Ultimate Leftovers

When I made the BBQ Bakers a few days ago, I had a ton of meat left over that needed to be put to good use. I also found some leftover corn tortillas that needed to be used as well. Not wanting to be wasteful, I decided on BBQ nachos. I know it is not the normal thing to do with leftovers, but I'm here to try new things and share them with you.

First you will need to get some oil ready for frying and make sure you have some room in your arteries for what's to come.

Cut the corn tortillas into quarters.

Fry them until lightly golden.

Remove and sprinkle with salt.

Remove the leftover meat from the fridge and microwave it for a few seconds to loosen it up.

Put the chips on a cookie sheet and top with meat.

Pour on the BBQ sauce.

Sprinkle with cheddar cheese.

Broil for a few minutes but do not leave it by its self. It will burn before you know it!

Remove and enjoy! I like to top mine with sour cream and extra BBQ sauce.

Hopefully you will have a chance to try these wounderful nachos soon. Your family and friends will love it. Talk about something great for watching ball games or just when your friends come over. Feel free to jazz it up some too. Red onions and jalapeno peppers would be an awesome addition. Make it your own! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

A picture is worth....

Since Mardi Gras is now over with, I decided to change my profile picture. What you are left with is vintage Southern Foodette. This was taken some time in the 80's but you knew that. Who wears gold dresses now a days? Check out that hair! I know you are jealous! Did you notice my two front teeth? Yes, they are fake. I had lost them just a week or so before the pageant (eating a candied apple at the fair) so Mama had new ones made for me. Fact: She still has them! They did the trick and I ended up winning.

Most of my childhood weekends, holidays and summers were filled with beauty pageants and dance competitions. My Mama dragged me all over the South with my hair teased to Jesus and enough makeup on to make Tammy Faye Baker jealous, all for me to strut my stuff in front of some judges in the hopes of winning a crown, trophy and sash. No, I was not forced to do this. I wanted it is bad as she did and sometimes more.

There is no telling how much money she spend on custom made dresses and sportswear. On top of dance lessons, hair appointments, modeling coaches, voice coaches, interview coaches, shoes, makeup, dance costumes, food, gas and hotel stays. I loved every minute of it. I didn't really enjoy sleeping with rollers in my hair or waking up at the crack of dawn to drive to the next pageant, but it was worth it. I was good and there's no doubt about it. I was highly trained and I made my family and myself proud.

The self confidence that you get from competing, whether it be sports or pageants, children need that to survive later in life. If you put the work in, try your best and feel like you succeed even when you fail at a young age, then I believe you are less likely to be a basket case when you are older.

Thank you Mama for pushing me and supporting me. The Southern lady that I am today is because of you. I know my manners, how to talk to people, how to carry myself and how to make friends with anyone because of you. If the child that I am bearing now is a girl, I hope I can offer her the same life as you gave to me.

I will be posting random, vintage Southern Foodette pictures along the way. I think you may get a kick out of it. I know my brother will.

Love to all. Back to cooking....

BBQ Bakers

Recently our favorite BBQ joint, JR's, closed down leaving our BBQ cravings to go untamed. When JR's was open, we would always order the stuffed baked potatoes that oozed with butter, sour cream, cheese, meat and BBQ sauce. They hit the spot when you had a hangover and we just perfect for lunch or dinner. After weeks of agony, I decided to make my own BBQ. Having never tried to do this before, I was a little nervous about how it would turn out, but I knew I had to give it a shot. Since I don't have a smoker, I decided to roast it in the oven.

You will need some salt, pepper, dark brown sugar, paprika, cayenne and a 6lb pork shoulder roast.

Mix all of the seasonings together and rub them into the roast. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

When your 2 hours are up, break out your dutch oven, apple juice, apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire, liquid smoke and garlic powder.

Mix all of those ingredients in the Dutch oven and add the roast.

Cover with foil, put the lid on and pop it in the oven for 5 1/2 hours. You will need to baste the roast every hour.

What you end up with is super tender meat that just falls off the bone. The meat is so tender that you can shred it with your fingers to go on top of the potatoes.

The last hour you will need to get your potatoes to baking or if you are me, put them in the microwave after you have pierced them with a fork all over and sprinkled with salt.

Cut open a potato and break up the inside some. Add butter, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, meat and BBQ sauce (Stubb's) on top. Make sure you leave the sauce on the table because you may feel the need to use more. I know I do.

I hope you all enjoy this tasty treat. Yes it will put you one step closer to a heart attack, but who cares? It's worth it! Try it out and let me know what you think. Friday I will show you what do do with the leftovers!

Conecuh Dogs

For Christmas this year we received a huge gift basket full of Conecuh sausage from Southern Building Structures owner, Mike. If you know me, then you should know that I love Conecuh sausage and I can eat it just about 24 hours a day. Out of the 3 flavors they offer, I love the hot and spicy. Mark likes the original and my parents like the Cajun flavor. I have a freezer full of sausage and a big slab of bacon in the freezer from this one Christmas gift so I have been trying to use the sausage as much as I can.

I really wanted a Conecuh dog with some onions on it and Mark wanted me to do some beans and rice so I did both, sort of. I didn't have any beans but I did have some black eye peas so I kind of ended up with hoppin john instead of beans and rice.

I started by cutting up some onions. Chopped for the hoppin john and sliced for the dogs.

While the onions are sauteing, you will need to start some rice.

When the onions are nice and soft, add some small pieced of sausage to the pan and let cook for a little while.

Break out the griddle and get it hot. I only have an electric griddle so I am jealous if you have one built in. Please don't rub it in!

When your griddle is hot, slap your sausage pieces (that you have spilt down the middle) on there to cook and don't forget the onions.

Back to the hoppin john. Drain and rinse your peas and add them to the pan with a little chicken broth.

When your rice is done, add some to the peas and sausage. You may have to add more broth, but you don't want it to be watery.

Now for one of my favorite parts. Drench a hot dog bun with mustard. Add sausage and more mustard down the middle. Top with onions. Put some hoppin john on the side and devour! Mark likes to put some on top of his dogs, but you don't have too.

I hope you all have a chance to enjoy some Conecuh sauage one day. If you cannot buy it in your neck of the woods, you can order it online. Everything is better with Conecuh sausage. No camping trip, cook out or hang over would be complete with out it!

New Addiction

My wonderful bookkeeper, Rhonda J, found some okra chips at Fresh Market and brought them in to the office for everyone to share. BIG MISTAKE! I cant get enough of these things. I even looked for a recipe, but I can't find one. I did find out that they are "vacuum fried." Meaning they are deep fried and then the oil is sucked out of them. If someone could show me how to do this I would be really grateful.

After they are vacuum fried, packaged and shipped to your local Fresh Market, what you end up with are these wonderful, sort of crystallized okra pods that are crunchy and irresistible.

They look a little like thinly blown glass, but they have the flavor of traditional fried okra without the batter.

I think you can order them online from Fresh Market or you may be lucky enough to pick some up at your local location. I'm serious about someone showing me how to make these. I have got to have more and more and more okra chips!! Try them out and let me know what you think. WARNING: They are addictive!

SIDE NOTE:

Dear Food Network and the Travel Channel,

Where have your manners gone? Why is it that some of your hosts cannot take appropriate bites of food, chew with their mouths closed and not talk with a full mouth? My Mama would slap me, even today, if I did that. What kind of image is that sending to viewers? With all of the bad stuff going on in the world today the least we can do is use good manners. Taking huge bites of food does not make it taste any better. I don't want to see your food swirling around in your mouth while you are chewing and talking. That is the grossest thing ever. Andrew Zimmern, if I hear your jaw pop one more time I'm going to scream. Will someone please teach these people some manners?!!!

How do you feel about it?

Baked Spaghetti

Years ago when Mark and I first got married I started making this super easy dish and he has loved it ever since. I sometimes make this for our friends when they come over. I have also delivered this meal to loved ones that are sick, just had babies...ect.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and put some noodles on to boil. It doesn't matter what kind of noodles. I used elbows this time but I have used spaghetti before.

Start by sauteing some minced garlic in a little olive oil.

Chop up some pepperonis.

Brown some lean ground beef and add the pepperonis. You will want to drain off the fat. I forgot to this time.

Pour some spaghetti sauce on top and let simmer for a few mins. Add some fresh Parmesan and stir together.

Drain the noodles.

Add some of the sauce mixture to coat the noodles. Pour into a 9x9 casserole dish and spread the remaining sauce on top.

Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Let bake for 15-20 mins.

I like to serve mine in bowls. There is something about seeing a heap of meat and noodles in a bowl that makes you want to inhale your food. They are also great for when you curl up on the couch in front of the TV for a midnight snack. Not that I would know anything about that....I'm just saying it would be a good idea.

You don't have to use just ground beef for this. I have used some Italian sausage and salami before. Try it out. Make it your own. This stuff is so good that you really shouldn't count on leftovers.

Mudbugs

Saturday Mama called me to say that Tina, a lady that works for us, brought us some boiled crawfish. I can never say no to crawfish so I raced down to our store to pick them up. There is nothing like a hot summer night with friends, family, beer and a ton of crawfish. I know it's not summer yet and I can't have a beer, but any time is a good time for crawfish.

I poured a few out in a bowl so I could snack on them while watching the tube. If you have never eaten them, have no fear, I will teach you how to get the meat out.

Select one of the "bugs" to eat.

Separate the head from the tail. Squeeze the head a little and suck all of the juices out. Don't cringe, just try it at least once. If you don't like it, then don't do it again. I happen to think that is the best part. Insert dirty jokes here.

Throw the head away. Pick up the tail and peel off the first joint of the shell. Pinch the bottom of the tail, put the meat in your mouth and pull the rest of it out of the shell. You can peel off all of the shell and pick the meat out with your hands, but the first way is the fastest, I think.

You don't get a lot of meat out of the tail so you have to eat at least a hundred or so before you get full. Ok so not really a hundred, but it seems like it. Most people will boil corn, red potatoes and sausage along with the crawfish so if you are not a mudbug fan you will at least have something to eat.

I hope that you all have a chance one day to enjoy these spicy little crustaceans. You will not be disappointed. Make sure that you wash your hands good when you are finished. Cut up some lemons for your lips, that will be on fire, and for your stinky fingers. If you don't know where to buy them, just call Buddy Grass Seafood at 251-443-7291 and ask for Tina. She will be happy to help you out.

Buddy Grass Seafood

2585 Hamilton Blvd

Mobile, AL 36605

251-443-7291

Not Yo Nacho

For the past few days I have been wanting some nachos. Not just any nachos, but loaded to the gills nachos. Who wants just chips and cheese? Please, that is for amateurs. Deciding that I could save some money, I made my own version of nachos.

I wasn't in the mood to navigate through layers of single tortilla chips so I opted for corn tortillas. If you bake them for a few mins before you load them up they wont get soggy.

Then I sauteed some onions for the refried beans, from a can (that smell sort of like dog food). When that was done I mixed them together.

After mixing the taco seasoning with water, I browned my lean ground beef.

The seasoning was "hot and spicy" so I poured it through a small strainer and into the meat since my boys do not care for the "hot and spicy."

When the meat was ready, it was time to start construction of the nachos. I smeared on the beans and onions, topped that with the seasoned meat and loaded it down with cheese. I love pickled jalapenos, so i put some on top of mine.

These babies make me long for a margarita in the worst way! Look at that gooey cheese and tell me you aren't hungry now. Now break out the sour cream and salsa and dig in. If you wanted to make them smaller they would be great for a get together. I'm sure some of you are saying that they are toastadas. Call them what you will. I call them good!

There was a great BBQ restaurant here in Mobile that closed not to long ago that had the best BBQ nachos. They fried their own chips, topped them with pulled pork or chopped beef and cheddar cheese. We used to drench them with BBQ sauce and fight over who got the last chip. Looks like I may have to try that out at home. When I do, I will share it with you.

How do you like your nachos?

Picklefish?

As some of you may know, the Southern Foodette has a bun in the oven. This means only one thing. I AM HUNGRY! I seriously could eat 24 hours a day, but a girl needs her beauty rest.

Saturday morning I was watching a show about pizza on the Travel Channel and that set off a craving for pizza in the worst way. This was not a craving for chain pizza places. This had to be a one of a kind joint. I decided that Picklefish would be perfect. After loading my boys into the truck, we were on the way. Picklefish is not close to our house in any way. Located across from the University of South Alabama, it is about 20 mins from our humble abode. Needless to say, Mark was thrilled about that. He's a chain fan, go figure.

We walked in and found a suitable table. The super nice server took our drink order and I had to order an appetizer, I was starving after all. The spinach artichoke dip was calling my name from the menu.

As the server was placing our drink and app order, we scanned the menu for pizza. I, of course, wanted one of EVERYTHING! Figuring that we didn't have the funds to complete that task, we ordered 3, 10 inch pizzas. Cheese for JW. BBQ chicken pizza for Mark and Buffalo chicken for me.

While waiting for our pizza, the spinach artichoke dip came out. It was so good that you could bathe in it. the bread was buttery and crunchy and all around tasty. As you can see from the picture, I was too busy stuffing my face to take a picture as soon as it came out.

JW's cheese pizza was the best just given its simplicity. The crust was spot on and the cheese was very cheesy.

Marks BBQ chicken pizza was great but would have been better without bell peppers. It really took away from the flavor.

The Buffalo chicken pizza was a nice surprise. The sauce was tangy, not sour, so that was great and the cheese was not just mozzarella, but blue cheese crumbles as well. The one thing that I would change would be the fried chicken. I think grilled or roasted would have been more flavorful.

Picklefish has been a staple in Mobile for years and years. There were many hearts broken when the Dauphin St location closed. After a long night of partying on Mobile's version of Bourbon St, it was nice to sober up with a few slices of pizza. At least they are still open on Old Shell Rd. If you are ever down this way and are searching for pizza, give Picklefish a try.

Picklefish

5955 Old Shell Rd

Mobile, AL 36608