Soup Beans & Corn Bread with Sweet Pickle and Pepper Relish

Soup Beans with Crunchy Cornbread and
Sweet Pickle & Pepper Relish

Soup Beans are a meal that reminds me of my family.  Not sure where Soup Beans originated, but this meal is one that my parents, grand parents, great grand parents and so on made because it was hearty and economical and that's still true today.  If you want to make this meal it's very simple, very wallet friendly and tastes really good.  For my beans you will need 1- 2 lbs (I used 2 lbs) of pinto beans that I soaked in water overnite, 1-2 large pork ham shanks ( I used 2 for 2 lbs of beans), 1tbs ground cumin, 1 tsp granulated garlic,  1 tsp ground coriander, 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper and S&P to taste.  I placed my beans in a large pot and added water to cover by 2 inches and I added my shanks too.  I brought them to a boil and then reduced heat to medium and let the beans simmer for about 1.5 hours then  I added my spices and S&P.  You may need to add water you don't want them to be too thick and stir periodically thru the cooking process.  You want to cook them of course until they a very tender, usually about 2 -3 hours.  The meat from the shanks will start falling of the bone after about 2 hours of cooking.  At this point I usually help them out by taking them out of the pot and removing the meat and placing it back in the pot.  That's pretty much all there is to it.  I like to serve my beans with some onion or sweet relish and corn bread.  I baked a white cornbread, using an all purpose corn meal mix and I just followed the directions on back, except that I heated my oven to 450 degrees and placed my cast iron skillet in with 2 tbs of bacon fat.  I added my bacon fat to my cornmeal and milk mixture stirred it and pour it back into the very hot cast iron skillet and baked it for 20 minutes.  I like my cornbread thin and crunchy and that's just what you will get in a cast iron skillet.  I would love to hear any comments or suggestions.  I've changed my settings so you don't have to sign in to leave a comment.  Bon Appetit!

Firewood Frenzy!

Sorry no food post n a few daze! Very exhausting week- mentally & physically! Today was Firewood Frenzy! Very tired. Hot shower & vino are my sustenance tonight! I've got some pinto beans a soakin'. G'nite all!

President's Day Comfort Food

Bo Peep Pie

The dish we are having tonight is a great comfort food on this cold and rainy President's Day. I would say that it's a Shepherd's Pie, but Guy Fieri calls it Bo Peep Pie and you can find it on the Food Network. The recipe has 4 major steps; sautéing your meat and onions, roasting your veg and garlic, making the mashed potatoes, and lastly putting it all together to bake. I decided that instead of using the Italian Pork Sausage and the ground Sirloin, I used Italian Turkey Sausage and 99% fat free ground Turkey, and I used Chicken Stock. Also, for the mashed potatoes I added 4 tbs butter instead of 6 and I added 1/2 container of Boursin Cheese, which isn't called for, and the remaining ingredients roasted garlic and the Asiago Cheese, Milk, and some S&P. Those are the only deviations that I made and then I followed the recipe that Guy created. This dish is fairly simple, but requires a bit of time. You could probably create a day ahead and then pop in the oven the next day for 1.25 hours at 350 degrees. It's a nice looking dish and it really tasted great! Those mashed potatoes on top had a nice crunch and meshed so well with the lower meat & roasted veg mixture. I would also suggest that you let it sit for 30 minutes after removing from oven, because the meat mixture ends up sliding out from underneath the potatoes giving your first serving most of the meat mix. I will definitely make this dish again. We served this with some crunchy toasted Peasant Loaf.  Good Eats!

Smoked Butt and Friends!

While my butt was smokin :). I went ahead and prepared my beans, slaw and potato salad. The beans are from a recipe from Woody's Cook-in Sauce (this stuff is crazy, very intense, very very smokey, and Will loves it.) The only thing is that you just can't get Woody's anywhere. You can buy online, but if you live in Ohio take a trip to Jungle Jims in Fairfield Ohio, definitely worth the trip. To make these beans you will need: 2 16 oz cans pork n beans in tomato sauce, 1 med yellow onion chopped, 4 slices of bacon, 1/3 C Woody's, 1/4 C ketchup, and 2 tbs brown sugar. Start with frying your bacon until crispy, remove from pan and set aside. Pour off the bacon fat drippings and reserve all for this recipe and for the potato salad below. Add 2 tbs of the drippings back into the pan. Add your chopped onion to pan and cook until tender, not brown. Crumble your bacon and add to the pan with onions. Add your Woody's, ketchup, and brown sugar and mix well. Add your beans, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. These beans are really good, so get some Woody's and give this recipe a try.

This Kicked Up Cole Slaw is from Chef Aaron McCargo Jr, he was one of the Next Food Network Stars. It's really different and not overly sweet and has a nice kick to it. To make it you will need 1 16 oz pkg of slaw mix, 1/2 of a red onion sliced thin, 2 scallions thinly sliced, 1 jalapeno (seeds removed) thinly sliced, 1/2 of red pepper thinly sliced, 3/4 C mayonnaise, 2tbs sour cream, 2tbs white vinegar, 1tbs sugar, several dashes of hot sauce, 1/2tsp course ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp celery salt, pinch of cayenne, a pinch of kosher salt. Add all to a large bowl, mix it up and refrigerate for 30 minutes or so.

The Texas Country Potato Salad is a Paula Deen recipe and very simple too! It's different from the usual suspects, but really good. All you will need is 1 lb of small red potatoes (leave whole and don't peel), 4 strips of bacon cooked until crispy, 1 scallion thinly sliced, 1 boiled egg chopped, 1/4 C mayonnaise, 1tsp dijon mustard, S&P to taste. If you're making beans above, go ahead and fry 8 slices of bacon and reserve 4 slices for this recipe, don't forget you will need the bacon drippings for this recipe. Go ahead and bring your potatoes to a boil, add kosher salt and 2 tbs of bacon drippings to the water, and cook for 15-20 minutes until tender. At this time you can bring another pan of water to a boil for your egg. After your potatoes are done, drain them and let them cool, and quarter them. Add your potatoes to a med bowl, add the chopped egg, onion and toss. Add mayonnaise, mustard and S&P and mix, add your bacon and toss one more time. That's it. We're going to serve all of these dishes along side our pulled pork. Mmm!

Smokin' Butt

I don't know about you, but when the weather starts getting nice I like to do some BBQ'ing. Today we are having Smoked Pulled Pork, South Western Beans, Kicked Up Coleslaw and Texas Country Potato Salad. If you've never smoked a pork butt it is time consuming, but not difficult. All of these recipes are easy so give them a try. I purchased a 8lb Boston Pork Butt and I brined it overnight. Thebrine was easy, I just took 1 part water, 1 part kosher salt, and 1/2 part molasses (but you could use brown sugar too). I mixed it up in a large ceramic bowl and placed the butt in and refrigerated overnite, that was Thursday. The next day I patted my butt dry :) and I rubbed it :) My rub was a blend of 1 tsp of each ground cumin, ground fennel, ground coriander, 1 tbs of each chili powder, onion powder, and paprika. You just want to sprinkle it over the entire butt. I again refrigerated my butt overnite (ooh, that was chilly). Today when I got up it was ready to smoke. You can use many types of wood chips, but my personal favorites are applewood and hickory. I think the fruit woods infuse a milder flavor, where alder and mesquite infuse a very strong smoke flavor. I use hickory most of the time- it also gives a nice mild smoke flavor and it's very easy to find. Please note that the amount of chips you use depends on the size of your smoker and how much meat you are smoking. I typically use about 1.5 cups of wood chips that I soaked in water for about 30 minutes. We use a gas Brinkman smoker (it's small, but the perfect size for us) because we couldn't maintain temp with the charcoal smoker. Our smoker has 3 racks in the top part, and 2 bowls in the bottom for water and chips. You want to drain the wood chips and the add them to the lower bowl close to the flame and add your water to the other bowl which will sit above the wood chips. Since, I was only smoking 1 butt, I removed 2 racks and placed the butt on the rack in the middle. Close the door and turn the gas on. It takes some time to smoke a butt, around 10-12 hours for a 8lb butt at a temp of 210-225. You should check it around 10 hours, but please note you will need to add water to the water pan throughout the day. Also, the smoke will infuse the meat within the first hour of smoking so not necessary to add more chips. This is fun stuff, you should try it. BTW, you can purchase the smoker for about $170 w/ tax from Home Depot, but be prepared to calibrate your thermometer because it's off and you will need to restrict the gas flow, because at low it still may be too high.

Check out the final product. The pork butt has this dark crunchy crust and the meat is so tender and just falls of the bone. The meat closer to the outside of butt is a little dry, but as you dive into the middle of the butt the meat is moist, tender and yummy. Check out the sides that we will be serving with this on the next blog.

El Picante - Not A Winner!

If I were a restaurant critic El Picante wouldn't stand a chance. In the small town where I live a new restaurant opened and the buzz was how great it was. It had been open for a few months so we invited some friends to join us. Although they don't take reservations on a Friday nite the mgr was kind enough take ours b/c well I made a good plea. We arrived and the place was packed. One could barely enter or exit, and the design of the restaurant made it difficult to maneuver anywhere in the place. We were seated in a booth, which was also tight and uncomfortable. Every time we moved it sounded like we were breaking wind. Anyway, our server seemed rushed and rushed us to place our order, which took sometime getting to our table. The food arrived and the portions were huge and looked very appetizing. I ordered the spicy burrito which was filled with chicken, ground beef, cheese, rice and beans and smothered in a chipotle sauce and beef tips with a dollop of sour cream. Sorry, I forgot to take a photo. I was eating my burrito and I noticed what I thought was a kitty hair that may have come off of my clothing, but as I went to remove it, it kept getting longer and longer. Not a kitty hair!! Not my hair either!! Ooooh!!! I didn't return the food, it just wasn't worth it. As we were leaving, my neighbor who happened to be seated at a table next to our booth also said she found a hair in her food too, but hers appeared to be a facial hair. Ooh! It's unfortunate that this happened, because the prices were great, the food tasted good, the guacamole was fresh with chunks of avocado and the salsa was good, but I WON'T BE BACK!!!

Chicken & Chorizo w/ Romesco Sauce and Spanish Potatoes & Kale

This dish is a Rachael Ray 30 minute meal (my A$$). I would say w/ prep and cooking at least 45 minutes, because there are many tasks involved. About the dish, Romesco sauce originated from Spain to accompany fish and it's made up of roasted red peppers, roasted tomatoes, almonds, stale bread, garlic, red wine vinegar and few other things. It has a lot of acid and a tangy flavor. Chorizo sausage if you're not familiar is a Spanish Sausage loaded w/ sweet paprika and spices. I really like it and use it often in many dishes. The mashed potatoes are incorporated w/ Kale and a Spanish cheese called Manchego from the La Mancha region of Spain and made from the milk of the Manchego breed of sheep. It's salty and similar to Pecorino Romano. I think the dish has a lot of bold and interesting flavors. Will suggested omit the chicken entirely, it really didn't add anything for him, but load up on the chorizo. The dish isn't bad, but I probably won't make it again. If you'd like to try it the recipe can be found on the food network. Buen Provecho!