Mud House Year

Pinterest Wednesday

It's pie season and this one is really good.  Buttermilk Chess Pie.  It comes to us from "A Cook and Her Books."    This recipe is close to my heart because my husband is a Kentucky boy.  The first time I ever heard of chess pie was after I met him.  Chess pie is a southern thing and there are a few variations. And, then, of course, there is the quintessential Kentucky version known as transparent pie.  I think this buttermilk chess pie is actually a close relative of the transparent pie because it does not include vinegar.  Our old family recipe for transparent pie calls for carnation milk instead of buttermilk, but other than that, the recipes are almost the same.  My brother-in-law created a family treasure by collecting old family recipes and combining them all into a cookbook.  It includes family history, photos, and wonderful Kentucky stories.  This is a page from the book with my husband's grandmother's recipe for transparent pie. 

And, here is the recipe for buttermilk chess pie from Pinterest.  

Buttermilk Chess Pie
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine sugar and flour in a large bowl. Add eggs and buttermilk, stirring until blended. Stir in melted butter and vanilla and pour into unbaked pie crust.

3. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack at least an hour before serving. Store leftovers, well-wrapped in refrigerator.

Before I tried transparent or chess pie, I didn't think they looked that good but, boy oh boy, was I wrong!

GO MAKE IT NOW.  It's that good.  And, so easy to make.  No question, this recipe gets 5/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas.
    



 

Pinterest Wednesday

I pinned this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it has been calling my name! There is something so seductive about salted caramel.  Combine it with a shortbread crust and it's impossible to resist. You've got the sweet/salty/flaky/buttery seduction all wrapped up in one.  This Pinterest Wednesday recipe comes to us from What's Gaby Cooking and it is yummy!  I am copying the recipe here with no changes.  I didn't have a 9x9 pan so I used an 8x8 pan which contributed to the shortbread crust being a bit thicker.

Salted Carmel Bars

Ingredients:

10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg yolk, whisked
1 2/3 cups AP flour
1 cup unsalted butter
1 cup light brown sugar
12 tbsp light corn syrup
2 tsp sea salt
4 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
sea salt flakes

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9-by-9-inch pan with parchment paper with the edges of the parchment hanging over the sides. This will make removing the bars easier.

In a large bowl combine the butter, sugar and salt with a fork.
Add the yolk and combine with the fork.
Add the flour and using your hands, combine the dough until its flaky.
Transfer the dough into the parchment lined pan and press down with your hands or the bottom of a measuring cup.
Refrigerate this for 30 minutes. Once chilled, bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned.
Once baked, remove and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, in a pot combine the topping ingredients; butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, salt, sugar and cream.

Bring to a boil and make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Stir for about 5-10 minutes until its thick and bubbly. If you have a candy thermometer – the caramel should be about 230 degrees. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla extract and pour on top of the shortbread.Refrigerate for 2-4 hours. Then sprinkle with the sea salt flakes and serve!  

Mud House Notes

These are rich and delicious but must be kept refrigerated until serving. I refrigerated mine overnight but after only about 10 minutes at room temperature, the caramel melted and looked like this: 

Next time I will cook the caramel a little longer to a higher temperature than recommended in the recipe.  I will cook it until the temperature reaches 240 instead of 230 and I will let you know how it turns out.

The flavors of these bars are delicious!  A big thank you to What's Gaby Cooking.

I am giving this recipe 4/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas because they melted so quickly at room temperature.
   

 

 

Pinterest Wednesday

I'm going with an easy one this week.  This is one of the first recipes I pinned on Pinterest and it comes to us from Buns in my Oven.  It seemed too good to be true.  I was a bit skeptical.  I rarely fry food but am becoming more comfortable with occasional fried okra or refrigerator biscuits.  And when I say comfortable, I mean fried food is comfort food.  If okra tastes good fried, you can imagine how good a fried biscuit is.  Anyway...I love my digital thermometer.  It is a reassuring tool when venturing into cauldrons of boiling oil.  This is what you need:

Refrigerator biscuits.  Get the flaky kind.

Sugar                                                Paper Towels and Slotted Spoon                                      Oil and Thermometer 

Mud House Canned Biscuit Donuts

Ingredients:

1 tube (or more) canned refrigerated biscuits (I get the flaky layers kind)
1/2 cup sugar
hot oil, for frying

Here's what you do: 

1. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or deep fryer to 350 degrees.
2. Using a donut cutter (or the cap from a 2 liter soda bottle), cut the center from each biscuit.
3. Pour sugar onto shallow bowl or plate.
4. Place a few donuts in the pan of hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan. Fry until golden brown on one side, about 1-2 minutes, and then flip and fry until gold brown on the other side.
   
5. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towels.
6. Dredge each donut in the sugar to coat both sides and all around the edges.  You can also add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the sugar.  I just like them with plain sugar.
7. Serve hot.
   
   They don't have the yeasty lightness of a fresh doughnut but they are surprisingly good.   They should be eaten right away as they become heavy when they cool down.  I wasn't sure how to rate this one.  They are not as good as real donuts but they are SOOOO easy.  I'm giving them 4 1/2 Prickly Pear Margaritas and a big thank you to Karly at Buns in my Oven. 
       
   Enjoy!
   
   
    

 

Pinterest Wednesday

Soup!  Crock pot!  Yes!   The weather is in the mid-80s here at the Mud House and that's what we call soup weather!  This week's Pinterest Wednesday recipe is Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup and it comes to us from Skinny Taste.  It has the added advantage of being a low-fat recipe however, I'm afraid some of my personal touches made it less so.  This soup feels like home to me.  It's full of ingredients that I've cooked with all my life.  I've copied the recipe  from Skinny Taste and I've indicated where I've made my changes and additions.  I've also made a few suggestions in "Notes" below the recipe.

Crock Pot Chicken Enchilada Soup 

This is what you will need:

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups low sodium fat-free chicken broth (I used regular sodium chicken broth)
8 oz can tomato sauce
1-2 tsp chipotle chili in adobo sauce (or more to taste)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (plus more for garnish).
15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
2 cups frozen corn (I used Mexican hominy)
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano (I used about 1 1/2 teaspoons because I really love Mexican oregano).
2 - 8 oz skinless chicken breasts (I used skinless bone-in chicken thighs instead)
1/4 cup chopped scallions, for topping
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
fat free sour cream (optional)
I also added Mexican limes to squeeze on the soup before eating.

This is what you do:

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until soft, 3-4 minutes.

 Slowly add the chicken broth, tomato sauce and chipotle adobo sauce and bring to a boil.

Add cilantro and remove from heat. 

Pour into crock pot and add drained beans, diced tomatoes, corn, cumin, oregano and stir.

 Add the chicken thighs; cover and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.

Adjust salt and cumin to taste. Serve in bowls and top with fat free sour cream, cheese, scallions and cilantro. You can also top with avocado or crushed tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Notes:

The soup was not spicy enough for me so next time I will double or triple the amount of chipotle peppers.  I will also add some of the chipotle sauce from the can.

I used more oregano because I love the flavor in soup.  Get Mexican oregano if you can.  It has a distinctive flavor which is perfect for making Mexican inspired dishes.

If you have the option to grow cilantro, by all means do so.  Fresh picked cilantro is far more flavorful than what you usually find in stores.  Go ahead and add a 1/4 cup before you put the soup into the crock pot but add much more to garnish the soup right before eating.  Cilantro's flavor diminishes during cooking. 

If you are unfamiliar with chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, they are smoked jalapenos and quite spicy. Their heat increases as they cook so use caution.  I actually added more than the recipe calls for but I like the smoky spicy flavor.

I love this soup because it is inspired by the flavors and spices of Mexico that are so close to my heart. Stay tuned as we move into the holiday season.  I will share many family traditions and recipes that are infused with the flavors of Mexico and the old southwest.

This recipe is healthy, easy and delicious.  I'm giving it 5/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas!
    

A very special thank you to  Gina at Skinnytaste.com.  Be sure to visit her website for many delicious and healthy recipes!

Enjoy!

Pinterest Wednesday

For the second week of Pinterest Wednesday, I was debating between Masters Augusta egg salad and fried okra.  I surprised even myself by choosing the okra.  I don't like okra.  At all.  However, I do like growing okra.  It is a beautiful garden plant and it just so happens I had some ripe okra in the garden.  

In fact, it was over-ripe because I don't like to actually eat okra.  I just leave it alone and let it grow and grow  and grow.  This isn't a good thing for okra because the  larger pods become tough and woody. Frying seemed to help it, though.  Frying seems to make everything taste better. 

Anyway, this week's recipe comes to us from Syrup & Biscuits, via Pinterest.  I also found a good recipe from Southern Living.  I've tweaked the recipes a bit by adding crumbled bacon and Tabasco sauce. 

Fried Okra

1/2 lb. fresh okra
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 strips crispy bacon, crumbled, reserve bacon drippings
1/4 tsp. ground red pepper 
2-3 drops Tabasco sauce (or more, if you like it spicy)
Vegetable oil
1/8 cup bacon drippings
1. Cut off and discard tip and stem ends from okra; cut okra into 1⁄2-inch-thick slices. Stir into buttermilk; cover and chill 45 minutes.

 

2. Combine cornmeal and next 5 ingredients in a bowl.  

 

3.  After 45 minutes, drain okra and discard buttermilk.

4.  Pour oil to a depth of 2 inches into a dutch oven or cast-iron skillet; add bacon drippings, and heat to 375°.

 

5. While oil is heating, toss okra with cornmeal mixture.

6. When oil reaches a temperature of 375°, fry okra in batches for four minutes or until golden brown.

7. Drain on paper towels.

5.  Serve immediately.  We enjoyed ours with a bottle of white wine from Belle Meade Plantation, located near Nashville, TN, which seemed completely appropriate for this quintessential southern dish.

This is an easy and delicious recipe.  In my opinion, any recipe that makes okra taste good gets 5 Prickly Pear Margaritas!  Enjoy! 

    

 

 

 

Pinterest Wednesday

 
I recently joined Pinterest and I'm kind of addicted, seriously.  My sister-in-law, Kathy, is to blame. She invited me to join.   I am holding Kathy personally responsible for all of the time that passes while I find fun stuff on Pinterest instead of doing the 100 other things I should be doing.  Anyway, I was reviewing my boards, and it occurred to me that my "Recipes I Want to Try" board was overflowing. "Hmmm,"  I thought,  " Why don't I try one recipe a week and, if I like it, move it to my 'I Tried It, I Like It'  board?"   Then, I can share my weekly Pinterest recipes here, with you, and let you know  if I liked them.   Maybe I will even rate them from 1 to 5,  with 5 being the best, in my humble opinion.

For this first week of Pinterest Wednesday, I selected Crunchers.  It is billed a "one of the most popular recipes on Pinterest."  It comes to us from "Twirl and Taste," and offers an intriguing combination of crackers and chocolate.   Sounds like a good place to start to me.

Here we go:

Crunchers 
80 club crackers
1 cup butter
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup butterscotch morsels

Line an ungreased 9 X 13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an extension of foil on either end. Line the foil with 1 layer of club crackers, cutting to fit if necessary.

In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.

Add graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, milk , and sugar.

Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly (begin timing 5 minutes from when you see the first bubbles).

Remove from heat and spread half of butter mixture evenly over crackers. Place another single layer of crackers evenly over butter mixture, cutting to fit if necessary. Spread remaining butter mixture evenly over crackers. Top evenly with remaining crackers.  In a small saucepan, combine peanut butter, chocolate morsels, and butterscotch morsels.

Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly.

Spread evenly over top of crackers.

Cover, and chill for at least 1 hour. Lift foil overhang and remove bars from pan. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.

These are delicious.  They've got that salty/sweet, crunchy/smooth, chocolatey/caramelly thing going on.  What more can you ask for?  I am moving them to my "I Tried It, I Like It" board.  

                        

            I' m giving this Pinterest recipe 5/5 Prickly Pear Margaritas and a big thank you to Libby Murphy at " Twirl and Taste." 

Enjoy!