Quiche it, quiche it real good!

I knew that it was a shot in the dark but I had to try it anyway AND they LOVED IT!  They actually loved it a little bit more than I expected to the point where we may have to add a fourth pie next time.  Thanking Jesus for the little things in life: quiche.

Sausage, Egg & Cheese Quiche

1 Pie Crust Ready Made or Your Fav Recipe (RAW)

16 ounces of Sausage (Pork or Beef), Cooked & Crumbled 

1 Medium Onion, Small Dice (about 1/2 cup)

1 T of Mozzarella or Cheddar Cheese, Shredded

1 T of All Purpose Flour

3 Large Eggs

1/2 C. of Evaporated Milk

1/2 C. of Half and Half

1 T. Chopped Fresh Parsley 

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/4 teaspoon Garlic Powder

1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper

1.  Go ahead and turn your oven on to 350, do this first so it is ready when you are ready to put the quiche in.  2.  Brown the sausage, crumbling to bite size chunks, remove with a slotted spoon and saute onions in remaining grease.  Drain.  3.  In a medium sized bowl add the sausage, onion, cheese, flour (toss to coat mixture).  4.  In another bowl whisk eggs, milk and seasoning.  5.  Place the sausage mixture in the bottom of the pie crust.  Spread out evenly.  6.  Pour egg mixture over the quiche

7.  Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes, keep an eye on the crust.  When you touch the center it should be firm, not jiggly.  8.  Devour.  

Shove that sow-suge ergs and chedda up in yo mouf.  Chew. Swallow. Repeat.

                                                                                         Love, 

                                                                                         Me.

Homemade Ketchup

Rather you call it ketchup or catsup for most of y'all it is the sauce of the south, okay well that's probably gravy for most of us but ANYWAY!  I have developed this little ketchup recipe and it is awesome!  The kids LOVED it!  So of course I wanted to share with y'all.

This makes a squirt bottle full, about 14 ounces.  Double the recipe if you want to use it in a recycled ketchup bottle.

:::Homemade Ketchup::::

12 ounces Tomato Paste

1/2 cup DARK brown sugar

1/2 tsp. Dry Ground Mustard

1 1/2 tsp. Salt (May want to add more)

1/2 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. All Spice

1/2 tsp. Cayenne (Can sub Louisiana Hot Sauce to taste)

1/2 cup of HOT water

6 T. White Wine Vinegar

Couple of dashes of liquid smoke (optional)

2 T. Worcestershire 

1.  Combine all ingredients.  

2.  Whisk, whisk and whisk till combined.

3.  Store in an air tight container, a squirt bottle, a jar, or an old recycled ketchup bottle.

Refrigerate up to 1 month!  Enjoy :)

Happy Wednesday!

Traci

Hot Dog Buns Recipe

I found this little recipe for hot dog buns and loved it.  The buns turned out fabulous.  I know what you are thinking...why am I not posting an original recipe?  Well - I am a chef but I am NOT a bread maker.  There is a HUGE difference.  I will be posting recipes hopefully very soon that are my very own but until then, I'll ALWAYS give credit where credit is due and this little lady - is awesome.  Her Julia Child voice will catch you off guard in the beginning but she is really great, I hope you appreciate her awesomeness.  Her videos are also great because they show you an angle of which you can actually see her working the ingredients, which my friends, is hard to find...I give you The Bread Kitchen's Titli Nihaan's recipe for Hot Dog Buns.......

Here is a little picture of how mine turned out; the family LOVED them.

I clearly should have folded the edges over a bit more but they were so good!  I will make one adjustment next time and probably throw in some honey at some point. So good.

I also made home-style fries that night.  I just took a cup or so of flour and added in some garlic and onion powder, about a teaspoon each and then about a table spoon of Tony Chachere's Cajun spice. Added about two cups of water (just enough to make the batter soupy).  Stirred it up really good, no lumps.  Then I cut some potatoes after peeling them into eights.  Dredged the potatoes through the batter and fried them in an olive oil / veggie oil mixture at medium high heat.  They cook in about five minutes.  Once they are golden brown, they are ready.  Pull them out of the oil and hit them with a pinch of salt WHILE they are hot.  Fry in batches, be sure NOT to crowd your oil or you will have a bunch of soggy fries or they will all be stuck together.

Dip the fries in the homemade ranch we made a few days ago and thank the good Lord above for fresh ingredients.

X's & O's.

Traci.

Potato & Leek Soup Recipe

My kids like 'Chicken N' Noodle' and 'Tomato' soup by Campbell's.  The only soup they will eat are those two.  Well, once we stopped eating processed foods I had to stop buying them.  The first soup I made for them was potato and leek soup.   I was immediately met with resistance.  The first thing the ask me when busting through the door at 3:23 PM is 'what's for dinner' or 'did you fix us a snack'?  I said we are having potato soup.  Their responses ranged from 'WHAT, seriously?, I don't eat that' and my favorite 'what about the meat?'

One of my culinary school chef instructors Chef Denny Streeter made this amazing potato and leek soup one night on a whim.  I think it was extremely cold outside and since we had class at night everyone pretty much ate during class, whatever it was that we had cooked.  So on our cold Wednesday night last week I decided to try and yes, that soup has stuck with me for the past 8 or so years.  It was just THAT good.

So, I thought I would share the recipe instead of keeping all this goodness to myself.

Potato & Leek Soup

5 T. Butter

1 T. Olive Oil

1 Small White Onion, Diced

1 Celery Stock, Sliced

2 Leeks, Cleaned and Diced

2 Carrots, Cleaned and Diced

2 tsp. Garlic, Diced

8 Russet Potatoes, Peeled and Diced

6 Cups of Stock, Chicken or Vegetable

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

3 T. Flour, AP

1 C. Heavy Cream

In a stockpot over medium high heat melt 2 tablespoons of the butter and olive oil together add in the onion, celery, leeks, carrots and cook stirring frequently for seven minutes until vegetables are well sweated. Add in potatoes and cook for two more minutes, coating with the other veggies.  Add in garlic and cook for two more minutes.  Poor the stock over the vegetables and bring to a boil.  Once at a boil reduce heat and cook until potatoes are completely cooked, stirring occasionally.  In a separate small pot add the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, melt.  Whisk in 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour and whisk for two minutes.  Slowly add in the cream and continue whisking until thickened.  Set mixture aside.  Once potatoes are cooked thoroughly add in the cream mixture and stir till completely dissolved.  The soup will begin to thicken over the next few minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.  At this point you can take the soup and put it into a blender and blend it down or use an emulsion blender, which is what I did.  This allows you to leave the soup as chunky or as smooth as you would like!  Serve and enjoy!

Toppers:  Crispy bacon, cheese, sour cream and chives! Nomnomnom!

                                                                             
Oh and what did the kids say about it?  They devoured it.  Even Tanner, Mr. Picky eater himself.  It was so good and I believe I did Chef Streeter proud.  'I don't eat that' quickly turned into 'Can I have more'!  I hope your family enjoy's it as much as mine did.

Much Love,

Traci

Maple Glazed Oven Roasted Pork Chops

In our attempt to rid the kitchen of all the prepackaged convenient items we are getting down to the bare minimum.  I had a pack of pork chops that I purchased a few days back and as I was cleaning out the massive collection of spices that I have accumulated over the past year or so, I found some rather tasty pure Maple syrup.  I thought, what the heck.

Maple Glazed Oven Roasted Pork Chops

1 Pack of Chops, Whichever tickles your fancy...I used a bone-in pack of 12.  

Olive Oil

McCormick's Grill Mates Smokehouse Maple Seasoning

1 T. Butter

1 Small Onion, Minced

1 tsp. Garlic, Minced

1/2 Cup of Good Maple Syrup

1/2 Cup of Water

1 T. Soy Sauce

2 T. Brown Sugar (Light or Dark)

1 t. Chili Powder

In a skillet heat a smidgen of Olive oil (you can use what ever oil is handy) over medium heat.   Preheat over to 375 degrees. Take the maple seasoning and rub into both sides of each pork chop.  Once the oil is ready begin searing off each side to a light golden brown, do not cook all the way through.  As you sear all the chops place them on a lined deep sided cookie sheet or casserole.

In a small sauce pot add in the butter.  Once the butter has melted add in the minced onion and cook for one minute over medium heat, add in garlic, cook an additional three minutes until onion is translucent.  Do NOT let the onion or garlic burn.  Once the garlic and onion have sweated add in the maple syrup and water.  Bring to a boil.  Add in soy sauce, brown sugar and chili powder.  Stir over medium high heat at a boil for about four minutes until the sauce is well combined and begins to reduce.  Reduce heat to low in order to reduce further for about 8 minutes.

Remove from heat.

Take a barbecue brush or mop and mop each pork chop with the glaze. 

Cook for ten minutes at 375 degrees, turn over and mop again.  Cook for an additional ten minutes.

Remove from over and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.  There will be additional sauce in the cookie sheet or casserole dish that can be spooned over the chops while resting and at service.

Yumm-o.

I need to apologize in advance for the picture....the kids attacked the food and I could only take a picture of the leftover 2 chops (out of 12).

                                                                                                Peace, Love and Broccoli Rabe-

                                                                                                            Traci

Chicken N' Waffles YO!

Okay, so I was totally skeptical.  Totally.  I have read and seen all the yummy goodness that surrounds 'Chicken and Waffles'.  I honestly thought it couldn't be so.  As I mentioned in previous post we are attempting a more clean eating regiment which really consist of knocking out boxed convenient foods.    Any attempt to keep out the chemicals used to preserve food is a good attempt in my book.  So anyway, I had box of Krusteaz waffle mix and it is my favorite in a pinch.  I also had some chicken breast that I had recently purchased ON SALE of course because let's be honest, who can afford boneless skinless chicken breast for a family of six these days without putting an extra mortgage on their home.  Really.  So I thought to myself....JUST DO IT....just go AHEAD and make the waffles and slap the piece of good ol' FRIED chicken yumminess on it! JUST DO IT!  AND let me just say, oh my goodness for all that is kind in the world, for all that is fair and equal about our great land - IT WAS FABULOUS, better than I thought it would be if I had only given it a small smidgen of hope...it was AWESOME!

Go ahead and make your favorite waffle recipe.  If you need one, please let me know in the comments below and I'll give you my best one.  Make the waffles a little extra crispy so that it can withstand the chicken.

Then, make this chicken.  This crispy, slap yo' mama fried chicken.

Ingredients:
6 Chicken Breast, Boneless & Skinless
Veggie Oil for Frying
2 Cups of Self Rising Flour
1 t. WHITE Pepper
1 t. Poultry Seasoning
1 t. Cayenne Pepper
1 t. Salt
1 t. Onion Powder
1 t. Garlic Powder
4 Eggs, Whole
Splash of Worcestershire Sauce
Pinch of Additional Salt
Local Honey

Special Equipment:  Large Ziploc Bag and Meat Mallet

1.  Clean the chicken with a cold water rinse.  Pat dry with a paper towel.  Set aside.
2.  Go ahead and place about 1" of oil in a chefs pan or deep sided skillet.  Turn heat on medium heat.  Allow oil to heat slowly but DO NOT get it too hot.
3.  On a clean dredging dish or plate add flour, pepper, poultry seasoning, cayenne, salt, onion powder and garlic powder.  Mix well with a fork or wire wisk.  Be careful not to throw the flour mix all around!

4.  In an additional dredging dish or deep sided dish crack all four eggs and add Worcestershire sauce.  Mix well.
5.  Take your first piece of chicken breast and place it inside of your ziplock bag.  Beat it half to death with the mallet.  Pound it till about 1/4" thick.

6.  Dredge the pulverized breast into the flour mixture, shake the excess flour off, dip into the egg wash covering with the mixture, shake off excess and dip in the flour mixture again, shake excess off.

7.  Carefully and slowly place chicken breast in the heated oil.  It should sizzle and you will immediately be able to smell its yummy goodness.  OH it is so good.  That smell!

8.  Cook chicken breast for about 4-5 minutes until golden brown then flip to the other side, again, carefully as to not splatter the hot grease.  Cook another 5 minutes until golden brown.
9.  Place cooked chicken breast on a paper bag or paper towels to drain excess grease.
10.  Put your cooked waffle on the plate, top it with the amazing chicken breast you just cooked and then drizzle the best local honey that you can find.

It should look a little something like this.......

 PLUS......

 

 :::::::::::::::::EQUALS::::::::::::::::: 

This is the mother of ALL goodness.  The End.

Peace, Love & Chicken Grease,

Traci

 

What's Shakin' Bacon?!

I made the best.pasta.ever on Friday night.  Oh it was Heaven in a pot, love on my plate, party.in.my.mouth! It was divine.  As in, there were some major Divine intervention going on in my kitchen when all this came together.  You wanna know the key ingredient don't ya?  Bacon.  Need I say more?   So, for all the bacon lovers out there, get ready to gitcha bacon on.  Ohhhh, I'm bringing sexy back, right...about...now.

Bacon Pasta...Just go with it.

Ingredient List
1 Lb. Bacon, 1" Diced
1 Lb. Egg Noodles, Cooked
1 T. Olive Oil
1 Onion, thin sliced
1/2 Green Cabbage, thinly sliced-cut the cabbage in half and then shred thinly with your knife
2 tsp. Garlic, minced
2 tsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 Cup of Stock
Pinch of Salt
Pepper
Parmesan Cheese, Shaved

Bacon SMELL

1 Lb. of the best bacon you can find.  My favorite bacon is the Apple Wood Smoked Bacon from DJ's Fine Meats in Alabaster (Alabama).  I love this little meat market.  So you take this bacon and you are going to cut it into 1" pieces.  Throw it all into a pot that has been heated to a medium high heat with one tablespoon of olive oil.  Immediately when the bacon hits the pot this sizzle, pop, pop action is going to happen and that whiff of bacon-y love is going to pelt you in the face and you are going to 'ahhhhhhh, that smells soooo good'.  Make sure you take a wooden spoon and spread the pieces out evenly so that it doesn't steam but gets very crispy. You can slowly turn the heat up towards the high side but keep an eye on the bacon.  Meanwhile...

Bacon & Onions

Bacon-y Goodness

Throw the sliced onion in and cook for one minute.  Add the shredded cabbage next and toss to coat in the bacon-y love. Toss in garlic and cook till golden, one minute.  Add the apple cider vinegar, stock (chicken or veg), pinch of salt and the amount of pepper that is perfect for you!  Reduce for 2 minutes.  Your mixture should be well coated with the bacon-y love at this point. Turn that burner OFF!  

Mixed Together

Cook 1 lb. of Egg Noodles (or your favorite pasta) according to package directions and drain.  Once the pasta has been drained you are going to combine the bacon cabbage mixture with the pasta and just fold it in until well combined.

Plate it up and top with shaved Parmesan cheese.

This is amazing, fantastic, no, it is phenomenal.  Not healthy, but still....phenomenal.  

           Love, Peace & Bacon Grease,

                                                  Traci

Mr. Crabs

I bet that title caught your attention!  No one in the house has crabs, just calm it on down.  Simmer.  Okay, so I wanted to share with y'all our dinner entree for tonight.  This is my moms famous dish that I have always enjoyed.  We typically eat it with Maw Maw's mushed up stuff but went a different route tonight.  These salmon patties are gold.  Serious biznas.  Gold.

My kids aren't about to eat SALMON patties, are you serious???  Dead.  Does your child watch Spongebob?  Well, Mr. Crabs presents to you: CRABBY PATTIES!  Oh yeah, its a total lie but hey, they eat it and they LOVE it!

Crabby Patties
(No crab needed)

2-14 Ounce Cans of Salmon (We like Double Q)
2 Eggs, Gently Beaten
1 Small Onion, Diced
3/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
1/2 Cup Evaporated Milk or Half and Half
Salt & Pepper To Taste
Oil for frying

Before Frying

Golden Brown

Drain the salmon really well but do not rinse it.  In a large bowl mix together the remaining ingredients.  Fold in the drained salmon. You may need to add more cornmeal or more milk depending on the texture of the cakes.  You want them to be moist but held together.  Heat your oil on medium heat, only use enough oil to lightly cover the bottom of the skillet.  We use veggie oil.  Patty out 2 ounce patties, about the size of your palm (small palms).  Then place the patty into the heated oil.  Fry for several minutes on each side until golden brown and thoroughly cooked.  Drain on paper towels or of course a paper bag works just as well.  Serve hot.  My kids eat them with                                                                                 ketchup.

Break a piece off, put it in your mouth, chew and say                 'mmmmmmm......soooooo......goooooood'.                                  
                             Your welcome.


                                                                       Gitcha Crab On,
                                                                                     Mrs. Crabs