Entree – Page 18 – Rosemary and the Goat

Mexican Cornbread

Yummm, Mexican cornbread topped with salsa, guacamole and a side of coleslaw!

This morning I woke up to the news that we are getting down in the low 20’s here in Texas in the next couple of days. I’m sure that to most of you that isn’t cold at all, but here in Texas the 40’s feel pretty cold when you aren’t use to it. My husband is outside covering all the pipes and plants and I sure hope I don’t lose the rest of my herbs tonight. So tonight would be a good night for some cornbread.

I love all kinds of cornbread. My dad use to do one with “cracklins”, fresh corn and jalapenos. It was wonderful and my dad taught my husband to make it so now that is one of my husband’s specialities (that and his white beans with ham and country style ribs). A lot of Texans like a sweeter type cornbread, almost cakelike but it doesn’t even compare to the kind of cornbread we grew up eating. I always loved the way my mother and grandmother made those cute little corn sticks that were so crunchy on the outside. I remember how gross I thought it was when my grandfather would take a freshly baked piece of cornbread and crumble it up in his buttermilk that was so thick it was in clumps when it was poured out of the carton.

I have some of those little corn stick pans plus some that will make cactus shapped cornbread and teeny tiny corn sticks and also my favorite cast iron wedge pan that makes individual wedges. I haven’t used my corn stick pans in a while so a pot of beans may be on the horizon so I have an excuse to make cornbread again.

January 6, 2010 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood/ Sauces

Salmon En croute

Another www.daringkitchen.com challenges and I’m pleased with the results.

The 2009 Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Simone of Junglefrog Cooking. Simone chose Salmon en Croute (or alternative recipes for Beef Wellington or Vegetable en Croute) from Good Food Online.

I’m really getting into these challenges. This one is the “cook’s” challenge and they are posted on the 27th of each month and the “baking” challenge is revealed on the 14th of each month.

I have made en croute once in my life and that was individual beef wellingtons I made for a Valentines dinner for two I catered about 18 years ago. I don’t know why I haven’t tried salmon en croute before. The crust is very simple and is has a wonderful flaky texture.

I really thought that the filling for this recipe would be too rich. We had the option of cream cheese or mascarpone. I had the cream cheese so decided to use it. Next time I will probably try the mascarpone. I also used a mixture of arugula and spinach. Next time a little more on the spinach. I did add some dill to the mixture and I made a lemon butter paprika sauce to go with it.

I got to pick one of my Meyer lemons from my tree. I wait all year for fall to get here so I can start using them. I only had 18 this year but better than the 8 I got last year. My husband is going to plan it in the ground after this crop has been picked so we may get a bigger tree with more fruit next year.

I hope you will try this recipe. You could use puffed pastry but you should really try this shortcrust recipe first. I really thought this fish would be an individual serving but as I cut my template, I had to keep making it bigger and bigger to accommodate the fish I was going to put inside. Kind of like my dad’s fish stories. I think hearing about some of his catches, the fish kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger each time he told the story.

December 14, 2009 By Sherry

Appetizers/ Entree/ HotApp/ Pasta/ Sauces

Duck Confit Ravioli with Port and Sun-dried Cherry Sauce

Michie Feast – Pasta Course

The idea for this cours started as gnocchi, then changed to ravioli with duck bolognese, and finally settled on a duck confit ravioli with a port sauce. I have never made my own pasta, or duck confit so I’m not sure what I was thinking!

I shopped for the duck in Austin before I headed to the parent’s house. I was surprised that duck was $16/lb, I guess I am cheap but I decided right there to cut the duck in the recipe from four pounds down to one pound. Since the idea was to serve very small portions, like a tasting menu, I knew I would only use a fraction of what the recipe would yield anyways.

Thanks to Paul, my duck confit was cooked to perfection. Starting almost 48 hours in advance, the duck was first brined for 24 hours, then cooked for 10 hours on a very low temperature. When it was finished the duck fell apart, it was fall off the bone tender and moist. This eventually got mixed in with the ricotta and parmesan to create the filling for the ravioli.

December 9, 2009 By Alexis

Entree/ Fish/Seafood

Shellfish with Spaghetti Squash

Who would have thunkit that Spaghetti Squash could be so good with Shellfish!

The first time I every had shellfish with pasta was when we were in Italy three years ago (I would really like to go back someday with our kids and their families.). When I usually think of pasta, I think of red sauce with meat. One night a friend who was with us ordered a dish that had the shrimp, mussels and clams along with fettuccine. After watching her scoop all the wonderful shellfish out of it’s shells, mix it with the pasta, twirl it around her fork, I decided the next night out, I would have to try this dish. I did and it was delicious.

Even though this isn’t pasta, this dish is wonderful. I thought for a healthier dinner I would forgo the pasta for spaghetti squash.

October 30, 2009 By Sherry

Entree/ Poultry

Mimi’s Sticky Chicken

If you don’t know Mimi’s Sticky Chicken, you need to get acquainted.

If you google “Mimi’s Sticky Chicken” you will come up with 21,000 results. I came across this recipe probably about ten years ago. I never knew who Mimi was, I just knew I loved the recipe. If you haven’t come across the recipe in your Internet searches I would be amazed.

When I think of chickens (and we eat our fair share of the two legged creatures) a story my husband use to tell us always comes to mind. He remembers going out to his grandmother’s house (Ma Michie’s farm) and her chasing the chickens around the yard until she caught one. She would wring it’s neck, put it in a big black cast iron kettle in the yard (we now have that kettle in our back yard with flowers planted in it) and boil it just long enough that she could pluck the feathers off it. Then she would fry it up and I’m sure it was some of the best fried chicken my husband ever had. She was also known to bbq some goat.

October 6, 2009 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood

Shrimp and Cheese Grits

Charleston was a delight and the food was absolutely wonderful and shrimp and grits is one of my favorites.

Shut my mouth! I declare! Butter my biscuit! I feel like I should be saying all these things about these Shrimp and Cheese Grits.

My daughter and I just returned from Charleston. This was our 4th mother/daughter trip and this year we shared it with my twin sister and her son.

Born and raised in southeast Missouri, which is right on the Arkansas and Tennessee borders and the Mississippi river, I always thought of myself as a southerner. We ate southern food like black eyed peas, hog jowl, fried green tomatoes, fried pork chops, fried chicken (everything good and fried) but I never had grits growing up.

In fact, I didn’t have grits until I lived in Kansas City and a neighbor from Atlanta brought me over a bowl of buttered grits one morning. They were so smooth and creamy I fell in love with them. After that, I experimented with shrimp and cheese grits and they are my favorite to this day.

Upon arriving in Charleston we had a late lunch at Fleet Landing down by the water. I had a wonderful fried green tomato stacked with crab salad, which I plan to try to make soon. We got into the laid back pace of Charleston pretty quickly. Sailing, champagne, wine, oysters, shrimp, fried green tomatoes— ahhhh!

Our first night we all took a low country cooking class at Charleston Cooks. There were 11 of us in the class and we all pitched in and by the end of the class we had before us a beautiful plate of Lime, Tomato and Grilled Corn Salad, Pulled Pork BBQ with Sweet Mustard Sauce, Carolina Red Rice, Blue Cheese Slaw and the yummiest Fried Peach Pies with vanilla ice cream. We ate it all!.

This particular recipe for shrimp and grits came from a 1990’s Bon Appetit magazine in what use to be there RSVP section. Not sure if they still do this but back then people could write in and request a recipe from a restaurant they had visited. Usually one was printed either from the restaurant or one that the magazine tested. This recipe was a request from Crook’s Corner in Chapel Hill, NC. Only thing I changed was I used cheese grits instead of plain grits.

September 13, 2009 By Sherry

Entree/ Fish/Seafood

Shrimp, Corn and Shiitake Mushroom Tamales

Hot tamales, hot tamales, get them while they’re hot!

I have so many memories from growing up in a small town in Missouri. My hometown was about 7,000 people and not a Mexican restaurant in sight (not for at least 30 years). We used to go to town shopping and I remember a little man that stood on the corner with his tamale cart. We would tell him how many tamales we wanted and he would wrap them in newspaper and we would take them home to eat. They were the best — that is until my mother decided she was going to learn to make them.

My mother and a friend came up with a recipe and they would get together once a year and make hundreds of tamales. They would work all day, making the meat and mush, rolling the tamales, and tying them in bundles. At the end of the day, they would divide up their day’s work and put them in the freezer for us to enjoy during the year.

I lost both my parents within 6 months of each other in ’08. Over the last several months a lot of “food” memories have been popping up in my head — like the tamales, my dad going frog gigging in a boat that he made by welding two car hoods together — those huge platters of fried frog legs, what I wouldn’t give for a platter of them and seeing all of us around the table afterwards playing Indian poker. There are so many stories that I feel are responsible for my love of food and I am sure I will be sharing those from time to time.

September 2, 2009 By Sherry

Entree/ Sandwiches

Southwest Open Faced Sandwich

A delicious grilled sandwich for a summer cookout.

I love anything that can be grilled outside in the summer so our kitchen does not get as hot as blazes. We grill out 12 months a year here in Texas. In fact, when we lived in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Kentucky, if we wanted BBQ we didn’t care if there was 1″ or 6″ of snow on the ground, my husband would crank up his grill and get a fire going.

This sandwich is great because there is only one slice of bread which kind of fools you into thinking it is good for your waistline. The chicken is grilled and it has all the flavors of the Southwest. Of course all the veggies toppings are good and healthy and full of color.

We have been trying to decide what kind of outdoor kitchen we want since putting our pool in five years ago. My husband has our original cast iron grill that we bought back in 1970 and it is still one of his favorites. He has a barrel smoker where he BBQs all his delicious pork butts and ribs and just recently he bought what he calls a “throw away” gas grill until he decides what equipment he really wants for doing some the best BBQ you have ever put in your mouth.

For this sandwich, he did not have the new gas grill yet and he used his turkey burner with a cast iron griddle on top. It was really kind of funny to look at considering his bbq skills and here he was with this “thing” rigged up to do the chicken breast.

This is a delicious topping for the chicken sandwich. The Orange and Black Bean Salsa has a nice bite to it and really enhances all the flavors of the sandwich.

August 18, 2009 By Sherry

Entree/ Pizza

Shrimp and White Bean Pizza with Herbs

“When the moon hits your eyes like a big pizza pie, that’s amore” and Dino sings on and on….

When I first got married 40 years ago, pizza to me was a 50 cent box of Chef Boradee pizza mix and a 50 cent pound of hamburger meat. We, of course, didn’t have a pizza place in the town we grew in, so if you wanted pizza, you made it. The little town we lived in when we were first married had a great local place called Alex’s Pizza and to this day, I still can remember the thin crispy crust. We still made our pizzas most of the time because my husband was still in college and we didn’t eat out alot.

We went to Italy a few years ago and had some of the best Italian food I have ever eaten. Also, had some of the best pizza I have ever put in my mouth.

I have to tell you the story about when we were in Venice. This was our first trip to Italy and I wanted to have everything perfect. So I loaded my iPod with all kinds of music that I thought would just make the trip special. I had packed some external speakers so everyone else could enjoy the music also. We were with two other couples (one couple we would meet up with in another town a few days later). One night in Venice after going out for just one of our memorable meals, we went back to our hotel which was kind of in an alley way with a big brick courtyard. It was late at night and we set the speakers up on a fountain that was there and we were listening to the music and dancing. This was about the same time some of the local guys were getting off work for the night and they could hear the music coming from our area and decided to come see what was happening. We had one guy who had been selling roses during the day give us a rose each and a few guys interested in the ipod. But, the one thing they all knew was — “that’s Dino they said. And, he WAS singing, “When the moon hits your eyes”. I always love to tell this story.

Anyway, when we returned from our trip we tried (I think successfully) to replicate a lot of our dishes like the tomato bread soup, linguine with seafood (will be posting later). I haven’t tried any pizza recipes for quite awhile but I wanted to do something not quite so traditional. This recipe I found in a little pizza book I picked up called “Pizza and Other Savory Pies” by Brigit Binns.

I tweaked this recipe somewhat. To the pizza dough, I added about 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. To the mashed white beans I added 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper and about 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

To the finished pizza, after sprinkling with the fresh herbs, I drizzled a small amount of olive oil over the pizzas and also squeeze fresh lemon juice all over.

Pizza with Shrimp, White Bean Puree and Herbs

Ingredients

1 ball pizza dough
2 1/2 tbsp. olive oil plus extra
1 can small white beans rinsed and drained
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2-3/4 lb. small shrimp peeled, deveined and halved lengthwise
1/2 tsp. dried oregano

Garlic Bread Crumbs:

4 Tbsp. bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. Olive
2 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. garlic finely chopped
2 Tbsp. chopped basil and parsley
2 tsp. finely chopped fresh oregano

Thin Crust Pizza Dough

3 1/3 c. all purpose flour extra for dusting
1/4 c. whole-wheat flour I used all plain flour
1 pkg. 2 12/ tsp. quick rise yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
1 1/4 c. warm water
2 Tbsp. olive oil plus extra if needed

Instructions

Place a pizza stone on a rack in the lawer third of the oven and preheat to 450°. Let the pizza stone heat for 45-60 minutes. I cooked my pizza on a perforated pizza pan and another one just on a cookie sheet.
Roll out the dough on parchment paper or flour dusted cutting board. (I made my pizza into individual ovals instead of doing one large pizza.) Press the dough out into the shape you desire using oil to coat your fingers. If dough starts to draw up, cover with towel and let rest or a few minutes, then continue. The thinner the crust, the more crisp it will be. Cover dough with towel and let rise for 15 minutes.
In food processor, combine the white beans, garlic, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, lemon juice and olive oil. Process until smooth and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the shrimp, dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste and 2 Tbsp. olive oil.
Brush the edges of the dough lightly with the olive oil. Season the dough with salt and pepper. spread the white bean puree evenly over the dough, leaving 1/2″ border uncovered. Scatter the shrimp and garlicky bread crumbs over the puree. Carefully slide the pizza topped parchment or cutting board onto the hot pizza stone (or put it on the cookie sheet). Bake until the crust is golden brown and the shrimp are pink, about 14 minutes.
Remove pizza from oven and garnish with the fresh herbs, drizzle with a little olive oil and squeeze the remaining one-half lemon over the pizza.
For crust: In food processor or mixing bowl with dough hook, combine the flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, sugar, salt and Italian seasoning. Pulse or mix the ingredients. With the motor running, add the water and olive oilin a steady stream and then pulse or mix until the dough comes together in a rough mass, about 12 seconds.
If the dough does not form ino a ball, sprinkle 1-2 teaspoons of water and pulse/mix again until a rough mass forms. Let the dough rest for 5-10 minutes. Process again for 25-30 seconds. The dough should be tacy to the touch but not sticky. Transfer the dough to lightly floured work surface and form it in a smooth ball. Place the dough in large oiled bowl, turn to coat with oil and cover with plastic wrap.
Let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk and spongy, about 1 1/2 hours. Makes 2 balls of dough. You can freeze what you don’t need for this recipe.

July 12, 2009 By Sherry

Cocktails/ Entree/ Sandwiches

Born in Kentucky but Raised in Texas: The Hot Brown

Submitted byPaul

Few people were as lucky as my brother, sister and me. We grew up with a Mom who cooked and cooked well. My name is Paul, son of Sherry, and I was born in Kentucky. People always ask me where I’m from and that is always a difficult question. I only really lived in KY for 3 months or so but when the time is right I like to claim it as my hometown. As I have grown older now and spent most of my years in Texas I guess I kind of have become a Texan, when convenient of course.

My mom was always the best cook and made us dinner almost every night growing up. While my other friends were eating fish sticks from Long John Silvers I was probably eating fresh caught crappie with homemade hushpuppies. When you are a kid you don’t realize how fortunate you are to be eating “real” food every night. Now that I have become older I have realized these things and want to practice the same lifestyle. My wife Brooke and I just had a child 6 months ago and we have been exposing him to as much food and preparation as possible. I don’t think he’ll be frying corndogs with me anytime soon but I do think it is important to get kids involved early on.

This brings me to my first post. In honor of the Kentucky Derby I wanted to cook something theme oriented as I sometimes do. One item came to mind. The Kentucky Hot Brown. Its origin is, I believe, from the Brown Hotel in Kentucky that wanted to serve something on race day. Being from Kentucky and having a mom who worked for the KFC headquarters, I thought I would make the dish, but with a couple of changes. I would take a Texas staple—chicken fried steak—and make it with turkey Kentucky style . This is where the idea came to bread and deep fry the turkey breast. In my opinion, once you deep fry something it becomes twice as nice. Below is the recipe and please feel free to be creative, as I was with the original recipe.

Brooke

For those who would like to pair this with an adult beverage, my name is Brooke, Paul’s wife, and I made a spin on a classic cocktail. I must admit, I did not grow up in a family like Paul’s. My family certainly appreciated great food, we just never cooked or could really afford to eat out at nice places very often. I became very familiar with Campbell’s Soups. My parents were overeducated and underemployed bohemians who knew more about wine and spirits than almost anyone else.

Before I was born, my father worked as a wine buyer for a major Dallas chain and (for goodness only knows why) left after being asked to broker for winemakers in France. When I was a little girl, he again worked for Sidney Siegel. I was the lucky gal who got giant six-foot tall stuffed pink bunnies with Kahlua overalls for Easter instead of a little basket with waxy chocolates. Years later, he owned his own liquor store in an inherited building on Harry Hines Blvd. in Dallas (yes, he kept a gun behind the counter). So, you see, I have experience growing up in spirited ways. We hope you enjoy the meal and the simple cocktail, just take a moment to rest after such an occassion!

Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwiches

Ingredients

Ingredients for Sauce:

4 T butter
6-8 T white Flour
1 cup 2% milk
1 T kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 T lemon juice
8 oz grated white cheddar
1-2 oz grated parmesan
dash cayenne

Breading ingredients:

1 cup white flour
1 T Tony Chachere’s
1 T kosher salt
1 tsp garlic granules

Other Ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk
1 large turkey breast fat and skin removed
6 slices bacon cooked until brown
chives as needed minced
sliced shallots 1/8″
tomatoes cubed
canola oil for frying
hearty fresh made white bread from bakery- toasted until brown

Cocktail:

1.5 oz. of your favorite bourbon we used Bulleit—met latest generation at this year’s Derby party in Austin
1.5 oz. ginger beer we like one by Maine Root with real ginger and not much else—a nice bite to it, organic and sustainable
squeeze of lime

Instructions

Sauce: Melt butter in small sauce pan and add flour, stirring with a whisk. Stir until paste forms.

Add milk and stir until smooth. As the sauce heats it will thicken. Keep some milk on hand to thin as necessary.
Add cheese, salt, and spices stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and set aside.
Other: Remove turkey breast from package and place between two layers of plastic wrap. Using meat mallet beat until 1/4 inch thin.
Cut turkey into three equal pieces.
Place turkey in bowl with buttermilk.
Mix breading ingredients in bowl and set aside.
Remove turkey from milk and add to breading bowl. Coat entire breast.
Place in deep fryer and fry at 350 degrees for approximately 3-5 minutes.
Remove from fryer and drain grease.
Add small amount of buttermilk to sliced shallots then drain.
Toss in flour mixture and deep fry until golden brown. Set aside.
Assembling Hot Brown: Turn on oven broiler.
Place toasted bread in oven safe dish.
Top with fried turkey breast.
Ladle on 4-6 oz of cheese sauce until bread and turkey is covered.
Broil until bubbly and golden, then remove from oven.
Garnish with tomatoes, chives, fried shallots, and bacon.
Enjoy with a cold Bourbon cocktail (See recipe below)

Cocktail Recipe:

In a small glass with crushed ice, combine the cocktail ingredients and stir gently. Garnish with a sliver of lime on the rim:

July 9, 2009 By Paul

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