Breakfast Bowl... Cheese Grits with Sausage and a Fried Egg!

Very easy breakfast for supper! 

1 cup stone-ground grits
4 cups beef stock

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

6 sausage patties, cooked and chopped

1 egg, fried over easy, per bowl

Make the grits in a large heavy saucepan. Bringing 4 cups of beef stock to a boil. Whisk in the grits a 1/4 cup at a time. When you have added all the grits, reduce the heat to a very low simmer and cook over low heat for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally at first and more frequently toward the end. When done, taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cheese and sausage. Place each portion in a bowl and top with a soft fried egg.

Oven Fried Pork Chops

This recipe is as old as the hills. Some people will scoff at using mayonnaise, but it really helps to keep the pork moist and tender. This is also a recipe that I think you have to be willing to get a little messy in the kitchen. I've never been able to do the "wet hand, dry hand" method of breading, and believe me, when you've worked in a kitchen frying chicken by the 5 gallon bucket loads... you'll try every method available... So get in there and get your hands dirty! :-)

Served here with Greek Potatoes

and Skillet Fried Corn

6 Pork Chops


Wet Mixture:
1 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
salt & pepper, to taste

Dry Mixture:
1 1/2 cups bread crumbs
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking pan or large casserole dish with oil. In a flat dish, whisk together mayo and seasonings. In a separate dish, combine bread crumbs, flour and seasonings. Coat the pork chops with the mayonnaise mixture (I actually used my fingers), and then coat with the bread crumb mixture. Place on a cookie sheet and bake pork chops for 30 minutes (or until golden brown and crispy), turning and pouring off excess oil once during cooking.

Roasted Broccoli, Cauliflower and Red Onion

I know many of you have seen me mention PBC on my Facebook page. Most of you know that that's my home church, Pinewood Baptist Church, and I feed our Wednesday Night Supper crowd. We have recently grown to a group of about 75 or so. This past Saturday, the youth put on a Sweethearts Banquet, serving Steak/Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Salad and Desserts. When I got to the kitchen today, there was all kinds of leftovers in the frig. There was broccoli, cauliflower and red onions left over from the salads... already cut up and ready to go! I tossed them with enough oil and melted butter to coat them and sprinkled them with salt, pepper and garlic powder. I spread them out on a cookie sheet and roasted them at 425 degrees, until they were nice and caramelized!

 Before...

After Roasting!

Red Velvet Truffles

Cake

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons cocoa
3 tablespoons red food coloring
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs. Mix well. Mix cocoa and food coloring in a cup. Add to eggs and sugar. Add vanilla. Sift flour and salt. Add, alternating with buttermilk. Add soda and vinegar. Let foam and FOLD into mixture. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Icing
2~ 8 ounce blocks of cream cheese, room temp
1 lb box powdered sugar (10X)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Blend cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and vanilla. Blend well.

Truffles
Crumble cake in a large bowl and add icing, mixing until it is the consistency of fudge. Scoop with a 1 inch cookie scoop or by the teaspoon full. Roll into a ball if using the teaspoon. Place on a sheet of wax paper on a cookie sheet. Freeze for about an hour. Melt white chocolate in a medium bowl (by double boiler or microwave) and coat each red velvet round. Set on wax paper to set. Return to freezer for 5 minutes,  if necessary. Yields about 45, 1 inch truffles.

Mini Pecan Pies

Thank goodness that I hid some pecans in the freezer this year! I had some orders for these delicious little tarts. Valentine's Day is a perfect time to splurge on these yummy bite size morsels!

One Pie Crust, cut into 2 inch rounds with a cookie cutter, 24 total
Filling:
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups pecan pieces
2 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place pie rounds into a lightly greased mini muffin pan.
In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, corn syrup, vanilla and eggs. Beat well. Stir in pecans and butter. Spoon into pie rounds. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. With the tip of a sharp knife, pull the edge of a round up and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in a sealed container.

Pepperoni Pizza Burger Bombs!

The Kids love pizza and burgers, So I combined the two for these Pepperoni Pizza Burger Bombs! As you can tell by the picture at the bottom of the post... It got them all here! :-)

 This was the test run.
It tasted good, but not very pretty!

This was the second run.
Very good and looks good too!

Pizza Sauce:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 clove garlic, grated
1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

One 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes

Burger Bombs :

1 pound ground beef

Kosher salt and black pepper

Pizza dough, room temperature

8 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced

4 ounces thin pepperoni (about 32 slices)

1/4 cup olive oil, for brushing

For the sauce: To a small saucepan over low heat add the oil, garlic and onion and cook until fragrant. Add the tomato paste and seasoning, and mash with the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in the crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from the heat.

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

For the burger: Form the meat into four 4-ounce patties and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Grill until medium, then remove from the heat and place on a paper-towel-lined plate.

Divide the pizza dough into four 4-ounce balls. Press out each ball on a floured board. Top each dough round with a slice of mozzarella, a couple slices of pepperoni, then 1 burger patty and 1 tablespoon of pizza sauce. Repeat with cheese and pepperoni. Fold the dough over the burger as if making a large dumpling. Brush with olive oil and top with a little extra cheese and pepperoni. Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet until golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Serve with extra pizza sauce on the side for dipping.