Brandy in the Kitchen

[Brandy524I make cake]

Just a quick post for you guys. I made fried squash for supper last night so I thought I'd do a post about it. I was born and raised in the south so fried foods are like another food group to us, fried vegetables especially.

One tip: Fry in small batches. Don't try to put too many in the pan at once. When the oil really gets going they fry very quickly and it's hard to keep up with turning them if there are too many in the pan. Learn from my mistakes!

*I may or may not have burned the first few slices, set off the smoke detectors and was forced to open the doors and windows to let the smoke out.

Here's the recipe I use (I doubled it with this batch because I had a lot of squash):

Southern Fried Squash

Yellow squash, washed and sliced
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup corn meal
1/2 all-purpose flour
Garlic salt
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil

Mix the egg and milk in one bowl, and the corn meal, flour and garlic salt in another bowl. I don't measure my garlic salt; I just sprinkle until I can smell it enough. Does that make sense?

Dip the squash slices in the egg mixture, then dredge/toss in the flour mixture. Heat your oil over medium-high and fry the slices until golden, seasoning with salt and pepper as they are cooking. Place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain.

[Hilltopper39Don't make me kick you in the donkey!]

*I may or may not have burned the first few slices, set off the smoke detectors and was forced to open the doors and windows to let the smoke out.

Haha, no shame in that! I set the smoke detectors off every time I use my cast iron skillet inside.

Mmmmm, fried (anything) squash! I never have any luck pan frying anything at home so I just kinda stopped doing it, but this easy enough I might try it again. Good way to eat my vegetables .

[Brandy524I make cake]

*I may or may not have burned the first few slices, set off the smoke detectors and was forced to open the doors and windows to let the smoke out.

Haha, no shame in that! I set the smoke detectors off every time I use my cast iron skillet inside.

Mmmmm, fried (anything) squash! I never have any luck pan frying anything at home so I just kinda stopped doing it, but this easy enough I might try it again. Good way to eat my vegetables .

I've only ever pan fried. I have a deep fryer that we got as a wedding present nine years ago and I've never even taken the plastic off of it. I'm kind of scared of it, lol.

[Hilltopper39Don't make me kick you in the donkey!]

I'm kind of scared of it, lol.

I'd be scared of it too, scared that I'd use it all the time!

[jray21Why do I still have a donkey title???]

Looks like the wife and I will be having fried squash and blueberry muffins for dinner tomorrow! Awesome stuff!

Edit: I forgot to add that I 'cheat' and use the pancake dispenser below for my cupcake batter. Works great, and it's on sale for only $11 on Amazon!

www.amazon.com/Handy-Gourmet-Pancake-Batter-Dispenser/dp/B000U6AXDI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1342176117&sr=8-3&keywords=pancake+dispenser

[Brandy524I make cake]

Looks like the wife and I will be having fried squash and blueberry muffins for dinner tomorrow! Awesome stuff!

Edit: I forgot to add that I 'cheat' and use the pancake dispenser below for my cupcake batter. Works great, and it's on sale for only $11 on Amazon!

Sounds like a good dinner to me! And I never thought about using something like that for filling cupcakes! Great idea!

[giscoStarbucks Enthusiast]

Only in the South would you fry squash like that!

Does it come out mushy?

We take squash, mushrooms, Asparagus, onions and stir fry it in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Just enough so the mushrooms are cooked and the squash still has a little crunch to it.

[doublestufforeoI used to pimp out donkeys at IOA.]

Is this the same recipe for fried pickles? I absolutely love them, especially dipped in some good queso.

[Brandy524I make cake]

Only in the South would you fry squash like that!

Does it come out mushy?

We take squash, mushrooms, Asparagus, onions and stir fry it in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Just enough so the mushrooms are cooked and the squash still has a little crunch to it.

It's a must in the South! The crust on the outside is crunchy but the squash itself is soft. I wouldn't say mushy (it holds its shape), but not crunchy.

Is this the same recipe for fried pickles? I absolutely love them, especially dipped in some good queso.

You could probably use the same batter recipe for pickles. I use this batter recipe for squash and green tomatoes and it works well for both. I'll have to try it with pickles sometime!

[Brandy524I make cake]

I've been meaning to post this every day this week and kept forgetting. Sunday night, after we got home from Atlanta, the girls really wanted to make some kind of cookies or something. I was running really low on baking ingredients so I got on the internet and found a recipe search where you put in the ingredients that you have and they suggest recipes to match those ingredients. Most of the recipes it turned up were shortbread, but I wanted something different because I've made shortbread countless times. So I found this recipe for Mexican Wedding Cakes.

They're not really cakes, but kind of a cross between a cakey texture and a cookie. They're not too terribly sweet, so if sickeningly sweet cookies are not your thing then this recipe should appeal to you. It's fairly easy and takes very few ingredients. Here goes:

Mexican Wedding Cakes

1 cup butter, room temp.
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sifted flour
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat oven to 400. Cream butter, adding sugar gradually until completely mixed. Blend in salt, vanilla and flour to form a dough. If dough is too soft, chill until firm. Roll dough into balls and place in ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12 minutes or until golden. While hot, roll in powdered sugar.

** I'm going to make the blondie recipe I was challenged to find in the next couple of days, possibly tonight if I have time. Have to take Ally to an allergist appointment this afternoon, so I'll have to see how long that takes and whether or not I have time to go shopping. But the blondies are coming, I promise!