I have been travelling all around the country and for the last 4 weeks I have been in Philadelphia. I can see how people would think it is a great town. I mean they have beautiful art museums (including the one with the steps Rocky ran up....ADRIENNE!!!), lots of great shopping (Walnut Avenue around 15th and 16th streets) and an abundance of restaurants. Philadelphia is a diverse town that has a place for everyone. That is everyone but me. As much as I like to travel and as much as I love to eat, being in Philadelphia makes me realize how much of a southern girl I really am. And I am darn proud of it!
Because my soul was craving family and good southern food, I had to fly home today so that I could enjoy one of my all-time favorite traditions...FRIED FISH FRIDAYS!!! As long as I can remember, my family has eaten fish on Fridays. I don't really know why Friday is the chosen day besides my father said he ate fish on Fridays growing up as a child. He said it was a Catholic thing but we aren't Catholic and neither were my grandparents so I don't know why that would pertain to us. But it doesn't matter because it is a tradition I love and I miss it when I can't participate.
My mother likes to eat fish at fish camps around town. (If you don't know what a fish camp is then you are like the other gazillion people of the world who don't live in Gastonia. Fish camps are family owned seafood restuarants that have lots of atmosphere but no glitz and glam. They are mom and pop shops that pile on the food for really low prices.) She prefers to fry the fish at home which is what I could DIE over!!! We generally get really thin pieces of flounder, rinse them off, pat them dry, season them with Lowry's, and then roll them in seafood batter. While my mom preps the fish, my dad preps the oil on the back porch because he doesn't want the house to smell like fish. Once the oil is the perfect temperature the fish cooks in 8 minutes. It is the perfect crispiness. When you bite into the fish you can taste the seasons in the batter but you can still taste the lightness and freshness of the fish. You don't need anymore season salt on it but if you add a hint of lemon juice it will take you over the top!! OMG! OMG! OMG! Most people eat fish with cole slaw or corn on the cob but I only want a plate of fish. I generally eat at least 4 pieces but maybe 7 or 8 pieces! I get it in!
Although I know fried fish doesn't make me a Southern girl its how I eat it that does. I put all the fish on my plate and eat it with my hands so that I don't miss one little piece. With my first 4 pieces I use lemon juice to put it over the top but on the last 4 pieces I use the secret to all Southern food...TEXAS PETE! Man o' man! Texas Pete is hard to find in other parts of the country so I am assuming it is Southern. It definitely adds some Southern heat to my food and to my mouth when I add it to my food. I have to wash it down with a big cup of Southern Sweet Tea (something else you can't get in Philly).
Well I guess this post is long enough considering my last one went on and on and on and on. LOL! I won't post a recipe since I kind of game you the recipe for fried fish.
All the travel in the world only makes me a well-travelled Southern girl!
Friday, March 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Daily Recipe
Here's a new item for this blog...daily recipes. Please feel free to comment and post your own recipes.
Beef Roast Al La Goodness
Ingredients:
2lb. Beef roast
6 shallots, chopped
3 cloves of garlic. Minced
8oz. Button mushrooms, whole
1/2 box of beef broth
Bottle of red wine
Salt & Pepper
Cook time: 6 hours
Temperature: Low in Crockpot
First, heavily season the beef with salt,pepper,and garlic and rub it into the meat. Once seasoned, place in the crockpot. Add the chopped shallots, mushrooms, beef broth, and wine. Place the cover on the crockpot. Let this cook on low all day while at work or at night while sleeping. After cooking for 6 hours open the crockpot. The meat should be extra tender as well as the veggies.
Before serving, pull the roast out of the crockpot to rest for 15 minutes. While resting, transfer the remaing juice from the crockpot to a skillet. Turn the heat on medium. Whisk in 1tbsp of flour to thicken the sauce. Whisk quickly so there are no lumps.Gravy is ready once thick after about 5 minutes.
This dish is easy and it is great with wild rice and asparagus.
Enjoy!
Beef Roast Al La Goodness
Ingredients:
2lb. Beef roast
6 shallots, chopped
3 cloves of garlic. Minced
8oz. Button mushrooms, whole
1/2 box of beef broth
Bottle of red wine
Salt & Pepper
Cook time: 6 hours
Temperature: Low in Crockpot
First, heavily season the beef with salt,pepper,and garlic and rub it into the meat. Once seasoned, place in the crockpot. Add the chopped shallots, mushrooms, beef broth, and wine. Place the cover on the crockpot. Let this cook on low all day while at work or at night while sleeping. After cooking for 6 hours open the crockpot. The meat should be extra tender as well as the veggies.
Before serving, pull the roast out of the crockpot to rest for 15 minutes. While resting, transfer the remaing juice from the crockpot to a skillet. Turn the heat on medium. Whisk in 1tbsp of flour to thicken the sauce. Whisk quickly so there are no lumps.Gravy is ready once thick after about 5 minutes.
This dish is easy and it is great with wild rice and asparagus.
Enjoy!
Monday, March 22, 2010
No white stuff has fried my brain!
First, let me apologize for all these days and weeks passing without a post. Besides having technical difficulties, it appears all the travelling has taken its toll on my brain. Because I was so unhappy with the constant travel, I somehow developed a writing roadblock that I couldn't find my way around. And then to make matters worse, I allowed Satan himself to come up with my sacrifice for lent season. He somehow coerced me into giving up white stuff! Why the HELL would I give up the one thing that makes me sane and happy while I am on the road. I LOVE FOOD! I am very passionate about food! ALL FOOD! Especially everything white! White bread, pasta, flour tortillas! It had to be the devil because when I prayed and asked God for strength, he said, "who told you to give up white stuff! I surely didn't." He told me instead of giving up something you should have added something." Well now I know he meant for me to add some enjoyment to my life. With all this travelling I have the opportunity to write about what I love and gain ideas for my dream...
So I'M BACK!!! I'm ready to give you all the best I have to give. I am currently in Philadelphia but this first post will be about an Italian restaurant I visited this weekend in Washington D.C.
The name of the restaurant is Paper Moon. It is located in beautiful Georgetown. That might be the only positive thing I say about the spot. Well the host seemed like he may be Italian. I was there with one of my faves, Delo. We sat down ready to have great drinks and good food. All I wanted was a glass of wine or a frozen drink. Our waitress made it clear that Moscato was by the bottle (even though it wasn't on the wine list) and the riesling wasn't by the glass! Then when I asked for a Bellini she said it wasn't frozen. I was confused. This place made bellinis with champagne and peach schnapps! Don't ever order this!! Its not good! You couldn't taste the peach!
Our food wasn't much better. Paper Moon had a small menu with their dinner suggestions. I decided to order from that menu and get the spinach ravioli verde. It was spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli with either, alfredo, meat sauce or vodka sauce. I ordered it with the vodka sauce only to have the waitress return to the table and tell me they didn't have it! How is it a dinner suggestion and you don't have it! So I had to get the most boring thing on the menu...lasagna! I like lasagna but not when I'm trying new things! The lasagna was the size of my head and it wasn't great. There was nothing special about it. Nothing authentic to it. On top of that they gave us some non-blended oil and herbs and tomato sauce for the italian loaf they served. That was nasty! There was absolutely no taste to it bc it wasn't blended.
This post is long enough but as you can see Paper Moon gets a OH NO Mama Mia from me. Don't waste your time or money.
Talk to you soon
So I'M BACK!!! I'm ready to give you all the best I have to give. I am currently in Philadelphia but this first post will be about an Italian restaurant I visited this weekend in Washington D.C.
The name of the restaurant is Paper Moon. It is located in beautiful Georgetown. That might be the only positive thing I say about the spot. Well the host seemed like he may be Italian. I was there with one of my faves, Delo. We sat down ready to have great drinks and good food. All I wanted was a glass of wine or a frozen drink. Our waitress made it clear that Moscato was by the bottle (even though it wasn't on the wine list) and the riesling wasn't by the glass! Then when I asked for a Bellini she said it wasn't frozen. I was confused. This place made bellinis with champagne and peach schnapps! Don't ever order this!! Its not good! You couldn't taste the peach!
Our food wasn't much better. Paper Moon had a small menu with their dinner suggestions. I decided to order from that menu and get the spinach ravioli verde. It was spinach and cheese stuffed ravioli with either, alfredo, meat sauce or vodka sauce. I ordered it with the vodka sauce only to have the waitress return to the table and tell me they didn't have it! How is it a dinner suggestion and you don't have it! So I had to get the most boring thing on the menu...lasagna! I like lasagna but not when I'm trying new things! The lasagna was the size of my head and it wasn't great. There was nothing special about it. Nothing authentic to it. On top of that they gave us some non-blended oil and herbs and tomato sauce for the italian loaf they served. That was nasty! There was absolutely no taste to it bc it wasn't blended.
This post is long enough but as you can see Paper Moon gets a OH NO Mama Mia from me. Don't waste your time or money.
Talk to you soon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)