Piggy Pudding

During my vacation this past May, I spent the first week with my youngest son, Chris, and his family in Florida, which just so happened to correspond with the Mother's Day weekend and Chris' birthday.

Chris and Kelly put on a huge spread for Mother's Day, inviting friends and co-workers to enjoy their culinary efforts:

• Eggs Anna - Chris' re-creation of a breakfast dish he used to order at a small cafe in Encinitas, California. A toasted English muffin, spread with a nice layer of mashed, lightly seasoned avocado, topped with eggs scrambled with bacon and heavily drizzled with hollandaise sauce. Without a doubt, my favorite breakfast dish.
• An egg, ham, cheese and green chilis casserole
• Piggy Pudding - Paula Deen's recipe for a sausage, apples and cornbread casserole topped with pure maple syrup
• A beautiful fruit tray
• And, of course, champagne

I'm coming out of the closet now. I'm not a Paula Deen fan. I know. There must be something drastically wrong with me, but I just don't care for her food. I've tried several of her recipes, none of which has impressed me or Tom. If Tom won't eat it, it's no good.

So, surprisingly, Paula's Piggy Pudding is a hit in this house. I think I've made it at least three times since I've been home. Tom says it is one of his favorite breakfasts.

I have changed the recipe somewhat by using pre-cooked link sausages, pre-cooking the apples a little and lowering the baking temperature so the cornbread doesn't dry out.

I sprayed a an 8"x8" pan with cooking spray, then cut the link sausages into pieces.


I melt the butter in a medium frying pan, add the apples and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup and cook about 5 minutes, turning the apples frequently. Then layer the partially cooked apples ~ butter, maple syrup and all ~ over the sausages.


Then I mix up the cornbread according to package directions and pour the batter evenly over the layer of apples.


Bake the casserole in a 400 degree oven for 22 to 25 minutes, until the cornbread is done and starting to brown, then remove it from the oven and drizzle with remaining pure maple syrup. Allow to sit about 5 minutes before serving.



To serve, cut into squares and serve with more maple syrup if desired. Our favorite way to eat this casserole, by far, is topped with an egg fried over-easy.



Piggy Pudding
adapted from the recipe by Paula Deen

PRINTABLE RECIPE

1 package of 12 Jimmy Dean Fully Cooked Sausage Links (I use Turkey Sausage)
2 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 envelope Martha White Sweet Yellow Cornbread Mix (which calls for 1/2 cup of milk and 1 egg) or you can use a small box of Jiffy brand cornbread mix prepared according to package directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spray an 8-inch X 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray.

Cut the cooked sausage links into pieces and spread evenly in the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

In a medium frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the apples and 2 tablespoons of the 1/4 cup pure maple syrup, reserving the remaining syrup. Cook the apples for about 5 minutes, then layer evenly over the sausage pieces. If there is any remaining liquid in the frying pan, drizzle it over the apples.

Mix up the cornbread according to package directions and pour it evenly over the layer of apple slices.

Bake at 400 degrees for 22 to 25 minutes until the cornbread is done and just starts to brown.

Remove from the oven and immediately drizzle the remaining maple syrup evenly over the top of the casserole. Allow to sit for a few minutes before cutting into squares to serve.

Bacon & Date Scones

I will apologize in advance for this post. It will jeopardize your healthy lifestyle.

Apparently I live in the 3rd healthiest county in Arkansas, according to an article in our local newspaper Like everyone, I try very hard to be healthy. I try to walk a couple of miles nearly every single day. Water is my drink of choice (except for maybe a glass of wine or a martini). I take multivitamins to make sure I'm receiving all my nutrients. I take two fish oil capsules to help keep my cholesterol in check. I don't eat fast food. I use olive oil instead of butter, eat beef only occasionally, substitute brown rice for white rice whenever possible...you know...all those things "they" tell you do, whoever "they" happen to be.

But when I come across an idea for a recipe as tempting as Bacon & Date Scones....well, I just throw caution and healthy diet to the wind. I can't help it. I'm just a livin' on the edge kinda gal.

There are generally two types of scones: European and American. The scones we make here in the U.S. tend to be more sweet (we love our sugar!) with a drier, flaky crumb. By contrast, European scones are less sweet and have the tender crumb of a drop biscuit. I like both types, but I thought the lighter texture of the European style scone would lend itself best to the bacon and dates.

I used medjool dates for this recipe, which just happened to be available in bulk at Fresh Market when I made the trip there last week. The date pieces sold prepackaged are covered in sugar to keep the pieces from sticking together, but would have provided additional sweetness to the finished scone that I didn't want that.

This morning, Tom cut his scone horizontally and toasted it. It really brought out the flavor of the bacon.



I swear to you these babies are worth every extra mile you have to walk.

Bacon & Date Scones

PRINTABLE RECIPE HERE

• 8 slices bacon
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• ⅓ cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup medjool dates (about 8), pitted and coarsely chopped
• 6 tablespoons cold butter
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• Turbinato or raw sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

If you are not using a scone pan, line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Cook the bacon in a skillet over medium high heat until just crisp. Transfer the cooked bacon to paper towels and allow to cool. Reserve the bacon drippings.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, ⅓ cup sugar, baking powder and salt.
Coarsely chop the cooled bacon and add it to the flour mixture. Add the chopped dates and toss to coat well. If the date pieces stick together, break them apart.

In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream and egg and set aside.

Using a coarse grater, grate the cold butter into the flour mixture. Toss well with a rubber spatula to combine.

Add the buttermilk mixture and stir quickly until mixture comes together. Do not over mix or the scones will be tough. Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and briefly knead the dough (just a couple of times) and quickly form the dough into an 8-inch circle. Cut the circle into 8 wedges. Transfer the scones to the baking sheet or a scone pan sprayed with cooking spray. Let the scones rest for about 10 minutes.

Brush the tops of the scones with the reserved bacon drippings and sprinkle with raw or Turbinato sugar.

Bake for 16 to 18 minutes until slightly golden brown and a tester inserted into the center of a scone comes out clean.

Pizza For Breakfast and Dinner

We are not big pizza lovers so we don't have it often. When we do eat it, generally we make it ourselves rather than eat out or order in. I know we are in the minority. Just a trip to the grocery store confirms that. I don't know about where you live, but the grocery stores in my town have a long freezer case dedicated to pizza. In addition, there are at least half a dozen pizza places within one minute's driving time from my house. It boggles my mind.

In addition, you could ask any of my six grandchildren and I'd bet every single one of them would say that pizza would be in their top two favorite foods.

What is it about pizza? Is it the crust? One place has a thin crust. Another a thick, chewy crust. And yet another a thick crust stuffed with cheese. Speaking of cheese, maybe that's the draw. Gooey, greasy cheese on top of the meats, vegetables, sauce. I think it's probably a combination of all of those things.

My pizza tastes run toward the non-traditional. Gusano's is a restaurant here in Conway that makes a pizza they call The Chaplin: an oil-base pie with Chicken, Artichoke Hearts, Onions, Tomatoes, Mozzarella & Feta Cheese. That's our choice, but we add spinach and ask them to hold the tomatoes. It's quite good when we are in the mood for pizza and don't feel like cooking. Another favorite of mine is prepared at Post Corner Pizza in Clearwater Beach, Florida, which is, oddly enough, a Greek restaurant. Although they make many traditional Italian style pizzas, their Greek pizza is awesome.

My favorite pizza of all time is one that Tom makes at home from a recipe he found in Bon Apetit magazine while waiting for his appointment with the dentist. You wouldn't think that potatoes would be good on pizza. I surely didn't think so when Tom suggested it, but I was wrong. This Asparagus, Fingerling Potato and Goat Cheese Pizza is delicious.

Asparagus, Fingerling Potato and Goat Cheese Pizza
Adapted from Bon Apetit Magazine

5 ounces fingerling potatoes (Tom has also substituted 2 or 3 Yukon Gold potatoes with fine results)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 garlic clove, pressed
4 green onions, thinly sliced, divided
1-1/3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
4 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, crumbled
8 ounces asparagus, trimmed, each spear cut in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 2- to 3-inch pieces
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
pinch of red pepper flakes (this is Tom's addition to the recipe. I love the little bit of heat it adds)

Pizza dough or pre-made pizza crust
Cornmeal (for sprinkling)

Place potatoes in small saucepan. Add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Sprinkle with salt. Bring to boil and cook until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Cool. Cut potatoes into thin slices.

Preheat oven to 450°F. Sprinkle rimless baking sheet or pizza pan with cornmeal. If you are using pizza dough, roll and stretch pizza dough to 16x11-inch oval. Transfer to baking sheet. Mix 1 tablespoon olive oil and garlic in small bowl. Brush garlic oil over dough. Sprinkle 3/4 of green onions over the dough, then the mozzarella, leaving 1/2-inch plain border. Top the mozzarella with the potato slices and goat cheese. Toss asparagus with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in medium bowl. Scatter asparagus over pizza. Sprinkle with Parmesan, then lightly with salt and generously with pepper. Sprinkle sparsely with red pepper flakes

Bake pizza until crust is browned and asparagus is tender, about 18 minutes. Transfer to cutting board. Sprinkle with remaining green onions. Cut into pieces.

PRINT THE RECIPE

Yummy....

Of course, pizza is not just for lunch or dinner anymore.

Last week I was trying to figure out what to fix Tom for breakfast for Father's Day. He had already said he wanted to make Seafood and Chicken Paella for dinner, so I didn't want to make something heavy. One of his favorite breakfasts is smoked salmon with herbed cream cheese, sliced red onion and tomato on croissants or bagels. I had almost settled for that until I saw Sam's post @ My Carolina Kitchen featuring Jacques Pepin's Pink Salmon Pizza on Naan Bread.

Except for the Naan bread (print the recipe here), there really isn't a recipe, but here is what I did.

I mixed the dough for the naan bread after dinner the night before and let it rise 4 hours. After it had risen, I cut the dough into 4 pieces (instead of the 6 pieces called for in the recipe). I rolled each piece into a ball and placed it on a lightly oiled plate, covered the plate of dough with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator over night.

The next morning, after my cup of coffee, I removed the plate of dough from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature.

In the meantime, I mixed 4 ounces of cream cheese (I used low-fat) with 1/2 cup of sour cream (also low-fat), then chopped some fresh dill and chives from my garden and added the herbs to the creamy mixture and stirred until smooth.


I set the cream mixture aside while I baked the naan bread. I used the stove-top method, baking the bread in a large skillet. Each round only takes about 3 minutes each.


When the bread was done and cooled, I started to assemble the pizza, first by spreading a generous layer of the cream cheese/sour cream mixture.


Then I layered the salmon, sliced red onions, thinly sliced tomato (on Tom's only; I left it off of mine), a few capers and sprinkled each one with a little more of the minced chives and dill. For any of the ingredients, you can add as much or as little as you like, or add something additional.


This was a nice change from our usual croissants or bagels and definitely worth the extra time to roll out and cook the naan bread.

A hint about rolling out the dough (or any other dough, for that matter). I've tried using a cutting board, my granite countertop, my sil-pat...just about everything imaginable to roll out dough and keep it from sticking, with absolutely no luck whatsoever. Then someone said in a blog somewhere to use parchment paper. I wish I could remember who said it. I would love to give them full credit for the idea because it is the perfect solution. I've tried it with dough from any number of breads and scones and it works perfectly every single time. And the clean up is easier, too!

Breakfast from Leftovers

First off, some housekeeping. Lately, my posts have been inundated with spam. Not just any ole 'try this site, increase your readership, buy this, blah, blah, blah. P*rn spam. So...I'm back to moderating comments for awhile until the spam subsides.

Okay, with that out of the way...I hate throwing good food away. It's almost an obsession.

As a general rule, we always have leftovers. I try very hard to cook for just the two of us, but even though our kids have been gone and out on their own for 20-plus years, I still have difficulty paring down my old recipes into two or three servings. Who can make soup or a casserole for two?

If there is enough left for another meal, I let the food cool or sometimes pre-freeze, then vacuum seal it for another time (I love my Foodsaver!).

Of course, there are those times when there's just a little bit left, maybe one manicotti or a single piece of chicken, so that becomes lunch the next day.

At other times, there's a little bit more leftover than I can eat for lunch and I have to eat just a small portion of it and (cringe) throw the rest away. That's what happened last weekend.

Friday night I made Shrimp & Grits. We didn't have any leftover shrimp, but we had a nice portion of grits, about a cup of gravy and a handful of sauteed ham cubes leftover. Sounded like a yummy lunch to me.

But we weren't home for lunch on Saturday, so I decided to use the leftovers for breakfast Sunday morning....

When we were clearing the table and putting the leftovers in storage containers, I used a rectangular container to store the grits. When I took them out Sunday morning, they had solidified nicely, so I turned the molded grits onto my cutting board and cut the slab in half from corner to opposite corner, making two triangles.

In a small pan, I mixed the leftover gravy and ham together and warmed them over low heat.

I heated about a tablespoon of vegetable oil in a small frying pan over medium-high heat, fried the grits triangles until they were golden brown on both sides and removed them to two serving plates.

I poured about 3/4 cup of Eggbeaters into the frying pan, turned the heat to medium low and cooked them until they were just barely done through (obviously you could use eggs, scrambled or over easy). I divided the cooked Eggbeaters in half, placed them on top of the grits and topped that with a spoonful or two of gravy.

I sliced up a half of an avocado that I had in the refrigerator and topped the grits, eggs and gravy with it.

My, my, my. That was a tasty breakfast.

What do you have lurking in your refrigerator that could become a delicious meal?

Country Breakfast in a Cup

I'm not much of a breakfast eater. I am just "Coffee, please," first thing in the morning and then usually wait until 9:30 or 10:00 before I can even think about something solid. Most mornings I have either a toasted English muffin or slice of toast with a couple of slices of avocado, or a turkey sausage patty, or a slice of turkey bacon. But, Tom has always been a great breakfast eater, so we go out to breakfast often on weekends.

Generally, for breakfast we wind up at Cracker Barrel, where I will order a breakfast much larger than I would generally eat simply because I like to have a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Grandpa's Country Fried Breakfast is my favorite because I get just what I want and I can pick my way through the eggs, country fried steak, hashbrown casserole, biscuits and gravy. At least, that's what I usually do, but I might have to rethink my choice.

This morning as I was perusing the internet I wandered onto The Daily Beast and into a media gallery entitled "This Is Why You Are Fat." The ninth photo is entitled "Country Breakfast Parfait" and contains nearly all the components of my beloved Cracker Barrel breakfast in one tall glass. . .

The caption for this photo reads: "this winner contains all the elements of a country breakfast shoved into a cup as a parfait would be. Those elements include tater tots, fried eggs, chicken-fried steak bites, buttermilk biscuit chunks, sausage gravy, and bacon.

It's one thing to see your breakfast laid out nicely on a plate, with a separate plate for your biscuits and a nice neat bowl for the gravy.

It's quite another thing to see it layered and mushed all together like a gravy, potato, egg and meat milkshake.

I may never eat breakfast again.

 

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

And eat these wonderful Pink Cherry Scones...


I love good scones. Not the super sweet ones you get every where, but the slightly sweet or even savory kind that stands heads above muffins, croissants and coffee cake. But, I had never made them. I don't know why. I think I always thought they were really difficult or you needed a special pan. I don't know. Maybe the problem was I wasn't really thinking.

In any case, I didn't consider tackling them until I saw this recipe several months ago on Laurie's Quirky Cupcake blog. I finally made them and they are, in a word, fantastic! And, they weren't hard to make. Granted they aren't as easy as cupcakes - you know, mix and pour into muffin tins - but the extra minute or two is absolutely worth it for the final product.

They didn't last long; maybe three days. We had them on a Sunday morning, then Tom and I each had one every morning for breakfast until they were gone. We used plain old butter, but wouldn't they be extra decadent with a little cherry preserves?? Hmmmmm.

Anyway, thank you, Laurie! You're scones made me take the plunge and I am hooked and now collecting new scone recipes. Next, I am going to try one with cheese, bacon and green onions...

Pink Cherry Scones

2-1/4 Cups all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar, extra for work space and to sprinkle on top
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter, cold
2/3 cup half and half
1 egg
1/2 heaping cup dried tart cherries
3-5 drops red food coloring

Preheat oven to 375ºF.

Measure half and half into a 2 cup measuring cup. Add the egg and food coloring Whisk together until combined. Set aside.

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter. Add cherries and wet ingredients. Using a fork, or your fingers mix ingredients together until just combined. Do not over mix. Form into a mass and set out onto a sugared work space. Flour a rolling pin and roll out into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Use a cookie cutter of your choice to cut out the scones. (I rolled the dough into a rectangle and cut the scones in the traditional diamond shape.)



Put onto baking sheet. Sprinkle with extra sugar and bake for 16-20 minutes depending on the size of the cutter you used. Mine took about 18 minutes. Laurie used a 3 inch glass cup and hers took 17 minutes.

If you have a scone recipe you think is really good, please send it along. I'm on a roll!

Two Posts in One Day?? Wha The???

Well, okay, yes I am posting twice today simply because I used something from last night's dinner for our brunch this morning ~ the Cilantro Sauce.

Last night's dinner of Tortilla Crusted Chicken Rellenos with Cilantro Sauce was awesome. Of course we have leftovers. Tom only made three Chicken Rellenos (he thought he had four chicken breast halves, but he only had three). Anyway, we have one Chicken Relleno left and about 1/2 cup of the delicious Cilantro Sauce (see recipe post below).

Now, I adapted this recipe from a simple little breakfast sandwich that my son, Mike, made when we were there for Christmas. I think they got the idea from a fast-food place (don't remember which one), but it was tasty.

I buy a large plastic box of croissants from Sam's Club, put them in a large ziplock bag and freeze them to use for a couple of weeks or more. We use them for sandwiches and breakfast. This particular breakfast sandwich is so easy and tasty.



Oh, by the way, I know the paper plate is pretty cheesy looking, but it's left over from our July 4th camping trip. Gotta use 'em up somehow!

Breakfast Croissant

2 sandwich size croissants
ham, sliced very thin
2 eggs
2 slices sharp cheddar cheese
Cilantro Sauce (see recipe in the previous post)

Cut the croissants in half. Put the ham on the croissant first. Top the ham with one slice of cheddar cheese per sandwich. Set aside.

Cook the eggs to your liking. We like sunnyside up, but scrambled works just as well.

Before placing the egg on top of the cheese, put the croissant (with the ham and cheese) in the microwave and cook for about 15 to 20 seconds at high power, just to melt the cheese slightly. Remove from the microwave, top with a cooked egg. Spread the Cilantro Sauce on the top part of the croissant and put it on top of the stacked ham, cheese and egg. Serve immediately.