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Love Your Neighbor Cookbook & Almanac
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What a blessing to have been raised in Memphis by a country cook who knew what she was doing. Good cooking was just a way of life in our household and among our extended family. My mother prepared the best fried chicken in Tipton County (We grew up in Memphis, but our reunions were in Tipton County.) according to my aunts, uncles, cousins, and great aunts & uncles; I have no reason to doubt their words of praise. I saw at every family reunion whose chicken was the first to go. And my mother wasn’t the only good cook in our house.
My daddy was a master at the grill and could throw together a variety of tasty snacks inside as well. He specialized in oyster stew & Bleu Cheese Dressing; and sitting down with Daddy as we built snacks of smoked oysters, cheeses, crackers, olives, and anything else he could scrape together was a banquet in itself.
The blog entries below come from recipes we enjoy around our household; from recipes I’ve yet to try; from recipes given me by friends and family, and things I’ve read about on line or in real print. Yes, I do still subscribe to magazines that come in the mail. Also there are posts about cooking equipment, techniques, sources for more information, etc. I hope you find something of interest.
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DPJC BLOG
Cheesy Mexican Corn Bake
JR brought this over on Christmas Day (2009), and it was suberb. He sent me the link to the Betty Crocker site where he got the recipe. Ingredients 2 bags (12 oz each) Green Giant® Valley Fresh Steamers™ Niblets® frozen corn 1/2 cup butter or margarine 1 cup chopped...
Grill Medley
I fired up the Weber tonight and added some hickory chunks. I banked the fire on two sides, placed an aluminum drip pan in the center, and prepared a vegetable medley for the grill. Ingredients purple onion, peeled and sliced 3/8 inch thick 1/2 pound fresh mushrooms,...
Corn Pudding
The food service people at the university did this one for a party at the president's house. It was such a hit, that they shared the recipe. Ingredients 2 cups of corn (fresh, canned, or frozen) 4 eggs, beaten ½ cup Monterey Jack Cheese (grated) ½ cup of Cheddar...
Decadent Peanut Butter Pie
Ingredients • 1 cup creamy peanut butter, plus 2 tablespoons, divided• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened• 1/2 cup sugar• 1 (12 oz.) container frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided• 1 prepared chocolate pie crust• 1 (11.75 oz.) jar Smucker's® Hot Fudge...
Turkey Times – with Oven Bag
If you lose the instructions that come with those oven cooking bags, this might come in handy. Click on image to enlarge.
Oyster Pie
I asked my good friend, Nikki Merritt, for her "Oyster Pie" recipe. This is what she wrote. "So tasty - It's a recipe from Will's side of the family and once I had it, it became a staple for our Thanksgiving dinners. You mix up some margarine and 2 cups crushed up...
Bobbie’s Chess Pie
Mother used to make this when we were children. I always loved this. By the way, the name supposedly is an adaptation of what ladies in the old south used to call "Just Pie." Ingredients 1 stick of butter- melted 2 cups of sugar 2 Tablespoons of self-rising flour 4...
Margaret’s Turkey Chili
My friend, Margaret Wallace, served this "chili" to our vestry. I saw several people going back for seconds. Thank you, Margaret, for sharing this recipe. Ingredients 2 # ground turkey (Originally called for beef. Margaret also suggests buffalo.) Large onion, chopped...
Chapati Bread
Ingredients 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour1 cup all-purpose flour more for dusting1 teaspoon salt Instructions Mix flours in food processor; add salt and, with machine running, pour in one cup warm water. Process for about 30 seconds, then remove cover. Dough should be...
More on Pizza
Yes, I admit it. I stole this directly from the Washington Post as a service to my loyal readers. Ingredients 1 1/4 cups warm water (between 100 and 110 degrees), plus more as needed1 small packet active dry yeast1/2 teaspoon sugar3 1/2 cups flour, plus more as needed...
How Hot Is That Fire?
In The Barbecue! Bible, Steven Raichlen recommends the "Mississippi test" for those who don't have grill thermometers. Hold your hand about 6 inches above the coals or gas fire and count "one Mississippi, two Mississippi," etc., until the heat causes you to pull away....
Mike Kirkpatrick’s Slaw Dressing
Back in the old days, when we were working our way through college, we used to gather at friends' houses each Friday night for pot luck, music, and good old fashioned adult-dose partying. As Grace Slick used to say, . . . Well, on second thought, maybe I better not go...
Boudin Stuffed Bell-Peppers
Okay, I know that we usually see it spelled "Boudin," but for some reason, Zummo's spells it "Boudain." I got this recipe off a package of their smoked "Boudain," and it's a real winner. Well, I modified it a bit by adding onion, chopped pepper parts, and egg. Plus, I...
Southwestern Cornbread Salad
Our friend, Kathy, brought this to our vestry meeting in June. She got the recipe from Southern Living Magazine. It's delicious! Indgreients 1 (6 ounce) package Mexican cornbread mix1 (0.4 ounce) envelope Ranch-style buttermilk salad dressing mix1 small head romaine...
Fig Preserves
This fig tree is in our back yard. We cut it all the way down to the ground once, and it came back even bigger than ever. Each summer around late June, we begin racing the birds to get the figs. They get some, and we get some. [Click here for larger view.] Ingredients...
Apple Custard Pie
Mother made this up from a bunch of apples we brought up on our visit to Tennessee. It's delicious. I'm not much on making desserts, but this one is so good, I thought I'd share it. Mother got this recipe from a cookbook published by First United Methodist Church of...
Fish Tacos – with Corn Meal
Okay, I know. Here we are blogging about fish tacos again. Well, it's like anything else that's good; it's worth revisiting. I may have hit on the "Power Taco" tonight. Like before, I cut the fish into little-finger size strips (Thinner than that really. Let's say a...
Fig Preserves Again
We did another 10 pints of figs last night. I'm getting pretty good at this. I didn't make nearly as big a mess as I did the first night. That makes 17 pints in 2 nights, and we still have a couple of dozen left over from last year. I'm thinking all the priests at...
Fish Tacos
Long ago in a small-town mission church in Arkansas a priest (who is now a bishop) told me about the CASE method: Copy And Steal Everything. The following is from the San Francisco Chronicle. SOUTH TO NORTHSouth to North: Baja meets bayou in a fish taco Jacqueline...
Fig Preserves
We have a fig tree in our back yard. It begins "coming in" around late June each year. A few years ago, while I was home visiting Mother, Sherry took a notion to make fig preserves. Between the Joy of Cooking and several phone calls back to west Tennessee for tips...
Fish Tacos in Beer Batter
Our neighbor brings us fresh caught sea trout now and then. They almost melt in your mouth when cooked this way. Other times I've used catfish or ocean perch. Ingredients 1 lb catfish fillets or nuggets (or other fish if desired; ocean perch works nicely.)1 cup flour...
Memphis Style Pulled Pork
When I moved away from Memphis, finding real BBQ became a challenge. I stopped in a little roadside BBQ and ordered a chopped smoked pork shoulder sandwich, and they didn't have a clue what I was talking about. "You ain't from 'round here, are ya'?" said an old Gabby...
Vietnamese Southern-style Catfish in a Clay Pot
I haven't tried this one yet, but I grew up on wild Tennessee River Blue Channel Catfish. We used to harvest them ourselves daily off the face of the Pickwick Dam near Savannah, TN. And I'm not so sure about this clay pot business. I'm thinking cast iron. From Mai...
Nikki’s Ravioli & Tortellini Salad
My good friend, Nikki Merritt, served this at one of our vestry meetings. It was a hit! Thank you, Nikki. Ingredients 1 (19 oz) pkg frozen cheese tortellini 1 (19 oz) pkg frozen cheese ravioli 1 ½ cups canola or olive oil ½ - ¾ cup red wine or balsamic vinegar 1 TBS...
Pizza Tales
Well, finally I got around to it — after four days of saying I was going to make a pizza, on the fifth day, I did it. Next time, I’m going to make a smaller but thicker crust. I will NOT try to stretch a quarter of the recipe over one dinner plate. That results in a...
Pork Roast (Continued)
The roast turned out great. I put it on at 6:45 am, and didn't look at it again until around 12:30 pm. In the meantime I decided to pick up two chickens for beer-can-chicken since I had a fire going. So about 2:00pm, I checked the roast again. It wasn't yet done to...
Memorial Day Pork Roast
Just started a fire --- 6:13 am. For a 4 pound shoulder, bone-in butt roast. I banked the fire on the opposite side away from the top vent. For more on slow-smoking on a Weber Kettle, go here. [To see how this turned out, go here.]
Beer Can Chicken
I did a beer-can chicken yesterday. Didn't have a beer can, so I used an empty mushroom can. I added water, and half of a lime. It turned out fantastic!
Chicken Salad
Ingredients 1 Chicken 2 carrots, grated 2 stalks of celery, minced 1/2 - 1 cup sweet pickle relish 1/2 - 1 cup mayonnaise Directions Debone a Beer-can Chicken or an Easy Boiled Chicken and chop meat very fine. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Start with only a...
Garlic Idaho Potatoes
INGREDIENTS 3 medium (6 - 8 ounces each) Idaho Potatoes, well scrubbed cooking spray pepper to taste 1/2 stick butter 1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup) 1 tablespoon garlic salt DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a loaf pan or small casserole dish with...
