Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Sunday Supper Recipes


Ask and ye shall receive - I'm up in here about to give you all of the recipes I made for Sunday supper - except the roast.  I wasn't too keen on the roast beast.  It had a rub that was made with allspice, and girls, that just don't sit right in my mouth.  I was a bit hesitant to make it, but I'm wanting to get better making roasts and the like, so I gave it the old college try.

Right now I'm chilled to the bone.  I've been out playing with newspapers and wood chips.  I may or may not have lost my mind, as I'm putting in 1800 sq feet of more gardens.
Go big or go home!
I've been going since 4:30 this am, and I'm ready for a hot bath and a nap.

I'll tell you about that and show you pictures in the next post or two.  I'm supposed to be getting a truck load of wood chips delivered sometime today, and I'm hoping tonight to move my beehives.  I can only imagine the madness that will ensue with me, seven bee hives, a dolly and a lumpy yard.

Alrighty - without further adieu...

Caramelized Balsamic Onion Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan
This photo surely doesn't do it justice
This is what I did - 
  • One really large sweet onion
  • 1 T olive oil
Saute the onion in the olive oil, until nice and translucent - do not over brown, keep the flame low.  About ten minutes.
  • 1 1/2 T of balsamic vinegar
  • 1 T water
Add this to the onions, stir, cover and let it cook on low for about 8 minutes - should be cooked down and thickish.

In the meantime - wash, trim and half peel about 7 or 8 red potatoes, as big as your fist.

Cube, and cook until tender.  Drain.

To the potatoes add:
  • 1 cup of buttermilk
  • 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • reserved caramelized onions.
Hand mash all together.  Put it in the prettiest bowl you own.  Bam.  You are such an awesome cook!

Best Green Beans on the Planet


One word.
Bacon.
There - instantly everything is right in the world.
  • Six slices of bacon
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 lb green beans, fresh preferred, frozen - never canned
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • red pepper flakes to taste (I use about 1/3 of a teaspoon)
Cook the green beans to your liking. I like this recipe best with fresh green beans, or the whole frozen ones.  This time (pictured above) I made it with the frozen cut beans, and they didn't present as well as the whole bean.  I like my beans to be cooked, but not mushy - it's your preference, if you like them tender crisp, go for it.

While the beans are cooking - chop up your bacon into small pieces and cook in a skillet over medium heat, with the garlic and onions.  Your house is gonna smell ridiculous!  Keep stirring this around, don't let your garlic turn dark brown - turn the heat down if necessary.  Cook it until your bacon is almost super crisp.  Drain some of the bacon grease out.  Leave a good 3T in there.

Now, drain your beans and add them to the skillet with the salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  Stir it around good and let it just all cook for a few minutes.  Now plate these babies up and serve them to people you love, or people that you'd like to love you.  I guarantee - after they eat these...they'll love ya.

Old Fashioned Banana Pudding

This banana pudding brings back many a childhood memory of living in the city of Chicago for the first 26 years of my life.  My mom made it often, and well - I need a cigarette after I eat it, and I don't even smoke.
My mom always made it with meringue on top, and she always perfectly browned it.  I like that idea, cause then you can use up the egg whites left over from the recipe - but I just scrambled mine up and ate them.

Also - the recipe called for a 9x13 pan.  Me, thinking that something deeper would be more decadent, used an oval vintage Pyrex I had. I was trying to channel the 1970's when I ate this with regularity.
It was a mistake.  The pudding to wafer ratio was off.  If I made it again I would A) use the 9x13, or B) Use two boxes of wafers.  I think using two boxes of wafers is a good idea, cause that's the best part, and then you have some to nibble on when you are making it, or C) make all the pudding, eat half of it and use the other half in this recipe.

  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup flour 
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch 
  • 7 cups milk 
  • 4 egg yolks, beaten 
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened 
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
  • 1 package (12-oz) vanilla wafers, or two - see my note above.
  • 7 ripe medium bananas, peeled & sliced

Combine sugar, flour, and cornstarch in a medium mixing bowl. Mix well, and set aside.
Pour milk into a large saucepan; cook over medium heat until candy thermometer registers 160 degrees F. Gradually stir one-fourth of hot milk into yolks; stir into reserved dry ingredients, and add to remaining hot milk.
Cook, stirring constantly, and I do mean constantly - don't be checking text messages and petting the cat -  until mixture thickens and coats the spoon. Remove from heat, and stir in butter and vanilla.
 Let cool to room temperature after you've already blistered your mouth trying the scalding pudding.  I stirred mine very often so that a skin didn't form and it cooled faster.
 Line bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking dish with one-third of the vanilla wafers.
 Arrange half of banana slices over wafers; top with half of cooled custard. Repeat layers, reserving one-third of wafers to crumble and sprinkle over custard.
Chill thoroughly. Serves 1 food addict, or about 10 normal people. 

Feel free to Pin these recipes and share the love!
Let's bring back Sunday Supper!

24 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for the recipes Jayme!! I live in the South so no tender crisp green beans here, we cook our green beans to death. ;) Had to laugh at your "serves" comment!! :D

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    1. Ya, I'm used to really 'cooked all day' green beans! That banana pudding really does just serve one. No one else has the guts to say it! Ha!

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  2. in one word: YUM!! i will definitely try these recipes. thanks!! i love it when folks share their favorite ones!! so sweet!! big big hugs. ( :

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  3. The pudding sounds like one my mother used to make and she called it "Cowpunchers Pudding." She didn't use the wafers and just put cinnamon on the top. Was awesome. Thanks for sharing your delicious recipes. Good luck with moving the beehives.

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    1. The beehive move was a fiasco. I can't imagine it without the wafers, since that's my favorite part - but I bet it is still tasty!

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  4. You crack me up!!! BUT the eat the wafers or half of the pudding before putting it into the bowl advice isn't going to help with the diet I'm supposed to be on because I just turned 50, have a few extra lbs. leftover from childbirth (19 years ago but who's counting) and he's leaving for college in a few months and I'm going to get sadder and moodier and hungrier than ever before...See? Ok, since you kindly posted the banana puddin' recipe I'm going to make it, but not overindulge and then write to tell you how good I've been. And tell you I've started my diet and exercise regime' and am planting a garden and losing a bunch of weight and feeling great like you are. Unless the bees come back, scare me to death and I find myself in a wafer coma.............

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    1. You can come here when your son goes to college, and we can make banana pudding and commiserate!

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  5. My mouth is watering! Thanks so much for sharing your amazing recipes.

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  6. That is the same recipe my mom always made...and now me...when I make it. She always put the meringue on top and toasted as well...and kid you not...I think she put hers in that same Pyrex bowl!One big difference though...we NEVER chilled it...we always ate it warm right out of the oven! Yum!

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    1. Sharon, I remember eating it warm too....or room temperature. I have memories of it sitting on the back of the stove waiting for dessert that night. Those were the best days! If there were any leftovers, they went in the fridge. : -)

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  7. Didn't the previous posting say there were pecans in the beans??

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    1. Yes it did! You know, I rarely put them in cause I don't think that they add enough to the recipe (in my opinion) to make it worth buying them. Try it both ways and see what you like.

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  8. Jayme, thank you for these recipes- everything sounds amazing! I love the idea of Sunday suppers. All of my husband's siblings live close (Hobart, IN woot!), and we try to get together every couple of months or so for a big homemade dinner. It's all about the food and wine for the adults, and the cousins enjoy playing...but we are hopefully building memories for all. Thanks for the inspiration, and hey, maybe a Sunday supper link-up is in your future?

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  10. It looks wonderful. I think those mashed potatoes must get made in my house soon.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Jen - the potatoes are ridiculous! You have to try them!

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  11. Okay, I have to ask: if I wanted to top with the egg white meringue, how do you brown it? I come from a non-traditional American family and we never got to eat yummy things like this. I only saw it at my friend's houses. And I would like to try. Thanks! Pam

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    1. Hey Pam - you'd just pop it in the oven until it's nicely browned. You don't have to worry about overcooking the pudding or anything. Please try it and let me know how you like it!

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  12. Will be making these recipes, and soon! Looks so good. Laughed at wanting a cigarette (out of childhood memories). I don't smoke either. But sometimes (with two upper teenage boys), I find myself sitting in a chair, staring at nothing, thinking "I wish I smoked."

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    1. ha ha! Ya - I know what you mean. I usually eat...that's not good either!

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  13. Coop Keeper I need you!

    That spoon you have there in the mashed tater . . .my grandma had that pattern and I want it. Do you by any stretch of the imagination know the name of it? If you do, I'd love you forever. Thanks!

    DB

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  14. Oh my gosh...she did? I have a serving spoon and fork. They are two of my most treasured possessions, because they were my mom's. I remember them for as long as I've been alive. I sure don't know what pattern they are tho...how would you even start to try and find out!?

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  15. Oh so soul-soothing to see someone knocking around in the kitchen, making memories with heart and spoon. And bacon, or bacon grease. Being from the south, I looove nana puddin! And I have some refrigerator dishes with that green daisy pattern. I just bought a perfect set of vintage pyrex mixing bowls in the amish butterprint pattern. (They remind me of me and the mister out in the yard with hoes and rakes!) I am on the all-foods (if you like them, that is)-in-moderation club. I eat what I like but I am choosey. I use bacon, but I don't eat a whole package at a time. If I did, then the next day or two I would eat only grits and raisin bran, with a glass of red wine, lol! Oh, and I knew I was a gardener for reals when I began to squish bugs between my bare fingers! Love your posts...

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Thanks so much for leaving a comment!