A few summers ago we went to Hilton Head (a bit disastrous due to jellyfish stings and the seemingly unavailability of fresh local seafood in stores – unless you buy it out of the back of a pickup truck). While we were there, we spent some time in Savannah, which is a beautiful city filled with graceful homes and garden squares that take your breath away. It’s also home to Paula Deen’s The Lady and Sons. This may not be Martha’s type of restaurant since it has a buffet and is filled with tourists, but it was a memorable meal for us and I think Martha would approve of the excellent authentic Southern food. Once a year or so, I make a Paula meal, based on the terrific food we enjoyed there. I usually come back from our vacations with a few signature dishes of the area we visited that I experiment with, trying to replicate them.  For Cape Cod, it was clam chowder. For Hawaii it was passion fruit sauces to go on fish. I have yet to attempt scones based on our trip to England, but that’s on my list.

So let’s get to the dinner. I started with Paula’s lemonade. The secret is to make a sugar syrup. Most people just dump water, sugar and lemon juice in a pitcher and stir. You need to mix all of the sugar with some hot water to dissolve it completely, then add the lemon juice and water. Here are the amounts: 3 c sugar, 2 c fresh squeezed lemon juice and water to fill a gallon jug – use about a cup or two of hot water to dissolve the sugar, then add cold water and ice. Paula’s lemonade is very sweet, but my family likes it that way. You can cut back the sugar if you like yours tarter.

Next up is the fried chicken – who can have a Southern meal without fried chicken? The summer we went to Paula’s restaurant, I made fried chicken over and over until I finally figured out how to do it. My recipe is based on Paula’s recipe, but is slightly different. I only use split chicken breasts since my family prefers white meat. I soak them in buttermilk, salt and pepper for 2-4 hours.

Next I mix three 3 eggs with 1/3 cup water. I mix 2 cups self-rising flour with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic powder.

I use peanut oil in my fryer and get it to 360 degrees. I pat the chicken dry, dredge in egg, then flour, then egg, then flour again.  I found that once was not enough and it needed to be double dipped. I fry one breast at a time (that’s all that fits in my fryer) and it takes about 15-20 minutes for it to cook.  When done, I set the breasts on a rack and stick them in the oven on warm. I find the chicken tastes best if it is allowed to sit for a while after being fried. This chicken is also excellent cold for the next several days.

The last piece of our Southern meal is hoecakes.  We had them for the first time at Paula’s restaurant and loved them.  The key to these is self-rising flour and self-rising cornmeal. I use 1/2 cup of each, 1 egg, 1/2 tbsp sugar, 1/2 plus 1/8 cup buttermilk, 1/8 cup vegetable oil, and half of a 1/3 of a cup of water.  I fry them on a griddle with butter. The batch in the photo is not up to my standards – I find the griddle needs to get nice and hot and then the hoecakes turn a lovely golden brown and get crunchy around the edges. Our dinner was thrown together around a hastily arranged urgent care visit (everyone’s ok) so I wasn’t able to fry these myself and had some help.

A few summers ago we went to Hilton Head (a bit disastrous due to jellyfish stings and the seemingly unavailability of fresh local seafood in stores – unless you buy it out of the back of a pickup truck). While we were there, we spent some time in Savannah, which is a beautiful city filled … Read more →

The September Martha Stewart Living “What’s for Dinner” section includes Egg-in-the-Hole Toasts with Ricotta and Bacon with Citrus Glaze. I’ve never had egg-in-the-hole, but I’ve always thought it was a cute presentation. I wanted to try this, but I was scared. Of ricotta. Seriously, it is one of those foods that makes me shudder.  It is because of ricotta that I never order ravioli or lasagna in a restaurant.

Part of my Martha project is opening myself up to new foods, or in this case, old foods that give me nightmares. Because of Martha, I have given in and eaten capers (not so horrible) and anchovies (still really gross). I even put brandy in a dessert and that was a big step for me. I have learned that I like Swiss chard, arugula and escarole. Ricotta is one of the final frontiers. I contemplated making this dish and leaving mine without ricotta, but that would be cheating. So I sucked it up. First battle – where do you find ricotta? I looked with the cheese. Wrong. It’s with the cottage cheese and sour cream in dairy.

I got down to business and made holes in my bread and brushed it with olive oil. I got it in the oven to brown.

I worked on the bacon next, cooking down some OJ and honey to make the citrus glaze. I’ve never made bacon in the oven before. We usually make it in the microwave, using this cute little bacon cooker that lets you hang the bacon over some rods, so the grease drips down into a dish. I have, from time to time, made it on the stove, where I’ve learned you have to turn the heat down before it starts to burn.  I got the bacon into the oven.

When the bread was brown I dumped the ricotta on top (seasoned with salt, pepper and thyme) and added the eggs. I kept checking both dishes. One minute the bacon was not cooked at all and the next thing I knew, it was burnt to a crisp. I was so mad at myself. A whole package of bacon, burned. I didn’t have time to start over, so I went on the table burnt and we picked at it and ate the unburnt pieces. In the oven you don’t have the luxury of turning the heat down to control how quickly the bacon cooks. I think you have to be right there, watching it like a hawk, ready to pull it out the second it starts to look almost done, because it will continue to cook once you take it out.

The eggs firmed up and I was ready to serve. I add some shavings of parmesan cheese to the top. The family gave this two thumbs up. I think they liked the novelty of it.  As for me, I ate the ricotta and it did not even make me shiver. In fact, it was pretty tasteless and I didn’t notice the grainy texture that usually makes me want to throw it across the room.  The bacon, had it not been black, would have been very good with the orange glaze on it. This dinner was reminiscent of the breakfast dinners I used to make sometimes when the kids were little and I was tired of trying to come up with dinner food we would all eat. Pancakes, bacon and fruit salad was my go-to meal if I was desperate. This was a fun and different dish to make. I think it would be great for a brunch.

The September Martha Stewart Living “What’s for Dinner” section includes Egg-in-the-Hole Toasts with Ricotta and Bacon with Citrus Glaze. I’ve never had egg-in-the-hole, but I’ve always thought it was a cute presentation. I wanted to try this, but I was scared. Of ricotta. Seriously, it is one of those foods that makes me shudder.  It … Read more →

Squash have taken over my kitchen. Although I did not grow any squash, my father grows enough to feed a third world country. So I have mounds of yellow squash, zucchini, and patty pan squash. He also grows a squash called kousa, which I don’t care for.

What to do with the squash? I like squash, but it gets old and boring fast. And I feel guilty if I throw it out. Quite a dilemma. Martha to the rescue. There’s a nice little recipe in September Martha Stewart Living for Warm Summer Squash Salad. I’m not exactly sure why it’s called a salad, but that’s a minor point I won’t quibble with. The recipe feeds 12 so I reduced it drastically to feed Mr. MarthaAndMe and myself.

First you saute some garlic then you add your thinly sliced squash. Once that’s done, you add some balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and oregano. And suddenly you have a squash dish that is not plain and boring. I enjoyed this a lot. The garlic and balsamic give it some real flavor, since squash can be quite dull on its own. This was very quick and easy to throw together and it helped reduce my mountain of squash. Points for Martha.

Squash have taken over my kitchen. Although I did not grow any squash, my father grows enough to feed a third world country. So I have mounds of yellow squash, zucchini, and patty pan squash. He also grows a squash called kousa, which I don’t care for. What to do with the squash? I like … Read more →

For the next Martha Mondays, let’s make Roasted Chicken and Plums, which is on page 162 of September Martha Stewart Living. If you don’t have the recipe, post or email me and I’ll send it to you. I’m looking forward to trying it since it’s not something I would ever come up with on my own.

For the next Martha Mondays, let’s make Roasted Chicken and Plums, which is on page 162 of September Martha Stewart Living. If you don’t have the recipe, post or email me and I’ll send it to you. I’m looking forward to trying it since it’s not something I would ever come up with on my … Read more →

In the ramekin with sour cream

I’ve been making Martha desserts for family dinners with my parents lately, so I decided to continue that trend and make Plum Tartes Tatin, from September Martha Stewart Living.

First stop, the grocery store, where I bought plums marked “ripe now” on the sign. They decidedly were NOT ripe and I put them in a paper bag for two days, hoping they would ripen. No change. They were still hard as rocks. Bravely, I forged ahead with this though since the plums have to be cooked and would (hopefully!) soften as I cooked them.

Second stop, another grocery store. My store did not have puff pastry – apparently there was a run on it. Who knew mid-August was prime puff pastry

On the plate with ice cream

baking time?

Happily, dear friends, I can tell you this is a super, super easy recipe! You cut up your plums and cook them on the stove with brown sugar and butter for about 10 minutes until they soften. My unripe plums did soften. You add a little salt and some brandy. Since I was cooking at chez Big MarthaAndMe, there was brandy available, so I added a little (not as much as Martha directs, but some). The alcohol cooks out.

Then you place your nicely smushed plums into ramekins and cover with circles of puff pastry. You’re supposed to thaw your puff pastry in the fridge overnight. I can never remember to do this. I found another excellent method though. On the day in question,  the thermometer registered 97 degrees on the deck, so I set it on the table out there for about 5-10 minutes and it was perfectly thawed.

You bake this for 40 minutes at 400. Mine was done in about 30 minutes though.

Martha says to serve with sour cream. Can I just say? Ick. I did try it with the sour cream (which I think was meant to be a cheap and quick substitute for creme fraiche) but let me tell you – ice cream is the way to go with this. This dessert was delicious. So good in fact, that every member of the family liked it  – from Big MarthaAndMe (who prefers tart tasting fruit desserts) to me (who prefers chocolate any time) to Dude Martha who likes anything sweet. Everyone agreed it was good. And I liked it because it was very simple to prepare. It was also very cute in the ramekins and looked like it was more work than it was. Big MarthaAndMe even asked for the recipe.

If I made this again, I think I might add some cinnamon to it. That’s my only comment though. Give it a try!

I’ve been making Martha desserts for family dinners with my parents lately, so I decided to continue that trend and make Plum Tartes Tatin, from September Martha Stewart Living. First stop, the grocery store, where I bought plums marked “ripe now” on the sign. They decidedly were NOT ripe and I put them in a … Read more →

I’m all for grilled veggies. I’ve never grilled radicchio though, so I had to try Grilled Radicchio, Summer Squashes, and Scallions from page 140 of Martha Stewart Living, August issue.

The squash and zucchini were good. The scallions were ok. The radicchio was really hard to grill since it kept falling through the slats.  I would skip the radicchio if I made this again. It didn’t really add to the flavor and it was just difficult. The rest of the veggies were good though, and it’s such a nice solution on a hot summer night to not have to turn on the stove!

I’m all for grilled veggies. I’ve never grilled radicchio though, so I had to try Grilled Radicchio, Summer Squashes, and Scallions from page 140 of Martha Stewart Living, August issue. The squash and zucchini were good. The scallions were ok. The radicchio was really hard to grill since it kept falling through the slats.  I … Read more →

I haven’t made many no-bake desserts, but Chocolate Mint Icebox Cake caught my eye on the MarthaStewart.com page of August Martha Stewart Living. It looked really good and once I found the recipe online, I realized it was very easy to make.

You start by whipping cream and adding sugar and mint extract. The next part was not quite so easy. I think the problem is that the recipe is just not clearly worded. You put the whipped cream between the chocolate wafers and make stacks. Then you lay the stacks sideways – this wasn’t really explained and I only figured it out by seeing the photo of the final product.It would have been helpful to be told how many cookies to put in each stack.

Next you cover the whole thing with more whipped cream and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 2 days. Mine sat for 24 hours.  Before you serve, you cover it with mini chocolate chips.

Slicing this was not easy. The wafers do stay kind of crisp, so I had a little trouble.

It also didn’t look very pretty on the plate because I didn’t cut it very well. All is forgiven though Martha, because this tastes really, really great. The bad thing is it feels like it is a light dessert because it is all whipped cream, and you forget how fattening it must really be.

We really liked this one. The longer it sits, the softer the wafers get. We had the leftovers the next day and it was even better then.  I was quite surprised at how much I liked this.

I haven’t made many no-bake desserts, but Chocolate Mint Icebox Cake caught my eye on the MarthaStewart.com page of August Martha Stewart Living. It looked really good and once I found the recipe online, I realized it was very easy to make. You start by whipping cream and adding sugar and mint extract. The next … Read more →

I am not from the south, so the idea of barbecued shrimp that isn’t actually barbecued sounded a little, well, silly to me. Martha has a recipe called Mr. Jim’s Louisiana Barbecued Shrimp in August Martha Stewart Living. I was ready to do some grilling until I actually read the recipe. No grilling needed. In fact, this recipe is very easy and quick.

You make a sauce with melted butter, garlic, Worchestershire, rosemary, lemon juice and lemon peel (I used zest instead of hunks of peel), hot sauce, and salt and pepper. Bring that to a simmer then add your shrimp (I did NOT leave the heads and tails on as the recipe directs! “Fish faces” as my dad always calls them. Ewwwww).  Shrimp cooks very quickly.

I was scratching my head a bit at this recipe because it makes so much sauce and it’s very thin – you can’t just put it on a plate. Then I realized the recipe says to serve it with a baguette for a reason – you need to serve your shrimp and sauce in a bowl and dip the bread. Holy cow, this was good. The shrimp was very flavorful and really addictive, but the bread….. It tasted like the best garlic bread you’ve ever had when you dipped it in the sauce. The white baguette soaking up that dark, delicious sauce. Oh, this was heaven. Three of us ate the entire pound of shrimp and whole baguette. In fact, it was so good that it physically pained me to dump the remaining sauce down the drain.

I am not from the south, so the idea of barbecued shrimp that isn’t actually barbecued sounded a little, well, silly to me. Martha has a recipe called Mr. Jim’s Louisiana Barbecued Shrimp in August Martha Stewart Living. I was ready to do some grilling until I actually read the recipe. No grilling needed. In … Read more →

Welcome to Martha Mondays. If you aren’t familiar, this is an open project where every week, we’ll cook, craft or do a Martha project together and then post or comment about it. The Martha Mondays recipe for August 10 was Grilled Vanilla Peaches, from August Martha Stewart Living.

I’m posting my take on it below. If you made it, or get a chance to make it, post your results on your blog (feel free to use the Martha Mondays logo so it is easily identifiable) and leave a comment here with a link. If you don’t have a blog or don’t want to blog about it, feel free to leave a comment about how it went for you.

I thought this recipe sounded delicious on paper – and it was easy. The first step was buying the peaches. Folks, I am ready to throw my hands up in frustration about this! I am having the worst time with peaches. I’m buying local peaches. First,  I have to watch like a hawk to be sure the check out person does not smush them into the bottom of a bag or bounce them around over the scanner. Then half of them rot before they get ripe. It’s very frustrating and expensive!

I finally ended up with 8 peaches that were somewhat ripe. Martha says to halve the peaches. Well, the recipe calls for freestones. Our local peaches are not freestones, so I ended up have to cut around the pits. So my peaches are not as pretty as I would have liked.

You place the peaches on parchment, on top of foil (Martha does not want food to touch foil!). I brushed them with oil and lemon juice, then the brown sugar, cinnamon,vanilla, and salt mixture. I thought it was going to be yummy.

I wrapped up the package and Mr. MarthaAndMe grilled it for 15 minutes as directed. We opened the package and the peaches did not look very cooked to me. They were definitely hot though and there was a fair amount of juice, however.

I served them with vanilla ice cream as directed. The ice cream melted almost immediately since the peaches were so hot.

I served this dessert to a group of 10 at my parents’ lake house, but only a few of us actually sampled it. Everyone else was happy to just eat ice cream or the cake Teen Martha made (she’s been slowly working her way through the old Betty Crocker cookbook on the shelf – this week it was a delicious butter cake with chocolate frosting)! None of the kids would touch the peaches. My father was skipping dessert entirely that night, so he wasn’t involved. It came down to me, Big MarthaAndMe (my mom) and Mr. MarthaAndMe.

I wasn’t wowed by this dessert at all.  The peaches did not have a very strong vanilla flavor. Big MarthaAndMe commented that she thought the dish would have been much better if you brushed the peaches with the flavoring then laid the peach halves directly on the grill so they could get charred and have a real grill taste. I agree with her (mom’s are always right). This tasted like partly cooked peaches with ice cream to me.

I wasn’t in love with the recipe, but it was fun knowing others out there were making too! So I want to hear how it went for you. Did you try it? Post a comment and let us know! Haven’t made it yet, but want to? Go ahead. There’s no time limit on Martha Mondays. You can make it whenever you want and report back.

Want to do another Martha Monday? I’ll post the assignment for the next Martha Monday in a separate post. Hope to see you there!

Welcome to Martha Mondays. If you aren’t familiar, this is an open project where every week, we’ll cook, craft or do a Martha project together and then post or comment about it. The Martha Mondays recipe for August 10 was Grilled Vanilla Peaches, from August Martha Stewart Living. I’m posting my take on it below. … Read more →

While a lot of my Martha project involves doing actual Martha recipes, crafts, and projects, I am trying to discover my own inner Martha and change my life so that I naturally live like Martha.

The other day I was standing at the deli counter in the grocery store, buying ham for Dude Martha (I almost never eat deli meat if I can avoid it, but the kids like it) and I noticed our store has started carrying a new line of local gourmet sausages. I’m not a big sausage fan, but the rest of the family are. I had a What Would Martha Do moment. Martha would be excited by an introduction of interesting new local food in her area and would sample it. So I did what Martha might. I bought one of every sausage -bokwurst, knockwurst, frankfurter, German smoked sausage, Hungarian, chorizo, and apple cinnamon and brought them home and grilled them and everyone sampled them.

The biggest challenge was keeping the sausage in order so I could match them with their labels and know what they were! Personally I liked the apple cinnamon the best, but in general I am just horrified by sausage. I can’t stand the chunks of fat in it. It really grosses me out. Teen Martha voted for the frankfurter, which was a nicely smoked hot dog. Mr. MarthaAndMe liked almost all of them. Dude Martha voted for the knockwurst, which is a white sausage.

It was quite a fun little dinner, sampling all these different sausages, and it made me feel very Martha-like!

While a lot of my Martha project involves doing actual Martha recipes, crafts, and projects, I am trying to discover my own inner Martha and change my life so that I naturally live like Martha. The other day I was standing at the deli counter in the grocery store, buying ham for Dude Martha (I … Read more →