Potlikkery

Ponchatoula is (bone fide) alright with me

Wouldn't you know that as soon as I bowed to the common ingredient list including box cake mix and strawberry flavored gelatin in the making of my strawberry cupcakes, that I'd come across a bone fide strawberry cupcake recipe? Just my poor old luck, really. But sort of scary, too. Like somehow, months ago when Foose dreamed up this cookbook, she included this recipe just for my sake. To redeem my hurt feelings about whether my cupcakes were "from scratch," for real. It was predestined. 

Screen Doors and Sweet Tea arrived a day or two ago via our U.S. Postal Service. Couldn't help myself from browsing it immediately. The cover photo is super inviting; just completely appealing to my particular preference for food styling. And I'm the first fool in line handing over her credit card to buy almost any and every southern-themed cookbook. Now I don't call myself a fool because these cookbook authors are fooling me into something. No matter that they all have almost the same recipes inside.  There are always a few gems in each one. And certainly that is the cake with SCAST. 

I'm referring to her Ponchatoula Strawberry Cupcakes recipe. Batter made from scratch, and icing too, just what I dreamed of about a week ago. It's not too late though. There are still fresh, locally grown strawberries around. Must seek them out. Sadly, I barely used a whole pint of the gallon I bought. 

Frigid fruit and veggies taste terrible to me, so my berries sat out on my counter, and we're using that natural air conditioning a.k.a windows open. So they spoiled quicker than they should have if they were tucked into my fridge. Can you imagine knitted woolen strawberry cozies to keep each one warm inside that dreadful old icebox? I can.  The sad thing was throwing most of the lot out. Actually, the white fuzzy, almost projectile, mold forming on my berries reminded me of those fuzzy winter muffs that you see little girls of Currier & Ives era paintings carrying along on a sleigh ride, or an ice skating jaunt.

Foose covers a Delta meal from cocktails and appetizers on through magnificent, decadent traditional southern desserts. She grew up in the Mississippi Delta, then traveled a bit to work in big city kitchens. Then went off to cooking school in France, so her rendition of these southern favorites is well-informed. Right off her Cantaloupe daiquiri tempted me to throw caution to the wind about fetal alcohol syndrome and imbibe in such a delight. Yet, I shouldn't drink. And won't. But I'm keeping this one in mind for when I can have alcohol again. 

But I could have her Blackberry Limeade which looks refreshing and like it would soothe my nerves. The food photography/styling is delicious and enhances Foose's recipes. Unfortunately the scenic photography of the Delta, interspersed with those glimpses of heavenly southern food, appear more like stock photos and lack the intimacy and lushness of the latter.

Each recipe begins with a Foose anecdote. Readers learn about her great uncle Thompson alongside  Catfish Ceviche. Thompson preferred sleek cars to big old trucks so popular with all the Delta menfolk, and opened his catfish farming business in 1958.  A large sidebar following the recipe teaches the reader about the spawning and hatching of catfish.

There are lots of expected dishes like gumbo, turtle soup, cheese, grits, mac n cheese, country fried steak, and dumplings. Then there's the unexpected: Barq's Root Beer-Glazed Ham. This one, we'll have to try. Despite the kitsch factor of cooking meat in a soda pop brine, I declare that the end product tastes mighty good and receives rave reviews from our families.

The combination of her photo of egg salad and the recipe for Good Sandwich Loaf bread tempted my tummy, and pulled up to the Shamrock's drive-thru and bought an egg salad sandwich for lunch yesterday with eventual making of my own in mind. Already got lots of eggs for the egg salad and all the makings for the sandwich loaf. 

Those desserts...well, none of them jumped out at me like Sweet Tea Pie. Ooooooo-eee. I'll have to try that. Foose described it like so: 

The flavor tastes like state fair saltwater taffy, and the texture is like pecan pie without the pecans. I think you will enjoy it.

Last night on the phone I told Ian about the book and it's banana pudding recipe from scratch. Since we had a bad experience with the last from scratch banana pudding we made, um, we're reluctant to try it again. Another recipe that caught my eye was Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake. It takes 14 egg whites. Now that is a lot of cracking and separating of eggs. Though I don't ever yearn for angel food cake, that brown sugar twist might keep my interest long enough to try one. 

Be sure to read Fosse's notes to the left or the right of each recipe. She says to separate your eggs a day before making the Brown Sugar Angel Food Cake and that night-before step will result in a higher cake. When it comes to Angel Food, the higher, the better, you know, closer to the Pearly Gates and all those angels with their harps and halos. 

Come July Ian and I head west to Nashville and then south down the Natchez Trace, so I'm mostly hoping that we'll get a taste of good Mississippi cuisine, though it may not be Delta in origin, least not until we arrive at Natchez proper. Any recommendations, anyone?

strawberry delight

Recipes for Strawberry Cake that I found online disappointed me. Gelatin? Frozen strawberries? Ugh. Those ingredients seemed lame. Instead, I turned to my Blue Willow Inn cookbook. It's subtitle is "Bible of Southern Cooking," and I must say, that every recipe  I've made from the book turns out Delish!

Their recipe is simple, and similar to the ones found online, actually. So I was disappointed, skeptical, but tried it anyway. One box of butter cake mix, 3/4 cup of oil, 4 eggs, one box of strawberry gelatin, and one 10oz box of frozen strawberries, thawed.

Naturally, I used fresh strawberries. And I used much much more than the 4-5 oz they suggested for the cake's batter. I made cupcakes, two dozen of them, in fact, special-like for Rebekah's birthday. Ian helped me make a decision on what to top the icing with: sprinkles or strawberry slices. He asked "What will the kids like?" Oh, sprinkles, I suppose. So there was my answer.

Rebekah leads Biscuit

Rebekah is one of the sweetest young women I know. She turned 18 on Saturday, and I felt bad that I didn't have anything other than the strawberry cupcakes for her. But, she liked 'em. I took them over to Mize in Gray, Tn. because Rebekah worked Horse Days. She thanked me for them. Even asked, "Did you MAKE them?" Of course. All from scratch, ma'am!

And then had so much batter left over that I made a one layer cake as well. Didn't use their icing recipe. Used the one that Nigella suggests for her Guinness chocolate cake: creme cheese, confectioner's sugar, and whipping cream.

Sadly, no photos of cupcakes. They never look as grand as ones others make. I either overfill the cups or underfill them. This time, I underfilled them, and their appearance was rather poor. Sad, actually. Yet, they tasted good. I was very pleased with how they came out. Yum. Super good. Will definitely make this recipe again. And even though my batter and icing were much more strawberry loaded than the recipe called for, I still had at least a half pint of berries remaining in that container. So now what to do with the remaining 3 pints?

i eat for two

Lame lame is my name. I'm constantly ravenous and must snack often to sate my hunger. If I don't keep my stomach filled then I feel nauseous. Yep, I'm pregnant. Talked to my Scout who lives in Knoxville and she said she didn't have strange cravings until her fifth month, with almost all of her children. With Zoe she craved rootbeer and never liked it prior to being pregnant. Then with Zac she ate 5 or 6 oranges each day.

No cravings. I'm ending my first trimester. Basically, I'm so fatigued at the end of each day that I lack energy to cook anything. My rice obsession is dying down despite the quick and easy nature of its cooking in my steamer.

What is most difficult about being pregnant are the restrictions on what I cannot eat.

I cannot have soft cheeses such as Brie and feta. Or that yummy melted Mexican cheese. Or any blue-veined cheeses. So that completely ruins the whole salad experience for me. Bleu cheese dressing is my standard. If I can't have that, then I won't get my greens and veggies in my diet. At least those pre-natal vitamins are good for something; filling in the gaps. My alternative is the caeser salad. But those are mostly boring. No unpasteurized cheeses for me. Actually, I think I may have eaten a small bit of Brie, from that last Brie kick, while very recently pregnant. But then when I had an inkling about my body and what was going on inside there, I threw the Brie away. Otherwise, it was too much of a temptation. It was also going bad, too.

Somehow though, it's okay to eat processed cheeses. Yuck. However, I love creme cheese and that's on the can have list. And Ian encourages me to eat lots of yogurt.

I suppose there are some restrictions on fish, too. The other day I lunched with Marie and she ordered sushi. I'm fairly sure I cannot have that. She offered me some of her spicy tuna roll, but I declined. The other thing is that sushi at that restaurant is usually over-rated and not so good. C'mon. It's east Tennessee. How fresh can it be? The raw fish avoidance is so so tough. Really. I love oysters. I had some fried when Ian and I were in Atlanta eating at Dailey's. He pointedly asked whether I could have them and I said yes, as long as they were cooked. But, shrimp doesn't appear on any list.

The no caffeine bit is no big deal except when I'm terribly thirsty in the car and the only thing Ian brought along is his diet cola. It isn't caffeine free. So I'm constantly carrying drinks and snacks along wherever I go because feeding this thing inside me is the essence of my life just now. But I don't do coffee, or herbal teas. But my regular old unsweet tea isn't really a problem as far as caffeine content. Hooray! And since I don't use artificial sweeteners, I don't have to wean myself off of them, either. Surely there was a reason I went cold turkey and drank my iced tea plain from the get go.

Oh hell. I just realized that chocolate has caffeine in it. Not that I purposely eat a lot of it. But Tuesday nights I do a bit of volunteer work with kids and horses and there's almost always a chocolate dessert/snack for the kids and we volunteers at the end of the night. No more chocolate. Perhaps I'll start bringing the dessert and then won't be eating something bad for me. Seriously, chocolate is not my favorite, but the state I'm in requires that I eat and east and eat. The nurse practitioner who did my intake exam at Specialty Hospital said I should eat 2400-2500 calories per day. Normally I eat between 1200-1500 calories each day.  How is it that I'm not eating enough?

Geesh. I need more snack ideas. Mostly I live off those kellogg's 100 calorie snack bars that are fruity. The blueberry are my favorite. And cereal is great too, to bring along to work in a plastic baggy.

Oh, and Melissa, the NP at my OB's office pointed out my high cholesterol levels. She asked if I took meds for that. My old GP never wanted me on Lipitor because of the threat of liver damage. My mom takes it though and it has had a brilliant effect on her cholesterol levels. Melissa told me that my levels will increase during pregnancy and not to worry too much about that. I'm not. Really. But.

Anyway, I hope that sometime very soon, my love of cooking in the kitchen will return and I'll have some lovely content to share with readers of this blog. My understanding is that after the first trimester my energy will abound. Can't wait for it to happen. But come 20 November, or thereabouts, I'll be thinking whole new thoughts about what I can and cannot eat, cause I plan to breastfeed. Sorry if that's TMI for a food blog. So that's a whole nother can o' worms.

strawberry surprise

It's strawberry time in East Tennessee. Bought these fresh off the Scott's truck, so to speak, yesterday afternoon. I spotted the Scott's building set up in Mize's parking lot earlier this week and ached to stop by and buy a gallon. This year's crop looks lovelier than last years. And the smell? Oh, it's heavenly.

So I have a special strawberry dessert in mind for these. Hope it comes out well. Will let y'all know. But, don't hate me, cause I have fresh, locally grown, strawberries! May go back and buy a greater amount to freezer or can or preserve in some manner.

food pairings

Normally I don't worry about pairing a beverage with food because my two beverages of choice, water and unsweet iced tea, go with everything. Almost forgot milk. I'm drinking my weight in milk these days. Nothing suits me better than hormone-free milk with every meal.  But there are plenty of folks out there who fret and send themselves into a tizzy trying to perfectly pair beverage to entree.

Now that He Said Beer, She Said Wine (2008) is on bookshelves, those folks can quit worrying and start enjoying life and eating and drinking a bit more. It's a slick book. Lots of colors, lots of photos. Wow.

It's written by Sam Calagione, the beer man, and Marnie Old, the sommelier. They duke it out round after round to prove that beer, or wine, is the best accompaniment to each dish presented in the book. Before they enter the ring, there are pages and pages that introduce the reader to each beverage, it's strengths, and weaknesses. Old deconstructs wine labels and informs the reader about what region is known for what kind of wine, as Calagione does with beer.

The authors then pair their respective beer or wine with cheese, vegetables, sandwiches, pizza and pasta, spicy food, shellfish, regular old fish, poultry, meat, desserts, and fruits. Following that up are specific guidelines for hosting your own wine vs. beer debate at home. It's a fabulous idea and surely great fun.

The only problem I foresee is procuring some of these beers and wines. If you don't live in a very, very urban area, finding the beer varieties Calagione touts, may be difficult. Likewise with the wine selections that Old makes.

Be sure to leave a comment. I'll pick one to send a copy of this book to.

seriously unstructured scones

Believe it or not, my favorite scone recipe is one of Tyler Florence's. It's from Real Kitchen. Can't quote you the page number though.

What is finer than a sweet biscuit? When I was young, I'd only eat the innards of a biscuit because the tough bottom and crunchy tops didn't suit me. I liked that tender in-between bread best of all. Also made sure my Mamaw cut the crusts of my toast, or else I nibbled around the edges and left all those cripsy crusts behind. I'm still that way, sometimes. And mostly I ate homemade biscuits and rolls, but occasionally there'd be one of those kinds that come in the cans you had to pop open. I can't recall the exact name of the brand, but there was one whose innards peeled apart in fine layers. That was a treat, but didn't last too terribly long. had to go through biscuit after biscuit after...

But Tyler's scone recipe is my favorite because you don't overwork the dough. You sift flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder together first, mix in 5 tablespoons of butter, then make a well for the heavy cream, then fold in the berries. I probably under work the dough, and that's why my scones are seriously unstructured. These aren't scones that you roll out and use a cookie cutter on. Tyler tells you to make a rough rectangle then cut that in half, then in fourths, and then slice those into triangles. It works.

They fall apart when you lift them from the parchment paper. I usually skip the lemon glaze, though I'm sure it's tasty. I've made these with all kinds of berries, but blueberries are my favorite and I happen to have at least two more pints in my fridge; usually they accompany my morning cereal.

These were Sunday's breakfast. Yum. Hot from the oven. No need for butter at all.

the french toastiest

I took the day off today because I could. And because Ian would be home much of the day. Having him home for almost an entire day is rare, so I wanted to spend my day with him. He got up, let out the dogs, and unknownst to me, ate a bowl of cereal while he fed our pack of dogs.

I texted him and asked if he wanted French Toast this morning. But he left his phone on the bedside table. I called him on the home phone and that is when he told me he ate cereal.

"But go ahead and make French Toast," he said. "I'll eat a piece."

So I came into the kitchen, got out my utensils and pan, and got to work. Just used two slices of sourdough bread from a loaf he picked up at the store a few days ago. It was well into the loaf, so those slices were huge. Dipped them in two beaten eggs, then threw them into my pan all slicked up with melted butter.

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They cooked in no time. I finished up mine with blueberries, confectioner's sugar, and a little white corn syrup. Ian's had the confectioner's sugar and Mrs. Butterworth's. No blueberries for him.

Great way to start out the day with a semi-hot (cause it had cooled in the time I took me to snap a few photos) home-cooked breakfast.

bananas today

spoonbread or corn pudding?

Of late I'm frequently inspired by Baking Bites. The first recipe I've tried from that site/blog is the Buttermilk Spoon Bread. Its preparations were a little unusual; not what I'm used to. You take your milk and buttermilk along with the cornmeal and bring it to just under a simmer in a saucepan. I did that part. But I didn't follow the rest of the directions exactly. Plus, I added more sugar and some corn niblets from my freezer.

Another thing: I didn't use yellow cornmeal. I always use white, like my mother. There's something about yellow cornmeal, yellow cornbread, that makes me think "cheap." In my mind I feel it's coarser tasting than the "refined" white cornmeal. I don't know if that's southern. Or something else. My mom was born in Baltimore, but her mom was from the same area that I live now in East Tennessee. And so I don't know how, or whether, other culinary influences made their way into their repertoires. But I believe that sugar in cornbread is a Northern thing, not so much Southern.

Anyway, I cooked this spoon bread variant 30 minutes, five more than the recipe called for and it didn't turn golden brown, though I have issues with golden brown, too. I'm so silly. Really. But I don't like my toast, or anything baked to ever reach any color close to brown. Amber is more my taste.

A few weeks ago I brought a container of raspberry honey home to my honey. Cause I like surprising him with unusual food items and this one just happened to be sweet. Whew boy it was sweet on my spoon bread. I ate a small portion. It was hot. And good. But seemed more like cornmeal mush than spoon bread. Guess that's what I get for not following instructions closely. I may stick to corn pudding from now on.

tub o' hummus

avoiding that center garnish

Surely my eating habits are not an anomaly.  I like to think that I'm not bizarre. I'm prone to obsess over one thing for weeks and then be over and done with it. Not rice, I'm still on that kick. But my supplemental food obsession began last week when I cracked open a tub of hummus and started dipping melba toast rounds into it.

Then after Ian finished the last of the melba toast rounds without telling me, I went crazy for a short time. But then we stopped at Fresh Market on the way home from Atlanta Sunday and I bought some even-more-fabulous-than-melba-toast-rounds crackers. Ian loved them, too. He said they remind him of baked pita chips, but they're just really thick crackers seasoned with a bit of sea salt.

Hummus is a the perfect protein packing snack. It keeps me from feeling ravenous, which is a frequent thing of late. I've never been a constant snacker, but I am now.