KerriansKitchen

KNR, p. 325 “Bacon & Egg Cheese Grits Muffins”

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Sheila and I usually stay in Bed & Breakfast places during our travels, but sometimes local diners are perfect when we get on the road early. In the South (USA) grits is a staple with eggs and bacon at breakfast, whether you order it or not. It is made from dried, ground corn, and cooked in water or milk to create a type of porridge. Lots of people eat it with red-eye gravy or butter to enhance the flavor, but if cooked properly, it can be creamy (akin to mashed potatoes) and flavorful all on its own. If it’s “like sand” and “tasteless” at your restaurant, trust me, they didn’t make it correctly. At all.

This recipe is a recreation of a dish we tried at a Southern diner combining grits, bacon, and eggs (and other yummy ingredients) into muffin form. It looks complicated, but you’re basically cooking creamy grits and adding the rest of the ingredients to the grits, then cooking it all together in muffin form. It has the texture of a creamy corn muffin. Wow, do they smell terrific!

 

Bacon & Egg Cheese Grits Muffins

Sheila and Charlie Kerrian
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Course Breakfast, brunch
Servings 6

Equipment

  • Non-stick jumbo muffin pan
  • 2-3 quart sauce pan
  • shallow pan of water for oven

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup half & half
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 cup uncooked grits
  • 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 4 extra large eggs
  • 5 large bacon strips, well cooked
  • 3 ounces cooked ham, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 2 Tablespoons green onion, sliced thin
  • 2 Tablespoons red bell pepper, chopped into 1/4 inch pieces
  • 1 small tomato, sliced
  • 1 pinch sea salt for garnish
  • 1 Tablespoon (each) butter and flour for muffin tin prep

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400.
  • Bring to boil water, milk, chicken broth, half & half, and sea salt in 2-3 quart pot.
  • Add grits, reduce heat to low and stir frequently until thick and creamy, about 15 minutes.
  • Remove from heat and add cheese. Stir in until melted and mixed.
  • Meanwhile, cook bacon to taste, drain and let cool. Chop into 1/4 inch bits and set aside.
  • Dice cooked ham and set aside. Slice green onion, chop red bell pepper, and set aside.
  • In large bowl lightly beat eggs with fork. Mix in bacon, ham, green onion, red bell pepper until well mixed. Add egg mixture to the grits and stir until evenly mixed.
  • Prep the muffin tin by coating each cup with butter. Lightly dust the buttered cups evenly with flour. This helps release the otherwise sticky muffins easily after baking and cooling.
  • Evenly divide the mixture among the 6 muffin spaces – they will be nearly full. Bake for 30 minutes on center shelf, until lightly browned.
  • Remove the muffin tin from the oven and let sit on cooling rack for a few minutes, then remove the muffins from the tin and serve warm. Sliced tomatoes with sea salt sprinkled on top is a pleasant side to the muffins.

Notes

Place a pan of water (a cup or two is fine) on lower oven shelf to keep the muffins moist and ease their removal after baking and cooling..

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KNR, p. 317 “Blackberry Cobbler”

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Everybody in Sheila’s family raved about her grandmother’s cobbler recipe. Grandma never gave up the secret, but did admit it was sooooo easy to make. However, easy to bake doesn’t mean easy to recreate. Sheila tried to duplicate the taste for many years, serving variations to anyone willing to take a chance on yet another attempt. Dessert lovers all, Sheila rarely heard a ‘no,’ whether similar in taste or not. 

BUT, this past week, an historical light clicked on in her brain and she worked on the premise of using ingredients that grandma had available to her at the time. This includes fresh blackberries from her own blackberry patch, and whole milk, because Grandma had cows. Sheila remembered seeing condensed milk in Grandma’s kitchen and asked why. Grandma just smiled and changed the subject, but its use makes a huge difference in flavor.

Sheila’s brother was visiting, tried it with creamy ice cream, whooped between bites, and declared, “She nailed it!”

For your consideration, really easy Blackberry Cobbler:

Blackberry Cobbler

Sheila Kerrian & Grandma
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 & 1/4 cups self-rising flour
  • 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup 1/2 cup milk
  • 6 Tablespoons melted butter
  • 6-8 ounces fresh blackberries, 1/2 cup reserved for garnish
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar

Instructions
 

  • Pre-heat oven to 325 and grease 13” x 9” baking dish.
  • Place flour, condensed milk, plain milk, and melted butter into large bowl. Mix with large spoon or whisk until blended. Pour into the greased baking dish.
  • Slice blackberries in half, lengthwise. Spread blackberries evenly across top of batter, flat side down, saving a few for garnish.
  • Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly on top of the blackberries.
  • Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes until light golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
  • Let cool on rack for 10 minutes.
  • Serve with ice cream or whipped cream and a few blackberries. (Whipped cream with vanilla flavoring is shown in the top photo)

Notes

 
 
The cobbler can also be baked in a liberally buttered, oven-proof stoneware pie dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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KNR, p. 120 “Game Day Flatbread”

NFL season is over, baseball season is beginning, and hockey playoffs are under way. We need Game Day recipes!

This week we decided to serve a new twist on an old standby.  Game Day Flatbread. What’s flatbread? Basically, it’s a lot like the bread you see under the sauce on a pizza. Some of it tastes and looks like pita bread without the pocket. It’s firm enough to hold meats, doesn’t get soggy while it bakes, and keeps its texture when being eaten. People place a variety of cheeses and veggies on the flatbread and bake it in the oven. Picture heating up an open-face sandwich. Yes, it does look like pizza. Our Game Day Flatbread sandwich has no tomato sauce, and I’ve yet to see one in a pub or restaurant that does. But without the tomato sauce, the flavor mix and cooking time is different.

You can make the actual flatbread yourself, but why bother when you can buy various tasty versions – gluten-free or naan or herb seasoned or unleavened, etc  – right in the bread aisle of almost any grocery store. Tortillas won’t work. Find the kind that you would use to make a gyro. Or look for the brand that we get: Toufayan flatbread.

We plan to let our game day partiers make their own, mixing and matching the toppings they like best, but here is a tasty recipe for spinach & cheese flatbread, with a note for one with sausage. Sheila and I will prep the spinach, tomato, and sausage beforehand, so that all the guests have to do is put together their own creations.

We did a LOT of taste-testing for this one, basically because I could not decide which cheese and tomato combo I liked best. Yup. I’m stickin’ to that story. Sheila would back me up, but she’s busy trying another sausage one.  😉

Print
 

Game Day Flatbread

Charlie & Sheila Kerrian
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Appetizer, Main Course
Cuisine American

Ingredients
  

  • 1 7" round Toufayan flatbread
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 1/8 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon mayo
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary)
  • 4 grape tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • 2 Tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
  • 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Place flatbread on cookie sheet (or pizza pan).
  • Spread mayo on the flatbread.
  • Sprinkle 1/8 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix on top of mayo.
  • Stir fry fresh spinach in olive oil, sea salt, onion powder, and garlic powder until just wilted, about two minutes. Separate and spread evenly across the mayo-herb layer.
  • Evenly sprinkle 1 Tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese on top of the spinach.
  • Evenly spread 1/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese as the next layer.
  • Evenly spread the tomato pieces next.
  • Evenly spread the remaining mozzarella cheese.
  • Evenly spread the remaining Parmesan cheese.
  • Evenly sprinkle the remaining dried Italian herb mix next.
  • Place in oven and bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly, crispy brown and cheese is melted.
  • Serve right away.

Notes

This recipe is for EACH flatbread sandwich.
Sausage Variation:
If you'd like to add sausage to the Game Day Flatbread, use 1/4 cup ground, chopped, cooked, mild Italian sausage. Add it before the tomato layer. Reduce the amount of Parmesan cheese and also adjust the salt in the spinach, because the added sausage may make this version too salty for some.

 

For other Game Day recipes, click on the links below:

Drumsticks  

Chili  

Hearty Soup

 

*Photo by Patti Phillips

 

 

 

 

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