Life Lately, According to Instagram – March (Madness) 2014

Mississippi Company Roast

Recipe adapted from Table for Two blog (click image for link)

 

Every now and again, a recipe comes along that you devour and keep thinking about for days. This is one such recipe. I made it for the first time not too long ago when my whole family came to visit. It makes enough for a passel of folks, takes almost no effort at all, and is sure to impress.

Place a chuck roast in a Dutch oven or another deep oven-safe ceramic dish. Turn the oven on low (300) for about four hours (depending on your size roast, adjust cooking time for safety).

Top your roast with one whole stick butter, 5 or so peperoncinis, and one teaspoon of each:

• salt
• pepper
• parsley
• garlic
• onion powder
• chives
• dill

That’s it. Promise me you’ll make this, whether you’re having company or not. You won’t regret it.

(P.S. – This makes a-ma-zing sandwiches the next day on some toast or buttered rolls.)

Meatloaf Muffins

Picture via Food Network

Obviously, we love the classic comfort food meatloaf around here, especially as the weather begins to cool, and suppertime needs to be just a little richer with a coolness in the air. As a variation on the classic loaf, next time make your mixture and place into muffin tins. Just be sure to cut your baking time in about half (they cook much quicker, usually in about 20 minutes) and are perfect for individual portions to use as leftovers.

This way, everyone gets their own variation. Some can cover in ketchup, others in gravy, bbq, or another sauce.

(You can also double these as meatballs for your italian sub!)

Anything small is infinitely more edible and appealing!

Life in the South, According to Instagram

Just a sneak peak of what we’ve been up to in November … What have y’all been up to?

Food Friday: Melons

I adore melons. I’ve often remarked in heaven, I plan on eating nothing but cantaloupe and watermelon (ok, and maybe a croissant or two, just for balance). When they are ripe and sweet, there is nothing better.

A favorite since ancient times, and remarkably fantastic for your health and skin, there’s just no excuse not to indulge in a big bowl of melon each morning for brunch, or even as a sweet treat as dessert.

But they are fraught with questions for me… how do I pick the best one? How best to slice it? Is eating an entire melon by myself in one sitting too much?

Here are a few helps to get us all enjoying this summer delicacy.

• A ripe melon should give slightly when pressing your finger to the skin. Take a sniff. The smell should be slightly sweet, and if all else fails, go with mom’s old trick of picking the heaviest melon in the bin. The theory is, the heavier the melon, the juicier it is.
• If you can’t find a ripe melon at the store, no need to bring it home. Melons won’t continue to ripen after picking, so if it isn’t picked at the height of perfection, sadly, it never will.
• Melons will store well in the refrigerator for several days, but a sliced melon will pick up other food odors easily, so wrap it in plastic bags or in an airtight container.
• Bring your melon, as with any fruit, to room tempurature about 30 minutes before serving to bring out the flavor.
• Even though you don’t eat the skin, it’s still important to wash thouroughly, since melons are grown on the ground and can easily pick up contaminants. Don’t transfer those nasties from the skin to your knife to the fruit.
• Get all those seeds out in one scoop — an ice cream scoop, that is! The large scoop is perfect for removing the center seeds.
• But if you’re not going to eat the entire melon right away, leave the seeds in the half you’re saving for later. They will help keep it moist.
• Summer is the season, but I’ll have to admit my only qualm with melons is how hard they are to slice and prepare. Practice and a little expert help are all you need. Take a look at this video for a genius new way on how to get to the sweet fruit a little easier.

So much, from sweet to savory pairs well with melon. Here are a few of our favorite flavor pairings.

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Curry
• Fennel
• Ginger
• Mint
• Tarragon
• Salt
• Black or white pepper
• Chile peppers, powder, and sauce
• Sugars: white or brown
• Olive oil
• Honey
• Almonds
• Hazelnuts
• Macadamias
• Pecans
• Pistachios
• Prosciutto
• Milk and cream
• Apricots
• Blackberries
• Cherries
• Grapefruit
• Lemon juice
• Mango
• Tomatoes
• Red Onions
• Goat Cheese
• Yogurt
• Vinegars: Balsamic, rice, or sherry
• Champagne

From well-known canteloupe, honeydew, or watermelon, to Persian or Santa Claus varieties, there are many melons to choose from. Which is your favorite?

Waffles: A Saturday Morning Tradition

We’re approaching wedding season, and while I’m usually a proponent of buying off the registry, one of my favorite gifts from my wedding showers was a thoughtful addition to our home I hadn’t asked for, but that good friends knew me well enough to know we’d enjoy.

Dear readers, may I advocate, the waffle iron.

It’s the perfect gift… sweet, benefits both man and woman, and brings the happy couple a warm tradition they’ll enjoy for many Saturdays to come. My dear friends Anna and Christen gave us a beautiful gift basket complete with all we’d need, including the iron, a package of pancake mix, and the recipe.

Mr. SIT and I are different in many ways when it comes to our morning routines. I love sleeping in. He’s up with the sunrise. I’m a tea drinker. He drinks coffee. He likes to start his morning with the news. I prefer to remain blissfully unaware, at least until the day is started properly and a girl’s got to have her mascara on.

But one thing we can agree on on the weekends is breakfast. With good syrup, a generous pat of butter, and a cold glass of milk, there’s nothing better than waffles on a lazy Saturday morning. So, this weekend, before you pull out the lawnmower or head to the park, whip up a batch of delicious waffles.

Here’s our favorite recipe, adapted from my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. This makes about 8 large waffles, so it serves 4 or so, but they freeze wonderfully between sheets of wax paper in a Ziplock bag.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat your waffle iron.
2. Place all ingredients together in a bowl. Stir until just moistened.
3. Grease your waffle iron with a little cooking oil or Pam spray.
4. Place about 1 cup of the batter onto the waffle iron. Close the lid and don’t open until you stop seeing steam coming from the cooking waffles (mine has a little red light that turns green when they’re through).
5. Lift iron and remove waffles with a fork.
6. Repeat with remaining batter. If you like, keep a oven-safe plate nearby and pop done waffles warm in a low oven until ready.
7. Top with whatever you like — syrup, powdered sugar, honey, fruit — and enjoy!

Food Friday: Buttermilk

Anytime something has a moist and delectable flavor that I just can’t put my finger on, the answer to the question, “what’s in this?” always comes back “buttermilk.”

Originally, buttermilk was the leftover liquid from churning butter, but now you can find cultured buttermilk in liquid or powdered form. It’s great to provides that tangy flavor profile in baked goods, salad dressings, and sauces.

Since I often buy a carton to use for just one recipe, and then have some leftover, I like to pour it in ice cube trays to freeze individual portions for later.

If you ever find yourself out of buttermilk, you can always make some up by mixing one cup milk with one tablespoon vinegar. Let sit for five minutes while you prepare your other ingredients. Voila! Instant buttermilk. No more excuses on a Saturday morning when you’re craving some fluffy pancakes. Yogurt can also be used in a pinch. In fact, if it’s the healthful probiotics you’re after that have become so popular, buttermilk contains them as well.

But there’s nothing like the real thing. Buttermilk goes great with any kind of berries or fruit and also pairs beautifully with sweets to balance such as honey and sugar.

Southerners love their buttermilk in baked goods, so here’s a great recipe from Martha for Oatmeal-Cherry Biscuit Scones that calls for delicious buttermilk in moist summery scones.

Southern Flame Food and Music Festival

This weekend, I got the opportunity to take a break from Operation Yard Work and change gears to Operation Eat-Some-Great-BBQ. The Southern Flame Festival was held in under the live oaks in Summerville, South Carolina, where more than twenty local vendors came out to smoke and sauce samples of their ‘Q.

We got to taste a variety of Carolinian barbecue and sauces ranging from sweet to mustardy, each one more delicious than the next, all while enjoying bluegrass music from bands Common Ground, Dee Dee Cumbee, and Eddie Bush and the Mayhem.

I’ll always be a Memphis BBQ fan, but I’m enjoying the tart flavors of a vinegar-based Carolinian sauce as well.

Food Friday: Tuna Combinations

The other day, it seemed I had nothing in the pantry but cereal and some canned tuna. Rather than head out to the market on an empty stomach, I pulled out one of my favorite “cookbooks” that’s really not a cookbook at all. The Flavor Bible is a great encyclopedia for pulling together ingredients when you don’t have a recipe on hand to follow.

Some of my favorite dinners have come out of this Flavor Bible so I whipped up a little tuna salad sandwich with what I had on hand, inspired from some of the suggested ingredients, and it was the best tuna sandwich I’d ever had. There’s nothing like the classic combination of Duke’s mayo and tuna on white bread, but the more complex flavors meticulously researched and compiled by authors Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg really hit the spot.

Image via Ina Garten’s Tuna Salad

So in case you’re looking for a light summer lunch this weekend, here’s a list of some of my favorite suggestions to hopefully inspire your own tuna salad.

• anchovies
• white beans
• mustard
• soy sauce
• wasabi
• sesame
• lemon
• basil
• chives
• scallions
• cilantro
• coriander
• parsley
• bell peppers
• jalapeno chili peppers
• onions
• tomatoes
• fennel
• shallots
• radishes
• radicchio
• arugula
• watercress

Food Friday: Okra Combinations

We’re no strangers to okra around here. As one of the South’s favorite foods — from one of the key ingredients in gumbo to a delicious batch of hot, fried goodness — we’ve featured okra on many a post, and many a dinner plate.

But if you’re looking for a few new ways to incorporate this summer vegetable, we’ve been researching some of the tastiest combinations. So dig into your garden or cupboard for a few new ways to use okra.

Pair with:

Vegetables: Traditional – red bell peppers, green chile peppers, tomatoes; Unexpected – fennel

Starch: Traditional – rice,

corn; Unexpected – potatoes

Meat: Traditional – chicken, shrimp, ham; Unexpected – lamb

Spices & Condiments: Traditional – salt, butter, oil, garlic, lemon juice; Unexpected – vinegar, yogurt

Techniques: Traditional – braise, fry, pickled, saute, stew; Unexpected – grill, steam