Blog - biscuits and such
southern food blog
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Boiled Peanuts

Last spring, the National Peanut Board sent me some peanuts and coke as part of a national campagin to raise awareness about how delicious it is when you put peanuts in your coke.  During the email exchange they asked me if there was anything else they could do and I said “well, if you’ve got any green peanuts…”  And here we are.

When we got home from Savannah & Charleston we were very excited to see a box full of peanuts on our doorstep.  Well, I was very excited.  Dan didn’t know what to expect.  I put them aside until this past Saturday, when we held our second annual Eastern North Carolina Barbeque.  As you may know, smoking pork takes a zillion hours, and with party goers arriving as early as 11, I wanted something for people to nosh on.  Namely, I wanted boiled peanuts for people to nosh on.

First of all, for those of you who have never had a boiled peanut, they’re heaven. The specialty of roadside stands across the south, they’re salty, mashed-potato like, perfectly delicious peanuts.  You boil the green peanuts for hours in salted, spiced water, then eat them hot.  A delicacy, in my opinion.

They were a hit. Thanks, Peanut Board!

Boiled Peanuts

1 lb fresh green peanuts

2 quarts water

1/2 cup kosher or sea salt

1 tbsp red pepper flakes

1 tbsp chipotle spice

Combine all ingredients in a large pot.  Boil for 3-5 hours, or until peanuts are tender.  Strain and serve.

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Food : Art

As artists, I like our apartment to be filled with artwork, both our own and work that we love.  We’ve slowly been building our collection, from Brian Andreas prints to framed greeting cards, the art on the walls helps our little apartment feel like home.

Until recently, we didn’t have any food art, which is kind of strange since 90% of the photographs made in our house are of food.  It just hadn’t occurred to me to print and hang the photos I make for this blog.  Recently, however, I was approached by a local company, Easy Canvas Prints.  They offered to turn one of my photos (the photo of my choosing) into a canvas print.  I happily accepted and a few weeks later, this beauty was on my doorstop.

For the canvas print I chose a picture I took last summer of sliced figs.  It’s a (in my humble opinion) beautiful picture that I thought would fit in perfectly with our wall of art.  When the print arrived it was exactly what I expected.  It’s perfectly printed, crystal clear, and amazingly rich.  Since we hung it a few weeks ago every person to walk through our living room has commented on how incredible it looks.  Win!


It fits perfectly into our collection and our home.  Thanks, Easy Canvas Prints!

 

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Chicken Noodle Soup

The thing about chicken soup is, it isn’t pretty. And, frankly, the longer it sits, the uglier it gets.  But it’s delicious.  And nourishing.  And when you have a cold (as I did most of this week), it’s exactly what the doctor ordered.

Last Sunday we spent most of the dreary, chilly, rainy day making soups and chilis.  By the end of the day our house had that smell- garlicky, comforting, like autumn.  I love that smell.  I love the change of seasons.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m mourning summer and dreading winter, but for the next few weeks it will be wonderful, glorious, beautiful, crisp, fall.  I’ll wear fuzzy socks and eat soup and drink pumpkin coffee and love every second of it.

Chicken Noodle Soup

3 quarts of chicken stock

1 medium chicken

10 garlic cloves

2 large carrots

1 bunch of celery

1 onion

1 lb noodles (I used spinach noodles and, yum!)

Salt

Pepper

Red pepper

Olive oil

Start by making your stock.  I really recommend making a pot of stock and then using that as the base for your soup.  It’s so flavorful and you have control over how it tastes and what goes into it.  Once the stock is ready, roast your chicken.

1 hour before you’re ready to cook your chicken, take your chicken out of the fridge.  Remove the innards, rinse with cold water, and allow to come to room temperature.  Begin by rubbing your chicken down with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Cook at 475 for 20 minutes and then lower the temperature to 400.  Cook an additional 45 minutes.  Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to rest 10 minutes before serving.  Baste with juices.

Once the chicken has cooled, peel the meat and skin off the bone and put into the pot.  Save the bones for the next time!

Chop carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and add to the pot.  Pull out 2 cups of broth and cook the noodles, until semi-soft.  Add them back into the pot.  Salt, pepper, and red pepper to taste.  Cook for 2-3 hours.

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