Video and Recipes: Lobster Grits Polenta, Turkey Andouille Sausage Grits Casserole

From Denny: In the South grits (polenta to the uninitiated) are popular food around the clock. They are satisfying on the tummy, easy and quick to make, real crowd pleasers in the form of a casserole and chock full of calcium. Now if we could just change the name to something more pleasing to the ear like "polenta." :)

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Lobster cheese grits

From: Barbara Smith, author of "B. Smith Cooks Southern-Style." She specializes in reducing calories of favorite Southern food without sacrificing the flavor.

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

• 3.5 cup seafood broth or stock, or bottled clam juice
• 0.75 cup old-fashioned stone-ground grits
• 0.25 teaspoon paprika
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 0.5 cup Fontina cheese, or more to taste
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped tarragon, or ½ teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 cup cooked diced lobster
• Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
• Chopped scallions, for garnish

DIRECTIONS

In a medium saucepan, bring the seafood broth to a boil and slowly stir in the grits. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook for 12 to 14 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

Stir in butter, paprika, cheese, tarragon and lobster. Continue cooking until cheese is melted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Serve immediately, garnished with chopped scallions.

Note: For thicker grits, decrease the amount of liquid; for thinner grits, increase the amount of liquid.

Turkey Andouille sausage and cheese grits casserole

From: Barbara Smith, author of "B. Smith Cooks Southern-Style"

Serves: 6 to 8

INGREDIENTS

• 0.5 pound cooked crumbled turkey Andouille sausage
• 3 cup low-sodium chicken stock or broth
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup uncooked quick grits
• 1.5 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoon butter, plus more for greasing pan
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• Hot pepper sauce to taste, optional

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter the inside of a 2-quart casserole or 8-inch square baking dish, or coat with non-stick cooking spray.

In large saucepan, heat chicken broth and salt to boiling over high heat. Slowly stir in grits and reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove pan from heat; stir in 1 cup of the cheese and the butter, stirring until melted. Set aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the eggs, sausage, parsley and hot sauce, if using. Pour the grits mixture into the prepared casserole and spread evenly.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the top evenly with the remaining ½ cup of cheese. Continue baking until the center is slightly puffed and set (when a knife comes out clean or it springs back when lightly pressed), and top is golden brown, about 20 minutes.

*** Thanks for visiting, everyone, have a great weekend and come back often!

How Kindness Develops Your Strength - and Power to Attract Love

From Denny: Kindness is often a hard sell in an aggressive Western society like America and parts of Europe. Kindness has been derided as a weakness, especially by the Republicans and other conservative fundamentalist cultures worldwide who consider kindness undesirable.

The conservatives in America claim to hold to Christian principles and "What Would Jesus Do?" T-shirts, forgetting the whole point of Jesus was about kindness. Jesus was also humanity's strongest person ever to walk this Earth! He is known for his profound teachings that span the centuries.

Quote

Kindness in words creates confidence
Kindness in thinking creates profoundness
Kindness in giving creates love.

Lao-tzu, Chinese philiospher


*** Thanks for visiting and come back often! :)

*** For more quotes like this, please visit Beautiful Illustrated Quotations, go here.

6 Ironic Grinners! Cheeky Quote Day at The Social Poets - 4 Nov 2009

Ironic funny quotes comin' at ya, hard and fast! :)

From Denny: Found a lot of witty quotes for the Cheeky Quote Day! segment over at The Social Poets today! They will definitely get you thinking while you are laughing, a real two-fer to keep the brain cells in stellar fitness shape. :)

Witty quotes also make great writing prompts as they expose your mind to thinking about a subject from a different angle. Construct your own writing exercises for your blog or journal. Riffing off of quotes really does a lot to improve your writing. Give it a try and see for yourself!



Here are a few funny quotes for your tasty mind candy today (while you are detoxing from your Halloween candy high):

Quotes

* All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

* Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. - Aldous Huxley

* The sinning is the best part of repentance. - Arab Proverb

* Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same. - G.B. Shaw, "Maxims for Revolutionists," 1898

* It's pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious. - Kin Hubbard

* Is a stolen copyright a copywrong? – Anonymous

*** Thanks for visiting, much appreciated and come back often for a grin!

*** To get to Ironic Grinners - Cheeky Quote Day! 4 Nov 2009 - go here.

Calorie Monster Chocolate Truffle Cake with Raspberry Sauce

From Denny: This is a flourless chocolate cake from a famous Atlanta restaurant. Like many people in Louisiana we lived in Atlanta for a number of years when the economy nose-dived here. We enjoyed discovering the fast-paced trendy restaurant scene. There was no shortage of chefs who knew how to "romance the chocolate" and create the most awesome desserts! (sorry, couldn't resist the pun!)

There were times when we only went to an upscale restaurant for appetizers, a glass of wine and then demanded the dessert cart be wheeled out, saving our calories for the grand finale. The staff always grinned as that was a common customer behavior after a while. (I could have sworn we pioneered it...)

Other people would spy out our choices as they were brought to the table and start ordering the same. (We looked like we knew what we were doing.) Sort of like that Harry met Sally movie where she is enjoying some ice cream a little too loudly and hedonistically that a woman sitting nearby remarks, "Wow, I'll have what she's having! It must be good!"

Flourless Chocolate Truffle Cake with Raspberry Sauce

From: Chef Rex Horrell, executive chef at the McCormick and Schmick restaurant (CNN Center location in Atlanta, Georgia)

Hands on time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
Serves: 12

Ingredients:

2 cups (4 sticks) butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped
5 eggs
6 egg yolks

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees on a convection setting. In a saucepan, heat butter, milk and sugar to scalding, stirring frequently. Make sure butter is melted. Remove from heat and add chocolate, stirring until chocolate is melted. Set aside to cool slightly.

In a bowl, whisk eggs and yolks together. Gradually whisk eggs into chocolate mixture, beating until completely combined.

Line an 8-by-2 1/2-inch springform pan with buttered parchment paper, making sure the paper circle comes up 1/2 inch on the side of the pan to seal. Pour batter into the pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. The sides will be puffy and slightly cracked. The center will be soupy but will set as it chills. Refrigerate overnight. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and release springform.

Notes:

Chef Horrell bakes the cake in a convection oven. If using a conventional oven, bake at 350 degrees and add 20 to 30 minutes to the cooking time. The cake is served with a sweetened raspberry sauce.

Nutrition:

Per serving: 609 calories (percent of calories from fat, 76), 9 grams protein, 31 grams carbohydrates, no fiber, 56 grams fat, 269 milligrams cholesterol, 356 milligrams sodium.

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Coca-Cola Glazed Baby Back Ribs

This recipe did not come with a photo. Another version of barbecue baby back ribs: Photo by arnold inuyaki @ flickr. It's difficult to salivate over something you can't see, right? :) First we eat with our eyes...

From Denny: Since this is football season and also home of the LSU Tigers, we just have to run some barbecue recipes for the tail-gating crowd! Besides, you know you live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana when the mayor announces that Halloween trick and treating hours have been moved up an hour from 5 to 7 PM. Why? Because the LSU-Tulane game was scheduled to play at 7 PM. This town eats and sleeps LSU football. The whole world stops when LSU plays football. (OK, I'm a heretic; usually listening from around the corner while I'm posting on my many blogs...)

Like many people from Louisiana we too have lived in Atlanta and enjoyed the restaurant scene there. Restaurants don't last long in Atlanta as the city is fast-paced and moves to food trends. In Louisiana a restaurant can become a favorite with locals and stay in business for a lifetime!

This barbecue recipe is from a now closed restaurant and developed by a local famous chef with yet another restaurant that is doing well. What I like about his recipe is he is working with hot Hungarian paprika, jalapenos and habanero peppers. There are those of us in Louisiana who enjoy a little heat with our barbecue. :)

If you are not accustomed to so much heat just cut it way down: only a slice of habanero pepper for the entire dish (these crazy peppers are on the atomic heat scale!), only half of a jalapeno pepper making sure you don't include any of those fiery seeds or ribs and then cut in half the hot Hungarian paprika. You need these peppers for the flavor but can cut back the heat if need be.

Reminder: Any time you add lemon or lime juice or vinegar to a recipe with spices, especially hot spices like hot paprika, be aware these juices or vinegar are going to intensify the heat and flavors.

From: Chef Tommy Ricci, restaurant Commune in Atlanta, Georgia, (now closed). Thanks to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for archiving this popular recipe!

Thomas Ricci says: "Slow and low are the keys to great-tasting ribs. If the temperature is too high, you lose the fat rendering into the meat for flavor and moisture and the ribs could become dry and chewy instead of moist and tender."

Hands on time: 20 minutes

Total time: 4 hours and 20 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1/3 cup pimenton picante (hot Hungarian paprika found at farmers markets and other specialty markets)
1/3 cup ground ginger
1/4 cup kosher salt
4 pounds baby back ribs (about 4 slabs)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 1/2 yellow onions, finely diced
1 1/2 jalapeno peppers, finely diced
1/2 habanero pepper, finely diced
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup dark molasses
1/2 cup lime juice
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 gallon (2 quarts) Coca-Cola

Instructions:

Preheat a convection oven to 200 degrees or a standard oven to 250 degrees.

In a bowl, combine pimenton picante, ginger and salt. Rub evenly over ribs, just to cover, not to cake. Discard excess rub.
Place ribs in a shallow baking dish or on a baking sheet and bake for 4 hours, until tender. Set aside to cool.

An hour before ribs are ready: In a large pot add oil. Saute onions, jalapenos and habanero until tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add sugar and cook until dissolved. Add molasses, lime juice and vinegar. Reduce by 1/3 over medium heat. Add Coke and reduce by half until thickened, but not syrupy, stirring occasionally.

When ribs have cooled, cut into individual ribs. Place ribs in the sauce and glaze to your liking, reducing further if desired. Bathe ribs generously in sauce and serve.

Notes:

Chef Ricci also advises letting the ribs cool briefly before cutting. Cut the ribs upside down because you can follow the bones. He adds, "Make sure to eat that last one on the end that's ours --- the chefs' cut."

Nutrition:

Per serving: 327 calories (percent of calories from fat, 64), 16 grams protein, 14 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber, 23 grams fat, 76 milligrams cholesterol, 389 milligrams sodium.

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