Childhood Dinner Revisited: Artichokes, Wild Rice, and Snapper

Word to the wise, start rice first, it takes the longest to make.

Steamed Artichokes w/ Lemon butter

3 artichokes, cleaned and cut.

1 bay leaf

1 slice lemon

water

large pot with lid

Cut thorned edges off of artichokes. When leaves get to the top, chop off the dense leave section. Cut off end as well. Fill pot about 1-2 inch deep with water or until the steam collander and water are touching. Bring water to a boil with lemon and bay leaf in it. Add cleaned chokes with their tops down in the lid. Steam for about 35-45 minutes or until leaves come off easily.

Lemon Butter

3-4 tablespoons butter

juice of half a lemon (meyer preferred)

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh pepper

Melt butter and lemon together for about 30 seconds in microwave, add garlic salt and pepper. Mix well and serve warm with chokes as a dip.

Wild Rice goes good with it:

1 cup rice

2 cups water or broth

1 tablespoon butter

Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil. Stir, reduce temperature to low and cook for about 50 minutes. Serve with artichokes.

Chris’ Snapper

1 pound fresh snapper fillet

cast iron skillet

1 teaspoon Valle De Sole Dark Chili Powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

1 tablespoon butter

Heat skillet to medium-medium high, add butter, let it melt down. Once butter browns just a tad, add fish fillet and cook it for about 4-5 minutes on each side depending on size of fish, if small fillet cook for only 3 minutes on each side. Remove from skillet and serve with rice and artichokes.

Coconut Macaroons

These are really, really good. They are also super super easy to make. Nuff said.

Coconut Macaroons:
3 cups flaked coconut
1 1/2 cup sugar (eliminate if using sweetened coconut)
5 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/8 teapsoon salt
3 egg whites
4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a bowl, combine the coconut, sugar, flour and salt. Stir in egg whites and vanilla; mix well. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Dip top in chocolate suace and cool on a wire rack.

Chocolate Sauce:

1/2 bag  of dark chocolate chips or chunks (about two cups)

2 tablespoon butter

Make a double boiler, using a ceramic or glass bowl that fits snugly on top of a pan, not touching the bottom. Add about 2 inches water and heat on stove at about medium temperature. Add chocolate to bowl on top, stir slowly as chocolate melts, it will get dry, when it does, add butter to make chocolate smooth and melted. Keep on a low temperature. Use to dip tops of macaroons in. Then place on a rack to cool. Refrigerate macaroons overnite to harden chocolate top.

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2 tablespoons butter

Gran's Breakfast or Lunch Casserole

Every Christmas, my family dined on this delicious casserole. This is an original family recipe passed onto to me from the one who originally created it, my grandmother, who is 97 currently and still attempting to cook when needed. I have set out to reinvent it in my home, with a few touches of my own, for times other than holidays.


Sausage & Apple Breakfast Casserole:
1 1/2 pounds spicy ground pork sausage
6 slices bread, chopped in pieces with crust removed
2 apples, peeled and sliced
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon paprika
6 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
6 ounces of shredded cheese (grated)

Brown sausage in a skillet, breaking it up as you cook it. Then drain on paper towels. Reserve half of the drippings in the pan and saute the sliced apples in it. Put sausage in the bottom of a glass casserole pan (medium sized). Remove the crust from bread and cut into pieces. Combine the bread, apples, mustard, paprika, eggs, cheese, and milk and salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix well. Pour this mixture over the sausage and sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Refrigerate overnite, covered. Next morning, remove from fridge. Bake covered at 350 for 30 minutes, remove cover and bake another 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Thank you Grandmother Jean Wessell.

Essential Southernisms: Collards, Conebread, & Fried Fish

Essential Southernisms

After living in San Francisco for 7 years, my mouth gets homesick for southernisms, mostly food like the seafood and Bojangles chicken, the only way to get back to my roots, cooking food that fills me with comfort and memories.
When I was a kid, roadtrips with my mother always began with a pit stop at the local gas station. For $2 you get enormous fried fish pieces stuffed between 2 pieces of white bread with mayo, and hot sauce on the side. It followed by licking your fingers off of delicious fish grease and tartar sauce between picking out the fish bones. This meal is my travel back in time.

Don't it look good!

Fried Fish:
4 fillets of fish (we used Dovre Fish)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup cornmeal
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 large ziploc storage size bag
1 quart oil (fill pan to about 1 1/2 inch deep with oil)
candy thermometer

Make egg wash: mix one egg well with the milk, soak fish fillets in it for a minute or so. Meanwhile heat oil to 350 (we use a candy thermometer), medium to medium low on a electric stove. Prepare batter by combining all dry ingredients together, mix well and reserve in plastic bag to coat fish. Once the fish have been soaked in the eggwash, coat fillet, one at a time in the bag, shake excess batter and place fillet in oil. Fry until golden in each side. By keeping the oil at 350, it will ensure well fried fish. Place on paper towels to soak up oil in fish. Serve immediately. Eat with tartar sauce or ketchup.

Collards, cooked and ready to eat!

Collards:
1 bunch of collards, chopped in 1-2 inch thick, with stems removed.
1/2 cup vinegar
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 cups water
add salt to taste
3 strips bacon, chopped and diced
1/2 onion, chopped and diced
hot sauce (Crystal preferred) to taste

In a pot heated to medium, add bacon and onions, cook down until the onions start to caramelize  in bacon grease. Add 2 cups water and vinegar. Let water heat up to a simmer (about medium to medium low) but not boiling, add collards and garlic to water and cook for an hour or until tender. Add hot sauce to you liking.

Cornbread:
1 pack Jiffy cornbread
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Follow directions on box for cornbread, whip batter well in an electric mixer. Pour batter into  greased iron skillet. Sprinkle top with brown sugar, bake until golden. Serve with butter.

New Family Traditions: Zucchini Muffins

Zucchini Muffins

Zucchini bread holds a memory in time for me. It was on my first trip to Texas and my first time to visit my man' s family that I tasted what would become a staple in my own home. It was my first dessert in Texas. After flying for 5 hours with 3 month old Sula, we touched down in San Antonio, we were swept up into his Grandma's home, and subsequently served Louisiana Gumbo, fried chicken and for dessert: zucchini bread. . Since tasting such deliciousness, I was prompted to ask for the recipe. When I returned home to San Francisco from Texas, we planted zucchinis in our garden to continue the family tradition. Zucchini bread became a staple breakfast or snack item, since morphed into zucchini muffins. You can make it however you like, it is still good. The recipe goes like this:

Zucchini Bread/ Muffins:

3 eggs

2 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 cups grated zucchini with skins, drained

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 325. In an bowl with an electric mixer, beat the eggs until light and creamy. Add sugar, butter, vanilla, and zucchini and mix lightly, but well. Add in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon to batter and mix well. Add walnuts. Pour batter into a well greased and floured bread pan. Bake at 325 for 1 hour or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

For muffins: scoop batter into paper muffin cups, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until muffins are golden and toothpick comes out clean in the middle.