Blarney Puffballs, Take Two

Now that I have a *gasp* real deep fryer,

I decided to try to make The Irish Lion's trademarked Blarney Puffballs again.

My mise en place:

2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes,

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 garlic cloves, grated or minced
2 tablespoons onion (or 1/2 shallot), grated
1/2 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chives, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sour cream
2 slices cooked bacon, minced
1 egg
½ cup bread crumbs, for dredging

Peel and cube the potatoes before adding to some water and sprinkling with some kosher salt. Cook the potatoes in the microwave for about eight minutes, until fork tender.
Add the butter and mash until fairly smooth. Place the potatoes in the refrigerator to cool.

Meanwhile, grate the garlic, onion or shallot and cheese. Mix together with the minced herbs, flour, salt, pepper, baking powder, bacon, sour cream and egg and set aside.


Once the potatoes are cooled, mix in the other ingredients and put everything back into the refrigerator for another couple of hours.

Use a one-inch cookie scoop to measure out the right amount of potato mixture and then either gently roll into a ball or flatten the ball into a patty.

The puff balls or patties are then dredged in bread crumbs.

Put the puff balls or patties back into the refrigerator to firm up before frying.

The patties can be fried, a few at a time, in hot oil in a skillet before draining on a rack. The puff balls can be deep fried in oil that has been heated to 350 degrees in a pot or deep fryer.

Fry a few at a time until they are a golden brown. Drain on a rack after cooking.



The finished potato patties or puff balls can be held in a warm oven until dinner time.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkling of chives, if desired.

I think I've got this just right.

Thanks again, Rosie Hawthorne, for your help with recreating this recipe.

Snow Report

I know how my Southern readers love this white, messy, inconvenient and often deadly stuff -

otherwise known as snow.

So for those of you who just can't seem to get enough of the stuff, might I suggest SnowAnonymous?

They'll help you beat your addiction.

Oh all right, I'll be nice and feed your addiction.

This time.

But don't count on me being your enabler forever.

Snow.

Wow.

Woo.

Hoo.

Glad I'm staying inside today.

It looks like we have about 5 inches of snow by now.

Well, that's enough winter for me.

Bring on the spring.

I Have Seen the Light

The Foodie Daughter will be starting classes again next week, so I decided to take her out for a nice lunch today.

We are fortunate to have a very nice restaurant in town called Chapman's.

Unfortunately, I don't get to eat here nearly as often as I would like.

After being seated, our nice waiter informed us that the Lobster Club (which I had intended to order) was not available today.

On to plan "B."

He then told us about the day's special, which included a bowl of acorn squash soup, but that was made with chicken stock, so the soup was out for me.

On to plan "C."

The Foodie Daughter and I both ordered a small Caesar salad to go with our meal.

We were informed that this could be substituted for the traditional side item for $1.00 more.

Seems reasonable.

The Menu described the dish:

Caesar Salad with hearts of romaine, shaved Sonoma Jack cheese, kalamata olives and baby tomatoes.

Sadly, as is usual for this time of year, the tomatoes were a bit tart,

but other than that, the salad was very good.

Note to Chapman's:

I would use grape tomatoes as they are usually sweet no matter what time of year it is.

The Foodie Daughter ordered the:

Traditional Club on toasted white bread with shaved ham, turkey, bacon, Swiss & American cheese, lettuce and tomato.

She was very happy.

I ordered the day's special despite some reservations.*

A crab cake sandwich with remoulade sauce, lettuce, red onion and a toasted bun.

*Disclaimer: I've never met a crab cake that I've ever liked.

I've tried to like them, but I just haven't been able to get past the whatever that has held me back in the past. I was willing to try once more, hoping for the best.

This was, to quote that great comedienne, er Food Network hostess, Sandra Lee,

"Heaven on a Plate."

The crab cake was nearly all crab with very little filler, the sauce was delicious and lent just the right note to the crab.

All in all this was a very messy sandwich, but it was worth every drip and drop.

My only regret is that this item is not on the everyday menu.

Thank you, Chapman's, for allowing my daughter and me to relax and to just enjoy each other's company before she returns to college life next week.

Turkey Pot Pie

I had just enough turkey left over from our Christmas Day dinner to make Turkey Pot Pies.

A warm, comforting meal is just the perfect thing for a cold, snowy day.

I made more than a few tweaks* to a Barefoot Contessa recipe for Chicken Pot Pie to come up with this winning dish.

*What's that?

You want to know what changes I made to Ina Garten's recipe?

Well....

First off, it was a chicken pot pie with chicken and chicken stock,

but since I am famously allergic to chicken, that had to be changed to turkey.

Ina's recipe also called for 5 cups of stock, which made entirely too much filling for four normal sized portions.

She also directed that one add:

2 chicken bouillon cubes (yuck!)

12! tablespoons butter to the filling!

frozen small whole onions (which I hate with the passion of a thousand burning suns)

heavy cream rather than Half-and-Half

and twice as much pastry as is needed for the recipe.

I added celery to the recipe as I wanted a bit of crunch in the filling.

*

See, no recipe is really set in stone.

Rather they are all stepping stones.

As long as you understand the basics of cooking,

you can substitute and adapt to suit your needs and tastes.

The ingredients for this dish start off with:
onion
carrot
celery
flour
unsalted butter
turkey stock
kosher salt
black pepper
Half-and-Half
cooked, diced turkey
frozen peas
fresh parsley leaves

While the stew simmers, the Foodie Daughter got to work on the pastry part of the recipe.
She gathered:
all-purpose flour
kosher salt
baking powder
vegetable shortening
unsalted butter
ice water

*

The Foodie Daughter decided that she didn't like working with the food processor.

Next time she will do it the old-fashioned way.

*

Kids these days are so resistant to technology, don't you think?

An egg wash was applied to the tops of the pot pies and they were baked for an hour in a 375 degree oven.

And just how did they rate?

The Foodie Daughter and her boyfriend each gave the pot pies 4-1/2 stars. My husband gave them 4 stars while I gave them 5 stars.

Standing Prime Rib update:

Remember that rib roast for which I was overcharged?

I returned to the grocery store a couple of weeks later with my receipt and was able to get a refund from the nice service counter attendant.

Thank you, Marsh!

Of course, I ended up spending that $8.70 for more groceries,

so I guess it was the principle after all.

Happy New Year!

Midnight

Minx

*

This past year held both the bad and the good for the Foodie Family. Most notably, we said goodbye to our dear cat Midnight. To counter that sad event, we gained a new cat, Minx, who has quickly made a home for himself here in our house and our hearts.

Continuing with the good, the Foodie Daughter and I were able to spend spring break in Nashville, Tennessee at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and in June my husband and I traveled to Lexington, Kentucky for several days for the Scottish Rite Convocation. Then to our great surprise, my husband decided that we should spend our Thanksgiving Day week in Panama City Beach, Florida. I do believe that the Foodie Family was well traveled in 2009.

And of course, we ate well, with a very few exceptions. We shared time with our family and friends. We found time to play as well as work and we kept our minds and hands engaged. We laughed often and celebrated frequently.

Now it is time to look towards the future and I look forward to continuing to record the Foodie Family’s doings as well as beginning to work on other projects. Thank you for reading along with the Foodie Family’s adventures in this past year and I hope that you all have a very happy and prosperous New Year.

Braided Ball Ornaments

Due to circumstances out of my control, I couldn't make my famous citrus potpourri this year, so I decided to make some braided ornaments instead.

Let's hope it's enough to appease the angry mob beating down my door.*

*Oh yes, I do hear about it when I neglect to make the potpourri.

After my husband distributed these ornaments to his coworkers, he reported that some wanted to know how I made them.

Well, he didn't know.

I'm sure he doesn't.

*

Oh, I'll be nice and let you know.

But be warned.

It's messy.

First off we start with a 3-inch Styrofoam ball.

I use a thick craft glue

(Aleene's Original Tacky Glue to be exact) and schmear it on heavily to start.

Then I place down the two ends of the braid and secure temporarily with a sewing pin.

(Note: when starting out, it is best to just use only one braid.

Once you get more experienced, you can move on to two or more braids.)

Use lots of sewing pins.

Sewing pins are your friends!



What else is going to hold that stuff in place?






See?

Let's start again, shall we?

Around and around we go.

I told you it was messy.




Just work slowly, adding glue, braiding and pins as you wind your way around the ball.




This always reminds me of Sputnik.

Then, when the glue has dried, carefully removed the pins and

clean off any excess glue with a damp rag.

Add a length of ribbon with glue and another pin

(this one will remain in the ornament).

See, that wasn't so difficult.

A Late Christmas Snow

I woke up this morning to see that the sky was red to the east.

Eagerly I grabbed my robe and camera before heading outside to take some pictures.

Hm, what was that saying?

...Red sky in the morning,

Sailors take warning...

Well, what do you know?

Guess that old saying was right.

I believe this is where my husband would start singing,

"I'm dreaming of a Florida Christmas;

Just like the ones I never knew..."

Glad I planned on staying home today.

*

And now a couple of short videos for my Southern friends.

And in case you are wondering, the sound you are hearing is the furnace.

Yep, it's cold.