Recipe #15 - Baked Corn on the Cob

I do realize that I've more or less disappeared lately... I haven't slowed down on trying new recipes though! I have a few to catch up on.

Corn is a really popular vegetable in our house. During the spring/summer months, I like buying the ears of corn at the grocery store, rather than canned. Something about it just seems... fun?? Anyway, we ran out of propane for the grill, so I was in need of an alternative way to cook them.

Ingredients:
*Ear(s) of corn, cleaned and completely free of husks and silk fibers
*Foil square
*Butter
*Salt
*Pepper
*any other seasonings, to taste

Preheat the oven to 425. Butter and season the foil squares. Place one ear of corn per foil square, and wrap the corn. I usually wrap it a little loose, but still closed. Bake approximately 30 to 40 minutes, until corn is soft, turning over once halfway through.

Enjoy!! TTFN!

Recipe #8 - Baked Potato Soup

Please forgive me - I'm catching up on posting the recent recipes I've tried. :)



Last weekend when we were planning our dinners, we wanted something nice and warm, since the week was predicted to be cold and rainy. Since Rusty is pretty picky, it's hard to find a good soup recipe that he'll actually eat, versus just picking at. I found a Baked Potato Soup recipe in The Best of Country Cooking 1999 that I thought I'd give a try!!

Ingredients:
*2 medium potatoes, baked and cooled
*1 can (14.5 oz) of chicken broth
*2 tblsp of sour cream
*1/8 tsp of pepper
*any baked potato toppings you prefer

Peel potatoes and cut them into small 1/2 inch cubes. Place half of the cubes, along with the chicken broth, into a blender or food processor. Process until the mixture is smooth. Pour the mixture into the sauce pan, along with the remaining potato cubes and sour cream. Cook over low heat until thoroughly heated. Garnish the soup as you desire with baked potato toppings.

My first recommendation is that you shouldn't plan to have leftovers... they don't reheat well. Second, I'd use more spices. It was good, but kind of bland. I've tried another potato soup recipe a long time ago that I prefer over this one, but I have no idea where I got it, or if I still have it. :) I served the soup with small Hawaiian rolls. Their sweetness was a great companion for the flavor of the soup.

TTFN!

Recipe #1 - BEPs

It seems fitting that the first recipe of the year is Black Eyed Peas, served over rice, with corn bread. :) I'll spare everyone the details of the rice and corn bread and just dive straight into the Black Eyed Peas.

Before I do, though, I'll be very honest up front. Rusty and I are not huge fans of BEPs (the food, that is - we both like the music group). In order for this meal to come off as a success, I really needed to make sure and find a way to spice them up a bit.

First things first - we had some left over ham still in the freezer from Thanksgiving, so I thawed this a few days before, knowing I'd want to use it all up in this recipe.

Ingredients:
*1 bag of black eyed peas
*6 strips of uncooked bacon, cut into pieces
*3 cups of ham, sliced or diced
*1 tsp of black pepper
*1 tsp of cayenne pepper (Rusty and I do like our food a little spicy)
*just a bit of garlic powder

I first soaked the BEPs overnight in water. All in all, they probably ended up soaking for about 10 hours. Next, drain the BEPs. Return them to the pot, and cover with water. **Note - for soupier BEPs, use more water. While cooking, do keep an eye on the water level to make sure the BEPs are covered. If too much water is lost, they could burn pretty easily.** Add remaining ingredients to pot, cover. Bring BEPs to a boil over medium-high heat, before reducing heat to low. I allowed the beans to cook all afternoon, over simmer. They took about 5-6 hours to get to the consistency I desire. To cook them more quickly, use a higher heat setting.

Most of the bacon, and the smaller pieces of ham will cook away into the water, providing nothing more than flavor for the BEPs. Any kind of meats can be used, if you don't prefer bacon or ham.

I enjoy serving the BEPs over some rice and just a little bit of butter. To add even more starch, a few pieces of corn bread are the perfect thing to soak up the juices of the BEPs. :) Enjoy!!