Sowing on Sunday

Yesterday my Mama called me to ask if we would meet her at Lowes to pick out some veggies and herbs for the garden at the camp. The camp is a 28 acre parcel of land we own that fronts Mobile Bay and Fowl River. It is just a wonderful place to kick back and relax on the weekends. After picking out what we needed and making a list of the veggies we forgot, Mama and JW (my four year old son) to the camp to get started.

My husband, Mark, and I drove over to Winn-Dixie to pick up something for lunch for everyone. After deciding on ham and cheese and bologna sandwiches with chips, we were on our way.

Earlier in the week my Daddy tilled the area that Mama had picked out for the garden and set the poles around it for the fence that would be put up to keep the deer out. Mama had already mapped out where she wanted the HUGE variety of veggies and herbs to go so all I had to do was hoe a row and plant the seeds.

In the center of the garden we planted some potted herbs such as oregano, sage, rosemary and one more that I can't remember. JW planted his strawberry plant in the center.

On one side of the garden Mama planted Georgia collards, Romain lettuce, cabbage and broccoli.

On the other side we planted Vidalia onions, red onions shallots and turnips.

Near the onions I planted a variety of herbs such as basil, dill, tarragon, thyme and so on.

We also planted a salad mix area that has mesculin, spinach and radishes.

After planting all of that we were worn out. We will be planting lots more veggies like carrots, lots of peppers, tomatoes, beans, leeks, potatoes and garlic. I will keep you posted on the progress. Hopefully we can keep all of the critters away from our veggies.

Gardening is one of the reasons why I love living in the South. My mother and grandmother have always had gardens and tons of plants in the yard. Only certain people are born with green thumbs and they have it. If it wasn't for them I would know nothing about the joys of growing your own produce. I will be taking a trip to Nanny's garden soon and I'll share that with y'all too. Keep in mind that Mama and Nanny are the ones calling the shots as far as gardening goes. I killed an aloe plant. No green thumb for me!

Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

Shrimp and Grits has been a Southern staple for many, many, many years. The combination of juicy Gulf shrimp and creamy grits is enough to bring a grown man to his knees. I decided to make this dish because one of the local shrimpers brought me some beautiful red shrimp straight off the boat. These beauties are best when they are fresh.

I started by de-heading and peeling the shrimp. I don't mind doing it. It is sort of therapeutic in a way. I then sprinkled them with salt and pepper.

While the shrimp were hanging out together I got the grits started. All you need is to bring water, chicken broth and half and half to a boil. Whisk in the grits and reduce the heat.

Go ahead and get some bacon cooking until it's crispy. You will also need to slice some mushrooms, mince some garlic, chop green onions and split a lemon.

When the bacon is finished, crumble it into pieces. Saute the mushrooms in the bacon fat.

While the mushrooms are cooking, add cheddar and Parmesan cheese, butter and hot sauce to the grits. Mix together until creamy. Put a lid on and keep warm.

Add the green onions to the mushrooms.

Dust the shrimp with flour, add them and the garlic to the mushrooms and onions. Stir in some chicken broth, hot sauce and lemon juice, making sure you get all of the pieces off the bottom of the pan.

Spoon cheese grits into a bowl. Add shrimp mixture and top with crumbled bacon.

I think I may have died and gone to heaven! The creamy grits, crunchy bacon and sweet shrimp are so good together I could "eat it for breakfast," as my dad would say. He also says he could eat raw oysters on his corn flakes, but I will save that for a later blog.

There are many recipes for shrimp and grits. I hope you find one you like and try it out. I bet you will be eating grits from here on out too. By the way, DO NOT use quick grits. Use the real deal original grits. You will thank me later.

If you didn't know, the Foodimentary Guy is my big brother. I think it is funny that all of my blogs make him hungry. It is also amusing to me that he begs for leftovers, but sadly, there were no leftovers this time. Sorry Foodimentary Guy. I know you are starving now! You might want to wipe the drool off of your computer.

Oh Deer

As you may know, I reside in the great state of Alabama. This means that we have plenty of wildlife and plenty of hunters. I, nor my husband, are hunters so when I want deer meat, I have to ask around. My friend Yano Serra came into my store last week and had fresh deer meat in a cooler in the back of his truck. He so generously gave me a whole ham that I in turn had my grandfather process for me. When Grampa brought it back the next day, I was ready to put it to good use.

I started by tenderizing it, or as I call it, "beating the crap out of it." I then dusted it with salt and pepper and got my skillet ready.

While I was waiting on the skillet to heat up, I stared some rice and minced some garlic.

In a sauce pan I sauteed my garlic in butter until soft.

My skillet was ready for the deer meat, so I threw it in there to brown on each side.

When my garlic was soft I added a can of diced tomatoes, red pepper flakes and oregano. I let that simmer until the meat was finished.

When all of the elements were ready I scooped some rice onto a plate, topped with the deer meat and poured the sauce on top. Talk about good!

Some people will tell you that you need to soak your deer meat in milk overnight to neutralize the "game" taste, but I like the way wild game tastes. You do have to tenderize deer meat very well in order for it to not be rubbery and tough.

If you have never tried deer meat, you need to. It is an acquired taste, but you at least have to give it a shot. If you can't find it anywhere, just ask around. I'm sure someones brothers, cousins, uncle knows a guy, that knows a guy that can get you some deer meat.

Downtown Treat

Last week Mama and I had some running around to do and we found ourselves downtown at lunch time. Mobile offers many wonderful places to feast for cheap. I suggested that we eat at the Bicycle Shop on Dauphin St. It is not really a sit down restaurant. It is more like a bar that offers a fair amount of food. The building itself resembles a clean bar in New Orleans with more TVs. There are windows that open up onto Dauphin Street for maximum people watching, but not then day we went. It is "winter" in Mobile so when it is 50 degrees, it is COLD!

We sat in a cozy little booth and ordered some fresh guacamole to start with. What we got was not the nasty green mush you get from your local Mexican restaurant around the corner. This was a heaping bowl of creamy avocados cut into big chunks, tomatoes, cilantro and garlic with homemade tortilla chips. It was sensational. I was so wrapped up in consuming that little slice of heaven that I forgot to take a picture of it. Sorry.

After we all but licked the bowl the guac came in, we ordered our lunch. You order everything separately from a dry erase board behind the bar, so I ordered 3 tacos. 1 mahi mahi, 1 seared tuna, and 1 shrimp. Mama ordered the crawfish quesadilla. When our plates came out, mine looked like taco art and Mama's looked like a masterpiece.

Out of my three little art pieces, the shrimp was the best. Second was the mahi mahi and third was the tuna.

The tuna was topped with a chipotle sauce, green onion, and avocado. I wasn't pleased with the sauce. It was a little off for my taste.

Though the mahi mahi was a bit overcooked, but it was still wonderful. The crunchy cabbage and radishes was a nice contrast to the spicy an soft fish.

My hands down favorite was the shrimp and it was perfect! Nicely cooked shrimp with a sweet and spicy chutney on top was such a tasty combo.

The crawfish quesadilla that Mama ordered was also perfect. The mixture of cheese, crawfish and avocado was so good that had we not been so full, we would have ordered another one. Maybe two.

The end result was just a few spots of food on an otherwise empty plate.

If y'all should ever make it down to Mobile sometime, stop in the Bicycle Shop and give it a try. They also have a nice selection of beer and a fully stocked bar. 661 Dauphin Street Mobile, AL 36602 Liquid, the restaurant next door has the best sushi in town so try it out too.

Sorry about the picture quality, I took them with my phone. Believe it or not, there were other people eating there, but we were all sitting along the wall watching TV.

Wrap It Up!

My husband was looking at my Southern Living magazine the other day when he found a recipe for skillet burritos. He hardly ever asks me to cook something in particular, so when he asked me to make them for him, I was kind of taken aback. I can't tell you how many times I ask him what he wants to eat for supper and his answer is always "it doesn't matter" or "whatever."

It turns out that this is a super easy recipe that tastes great and it portable, so it is great for lunch the next day.

Start by making the dipping sauce. You need sour cream, onion, pickled jalapenos, Dijon mustard, cilantro and lime zest.

Mix it all together and put it in the fridge until the burritos are done.

You will need a can of Mexicorn (drained), a can of back beans (rinsed and drained), cheddar cheese and cooked chicken breast, chopped.

Mix the filling together.

Spoon in the middle of an 8 inch tortilla and fold like a burrito.

Heat skillet and brown on each side.

Cut in half and serve with lime jalapeno sauce and salsa.

I had 2, my husband ate the rest. They are really good. That sauce is awesome and I'm happy that he requested that I make them. Now if I could get him to request more foods for me to cook....

Try it out. Change the fillings. Try a different cheese. That is what I'm going to do next time. I'm thinking breakfast burritos!

Cold Weather Comfort

Is there anything like a nice bowl of chili to warm your soul when it is cold outside? I think not! Fiery chicken chili is one of my favorite chili recipes in the world. I make this when friends come over, when we are going to the camp and when it is cold outside. The first time I made this for our friends, they had never had chicken chili before. Now I get requests for it often.

When I started making this chili, I didn't have a dutch oven, so thanks to my big brother and T-Fin, now I do. I love it! Along with the dutch oven you will need boneless, skinless chicken thighs, chipotles, oregano, cumin, onions, garlic, salt, paprika, pinto beans and tomatoes. Lets get started...

Cut up the chicken thighs into bite size pieces. Chop the onions, mince the garlic and mince 1 chipotle pepper. Don't forget to drain and rinse the pinto beans.

Saute the onions and garlic with the herbs and spices until onions are soft.

Stir in the chipotle and 1 TBS of adobo sauce.

Add the chicken and let cook for 5 mins.

Mix in the beans, tomatoes and another TBS of adobo sauce, if you want to. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, covered for 30 mins.

Uncover and simmer for another 40 mins.

Serve in a bowl with sour cream, cilantro, cheddar cheese and green onions. Avocado would be good on top too. For parties and get togethers, just put the chili in a crock pot on low, put the toppings in bowls and let your friends and family top their chili the way they want.

Give it a try and let me know what you think. If you want the recipe, just ask. Hope you all have a great day and stay warm!

Dauphin Island Mardi Gras 2009

Saturday was the start of Mardi Gras in Mobile. The Krewe De La Dauphine rolled down the crowded streets of Dauphin Island as thousands of people waved their arms in anticipation of catching beads, stuffed animals and Moon Pie's.

Since I didn't get to ride my pony this year, my husband and I decided to invited friends over to our house on the Island for our own Mardi Gras party. I figured that finger foods would be the way to go so I only really "cooked" one dish, the rest was either mixing stuff together or throwing stuff in the crock pot. I bought some chips and salsa too, can't forget that.

Bright and early Saturday morning Thibodeau, my bulldog, and I walked down to the beach for some pre-parade relaxation. When we got back to the house and everyone had breakfast, I got started on the party food.

I started with the meatballs since they take the longest to thaw out. All you need is 2 bags of traditional meatballs (not Italian), 2 bottles of BBQ sauce (I use Stubb's) and a crock pot.

Put the meatballs in the crock pot, drown them in BBQ sauce and crank up the heat to high for a couple hours. CAUTION: These suckers are hot when they are done so be careful!

I then let some cream cheese soften on the stove for the chicken spread and corn dip.

The chicken spread is just a big can of white meat chicken, drained, a packet of ranch dressing mix, and a block of cream cheese mixed together. Stick it in the fridge until it is time to serve.

My world famous corn dip is everyone's favorite. 3 cans of Mexicorn, drained, 2 TBS of minced pickled jalapenos, Tony's and cream cheese.

Melt the cheese on the stove, add corn, Tony's and jalapenos. Stir together until creamy. Put in a bowl and serve with chips.

I found some little cheeseburgers at the grocery store so I grabbed some of those and a meat and cheese tray. Of course there was little food left after the parade which is great because I hate leftovers.

If you have never been to Mardi Gras, then Dauphin Island is the perfect place to get your feet wet, literally. The parade's on the Island are very family oriented. There is no flashing of certain body parts and there's not people shoving you and fighting over throws like they do Downtown. We will be at it again next Saturday when the Island Mystics roll, but just remember that the KDLD is and will always be the "big dogs" on Dauphin Island.

See you Saturday and if not then, then we will hopefully see you next year! Happy Mardi Gras!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!