Pimento Cheese Rolls

Pimento Cheese Rolls

This is a variation of the mayonnaise rolls my mother-in-law used to make. They were so delicious, and easy. But wait until you try them with added cheese, pimento and a couple of secret ingredients I'm going to share. Add a little butter to the warm roll and they are downright decadent!

Pimento Cheese Rolls

2 cups self-rising flour

One-fourth cup mayonnaise (I use Dukes!)

1 cup buttermilk

2 T finely chopped pimento, very well drained

1 tsp. Smoked paprika

Dash hot sauce (I use Tabasco)

Dash Worcestershire Sauce

1 cup shredded Havarti cheese (or your choice)

Preheat oven to 450°.

Spray muffin tin with Pam.

Combine mayonnaise, buttermilk, pimento, paprika, hot sauce, Worcestershire Sauce and shredded cheese. Add flour and stir make thick batter.

Dip about one-third cup batter into each of twelve muffin cups.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until golden on top and feel firm.

Serve warm with butter.

Collard Greens-Black-Eyed Peas-Country Ham-Cornbread

HAPPY 2011!

Our family traditions spill directly into the New Year. I'm just now realizing how comforting a lifetime of traditions can be. They are the glue for our widespread family. Even when circumstances keep us apart geographically, we know the drill. Some traditions are our own, some we share because of our Southern Heritage, and some we have picked up from new family and friends. No matter whether they're old or new, our traditions, along with lots of love, hold our family together.

For many, the New Year signals a rededication to healthy eating and living. We don't restrict our health consciousness to January. You can do that anytime of year—any day is good.

But we do begin the New Year with a traditional meal of collard greens, black eyes peas and ham, signifying money, luck and good health. I personally can't imagine not having this meal on January 1^st. I've changed it up a little, with Collard Greens and Ham Soup garnished by my version of Hoppin' John: black eyed peas combined with chow-chow. Add cornbread, cooked in my grandmother's old black cast iron skillet, and you have our traditional New Year's Day meal. It's OK if you don't eat it on January 1^st. As long as you consume during the month of January, you're giving yourself the chance for a year filled with prosperity, luck and good health.

Happy 2011!

New Year's Collard Greens and Country Ham Soup with Black Eyed Pea Chowchow

Having the 'pot likker (vitamin rich broth from cooking greens)' in the soup is a little like 'having your cake and eating it, too'. The pot likker was my grandmother's favorite part of a pot of greens.

1 T canola oil

1 sweet onion, diced

~10 oz. Country Ham trimmings (more lean than fat)

1 lb. Trimmed Winter Collard Greens (center stem removed, rolled and cut into strips)

One teaspoon tabasco, or more to taste

6 cups water

Salt to taste

1 tsp. Black pepper

pinch of Sugar

2 cups cooked white rice

2 cups cooked black eyed pea chowchow* for garnish

Add canola oil to large soup pot over medium heat. Saute onions with ham until onions are soft and translucent. Add collards, stirring to coat and wilt down. Add tabasco, water, salt, pepper and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, cover pot with lid slightly ajar, and cook for about 2 hours.

Check seasoning, add cooked rice and serve with Black Eyed Pea Chowchow and cornbread.

*Black Eyed Pea Chowchow

1 tsp. Canola oil

2 strips bacon, diced

One-half sweet onion, diced

2 cups frozen black eyed peas

One and one-half cups water

1 tsp. Salt

One-half cup chowchow

Add canola oil to medium sized pot over medium heat. Add diced pieces of bacon and cook until beginning to brown, stirring occasionally. Add diced onion, and continue to cook until onions are soft and translucent. Now, add the black eyed peas and stir to coat with bacon drippings, then add water and salt. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, lower heat, cover with lid ajar to simmer and cook until peas are tender, about 40 minutes.

Drain peas, onion and bacon (you can add the remaining cooking liquid to your Collard and Ham Soup.)

Combine pea mixture with chowchow and serve as a garnish to soup.

BUTTERMILK CORNBREAD

(The buttermilk makes this a nice, moist cornbread.)

3 cups self-rising stone ground corn meal (ie House Autry Self-Rising Cornmeal)

1 T sugar

Pinch of salt

2 eggs

2 T canola oil

2 cups buttermilk

3 T butter for pan

Preheat oven to 425º. Add butter to 10 inch iron skillet and preheat in oven.

Stir cornmeal, sugar and salt together. Beat eggs and oil and add to cornmeal. Add buttermilk, stirring with a fork to mix well. Pour into hot skillet and bake for about 25 minutes, until top is beginning to brown.

Not Enough Time for Irish Stew? Try this!

Guinness Ribeye, Smashed Irish Potatoes and Savory Scones

St. Paddy's Day screams for a food celebration, beginning with Guinness and ending with a nice Irish Coffee, the perfect 'dessert' for any Irish meal. If you don't have the time to take a stew or corned beef to the finish line (you can use the slow cooker for both of these with some preplanning) I have a good suggestion. Guinness Ribeye can be on the table in 30 minutes, and the whole meal, potatoes, scones and all, in about an hour. I made a test run Sunday night, and with a tossed salad and the Irish Coffee, you have a full meal. Serve it country style, which at our house means 'bring the pots to the table'! I think you'll be happy with the flavor of the Guinness sauce and steak, which really does make me think of a good stew!

Guinness Steak with Irish Potatoes

4 thick Rib Eye Steaks, salted and peppered

3 T extra virgin olive oil, divided

4 T butter, divided

2 shallots, chopped

4 cups sliced mushrooms

1 cup Guinness Stout

1 T tomato paste

1 T chopped fresh parsley

8 small potatoes (or 4 larger potatoes) scrubbed and cut into 2 inch pieces

3 garlic cloves, smashed

2 T fresh herbs, chopped (ie sage, thyme, rosemary—or a combination)

Preheat oven to 375°.

Parboil potatoes in salted water just until becoming tender. Drain potatoes and toss in 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper, smashed garlic cloves, and chopped herbs. Spread on sheet pan and place in oven while preparing steaks. Stir the potatoes a couple of times while cooking. Potatoes should be browned on outside and tender on inside when done. Scrape potatoes into bowl, discarding garlic. Add 3 tablespoons butter and smash into chunks with potato masher.

Add one tablespoon olive oil and one tablespoon of butter to large skillet (preferably an iron skillet) over high heat. When melted and sizzling, add steaks and sear for about 2 minutes each side. Remove steaks, place on sheet pan in preheated 375° oven for 6-8 minutes for medium rare (this can be same oven you're using for the potatoes, just a different rack). Remove steaks from oven when they reach desired doneness, cover with foil and set aside. Remember they will cook a little more while resting.

Reduce heat to medium under iron skillet, and add mushrooms and shallots. Saute until mushrooms are lightly browned on each side. Add Guinness and tomato paste, stir to deglaze pan, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until liquid is reduced to half. Place steaks into pan with mushrooms (along with any accumulated juice), spooning mushrooms over steak. Top with chopped parsley.

Savory Irish Scones

2 cups self-rising flour

1 tsp. Baking powder

One-half tsp. Salt

1 stick cold butter cut into small cubes

1 tsp. Mixed dried herbs

1 cup shredded cheese

One cup milk

1 egg

Preheat oven to 400°.

Spray one cake pan with butter flavored

Sift flour (White Lily is thought to be the best American scone flour—it has less protein than others, which means less gluten, and better for light pastries.) and baking powder. Add cold butter pieces, and with fingers, mix for about one minute until coarse meal consistency.

Add cheese and dried herbs to flour and mix gently with fork.

Whisk milk and egg together, then begin adding milk and fluffing with fork until dough forms. There sill be some milk mixture left to use on top of scones. This is a wet dough.

Form dough into ball shape, turn onto lightly floured board, and very gently form into thick circle. Handle as little as possible. Cut into eight triangles. Dip tops of each piece into leftover milk/egg mixture and place in cake pan..

Bake for 10 minutes on top rack, turn pan front to back, and bake five more minutes. Remove from oven and place scones on cooling rack for about 15 minutes. Remove from pan to serving platter and recut wedges.

Buena Vista Irish Coffee Story

http://www.thebuenavista.com/irishcoffee.html

Irish Coffee

(My first Irish Coffee was at the Buena Vista Café in San Francisco, which claims to perfectly recreate the classic Irish drink.)

Warm your cup with very hot water, then discard the water.

Fill your warmed cup about three-quarters full with hot, strong coffee.

Add 2 sugar cubes (or two teaspoons sugar if you don’t have the cubes) and stir to dissolve.

Add 1 ½ oz. Irish Whiskey to coffee.

Top with sweetened whipped cream which has been lightly whipped.

Pour the lightly whipped cream onto the coffee over a spoon to keep the cream floating on top of the coffee.

Once Again, FRESH IS BETTER!

The Daring Cooks Challenge this month has proved once again that FRESH IS BETTER. Michelle of Veggie Num Nums chose the challenge, and it's a great one: Pita Bread and Hummus are the mandatory parts, and can be accompanied by our choice of 'mezze'. I love brined lemons, so I made a Chicken Tagine with Brined Lemons and Olives, and added a new little recipe I'm working with, Brined Lemon/Artichoke/Garlic Spread to the Hummus. It was all delicious! Thank you, Michelle, for a great challenge!

Pita Bread – Recipe adapted from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid
Prep time: 20 minutes to make, 90 minutes to rise and about 45 minutes to cook

(This is a GREAT recipe, and I will be using it again!! Very easy and really works!)

2 teaspoons regular dry yeast (.43 ounces/12.1 grams)
2.5 cups lukewarm water (21 ounces/591 grams)
5-6 cups all-purpose flour (may use a combination of 50% whole wheat and 50% all-purpose, or a combination of alternative flours for gluten free pita) (17.5 -21 ounces/497-596 grams)
1 tablespoon table salt (.50 ounces/15 grams)
2 tablespoons olive oil (.95 ounces/29 ml)

Directions:
1. In a large bread bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water. Stir to dissolve. Stir in 3 cups flour, a cup at a time, and then stir 100 times, about 1 minute, in the same direction to activate the gluten. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes, or as long as 2 hours.
2. Sprinkle the salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add more flour, a cup at a time, until the dough is too stiff to stir. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic. Rinse out the bowl, dry, and lightly oil. Return the dough to the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least doubled in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours.
3. Place a pizza stone, or two small baking sheets, on the bottom rack of your oven, leaving a 1-inch gap all around between the stone or sheets and the oven walls to allow heat to circulate. Preheat the oven to 450F (230C).
4. Gently punch down the dough. Divide the dough in half, and then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide the other half into 8 equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4 inch thick. Keep the rolled-out breads covered until ready to bake, but do not stack.
5. Place 2 breads, or more if your oven is large enough, on the stone or baking sheets, and bake for 2 to 3 minutes (It took mine 5-6 minutes, and I wondered if the dough was a little too wet? It felt perfect.), or until each bread has gone into a full balloon. If for some reason your bread doesn't puff up, don't worry it should still taste delicious. Wrap the baked breads together in a large kitchen towel to keep them warm and soft while you bake the remaining rolled-out breads. Then repeat with the rest of the dough.

Hummus – Recipe adapted from The New Book of Middle Eastern Food by Claudia Roden
Prep Time: Hummus can be made in about 15 minutes once the beans are cooked. If you’re using dried beans you need to soak them overnight and then cook them the next day which takes about 90 minutes. (I used canned chickpeas.)

1.5 cups dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight (or substitute well drained canned chickpeas and omit the cooking) (10 ounces/301 grams)
2-2.5 lemons, juiced (3 ounces/89ml)
2-3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
a big pinch of salt
4 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste) OR use peanut butter or any other nut butter—feel free to experiment) (1.5 ounces/45 grams)
additional flavorings (optional) I would use about 1/3 cup or a few ounces to start, and add more to taste

Directions:
1. Drain and boil the soaked chickpeas in fresh water for about 1 ½ hours, or until tender. Drain, but reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Puree the beans in a food processor (or you can use a potato masher) adding the cooking water as needed until you have a smooth paste.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Braised Chicken with Brined Lemons

(Lemons are best if they have brined for a couple of days, but can be used after only a few hours.)

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. ground ginger

2 tsp paprika

Pinch of saffron (if you have it—don’t buy it just for this recipe!)

2 bay leaves

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. coarsely ground pepper

2 T extra virgin olive oil for marinade, plus 2 T for browning chicken

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 lbs. chicken thighs, most skin and excess fat removed

2 medium sweet onions, thinly sliced

1 cup pitted green olives

1/2 cup chicken broth

1⁄2 cup chopped fresh Italian flat leaf parsley

Juice and zest of one lemon

6 brined lemon quarters, rinsed and thinly sliced*

Mix the cinnamon, cumin, ginger, paprika and saffron in a small nonstick skillet over medium heat. Toast, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Cool.

Add spices, bay leaves, salt, pepper, garlic and olive oil to large zip lock bag. Compress to mix, then add the chicken and be sure all pieces are coated. Refrigerate and let marinate for 2-3 hours.

Add remaining oil to large Dutch oven over medium heat. When oil is hot, remove chicken from bag, reserving marinade, and brown chicken on both sides. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add onions and sauté until tender. Then add olives and sauté another 2 minutes.

Add chicken pieces, chicken broth, reserved marinade, parsley, lemon juice and zest, and preserved lemon slices. Stir once, cover, and cook over low heat for 1 ½ hours. Chicken should be very tender.

*Brined Lemons

Wash and dry 4 small lemons. Cut into quarters and toss with 1/2 cup salt. Stuff salted lemon quarters (and any remaining salt not adhering to lemons) into quart jar. Juice 2 more lemons, and add juice to jar. Finish filling jar with water to cover lemons. Close lid and turn several times to mix lemon juice and water. For the next two days, turn the jar occasionally to keep mixed. Then refrigerate for up to 3 months.