3 Sweet Potato Pies

One of my Mom's specialties was her sweet potato pies.  She never made just one and only made them around Thanksgiving or Christmas.  And when Edna made sweet potato pies, she made sweet potato pies, it was normal for her to make 24 pies in one baking.  Many went in the freezer, some went to friends, but the best of the lot was reserved for family. I loved them...enjoyed them for a lunch or dinner dessert and even as breakfast with a cup of coffee.  Yum!!!

I've used Mom's recipe but somehow, mine never come out as good as hers.  So today, I ventured out on my own and the result made me very happy...let's just say I've consumed almost a half of a pie already...quality control is so important!

So here goes what I did.

Ingredients (makes 3 pies)

8 average sized sweet potatoes

1 1/2 cup sugar

3 sticks of butter, sliced

2 teaspoons cinamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup carnation evaporated milk

8 eggs

frozen pie shells (not deep dish); thawed 

• Preheat oven to 375
• Cover the sweet potatoes with water in a large pot, bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook until fork pierces all the way through the potatoes easily
• Place peeled potatoes in a large bowl,add butter, sugar, spices, vanilla, milk and beat with mixer until smooth
• Add eggs two at a time and beat until smooth
• Taste mixture and add more sugar or spice to your taste (a very important step!)
• Ladel mixture into pie shell...I do about 3 cups to one pie shell
• Bake for 50 minutes
• Cool, cover and refrigerate (reserve one for tasting!)

Enjoy!!!  Mom called this a hand pie...if it's done just right, a slice is easily eaten without a fork!!!

 

Trout, Grits and Collard Greens 

Now, I really wish I was a better food photographer!  I'll post the picture, maybe, but it does not come close to matching the deliciousness of this dish. (So I did post it)  This is, actually, a knock off of my favorite dish at South Market Restaurant in Pensacola, Florida...also my favorite restaurant there.  If you happen to be there go on Wednesday night when the most amazing bartender is working!  They use redfish for this dish, grilled or blackened, I substituted fresh trout, fried, just caught yesterday.  The combination of fish, collard greens and grits is just soooooo good!

Ingredients:

• Collard Greens, 32 oz cello pack
• 2 ham hocks
• Pepper vinegrar
• Yellow grits 
• Butter
• fish fillets (1/2 per serving)
• 2 eggs
• Louisiana Breading , New Orleans Style
• Vegetable Oil

So for the collard greens I take a short cut...I buy the cello pack...already washed and cut.  I start by cooking ham hocks in a large pot of water (I know you want to know quarts and stuff...just not me!)  I bring them to a boil and then let them simmer for a couple of hours.  You want that ham flavor be in the liquid and really flavor the collards.  Add the collard greens, return to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for an hour. Salt/ Pepper to taste along with a healthy dash of pepper vinegar.

For the grits...I buy Lake Side yellow grits and cook according to package directions...nothing creative here! Add butter, I use 1 tablespoon/serving,  Salt/Pepper to taste.

For the fish... Heat about 2 inches of vegetable oil in a skillet...beat the eggs in a bowl.  In another bowl have the Louisiana New Orleans Style breading mix. Dip the fish fillets (one at the time) in the egg, then in the breading mix...then add fish to the skillet.  Fry fillets on each side for 4 minutes.

To serve:  Drain collards and place a healthy seving on a plate with a scoop of grits.  Place fsh fillets on top.

Newlyweds' Cornish Game Hen

Newlyweds' Cornish Game Hen

When Wayne and I were first married we did our grocery shopping at Safeway in Colonial Heights, Va.  Wayne quickly found Cornish game hens...something new for both of us...but then, cheaper than chicken.  So we bought them.  In looking for recipes I used a wonderful cookbook collection given to us by Wayne's mom...different colored checked covers, one for salads, main dish desserts, etc. (sadly they are gone...I'm a messy cook and pages started sticking together because of my messiness!) But in the main dish cookbook I found a recipe for Cornish hens that became a favorite for us.  So when I found myself with a defrosted Cornish hen, I thought of this special dish  and recreated it tonight.  It's really succulent and, if you like the great flavor sherry and rosemary bring to a dish, you will love it.  Back in the day, I served it with Uncle Ben's long grain and wild rice and asparagus.  Tonight, a Caesar salad was enough!  

Ingredients:

Cornish Game Hen backbone removed and halved

3 tbsp. olive oil

3 tbsp. butter

4 tbsp. fresh rosemary removed from stem

salt

pepper

1/2 cup dry sherry

• salt and peeper game hen halves on all sides
• heat frying pan to medium
• add olive oil to preheated frying pan, add and melt butter
• add rosemary and let combine with butter and olive oil for 5 minutes
• add game hen halves, skin side down, and braise until skin is crisp; turn and cook for another ten minutes; turn and cook for another ten minutes; turn and cook for another 10 minutes (total about 35 minutes)
• there should be a deposit of hen drippings and rosemary in the bottom of the pan by now
• Remove halves and deglaze with the sherry
• Serve halves with the sherry gravy

OKRA! The Seldom Celebrated Vegetable of the South!

    

 OKRA!  The Seldom 

Celebrated Vegetable of the

South!    

Just take a look at this beautiful bloom...who would imagine that the lowly okra would begin as such a lovely blossom?  I grew up with okra.  My grandmama fried sliced okra into a fried mush in an iron skillet or added whole okra pods to green beans to become a delightful slimy treat in fresh green beans doused with pepper vinegar.  In recent years it's become a side heavily laden with a crust that disguises the true flavor of this wonderful garden treat.  Recently I saw a recipe that sliced the okra pod lengthwise and fried the strands in canola oil and then tossed with salt and a drizzle of lime juice. I'm sharing this so you know my recipe is not completely original ( I added the tempura)...but, my, oh okra, my...it's really good!   First time I've ever drizzled lime over okra...I think it's the flavor secret!

Ingredient:

Okra pods...as many as you need...I used 5 just fore me

Tempura flour mixed with cold water...enough for the amount of okra you have (doesn't matter if you have left over tempura batter}

4 inches deep of canola or a good vegetable oil

sea salt

Lime

Steps:

Slice okra lengthwise in quarters

Heat oil in pot just before bubbling hot (I know, not a cooking term)

Add okra to tempura batter

Fry in hot oil until a light golden brown

Drain on layers of paper towels

Salt to your liking

Drizzle juice from lime over okra

     OKRA!  The seldom 

celebrated vegetable of the

South!    

                                               Summer...Even Winter...Tomato Pie

Isn't is sad, that those of us who live alone neglect the finer foods of life.  My husband, Wayne, and I loved great food.  After he died, I didn't resort to drive thru's and take out's but did, pretty much, confine myself to a protein...maybe a steak, a piece of chicken, a fish fillet,  and a green salad...healthy, simple.  But yesterday I was craving a tomato pie...something our friend, Elizabeth Borum, introduced Wayne and I to when she moved to Alexandria.  It's a fairly simple dish...tomatoes, onions, cheese...I made it many times for Wayne and me after our initial introduction.  So today, just for me, I made a tomato pie.  But, I'm sharing the recipe with a few changes I've made to the original, some pancetta sprinkled in the bottom of the pie shell and panko added to the cheese topping (makes a crispy, cheese crackery topping)...forgive me Elizabeth!

To begin...

Ingredients:  
1 frozen pie crust (make your own if you wish, just not my thing!)
1/4 cup diced pancetta
5/6 red tomatoes
1 Vadalia onion
1 tbsp chopped parsley
1 tbsp chopped basil
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup panko crumbs
1/2 cup mayonaise

Follow directions for baked piecrust on package.  Cool for ten minutes after baking.  Then preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice 5 tomatoes and put the slices on a paper towel...sprinkle with salt and let sit while the pie crust gets ready.
Slice one large sweet Vidalia onion
Chop parsley and basil

In a bowl combine cheese, panko and mayonaise

Assemble the pie:

Sprinkle the diced panchetta in the bottom of the pie shell
Make a layer of tomatoes...sprinkle parsley, basil, salt and pepper on the tomatoes
Next a layer of onion
Now another layer of tomato
Finally, spread the cheese mixture on top and bake pie for 45 minutes.
Allow to sit for 10 minutes before slicing.

Blair's Layered Crab Salad

My son, Joel took two of my grandchildren, Graham and Maren, crabbing and came back with  a cooler full of blue crabs,  treasures of the sea.  

We prepared them several ways...the most fun was just a crab pickin' ... I made some crabcakes...making sure they were mostly crab with some breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, seasoned with some Old Bay...I always think simpler is better with crab cakes.  But the highlight of the crab dishes was a layered crab salad that Blair made for  our July 4th celebration.  She used her knowledge of the "crab stack" that some restaurants have on their menu and translated and enhanced it in an amazing layered crab salad.

Her recipe:

Summer Crab Salad

Prepare honey-lime vinaigrette dressing the night before serving. 

Honey lime vinaigrette Dressing:

1/3 c Vegetable oil

1/4 c Apple cider vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar 

2T honey

1/4 c lime juice

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 c fresh cilantro 

1 clove garlic, minced

Blend in blender. Chill overnight. Pour over salad just before serving. 

One cup each of 

-Sliced or diced English cucumbers (small ones)

- red cherry tomatoes, diced

- yellow cherry tomatoes, diced 

- salad greens, chopped to bite sizes

- diced ripe mango 

- diced ripe avocado (squeeze small amount of lime juice over avocado to retard browning)

2 cups crab meat

Using a clear glass bowl, layer ingredients in colorful layers alternating green items with red/yellow ones. Top three layers should be mango, avocado, and crab so that crab is on top of salad. 

Drizzle with honey lime vinaignette dressing just before serving. 

Sooooo Good!!!!!

Blair's Layered Crab Salad

Just loved having Tom, Blair and their 3 children, Graham, Maren and Campbell over the July 4th holiday.  As part of the fun, Joel took Graham and Maren crabbing...they came back with a cooler full of wonderful eastern NC blue crabs.  We enjoyed them, first, in a crab pickin'.  All of us, even the kids, picked til the juice ran up our elbows as we devoured the succulent crab meat we pried from the bodies and claws of these treasures from the sea.  On the next day, Blair started picking crabs...I joined her and, at the end of our work, we had more than enough crab meat for crab cakes...our dinner for that night.  My recipe is pretty simple:

3 cups of crab meat
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup Dukes Mayonnaise
2 eggs
1 tbsp. Old Bay

Mix all ingredients together, form into large patties and fry in olive oil, searing both sides then frying for an additional 5 minutes.

Crabs were still left so Blair kept pickin' .  On July 4th she prepared an amazing crab salad, a knock-off of the "crab stacks" offered in lots of restaurants.

Here's her recipe:

Summer Crab Salad

Prepare honey-lime vinaigrette dressing the night before serving. 

Honey lime vinaigrette Dressing:

1/3 c Vegetable oil

1/4 c Apple cider vinegar or seasoned rice vinegar 

2T honey

1/4 c lime juice

1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1/2 c fresh cilantro 

1 clove garlic, minced

Blend in blender. Chill overnight. Pour over salad just before serving. 

One cup each of 

-Sliced or diced English cucumbers (small ones)

- red cherry tomatoes, diced

- yellow cherry tomatoes, diced 

- salad greens, chopped to bite sizes

- diced ripe mango 

- diced ripe avocado (squeeze small amount of lime juice over avocado to retard browning)

2 cups crab meat

Using a clear glass bowl, layer ingredients in colorful layers alternating green items with red/yellow ones. Top three layers should be mango, avocado, and crab so that crab is on top of salad. 

Drizzle with honey lime vinaigrette dressing just before serving. 

Just delicious!!!