Hearty Artichokes with Garlic and Olive Oil

I've tried artichokes stuffed, roasted, steamed, boiled and the list goes on, but the best crockpot recipe I've discovered in quite some time came from a somewhat unlikely source... Muscle & Fitness Magazine. You have to try this one! (Even recipes that taste just as good in the end will NEVER be this easy!)

Hearty Artichokes with Garlic and Olive Oil

3 large artichokes

2 cloves crushed garlic

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 fresh squeezed lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Clean and cut the tops of the artichokes. Place them stem-side down in 2 cups of water in the crockpot. Drizzle tops with lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cook on low for 7 hours.

Serve with melted butter in individual small dishes for dipping with a dash of lemon juice and Parmesan cheese on top.

I love recipes like this that make you re-think the idea of the crockpot as the go-to tool for those who too oft used cream of something cans as crutches. Sweet potatoes in the crockpot started me on this quest. (Where else can you just put potatoes in - no washing, no foil, no prepping - just put it in and put it on low and when you come home from work eight hours later, it's perfect?!)

What is your favorite crockpot recipe?

Low-Carb Bagels

I had ordered a three-pack of Bob's Red Mill Low-Carb Bread Mix on Amazon, so I had some extra for experimentation. (I didn't have much luck making the bread mix in my bread machine. It was like a brick.)

I decided to try bagels instead because of the consistency of the bread. I used Elana's Paleo Bagels as a starting point.

2 cups Bob's Red Mill Low-Carb Bread Mix

1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon sea salt
5 large eggs
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Grease a donut mold. In a medium bowl, mix together bread mix, baking soda, and salt. In a small bowl, beat five eggs and add to dry mix. Add vinegar.

Place batter in a resealable plastic bag, snip off one corner, and pipe batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle bagels with poppy seeds.

Bake at 350° for 25 minutes.

(These were pretty good. I was excited to have a use for all of my leftover bread mix - and to have a go-to recipe for a low-carb bagel. This recipe is a good starting point for future experimentation!)

The Poet's Occasional Alternative

The Poet's Occasional Alternative
by Grace Paley
From Begin Again

I was going to write a poem
I made a pie instead      it took
about the same amount of time
of course the pie was a final
draft      a poem would have had some
distance to go      days and weeks and
much crumpled paper

the pie already had a talking
tumbling audience among small
trucks and a fire engine on
the kitchen floor

everybody will like this pie
it will have apples and cranberries
dried apricots in it      many friends
will say      why in the world did you
make only one

this does not happen with poems

because of unreportable
sadnesses I decided to
settle this morning for a re-
sponsive eatership      I do not
want to wait a week      a year      a
generation for the right
consumer to come along

Puttin' on the Ritz

Eva Davis had a radio show in Vicksburg about cooking - and published this cookbook collection, Mississippi Mixin's, of her recipes and the best from a weekly contest she held on her radio show. Some strange winners too...like boiled eggs in beet juice.

I tried this recipe tonight, with Ritz crackers. I dubbed it Puttin' on the Ritz. And it really could work with anything. Use sauteed spinach underneath. Shrimp. Or broccoli. But the oysters were good too. 

You could also use this basic recipe for a topping for oysters on the half shell. Just top the individual oysters with crushed Ritz crackers, melted butter and paprika.

It looks like the biscuits recipe was beloved.

And the Virginia Tea Cakes.

The sugar cookies, though...not so much.

The cocoa icing seems like it was well loved.

And the chocolate fudge was OK.

A handwritten ice cream recipe... You know that's gonna be good.

And here's my very own Puttin' on the Ritz Oysters.

1 quart select oysters

1/2 cup fresh parsley

1/2 cup green onions

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 1/2 cups of crushed Ritz crackers (Three of the half sleeves)

3/4 stick butter

Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper & Paprika

3/4 cup of Half and Half

Butter a square casserole dish and put oysters on the bottom. Top with parsley, onions, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and red pepper. Crush crackers and place on top. Slice butter thin and dot on top. Sprinkle with paprika. Just before baking, pour half and half over and let soak in.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Slow Cooker Hearty Italian Soup

1 lb ground bison
1 lb ground Italian sausage (mild or hot)
1 small purple onion, diced
2 tsp minced garlic
16 oz. bag baby carrots, sliced (or 4 cups)
6 stalks celery, sliced
5 cups water
1 16-oz can diced tomatoes
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
2 tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 head of green cabbage, roughly chopped, about 4 cups


In a saucepan over medium high heat, cook and crumble the meat along with the garlic and onion. While the meat is browning, add all remaining ingredients to crockpot. Once meat is browned add meat mixture to the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Adapted from a recipe by Barefeet in the Kitchen

Ratatouille Pie

Pastry for 9-inch deep-dish pie
1/2 lb Jimmy Dean hot sausage
2 cups peeled diced eggplant
1 can diced tomatoes, rinsed and drained
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 cup Cheddar cheese
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp Tony Chachere's seasoning
3 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup milk

Brown sausage and drain. Combine sausage and the next eight ingredients; spoon into pie shell.

Combine eggs and milk, stirring well. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until set. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

(Adapted from a recipe by Mrs. James A. Tuthill of Virginia Beach, VA, from 1988 Southern Living Annual Recipes)

The Long and Whining Road: Real-Life Food to Table

Even when you know the recipe won't look like this at your house in the end, it usually starts with a picture. On the Internet or in a magazine. One that makes you stop flipping.

This one caught my eye (and my ear). I go to the za'atar part and "put it aside for another day." Whole Foods is on the opposite side of town from where I live, and there is no chance in hell any grocery store but Whole Foods with have za'atar in this town, I'm sure.

So it's Saturday. I've decided to serve my za'atar-roasted carrots with Grilled Salmon Kebabs and Spicy Lime Melon Salad. Because, Saturday. (When else during the week do you have time to cook like this?)

My husband hears about the salmon and says it's been a long time since we've had baby bok choy. (Please, please.) It's been a long time because there's only one place that sells it - a Chinese market in Ridgeland where you can get a whole bunch for only a $1. Insanely good deal.

Obviously. Because when I get there, it's closed. Closed is really an understatement. It is not even there. No trace left of it. It's a Salon and Spa now. I don't fully trust my eyes, and I have to go inquire at the business next door if that's really what used to be the Chinese market. (I mean I was just there last month!) It was.

This begins a flurry of text messages. I had promised baby bok choy in place of za'atar-roasted carrots but there is no baby bok choy, so this slush-pile recipe is back on. The flurry ends with my husband proclaiming that maybe we should just open a Chinese market on our side of the Reservoir to ensure that we can have baby bok choy in the future. (I let this one go unanswered as I allow it as just a step in the grief process.)

Off to Whole Foods. For this particular recipe, I think, gas mileage should also be factored in to the per-person cost. And that was before I found the za'atar.

I think it's the Z. My maiden name was Zehnder and I'm drawn to Z's. It feels like "Jumanji" on my tongue. Even though that's a J. And much softer. Out loud za'atar sounds almost military-like but inside my head it's much softer.

I break out the reading glasses. All of the spices are alphabetized so I'm thinking I just go to the last spot on the last row and grab it. Wrong. I can't find it. Anywhere. (If you would like to try my same experiment, go to your local Whole Foods and ask someone in the produce section near the spices where the za'atar is. There is no happy ending.)

I have that moment. When you've gone to Whole Foods for one ingredient and you can't find that one ingredient and it hits you that you're going to have to go to another grocery store anyways. Do you put what you've bought back and just leave? No, I decide. It's my Saturday and I'm not spending it grocery shopping (as I'm obviously going to spend it cooking).

I do what any rational person would. I start googling "za'atar replacement" on my smartphone. No replacement suggestions. Only recipes. I find a recipe. So I start searching for sumac next (which I don't have at home). Then I start googling sumac because I've never heard of it. No sumac. Back to Square One. (Special thanks to whoever took the time to comment on the Serious Eats site that if you can't find za'atar, you ain't going to be able to find sumac either.)

I see there are many spice blends at the top of the Spicely rack - taco seasoning, Mediterranean blends and such. I am now on the hunt for a "Middle Eastern Spice Blend" or similar. No such luck, but in reading every damn box, I find it. It's like that moment. In the movie. With the gold halo and the special music. ZA'ATAR, damnit! 

We were going to have za'atar-roasted carrots. (This would somehow make up for the fact that the liquor store next to Whole Foods did not have limoncello, so we would not be having Raspberry Limoncello Prosecco! In the end, we do not have grilled salmon kebabs either because it's pouring down rain. We have pan-fried salmon.) 

Za'atar-roasted carrots are damn good. But so are just plain roasted carrots with spices of your choosing - and it doesn't cost $3 for 3 tablespoons of those spices. 

I only used one tablespoon for this recipe. Online cooks have suggested I can sprinkle it on pita bread or hummus, but for now, I have it sitting on my spice shelf - right next to the gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Why is National Oyster Day in August?

Yesterday was National Oyster Day - and we went to Drago's in Jackson to recognize the observance (of course). The waiter was not aware it was National Oyster Day - and my husband asked, "Are you sure? Why would they make National Oyster Day in August? It doesn't have an R." The gentleman at the table next to us took my husband's side - and I had to pull out my phone to prove I had not made it up as an excuse to make my husband take me out for oysters on a rainy Friday night.

Growing up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, as a child, you are subjected to watching your parents eat disgusting, slimy little critters - raw oysters - slurping them down gleefully like Jello with bizarre additions like stinky horseradish and spicy cocktail sauce. You are also subjected, it seems, to their oyster myths - like only eat oysters in months that contain an R. 

Later, inevitably, you "inherit" the oyster gene and slurp them down yourself every chance you get. Often, just as your parents did before. Literally. (I only found this out when my husband found it strange I had to eat my raw oysters on a Saltine cracker. I thought this was a requirement. So did my father. But not his, it seems.)

As long as your are buying oysters from retailers or restaurants (and not harvesting them yourself), you can enjoy oysters at any time of the year. Vibrio, a bacteria which has gotten much more attention in Mississippi as of late, is more common in the hotter summer months, for sure, which can make people sick when harbored in an oyster. (The USDA does monitor for their presence, but those with compromised immune systems should still be careful.)

After all, life's too short to only eat oysters in months with an R in them!

Marinated Red Onions

I'm cooking my way through How to Cook Like a Southerner and Live to Tell the Tale! Next up: Marinated Red Onions.

Marinated Red Onions

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp fresh chopped tarragon or 1 tsp dried
1/4 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup red onions
1/2 lb red onions, peeled and sliced

Mix the first four ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk in the oil and pour over the sliced onions. Refrigerate overnight.

Courtney says she keeps these in the fridge to garnish salads or cooked peas or beans. I think it would be great on sandwiches and hamburgers too...or right out of the jar.

I used it in this Asiago Bruschetta Roasted Asparagus tonight and it was yummy! (I did not use the basil because there is so much tarragon in with the onions - and I also just used a bit of the oil and vinegar from the marinated red onions in the bruschetta blend.)

Blackberry Vinegar

In my Re-Collected Recipes blog, I share handwritten and clipped recipes I find in the old community cookbooks I love to collect, but the latest cookbook I'm reading, How to Eat Like a Southerner and Live to Tell the Tale, is only from the early 90s, so I'm not sure it qualifies as re-collected quite yet.

This book was purchased by someone named Barbara at Everyday Gourmet on April 14, 1993, at 9:03 p.m. (I know this because she left the receipt in the book.) It looks like it was a late-night book signing.

I can't find much about what happened to Courtney Parker after this book. She worked for Lee Bailey shops in Saks Fifth Avenue stores creating food gift items. She had a catering business in Natchez called Party Animals, where she was also a cooking instructor and a freelance writer.

Craig Claiborne has a story in The New York Times in 1987 about her making "an oyster-and-rice dressing and a rich, melt-in-your-mouth pecan tart" for Thanksgiving at Lee Bailey's mama's house. She also researched and created recipes for his Lee Bailey's Southern Food and Plantation Houses. (And Lee wrote the foreword for her cookbook.)

I will be sharing several recipes from the cookbook, but the first one that intrigued me was her blackberry vinegar.

Blackberry Vinegar

Fill a one-quart bottle with about 1 pound of whole fresh blackberries. Pour in distilled white vinegar to cover and seal. Store in a dark place for 2 to 3 weeks before using. When you run out of vinegar, refill the bottle with vinegar and let it sit again. The same berries can be used up to three times.

Mine is sitting right now, and she has this recipe to use when it's done...

Cauliflower in Basil Berry Marinade

1/3 cup blackberry vinegar

1/3 cup canola oil

2 tbsp fresh chopped basil leaves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

l large head cauliflower, separated into florets

Whisk together the first 5 ingredients and pour over the cauliflower. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

Everything's coming up blackberries

My husband loves blackberries. So for Father's Day (and for his father on Father's Day), I spent some time finding some new blackberry recipes to try. And I so hit the jackpot!

This Blackberry Lemon Custard Ice Cream is from the June issue of Family Circle. What I love about it is that it creates that ice cream custard texture without standing over a hot stove in the summertime and stirring eggs! (But you do have to plan ahead as I would definitely recommend cooling overnight. The texture was much thicker by the morning.) My grocery store did not have lemon curd this time, so I just used the lemon pie filling available in the readymade piecrust section.

Blackberry Lemon Custard Ice Cream

2 cups half-and-half
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup jarred lemon curd
1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 oz fresh blackberries

Combine first 4 ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a container. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. Coarsely chop blackberries and fold into ice cream to create a swirl effect.

Place ice cream in a container. Cover and freeze at least 3 hours or up to 1 week.

Nutrition Information
Servings Per Recipe: 8 PER SERVING: 440 cal., 24 g total fat 54 g carb. (53 g sugars), 5 g pro.

We have been experimenting a lot with brie lately, as my son is fascinated with all things France. We have tried all kinds of toppings, but this one from Lemon Tree Dwelling is definitely my favorite so far.

Baked Brie with Wine-Soaked Blackberries

1 (8 oz.) round brie in wooden box
6 oz. fresh blackberries
½ c. Pinot Noir
2 tsp. sugar
1 baguette, sliced

Dissolve sugar in Pinot Noir. Add fresh blackberries and allow to sit at least 30 minutes (the more time, the better!)

Cut top rind off of brie and return the cheese to its box. Bake on a flat baking sheet at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Spoon blackberries onto baked brie. Drizzle wine as desired.

Serve with baguette slices.

Squash Salad

This squash salad is adapted from a recipe in Festive Fare, which was a cookbook published in 1995 with proceeds benefiting St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis. (I'm trying to slowly cook through all of the community cookbooks I've collected so I can get some off of my bookshelves - to make room for more, of course!)

This cookbook is definitely in the middle of the fat-free 90s period, where every recipe is made "lite" by adding fat-free something or other in place of something else. But this squash salad recipe made me pause for a minute as I've never had squash or zucchini without cooking it. I was a bit skeptical - but it was yummy (and very picnic-friendly too!).

Squash Salad

1 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1/4 cup thinly sliced purple onion
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp tarragon
2/3 cup white vinegar
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Combine squash, zucchini, and onion. Sprinkle with seasoning. Toss mixture with vinegar.

8 1/2 cup servings. 18 calories per serving. 3 g protein, 0 mg cholesterol, 0 g carbohydrates

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese... Changes Recipe, Keeps Pixie Dust

In the New York Times, Martha C. White writes about Kraft revealing their new recipe - after selling 50 million boxes basically unnoticed of said new recipe. I credit the pixie dust.

That's what HAS to be in there to explain. Explain how when moms everywhere see how much their kids love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, they decide they will love homemade macaroni and cheese even better.

Explain how said mom(s) will grate the cheese by hand, make a roux for extra heft and creaminess, mix up their own breadcrumbs for assured yumminess and generally be met with a response, at first bite, similar to "Blech!"

Said mom may just have tears in her eyes - don't ask me how I know - as she reaches afterwards for that familiar blue box in the pantry and holds her breath from the pungent smell of that powdery mystery substance that molds quickly upon stirring into the cheesy concoction that helps her child hold on.

There's pixie dust in that powder. There HAS to be.

It's changed. But it hasn't.

"We'd invite you to try it but you already have."

Flaky Crab Cakes (Low Carb & Kid Friendly)

2 tablespoons seasoned almond "breadcrumbs"

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon canola mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 large egg, lightly beaten

8 ounces lump crabmeat, drained and shell pieces removed

1 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil

Place first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring to combine. Add crab; toss gently to combine. Chill crab mixture in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Divide crab mixture into 4 equal portions. With moist hands, gently shape each portion into a 1-inch-thick patty.

Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add butter; swirl until butter melts. Add oil; swirl to coat. Carefully add patties to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until crab cakes are golden brown and done.

Serve with comeback sauce or tartar sauce.

(Adapted from a recipe by Cooking Light)

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops for Two

1 egg
1/2 cup seasoned almond flour/meal
3/8 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 thin pork chops
Salt and pepper
3 tbsp olive oil

Whisk the eggs in a pie plate to blend. Place the almond flour in another pie plate. Place the cheese in a third pie plate.

Sprinkle the pork chops generously with salt and pepper. Coat the chops completely with the cheese, patting to adhere. Dip the chops into the egg, then coat completely with the almond meal, patting to adhere.

 Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a very large skillet over medium heat. Add pork chops and cook until golden brown, 4-6 minutes per side (depending on thickness of chops).

This recipe is adapted from Giada on Food Network. And thanks to Mmmm Paleo for the Italian Seasoned "Bread" Crumbs recipe. I used it on this one and now have a substitute for the future. And the addition made this a low-carb, kid friendly recipe!

Pizza Meatloaf Muffins (low-carb)

• 1½ pounds lean ground beef
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons pizza sauce, any kind, plus more for brushing on muffin tops
• 2 tablespoon diced red onion
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoons ground pepper
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together, except for the cheddar cheese, and form into large ball
3. Fill the muffin tin with the meat mixture
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, and remove extra juice if desired
5. Brush tops of muffins with pizza sauce, and sprinkle cheddar cheese over the sauce
6. Return to the oven, and bake until cheese melts (about 5 minutes).

I adapted this recipe from Meatloaf and Melodrama. It's a great kid-friendly low-carb recipe! Thank you!

The Improbable Rise of Mississippi Roast

Many years ago, a woman named Robin Chapman from Ripley, Miss., made a pot roast in her slow cooker. Now known as Mississippi Roast, it would eventually become one of the most popular recipes on the web, especially Pinterest where it has been pinned more than a million times. It was a variation of  a recipe given to her from her aunt.

I had someone recount this recipe to me from Pinterest in a grocery store and thought they must be mistaken. A STICK OF BUTTER? IN A CROCKPOT ROAST?! (I mean anyone who has made a crockpot roast before knows how much fat is generated by the roast alone - without a stick of butter.)

So I left out the stick of butter and added a bit more juice from the pepperoncini. (And I have seen many variations of this recipe - one even calling for putting the whole jar in, juice and all.) I also seared the roast all over in oil before putting it in the crockpot, because I've never met a crockpot roast recipe that didn't do that.

I used my own Ranch dressing mix concoction to cut back on the chemical flavor from all of the instant packets. (I've never investigated how to make my own au jus packet, but I'm guessing it's mostly thickeners.)

Even without butter, it's pretty good!

King Cake Calzone

Vegas.com invited me to participate in a creative challenge in honor of the Annual International Pizza Expo hosted each year in Las Vegas. They asked for pizza creations inspired by Las Vegas hotels - and I chose the Mardi Gras Hotel & Casino.

In honor of the Carnival season, I created this King Cake Calzone (which would be perfect for your Super Bowl party too!).



1 can (13.8 oz each) Pillsbury™ refrigerated classic pizza crust
3/4 cup ricotta
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp dried basil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 lb. andouille sausage, browned
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1-2 cups mozzarella cheese
Chopped yellow pepper, green pepper and red onion for top of calzone

Heat oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Unroll can of dough, placing in greased pan. Press out dough to long rectangle.

In a bowl, stir together ricotta, Parmesan, basil, pepper, and sausage.Spread ricotta mixture on center of dough, leaving a half-inch border all around. Fold over and pinch the edges to seal. Shape into an oval like a king cake.

Spoon tomato sauce over the calzone and sprinkle with mozzarella. Add diced pepper and onion alternately in thirds similarly to the pattern of a king cake.

Bake until crust is firm and cheese is golden - about 30 to 35 minutes.

Serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Oriental Chicken & Rice Soup

I had lots of leftover rice and lots of chicken stock that I needed to find a way to use up. I ran across this recipe and decided to use it for a start and mix it up a bit (as I don't really like miso and ginger that much). It was yummy! (And if your rice is cooked already, it can be ready in 30 minutes...which is my target for weeknight meals.)

Oriental Chicken & Rice Soup

1 tbsp sesame oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 container white mushrooms, sliced
4 1/2 cups chicken stock
1 rotisserie chicken, shredded
3 cups chopped bok choy
1-2 cups wild rice, cooked
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp rice vinegar


Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms; sauté 6 minutes. Add stock, chicken, and bok choy; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes. While soup simmers, stir rice, soy sauce, salt, and pepper into soup. Cook 4 minutes or until bok choy is tender.