A Friday Night Bean Burrito

Bean Burrito

Mexican is all I require after a long week of work. It's sort of a trend of late that Friday is marked Mexican night OUT. A slight twist last Friday...Rich was going out with Bill! I still had to have my Mexican fix and knew a bean burrito would hit the spot. I have a list of Mexican foods that I would love to master, but I haven't quite gotten to that list...yet. Until then...a bean burrito will have to do.

My Bean Burrito
1 Flour tortilla
1/4 can refried beans (I like Taco Bell)
Sour cream sauce
   Sour cream
   Lime juice
   Cumin and salt
Pico (make a batch to last a week!)
   5-6 tomatoes, diced
   1 yellow onion, diced
   1 jalapeno, diced
   1 cilantro bunch
   juice of 3-4 limes
Hot sauce, Tapatio
Cilantro for garnish

Tapatio Hot Sauce

Heat beans and spoon a layer on the tortilla. Add a few dashes of hot sauce (Tapatio is my favorite). Fold tortilla starting in the middle then wrapping the top and bottom together. Place folded side down in a hot non-stick skillet and sear until you get a crunchy outside, flip and sear other side. Plate and top with sour cream sauce (mix ingredients until thinned by half) and pico. I use extra cilantro leaves on top...the more the better in my book.

Mexican Foods I want to create:
1. Mole Negra (New Years Resolution)
2. Chicken Enchiladas
3. Salsa Verde
4. Tamale...preferable pork
5. Margarita...DONE
6. Chorizo Tortas
7. Guacamole...done not mastered

Birthday Dinner

Snack Pack for Slip

Webb, Rich and Slip

On February 21st my family celebrates Slippydog's birthday.
Today my white (yellow) lab turned 11...or 77...how ever you want to look at it.
Slip has had the same meal for her special day...Steak and a Vanilla Snack Pack.
If you have a canine in your home...this is the celebratory meal for them...I promise.
Happy Licking.

Valentine's Day Dinner

It was a great Valentine's Day. I turned the iPod to Jazz, put Webb in the highchair and told Rich to pour me a glass of wine. We were in the kitchen as a family...nothing makes me happier. As I prepped all the ingredients and sipped my wine, Rich fed Webb Cheerio after Cheerio until bedtime...8:00! (A little early so Mama and Daddy could have some alone time.)

Scallop and Shrimp with Corn and Bacon

Filet Mignon and Roasted Asparagus.

Valentine's Day preparations.

Valentine's Day Meal. Slippydog guarding the door.

Rich's favorite meal that I fix him is Scallop & Shrimp with Corn and Bacon in Truffle Oil and a quick-seared filet mignon. And that is what I served...along with a salad, rolls and a tuxedo cake from Fresh Market (I wasn't in the mood to make dessert.)

This meal was all about preparation. I have a Four Course Meal to Impress that I have been serving for a few years now. I've got it down to a science. I didn't do the whole meal for V-day...I altered it just a bit but kept the most important parts. For a full rundown on a great Four Course Meal. Click here: http://sweetsaltyandsouthern.blogspot.com/p/four-course-meal.html

Thank you Rich for setting the table. I had a wonderful evening!

Brats and Rice

Bratwurst and rice with onion

I wasn't really prepared for the snow last week and didn't make it to the store...scouring the freezer and pantry were my only options. Rich's Aunt Patti sent us a whole box full of meat from the New Braunfels Smokehouse in Texas. We only had one item left...Bratwurst! I thawed it then started to create a very strange combination of flavors that turned out to be pretty tasty.

I wasn't sure how German meat and Spanish rice would go together, but I pulled melded the two flavors by adding a sweet note...the Woodchuck Cider. To balance the sweet...mustard and red pepper for some heat and tang. The dish came together and created a great one pot meal.





Brats and Rice
4 New Braunfels Smokehouse Brats
1 bottle Woodchuck Winter Cider
1 8oz. package Vigo yellow rice
1 medium yellow onion, peeled...keep whole
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

Heat oil and pepper flakes on medium in a heavy pot that has a lid. Roll onion in oil and season with salt and pepper. Cut the brats into 4 or 5 pieces and add to oil. Cook brats and onion until there is a good crust on the brats. Add cider, 1 cup of water, mustard and package of rice. Bring all to a boil, cover dish, turn heat to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes. It was that easy.

Onion Note: I have to keep the onion whole because Rich can't stand onions. For others who decide to make this I would suggest sauteing the onion in the oil before adding the brats.

Plantation Toast

Plantation Toast, Mashed Potatoes, Po'Mans

I had forgotten about Plantation Toast until last night. The smell coming from my kitchen of baking buttered bread brought back memories of waking up at my Godmother's. My Godmother lives on a plantation...hence the name Plantation Toast. The same smell would wake me up as a child...I would creep downstairs because I was always the first one up...and my nose would take me straight to the kitchen where I would sit on a stool next to the oven and wait for everyone else to get up and have breakfast. I thought that was just the smell of the Plantation...and it was/is... But last night, my house was filled with the same buttery aroma...amazing how a smell can take you back.

The reason this toast is so marvelous is that you can pair it with a runny sauce (eggs) or au jus and the toast stays crispy. It's Friday night and nothing but leftover Po'Man's Tenderloin (top of the round...roast beef). Rich and I have both eaten this at least 4 times this week...and about to be a 5th. The only thing I could think to serve was good ol' SOS. (I'm not going to spell it out...I'm going to keep my mother guessing).

Rich was hungry so I had to make it snappy.... I buttered both sides of the bread, stuck it in the oven around at 250º. Let the bread get crisp all the way through (15 - 20 minutes...which give you time to get everything else done.) I sliced the beef as thin as I could, made au jois (the package stuff), made patties out of mashed potatoes and reheated them in a hot skillet. To finish...I layered toast, potatoes, soaked meat and top with au jus. Amazing stuff! Rich was quite impressed...especially since this was meal #5 from the same meat. I'll keep Plantation Toast in mind for many more recipes.

Snow Ice Cream

2011 Snow Ice Cream

It took me over an hour to get home from work in the great Memphis Snow storm we are having today. The only thing that got me through it was knowing that I had a bottle of wine and snow ice cream waiting on me when I got home...they actually go quite nice together.

On the VERY rare occasion that it snowed in Greenwood, MS growing up, my mother would always make snow ice cream...as a child I was amazed that she could whip up one of my favorite dessert out of SNOW! I'm still amazed that you can actually do this. I can't wait to let Webb try it, and hope that his memories are like mine..."Super Mama" when it snows!

Snow Ice Cream
fresh fallen snow (not the yellow stuff)
vanilla extract
sugar
cream
cinnamon
You have to determine the measurements on your own...I don't like mine so sweet. Rich...likes it sweet. Mix first four ingredients together and top with cinnamon for really good snowy treat!

Magnolia Day Cheese Soup

I have never had soup this good! After at least 3 months of not seeing the Southern crew who are referred to as The Magnolias, I sat in Patty's gorgeous living room and was served a luscious, velvety, not too creamy, perfectly seasoned cheese soup...in a McCarty bowl of course. This soup paired with best friends and you can never go wrong.

Magnolia Day Cheese Soup

Magnolia Day Cheese Soup
a.k.a. Dabney's Townhouse Cheese Soup Patty made this soup, but the recipe came from Dabney (who happens to be one of my Godmothers)

4 small carrots, cut in 1" matchsticks
3 stalks celery, cut in 1" matchsticks (note: I just put carrots and celery in processor and chop fine)
4 1/2 cups chicken stock, divided
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup flour
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
(1) 8 1/4 oz. can diced tomatoes,
    undrained and chopped
10 drops hot pepper sauce (optional)
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt to taste
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 1/2 cups whipping cream, heated

You have to use a few pans, 3 to be exact, but it's worth it. Heat 3 cups of chicken stock on low in pan number one. Cut carrots and celery to desired small pieces (either matchsticks or in food processor). In saucepan number two bring 1-1/2 cups chicken stock, carrots and celery to a boil and simmer until vegetables are tender...about 15 min. Set aside. In saucepan number 3 (the bigger saucepan...5 quart), melt butter over medium heat and saute onions until transparent. Add flour and combine well. Slowly stir the 3 cups hot stock into flour mixture. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly until thickened. NOTE: Use the hot chicken stock saucepan for the heated whipping cream..that's one less pot for cleanup!) Blend in cheese, stirring until melted. Add tomatoes and undrained carrots and celery and season with pepper sauce, salt, nutmeg and wine. Just before serving, stir in heated cream.

This serves 4 to 6 people. Patty doubled the recipe for our get together...you'll want leftovers of this!

A Brief Rundown on The Magnolia's: Di, Patty, Edna (my mother) and Christine.
Long before the Ya-Ya's and Steel Magnolia, there was a group of four eclectic Southern women who came together as friends...friends with daughters (there are sons too, but let's be honest, mothers and daughters have a certain...kinship). These women have been in my life since I was born...telling me what to do, what not to do and what I can get away with (Thank you, Di!). Each one have had a role in rearing me to be the woman I am today. At least one if not all of them have been there through heartache, love, wedding and child birth. I am a better person because of these women. I raise a glass now to my best friends Di, Patty, Mama and Christine. Thank you for always being there.

A Pork Trade: Pork Belly for Rib Tips

Photo of Berkshire Pork Belly from Allen Brothers.

My cousin Ann is the best cook I know. I have been eating her fine food for years. Last week we decided to make a trade...I gave her rib tips from Tom's...she sent me pork belly from Allen Brothers...a pork trade if you will.

Everyone at my office thinks I am nuts for wanting to eat pork belly. It is actually the same part of the pig that is cured and smoked for bacon, so it's not weird to me...bacon is one of my favorite foods. And this...I will try again and again!

The best part about eating this dish for the FIRST time from Allen Brothers is that they do all the hard work for you and now I know what it's REALLY suppose to taste like. This pork comes seared on both sides then slow braised with a mixture of ponzu and veal demi-glace until tender. When I got it, all I had to do was put it in the oven (with sauce) for 20 minutes covered, 10 minutes uncovered. IT WAS DELICIOUS!

If you aren't in the mood to cook, but really in the mood to eat...order from Allen Brothers. Everything I've had from there is wonderful, pork belly included. I served this with mashed potatoes (made with my new potato ricer...amazing tool...to be blogged about later), a spinach salad and my sommelier at Joe's suggested a Pinot Noir: 2005 Bernard Machado from the La Cantera Vineyard in Oregon. Rich even set the table and we ate our decadent meal by candlelight.

Ann...THANK YOU...what an amazing Saturday night meal for me and Rich (after Webb was put to bed, of course).

Baked Eggs for Breakfast

Egg ready for baking.

I jumped up this morning and wanted something decadent to eat. I scoured the ice box and came up with the norm...bacon and eggs. BUT...why not bake them...with cream...and cheese!

Serves 2 (One egg per person.)
2 Eggs
1 tablespoons butter
4 teaspoons cream
2 teaspoons Asiago cheese
salt and pepper

I ruined a dozen eggs to get the perfect outcome...an ooey-gooey yolk and hard white...worth it. Now there is no more guessing. I'm sure all ovens are different, but this timing works perfect for me. My eggs now taste gourmet!

Rub a ramekin with butter and leave the remaining butter in the dish. Pour 1 teaspoon of cream in bottom, crack egg into ramekin and add 1 teaspoon cream over the egg. Top with cheese, salt and pepper. Bake at 375º for 14 minutes until whites are solid.

Variations: Add spinach to the bottom of ramekin after buttering. Use Parmesan or goat cheese instead of Asiago. Serve with toast and bacon. Mmmmmmm.