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You are here: Home / Archives for Holidays

Holidays

Mimi’s Old Fashioned Homemade Fudge

December 8, 2018 by Char

homemade old fashioned fudge

This recipe was given to me by a co-worker’s Mimi (grandmother) when I lived in Atlanta and worked at the Blue Rooster Cafe in Lilburn, GA.  Fudge was not sold at the cafe, I just made it in the back for the staff. On one such occassion, I had a faccident (fudge making accident) and burned my arm really bad and I still have the scars to prove it! Regardless, this is some of the best fudge I’ve ever had. It’s the real deal. Thank you, Mimi!

Mimi’s Fudge
Recipe Type: Candy
Author: Sweet Mother
If you love real old fashioned fudge like Grandma used to make, check this recipe out!
Ingredients:
  • 3 Sticks butter
  • 4 C granulated sugar
  • 1/4 C cocoa (heaping)
  • 1 C evaporated milk
  • dash of salt
Instructions:

Stir butter, sugar, cocoa & salt in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add milk and stir with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved. Cook stirring constantly until candy forms a soft ball stage when a small amount is dropped into cold water. Once soft ball stage is reached, set pot into an ice water bath and beat until thick. Add 1/4 C of corn starch and nuts and beat well. Spread into a parchment lined pan to cool. When completely cooled, cut into squares and enjoy.

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Filed Under: Holidays Tagged With: fudge, homemade fudge, old fashioned homemade fudge

Thanksgiving Dinner – Working Smarter Not Harder!

November 12, 2017 by Char

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This post isn’t about recipes, it’s about work flow. This year we’re working smarter not harder!

This year for Thanksgiving I’ve decided to work smarter, not harder! The reasons for this are two-fold.

  1. I want to be able to enjoy my holiday and my family (some coming from out of town), instead of spending the 2 or 3 days before Thanksgiving stuck in the kitchen, knee deep in entrees, sides and desserts.
  2. If I cook Thanksgiving dinner the way I usually do (over a 2 to 3 day period) I won’t be able to enjoy my holiday, my family or anything else because by the time I’m done with everything, stick a fork in ME, I’m done! It just takes too much out of me!

Besides, who wants to work harder and not smarter! Not this girl! Not this year my friends, not this year!

To accomplish my goal of smarter not harder, I had to figure out what could be made ahead and frozen without affecting the quality of my dish. After all, we’re talking Thanksgiving here! This is the time when everything you put on the table is supposed to be epic!

There are certain dishes that work well for this type of meal planning like stuffing and mac & cheese. I will also prepare certain dishes up to a point where all I have to do is complete them. For example with my cornbread, I can measure out all of my dry ingredients and put them in a zip lock bag and just add the eggs, oil & milk on Thanksgiving Day, mix it, pan it up and throw it in the oven!

I will also prepare my pie filling (peach cobbler) and make my pie dough a day or two in advance. I can keep the dough & filling in the fridge or I can make the pie and put it in the freezer, ready to bake. Freezing breaks down fruit a bit more but allows me to make the pie further in advance.

I will also prepare my mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes and freeze them. I’ll take them out of the freezer the day before and refresh them when heating them, Thanksgiving Day! For the mashed potatoes, that will mean adding some extra butter, half & half and heavy whipping cream. For the sweet potatoes that will mean tasting them to see if they need any more butter, sugar or spices. I’ll add my topping (brown sugar & walnut streusel) during the last 20 minutes or so of baking.

My cousin is making the pound cakes and the sweet potato pies so that frees me up to make another dessert or two. I’m thinking about a 3 layer chocolate cake that my family loves, a banana pudding cheese cake that my niece has been asking for, and a strawberry pretzel salad, a dessert that always a winner with my family! The cake can be baked a couple of days in advance and put in the freezer and iced/frosted the day before. The other two desserts can both be make a day in advance.

The other main dish I’m making is a baked ham, which is no problem. I’ll dress it and put it in the over and it can bake on low all night, the night before.

This year we’re having two (2) turkeys because we have a lot of family coming to dinner so I need to brine them late Tuedsay and let them brine overnight. I want them to brine at least 8 hours. After brining, I will season them, stuff them, wrap them in aluminum foil and bake them in electric roasters on low all night Thanksgiving eve, like the ham.

I will also make the cranberry sauce the day before to give it a day to sit in the fridge to let the flavors marry and allow it to thicken and chill.

I’ll make the turkey gravy the night before and let it simmer on low overnight while the turkeys are cooking.

On Thanksgiving Day early in the morning, I will put the mac & cheese and the sweet potatoes in the oven to bake about 1 ½  hours. After they come out, I’ll pop the peach cobbler in and the stuffing in for an hour. While they’re baking I can heat and refresh the mashed potatoes. Last but not least, I’ll pop the corn bread into the oven.

This is the basic idea of what I plan to do. Of course, I may end up having to move one or two things around and I may even totally change something but at least I have a plan!

I am transferring my plan to a flow chart that I came up with that I can put on my fridge or the counter, somewhere that I can use it as a reference as I go along and check off things as they’re done!

My sister Becky is making the items that I didn’t mention so basically the green vegetables (collard greens and green beans & potatoes), rolls, potato salad, punch and whatever I’m forgetting will be on her watch! Thanks Sisterrrrr!!! In fact thanks Sisterrrrsss because my youngest sister Phyllis who is coming in from Oklahoma has volunteered to take over all things dining room! She’ll oversee getting the tables & chairs positioned, set and decorate, including setting up the buffet tables etc! That will be such a HUGH help knowing I don’t have to worry about the dining room!

I’m posting my plan today but not my flow chart because it’s not done yet. I plan to have it online by Monday November 13, 2017! (Update: Flow chart list is attached!)

I almost forgot to remind you of something that for me is the most important kitchen tool of all – MUSIC! I use my Google Home because I love it! Hands free jamming and such a wonderful time because you get to hear what you want, when you want! Check out my post/review about my Google Home as part of my kitchen toolkit! Believe me, it’s a must have in my kitchen! I sing, dance, cry, laugh – having your music when you’re cooking is the best –  Click this link NOW!

Tell me what you’re doing to make your Thanksgiving easier on those doing most of the cooking and the work, you might give us all some good ideas!

Speaking of good ideas, I almost forgot, you know how after the food is in the belly, people relax and then get up, give you a kiss on the cheek and start to leave? Not this year my friends! This year I’m putting together a set up/clean up crew. They’ll help get tables and chairs in place, haul food from home stoves, fridges & ovens to the hall location where we are serving dinner. They will also help with clean up, filling and removing garbage bags, putting tables & chairs back and taking the food back to where we want it to go.

I hope you’ll all take this as a word to the wise, get some help with set up, clean up and tear down or you’ll find yourself and 1 or 2 other loyal family members doing all the work yourself! Get your teams/s set up in advance so everyone will know their role. Don’t wait until the day of the event or you’re team members will claim to forget their obligation and walk away – when you’re not looking!

I hope this helps to get the juices flowing, just gets things organized in your head helps a little. Follow through and commit it to paper and put it on the fridge. You’ll be amazed at how much more efficient you are!

Ok – the following list may not look like the standard flow chart but it’s my idea of a flow chart. I guess it’s really a flow list!!! 🙂

 

WSNH Work Flow Chart for Thanksgiving 2017

One Week Prior:

Monday – Wednesday                                                  Take turkeys out of freezer (Wednesday 11/15)

Make & Freeze:

Chocolate cake layers     I love this recipe from The Stay At Home Chef, she calls it –  The Most Amazing Chocolate Cake Recipe – and it is!

Mashed potatoes           (SMK – Best Ever Mashed Potatoes)                 \             (How to freeze and reheat mashed potatoes)

Mashed sweet potatoes

Macaroni & cheese sauce  (SMK – Best Ever Mac & Cheese)

Stuffing  (SMK – Sausage cornbread stuffing)

 

Week of Thanksgiving:

Monday:

Make sure everything is in place – ingredients, pan, containers, tools etc

 

Tuesday:

Brine turkeys   (SMK – How to brine anything)

Make and bag dry ingredients for cornbread – don’t forget you need enough for stuffing and for serving for dinner!

Take mashed white and mashed sweet potatoes out of freezer

 

Wednesday – All day:

Make 2 cream cheese desserts & refrigerate  (strawberry pretzel salad)

Ice cake & refrigerate

Make & pan mac & cheese

Make & refrig cranberry sauce

Make & pan sweet potato soufflé

Make SPS streusel topping

Pan stuffing

 

Thursday : 12 AM – 8 AM

Stuff & bake turkeys (overnight)

Dress & bake ham (overnight)

 

8AM – 2 PM

Make turkey gravy

Bake mac & cheese

Bake sweet potato soufflé

Bake stuffing

Make & bake corned bread

Finish mashed potatoes

Package and wrap all items for transport

 

2 PM – Turn over to the “committee” for transport to venue!

Filed Under: Holidays

Fried Turkey

January 8, 2015 by Char

This year for Thanksgiving we did the traditional oven roasted turkey with sausage cornbread stuffing, so for Christmas I did a fried turkey! Fried turkey is really good, takes a lot less time than baking a turkey – a LOT less time. How about 3 to 5 minutes per pound or until it reaches an internal temp of 165!  Fried turkey, this stuff is goooood! Try it, you’ll like it!

Fried Turkey

 

 

 

 

 

 

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:43]

 

Filed Under: Holidays

Sister Beckys 7-Up Pound Cake

November 13, 2014 by Char

7 Up Pound CakeMy sister Becky, got the recipe for 7-Up pound cake from my cousin Dee (Delores). Anyway, I got the benefit of their transaction and all I can say is delicious! My sister’s cake was made from scratch and was moist and luscious! There are some recipes online using a box mix too! I say whatever floats your boat (works for you) and tastes good!

 

Sister Becky’s 7-Up Pound Cake
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 1 hour 10 mins
Total time: 1 hour 30 mins
Serves: 1 – 10″ pound cake
Ingredients
  • 1 1/4 cup butter (softened)
  • 2 1/2 cups sugar
  • 3 larges eggs
  • 3 cups self-rising flour
  • 2 tsps. lemon extract
  • 1 cup 7-Up
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (165 degrees C). Heavily grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the lemon extract. Sift flour and add to bowl alternately with the 7-Up, mixing just until incorporated.
  3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean. Allow to cool on a cake rack for 30 minutes before removing from the pan.
Serving size: 1 pc
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Filed Under: Desserts & Sweets, Holidays

Curried Carrots

November 10, 2014 by Char

Ok – this recipe is how I’ve been fixing carrots for the kids where I work.  This preparation gives carrottts an exotic, spicy, sweet, savory kind of vibe. I really love carrots fixed this way, and I’m not a carrot lover. The kids eat them (more or less) too!  It reminds me of sweet potatoes, but I know they’re carrots. My recommendation, if you don’t serve sweet potatoes in some form for your holiday dinner table, try curried carrots. You’ll get the color and some of the flavor! Different and delicious!

Curried Carrots

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curried Carrots
Ingredients
  • 2lb bag of frozen diced carrots
  • 1 pt. cold water
  • 2 Tbsp. curry powder
  • 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp. ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp. allspice
  • 1/2 c.brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. black pepper
  • 4 Tbsp. butter
Instructions
  1. Bring 1 pint of water to a boil and add frozen diced carrots. Turn flame down to medium and allow carrots to cook five to 7 minutes. Add seasoning and butter. Stir well. Turn flame down to simmer. Allow to simmer 10 minutes Serve.
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Filed Under: Holidays, Sides

Sugardale Honey Baked Ham

November 7, 2014 by Char

My ham of choice is Sugardale honey baked ham. I know that you may not have this brand in your part of the country or your part of the world, but I’m working on getting a link that you can purchase your ham through and have it shipped directly to you so stay tuned! When I started cooking, one of the most confusing things was trying to figure out how to buy a ham. What kind of ham, how big a ham, how to cook the ham. It was terrible! Well, hopefully, I have helped you solve a problem that it took me years to figure out. Sugardale hams are succulent, sweet and tender! I prefer the boneless option – no waste! I can still season my beans, greens, salads and soups with the left overs – so, win-win!  Today, I used a simple baking method. I was out of brown sugar so I rubbed honey over the outside of the ham, blanketed it with pineapple tidbits and maraschino cherries and baked it for about 2 1/2 hours. I removed the ham, let it rest then sliced and served it. Simply delicious – family tradition making ham!

Baked Ham

 

Filed Under: Holidays

Sweet Potato Pie

October 30, 2014 by Char

Potato Pie Memories

Sweet potato pie is the pie that holiday memories are made of! In my family on both sides, we didn’t eat pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving or Christmas, it was sweet potato pie all the way!

I was in Junior High before I actually ate a piece of pumpkin pie! Yep, school cafeteria and totally not impressed! Not a fan at all and I couldn’t understand why there was pumpkin pie everywhere but no sweet potato pie! Well, it didn’t take me long to find out that sweet potato pie was something my family and friends made. It was our pie! All I can say is “yea” for heritage, customs and traditions, both with food and in life!

DIY – Easy as Pie!

Today sweet potato pie has gone main stream. You can even buy sweet potato pie filling and sweet potato pies already made from some grocery stories and online stores like Amazon! I’m old school and I go the “DIY” route, but if you’re so inclined to buy your pie, be my guest and bon appetit! But if you want to make your pie I’m here for you! If you have a question or concern, just send me an email, I’ll hold your hand and walk you through it! It’s easy as pie!

Sweet Potato Pie
Recipe Type: Dessert
Cuisine: Soul/Southern
Author: https://sweetmotherskitchen.com
Yummy sweet potato pie with a homemade crust! Unbelievably good!
Ingredients
  • 3-5 medium sized sweet potatoes, cooked (3 cups pureed)
  • 1/2 c. granulated sugar
  • 1/4 c. brown sugar
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1/2 stick melted butter
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Bake or boil sweet potatoes in skins, until tender.
  2. Cool and remove potatoes from skins and put into food processor bowl. You will need to process two separate batches.
  3. Whip potatoes adding up to 1/2 c water if needed.
  4. Add melted butter, sugar and seasonings. Mix to incorporate.
  5. Beat eggs and mix together with milk.
  6. Add to sweet potato filling and flour and stir to combine.
  7. Add filling to food processor in batches and process each batch till smooth. Pour into 1 large deep dish pie shell or 2 regular pie shells. If time is not on your side and you need a short cut, use store bought pie shells. If you have the time, make your own pie crust. The recipe that follows is quick and easy!
Pie Crust
  1. – 3c. AP flour – sifted
  2. – 1tsp salt
  3. – 2 sticks of cold butter or 1/2 c butter and 1/2 c lard or shortening
  4. – 2 tbsp granulated sugar
  5. – 1/2 c. ice water
  6. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add fat with a pastry cutter or two butter knives. Slowly add cold water just to form a ball. Mix just to combine and dough holds together. Sprinkle with a little flour if sticky to make dough easier to handle. Divide dough into two balls and refrigerate to chill and rest dough. Roll dough out to no more than 1/4″ thick. Place into 9″ pie pan/s and flute edges. Chill dough one last time. Pour sweet potato pie filling into chilled pie shell (deep dish or regular pie pan). Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, until center is set and toothpick comes out clean.
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Filed Under: Desserts & Sweets, Holidays Tagged With: homemade sweet potato pie, how to make sweet potato pie, potato pie, southern sweet potato pie, sweet potato pie, sweet potato pie recipe, sweet potato recipes

Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

October 25, 2014 by Char

Cornbread sausage stuffing is another dish that I make that people seem to go nuts for! I think a lot of credit goes to the cornbread that goes in this stuffing – and – of course the sausage! It’s savory and spicy with a hint of sweetness. Try this recipe with your Thanksgiving or Christmas bird and let me know what you think!

DSCN1090
Cornbread Sausage Stuffing

Prep time: 45 mins                        Cook time: 3 hours
Total time: 3 hours 45 mins           Serves: Cook time and yield depends on turkey size/weight.
Ingredients
  • 1 lb Bob Evans farm sausage – cooked & cooled
  • 1 bags of Pepperidge Farm Seasoned Stuffing crumbs
  • 1 box of stove top stuffing – chicken or turkey
  • 1 pan of corn bread
  • 3 quarts of turkey stock or broth (1 qt for stuffing, 2 qts for gravy)
  • 2 Tbsp poultry seasoning (to taste)
  • 2 Tbsp ground sage
  • 1 c of diced celery
  • 1/2 – 1 c of diced onion
  • 1/2 – 1 c of diced sweet peppers (green, red and orange)
  • 1/2 stick of butter
  • 1/4 c olive oil
  • 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 2 tsp black pepper (or to taste)
Instructions
  1. Melt butter in a skillet on stove top. Add oil to butter to keep it from burning. Add vegetables to melted butter and saute till translucent. In a large bowl add stuffing crumbs, crumbled corn bread, stove top and seasonings. Mix in cooled, cooked sausage and sautéed vegetables. Add broth to reach desired consistency. Stuffing should not be too wet (dripping) but it should be moist enough to hold together in a ball when pressed together.
  2. Remove the giblets and put them to the side for making gravy.  Rinse and clean your turkey* inside and outside. Remove any debris inside turkey and feathers from tail, wings, etc.  Dry the bird inside and outside with paper towels. Season the inside of the bird with Adobo seasoning or salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika. Stuff the bird loosely inside the main cavity working from the leg area and under the breast skin working from the neck area. Brush the outside of the bird with melted butter and season with the same seasoning you used for the inside.
  3. Follow directions on the bird for baking. Normal baking time is 15 minutes per pound but if you stuff your turkey, your cooking time will increase. I recommend that you use an instant read thermometer and make sure your bird reaches an internal temperature of 165. Meat should feel firm to the touch and legs should move freely in their sockets when bird is done.  If you are covering your bird while baking it, remove cover, foil, etc. so that the bird can brown during the last 30-45 minutes of baking. Skin should be golden brown.
Turkey Gravy
  • Giblets
  • 1 quarts cold water
  • 2 quarts turkey stock or broth
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 Tbsp gravy master
  • Salt & pepper to taste

Rinse the giblets and put them in a 2 quart sauce pan. Cook giblets in 1 qt of water about 45 minutes. Add 2 qt of turkey or chicken broth and continue to boil until giblets start to fall apart and some of the liquid has evaporated.

After giblets are completely done, remove them from broth and add a slurry (thickener of flour and water) to the broth. Gravy will thicken immediately. Add 1 – 2 tablespoons of gravy master. Add onion powder, salt and pepper. Chop giblets into small pieces and return to gravy.  Simmer about 15-20 minutes.

If you need more broth for your gravy add another container of turkey stock or turkey broth to your gravy.

Serving size: 2 – 3 slices meat, 1/2 cup stuffing. 1/4 cup gravy
*Note: I brine my turkey about 24 hours before I bake it. Brining makes for a moist, delicously seasoned turkey. To brine the turkey, follow directions above to clean the bird. Fill a container big enough to hold the turkey about half way with cold water. For a 20 lb turkey add 1/2 c each of salt and sugar. Add 1 tbsp each of onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and 2 tbsp liquid smoke. Mix ingredients into water in container until dissolved. Add turkey, breast side down. Add water if necessary to make sure turkey is submerged in water. Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. Remove from brine, rinse and dry turkey with paper towels about 1 hour before baking. Season turkey inside and out, stuff  and bake according to directions for weight of your turkey.
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Filed Under: Holidays

Chitterlings

October 19, 2014 by Char

 

Chitterlings
Prep time: 3 hours
Cook time: 4 hours
Total time: 7 hours
Serves: 7 lbs
When cleaning chitterlings, don’t believe the hype! It’s a time consuming job that takes patience, diligence and good eyes. The pay off is worth it but like anything worthwhile, getting there is not easy! If the recipe tells you to clean your chitterling by dunking them up and down in water, or rinsing them off until the water runs clear, you better run clear… of that recipe! (lol) Check out how to really clean chitterlings at the bottom of our chitterling recipe.
Ingredients
  • Chitterling – 10 to 20 pounds, cleaned (see below)
  • Onion – 2 large, diced
  • Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
  • Habaneros – 2 whole with stem removed
  • Salt – 2 tablespoon
Instructions
  1. Put cleaned chitterlings into a 6 quart stock pot with 5 quarts of cold water.
  2. Add onion, habaneros, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce flame to simmer.
  3. For the first hour of cooking, skim the chitterlings pot, discarding the foam that you skim off.
  4. While cooking, add water if needed, broth should cook down to just cover chitterlings. Do not allow to cook dry.
  5. Cook until meat is tender and some pieces fall apart when you pick up a piece with a fork (usually about 4 to 5 hours depending on amount being prepared).
  6. When chitterlings are done, remove from pot and cut up into 2-3 inch pieces. Return to pot and taste for seasoning.
  7. Add seasoning as needed.
  8. Serve with vinegar and hot sauce
Cleaning Chitterlings
  1. Chitterlings will normally be purchased at the grocery store frozen. You need to let them thaw out totally before cleaning them. Once thawed, you will take the chitterlings piece by piece, one by one and go over them inch by inch. You are looking for and removing all traces of dirt, straw, hair and anything that isn’t the actual chitterling itself. You want to remove the membrane that lines the chitterling and this removes the majority of the dirt but you must double check to make sure you get it all. You must also be sure to check both sides of the length of the chitterling for dirt and debris, removing any found. The important thing is to remove anything that has any trace of dirt or debris in or on it. This will be the fat and membrane. I have found that a 10 pound bucket of chitterlings takes a couple of hours to clean depending on how dirty they are. After your chitterlings are thoroughly cleaned, douse them up and down in clean water. I put a little bleach in my first go round of dousing water, about ¼ c to 3 gallons of water. I douse them about 5 minutes then empty the water and repeat twice without the bleach, to remove all traces of bleach.
  2. Put the chitterlings into a 5 or 6 quart stock pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and let boil about 3 minutes. Pour off the water and refill the pot with clean water. Bring to a boil again, boil about 3 minutes, pour off water and refill with clean water. Bring to a boil, then turn flame down to medium low. Skim any foam residue that floats to the top off of chitterlings, and continue skimming until all traces of foam residue are gone.
  3. When you are finished cleaning them, your 10 pounds of chitterlings suddenly looks more like 5 pounds but who cares! All that’s important is what is left is clean and ready to cook, eat and enjoy!!!
Serving size: 1 cup
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Chitterlings (Chitlins) are a delicacy and cleaning and cooking them is becoming a lost art. Due to prep time in cleaning them, I rarely fix them and if I do it’s for holidays, a special occasion or a special request from a very special person!  When I do fix them, I’m always glad that I did (when they’re done and on my plate!)  🙂 If  you want to fix chitterlings, please check out information on the recipe for how to clean chitterlings and how to cook chitterlings. The most important thing is to make sure that your chitterlings are cleaned and cooked properly! Enjoy!!!

Chitlins

Chitlins with greens, potato salad and corn bread. Nuff said!!!

Filed Under: Holidays

Collard Greens & Corn Bread

September 30, 2014 by Char

collards.and.crnbrd_edited-1

Collards to Go, Thanks

Collard greens and corn bread with nothing else needed thank you! Ok, maybe some hot sauce and vinegar, but that’s it!

Collards are a complete meal or the perfect side with the right amount and type of meat used to season them.  Some of my favorite seasonings are ham, ham hocks, smoked turkey wings, salt side (salt pork), smoked turkey tails, etc! My seasoning of choice right now is smoked turkey. It’s tasty and lower in fat than a lot of the tradional seasonings.

Fall Back

Here in Western PA it’s fall. That means early mornings are chilly even though the weather heats back up during the day. I love fall weather, sweaters, boots and football baby!

It’s still a little early for garden grown collards, because I was taught that you don’t eat them till the first frost! Since we’ve already had a couple of mornings in the high 30’s & low 40’s we’ll cheat just a little bit! 🙂  A quick trip to the farmer’s market, grab some collards, then back to Sweet Mother’s Kitchen!

Collard Greens & Corn Bread
Note: The baking soda in the recipe helps to tenderize your greens. Smoked turkey gives you a healthier dish than using traditional ham hocks without sacrificing flavor! The honey butter glaze that you liberally brush on the cornbread eliminates the need to spread butter on individual pieces of cornbread! It’s yummy – win – win!!!
Ingredients
  • 3-5 pounds of collard greens
  • 1 – 1 1/2 pounds of smoked turkey parts (wings, tails, legs or necks)
  • 1Tbsp. red pepper flakes
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2Tbsp. chicken or turkey base
  • 1 large yellow onion – chopped
  • 1c chopped red, yellow and green sweet peppers
  • 1Tbsp. creole seasoning or other season salt
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 quarts chicken broth
Instructions
  1. Add 2 quarts of chicken broth to a large, heavy stock pot
  2. Add base, onion, peppers, seasoning salt
  3. Add the smoked turkey parts to the pot and bring to a boil
  4. Skim the foam off that rises to the top & discard, turn down to simmer
  5. Cook meat  20 – 30 minutes
  6. Wash greens and remove stems
  7. Roll and cut collard leaves into 1/2″ strips
  8. Add greens to seasoned meat and broth
  9. Add baking soda and onion powder
  10. Cook an additional 1 1/2 hours or until greens are tender
  11. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve with vinegar and hot sauce and don’t forget the corn bread!
  12. Enjoy!
Cornbread
  1. 1 1/4 c AP flour
  2. 3/4 c yellow corn meal
  3. 1/2 tsp salt
  4. 1 c milk
  5. 1 large egg
  6. 1/4 c oil
  7. 2 tsp baking powder
  8. 1/2 c granulated sugar
  9. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased cast iron skillet or baking pan
  10. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown and sides pull away from pan
Glaze
  1. Melt 1/2 stick of butter on stove top or microwave
  2. Add 1/4 c honey to melted butter and mix thoroughly
  3. Brush on top of hot corn bread as soon as it’s removed from the oven
  4. Be sure glaze is brushed along sides of bread pan also
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Filed Under: Holidays

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My mom used to tell me that I loved to cook because I loved to eat! I think she might have been on to something! Join me and let's cook and eat together! You can bet your last money, it's all gonna be a stone gas honey! As always in parting, I wish you love, peace and soul food!!! Read More…

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