A new spin on Black Eyed Peas: Spicy Black Eyed Peas Salsa

Black Eyed Peas for Luck in the New Year 2012

We've always had black eyed peas for our New Years dinner, that and Cherries Jubilee.  I always thought it was for luck and money.  Well, I was right about the luck part anyway.  Turns out, that:

"The Tradition dates back tot he Civil War.  Black-eyed peas were considered animal food.  The peas were not worthy of General Sherman's Union troops. When Union soldiers raided the Confederates food supplies, legend says they took everything except the peas and salted pork.  The Confederates considered themselves lucky to be left with those meager supplies, and survived the winter.  Peas became symbolic of good luck and prosperity."

There are several more reasons people eat Black eyed peas on New Years, look for the link below if you want to find out more information.

One year, I waited too long and was unable to find a single can of black eyed peas.  I was not a happy girl, so I got a bag of them and proceeded to fix them like any other dried bean. Nice idea, except they tasted like cardboard.  Maybe that's even an insult to cardboard.  This year, I have found a recipe my sister sent to my Mom and me an unknown-amount-of-time-ago.  Guess what we are having for New Years this year?  Black eyed Peas made like this!


12/30/2011: Update.  I made this tonight and did not have canned tomatoes, I forgot we had used them for Christmas dinner.  I did have a jar of tomato/basil spaghetti sauce so I poured the whole jar in.  This recipe is really good, I got a lot of rave reviews at the New Year dinner tonight.  

Spicy Black Eyed Peas Salsa:

1 cup chopped green bell peppers

1 1/4 cup chopped celery

1 1/3 cup chopped onion

2 cans Garlic, basil tomatoes

6 Chopped Jalapenos (can omit if spicy is not for you)

1 tsp salt (optional)

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

pinch of allspice

1 TB Tabasco (give or take, or leave out)

3 chicken low sodium bullion cubes 

2 16oz cans black eyed peas drained and rinsed (rinse to get the excess salt & preservatives off)

1 tsp garlic powder or 3 minced cloves

2 TB flour (if Salsa is too runny)

1/2 cup water (if it's not runny enough. grin)

Saute the first 3 ingredients with a little oil until onions are transparent.

Combine tomatoes, and the next 8 ingredients and bring to a simmer

Add the onion mixture, stir simmer until mixture thickens (about 20-30 minutes)

Mixture should have a "sauce"

Add some water if it doesn't

Add the black eyed peas and garlic 

Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until peas are softened

Serve with Chips, corn chips or tortilla scoops

Credits:
Picture taken from:
http://www.gardeningblog.net/how-to-grow/black-eyed-peas/
Black eyed peas history:
Household tips Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/household-tips-in-national/why-eat-black-eyed-peas-on-new-year-s-day

Caprese Bread or Tomato Basil Bread

Thanksgiving is around the corner and I want to make something different this year.  I made pies for Thanksgiving up until a year or so ago; we nicknamed them "drop pies", because I managed to drop everyone of them before I got them into my Dad's house.  I'm very glad that I always had a lid on the pies, which is what saved them from being total disasters.  Of course they looked terrible, but they still tasted good.  I'm over the whole pie making thing.  What's new and different?  I am on a quest to find something that will knock my family’s socks off.  

During October I purchased a magazine called, "Taste of Home", I found so many neat and delicious recipes.  I really enjoyed the Halloween Edition.  I decided I would purchase one of the Christmas Editions.  I purchased the Edition titled, “Best Holiday Recipes 2011".  It is chalk full of delicious recipes, I am going to try several of them. 

 I found one recipe in particular that I could not wait to try.  As I posted in my last blog, I am enjoying learning to bake bread, so naturally it is a bread recipe.  The recipe I found looks beautiful and sound divine, except for one thing.  I'm allergic to one of the ingredients.  If I made this recipe I would have to modify it and how would I do so since I'm new to the whole bread making world.  I understand the yeast is tricky, there can't be too much flour or too little flour, the ingredients have to be exact and room temperature or the yeast won't rise, careful not to over-mix. What was I going to do? One word, try.  So I did try, and I'm glad that I did.  The bread is so good, the recipe made two large loaves, allowing me to share with my family, friends and the Chef at our favorite restaurant.  I had to leave Chef Ricks with one of the waitresses, who complimented me on the beauty and festive look of the bread.  A deft poke with her finger and she exclaimed how soft the bread is too, and smelled wonderfully. I hoped the bread made it to Chef Rick's office, intact.  So far, everyone has raved about the bread. So what is this fabulous recipe?  Drum roll please.....

"Tomato Spinach Bread" by Avanell Hewitt 

Featured on page 71 of the "Taste of Home Best Holiday Recipes 2011"

Instead of using Spinach, which I am allergic to, I substituted Basil so the bread I made is Tomato Basil Bread, or Caprese Bread.  One of my most favorite salads in the world is the Caprese Salad.  Its taste cannot be beaten.  It is also so simple and easy to make, the flavors just go together.  Tomato, Basil, Mozzarella sprinkled with Olive oil.  Fantastic.  I was hoping this bread would be a wonderful compliment to the salad, it did not disappoint. 

This is the modified recipe:

Tomato Basil Bread or Caprese Bread: 

Yield: 2 loaves (10 slices each)

Bread (plain) Dough:

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (110 - 115 degrees)

4 teaspoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

2 3/4 to 3 cups bread flour

Basil Dough:

1/4 cup cold water

6 ounces of Basil paste (found in cold veggie section)

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

4 teaspoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour

Tomato Dough:

1/4 cup cold water

6 ounces of tomato paste

1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water (110-115 degrees)

4 teaspoons butter, melted

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour

1 egg white

1 teaspoon cold water

Parchment paper

For plain dough, in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Add butter, salt and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to form a firm dough.

Turn on to a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover with a wet towel.  Allow to rise 2 hours.

For basil dough, in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Add butter, salt and 2 cups flour, and basil paste; beat until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to form firm dough.

Turn on to a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover with a wet towel.  Allow to rise 2 hours.

For tomato dough, in a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

Add butter, salt and 2 cups flour, and tomato paste; beat until smooth.  Add enough remaining flour to form firm dough.

Turn on to a lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.  Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top.  Cover with a wet towel.  Allow to rise 2 hours.

Punch down each dough and divide in half; cover.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out on e portion of each dough into a 10in X 8 in rectangle.  Place a rectangle of basil dough on top of the rectangle for plain dough, and then place the rectangle for tomato dough on top of the basil dough.  You'll have 3 layer dough.  Roll into a 12in X 10in rectangle.  Roll up, jelly roll style, starting with a long side, pinch seams to seal and tuck ends under.  

Place seam side down on baking sheet lined with parchment paper

Repeat with remaining dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.

With a sharp knife, make three shallow diagonal slashes across the top of each loaf.

Beat egg white and cold water; brush over loaves.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to wire racks to cool.

The original recipe:

         For the spinach dough:  same as basil dough except substitute basil for 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry.  

        for all of the dough:  Instead of letting it rise for 2 hours on the counter, the original recipe calls for it to be covered and placed in the refrigerator overnight. 

This bread is delicious with spaghetti, toasted with butter and mozzarella melted on top.  There are many ways to enjoy this bread.  Share some of your ideas with me; I'd love to hear them.

  

Cheddar cracker meatballs with tomato and sausage spaghetti sauce

Goldfish Cracker meatballs with tomato and sausage spaghetti sauce

I've missed out on blogging for a while.  I'm a shameless procrastinator, therefore I...... I'll tell you later.  Ok, I'll tell you now.  I've become a fan of a series of books by Diana Gabaldon.  They are a wonderful, intricate series of books that leave a person wanting for more.  Right now, I am eagerly awaiting the next novel in the series.  I have found a place where other people, who are addicted to this series, can go discuss them.  It's been wild to see so many different opinions of the why, how, what-just-happened, of these stories.  What's best, is the author, will actually respond to many of these posts.  There are some pretty heated discussions, but it is all in fun.  I usually don't like historical novels, I find them boring.  Hearing about how mean people are to each other, the wars, the disputes and so on, is tedious.  I can get all of that on the news channels.  What's unique about Diana's historical novels is this.  They are both fact and fiction.  She weaves an intricate web around the real history, while connecting it to her fictional story base.  It really is a fantastic series.  I encourage anyone who loves to read, to try these. 

My husband works away at times, which means he eats at restaurants more than he wants to.  When he is home, he always asks me to fix him spaghetti with meatballs.  That has to be one of my favorite dishes as well, I like it even more when someone has to fix the meatballs though.  So boring to fix, but worth it. 

We went on a family beach vacation, with my husbands side of the family.  It was a lot of fun.  We each had a night to fix dinner.  My mother-in-law, Susan, she chose spaghetti and meatballs.  The meatballs were delicious, but, they had some weird orange colored things in them.  Being a person, who, unfortunately, can get food poisoning faster than anyone else eating from the same food source, I have learned to pick through my food.  Making this obnoxious habit worse, is the fact, that I do have food allergies and found people like to put strange things in the foods they make.  Like, spinach in the lasagna.  Yes, I am allergic to spinach.  One restaurant served mango with just about everything, so I chose roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans.  What came out with my safe food choice?  Mango salsa, runny mango salsa.  You guessed it, allergic to that too.  When I noticed the orange things, many orange food choices ran through my head.  Upon noticing my complete focus on the meat balls, my husband nudges me to ask what is wrong.  I point to the orange thing in my meatball.  To which, he asks his Mom what she put in the meatballs.  Dinner conversation stopped, all eyes went to his Mom as we waited for her answer.  She gave us her list of ingredients, none of which I can remember, then explained why there were orange things in the meatballs.  She forgot to get bread crumbs so she took a bunch of the gold fish crackers, smashed them up and used them.  Genius!  So, to this day, that's the only ingredient I remember in her meat ball recipe.  They were the best I'd ever had, so I have worked to duplicate them.  The easiest thing would be, call to ask.  Well, she, like me, doesn't write down her recipes.  It's been fun, maybe not always successful, i.e., if you're going to add kale to meatballs, make sure you cut it up really really thin, and don't put too much in cause then it's just gross. 

My little boy loves to help me in the kitchen.  His question, when he sees me start to cook, "What are we fixing?"  He then opens the drawer and pulls out his Nut Cracker apron, then gets his stool to help me cook.  I had him go get his toy hammer.  He was very confused, but after promising I wouldn't start without him, he ran off to get it.  When he came in I put the gold fish crackers in a zip lock baggie and had him smash them to bits.  At first he thought it was a trick, because we aren't allowed to play with our food.  When he finally was convinced I was serious, he went to town. I believe my little boy was the magic to the secret ingredient because they were divine!  I made way too many, so I sent a bunch off to work with my husband the next day.  Cold meatballs are ok, or so he tells me.  It just sounds yuck to me, but oh well.

Imagine my surprise when I get a text message from one of his co-workers, David, asking me for the recipe.  He loved them and wanted to make some for his girlfriend.  He was lucky I had just recently made them, so I could still see what I had used, in my mind.  I was so pleased to have someone contact me for one of my recipes!! It was great. I later found out he had first contacted my husband to see if he minded if David texted me.  What a gentleman!  One of the many things I love about living in the south and in  a rural part of the states, manners.  Gentlemen will not go into a house alone, with a married (or otherwise attached) woman.  It looks bad.  He was considerate of his girlfriend as well as my husband and I. Everyone knew, so there was no chance of confusion. I find that very commendable, that there are still some men out there who do not want to give the semblance of impropriety, by contacting a married woman.  I was very impressed.  Anyway, I sent him the message with the recipe attached.  He later told me the meatballs were "amazing".  I was so happy!  So, here is the recipe.  Enjoy, and please let me know how you liked them!

Cheddar Cracker meatballs

1 jar sausage spaghetti sauce
1 lb ground round 80/20
2 shallots finely chopped or 1 small onion
1 tbsp parsley
1 1/2 tbsp oregano
2 eggs
salt & pepper
2 cups cheddar crackers (I use cheddar bunnies) smashed into crumbs ( a great job for a kid to do)

Boil water for your spaghetti noodles, fix per package instructions

heat oven to 350
Put cheddar crackers in a zip lock bag, making sure ALL the air is out (you'll not like the results of a bag blowing crackers all over your kitchen) then smash a way
Mix all the ingredients together (except the sauce)
Shape into meat balls and place in an oven proof baking dish. 
Pour sauce over the top and bake for about 45 minutes (depending upon the size of the meatball, bake for longer or shorter time)

If you make too many, you can always freeze them for later!! 

Have a wonderful time in the kitchen!

Home made Parmesan cheese breaded Chicken nuggets, tator tots, salad with Garlic Feta cheese

Hey Paw! What's for supper?
Home made chicken nuggets, cut from breast meat fillets. Coated in bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese and baked in the oven. Crisp tator tots, served with a salad sprinkled with Feta cheese. Yummmmmyyyyy

You may notice that one day of recipes is missing. That's because the church had a dinner and we ate there Thursday night. It was very good, but since I didn't make anything, I don't have a recipe. I thought I should have brought something, as I was pulling into the church's parking lot. I don't know why I didn't, it wasn't very thoughtful of me, was it?! Anyway, no one seemed to mind and we had a wonderful meal. The baby got to hang out with his Grandpa, and that made him very happy. He said "Paw Paw" a couple of times, pretty clearly. It was a proud moment for my Dad. It was also kind of sad when later on the baby went looking for his Daddy. His Daddy had to work, and I was bringing him a plate home. The little boy went to several closed doors, and shouted for his DaDa, he then cupped his ear and listened for a reply. We all kind of felt bad for the little guy, but he didn't cry, he just ran back to us. He sure loves his Dada!
Last night, I wanted to try my hand at chicken nuggets. I didn't want to fry them, I wish I had let them marinate in lemon juice for a little bit, but live and learn. They still turned out really well, moist and tasty. I think if I had added the lemon juice, it would have given the coating something to stick to, some moisture to stick to. I will try that next time. I'm sure you noticed the tator tots, I just love them. I used a Greek Feta cheese crumble over the salad, with romaine hearts, tomato and chopped carrots. My husband really enjoyed it. The little boy ate some tots, a lot of ketchup and a few nuggets. I should have made him eat his chicken before I gave him the tots and ketchup! Again, live and learn. Let's get started.

Tator Tots:
Frozen, out of bag, follow instructions.

Salad:
Hearts of Romain lettuce
Greek seasoned Feta cheese
Tomato
Carrots
Ranch dressing
Toss in a bowl

Parmesan breaded Chicken Nuggets:

Boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 1/2 cups Plain Bread crumbs
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 good hand full of finely chopped parsley
Lots of Parmesan cheese ( I used the kind you have to grate your self)

Heat oven to 375
slice the chicken into strips, then into chunks
Pour the rest of the ingredients into a zip lock baggy, add the chicken then mix thoroughly until the nuggets are coated.
Place aluminum foil on a baking sheet and rub with olive oil
Dump the nuggets, in one layer, onto the foil
Bake for 15 minutes, put the tator tots in and bake another 20, until the tots are crisp
Check the nuggets after 30, depending on their thickness, it may not take that long to bake

I hope you enjoy this, and would love to hear your comments! Let me know you've been by to ask Paw what's for supper!