American By Birth, Southern By the Grace of God: Maw-Maw Falls' Vegetable Soup

Maw-Maw Falls

The late, great Lewis Grizzard used to say he was "American by birth, Southern by the grace of God." I can identify. I love being from the South, and I love coming from a long line of amazing Southern cooks. I'm fortunate enough to have known both of my maternal great-grandmothers (who were, in fact, amazing Southern cooks), and remember times spent with them very well. Like so many other great memories, food plays a huge part in my memories of time spent with them.  Every Sunday we'd all head up to my Ma-maw and Pa-paw Ford's (Mom's dad's parents) house for a huge spread, with vegetables fresh from their garden out back and gorgeous, delicious desserts. I always had to help Ma-maw make the cornbread- it was my special job. (And the cast iron cornbread stick pan is hers- it makes the best cornbread ever. I highly recommend getting a stick pan if you're going to make Southern cornbread often. It has more surface area, and therefore more crusty goodness. Plus your cornbread looks like a corn cob- how fun is that?!)

My other great-grandma, Maw Falls lived with my grandparents and took care of me and my brother after school. She was always cooking up something tasty. One of my favorites was her vegetable soup. We'd come in the house after school and an electric pot would be sitting on the counter bubbling away and smelling so good. It was full of veggies, lots of them frozen or canned from the garden. In fact, I was asking my mom where to get "flat green beans" (pole beans) from the store, and she said, "Oh, I think those were the ones they canned..." So I have to settle for regular green beans until I can grow my own flat ones. In any case, here's Maw-Maw Falls' vegetable soup recipe.

Maw-Maw Falls' Vegetable Soup


Ingredients:

• carrots, diced or cut into rounds
• celery, diced
• onion, diced
• fresh or frozen peas (crowder, zipper, black-eye, pigeon, whatever you've got- I used some frozen lima beans from my grandpa's garden and a handful of frozen crowder peas)
• fresh or frozen okra (if frozen, about half a bag)
• half a head of cabbage, chopped
• fresh, frozen, or home-canned green beans (flat/pole beans are my favorite!)
• tomatoes- fresh if they're in season, home-canned or canned if not. 
• water 
• butter
• salt and pepper
• cayenne pepper
• bay leaf
• (optional stock- chicken, turkey, veggie)

Directions

• Saute carrots, onions and celery in a large dutch oven until softened. 
• Add the rest of the ingredients. (note: Maw-maw made hers with water and butter- I used some turkey stock I had frozen from Thanksgiving, my mom uses low-sodium chicken stock. The water/butter way works great, but takes a little longer for the flavors to meld)
• Let cook until vegetables are tender and flavors are melded. Adjust seasoning and serve with cornbread. 

The great thing about this recipe is you can put pretty much whatever you have lying around in it. Corn, potatoes, different beans, squash... the possibilities are endless. You can add some fresh herbs if you happen to have them- thyme is a good option. Have fun with this great (and super-healthy) soup!

Southern Cornbread
Adapted from Cooks Illustrated- this isn't my great-grandma's recipe (I'll post it another time) but it's fantastic!


Ingredients:

• 4 tsp. bacon drippings
• 1 cup stone-ground cornmeal
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/3 cup rapidly boiling water
• 3/4 cup milk (or buttermilk)
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

• Put a daub of bacon drippings in each muffin tin, corn stick mold, or 8" round pan. Place pan on lower-middle rack and heat oven to 450. 
• Put half the cornmeal in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix the remaining cornmeal and other dry ingredients and set aside.
• Pour bowling water into the bowl of just cornmeal and mash into a paste. Whisk in the milk gradually, working out the lumps. Whisk in the egg. 
• Once the oven is preheated, add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Pour into the hot tins from liquid measuring cup. Bake 13-20 minutes, depending on size of pan.
• Remove from oven and immediately flip onto a wire rack, gently using a butter knife to pry it out if necessary. Cool 5 minutes and serve. 

German Comfort Food: Rindsrouladen and Knödel

Rindsrouladen mit Knödel



So... after an awesome weekend camping in Georgia's Alpine village of Helen, I really wanted some good German food. Now, anybody can make Schnitzel, and I was kinda over chicken and veal seemed a little extravagant for a Tuesday night, so I decided to make Rindsrouladen (which translates to something along the lines of "rolled beef") with Knödel (which translates to "dumplings" but are known affectionately around our house as "gutbombs")

I don't know why this idea sounded less extravagant than Schnitzel, especially since this menu warranted a trip to the farmer's market and it was already 6 o'clock when I came up with it. (On a side note, this is NOT a weeknight meal. or at least not one you start cooking at 7.) In any case, I was determined to have it so I recklessly proceeded and eventually had a wonderful dinner.

Rindsrouladen is beef (usually a tougher cut- since it's getting braised the slow-and-low makes it nice and tender) that's stuffed with bacon, onions, pickles and mustard. What's not to love?! All that gets rolled up and then braised in wine and broth for a couple hours. The result is a savory, tender dish and some flavorful jus that, with a little bit of flour, becomes gravy. (Who doesn't love gravy!)

Gravy always deserves something to be poured on, and Spätzle (German egg noodles) is a common accompaniment to Rindsrouladen, but I wanted to try my hand at making Knödel instead. You can buy easy Knödel in the ethnic section of some grocery stores and they're pretty good. But they're really simple to make and it's pretty rewarding to end up with some made with love.

Rindsrouladen

Ingredients:
2 pounds beef top round (cut 1/2" thick if you can find it) cut into 4 even pieces
2 Tbsp German mustard (if you don't have German mustard, use anything but yellow)
3 red onions, chopped up
a few slices bacon, cut up (I used peppered seasoning bacon that comes in big chunks from the f.m.)
1/3 c pickles, diced (I used German cornichons, but any dill'l do.)
1Tbsp vegetable oil
salt and pepper
2 c. beef stock
2 c. red wine (2 Buck Chuck, my cooking hero)

Directions:

• Cook the bacon in a dutch oven until crispy. Remove the bacon to a medium-sized bowl and leave the fat in the pan. Add the onions and cook about 5-7 minutes until softened, fragrant, and slightly browned.

• Mix onions with bacon. Add pickles and mustard, stir until mixed.
• Place your meat on a plastic wrap-covered cutting board. Cover the top of the meat with plastic wrap as well. This is the fun part!

 

 

• Completely pulverize the meat until it's thin enough to roll up, about 1/4" thick. Be careful not to hit it too hard and get holes in it. This is a great time to work out aggression or frustration, but it can be annoying if you have people living below you, so be mindful! (BTW, what's up with the Germans and pounding their meat? Schnitzel calls for use of the meat mallet, too- and if you don't have a meat mallet, the rolling pin works great as well) 
• Once your pieces are pounded out, season the beef with salt and pepper on both sides, then scoop 1/4 of the bacon-onion-pickle mixture onto them. Spread it out kinda evenly and then roll it up. Some of your filling will fall out. Don't stress it.

• Using kitchen twine, tie each roll up so it's secure. You can use toothpicks, too, but I usually don't because inevitably I end up forgetting one and then somebody gets a bite of wood.
• Add oil to your dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown all sides of the rolls. (Really brown them. Let them sit there a couple minutes each side so they get a nice dark color) You might want to do this in a couple batches so each one has room to cook.
• After everything's browned, put them in the dutch oven. (You can toss any of the filling that fell out during the rolling process into the pot, too) Add the beef stock and wine, cover, and cook for 1.5-2 hours, or until beef is very tender.
• Remove the rolls to a cutting board and let rest. Add either cornstarch or flour mixed with water to the juice in the pot and thicken until desired gravy consistency is reached. Slice the rolls and serve with Knödel and top everything with gravy. Braised cabbage would also go really well on this plate.    

Knödel

Ingredients:
6 cups stale bread, cubed (I used homemade croutons, works just as well)
1 cup milk, warm
5 eggs
2 Tbsp parsley
1 red onion, diced
1/2 Tbsp butter

Directions:

• Put bread cubes in a bowl, pour the warm milk over them.

• Heat butter in skillet, add onion and parsley and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add to bread mixture.
• Gently whisk the eggs and add to mixture. Stir until everything is well coated. Cover with saran wrap for about 20 minutes.
• You may need to add flour to mixture to make it stick together better. Form into dumplings. (You can either do logs or balls. Logs are probably easier)
• Roll the dumplings up in tin foil, like candy, so they are well sealed. You could spray the inside of the foil with oil to keep them from sticking, but I found if you peel them carefully, they do okay without.

• Add them to a pot of salted boiling water. Let cook about 20 minutes. (Pull one out and slice it open. The inside of the dumpling will be dry when it's done cooking)
• Peel the foil off (be careful- it just came out of boiling water and will be hot!) and serve (slice if you do logs, just leave balls whole)

• Serve with Rindsrouladen, top with gravy, and enjoy!

 



Sage Spaghetti with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Caramelized Onion Sauce, and Toasted Pecans

Sage Spaghetti with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Caramelized Onion Sauce, Toasted Pecans, Goat Cheese and Brown Butter

I've always loved making fresh pasta. In fact, the first thing I cooked for my husband back when we were dating involved fresh pasta: Chicken Noodle Soup with tri-colored noodles (roasted red pepper, spinach, and garlic-herb noodles). That was before I had my trusty Kitchenaid stand mixer, my food processor, or my newest kitchen toy: pasta roller and cutters for my Kitchenaid. Back then, pasta making was an all-day ordeal. Roasting peppers, steaming and squeezing spinach, kneading and rolling pasta dough by hand, cutting pasta into somewhat uniform sizes... it was tiring! 

Now I can have fresh pasta cooking in under an hour, and we get to have it a lot more often. The first batch I made was sage spaghetti. Fresh herb pasta is easy to do and you can add pretty much any fresh herb you have lying around. Since I had sage, I was inspired by one of my favorites at the Brick Store Pub in Decatur; Pierogies with Browned Butter, caramelized onions, spiced pecans and fried sage. I had pecans, onions, sage, and of course butter. Instead of the potato filling used in the pierogies, I substituted a superfood, sweet potatoes. This time I used goat cheese because that's what was in the fridge, but I think next time I'll use fresh shaved parmesan instead. The goat cheese tends to overpower the other flavors. 

Sage Spaghetti

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

3 eggs

fresh sage

Directions:

• Process sage in food processor until finely chopped, add flour and process 30 seconds. 
• Add eggs and blend until a loose ball is formed. It should hold together but not be sticky to the touch. If it's too sticky, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time. If it looks like pebbles, add water 1 teaspoon at the time. Turn out onto floured surface and knead. 
• Cut the ball of dough into 6 pieces. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at least 15 minutes, at most 1 hour.
• Run through pasta roller, starting with the widest setting and thinning until the sheet of pasta is almost translucent and you can see the outline of your hand through the dough. 
• Switch to spaghetti cutter. Run each sheet of pasta through the roller and hang on pasta drying rack. (If you don't have a rack, get creative- prop a broom over two chair backs and you can dry them over the handle... Just make sure your broom handle is clean!)
• Let the pasta dry at least 15 minutes. If you're not going to cook it immediately, let it dry an hour and then refrigerate or freeze it. 
• Boil salted water in a large pot, add the noodles and cook 4-5 minutes until al dente. Drain in a colander. 
• Top with whatever you have around, or use the following recipes to make it the way I had it.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients:

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2" dice

1 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

salt and pepper

Directions

• Toss diced potatoes with butter, oil, salt and pepper.
• Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or silpat. Arrange potatoes in a single layer. Cover baking sheet tightly with foil. Put in a cold oven and turn on to 425. Cook for about 30 minutes.
• Remove foil cook until the bottom edges are golden, 15-20 minutes.
• Flip the pieces over, roast until the bottom edges are golden, 15-20 minutes more. 
• Let cool 5-10 minutes and serve.

Caramelized Onion Sauce

Adapted from Cooks Illustrated

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. brown sugar

2 pounds onion, halved peeled and sliced in 1/4 inch slices. (Half pearl onions, whole)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 cup chicken stock (I used homemade, just because I had it around. If you use store-bought, get low-sodium)

1/2 cup dry white wine (2 Buck Chuck works just fine)

Directions:

• Blanche pearl onions. (Boil for 3 minutes, then immediately in an ice bath) Peel. 
• Heat 1 Tbsp. butter on high. When the foam subsides, add 1/2 tsp. salt and all the sugar. 
• Add onions and stir to coat, cook until onions soften and release moisture, about 5 minutes.
• Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently until onions are deeply brown and slightly sticky. 
• Add garlic and shallot, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. 
• Add chicken broth and wine, simmer until reduced to about 2 cups, 2-3 minutes.
• Off heat, whisk in 3 Tbsp. cold butter, 1 Tbsp. at a time. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. 

This was really good on top of the pasta, but could be great on some nice toast as an appetizer too.

Your meal is almost ready. Toast some chopped pecans in a saute pan until fragrant and nutty smelling. Be careful not to burn them! Take the pecans out, brown some butter in the same saute pan. Toss the spaghetti with the butter, top with sweet potatoes, then onions, then pecans. Add cheese of your choice. (Like I said, I did goat cheese this time, but would probably go with a hard Italian cheese next time)

Serve and enjoy! 

Shortcut Strawberry Cupcakes

Shortcut Strawberry Cupcakes

I really, really wanted a strawberry cupcake from The Cookie Studio in Decatur all weekend while we were camping, but we came home on Sunday and like so many delicious establishments (Chick-fil-a, Skip's Hot Dogs) they are not open. I was running errands and decided to stop by Publix and get stuff to whip up a quick batch of Shortcut Strawberry Cupcakes.

I've been trying to find cupcakes that are as moist, light, and actually strawberry tasting as the Cookie Studio's. It hasn't happened yet. But I snagged this recipe from the Is This Thing On? blog because it claimed to be super moist and it was also something I could do quickly. I combined it with an adaptation of the strawberry cream cheese icing from My Baking Addiction.

The end result was tasty, but not the same as The Cookie Studio's. These were moist and also light. But either the gelatin or the cake mix (or a combination of both) gave it an... artificial taste. Something is just not quite right. I'm pretty positive the problem is in the batter, not the icing.

Don't get me wrong, either- I wouldn't be posting if I didn't think these were tasty. They are delicious. Better than most cupcakes, definitely better than a grocery store cupcake. I like that I can have cupcakes without making a gigantor mess in my kitchen, I didn't have to use every measuring utensil I have, they have a very pretty color and I'd give them probably an 8/10. I'll keep searching for the all-natural recipe and as soon as I find it, I'll post it. But for now, I give you...

Shortcut Strawberry Cupcakes!
adapted from Is This Thing On?


Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix ( I used Super Moist)
1 small box strawberry Jello
1 pound strawberries, pureed (you'll use 1 cup of the puree here and then 4 Tbsp. in the icing)
3/4 cup milk
4 large eggs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.

Dump everything in stand mixer (or bowl). Mix on low for 30 seconds, and 2 minutes on medium.

Pour batter into liquid measuring cup, pour into lined muffin tins, about 3/4 full.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and place muffin tin on wire rack. Let cool 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes from tin and place on wire rack to cool. 

In the meantime, make your...

Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing

adapted from My Baking Addiction

Ingredients:

4 Tbsp. strawberry puree (leftover from cupcake recipe)

1 stick butter, slightly cooler than room temperature, still firm

8 oz. package of cream cheese, slightly cooler than room temperature

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (you could use clear, but I just had regular and it worked just fine)

22 oz. powdered sugar, sifted

Directions:

Using paddle attachment, beat butter on medium until light and fluffy. Add cream cheese and blend until mixed. Reduce speed and gradually add sugar, blending until well combined. Add vanilla and 4 Tbsp. strawberry puree. Mix until just blended. If overmixed, the frosting will incorporate too much air. 

Scoop into pastry bag, pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes. 

I wasn't patient and frosted these while they were still warm- hence, the wobbly-looking frosting. But it still tastes good! 

Welcome!

Steamed then Baked, never fried crispy lemon pepper wings. 

I've decided to start blogging about my adventures in the kitchen. I love trying new things, and trying to make things really well. I enjoy spending time to do things right- making my pastas from scratch, not cutting corners. My cooking style is definitely not the quick-and-easy type but I feel like taking the time to do everything the right way makes a big difference in the end product.

That being said, sometimes the quick way is the way to go. With that in mind, my first recipe post involves boxed cake mix- something that is almost never used at Casa de Beez- but when you need strawberry cupcakes quick, fast and in a hurry, compromises must be made!