shrimp are firm and barley pink. In a large bowl mix cream cheese well add the sour cream, cheeses, seasonings, and mayonnaise and mix well. Add crab meat and mix in. Add shrimp, red bell pepper, and onion mixture to bowl. Spoon mixture into a large baking dish. Bake 50 minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbly. Serve with assorted crackers or bread.

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

I’m pulling a recipe from the archives today. It’s a recipe I use about twice a week and is a family favorite. The best part: Takes 1 minute to prepare and makes great leftovers.

I adapted my cheddar biscuit recipe from Paula Deen’s Garlic Cheddar Biscuits. Paula makes garlic butter, but I have found that I like to just put everything into the biscuit mix and I like to add different cheeses.

Many of my friends and family say these biscuits are better than the ones served at Red Lobster, but I’ll let you be the judge yourself. Serve these with just about any meal you want.

Cheesy Garlic Biscuits
By Lane, adapted from Paula Deen recipe

1 1/4 cups biscuit mix
1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar
¼ cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup milk
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Combine all ingredients and mix, not to over mix. If using cooking sheet, be sure to line sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray.

Spoon out on to a baking stone or cooking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned.

Corn Beef & Cabbage

Corn Beef and Cabbage is one of my all-time favorite meals. Corn beef is also one of the easiest meal to prepare and can be excellent leftovers that will last.

This is from the archives... Happy St. Patrick;s Day and hope you get the chance to have a green beer.

Corn Beef & Cabbage

By Lane

1 corned beef (I usually get a 3-4 pound one)

1 head of cabbage

2 T. butter

1 red onion, chopped, coarsely

1 parsnip, chopped

4-5 new potatoes, quartered

Seasoning packet with corned beef.

Plus add:

1 T. garlic powder

1 bay leaf

Place all veggies in large crock pot on low setting. Place corned beef on top and add all seasonings (including the packet that comes with the corned beef.) Cook on low for about 9 hours. I usually put the crock on around 7:30 and turn it off when I get home about 5:00 pm. The meat will be so tender it will fall apart.

I like to serve this with a simple salad and dinner rolls.

Fish Tacos Anyone?

Have you ever eaten a fish taco?

I have and I will say they are a little different, but can be mighty tasty. Especially if you have had your fill of traditional beef or chicken tacos.

I like trying new recipes at least twice per week. I actually stumbled onto fish tacos one night when I was in college. I had no hamburger meat and had a few tilapia filets in the freezer, so I thought I would give it a whirl and try to make fish tacos.

They turned out pretty good for a first time, but I’ve changed around this recipe to suit my own preferences. You can add whatever seasonings you like.

Try mixing your family’ supper around tonight and adding a new family favorite: Fish Tacos.

Lane’s Fish Tacos
2 lbs red snapper or other white flaky fish cut into 2 oz pieces
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup cream
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon paprika
Dash of pepper
12 corn tortillas
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce or cabbage
1 cup chunky salsa
1 cup oil for frying

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, flour, cornmeal and a pinch of salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayonnaise, seasonings, cream, lemon juice and Tabasco.

Heat oil to 375 degrees and dip fish into batter and fry until golden.

Drain on paper towels. Heat each tortilla on a hot griddle and place 3 pieces of fish on each tortilla. Top with lettuce and drizzle about 2-3 tablespoons of sauce on each. Serve with salsa.