Hey there! Yep, I'm still alive. I've just been submerged in life. Living with Mr.S and the kidlets has been keeping me crazy busy. Kidlets? Should I even be calling them that anymore? One's a tween and the other a teen...and with age has come the teen angst, the normal stinky teen boy smells (Sweet Baby Jesus, why do their rooms consistently smell like a combo of dirty socks, sweat and ass?) and hormones, hormones, hormones. Rampant hormones and mood swings around every corner. Please someone, tell me it gets better at some point?! Plus, Pepper has decided to go around peeing upstairs (maybe because it already smells like socks, sweat and ass?) so we've had to put a doggie belly band on him. It seems to be working but I'm constantly velcroing and unvelcroing the sucker for him so he can go out. I'm like a doggie valet. I'll have to take a pic of him wearing the belly band, it's really cute (we bought him one that has bowties on it) but man, does Peppy hate it! Talk about a really disgruntled poodle.

Anyhow, I did come up for air and do some cooking this weekend. About a month or two ago, my friend Julie posted on Facebook that she was eating a funeral sandwich. My interest was piqued, I had to ask, "What's a funeral sandwich?" Turns out it's a type of slider made with Kings Hawaiian rolls, filled with thinly sliced lunchmeat and cheese, and then glazed with a sauce.  You shove them in the fridge to marinate and then pop them in the oven. I'm not 100% sure but I think they're some kind of spin-off of the Southern funeral biscuit.

I decided to make some this week and Mr. S and Kidlet #1 LOVED them, in fact Kidlet #1 has been begging me to make them again. He even offered to wash my car if I made them for him. I could get used to this. ☺

So if you need a dish for football Sunday, to take to bunco or just something to nosh on- give these a whirl. They're super easy to make (and you can even make them the night before). Traditionally they're made with ham and Swiss but I prefer turkey and provolone, so use whatever combo you like. They all taste good with the glaze.

Funeral Sandwiches

Ingredients

12 Kings Hawaiian rolls
12 slices of turkey lunchmeat (thinly sliced)
12 slices of provolone cheese
1/2 cup butter
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Instructions

1. In a Pyrex measuring cup, melt your butter. Add in the Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, brown sugar and onion powder. Whisk together.

2. Coat your 13 x 9 pan with cooking spray.  Split the whole package of rolls in half and place the bottoms in the pan.

3. Use a pastry brush and baste each roll bottom with the sauce.

4. Fold a piece of lunch meat and cheese onto each roll bottom.

5. Place the roll top on.

6. Brush each roll top with sauce. Then drizzle the remaining portion of the sauce over the top of the rolls.

7. Cover tightly with Saran Wrap. Place in the fridge for a minimum of 3-4 hours but overnight is even better.

8. Preheat over for 350 degrees F.

9. If you want to get fancy you can sprinkle the rolls with poppy seeds or toasted sesame seeds.

9. Bake uncovered for 12-15 minutes.

10. Remove from oven. Eat right away.  (FYI: These do not reheat well so eat 'em up!)

The owners are a husband and wife team, Ian and N'Gina Kavookjian, who have extensive experience in the restaurant business including most recently a catering company and Eight American Bistro in Granite Bay. According to their website, they're looking to make South into an energetic neighborhood joint and serve, "...traditional family food, unpretentious, with no gimmicks, and no crazy science. At South we are not trying to reinvent the wheel, we are just trying to express 200 years of our family’s story on a 12” plate." Sounds good to me. The menu currently is divided into "new school" and "old school" dishes and shows some of my favorite Southern plates- fried green tomatoes, chicken and Andouille gumbo, shrimp po' boys, crispy fried chicken and beignets. I can't wait!

When I contacted the owners by email, I was advised that the tentative opening date is scheduled for September 10. In the meantime, you can peruse their menu here:  South Menu. It appears that South plans to be open for brunch, lunch, happy hour and dinner. ☺

Jambalaya

Ingredients

1 lb. Andouille sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 tablespoon Canola oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 yellow onion, diced
5-6 cloves of fresh garlic, diced
1 large red bell pepper
3 stalks of celery, diced (use the tender stalks in the heart of the celery) & dice up those celery leaves as well
1 (10 oz) can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies- drained
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes- drained
3 bay leaves
4 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons concentrated tomato paste
1 teaspoon hot sauce (I like Frank's or Crystal)
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups long grain white rice- uncooked, rinsed
1 lb. fresh large shrimp- rinsed, peeled and deveined
6 scallions, sliced thin
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste
juice of 1/2 a lemon
flat-leaf parsley, chopped- for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. In a heavy bottomed pot, heat canola oil on medium-high heat. Add sliced sausage, cook until browned. Remove sausage, place in a bowl and set aside.

2. Leave the sausage drippings in the pot, heat 1 tablespoon of butter. Add in diced onions. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add garlic, sauté a few minutes more until onions soften and become translucent.

3. Add celery, celery leaves and red bell pepper. Allow to cook for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Can you believe just Friday, I was running my air conditioning because the cottage was a tad too warm and here it is just a few days later- Monday and I had to turn on the heater to get rid of the morning chill? I'm quite pleased though. Autumn is my favorite time of the year. I love how the air takes on a crisp smell, the leaves turn a rainbow of colors and you get to wear all kinds of cute scarves and boots. On top of it all, the cooler temps open up a whole other world of cooking- cold weather food! Steaming bowls of soup, savory stews and pipin' hot loaves of bread all make their way out of my kitchen. Food that warms your soul (and your tummy)!

Today's rainy day inspired me to make another batch of mini cornbread muffins. I tinkered with an old Martha Stewart recipe and made some for a party recently and they turned out great but I made the mistake of making them ahead of time so by the time guests arrived, settled in and decided to nosh, the muffins had cooled down substantially. It was a bit of a bummer but it also gave me the idea to pair these bite-sized treats with a dish that stays hot. Since it was grey and wet out today I thought it'd be a good opportunity to pull the ol' slow cooker out and make a batch of Southwest Chili. The mini cornbread muffins tasted amazing dipped in the chili sauce and made a great vessel for sopping up the last few bites. I think I may be making these muffins often this season (maybe with a some diced jalapenos thrown in?). You know what? I bet they'd be great with some Crockpot Chorizo and Lentils! What do you think would be a good match?


Mini Cornbread Muffins

makes 3 dozen

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup coarse yellow cornmeal
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons white sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup canola oil


Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Lightly grease your mini-muffin tins. I used Pam spray. (Don't skip this step or your mini muffins will stick to the tin.)

3. In a large bowl, mix together your flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together your sour cream, egg and oil.

5. Stir sour cream mixture into flour mixture until combined.

6. Fill each muffin tin about three-quarters full.

7. Pop in the oven and bake for about 10-11 minutes. Muffins are done cooking when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

8. Transfer to a wire rack and allow to cool for 5 minutes. Turn out muffins from tin.

9. Serve with softened butter and your favorite dish.

3110 Broadway, Sacramento, CA 95817.

When I heard another new eatery was going in at the corner of Alhambra and Broadway to replace Broadway Wings and Things recently I didn't pay much mind. After all, places have come and gone as far back as I can remember on that odd little island at the entry of Oak Park; but when I heard that the owners were going to be offering up authentic New Orleans fare, that's when they had my attention. I love shrimp po boys and beignets. There's nothing better than biting into the crackling crust of a soft-fluffy French roll and your tongue hitting the inner layer of remoulade and fresh Gulf shrimp with crisp cornmeal breading. Damn! If I'm feeling sassy, I might squirt some Crystal hot sauce on it too. Oh and don't forget to chase it all down with an ice cold Dixie beer. *Sigh, nostalgia* Anyhow, my hopes soared and I made plans to check the joint out ASAP.

So last week, the super awesome Emily from Community Tap and Table joined me over at Original PoBoys for a bite. Parking was a bit of an issue for me as the restaurant is in a bit of an awkward location- there isn't much nearby street parking, there's extremely limited parking in their lot and it's not the safest neighborhood for a woman to be walking around by herself at night. I did notice that once I got near the restaurant, the area surrounding the restaurant was well lit. Inside, although the basic architecture was still reminiscent of when the place was a KFC back in the day, the owner had done a nice job of renovating and cleaning it up. I found the staff to be polite and service to be quick. I decided to order a 8" shrimp po boy (the smallest size) and a soda (I had also inquired about the beignets but was advised that they were only served before 1030am). Wow, an 8 inch sandwich sounds small until they bring that sandwich to your table, holy moly! That was one giant sandwich. Unfortunately, that's about where my rave ends. I had visions of past phenomenal po boys dancing in my head (and on my taste buds) and after my first bite of this one, they were dashed. The bread was bland, the shrimp were soggy and tasteless...the po boy was completely lackluster. I ended up pulling the bread off and just eating the shrimp. My po boy was a clunker. When I looked across the table, I noticed Emily doing the same as well. What a bummer.

Considering that Original PoBoys is still in their first month of operation, I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt and hope they're still trying to find their footing. Hopefully over time they'll be able to iron out the kinks and get their po boys up to speed and then they can,"Laissez les bon temps rouler!"