Entree – Rosemary and the Goat

Asian Grilled Quail with Brown Rice

Love the Asian flavors of this dish.

Well, it’s about time for the Round Top Spring Antique Show to begin and I may not be doing a lot of cooking (at home at least) for the next 2 1/2 weeks. But here’s a recipe I did a few weeks ago that, if you like quail, you will surely like.

Annie Oakley I’m not and I couldn’t shoot a bird the size of goose. Don’t get me wrong, I could shoot a quail or any other bird if I wanted to have it for dinner BUT I couldn’t aim and get one out of the air.

My sister, Terry, use to dove hunt with her husband and they had a special way of doing them on the grill. Can’t say I’ve ever eaten dove. She got all the athletic genes out of the twin thing — racketball, tennis, golf, and hunting. I got the “cooking” gene but of course she can cook too. She got the “tamale” gene for sure and makes the best tamales I’ve tasted. When she visits in a week or so she’s helping me make some for the freezer; so I better get cooking up some of that frozen food I have stashed in my freezer to make room.

March 14, 2023 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Orange Chicken with White Fluffy Rice

No fuss orange chicken!

Ya know, before moving to Round Top if we wanted Chinese food we would have many places to choose from and I would always say why eat out when I can do better at home. Well, now that we are in Round Top and there’s not a Chinese restaurant nearby, I’m back to making my own Asian flavored dishes.

I remember the first time I had chicken chow mien and it was at my mother-in-law’s house and I was dating my husband (in high school) and he told me I was really going to like her chow mien; and I did. I don’t remember my mother ever making Chinese dishes; a little bit of everything else but no Chinese.

February 15, 2023 By Sherry

Pork

Papa G’s Herbed Pork Chops

🎼Anything you can do I can do better,

I can do anything better than you!🎼

No you can’t, Yes, I can, Yes I can — Well that’s not true when it comes to the outdoor cooking in this family. Whether it’s grillin’, fryin’, or smoking. GA (the person I have shared most of my life with and 53 years of marriage) has been taught by the best — my dad. Even back when we were dating in high school he was learning things that would stay with him and add to his cooking skills.

I’ve always done most of the cooking in the kitchen but over the last 10 years that’s changed. When I had both knees replaced years ago, he was preparing me wonderful “eats”. And, always for the family feast we had the day after Thanksgiving he had his own item he would prepare and present to the group. (These were the best dinners ever! See blast from the past below to get an idea of what went on at a MFF).

January 20, 2023 By Sherry

Entree/ Legumes/ Pork

Hoppin’ John

This could be your New Year’s Eve good luck meal!

Hoppin’ John is a Carolina rice and pea dish made with either red peas or cowpeas. The recipe can be traced back to roots in West Africa. There are a lot of variations but basically peas and rice are the main ingredients. I’ve add some bell pepper, onion and garlic; a little ham hock and fried/crispy pork belly never hurt a recipe.

Most recipes call for Carolina gold rice but I could not find that; maybe I’ll have to check out Amazon or put it on my list of things to look for when we go to “the city”.

Awhile back I used these red peas to do a pea and grits recipe which was quite good also. I think the next time I make Hoppin’ John I will saute’ some fresh jalapeno in with the onions and bell peppers for a little added heat. I think the recipe can also benefit from some sliced celery. Really, you can add just about anything. Maybe a sliced smoked sausage in place of the pork belly would add more spice.

December 28, 2022 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Entree/ Game/ Lamb

Lamb Chops with Huacatay Sauce

I love these little chops!

What’s not to love about these cute little lamb chops; a very tender piece of meat, a beautifully Frenched bone and they look just like little “meat lollipops”. They make a perfect appetizer or several for a meal. For an appetizer these little lollipops can be eaten with your hands; no knife and fork needed. And, who doesn’t like eating meat off the bone?

When my mother use to fried bread pork chops or pork steaks, my favorite part was what was left on the bone and I couldn’t wait to eat that part of the chop/steak. We never had lamb growing up, never; and I guess that’s why it took me well into my adulthood to even try them. I have to say that I don’t buy them often unless I’m at Costco and then I will pick up a couple of packages and throw them in the freezer for something special I may be doing.

These would be great added to your holiday celebrations. My mouth is watering just thinking of making these again. I may be experimenting with some different sauces and dips for this little tidbits of juiciness.

December 17, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Chicken with Blistered Tomatoes and Paprika Cream Sauce

A pasta dish to warm your belly on a cool Fall night.

I hope wherever you are living you are enjoying some cooler/colder weather. Even here in Texas we have cooled down considerably since all those 100° days of this past summer. Here in our area it may be cool/cold one week and warmer the next so you just never know what to expect. So as this recipe post it is in the 70’s but next weekend our highs are in the 50’s. Whatever the temperature, I think you will enjoy this dish.

Cooler temperatures have me wanting to make some good pasta dishes and since I have a pantry full of beautifully shaped pastas I will definitely be doing that. Usually, if I ask my husband what he wants on his pasta he says “olive oil” and cheese. BUT, I always convince him of a dish that is a little more interesting that pasta and oil. The pasta I used in this recipe just happened to be another one of my giant pastas I picked up and World Market.

December 6, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Legumes/ Pork

Red Peas with Pork Belly and Cheesy Grits

P-P-P-P’s – Peas Please!

I’ve always loved peas (maybe not English peas when I was a kid); black eyed, purple hull, field, lady, cream, and of course snow and sugar snap. The first peas are legumes but still a pea in my book My dad use to grown black eyed, purple hull and field pieces and my mother would mix them all together when she cooked them. I don’t grow my own peas but sometimes I will buy a can of each, drain and rinse and mix them together; I love the different shapes and colors together

The red pea is a variety I’ve never tried and recently ordered a package of Sea Island Red Peas from Amazon and after looking at several recipes, I knew what I was going to serve with them. Some good barely cheesy grits, topped with the red peas/gravy and topped with some crispy pork belly chunks. I’m making Hoppin’ John this week using the remainder of my bag of peas. Hoppin’ John is a dish I’ve never made before so I’m anxious to make it and maybe have a good crusty bread instead of cornbread.

November 14, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Balsamic Chicken with Figs and Kale

Fall figs!

I spend a lot of my time off from cooking at the brewery looking at recipes. Can you believe that? After helping in the kitchen four days a week; I still want to look at food? Either I’m searching my favorite wineries for recipes or watching food shows or movies about food.

Cooking for company is something I love to do and hope to get back to doing that. I can spend hours trying to pick out the perfect menu; not to fussy (just yet) and not too very complicated (although I do like a challenge) just a perfect meal to enjoy with friends and family. I also think it is fun to get guest involved in the cooking, only if they are into that sort of entertainment. And, I can’t wait to have my first tea party. I should say “tea” because tea party makes me think of old ladies in hats and I’m definitely not a “hat” person. So, if you are ever invited to “tea” you know you do not have to wear a hat.

November 1, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Pasta

Giant Pasta with Baby Zucchini

A use for leftover Charcuterie meats.

After making my charcuterie board on our girl’s trip to Waco, there was quite a bit of meat left over and I just threw it in the freezer when I got home thinking I might use if for our snack one night while having our “front porch cocktails”. Then recently when I was at Cost Plus World Market I bought several of their pastas. Ya know, buying different pastas is my weakness. Well, they had a giant fussily pasta that I thought would go perfect with my baby (the size of your little finger) zucchini that I picked up at Trader Joe’s. And the results were amazing.

I’m only using the prosciutto and the pancetta out of the meats. I wasn’t sure how frying and browning salami would work and I knew I wouldn’t like the mortadella. When I make this again I will have the pancetta sliced a little thicker so I can cube it and then cut the pancetta thin and in threads.

September 15, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork

Tequila, Sausage and Vegetable Mixed Grill

Perfect for your Labor Day backyard party.

The night we made this there was only the two of us. As you can see in the picture, we could have feed at least 4 extra people. Where were you?

This isn’t actually a “mixed grill” but I didn’t know what to call it. I had saved the basic ingredients from a Food Network recipe I had seen but then decided to go off road and add a lot of other things to the recipe. Usually a mixed grill has several kinds of meats and I only had my Eckerman’s Smoked jalapeno Sausage with Cheese and besides we didn’t need any other meats.

September 2, 2022 By Sherry

Entree/ Pork/ Sandwiches

Pork Burger with Blue Cheese and Grilled Peaches

Who doesn’t love a good burger?

Back in my high school “burger days” (the 60’s)the only place we would go for a good burger was Knox’s Drive-In. Whether it was with my now husband or my twin sister, Terry and a group of friends that was our go to place for a burger and hanging out. That might have been about the only place back then to get a burger. The Drive-In is now closed but to this day I can still remember the phone number and that is mainly because whenever we would go back home for a visit our three kids always wanted a “Knox’s Burger”. What a burger it was, a thin patty that you could actually get your mouth around topped with my favorite mustard, pickle, onion and slaw. Not any ordinary slaw either; simple finely chopped cabbage with maybe a little pickle juice and tiny bit of mustard.

Fast forward to current times and you’ll find burgers that could feed four people and have to be dissected to get it in your mouth. I’ve never had an egg on a burger and that’s one trend I hope is over. Those poor chickens have been working overtime to provide eggs for “put an egg on it” menu items.

This pork burger is a recipe I found in Erin French’s new cookbook The Lost Kitchen. The Lost Kitchen is one of my favorite Magnolia networks new shows. Erin has her Lost Kitchen restaurant in Freedom, Maine and the only way to get a reservation for the 6 months a year she is open is to send a postcard in sometime in April and hope they see it and you make it on their reservation list. I’m still looking for a Round Top post card that might catch her attention. Maybe I need one that says “90 population” and she’ll think “that girls needs a night out”.

July 13, 2022 By Sherry

Pork

Chops and Rice — Quick and Easy

Who doesn’t like quick and easy?

This recipe is something I have made for over 50 years, and it was one of the first things I cooked as a newly wed.

I have to say this recipe was put aside for a couple of decades until recently and I was trying to think of something to make for dinner that could be made after I come home from working at the brewery. During the Spring antique show here in Round Top, (TX) there was no time for cooking when I got home from a long day of prepping and helping out in the kitchen (and I don’t even stay until closing).

What makes this recipe fast is the “instant” rice which I gave up years ago for converted rice, black or red rice and all the other mouth-watering rices available. But, when you are in a hurry this rice will have you sitting at the table in no time enjoying a homemade meal.

June 21, 2022 By Sherry

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