I put this in my notes on Facebook last year. There are pictures on that side, but this site didn't post them with the note. Oh well! I was reading Gourmet Magazine's blog this morning and a lady from Philadelphia came to Georgia to learn to make Fried Pies. It's wonderful to share our food heritage with others!
Monday, April 26, 2010 at 7:21am.This is at least a two day project. I keep all my peach peelings from all the peaches that I cut through the year...You could use fresh peaches and just chunk them up with the peelings on. The peach peeling is what has all the flavor in it. If you use only peelings these pies will have the most concentrated peach flavor you have ever tasted. Of course, it takes me over a year to get that many peelings. I just keep them in a zipper style freezer bag and add to them through the year.
1/2 Gallon of peach peelings or fresh peaches with their skins left on
3 cups Sugar
2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Vanilla
Place everything in a heavy bottomed pot. Bring to a boil then reduce to very low and simmer until peaches are a deep golden brown and thickens up. This will take quite some time, maybe an hour or so. Low and slow is the way to go. After peaches thicken up, cool slightly, place in storage bowl or zipper bag and put in the refrigerator at least over night. You cannot place hot filling in the dough or you will have a mess on your hands and no pies in the end!
Bisquits
2 1/2 cup self-rising flour or plain flour with 1 tsp. salt and 1 Tablespoon baking soda added to it.
2/3 cup of Butter
1 cup Buttermilk (If you don't have buttermilk, clabber your own milk by putting either 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice in the bottom of the measuring cup and wait just a few minutes, the milk will thicken up and have the same taste of buttermilk.)
Put flour in a bowl and cut the butter in with a pastry blender until it resembles English Pea size. Add milk all at once and mix with a fork until dough forms a ball. Dust counter with flour an kneed until dough becomes a nice round ball. Pat out until dough is about 1/2" thick. Cut with a two inch biscuit cutter. Take scraps and roll into a log, pat out and you can get two or three more biscuits. At this point you could put the biscuits on a pan and bake at 450 degrees until golden and have biscuits!
Place biscuits, one at a time into the flour cannister, take out and roll out to about 1/8" thick on the counter. Place 1-1/2 Tablespoons of the chilled peach filling in the center of the dough. Wet around half the circle of dough with water. Fold dough over and seal shut with your fingers. Then take a fork and go back around the edges. With a sharp paring knife, trip excess edges off. A 1/2 inch edge is enough.
Place pies on a plate covered with parchment paper. If you have more than one layer, place parchment paper between the layers to prevent sticking. Put finished pies in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Heat a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat for at least 5 minutes, spray with Pam and add just a little butter. Put two or three pies in the skillet and cook until you can see that the bottom of the pies is golden brown. Turn and cook the other side. Place on a platter and keep in a warm oven while the others cook. Enjoy! This recipe makes about 12-14 pies. Check out the photos below!Multimedia messageMultimedia messageMultimedia messageMultimedia messageMultimedia messageMultimedia message
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Best Ever Potato Salad
I love potato salad, but just not any potato salad. I want some kick to it. I want some bite! I have this love, love relationship with vinegar...I love the bite it give most anything. The secret to this potato salad is the vinegar and the order it's put in it. Don't mess this up! You have to use russet potatoes. New red potatoes are too waxy to take up the vinegar and gold potatoes don't get soft enough either.
Best Ever Potato Salad
2 pounds russet potatoess, peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes
Table Salt
4 TBL. Vinegar
Place the potatoes in a large pan and cover with water by 1". Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Add 1 TBL. salt, reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are tender, just about 8 minutes.
Drain potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. AND HERE'S THE SECRET! ADD THE VINEGAR TO THE HOT POTATOES. Use a spatula and toss potatoes and vinegar. Let stand until the potatoes are just warm.
Dressing
2 ribs of celery chopped into 1/8" pieces
1/2 red onion, but if I'm out, I use a whole small yellow onion
4 TBL. sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup mayonnaise (you can add more to the salad if it's too dry for you.)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. celery seed
2 TBL. minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut into cubes (optional)
1 large apple, cut in cubes (optional and I like Gala, Fuji, or Granny Smith apples)
Mix all the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well. Using a spatula, fold dressing into warm potatoes. I love my potato salad warm, but it really tastes better the next day! Enjoy!
Best Ever Potato Salad
2 pounds russet potatoess, peeled and cut into 3/4" cubes
Table Salt
4 TBL. Vinegar
Place the potatoes in a large pan and cover with water by 1". Bring to boil over medium-high heat. Add 1 TBL. salt, reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are tender, just about 8 minutes.
Drain potatoes and transfer to a large bowl. AND HERE'S THE SECRET! ADD THE VINEGAR TO THE HOT POTATOES. Use a spatula and toss potatoes and vinegar. Let stand until the potatoes are just warm.
Dressing
2 ribs of celery chopped into 1/8" pieces
1/2 red onion, but if I'm out, I use a whole small yellow onion
4 TBL. sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup mayonnaise (you can add more to the salad if it's too dry for you.)
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. celery seed
2 TBL. minced fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. salt
2 large hard-cooked eggs, peeled and cut into cubes (optional)
1 large apple, cut in cubes (optional and I like Gala, Fuji, or Granny Smith apples)
Mix all the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well. Using a spatula, fold dressing into warm potatoes. I love my potato salad warm, but it really tastes better the next day! Enjoy!
Monday, July 18, 2011
A Southern Girl Cooking
In 2004, Freddy and I moved to Canandaigua, New York for nearly a year. He worked in a Fleischer's Bagels in Macedon and we lived in our brand new motor home in the Canandaigua KOA. I was the office manager. We both loved the area and the people. We were embraced by the community there. We went to Canandaigua UMC. It looked like one of my Snow Village churches from Department 56.
There were a few things that we missed eating when we lived there from home, but not much. I missed Bojangle's Biscuits on Saturday mornings and would have given my eye teeth for a Zero Candy Bar sometimes! The growing season there is much shorter than ours here in NW Georgia and NE Alabama, but they had some of the most beautiful farms you've ever seen there. There were more than 100 barns in Ontario County over 100 years old that were so beautiful.
Almost every farm had a farmstand. You could pull up to the stand, and there was rarely ever anyone there. They would lay out their fruits and vegetables with a metal box locked and bolted to the stand. They would have a price list and you dropped your money into the box. Every now and then you would catch the farmer or their wife or children there replacing the stock. I loved to talk with them and talk about the difference in the varieties they grew than what we grew down here in the South. They were always friendly. Sometimes, they had a hard time understanding my deep Southern accent.
One of our favorite things to eat that we discovered in New York was Salt Potatoes. Since we moved back home, I learned through research that Salt Potatoes is a regional recipe from Syracuse. Syracuse is at the "foot" of one of the most Eastern Finger Lakes scooped out by the ice age. If you look at a map of the Finger Lakes, it looks like a bear claw. It is also home of Cornell University. Freddy and I always drove through Syracuse on our way South and back North.
Salt Potatoes sounds really strange. You put two quarts of water in a big pot and bring the water to a boil. Then, you add 1 1/2 cups of SALT to the pot. Then you add 1-2 pounds of new potatoes to the pot and boil them until the potatoes are tender. You pour the potatoes into a colander and let them dry and a crust of salt will form on the potatoes. Melt butter in a bowl, add a lot of pepper and fresh chives. You put the potatoes on your plate and either cut them in two or smash them with your fork and drizzle the butter mixture on top.
Another regional dish we loved was Spiedies. Spiedies is a marinated chicken that you grilled on a stick and then put in a sub roll. I like the really soft ones. It is a regional dish from Binghamton, New York. People cooked different versions of it in the campground all summer long. The smell of spiedies cooking on the grill would make my mouth water. I was invited to eat with many of the friends I made in the campground throughout the summer.
Spiedie Chicken Sandwiches
2-3 chicken breasts
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped or pressed)
1 TBL dried parsley
1 TBL dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
3-4 sub rolls
Cut chicken into 1" cubes. Whisk all other ingredients together to form a marinade. Set some aside for basting or sauce. Add marinade to chicken in a large zipper style bag and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally. Thread 5 or so cubes onto metal or soaked bamboo skewers. Grill or broil in oven until chiken is lightly browned. It has already partially cooked from the marinade. Place the skewer in the roll and pull off the meat. Add reduced sauce if you wish.
There were a few things that we missed eating when we lived there from home, but not much. I missed Bojangle's Biscuits on Saturday mornings and would have given my eye teeth for a Zero Candy Bar sometimes! The growing season there is much shorter than ours here in NW Georgia and NE Alabama, but they had some of the most beautiful farms you've ever seen there. There were more than 100 barns in Ontario County over 100 years old that were so beautiful.
Almost every farm had a farmstand. You could pull up to the stand, and there was rarely ever anyone there. They would lay out their fruits and vegetables with a metal box locked and bolted to the stand. They would have a price list and you dropped your money into the box. Every now and then you would catch the farmer or their wife or children there replacing the stock. I loved to talk with them and talk about the difference in the varieties they grew than what we grew down here in the South. They were always friendly. Sometimes, they had a hard time understanding my deep Southern accent.
One of our favorite things to eat that we discovered in New York was Salt Potatoes. Since we moved back home, I learned through research that Salt Potatoes is a regional recipe from Syracuse. Syracuse is at the "foot" of one of the most Eastern Finger Lakes scooped out by the ice age. If you look at a map of the Finger Lakes, it looks like a bear claw. It is also home of Cornell University. Freddy and I always drove through Syracuse on our way South and back North.
Salt Potatoes sounds really strange. You put two quarts of water in a big pot and bring the water to a boil. Then, you add 1 1/2 cups of SALT to the pot. Then you add 1-2 pounds of new potatoes to the pot and boil them until the potatoes are tender. You pour the potatoes into a colander and let them dry and a crust of salt will form on the potatoes. Melt butter in a bowl, add a lot of pepper and fresh chives. You put the potatoes on your plate and either cut them in two or smash them with your fork and drizzle the butter mixture on top.
Another regional dish we loved was Spiedies. Spiedies is a marinated chicken that you grilled on a stick and then put in a sub roll. I like the really soft ones. It is a regional dish from Binghamton, New York. People cooked different versions of it in the campground all summer long. The smell of spiedies cooking on the grill would make my mouth water. I was invited to eat with many of the friends I made in the campground throughout the summer.
Spiedie Chicken Sandwiches
2-3 chicken breasts
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped or pressed)
1 TBL dried parsley
1 TBL dried basil
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
3-4 sub rolls
Cut chicken into 1" cubes. Whisk all other ingredients together to form a marinade. Set some aside for basting or sauce. Add marinade to chicken in a large zipper style bag and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally. Thread 5 or so cubes onto metal or soaked bamboo skewers. Grill or broil in oven until chiken is lightly browned. It has already partially cooked from the marinade. Place the skewer in the roll and pull off the meat. Add reduced sauce if you wish.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Peach Cobbler
I've made cobblers for years. The last thing my mother ever made before she passed away when I was 19 was an apple cobbler. I don't make my cobblers anything like she did. She used the old fashioned pie crust layers. She would put in one layer of fruit/sugar mixture and then a layer of the dough. Then she would take the hot cobbler out of the oven and do another layer. It was good! It was also labor intensive.
My Aunt Bill, says that this is called a Lazy Day Cobbler, Cook's Country says it's Texas-Style Cobbler. I think it's just a melding of all my experiences with cobbler throughout the years. The batter rises up beautifully over the fruit and it's all mixed together. It takes a little while to make, but nothing like the time my mother's did. If I had one wish today, it would be that my mother could still cook with me. Because there are only three of us at home, I usually divide this from a 9x13 dish to two 9 inch baking dishes. One we have at home and one I can carry to someone or take to church for lunches. One of these will go to church tomorrow with me as we celebrate a successful Vacation Bible School and make our pastor into a Sundae! He's going to let the kids pour Sundae ingredients all over him. He's a really good sport and members of the church are sponsoring him to raise money. :)
For the filling:
2 pounds of ripe peaches, peeled.
2 packages dried peaches, chopped into quarter inch pieces.
1 cup sugar divided
1 whole lemon, grated for zest
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
Place dried peaches in a small saucepan and add 1/2 cup sugar and just enough water to cover the peaches over high heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until peaches are tender.
Cut up ripe, fresh peaches into a bowl and mix with remaining cup of sugar. Drain cooked peaches and add peaches to fresh peaches. Add lemon zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg and stir well. Set aside.
Batter:
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted in pan or pans in a 350 degree oven.
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup milk
Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add butter to pans and heat in oven until the butter is melting and starting to just brown. Remove pans from the oven. Add the milk and stir well. Pour the melted butter into the batter and whisk until everything is combined and batter is very smooth. Pour the batter into the pan or equally into two pans if dividing. With a large spoon dollop peach mixture on top of the batter. Place pan in center of oven on the middle rack or divide between two racks and rotate half way through baking.
Bake for 45-60 minute when the batter rises and is golden brown. Enjoy! This cobbler is best served warm with vanilla ice cream.
My Aunt Bill, says that this is called a Lazy Day Cobbler, Cook's Country says it's Texas-Style Cobbler. I think it's just a melding of all my experiences with cobbler throughout the years. The batter rises up beautifully over the fruit and it's all mixed together. It takes a little while to make, but nothing like the time my mother's did. If I had one wish today, it would be that my mother could still cook with me. Because there are only three of us at home, I usually divide this from a 9x13 dish to two 9 inch baking dishes. One we have at home and one I can carry to someone or take to church for lunches. One of these will go to church tomorrow with me as we celebrate a successful Vacation Bible School and make our pastor into a Sundae! He's going to let the kids pour Sundae ingredients all over him. He's a really good sport and members of the church are sponsoring him to raise money. :)
For the filling:
2 pounds of ripe peaches, peeled.
2 packages dried peaches, chopped into quarter inch pieces.
1 cup sugar divided
1 whole lemon, grated for zest
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. grated nutmeg
Place dried peaches in a small saucepan and add 1/2 cup sugar and just enough water to cover the peaches over high heat until it comes to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until peaches are tender.
Cut up ripe, fresh peaches into a bowl and mix with remaining cup of sugar. Drain cooked peaches and add peaches to fresh peaches. Add lemon zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg and stir well. Set aside.
Batter:
2 sticks unsalted butter, melted in pan or pans in a 350 degree oven.
2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup milk
Mix dry ingredients in medium bowl. Add butter to pans and heat in oven until the butter is melting and starting to just brown. Remove pans from the oven. Add the milk and stir well. Pour the melted butter into the batter and whisk until everything is combined and batter is very smooth. Pour the batter into the pan or equally into two pans if dividing. With a large spoon dollop peach mixture on top of the batter. Place pan in center of oven on the middle rack or divide between two racks and rotate half way through baking.
Bake for 45-60 minute when the batter rises and is golden brown. Enjoy! This cobbler is best served warm with vanilla ice cream.
Cowboy Strip Steaks
Cowboy Strip Steaks
.by Christie Hufstedler Boyd on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 9:00pm.This is the simplest steak recipe ever! The recipe is for four 1 - 1 1/2" steaks. I only made two and so I cut the rub ingredients in half. I used Choice steaks that I got at the meat market just around the corner from my house. You could use strip steaks from the grocery store or you could use Rib Eyes.
Rub:
1/4 cup wood chips, soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained
2 TBLS. Paprika
1 TBL. packed light brown sugar
1 TBL. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 (8-ounce) boneless strip steaks
Pat steaks as dry as you can get them on all surfaces with paper towels and rub with spice mixture. Place wood chip packet on coals and cover until chips begin to smoke. Grill steaks over hot fire until well browned and meat registers 120-125 degrees (for medium rare), about 4 minutes a side. Transfer to platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 5- 10 minutes.
To pan sear steaks (I had to do this this time, because I lent someone my grill!) Heat skillet on high heat for at least 3 minutes. Add just a touch of olive oil to skillet and immediately add steaks. Cook 4 minutes on first side without moving steaks, turn and cook 4 more minutes for medium rare, 5 minutes for medium. Tent with foil on platter. Make your favorite pan sauce and add juices back to skillet and mix well. These were great and only take a few minutes.
This is adapted from two different America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country recipies. I often adapt their recipies or take a seed of an idea from here and there and adapt them. Many are similar to cooking my mother used to do and now I add it all into the mix!
.
.by Christie Hufstedler Boyd on Saturday, July 16, 2011 at 9:00pm.This is the simplest steak recipe ever! The recipe is for four 1 - 1 1/2" steaks. I only made two and so I cut the rub ingredients in half. I used Choice steaks that I got at the meat market just around the corner from my house. You could use strip steaks from the grocery store or you could use Rib Eyes.
Rub:
1/4 cup wood chips, soaked in water for 15 minutes and drained
2 TBLS. Paprika
1 TBL. packed light brown sugar
1 TBL. chili powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
4 (8-ounce) boneless strip steaks
Pat steaks as dry as you can get them on all surfaces with paper towels and rub with spice mixture. Place wood chip packet on coals and cover until chips begin to smoke. Grill steaks over hot fire until well browned and meat registers 120-125 degrees (for medium rare), about 4 minutes a side. Transfer to platter, tent loosely with foil, and let rest 5- 10 minutes.
To pan sear steaks (I had to do this this time, because I lent someone my grill!) Heat skillet on high heat for at least 3 minutes. Add just a touch of olive oil to skillet and immediately add steaks. Cook 4 minutes on first side without moving steaks, turn and cook 4 more minutes for medium rare, 5 minutes for medium. Tent with foil on platter. Make your favorite pan sauce and add juices back to skillet and mix well. These were great and only take a few minutes.
This is adapted from two different America's Test Kitchen and Cook's Country recipies. I often adapt their recipies or take a seed of an idea from here and there and adapt them. Many are similar to cooking my mother used to do and now I add it all into the mix!
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