Homemade Appalachian Pimento Cheese (and a Book Review)

I've spent the last couple of months savoring and drooling over a new cookbook.  Well, to be clear, this publication is part travelogue, part coffee-table style pictorial, and part cookbook.  The short title is Victuals, which, in case you're like me and didn't know, is pronounced like vittles.

The full title is Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes – author being Ronni Lundy.

I recently moved to southern Appalachia, and was excited to get my hands on a copy for many of the same reasons written about in the Introduction:

…[T]he people of the southern Appalachian Mountains have been right about victuals all along.  About the way you say them, the way you raise them, the way you cook them, keep them, and share them.  About saving seeds, and working the land, and simmering pole beans, and making real cornbread.  About the connections between earth and the table, and between the table and the people seated around it.

Chapters include:  Roots and Seeds, Salt of the Earth, Corn, Beans, Apple-achia, Preserving, and Husbandry.  States mentioned and/or profiled include Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina.  The author travels to locations within these states to profile individuals, chefs, restaurants, and small farms and businesses who are keeping the history of southern Appalachia alive with their practices and products.  With words, she weaves history, childhood memories, and present day reality together to paint images of the true story of the southern Appalachian Mountains and their people.  The photographic images placed in between are breathtakingly beautiful, and they, too, tell the story.

Let me not forget the recipes! (I couldn't, if I tried.) Each chapter provides food preparation instructions that have been passed down for generations, and offers new twists on old – even forgotten – classics.  This is not the type of cookbook that can be flipped through in one sitting.  You will be salivating and wiping the drool from your mouth more than once -- maybe even every time you take a peek.

Recipes range from the simple to the elaborate, yet everything is doable.  I'm going to share here a simple recipe from the book for homemade Pimento Cheese, which is part of the more elaborate recipe for Lisa Donovan's Pimento Cheese Nabs, described as a cracker snack "for every mountain pickup truck driver's glove compartment emergency ration."

All you have to do is mix all the ingredients together well.  It's delicious on a sandwich right away, but if you could let it sit in the refrigerator for some hours or a day, you'd get an even better treat for your taste buds.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  
• 3 oz. finely shredded sharp cheddar cheese
  
• 3 oz. finely shredded mild cheddar cheese
  
• 1 (2 oz.) jar pimentos, strained
  
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  
• 1 tsp finely grated yellow onion (grater I use) 
  
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

More about Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes via Amazon.
More about the author, Ronnie Lundy.
I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  The words and opinions here are all my own.
Shared at Coffee and Conversation, This is How We Roll, Happiness is Homemade, and The Homemaking Party.

Parmesan Mashed Potato Pancakes (Leftover Makeover)

I like potatoes.  Just about any way you make 'em, I'll probably eat 'em.  But I'm especially partial to Grandma Logue's mashed potatoes.  So smooth and creamy, I can just taste them.

Right now.

Mouth watering as I type.

Her "secret" is evaporated milk.  But try as I might, I never get them quite right.  Consequently, I always make more mashed potatoes than I eat.

Since I know I'm not the only one with this occasional predicament, I'd like to share with you a way to use up those leftover mashed potatoes.  You might call it a leftover makeover.

Parmesan Mashed Potato Pancakes

Some people eat them for breakfast.  Can't say I blame them.  Sounds good to me.  Tonight I made them to go with our dinner of Italian dressing marinated baked chicken breasts.

I added parmesan cheese, onion, and freshly ground black pepper to our leftover mashed potatoes.  Minutes in the nonstick skillet resulted in a slightly crunchy outside, with a smooth and creamy middle.  The crust reminded me of a tater tot.  YUM!

Recipe for Parmesan Leftover Mashed Potato Pancakes

Ingredients

• 3 cups prepared (leftover) mashed potatoes
  
• 2/3 – 3/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
  
• 2 tbsp finely diced yellow onion
  
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  
• 1 egg
  
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  
• vegetable oil, for frying
  
• kosher salt, for sprinkling

Procedure

1. Combine mashed potatoes, cheese, onion, black pepper, egg, and flour in a large bowl.  Mix together.  (Today, I used a bit over a 1/4 cup of flour.  The consistency of your mashed potatoes will have an impact on the amount of flour used.)
   
2. Heat vegetable oil (enough to cover bottom of pan) in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.
   
3. Drop mashed potato pancake batter by rounded tablespoonful into pan.  They will spread some on their own, or you can help them out a bit with the spoon.
   
4. Fry in batches until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes per side.  Don't overcrowd the pan, and try not to flip too soon.
   
5. Transfer mashed potato pancakes to draining rack, or a paper towel lined plate.  Immediately sprinkle with kosher salt.

Shared at This is How We Roll and Tasty Tuesdays.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click a link and buy something. This helps pay for the RV, supports our mountain homestead dream of owning land, as well as my blogging activities, and makes the dogs' tails wag.  Hopefully, the purchase benefits you, too!  The price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! Thanks for reading, following, and supporting Stephlin's Mountain.

From my mountaintop to yours!

Three-Cheese Baked Ziti with Homemade Alfredo Sauce

This is comfort food, y'all.  It's rich.  It's heavy.  It's creamy.  It's cheesy.  What more could you want?

The original recipe came from Southern Living's Dinner in a Dish.  It calls for a whole pound of pasta, and everything is baked in a 9-x13-inch pan (resulting in 8-10 servings).  I cut the amount of pasta in half, and baked all in a 7-x9-inch glass casserole dish.  So if you prefer more pasta than sauce, go the way of Southern Living.  My desired pasta-to-sauce ratio will always be heavy on the sauce side.

I'm not a big fan of grocery store Alfredo sauce.  Maybe I just haven't tasted the right brand.  Who knows? Well, I may never know since I found Dawn's recipe for Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce.  It is scrumptious.  And easy.  (I don't do anything "quick" in the kitchen, so can't vouch for that.) Dawn says, "The secret is cream cheese!" -- I believe her.

A pot of water takes absolutely forever to boil on top of my RV gas stove, so I try to get that started first thing.  Then I make the Alfredo sauce.  After those two are done, I make the other filling and transfer all to the casserole dish.  Bake until things are bubbly and starting to brown on top.  Serve with a side salad and a thick slice of French or garlic (or both!) bread, and you have a satisfying meatless meal.

For the Alfredo sauce:  Melt a stick of butter (8 tablespoons) in a medium, non-stick saucepan over medium heat.  Add 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese and 2 teaspoons garlic powder, stirring with wire whisk until smooth. Add 2 cups milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps.  Stir in 3/4 cup grated Parmesan (I use the kind often found on the pasta aisle) and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (I eyeball it; probably use more). Remove from heat when sauce reaches desired consistency (I usually let it thicken a bit).  Try not to drink it.

Three-Cheese Baked Ziti

Adapted from "Three-Cheese Baked Pasta" in Southern Living's Dinner in a Dish.

Ingredients

• 8 oz dried ziti pasta (penne or rigatoni could also be used)
  
• a batch of Dawn's Quick and Easy Alfredo Sauce (recipe above or here)
  
• 4 oz sour cream
  
• 8 oz ricotta cheese
  
• 1 lg egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  
• 1/8 cup dried parsley
  
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot.
   
2. Stir sour cream into Alfredo sauce. Toss with pasta. Spoon half of pasta mixture into a lightly buttered 7-x9-inch casserole dish.
   
3. Stir together ricotta cheese, beaten egg, grated Parmesan, and parsley. Spread evenly over pasta mixture in casserole dish.
   
4. Spoon remaining pasta evenly over ricotta cheese layer. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
   
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until set, bubbly, and starting to brown.

Yield: about 6 servings

Enjoy!

Shared at Making a Home Linky, This is How We Roll, Thrifty Thursday, From the Farm, and Happiness is Homemade.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click a link and buy something. This helps pay for the RV, supports our mountain homestead dream of owning land, as well as my blogging activities, and makes the dogs happy.  Hopefully, the purchase benefits you, too!  The price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! Thanks for reading, following, and supporting Stephlin's Mountain.

Do what you can with what you have…and don't forget to take pictures.  Well, I got half of it right.  I didn't do so hot with the pictures part.

Does the word "picture" sound antiquated to you? It does to me.

Anyway. It was just me and the dogs for dinner one night.  I wanted something easy, hearty, comforting, and meat-free.  Easy, peasy, right? For someone who doesn't cook, not so much.  So I turned to an expert – Rachael Ray, and settled on her Boo's Butternut Squash Mac-n-Cheese recipe from 365: No Repeats.

I went to the store to get some frozen butternut squash.  The recipe actually calls for it initially in that state.  I didn't have time to roast one anyway, and to be honest, I didn't want to.  Unfortunately, there was no frozen butternut squash to be found in the store I chose.  So I went with what was available, yellow squash with onions (still of the frozen variety).

Got home and fumbled my way through the recipe, making little adjustments here and there, and finally got a finished product.

Y'all.  It was good! Real good.

If I've piqued your curiosity, and you want to know more, here's what I did:

Summer Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Adapted from "Boo's Butternut Squash Mac-n-Cheese" by Rachael Ray in the 365: No Repeats cookbook.

Ingredients

• coarse salt
  
• 1/2 lb. penne pasta
  
• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
  
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter
  
• 1 tbsp. dried thyme (or 2 tbsp. chopped fresh)
  
• 3 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  
• 1 (14-oz.) can chicken broth
  
• 1 bag frozen yellow squash with onions (about 12 oz.), defrosted 
  
• 1 cup half and half
  
• 2 cups (8 oz.) grated sharp Cheddar cheese
  
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan-Romano
  
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Boil pasta in salted water according to package directions.
   
2. While the pasta cooks, heat a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the extra-virgin olive oil and butter. When the butter melts into the oil, add the thyme and cook for a minute or 2. Add the flour and cook for a minute or 2 more. Whisk in the broth, then add the squash and onion mixture. Cook until warmed through. [At this point, I broke up the squash into smaller pieces. Nothing too difficult, just allowed it to go a bit and begin to break down.]
   
3. Stir in the half and half and bring the sauce to a bubble. Stir in the cheeses in a figure-eight motion and season the completed sauce with salt and pepper, adjusting for taste.
   
4. Drain the cooked pasta well and combine with the sauce.

Yield: 5+ servings

Hope you like it! From my mountaintop to yours.

Shared at From the Farm, Freedom Fridays, Simple & Sweet Fridays, Chain "Linky" Climb, The Art of Homemaking Mondays, and Tasty Tuesdays.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a very small commission if you click a link and buy something. This helps support my mountain homestead dream as well as my blogging activities, and the price you pay will be no different than if you arrived at the same destination through any other link. My opinions are my own, to be sure. If I link to a product and say I like it -- I truly like it! Thanks for reading, following, and supporting Stephlin's Mountain.