Paula Deen Blogging Contest

I found a contest I am thinking about entering to possibly become a blogger for pauladeen.com.  Please let me know your ideas to make this blog the best blog out there, not only for the contest but because I want to help Paula the best I can.  Can't wait to here your ideas.  Thanks for the support

Breakfast for Dinner, and I was left out!

So while I was gone to see my parents my roommate Jill and my friends Stephen and Lauren decided to cook some Paula Deen.  They decided to cook breakfast for dinner which is one of my favorite things to do and I was a little disappointed I wasn't there to enjoy this wonderful meal with them.  But, I really enjoyed seeing my parents so I wouldn't have missed seeing them for anything.  I was fortunate to try the left overs and I definitely agree with how these dishes turned out.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.  But here is what they had to say about them.

 

We have gotten so used to the wonderful meals each week that even though Myron was out of town. We didn’t want to stop.  We picked breakfast for dinner.  How in the world can you go wrong?  I remember growing up and eating breakfast for dinner and even in college, Thursday nights were breakfast nights.  This meal would work Christmas morning as well. In fact, I’ve already called my mom to tell her we’ve got to include these dishes Christmas morning.

 

Our meal started with the Sunday Brunch Casserole!  Wow was this ever easy and delicious.  All of us love our spicy food so we started it off right with hot sausage in the casserole.  This is a great recipe that you can make ahead of time and let it sit over night before baking in the morning.  (You are actually supposed to do this, but we are not very good and reading ahead!)  The cook right away method works as well. 

 

This casserole is easy to fix.  Fry up some sausage, put that on top of your bread then layer up your potato slices and sprinkle the cheese over the top. 

Next mix up your eggs, milk, mustard power, salt and pepper and pour this over you layers you already completed. 

 

Now this is where you should put this in the fridge overnight but the roommate decided to bake anyways.  When ready to bake just bake until the eggs are firm. 

 



http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/fox-friends/transcript/sunday-morning-casserole

 

 

We paired it with the Cheesy Tomato Grits.  Let me just say this was one of the BEST grit recipes ever!  I grew up in the South and have loved grits since before I could walk.  I’ve eaten them every way imaginable, but this was over the top excellent!  The grits are mixed with scallions, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, butter…Is your mouth watering yet? We used spicy diced tomatoes to give them a kick, but they would work with regular tomatoes.  After they bake a bit in the oven you cover them with more cheese.  Now Paula calls for 2 cups of cheddar cheese on the top!  That is a lot and would be good with less cheese if that makes your heart happy.  We went for the whole 2 cups!  In our dinner mix we also had a person with an aversion to grits.  It’s hard to believe!  She even liked Paula’s grits!

 

Before

After



http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/tomato_grits/

***Note*** Southern cooking bible calls for Cream cheese spread with garlic and herbs not a cheese roll 

 

For desert we went with the Florida Lemon Bars. Anytime we took a bite of one of these pieces of heaven there was an audible “yuuummmm” of satisfaction.  These are sinfully delicious.  We were somewhat surprised to see that the crust had 3 sticks of butter, then we remembered this was Paula’s recipe. The sweet and tart of the lemon squares was perfect. I didn’t want all of these in the house because no one needs to eat an entire tray of lemon bars and believe me you could with these.  I took some of them to work and they went quickly.  Luckily I did keep a few as we were told by Myron.  “There better be leftovers!” 

 

Just to add a side note here.  I don't know if anyone remembered my post about my friend who went a little crazy sprinkling sugar on my Peach Biscuit Cobbler, but obviously she went a little crazy sprinkling powdered sugar on the lemon bars to, so Jill, sorry, but you are banned from sprinkling things in the house, just kidding.

 

First thing, make your crust for the Lemon bars.  Using a food processor definitely helps here.  Add all the ingredients for the dough except butter and mix well.  then add in your butter, btw Paula lives up to here butter name with this recipe,  and processes slowly until your mixture looks is looks crumbly. 

 

 

Put the dough in your pan and press to cover the bottom of your pan.

 

 

Bake according to directions.

 

 

Next mix all filling ingredients in a large bowl

 

 

Pour the filling over the crust and bake.

 

 

 

 

http://books.google.com/books?id=SEa1NJxPngAC&pg=PA352&lpg=PA352&dq=florida+lemon+bars+paula+deen&source=bl&ots=am-gLy9An1&sig=BeDNgc9iR85SS-fogxDRpuHysGg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=uJ0eUsXLKcm-sATK-4GoBg&ved=0CEQQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=florida%20lemon%20bars%20paula%20deen&f=false

 

 







 

Twitter account @ladyslostson

I finally have a twitter account up and running as of today.  You can find me @ladyslostson if you are interested in following me there.   Thanks again for all the support. 

Paula With My Family

My View

Yesterday was the first time in several months that my parents, my sister’s family, and I have all seen each other.  We decided to go to my sister’s new house and have a cookout.  A few months ago, my sister decided to move out into the country back in my home town of Boone, NC.  Growing up, my sister and I always complained about living in the mountains, so I was shocked to say the least.  My sister now lives on one of the curviest roads in the county.  Not to mention, it’s not even paved and my dad's car can't even make it up her drive way, lol!  Once we finally arrived, I understood why she chose the house.  The views were gorgeous and made me remember why the mountains are so awesome.  I love the coast and probably won't ever move back, but I will always love the Blue Ridge Mountains. 

Butter Burgers

I took the opportunity of having a cookout to try Paula's Butter Burgers.  Throughout my life, I have had a lot of different burgers and with a lot of things mixed in, but I can honestly say, I have never had someone mix butter into the meat before they grill them.  But, again, this is Paula Deen and we know she loves some butter!  This recipe was simple.  It only called for hamburger meat, butter, salt, and pepper.  Then, you simply grilled the burgers to perfection.  I know a lot of people prefer gas grills, but I prefer charcoal.  I love the flavor the charcoal adds, and to me, there’s nothing better.  I was surprised that the butter didn't really add a lot of additional flavor, but they were some of the juiciest burgers I have ever put in my mouth.  When you look at the picture, you may realize there is something missing.  This burger has no lettuce!  When we were getting a list together to go shopping, my Mom told me she already had lettuce so I didn't buy any.  When I got home and had everything ready to go to my sister’s, I realized the only lettuce my mom had was the bagged lettuce that was pre-shredded and had carrots.  I love my Mom, but she can be forgetful at times…but I can’t say much…now that I'm getting older, I'm getting just like her!  I was able to find Paula's recipe for Butter Bacon burgers online.  The only real difference between the recipe in the Southern Cooking Bible and the recipe online is that my recipe did not use as much butter and she didn't include bacon.

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/butter_bacon_burgers/

In my opinion, one thing you can't leave out of a cookout if potato salad.  I have tried making my own potato salad before but I can never seem to get my ratios right between potatoes, mayo and vinegar.  So I was really excited about trying this recipe.  I do have to put a foot note in here.  I was not able to try the recipe as it was because of my Dad.  I love him, but he is one of the most pickiest eaters I have ever met and he is very particular about his potato salad.  So with that being said I could not put the celery or scallions in this recipe. I will say that even without the 2 ingredients, this potato salad was a winner.  My whole family loved this potato salad.  It was a perfect combination of the mayo and the vinegar.  I was really glad to see Paula uses apple cider vinegar.  I'm not a big fan of just the white distilled vinegar in potato salad.  The apple cider adds so much more flavor.  I would recommend this potato salad for any cookout, picnic or family reunion.  I guarantee everyone will be talking about it. 


Paula's Classic Potato Salad
 

http://books.google.com/books?id=jUw66qJg-PYC&pg=PA55&lpg=PA55&dq=paula's+classic+potato+salad&source=bl&ots=yOAFTwXeNc&sig=7VcRJUDAQlxSguRUS7B1V05Ldvk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=OQkcUpSuCZKE9QTVkYGoDg&sqi=2&ved=0CIwBEOgBMAk#v=onepage&q=paula's%20classic%20potato%20salad&f=false

You may remember a couple of weeks ago I tried the Family Reunion Deviled Eggs.  I was telling my Mom about them and she insisted I make them for the cookout!   So I re-made them, and as expected, they were a big success.  I will have to say that the small amount of hot sauce Paula adds to these eggs are not enough, so if you like things with a kick, make sure you add a little more hot sauce than the recipe calls for! 

Family Reunion Deviled Eggs

http://www.instyle.com/instyle/package/general/photos/0,,20538174_20538007_21068909,00.html

Sharing Paula with my Family

So this weekend I decided to take a trip to my home town of Boone, NC. to see my family.  It's been several months since I have seen my mom and dad so I decided to come see them for a few days.  I'm very blessed to have the family I do,  I think I probably have the greatest mom and dad around.  My Mom is the one who actually got me interested in cooking.  I remember growing up, I would always try to help her in the kitchen.  I usually handled all the bake goods, since that's what I liked to eat the most, lol.  But she taught me pretty much everything I know about cooking, and I have to say my mom and Paula Deen are pretty much equal in their abilities and the food is just freaking good.  One reason I have been drawn to Paula, is she reminds me of my mom.  When I watched her on her shows, it almost made me feel like I was back in the kitchen with my own mom.  Anyways, before I get to long winded in this post, my sister decided we should have a cook out later today, so I'm taking this opportunity  to try Paula's Butter Burgers.  So I'll be posting about those very soon. 

Linguine with Cajun Shrimp, Chive and Cheddar Biscuits and Cream Cheese and Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Linguine with Cajun Shrimp

Linguine with Cajun Shrimp

I originally grew up in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina.  During that time, I grew up on traditional southern meals, but we really didn't eat a lot of seafood.  One, we were in the
mountains and it’s not exactly the best place to get fresh seafood.  Also, my dad wasn’t really a big fan of seafood, and in my household, my dad was definitely the king of his castle!  It wasn't
until I was in college that I really got exposed to any kind of seafood.  One of the first seafood I discovered was shrimp, and I immediately fell in love with these little things.  I was very excited
to try Paula's Linguine with Cajun Shrimp.

Now, just so y'all know, I also love spicy food.  To me, things usually cannot be too spicy, so the mixture of shrimp and spicy Cajun seasoning is right up my alley.  This recipe is so simple and easy to make.  Shrimp are naturally easy to cook, and Paula sautés these shrimp coated with Cajun seasoning in some butter.  How can you go wrong, right?   The only thing I wish I had done differently was to let the seasoning sit on the shrimp for a bit before I put them in the pan.  I think this would have allowed the shrimp to absorb more of the seasoning.  But regardless, the sauce was just as simple to make.  Take the shrimp out of the pan, add a little more butter (of course!), chicken broth, and some hot sauce and bring that to a simmer.  Toss the shrimp and sauce together and combine with the cooked linguine.

Now, to be perfectly honest, I didn't know how much I would actually enjoy this dish because
I typically like red sauces rather than butter or cream sauces on my pasta.  But Paula won me
over yet again!  This sauce hits the spot with the butter and chicken broth, and the addition of hot
sauce and Cajun seasoning worked perfectly with the shrimp.  It was almost like shrimp scampi
over pasta.  WOW!!!  Awesome dish!

Ingredients
Olive oil                                    Chicken Broth   
butter                                         Hot sauce
large shrimp                              Garlic
Cajun seasoning               
linguine

Chive and Cheddar Biscuits

 



Chive and Cheddar Biscuits

It may sound corny, but the main dish reminded me of shrimp scampi, which then reminded
me of Red Lobster, and I love their biscuits, so I decided to make Paula's Chive and Cheddar
Biscuits.  In my opinion, these biscuits are definitely better than the ones you get at Red Lobster, but I may be a little partial because I love me some Paula Deen cooking!  These biscuits are so simple:  mix the dry ingredients, cut in the butter, add some cheese and chives, and use an ice cream scoop to drop them onto a baking sheet.  The only thing I would add to this recipe is maybe a little more cheese than she originally called for.  I love cheese, and I don't think you can ever have too much cheese!

Ingredients
All purpose flour
sugar
baking powder
baking soda
salt
butter
Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Chives
buttermilk

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/chive_and_cheddar_biscuits/

Cream Cheese-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding

Up until a few years ago, I had never had bread pudding.  Honestly, to me, the thought of bread
pudding was disgusting.  I pictured pureed bread with random sweet stuff in it.  Just didn't seem
that appealing.   But, when I finally got up the nerve to try it, I was surprised to find out how
good it was and realized what I had been missing!  Paula's Cream Cheese-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding was no disappointment.  How can anyone go wrong with cream cheese and chocolate chips?  One thing I love about making bread pudding is you pretty much just have to throw everything together and pop it in the oven.  Quick and easy…that's the way to go!  After I made this, I took some of it to work mainly to get rid of it because, it's so good I could have eaten the whole pan myself!  It was an immediate hit!  All my friends at work said they almost couldn't eat what I brought them because it was so rich and delicious.  Some of my co workers were a little upset they didn't get any, but maybe they can have what ever else I try next, lol. This dessert would definitely be a great hit at any church or family functions or even a quick dessert for your family.  Everyone
will love this one!

Ingredients
Cream cheese                                  Half and half
Sugar                                               Milk
Vanilla Extract                                Day old egg bread *** such as Challah or Brioche***
Salt                                                  Semi sweet chocolate chips
Eggs                                                Light brown sugar

Thank you!!

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to say thank you for visiting my blog.  This is something new for me, I have never really done a blog before.  My main goal is to help support Paula in this very difficult time for her.  I just wanted to do something to show my support.  This is an ongoing thing and I am still learning about what makes a great blog.  I appreciate any feed back and support in this endeavor. 

As Paula always says,  "Best dishes from my Kitchen to your."

Thanks again

Myron

Smoked Salmon Mousse!!!! WHAT?

Smoked Salmon Mousse

Trying Salmon Mousse

Ok, so to be honest the first time I read this recipe I really got frightened.  Only thing I could picture was salmon suspended in a congealed blob.  But, true to my word, I am fixing everything in her Southern Cooking Bible, so I sucked it up and made this appetizer.  The Salmon Mousse is extremely easy to make,  Throw the ingredients in a food processor until smooth. How much easier can you get?  Well anyways, I served this appetizer cold and served it with crackers and celery like our southern lady suggested.  So I made my roommate and my best friend try this with me.  We all were expecting the worse, and I hate to say that because I have never had anything bad Paula has made.  But in the end we were all pleasantly surprised and the Salmon mousse was actually pretty darn good.  It has a dip like texture. Who knew some salmon, mayo, liquid smoke and cream cheese could be this good?  Yet again, our lady Paula did not disappoint.  This just proved to me that I should never doubt the Queen of southern cooking.  She definitely knows her stuff.  I suggest everyone try this at least once.  

http://books.google.com/books?id=SEa1NJxPngAC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=smoked+salmon+mousse+paula+deen&source=bl&ots=am-gJBaFh0&sig=nbrhyVKJhDPXb8zCoe-Rk7Swyrw&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RwscUpzTJKaR2QXQ4oCIDA&ved=0CIQBEOgBMAg#v=onepage&q=smoked%20salmon%20mousse%20paula%20deen&f=false
Find the recipe in Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible

Cheeseburger Meatloaf, Southern Green Beans with Tomatoes and Bacon, and Peach Biscuit Cobbler

Since I started this plan to cook my way through Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible, I have decided to always try to mix it up with what I cook.  Every week it's always a challenge to decide what I want to try because Paula's recipes are always so good.  For this meal, I decided to do something simple.  I made Cheeseburger Meatloaf, Southern Green Beans with Tomatoes, and Peach Biscuit Cobbler. 

I started this meal by making the Peach Biscuit Cobbler first.  Since I was cooking alone, I wanted to have everything ready to put in the oven as soon as the meatloaf was done.  Growing up in the south, I have eaten peach cobbler for as long as I can remember.  As a child, we had our own peach tree, so we always had fresh peaches available.  In this cobbler, fresh peaches make all the difference.  Some of my friends think peach cobbler should be made out of store bought canned peaches, but I completely disagree.  I always believe fresh is always better.  When I first read this recipe and saw that it called for 3 pounds of peaches, I was a little overwhelmed, especially when trying to peel them all.  I wish I had read Paula's tip about cutting an "X" in the bottom of the peach and putting them in boiling water for about 40 seconds and then immediately into some ice water.  Doing this makes the peeling literally fall off.  After reading that, I also found out you can do the same for tomatoes...who knew!.  After peeling the peaches this cobbler was a cinch.  I mixed all the ingredients for the peach mixture and put this in a 2 1/2 quart baking dish.  You can then go ahead and make the biscuit topping.  Growing up I always had a crumb style topping.  My family never used a biscuit topping.  This biscuit topping was easy to make and you can go ahead and put the biscuits on and pop this in the fridge until you are ready to throw it in the oven.  Just remember when you are ready to bake to brush the top with cream and sprinkle it with sugar, (I almost forgot this step until about half way through so my biscuits did not brown like I wanted them to).  Also, you may not want to let your roommate sprinkle the sugar, sometimes they can go a little overboard!.   Once this cobbler came out of the oven, the biscuit topping stole the show.  I will have to say, this was one of the best cobbler toppings I have ever had and my roommate and friends I had over that night all agreed.  This recipe is definitely a keeper even if only for the biscuit topping! 

 

Next, I assembled the Cheeseburger Meatloaf.  Meatloaf is a pretty simple dish to create.  Simply combine some meat, breadcrumbs, eggs, onions, and peppers.  Mix together and you're pretty much done.  In this recipe, Paula did throw in a bit of randomness.  After you have the meatloaf mixed, you form it into a loaf and the put it on top of 8 slices of white bread.  Paula usually knows what she is talking about.  She says this is to help soak up the grease as the meatloaf cooks, and once its done, to remove the bread before serving.  All of this sounded really great on paper, but in actuality, it wasn't as simple as it sounded.  The bread did do its trick and soak up a lot of the grease from the meatloaf, but the removing process wasn't that easy.  The meatloaf was so moist, when I attempted to remove the bread, it almost made the meatloaf fall apart.  The next time I make this, I may not try the bread again, but who knows.   On top of this meatloaf, Paula doesn't use a ketchup based topping but rather a cheese sauce.  This sauce was simple, 3 ingredients mixed together over heat and voila, you got a great cheese sauce!  After tasting the sauce I may end up using it in other dishes as well.  After putting this meatloaf to the test, the only thing I can say bad about it, was, for me, it may have had too much onion and pepper.  When you cut into this meatloaf there was an over-abundance of onion and pepper.  Also, even after following the recommended cook time and even a slightly higher cooking temperature, the meatloaf was still a little pink inside.  Next time I make it I make bake it for a little longer than the recipe calls for.  Despite all this, the meatloaf was still was a great dish and tasted great as well.  With the cheese, onion, and peppers, it was almost like a good old fashioned cheeseburger! 

 

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/cheeseburger_meatloaf_and_sauce1/

 

                                                                     

 

As a side, I decided to go with one of my favorite vegetables, green beans. The recipe I used was Paula's Southern Green Beans with Tomatoes and Bacon.  Ever since I was a little boy, green beans have always been one of my favorite vegetables.  One thing I can't stand though are crunchy green beans.  I like my green beans cooked soft, almost to the point they fall apart.  Even though I have eaten green beans in many different ways, I have never had them cooked in bacon grease and with tomatoes.  I have to say, this may be my new favorite way to make green beans!  I followed this recipe to a "T".  After 30 minutes of cooking, the green beans weren't crunchy, but they weren't as soft as I normally like them either.  The next time and make these green beans, I will probably let them cook for another 15 more minutes to make sure they are really nice and soft.  Although they weren't quite as soft as I like them, the flavor of the tomatoes in this dish made these green beans my favorite green beans ever.  How can you go wrong with green beans and tomatoes together?  I can't believe I never thought of this idea before!  Thanks Paula for bringing us this great new southern dish! 

 

 

 

You can find all these recipes in Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible. 

 





Best Ever Fried Chicken, Family Reunion Deviled Eggs, Butter Buttermilk Mashed Potates and Classic Banana Pudding...How Can You Go Wrong?

The meal I decided to begin with was the southern classic, fried chicken.  To start this meal I invited three of my closest friends to dinner. If you ever meet my friends, you'll realize we all love to eat and we all love fried chicken! 

 

Family Reunion Deviled Eggs

Family Reunion Deviled Eggs

I started the evening with Paula's Family Reunion Deviled Eggs.  I have to say I have tried making deviled eggs before but could not get them to taste the way I wanted.  This recipe made it a piece of cake!  The ingredients were pretty basic:  mayo and mustard.  But one thing I love about Paula is she likes to throw some heat into her cooking, and she didn't disappoint with the addition of hot sauce.  To be honest, she didn't add enough hot sauce for my taste, so if you like to spice things up like I do, add a little more than she tells you to.  Also, I can never get my deviled eggs to look great, but I solved that issue by using a decorating bag and a nice tip with a large opening.  This made all the difference!  This deviled egg recipe is a keeper and is now a permanent staple in my house.  Hope y'all enjoy it when you try it!

 

 

 

Best Ever Southern Fried Chicken

Best Ever Fried Chicken

Who doesn't love fried chicken?  I think fried chicken is one of the best things, as far as food is concerned, to come out of the south.  I have tried frying chicken many times and it came out ok, but I was beginning to think I just didn't have what it took to make really great fried chicken.  Yet again, the queen of southern, made it as simple as pie!  Her Best Ever Southern Fried Chicken is simple to follow and simple to do.  When I bit into those hot fried chicken legs, I was in heaven.  This was the juiciest fried chicken I have ever made and may have ever tasted.  The only thing I did differently was using vegetable oil as opposed to the shortening Paula suggests.  I just couldn't bring myself to do it!  Frying in shortening probably would have made this dish even better, but I don't think anything was lost by frying in oil. 

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/grandmother_pauls_fried_chicken/

 

Buttery Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Buttery Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

What better to go with some good old fried chicken than some homemade mashed potatoes?  It seems like fried chicken and mashed potatoes are like two peas in a pod.  Where there's one, the other isn't too far away.  I'm a potato lover and I can eat them anyway you want to serve them.  These potatoes didn't disappoint.  As always, Paula loaded them down with butter.  Also, I used Paula's suggestion to substitute sour cream for the buttermilk.  This made the potatoes even creamier and richer than your average everyday potatoes.  I think I might have enjoyed the potatoes almost as much as I did the fried chicken! 

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/buttery_buttermilk_mashed_potatoes/

Classic Banana Pudding

Classic Banana Pudding

I have grown up with banana pudding my whole life and it's probably one of my favorite desserts.  To be honest, I didn't think anyone could make a banana pudding better than my own mother!  A lot of people think banana pudding is made from the instant pudding you find in the store, and you can call that banana pudding all you want, but it's not!  To make a really good banana pudding, you need to make your pudding homemade, and believe me, it's not that hard and it makes all the difference in the world!  Paula's Classic Banana Pudding did not disappoint.  Like I said before, I didn't think anyone could make one better than my mom, but I think Paula may have succeeded.  The one thing that sets this banana pudding apart is that she uses brown sugar instead of all granulated sugar in the pudding.  This gives the pudding a light, almost butterscotch, flavor and takes it to a whole new level!  I would also suggest making this dish the night before to ensure the vanilla wafers have time to soften before serving. 

http://www.pauladeen.com/recipes/recipe_view/classic_banana_pudding/

 

 These fabulous recipes can be found in the Southern Cooking Bible by Paula Deen.