Cooking in the South

Peanut Butter Brownies

This delicious dessert recipe comes from Mrs. Clarence M. Glenn and can be found in “Charleston Receipts.” I am a sucker for anything chocolate and peanut butter I and am always looking for new recipes to satisfy my sweet tooth. This recipe did not disappoint! It was super easy and I find it to be a nice change from the standard chocolate brownie recipes.

Ingredients:

Brownie:

½ cup butter

½ cup white sugar

½ cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup peanut butter

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla

1 cup flour

1 cup oatmeal

Frosting:

1 cup powdered sugar

2 generous teaspoons cocoa

2 – 4 tablespoons milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream together butter and sugars. I used a handheld electric mixer.
3. Blend in egg, peanut butter, salt, baking soda and vanilla. Make sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to ensure all of the ingredients are well incorporated.
4. Stir in flour and oatmeal. If you’re using an electric mixer, add a spoonful of the flour/oatmeal at a time or else you’ll end up with batter all over your kitchen!
5. Spread into a greased 8×10 pan. I didn’t have an 8×10 pan and so I substituted a 9×9 glass pan, which I greased well with cooking spray.

6. Cook for 20 – 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. My oven tends to take longer to bake and so I baked the brownies for 25 minutes and checked them with a toothpick.

7. For frosting, beat all ingredients until smooth. I used a whisk for this process and, because I love the chocolate flavor, I added 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder.

8. Frost while still warm.

9. Devour!

Enjoy a derby style night out with the Charleston Junior League! Want to help fight hunger & homelessness in Charleston while watching the Kentucky Derby at the Citadel Stadium’s club level? Come to Night at the Races for Derby coverage on multiple televisions, live music from the Gin House Boys, delicious southern fare and Firefly Bourbon mint juleps!

To become a sponsor go here or to purchase tickets go here don’t wait because ticket sales end on April 20th!

See you at the races!

Slow Cooker Pork BBQ

Ingredients

2 lb pork tenderloin (I used a package of 2, 1 lb tenderloins)
1 onion (cut in large chunks)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup barbeque sauce (can use vinegar, mustard or ketchup bbq sauce based on your preference)
¼ cup chicken broth

Put tenderloin in the slow cooker and surround with onions.
Mix brown sugar, mustard, paprika and red pepper together.  Rub spice mixture over tenderloins.
Pour in vinegar, barbeque sauce and broth so the liquid comes just less than halfway up the tenderloins. You may not need all the liquid.

Cook on High for 4 hours or on Low for 8 hours.

Pull out of the slow cooker and shred with forks.  It should fall apart easily!

Enjoy this delicious Southern-Style Meal!

Congrats to featured Charleston Junior League Member Jennifer Bilbro on her recent article in Skirt! Magazine.

Photo Credit:  Marni Durlach

Read her entire write-up here . Congrats!

Despite the gorgeous weather, I was totally uninspired for dinner so went to my trusty Charleston Receipts Repeats and found this recipe that I hadn’t made since my son’s baptism several years ago. It had delicious with exclamation points in the margin and I had a rotisserie chicken in the fridge, so we were in business!

This is listed as “Fabulous Chicken Salad” on page 100, although I tweaked it according to my family’s taste.

4 cups cooked, cubed chicken
1 tablespoon onion, grated
1 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup halved green grapes

First, chop your chicken. As I mentioned, rotisserie works beautifully.

Since I wanted a more subtle onion taste, I grate mine on a microplane.

Whisk the mayo, lemon, soy, and onion until smooth.

Chop up the pecans.

Wash and halve the grapes.

Stir in the rest of the ingredients until blended.

Delicious as a spring supper served on a bed of lettuce, or even more special in sliced croissants.

Enjoy!

Don’t you love that Charleston is full-swing into this beautiful Spring weather? Now that BBQs and get-togethers are more frequent, take this pasta salad recipe and put it in your back pocket for your next gathering. It’s incredibly easy, requires only a few ingredients- and is customizable to what’s in your fridge!

What you’ll need:

1/2 Box Penne Pasta {I use Whole Wheat}

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Rice Vinegar {it’s pretty easy to find, but if all else fails Trader Joe’s has it!}

Salt + Pepper to Taste

1/3 Cup Tomato {cherry or diced}

1/4 Cup Diced Sweet Onion

1/2 Diced Cucumber

1/3 Cup Cheese of your Choice {mine is Fresh Diced Mozzarella}

1 Tablespoon Chopped Herb of your  choice {Mine is Basil}

First, bring pot of water to a boil. Add pinch of salt and then add in Penne Pasta. Follow cooking time on box- approximately 5-10 minutes depending on how you like your pasta cooked. Remove and drain from water. Rinse with cold water. Toss pasta back in bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Set in refrigerator to cool.

Next, dice tomato, cucumber and onion.

Followed by Fresh Mozzarella, then basil.

Remove pasta from refrigerator. Add in chopped ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. Lastly, add in 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar. Toss.

Enjoy! Mix and match combos with types of pasta, vegetables, cheese and herbs to re-create this dish over and over again.

Every once in awhile, I get a sweet craving… and it’s usually late at night. Thank goodness for being an avid blog reader, because I picked up this trick from another sweet tooth and it’s amazing!

All you’ll need is a box of brownie mix, two eggs, water vegetable oil, and a waffle iron {yes, ladies you can wipe off the dust!}.

Mix all of the ingredients as listed on the box.

Heat waffle iron thoroughly. Spread batter and let sit. {Luckily my waffle iron has a light that tells me when it’s ready!}.

And BAM. Brownies in 2 minutes. Really!

I got creative and bought turtle brownies. I put the caramel on after the brownie was removed from the iron, and then sprinkled with sea salt. Oh yes, sea salt, caramel turtle brownies.

Alas, another use for your waffle iron!

We’re so excited to announce a sale at the Junior League of Charleston! Do you have recipes laying all around your house? Are you looking for a gift for the most difficult person? Do you love to be a savvy shopper? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you’re in need of our Recipe Organizer! Not only does it have water proof slots for your favorite recipes, but it also has a few of our best from Charleston Receipts, Party Receipts and Charleston Receipts Repeats. This book even includes our most popular recipe- Tut’s Toffee!

It gets better.. retail price $19.95 slashed down to $9.95 OR buy a case of 10 for $50 that’s only $5 per book. Stock up now, because these won’t last long! This deal can only be found at Cooking In the South . If you’re interested in the case discount please post a comment to this post with your contact information and we’ll reach out to you.

* Please note prices do not include the cost of shipping.

The holidays are quickly approaching, and what better way to prepare then to try some fun recipes from the Party Receipts Cookbook! I stumbled upon the Spinach Ball recipe and thought it would be a great one to try that’s easy to make ahead, and can even be frozen and baked off at a later date.

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 packages {10 oz. each} frozen chopped spinach

3 cups italian style stuffing {crushed}

**3/4 cup italian style bread crumbs {after trying the original recipe, i thought they would stick better by adding in some bread crumbs and i was right!}

1 large onion, chopped fine

4 eggs, well beaten

1/2 cup {1 stick} unsalted butter

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 1/4 teaspoons garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon thyme leaves

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 325 {if prepping and cooking that day!}

cook spinach accoring to package instructions. drain well, squeezing out all extra liquid.

next, place spinach in large bowl and add in remaining ingredients.

combine all ingredients together. mix well.

form mixture into 3/4 inch balls and place on baking sheet. bake 15-20 minutes. or, you can skip this step and refridgerate or freeze until your ready to bake off. please note baking time may be longer if frozen or refridgerated ahead of time.

I made these for a JLC event at the Mt. Pleasant Holiday Market and served cold which was a huge hit! They can be hot or cold and are super easy to make! I think we saw a spike in Party Reciepts books sold that day.

Enjoy!

Shrimp has always been a favorite food of mine. It used to be more of a treat when I was growing up, only getting it at the beach during the summer in shrimp and grits or just plain boiled shrimp.

This is no longer the case. Several years ago, my sister married a Midwesterner who she quickly transformed into a Southerner, and I have to say he is fitting in beautifully. He has adopted several new Southern hobbies, but one of his favorite new pastimes has become shrimping.

During shrimping season, there is an abundance of delicious fresh shrimp in our family. With all the shrimp, I began to experiment with new shrimp recipes. The James Island Shrimp Pie from Charleston Recipes caught my eye and is now one of my family’s favorite recipes. It reminds me of a recipe my Grandmother would make-simple and delicious. I usually serve this with a salad or some greens.

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 cup raw rice

¼ cup butter

2 eggs

Pinch of mace or nutmeg

5 Tbs Ketchup

2 ½ Tbs Worcestershire Sauce

2lb Shrimp

1 cup milk

Salt and Pepper to taste

First, cook the rice in salted water. Add the butter when rice is cooked to tender.

Meanwhile cook the shrimp. I like to add additional seasoning to the shrimp for a little extra flavor.

While everything is cooking, combine eggs, nutmeg or mace, Worcestershire, ketchup and salt and pepper.

Once everything is done, combine rice, shrimp, and wet ingredients together. Then, stir in the milk so it becomes a custard-like consistency.

Heat oven to 350°and bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!