a great southern finale

Ok peeps! Its been a while..I've been lacking in my southern hospitality. I hope this is suitable end to my southern menu
I'm done visiting the south...and the recipe I've chosen to share with you is a big time favorite. Its a great end for any southern meal or holiday dinner. And its super easy. A crazy yummy praline sweet potato pie. I know what your thinking..its not thanksgiving but this recipe is worth writing down and stashing away for when you want to impress people because its super easy..and they will think your an evil genious in the kitchen.

Ingredients
Pie dough:
1 cup AP flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 stick of cold cold butter cut into small chunks
1/4 cup cold vegetable shortning
You can do this in a food processor or with pastry cutters. Put the flour and salt in a food pro and pulse. Add butter and shortening and pulse until crumbs form. Add water and pulse again until it comes together. Don't over work the dough. It should be rough or it won't be flakey when its baked. Place dough onto a flat surface and press into a flat disk. Refridgerate for a few hours so its nice and firm before you roll it out

Pie filling
2 large sweet potatoes. Baked until super soft. Then mashed.

Yes I said baked. Some old timers boil the hell out of their sweet potatoes. But I find that you lose a lot of all that sweet potato love in the water. When you bake them..oh those potatoes get all lovely.

2 eggs lightly beaten
1tsp real vanilla
1tbsp maple syrup. (The real stuff)
1/2 tsp mace
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp salt
Topping
1 cup pecan halves
2tbsp packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Ok..take your pie dough and roll it out on a floured surface until it 1/4 inch thick and line a pie pan (feel free to use a ready made crust..no shame in that. Saves time). Your gonna blind bake the crust for 20 minutes at 375. Line it with foil and throw some dried beans or if your el fancy..use pie weights. While your piecrust is blindbaking, whisk together from the sweet potatoes down to the salt. Take out the beans and foil and pour this mixture into the pie shell. Mix your pecans with the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle on top. Bake it off in your already hot 375 degree oven for 40 minutes or until set. Keep in mind this is a custard and residual baking will occur after you take it out of the oven so don't over bake the hell out of it.
Ok honeybees and bears..we're done in the south..stay tunes for my next series or recipes..more will be revealed!

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the jump-off :)

Ok my faithfull followers...here it is. Another tasty idea. The polenta recipe in the previous blog is perfect to swing a second dish out of. I take a square aluminum pan and spray it with fat free cooking spray. I pour my polenta in and refridgerate. When its firm I slice the polenta 1/4 inch thick. I make a breading station consisting of buttermilk in one bowl, and panko bread crumbs in another. You can use regular milk but buttermilk is thicker and your panko with stick better. I dip the polenta into the buttermilk and then right into the panko. You can use regular seasoned breadcrumbs or you can season your panko. I opt for the latter. The panko always comes out awesome. So just throw a little salt, pepper, garlic powder, and italian seasonings in your panko and they will be be happy happy breadcrumbs. I put about a 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in a pan and when its screaming hot I fry away. You want to fry until crispy and then turn and do the other side. Don't move your polenta around too much when its frying or your breadcrumbs may fall off. When its golden put it on a papertowel lined plate to drain the excess oil. I like to grate some pecorino romano cheese on it and serve with marinara. (Home made of course)..
Hope your inspired once again :)

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the south will rise again lol

Hey Y'all...
That seems appropriate considering I'm on a southern kick. With all the new year madness I've been neglecting my blogging duties..but don't worry I've been making lots of things and saving the recipes so I have lots of material. The recipe I will be sharing with Ya'll today is my take on a traditional southern favorite. Shrimp and grits. However I will be substituting polenta for the grits. I have yet to make grits but I make polenta all the time. I really like polenta because you can do so much with it. You can eat it right when you make it and serve it with anything from shrimp to short ribs (if that's your gigiddy) or go full vegetarian and serve it with marinated sauteed tofu. Then you can put the rest in a pan and make fried crispy polenta the next day. So first I will take you through my polenta and then through the shrimp that I made to go along with it.

Polenta
1/3/4 cups corn meal
6 cups water
1 teaspoon salt (I have made this before with black truffle salt and it comes out super yummy)
2 tbs unsalted butter
2 tbs mascarpone
Pepper to taste

Ok, this is a basic recipe.
I bring the 6 cups of water to a boil and then slowly add in the corn meal while whisking contantly. You will have to wisk continuously or your polenta will have lumps and stick to the bottom of your pot. (Not fun to clean). When your polenta is soft and smooth and yummy, make it more yummy by adding your salt butter and mascarpone. If you want to skip the mascarpone(it ain't cheap ya know) and add some cream cheese go right ahead. You can even add scallion cream cheese and it would be really good. Keep in mind what your serving it with will also dictate what you add in at the end. As yummy as truffle salt is...it can be over powering. So you don't want to serve it with spicy shrimp. The flavors might compete. If I was using truffle salt or truffle oil I would probably keep it vegetarian and serve it with oven roasted potobellos. Since I kept the flavor of the polenta mild I chose to serve it with spicy shrimp.

Shrimp
Smoked paprika to taste
A small pinch of cayanne pepper
Salt and black pepper
Hot sauce
1 tsp butter
I took my cleaned shrimp and sprinkled my seasoning on it and tossed to make sure none of my shrimp were neglected. I made sure my saute pan was screaming hot and threw them in for a few minutes and then added a few dashes of hot sauce..and the butter at the very end to round it out. How spicy they will be all depends on how heavy handed you are with the cayanne. This is completely up to you. I made it medium. Pair it up with a green salad and you're golden :)
Ok bees and bears (does anyone freakin know why I keep callin my people bees and bears..I don't even know where I got that from)..lol..
Ok...off for now..and I hope your inspired

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