Tag: sweet potatoes

Tasty Tuesday: Serving Up Spring 2

ANITA STAFFORD: ENGLISH TEA MUFFINS

These muffins are not the kind that jump up and shout, ‘notice me.’ Perhaps because they are made from an English tea, they have a more reserved presence. The flavors are subtle and mild, a quiet blend, but still making themselves known. Don’t misunderstand, these English tea muffins may be understated and simple, but they are far from Plain Jane. READ MORE

 

 

TALYA BOERNER: ROASTED SWEET POTATOES AND BROCCOLI

This roasted sweet potato and broccoli is oh so much more than roasted sweet potato and broccoli. It’s step one in my quest to cook a new dish every week during 2017. If you read regularly, you know my One Little Word for 2017 is Savor. (Savour for those of you in the UK.) And part of savoring is eating good clean food like a civilized human being at the table using one of the many, many dishes I hoard. READ MORE

 

DEBBIE ARNOLD: IRISH LAMB PASTIES

I’m ready to move away from heavy stews and braises in favor of lighter fare. Lamb is abundant in the markets I frequent, and I’m making use of the availability and lower prices. These Irish Lamb Pasties which I developed recently for Riceland Foods, are a super way to have a fairly quick meal on the table with relative ease.  Pasties are a traditional Irish hand-held sandwich, typically made of pork. We actually prefer ground lamb. They can even be made ahead and kept in the freezer. Plus, you can use leftovers to make them. READ MORE

 

It’s Tasty Tuesday!

Gina Knuppenburg: French Croissant Workshop

I had the pleasure of attending a French Croissant Workshop last week. It was the first step in crossing off a goal on my life bucket list: make chocolate croissants from scratch. To find out how Gina’s adventure READ MORE.

 

Anita Stafford: Chocolate Kiss Bundt Cake

At holiday time I am often desperate for help in the kitchen. If you stop by to visit while I’m cooking, you may find yourself wearing an apron, and I’m not picky about age or gender. I handed the recipe for this chocolate bundt cake to an eleven-year-old boy. I was up to my neck preparing casseroles, and I was running out of time to finish the baking. He had never baked a cake before, and he did an amazing job. He’s my official sous chef now. His cake was the centerpiece for the dessert table. I think it has everything that makes a cake perfect. It’s easy, it’s pretty, and it’s chocolate. For the recipe READ MORE

 

 

Keisha McKinney: Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice

The weather got cool this week. The afternoon sun is perfection. My yard is covered with leaves and the colors they are a changing. All that means is when I’m on Pinterest and I see anything pumpkin, my eyeballs turn to hearts and I get all googly eyed!!!

Such was the case last week when I ran across a new pumpkin bread recipe from the Domestic Rebel. Baby cravings have me eating all kinds of weird things at odd times, but in the middle of the afternoon I decided it was time to make a treat we could eat after dinner that night….. so I did. READ MORE

 

Lydia Sartain: Beyond Easy Pumpkin De-Lite

I get it, half of you are like enough already lady, we get it. YOU LOVE pumpkin, while the other half is stoked every time they see the work pumpkin in a title. Well I will try to tame my pumpkin wand after this recipe! MAYBE….READ MORE

 

Photo Courtesy of Key Ingredient https://www.keyingredient.com/articles/5548702331699200/attention-grabbing-fall-salads/

Mel Lockcuff and Debbie Arnold: Published on Key Ingredients

Once upon a time, Mom would chop up a head of iceberg, throw on some mayo and call it a salad. Maybe toss in a chopped tomato for a special occasion. Salad was always a bridesmaid, never a bride. Seen, but not heard. In the chorus, not the star. You get the idea – boring!

No More Boring Salads!

Check out these salad suggestions from bloggers we love: SEE WHAT MADE THE LIST

 

 

Lydia Sartain: Sweet Potato Brownies

I did not think I would fall into the continued excitement over the “Sweet Potato Brownies”, in fact I laughed with a good friend about how they sound more like “Frownies, fake brownies”. The truth is the recipe has been around for a while but for some reason just now caught everyone’s attention on social media and Pinterest. I decided I needed to try them for myself and see if they were worth all the fuss.  READ MORE

Katharine Trauger: Not Spaghetti. And a Different Sort of Catfish

What causes that beckoning aroma after a rain? What causes the alluring fragrance of fresh-plowed soil? What causes the enticing earthy spice in beets?

Geosmin! (Say: GEE oze min.)

Geosmin is a bicyclic alcohol, responsible for transforming common things such as rain, into perfume.

You wouldn’t think it would also create the muddy taste that sometimes occurs in catfish, but it does.

Don’t worry! It won’t harm you any more than tipping up your face and catching Spring raindrops on your tongue.

But mostly, we don’t exactly prefer it in our catfish, do we?

They say to avoid it in fish we should hook them during cool weather, remove any dark-colored flesh, soak the rest in milk or vinegar, and several other tactics.

Scientists predict the vinegar actually could work, because geosmin breaks down when exposed to acid. But wouldn’t the fish taste pickled? And doesn’t milk include acid? I vote for milk!

However, once that part is over you know you must dredge catfish in cornmeal or coat it in a heavy batter; deep fry it in peanut oil; also fry breaded onion rings, French fries, and hush puppies (which are blobs of cornmeal mush stuff left over from breading or battering things). Then you can sit down and eat all that greasy food, most of which is heavily loaded with carbohydrates, a bad mix for many diets, these days.

I wanted something different. (I’m from the north, y’all!)

Since in our family, we all like to eat fish and don’t even mind enjoying a bit of catfish on occasion, I decided to invent a recipe for frying catfish that would be more health-giving for us. I love inventing recipes! I decided to pan fry on a lower heat and to use a health-friendlier oil, plus a breading that is low in carbohydrates.

The first task was to pick the breading ingredients. After considering coconut flour, almond flour, soy flour, flax meal, and whole wheat, I decided to go with whole almond flour. I reasoned that if we did not like something that mild, we certainly would not appreciate all the rest, and definitely not a mixture.

After that, I had to decide upon an oil. The first time I made this dish, I used olive; the second time I tried coconut oil. I suppose I’ll make this many times, to decide finally, but right now I’m leaning toward olive oil.

Then, to replace the carb-high potatoes and corn, I wanted to try marrow squash, also known as “spaghetti squash”. We’d enjoyed it merely buttered, and a few times supporting various Italian sauces. This would be an enormous departure from the traditional Southern experience, but a food adventure I was ready to try.

Finally, to round it off, I chose good ol’ low-glycemic, vitamin-loaded sweet potatoes. Boiled and buttered, they are one of our favorite go-to sides.

I had to buy the squash. Although it is easy enough to grow in Arkansas, and keeps quite well in a cool dark place, the deer have attacked our gardens with great gusto the last couple of years. I’m happy for their dietary enrichment, but I’m about to join our neighbor down the highway, who has fenced his garden with ten-foot chain link topped with razor wire.

I kid you not. The critters are thick around here.

But back to the kitchen!

Steaming a marrow squash is easy enough to do if you own a steamer. Just quarter, remove the seeds and excess membrane, and place it in the steamer over boiling water to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until fork-tender.

The difficult part is opening it before cooking, and that can be a mildly dangerous task if you don’t know how. I use a large knife that is recently sharpened, and watching out for my fingers, I aim for the center, chopping the squash once with the sharp edge of the knife. It usually cuts about ½” deep into the fruit. At that point, I can lift the knife, which is jammed hard into the squash, and the squash lifts with it. Taking care to keep fingers in safe places, I raise the knife, heavy with the squash, about four inches and then bang the squash, with the knife in it, down hard on the cutting board. I may have to repeat, but this works well. Once you have it in halves, clean out the seeds and loose fibers. Then quartering it is surprisingly easy.

I like to multi-task when I’m cooking, so I usually start the squash steaming before I work on the other parts of the recipe. That way the squash can have time to cool for handling, and then be warmed again before serving.

Another word of caution, this time about releasing the “spaghetti” from the cooked squash shell: It must be cooled, first. There are very few ways to handle a piece of food that is boiling hot. Potholders, I found, will soak through and can scald you. I’ve used tongs before, but that’s awkward. It really is best to let the squash cool on a plate, flesh-side up, about ten minutes, shred it out of the shell, and then reheat the “spaghetti”.

If you have more of the squash than you need, for this meal, it is delicious when reheated, with or without a chopped green onion and some pepper, in a buttered pan with a lid. Add a bit of cream and shredded cheddar cheese at the last minute, and it makes another lovely, and very quick, side for low-carb enjoyment.

The recipe shown here includes four catfish filets. It was a lot for two people to eat, really, but I was hoping for left-overs

And I think you will, too.

Katharine Trauger: Low-carb Pan-fried Catfish Over Marrow Squash

Katharine Trauger: Low-carb Pan-fried Catfish Over Marrow Squash

Ingredients

  • "4 large (aproximately 4 ounce) catfish filets
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1 marrow squash (spaghetti squash)
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup olive oil or cooking oil of choice
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 4, ¼” slices of onion
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 cup additional almond flour, if needed
  • ½ cup Chardonnay, Chablis, or white Zinfandel "

Instructions

  1. Thaw (or soak) filets in milk for 4 hours in refrigerator.
  2. Wash squash. Cut in half. Scoop out seeds and loose membrane. Cut into quarters or eighths. Steam 20 minutes or until flesh separates easily. Allow to cool ten minutes or to handling temperature. Remove flesh and arrange on ovenproof platter and keep in 150 degree oven.
  3. Remove fish from milk. Rinse and drain.
  4. Mix almond flour and pepper in shallow dish such as a pie plate.
  5. Heat oil in non-stick skillet to “splatter” temperature.
  6. Coat one filet in egg, then in almond flour/pepper mix.
  7. Place one onion slice in oil in pan and top with one coated filet.
  8. Repeat for each filet/onion slice.
  9. Fry filets on onion slices, uncovered, for about 7 minutes. Turn filets with onion slices, allowing onion to rest on filet. Salt lightly
  10. Fry until filet separates easily.
  11. Remove filets to top the squash on platter. Return platter to warm oven.
  12. Pour most of hot oil into heat-proof container to cool, being careful to keep as much pan residue in pan as possible. Try to retain only about two tablespoons of oil in pan.
  13. Return pan to heat, bringing to medium-high temperature. Stir in remaining almond flour left from breading filets, and stir constantly to brown slightly. If no flour is remaining, stir in 1/2 cup additional almond flour and brown. Immediately de-glaze pan with wine, continuing stirring until slightly thickened.
  14. Pour sauce over filets and squash. Serve immediately.

Notes

Multitasking Note: If you desire to serve the sweet potato as a side with this dish, peel, slice, and boil 1/2 potato for each serving, while steaming squash, then keep warm in ovenproof dish with lid, in warm oven with squash.

https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/katharine-trauger-not-spaghetti-different-sort-catfish/

 

 

Katharine Trauger is a retired educator and a women’s counselor. She has spent 25 years managing a home and school for children who would otherwise have been homeless, and has worked 15 years as contributor and/or columnist for several small professional magazines, with over 60 published articles. She blogs about the rising popularity of “being at home” from a sun room on a wooded hilltop in the Deep South at: Home’s Cool! and The Conquering Mom and tweets at Katharine Trauger (@KathaTrau). She is currently working on a self-help book entitled: Yes, It Hurts, But . . .