by amvandenhurk | Lifestyle, Small Town Life
My Mom asked me, “If I was becoming Southern?” when I told her I made collard greens.
There are many foods, which come to mind when someone says Southern cooking and collard greens is at the top of my list… Other than fried green tomatoes, okra, and sweet tea.
Collard greens are a staple in eastern North Carolina. People grow them. Pick-ups parked along the road sell them. Restaurants serve them. Every grocery store stocks them year round. They are cheap, abundant, and easy to prepare.
After two years of living in the South, I finally made collard greens. I purchased a shopping bag full at my local farmer’s market.
Collards in general are a healthy leafy veg; however, the traditional preparation is less than so… Pork, lard, etc. While that tastes really yummy, it isn’t exactly good for our health or waistlines.
I made my collards with turkey bacon, sliced garlic, chicken broth.
I cut out the stems then cut the collards into smallish pieces. Then I sautéed the sliced turkey bacon and garlic in olive oil until cooked. I added the collards sautéing for a couple of minutes. I added enough chicken broth to cover the mixture simmering over low heat for an afternoon allowing the collards to becoming tender. When serving, finish it with apple cider vinegar and a dash of red pepper flakes. Yum.
Here’s the finished dish:
I served it with grilled pork chop and rice.
Maybe, I’ll tackle brewing sweet tea… Or maybe I’ll just to continue go to McDonald’s…
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by amvandenhurk | Dessert
And in this corner… Red Velvet Cheesecake weighing in at six pounds.
Yes, you read that correctly, a six pound cheesecake. While it may have been heavy, it didn’t taste that way.
I only make this recipe every couple of years mainly because it is time consuming. Plan on it being a two day process. I recently made it for Christmas.
This is what my limited counter space looks like when I bake a recipe like this.
The cooling process is time consuming. It has to cool in the oven for 30 minutes then another 30 minutes on the rack and finally in the fridge of eight hours.
The Red Velvet Cheesecake has two layers.
Finally, ready to be eaten. Drool, drool, drool.
Red Velvet Cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts to make. It is a special event dessert. And well worth all of the time. It is a knockout!
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by amvandenhurk | Breakfast, Holiday
Eggs Benedict. I’ve been hesitate about trying to make this dish. Always wanted to, but breakfasts aren’t my strong point. The poached eggs and Hollandaise sauce were my blocks. Seemed so difficult.
Recently I had Eggs Benedict at the Reston Hyatt and loved it. A lot and made the decision I was going to try. I mean after all I make some complex dishes and pastries so why couldn’t I make Eggs Benedict well?
Instead of making something sweet for Christmas Breakfast, I chose to do savory. Eggs Benedict was it.
It wasn’t as hard as I thought with the right equipment: egg poacher insert and Knorr Hollandaise sauce mix. Only tough part was getting everything to be done at the sametime.
I think I’m hooked!
And by the way, thumbs up at our house! It was wonderful!
What was your Christmas Breakfast?
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by amvandenhurk | Chicken, Dinner
Yes, you read that correct. Chicken Curry for Thanksgiving dinner. And it was wonderful!
We had celebrated a traditional Thanksgiving dinner as a family the Saturday before. We jumped at celebrating a holiday together since we were all in the same state.
So having Chicken Curry on the actual holiday wasn’t a big deal. In fact, it was a great meal. Quick and easy. No fuss here.
This Chicken Curry recipe is one of my all-time favorites I found in Real Simple.
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Hello! I'm Ann Marie and I wear the well-worn apron. Join me as explore plant-based eating while I live on an island off the U.S. state of Rhode Island.