CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER - 2013

My guest chef today is Kaitlyn, my granddaughter!  She is now 21 and beginning her own life away at school, but still comes to her "Granny's" house to spend the night.  The best part, besides sleeping with Granny and talking the night away, is that she is beginning to cook for us!

Christmas Day Dinner is a tradition at our house; a time when our daughter, son-in-law, my mom, and, of course, Katie Bug come to celebrate another year as a family.  It's an intimate time for just the immediate family, but often we share it with one of Kaitlyn's friends.  This year it was Mercedes, a high school friend.

The following recipes with the exception of the cornbread, she said, came from a search on Pinterest. 

She started a crock-pot pork-chop dish around noon and cooked it on low until meal time around 6PM.  It was simple enough, and best yet, she never had to touch it again until the meal was served.

Here is all she had to do:

Ingredients

• Pork chops (she used 8 boneless pork-chops 1/2" thick)
• 1 Ranch Seasoning Dry Mix Packet
• 1 can Cream of Cream of Chicken Soup (plus 2 cans of water or milk)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in crockpot and mix well.
2. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

Around 4PM she began her side dishes consisting of macaroni, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes (giving us a choice, but most, like me ate both kinds), mixed vegetables, and cornbread.

The macaroni dish was prepared normally, drained, Velveeta, colby-jack, and some shredded mild cheddar cheese and milk was added, and then poured into a baking dish.  She then added Panko bread crumbs and baked it in the oven for 30 minutes at 375.

She baked 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and put them into a baking dish.  To the potatoes she added a can of pumpkin, butter, brown sugar, salt, chopped pecans, cinnamon, and half and half and mixed thoroughly.  She baked it for about 30 minutes at 350.

The mashed potatoes were prepared normally, except for the addition of garlic powder and Parmesan cheese.

Katie then patiently chopped up fresh zucchini, yellow squash, orange bell pepper, and salad size tomatoes.  She placed the veggies into a baking dish and poured vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and olive oil over the pieces, salted and peppered them, and baked for 45 minutes at 350 covered.

Next, she turned up the oven to 450.  In a 4-cup glass measuring bowl, she added 2 cups of cornmeal, milk to make a batter, an egg, 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar, and 2 heaping tablespoons of flour in a large measuring bowl and mixed.  She put a large cast iron skillet with about a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in it into the oven.  When the skillet was hot, she poured in the cornmeal mixture.  The mixture should start to rise around the edges immediately.  Put back in the oven for 25 minutes.

Katie (R) and Mercedes (L) relax after Christmas dinner.  

All this, including a glass of Barefoot wine, (and a bowl of "store bought" slaw) was placed on our Christmas table and we dove in with both hands!  It was quite a change from the norm, and everyone seemed to enjoy it...most of all the family time.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year folks!

JUDY'S POTATO SOUP

My wife is laid up recuperating from dental implant surgery, so cooking has been up to me the last few days.  She gave me her recipe for potato soup prior to the drugs, so it should be fairly accurate and turn out great!

First, and worse part of the process, is peeling the Yukon Gold's!  She prefers this potato for soup...probably what her mother used...truth be known!  Once peeled, wash, and cut into cubes, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch in size, and put into a quart size boiling/sauce pan.  We laughed last night over remembering how old folks used to refer to this size pot as a "stewer", but it came out more like "stuer", especially in the South.

I cut up about 10 medium size (just right to hold in the palm of your hand), and dumped the cubes into the pan.  I fill the pan up, just over the potatoes, with chicken broth, saving some to make up later for what evaporated.

There is no need for extra salt, the broth is plenty salty, but I added a little garlic powder and pepper.  I also grated a Valida onion, until I had enough to cover the palm of my hand, and started the pot heating.  I turned the element on high until I got a good boil going, and then turned it down to medium and set the timer for 45 minutes.

When the timer alerted me, I refilled my glass with Fat Tire, seems I have to have a Fat Tire in my other hand when I cook, and cut off some pieces of Velveeta Cheese, and poured in about a cup of Half & Half.  I turned the heat to SIM and let it be for about an hour.

It's not necessary to cook that long, especially since the potatoes were soft in 45 minutes, but I was posting this, so it took me about an hour to take the photos, check Facebook, and re-size the shots!  I also had to make some cornbread.

You ain't Southern if you eat a meal without cornbread!

I've posted this before, but here it is again for you late comers!

Put a small size iron skillet in the oven at 425 degrees, with about a 1/4 cup of oil in it...I used vegetable oil, but my Granny Mashburn would have put in about a table spoon chunk of lard!  This heats the skillet and the oil, and will be just right after you do the following...

Put 5 to 6 tablespoons of self-rising cornmeal in a mixing bowl (small), then put in a teaspoon spoon of sugar, sprinkle in a little salt (I like sea-salt now) and pepper.  Then add a heaping tablespoon of self-rising flour, and one large egg.  Mix these ingredients and then add enough milk or buttermilk to make the mixture very soupy!

Open the oven, and take out the skillet, pour the hot oil into the mixture, and mix!

Then pour the mixture back into the hot skillet and and close the door.  Set the timer for 20 minutes.

That's it!  You have just made the best cornbread your mouth has ever tasted.  Oh, you can add diced jalapenos, cheese, if you want, but for this meal you don't need it.  Save that for chili!

 

I then turned the soup on low, and continued surfing!

When the 20 minutes are up, take the bread out, flip the "pone" upside down, that browns the top better, and let it sit on the stove top until you are ready to eat.

I'm dying to eat, but she is still napping off the lunch round of pain medication, so the soup will be fine, on low, until she wakes up in about 30 minutes.

When we do eat, we'll add a teaspoon of sour-cream to our bowls, I'll butter my bread, and we'll chow down! 

Okay...refill time!  See ya!