Return to The Smokehouse Restaurant

After our last visit to The Smokehouse BBQ restaurant which I wrote about here, we decided to go back and try the BBQ pork. Sooo...glad we did. It was delicious.

We had the BBQ pork sandwich and sides of potato sald and baked beans. Homemade potato sald is fabulous and these folks know how to make it.



Look at this piece of driftwood, carved up as a cool fish.



Squeeze me, stomp me, make me wine - Misty Valley Winery





Another fun ride on a sunny day. Ride to eat........

Magazine Mondays

Mushroom, Garlic and Gorgonzola Stuffed Bread



Wow - What an appetizer! Or..because we thought it would be too heavy to have before the meal, we just ate it with the main course instead.

You'll need these simple ingredients.........

1 pound loaf French bread

6 cups sliced assorted mushrooms

1 cup sliced scallions

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese




Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Split French loaf lengthwise and scoop out center of each half, leaving 1 inch-thick shells.



Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil to the pan. Cook mushrooms, scallions and garlic until tender and most of the liquid has evaporated.



Spoon into bottom of bread shell.



Sprinkle with cheese and cover with top of bread.



Wrap in foil and bake 15 to 20 minutes. Unwrap and cut crosswise into slices. Serve warm.



Look at it...all oozy with mushrooms and Gorgonzola on a hot multi-grain batard.



Rich, filling and a real treat...if you like Gorgonzola.
So, would we have this again? Yes, but adapted with a different cheese. Love gorgonzola, don't get me wrong, but it was so rich that I would opt for a lighter taste.

This is a good one though - give it a try!


Tallahassee Magazine, Sept-Oct issue, page 157

The Nigella Theme is Family Favorites

The I heart cooking club is helping me knock off two more from my Nigella Express book. Yippee! If you are reading this and you love Nigella, or you just want to participate in cooking cameraderie, surf on over to I Heart Cooking and join in the fun!

Buttermilk Roasted Chicken

You'll need the following ingredients........

12 chicken drumsticks (approximately 3 pounds total weight)
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, bruised and skins removed
1 tablespoon crushed peppercorns
1 tablespoon sea salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon maple syrup



Directions.............

Place the chicken drumsticks in a large freezer bag, and add the buttermilk and 1/4 cup of oil.

Add the bruised garlic cloves to the bag with the crushed peppercorns and salt.



Sprinkle in the ground cumin and finally add the maple syrup, and then squish everything in the freezer bag around to mix the marinade and coat the chicken.

Leave the buttermilk marinated chicken in the fridge ideally overnight or out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours. I choose to let it marinade overnight.



Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Take the chicken pieces out of the bag shaking off the excess marinade, and then arrange them in a roasting tin lined with foil.

Drizzle over the 2 remaining tablespoons of oil, and then roast in the oven for about 30 minutes, or until brown, even scorched in parts, and juicily cooked through.



From Nigella Express, On the Run section, page 274


Now, pair this with New Orleans Style Cole Slaw

You'll need these ingredients.......

1 head white or savoy cabbage, weighing about 2 pounds before trimming
2 carrots
2 sticks celery
4 scallions
1 cup best quality, preferably organic, store-bought mayonnaise
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) buttermilk
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup pecans, fairly finely chopped

Directions..........

Trim and shred the cabbage; you can do this either by hand or with a food processor.




Peel and grate the carrots, and finely slice the celery and scallions.
I have a mini processor so it took several rounds of grating, dumping the veggies into a bowl, back to grating, etc...



Whisk together the mayonnaise, buttermilk, maple syrup and vinegar and coat the shredded vegetables with this dressing. Behold, the Nigella whisk!



Season with salt and pepper and toss with the chopped nuts.



From Nigella Express, On the Run section, page 277

These definitely work for the category Family Favorites! Some other family favorites, which I have prepared before, can be found on the posts for Brandy Bacony Chicken, Maple Chicken and Ribs and Chicken Schnitzel. Enjoy!

Last Week's Birthday Dinner

Last week we had a birthday celebration. I snapped quite a few photos and here is what we had grilled up for the big day.




The guys had fun grilling.......Doug can grill a steak to perfection, just the right amount of char, keeping the steaks juicy and very rare (it's almost a waste of charcoal the meat stays on for such a small amount of time). Its fun to go out for celebrations....but our family generally prefers to stay home and enjoy more bang for buck as well as......no one has to be designated driver. haha

Steaks from Fresh Market - lovely, fat filet migons....some of the best tenderloins can be had at the Fresh Market and they did not disappoint for the birthday celebration.




The St. Emilion was heaven to our humble palates as the first sip crossed over our lips. It's a natural partner with the tenderloins I can tell you.



Tender roasted asparagus, lightly sprinkled with Bertoli Olive oil, salt and peppered, then slide into the oven at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. When they are roasted, liberally sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Now pop the bread into the hot oven.



Le Petit Francais graced the table as it's always delicious and dependable. Crusty, chewy and warm....slather with butter.



Follow up with a cheese selection...............



Fromager d'Affinois is something you really must try if you like a rich, buttery, double-cream cheese. It's richer than Brie , it's silky. Wonderful stuff this cheese.

With a healthy wine glow and good food filling our tummies we move away from the table. After a bit....slice up a piece of Black Forest Pie for dessert.



Paired with Port........



It was a grand dinner and certainly not something we indulge in all the time...that's what makes a special dinner...well, special.

Crockpot Peach and Pear Cobbler

Grease, stir, cook, serve...what could be easier!




You'll need the following........

1/3 cup buttermilk baking mix

2/3 cup quick dry oats

1 tsp cinnamon

4 cups sliced peaches (canned or fresh) I used pears and fresh peaches.

½ cup peach juice or water


Hmmmmmm.....which crock pot should we use...the ancient small green one or the large Rival with removable crock. Let's make alot of cobbler..the big one!




1) Grease crockpot. Now mix together baking mix, oats and cinnamon inside.


2) Stir in peaches and juice.

Note: It was at the point when I went for the large can of peaches in the pantry that I discovered they were in fact, pears. So, I used the canned pears and peeled and sliced two large juicy peaches.




3) Cook on low for at least 5 hours. If you like drier cobbler remove the lid the last 15 minutes.


4) Serve with ice cream or frozen yogurt for a real treat.



Much thnaks to Deb over at Dining with Debbie for inviting me to Crock Pot Wednesdays!

Bread Experiment

Luckily I don't give up too easily on finding a bread recipe that is perfect. That doesn't mean this didn't taste good...it means I haven't found the recipe that I know will be a favorite.

The process for this one took a total of 3 hours...not bad.



To make two loaves you'll need the following.........

1 package active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour or bread flour (I used a combo of both)
1 tablespoon salt
Grated zest of lemon
2 cups warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 cup chopped herbs (any combo of parsley, oregano, dill, chives, mint...whatever you want)




1. Sprinkle yeast and pinch of brown sugar over warm water in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.



2. Combine 1 cup flour, remaining brown sugar, salt and zest in large bowl. Add 2 cups warm water, yeast and butter and mix with a whisk. Beat hard for two minutes or until smooth. Add herbs and remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring with a wooden spoon until dough becomes stiff.

3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning dough once to grease top. Cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about an hour and half.




4. Gently deflate dough and turn onto lightly floured surface to divide into two loaves. Shape and place on two greased or parchment lined pans. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for 40 minutes.



5. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until nicely brown and fragrance is filling kitchen. Cool on racks before slicing and eating.



This is from the book entitled Bread by Beth Hensperger, page 57.



I look forward to trying some of the other recipes in this book. Practice, practice, practice!

Quick Roasted Chicken Quarters and More Rain

Long post..........

After those wonderful grilled steaks, Rachael Ray’s sliders, homemade pasta sauce with liberal chunks of fresh Italian sausage…it was time to punctuate the menu with chicken and/or fish…. Love beef. Love sausage. But I wanted a lighter theme. With a tighter budget this paycheck I rummaged in the fridge to see what we had on hand.

A package of chicken quarters. Great……because I instantly knew this would make a dinner and soup…..and if I’m lucky, I can get two dinners out of this one. Also on hand I found a few small onions, a large box of Old Bay , one of my favorite reliable olive oils (Bertolli extra virgin) and some lemons.



Here was a quick and inexpensive meal that just tosses together. No fussing, no basting.

Cut the quarters so you have legs and thigh meat separately. Drop into a big roasting pan.



Using a glass measuring cup I poured a quarter cup of olive oil. Next, using my Nigella citrus reamer, I squeezed fresh lemon juice into the oil, added salt and pepper, a tablespoon and bit more of Old Bay. Whisk it together.

While the oven is preheating to 375 convection bake mode, I took a chicken leg and immersed it in the Old Bay-lemon-oil mixture. Twirled it around until it was coated and dripping and then……I used this chicken leg to smear the mixture onto the other pieces. Drizzle any remaining oil over the chicken pieces.



Genius, or laziness, but that leg served as a spatula that I wouldn’t have to wash up. Ha. After dipping the leg and coating all pieces, chunk up some onions and shove into the pooling oil, as close up to a piece of chicken as you can get without placing the onion underneath the chicken.


That’s it…..a seriously easy inexpensive meal that doesn’t need looking after constantly. The onions will caramelize and become similar to chips. The chicken doesn’t need basting because of the soaking of olive oil. And the skin gets crisp and lovely browned colored.



This allows you time to attend to something else. Our something else this time are the shiba inus.



Now, since it’s STILL raining here, everyday, all day, no end in sight and my skin is looking like I am a swimmer…... This also means we can’t get girl dog out of the house. She is a princess. She doesn’t like to get her feet wet. She won’t walk, unless you make her if it’s too hot. Hot and wet – forget that too. Now, boy dog will soldier on in a downpour and do his business. So, the spoiled creatures were treated to a ride while the chicken was cooking. Drive toward a part of this county where the sky doesn’t look like a tornado is forming or isn’t black with ominous clouds.


Walk them around a park, grocery store, whatever….if you have a dog you’ll know – they are always way more inclined to cock a leg/squat if they are claiming the land as their own. Fine, check time…still have 45 minutes until the chicken needs to come out of the oven. Load the shibas back in the truck. Run into Publix for a gallon of milk and potatoes. Drive back toward the pouring rain, it’s getting harder the closer we get to Squirrel Head Manor.

Rush into the house. Dry the dogs off (pads are wet and they will now race insanely throughout the house, slamming wet paws across sofas and chairs as they bank off furniture, chasing each other down).

I have 17 minutes to get anything else ready. Start a package of Vigo yellow rice and realize it’s too late for any of the root vegetables to properly be prepared and cooked. I have a package of frozen broccoli and cheese sauce in the freezer. Mistake! Heat a loaf of French bread – never a mistake ;-)



So the meal was good overall with excellent marks for the Lemony Old Bay chicken and caramelized onion. The French bread – always excellent. Rice was a nice change from potatoes and later it went into the soup for next day’s lunch. The frozen vegetable. Horrible! I am so glad I made it because it was a fine example of why I always buy fresh and this is no substitution. Last minute or not – I will just put together a Caesar salad or suck on a carrot or something for the vegetable. This broccoli was full of tough stems. The cheese sauce was more of a chemical compilation of very orangey goo…a true disappointment.



And it’s still raining with now…a bonus of booming thunder. It’s turning into Squirrel Head Swamp with an 80% chance upcoming.

Pass the wine………..