Soul Food Night

So, we are skipping over last week’s calzones for the time being until The Bean gets the pictures to us.  Calzone night was the biggest dinner we have had (cue multiple freak outs) and was followed by our smallest dinner so far. Which brings me to . . .

Soul food night.  Probably the most involved cooking we have done.  Last minute several people cancelled (hate you all) and so we were left with half of our weekly average.

People: 6

Total cost: $65 (since we shopped for 12)

Challenge: Making soul food for the first time/ finding smoked ham hocks or smoked turkey necks.

We food shopped on Tuesday, as usual.  After trying H-Mart and Pathmark we finally found smoked pork necks at Stop and Shop.  On the official menu was: Fried cat fish, BBQ chicken, random second chicken, black eyed peas, and candied sweet potatoes with corn bread (store bought) on the side.  After food shopping on Tuesday we boiled the pork necks for about two hours so that we would have more time for other things Wednesday.  Obviously we ended up eating at 9:30 anyway.  But aside from a few set backs it was, as always, a good time. 

                                     The Wolf in his Wednesday finest

Side note: the Sun has had a broken phone for several weeks and hasn't taken pictures.  By this Wednesday that will be remedied and the blog will have an abundance of pictures as was originally intended. Thank you, Michael Scharf, for this week's pictures.

Fried Cat Fish

(Serves 4)

2 large catfish fillets cut in halves (we used basa)

1 large egg

hot sauce

About 25 Saltines smashed until almost dust

Cayenne pepper

Salt and pepper

Chili powder

Canola oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, crack and whisk the egg, a dash of hot sauce, and salt and pepper.  Cover the fish in mixture.  In a large flat pan, mix the Saltines, the Cayenne, and the chili powder.  Dredge the fish on both sides generously.  Heat up enough canola oil to cover about half of the fish.  Test a drop of water in the oil.  Once it forms a ball the oil is hot enough for frying.  Fry one side until golden and then flip carefully.  Cook until white all the way through and the crust is golden brown.  Eat with tartar sauce, hot sauce, or as is.  

                            Fish frying in the front, black eyed peas in the back 

BAR-B Q Chicken

Sauce Ingredients:
4 tablespoon ketchup
2 tablespoon vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoon Worcestershire
2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon mustard
2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
some black pepper & red hot sauce

One whole chicken

Combine sauce ingredients and mix them to create the sauce. Cover chicken thoroughly.
Cook in a pan for about 2 1/2 hrs at 350 degrees.

                                             Carving the chickens

Sun and the Wolf Chicken

 Sauce Ingredients:

½ cup olive oil

1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

¼ cup Sriracha

3 garlic cloves

¼ cup Dijon mustard

3 tablespoons honey

juice of 2 lemons

One whole chicken

Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix until smooth.  Cover chicken thoroughly.  Cook in a pan for about 2 ½ hours at 350 degrees.  *Note:  While it did taste fine, we wished that the sauce had been thicker in order to create more of a glaze for the chicken.  Still working on that one . . . 

Black Eyed Peas

8 oz. prepared black-eyed peas

1 medium jalapeno pepper (chopped)

½ small onion (chopped)

3 or 4 slices bacon (cut up)

salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon.  Set aside but leave grease in pan.  In the same pan, sautee the jalapeno and onion until onions start sweating.  Heat up the peas in the same pan.  Add salt and pepper to taste. 

*Note: to be honest, these were kind of boring.  We will omit them the next time around.                        

Candied Sweet Potatoes

3-4 large sweet potatoes
2 cups of white sugar
1 stick of butter (not margarine)
2 teaspoons vanilla
dash of nutmeg and cinnamon

Peel and cut potatoes into chunks. Rinse well, pat dry. Put the potatoes in a pot and pour remaining ingredients over potatoes.  Bake in the oven, stirring occasionally, until tender (about 45 minutes).  *Note: These were really delicious and tasted like pie.  Highly recommended.

                                                 Sweet potatoes

Collard Greens

1/2 pound smoked meat (in this case smoked pork neck)

1 tablespoon House seasoning, recipe follows

1 tablespoon seasoned salt

1 tablespoon hot red pepper sauce

1 large bunch collard greens

1 tablespoon butter

In a large pot, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add smoked meat, house seasoning, seasoned salt and hot sauce. Reduce heat to medium and cook for 1 hour. Wash the greens thoroughly. Remove the stems that run down the center by holding the leaf in your left hand and stripping the leaf down with your right hand. The tender young leaves in the heart of the collards don't need to be stripped. Stack 6 to 8 leaves on top of one another, roll up, and slice into 1/2 to 1-ince thick slices. Place greens in pot with meat and add buttter. Cook for 45 to 60 minutes, stirring occasionally. When done taste and adjust seasoning.

House Seasoning:

1 cup salt 

1/4 cup black pepper

1/4 cup garlic powder

*Note:  This is Paula Deen’s recipe that we followed.  If we make this again we will not be adding the 1 cup salt for the house seasoning.  The smokiness of the pork necks was salty enough and we ended up with incredibly salty (though tasty) collard greens.  After some quick thinking we boiled new water to finish off the greens.  It kind of rinsed them off but the flavor remained.   

                                               Finished product :-)