About Peg

I love cooking...basic southern style to sophisticated and modern cuisine, especially when my daughters and son in law are in the kitchen with me. Then it becomes a bit more festive! Traveling is something that I am passionate about. I achieved one of my loftiest goals a couple of years ago when we were in Vietnam. I spent days just photographing people. It was a blast; and the book i made brings me delight daily. Cheers!

Turkish Curried Chicken

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Peg

Tales of the Unexpected! Remember that my fam and I were in Istanbul this past October. Well, our first night there, we were having a perfectly peaceful dinner of curried chicken and other things curry at the magnificent restaurant 360°, enjoying our view of…you guessed it, 360 degrees of Istanbul. And out of the darkness, this creature starts climbing along the walls, and then slinking around the floor. Um hum. Suspended Moments in Time. Even rendered my dear son-in-law speechless for a millisecond; and that ain’t easy (written with true affection!) But back to the food. I entrust you with this marvy recipe. Please take care of it. And enjoy it in good health. Serefe! (you know, Turkish for Cheers).

1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbs curry powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t grated ginger root
1/2 t white sugar
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup coconut milk
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.
Add onion and garlic; turn heat to medium low; sauté for 2 minutes.
Add curry, cinnamon, ginger, sugar, tomatoes, yogurt, and milk.
Stir until well combined.
Add chicken pieces and bring to a boil.
When mixture boils, turn heat to medium low.
Cover skillet and cook 10 to 12 minutes, turning a few times.
Turn heat off and stir all ingredients.
Leave skillet on burner 4 minutes.
Serves 4.

To serve, place bed of rice on plate.
Top with 2 chicken strips, half on and half off rice bed.
Drizzle with pan sauce.
Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Caroline Shaw-Grammy Winner!

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Peg

Well, here is the news for the day…Caroline Shaw won a G.R.A.M.M.Y. yesterday! Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance Category. Yup, no scam, just the facts ma’am! Here’s the link http://www.grammy.com/videos/56th-grammy-awards-pre-telecast-ceremony. Scan to 1 hour and 9 minutes into the show, and you will hear Cyndi Lauper introduce Caroline and Roomful of Teeth, followed by their performance. And at 1 hour 22 minutes 50 seconds, you will hear the award announced and see their acceptance! Caroline grew up right here in Greenville; her ecstatic parents are Jon and Bob, and her proud siblings are Robert, Steven, and Nancy (who was in LA and at the Grammy’s with her!). The grandest congratulations go out from Greenville and all of the world to Caroline and her Roomful of Teeth mates!

The Conductor thanking Caroline for her composition.

I think that all have plenty to "sink their teeth into"!

Hamming it up for the media!

Sisters, live from the Grammys, via Caroline’s Instagram page!

Let’s not forget that Caroline won the Pulitzer Prize for Music last April, making her the youngest composer to have won the award since its inception in 1943. Yessirree. This is no joke. Caroline Shaw is the real deal! Read all about it right here! Whoop Whoop!! Disclaimer…Images were snapped from the computer during the live telecast and are property of The Grammys, (with the exception of the last one, which was downloaded from the www, and is also property of The Grammys)! http://www.npr.org/blogs/deceptivecadence/2013/04/15/177348405/caroline-shaw-30-wins-pulitzer-for-music

Pepper Jack Chicken

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Peg

It’s the freakin’ weekend, baby I’m about to have me some fun! (Thank you R. Kelly!) Mexican tonight? Sounds solid to me. Here’s the yummy entree. Now just add a little salad and mix up a pitcher of margaritas. Then just sit back and let it all slide right on down as smoothly as that Reposado Gold! All of this in the comfort of your own warm home. I’m so happy that I’m having a dizzy spell.

1 recipe Pepper Jack Soup
1 cup uncooked regular long grain white rice
1 can black beans
1 can shoepeg corn
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup shredded cheddar or parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375°.
Spray large casserole dish with cooking spray.
In the casserole stir together soup, water, rice, beans, and corn.
Cut each breast in half on the diagonal.
Place chicken on top of soup mixture and press down a bit to submerge the chicken.
Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake for 50 minutes.
Remove from oven, top with cheese and let stand 5 minutes.

Serves 6 to 8. Just depends on serving sizes!

Pepper Jack Soup

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Peg

Check out the funcicles!

Ladies and Gentlemen…it snowed in ENC last night. Wonder of wonders, Miracle of Miracles! (Thank you Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick for those lyrics from Fiddler on the Roof.) It IS a rare occurrence here, but a fun one! It is cold out and I yearned a bit for a cozy soup. Being too lazy to clean off my car and venture to the grocery, I scanned the fridge and cupboard for ingredients on hand. Felt the creativity surging and came up with this wonderful warmness. Mmmm. Much better than Campbell’s discontinued version!

PS…I made this earlier in the winter to add to a chicken recipe…I’ll share that next week! It gets so busy in this head!

2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs all purpose flour
Small sweet onion, grated
6 cloves garlic, minced
14.5 oz can low fat, low sodium chicken broth
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups shredded pepper jack cheese
1 t Worcestershire sauce
1/4 t Tabasco
1/4 t fresh ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

In large skillet, melt butter.
Stir in flour and cook until flour begins to turn golden brown.
Add onion and garlic.
Cook 3 minutes, until onion softens and becomes translucent.
Slowly whisk in chicken broth, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes, until thickened and smooth.
Remove from heat.
Immediately whisk in shredded cheese until melted, and soup is smooth.
Season with Worcestershire, Tabasco and pepper.
Ladle into bowls.
Sprinkle with cilantro to garnish.

Serves 6 as meal or 18 in demitasse.

PSagain! Sorry, I can’t find the pic of this. But you don’t need it. You’ll be just fine!

Saturday Sandwich

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Peg

It’s a bit of a mouthful, but it surely is yummy. Gathering my goods for this Saturday sandwich. Gonna stay right at home tomorrow, work on my puzzle and chow down on this tasty combination! It’s the only way I can entice TD to assist with the puzzle; otherwise, he’s on the golf course or working on his crosswords! I just L.O.V.E. this sandwich toasted, on a Saturday, and I savor it over a full 45 minutes! Small bites delivering big flavor; that’s what I’m saying. Sometimes I even sip a mimosa with it! Now you just may be noticing that blue solo cup on the game table…Brenton can’t understand it, with my obsession for glassware. It’s just another tale of the unexpected. And so it goes…

Pimento Cheese, Bacon and Tomato Sandwich

1 recipe of Peg’s Pimento Cheese (repeated here for convenience)
4 slices of Health Nut bread
1 tomato, sliced
4 strips of precooked bacon, warmed

Pimento Cheese:
4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use Hellman’s Light or Duke’s)
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar
2 cups grated pepper jack
4 oz pimentos, drained and finely chopped
1/2 t black pepper
1/3 cup sugar

Mix all together.

Spread pimento cheese on 1 slice of bread.
Top with tomato slices and bacon.
Top with another slice of bread.
Cut in half.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

Naturally you’ll have pimento cheese left over, but who minds that problem? Not this girl.

Pomegranate Chicken

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Peg

Old Town Istanbul, October, 2013

Admittedly, I am more than slightly obsessed with pomegranates. My family will attest that I verged on the side of obnoxious while in Istanbul this past October. But in my defense…there WERE fresh pomegranate carts all over the old towne (Constantinople!) I just wanted to bite right into one, almost did as a matter of fact! Proof you ask; well here ’tis! So this recipe in the new issue of Cooking Light jumped off the page at me. Tweaked it last night to suit our taste buds and haven’t been that delighted with a new entree in a long time! So, spreading the love is what I’m doing. Pomegranate season lasts another 6 or so weeks; so race on down to your local grocer and whip this up. At a mere 458 calories per serving, who can turn this down?! Licking my lips again!

3 cups low fat, low sodium chicken broth, divided
1 cup uncooked long cooking rice
1 medium onion, cut into chunks
1 Tbs chopped fresh thyme
3/4 t salt, divided
1 1/4 t cracked pepper, divided
1 1/4 cup pomegranate juice, divided
1/2 cup pomegranate arils
1 Tbs olive oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 400°.
Combine 2 cups chicken stock, rice, onion, and thyme in medium saucepan.
Bring to boil.
Cover and simmer 15 minutes, until liquid is absorbed.
Remove from heat.
Stir in half of the salt and pepper.
Set aside.
Combine remaining 1 cup chicken broth and 1 cup pomegranate juice in small saucepan.
Bring to boil.
Reduce and simmer 16 to 18 minutes, until reduced to 1/2 cup.
Remove from heat and stir in arils.
Set aside.
Add olive oil and remaining 1/2 cup pomegranate juice to skillet.
Turn heat to medium high.
Salt and pepper chicken.
Add to skillet.
Cook 4 minutes til browned on one side.
Turn chicken over.
Place in oven.
Bake 8 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to rest 4 minutes.

To plate:
Slice each breast on diagonal into 4 or 5 strips.
Spoon a bit of rice onion mixture onto plate.
Place sliced chicken half on and half off rice.
Pour pomegranate mixture over chicken and rice.

Serves 4 to 6.

Game Night

Posted on January 11, 2014 by Peg

Sis (moi!) and Bro (Will) Beer Ponging!

(Pretend it’s yesterday, when I meant to post this!) Moving from the elegance of last weekend’s soiree to Flashback Friday…you can often find a casually clad gang at the Hardee Home for Friday Night Game Night. My friends are the greatest sports. Albeit I do take credit for knowing who will enjoy these shenanigans, and who would rather be included in an evening of a different theme! These were Friday night parties in 2012. Get ready 2014! So here ya go: Minute to Win It and Beer Pong straight up in the kitchen following supper (yes, supper!) PS…where was the kitchen fairy when I needed her?! PtothePS…Absolutely no Southern Cocktails involved here. Try it sometime…it’s a BLAST! It’s so simple to make the Minute to Win It games. And most of the time we don’t even mess with a timer. We’re too busy laughing and having fun! Cheers!

Rob gathering grocery bags with only his teeth. Limber back is all I’ve gotta say!

Bonny threading ragotini with a spaghetti noodle!

Penny Anne Stacking Dice.

Tony, Stacking 3 golf balls.

Get that Oreo from your forehead to your mouth hands free! Go Jackie!

Stacking Six Apples…Nice Job Pam!

TnT!

Posted on January 9, 2014 by Peg

The Bride (T) and Groom (T) with the Groom’s Parents.

Sometimes Stars Just Align! As they did for TandT. So this past weekend we threw a partee to celebrate this bride and groom to be (thank you Jackie for sharing your magnificent home)! Served a few of our favorite things, yessiree; so I’m just going to hook you up with one of my personal favs, a bit of a surprise at a cocktail buffet. Gotta get your “starch on”! But first…a couple of pics from the partee!

The Bride and her Sister. (Look at those smiles. I mean these gals should be in print ads for a dental practice…umm…I know just the right practice!)

It was the Sister’s 18th, so we Made a Cake and Sang!

Sweets for the Sweet! (Thank you Mr. Shakespeare!)

Drum Roll…the Potatoes!

Mini Potatoes with Cheese and Bacon
24 small white or red potatoes
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
8 strips precooked bacon, warmed and crumbled
1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
3/4 cup grated Monterey jack
3 Tbs chopped green onion

Preheat oven to 400°.
Line baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Boil potatoes for 8 – 10 minutes, or until tender.
Drain and allow to cool.
Cut top off of potato.
Scoop out part of center of potato, leaving 1/4 inch wall.
Combine cream cheese, sour cream, half of the bacon, salt, and pepper.
Add additional cheeses, and onion, and stir.
Spoon mixture into potato shells.
Top with remaining bacon.
Place potatoes on prepared baking sheet.
Bake 15 – 20 minutes, until lightly browned.
Sprinkle with pepper and serve.

Note: If using as an appetizer rather than as a dinner starch, I cut the potatoes in half rather than just slicing top off, before prepping, for a smaller bite.

PS…I did not use bacon this particular time as we were serving yummy brown sugar, maple syrup bacon as well! But that’s for another time.

Here are the Taters with Bacon!

Bloody Mary Special

Posted on December 19, 2013 by Peg

Ho Ho Ho! I’ve made my list, and checked the darn thing at least thrice (maybe 9 times!). Everyone has their own unique recipe for a Bloody Mary, so I will leave that specific concoction up to you. However, for the Holiday Season I highly encourage making Bloody Mary ice cubes for your guests, and of course for you! I combine Zing Zang mix with a dash of Tito’s vodka in a small pitcher, then pour it into the trays (you don’t want the cubes really strong!)…that is if you want them to taste your fabulous cooking that you have literally fretted about for weeks. Ha! Fill an old timey ice cube tray and allow to freeze. After frozen I like to pop them out of the cube tray and store in a sealed ziploc, so there is no freezer aroma in the cubes. Then after you whip up your batch of B Mary’s, plop a couple of frozen cubes into the glass, fill with your B Mary and relax…I promise that the day will float right by with lots of love, laughter, delightfulness and not a single snafu! Happy Holidays! See you on the other side of the Holiday Season, if not before! PS…I do love celery salt, fresh celery, hot sauce of your choice, and a fresh lime in my Bloody!

Sausage Bread

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Peg

This is fabulous for breakfast or snack while the fam is home for the holidays! Make ahead. It freezes perfectly; bake before freezing! Zip it out of the freezer the night before, and pop slices in the microwave the next morn. Won’t they be happy campers! I’m making 2 loaves this afternoon! Getting ready. I’m thrilled anticipating a full house for an entire week. Now if TD will just assemble the Big Wheel please, after he collects the Dibon cases (Spanish Cava…delicious and an extremely fair priced champagne) from On the Square tonight! (This is also available at your local Total Wine!) Ho Ho Ho!

1 lb ground hot sausage
11 oz can refrigerated French bread dough
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cook sausage in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, stirring, until browned.
Drain grease off sausage, and transfer sausage to paper towels to blot.

Lightly grease rectangular baking sheet with cooking spray.
Unroll dough into rectangular shape onto baking sheet.
*This is easiest if you remove dough from refrigerator and immediately unroll it cold.

Sprinkle evenly with sausage and cheese, leaving a 1 inch margin on all sides.
Beginning with 1 short side roll up, jelly roll style.
Turn seam side down.
Pinch ends to secure the filling inside.
Cut three 1/4 inch slits across top of dough with a sharp knife.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until browned.
Remove from oven.
Let stand 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 12.

*Author’s Note: I find this delicious but extremely rich. So I always slice it thinly. If you are going to freeze it, cook it first, and then freeze. It microwaves by the slice beautifully.

PegHardee.com Insight into Southern Cuisine and Hospitality

Southern Cuisine, Gracious entertaining, Floral arrangements, Travel experiences, Fun Times

Author Archives: Peg