Follow step-by-step, photo illustrated instructions for making our Crab Annie pasta recipe. Careful, Annie comes packing heat, perhaps you’ve heard about her. Made with fresh Blue Crab meat, you could easily substitute imitation crab meat to save a little money if desired. Annie is pretty frugal anyway, she wouldn’t mind. This dish comes together quickly, is served warm, and the whole family will enjoy it. Printable recipe included.

Crab Annie Recipe:

Jazz music may be credited with originating in New Orleans, but it’s certainly moved on up into North Carolina over the years. In my younger years, I enjoyed watching the likes of Louis Armstrong on TV, and I’m all ears when some ragtime piano starts to play. Scott Joplin anyone? Jazz takes on many forms, styles and interpretations, much more than we can even begin to get into here.

Jazz festivals are held all across the country each year, from the New Orleans Jazz Festival, to North Carolina locals like the Apex Jazz and Music Festival, to the North Carolina Jazz Festival of Wilmington, just to name a few. Music festivals are always about the music, but you’ll certainly find some great food to go along with them.

For 30 years, the New Orleans Jazz Festival, has served a pasta dish named “Crawfish Monica.” Created by chef Pierre Hilzam, he named the dish after his wife Monica. Folks line up at festival time for a Styrofoam bowl of the pasta and Crawfish, which has a creole type seasoning, and it has been voted as a favorite for many years. But, that’s down in Louisiana, what about here in North Carolina.

I got to thinking about that, and figured we need a jazz tradition of our own. While I’ve tried Crawfish, sucking the innards from the heads of those “bugs” just doesn’t appeal to me much. I love the seafood standards, like fish, oysters and shrimp, but I like those fried. Our own pasta type dish would need something different, something more “feisty.

“How about Blue Crab?” They’re pretty feisty little creatures, in more ways than one.

Blue Crab are charming, feisty, cute, interesting, entertaining, quick to defend themselves, and certainly much more appealing than something often referred to as bugs. Blue Crab it is I reasoned. So, let me introduce you to Crab Annie, our very own Jazzy Carolina Pasta creation.

I named the dish after my friend Annie.

Annie admits she can be a bit feisty some times, and like our pasta dish, she’s “packing heat” now that she has a six-shooter of her own. She’s certainly interesting, cute and charming, and I find her sense of humor to be quite entertaining most of the time.

Annie will quickly put up her dukes to defend herself, while side-stepping away from a real confrontation if at all possible. I’m just in hopes I’ll never experience those female claws if she doesn’t fully appreciate having this dish named after her. (Smile Annie)

Crab Annie, our Jazzy Carolina Pasta Dish uses a very special blend of “secret” spices. You knew it would though, right? A guy has to keep a few secrets you know. To get around that, I’ve included a “copycat” recipe of the seasoning blend, which you’ll need to make first.

Our dish is best made with fresh Blue Crab which can be a bit expensive, and a bit more time consuming trying to pick out enough meat. Although it will serve about 8-10 people, feel free to use imitation crab meat, or even shrimp if you must. Either way, add it to your list of recipes to try this summer.

I expect to see restaurants everywhere soon offering Crab Annie on their menus. It should also be available at all the North Carolina area Jazz Festivals, once it starts catching on. I just hope they’ll give me credit for creating it. It might help me score some points with Annie when the recipe becomes famous. I’ve already designed a poster for when that happens.

Crab Annie is a little bit spicy what with all the peppers and the Texas Pete Hot Sauce. Still, this version is mild enough all the family should enjoy it. Adding more “heat” will be up to you and your personal tolerance for hot stuff.

Just be sure to serve it up with Annie’s favorite soda… Mountain Dew.

Ready to give it a try? Alright then, grab those claws and… Let’s Get Cooking!

Keep an eye out for “Crab Annie.” I can see this popping up on restaurant menu’s everywhere real soon.

Crab Annie, Jazzy Carolina Pasta Recipe: You’ll need these ingredients… plus some crab meat.

Crab Annie is best when you can use fresh Blue Crab meat. But, as mentioned, you could substitute with some imitation just as easily, and a good bit cheaper. My local seafood store had just started carrying some Blue Shell Crab when we prepared this recipe. The all female crabs were a bit on the small side, and you’d certainly need a few more than this to come up with a pound of fresh crab meat.

Blue Crab are entertaining little creatures. Feisty as well. I probably just leaned on the sink and watched them for about 30 minutes once I brought them home. They’re very interesting. Unlike fish, they just seem to be looking straight at you at times.

When I added some water to the sink, they all started “bubbling,” and appeared to be enjoying it. Did you know they shed their shells? They shed them in order to grow larger. Females only mate one time in their life, but males will mate numerous times. They can lay over one million eggs at a time. Amazing.

And this is how they look after being cooked. Enough said. Let’s move on with the recipe.

Crab Annie Seasoning: You’ll need to make up a batch of seasoning for this dish. The full list of the 12 spices you’ll need, is included in the printable recipe at the bottom of this post. Just measure them out carefully, place them in a jar and shake them up together. You’ll need three Tablespoons for this dish. You can also use it on fish, shrimp, or chicken. This version is fairly mild, but you could certainly heat it up by adding more Cayenne Pepper. Start out with the basics, then increase the heat as desired if you want it hotter.

Prepare the Pasta: Go ahead and get the pasta cooking. It’ll be ready by the time you get the vegetables ready. Prepare the pasta according to the package directions. Let it cook until al dente, which will take about 8-10 minutes.

Prep the Vegetables: The dish comes together fairly quickly, so it’s best to go ahead an prep all of your vegetables before you start making the sauce. Dice the medium Onion.

I found a package of sliced bell peppers on sale at my local grocery store. I’ve made this dish before using just green bell peppers, but I really like the looks of adding a variety of colored peppers. You could use, red, green, yellow, whatever is readily available. Dice them up into smaller pieces.

Chop the garlic, or mince it if you have one of those little gadgets for doing that with. I’m going to break down and buy one of those for myself one of these days.

Halve about 20 little Grape Tomatoes. Set all the vegetables aside.

When the pasta is cooked, it’s time to begin putting it all together.

Prepare the Rotini Pasta according to the directions on the package. But, before you drain it…

Remove one half cup of the cooking liquid and set it aside for the moment.

Now, drain the pasta in a colander. I didn’t rinse mine, as I want to keep it warm.

Place the drained pasta back in the same pot you cooked it in. Add the half cup of reserved pasta water back to the pasta.

Add the Olive oil.

Give it all a good stir.

Place a lid on the pot to cover it, then set it aside somewhere to keep it warm. We’ll be adding the sauce to it in just a few minutes.

“Some of you never been down South too much. I’m gonna tell you a little story, so you’ll understand what I’m talking about. See, down in Louisiana, where the Alligators grow so mean, lived a girl that I declare to the world, made the alligators look tame.” (Name that song)

I make the sauce in my cast iron skillet. Place the skillet over medium heat, let it warm up a bit, then add the Butter.

When the Butter has melted down, add the Onions and the Bell Peppers.

Stir the Peppers and Onions together, and let them cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions start looking translucent. Don’t cook them too fast or let them start burning.

Add the Garlic.

Stir the Garlic. You really don’t want to let the Garlic burn. Keep a watch on it and let it cook for just about one to two minutes.

Add the halved Grape Tomatoes.

Add the Crab Annie Seasoning mix. Sprinkle it all around the pan.

Stir the seasoning into the vegetables. Let this cook about one minute.

Add the two Tablespoons of Vinegar mixed with two Tablespoons of Water mixture.

Add the Texas Pete Hot Sauce.

Add the Heavy Cream.

Gently stir it all together.

Add the Lemon Juice.

Stir the mixture again. Let it continue to simmer and reduce down a bit until it slightly thickens.

Add the Blue Crab Meat.

Gently stir everything together again. Since the Blue Crab meat is already cooked, we just want to let it simmer long enough to get the crab meat warm.

When the Blue Crab meat is warmed, give it one last stir, then add it to the pot with the pasta.

Add the half cup of grated Parmesan Cheese, then stir everything together. You need to serve the pasta while it’s still warm.

Enjoy!

PS: I created this recipe originally for the Our State Magazine website. Our State Magazine is all about the People, Places and Events of North Carolina, and I’m proud to be a regular contributor of recipes to their online blog “Our State Eats.”

The Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal:

A New Year… a time for new beginnings.  What is it about being able to start off a new year?

Maybe you had a great year and hate to see it end – or – maybe you just can’t wait for New Years Day to hopefully wipe the slate clean and just start all over again.  Either way, there’s just something special about New Years Day.

Here in the South, we try to start it off… with a plan. A plan that hopefully includes good health, good luck and good fortune.  Oh yeah, and good times with family and friends.

Growing up, I always heard that it meant you would have “Good Luck” in the New Year if a MAN visited your house first on New Year’s Day.  I’m not sure where that came from.  Maybe it was just a woman’s way of thinking as she hoped the New Year might finally bring her a husband.

Secondly, you always had to serve up the Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal.  What is that you ask?

Collard Greens
Black Eye Peas
Hog Jowl
Corn Bread

You can click on any of the links above to see the complete, step-by-step, photo illustrated recipe.

It’s a simple meal, it’s Southern, and it’s really good.

There are many varied stories about each particular part of the plate above.  Each is suppose to represent good luck and fortune going into the New Year.  Just how and when it all started will always be up for debate I guess.  Nonetheless, I’ll give it a go.

Collard Greens:

The collard greens are supposed to represent folding money.  Collards are green, so is our folding money.  It’s all about wealth, prosperity and good fortune as the New Year begins.  Some folks say the more collards you eat on New Year’s Day, the more prosperous you will become during the year ahead.

I’ve posted a recipe for collard greens here on Taste of Southern.  If you’ve read that, you will already know that I just personally DO NOT like collards.  It ain’t a secret in any way or form.  I hope you’ll read the post however, just to see how much I hate them and to learn why I made cooking collard greens the very FIRST post to start out our Taste of Southern website.

I will take a bite ever so often, mostly on New Year’s Day, but as for eating a bunch of them… well, maybe that explains my life of prosperity.  My mama loved them by the way.

Black Eye Peas:

The peas are also supposed to be a symbol of good luck.  Again, the more of them you eat, the more prosperity you’ll experience.

If you search the internet, you’ll find various stories as to why this is supposed to be true.  One of those is going back to Civil War times when the Union troops stripped the countryside of all stored food, crops, livestock and whatever else they could not carry away.  Northerners it seems, considered black eye peas, field peas, and field corn to only be good for feeding animals… thus… they didn’t steal it or destroy it.

As the story goes, this then was the only food, along with maybe some salt pork, that was available at the time and Southern soldiers lived off it for awhile.  It was their good luck to have had it.

I’ve read that some people thought placing a coin in the pot of cooked peas was also part of the tradition.  The person that found the coin in their plate was considered to be even more likely to prosper.  Mama never did this at our house so I have nothing to go by in that respect.

Peas also swell when they cook.  This again was a sign of increase.

Hog Jowl:

Hog Jowl is pork.  You could use ham, bacon, tenderloin or fatback along with your meal.

The important thing is to include pork as the meat of the day as opposed to some other animal meat.  Pigs it seems, root or forage in a forward direction.  This moving forward is seen as a symbol of moving forward in the New Year.  Serving chicken, or a winged animal that flies, would represent your fortune as possibly flying away from you.  So, make it pork, whatever the cut of choice might be.  Mostly, it adds good flavor as a seasoning for your collards or black eye peas.

Hog Jowl is usually smoked, salted and cured.  It’s like bacon, only it has more fat than it has meat.  You can slice it up thin, fry it and just enjoy it as a meat addition to your meal.  Or, cut it into larger portions and add it to a pot of vegetables for flavor as a seasoning.

You’ll probably need to boil it some ahead of adding your peas to the pot to extract more of its flavor.  After you’re done, you can just remove it all together prior to serving.  Or, you may want to cut the boiled piece up, removing most of the fat and keeping the meatier parts and tossing them back into the pot.

Corn Bread:

Corn bread is just a good addition to any Southern meal.  Folks will argue over whether it should be white or yellow.  The yellow corn bread is thought to represent gold… thus adding more of a chance of good fortune and prosperity to the New Year.

Baking your cornbread in a round skillet forms a circle, like a cake.  It’s a continuous circle of prosperity.

A Poor Man’s Meal:

Many would consider this type of meal to be a “poor man’s meal.”  It was often thought that if you “Eat poor on New Years, you’ll eat fat the rest of the year.”

Whatever your reasons, eating this traditional New Year’s Day meal is a great way to start off any New Year.  It’s just the good thoughts behind starting off another year with a hope for prosperity and good fortune.

You’ll find complete recipes for each part of your Traditional Southern New Years Day Meal right here on Taste of Southern.  And of course, we’ll provide full photo and step-by-step instructions to help you prepare it.

Why not make this the year you start some new traditions at your house.  Cook up our New Years Day Meal for your family.  Just don’t forget the Sweet Tea.

Let’s Get Cooking!

I’d love to hear your thoughts on our New Years Day Meal menu.  Is it a part of your family traditions?  Please share your comments below.  Thank You.

We’re cooking up Salisbury Steak with Onions and Gravy.  It’s one of those traditional Southern comfort food items you’ll find on the menu at Mom and Pop style restaurants and diners throughout the South.  Fresh ground beef, caramelized onions, and rich brown gravy make this one more delicious item to serve to your family and friends.  All you’ll need to make it even better are some mashed potatoes.  Now we’re talking!

Now, don’t go thinking this will taste like one of those cheap frozen dinners you might find in the frozen foods section of your local grocer.  Those little trays with plastic on top just can’t compare to homemade.  This one is just about as quick and easy to prepare…except for making the caramelized onions.  That takes a little bit of time but it will be well worth the added effort.

I must admit though, I’ve had my fair share of the imposters.  When you can buy a packaged meal with meat, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn and a brownie, all for one dollar, it’s difficult to not pop one or two in your grocery cart.  Still, I hope you will give this little recipe a try soon.

Some may claim this to be hamburger steak.  We’ll be adding a recipe for hamburger steak later.  Hamburger steak is usually not served with gravy like the salisbury steak is served.  Instead, it’s served as a fried or grilled meat patty and may include some grilled onions on top.  You can add your favorite steak sauce to it if you so choose.  It’s most often served with mashed potatoes as well, topped of course with…gravy.

This is a pretty straight forward recipe.  Just don’t rush the onions too much and it will be quick and easy.  We’ll cook up the patties first, caramelize the onions, and then simmer it all together in a rich brown gravy for about 15 minutes.  While that’s cooking, we’ll whip up some mashed potatoes and get ready for some real meat and potatoes Taste of Southern home cooking.  Ready?

Let’s Get Cooking!

Here are the ingredients you’ll need.  I’m using Ground Beef Round in an 80/15 mixture.  I’m showing a two pound package in the photo, but I’m only using half of that in the recipe which will give me four servings.

I just divided the package in half and placed about one pound in a mixing bowl.

Use your hands or a fork to break it up a bit.

Begin by adding 1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper.  We’ll just go ahead and add the first few ingredients, and then we’ll mix it up.

Add 1 teaspoon of Salt.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Garlic Powder.

Add 1 teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce.

Add one whole egg, minus the shell of course.  (Smile)

Add 1/4 cup of dry bread crumbs.  I used bread crumbs like mama always used.  I took one slice of white sandwich bread, and crumbled it up in my hands really fine.  It’s easier with bread that is a day or two old.  Of course, you could use store bought bread crumbs or even saltine crackers if you desire.  The bread just serves as a binder for the mixture to help hold things together.  We didn’t know anything about store bought bread crumbs around our house.

Now, jump right in with both hands, and mix it all together.  I folded it, mashed it, squashed it, and folded it some more.  Just mix it all up well and have fun.  Cooking should be fun, so go ahead and squish it through your fingers.

Divide the mixture into equal parts.  I made four patties from the pound of beef.  Shape it into patties, like you would hamburgers, only shape it into more of an oval than something round.  For some reason, Salisbury Steak patties always seem to be oval shaped.

Place your “I Don’t Have A Paula Deen,” regular and well used skillet on medium heat.  Let it warm up for a minute or so, and then add 2 Tablespoons of REAL Butter.  Always use the real stuff instead of margarine.  It’ll just naturally taste better.  Ask Paula Deen, she’ll tell you.

Place the patties in the skillet.  Don’t overcrowd them though, give them some space.  I could only get three of mine in at the beginning, but once they cook down some, I’ll add number four.  Let them cook for about 4-5 minutes.

While the patties are cooking, let’s get started on the onions.  Begin by slicing a whole onion in half and removing the outer skin.

Slice each half into about 1/4 inch slices.  Set aside.

After about 4-5 minutes, you’ll start to see the bottom edge of the patties start to turn brown like the two in the upper right.  Now, you’ll need to flip them over, and brown the other side for about the same length of time.  They don’t have to cook all the way through; we’re just browning both sides for now, to seal in the juices.

Even with only a 15 percent fat content, the patties will shrink.  After I’d turned all three, I had enough room to add my fourth patty.  You just need to watch the first ones and don’t let them burn.  Take them out when they have browned completely on both sides.

Remove the patties from the pan and set aside.  Again, don’t worry about them being cooked all the way through.  We’re going to continue to cook them some more in just a few minutes.

Don’t discard those brown bits left in the pan.  They are full of flavor and we want to save all of them.

Place your sliced onions in the pan, right on top of all those browned bits.  Reduce the heat just a little, and let the onions slowly cook until they are clear and caramelized.  Don’t rush them.  Let them cook low and slow, stirring occasionally, until they turn nice and brown in color.  This step may take 20 minutes or longer, but its well worth the time.  If they cook too fast, they will burn, and you don’t want that to happen.

The onions will start to turn clear or translucent, and then they will start to brown.  We’ll continue to cook them some more as the recipe continues.

Now, sprinkle the 2 Tablespoons of Flour all over the top of the onions.

Stir the flour and onions together.  Then, let this cook for about 2 minutes longer to brown the flour.  If you don’t allow the flour to cook and brown at this point, you’ll get a raw flour taste in the finished dish.  Just keep stirring it for about 2 minutes.

Slowly add 2 cups of warm water.  It’s just warm water straight out of the faucet.  If you were using a cast iron skillet, you’d never want to add cold water to a hot skillet as it could cause it to crack.    Stir the water and onions together.

Add 2 teaspoons of beef bouillon granules.  I highly prefer the granules as opposed to the cubes.  The cubes always seem to take forever to dissolve.  You could certainly use about 2 cups of beef broth if you had that instead.  This will pump up the flavor of the gravy.

Stir the mixture well, and then bring the heat back up to about medium.

Carefully place the meat patties back into the gravy mixture.

Cover the pan.  Let the whole thing simmer on medium or just a notch below medium, for about 15 more minutes.  They just need to simmer lightly and not be at a rolling boil.  You also might want to turn the meat patties over about half way through.

After about 15 minutes, it’s all ready to serve.  Man, I’m hungry right now.  I’m a true meat and potatoes kind of guy and love this Salisbury Steak.

We cook a lot of dishes with gravy, or gravy and onions, here in the Taste of Southern kitchen.  It seems like most all of them just go best with mashed potatoes served as a side dish.  You could also serve them over a bed of rice if you prefer.  Add some whole corn or maybe some green beans, and a piece of cornbread, and you’ve got yourself a real meal for lunch or dinner any day….even on Sunday.

Enjoy!

Here’s a quick and easy comfort food recipe that makes some great sandwiches.  I’ve loved a good
Sloppy Joe sandwich since my early days in school.  Say what you want about school lunches, but
I always seemed to enjoy mine.  I especially enjoyed the Yeast Rolls they served and they were
even better on the days they used them as buns for Sloppy Joes.

I’m going to try and re-create those Yeast Rolls one day soon so watch for it.  Our school made
these rolls practically every day of the school year.  Sometimes they were just bread with our meals
and then some days they would be hamburger buns, pizza crust or the buns for Sloppy Joes.

It’s been quite some time since I’ve made Sloppy Joes from scratch.  It’s too easy to buy that mix that comes in the can these days.  And, I have to admit that it’s not all that bad.  It’s just….these are BETTER.

Sloppy Joes are really easy to prepare and perfect for a quick and easy lunch or dinner meal.  They are
great when the kids have friends over, or when everyone gathers around the TV for a big game.

You can serve them on store bought hamburger type buns or perhaps make “sliders” out of them by
using packaged dinner rolls as buns.  You can also make them a little more “grown-up” if you bake up
some homemade rolls of your own like those school Yeast Rolls or some crusty bread type of roll.

Ready to give them a try?  A printable version of the recipe follows the step-by-step photos.

Let’s Get Cooking!

You’ll need these ingredients.  I’m using Ground Beef with an 80/20 fat content.  I’m also using some
frozen chopped bell peppers that I keep in the freezer for just such purposes.

Begin by chopping up about one half of a small to medium sized Onion.

Either chop up about 1/2 cup of fresh bell pepper or, if you have it in your freezer, measure out
1/2 cup of what you already have.

Bell Peppers get up to around $1.78 EACH sometimes during the winter months around here.
I can usually find them around 5 for $1.00 during the summer when they are coming fresh
out of the gardens so I stock up.  I chop them up, and then freeze them in Ziploc type bags for later.
It’s thrifty and convenient at the same time.  Try it.

Place your large skillet on medium heat and then add your ground beef.

I used a wooden spoon to start breaking up the hunk of beef and stirring it as it begins to brown.

When it gets mostly brown, check to see how much fat (grease) you have in your pan.  Mine had
hardly any at all.  You don’t want a lot of grease but you do need about 2 or 3 tablespoons of it.  If
your ground beef has produced a lot of fat, use a spoon and scoop some of it out or carefully pour
it out of your pan.

Add in the chopped Bell Peppers.

Add the chopped Onions.

Stir it all up real good.  Don’t let the meat stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.  Simmer over
medium heat for about 5 minutes, letting the onions begin to turn translucent.

Sprinkle in the 1/2 teaspoon of Granulated Garlic Powder.

Sprinkle in the 1/2 teaspoon of Chili Powder.

Add the 8oz. can of Tomato Sauce.

Then add in the 1/4th cup of Ketchup.

Give it another good stir.

Add the 1/2 cup of water.

Add 1 teaspoon of Mustard, the regular old yellow stuff in the bottle.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Ground Black Pepper.

Finally, add the 2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar.  Give it all another good stir.

Reduce the heat down to medium-low and let it all simmer for about 20-25 minutes.  You’ll need
to stir it every once in awhile and make sure it’s not sticking to the bottom of the pan.  You
shouldn’t have a problem with sticking if you have the heat turned down to a proper simmer.

Let the juices reduce down but don’t let it get all dried out.  You need some good juice…thus the
“Sloppy” part of the name.  If it’s too watery, it will just soak down your buns and that want
be good….soaked buns that is. (Smile)  It’s not necessary to cover the pot while it simmers either.

When it’s cooked down to your liking, remove from heat and serve immediately.  It will cool down
rather quickly once it’s out of the pan so you need to have everything else ready to go at this point.

Enjoy!

Southern Fried Salmon Patties: This is fish even the kids will enjoy eating.  Simple, quick, easy to make and tastes even better between two slices of bread or in a bun.  Add a little mayo or whip up your own special sauce and you’ve got supper on the table in no time flat.

We didn’t eat Salmon Patties a lot when I was growing up, but I’ve always enjoyed the taste.  Of course I like pretty much anything that I can slap between two slices of loaf bread.  I’m totally hooked on sandwiches of about any kind, always have been.

As an adult, I’ve learned to enjoy salmon in various ways.  I like it baked in the oven, fried in a skillet, or my favorite…smoked on a grill.  It’s a bit pricey on the fish side of things, but something I enjoy whenever I can.

The really nice thing about these Salmon Patties is how simple and quick they are to prepare.  I’m using a canned salmon and ingredients that are pretty much a staple in any kitchen.  I try to keep a can or two in the kitchen cabinets all the time.  You’re basically just going to mix it all up in one bowl and fry them up in the skillet.  You can prepare the mixture and refrigerate it for several hours before cooking if need be.  It makes a great main dish meat or a quick and easy sandwich, which ever way you want to go.  So, if you’re ready….Let’s Get Cooking!

You’ll need these ingredients.  It might look like a lot in the picture, but it’s mostly seasonings.

Open up the can of salmon and dump it in a colander in the sink.  Let any liquid drain off for a minute or two.  If you look closely, you’ll see some bones.  They are edible but I like to remove the bigger ones, especially the big round ones from the spine area.  It’s just a little crunch that doesn’t sit right in my mouth sometime so I take them out.  It’s your option, but again, they are edible so you don’t have to be concerned about them.

Use your hands or a fork and flake the salmon up into large chunks.

While the salmon is draining, chop up the bell peppers and the onion.

Place the flaked salmon in a large mixing bowl.

Add two whole eggs to the bowl.  We’ll just dump in all the other ingredients and mix it up at the end.  Mixing each ingredient in one at a time will turn the salmon to mush.  You want to try and keep some large chunks in the mixture.

Add the chopped onion to the bowl.

Add the chopped bell pepper.  I’ve mentioned this before, but I buy bell peppers during the summer months and chop and freeze them.  They just get pretty expensive around here during the winter months.  When I can get them 5 for 1.00 during the summer, I buy a few extra, prepare them, then freeze them in plastic bags.  I can usually take out what I need for a recipe and let them thaw for a few minutes and that step is done.  Of course, I love fresh ingredients whenever they are in season.

Add the corn meal.  The meal acts as a binder to help hold the ingredients together.

Add the salt.

Add the garlic powder.

Add the mayo.  The oil serves as another part of the binder to help hold things together when we shape the patties.

Add the Worcestershire sauce.

Add the Texas Pete Hot Sauce.  It’s not really going to add any heat to the patties, just a little flavor.  Of course, you can add more if you like.

Add the ground black pepper.

Break up one slice of regular white loaf bread.  You can crumble it up or leave it in large pieces like I did.  Bread crumbs will work fine.  I don’t recall mama ever using bread crumbs back in her day.  She’d just take a slice or two of bread and break it up into the patties.  She’d do the same with her meatloaf.  Seeing those pieces of bread in the finished product just brings back fond memories for me.  The bread is another binder for the mixture.

Use a fork or spoon and gently mix all the ingredients together.  Don’t over work it, just get it all combined.

Add the flour.  I usually adjust this amount depending on how moist the mixture is at this point.  You don’t want it so dry it doesn’t stick together but then again, you don’t want it all mushy wet either.  Just sprinkle in a little flour at a time and mix again until you get a good consistency.

You should have enough mixture to divide and shape into about 4 patties.  You’ll just scoop out enough in your hand to shape it as you would a hamburger patty.  You can make them larger or smaller as you like.  Just shape them into rounds and set them aside for a few minutes.

Go ahead and sprinkle the tops with a little paprika at this point.

Preheat your skillet to about medium and then add some shortening or oil to fry the patties.

You should be able to get all four patties in the frying pan at one time.  Cook them over medium heat.

Brown the bottoms and then carefully flip them over and brown the other side.  Don’t overcook them, just let them brown well on both sides and you should be good to go.  The more they cook, the drier they’ll be when you serve them.  You’ll also want to serve them pretty soon after you remove them from the pan as they will cool down pretty quick.  Just take them out when done, place on a couple of folded paper towels to drain for a minute, then serve.

Serve and Enjoy!

See how easy that was, just like making home made burgers in the kitchen.  You can serve these as the main course along with some mashed potatoes and another side of your choice.  Or, place them between a couple slices of bread or on a bun for a great sandwich.  You can add a little more mayo or maybe even create your own sauce.  There are lots of choices available as too which sauce to use.  I like my “Secret Sauce” that we used with the Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe as well.

This is just a basic recipe for Salmon Patties.  Experiment with some other herbs and spices after you’ve tried these and let us know in the Comment Section below what you come up with.

A local restaurant in my area serves them for lunch every Monday.  I’ll pick them up along with some mashed potatoes, pinto beans and cornbread for lunch sometimes.  I hope you’ll give these a try and that you really enjoy them.  Here’s the printable recipe for it all.

Where’s the chicken?  It’s called Chicken Fried Steak, but it doesn’t actually have any chicken in it.  And now that we think of it….it doesn’t really contain any steak as we know it either.  Confused yet?

It does contain “cubed steak,” but it really doesn’t contain chicken.  It’s also sometimes referred to as pan fried steak or even country fried steak.  Just depends on who you ask I guess.  It’s typically made from the cheaper cuts of beef and it’s just one more way to prepare cubed steak.  It’s also normally pan fried as opposed to deep fat fried.  You can serve it as a main dish to your meal, or it can be placed in a bun, or between a couple of slices of bread to make a really delicious sandwich.  I’m all for anything you can place between slices of bread.

Chicken Fried Steak wasn’t something served up around my house as a youth.  I pretty much came to know about it through visits to local mom and pop style restaurants or diners.  It shows up on a lot of menus at those type of establishments.  As mentioned, it’s pan fried so if you have a cast iron skillet, this is perfect for it.  We’re going to fry the cubed steak, then use some of the pan drippings to make our homemade gravy to top it off with.  Serve that up along side some mashed potatoes and another vegetable of your choice and this quick and easy meat can be on the table in little time at all.  Sound good?  Alright then…Let’s Get Cooking!

Here are the ingredients to make our Country Fried Steak…except for the onion.  It sneaked in the photo while I wasn’t looking.  I guess it thought we were going to make country style steak or something else.  So please…ignore the onion.

We’re going to prepare our seasoning breader for the cubed steak.  Begin by placing the two cups of flour in a fairly good sized mixing bowl.

Add one Tablespoon of salt.

Add one Tablespoon of Black Pepper.

Add one Tablespoon of Garlic Powder.

Add one Tablespoon of Paprika.

Add one teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper.  It’s just for a little flavor and doesn’t really make the dish hot.

Stir all the dry ingredients together.

Stir it well, until everything is properly incorporated to make our seasoned flour breader.

REMOVE about 1/4 cup of the flour mixture and save for later to make the gravy.

Break two eggs into a separate dish.

Use a whisk or fork and stir the eggs up well.

Place a piece of the cubed steak in a plastic bag or between two layers of plastic wrap.  I’m using one of those really thin bags you find in the produce section of the grocery store to put your tomatoes etc. in.  They come in really handy sometimes so I hardly ever throw them away if they’re still clean.  They’re perfect to pound out the cubed steak for this recipe.

You can use a meat tenderizer hammer if you have one.  If not, find a thick saucer or plate and use the edge of it to pound out the cubed steak.  Now, the steak has already gone through a meat tenderizer machine at the grocery store, but we want to flatten out the cubed steak sections and make them thinner.  It will also make those cheaper cuts of meat more tender and easier to chew.  Besides, its a good stress reliever so have fun.

Pound it out real good.  This will flatten it out good and thin.

Remove the tenderized steak portion from the bag or plastic and place it in the seasoned flour mixture.

Jump right in with both hands and coat the steak piece really well with the seasoned breader.  Work it into the crevices of the cubed steak.

Next, place the flour coated steak section in the egg wash.  See how flat we got that.  My little egg wash pan was almost too small.

Flip the steak piece over to coat both sides with the egg wash.

Place the steak back in the seasoned flour mixture once again.

Flip it over, making sure you coat both sides well with the flour breader mix.

Gently shake off any excess flour.

Set the breaded steak section aside.  Look, it’s almost as big as the plate.

Place some cooking oil or shortening in a good sized skillet.  Your cast iron will work well here, but I didn’t use mine today.  Add just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan just under about 1/4 of an inch deep.

When the oil temperature is ready for frying, place the steak piece into the pan.  I had my pan set about one notch above the medium heat setting.  You’ll have to test yours for proper frying temperature as stoves vary greatly.  The oil is hot enough when a few sprinkles of the flour mixture sort of sizzle and turn brown in the oil when it’s dropped in.  You could also place about 2 drops of water in the oil.  When it starts to bubble and pop…or talk to ya….it’s ready for frying.

These pieces are so large you’ll have to cook them one at a time.  They’ll cook quickly though so that’s not a problem.  Let the steak cook for about one minute, then turn it over and cook the other side for about 1-2 minutes.  Don’t overcook them.  If the oil starts to smoke, reduce the heat.

When you see the bottom edges start to brown, that’s the time to carefully flip it over.  You’ll also see some blood rising to the surface from the steak at this point.

Flip the steak over and let it cook for about another 2 minutes.  Don’t overcook it.

You’ll repeat this process until all of the pieces have been cooked.  As they finish, remove each piece and set it aside on some layers of paper towels to drain and rest.

Reduce the heat of your pan to medium-low.  Cubed steak doesn’t normally have enough fat to mention.  You’ll need about 2-3 Tablespoons of oil in the pan.  If you don’t have this much after frying all the pieces, add a little more oil to the pan drippings.  It’s time to make some gravy.

Those little bits of pan drippings are loaded with flavor.  As you can see, I didn’t end up with a lot.

Stir in the 1/4 cup of flour we reserved earlier. Don’t just dump it all in one spot, sprinkle it around the pan.

Working quickly, stir the flour and oil mixture together.  If you mixture dries out too fast, add about a tablespoon of butter or a little more oil to make the roux.

Since I’m using Chicken Granules, I’m adding two cups of warm tap water at this point.  You could also just add two cups of chicken broth if you have it.

Slowly add the water, stirring it in as you go.  Continue to stir the mixture well.

Add the chicken granules.  One teaspoon of the granules with one cup of water equals one cup of chicken broth according to the directions on the granules jar.  I added two teaspoons of granules since I added two cups of warm tap water in the step above.

Add the milk and quickly stir it all together.

NOTE:  There are numerous possibilites for making the gravy.  I could have just added two cups of milk and two teaspoons of chicken granules and omitted the water.  That would make a somewhat creamier gravy if that’s what you’d like to have.  This gravy recipe is just a little thinner.

Let it all simmer for a minute or two.  You’ll want to taste the gravy at this point to see what if anything it might need.  You may want to add some additional Salt, or some Black Pepper, it’s just a matter of your personal taste.

The gravy is ready when you can pass the spoon test.  Remove the spoon you’ve been stirring with and drag your finger across the bottom.  If the gravy leaves a trail where you’ve wiped it off, it’s thickened enough for serving.  If it’s too runny, let it simmer awhile longer and test again.

Plate up your vegetables and place a piece of the Chicken Fried Steak on each plate.  Top with gravy and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Here’s a really quick and simple recipe for some delicious southern fried comfort food.  Next to fried chicken, these Southern Fried Pork Chops are a long time family favorite.  It really is the “other white meat” as the Pork Council tells us.

Southern Fried Chicken may have taken first place when I was growing up, but I’d have to say that these Southern Fried Pork Chops would have to be second in line.  They really are just that good.  You can have them bone-in or boneless, whichever you prefer…or…whichever you find on sale at your favorite grocery store this week.

Some folks say that the bone-in pork chops are better because the bones help make the meat more moist by holding in more moisture.  That may be true.  Also, those bone-in pork chops kind of resemble a nice T-bone Steak so whats not to like about that?  Bone-in also gives you that bone to gnaw on, kind of like a chicken bone, but just harder to manipulate.

I suggest that either way, you be careful to select a somewhat thicker chop.  Since pork is usually cooked a little longer, you don’t want some thin pork chop that’s going to fry up tough and dry.  Pork chops can normally be found to be cut between 1/2 inch, up to 2 inches in thickness.  Thicker ones are often used as “stuffed pork chops,” while the thinner ones usually are found in those “family packs.”  If you get the thinner ones, be sure to get enough for about 2 chops per person.

I’m using some boneless center cut pork chops in this recipe.  They just happened to be on sale the day I went looking for some.  I would normally buy the bone-in pork chops since thats what we had all the time when mama cooked them.

You want to watch them closely as they are cooking.  Don’t cook them too fast and don’t let them overcook.  Overcooking will make them tough and dry them out and you don’t want that to happen.  They cook up pretty quickly so this is a quick and easy meal to get on the table.

Ready to give them a try?  Then….Let’s Get Cooking!

Southern Fried Pork Chops Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

We’ll begin by making a breader for our pork chops.  Using a medium sized mixing bowl or similar container, add one cup of flour.  Just use what you have available, self-rising, or all-purpose.

Add TWO Tablespoons of corn starch.  Just pretend I did this twice….because I really did.  TWO Tablespoons.

Add one teaspoon of Garlic Powder.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Salt.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Black Pepper.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of Paprika.

Use a fork or spoon and stir the ingredients together.

Make sure you mix all the ingredients well.  Set the breader aside for the moment.

Break one egg into another shallow dish.  This is a plastic container from where I’ve ordered Chinese Take Out.  I can’t throw them away for some reason.  They come with clear plastic tops and are very sturdy.  They make great dredge type dishes and you’ll see me use them often.  I’m recycling I guess.

Now, add about 2 Tablespoons of Buttermilk.

Use a fork to break the egg yolk and stir the mixture well.

Mix it all up real good.

Open up your pack of chops and rinse them gently under cool running water.

Place the rinsed pork chops on a plate lined with a couple of layers of paper towels and let them drain.

Use another couple of paper towels to pat the tops of the chops dry.

Gather everything together to setup your dredge station.  We’re going to dip the chops in flour, then the egg wash, and back into the flour once again to coat them with the breader.  Keeping an organized dredge station makes it quick and simple.

Place one of the pork chops in the seasoned breader mixture.  Use one hand to coat the top of the chop and make sure it’s fully coated all around the edges.

Pick the chop up with the same hand you used to flour it and then place it in the egg wash mixture.

Use your other hand and flip the pork chop over in the egg wash.  If you’ll use one hand for the dry mixture and the other hand for the wet mixture, you will keep your hands cleaner and not have lumps all over your fingers.  It’s a simple idea but the little things make cooking fun…and easy.

Use the “wet hand” and lift the pork chop from the egg wash.  Let any excess drip off.

Place the coated with egg wash pork chop back in the flour breader mixture once again.

Flour both sides of the pork chop, making sure to coat all around the edges.  Oooops….looks like I forgot which hand was the wet one and which was the dry one.  Flip the chop over and make sure you coat both sides completely with the seasoned breader.

Lift up the pork chop and gently shake off any excess flour.  Any loose flour will just fall off in the pan and burn quickly.  The less of that we have in the pan, the better things will be.

Place the coated chop in a plate and just let it sit while you coat the other pieces.

Once you get them all coated, you could even place them in the refrigerator to “dry out” a bit.  So, if you wanted to do these steps ahead of time, then fry them closer to serving time, that will work fine.

This is a great dish to cook up in your cast iron skillet.  If you don’t have one, any large skillet will do.  Just add about 1/4 inch of cooking oil and set the heat to medium or maybe just one notch above.  Let the oil heat up slowly and test it before starting to fry the pork chops.  You need just enough cooking oil to come about half way up the side of the thickness of your pork chops.  Adjust accordingly.

One mistake most new cooks will make is either heating the oil too fast…or too slow.  If you start seeing smoke, more than likely the pan is too hot.  Lower the heat and lift the pan off the burner for a minute to let it cool down.  You’ll need to “test” the temperature of the oil before you add the pork chops to start frying.  Once you see the oil heating up, you can drop a pinch of corn meal or flour into the oil and watch for it to “sizzle.”  If it does, you”re ready to start frying the pork chops.  You could also carefully place a drop of water in the pan.  If the temperature is at the right point, the water will start to pop or “talk” to you as it also dances around.  Just be careful if adding water and remember that all you need is about one drop.  As always, use extreme caution when frying anything.  Keep the handle of your pan turned away from the front of the stove and make sure the kids aren’t around the stove.  You can thank me later.

Gently lower one of the coated pork chops into the pan of hot oil.  You should hear it start to sizzle once it touches the hot oil.  Also, remember that adding the meat is going to cool the pan down a bit.  Add the pieces one at a time, allowing just a minute or so before adding the next one to let the oil come back up to a good frying point.  It just takes a little practice but you can learn it quickly.

Don’t crowd the pan.  I’m only going to cook two pieces at a time.  Watch the bottom of the pork chops as they begin to cook.  Once you start to see the bottom edge begin to turn brown, you’re getting close to the point to flip the chops over.

If you look at the pork chop on the right, you can see the bottom has started to brown.  At this point, use some tongs and carefully turn the chops over to fry the other side.

With the bottoms brown, flip over the chops and let them cook.  This will take about 6-8 minutes depending on your stove and how fast you’re cooking.  You want to make sure they are done, but you don’t want to over cook them as this will dry them out and make them tough.  If in doubt, take a sharp knife and cut a small slice in one of the chops so you can see if it looks done towards the middle.

When they’re done, remove the pork chops from the skillet.  Place them on a plate with a layer of paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

Serve and Enjoy!

Serve the pork chops while warm.  They go great with all types of vegetables and really well with some mashed potatoes.  You could use the leftover drippings in the pan to make a gravy for them that would also be really good.  I’m going to cook the ones left from this pack in another recipe and make some mushroom gravy to go with them.  Watch for that recipe and post soon.

I opted for the string beans and red potatoes mostly for the sake of not having everything on Taste of Southern served up with mashed potatoes and gravy.  Ha!  We southerners just love our potatoes and gravy don’t we?  And, if you know me, that hunk of Fried Pork Chop would make a great Pork Chop Sandwich slapped between a couple of slices of bread.  OK….I’m hungry….Let’s Eat.

This thick and hearty Beef Stew is a one-pot meal that is much more quick and easy than you might at first think.  It only requires a few simple ingredients to prepare and although it has a lengthy cooking time, it’s a great way to cook up supper without a lot of fuss.  Slowly simmered to bring out all the flavors, you can sit back and relax while this one cooks.  Your family is gonna love it.

We’re about to wrap up winter here in the south so I wanted to get this recipe online during these last days of cool weather.  OK, 80 degrees for the past several days…isn’t cool weather, but I think we’re still going to see a few more cooler days ahead before Spring actually arrives.  The trees around where I live have already burst forth in full bloom and look like they are covered with snow.  Just yesterday, I started seeing some green leaves appear as well.

I love spring, but over the past few years, I’ve been really hit hard with allergy problems.  I never had it until about 2009 when I took up fishing and started spending lots of time outdoors.  Problem is, it just seems to be getting worse each year since.  Still, I love this time of year….don’t you?

Beef stew is not just a winter meal, don’t get that idea OK?  It’s great any time of the year.  Its just that this recipe is kind of thick and it makes a great meal all by itself on a cold winter day.  The heartiness of the meat and potatoes alone, slow simmered in broth, will both fill you up and warm you up.

You would have normally found Beef Stew served up for Sunday dinner at my house.  Mama would cook up a great big old pot full, about 3 times as much as this recipe will make.  She would then let it slow simmer for hours on the stove until it was all just right.  It was only later in life that she acquired a slow cooker – or – crockpot, so my memories are of that big old aluminum pot she liked to use.  As I’ve mentioned in some of my other stories, we always had about 10-15 people at our house for Sunday dinners.  It was a time when all the family got together and usually included our pastor and his family as well.  My brother and sister were both married with new families of their own, and if they didn’t show up for Sunday dinner, Mama would call them to see if they were on the way….or why they weren’t….on the way.  Gotta love it.

Being a widower now for going on 14 years, sitting at home with a table of one….just isn’t the same.  I guess that’s why we look and refer to them as the “good old days” now.  But, for me, cooking up these old favorites can bring back a full rush of happy days from years gone by.  Days when I had my eye set on that one pastors daughter, just wanting to be around her and realizing that my whole reason for going to church was just for the chance to sit with her while her father preached down fire and brimstone.  Days when I hoped mama was going to invite them home for Sunday dinner and maybe….just maybe…she and her brother would stay the afternoon while her mom and dad visited with some other members of our church.  Of course, there are lots of other Sunday dinner memories in my head, but I’ll have to save those for later.  For now, let’s get this pot on the stove and cook up some good old southern comfort food.  If you’re ready…Let’s Get Cooking!

Beef Stew Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

We’ll start out by melting about two Tablespoons of Butter in a large pot set on medium heat.

While the butter is melting, slice up your onions.

Toss the beef cubes into the pot with the melted butter.  The beef used here is boneless, pre-cut cubes that are easily found in your local grocery store.  It’s usually chuck or round that has been cut into 3/4 to 1-1/2 inch cubes.  If you can’t find them already cut, you can do it yourself very easily.   Just select any chuck or round cut…except for top round…and just trim off the fat and cut it into bite sized pieces.

Brown the beef in the butter.  Some recipes call for tossing the beef cubes in flour before you add them to the pot.  I don’t think it matters all that much and just toss them into the butter.  I’m going to let them cook a bit until they start to brown but not get a brown crust on them.  Just stir them around every few minutes and let them cook.  This will take about 6-10 minutes depending on how hot the pan is.

When the meat has browned, pour in 4 cups of warm water from the kitchen tap.

Add the teaspoon of Worcestershire Sauce.

Toss in the sliced onions.

Add one teaspoon of salt.

Add one teaspoon of sugar.  Mama used sugar in just about everything.  I come by it naturally I guess.

Add one half teaspoon of Black Pepper.

Add one half teaspoon of Paprika and stir all the ingredients together.

Place a lid on the pot and let it simmer.  I open the vent on the lid of the pot to let out steam as it cooks.  You’ll want to lower the heat down to about half way between your low setting and your medium setting on your stove.  You don’t want it to cook at a rolling boil, just a low and light simmer.  It will cook this way for about an hour.  Just check it about every 20 minutes or so and give it a stir at the same time.

While the meat is simmering, go ahead and wash up a couple of carrots for slicing.

Slice up the carrots in about 1/2 inch rounds.  You want good bite sized pieces here.  Baby carrots would also work, but I even slice those up smaller whenever I use them in this type of recipe.

Scrub down the potatoes and prepare them for cutting.

Quarter and dice the potatoes.  Try to cut them into uniform sized pieces so they will all cook up about the same.

When the meat has simmered down, it’s time to start adding the other ingredients.

Add in the sliced carrots.

Toss in the diced potatoes.

Add in the Tomato Paste….then stir it all up real good.

Add in the Beef Bouillion Granules.  I like using the granules because they are much easier to work with as opposed to those cube things.  The cubes take a long time to dissolve in my opinion.  Seems like no matter how much I stir, sooner or later, I’ll see a piece of one of the cubes floating around in the pot.  Of course, beef broth would also work very nicely, especially if you have home made.  We added 4 cups of water in the beginning so according to my jar, I need 4 teaspoons of Granules to make 4 cups of broth.

Give it all a good stir.

Cover the pot once again and let it all continue to simmer over that medium-low heat.

Check on your stew about every 20 minutes or so.  It will take about 30-45 minutes for the potatoes and carrots to cook until tender.  I like mine with just a little bit of a “bite’ left in them.  The longer it cooks, the more mushy the potatoes will become.  You’ll just want to keep a close check on it after you add the carrots and potatoes and cook it to your personal liking.

This is a great meal to prepare ahead of time, warm up and serve later.  If you’re doing that, don’t overcook the vegetables because they will cook even more once you warm the stew back up before serving.

Serve and Enjoy!

Serving Suggestion:  Beef Stew is certainly a meal you can serve all by itself, but I really like it along side some cooked white rice and a piece or two of homemade corn bread.  It just doesn’t stay beside the rice for long.  I stir it all up together and eat it that way.  If you wanted to stretch the meal, either stir in some cooked rice or just let the rice cook during the last 15-20 minutes or so while you’re simmering the stew.

You’ll find lots of variations of Beef Stew here on the internet.  Some add green peas, celery, string beans, tomatoes, or even mushrooms.  I’ll just save all that stuff for the homemade vegetable soup.  Give me this basic meat and potatoes version any old time.  I do hope you’ll give it a try and let me know what you think.  Enjoy!

Chili with meat.  Chili-con-carne literally means chili with meat.  This may not be a true hand me down Taste of Southern recipe from my family heritage, but every once in awhile, you find a recipe that you just want to try out.  You may not know exactly what intrigues you about it, you just know that you want to cook it and see what it tastes like.  Thus….today….I present you with Baxter’s Chili-Con-Carne Recipe.  Let me explain.

I’ve become pretty much addicted to attending a local auction house each Friday and Saturday night.  Friday night is designated towards new stuff, and Saturday night is classified as Antiques, Collectibles and Old Stuff night.  I much prefer Saturday night, but I’m usually in attendance on both nights.  And, I must add, I bring home WAY too much stuff.

On one particular Saturday night a few months back, I purchased an older book at auction.  The book is entitled “STARSTRUCK – The Wonderful World of Movie Memorabilia.”  It was published in 1986, written by Robert Heide and John Gilman.  In short, it contains lots of color, and black and white pictures of old movie posters, signs and more, with movie stars from long ago.

Since my very first job ever was working at our local movie theatre, this kind of stuff fascinates me.  I’m not a big collector but I do have a few old movie posters of my own along with some other items of interest.  Mostly, I was able to pick up this hardback book for $2.00 so I went for it.

I’ll quickly admit that I’m not much of a book reader, just give me one with lots of pictures.  Glancing through this book, there is a section on the Movie Star Magazines that were popular as I was growing up along with some earlier items.  If you remember when you use to be able to buy ice cream cups that had pictures of movie stars inside the lids of those cups, then you might be a bit older than I am.  I do remember them, but just barely, and there is an article about those in the book also.

Among the sections were a couple of pictures about movie stars and their recipes.  One of the recipes said it was “Warner Baxters own recipe for chili con carne.”  It just kind of caught my attention.  I had just started work on this website back then, and thought I’d give it a try.  As it turned out, it tasted pretty good and was simple enough to make, so I decided to add it to the site.

About the only chili we ever had around our house was hot dog and hamburger chili.  I don’t recall my mom ever making just chili with beans.  If she did, it wouldn’t have been one of her regular dishes or I’m positive I would have remembered it.

Chili con carne is said to have originated in Texas.  Thus, it’s an American dish according to Wikipedia and you’ll find it served in many restaurants throughout the South.  If you’d like to read more, you can read the latest information posted by Wikipedia by Clicking Here.

By the way, Warner Baxter was indeed a very popular movie star back in the day.  He was an American actor best known for his role as The Cisco Kid in the movie “In Old Arizona.”  He won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928-1929 Academy Awards.  He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was somewhat of an inventor as well.  He first appeared in Silent Films but later moved on to the “talkies,” as you can see by the poster above.  You can learn more about him at this link… Warner Baxter.  Baxter was rather handsome so I’m sure the ladies all liked him.  Looks a bit like Clark Gable if you ask me.

Here’s a scan of the article and recipe from the book.  Please note that I totally did NOT start out with the one and a half cups of Olive Oil, nor did I use three onions.  I made a few slight changes, but the recipe I’m offering here is adapted from the above recipe.

As I mentioned, this is a pretty quick and easy meal to prepare.  It does require soaking the beans overnight so keep that in mind.  I think you’ll like it if you give it a try.  I know there are thousands of variations on chili so I’d also be interested in learning about your favorite recipes for the same.  If you’re ready… Let’s Get Cooking!

Baxter’s Chili Con Carne Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients for my adaptation of the recipe.

Secret Ingredients:  You’ll also need some Black Pepper, Beef Bouillon Granules and Cocoa Powder.
(OK…so maybe…just maybe…they aren’t really all that secret.  Maybe…I just forgot to include them in the picture with the other ingredients….or….maybe they just all wouldn’t fit in that one single picture.  You decide.  OK? ) 

Spread the dry beans out in a large dish or on your counter-top and sort through them.  You’ll want to remove any small sticks, rocks, or other foreign items you might find.  Also, remove any shriveled up and bad looking beans that might be included.  Beans are usually harvested by mechanical means and it’s just natural to find these type of things in any given bag of dry beans.  Just throw the bad parts away.

I like to place the sorted beans in a colander next and run some cool water over them to rinse away any dirt or dust that might be on them.

Place the rinsed beans in a large pot and cover them with several inches of cool water.  Set them aside and let them rehydrate overnight or for at least 6-8 hours.  You’ll probably also find some directions on the bag the beans came in for ways to do a quick soak if you need them sooner.

The next day, drain the dirty water off the soaked beans and rinse them once again under cool running water.  See how they have plumped up?

While the beans are draining, dice up one medium sized Onion.

Just rinse out the same sauce pot and place it on your stove.  Turn the heat to about medium-high and let it warm up for a minute or two.

As I mentioned, I opted not to use as much olive oil as the recipe called for.  Instead, I’m using 1/3 cup to saute the onions in.

Toss in the diced onions.

LOWER the heat back to medium and keep a close watch on the onions.  Stir them often and let them simmer for about 10 minutes.

Once the onions start to get a little color on the edges and turn translucent, you’re ready to move forward to the next step.

Add the Ground Beef to the pot.  Break it up with your wooden spoon or fork and stir it around a bit.

A couple of minutes later, do the same with the Ground Pork.  Drop it in the pot, break it up and stir it around.

Let the meats simmer over medium heat, stirring often to keep breaking it up.  You don’t want the meat to burn so stir often.  It will need to simmer for about 15-20 minutes, depending on your stove and heat settings.  Just let it brown and don’t overcook it.

Once most of the meat has browned, it will look something like this.

Add the 2 cans of Tomato Sauce to the mixture.

Add one Tablespoon of Chili Powder.

Add one teaspoon of Garlic Powder.

Add one teaspoon of Oregano.

Add TWO teaspoons of Beef Bouillon Granules.  Just pretend that I did this one twice… because I did.

Add Four Cups of Hot Water.  Just use hot water straight from your tap so as not to cool down the cooking process.

Add the soaked Kidney Beans to the sauce pot… carefully.

Stir it all together very well.

You may want to raise the heat just a little and let it all come back up to a slight boil.  That’s just about the time you start to see some bubbles coming to the surface and popping.

Cover the sauce pot with a good fitting lid.  The lid on my pot has an adjustable vent built in.  I normally open it up completely to allow steam to escape.

REDUCE the heat down to about Medium-Low and let the pot simmer for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours, or until the beans are done to your liking.  You’ll need to stir the pot about every 30 minutes or so to be sure nothing is sticking to the bottom.  A slow simmer is best.

Add one teaspoon of Salt.  You may want to add more or less depending on your personal tastes.  You just need to start off slow and add more as you go if you think you need a bit more.

Add one teaspoon of Cocoa Powder.

Add one teaspoon of Black Pepper.

TASTE TEST:  Stir everything together very well and let it simmer for another 10 minutes or so.  Give it a little taste test and make any adjustments as needed.  You might think it needs a little more of the Beef Bouillon Granules for more of a beefy flavor, or perhaps a little more salt or pepper.  Just make it your own recipe for you and your family.  If you do add something, make a note of it for your recipe box for next time.

Top it off with a little shredded cheddar cheese.  OK, not as little as I’m showing here.  I wanted you to see the Chili-Con-Carne and not hide it under a lot of cheese.  Add a big old hunk of cornbread on the side or maybe a hot toasted cheese sandwich of some sort.  Either way…

Serve warm and Enjoy!

Fresh tomatoes in a pie crust somehow just doesn’t sound right does it?  Well, if you’ve never tried Tomato Pie, you are in for one more delicious treat.  You can use a store bought crust but we’re going to show you how to make your very own homemade pie crust from scratch that just takes this fresh Tomato Pie up to a whole new level.  Like me, I’m sure you’ll be wondering where this awesome dish has been all of your life.  Try it.

Fresh Tomato Pie Recipe with homemade pie crust:

It’s quick, easy and absolutely delicious.  You’ll find the step-by-step instructions below plus a printable recipe at the bottom.

Road Trip:  Not far from The Pier at Harris Lake, where I do all of my fishing, there’s a little roadside produce stand with some of the best tomatoes I’ve tasted since I was a kid.  They grow them right by their house along with some other fresh produce and I find myself stopping by on a pretty regular basis right now.

About every two months, one of my fishing buddies invites several of us over to his home for a Fish Fry.  Billy and his wife Jan are wonderful people that have made me feel right at home over the past year or two that I’ve known them.  I give Billy most all of the fish I catch, he takes them home and cleans them, then his wife Jan invites me over to enjoy them.  How much better can it be?

On my last visit a couple of days ago, Jan had some sliced tomatoes on a plate for us along with the fish and her other side dishes.  I’m not really one for eating tomatoes that aren’t between two slices of bread with some Duke’s Mayonnaise but, I went back for seconds on these.  As I told the group, “these are the best tomatoes I’ve tasted since I was a kid.”  It’s true, they tasted just like the one’s my mom and dad use to grow and like the one’s WE sold at our own roadside produce stand.  When I asked Jan where she got them, she told me they came from this produce stand.  It belongs to a family that attends their church and Billy had put me on to it last year so, I knew exactly where it was.  I wanted more fresh tomatoes.  I knew they would be just perfect for a ‘mater sandwich.  ( That’s Southern for Tomato. )

I love roadside produce stands and stop at just about every one that I see.  I love this one!  As the sign above says, it’s all self service and on the honor system.  You pick out your produce, weigh it on the “baby scales” and then drop your money into the locked money box and go on your merry way.  The sign leaning up against the tree has all of the prices and a large umbrella covers part of the stand.  Cool huh?

The selection was a bit low on this particular day.  It was late in the evening when I stopped by and the recent days of 100 plus degree heat and lack of rain has caused some shortages of fresh items from the garden.  Still, they had tomatoes and I knew I wanted to try them in my first ever Tomato Pie.

On this day, they had one Watermelon left, some Red Skin Potatoes, Tomatoes, a couple of jars of canned Pickles….and the cooler had some fresh picked cucumbers, squash and a dozen eggs…all on a plastic soda bottle of water that had been frozen and placed inside to keep things cool.  Several tomatoes and the fresh eggs went home with me but, I decided I’d wait on the watermelon.

I was told these are a variety known as “Celebrity” Tomatoes.  I looked it up and found they are a hybrid tomato but…whatever they are….they ARE delicious.  I picked a couple from the right side, third row down, weighed them, dropped the money in the box and headed home.

This is actually the very first Tomato Pie I’ve ever made.  And, to the best of my memory, it’s the first Tomato Pie I’ve ever tasted.  I don’t recall mama ever making one as I was growing up and don’t remember ever seeing them at the family reunions.  Maybe my family just wasn’t hip enough to something with tomatoes in it being called a pie.  Pie was suppose to be sweet and for dessert right?

You can make this with a store bought, pre-baked pie crust but I knew I wanted to make my own from scratch if I was going to try one.  I hope you’ll try it too and that just like me, you’ll kick yourself wondering where in the world this stuff has been all of your life.   It’s just that good.

What does it taste like?  Well, I thought it might taste a little like pizza with all the cheese and tomatoes but, what about the pie crust?  The pie crust part just wasn’t working with my taste buds in my mind about this.  It’s just that Southern thing about pies being for dessert I guess.  Not to fear though…it tasted wonderful.  I do hope you’ll give it a try and I’ve got all the photos below to show you how to create your own.  So, if you’re ready….Let’s Get Cooking!

Tomato Pie Recipe:  You’ll need these ingredients.

I highly suggest that you follow my recipe for a Basic Pie Crust and make your own crust from scratch.  It’s really easy and you will taste a big difference over those that you purchase at the grocery store.  This pie is all about fresh ingredients and making the crust homemade just seemed like the natural thing to do.  No, I didn’t make the cheese or the mayo but give me a little more time.  I might try making the cheese but that Duke’s Mayonnaise, well, there’s no reason to even try and top that stuff.  I’ve got a designated spot in the refrigerator that HAS to have Duke’s Mayo all the time.  And no again, they aren’t paying me to say that.  I just happen to really like the stuff.

Pre-heat your oven to 350º

Begin the work on the pie by first taking several leaves of fresh Basil and stacking them all together like this.

Roll the leaves up tightly.  I was going to say roll them up like you were making a little cigar but I doubt that many of us have ever done that before.  At least I haven’t.

Slice the basil.

I opted to use some Spring Onions that I had on hand.  I’m sure any variety of onion would work.  Just slice and dice them up into small pieces.

Slice up the tomatoes.  You can use the tomatoes in slices or….

….you can dice and cube them up like I did.

Whether you decide to just use the sliced tomatoes…or…the diced tomatoes, you’ll need to put them in a colander to drain.  You don’t want a bunch of juice to make the pie all soggy.

Place the colander in the sink or over a bowl to catch the juices that will soon be dripping away.  Go ahead and sprinkle on some Black Pepper, using it according to your taste preference for pepper.

Then, sprinkle the tomatoes with Salt.  The salt will not only be helping the flavor, it will also help pull juice out of the tomatoes.  It’s a needed part of the recipe…..getting the juice out that is.  Now, set it aside for a few minutes and let it drain.

In a separate bowl, add the grated Cheddar Cheese.  I’m using sharp cheddar.

Add in some grated Mozzarella Cheese.

Add in the Duke’s Mayonnaise.

If by any chance you are an “alien” that doesn’t like mayo…don’t worry about this addition.  You aren’t going to taste the mayo once the pie has been baked.  Of course, for me, it’s hard to imagine that anyone doesn’t like mayo.  Maybe we should talk.

Grab a spoon and stir it all together.  Stir it a little….stir it a lot…it doesn’t matter….it’s all going to melt together anyway.  Just saying.

Stir the tomatoes around a bit to help the juices drain out better.

Lets start assembling our pie.  Using a cooled and pre-baked pie crust, toss in the onions and spread them around over the bottom.

Add the chopped basil.  OK…so I didn’t get a picture of me adding the chopped basil to the pie.  There’s a really good reason for that.

I mean…a really good reason.  Like a really, really, really GOOD reason.

They say confession is good for the soul right?  Well the reason I don’t have the picture of me adding the basil to the recipe is…well…well….I accidentally somehow…just forgot…to ADD the basil to the recipe.  That’s right…whew, I feel better now that I’ve owned up to that.  I’m normal OK…I just somehow forgot to actually add the basil.  And of course, I purchased one of those little packs of fresh basil JUST for this recipe.  On the other hand, I can confidently tell you that THIS recipe is STILL awesome, even WITHOUT adding Basil.  Trust me on this one.  Let’s move on.

After you’ve drained as much juice from the tomatoes as possible, place them in the pie crust and spread them around evenly.

Gently spread the cheese mixture over the top of the tomatoes.  Doesn’t that look good already?

Tomato Juice anyone?  Look how much juice came out of these tomatoes.  It’s even salted and peppered.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350º or, until the cheese has slightly browned.  Watch it carefully and don’t let it burn.

Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

Our Tomato Pie will be best served warm.  I found however that trying to cut it while warm made it a bit difficult.  It was really delicious but…a little messy for presentation.  Instead, let the pie cool completely and then place it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours.  It will setup nicely after this time and it will be much easier to slice…and prettier.  Place a slice on a plate or serving dish and then pop it in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  You could also slice it and slip the dishes back in the oven for a few minutes to warm back up.  Just don’t heat it too much or it will turn all soft and runny on you again.

I’ve also placed a couple of slices in the freezer.  After letting them thaw completely, just a quick trip in the microwave and you can enjoy a slice of Tomato Pie any old time you want one.

Enjoy!!!