Peppers, Southern Style

There are many southern specialties that are well known across the nation: bbq, grits, and fried chicken just to name a few.  One not so well known item is pepper sauce.  I know this because I searched many popular recipe sites to find a way to turn my abundance of serrano peppers into this southern style seasoning and only found recipes for hot sauce.  Pepper sauce is not hot sauce.  Basically it is peppers that have marinated over time in vinegar and therefore the vinegar becomes hot like the peppers.  You can eat the peppers, but the vinegar is most often used as a seasoning over bitter greens like collards or turnip greens.  Making pepper sauce was the first suggestion my grandmother had when I told her I had more peppers than I knew what to do with.  Of course, I don't eat any kind of greens, but I make a lot of marinades and I think the pepper infused vinegar would be a great addition.  Not to mention it just looks pretty sitting on my kitchen counter!

I found recipes on www.southernkitchen.blogspot.com and www.thesoutherndish.com  and merged them.  Next I am going to use my extra peppers to infuse olive oil. :)

Southern Pepper Sauce

peppers, any kind you like or any combination thereof

white vinegar

glass bottle with cap

Measure how much vinegar you need for your bottle and remember the peppers will take up some room as well.  Bring the vinegar to a boil and reduce to a simmer while you prepare the peppers.  You don't really have to do anything other than wash the peppers, but I chose to prick each one several time with a straight pin so they would release their hotness quicker.  Add the peppers to the bottle then pour in the vinegar.  The longer it sits the better it will be!  No refrigeration is necessary!

Blog Block

I've been experiencing a little blogger's block lately. I guess one major contributing factor is lack of time. I used to spend a lot of time and energy thinking about what I was going to make for dinner and then writing about it here. Now, we usually look in the fridge and make a last minute decision. And if we are lucky Logan might sit in his swing long enough for Taylor and I to get to eat at the same time. So blogging has taken a back seat. I don't have time to take pictures of my food or even think about typing out a recipe while taking care of an 8 week old.

Maybe when he's older I'll have more time. In the meantime, I'm trying to make mor figure friendly meals to get off this baby weight since I am in a wedding in less than 2 months and I ordered my pre-pregnancy size. Yes, I am crazy! ;)

Even more than blogging, I've missed reading my favorite blogs and trying out all their recipes. Maybe one day I'll get a little more time for those things, but at the moment my life revolves around making bottles, washing clothes, and changing diapers. Maybe I'll write again when he's 5????

Peppers!

My pepper plants have been on production overload! These are the serrano peppers, but the cayenne are coming in too. They taste great! I encourage everyone out there to try growing your own. If I can do it, anyone can! All I did was water them, and I didn't even do that every day. ;)

Comfort Food

It seems I have found the time to cook, but finding the time to blog about it is a completely different story. I started this post several weeks ago, but between feeding Logan and trying to nap when he does, I just haven't found the time. So, here is my overdue post on comfort food. O and the recipe is kind of lacking, but cut me some slack. I barely had time to post this. ;)




My first venture back into the kitchen was all about comfort. A friend of my mother-in-law's makes these AWESOME blueberry fried pies. They have a soft, biscuit-like crust instead of the normal flaky, pie crust. I would be the size of a house if I had them very often.



I was craving them a few weeks ago and decided to try and duplicate them. I had some frozen blueberries and some canned biscuits. I searched the web for a recipe for blueberry pie filling and what resulted was pretty good; not as good as the original though. I think the biggest problem was that I only had Pilsbury Grand's biscuits and they puffed up too much. No matter how hard I tried to seal the edges, the filling would start running out before they could get cooked all the way. I ended up frying them on both sides then finishing them in the oven.



They might not have been perfect, but they hit the spot!



Blueberry Fried Pies

1 can refrigerated biscuits
butter for frying
blueberry filling (recipe found on google)








Heat butter in sautee pan over medium high heat. Roll out each individual biscuit and place a spoonfull of filling in the middle. Fold over and seal edges. Fry until brown on both sides and biscuit is cooked through.