Flipping Eggs for Traditional Breakfast

I have never gotten the hang of flipping stuff in the skillet. Lew does it with ease.
For our recipes for the traditional Tennessee breakfast he did his flipping trick to my laughter. Much fun.

A Real Tennessee Traditional Breakfast: Porkloin, cheeze garlic grits, eggs and biscuts

Painting by Judy in 2002 of Barn in Williamson County Tennessee
Imagine the farming that must have gone on around this barn over the years.
Typical of so many barns in Tennessee

Menu:
Fried Pork Tenderloin
Sausage Gravy
Cheese and Garlic Grits
Fried Eggs
Biscuits
Strawberry Syrup for Biscuits

We love our Sunday Morning Breakfast. This morning Lew made one of our favorites: a traditional Tennessee menu that included fried pork loin. Yes, I know the Swine Flu is around us. But as the media and physicians have been saying, "you cannot get the flu from eating pork." We are doing our part to support the pork industry. Ho, ho!

As we have gotten older, Lew takes a few short cuts. For example we buy the frozen biscuits. They are not his homemade specialties but good nonetheless. This morning they were made even better using a pint of fresh strawberries cooked with 3 big heaping tablespoons of very plain inexpensive generic strawberry jelly boiled together into syrup. Lew makes the best fried anything and gravy. We will share his secretes.

Put the frozen biscuits in a hot oven then Start with the grits!

Cheese and Garlic Grits
Go to your specialty grocer and get yellow corn grits. One of our favorite organic groceries is The Turnip Truck in East Nashville. This store is a wonderful Sunday drive and outing.

Ingredients:
One & ½ cup water (filtered or bottled, please)
Four heaping tablespoons of grits
Two pats real butter
¼ tsp salt
½ cup shredded mild cheddar cheese
½ can Carnation evaporated milk (5 oz. can)
Three good shakes of garlic powder
Special hint: Add a heaping table spoon of Parmesan cheese for extra kick.

Process for Putting Grits Together:
Bring the water to heat & add the butter and salt.
While boiling, stir in the grits. (Stir them in or you will get big lumps.)
Cover and turn the heat down to low while you get the biscuits in the oven and the tenderloin seasoned with salt and FG pepper, dredged, and into the skillet.

Stir the grits every 3 or 4 minutes while everything else is cooking away. After about 20 minutes add the cheese and garlic powder. Let the cheeses melt and begin adding the milk to keep them from getting too dry.

Fried Pork Tenderloin Directions:
Salt and pepper liberally then dredge the tenderloin in flour. Put in hot grease and sauté on medium heat until lightly brown on both sides. Not hard to do but very tasty.

Sausage Gravy:
Crumble up the sausage in the grease left from frying the tenderloin. Add an equal amount of flour in the skillet and stir till it is all absorbed and turns a color you like. Turn the fire off or move off the heat. Add equal parts of water and Carnations Condensed Milk or regular milk. Put back on the fire and stir like crazy till it gets creamy. Keep adding milk or water until it is the consistency you like. We like it thick.

Fried Eggs:
See the video of Lew frying the eggs and flipping them in the skillet. Much fun!

Strawberry Syrup for Biscuits:
Clean a pint of strawberries and add a quarter cup of sugar. Let sit for at least an hour and add 3 heaping tablespoons of strawberry jelly. Bring to low boil for about 20 minutes. This makes great syrup for biscuits, pound cake, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Serving Biscuits Hot:
The biscuits take about 30 so put them in the over before you start anything else. We have an aluminum pan that was given to us by Lewis’s mother. In the bottom Lew puts a heavy terry cloth potholder and a terracotta tile we keep in the oven. Just before he takes out the biscuits he puts the hot tile in the serving pan. Then cover the hot tile with a wet paper towel and watch the hot steam come out. Put a clean kitchen towel over the steaming paper towel. This will keep them warm through breakfast!

Start to finish all this cooking takes only about 35 minutes.
It is time to sit and enjoy!

Pot Roast and Some Short cuts

The Tennessee State Fair is a place where farmers bring their prize animals
and sell for breeding purposes.
Tennessee is a big cattle ranching state.

Pencil drawing of beautify bull by Judy at the State Fair 2001.

Surely pot roast is the iconic American food. Wish I was a vegetarian but I do like my occasional beef. Pot roast is simple to make and soooo good. Lately I look for shortcuts for making cooking easier and does not require so much standing up. This is a great one-pot wonder dish.

Rinse the roast off. Pat dry with paper towels. Salt and Pepper liberally. Then I like to put on a prepared seasoning. My favorite is Chef Paul Prudhomme’s seasoning.
Sauté in olive oil or vegetable oil. Cook hot on all sides to seal in the flavors and brown all the surfaces.

Turn down the flame and add onions and fresh parsley. Sauté till clear in the oil after the meat is browned. Add two cups of chicken broth. Then the really great short cut is to add frozen potatoes and carrots.

The kind I by have big chunks of celery and pearl onions. Salt and Pepper the vegetables to taste. I like a lot of pepper and just a little salt. Bring the liquid and vegetables up to a simmer then cover the pot and put in the over at 350 degrees for 2 hours or until tinder. Serve with a big chunk of french bread or cornbread.