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Jeptha Creed Southern Fried Green Tomatoes with Vodka Aioli

Hey, y’all!

How’s your week going? I finally feel like I am starting to get into a routine again, Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise. I’m so thankful!

I was recently featured in a cookbook released here in Kentucky – Jeptha Creed: Kitchen Collection. A special thank you to my friends at Jeptha Creed for partnering with me for this book! I am honored to be a small part of their efforts – a kickass, woman-owned business here in the Commonwealth. They are movers + shakers!

Today, I’m sharing my recipe for Jeptha Creed Southern Fried Green Tomatoes + Vodka Aioli with y’all. They are finger lickin’ good!

Fried Green Tomatoes are sentimental for me; they remind me of the farm, of growing up in the country, of meals at home in Russell County. They are reminiscent of my childhood; and for that reason, they will forever be one of my favorite foods.

For the breading, I used Jeptha Creed’s Bloody Butcher Corn Meal, which is a product of their Shelby County-grown Bloody Butcher Corn. I also infused the aioli dipping sauce with their Hot Pepper Vodka, which amps it up like we enjoy doing here in the Bluegrass State!

Jeptha Creed Southern Fried Green Tomatoes & Vodka Aioli

Ingredients

Tomatoes:

Green Tomatoes, sliced
1.5 c. Jeptha Creed Bloody Butcher Cornmeal
1.5 c. all-purpose flour
3 eggs
3 tbsp. water
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Sugar, to taste

Vodka Aioli:

1/2 c. mayonnaise
1/4 c. ketchup
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. black pepper
Jeptha Creed Hot Pepper Vodka to taste, starting with 1 tbsp.

Directions:

Tomatoes:

After slicing tomatoes, heavily salt and pepper both sides. After that, sprinkle a little sugar on either side to both cut bitterness and amplify the natural flavor of the green tomatoes. Allow tomatoes to rest on a baking pan lined with parchment paper for a few minutes.
In three separate bowls, set up a dipping station. From left to right and in order of use: all-purpose flour, the eggs whisked with the water, Jeptha Creed Bloody Butcher Cornmeal.
Cover each tomato slice with all-purpose flour, fully coat in the egg + water mixture, and coat liberally with Jeptha Creed Bloody Butcher Cornmeal. Repeat for each slice.
Fry in olive oil.

Sauce:

Stir together all ingredients, minus the Jeptha Creed Hot Pepper Vodka.
Starting with 1 tbsp, add in the vodka to taste.
Refrigerate until serving.

As always, Happy Eating, Happy Traveling, Happy Living!

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

Best,

FTC: This is a sponsored post; all opinions, however, are my own.

January 10, 2019

Thanksgiving Recipes: Cranberry Orange Muffins & Roasted Rainbow Carrots with Honey + Brown Sugar Butter

Hey, y’all!

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and it is time to get your menus in order! What is often a stressful time for cooks and for hosts/hostesses should, in all reality, be a time of ease and celebration. It is for this reason that I elect to use foolproof, simple, yet elegant dishes for my spread.

I’m so excited to be teaming up with my friends at The Summit at Fritz Farm and Whole Foods to bring you two of my favorite Thanksgiving recipes!

What is The Summit at Fritz Farm?

The Summit at Fritz Farm is a $156 million mixed-use development at the crossroads of Nicholasville Road and Man O’ War Boulevard. From amazing dining, to shopping, to living – this is the place to be in Lexington, KY!

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Whole Foods is a fantastic location to pick up all of your holiday recipe needs. Conveniently located in The Summit at Fritz Farm, it is one of my favorite places to get inspired for the kitchen. One of the best parts? I love eating there, too! They have a fantastic ready-to-eat bar and great seating. I can’t resist it, y’all – be sure to try it out on your next visit!

Thanksgiving Day, for me, is just what the name suggests – it’s an entire day. My festivities start in the early morning with family traditions, such as watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. However, most importantly, we are up cooking. To energize us, I like to start the day off with my Cranberry Orange Muffins. There are few natural pairings that I enjoy more than cranberry and orange; trust me when I say that these will be a hit! Once the flavor erupts in your mouth, you’ll be inspired to cook up a storm for the day’s festivities!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Ingredients:

2.5 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. vegetable oil
4 tsp. baking powder
1.33 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk
4 oranges, juiced
2 tbsp. orange zest
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1.5 c. fresh cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.
Grease/butter bottom and sides of muffin pan.
Combine dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar) until thoroughly mixed.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, oil, milk, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla extract.
Combine the dry ingredients and wet ingredients, adding 1/3 of the dry ingredients at a time. Mix well.
Add cranberries to batter and fold them in evenly.
Bake for roughly 20-25 minutes, using a toothpick to test the inside of the muffin. It should come out clean. Let muffins cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy!

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While meat is often important at dinner – especially on Thanksgiving – I’m a side dish kind of guy. My plate is always full of them. That’s where you can impress me if I am your guest; likewise, it’s where you can really set your meal apart for those dining with you. Thanksgiving is casserole-heavy – and believe me, I love them. To offset that, I love serving my Roasted Rainbow Carrots topped with a homemade Honey + Brown Sugar Butter. These are gorgeous and truly have a “Wow!” factor, y’all.

Roasted Rainbow Carrots + Homemade Honey & Brown Sugar Butter

Ingredients (Roasted Rainbow Carrots):

1-2 bunches of rainbow carrots
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F.
Wash rainbow carrots thoroughly.
Chop off tops and ends of rainbow carrots; additionally, I usually smooth them by shaving off the top layer.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Toss in olive oil, coating well.
Bake rainbow carrots in the oven, flipping once, until tender. This should take roughly 15 minutes.
Top with homemade Honey + Brown Sugar Butter, allowing butter to melt and coat the carrots.
Enjoy!

Ingredients (Honey + Brown Sugar Butter):

*note: this will be a large portion of butter and will leave some for you to keep for other uses.

2 sticks of butter, softened.
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 tbsp. local honey
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

Mix ingredients together until uniformly combined – creamy and smooth.
Refrigerate excess.
Enjoy!

You can find all of the ingredients to make these recipes at Whole Foods at The Summit At Fritz Farm. Be sure to stop there for all of your holiday needs – and tell ’em that I sent ya!

As always: Happy Eating, Happy Traveling, Happy Living!

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

My best,

FTC: This is a sponsored post; however, all opinions are my own.

November 18, 2018

Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast

Hey, y’all!

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching – and, of course, that means one thing: turkey. I have heard horror stories my entire life about preparing one; it is perceived to be a stress-inducing, difficult, hated task.

Wrong.

I want to fight that preconceived notion; preparing the turkey can be simple, while still remaining elegant – and I’m so excited to be partnering with my friends at Kroger to tell you how!

My top tip is to use a turkey breast instead of an entire turkey. They are much easier to cook, to clean, and to handle. You also still get quite a bit of meat out of it; the breast that I picked up was 7 lbs. If you need to do a couple of them, the accompanying recipe can easily be doubled or tripled.

Herb-Roasted Turkey Breast

Ingredients:

1 Turkey Breast (approximately 7 lbs)
5 lemons, juiced
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. dry mustard
2 packs Simple Truth Organic Poultry Herb Blend (Rosemary, Sage, Thyme)
3 tsp. salt
2 tsp. black pepper
1 stick of butter
1 c. white wine (dry)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325.
Combine lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, dry mustard, herbs, salt, and pepper in a bowl.
Place turkey breast in a roasting pan, skin side up.
Evenly distribute the herb mixture on top of the turkey breast, reserving 1/4 of it.
Loosen the skin and put the remaining fourth of the herb mixture directly on the meat.
Cube the stick of butter and place cubes underneath the skin, directly on the meat.
Pour the wine into the bottom of the roasting pan; similarly, line the pan with the squeezed lemons.
Bake for approximately 1 hour 40 minutes; you want the internal temperature to be 165 degrees.
Remove turkey from oven, cover with foil, and allow to rest for 15-20 minutes.
Enjoy!

Now, y’all – how easy is that? Simplified, yet oh-so-delicious. You can find all of these ingredients, just as I did, at your local Kroger. They are your one-stop shop this holiday season!

Tell me – do you prepare the turkey for your family? What are some of your family traditions this time of year?

From my roasting pan to yours, I hope y’all have a Happy Thanksgiving!

As always: Happy Eating, Happy Traveling, Happy Living.

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

My best,

FTC: This is a sponsored post; all opinions, however, are my own.

November 15, 2018

The Best Chicken Noodle Soup

Hey, y’all!

The leaves are colorful, the days are shorter, and the it’s getting colder outside. In my world, that means that it is soup season!

Soup, to me, is nostalgic. It reminds me of childhood. It is comforting, it is filling, and it is reminiscent. Now, as an adult, it’s still all of those things; however, most importantly, it is delicious!

Chicken Noodle Soup is one of my favorites. It’s a classic; however, classics, to me, have to be held to the highest of standards. Time-honored dishes truly epitomize my style of cooking and my philosophy on food: you need not have a large quantity of ingredients, you need not have a difficult recipe to execute. What do you need, however, are good, quality ingredients – ones that stand on their own and ones that compliment one another. Cooking, to me, is an act of symbiosis.

I’m so excited to be teaming up with my friends at Kroger to share my Chicken Noodle Soup recipe with y’all. From my dutch oven pot to yours – enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1 Simple Truth® Rotisserie Chicken (I prefer to just use the white meat)
1 bag Kroger Wide Egg Noodles
1.5 Vidalia onions, diced
4 large carrots, julienned
3 large stalks of celery, diced
2-2.5 Simple Truth® Organic Free Range Chicken Broth (32 oz. each)
2.5 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. fresh thyme
4 lemons, juiced
Salt, heavy and to taste
Pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a large dutch oven pot, sauté onions in olive oil until tender.
Add garlic to the onions and allow to cook for an additional 90 seconds.
Combine the julienned carrots and diced celery with the onions and garlic; allow to cook for 3-5 minutes.
Add Simple Truth® Organic Free Range Chicken Broth, stir well, and bring it to a boil. Post-boil, add the bay leaves and fresh thyme.
Reduce heat, allow ingredients to simmer for roughly 15-20 minutes.
Add Kroger Wide Egg Noodles, allowing to cook through until tender.
Combine pulled Simple Truth® Rotisserie Chicken into soup, stir thoroughly.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Remove bay leaves.
Serve each bowl of soup with lemon; add right before consumed. The more, in my opinion, the better!

All of the above ingredients were purchased at my local Kroger in Louisville. If you are in Kentucky or an area with a Kroger, it is your one-stop shop – which is my kind of shopping, y’all!

Tell me – what’s your favorite soup this time of year? I just might make it!

As always: Happy Eating, Happy Traveling, Happy Living.

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

My best,

FTC: This is a sponsored post; all opinions, however, are my own.

November 14, 2018

Soft, Delicious Ginger Snaps

Hey, y’all!

While it doesn’t quite seem like the holiday season yet to me, many are head-first in the swing of it all. To help me get into the spirit (especially amidst the hectic side of this time of year + all of my upcoming travel), I’ve been baking up a storm! Cookies always embody the season in my household; thus, there is no better way to kick off November here on the blog than with my homemade ginger snaps!

Ginger snaps remind me of my childhood; my grandmother loves them and often served them to me. They’re perfect with a cup of coffee and while playing a hand of bridge – or, at least, that’s how we eat them in our world!

These are one of my all-time favorites; I love the ginger + molasses – that really makes the cookie for me!

Ginger Snaps

Ingredients:

2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 c. white sugar
1 egg
1/3 c. dark molasses
1.5 tbsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. allspice
.5 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp salt
3/4 c. shortening

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift all dry ingredients, minus sugar, together (flour, baking soda, ground ginger, allspice, nutmeg, salt).
Repeat the above step until blended fully.
In a mixing bowl, beat the shortening.
In small batches, add in the sugar; then incorporate the egg and the molasses.
In the same mixing bowl, again in batches (thirds or fourths), add in the mixture of dry ingredients.
Roll out cookies into balls in your hands.
Place on a baking sheet, leaving ample room for the cookies to expand.
Bake for roughly 8 minutes, cool cookies on a wire rack.
Sprinkle the top with sugar; enjoy!

Luckily for y’all, I have teamed up with some of my fellow KY bloggers to share their cookie recipes; check them out below, give them some love, and tell ’em that I sent ya!

Cinnamon-Kissed French Butter Cream Cookies

Kentucky Bourbon Ranger Cookies

Turtle Thumbprint Cookies

Maker’s Mark Bourbon Balls

Grinch Cookies

As always: Happy Eating, Happy Traveling, Happy Living!

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

My best,

JCP

FTC: This is not a sponsored post.

November 5, 2018

Hendrick’s Gin x Breeders’ Cup 2018

Hey, y’all!

The Breeders’ Cup is coming this weekend – November 2-3 – and I will unfortunately have to miss it because I will be in Chicago. Marking the end of thoroughbred-racing season, the Breeders’ Cup has morphed from a one-day event in 1984 to a two-day, multi-million dollar spectacle. This event brings in the best of the equine world: the best horses, trainers, and owners. Churchill Downs is the host of the 2018 Breeders’ Cup and we are SO proud to have it in Louisville!

While I love my Commonwealth’s native spirit, I have a secret for y’all: I am, first and foremost, a gin drinker – and Hendrick’s Gin, one of my favorites, is proud to be the official gin of the 2018 Breeders’ Cup!

The signature cocktail of the event, the Money Rider, is delicious, y’all. You can enjoy it at the tracks for those of y’all that are attending. However, for those of you watching at home and/or hosting your own Breeders’ Cup Party, I have a treat for you — I’ve partnered up with my friends at Hendrick’s to share the recipe!

The Money Rider is a brand new cocktail that Hendrick’s is debuting for the Championship; delicious and simple, it really highlights the notes of rose and cucumber in the gin. It is so smooth and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser!

Hendrick's Gin Money Rider

Ingredients:

2 parts Hendrick’s Gin
1 part fresh lime juice
.5 parts raspberry syrup
Topped with ginger beer

Directions:

Combine all ingredients over ice; churn and serve.

Are y’all heading to Churchill Downs this weekend? If you do, have the best time at the Breeders’ Cup! I will be living vicariously through you.

As always: Happy Eating, Happy Traveling, Happy Living!

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

My best,

FTC: This is a sponsored post; all opinions, however, are my own.

October 30, 2018

Appalachian Frittata With Happy Egg

FTC: This post is sponsored by Happy Egg Co, and all opinions are my own.

Hey, y’all!

Growing up in rural Kentucky, and having been raised on the family farmland, I have a deep interest in the agricultural industry. When it comes to sourcing my food, I think heavily about the ethical side of farming – it’s a rite of passage in my part of the world. What is the farm like? How are the animals treated?

A large part of Appalachian culture is storytelling. One of my favorite stories that my Grandma Judy tells me is about growing up on a free-range chicken farm. While that farm no longer exists, it’s great to see and to support companies like Happy Egg that keep the mission alive.

The Happy Egg Company was established in 1949 and their legacy has endured ever since. They pride themselves on their methods, ethics, care, and conscientiousness – they clearly love their birds, which, in my mind, makes our decision as customers much easier.

When you purchase from Happy Egg, you are receiving a product from one of thirty-one small family farms in Missouri and Arkansas. Their guarantee is that their eggs are the “Free-est of the Free Range” — each farm has over eight acres of outdoor access for hens to forage freely each and every day. This is different from “cage free” eggs; on these farms, hens have no outdoor access.

All their free-range hens are fed a wholesome vegetarian diet, which has been specifically designed by an animal nutritionist and tailored to the flock’s individual needs.

Our family farm was homesteaded in 1798; for centuries, my family worked to promote Kentucky agriculture and agricultural education. While we no longer produce, this value is engrained in my spirit. Every time I crack a Happy Egg, I am assured that I am doing my part as an ethical consumer and the company is doing their part as a producer. That is a symbiosis that I cannot and will not take for granted.

Now, of course, I needed to use these eggs in a recipe; hence, say hello to my Appalachian Frittata! I prepared this in a cast iron skillet gifted to me by my grandmother and our special friend, Cletta. So special!

Appalachian Frittata

Ingredients:

8 Happy Eggs
8 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
1 small vidalia onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 roma tomato, sliced
1 small package mushrooms, cooked
1 16 oz. bag of cheddar cheese
1 tsp. salt
1.5 tsp. black pepper
1.5 tsp, minced garlic
garlic powder, to taste
onion powder, to taste
everything but the bagel seasoning, to taste
red pepper flakes, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to broil setting.
In a cast iron skillet, cook the bacon. Remove from skillet and chop afterwards.
In the same skillet, sauté the diced peppers, onion, and mushrooms.
Using a separate large glass mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs. Add the salt, black pepper, minced garlic, garlic powder, onion powder, and red pepper flakes. Mix well. Then add the bag of cheddar cheese to the egg mixture, combining thoroughly.
Add the egg + cheese mixture to the sautéed veggies in the cast iron skillet. Allow to cook until the eggs set well on the bottom and begin to do so on top.
Add sliced roma tomatoes around the top of the pan.
Broil until browned, fluffy, and fully cooked. You can check with a toothpick – it should come out dry. Typically, this takes 3-5 minutes.
Top with red pepper flakes and everything but the bagel seasoning.

Happy Eggs are the key to this recipe. They are healthier, taste better, and align with my farming values.

If you are in the Louisville area, you find them at Meijer (look for the iconic yellow packaging!); otherwise, use the store locator to find the closest Happy Eggs retailer to you! Happy Eggs can be purchased in two varieties: the “Free-est of the Free Range” and the “Organic Free-est of the Free Range.” Be sure to follow @happyeggcousa on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest!

As always, Happy Eating, Happy Traveling, Happy Living!

Y’all come back now, ya hear?

My best,

October 29, 2018

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Jeptha Creed Southern Fried Green Tomatoes with Vodka Aioli

Jeptha Creed Southern Fried Green Tomatoes & Vodka Aioli

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