Southern beans and snaps

I love holidays. The family love, the get-togethers and especially the food. I love also creating different kinds of dishes with the leftovers. There are times where I do not want to wait until a holiday to have holiday food or holiday leftovers. Beans and snaps are one of those dishes that gives you the holiday feel but it is pretty versatile. I normally make it when I see that my local grocery store has smoked shank pieces on sale for $.98 per lb.. Also using ham hocks or even a smoked turkey leg or wing would work!!! It is super delicious using any ham bone, which puts off a lot of flavor and there is also some meat on it. Win win!!! You can always add more ham if you like or if you don't have any... You could add bacon, salt pork or anything that's going to have the same type of flavor to go with that bone. Plus I add hot sauce which makes it zesty comfort food!! And if that didn't win you over it is made in the crock pot!!! I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!!

Southern Beans and Snaps

1-3 lb. smoked shank pieces /Leftover ham bone /hamhocks /smoked turkey wing or leg if you're watching your cholesterol...(any ham bone with meat on it will work).

1 bag (2 lb.) frozen field peas and snaps

4-6 oz. Louisiana hot sauce (more or less if you like)

Appx 3 cups of water or broth (making sure to cover the beans completely)

1 large onion cut into rings

Salt to taste

cooked rice

optional sliced scallions

Place the ham bones in the crock pot. Put onions in the crock pot surrounding the bone. 

Pour the field peas and snaps in a top the onion. Add any additional meat you would like to add (bacon, salt pork , more ham, leftover turkey...go crazy!) 

Add hot sauce...  

Normally this would be the time I would say add salt however your ham is going to be quite salty and if you are using broth you might want to wait until the beans are tender and you can taste and add salt as needed!

Pour water/broth in making sure to cover the beans well. 

Cook on low for about 8-10 hours.

Remove the bones, remove meat from the bones and add back to your crock pot.

Serve on a bed of your favorite cooked rice topped with optional scallions and more hot sauce if you like and enjoy!!!

7-up Biscuits

I have to admit something. I am a southern woman and until last night I have never made biscuits from scratch. My grandmother would have never used a refrigerated tube of biscuits but they are quite convenient especially when you have a lot of kids and not a lot of time. I have come across a recipe for biscuits a number of times on a number of food sites and have been intrigued. Not only do the reviewers say they are yummy but there are only 4 ingredients!! So I took a stab at it last night so to speak and all I have to say is wow! They were fluffy, tender and quite yummy! I will definitely be making these again! Look mamma and grand mamma I made biscuits!!! 

7-up biscuits

4 cups of bisquick (I used a generic)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup 7-up ( I used a generic)
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted

Preheat oven to 425.
Pour melted butter into a 13x9 pan.
Pour bisquick into a largo bowl.
Top with sour cream. 
Using a fork cut the sour cream into the bisquick until there are little crumbles.
Add in the 7-up and mix well. 
The dough will be sticky and if you want to kneed it, roll it and cut it you will need more bisquick.
I added like 1/4 cup more and then decided I was just gonna pour the batter into the pan on top of the butter and not cut them.
Bake for about 15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let sit for about 2 minutes if you need to cut them into squares.
Enjoy!!!

S.O.S

My father was in the US Army for 21 years and he learned some interesting food choices from all of his travels. One of his favorites was S.O.S (shit on a shingle) also known as chipped beef on toast. I had it once that way and even though my dad was a fantastic cook, it was horrible! So over the years both of my parents "evolved" the recipe. My dad started using ground beef, seasoning it up with a little beef bullion and making a flour/water gravy. My mom who also was a fantastic cook took that and rolled with it by getting rid of the water and using evaporated milk and adding pepper. At one point she started using half ground beef half sausage. My uncle who not only was a retired US Army vet but also was a mess hall cook showed me that adding a little Worcestershire sauce is yummy. Once I started cooking I decided to play around with the recipe a bit with seasonings and meats, but I always came back to something similar my uncle made. My version is more like a sausage gravy but it is one of my kids favorites. We normally have this for dinner with canned biscuits however last night I paired it with 7-up biscuits that I made ( recipe will be blogged as well). Sooo Yummy!! I hope you enjoy!!

S.O.S

3 rolls of pork sausage (you can use different flavors, maple is yummy)

4-6 cups of half and half

all purpose flour to dust the meat with to make a roux (about a cup)

2 beef bouillon (you can use just sea salt if you would preferred)

1-2 tbs. Worcestershire sauce  

2 tbs. black pepper

salt to taste

Brown the sausage making sure to break it up into pieces until you no longer see pink, drain.

Dust your meat with flour making sure to let it brown onto the meat a little bit.

While the flour is browning a bit add the bouillon, Worcestershire sauce and pepper.

Pour in enough half and half to cover the meat and turn the heat down to med.

Now is a good time to put your biscuits in the oven.

Make sure you stir every 3-5 minutes this way the gravy doesn't clump.

As it starts to thicken if it needs it, add more half and half. 

Simmer for about 20 minutes, remove from heat and allow to sit for about 5 minutes.

Serve on biscuits, toast or eat it on bowls like my kids!!!

Enjoy!!

40 Clove Chicken with Garlic Basil Pasta

I love 40 clove chicken and I have a great recipe for the crock pot (http://yumm-yumm-foodie.blogspot.com/2013/07/crock-pot-40-clove-chicken.html) but I wanted something different and I could not for the life of me put my finger on it so I decided to do a search. I think I looked at 100 different recipes for 40 clove chicken but it still was not what I was wanting. This inspired me to create!! What I came up with was AMAZING!! It was kinda nutty, crispy, moist and flavorful!! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!!

40 Clove Chicken with Garlic Basil Pasta

for the chicken:
4 lbs. split chicken breast (you can use whatever cut you want just adjust cook time accordingly)
5 bulbs of garlic, peeled leaving the cloves whole, mincing 4 of the cloves 
1 large onion cut into rings
sea salt
2 tsp. rosemary, divided
1 tbs. butter
drizzle olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup of sherry (you can use any white wine)


Preheat oven to 400.
Sprinkle sea salt on the chicken.
Place the whole garlic and onion rings into the bottom of a baking dish and sprinkle with half of the rosemary and salt.
In a pan heat up the oil and the butter on med high.
Place chicken skin side down in the pan until golden brown and crispy turning once.
Place the chicken on top of the garlic and onion.
While the pan is still hot toss in the other half of the butter, the minced garlic and the rest of the rosemary and saute until toasted.
Deglaze the pan with your sherry scraping up all of the browned bits. 
Pour the liquid on top of the chicken.
Bake for 25-30 minutes depending on the size of the chicken
Allow the meat to sit for at least 15 minutes ( this is time to start the pasta) 

for the pasta:
1 box of linguine (you can use whatever type of noodle you want)
2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1-2 tbs. sea salt
1/4 cup of fresh basil chopped
6-8 cloves of cooked garlic from the chicken above, chopped
juice from the bottom of the pan
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 tbs. butter

Cook pasta according to the directions for al dente and drain.
Coat a pan with olive oil and butter heat on med.
Add the cooked garlic and saute for a minute.
Add the basil
Pour in the juice from the chicken.
Add the pasta, salt, and red pepper flakes.
Toss well until heated and juice absorbs into the pasta.
Serve with basil leaves as garnish.

Enjoy!!!