Southern Style Greens

Greens. Mustard, Turnip or Collard. Just Greens, those Greens. That vegetable I despised growing up and was forced to eat. Against my will. Then, in my early 20's, my taste buds changed and I couldn't get enough of them! Now I can positively inhale them!

Unfortunately, I didn't know how to make them so I was always at someone else's mercy to get them and that was too few and far between for me. Luckily for me, a friend's mother-in-law always had someone come cook for her every Monday and this woman made greens to die for. So, one day, I got there early and helped her make them. Best thing I ever did...

Greens are a winter vegetable and are only best after the first hard freeze. If you want to cook fresh greens out of the garden or from a farmer's market, that's when to do it. Otherwise, you can buy frozen greens. I find greens from the grocery store (at other times of the year) are on the bitter side and they shouldn't be bitter.

There are several ways to make greens and you can choose what's best for you. However, this is the "old" way of making them but you can modify the recipe to be more healthy. Sometimes I cook them the original way and other times I cook them "healthier". Also, fresh greens have a lot more volume when uncooked and will wilt down to practically nothing so you need to "eye-ball" your quantities when using fresh greens.

4-5 bunches, 2 plastic sacks, or 3 bags frozen greens (approx)
1/2 pkg salt meat, chopped or 4 strips of bacon (or 3 tbl oil)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/4 cup bellpepper, chopped (optional)
2 tsp chicken bouillon
water
salt
pepper

If using fresh greens, strip the leafy parts off the hard stalks. Then soak and wash the leaves in soapy water 3 times to remove all the dirt, grit and debris. Each time, allow them to soak in the soapy water for about 10 minutes, swishing them around frequently to loosen and remove dirt/grit/debris. Repeat the process at least 3 times or until you are confident all dirt/grit/debris is gone. Rinse well.

Fry salt meat/bacon in a large pot until brown. Add onion, celery and optional bellpepper and cook until wilted.

Add your greens. If using fresh greens, add as much to the pot as possible. Cook the greens and as they wilt, stir to work the uncooked greens down to the bottom of the pot. Keep adding the fresh greens as you can. Add about 1-2 tbl oil, if necessary (this depends on the amount of greens you have).

Once the greens are wilted enough to fit into the pot, add about 2 cups of hot water. You don't want a lot of water, so add the two cups, stir, cover and simmer a few minutes. You want just enough water to cook the greens and keep them moist, that's it. Then add the chicken bouillon.

Stir well to dissolve the bouillon, season with salt and pepper and cover. Reduce heat to medium low and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally. Cook until greens are tender and dark, about an hour. Recheck seasonings, then serve.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a very festive New Year celebration. We were all sick for the holidays, hence the lack of recipe postings for Christmas and New Year's. Yep, things got that bad. We stayed in our jammies, watched Christmas movies and ate my Homemade Vegetable Beef Soup (that I previously put up in the freezer) for Christmas. And for New Year's, I thawed out some of my Best Chili. Ya do what ya gotta do! Although we were sick, it was still relaxing to just lay around and not do anything. We did go out to eat later in the week, to celebrate Christmas but it's just not the same and I'm still feeling like I'm waiting for Christmas to come!

However, it's never too late to have your traditional New Year's dinner and actually that's what I did. Earlier this week, once I felt up to it, I went grocery shopping and bought a couple of pork tenderloins to cook. Since I was still feeling a bit under the weather, I bought (forgive me) cans of black eyed peas and mustard greens. I know...shame on me, but I've found some canned items that are just as good as homemade and since I still didn't have my strength back, I heated them up instead. I like Trappey's Black Eyed Peas with Smoked Bacon (primarily) or Bush's, if I can't make my own. And for greens my favorite is the Glory Seasoned brand, Mustard or Turnip Greens. All are as close to homemade as you can get in a canned product and worth it when you can't make your own.

The Stuffed Pork Tenderloin recipe is one that I have made with a larger beef tenderloin and it was fabulous! Because the pork tenderloins are smaller than beef tenderloins, I just simply "eyeballed" the size of the meat and adjusted the quantities accordingly. That's kinda how I roll with cooking, if you want to know the truth. Anyway, here's how I make it.

1 pork tenderloin
1/3 stick butter, softened
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbl green onion, chopped
salt and pepper
1 lb bacon

Using a sharp chef's knife, make a cut about 1/4 - 1/2 inch deep down the length of the tenderloin. Turn the tenderloin over a bit and keep following that lengthwise cut maintaining the depth of 1/4 - 1/2" until the tenderloin is unfurled and is a flat piece of meat about 1/4 - 1/2 inches thick. Some people make one or two deep vertical cuts but I like the "pinwheel" or "cinnamon" roll effect as it helps baste the meat from the inside once it's prepared, therefore maintaining moisture and preventing dryness and it's just as easy to do.

To the softened butter, add the minced garlic and combine well. Once the tenderloin is unfurled, season with salt and pepper on the inside only. Spread with garlic butter mixture and evenly sprinkle with chopped green onion.

Once the tenderloin has been spread with the garlic butter mixture, roll the tenderloin up and wrap it with bacon, then secure all with toothpicks being careful to secure the pork loin as well as the edges of the bacon.


Now, you can either bake it in the oven on a roasting pan or cook it outside on the grill. Inside, in the oven, bake at 350. On the grill, sear on high coals/heat, close the lid and cook until done. Use a meat thermometer to ensure doneness.

Garlic Cheese Grits

GRITS! Yep, it's a totally southern dish but GRITS also stands for Girls Raised In The South! Ha! While it's historically been a breakfast food down here in the south, over the years, we've modified the traditional grits recipe to adapt it to the lunch and dinner table.

Previously we added scrambled or fried eggs to it, or added crumbled bacon, browned ground meat or sausage to it or some people spooned sausage or red eyed gravy over it. However, Southern Grits has finally grown up and made it as a special and beloved food on dinner tables and holiday menu's here in the south. No matter where you live in the contintental United States or abroad, if you can find grits, you can enjoy this satisfying, comforting and special side dish to grace your table be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. Enjoy this wonderful cheesy garlic version!

**This is the original recipe from the early 1960's. Now with instant grits available, you can cook it according to the directions and add the cheese, garlic, butter and seasonings accordingly, to taste. I still make it the original way.

1 cup grits, uncooked
4 cups water
1 tbl salt
1 stick butter
1 lb cheddar cheese, diced, sliced or grated
3 tbl minced garlic
2 tbl worcestershire sauce

Cook grits in the salted water. When cooked, add butter, garlic, cheese and worcestershire sauce. On low heat, combine well until butter and cheese are melted. Salt and pepper according to taste. This can be served as is or placed in a casserole dish, topped with more cheese and baked at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes.

***Note: Shrimp is a favorite addition to grits, particularly Garlic Cheese Grits. I simply steam some peeled shrimp in seasoned water, drain and add to the grits. To steam peeled shimp, place shrimp in a microwavable bowl, add enough water to cover, season with Tony's, salt, garlic powder. Stir and heat in microwave until cooked, about 8 minutes. Drain and add to grits.

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Sandwiches

When I was young I frequently stayed with my grandparents for long durations in the summers. One day, when I was about 8, my grandfather brought home a sack of home-grown tomatoes and asked me to take them into the house and put them on the kitchen counter as they were for dinner that evening and he was in a hurry to go back to work. Well, the second he left, I grabbed a salt shaker and the sack, went out and sat on the back steps and proceeded to eat every single tomato like it was an apple!!! I wish I had a picture of that....



To get started, I would lick a spot on the skin, sprinkle some salt on it where it was wet and bite! Sprinkling a little salt on each bite, I devoured every tomato except one! There must have been a dozen in that sack! When my grandfather got home, my grandmother fussed at him for not bringing home any tomatoes like she asked. He said he did and that he had given them to me to take inside. They both looked at me and fell out laughing when they saw my rather sheepish look! ;-} Each summer to this day (when I have access to them), I grab a salt shaker and my very first "homie-grownie" of the season and eat it the same way I did that day...just like an apple! Some things are better left unchanged!



At the beginning of each tomato season I crave BLT's made with home-grown tomatoes. Ok, I know everybody knows how to make a BLT. However, I'm posting this for three reasons: 1. The entire time I lived in the desert (8 years), I did not have a single home-grown tomato; 2. I LOVE home-grown tomatoes and BLT's made ONLY with home-grown tomatoes; 3. I save the bacon grease for another summertime recipe: Southern Fried Corn!

Here's how I make my BLT's...



3 slices thick-sliced hickory smoked bacon
1 Beefsteak or Big Boy home-grown tomato, peeled
1 leaf Romaine lettuce, washed
Hellman's (Best) mayonnaise (the closest you'll get to homemade)
2 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
salt and pepper

Put bacon on to fry. If making three or more BLT's, you can place the bacon on a rectangular cookie sheet and bake it in the oven! This way you can cook more bacon all at once! While the bacon is cooking, peel and slice the tomato. I only use Beefsteak or Big Boy's for my BLT's as they are just the right size for the bread.



Core the tomato, peel it, slice it into 4 thick slices and salt and pepper each slice. To peel the tomato, use the back of a paring knife, firmly run it all over the tomato skin to bruise the tomato. This releases the skin from the meat thus making it easy to peel (See Tips and Information for more info on how to peel a tomato).

When bacon is cooked and draining, toast the bread. When the toast is ready, slather it with Hellman's and assemble your BLT! FYI, Hellman's is the closest you'll get to homemade mayonnaise with a commercial product.

If you plan on making Southern Fried Corn, save your bacon grease. Place about 3 tbl in a small plastic container or condiment jar and refrigerate. It can also be kept in the freezer until you are ready to use it!

Southern Fried Corn

A southern summer favorite, Southern Fried Corn is one of the dishes my grandmother used to make from fresh home-grown corn that we would go pick and shuck ourselves. She would serve it with fried chicken and sliced home-grown tomatoes. It was my favorite summertime meal! This dish is great for anyone who cannot eat corn on the cob such as children with missing front teeth or who are in braces. It is certainly not a low fat dish but, darn, is it good! It's a lot of work so I usually only make it once every summer and put some up in the freezer for later.

12 ears of fresh corn (white or yellow)
2-3 tbl bacon grease (trust me!)
2 sticks butter
1/2 can evaporated milk
salt & pepper to taste

Shuck and clean corn. In a large bowl, holding the cob tip down, take a sharp knife and cut the tops of the kernels off down the length of the cob from base to the tip.


Then using the blade, scrape the knife down the length of the cob to the tip to remove the pulp.


When the cobs are clean place them on a rectangular baking pan, add 1/4 inch of water to the pan and soak all turning them to get the cobs wet. Then "wring" them to remove the corn "milk" and set it aside.

In a large 16" skillet, heat bacon grease and butter until melted, then add the corn and corn "milk". On a medium high heat, fry until it is mostly cooked and has turned a darker yellow, stirring to prevent scorching. Add evaporated milk and season to taste with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cook until the mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Check seasonings and serve!