Category Archives: Food and drink

April 2020: Corona Virus trumps Everything !!!

 

Screenshot_20200401-184246_Samsung Internet

That’s what a lot of us gonna look like once we’re released.  40+ days, no barbers, stylist or beauticians.  Picket, Gordon, Bardwell, Wilson, Hall, and others will probably be fine and looking quite dapper as always.

Any of you “Children of the 80’s” have this go through your head —  M, M, MY CORONA…. 

Seems a little more to this Corona thing than last I typed.  Thank you for social distancing !!!!  I’ll be sure to virus check all your replies — though that’s not likely necessary.

A recipe for all you shut ins:  

Kev’s Chicken and Pasta Deliciousness

1/2 to 3/4 pound of Bacon
1 Large Onion (Texas 1015 or Vidalias — very good)
1 Large Chicken Breast
2 Cans Red Gold Petite Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
1 pound package of Penne or Bowtie pasta
8 oz. Mozarella shredded

I use a 12 inch iron skillet for this.  Takes nearly an hour to prepare but well worth it.

Start your pasta water and boil the whole box.

Start by cutting your bacon in thirds lengthwise then 1/4 to 1/2 inch pieces crosswise.  Add a touch of olive oil to skillet and render bacon until crisp.  Remove into bowl leaving bacon grease in skillet.

Cut onion in half (stem to stem) and then into slivers lengthwise.  (you can do this while the bacon starts cooking).  Add to bacon grease and caramelize until delicious brown.  Remove and add to bowl with Bacon.

Sear chicken in the Onion infused bacon grease.  Pour settled liquid infusion from Bowl into skillet.  If large chicken breast, butterfly or otherwise slice to smaller/thinner widths.  Once seared on each sided remove and slice into bite size pieces and return to skillet to finish cooking.

Once chicken fully cooked, empty bacon and onion bowl into skillet.  Toss and stir in for a minute then add 2 cans of Red Gold.  Stir in and generously top with Black Pepper.

Drain pasta.  Fold in pasta with chicken mixture.  It’s easier to remove chicken mixture and combine with pasta in separate pan.  Fold in to equally distribute.  

At this point you can go casserole pan or return to the iron skillet.  Using a bowl, scoop about a 1/3 in to the skillet top with cheese.  Repeat 2 times, make sure you leave plenty of cheese for the top.  Broil until brown.  Remove and serve.

Any other recipes you’d like to share, you can add to the comments.  Don’t worry about the e-mail thing, just make one up — it’ll take.

We now rejoin our regular bloggage, already in progress.

and the home of the Brave…  You missed the National Anthem while reading a recipe…

Well, life as a shut-in has created quite the busy schedule.  Was burning a tree stump until the Governor declared a statewide burn ban.  Water heater went out so had to get and install a new one — did have to hire some muscle to transport new up and old into and out of the attic.  Mowed the lawn, and familiarize myself with daytime TV.  Figured out how to share screen from phone to project Sunday service onto the TV.

As engaging as that all is, we have a couple of Engagements to announce, one I missed before and one from just a few days ago.

John Jeansonne and Della LaCroix

Jackie Hooter and Danny Butler

Now on the B-days.  If you encountered a B-Day since March 13th, your personal turn of the year-o-meter was canceled, so we recognize the date, but your age remains — no 50 for me.

April 1      Beth Baker Guillory

April 2      Jackie Hooter-Harvey

April 6      Mike Kingston

April 7      Kevin Brunson

April 8      Tim Higuera

April 16    Dempsey Hall, Jr.

April 23    Rhonda Malone-Worsham

Wedding Anniversary

April 29    Doug and Melissa Gann 

Can’t close without thanking you “Essentials” out there Docs, Nurses, Truck Drivers, Tradesmen, Gun Shop Owners, Pharmacists, Grocery Employees, UPSers, and FedEx-ers, etc. couldn’t survive without cha !!!!

For the rest of ya some poetry…

Roses are Red

April is Grey.

Y’all Be good and Stay inside

So we can all go out in MAY !!!!

 

Until next time…

 

Kev, Creator / Editor
THS 88 on the Web

Now for something totally different IV…


World’s Simplest
Peanut Butter Cookies
 
 
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg
 
Mix ingredients…  Small balls of dough on cookie sheet, squishing with fork or spatula…  Bake @ 350 for 12 minutes…
 
you can also add chocolate chips, chunks, nuts, whatever…  but that’s all the ingredients… 
 
Didn’t believe it myself — saw it on Emeril, was sure he left out something, then saw on Paula using Splenda — instead of sugar…  Good and simple…
 

Now for something totally Different III


It’s Blueberry Season

and another edition of Recipe Time — I’ve also added the category below Food and Drink for access to my previous offerings…  This one from AllRecipes.com is really kick ass for Blueberry Muffins…  You can go to the web site and enter different quantities and it will adjust the ingredients for you…  Enjoy !!!

 

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

SUBMITTED BY: Colleen  PHOTO BY: chibi chef 

"These muffins are extra large and yummy with the sugary-cinnamon crumb topping. I usually double the recipe and fill the muffin cups just to the top edge for a wonderful extra-generously-sized deli style muffin. Add extra blueberries too, if you want!"

To Die For Blueberry Muffins Recipe
RECIPE RATING:

This recipe has been rated 3,623 times with an average star rating of 4.7
Read Reviews (2,956)


PREP TIME  15 Min
COOK TIME  25 Min
READY IN  40 Min
Original recipe yield 8 large muffins

SERVINGS

 (Help)

    

Servings

 

US METRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries

For Topping 

  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup butter, cubed
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
  2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
  3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
  4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.
  5. Eat

Now for something totally different II…


Another adventure into the culinary files of Kev — be it for brunch or just breakfast itself…
 
Kevs Breakfast Casserole
Ingredients:
1 lb ground sausage (hot or mild) — cooked and drained
1 bag (28 oz to 32 oz) Frozen O’Brien Style Hashbrown Potatoes (small cube style) — O’Brien Style works best as it includes peppers and onions, if using plain, be sure to add peppers and onions during one of the skillet steps below as these ingredients add flavor.
1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 cup Sour Cream
2 cups Cheddar Cheese
Black Pepper
1 1/2 sticks of Margarine or Butter
Corn Flakes
 
Brown Sausage and drain — set aside.  Either allow hashbrowns to thaw or use microwave to thaw.  With 1/2 to 3/4 stick of margarine brown hashbrowns lightly in skillet over medium to medium high heat (you can skip this step but it adds texture to the dish).  Remove to large bowl.  Add sour cream, cheese, sausage, can of soup (soup only — no water), and pepper stirring to mix.  Transfer contents of bowl to 9×13 baking dish (pre-spray with Cooking Spray) and top with corn flakes (about 2 cups — maybe more) then pour 1/2 stick of melted butter over the corn flakes.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 – 30 minutes or until bubbly throughout.
 
Serve alone or with other breakfast offerings (biscuits, pancakes, muffins, fruit, etc)…  Refrigerate and reheat in microwave…  Can be prepared without the corn flakes but they add a nice crunchy touch.
 
During the end days of Quaker State, our floor would have Friday Breakfasts, and I was making 2 of these every week — didn’t take long for them to disappear…
 
You can prepare the night before/refrigerate and bake in the morning for maybe an additional 10 minutes.
 
As always, leftovers are only a nuking away from being another meal… 

Now for something totally different…


with the cold wave hitting much of the fruited plain and with everyone so busy, I’ve decided to give everyone a down home, Louisiana-way, easy recipe for a classic cold weather warm-up — Crock Pot style — less than 30 minute prep time (never timed it — maybe less than 20) and 12 to 14 hours later — it’s soooooooooo good…  Yet so easy…  You’ll thank me, at least privately, for this…
Kevs Crock-Pot
Chicken and Sausage Gumbo
(recipe amounts for use with 5 Quart Crock-Pot)
3-4 pounds of Chicken Thighs – remove skin — OK thawed, partially, or completely frozen
1 pound Smoked or Andouille Sausage sliced
1 medium Onion — chopped — maybe more — depends on one’s definition of medium
2 Ribs of Celery — Chopped — (I like to split in thirds lengthwise then chop — greater dispersion)
3 Green Onions — Chopped
1 Medium to Large Green Bell Pepper — chopped — other colors are fine as well
Fresh or jarred minced Garlic
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
Black Pepper
Paprika
Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning or other Cajun Seasoning
Roux — powder/Jarred/self made
Hot Sauce (Tobasco, some Louisiana branded etc.)
Fill Crock-Pot about 1/3 of the way with water (about 6 cups).  Set temperature to LOW
Dissolve roux in water — at least mostly. 
Add onion, celery, bell pepper, green onions, and 2 or 3 generous heaping spoonfuls of garlic. 
Add Tony’s, Black Pepper, Paprika, Cayenne, Salt, and Hot Sauce (can’t give you specifics as I just shake — If using Tony’s remember to go easy on the extra salt as Tony’s has a high salt content
Smell the water — add whatever seems lacking…  Usually more Tony’s, Cayenne, Hot Sauce, and maybe Black Pepper.  The spice you smell will be pretty much be what the final pot will yield — so when in doubt a little more Cayenne and Hot Sauce.
Add Chicken
Add Sausage
You may have to remove some of the liquid a this point…  Remove just enough liquid to leave about 3/4 of an inch space between the liquid level and the top of the rim — liquid only — keep your veggies… 
Now as they say on Iron Chef America — Step Away — the cooking is done — OK — your part is done…  Cook at least 10 hours on LOW
20 to 30 minutes before serving skim off the grease layer that has appeared from cooking down the sausage and chicken.  After this I like to remove the chicken with tongs, discard the bones, and then using the tongs to shred the chicken — return chicken to Crock-Pot and serve in 10 to 15 minutes…  Your call on how you like the consistency of your chicken.  You know the rest — serve with rice, file, saltines, potato salad and/or anything else you like…
When I worked at Quaker State I used to start this about 10:30 @ night and carry it in the next morning and continue cooking there and serve around 11…  Got to the point where I had to ration this stuff out to make sure the intended diners (my team) got to eat…  The vultures at the workplace when food’s around…
Generally, I try to get everything done by 10:30 and it’s ready for lunch the next day…  You could also do all the prep work the night before and start the cooking the next morning when you enter the kitchen for that morning cup of coffee, getting the kids up for school, letting the dog out, before your shower, etc. and it would be ready for dinner that night…  A little longer on the cook time only allows the flavor to penetrate more…  But you know the drill — good Chili and Gumbo — always better the next day…  That is… if it makes it to the next day !!!
Invite some Yankee friends over…  Blow their socks off…  Clear their sinuses…  Watch their eyes water…  But it’s all so good… 
 
Enjoy !!!