i know i have said this before but seriously food needs to be a genre on netflix. for all you other foodies who also love to watch movies that center around the love of food, i got a new movie for yeah. soul kitchen. it’s a german film (yes there are subtitles, subtitles make you a better person) about a greek dude in berlin who is running an american soul food restaurant. i know sounds wonderful, right?!
Author: lynley
sunday night dinner: september 18, 2011 — chicken scratchbacks
when you cook almost every meal at home, research sometimes becomes necessary. out come stacks of cook books looking for new recipes and old forgotten recipes. ever just read a cook book? there are actually pretty interesting and can start generating ideas beyond whats on the page.
research, research, research and a beer
this week’s sunday night dinner came from a very old friend of a cookbook. one i have had since i was a kid. it was my american girl cookbook for the character addy. don’t skip over kids’ cookbooks there are some damn good recipes in them! my nancy drew cookbook, yes i have a nancy drew cookbook, is where i got my curried shrimp recipe.
you can just ignore the instructions that tell you to have an adult take things out of the oven
chicken scratchbacks……what is that? well scratchback is a term that was used to describe a method for baking cornbread. scratchbacks are spoonfuls of cornmeal batter that are dropped into a buttered baking dish. when baked, scratchbacks have rough, scratchy tops, thus is where they get their name. baked the bread too long? turn them into dogers. those are cornmeal cakes that are baked so hard that if they were thrown, you better dodge them! i was so excited i got to use my new cast iron cornbread pan for dinner. there was much debate about what size of pan to get the 5 cob pan seemed too small yet the 10 cob too many so i got the 7. after making a whole batch of cornbread batter…..should have gotten the 10 cob.
love that cast iron
to turn a scratchback into a chicken scratchback, take cooked chicken, make a milk-based gravy and add the chicken to it. let it all get heated through and in the true farris way add lots of pepper to that gravy. of late i have actually been contemplating making the holes bigger in my pepper shaker, like every other farris does. any veggie is yummy to pair with chicken scratchbacks but i recommend peas because you can mix all that together!
corndogs, tilt-a-whirl, 4h club exhibits, funnel cakes and a ro-d-eo: it’s time for the tennessee valley fair
it always seemed the whole point of going to the fair for the farrises was to get corn dogs, a funnel cake, and those little jugs of root beer sold by A&W at the ozark empire fair. we’d go look at the quilts, the cows, people watch and after about an hour and a half we declared ourselves done. this year i got to experience my first tennessee valley fair.
my friend kathryn and i headed out on friday, ready to devour some fried food on a stick, ride some rides, and i was going to expose kathryn to her very first rodeo. i don’t know why but i find rodeo’s intriguing and at the fair, no matter what fair you are at, there is always a free one.
when we first got to the fair we did an entire walk through to get the lay of the land. first we went and saw a cow show. then we headed to the 4H exhibits. things that are way different in tennessee than in missouri with these is a heavy emphasis on vocational skills competitions. these included plumbing, electricity, and cosmetology. most bazaar the display of mannequin heads for hair styling competition, the one i loved most were the saloon design competition in a box.
hair styling competition
and of course i was so excited to check out the fair food entries. i love to see how the judges just take one tiny bit out of it and always find it a tad gross/funny how that food is still sitting around on display 3 weeks latter. how it kind of starts morphing, falling off the plate, etc. how course no pie here! i just don’t understand the south sometimes. seeing the produce competitions always makes me feel determined that one day i am going to have a badass garden to submit prize-winning green beans or something.
blue ribbon pumpkin
prize-winning tobacco...its the south y'all
and of course east tennessee's famous honey
after the tilt-a-whirl, which we concluded would probably be the closest thing you could get to feeling like you were in a washing machine, and one go around on the ferris wheel. we went to find us some classic fried food. out of all the corn dogs, onion rings, cheesecakes on a stick options, we got hand dipped corn dogs by ruby’s who has been at the fair over 40 years hand dipping their dogs and selling beans and cornbread. then came for kathryn’s life changing moment….her first rodeo which of course we celebrated with a funnel cake.
look at that fried goodness!
rodeo time
meatless monday: pb-tomato-cheddar sandwiches
it was a hell of a day last monday. seemed one of those days where they was just one thing after another that cause me to go “ARRRGGHH” there are ways to make these days way better. one of the first one’s i discussed with steph…..beer in the shower. oh yeah why not? i mean how many times have you heard of women taking baths with a glass of wine. me beer in the shower. of course we contemplated the fact you might get water in your beer. the genius solution? just turn your back to the water! of course i can totally her my mom “tisking” at this but some days that is just what you need.
beer in the shower! (this might be a staged photo)
and of course a fabulous dinner makes the day end on an up note. for this meatless monday i channeled my mom’s dad, ford, who was known to fancy a peanut butter-tomato sandwich now again. let dinner making begin. music choice for the night to had to be the footloose soundtrack.
my pb-tomato-cheddar sandwiches were constructed and put into my sandwich maker. i love sandwich makers. i have actually had this sandwich maker since middle school. i started saving betty cocker points for it. not knowing how many points i would need i saved a ridiculous amount. when i finally sat down with the catalog i discovered i had enough points to get 4 fiesta ware place settings. thus was born my fiesta ware collection.
they are a bitch to clean but i love em
i paired my sandwich with some pasta salad and made my day a lot better! while i ate i watched an episode of “Family Ties” and now having made it through 2 seasons of this fabulous 80s show i have fully concluded the keaton family would have been down with meatless mondays.
sunday night dinner: september 11, 2011: prosciutto-goat cheese pancakes
pancakes....another thing i love that starts with the letter p
while i wait at the bus stop traveling back and forth to campus i am trying to practice the art of constructive boredom. what is constructive boredom? it’s the moments in everyday life such as waiting for a bus, waiting in line, stuck in traffic, etc that we used to take to just catch our thoughts and day-dream. now in the world of iphones, smart phones, ipods, tvs everywhere our brains never get a down moment to just wander, this isn’t good for you. and as much as i love using the bus as a way to catch up on podcasts, i really try to just have some good ol’constuctive boredom time. thus was born this concept for pancakes, prosciutto-goat cheese pancakes.
one thing i miss about pulling kitchen shifts at work was a cakes shift on the weekend. all you are encharge of is pancakes: regular, strawberry, chocolate chip and french toast: regular, cinnamon raisin, and nutella french toast. with every once in a while some fantastic special such as chocolate chip bread pudding french toast. the classic order combination pancakes with a side of bacon. think about it, it is a perfect combination, balance of protein and carbs, sweet and savory. my thought process why not just put the savory into the sweet pancake.
the prosciutto i cut up into large pieces. what i hadn’t considered is how much the goat cheese thickened the batter. then came the debate about what to top the pancakes with. just butter? would syrup be good? or something better than syrup but with a similar sticky texture……..how about a balsamic vinegar reduction sauce! i will say this they were fabulously yummy but i think the balsamic reduction might have been a little too much for the flavor palette.
RECIPE: Balsamic Reduction Syrup
*a typical reduction is just the vinegar slowly cooked down till it becomes think and sticky*
INGREDIENTS
2 cups balsamic vinegar
3 tbspn brown sugar
1. combine all ingredients into a sauce pan heated at medium heat. constantly stir till vinegar is reduced down from a watery sauce to a thick syrup consistency.
my love-hate relationship with broccoli
growing up broccoli was the one vegetable i completely detested. raw, cooked, mixed into dishes. and the smell of broccoli being boiled….to this day still makes me wrinkle up my nose. yet it is ssssoooo healthy for you. so doing the adult thing, in college i started making myself eat broccoli. by forcing down the repulsive green stuff i shockingly ended up liking it. why am i telling you about this? because this week i was so proud of myself, i used up a whole bunch of fresh broccoli that i purchased. it was one of the situations of i’m going to buy this and i know i won’t eat it all and half of it will go to waste. you know what i’m talking about. i bet $5 there is a bag of those pre-washed and cut carrots in you fridge you optimistically thought you’d eat as a snack food. oh how wrong i was! what wonderful creations did i make?
1. mac & cheese with broccoli (here’s a tip for that wonderful boxed yumminess, instead of milk and butter use 1 cup of plain yogurt to make your powdered cheese extra rich, creamy, and healthier)
with tons of black pepper, just like grandma's
2. stir-fried veggies with chicken dumplings
i love being in walking distance to an asian market
songs to stir your appetite
besides cooking, dancing should be a priority activity in the kitchen
If You Wanna Be Happy — Jimmy Soul
Come On-A My House —Rosemary Clooney
Paw Paw Patch Revisited — Big Smith
Look at Them Beans — Johnny Cash
Cocoanut Woman — Harry Belafonte
Old Joe’s Place — the Folksmen
Green Onions — Booker T and the MG’s
Having a Party — Sam Cooke
That’s Amore — Dean Martin
I’m a Woman — Peggy Lee
Come On In My Kitchen — Crooked Still
Thank God I’m a Country Boy — John Denver
meatless monday: goat cheese pizza
there is nothing like homemade pizza crust and i just learned a great tip this week while listening to the splendid table, make your dough and let it rise overnight at room temperature, it makes it almost like silly putty, perfect crust. my pizza had a whole wheat honey crust, goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, and almond slices. i know you are skeptical about nuts on pizza, trust me, try it, you’ll totally dig it. try cashews, walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, they all work great, i’ll advise though, pecans you just might want to avoid.
Before
ready to get yummy and melty
& After
get into my belly!
sunday night dinner: august 28, 2011—chicken salad and blueberry muffins
ever get those cravings that you just can’t explain? i had one this week when i was investigating what was in my fridge, while planning meals. as soon as i saw the eggs all i wanted was deviled eggs. so began the quest of what to have with the deviled eggs for my sunday night dinner.
i'm going to eat the devil out of those eggs
i settled on a combination of chicken salad, blueberry muffins, and deviled eggs. chicken salad is diffidently in my top 5 favorite foods. i like to sample it wherever i go. the best, so far, is at the sub shop in springfield , mo. pineapple, grapes, mandarin oranges, cashews, onions, celery and of course chicken and mayonnaise. mine this time was a bit less complex. cashews, grapes, onions, celery, and my secret spices. maybe one day i’ll share what that is but right now i’d like to keep you in suspense.
looking for a meal involving mayo? this is it.
now normally i’m a huge advocate about not using box mixes. however i’m a totally sucker for jiffy mixes. they are so cute and small, you can get 2 for a dollar, and the artwork is pure out of 1950.
channeling my inner 1950s housewife
the muffins were just screaming for purple cupcake polka dot wrappers
jiffy mixes allow you to do that step back in time in the kitchen. much like the apron i choose to wear for sunday night.
my 50 states apron and a furry kitchen helper
dinner this sunday was accompanied with a movie. to go with the them of summery chicken salad and deviled eggs, and embracing the hotness of still refusing to use my air conditioner, i watched “a long hot summer.” the premise……paul newman shows up wrecking havoc on joanne woodward’s plans of rebelling against her father by refusing to get married. must say probably the number 1 movie for paul newman’s sexiness, oh but “hud” is a close competitor for that.
what goes better with a paul newman movie but homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream. um yes please!
this isn’t your dorm room ramen noodles
10 for $10.....hot damn!
it’s absolutely horrible for you and i can hear taggart yelling at me that “powdered chicken isn’t food” but i still occasionally enjoy some ramen noodles. but to counter balance this act of unhealthy eating i decided to make this package of ramen a bit fancier. how did i do this? well….
first i crumbled tofu, mixed that with carrots, mushrooms, and strips of dried mango. all these yummy ingredients where stir fried with garlic, ginger, and the powdered chicken flavor packets that come with the ramen noodles. once the noodles were done cooking i tossed everything together.
powdered chicken no more
and yes that is a classic plastic chinese styled plate that you would find at any local chinese food restaurant. how can you eat chinese food on anything but? want some? venture to your local asian market. i love the home section. plates, rice cookers, and buddha statues galore. those clear things sitting on the plate? my chop sticks. they are really more like fake chop sticks, they look like a giant pair of clothes pins and function as so. 3 years ago my new years resolution was to learn to use chop sticks. i did, i can even eat fried rice with them. my conclusion about chop sticks? completely pointless! i don’t care they might seem overly “western” of me but i have no issue using my fake chop sticks or a fork when it comes to devouring asian food.
Hearty Eaters 