Hush Puppies

-hushin' dem puppies-

every culture seems to have their own catchy name for this deep fried treat / side dish. i've heard name that range from "corn doggers" to "corn fritters" to "mandoca" in venezuela to "yanikeke" in the dominical republic to my favorite "festivals" in jamaica. yep, believe it people places outside of the american bible belt enjoy these miraculously simply and tasty bites. everyone loves deep fried balls of cornmeal dough - everyone. you can vary the sweet to savory ratios and easily move from side dish to dessert - or carnival fare.

now for a bit of american southern history (supposed history - which can describe about 60% of all my "historical" knowledge). evidently history has it that these little guys were usually tossed to the dogs by hunters, soldiers even runaway slaves to "hush the puppies". pretty clever eh? funny because when i do make these - which is rare, but holds as a semi-yearly summer farm tradition - they never make it to anyplace other than the grubby hands of the beer macerated men folk. a puppy would never have a chance of tasting one of these.

HUSH PUPPIES

-or whatever you call em'-

1c cornmeal

1/2c flour

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

16 oz cream corn

1/2c finely minced onion

milk if needed

oil for frying

*heat 2"-3" of oil to 350F

*in a large bowl combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, salt and baking powder

*in a separate bowl combine the cream corn and onions

*add the corn mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine - add a bit of milk if the batter seems too thick. it should be about the constancy of a thick muffin or quick bread batter.

*drop by the tablespoonful into the preheated oil and fry, turning once, until golden. this should take only 2-3 minutes.

*place on a paper towel lined plate and serve with ketchup or my favorite, tartar sauce.

Lake Charles, Louisiana

-no restaurant is complete w/out a stuffed alligator flying on a cypress log-

as mentioned in my last post: i ventured back home last weekend for a much needed visit with my parents and best friend (ahhhh). i have to say - the older i get the more i realize what a great place ole Louisiana is. where else can you get a (real) soft shell crab po-boy, a beer for $2 and a fresh chocolate souffle all in one day? oh and did i mention the daytime temperature never dropped below 50ish. life down there is nice and slow - i'm not sure if this is a side effect of the excessive sodium / alcohol intact or just a kind of mellow nirvana that us north easterners have yet to realize. either way...

-soft shell crab po-boy, dressed correctly. this may be my "last meal" choice-

-catfish platter, my parents' favorite. what platter would be complete with out a garden of fries-

-this picture was not taken at a carnival, just a standard notification medium in La-

-is anything better than a piping hot chocolate souffle and fresh whipped cream at 1 am? did i mention the bottle of wine? -

-dad and his two enormous cabbage heads. my parents garden is small but fierce-

- what i learned this night or more so the next morning when i stumbled out of bed: i am closer to 30 than 20 -

Its winter here

** view from (inside) my living room window - i couldn't brave stepping onto the balcony **

it's christmas here - and i have the eating habits to verify that. buckwheat pancakes, beef stew, chocolate crinkle cookies and way - way too many homemade orangettes (recipe to follow once i can free my right hand from the jar they live in).

Thanksgiving 09 - 2nd annual Farm style

well, we are officially in post thanksgiving mode - also known as "the holidays". starting with the christmas party josh and i met at to last years thanksgiving day that we got engaged, i suppose that this season is officially my favorite (don't worry easter i still adore you more than any other).

this year consisted of a close group of friends, an amazing location and tons of delish foodstuff - and even an adorable baby! surprisingly i pulled off a dinner for 6 without an major disasters or breaking a sweat. the baby enjoyed a champagne cork (don't act you haven't done the same after a little too much "holiday cheer"). Seemed everyone's favorite was a tie between the rosemary lemon bread w/ honey butter and the pumpkin pie w/ homemade whipped cream. my favorite (which i freakishly tried to push on everyone) was the guinness molasses ginger bundt cake. OMG! i am officially obsessed with that cake!

below is a menu from the dinner - if you are interested in a recipe of any of these, just put through a request and i'll hook you up.

Thyme Roasted Chicken

Gravy

Mashed Potatoes

Caramelized Onion Cornbread dressing

Sweet Potato Casserole

Cranberry Orange Sauce

Honey Glazed Carrots

Sautéed Green Beans

Rosemary Lemon Bread (w/ Honey butter)

Walnut Bread (w/ Maple butter)

Cranberry Orange Loaf

Pumpkin Pie (w/ Fresh Whipped Cream)

Apple Pie

Guinness Molasses Ginger Cake

Halloween and Pumpkin Seeds

growing up my favorite part of halloween was when my mom oven roasted the fresh pumpkin seeds my father piled into a messy heap - stringy pumpkin goo left in tact - as he gutted the enlarged orange squash in preparation of carving. she would sift through the seeds with her hands, dump them on a baking sheet, (generously) add salt and through them in the oven, lingering pumpkin strings and all. this last part is crucial. when you leave bits of flesh on the seeds they toast up and add an extra layer of crunch and flavor. ahhh! i can't get enough of them.

so when josh brought home a pumpkin last night, immediately my brain went to roasted seeds - and the fun of carving of-course. so we carved the little guy up, sat him atop the balcony ledge, lit him up and enjoyed the gloomy overcast NYC skyline.

and yes - that is the empire in the background (orange, black and white to be festive).

OVEN ROASTED PUMPKIN SEEDS

1 1/2c fresh pumpkin seeds

1-2 tbs olive oil

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

*preheat oven to 350F, line baking pan with parchment

*toss seeds with oil and salt

*spread evenly on prepared pan, cook for 30-35 minutes stirring occasionally

Fall Flowers from my Love

yeah so josh came home with flowers a few nights ago after he came home late. i woke up the next morning and viola! happy fall flowers were atop the cluttered "dining room" table - can i just say i am in love with these flowers. its fall over here - let the festivities begin.

Sunset

have you ever seen a sunset so beautiful and creepy at the same time? this totally reminds me of the scene in ghostbuster when all the trapped ghosts are released and hell breaks loose in NYC. I feel like i've seen some amazing sunsets in my life but this one by far has to be the most memorable. about 30 minutes before i took this picture as fierce storm rolled through the city and was gone within 20 minutes or so. you could watch it coming over the river and winds from it sucked my curtain clean out of the window and slammed a few doors shut. ok - i don't really have doors - plural. but it did slam my bedroom door shut. whatever ,i'm moderately poor in NYC.

Dinner for One

so what do i eat when the ole fiance is away? your looking at it. hmm what it is? yeah good question. basically its the "what do i have in the frig and what can be made in about 20 minutes before i just eat cookies and cereal for dinner" recipe. i escape from work, head to the gym for a bit then come home starving and not interested in baking, broiling, simmering, whisking or anything extra curricular in nature. but what i can tolerate at moments like this is steaming and a quick saute. so here we are, 20 minutes later noshing down on a one bowl meal of cracked wheat, sautéed tofu, zucchini, carrots (fresh from my parent's organic louisiana back yard - yeah be jealous, you should be) and a handful of parsley - stems and all (i can't be bothered to cut off just the leaves, please). oh and a few sprinkles of homemade res el hanout and some sea salt.

ras el hanout is a mediterranean spice blend with such delicious things like ginger, cumin, clove, allspice and cinnamon. i use it on almost anything really, especially baked veggies. but really it works well with tofu. all i do is heat some oil in a pan, add some chopped tofu, sprinkle the ras el hanout and the rest is magic! and i think i am finally taking a break from my whole wheat couscous affair and moving on to a new obsession with cracked wheat.