Sides

Louisiana Oysters on the Half-Shell

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I picked up some Louisiana Oysters today. I made a very quick and simple migonette sauce for them and Susan and I were in heaven. I wanted us to have at least three a piece so I picked up eight oysters just in case there was a bad one. We got lucky and all eight looked bright and smelled like the briny sea so we each got four.

Here’s the simple migonette sauce:

Ingredients

1 small shallot finely minced
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons dry, acid white wine
1 Tablespoon chopped flat leaf parsley
Grind or two of fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and refrigerate an hour or two to allow the flavors to meld. Spoon over oysters and serve.

Corn Bread from Scratch

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On Sunday, I posted a recipe for my Buttermilk Pancakes made from scratch. In the post I questioned why people purchase convenience items like these since they are so easy to make from scratch. Tonight I made some black bean soup and a corn bread. The corn bread did not come from a box; and why should it?

Chances are, most people have all the ingredients for corn bread in their pantry. Why should you spend the extra money on having those common ingredients prepackaged for you?

Here’s all you need to do:

Ingredients

1 ½ C all-purpose flour
1 C cornmeal
¼ C sugar
2 t baking powder
¼ t baking soda
½ t salt
1 C milk
½ C unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 large egg

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F. Grease 10″ cast iron skillet. Combine dry ingredients. Stir in milk, oil and egg, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour batter into prepared skillet and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until light golden brown and wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Additional note:

You may use a 9″ square pan instead of the cast iron skillet if you would like. I, however, prefer the cast iron skillet as it heats more evenly and gives the corn bread a crisper crust.

Buttermilk Pancakes from Scratch

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It’s a lazy Sunday mornings and everyone in the house is in the mood for a big breakfast. Mornings like this make me smile as they give me a chance to whip up a batch of my from scratch buttermilk pancakes.

I’ve never quite understood why people purchase certain convenience foods; especially things like any of the “Helper” boxed dinners, Alfredo sauce, and today’s subject – pancake mix. It isn’t because these things are inherently terrible or necessarily bad for you; they are full of unnecessary chemicals and preservatives though. I don’t understand why simply because things like this are just not that difficult to make from scratch. In my opinion, not only do they taste much better, but you control what goes into your food. Here’s my from scratch buttermilk pancakes. You could substitute regular milk for the buttermilk or simply add a tablespoon of lemon juice to each cup of milk and let it set for at least five minutes to make your own buttermilk substitute.

Give this recipe a try. You’ll make some of the best pancakes you ever tasted. You may even start singing, “They’re so light ‘n fluffy-brown, They’re the finest in the town…”

Ingredients

1 ½ C all-purpose flour
2 T sugar
2 t baking powder
½ t baking soda
½ t salt
1 ¼ – 1 ½ C buttermilk
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 T vegetable oil

Directions

In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and pour in the buttermilk. Start with mixing 1 ¼ cups buttermilk to the flour. Add up to another ¼ cup if necessary if the batter is too dry. Add the two eggs, vanilla, and oil, whisking until mixed but still a bit lumpy.

Heat griddle and ladle ¼ cup of pancake batter onto hot grill. When the pancake begins to bubble flip and cook a couple more minutes on the other side.

Additional note

Using a ¼ cup measuring cup to measure out the batter will result in a pancake that measures approximately 4 inches in diameter. This recipe will produce 12 to 15 4 inch pancakes. I like this size because any leftover pancakes can easily be frozen with a piece of wax paper between each pancake. They can easily be taken out of the freezer and reheated for a great mid-week breakfast. Four inch pancakes easily fit in most toasters for reheating which produces a nice crispy cake as opposed to a soggy cake reheated in a microwave.

A Timeless Side Dish: Potatoes au Gratin

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Potatoes au Gratin have been a staple of family potlucks and cookouts since God knows when. And why not? Cheese and potatoes just go together. My creation adds a few other flavor profiles not typically found in these ubiquitous potluck standards that I feel give them just enough flavor to stand out. Here is what I do:

Ingredients

2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
1 ½ cups finely shredded cheddar cheese
1 sprig thyme (leaves)
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ t freshly grated nutmeg
2 C heavy cream
1/3 C course bread crumbs
2 T butter, divided

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Bring the cream with a sprig of thyme, chopped garlic and nutmeg to boil over medium heat. Remove from heat.

While cream is heating up, butter a casserole dish with one tablespoon of butter. Melt remaining butter and mix with bread crumbs and set aside.

Place a layer of potato using half the potatoes in an overlapping pattern and season with salt and pepper. Then layer half the cheddar cheese on top of potatoes. Repeat with remaining potatoes and cheese.  Pour cream mixture over the potatoes. Top with bread crumb mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 50 to 60 minutes.

A Cheesy Side Dish: Corn Casserole

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Here is a simple and quick side dish for your next cookout. In my family it is sometimes described as a cup, a cup, a can, a can, a stick. Read the recipe and you’ll see why. It is also a very filling comfort food that pleases all. This side goes well with any barbequed food.

Ingredients

1 C Elbow macaroni
1 C Velveeta cheese (cubed)
1 Can whole kernel corn
1 Can creamed style corn
1 Stick butter

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Meanwhile, combine all ingredients in casserole dish and stir to mix well. After 25 to 30 minutes, stir casserole again to further mix ingredients. Continue cooking for another 25 to 30 minutes until casserole is bubbling and top begins to brown.

And Now For Something Completely Different: Grilled Sweet Potatoes

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I found myself having to cook for myself tonight as Susan was at her monthly Bunco night with her MOMS Club friends. This gives me an opportunity to either cook things that Susan doesn’t particularly care for or to experiment a little. Tonight I did both. Susan will eat pork but it isn’t necessarily her favorite meat. So, since she was gone, I picked up a nice thick Iowa Chop to grill. I seasoned this with some El Pilson’s Super Secret Smokin’ Meat Rub. This rub is made by my friend and fellow foodie and wine maker Ed Slonaker in Corpus Christi, Texas. Although this is a rub that is intended to be used while slowly smoking, it tasted very good on some chops cooked over a medium-low, direct fire. I will be slow cooking something over Labor Day weekend with this stuff and will blog about it then, so be looking for that to come. Tonight is about the experiment.

I love sweet potato fries with barbequed pork. To me, the smokiness of the pork and the savory-sweet flavors of the sweet potato fries just go hand-in-hand. Not really wanting to go to all the trouble of making sweet potato fries and since I was going to have a nice, big hot grill with plenty of room, I started to wonder how grilling these sweet potatoes would work. Fantastic! As you will see. These will definitely be made again. Here is what I did.

Ingredients

Sweet potato (Depending on size, one per person)
Extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper
Sugar
Cinnamon

Directions

Heat grill to medium-high heat. Meanwhile, peel and slice sweet potatoes into about ¼ planks. Drizzle olive oil over sweet potatoes to coat. Season with kosher salt and a few grinds of fresh ground pepper. Place planks on grill and grill on each side for about 4 to 5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove from grill and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon over sweet potatoes. Serve immediately.

Simple Side: Grilled Green Beans with Garlic and Lemon Zest

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I love grilled vegetables. There is something about the caramelization that occurs from the high heat that makes them delicious. Grilling larger vegetables is easy; they can be placed directly on the grill grates. Smaller vegetables, like green beans, will require a basket or grilling pan. I prefer the latter. Mine is a square, three-sided stainless steel device that allows me to use a wok paddle to work the vegetables. Here is what I did for tonight’s green beans that were served as a side with a prime cut rib eye.

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil
2 to 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or minced to a paste
1 to 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon cumin
1 pound green beans, stem ends cut
1 lemon for zesting
Salt to taste

Directions

Heat grill to high and place grill basket or grill pan on grill. Whisk olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and cumin in a large bowl. Add the green beans and toss until they’re uniformly coated.  Transfer to grill basket or grill pan and cook till they’re slightly charred and tender. Remove to a serving dish, season with salt and finish with freshly grated lemon zest

A Simple Summer Supper: Classic BLT and Grilled Iowa Sweet Corn

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I love this time of year when the first of the tomatoes start coming on. My mouth begins to water for those red jewels of summer. Meals get more simple yet somehow more satisfying. For instance, tonight was a classic bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich along with fresh-picked, grilled Iowa sweet corn. Feel free to add other items to you BLT. One thing I like to add is a couple slices of avocado turning an BLT into a BLAT.

Classic Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato (BLT)

Ingredients

4 slices Applewood smoked bacon
2 slices good, hearty whole-grain bread
slices of fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes
Romaine lettuce
Real mayonnaise

Directions

Fry the bacon to your desired crispness. Meanwhile, toast the bread. Assemble the sandwich. I prefer this order: slice of toast, mayonnaise, lettuce, bacon, tomato, and finally the second piece of toast. Doing this prevents two slippery items like the lettuce and tomato from being directly next to one another which can lead to a very messy sandwich.

Grilled Corn Recipe

Ingredients

sweet corn with husks on
softened butter
chili powder
coarse salt and black pepper

Instructions

Pull back the corn husks and remove as much of the silk as possible. Don’t worry about getting it all. What remains will typically burn off on the grill. Rub each ear of the corn with softened butter and then sprinkle each ear with salt, pepper and chili powder. I like to mix the three ingredients together prior to sprinkling it on the ears. Pull husks back to cover ears of corn. Grill the corn until they browned all over, turning as needed. The husks will typically become charred. Remove the corn from the grill, husk the corn, and serve at once.

This is the perfect summer supper in my opinion. Enjoy!

Tomato Salad — Exceptionally Quick… Exceptionally Good

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I arrived home very late tonight so it was a quick meal of pasta with the left over Pesto di Noce from Monday night. Susan and I were still just a little hungry after the pasta so she suggested that I cut up some tomatoes and drizzle some olive oil over them. That smart young lady got me thinking. Why not chiffonade some basil and mix that in too. In less than five minutes we had a delicious tomato salad.

Here’s all there is to it:

Cut up in somewhat large chunks your favorite tomatoes. I used Romas as that is what I had. I wish I could say they were fresh from my garden but July’s tempest did my tomatoes in. Chiffonade some basil and sprinkle it on top. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the basil and tomato. Sprinkle a little kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. A little shredded Parmesan and there you go; a tasty tomato salad!

Eating well doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money… Which reminds me, are you taking Slow Food USA’s $5 Challenge September 17?

Loretta’s Chicken Salad

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Sometimes the simplest meals are some of the best. Case in point, the chicken salad made following my mother Loretta’s recipe. She typically made this with left over turkey from Thanksgiving serving along with a cranberry relish and rolls on the side.

I must say that the turkey did give this salad a unique taste however it isn’t close to Thanksgiving and I had some cooked chicken to use so I made it with that instead. Either way, this is a great salad and a nice meal on a day when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.

Loretta’s Chicken Salad

Ingredients

4 Cups cooked chicken
1 C celery minced
1 C seedless grapes halved (red)
1 C chopped English walnuts
¼ C finely minced red onion
1 C mayonnaise
½ C heavy cream – whipped

Directions

Combine first five ingredients. Fold whipped cream into mayonnaise and add to salad ingredients. Place in salad bowl lined with lettuce or other greens. Serve with chilled cranberry relish and warm rolls.

Here’s to you mom – the inspiration for my cooking!