Roy's Spicy Sausage and Rice

I live in a sleepy  bedroom community with a population of 2800. Though bustling downtown Savannah is only a 15-minute drive away, Bloomingdale is a small town where things haven't changed a whole lot in the last several decades.  

Within this tiny city's boundaries there are a few beauty shops, one gas station, one BBQ restaurant, a post office, and we just got our second traffic light three years ago.   And just a block away from our little town hall, there lies a little treasure of a place for me.  Meet my local butcher, Roy White, and his mama, Darlene, and daddy, Roy Sr.   

Roy grew up watching his daddy cut meat, and learned the trade along with his brother, who is also a butcher in another town.  Roy's love for life is contagious, and his knowledge of his trade so vast.  He can tell you where the meats come from to his shop, and how he takes it and makes different cuts.  And he loves to make sausages.  

The recipe Roy uses has been passed down from his grand-daddy: not cluttered with various exotic ingredients and fillers, but good ol' country style where sausage tastes like it ought to, simple and delicious.    Roy makes mild, hot, smoked, Italian, garlic, polish, bratwurst and chicken sausages. 

 As I spent a few hours with Roy last week, I learned so much from him.  Not just about making sausages, but about living a thankful life, working hard, and loving God and people.  I think that's the best recipe of all for a simple and delicious life.  Thanks, Roy!

Roy was featured in Miss Sophie's weekly column in Savannah Now along with my photos.  Click here to view.  

The Butcher's Block is located at 102 U.S. 80, Bloomingdale, GA 31302  Phone: (912) 748-6060

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ROY’S SPICY SAUSAGE AND RICE

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small red bell pepper, chopped

½ small onion, chopped

1 pound Roy’s Spicy Smoked Sausage, sliced

2 cups chicken broth (homemade preferred or canned low-sodium)

½ teaspoon seafood seasoning (Old Bay, Zataran’s or your favorite seasoning)

1 ½ cups long grain rice, uncooked, rinsed and drained

1. Heat oil in large, non-stick skillet on medium-high heat. Add peppers and onions; cook about 2 minutes until slightly wilted. Add rinsed rice and stir to mix.

2. Add sausage, seafood seasoning, and chicken broth. Stir and cover.  Bring to boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until all broth is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Fluff rice with fork and serve.  Add salt to your taste if needed.  

Grilled Pork Chops with Coffee Dry Rub and Coffee BBQ Sauce

A few weeks ago, Miss Sophie and I took a little private tour of our city's favorite coffee roaster, Savannah Coffee Roasters.  Beautiful aroma surrounded us as Lori Collins, ever-so-gracious CEO of the company, explained the process of how good coffee beans are roasted.   

Click here to read about our visit on Savannah Morning News with Miss Sophie......

And this is Nigel Gardener, SCR's roastmaster and brainchild of creating new specialty blends;  a retired rocket scientist, whose passion and knowledge for coffee are unlimited as the sky.  

I often use coffee for baking recipes where coffee boosts chocolate flavor and adds a great dimension to baked good.  Well, I learned that coffee will do the same for the savory recipes, adding depth to the flavor and even tenderizes the meat.  

Freshly ground coffee in dry rub or brewed coffee in BBQ sauce can enhance the meat flavor like no other ingredient.  

 And my sincere thanks to my local butcher, Roy White at The Butcher's Block in Bloomingdale, for going above and beyond to cut this beautiful piece of pork!  Thanks Roy!

My family and I wholehearted agreed that this was the finest pork chop we have ever had and we have the picture to prove it.  

To order from Savannah Coffee Roasters Click Here

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Grilled Pork Chops with Coffee Dry Rub and Coffee BBQ Sauce
Serves 4

4 bone-in pork chops (about 1 inch thick) or French cut pork loin as shown
Coffee Dry Rub, recipe follows
Coffee BBQ sauce, recipe follows

Basic Pork Brine

1/4 c kosher salt
1/4 c brown sugar
4 cups of water

 In a medium bowl, combine the salt, sugar and water. Whisk vigorously until all the salt and sugar is dissolved. Then pour this mixture over pork chops. Soak at least 6 hours or overnight.

To fully submerge the  pork chops, use gallon size zip lock baggies. Divide the chops to fit the bags, carefully pour brine mixture, let all the air out of the bags and seal the bagstightly.  Place bags in a shallow pan /bowl and refrigerate 4-6 hours or overnight.

After brining, drain and discard the water.  Pat dry the pork chops well with paper towel and let sit room temperature while preheating the grill. Generously rub both sides of the pork chops with the coffee rub. Grill the pork chops for about 5 to 7 minute on each side over a medium heat, internal temperature about 145 degrees F.  Off the heat, let the chops rest covered with aluminum foil before serving with Coffee BBQ sauce and your favorite sides.

Coffee Dry Rub 
Enough for 8 pork chops

1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon fine ground coffee (Savannah Roasters Columbian Supremo beans, finely ground)
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon tumeric

In a small bowl, combine all the ingredients until well blended.  Store in airtight container and refrigerate to store for weeks.

Coffee BBQ sauce 
Makes about 2 1/2 Cups


1/2 cup brewed strong, dark coffee, (used Savannah Coffee Roasters Colombian Supremo)
1 cup ketchup
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 cup sweet red chili sauce Apricot or other mild fruit marmalade can be substituted)
 2 cloves garlic grated
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons ground cumin
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon Sriracha

Stir all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Bring to simmer then reduce the heat to low until flavor meld about 40 minutes, occasionally stirring the sauce. Cool to room temperature and serve.  Will keep for about 2+ weeks in refrigerator.  

Sausage and Wild Rice Casserole with Miss Sophie

For this Wednesday post, Miss Sophie writes an article about her daddy and her childhood dinner table.  She shares with us her daddy's favorite meal,  Sausage Casserole.  This simple and humble dish describes  many fathers around the country who faithfully love and provide for their families.  

"How do you write a food article about your father? I never have trouble writing about my mother and food because we’ve spent so many hours in the kitchen together, but Daddy?......click here to read more

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GOURMET SAUSAGE AND RICE CASSEROLE
Recipe by Miss Sophie 

 2 lbs mild ground pork sausage
 1/3 cup green pepper
 1 can cream of mushroom soup
 ¾ cup milk
 ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
 1 (4 oz) jar pimento, drained
 2 cups of a rice blend or white rice.

 Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook rice according to package directions. Brown sausage medium skillet and drain. In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add rice and sausage to bowl mixing well. Pour into a well greased baking dish. Bake 35-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Freezes well.

Pork BBQ Sandwich Topped with Asian Slaw

 East meets West.  I love a good pork BBQ sandwich, but I love it better when it is topped with crunchy and flavorful Asian Slaw.  This was a huge hit when we served it at Wednesday Noon Service lunch past week.  Served with hot fried onion rings and our famous Garlic Pickles, it couldn't be a better meal.  

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Pork BBQ Sandwich Topped with Asian Slaw

4 large seeded hamburger buns
1 pound of shredded pork BBQ
Your favorite BBQ sauce, we used Cattleman's Tangy Gold

Assemble the sandwiches and top the pork with slaw and BBQ sauce.  Serve immediately.


Asian Slaw (Original Post from two years ago)
Serves 6-8

Halve this recipe to top the sandwiches only or make one full recipe and serve as a side

Dressing:

6 tablespoon rice vinegar

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons sesame oil

5 tablespoons creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar

1 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoons grated garlic

5 cups thinly sliced green cabbage

2 cups thinly sliced red cabbage

2 large bell peppers, red and yellow, julienne cut (do not use green bell pepper)

2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into matchstick-size strips

4 large green onions, cut into matchstick-size strips

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1/4 cup toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Whisk in a bowl first 8 ingredients in small bowl to blend. (Dressing can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill. Stir well before using.

Prepare the vegetable.  Can be made two days ahead.  15-20 minutes prior to serving,  in a large bowl, toss the prepared veggies with the dressing

Adapted from Epicurious.com 

Pork BBQ Pizza

Wednesday lunch crowd love these simple Pork BBQ pizzas. I learned this recipe from my friend David Weikert, executive chef of The Pirates House and its sister restaurant, Pearl's Salt Water Grille. I hope to properly introduce you to Chef David because he is one of the most gifted chefs I know. But for now for Pork BBQ pizzas....

Use your favorite pizza dough recipe, or frozen bread dough recipe will work fine, too. I use simple bread flour, yeast, salt, and water recipe (see below), and after proofing and shaping the dough discs, they are par-baked. This way I can have 60 personal-size pizzas ready to be topped & baked all at once.

Use your favorite dry rub, pan sear pork tenderloin and cook until medium (internal temperature 145 degrees F). Since pork will be sliced and used as a topping and baked again, don't fully cook the meat.

Smear your favorite BBQ sauce. I used Cattlemen's Tangy Gold since it is a great tasting sauce readily available. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese.

Top with mozzarella cheese, pork tenderloin, more Parmesan cheese, and drizzle extra sauce.

Bake in 450 degrees for about 8-12 minutes until cheese is melted. Cut in half and serve immediately.

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Pork BBQ Pizza

(Makes about 4 personal pizzas)

1 recipe of prepared pizza dough

1 Pork Tenderloin, cooked to medium, sliced thin

2 Cups of Cattlemen's Tangy Gold BBQ sauce, or your favorite

2 Cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 Cup of shredded Parmesan cheese

Or any toppings you like: caramelized onions, olives, artichoke hearts, etc.

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees

For crusts that will be made into pizza immediately, add your toppings.

Bake time is between 8-12 minutes, add a couple minutes for loaded pizzas.

Simple Pizza Dough Recipe
(Makes about 4 personal size pizza dough)

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Extra olive oil for brushing the edge before baking fully assembled pizzas.

1. In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.

2. Stir in flour, salt and oil. Mix and turn dough until smooth. Cover and let rest for about 30 minutes, dough will be doubled in size.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into thin 6-inch diameter rounds for personal size pizzas. Now they are ready for toppings.

If cooking for a large group, par bake these at 425 degrees for 3-5 minutes until dough rises and crust is set. Cool completely and store in freezer or top them with your favorite toppings and bake.

Make-Ahead Tips:

Up to two weeks ahead: Pizza dough is made and par-baked, cooled completely. Store in freezer bag until ready to use. Par-baked discs do not need to thaw before putting sauce and toppings.

Up to one hour ahead: Brush the edge of the pizza dough with olive oil. Top with sauce, cheeses, and sliced pork

15 minutes before serving: Bake at 425-450 degrees oven until cheese is completely melted. 8-12 minutes depending on the oven.

Tangy Glazed Pork Loin (The Spirit of Food)

I am so excited to be able to post this recipe from the The Spirit of Food.

Wipf and Stock Publishers graciously allowed me to post five recipes from the book and this is one of them!

Meet Ann Voskamp. She is the daughter of a fifth-generation farmer, married to a seventh-generation farmer, and is raising six children of the next generation of farmers. A monthly columnist for DaySpring (Hallmark), a global advocate travelling for Compassion, and the author of One Thousand Gifts: A dare to Fully Live Right Where You Are (Zondervan 2011). Ann writes daily of her farming family's dirt-common lives at her award-winning Web site journal, www.aholyexperience.com

My kitchen ladies told me tonight that this is the best pork loin I have ever cooked in last three years in IPC Kitchen! Now THAT is a high, Southern compliment! Thank you, Ann, for sharing the recipe.

Rubbed sage, salt, pepper, and mined garlic is rubbed well on the pork loins. I needed 12 whole loins to feed my church family. Want to get in shape? Come work in the kitchen with me.

Glaze is made with vinegar, water, sugar, corn starch, and soy sauce for rich flavor.

Cook sauce mixture in low heat until slightly thick and bubbly.

Brush on the glaze and finish cooking.

For whole loin, cook until thermometer reaches the internal temperature of 145 degrees F. And let rest for 30 minutes before slicing. Brush on extra glaze and serve.

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Tangy Glazed Pork

Recipe of Ann Voskamp

Serves 8

Meat

2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cloves of garlic crushed (I used freshly minced garlic since 12 loins needed to be cooked)
1 (5 pound) boneless pork loin or pork roast of choice

Sauce

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoons soy sauce

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Bring your pork to almost room temperature before baking.

In a bowl, mix sage, salt, pepper, and garlic, thoroughly and then rub all over the pork roast. Cook in an uncovered roasting pan on the middle oven rack for approximately 3 hours or until a meat thermometer reads at least 150 degrees F.

For the sauce, combine sugar, cornstarch, vinegar, water, and soy sauce in a small saucepan and place on low heat. Stir occasionally until the sauce begins to bubble and slightly thicken.

Then remove from heat and brush the roast with glaze 3 or 4 times during the last 1/2 hour of cooking. Pour remaining sauce over the roast and serve.

My Personal Note: For Pork loin or tenderloin, cook until internal temperature reaches 145 degrees F. (25 to 45 minutes depending on the size). Cover loosely with foil and let rest 30 minutes before slicing.

5 of 31 Recipes

Shrimp Fried Rice

Fried rice is a wonderful and inexpensive dish to feed my church family. By adding shrimp, I can make this a main meal by adding a simple salad and a great dessert. This was well liked by both adults and children tonight at our fellowship dinner.

Making shrimp fried rice enough for 250 takes a little pre-planning. 20 pounds of long grain rice and bacon were cooked two days ahead, bagged in ziplock storage bags and refrigerated. Carrots were diced and stored and green onions cleaned and trimmed ready for dicing.

Then on the day of serving, Sunday, I stir fry all the ingredients separately on the large cast iron griddle. If you were doing this at home, you can use one largest non-stick frying pan or wok to combine all the ingredients.

Use frozen peas and do not thaw before stir frying.

All the ingredients are ready for mixing and heated in the oven. Again for the home cooks, everything can be cooked in one pan.

Garnish with finely minced green onions, and voila! You have a great dish that everyone in your family will enjoy. My church family sure did!

Shrimp Fried Rice

Serves 8

2 Eggs, soft scrambled (Click here for the best scrambled eggs)

4 Tablespoon of vegetable oil or bacon fat

5 cups cooked rice, chilled

3 Tablespoon soy sauce mixed with 3 Tablespoon of chicken broth

3 pieces of cooked bacon, finely chopped,

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 cup carrots, diced small

1/2 cup green onions, finely diced

1/2 pound of cooked small shrimp

Optional Veggies: 1/2 cups of bok choy, Nappa cabbage, sliced mushrooms

Optional Meats: Diced ham, chicken, or pork

Cook eggs and set aside.

Heat wok or large non-stick frying pan to smoking point. Add 2 tablespoon of oil or bacon fat if using, roll it around cooking surface to coat. Add rice and stir-fry until rice is hot through out and free from clumps. Add soy sauce and broth mixture, combining it well. Add bacon and remove rice from wok or pan and set aside in a large bowl.

Add remaining oil/bacon fat to wok/pan, when oil is hot, add carrots first, frozen peas, then shrimp until ingredients are hot. Add rice back into wok/pan and mix well. Fold in scrambled eggs and diced green onions. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately.

Savannah Spring Rolls

Living in Savannah, Barbecue is very much a part of the southern lifestyle and cooking culture. So, I decided to give the Vietnamese Spring Roll a southern makeover. Smoky, pulled pork and local Georgia shrimp is paired with a ginger infused BBQ sauce to create a unique Savannah style roll.

Prepare your ingredients: Pulled pork, deveined and cooked shrimp, shredded red leaf lettuce, cilantro, finely julienne green onions, and carrots finely julienne for color. You can also use sprouts or any other veggies you like.

In lukewarm water, dip spring roll wrapper for 2 to 3 seconds. Yes, I mean it! Only few seconds. If you soak the wrapper too long, it will be very limp and very hard to roll. The wrapper should be stiff but completely wet.

Fold in the wrapper into thirds, with both sides over lapping. The wrapper will be stiff, which is good!

Starting from the bottom of the wrap, line your ingredients and place shrimp about an inch below where you will finish wrapping (hey, I see a face!)

At this point, your wrapper will be softer and pliable. Begin the roll, making sure the fillings stay together and roll is nice and snug. Finish rolling, ensuring two shrimp are tucked in with tails hanging out on both open ends. Cover the the rolls with damp paper towel while rolling several more.

Right before serving cut the rolls in half. These rolls are tastiest right after they are rolled. Invite your guests in your kitchen and have a rolling party!

Place cut side down so the rolls are standing up with shrimp beautifully exposed.


Serve with your favorite sauce or here is a very simple barbecue sauce with fresh ginger.

Savannah Spring Rolls

Makes about 20 whole rolls (40 appetizers pieces when cut)

1/2 pound Pulled Pork, shredded not chopped

1 pound medium shrimp, deveined, cooked and peeled (31-40 count shrimp)

2 cups red leaf lettuce, finely sliced

3 Green Onions, cut into thirds and julienne thinly lengthwise

2 carrots, peeled, julienne very thinly (if you own a Japanese Mandolin Slicer, this is a great time to use it)

1 cup cilantro leaves, washed

25 Basil leaves, washed

Mint leaves if desired

1 package of Rice Paper, 12 oz package contains about 35 rice papers, purchased at Asian Market

Luke warm water in a shallow dish big enough to soak rice papers

Dip the rice paper in lukewarm water for 2-3 seconds. Place the wet rice paper on the cutting board and fold them in thirds, overlapping two sides. Place your meat and prepared veggies on the third bottom of the paper and begin rolling. Before finishing the roll, place two shrimp with tails out of the edges, finish rolling, carefully tucking the thick half of the shrimp. Cover the roll with damp paper towel.

Roll several more. When ready to serve, cut the roll in half. Place the cut side on the plate. Garnish with mint, basil, or cilantro leaves. Serve immediately with your favorite sauce.

Ginger Barbecue Sauce

1/2 Cup Cattleman's Gold BBQ Sauce (this is mustard based sauce, if not available use regular bbq sauce)

1 teaspoon ginger, freshly grated

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Mix well. Serve room temperature.

Fried Wontons

Every Tuesday during this summer, my friends, our daughters, and I get together to learn to sew and to cook. My husband coined the name "Terrific Tuesday". Terrific because his wife is finally learning to sew colonial clothes.

You see, we went on a family vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia with a homeschooling group this past spring and completely fell in love with this beautiful historic site . And you could recognize this particular group from a mile away because most of us were strolling through the streets with colonial period clothes and with several children in tow. My entire family was most elegantly garbed, thanks to my master seamstress friend, but I vowed that I would learn how to sew from her this summer.

With much enthusiasm and nudging from my husband, "Terrific Tuesday" was launched six weeks ago. So far I have completed, with lots of help, colonial kerchief, apron, haversack, and a shift. Sorry that you have to suffer through looking at my colonial under garment here, but as a Korean, this is such a wonderful and meaningful skill I am learning.

Oh, yeah, back to Fried Wontons.....after a morning of sewing and lunch, we begin the cooking class, my comfort zone where I don't struggle so much as I do with sewing.

Yummy filling makes the wontons. Here are simple but very tasty ingredients of ground pork, minced shrimp, water chestnut, and green onions. Mix gently with egg, cornstarch, and seasoning.

Only one teaspoon is needed per wonton wrapper (overfilling will cause seams to open during deep frying) . Apply egg wash on the edges and lightly press the edges together, then fry.

Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. It's hard to east just one, I know. I had two dozens today.


Fried Wontons

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled, deveined, chopped fine
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 can water chestnuts (8oz), drained and finely chopped
3 sprigs of green onions, finely minced
2 tsp. cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of sugar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 egg beaten

60-75 wonton skins
4 c vegetable oil

Egg Wash:
1 egg white
1 teaspoon cornstarch

Mix egg white and 1 teaspoon of corn starch in a small bowl until well combined. Set aside.

Combined first 10 ingredients in bowl and mix well.

Spoon about 1 teaspoon of shrimp-meat mixture in center of wonton skin. Brush edges of skin with egg wash, using tip of your finger. Fold skin over to form triangle and press edges to seal.

Heat oil in a heavy duty cast iron pot or deep fryer to 375 degrees F. Fry wontons 6-7 at a time until golden brown, about 2 minutes, turning once.

Drain on wire rack. Can be made 1 hour ahead. Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

NOTE: For reheating, pre-heat oven 300 degrees F and bake for 4-5 minutes until warmed.