Enchiladas

Hello all,

I made Enchiladas out of Cotton Country (pg. 276) today and they were very good! I tweaked the recipe some by adding the store bought Enchilada sauce to the bottom of the pan so the tortillas would not dry out when I heated them in the oven. The recipe includes ingredients for tortills made from Bisquick, cornmeal, and water but I just used store bought. I didn't have any red pepper so I omited it, but the chili powder and dash of hot sauce is plenty of heat. This entree would be good paired with gaucamole and rice. Everyone should try this, it's simple and good. Enjoy!

I am making Paula Dean's Oven Roasted Pork Ribs tomorrow. I will let everyone know how they turn out.

Baked Briskit

I made Baked Brisket twice on Sunday night. This recipe is out of Cotton Country and was very good. I had a few slices after my Chemistry class last night. The reason I made it twice was because my glass Pyrex broke in the oven the first time. You place the seasoned brisket on top of an onion and cook with Pepsi, I used Coke. The sauce that is created by the Coke and the meat drippings (fat) is delicious. Well, I love brisket and this was a good one. I would recommend adding a little Coke when you cook the brisket uncovered for 30 minutes at 475. It needs some liquid. Bon Appetit.

Grilled Lobster

This is not a Cotton Country recipe, but I would like to blog about it because it was such a fun cooking adventure. Lobster prices are very good in the Northeast right now. So Nick and I have been eating lobster. In general New Englanders consider it a sin to do anything other than boil a lobster, however, we were recently invited to a "surf and turf" bbq party and we decided to try our hand at grilling lobster. You have to parboil (partially boil) the lobster, clean it and marinade it (we did olive oil, soy sauce, garlic and ginger) before you throw it on the grill. This is an exciting (must put the lobster in to boiling water head first to kill it quickly) and labor intensive process (cutting the undercooked lobster is quite difficult--we broke a butcher's knife doing it). It was tasty and fun but not as delicious as boiling.

Marchand de Vin and The Trouble with Spinach

Marchand de Vin...

"From the finest rib-eye to a ground round pattie!"

The Cotton Country description is right on. I made this simple steak sauce last Monday night and it is delicious and a wonderful way to add a little zing to a weekday dinner for one or two people. I will definitely make this again! Nick really liked it.

The Trouble with Spinach....

This is a solid spinach recipe (flavor wise) but I do not understand the order that Mrs. Don Irby instructs us to cook the ingredients. Her whole point is that "the trouble with spinach is overcooking," however, she tells us to put the spinach in the pan first then the bacon and garlic. Any cook knows that it takes a few minutes for bacon to cook and garlic to brown. I followed her recipe exactly. The flavor was good but the spinach was overcooked and my bacon was limp. I will probably use these ingredients together again but I will combine them in a different order.

Julie and Julia

Hello all,
I saw Julie and Julia tonight and it was amazing. Now, why could that have not happened to me. I was starving after the movie but didn't eat because all I wanted was something french and delicious. McDonald's and Whataburger were not going to cut it after that movie. I ordered Cotton County off of Amazon and received it today. I am planning on going to HEB tomorrow to get the ingredients for Beer Biscuits, Special Twice Baked Potatoes, Baked Briskit, Enchiladas, and Trout Fillets. I want to make a pie but have not decided which one yet. I will let everyone know how everything turns out. Love you.

recently cooked several recipes....Maes Dirty Rice and Athenian Chicken.  The rice was a little bit of trouble in that it was just not flavorful enough for all the chopping, etc.  The recipe calls for lots of chicken livers which Julius and I both think have a rather strong flavor...maybe too strong.  And then the rice is just too bland after all the effort.  Following Julius' suggestion, I doctored it with file, black pepper and hot sauce, which made it great!

Recipe is huge so I froze quite a bit...I would make it again but maybe I will make the other dirty rice recipe next time which has fewer chicken livrs.  Don't even try the Atheninan chicken...just not very special.  OK, must run to eat dinner with 2 sisters and Allie.  XOXXXXXXXX

Hello Dolly

I made Hello Dolly cookies this evening. I delivered some to Ben & Gee. They were waiting for Amanda & Brian. I also took some to Allie along with a fan for the garage--her request. The cookies need a strong cup of coffee to go with them--sweet & rich! I hope they're all eaten at the open house tomorrow afternoon.--Not much chance! Hello Dolly cookies are easy and would make a good dessert at a coffee, tea or brunch.

Peppered Fruit-SB

I made Peppered Fruit this morning. At first I thought why did I mess up a perfectly good cantaloupe? But I decided it's a very summery & refreshing salad. It would be good with grilled chicken or pork tenderloin.

Suzanne's Beans Continued-SB

As I mentioned, I made Suzanne's Beans.  I ate several spoonfuls about 10:00 p.m.--Delicious!  Even though the quality of my bacon was suspect.

When I'm sure my cantaloupe is ripe, I'm making Peppered Fruit, and I'm also going to make Hello Dolly cookies for my open house this weekend.  Has anyone ever made those?

Herbed Tomatoes-SE

I had planned to make several recipes from CC tonight but then Betty called with some fresh red snapper and there was not a very good recipe in CC so I used a cookbook from Commanders Palace and made Sauteed fish with Creole Meuniere sauce...excellent!! but of course the fish was fab.  I also made a Herbed Tomatoes from CC.  My tomatoes were not very ripe so not so great....probably would not make again.

Suzanne's Beans-SB

I just put Suzanne's Beans in the oven.  The chopping is a little time consuming but not bad.  I used the processor for the onions.  I think you need to use good bacon.  Mine was left over from the cabin so it had been frozen.  That may detract from the taste.  It has to cook for 11/2 hours.  Since it's already 8:00, I won't be eating it tonight. 

Julie (the real person) said some of Julia's recipes were pretty awful--poached eggs in aspic!  Susan, you would love that.  Anyway, I think this will be FUN!

Cotton Country

Sarah suggested that we cook our way through a cookbook like in the movie, Julie & Julia.  Since we all like the cookbook, Cotton Country, that was her suggestion.  We would let each other know what we were cooking and then she would create a blog and we could tell about the experience...difficulty, was it good, etc.