My version of Zea's Roasted Corn Grits

I was on facebook earlier this evening and someone mentioned Zea's.   Yum.  Love those grits.   I took a crack at them Thanksgiving of 2009 and they were BEYOND good.  NOT diet food, but holy moley they were good.   Tonight, I tried a lighter recipe that held up pretty well to my original full-fat version and has about 1/2 the calories.  It's really pretty easy too.  Here you go:

D's Roasted Corn Grits (full fat "holiday" version)

2 cups of water
2 cups of light cream
1 stick of butter
3 or 4 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon of salt (or less if you're watching your salt--but with all that butter & cream, what's a little salt?)
1 cup of yellow corn grits OR white quick cooking grits (NOT INSTANT)
1 ear of grilled ear of corn, kernels removed. 

You can roast corn directly on the rack of a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes OR you can microwave it for a couple of minutes and throw it on the grill for a few minutes til some of the kernels start to blacken. If you must, you can also substitute drained, canned corn in a pinch, but it won't be as good as fresh roasted.)

Bring all liquids and butter just up to a boil. Add green onions and grits. Lower heat to simmer.  Stir occasionally until thickened. About 10 minutes for quick grits and 20 minutes for 'slow' grits (if you can find them).

Just before serving, stir in the corn kernels and serve.  Makes 4 one cup servings. (About 840 calories per serving)



D's Roasted Corn Grits  - Light(er) Recipe

2 cups of water
1 cups of light cream
1 cup of whole milk
3 tablespoons of butter
3 or 4 green onions, chopped
1 tablespoon of salt
1 cup of yellow corn grits OR white quick cooking grits (NOT INSTANT grits)
1 ear of grilled ear of corn, kernels removed

Same cooking directions as in the full fat verion above:

You can roast corn directly on the rack of a 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes OR you can microwave it for a couple of minutes and throw it on the grill for a few minutes til some of the kernels start to blacken. If you must, you can also substitute drained, canned corn in a pinch, but it won't be as good as fresh roasted.)


Bring all liquids and butter just up to a boil. Add green onions and grits. Lower heat to simmer.  Stir occasionally until thickened. About 10 minutes for quick grits and 20 minutes for 'slow' grits (if you can find them).

Just before serving, stir in the corn kernels and serve.  Makes 4 one cup servings.  (About 430 calories per serving)

Something to do with broccoli

I hadn't planned on posting anything today as I ate leftover chicken (coated in Louisiana Shrimp Fry of course) and veggies today. Then I made a salad... basic stuff: iceberg, carrots, tomato, orange bell pepper, green onion, crasins, sunflower seeds and more carrots (I like carrots.)

When I put the salad in the fridge I spotted a bunch of broccoli I had almost forgotten about. I'm pretty sure I emitted an audible sigh... I'm tired of buying produce and then throwing it out a couple of weeks later because I didn't feel like fooling with it. So I toughed it out....and cut it up and steamed it. Took all of 10 minutes. Well since I was on a roll, I broke out some brown rice and pot of water. Might as well go healthy tomorrow, right?  Brown rice and broccoli... My body will probably go into shock, but I'll take the chance--because I'm like that.   Always walking the tightrope.

My 10 year old nephew LOVES broccoli. He happened to be over here when I cooked it and what was once a big pile of broccoli was reduced to a few meager stalks. I'm not complaining. How many 10 year olds opt for broccoli over Oreos?

So, now my problem was what to do with a lot of brown rice and a handful of broccoli?

The other day when I cooked the aforementioned chicken, I had it with carrots and some in-the-envelope broccoli rice mix. Yes, it had some rice in it. It also had spaghetti in it--like Rice-a-Roni. I didn't know that. That is one of the nastiest texture combinations ever conceived. And I had to break out the magnifier to see a hint of broccoli in there. I was thinking as I ate it, (yes, I did eat it) that SURELY I can do better than this.

so, I did. Here it is.

Real Broccoli and Cheese Rice (sans 'Roni')

1/2 cup of brown rice. (use white if you must. Brown is better)
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
pinch of black pepper
1 cup of milk
1 cup of grated cheddar
1/2 cup or more of chopped steamed broccoli

cook 1/2 cup of brown rice in salted water for 40 - 45 minutes. Drain. Don't rinse. Set aside.

(my mom always did rice 'pasta style' where you simmer it in a lot of water and drain after 40 minutes for brown rice and 20 for white rice. It's never sticky like it can be if you cook it like they say to on the package)

Steam broccoli florets til crisp-tender. About 5-6 minutes on the stovetop.
Drain and rinse under cold water. Dice.

In a sauce pan over low heat (or better yet, a double boiler over medium heat), melt butter.

Add salt, pepper and flour and stir til well mixed.

Add milk and cheese and stir til thickened. About 3-5 minutes.

Stir in rice and broccoli. Serve.

Makes about 4 servings.

I LOVE this stuff

Was craving Chinese food tonight, but I had some chicken tenders defrosted so I had to use them.  Dug around in the cabinets and pulled out the bag of Louisiana brand Shrimp Fry.  I LOVE this stuff!  If I fried a shoe dipped in it, it would be delicious.

You just mix 5 tablespoons with a half cup of water and dip your shrimp, chicken, fish, onion rings, okra--whatever you've got handy.   After dipping in the wet mix, I usually dredge it in a small amount of dry mix as well.   It's not necessary though.

I put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a teflon fry pan.  (I could probably get away with less oil using the teflon), heat it up to at least 350 degrees and put the chicken in a pan.   No need to add anything extra with this batter.  It's perfectly seasoned.

Louisiana Fish Fry is a Baton Rouge company that's been around for 18 years.  Here's their website.  Check 'em out:  Louisiana Fish Fry.

I'll eat the cabbage, but you can keep the black eyed peas...

Who started the pork, cabbage & black-eyed peas on New Year's thing? As a kid, it was never one of my favorite meals. You could have held a gun to my head, set me on fire and broken all of my new Christmas toys and I would NEVER have eaten that stuff. Yuck. It was many, many, many, .... many years later that I came to appreciate the taste of cabbage. Many. However....I have never had any problem whatsoever with bacon. I'd eat alot of things if they were wrapped in bacon. Alot. Of. Things.

Anyway, It's a little late, but here's a recipe for the New Year or any time of year: 

 

Cabbage w/ bacon, onion & apple

Ingredients:

6 thick strips of smoked bacon.
½ of large onion, sliced  (vidalias are best)
Salt & pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
1 peeled and sliced Fuji apple
4 cups of sliced cabbage              
1 – 12oz bottle of Abita Wheat (or any wheat beer or apple ale)
2 pinches of fresh thyme

Method:

In a heavy pot over medium heat, render bacon for about 3 minutes.  Add the sliced onion and a pinch of salt & pepper and bay leaf.  Cook until the onions soften but don’t color, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 peeled, sliced Fuji apple and cook until soft, about 2 minutes.

Add 4 cups of sliced cabbage and stir well to coat.

Add beer/ale, thyme and more salt & pepper.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  After 15 minutes, uncover the pot and cook til most of the liquid is evaporated.   Stir occasionally.   Serve.


January 4, 2011 - Super Easy Pasta Bake

So I was looking through my cabinets this morning and came across a jar of Ragu.  Yes, Ragu.   Don't make that face.   It's good in a pinch and cheap--2 of my favorite qualities in most things.   Anyway, I flashed back to something my mom used to make on the occasional Sunday afternoon, usually in the fall and winter. I decided to try to recreate it.  It's super simple:

1 cup dried pasta of your choice.
1- 26oz jar of any Ragu (or similar sauce)
1/2 jar of water.
1/2 cup of finely grated Asiago cheese (or whatever you prefer)
 
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Put uncooked pasta in a greased 11x7 casserole dish.  Cover with 1 jar of Ragu and 1/2 jar of water. Stir.

Place into oven and cook for 40 minutes.   After 40 minutes, carefully sprinkle grated Asiago cheese on top and return to oven for an additional 20 minutes or til pasta is tender. 

That's it.  It's easy, hot, edible and filling--which is why my mom made it.  She was quite a good cook, but sometimes you just gotta opt for 'easy, hot, edible & filling.'      It was exactly how I remembered it.  Thanks Mom.


I made some cornbread to go with it, but it was too salty.  I'm 2 for 2 in bad cornbread.  It may be good with some maple syrup.  Everything's good with some maple syrup.....