Mess of Greens

full bellies | warm welcomes

Beef and Pork and Game

Quick, Easy, Elegant supper. Fig, Balsamic Pork Chops

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IMG_3424Fig week is technically over, but I couldn’t give up on them just yet. I still had a half pint that I wanted to use, and then when I made this sauce for supper liked the result so much that I took pictures. While I had a honey and a toddler sitting at the table slightly (ok, very) impatient to dig in. It wasn’t my finest moment.

But they waited while I frantically grabbed my camera and put the plates on the table… and then my 2 year old said “Mama! I DON’T WANT YOU TO TAKE A PICTURE OF SUPPER!” and made a frowny-pouty-irritated face. “I’m FRUSTRATED!” he said, a very descriptive emotional word that sounds silly coming out of a 2.5 year old’s mouth, except no truer words have ever been spoken because what 2.5 year old isn’t frustrated 75% of the time?

I know when I’m in the wrong, and when I’ve gone overboard, and stopping everything at 6:15pm on a Friday night when you’re having family supper to take pictures of the plate for this blog is definitely one of those times.

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Sweet Potato, Kale, and Sausage stew

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Ok, it’s freezing all over America, right? Like everywhere? Except here. Our former town is probably covered in frost and ice (Can someone in Leland, MS confirm, please?) but here in Laurel, it’s just overcast and muggy. Although there’s SO MUCH to love about the deepest and farthest south, the winter weather isn’t one of them if you happen to like cold. However, I’m not going to let our mosquito-ridden warm front stop me from making the most delicious, easy, healthy soup on the planet, snuggling up with a bowl of it, cup of hot coffee, and pretend it’s a glorious 21 degrees. I HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend you do this, also, even if you aren’t pretending.

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The Mississippi Bahn mi

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For our anniversary, Boone and I took a jaunt to New Orleans in May for a two night get-away. My parents’ next-door neighbor and long-time friend has an apartment RIGHT IN the French Quarter, so we had a pretty lovely spot to drink, eat, and wander. This is, of course, exactly what we did. Our first stop was Dong Phuong Bakery, a place my dad had heard about from friends. This tiny spot had a sit-down noodle shop on one side, and a pick-up bakery and banh mi shop on the other. Oh, y’all. I’d never had a Banh mi sandwich before, so we ordered THREE different ones (before you judge, you take look at the menu and see how you’d choose just one.) There’s nothing nothing nothing good to say about colonialism. However, I guess Banh mi is one example of a food fusion that was created in French-controlled Vietnam, AND is also an example of a sandwich that was basically MADE for life in New Orleans, home of one of the strongest (if not the strongest) Franco-fusion culture in our country. It turns out that there’s a pretty large Vietnamese-American community in south Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and they are shaping and molding local flavors to their own tastes, and in return, influencing the local cuisine to reflect their presence (SO AWESOME). I fell in love with the sandwich, but unfortunately, my sweet little town doesn’t have our own Vietnamese Bakery. (Here’s hoping.) In the meantime, I started trying to figure out how to make my own at home.

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Channeling Little Bankok: Collard Greens & Venison Larb

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For the past 5 years of  my life, the closest Thai restaurant has been two hours away in Memphis or Jackson. Since this is one of my MOST favorite kinds of food, and we lived around the corner from an AMAZING hole-in-the-wall place in Atlanta where we ate at least once a week, this had been one of the hardest parts of small-town Mississippi life. It meant that I needed to figure out some approximations of my favorite dishes…and I can say that I’ve gotten pretty good at massaman and green curry and larb.
But y’all! NOW, we live 30 minutes from a nice little spot in Hattiesburg, so we can basically eat Thai food whenever the craving strikes. It’s so fantastic.

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Cook Downton Abbey #1: Prime Rib Roast

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You can probably tell by some of the links I post that I’m a pretty big fan of Garden&Gun Magazine. Ok, it’s a little pretentious, and it has a very specific viewpoint about what the south is and isn’t, but I love their recipes, restaurant reviews, and hints about up and coming shops, musicians, and hot spots from my favorite part of the country so, when I read that they were as excited about the US Premiere of Downton Abbey as I am, well, it brought them even nearer and dearer to my heart. I didn’t love the show for the same reasons they listed, but I’ll share my thoughts before next week’s episode. The show airs tonight at 8, and my mom and I are busy making a plum pudding (recipe coming before next week’s episode!) to eat as we watch and swoon over Matthew Crawley and all of the fantastic clothes.

If you haven’t gotten into Downton Abbey yet, and apparently need a reason here are G&G’s top ten reasons why southerners love it (and all things Noble and English)

1. They drink a lot, but never have to drive anywhere.
2. Lord Grantham makes the women at G&G weak in the knees, especially when he does his “custodian of the land” spiel.
3. We like to look good when we hunt, too, whether it’s top hat and riding jacket or neon orange and camouflage.
4. They love their dogs as much as we do. If only ours never had to go to the bathroom…or made any noise whatsoever.
5. They call a valet with a limp and a criminal record “eccentric”. We call it Southern gothic.
6. Lady Mary is like a British Scarlett O’Hara: beautiful, spoiled and determined. Let’s just hope she leaves the drapery on the windows.
7. Carson’s pride of place is rivaled only by that of a Southern hostess.
8. We’ve loved Shirley MacLaine ever since her tomato-loving turn as Ouiser in Steel Magnolias.
9. We’ve all got a Dowager Countess in our lives, whether it’s our mother or mother-in-law—manipulative, tough as nails, and always ready with a one-liner.
10. No one loves—or plans—a wedding like we do in the South. Crawley/Crawley 2013, (err 1921?) people. Koozies on order.

If you’re not a fan of plum pudding (or like me, live in the country and have NO access to currants and cloves before 8pm tonight), you could always go for the KING of all English Christmas fare…the Prime Rib Roast to celebrate the show’s return. We attempted it for the first time this year to serve on Christmas Night this year and worried we’d bomb with such a fancy and expensive cut of meat, but y’all, it was like an extra Christmas present because it turned out so perfectly….  tender on the inside, crunchy on the outside, melt in your mouth, full of delicious flavor perfection. I found the recipe here, (thank you, Susan!) and she found here, and with the addition of garlic, it worked like a charm. Never use any other recipe.

English Prime Rib Roast
Serves 6-8

What you need:
1 4-6 pound standing prime rib roast
2-3 tablespoons dry mustard
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh Pressed Garlic  (2-3 cloves)

What to do:
Preheat your oven to 200°F.  Season your roast generously by rubbing the garlic all over the meat (don’t leave it on there…you just want the flavor. Then rub the roast on all sides with the mustard, salt and pepper.  Put the roast, fat side up, in a roasting pan and  put it in the oven and cook until center of roast registers 120 F on an instant-read thermometer for medium-rare. (Note from Serious Eats and Sticky Gooey, Creamy Chewy: This should take approximately 3 1/2 to 4 hours for a 5 pound roast.)

 

Take the roast out of the oven and make a tight tent with some aluminum foil, then put it in a warm spot and let it rest for 30 minutes or more.
When you’re ready to eat it, preheat oven to 500°F and when the oven reaches 500°F take it out of the foil and put it back in the oven.  You’ll cook it for about 8-10 minutes until it’s browned and crisp on the outside. Then you can carve and serve it immediately. sigh. it really was divine y’all…and it was our first shot.

 

pimiento cheeseburger in paradise

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i did a bad thing, y’all. this summer (if you haven’t been able to tell by the recent recipes) i fell off the weight watchers wagon…not just fell, but plummeted.
 the fact that i cooked this for dinner tonight really says it all: pimiento cheeseburgers. YOLO, right? 😉

by itself, pimiento cheese is a delicious, classic southern staple…boone goes crazy for it and eats it on crackers, on sandwiches, and cheese toast. my grandmother LOVED it..and there are not one, but two different recipes in my favorite southern cookbook, Come On In. i can usually take it or leave it, but when i read about the pimiento cheese hotdog and the pimiento cheese burger in the new Garden&Gun, i started to salivate…weight watchers, what? and trust me, it was worth it.

Spicy Pimiento Cheese (burgers)
recipe adapted from Garden&Gun and Come on In
Serves 4

What you need for the Pimiento Cheese:
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup pimientos (about one small jar)
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 mayonnaise (again, helmann’s…i know Carolinians use Dukes, but seriously, people..use dukes.)
salt (no more than 1/2 tsp)
black pepper (1 tsp)
cayenne pepper (1/4 tsp)

And the Burger:
1 lb lean ground beef
salt
pepper
garlic powder
red onion
4 sesame buns
ketchup

What to do:
Mix the cheese, pimientos, green onions, mayo, and seasonings together and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve.

 

mix the seasonings in with the ground beef and make 4 balls. Flatten the balls into patties, and press your thumb into the center (this helps distribute heat evenly, i guess.) cook the burgers on the grill or in a skillet until medium rare or medium.

Turn on the broiler and spread the pimiento cheese onto the top half of the hamburger buns. Put both sides of the buns into the oven for about 1-3 minutes, or until the cheese is melty. make your burger the way you like it, and enjoy.

 

 

chunky chili

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 boone and i got back from our austin trip and almost immediately i started feeling down. i missed my family who’d visited for christmas, i missed my best friends i’d seen in austin, and i missed being on vacation for some crazy reason. on top of it all, i had a raging sinus infection, and kept taking meds that make me loopy and so, so sleepy.
the only cures i know for feeling like that are 1) visiting children in classrooms (hooray! it’s part of my day job!) and 2) making comfort food. enter chunky chili.

my go-to chili recipe lately has been real simple slash smitten kitchen‘s red bean chili, but boone’s dad mentioned over thanksgiving that his favorite recipe came from southern sideboards, one of two amazing southern cookbooks from the junior league of jackson, ms. when he told us he won a church chili cook-off with it, well, we knew we were gonna do a taste test.  we didn’t make it exactly like the recipe said, but it was still pretty de-lish and may be our new go-to chili.

also, for those of you who are thinking to yourselves, “hey, biz i’m pretty sure chili is southwestern, not southern..” then i will direct you, friends, to the southern foodways alliance description of southern food. They determine, “southern food is as diverse as the regions that make up the south,” and in my book, folks, Texas is definitely more than a little bit southern. 😉
so without further adieu, the recipe:

(btw, it’s hard to make meat look very tasty in photos, and not just like blue-ish disgusting jibblets. ick. i’ve found. in 2012 I’m going to do some research  about how to make these snapshots more appealing for all of you, never fear.)

Chunky Chili, from Southern Sideboards by the Junior League of Jackson, MS.

What you need:
2 Tbs vegetable oil                                                  1 C beef broth
3 lbs boneless chuck, cut in 1″ cubes                            1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic                                                        1/2 tsp pepper
4 Tbs chili powder (i know, it seems like SO much)    1 can of red beans
2 tsp ground cumin (i used 4)                                 FOR SERVING:
3 Tbs flour                                                             1 C sour cream
1 Tbs oregano
MY ADDITIONS:
1/4 C dark beer
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 small can of tomato paste (who makes chili without tomato paste?)


What to do:
Heat the oil in a heavy 4 quart pan over medium heat. (whenever i have an opportunity to use my beautiful huge, white le crueset french oven, i take it) add beef, stirring frequently until the meat changes color but doesn’t burn (thank you, southern sideboards. i was worried about this. 😉 lower heat and stir in the garlic.

combine the chili powder, cumin,  oregano, and flour.

 

sprinkle the meat with the chili mixture, stirring until the meat is evenly coated, then add in the onions and peppers, letting them brown a bit, then pour in the broth and beer. After a minute or so, stir in the tomato paste and stir until the liquid is well blended.

Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. reduce heat and let simmer 2 hours. Now, friends, here is the part that boone and i ignored completely because we started making this at around 6:00 on a friday night and were HUNGRY. Honestly, i can’t say whether it made a difference or not, because what we devoured was fantastic. Cover and refrigerate overnight, then reheat the chili slowly.
we did however, add the red beans after it has simmered for an hour or so.

the recipe says you should serve this chili with rice, and while i’m sure that’s just lip-smacking, i’m more of a chili-and-cornbread sort of gal. so, you can either cook some rice and serve the chili over it, or take my advice and bake some cornbread or cornbread muffins for real, honest to goodness, kick the holiday blues out the backdoor comfort food. it’s what we did.

what tried and true foods help you get through the blues?

venison tenderloin with whiskey and wine sauce…

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every southern gal worth her salt has a stand-by recipe for game… i mean, when you think of deer or duck hunting you think of the south, right? my honey and i  aren’t hunters, but when we’re good little girls and boys neighbors, uncles, or friends bring us a tenderloin, backstrap or a 1/2 dozen birds to lust over. my favorite venison recipe is so good you’ll almost think you’re eating filet minon. true story.
1 Tbs olive oil
Soy sauce
course ground black pepper
1 C beef or veal stock
1 shallot
2 Tbs soft green peppercorns
2 Tbs chopped fresh thyme or 1Tbs ground dried thyme
2 Tbs cranberry sauce
prepare the venison 1 hour before.
1 Tbs butter
cornstarch (if necessary)
ok, so start by thoroughly removing all the fat, sinew, muscle casing and leave the meat ONLY. seriously, friends. this makes a huge difference.
cut the filets 1.5″ or more thick.
brush the meat with oil and soy sauce, then coat both sides of the filets with course ground black pepper. let the meat rest (covered) to come to room temperature.
while you wait, assemble and prepare the ingredients for the sauce.
heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in saute pan to almost, but not smoking. place the filets in oil and brown for 3 to 4 minutes on each side to have a crisp surface and rare interior. Remove meat when done and put aside on warm plate. keep warm.
place one table spoons of olive oil in pan and add 1 very finely chopped shallot.
Add 1/2 cup whiskey, deglaze the pan, then reduce by 1/2.
Add 1 cup veal or beef stock,
2 table spoons soft green peppercorns
2 table spoons chopped fresh thyme or 1 table spoon ground thyme.
and juice draining from meat now in meat plate, if there is any juice.

 

when the above is boiling, add 2 tablespoons of fresh or canned cranberries or add 1″ thick slice of warm jellied cranberry sauce which must be incorporated slowly by mashing.
reduce, then add a pat of butter or more until thickened. if needed, add small amount of cornstarch for thickening.
arrange meat, then spoon sauce over the meat and serve.

 

 let me know if you try it and love it!

pulled pork.

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*
this week boone and i made plans to have some friends over for dinner. awhile back there had been an incredible deal at the groc… pork shoulders for .99/lb! i got a 5lb monster and had been saving it for a dinner party. honestly, when you buy that much meat you either need to be feeding a football team or a giant posse of pals. the thing is, i’m kind of skittish about cooking beef or pork… i will do it, but it’s so intimidating. luckily, my dad sent us this easy peasy recipe and boone was really into it.

since it was still warm out and we had this easy recipe we went with mississippi/memphis style pulled pork, baked beans, coleslaw and sweet tea vodka. what’s better than eating bbq on the patio, i ask you? nothing. we’ll start with boone’s BBQ and move on to the sides later.

the good news about this recipe is that you can do it in a smoker overnight, or in your over in 3 1/2 hours and you can make it in advance and freeze it if need be.

Pulled Pork
*5(ish) lb pork shoulder (makes approx. 12 sandwiches)
*2 med. onions
*4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
*1 bottle dark beer
*3 tablespoons Olive oil,
*3 teaspoons cumin, garlic powder
*salt & pepper
preheat your oven to 275 and then put about 3 tablespoons of olive oil into a dutch oven or really large, oven-safe pot. place this dutch oven on the stove on medium heat until hot. while the oil is heating up, sprinkle your shoulder generously with salt and pepper then rub it with 3 teaspoons of cumin and the same amount of garlic powder. once the oil is hot, brown your meat on all sides. (it works best if you don’t move the meat until it picks up easily and doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot.) once the meat is brown, then take it out and set it aside.

add your onions and garlic to the pot and saute’ until they’re limp then add the entire beer and then put your meat back in the pot. you may need to add some water at this point because you want at least 1/2 inch of liquid in the bottom of the pot, but the beer may be enough. you’ll want to check this, just in case.
cover it and place the entire pot into the oven and let cook for 3 1/2 hours, or until the meat falls easily off the bone (it will smell like heaven!) Once finished cooking, you can take the meat out of the pot and let it cool, then pull/shred the pork like this
. If you want to use the liquid in the bottom of the pot as part of your sauce (and I highly recommend this) then you’ll want to skim the fat off the liquid in the pot. Once you’ve gotten all of the fat, return the pulled pork to the pot. Warm the meat back up, cover in your favorite BBQ sauce and serve with warm hamburger buns.

*the first photo isn’t mine. i was stupid and forgot to take a photo of the actual sandwich.. but the rest are!