Baked Brie

With fall approaching, it makes me want to share a great anytime recipe, but I really love this in the fall. It is surprisingly easy, and I usually prepare the dish in this manner. I've had it made with the preserves, but this way is my favorite.

Baked Brie

Small Brie Wheel

1 roll of Pilsbury Crescent Rolls

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup sliced almonds

4 T butter

1 beaten egg

Pam cooking spray

Spray cookie sheet with Pam to prevent sticking. Unroll crescent rolls and place 6 on the baking sheet in the pattern of a “star,” leaving an opening of about 3 inches in diameter. Place cheese in the middle of the star. Dot cheese with half the butter. Sprinkle half the sugar and half the almonds on top of that. Then close the crescent rolls around the brie. You can pinch them closed in a decorative fashion, or you can jus close them and pat into uniform shape. Brush with egg, and top with the rest of the sugar and almonds. Bake at 375 degrees for about 12-15 minutes. Check the last several minutes until golden brown and bubbly. Remove from cookie sheet with large spatula and place on plate. Serve with crackers, bread, etc. This is great with an accompaniment of fruit, grapes, apple wedges, etc.

I hope you will enjoy this preparation of baked brie. It is a favorite item to make at home with friends. I almost always make two. I bake one so that when my first guests arrive, I have a fresh baked brie right out of the over as enter the gathering. I put another one on immediately, and by the time the food needs it's first refreshing, I pull the second brie out fresh, hot, and oozing with butter, brie, and brown sugar. It is delicious, and you'll enjoy sharing this with your friends. My friend Dr. David Ouzts loves this. And I only put my best forward when sharing my love of food with dear friends. I know many of you have had this. Here's a salute to the wonderful friends who have entered my home or asked me in accompanied by a dish.

Southern Caviar

This recipe was given to me several years ago by my friend Kar, passed on to her through several of her friends. We call it "roasted corn" because I tend to add my own little touches to recipes once I have made them once according to the directions. "Roasted Corn" has also become a phrase ny friends in this group call things I do when I make them harder than they are, or change them in a way that is unique to me. There is always a story behind my recipes which I always use as inspiration for this blog. With tailgate season coming up, I thought this would be a good recipe to post for dishes we need that do not spoil in the heat and can be left out all day while folks are enjoying the games or other activities. A friend of mine recently solicited recipes for tailgating since the season is close, so I decided to post this on my blog. It is simple, can be used as a salad or dip and is surprisingly delicious.

"Redneck" Caviar

1 can black eyed peas
1 can white shoe peg corn
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced green chilies
1 can Rotel Brand Tomatoes-use the degree of "heat" selections you and your friends enjoy
1 green pepper
1 small bottle Viva Italian spicy salad dressing or regular Italian dressing

Place the first four ingredients in a colandar to drain the liquid from the veggies, and rinse well with cold water.
Place these in a bowl and add the Rotel Tomatoes (undrained), the chopped bell pepper and Italian dressing.
Stir and let chill overnight or at least a few hours.

The reason we called this "roasted corn" is that you may brown the corn in a skillet before adding it to the dish to give it another level of flavor. You can also play around with the recipe by adding black beans instead of blackeyed peas, adding some lime juice and cilantro to make it more of a Southwestern type dish. Any way you make it, you will find it a delicious addition to any occasion, and it doensn't have to be served cold. I serve it with tortilla chips, but it is good with almost any type of cracker, chip sort of item. And the best thing about it is that it won't "go bad" and can be left out all day at your events for folks to just enjoy all day long with no worry of any ingredients that won't hold up through the unpredictable weather.
Enjoy, play around with the recipe for your liking, and your guests will almost always comment on how good it is. Again, it may also be served as a salad as you might serve with any other tailgate foods.

Summer Squash Pickles

With all the good squash starting to "come in," I thought I'd share one of my summer favorite dishes. As usual, it is accompanied by a story about food. I first tasted these crisp pickles many years ago when I was about eight years old. Our neighbors back then were a military family, and they were originally from Montgomery, AL. One summer, as was the custom then and is now, the neighbors were kind enough to share produce from each others' gardens. This is when I was first introduced to squash pickles. One of my favorite things about summer is when the time of the season comes when tomatoes, squash, and cucumbers are shared among friends. Back then our family had a garden, and some of my fondest memories of my Dad in those early years are of "helping" him in the garden in our back yard. I am so glad that this custom has begun to return as folks are eating healthy again right out of their own yards or local farmers' markets. One of my favorite summer vegetables is squash. Here is a twist on how to use this summer delight and enjoy it year round. One of the nice things about this pickle recipe is that it doesn't have to be canned. One reason is they don't last very long once folks taste them, and because of the vinegar, they "keep" for a long time in the fridge as a condiment. They stand alone just fine by themselves for a refreshing summer snack as well.

Squash Pickles

8-9 cups of yellow summer squash, sliced thinly
3 Vidalia Onions, chopped
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1/3 cup salt
2 1/2 cups vinegar
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon each mustard seeds and turmeric
1 teaspoon celery seed

In a large bowl, combine squash, onions, and peppers. Add the salt to enough water to cover the squash. Cover and set aside for 2-3 hours. Then drain all the liquid from the squash mixture.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large pot, and bring the mixture to a boil. Add the squash and boil it for 3 minutes.

These can be packed and canned in sterilized jars, following the manufacturers instructions for your canning equipment. However, I have never sealed these pickles in this way. I simply pack them into any old jars I have ranging from plastic mayo jars to glass jars of any type. Then I chill them thoroughly. Particularly if you don't can them, you will want to be sure to keep them in the refrigerator. Either way, you will want to serve these cold.

You will be surprised at the look on the faces of your friends and acquaintances when they hear what you are bringing them. Then you will enjoy seeing how much they enjoy this pickle that most people have never heard of or even tried. I promise you they will not last long. The turmeric not only gives a wonderful flavor but colors the final product a gorgeous color of goldenrod.

These pickles make great gifts as well. I often make them at Christmas (with grocery store produce) because of the red and green pepper. This makes a unique gift by putting them in a special jar with a homemade label. I even have several friends who return the jars to me to be refilled the next time I make this favorite item.

I hope you enjoy these as much as my friends and I do. I have one friend who doesn't like onions at all. the first time I gave her a jar, she ate the whole jar in one day, and she hid the second jar I'd bought for her family, so no one else could find them. Now that is a testament to this delicious and different pickle recipe. Enjoy!

R and R's Cafeteria

I grew up in a small neighborhood in a small town. It was one of those 1960s developments where all the kids knew each other, played all day in each others' yards, and disobeyed our parents by going to the creek. We were warned of Water Moccasins, Copper Heads, and other creatures. But, when we weren't out playing, a friend of mine and I would cook. I don't know to this day how our parents put up with the huge messes we made of their kitchens or all of our "experiments" they had to eat with a smile, but they did. As my neighbor friend and I became better cooks through lots of practice, and lots of mistakes, we also dreamed of R and R's Cafeteria, stolen from the then widely popular S & S Cafeteria. As we both had names beginning in R, it was perfect for our future business of cooking together. So, we made lots of great meals together, and we even had small dinner parties prompted by our love of cooking, inviting friends from junior high and high school to enjoy our culinary delights. Being in the old neighborhood this weekend, I was reminded of this early time of learning my way around the kitchen. Though the world has changed quite a bit since then, and families have come and gone over the years, many of the same folks still live in the same houses, making it convenient during the holidays to catch a quick visit with some dear old friends. Although most have our own families now, we still keep in touch and find time for an occasional phone call or email in this busy, global, "smaller" world of ours. R and R's Cafeteria is still live and well in my mind, and this recipe is a blended version of several of the things we two Rs made during that simpler time of life. The other R and I are still dear friends and her kids call me Uncle. This recipe is dedicated to my friend R, who has passed one of her still favorite past-times on to her very own teenager. We still laugh about Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup and its use in so many versatile dishes. So here is a nod to canned cream soups, meat and a casserole dish. Enjoy. This dish is really simple and really good: a favorite at any pot-luck supper or garnished with Italian parsley and a baby portabello mushroom that may have your guest thinking you are indeed, quite the gourmet chef.

Creamy Mushroom Chicken

a small amount of olive oil for coating bottom of stove top to oven skillet
4 or 5 large boneless chicken breasts
1 container sliced fresh mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
salt and pepper to taste

Brown chicken breasts in a skillet that can then be put in the oven with the other ingredients to finish cooking to a temperature of 155 degrees.
Remove partially cooked chicken breasts from the pan, and set aside.
Add the mushrooms to the pan, scrapping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan as the mushrooms release their flavorful liquid.
Cook mushrooms until the liquid is reduced to about 1/4 of a cup.
Add the cream soups and sour cream to the pan, stirring until the liquid is well mixed with the soup/sour cream mixture.
Return chicken to the pan, and spoon some of the liquid over the breasts. (Remember, they have already been browned. Skipping this browning step is ok if you are in a hurry, just remember to adjust the cooking time to allow for the less cooked meat.)
Place pan in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and cook uncovered for approximately 20 minutes depending on the weight of the chicken breasts. I recommend cooking to an internal temperature of around 155 degrees, because as you let the chicken "rest" to redistribute the juices before cooking, the dish will continue to cook outside the oven to the safe temperature of 165 degrees. This is how my chicken breasts come out so tender. My Mom says I make the most tender chicken she's ever had. She would know as she learned to cook when everything was cooked to a "shoe-leather" state just to be on the safe side. Before serving though you will want to insert an instant read thermometer to ensure your chicken has come up to 165 degrees.

This can be served on a bed of rice or noodles, "family-style," or the chicken can be cut on the bias, spread out on the diagonal on a platter. Garnishing with some flat leaf Italian or curly leaf parsley, and a few well placed similarly sliced mushrooms can really add some panache to this easy mid-century casserole.

Serving this with one of the boxed couscous (with the spice blends included) and a simple green vegetable can really make this an elegant dish for impressing friends and family with your gourmet ability. Some of the sauce from the chicken can be lightly drizzled over this Mediterranean/African pasta for a wonderful meal.

Enjoy this dish, and remember it was once on the menu of R&R's in the minds of two young cooks, once upon a time in the late 1970s.

I sign this post as,
One of the Rs

Collard Greens

Even though the New Year is well underway, I love making collard greens. For some reason I always end up making these on Sunday, especially in the winter. Collards "is" one of my favorite comfort foods. My Aunt Joan taught me to make these. Actually, her name is pronounced "Joanne," and believe it or not, my mother's oldest sister, Aunt Bea is the only one in the family that calls her that. I suppose in Appalachia, my Granny Gree wasn't sure how to spell it.
Once again this is one of my fondest memories of all time revolving around food. My Aunt was home one week in the fall, and I asked her for her collards recipe. She told me she'd never written it down. She'd have to just show me. We spent the entire afternoon making this wonderful dish. My mom never liked greens, so we never ate them very much growing up in South Carolina. However, my grandmother had a garden of some sort year round well into her 80s. This would be her "recipe." I have made this dish many times, and most people that claim to dislike collards almost always say even they like mine. I made them for a church function once, and the group said they were even better than Paula Deen's at The Lady and Sons in Savannah. When I was asked for the recipe to publish in a local cookbook, I had to write down the way they are prepared. So after making collards for over 25 years this is the recipe. It seems labor intensive, but well worth the effort. In a pinch you can buy the chopped collards pre-washed and cut in a bag, but they are better if you start from the big bunches so abundant most of the year. I always think of my Aunt Joan when I make them, and I especially remember that year we washed the greens side by side in the sink that cold fall afternoon. It was so much fun, and the memory associated with it will never leave me. And that is why I share it here. I hope my idol Paula isn't upset, but afterall, I didn't name them. They were named while sharing them with some close friends: another good memory associated with good food! Enjoy!

“Better Than Paula’s Collards”-as named by FBCC Singles

Salted fat back-about 8 strips
3 large bunches of collards
½ cup apple cider vinegar
5 T salt
2 T black pepper
½ cup sugar
Water

Cut stems of collards up to the leaves. Fill one side of sink with water and submerge greens to wash. Strip leaves from the stems and any large veins. Discard stems and any unwanted “spots’ in greens. Move stripped greens to another sink of water. Repeat this with remaining bunches of greens. Continue rinsing collards by moving from sink to sink of fresh water about 4 times.

In two large pots render the fat from the pork by frying the meat on medium heat until brown and crisp. Add greens turning to coat with grease from the fat back. Cover with water and the salt, half to each pot. Bring to a boil and turn down heat to medium low.
Continue “turning” greens, pulling the dark, wilted greens to the top. After collards have reduced in volume, combine them in one pot a little at a time, reserving “pot liquor” from the empty pot. Using this liquid keep collards covered and turned for about 3 hours. Add the vinegar and half the sugar. Continue cooking this way for 2-3 more hours adding the rest of the sugar and black pepper for the last 30 minutes.

"Aunt" Grace's Pound Cake

I thought it only fitting for my first post to be a recipe from my dear "Aunt" Grace who passed away a few years ago. Some of my fondest memories of life involve sitting around her table with our two families at the beach and eating delicious food. She was a home-ec education graduate from Winthrop College, so she knew her way around the kitchen. She taught me a lot about cooking on my family's visits to her family's home. She and her husband met my parents as struggling students at Clemson College in the early 1950s and remained friends through all these years. Her daughter is like a sister to me, and we grew up calling each other cousin, as we do to this day. "Aunt" Grace and my father have both passed away, but the memories of the food and delightful times we all shared will be with me for the rest of my life. I dedicate this post to the two of them.

This pound cake is dense and very moist. I usually use 1 tsp almond extract, 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp butter extract for the flavoring. Butternut flavoring works well too, but it is delicious as detailed in the recipe with the lemon/vanilla mixture.

Sour Cream Pound Cake

6 eggs
2 sticks butter
3 c. sugar
3 c. cake flour (sifted)
1 c. sour cream
¼ t. baking soda (added to the sour cream)
1 ½ t. vanilla
1 ½ t. lemon (optional)

Let butter soften to room temperature. Cream butter and sugar with mixer. Add eggs one at a time. Add flour and sour cream alternately beginning and ending with flour. Add flavoring. Bake in a greased and floured tube pan for 1 hour 25 minutes at 325 degrees or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for ten minutes on a baking rack, and then remove from pan by inverting it on a plate and then again onto the rack. Cool completely, though it is good right out of the oven as well. Cover loosely with wax paper if you want to leave it overnight to cool.

Starting Cooking with Roman

I decided to start this blog because so many people have asked me for cooking tips, recipes, and general ideas about food, presentation and serving. So, as a result of doing a blog for another project, a cooking/food blog became appealing to me. I hope you will find something useful here, and maybe even decide to subscribe. So please read and enjoy.

I love all things food, and I am excited about beginning a new project related to it. I have been cooking for many years and do some formal and informal caterings from time to time. Most of my recipes are from family and friends and things I've tweaked or just made up. I have some Aunts that were great cooks, and I learned a lot from them. I've also worked in several restaurants from lunch counter type places to 5 star fine dining. Mostly though, I cook for pleasure and the pleasure it brings others. I love all types of food, from comfort foods to fine cuisine to fusion. Please feel free to leave comments as well. I will moderate them to reduce spam, but I will check in as often as possible to update the blog and the comments.

So, for now, Cooking with Roman has begun!