Hey Bob, at WLOS in Asheville, this is for you. Spaghetti My Way. We also call it "Oh, my gracious, you mean this only takes one pot"!

Actually, I call this, Spaghetti My Way. That's because I really don't like cooking spaghetti, but this is too easy and too delicious not to make. It's a one pot meal. So, in my opinion it should be called, "Oh my gracious, this only takes one pot" spaghetti.

Several years ago, I was taping five television shows for WLOS, Channel 13 in Asheville, NC. The host for Carolina Kitchen, who was also the lead anchorman for the station, was very skeptical of this spaghetti cooked in one pot. Also, notice that it has regular cheddar cheese to top it, and he was even more skeptical of how that would taste on spaghetti. Well, he loved it, and at the end of our taping segment, he picked up my heavy Le Creuset pot, and started for his car. I had to find something to put the rest of the spaghetti in so that he could take it home without taking my expensive pot with it! Hey Bob, that would have been $200.00 worth of spaghetti, bud. I taped five shows in a little over and hour that day, and he was a wonderful host. He has since retired.

I hope you will enjoy this spaghetti as much as we do at our house. I've been making this for years, and the recipe is in my book, Memories From Home. I make changes along the way depending on what I have in my kitchen or pantry at the time.

1 pound ground sirloin (I often use half a pound and then add one teaspoon of beef granules for flavor)
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, or diced tomatoes with oregano, garlic, basil
2 cans water-yes, I use the tomato cans
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon salt or to taste
12 ounces spaghetti- angel hair or regular, my husband's favorite is angel hair. NO MORE than 12 ounces, PLEASE, or it will be too dry
2cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

In a Dutch oven or heavy pan, sauté the beef until it is no longer pink. Add the onions, celery, pepper, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender. Add the tomatoes and the water. Add seasonings. Bring to a boil, stirring. Add the spaghetti, and stir. Turn the heat to low, and cover, checking and stirring occasionally to make sure it does not stick. When the spaghetti has cooked, check for seasoning. If it needs more salt, add it now. If adding the cheese, cover the top of the spaghetti with cheese and let it melt before serving. It can be placed in casseroles and frozen if you have leftovers.

Butterbeans, Green & Speckled, Lord Have Mercy, Summer in the South!

Butterbeans, Enough Said

 

Really! Enough just can’t be said about butterbeans.  Whether green or speckled, a summer garden just wouldn’t be the same without them. Butterbeans served with fried corn, sliced tomatoes, cornbread and maybe a piece of barbecued chicken or pork tenderloin is just heaven on a plate.

But now, don’t be fooled by one of my favorite home style menu’s above because I have seen butterbeans on some of the best menus around, from a fine dining restaurant on Harbour Island, Bahamas to an upscale restaurant in Buckhead, Georgia just to name a couple. On most of the menus the butterbeans are served with fish. That just goes to show you how versatile the taste of butterbeans can be. It’s a vegetable that can go with anything. 

 

Whether you have the earthly dark speckled butterbeans (see below) or the small green butterbeans, enjoy them because it seems that they are becoming rare these day. If you happen not to grow them, but find them at a local farmers market, be prepared to pay a premium price. And they are worth every penny or I should say dollar. If you’re a new gardener and you have not tried butterbeans, then I hope you will grow them because butterbeans have a wonderful texture on the outside with a creamy interior, and you just can’t beat the taste. Delicious!  

 

Try something new with those plain old butterbeans which are good too, but this time add some diced carrots and finely chopped onion to cook with my fresh butterbeans. The butterbeans have another level of flavor other than my old standby of bacon or ham, water and butterbeans. I’ve added the recipe below. Hope you enjoy them. In case you have leftovers, there are some other ideas added too. 
 

Green Butterbeans
 

2 or 3 slices bacon, cut into small pieces

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

 

½ cup finely diced carrots

 

½ cup finely chopped onion

 

3 cups green butterbeans, shelled and washed

 

1 small thyme sprig

 

Water to cover*

 

Salt and pepper to taste 

 

 

Place the bacon pieces and olive oil into a saucepan large enough to hold the butterbeans and water. Add the carrot and onion and sauté until tender. Add the butterbeans and thyme, and then add enough water to cover about an inch above the butterbeans. Bring the water to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook the butterbeans until slightly tender. Add salt and pepper to taste and then finish cooking until done. Remove the thyme sprig before serving. 

 

* Check often to make sure that water has not evaporated and add more if needed to keep the butterbeans from being dry. Check for seasoning. 

 

Butterbean Salad- My dad always liked his butterbeans with a little mayonnaise on them. So, I started making a salad of butterbeans. All I do is drain the cooked butterbeans, add the following items to taste: finely chopped celery, onion, green pepper, halved grape tomatoes, basil or dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise, and occasionally a little sour cream.
 

 

Butterbean, tomato salad- Slice the top from a large tomato. Hollow out the inside. Save the meat of the tomato minus the seeds. Salt the inside of the tomato, turn upside down to drain, but salt the tomato again before using. Make a butterbean salad with dill and instead of using the grape tomatoes from the salad recipe above, use the meat of the hollowed out tomato that you saved. The juice from the tomato will blend with the mayo to make a nice dressing. One serving. 
 

Butterbean Hummus-use your favorite hummus recipe and substitute butterbeans for the garbanzo beans.
 

Butterbeans, lemon and dill- Sauté cooked drained butterbeans in a small amount of butter or olive oil. Add a little squeeze of lemon and a little zest to taste. Add fresh chopped dill to taste. Serve. 
 

Butterbeans and garlic butter- In a sauté pan melt butter and add finely chopped garlic in whatever amount of garlic and butter you like adjusted to the amount of butterbeans you add. Cook garlic until tender. Add cooked butterbeans with a little of the liquid the beans were cooked in. Heat through, serve. 
 

Butterbeans and Okra- Add fresh okra pods to butterbeans about 10 minutes before the butterbeans are done. Make sure to keep covered.

 

 

Speckled Butter Beans

Cooked the same way as the green butterbeans. This butterbeans taste is smoky and earthy tasting. It's delicious.

 

Southern Creamed Corn, Baked in the Oven, Summer in the South

Creamed Corn, Summer in the South

My grandmother made creamed corn in an iron skillet. She would start cooking it on top of the stove and then finish cooking it in the oven. Unfortunately, there is no exact recipe, because most old timey cooks didn't use one, but this is the way that I try to replicate her creamed corn, remembering that the corn has something to do with the flavor as much as my cooking does.

Like my mother and my grandmother, I use Silver Queen corn if I can find it. Back in my grandmother's day it was easy to find in a farmer's field or at the Farmers Market, but not so much these days. The flavor of the cooked corn will depend on how fresh it is and how much "milk" it has. It's difficult to find corn that is fresh from the field, which is the way it should be eaten.

So, what I do to get the maximum benefit of the corn is to cut the kernels off the cob. Then, I slide the back of my knife down the cob to get out the "milk".  I puree half the amount of corn I'm using in the food processor. If the corn is dry, add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water to the food processor as you are pulsing (this makes "corn milk"). Now, add the pureed corn back to the whole kernels.

Melt a spoonful of butter in an iron skillet set over medium high heat and add the corn, stirring and sautéing for several minutes. Add enough half and half to make it the consistency of a thick, creamy soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook on the stove top until the added half and half is hot.

Place the iron skillet into a preheated, 350 degree oven. Check the corn after 15 minutes, stirring to make sure that it isn't too dry. Add more half and half if needed, and continue to bake until the corn is tender and creamy. Remove the corn from the oven and add more butter, salt and pepper to taste. Again, cooking time depends on the freshness and tenderness of the corn you started with.

If you want to make it even more delicious, add strips of uncooked bacon to the top before you put it in the oven. Oh my Gracious almighty, is that good.

Pears, Onions, Cheese & Pastry, Summer in the South

 

Savory, Caramelized Onion & Pear Tart

 

This pear tart is not about sweet, but savory. Delicious, and flavorful with balsamic vinegar, caramelized onion reduction, and fresh Bosc pear, in a ready made puff pastry crust and just oozing with smoky gruyere cheese. (From my e-book, Seasoned in the Kitchen on Amazon.com).

Prepare the Caramelized onions:

½ tablespoon unsalted butter

½ tablespoon mild olive oil

2 ½ cups thinly sliced red onion

3 (2-inch) sprigs of fresh thyme

½ tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste 

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high heat until sizzling.

Add the onions, thyme sprigs and salt to taste.

Turn the heat down to medium, and cook, stirring often, until onions are golden brown.

Add balsamic vinegar and cook for another minute, add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove from heat, take out the thyme stems and set the onions aside until assembly. 

 

Puff Pastry:

Pre-heat the oven to 400º

½ of (17.3 ounce) package frozen puff pastry thawed in the fridge according to package directions.

 

On a floured board, roll out the puff pastry until it is about 10” x 10”. Place the pastry on a parchment lined baking sheet and put back in the fridge until ready to use.

Assembly:

1 teaspoon Country Dijon mustard

1¼ cups freshly grated smoky Gruyère cheese

Caramelized onions

Fresh Bosc pear, cored and cut into cubes

1-2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Fresh thyme, finely chopped, to taste 

Remove the prepared puff pastry from the fridge.

Brush the Dijon mustard on the bottom of the tart, to within 1/2 inch of the sides.

Sprinkle the grated Gruyère over the mustard.

Add the caramelized onions over the cheese.

Bake for 20-22 minutes depending on your oven.

Before removing from the oven, make sure bottom of tart has lightly browned.

While the tart is cooking chop the pear into 1-inch pieces and place in a bowl. Pour the orange juice over the pears to keep them from turning brown. Drain.

Remove the tart from the oven and place as much pear as you would like on the tart. If you have pear leftover, save for another use.

Sprinkle the tart with a small amount of sea salt, chopped fresh thyme and freshly ground pepper before serving.

 

Peas with Snaps, Cornbread & Onion, Summer in the South

 

Oh, Glory!

 

I do love summer in the South. So many good vegetables to cook. So much good food to eat. These field peas with snaps served over a piece of good cornbread can be a meal all by itself with a little chopped onion or a big spoonful of piccalilli.

 

To make the peas a little cleaner and fresher tasting, and cut the fat amount, I used my mother's method of cooking vegetables, as she did in her later years. That is with a touch of olive oil to season instead of pork, but keep in mind that if you want to use a piece of ham, then go for it. You'll have great pork flavor.

 

Field Peas with Snaps

 

2 cups field peas with snaps, fresh or frozen

cool water to cover

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt to taste

 

Cover the peas with cool water. Bring to a boil, turn the heat to medium low and cover. Cook until almost tender. Add one tablespoon olive oil and salt to taste. Continue cooking, covered for about 15 more minutes until peas are very tender. Check the seasoning and add more salt to taste. Keep in mind that because peas and beans have a longer cooking time, you may need to add more water during cooking to keep them covered. You also want some "pot liker" to use on your cornbread.

 

Now, put your cornbread in a bowl, add peas and "liker" and chopped onion or piccalilli. Enjoy!

Orzo, Summer Vegetables & Lemon Pepper Chicken

                 

 

Whew! It's too hot to cook. So, I make one of Steve's favorite pasta meals using a supermarket rotisserie chicken, and rice shaped pasta, orzo.

 

It's so easy. I break the rules a little bit with the orzo. I use less water than it calls for on the package. It still comes out just fine. I hope you will enjoy this summer dish as well as Steve does.

Serve chilled, at room temp, or warm.
 

 

 Orzo, Summer Vegetables & Lemon Pepper Chicken

Orzo:

1 quart water

2 chicken bouillon cubes

7 ounces orzo

Add water and bouillon cubes to a saucepan large enough to cook the pasta. Bring the water to a boil, add 7 ounces of orzo and cook until tender, following package directions for time. This will take only a few minutes. Remove from the heat and drain. Set aside.
 

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

½ onion, thinly sliced*

1 yellow squash, quartered and sliced thin*

1 zucchini, quartered and sliced thin*

½ red bell pepper, sliced thin*

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil

2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley, plus extra for garnish

1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest, plus extra for garnish

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice or to taste

3 cups shredded or chopped (already prepared) lemon-pepper rotisserie chicken

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesano or Romano cheese 

Add the vegetable oil to a large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add the vegetables, and garlic. Sauté until the vegetables are crisp tender, or al dente.

Check for seasoning, add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat.

Place the cooked vegetables into a large bowl.

Add the chicken, basil, parsley, orzo, lemon juice and lemon zest to the cooked vegetables, and mix well.   Check for seasoning, and add if needed.

Pour the mixture on a large platter to serve. 

Garnish the top with a sprinkle of chopped parsley, a few grates of lemon zest, and 1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese. Optional, but it makes it even better- drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
 

*Note: I used about 5 cups of vegetables mixed with the orzo and chicken.

Cool Food for Hot Summer Days

Gazpacho with Avocado & Shrimp
Chilled Cream of Squash Soup
Tomatoes, Feta, Kalamata Olives with Fresh Basil Dressing


The other day, I promised to post a summer soup with vegetables and shrimp that I created a couple of years ago for The Christian Science Monitor blog, The Gardener and the Chef. Well, that afternoon I cooked squash and meatloaf and I got carried away and posted those instead. So, here is the cool, refreshing soup recipe along with a two other "cool" recipes. I hope you enjoy them and stay cool.

 

 

Gazpacho with Avocado and Shrimp
 

This soup is not spicy, but light and clean on the palate. Adding fresh corn and cutting the vegetables into small dice gives great texture to this salsa style soup. The avocado and seasoned shrimp add another dimension in flavor.

 

1 teaspoon vegetable oil 

1 cup fresh corn kernels 

1 cup peeled, seeded cucumber, cut into small dice 

¼ cup finely diced mixed green and red bell pepper 

2 tablespoons finely chopped red spring onion 

½ jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped, or to taste
 

2 teaspoons minced garlic 

1 cup peeled, seeded, chopped black tomatoes (heirloom) 

1 ½ cups tomato juice 

1/8 teaspoon ground cumin 

1/8 teaspoon chili powder 

1-2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro, or to taste 

1 lime wedge 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

Salt and pepper to taste  

Garnish:  

4-8 medium shrimp 

Chili powder 

Cumin 

Salt 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 large, ripe avocado (chopped, as garnish)  

Sauté the fresh corn in 1 teaspoon of oil in a small skillet over medium heat until corn is tender. Add a dash of salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.

Add the cucumber, bell pepper, onion, jalapeño, garlic, tomatoes, tomato juice, cumin, chili powder, and cilantro together in a large bowl. Add corn. Squeeze the lime wedge into the soup, then add the 1 tablespoon olive oil. At this point, taste and adjust with seasonings if needed. If you need to add more cumin, chili powder, or salt then by all means adjust the recipe to your taste.  Chill for at least 2 hours so that flavors can blend. Just before serving, add chopped avocado to the top of the soup as a garnish. Place seasoned shrimp on top of the avocado. Add a cilantro stem.

Shrimp- Just before serving the soup, make a small mixture of equal parts chili powder and cumin with a dash of salt. Dip the peeled shrimp into the mixture and fry in 1 tablespoon olive oil until pink and cooked through.

 



Cream of Squash Soup

 

2 cups leftover, sautéed summer squash with onions*

2 cups chicken broth

1/2 teaspoon chicken granules

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup sour cream

Salt and pepper to taste

touch of nutmeg to taste

Sour cream garnish

Thyme flower, or freshly chopped chives for garnish

*If you have leftover squash from the recipe in the last blog, then by all means use that. If you don’t, then sauté squash and onions in olive oil to equal 2 cups. That should be about half the recipe from the previous blog. Make sure that you cook the squash until completely done, otherwise your soup will taste like raw squash.

Place the 2 cups cooked squash mixture into a medium size saucepan. Add the chicken broth, and granules. Cook at a simmer for 3-4 minutes, or until heated completely through. Turn heat to low. Using a hand held emulsifier (or if using a food processor, carefully remove from pan and when pureed, put hot mixture back into pan), puree the squash until smooth. Add the heavy cream and cook on low until heated through. Remove from heat and gently whisk in the sour cream. Serve hot or cold.  To serve, place in a bowl or cup and add a dollop of sour cream and a sprig of thyme with the flower, or freshly chopped chives. Makes about 4 cups.

 

Tomatoes, Feta & Kalamata Olives with Fresh Basil Dressing

 

 

This recipe makes a great party salad, and it’s easy to make ahead. Follow the guidelines below to make a little or a lot. A few years ago, I had to prepare this salad for 50 people, so the day before, I washed the tomatoes, and put them in plastic bags, then into the fridge. I also made the dressing the day before and stored it in a glass jar in the fridge. Directions for assembly are below. You may need to make additional dressing depending on how many people you are serving.

The salad above has 3-4 servings, and I used half of the dressing recipe.

Salad

4-5 grape tomatoes per person, depending on size

 

3-4 (1-inch) blocks of feta cheese per person

 

3-4 Kalamata olives per person

Salt and pepper to taste

Fresh Basil Salad Dressing

 

½ cup vegetable oil or olive oil*

½ cup white wine vinegar

3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

3 garlic cloves, finely minced

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a jar and shake until well mixed. Store the dressing in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the salad. Shake vigorously before adding to the salad. * I like to use olive oil, but it will congeal when refrigerated, so I have to remember to take it out in plenty of time for it to become liquid again.

Salad Assembly

Mix the grape tomatoes, feta cheese, and olives together in a large bowl. Add enough of the dressing to moisten the salad well. When ready to serve, place the salad on a large deep platter and garnish with basil leaves.