Candied Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 6 large sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• salt to taste

Directions:

1. Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them into slices.
2. Melt the butter or margarine in a heavy skillet and add the sliced sweet potatoes.
3. Mix the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Cover the sweet potatoes with sugar mixture and stir. Cover skillet, reduce heat to low and cook for about 1 hour or until potatoes are "candied". They should be tender but a little hard around the edges. Also the sauce will turn dark. You will need to stir occasionally during the cooking. Stir in the vanilla just before serving. Serve hot.

Shrimp Scampi

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package angel hair pasta
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir in pasta and return pot to boil. Cook until al dente. Drain well.
2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic and shrimp. Cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir in wine and pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 seconds while stirring constantly.
4. Mix shrimp with drained pasta in a serving bowl. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley. Serve immediately.

Collard Greens with Bacon

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 strips thick-sliced bacon, sliced crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Several dashes hot sauce
• 1/4 cup apple-cider vinegar
• 2 pounds collard greens, stems removed, sliced into 3-inch-wide strips (can substitute kale or chard)
• 1 cup chicken broth (or water)*

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the bacon in the skillet until it just begins to brown around the edges, stirring occasionally. Add the onions and cook until they have softened and are just starting to brown.

2. Add the garlic, salt, pepper, sugar and hot sauce. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, about a minute. Add the vinegar, bring to a simmer, and cook until the amount of liquid is reduced by half, stirring and scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

3. Add the collard greens and the chicken broth (or water) and bring to a simmer. Reduce the temp to medium-low. Cook, stirring occasionally until the collard greens have wilted and have lost their brightness. Season to taste with additional vinegar and hot sauce. Serve with some of the pan juices from the pan.

Roasted Garlic Recipe

Roasted Garlic Recipe:

DIRECTIONS:

1 Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2 Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.

3 Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.

4 Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins. Eat as is or mash with a fork and use for cooking. Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes.

Spicy Garlic Shrimp with Coconut Rice

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
• 1 pound, about 20 large jumbo shrimp (peeled with tail on or unpeeled, but veins removed)
• 6 large garlic cloves
• 1 1/2 cup of water
• Salt
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, de-ribbed, julienned
• Juice of one lime (or 2 inches of white tender end of lemongrass, finely sliced)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 small cans (5.6 ounces) coconut milk
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of red chili powder or red chili sauce (to taste)
• Cilantro for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1.Start cooking rice, following package instructions.

2.Pulse garlic, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a blender, just a few pulses, so you can still see chunks of garlic. Pour over shrimp to marinate. Marinate for 10 minutes.

3.Strain the water from the shrimp and garlic mixture. Add the lime juice (or finely sliced lemongrass), jalapeño, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the shrimp mixture.

4.Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in high heat in large sauté pan. Add shrimp. Cook one minute. Add 1 small can of coconut milk. Cook 30 seconds more. Mix in a teaspoon red chili powder or sauce.

5.Put rice into a large bowl. Mix in the second 5.6 ounce can of coconut milk to the cooked rice. Serve shrimp on rice. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro (optional).

Liver and Onions

INGREDIENTS:

1¼ lb calves liver, thinly sliced
½ to 1 cup of flour, seasoned with
Salt, pepper, paprika, dry mustard to taste
3 teaspoons bacon fat
2 yellow onions, sliced thin

DIRECTIONS:

1.Dredge the calves liver in seasoned flour. Set aside.

2.Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add a teaspoon of bacon fat. Sauté the onions until translucent, a couple of minutes. Remove onions from pan with a slotted spoon. Set aside onto a serving dish.

3.Add a couple more teaspoons of bacon fat to the skillet. Add the calves liver slices, working in batches. Fry until browned on both sides. Serve with sautéed onions.

Southern Dirty Rice

Ingredients:

• 1/4 pound chicken gizzards, rinsed
• 1/2 pound chicken livers, rinsed and trimmed
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups uncooked white rice
• 4 cups chicken broth
• salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup thinly sliced green onions

Directions:

1. Pulse gizzards in food processor, then pulse livers.
2. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Saute onion and gizzards over medium heat, stirring constantly, until meat begins to brown (about 5 minutes). Add livers and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until brown (about 3 minutes).
3. Add rice and stir until coated with oil. Add broth, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer. Cover and cook about 20 minutes, until rice has absorbed liquid. Sprinkle with green onion and serve.