Stewed Potatoes

It's easy to forget some of the great recipes from years ago but once you do remember to do them it's always a treat.  We use to have potatoes made this way a lot and why not, it is nice to make things different ways and this is easy enough.  You may have always just called it Potato Soup and that's fine, but it's the same thing.  Peel and cut the Potatoes in whatever size cubes you like and boil in water to cover about 1 to 2 inches above the Potatoes until tender but not falling apart.  Turn down the heat to simmer and add 1/2 cup water or milk with 2 tbs of flour dissolved in the water or milk and stir.  Continue to simmer until it is thick enough for you and before serving season with onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Great with Cornbread and some of my Extra Greasy Fried Okra.

Ramen w/Salmon Patty

A very quick and easy lunch with leftover Salmon Patties and Ramen Noodles.  Just make a Mayo / Sriracha Cream Sauce with a couple of heaping tbs of Mayo and Sriracha to taste, and squeeze in some fresh lemon juice.  Make your Ramen and pour off the broth before tossing in the Mayo / Sriracha.  Serve with more lemon and sauce.

Pumpkin Polenta

This popular southern breakfast item has found a lot of other uses besides breakfast but you will use the same basic recipe for each with a few additions at times.  The basic recipe I use is 2 cups of broth, or milk or combination of the two (add salt / seasoning to taste - I use Lawry's) and after the liquid begins to boil I slowly begin to stir in 1/2 cup of grits and turn the heat to simmer.  They need to cook about 20 min, stirring often to start getting thick and creamy at which point you can add butter and / or cheese.  Cheese grits are popular and one of my favorite ways to serve Grilled Shrimp is on a bed of Cheese Grits or the ever popular Cajun dish Grillades which just wouldn't be good without the bed of Grits.  

Polenta - it's just grits made much the same as above but refrigerated afterwards to become firm and either bake it (be sure to refrigerate it in the prepared pan you plan to bake it in) or fry it.  I didn't refrigerate these in the pic below long enough and it made it near impossible to make a nice firm cake but the taste couldn't have been better.  The recipe I was using called for 1 baked sweet potato mashed and folded into the finished but still warm grits along with about 1/4 cup of asiago cheese and a tbs of dark brown sugar.  I used about 1 cup of Pumpkin Pie filling instead as I didn't have sweet potatoes.  A really neat trick I found was to spray a muffin pan with veggie spray and spoon the grits into that to chill.  If you can do this the day before you shouldn't have any trouble removing them from the muffin pan to a fry pan with just a film of oil and cook till golden brown.  So Good!

ABT's (Jalapeno Poppers)

That's right ABT's are stuffed jalapenos wrapped with bacon and ABT is short for Automic Buffalo Turds.  Here is what I know about them beginning with my first knowledge of them that came from fellow BBQ fanatics.  The first ones I remember ever knowing anything about were Jalapenos stuffed with Cream Cheese and a small Cocktail Weiner added and then wrapped in bacon.  This whole ABT idea may actually have more variations than any recipe of any kind I know of and that should tell that just about anything that you think sounds good inside a jalapeno and wrapped in bacon is worth a try.  The ones you see in the picture here are made with finely chopped and sauced Pulled Pork with Cream Cheese. I have used many different methods for making them including the special holders / racks available in the BBQ supply section of many stores that requires you to stuff whole peppers but that often makes the ABT's too hot for some people, even if you remove the seeds, so I always half my peppers.  Another trick is to use an apple corer to remove the seeds and it's about the only way to do them if you are leaving them whole but works equally as well on half peppers.  One more trick I have learned is when possible as in this Chopped Pulled Pork version is to mix the meat together with the Cream Cheese before you start stuffing the peppers.  So put your imagination to work and make some.

Pimento Cheese

I won't bother with a recipe here but just want to point out how easy it is to make.  You have several advantages to making your own, the first being you will be able to know it is fresh and just what went in it.  Secondly you can make it the way you like with various ingredients.  Pimento Cheese has always been a favorite of mine and I absolutely love a bowl of Chili with a Pimento Cheese sandwich. You may run across a recipe that has grated onion in it and I would never do that as it is not good at all and if you keep it overnight in the fridge it is even worst.  Don't try to grill your sandwich as all you will do is melt the Pimento Cheese and that ruins it - toasting and then making your sandwich as seen here is the best.  Anyway, grate you some cheddar and make some soon.

Fries & Hot Dogs

Here's my 3 simple steps to the best Fries anywhere:

1. Rinse well and soak in cold water 30 min to 1 hr then dry with paper towels
2. With enough oil to cover, cook at a slow simmer till the fries are tender then remove to a metal strainer to cool completely (about 30 min).
3. Using an
   instant read thermometer make sure the oil is at 350 before frying and fry in batches to avoid crowding the pan if need be.

You will get the best fries ever and don't forget to season as soon as they come out of the oil.  I like Lawry's Seasoned Salt.

As far as Hot Dogs, my favorite is what we all know as a Hot Dog All The Way, i.e. mustard, chili, slaw, and onion.  You can boil, grill, bake, or fry and either way will be good as the toppings makes the Dog and for me the amount of toppings is important and I just hate to have someone hand me a Hot Dog on a plate with a fork because they have smothered it with the toppings to point you have no choice but to use a fork.  My favorite ways to cook the Hot Dogs is to split them and fry with a weight on them to get them brown and not curl up.  This is fast food at it's finest.