Giveaway Time!!!

I have a confession to make this week I haven't cooked very much,  unless you consider frozen potstickers and Jeno's pizza rolls cooking.  So Instead of sharing a recipe today I thought it would be nice to share with you a few blogs that I enjoy reading and to make it fun give away a cookbook.  The cookbook I have chosen this month is  Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook, by Martha Hall Foose.  This really is an awesome book that is full of great stories and recipes that you will want to cook.

So to enter you must follow my blog on google friend connect or become a follower and you must visit the four blogs listed below.  Then leave a comment telling me you visited them. 

I picked four very different blogs so I am sure you will find one you like.

• Pam's Midwest Kitchen Korner  Read five of Pam's posts and you will feel like you have known her for years.
• Nasi Lemak Lover  Sonia lives in Malaysia and it always amazes me seeing that half the world away from each other our lives are so similar.
• Milk, Sugar, Musings, and Love  Ree has a real sweet tooth and I love reading her stories even more than the food.
• Whistlestop Cafe Cooking  Now I have never had one of Sandi's fried green tomatoes, but something tells me hers are the best.

For additional entries you can blog about this giveaway, or share it on Facebook, or Twitter.  Leave one additional comment for each way you share it.  So if you do all four things you need to leave four comments.

This giveaway is open to everyone worldwide!

This giveaway ends on Tuesday August 17 at midnight CST.  I will use a random number generator to pic the winner.  The winner will be announced on August 18th, which just happens to be my 29th birthday.  So be sure to stop back by to see if you are a winner and to wish me a happy birthday.

If you are interested in another giveaway my friend Linda Burgett is giving away a copy of her latest cookbook over at My Kind of Cooking.

Alabama Cookies

I'm seldom in the mood to make cookies, but last night I couldn't sleep.  So it was the perfect time to make cookies.  I jotted down this recipe a long time ago from one of my mom's old cookbooks.  They seemed to have just an odd mix of ingredients and of course a name that just makes you think there is some great story about them.  This was my first time making or eating an Alabama Cookie and I have lived in Alabama all my life.  So I have no idea why they are called Alabama cookies.  If you know, tell me.

Alabama Cookies

1 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 cups old fashion oatmeal

2 cups chopped pecans

1 cup Rice Krispies cereal

1 cup sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  In the bowl of a mixer cream the shortening.  Then add the eggs, both sugars, and the vanilla extract.  Mix until well combined.  Then add the flour and salt.  Mix just until the flour is incorporated.  Then stir in the remainder of the ingredients.  Then drop onto a cookie sheet by the heaping teaspoonful.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.  Remove the cookies from the cookie sheet and allow them to cool on wire racks.  This recipe makes about 6 dozen cookies.

These cookies have the texture of a real crispy coconut macaroon.  We really liked them.  They are a nice change from the normal chocolate chip.

Grilled Chicken with Chopped Greek Salad

Maybe it's because I binged on homemade ice cream or maybe it's just because it is so hot outside, but tonight I just wanted something light and healthy for dinner.  So for dinner I cooked one of my favorite summer time meals.  Grilled chicken is always one of my favorites, but I'm really not a salad kind of guy.  This salad is a different story I could actually eat my weight in it.

Grilled Chicken with Chopped Greek Salad

For the grilled chicken:

6 bonless skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup fresh oregano leaves, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tbs lemon zest

juice of a lemon

salt and pepper

In a bowl combine the olive oil, oregano, lemon zest, and lemon juice.  Pour over the chicken and allow to marinate for about 2 to 4 hours, any longer than that and the lemon juice will start to cook the chicken.  Then remove the chicken from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels.  Season both sides of the chicken well with salt and pepper.  Then grill over a grill preheated to medium.  Grill for about 8 to 10 minutes on each side or until the chicken is cooked through.

For the chopped greek salad:

1 pint grape tomatoes, cut in half

1 small cucumber, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 tbs dried oregano

1 cup pitted kalamata olives
8 oz feta cheese, in bite sized pieces

salt and pepper

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients.  Toss until well combined.  Then season with salt and pepper to taste.

Since I have been trying to eat more organic foods, I figured why not organic wine too.  So with dinner we enjoyed a bottle of Pisato Pinot Grigio.

Chocolate Frosty Ice Cream

Earlier this week my new ice cream freezer was delivered.  Now I already had a ice cream freezer, but I wanted an old fashioned one that you fill the bucket with ice and rock salt.  I couldn't hardly wait to try out my new freezer.  I was tempted to skip work and just make ice cream all day, but I figured that might not be good on my wallet.  So I had to wait until the weekend.

Today I finally found some time to make a batch of ice cream.  I first had this ice cream at a church ice cream social.  The lady who made it shared the recipe with me.  It really is the simplest ice cream I have ever made and it tastes remarkably like a Wendy's Frosty.

Chocolate Frosty Ice Cream

1 gallon chocolate milk

16 oz Cool Whip

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl.  Then freeze the mixture in a ice cream freezer according to the manufacturers instructions. 

This recipe fills my 1.5 gallon ice cream freezer.  If you have a smaller ice cream freezer you may have to freeze it in two batches.

And the winner is...

First let me thank everyone who participated.  Nearly 100 names were in the pot and the name I drew was CathysRunning.  So Cathy you are the winner of the $40 CSM Stores gift certificate.  Cathy please email me so you can collect your prize.  Every one please visit Cathy if you get a chance.  Her blog is about running, books, food, wine, and her crazy shoe obsession.

*This is a temporary post...Later I'll add this to the original giveaway post.*

Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

There are a lot of good store bought barbecue sauces out there, but I usually prefer to make my own.  Here is the recipe I make most often.  It is sweet with just the right amount of heat and it has the wonderful flavor of bourbon.  This recipe makes a lot, but it can easily be halved and it will keep for about a month in the fridge.

Bourbon Barbecue Sauce

2 tbs canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1 & 1/2 cups bourbon
4 cups ketchup
1 cup dark brown sugar
6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup liquid smoke
1 tbs hot sauce
1 tbs salt
1 tsp black pepper

In a pot over a medium heat add the canola oil.  Then add the onion and garlic and saute for a couple minutes, just until the onions are translucent.

Then add the bourbon.  Bring to simmer and let the bourbon reduce by half.  This will take about 10 minutes.

This is what it should look like after the bourbon is reduced.  *If you don't reduce the bourbon, your sauce will be inedible.  You will have wasted your time and ingredients.  Don't skip this step!*

Then add the ketchup, dark brown sugar, tomato paste, apple  cider vinegar, worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 20 minutes.  The sauce if fine like this, but I prefer a smooth sauce so I put it in the blender.  This recipe make 2 quarts.

If you have any bourbon left over be sure to make a blackberry bourbon sour.

Blackberry Bourbon Sour

Most summer cocktails are...well very girlie.  There is just something wrong about a man drinking a pink drink with a paper umbrella.  Here is a drink that no man will be embarrassed to hold and that everyone at your summer cookout will love.

Blackberry Bourbon Sour

6 oz bourbon
4 tbs fresh lemon juice
4 tsp seedless blackberry preserves
2 tsp powdered sugar
4 or 5 ice cubes
fresh blackberries, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker combine all of the ingredients except for the fresh blackberries and shake vigorously.  Strain and pour into 2 glasses filled with crushed ice.

Note:  I used Bonne Maman blackberry preserves.  They are already very liquid and I left them out in the sun for a few minutes.  If you use a firmer preserve you may need to melt the preserves first.

Don't you think this is a more manly drink than a Pineapple Sherberita or a Raspberry Sorbet-tini?

Sweet Balsamic Grilled Chicken

I think marinades are about the best and easiest way to ensure moist and flavorful grilled chicken.  This one is so delicious.  It is slightly sweet and and has just enough heat to balance the sweetness.  It is also great for pork, beef, or lamb.

Sweet Balsamic Grilled Chicken

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 olive oil

2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary

3 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 tsp honey

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

In a bowl combine the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, rosemary, garlic, red pepper flakes, and honey. Pour it into a gallon storage bag.  Add the chicken and allow it to marinate for at least 2 hours and up to overnight.  Rotate the bag occasionally to ensure the chicken gets marinated evenly.   Remove the chicken from the bag.  Discard the marinade and pat the chicken dry with paper towels.  Then season both sides of the chicken well with salt and pepper.  Grill the chicken over a medium hot fire for about 10 minutes on each side or until it is cooked through.

To complete our meal we had a salad and three cheese baked ziti.  We also drank a fantastic wine Carlos from the Morgan Creek Vineyard.  It is a sweet muscadine wine that is perfect for summer.  It is a great wine for people who usually don't like the taste of wine.  The flavor actually reminds me of eating fresh muscadines.

Giveaway Time Again!

Yes...You heard correctly!  I know I just had a giveaway, but CSN Stores has kindly offered to sponsor this giveaway.  One lucky reader will win a $40 gift certificate good at any of their stores.  They have 200+ online stores that sell just about anything you could want or need.  They have everything from dining room furniture to the plates to go on it.  They sell a ton of cool stuff for under $40 too.  I would have a hard time picking what I would want if I won, because all of these items are under $40.

Visit http://csnstores.com to see all the ways you could spend that $40 gift certificate.

Rules:  This giveaway is ONLY open to US and Canadian readers and you must follow me publicly with google friend connect.

Just like before I will put all the names in the soup pot.  Stir it up and pull out the name of the winner.

To enter you must be or become a follower and leave a comment on this post.

For an additional entry...that means your name will go into the pot twice...blog about this giveaway!  You must leave a second comment with the link to the post you made about the giveaway.

Entries will be accepted until midnight (CST) on July 9, 2010.  The winner will be announced on July 10th.

Good luck! 

Three Cheese Baked Ziti

Lately my schedule has left me with little time to cook. If it wasn't for dishes like this one that can be prepared the night before and just popped in the oven, dinner would probably be a frozen pizza or something from a drive-thru. Of course this is much better than a frozen pizza. This dish really is a fake out , no one will ever know it is made from a jar of Alfredo pasta sauce. It makes a great vegetarian entree, but I'm a big meat eater so I served it as a side dish with grilled chicken.

Three Cheese Baked Ziti

1 lb package ziti pasta
15 oz jar Alfredo sauce
15 oz ricotta cheese
1 egg
1 & 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

In  a bowl combine the ricotta, egg, parmesan, parsley, and black pepper.  Mix well.  Meanwhile cook the pasta about one minute less than than the package recommends.  Then drain and toss the pasta in the Alfredo sauce.

In a buttered baking dish place half the pasta.  Then spread an even layer of the ricotta mixture over the pasta.  Top with the remaining pasta.  Then scatter the mozzarella cheese over the top and bake in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes.

Giveaway Winners!

Winners?  Yes, I decided to give away both copies of the book.  I already have too many cookbooks and the ones I have are so disorganized...the bookshelves are over flowing!  So instead of adding to my clutter, I'd rather give it to one of you.

And the winners are...

The first name I pulled from the pot was Girlichef.  Heather's blog is fairly new to me I only discovered it a couple of weeks ago.  She has lots of great recipes and her photos are top notch.  Check out her blog, girlichef.blogspot.com .

The second name I pulled from the pot was 3 hungry tummies.  Suresh's blog has always been one of my favorite blogs.  He cooks recipes from all over the world, lots of Asian food.  I have even cooked one of his recipes and he has so many more I want to try.  Visit my friend Suresh at 3hungrytummies.blogspot.com.

Heather and Suresh please email me your mailing address to bosbowl@gmail.com.

I'd like to thank all of you for entering.  I'm planning to have another giveaway soon!

Morgan Creek Vineyard Wine Tasting

This past week has been pretty rough for me.  I've been waking up at 4:30 in the morning and some days not getting off work until 7 o'clock in the evening.  So I'm pretty exhausted.  It felt like the weekend would never get here.  This weekend I needed some real relaxation.  So today we drove down to the Morgan Creek Vineyard in Harpersville.  It's only about a thirty minute drive from Birmingham.  The Morgan Creek Vineyard actually makes some of my favorite wines, so I was pretty excited to see where it all happens.

The vineyard is very pretty and very hot.  The temperature was in the nineties today, so the best place to be was inside tasting the wines.  They make twelve varieties.  Of course I tasted all of them.  Cheers!

Pineapple Sherberita

My favorite drink is a margarita.  I love the classic lime, but I am also a huge fan of other fruit flavored margaritas.  In the summertime frozen margaritas are a must.  This one is so refreshing.  It's made with fresh pineapple and pineapple sherbet.  This recipe can be made with any kind of fruit or sherbet. 

Pineapple Sherberita

3 oz silver tequila

3 oz orange liqueur

4 scoops pineapple sherbet

1 cup fresh pineapple chunks

2 tbs lime juice

2 cups ice cubes

pineapple, cut into wedges for garnish

In a blender combine all the ingredients and blend until smooth.  Then pour into glasses and garnish with a wedge of fresh cut pineapple.  This recipe makes two drinks.

A couple other good summertime cocktails are my Raspberry Sorbet-tini or a Mango Sherberita.

Fried Green Tomatoes with Guthrie's Sauce

During the summer in the South most people have more tomatoes than they know what to do with.  Either you have a garden or know someone who has a garden, so there is usually an endless supply of tomatoes.  Growing up my dad's garden produced so many tomatoes that it was not uncommon for us to have both sliced red tomatoes and fried green tomatoes in the same meal. 

I can remember watching my mom fry green tomatoes.  She would put just a couple spoonfuls of flour and corn meal in plastic bag.  Then add the tomatoes and shake the bag.  This method makes some pretty tasty tomatoes, but I prefer to make a wet batter.  The wet batter just makes a much crispier crust.  I also like to serve mine with a dipping sauce.  This one is like the one served at the Alabama born fast food chain Guthrie's.  The dipping sauce is not traditional, but it just so good.  I could eat it on anything.

Fried Green Tomatoes

about 4 unripe green tomatoes

1 & 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup yellow cornmeal

2 cups buttermilk

1 tsp seasoned salt

just a little black pepper

peanut oil, for frying

Slice the tomatoes into about 1/4 inch slices.  Then in a bowl mix together the remaining ingredients to form the batter.  In a heavy skillet heat about two inches of peanut oil to about 375 degrees.  Dip the tomatoes into the batter.  Then fry until golden brown  on both sides.  Drain on a paper towel lined plate.  Then serve with Guthrie's sauce.

Guthrie's Sauce

3/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp seasoned salt

Mix together all the ingredients in a bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours for the flavors to meld together.  This sauce is not just great with fried green tomatoes, but also chicken fingers, seafood, and even as a salad dressing.

The Gift of Southern Cooking....GIVEAWAY!!!

I read cooking magazines and cookbooks and that is about it.  So I guess you could say I'm an expert on cookbooks.  Yesterday I was in the bookstore and found a wonderful cookbook, The Gift of Southern Cooking by Edna Lewis and Chef Scott Peacock.  This really is the most complete cookbook of Southern Food I have ever found.  It has recipes from every area of the South.  I liked the book so much that I bought two copies.  One for myself and one to giveaway to one of you.  This is just my way of saying thanks to all of you who read my blog regularly. 

This is my first giveaway....so I'm learning as I go!

To enter you must be following my blog publicly or become a follower and you must leave a comment for this post.  You must do both.  Then I will put all the names in my soup pot and draw one winner.  You must be entered by Midnight(CST) on June 14.  The winner will be announced on June 15.  The winner is required to contact me no later than June 21.  

This contest is open to all my readers worldwide.  If you win I will do my best to get it to you wherever you live.

If you have any questions feel free to contact me at bosbowl@gmail.com

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

Nothing is better than a fresh baked muffin in the morning.  From scratch muffins always taste better than the box mixes and are not much more work.  Since I still have so many strawberries leftover from my curb market binge buy, making strawberry muffins was the obvious choice.  These are made with cream cheese which makes them especially delicious.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped fresh strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a mixer cream together the cream cheese, butter, and sugar.  Then  add the eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix until just combined.

In a bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and the cinnamon.  Then add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until just combined.  Be careful not to over mix.

 
The batter will be thick, almost like cookie dough.  Stir in the strawberries.

Then spoon batter into a paper lined muffin pan.  Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 of the way full and bake for about 20 to 25 minutes,until the tops are golden.  Then cool on a  cooling rack for about 15 minutes.

This recipe makes about 12 muffins.

As with all muffins these are best eaten the day they are made.

Old-fashioned Strawberry Skillet Cobbler

On our way home from the beach, we stopped at a curb market in Chilton County.  I bought a huge basket of strawberries, a basket of peaches, and some green plums.  Now we have way more fruit than we can eat, but I just can't pass up locally grown produce.  The surplus of fruit gave me a good excuse to make this old-fashioned cobbler.

This cobbler is really simple.  It can be made with any kind of fruit, even canned fruit.  I prefer it made with fresh fruit.  It really is best made in a cast iron skillet, but if you don't have one any 8 inch baking dish will do.  Cast iron just retains heat so well that you will always get crisp edges.

Old-Fashioned Strawberry Skillet Cobbler

1/4 cup butter, 1 stick

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 & 1/2 cup strawberries, chopped

Preheat the oven to 400 degress.  In a 8 inch cast iron skillet melt a stick of butter.

Meanwhile in a bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, vanilla, and milk.

In the hot skillet pour the batter into the melted butter and top with the strawberries.  Put the skillet in the preheated oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until it is golden brown.

It is best served warm or at room temperature.  I tastes great on its own, but it is even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Beach Eats...Pensacola, Florida

For the past few days I have been relaxing on the beach in Pensacola, Florida.  Pensacola is only a few hours drive away and we have family there so it is very convenient for us to visit.  Pensacola is by far one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen.  The sand is almost pure white.  In spite of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Pensacola Beach is still untouched.

I didn't cook while I was there, but I sure did eat some good food.  It was actually really nice not to have to cook and not to have to clean the kitchen.  Now for me no trip to Pensacola is complete without a visit to Peg Leg Pete's Oyster Bar.  It may seem hard to believe that this restaurant with a pirate theme can have such good food, but they do.  There is always a long line of people waiting for a table, but waiting is fine with me it gives me a chance to grab a Bushwacker in the bar downstairs.

A Bushwacker really is the perfect beach drink.  Its a blend of rum, cream of coconut, and ice cream with a shot of 151 proof rum floated on the top.  Now a Bushwacker is reason enough to visit the bar, but there is also a band.

And an amazing view!

When your table is ready you really don't want to leave the bar.  Too bad they don't serve food in the bar.  The food is amazing and the portions are huge!  There is no way you will leave hungry.

At the time all this food and four Bushwackers didn't seem like such a bad idea, but today when was struggling to button my pants it was a different story.  I would hate to know the calorie count of this meal, but it was worth every calorie.

Another great place we ate was McGuire's Irish Pub. From the outside it looks just like an other Irish pub, but inside there really is a pot of gold.  Well not gold, but an awful lot of money. 

Dollar bills are stapled to everything. They provide the the stapler and the marker and you write your name on your dollar bill and you dollar becomes part of the decor.  If you don't mind eating surrounded by dollar bills and under the glow of neon bar signs, then you will love this place.  They also have this fantastic bean soup that only costs 18 cents.  Definitely the cheapest thing I have ever eaten at a restaurant.

While Indian food is by no means traditional beach food, I always seek out Indian restaurants every place I go.  In Pensacola we found one of the best Indian restaurants I have ever eaten at, The Taste of India.

The decor inside was minimal, but they had large TVs on the wall playing Bollywood music videos. I have become a huge fan of Bollywood films so I really enjoyed this.  Plus the food was fantastic!

Their onion kulch was one of the best things I have ever eaten.

Beach Vacations are never long enough.