Cheeseburger Deluxe Soup

Here on Southern With A Twist, you know that I don't always follow recipes to the letter. I don't even make the same recipe the same way each time. I like to experiment and see if I can make a good recipe better. Well, last night, I got a thumbs up on the recipe I came up with last year... Cheeseburger Soup! I not only got a thumbs up, but I got "I like this one better!" So I decided to give you the updated version...

2 T butter

1 medium onion, chopped
2 cups beef stock
1 cup milk
16 oz Velveeta cheese, cubed
1 lb hamburger
2-3 T flour
lettuce & tomato, largely chopped

Saute the onions in butter until translucent. Add 2 cups beef stock and 1 cup milk. Add cubed Velveeta and stir until melted. Cook hamburger. Add about 2 - 3 tablespoons of flour to the hamburger. (This will make a slurry when the flour combines with the fat off of the hamburger.) Add the hamburger mixture to the soup. Bring soup up to a high simmer. If the soup is too thick, add a little more stock. When ready to serve, throw a handful of lettuce and tomato in a bowl and top with several spoonfuls of soup. Cheeseburger in a bowl!

A Bum's Rum (Chocolate) Cake

For a while now, I have been telling you about these wonderful cakes from A Bum's Rum Cake. They are the best rum cakes, hands down, that I have ever eaten! They had a contest on their Facebook page and ...

"I Won! I Won! I Won!!!"

My Chocolate Rum Cake has arrived!!!

This is such a professional job by A Bum's Rum Cake!

Simply gorgeous packaging!!!

... and my son gets ticked off for my prolonging the process.

He says, "You better start clicking pics fast,

because I'm tearing into this sucker!!!"

Beautiful... Notice he's moving so fast that he's a blur! LOL 

Such a beautiful cake, and so moist that it shines!

The flavor is a perfect combination of chocolate and rum.

It simply melts in your mouth !! 

He sliced a piece, stabbed at it with his fork,

and it kept falling apart.

Rookie mistake... "Son, read the label."
He reads, "So moist you'll need a spoon!... Oh!"
So he goes for the fingers!

So, good that he licks his fingers! :-)

A Bum's Rum Cake, a big ole cup of milk

and Mama's picture in the background! :-)

The cake came in Tuesday afternoon

and only 1/4 of the cake was eaten that night.

I got home Wednesday night, and this was all that was left!

I went in my son's room, and before I could say anything...

 he laughed and then went and ate the rest!

What better testimonial than a teenager???

For more information visit A Bum's Rum Cake. Order a vanilla, chocolate or coconut rum cake! Better yet, order the Halloween Trio Special for a wonderful deal! Click here for the Halloween Trio Special Deal !!!

Cooking Pork Chops Like a Steak

I don't have a grill right now, so I have to cook all my 'grill' recipes in the oven. Well last night, the choice for supper was fish or pork. My son says, "Steak Mama!" *Sigh* OK... that wasn't on the menu! Well he tells me to 'just cook it like a steak'! Well... I'll try it once and see what we get.

I sprinkled them with salt, garlic powder, onion powder and a little lemon pepper. I dotted about a teaspoon of A-1 Steak Sauce on each chop with a brush. I put them in a casserole dish and cooked them in a 400 degree oven. I let them bake just until they were 160 degrees internally. (A good meat thermometer is a must until you get used to the touch of doneness.)

They smell heavenly and taste to yummy. They were moist, tender and cut with a butter knife! I forgot to take a picture of mine before I started eating... luckily my son hadn't come in to eat yet and I got a picture of his for the cover shot on this post! LOL

Mama's Thanksgiving Stuffed Turkey

My Mama was a wonderful cook! Every meal that she prepared was a culinary delight. My Mama also had a wicked sense of humor. In with her collection of cookbooks, there is one called, "You've had worse things in your Mouth" Click here to take a peak :-) This cookbook has a MAJOR disclaimer in the revenge section! One of the recipes is called "Hoy Vey". It is a pate that includes three types of liver, onions, boiled eggs and 1 1/2 bottles of castor oil! HOY VEY!!!

In this picture, she is holding a cookbook called "White Trash Cooking" from  her collection. Mama jokingly swore that the woman on the cover is her Aunt Annie!

I found this recipe for Thanksgiving Turkey in her box of hand written recipes. She got it from an elderly lady at church no less!!!

BAKED STUFFED TURKEY***

1 giant size turkey
1 cup melted butter
1 cup pre-made stuffing mix
1 cup uncooked popcorn
Salt/pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush turkey well with melted butter, salt, and pepper. Fill cavity with stuffing and popcorn (mixed together). Place in baking pan with the neck end toward the back of the oven.

When the turkey’s ass blows off, it is done!

***Do not try this at home! Southern With A Twist is not responsible for oven damage, kitchen damage or bodily harm if this recipe is attempted!***

Seven Layer Pasta Salad

This salad has the taste of Mama's 7 Layer Salad topping... the part with the peas, bacon, mayo and Parmesan Cheese. It's very easy and tastes wonderful.

4 cups cooked elbow macaroni
1 can young sweet peas
1 small can yellow corn
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons bacon pieces
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Salt, pepper and basil (to taste)

Toss ingredients together until mixed well. Cover and refrigerate or serve immediately.

Stuffed Pork Chops

This recipe is very easy to make, but it looks like it took you all day. It's very moist and delicious!

4 Thick Pork Chops*
Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Beef Broth

Stuffing:
1 prepared Jiffy Mix cornbread, crumbled
1 Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Mushrooms and liquid
Salt, Pepper & Garlic

Glaze:
2 Tbsp Maple pancake syrup & 2 Tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix stuffing ingredients in a medium size bowl. Spoon into cut side of the pork chop. Place chops in a casserole dish sprayed with oil. Pour 1/4 cup beef both in the bottom of the dish to keep the pork moist. Sprinkle pork with salt, pepper and garlic.

Bake for 30 minutes. Mix mustard and syrup. Baste pork loin and return to oven for 15 minutes.

* To prepare the chops, horizontally cut a pocket in the center of the chop, leaving the back and ends in tact. 

Southern Pulled Pork Bar-B-Que & Rice and Hash

Whole Hog BBQ

 The "good" meat under the ribs!

When I was growing up we had hog head hash. It is made with the head, heart, and the liver... no part of the hog was wasted. Now, I use Boston Butts. (which is a cut of pork that comes from the upper part of the shoulder from the front leg and may contain the blade bone)

In pre-revolutionary New England and into the American Revolutionary War, some pork cuts (not those highly valued, or "high on the hog," like loin and ham) were packed into casks or barrels (also known as "butts") for storage and shipment. The way the hog shoulder was cut in the Boston area became known in other regions as "Boston butt".

3lbs pork butt*

1/2lb liver, cooked (optional)

1lb peeled potatoes

1 onion

juice from cooking the pork

and a great BBQ sauce (like "Daddy's Bar-B-Que Sauce")

Bake pork (seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder), covered until it falls apart. (about 3-4 hours at 350 degrees) Save the renderings/broth. In a pot, boil your potatoes and a finely minced onion seasoned with salt. Run meat (fat and all), liver, potato and onion mixture through a meat grinder. (Or grind in food chopper or processor) Place ground mixture back in the broth, add BBQ sauce to consistence of a very thick gravy. Let simmer at a low temp for another hour or two. Serve over white rice.

* Reserve or cook an extra couple of pounds of meat to shred and add sauce to for the BBQ plate or for sandwiches.

If you don't have the sauce or don't know how much seasoning, try this recipe for making it in the crockpot... what can be easier? I still prefer to grind the meat and not chop to get a smoother texture, but that's just me!

CrockPot Hash

5 to 6 lbs Boston butt roasts
1lb. liver
3 large baking potatoes, peeled and diced
3 medium onions, peeled and diced

Seasonings: (use only as a guide...)
5 Tbl white vinegar
2 Tbl spicy brown mustard
2 tsp cayenne pepper
4 Tbl tomato paste
1 stick butter
2 Tbl worcestershire sauce
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

Step 1: In a 5 quart crock pot on high. Rub both roasts with salt and cracked pepper, then place in the crock pot. Add the diced potatoes and onions, and then fill the pot with hot water or stock and cover. Let it cook 6 to 7 hours until the meat falls apart. Keep check on the water level

Step 2: Remove the meat from the pot and pull apart to let cool. Next remove the bone, fat, and connective tissue. Pull the meat apart in small pieces and then give it a light chop. Break up the potatoes and onions in the pot with a potato masher. Return the meat to the pot. Add the butter and reduce heat to the lowest setting. Let it cook another hour or until it is the consistency you like.

Step 3: Add your seasonings one at a time and taste as you go. Add a little BBQ sauce for a kick or...

Step 4: Serve over your choice of white rice pour sauce over the rice and hash.