My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for 4; unless there are 3 other people. - Orson Welles
So, tonight our great friends Larry and Virgina (commonly known as La n Va)are coming over to eat and swim. A normal event for a hot summer day. They volunteered to bring the grub and graciously let us know that the cuisine would be chili and cornbread. PERFECT! I have 2 recipes out of Paula's family cookbook that will go perfectly with this. Southwestern Avocado and Blackbean Salad and Key Lime Pie. Since Va and JB do not like avocados, I'll leave some out in their portion of the salad. Please understand that I am not allowed to publish the recipes due to copyright laws, however if you want the recipe just email me and I will be happy to share. A majority of these recipes are very simple and do not require lavish ingredients.
Key Lime (& Orange)Pie. Okay, so I start this thing off and I have no rules. Go figure. I took Paula's brothers (Bubba) recipe for tiny chocolate key lime pies and tweaked it a bit. Instead of chocolate crust I used regular graham crackers. I also took a hint from Sunny Anderson (Cooking For Real - Food Network) and hand squeezed the juice of 3 limes and 2 oranges instead of buying the juice as Paula's brother suggested in their recipe. Advice: buy the juice... unless you have an extra dish towel and fifteen minutes on your hands. Feeling the OJ in the scrape on my hand was not fun either, however, the end result just may be a nice payoff. I taste tested prior to putting in the oven and I must say ....we may have a winner! On to the Salad!
Southwestern, Avocado & Blackbean Salad. At the start of this recipe, I was thinking it was not going to go very well. With mine, I had to make some changes, like I used iceberg lettuce instead of romaine and Jamie (Paula's son) had fresh cilantro and I used store bought. As I threw more ingredients in the better it got and by the time I was done...I had a salad that was worthy of a beer! The beans, corn and avocado really make it eat like a meal. Now we will just have to wait and see what everyone thinks tonight!
Well, heck the whole gang was here, James, Justin, Walker, Sharran and Jim (James parents), La and Va, and Johnny (Va's brother)all made it to dinner. The chili was great, Va made two kinds of awesome sweet cornbread (one with and one without jalapenos). The southwestern salad was a hit,especially with those who enjoyed avocados and I thought Justin would lick the Lime-Orange pie pan clean! So all in all it was a great first run for two of the recipes from The Deen Family Cookbook! The supper was followed up by a fun dip in the swimming pool AND JUST WHEN I THOUGHT THAT I COULD RELAX, mom called....
.....of course she was making her homemade peach jelly with cherries. O...M....G...it is so freaking good that we could not help but to pitch in. Mom stirred the thickener, Justin stirred the jelly, James poured it into jars, Dad put the lids on and timed Justin, as he was to only stir for 3 minutes and I washed the sticky but yummy pans and spoons! Luckily we had a half jar left over so we got to bring that home for morning toast! AND I drove mom crazy as I talked in a funny voice and cracked jokes...what else am I good for! HA!
I can't wait to see what we get into Tuesday!
Jamie's Southwestern Avocado and Blackbean Salad
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
2 or 3 dashes of Paula Deens hot sauce or other hot sauce
4 cps of chopped romaine lettuce
2 avocados, pitted, peeled, & diced
2 cps of fresh or frozen corn
2 15oz cans of blackbeans, drained and rinsed
1 cup chopped cherry tomatoes
3/4 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
salt n pepper to taste
1. In a small bowl, whisk cilantro, oil, lime juice, and hot sauce.
2. In a large bowl combine remaining ingredients, add the dressing and salt and pepper to taste!
Bubba's Tiny Chocolate-Key Lime Pie
1/2 lb (2 sticks) butter, melted plus more for greasing pans
1 3/4 cup of chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
3/4 cup of sugar
1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lime or Keylime juice
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
grated lime or keylime zest
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
whipped cream for serving
chocolate curls for serving (chocolate bar shavings)
1. Preheat oven to 325. lightly brush 30 cups or two mini muffins pans with melted butter. Fill any unused cups half way up with water. In a medium bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, butter, and sugar. Press about `1 tablespoon of the cookie mixture into each minimuffin cup, making sure there are no cracks. Bake pie crusts for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, keylime juice, egg yolks, lime zest, vanilla, and salt. Spoon 1 even tbsp of filling into each warm pie crust. Bake the pies until the filling is set. 20 - 2 minutes.
3.Transfer the pans to a cooling rack and let stand 20 minutes at room temp. Use a small spatula to loosen and remove the pies. When they are cool, top each with a dollop of whipped cream.
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