Tonight I noticed that we had three bananas that were almost to the point of being over ripe. I thought that a banana pudding would be good. Growing up my Nanny made at least one a week for my Papaw, it was his favorite desert. I didnt have her recipe so I looked online and found a Paula Deen recipe so I decided to go for it. It was not a hard recipe to follow you just have to take your time and not rush through. After standing and stirring the pudding mix for 15+ min. I have a new appreciation for what my Nannay did for us growing up and am thankful I paid attention to her and others in my family when it comes to cooking. Here is the recipe that I used.
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tbs corn starch
3 cups of milk
4 egg yolks (use whites for merainge if you are making one)
1tsp of vanilla
2 ounces or 1/2 stick butter (I used margerine, its what I had)
3 bananas sliced into discs
1 box vanilla wafers

Combine sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan. Over low/med heat slowly add in the milk stirring continually. You can use a double boiler to reduce the risk of burning the mixture. All I had was a regular sauce pan so I had to watch it closely and continualy stir the mixture. Add in the vanilla. I had true Madagascar vanilla which is the best vanilla out there but it was $10 for a very small bottle. Enough about the vanilla. Cook the mixture until it thickens. Once thickened whisk in a small amount of the mixture to the egg yolks to temper them (bring them up to temperature of the mixture but not cooking them into scrambled eggs. Add the tempered egg yolks to the mixture and cook for another two min stirring constantly.

In a 9x9 (8x11 is what I had) casserole dish put some of the mix in the bottom of the dish and then a layer of bananas and wafers. Add more pudding mix alternating pudding and bananas/wafers. Top off with last of pudding mix. Cover and let cool to finish thickening. Pure awsomness.

Holiday Sweet Stuff, Mmmmmm

During the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons there is all kinds of great sweets around. We went to one of our favorite restaurants on Thanksgiving Day, Copeland's. They had a White Chocolate Bread Pudding that was amazing. I found a recipe for a version of this dish. It isn't exactly the same but it is very good none the less. It is a little time consuming but it wasn't bad. Lots of ingredients that you probably don't need to have a lot of but what ever. This stuff is good we can get back to eating better after the holidays. Here is the recipe that I used.

24" loaf of some type of sweet bread (I used a french bread, all I could find)

4 1/2 cups of heavy cream

1 1/2 cups milk

3/4 cup sugar

15 oz. white chocolate (I used chips)

3 large eggs

12 egg yolks

dash of nutmeg

cinnamon to your taste

Sauce: 1/2 cup oz. heavy cream and 8 oz. of white chocolate.

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Cut bread into 1" slices discarding the ends. Place the slices on a pan standing up. put them in the oven for 15 min. or until dry but not brown.

Turn oven up to 350 degrees. Place bread in the bottom of a 13x9x2 baking dish.

In a bowl combine eggs and yolks. Combine cream, milk, and sugar in a sauce pan. Heat on medium heat stirring constantly. Heat to just before steaming. Remove from heat and mix in white chocolate until smooth. Pour a very slow stream of hot cream mixture into the eggs whisking constantly. This must be done very slowly with small amounts to bring the eggs up to the same temp as the cream. If you combine to fast you can end up with scrambled eggs (yuck).

Once incorporated mix in nutmeg and cinnamon.

Pour mixture over the bread to cover completely. Use it all the bread will absorb most of the custard mix. Let sit for 20 min pressing occasionally into the dish to keep everything submerged.

Cover with foil and put in the oven for 60 min. Then remove foil and let go for another 20-30 min. until lightly browned on top. Remove from oven and let sit for a min. of 20 min., longer if possible.

While the pudding is resting put the 1/2 cup of heavy cream in a sauce pan and heat to a boil. Remove from heat and combine the white chocolate until its smooth. drizzle over the top of the bread pudding. Serve warm. Amazing.

Pork Chops and Gravy

I know its been a while since I posted anything to my Blog, so here is something new. One of my favorite dishes is pork chops smothered with gravy. Not any of that store bought, out of the jar, stuff but real home made gravy. This is an easy dish just takes a little assembly and time for cooking. Probably about 1 hr 15 min to 1 and 1/2 hrs. This makes the most tender pork chops you will ever eat and the taste is out of this world.

I started with good center cut pork chops about 1/2" thick. Thicker could be used with additional time in the oven. I dredged them in flour with my seasonings (season salt, onion powder, garlic, salt, and pepper). Just a dredge no other liquid. I wasnt building a breading for a thick crust. Brown them off on both sides in oil on the top of the stove. Once browned nicely but not completely done remove them and let them drain. Pour off the oil except for about 1/4 cup to make the gravy. In the oil mix in 1/4 cup of flour and cook until combined and starting to brown. Keep stiring it or it will burn. when it gets to a light golden brown add 1 cup of water and one cup of milk. I mix 2 cups of each in a 4 cup measuring cup and start with half of it. Once the liquid is added to the flour/oil mix also (called a roux) you have to keep stirring it bringing it to a boil. The mixture will start to thicken once it is boiling. As it cooks it may get to thick, if so add a little more liquid a little at a time stirring it in completely and allowing it to return to a boil. I use a slotted spatula to do my stiring with sitting it flat in the pan and lightly keep it moving. The way I tell when its getitng close to right is when I can lift the spatuala out of the gravy and it leaves a light coating on the spatula. To thin and it runs right off, to thick and it leaves a heavy thick coating.

Place the pork chops in a cassarole dish evenly spaced out. I had 4 porkchops they almost completely coverd the bottom of the dish. I cut up 1/2 onion and placed on top of them. Pour the gravy over the pork chops and cover with aluminum foil and place in a 350 degree oven. Close the door and leave them alone for about 1 hour. Longer for thicker chops. At 1 hour take a fork and test to see how tender they are. I stick a fork in the center of my thickest peice and lightly twist. They should be very tender at this point and ready. Take them out of the oven and leave them covered on the counter for 10-15 min. They will continue to cook for a little longer even after they are removed from the oven. Serve with cream potatoes and other side of your choosing, or however you want to serve it. Doesnt get much better, dont forget a big glass of sweet tea.

Empanadas Mmmmm

I saw this recipe on Food Network and thought I could do this. I used bought pie crust and cut them into 6" rounds.

The stuffing is Chicken and Mozzerella Cheese.

I used 3 bonless skinless chicken breast halves cut into strips about 1/2" thick. Sauteed them with 1/2 onion fine diced and 2 cloves of diced garlic. Added a dash of salt, chili powder, cumin, paprika and 1/3 can of diced tomatoes drained. cooked this down until chicken is done and then let cool. After cool chicken was shredded up. Placed about 2tbsp of chicken mix in the center of the dough and topped with Mozzerella cheese. Folded over and crimped with fork to seal. Placed on baking sheet with baking mat on it. Melted about 2 tbsp margarine in small bowl and mixed in some powdered garlic and paprika. Used BBQ brush and brushed butter mixture on outside. Baked in preheated 375 degree oven for about 17-20 min until browned. Served with yellow rice. Awsome. Very easy and there is lots of different ways to stuff them.

Shrimp and Grits a trip to the Big Easy

When I drove a truck for a living I visited a lot of places across this great country we live in. Every different region has their own specific flavors and styles of cooking. One of my favorite areas is Southern Lousiana and the Cajun style of cooking. Here is a dish that comes straight out of Cajun Country, Shrimp and Grits. Now you can get Shrimp and Grits from a lot of other coastal areas of the south but nothing like the ones with a Cajun twist. Here is my version of this classic dish.

Grits made into cakes and browned. See below.

1 Bell Pepper

1 Med. Onion

1/2lb Andouille Sausage Med. Heat

1/2lb peeled and veined shrimp 40-50 ct. size

3 cloves of Garlic

1 Can of Diced Tomatoes

1/2 cup Dry White Wine

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper, little more if you want to heat it up little less if you dont.

1 tsp Ground Cumin

1 tsp Celery Seeds

1 tsp thyme

Salt and Pepper to taste

For the grits, I used 5 min. quick grits made per the directions on the package. Added 1/2 cup Motzerella Cheese graed and 1 stick of butter. Spread the grits in a pan to about 1" thickness. let them cool and set up. When ready, just prior to serving slice them into about 4"x4" squares and then cut diagonally across the square to make a triangle. Add some oil to bottom of skillet and pan fry the triangles until browned on each side and hot all the way through.

Now for the Shrimp and Andouille. Dice up Bell Pepper and Onion and sautee in a little oil in the bottom of a 2 qt. pot. Dice the Sausage and add into the pot and let it cook for a few min. Once Onions and Peppers are softened add the chopped up Garlic, the can of Tomatoes and the wine, bring these back to a boil. Add the spices and reduce to a simmer stirring occaisionally for about 2 hrs. Cover for the first 1 1/2 hr and then finish with it uncovered. Add the shrimp a few min before ready to serve. Shrimp cook quick and will get tough if over cooked. I used already cooked and peeled shrimp so they didnt need but about 3-4 min to heat all the way through. If using uncooked shrimp then maybe 5-6 min.

Serve over the grit cakes. Awsome is all I can say about this dish.

Ribs of love

Here is s rack of ribs I cooked tonight. They are gonna be good at work tomorrow. Oven cooked but awsome, fall off the bone, tender. They are easy. Start with a good quality rack of ribs, good fat in the meat (it will cook out and help keep them moist). Coat them liberally with a spicce rub, I like Byrons Butt Rub. Wrap them with aluminum foil (not to tight just snug) place them on a cooking sheet and put them in a 300 degree oven for about 2.5 hrs. After they have been in for 2.5 hrs. open the tops of the foil up but dont remove them from the foil just open it up completely. Put on your BBQ Sauce, I used Sweet Baby Rays Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce. Let them go for another 30 min to an hour opened up. Then I like to turn on the broiler over them for a few min letting them brown on top a little. Awsome.

Nanny's Salmon Croquets

When I was growing up I used to stay the summers with my Grandparents on lake Martin near Alexander City Al. one of my all time favorite things my Grandmother used to make was Slamon Croquets. Not to be confused with Salmon Patties. Croquets are thick and fluffy not flat like patties. Nanny had a special technique to get them just right. After she mixed them up she would scoop out a good rounded tablespoon full of the batter and place it in here hand. It would be formed in to a ball and then with her fingers bent slightly she would press down on the top of the ball forming it into a triangle. Dropping them into hot grease in a skillet about 1/2 in. of oil in skillet. As they browned in one side she would flip them over to the next side, browning on all three sides. My hands are to big and I cant get the same triangle shape like hers but she taught my to make them the way she did. I can get them close but not exactly like hers. They still take me back to a time long gone but not forgotten. She has been gone for a while now and still miss her but she is still alive and well in my memory when I make the Salmon Croquets she made for me growing up.

1 can of Double Q Salmon, picked clean.

1 egg beaten

1/3 cup of flour

1/3 cup of corn meal

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1/4 cup milk added in a little at a time

Mix everything in a bowl adding the milk to the mix last until its a slightly dry dough that sticks together to form. If its to wet then add a little more corn meal or flour. Scoop out a rounded tablespoon full and drop into you hand. Form into a ball and press into a triangle shape by bending your hand at the knuckle and keeping your fingers straight and closed together, then press in top with your other hand. Drop them into about a half inch of hot oil in a skillet, cast iron if you have it. Brown them on all three sides. Really good served with home made mashed potatoes and gravy, Buscuits, fresh tomatoes and sliced onion. It doesnt get much better.