Corn Casserole

1 (15 1/4 oz) can whole kernel corn, drained

1(14 3/4 oz) can of cream corn

1 (8oz) package Jiffy corn bread mix

1 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup of butter melted

1 to 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar

 

Preheat oven 350 degrees, grease a 9x13 baking dish or a large casserole dish.  Mix together the corn, jiffy, sour cream and butter in a large bowl, next stir in the cheese. Pour mix into baking dish.  Bake for 55 minutes, or until golden brown , let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Flour Tortillas

Ingredients:

2 - cups all purpose flour
1 - teaspoon baking powder
1/2 - teaspoon salt
5 - tablespoons vegetable shortening or lard
3/4 - cup hot water

 

Directions:
In a large bowl add the flour, salt, baking powder and shortening. Using you fingers cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles pea size pieces.

Add the hot water and mix together using your hands or a wooden spoon until the mixtures starts to form. Knead on a floured surface for 5 - 10 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and elastic.  Form the dough into a ball. Place the dough into a covered bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.  Pinch off the dough into 12 equal pieces and roll each piece into golf ball size ball. Place the balls back into the bowl and cover and let the dough balls rest for 20 minutes.

Preheat your griddle or cast iron pan on med - high heat. Flatten each dough ball a bit and then Roll out on a floured surface forming a circle.

To make a round shape roll out the dough and then make a 1/4 of a turn of the circle and then roll and make another 1/4 of a turn. Keep doing this until the dough is rolled out to 1/8 inch thick.  Your tortillas should be thin rather than thick. Place onto the hot skillet, and cook until bubbly. Flip and continue cooking the other side. Each side should cook about 30 seconds.

Keep the cooked tortillas warm while you continue rolling and cooking the remaining tortillas.

Sauteed Corn with Bacon & Scallions

Ingredients

4 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch strips

4 cups corn kernels

Coarse salt and ground black pepper

Pinch of red-pepper flakes

2 to 3 scallions, sliced

Directions

Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until browned, 4 to 6 minutes.  Add corn kernels; season with salt, pepper, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. Cook, stirring often, until corn is tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in scallions. Serve immediately.

Brussels Sprouts Gratin

About 1.5 pounds of Brussels sprouts, halved
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons flour
1.5 cups milk
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 cup mayo
black pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350
Clean, trim stems of Brussels sprouts. Cut in half and keep all of loose leaves that fall off. Fill medium stock pot half way with water, bring to boil. Add Brussels sprouts, stirring in hot water and blanch quickly for about 2 minutes or until they turn bright green. Immediately drain. Do not cook Brussels sprouts and make them soft!
In large pan melt butter, then add flour and quickly stir with whisk to combine and remove clumps. Turn off heat.
Add milk, salt, cheese, mayo and black pepper. Stir until cheese is melted.
Add Brussels sprouts and combine with cheese mixture. Pour into baking dish and bake for about 30-45 minutes or until Brussels sprouts are tender.
For extra cheese crust, sprinkle cheese on about 10 minutes before Brussels sprouts are finished.

Butter Pecan Sweet Potatoes

4 medium sweet potatoes olive oil
course salt
1 T. butter, cut into small pieces
1 T. light brown sugar
1/4 c. pecan pieces
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper, optional

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes and halve lengthwise; slice crosswise 1/2 inch thick. On a baking sheet, toss potatoes with olive oil (I like to put mine in a ziploc bag and shake it); season with salt.

Cook until potatoes are tender, tossing occasionally, 25-30 minutes.

Sprinkle with butter, brown sugar, pecan pieces and cayenne pepper, dividing evenly. Bake until sugar is carmelized and hard, about 10 minutes. Toss gently; serve immediately. Serves 4.

Roasted Potatoes and Carrots

2 lbs. red potatoes

3 or 4 peeled and quartered carrots

1 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper

1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary

3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine ingredients together. Spread on a roasting pan. I prefer an aluminum foil covered one to help with cleanup. Roast for an hour.

Baked Zucchini

1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
1/8 tsp black pepper
heaping 1/2 cup flour
1 cup cold milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
2 1/2 cups sliced zucchini (about 2 small zucchinis)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a medium bowl combine breadcrumbs, cheese (if using) and black pepper.  In separate bowl add flour, milk and vinegar. Gently stir until combined but do not over stir.
Dip zucchini slices in flour mixture and then dredge in breadcrumb mixture.  Place coated zucchini slices on a baking sheet (I line mine with non stick foil for easy clean up!) and bake for 30 minutes, flipping the slices over once halfway through cooking, or until browned and crisp.

Beer Bread

I love bread!  Seriously, can never have enough warm bread topped with butter.  This recipe was too easy not to try.  And it turned out great!

1 can of beer (I used Busch Light because that's what we had on hand)
1/4 sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 cups sifted flour (if you don't have a sifter, just spoon the flour into the measuring cup so it's not packed)
1/2 c. melted butter (I used 1/4 cup and it was perfect for me)

Heat oven to 375.  Combine dry ingredients, add beer (I microwaved mine on defrost for about a minute just so it was about room temperature since it had come from the fridge) Mix just until all ingredients are wet.  Over mixing will result in tough bread.  Pour into greased loaf pan.  Pour melted butter over top.  Bake for one hour, until top is golden brown.  Let bread set about 15 minutes before removing from pan, cool for about 15 minutes outside of pan before serving.  YUM!

Tip: If you use a 1/2 cup of butter on top, I suggest putting a cookie sheet on the rack below to catch any overspill of the butter as it bakes. 

Hoppin' John

I'm obviously on a Cajun kick!  This would make a great dish for Thursday nights when we watch Swamp People.  I got this recipe from a lady I work with, she makes it for our "food days" in the office.  I'm excited to be able to make it for myself anytime I want now.

1 lb Black Eyed Peas (dry)

2 packages Smoked Ham Shanks (they’re meatier than ham hocks but you can use hocks if you want)
1 cup uncooked rice (I don’t use instant rice)
salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste

Wash peas.  Put in stockpot with ham shanks and cover with several inches or more of water. 

Cook til peas are tender (several hours) adding hot water as necessary.  Remove ham shanks and add the salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.

Make sure there is about three cups of juice in the pot and add 1 cup of uncooked rice. Cover and simmer gently til rice is tender (about 20 min).  You probably could use instant rice but I’ve never made it with it so I don’t know how much juice would need to be in the pan when you add the rice.

Meanwhile, remove the ham from the bones and shred into small pieces.  When the rice is done, return the ham to the pot.  Serve.

Strawberry and Spinach Salad

I had this at a friend's house and I loved it.  Such a different sweet twist on salad.

1 bag of fresh spinach leaves
small carton of fresh strawberries, washed and thinly sliced
chopped vidalia or sweet onion
whole pecans (as many as you like)
1/2 C sugar
1/4 C vinegar
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp poppy seeds
2 Tbsp sesame seeds
paprika
salt
pepper
butter
garlic salt

Sautee pecans in butter and garlic salt
In a blender, blend sugar, vinegar, worcestershire sauce, seeds, dash of paprika, salt and pepper. Add mixture, berries, onions and pecans to spinach leaves. Warm pecans will wilt leaves somewhat (this is okay). Serve immediately, otherwise wait to add dressing until serving time. 

Pasta House Salad

Dressing
2/3 c. canola oil
2/3 c. olive oil
2/3 c. red wine vinegar
2/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together all ingredients.  Set aside.


Salad
2 heads Romaine lettuce, shredded
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 can quartered artichoke hearts (not marinated), cut in half

Toss all ingredients in large bowl.  Pour dressing over salad.  Mix well. 

Not Your Healthy Salad

This salad is as good as a cheeseburger.  Really!

Dressing
1 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/3 c. ketchup
2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

Combine all ingredients.  Whisk to death!  Refrigerate 3-4 hours, or overnight if possible.

Salad
1 head Romaine lettuce
1 bag spring mix salad
1 bag fresh spinach
1 bag large croutons (any flavor)
1 1/2 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled
1 lb. shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Combine all ingredients, add dressing, toss well.  Serve cold.

Sausage Stuffing Broccoli Bake

This sounds like a strange recipe, but I promise it is so delicious! 

1 pkg frozen, chopped broccoli
1/2 lb sausage
3 c. croutons (I like the cheese kind)
2 c. shredded cheddar cheese
4 eggs
1 can cream of broccoli
1 soup can of milk

Preheat oven to 400.  Boil broccoli until tender, drain.  Cook sausage, drain.  Combine sausage, broccoli, croutons, and cheese.  Toss lightly to mix, add to 9x13 baking dish.  Mix soup, milk, and eggs until smooth.  Pour over sausage mixture.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until set.  I like to let it set for about 15-20 minutes before serving so it firms up a bit. 

Best Brussels Sprouts...Promise!

There are only 2 people in the world that like brussels sprouts.  Myself and my friend Beth.  So, Beth, this is for you!

3 slices of bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 bag frozen brussels sprouts, thawed (I prefer baby ones)
coarse salt and pepper
1 apple, cored and cut into 1/4 inche slices, then halved crosswise (or chunks, that's easier!)
2 tsp red wine vinegar

Preheat oven to 425.  Arrange bacon in a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet.  Bake until browned, about 10 minutes.  Add brussels sprouts in a single layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast until they begin to brown, about 15 minutes.  Remove from oven, toss in apple pieces.  Return to oven, roast until apple has softened, 10-15 minutes.  Toss with vinegar and serve immediately.  Mmmm, may not smell great but they are delish!