City Girl Country
Cooking, eating and drinking, with a down-to-earth attitude.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
City Girl Country has moved
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Hola Mexico!
Monday, December 5, 2011
Festa dei Sette Pesci–Translated
It may smell a little too alcoholic but the wine will burn off.
8.5 oz Jiffy corn muffin mix
17 oz can of cream corn
17 oz can of whole corn (undrained)
2 eggs beaten
8 oz sour cream (fat free)
1 cup of melted butter
Mix everything in a 9x13 (a 10x10 also works) lightly greased pan. Bake on 350 for 1 hr 15 min. or until golden brown on top.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
The Most Unique Beer in the World
Courtesy of Samuel Adams |
Saturday, August 6, 2011
The Perfect Day for a Picnic
What do to when the cloud Gods open the skies, and meals have to be moved inside? A modified version of the movable feast.
A group in Western New York recently gathered for a cookbook club (aka Cooka Nostra) meeting. Garden fresh tomato and basil, and fresh mozzarella salad; corn on the cobb with home-enhanced butter, fruit skewers and yogurt dip; Chicago-style hot dogs and homemade apple pie, were all on the menu.
Butter mixed with sea salt, chives, garlic, lime zest and a touch of juice, gave farm-fresh corn a kick. The butter did have to be set in the fridge, since we were in the middle of a heat wave.
Blogger Lucinda Scala Quinn recently published her Chicago dog recipe in Living and it came in handy when searching for something to make inside.
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Dishing Up Buffalo
Taste of Buffalo, sponsored by TOPS, is the largest two-day food festival in the United States, according to the Taste of Buffalo website. This year, close to half-a-million patrons roamed Delaware Avenue and Niagara Square, in the July heat, to get a taste of WNY’s premier outdoor festival.
Common vendors made their presence known, but there were also a few new faces. Sakura Sushi (3719 Union Road, Cheektowaga 14225) was serving both traditional and contemporary dishes, including the freshest dumplings in town. Fresh, thin skin on the outside led way to a chicken center. Dipping sauce was not even necessary. These little balls of goodness were perfect on their own.
The mid-July heat did not stop foodies from tasting the Beer Cheese soup at Eddie Ryan’s of Lancaster. Made with local cheddar cheese and “cheap” beer, just a sample was a hearty dish and the perfect way to settle into an afternoon of eating. Thick and creamy, there was a hint of beer but cheese lovers won’t be able to get enough of this hot dish–no matter what time of year.
The closest Dinosaur Bar-B-Que may be in Rochester, New York but a summer food festival would not be complete without BBQ. Rows of ribs, coated in Dinosaur’s well-known sauce, was the perfect backdrop to eat a mini BBQ sandwich. Pulled pork, fresh off the barbie, drenched in traditional BBQ sauce and on a fresh bun.
The day would not have been complete without dessert. Bravo! may be a chain but their crème brulee is a creamy homemade custard with fresh vanilla bean and caramelized sugar, and uniquely worth the calories.
Local wines, on crushed ice, were served up at the Icy Sangria Wine Slush tent. A chillaxing way to end a hot and full day.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
DIY Dino BBQ
A Thai green curried chili that was the result of cabbage having soaked overnight, spiked with cilantro and flavored with Mae Ploy Sauce, on hot dogs, received praise: “I’m incorporating this salad into my repertoire,” Lynn said. But it wasn’t the “winning” dish.
Slaw and wieners
Mississippi-Style Catfish Strips with Bacon-Fennel BBQ Sauce captured the attention and palates of dinner goers. Dinosaur BBQ originally created the dish for a fiery food show but some of the ingredients were altered. Although it happened to be Lent when Dino BBQ developed the recipe, I don’t think the Pope would mind having taken liberty with it. In the end, it was sinfully good.
The Fish
1-pound catfish fillets
1 egg slightly beaten
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup flour
Old Bay Seasoning
3 cups vegetable oil
Slice the catfish into ¾ inch wide by 5 to 6 inches long. Toss in a bowl along with the egg. Cover and refrigerate for several hours.
Line a cookie sheet with wax paper. Fill a bowl with a mix of cornmeal and flour. Pour the oil into the skillet. Slide the oil-filled skillet onto a front burner and get it heating over medium heat until hot but not smoking.
Next, line up the cookie sheet, the cornmeal mixture, and the bowl of marinating catfish. Pluck the catfish from the marinade, drop it in the cornmeal mix, and roll it around in the mixture until coated. Then move the coated strips to the wax-lined pan.
Once the catfish strips are breaded, fry them in the hot oil in batches without crowding the pan. Cook, flipping once, for a total of 4 to 5 minutes until nicely brown. Drain on paper towels. Feeds 3 to 4.
The Sauce
8 strips regular-slice bacon
1 heaping cup slivered red onion
1 heaping cup slivered fennel
Pinch each of sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 cup Dinosaur BBQ Creole Honey Mustard Sauce
Juice of ¼ lemon
Fry the bacon over medium-high heat just until crisp and brown. Pull it out of the pan, drain it on paper towels, crumble and set aside.
Pour off all but 3 to 4 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the pan. Dump in the onions and fennel, seasoning with a pinch of salt and pepper. Sizzle over medium heat until brown and caramelized. Stir in the sauce and lemon juice.
Pour the sauce over the fish
Back to the meal
Beer was on tap and so was a Trilogy Red wine from Black Willow in Olcott, NY
Ending the meal with Julie’s Peanut Butter Pie with an Oreo crust (she used graham crackers and Cool Whip instead of Heavy Whipped Cream) was a perfect conclusion to a summer BBQ.