RIVER CITY DINER
Greetings!
What a blessing to have been raised in Memphis by a country cook who knew what she was doing. Good cooking was just a way of life in our household and among our extended family. My mother prepared the best fried chicken in Tipton County (We grew up in Memphis, but our reunions were in Tipton County.) according to my aunts, uncles, cousins, and great aunts & uncles; I have no reason to doubt their words of praise. I saw at every family reunion whose chicken was the first to go. And my mother wasn’t the only good cook in our house.
My daddy was a master at the grill and could throw together a variety of tasty snacks inside as well. He specialized in oyster stew & Bleu Cheese Dressing; and sitting down with Daddy as we built snacks of smoked oysters, cheeses, crackers, olives, and anything else he could scrape together was a banquet in itself.
The blog entries below come from recipes we enjoy around our household; from recipes I’ve yet to try; from recipes given me by friends and family, and things I’ve read about on line or in real print. Yes, I do still subscribe to magazines that come in the mail. Also there are posts about cooking equipment, techniques, sources for more information, etc. I hope you find something of interest. By all means, feel free to write
Chicken Salad
Ingredients 1 Chicken 2 carrots, grated 2 stalks of celery, minced 1/2 - 1 cup sweet pickle relish 1/2 - 1 cup mayonnaise Directions Debone a Beer-can Chicken or an Easy Boiled Chicken and chop meat very fine. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Start with only a...
Garlic Idaho Potatoes
INGREDIENTS 3 medium (6 - 8 ounces each) Idaho Potatoes, well scrubbed cooking spray pepper to taste 1/2 stick butter 1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup) 1 tablespoon garlic salt DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 400° F. Spray a loaf pan or small casserole dish with...
Pizza Crust
It's hard to go wrong with pizza. I haven't bought one of those prepared doughs in years. There's just something about handling the real thing. Sometimes I use this other dough recipe or a sort of combination of the two. And here's yet another recipe from Emeril...
Sweet and Sour Cabbage
We enjoyed living around the corner from a public library when we lived in Memphis. I found an interesting Chinese cookbook there. Each recipe was given in English on one page, and in Chinese on the facing page. When I cook this one, the family leaves the house until...
Spinach Tart
Kate Hampton is a member of the cooking guild at our church. She brought this to the kitchen to serve to guild members who were cooking dinner for 120. She made hers with a combination of turnip greens and spinach. Ingredients 2 tablespoon olive oil 1 yellow onion ;...
Peppers and Onions
Ingredients 3 yellow onion ; thinly sliced3 tablespoon olive oil2 garlic ; minced4 sweet red and yellow peppers; thinly sliced2 tablespoon ketchupsalt and pepper3 tablespoon red wine1 teaspoon oregano1 dash Tabasco pepper sauce1 cup Parmesan cheese; grated...
Eggplant Parmesan + Mario Batali’s Version
Ingredients1 eggplant ; pared3 egg 1 1/2 cups bread crumbs 3/4 cup olive oil 1 cup Parmesan cheese 2 teaspoon oregano 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese 3 ounces canned tomato sauce InstructionsHeat oven to 350. Cut egglplant into 1/4 inch slices. Slice pared eggplant about...
Dilled Carrots
4 carrots 1 tablespoon butter 1 cup beer 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon sugar 1 teaspoon dried dill weed Julienne the carrots. Saute in butter until lightly browned. Stir in the beer and dill weed. Cover and cook slowly until tender (about 15 minutes). Season with salt...
Shrimp Enchildas Rancheros
Your friends will love you for preparing this. (See the after-notes at the bottom of the page.) If you prefer a chicken version of this, go here to see that recipe. Ingredients 2 pounds wild shrimp with heads (You probably won't need this much.)cayenne peppergarlic...
Ocean Perch with Creamed Corn
Ingredients 1 pound ocean perch 14 ounces corn 1 cup sour cream 3/4 cup Swiss cheese ; gratedbutter salt and pepper InstructionsPreheat oven to 375. Butter a baking dish. Lay the perch filets in the buttered baking pan. To a sauce pan, add the corn, sour cream and...