Rice with Mango Chutney

There are times, dear readers, when plain white rice is perfect. But there are other times when you need something a bit more . . . special! This rice is full of flavor. It is worthy of sitting next to your very best chicken or fish recipes, colorful and delicious.

And best of all? It's extremely easy to make.

Chutney Rice Recipe
from my mom's friend Sue

2 cups white rice
1 3/4 cups water
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (or white wine for a vegetarian version)
2 tablespoons butter
Salt to taste
1/3 cup mango chutney
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

In a large pot, combine rice, water, broth and butter. Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and allow to cook for 20-25 minutes, until the rice is cooked through. Add salt to taste. Finally, stir in the mango chutney and the chopped parsley. Serve hot.

Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread

Look for more of my bread recipes over the next several weeks as I gear up to sell some at our local farmers' market next month! There's just nothing like a fresh, home-baked loaf of bread, ya know?

This is a moist and chewy bread with lots of body. The whole grains give it a lot of flavor and texture, but they are light enough to not weigh the bread down too much. The fine texture of the grains makes it a perfect sandwich bread - or perhaps a piece of toast with butter and jam?

Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread
Inspired by the Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 cups oat bran
2 eggs
2-3 cups bread flour

Combine the whole wheat flour, yeas, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter, milk, water, molasses, and honey until warm - the butter should partially melt. Pour into the whole wheat mixture and stir well. Stir in the oats and the eggs. Beat the mixture for 10 minutes, gradually adding bread flour until the bread dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixing bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-10 minutes, until it feels smooth and elastic. Add flour as necessary to prevent stickiness.

Lightly oil a large bowl and place the dough in it, turning to coat. Cover and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 1 1/2 hours, until it is doubled in bulk.

Gently punch down the dough with your fist, divide the dough into thirds, and shape into the desired forms on greased baking sheets or shape and place into greased loaf pans. Cover with a tea towel and let the dough rise a second time until doubled in bulk - it should take about 45 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and bake the loaves for 30-35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Southern Gal's Breakfast

This is what a southern gal's breakfast looks like:

My Grandpa, my dad's dad, grew up in Augusta, Georgia - an interesting spot for my original Irish ancestors to wind up. This is my main claim to being actually southern. After attending Georgia Tech and becoming a hell of an engineer, this southern boy moved to Detroit.

And even in Detroit, my Grandma managed to find grits to cook for her husband. My dad grew up with grits as a breakfast staple, and to this day he makes the best grits I've ever tasted.

But back to Grandpa. He passed away when I was only 13 years old. But one of my earliest and most treasured memories of him comes from a visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house, in North Carolina where they retired. Grandma cooked us a big breakfast of fried eggs over easy, buttery grits, and slices of toast. Grandpa put his toast aside, picked up his knife and fork, and cut up his eggs right into his grits, stirring the yolks up into the grits and making a huge mess of his breakfast! That's the way he always ate his grits and eggs, and even now, I do the same from time to time, just to remind me of him.

But today it was scrambled eggs with grits. Don't do the instant grits - find some that you actually have to cook - the flavor and texture is to die for. We get ours from a local mill just up the way in Helen, Georgia - the Nora Mill Granary Grist Mill & Country Store. It is a really fun place, a truly authentic mill with a great store right on the Chattahoochee River. Their white speckled grits are my favorite. Wow, you can order their stuff online, too - who knew?

Now remember- grits aren't just for breakfast. Try serving grilled fish on top of a bed of creamy grits, or shrimp and sausage baked in grit-cakes. Delish.

Scrambled Eggs 'n' Grits

For the eggs:
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

For the grits:
1/2 cup grits
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Butter, for dressin' it up

Preheat a nonstick skillet over low heat. Lightly beat together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cook over low heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir the eggs occasionally to scrape the cooked layer off the bottom. Just as the eggs start to firm up and come together, toss in the cheese. Serve immediately

For the grits, combine the grits, milk, and salt in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat and continue to simmer the grits, covered, for about 20 minutes. Serve with a thin tab of butter on top. Enjoy!

My Ultimate Comfort Food

I have gotten a lot of requests over the past several weeks for a rockin' recipe for macaroni and cheese. In face, some of you who know me in *real life* have expressed your shock and concern over the lack of a mac 'n' cheese recipe here on VV. This reaction is understandable, considering that the truth is . . . . macaroni and cheese is my #1 favorite food of all time!

Mac 'n' cheese is the food of my dreams, the food of my childhood, the food of my adulthood. I don't think I ever met a bowl of mac I didn't like. I'm going to come out and admit, flat out, that I am not too proud to make the occasional Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese - heck I practically grew up on the Blue Box. And I have been known to eat Velveeta Shells and Cheese right out of the pot, while sitting on the couch indulging in a sappy chick flick.

I like mine with broccoli, I like it with bacon, I like it baked, I like it from the stove-top. I

Your comments and requests, dear readers, do not fall on deaf ears. Added bonus? No slaving over a hot stove - this recipe is extra easy, with no beschemel sauce to cook.

With that, I am proud to unveil, my S'Mac 'n' Cheese! This is an incredibly flavorful dish, highlighting the sharp cheddar flavor while bringing a subtle heat and a soft onion flavor to the foreground.

S'Mac 'n' Cheese
You will be smackin' your lips . . .

1 1/4 cups elbow noodles
Salt
2.5 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes
1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
A pinch or two fresh ground pepper
A pinch cayenne pepper or red pepper flake
A pinch of ground nutmeg
1/3 cup sour cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons yellow onion, finely chopped or grated
3/4 cup half-n-half
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 shakes Worchestershire sauce
1 dash hot sauce (tobasco)
3/4 cup (about 5 ounces) extra-sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Sprinkle in som salt. Add the noodles and cook until al dente, according to the box instructions.

Meanwhile, grease an 8x8-inch baking dish. Drain the noodles well and pour them evenly into the prepared dish. Sprinkle in the cubed cheddar cheese, and mix gently until evenly distributed. Set the dish aside.

Measure the flour, the salt, the dry mustard, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and nutmeg into a large mixing bowl, stirring the ingredients together. Add the sour cream and eggs, whisking until blended. Next, whisk in the onion, half-and-half, heavy cream, Worcestershire, and tobasco until the mixture forms a custard-like sauce. Pour this mixture over the macaroni in the baking dish. Finally, sprinkle the grated cheese evenly over the top.

Bake until the custard sauce sets around the edges but is still a bit saucy in the middle, about 30 minutes. After baking, allow the dish to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

May the Rain Fall Soft Upon Your Fields

Happy St. Patrick's Day, dear readers! As I may have mentioned before, I come from a very strong Irish bloodline, and March 17th is a day to celebrate. Tonight we celebrated our Irish heritage a few days early with wonderful friends and delicious food. I was in charge of the soda bread. I found a great recipe in a book I found recently at a book fair. It was a major crowd pleaser and an excellent accompaniment to our corned beef and cabbage!

Hearty, dense, and full of wheaty flavor, this bread is as close as you will come to the staple on Irish tables across the green countryside each and every day. It is a quick-bread, made without yeast. It has a delicate crumb with a wonderfully grainy texture. The whole wheat flour gives it a soft nutty flavor. I can't wait to toast a piece for breakfast tomorrow morning - with a tab of butter and a drizzle of honey, perhaps?

Irish Brown Soda Bread
from the Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors: Recipes You Should Have Gotten from Your Grandmother, by Jeff Smith

2 cups of flour
3 cups whole-wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 1/4 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Measure all dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl, combining well and making sure that there are no lumps of brown sugar. Pour in the buttermilk and stir with a wooden spoon just until a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about a minute until the dough comes together. Divide the dough in half, and press down on the top of each half to flatten. Place the two loaves on a large ungreased baking sheet - preferably non-stick. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with a little bit of flour, and, using a sharp knife, mark the shape of a cross on the top of each loaf.

Allow the two loaves to rest for at least 10 minutes before baking. Bake on the middle-rack of the oven for about 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is toasty, brown, and crunchy.

Cool on racks and serve with Irish butter.

Can I use the cast iron?

My husband, the cornbread expert,
My husband, the cornbread purist,
My husband, Mr. Southern Boy . .

. . . told me tonight: "Baby, this cornbread is just beautiful."

Now the receipt of this compliment is a remarkable accomplishment in my life for several reasons. But the primary reason is this: I actually made this cornbread.

I, a supposed "outsider" to true southern culture, due to the fact that I grew up in Atlanta with Yankees for parents, made this cornbread.

I, the "city girl" who somehow managed to steal a country boy's heart, made this cornbread, and it was not under the close supervision of my Southern Boy hubby.

I, the timid cook who still asks her husband's permission every time she dares to pick up one of the precious kitchen tools that found their original home in that his granny's farmhouse kitchen, made this cornbread, and it even had "extra foo-foo stuff" in it. And he still said that it was "just beautiful."

So you KNOW this stuff has GOT to be good!

Corny Corny Cornbread

Prepare Southern Boy's Cornbread as directed, but add to the batter:
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

Serve with your favorite soup or chili!

My Southern Boy likes it sliced like this with a thick pad of butter.

An Apple a Day

My husband loves to cook up some apples around this time of year. It makes the house smell amazing, and his recipe is delicious! It's great as a snack on its own, as a side to pork chops, as a topping on some vanilla ice cream, or as a sweetener for your morning oatmeal.

Homemade Stewed Apples ~ Homemade Apple Sauce

1 cup of water
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

Heat up the water in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat until it is simmering. Stir in cinnamon and cardamom.

Pour in the apple slices.

Turn the heat down and simmer, uncovered, for at least an hour - until the apples are tender and the water is nearly gone.

You can also do this in a crock pot - just cover the mixture and turn it on low for 4-8 hours.

If you want to make applesauce out of the stewed apples, simply blend the mixture in a food processor or blender. For lumpier applesauce simply blend using your mixer.

Jesuit Parker House Rolls

My mom gave me this wonderful book as a gift when I decided to go to college at a Jesuit university. For those of your who are in the dark here, Jesuits are a group of Catholic priests who are known for their involvement in missionary work and education. But little did I know that they were also excellent bread-makers!

The Secrets of Jesuit Breadmaking is a charming book of recipes collected by Br. Rick Curry, S.J. He travelled around the world collecting bread recipes from other Jesuit bakers. Here is one of the recipes that I've tried from this book. These rolls are heavenly - ever so slightly sweet, light and airy as a cloud, buttery and tender. Everything a homemade dinner roll should be!

Jesuit Parker House Rolls

2 3/4 - 3 1/2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon active dry yeast

5 tablespoons butter, softened

2/3 cup warm water

1 egg, at room temperature

Cornmeal

1/4 cup of butter, melted

Combine 1/4 cup of the flour, the sugar, the salt, and the yeast in a large mixing bowl. Cut the softened butter into tabs, dropping each into the mixing bowl. Blend for 30 seconds, until crumbly. Gradually add the warm water to the mixture and beat for 5 minutes. Mixture will be a bit clumpy. Add the egg. Beat for 10 minutes, very gradually adding flour until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead for 8-12 minutes. Add flour as necessary to avoid stickiness. The dough should be smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl. Place bread dough in the bowl, turning it to oil all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place until it is doubled in size. This should take about one hour.

Next, grease a baking sheet and sprinkle it with cornmeal. Turn the dough out again onto a lightly floured surface and divide it in half. Roll out each half until it is 1/4 inch thick. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut the dough into rounds. use the dull edge of a knife to create a line across each round, a little off center.

Dip a pastry brush in the melted butter and brush each round within 1/4 inch of the edge. Pull the larger side over the smaller side so the edges just meet. Pinch to seal.

Place on baking sheet so that rolls are almost touching. Cover with a tea towel and allow the rolls to rise for another hour - until doubled in bulk. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and brush the tops of the rolls with melted butter.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Yield 2-3 dozen rolls.

Check out this photo - Sophie was EXTREMELY interested in the heavenly-smelling goodies that I was photographing on the kitchen table!

Southern Boy's Corn Bread

No one, I said NO one, can make cornbread like a good ol' southern boy. And I'm a pretty lucky gal because I'm MARRIED to one! No matter whose house we're going to, no matter what event we are attending, everyone gets my husband to make the cornbread. It is the best (and only) food a southern bachelor learns to make, and my husband has mastered the art. Crispy crust on top, fluffy buttery center, and perfectly balanced flavor. He says the secret lies in his grandmother's well-seasoned cast iron that he inherited. I say he puts LOVE in it!

Southern Boy's Corn Bread
1 cup cornbread mix (hubby prefers Three Rivers brand)
1 egg
1/2-3/4 cups buttermilk
A few tablespoons Crisco

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Generously grease a 8-9" cast iron skillet with the Crisco. Place the skillet in the oven to preheat for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, measure the cornbread mix, the egg, and the buttermilk into a bowl. Remove the skillet from the oven and pour off the excess grease into the batter (there should be about 1-2 tablespoons to pour off). Stir your ingredients together until they are smooth and combined. Pour the mixture into the pre-heated skillet. This is my favorite part because it should sort of sizzle as it is poured in. Spread evenly and return to oven for about 20 minutes or until desired crispiness of crust is reached.

Who's Ya Fry Daddy!?!

My hubby's favorite wedding gift that we received is our little fry daddy. It's small - just the right size for making appetizers for our friends or making dinner for the two of us. When we're feeling particularly indulgent, we'll have a fish fry night: fried fish, fried potatoes, and hush puppies. Since we're about to start our New Year's diet, we wanted to spluge by having one last fish fry. Here is our recipe for hush puppies - they are delicious!!!

Hush Puppies
Adapted from Paula Dean's recipe

6 cups canola oil, vegetable oil, or peanut oil
1 1/2 cups self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Using a deep pot or fryer, heat oil to 350 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, stir together corn meal, flour, baking soda, salt, and Old Bay Seasoning. Mix in the chopped onion.

In a small bowl, stir together buttermilk and egg. Add this mimxture to the corn meal mixture, and stir until just incorporated.

Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls into preheated oil. To prevent sticking, dip your spoon into a glass of ice water after dropping each hushpuppy into the oil. Turn hushpuppies as they brown, and remove from oil when completely golden.

Drain on paper towel, and serve immediately.

Monkeyin' Around

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is to make Monkey Bread - it's perfect because you can fix it the night before, leave it out to rise overnight, and then pop it in the oven on Christmas morning. Here's my Aunt Cathie's recipe that we love.

Ingredient Note: This recipe calls for frozen bread dough. You should be able to find this in the freezer section at your local grocery store - most often I find it in the form of dough to make dinner rolls. Just be sure you get the actual dough, not "warm and serve" rolls. If you prefer, you can always substitute hunks of home-made bread dough.

Aunt Cathie's Monkey Bread

3/4 cup chopped pecans
18-19 pieces of frozen bread dough
1 3-ounce package "cook 'n' serve" butterscotch pudding (not instant)
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon


The night before, spray a tube-pan or bundt pan with cooking spray. Then, sprinkle the bottom of the pan with pecans, spreading evenly. Arrange dough pieces evenly on top of the pecans. Sprinkle with butterscotch pudding mix. In a small bowl, combine melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Drizzle this mixture over the bread. Leave out to rise overnight, uncovered.

The next morning, dough should be double in size, like this:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes.

Let stand for 10 minutes before turning out onto a plate and serving.

Nanny's Yorkshire Pudding

My maternal grandmother ("Nanny") has definitely been my greatest source of inspiration, encouragement, and education in the kitchen! She is English/Canadian, so a lot of her recipes have come from that traditional heritage. One of the meals my mom remembers from growing up was the traditional Sunday Roast with potatoes, veggies, and Yorkshire Puddings.

So last night, my mom and I made one of our favorite Nanny recipes to go with our pot roast - Yorkshire Pudding. In some circles, these tasty treats are known as "popovers" because of the way they puff up and pop out of the pan when they bake.

The only trick with this very simple recipe is getting the popovers to pop - otherwise, you will end up with some seriously dense pancakey dinner rolls! Here are some useful tips that I've found over the years for getting your popovers to really pop:

• Make sure that all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you mix your batter. This is the #1 best tip for fluffy popovers!
  
• Don't use too much hot grease in the preheated pan - just a tiny bit will work.
• Don't over-mix the batter.
• Don't open the oven while the yorkshires are baking.
  
• Serve popovers immediately so that they do not un-pop as they cool and fall.

If you follow these easy tips, then this ends up being a very simple treat to make!

Nanny's Yorkshire Pudding

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup milk, at room temperature
Cooking spray
Crisco

Preheat oven to 415 degrees. Spray a regular 12-count muffin-tin with cooking spray and set aside. Sift into a small bowl flour and salt. Set aside

In a medium bowl, whisk eggs for about 30 seconds. Add milk, and whisk again for 30 seconds. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent lumps from forming. The batter should resemble the consistency of smooth pancake batter.

Drop about 1/4 teaspoon of Crisco into the bottom of each greased muffin cup.

Place muffin tin in the pre-heated oven for about 2 minutes, until crisco is melted and slightly smoking. Remove from the oven and spoon batter into hot muffin cups about 2/3 of the way full.

It's okay if the recipe doesn't fill all 12 cups - we usually get 9-12 out of this recipe.

Transfer back into the oven, and bake for 20-25 minutes, until edges are crispy, tops are golden, and puddings have "popped."

Here is the view from outside my oven about 15 minutes in, when the yorkshires popped!

Serve with pot roast, roast beef, stew, or anything that has a nice gravy.

You can also make these with fillings that go in the tiny bowl that the puddings make. When filled with cooked sausage, these are called a "toad in the hole."

These are also delicious with butter and raspberry jam, syrup. or sugar - for dessert or breakfast or tea time!