Summertime Recipes
Ever wonder what the Country Music Cruise artists like to serve up when they host summer barbeques and backyard parties? Cruise host Lorianne Crook loves to cook up a big spread for friends and family. She even asked country music stars to share their favorite recipes when they dropped by her Crook & Chase Show. Here are a few delicious dishes that are sure to be the highlight of any picnic table this summer.
On the last Country Music Cruise, Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel shared his prized recipe for Corn Soup with Lorianne and cruise guests.
Lorianne has perfected her own recipe for Nutritious Baked Beans.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups canned Great Northern beans (if you prefer, you can soak 1 1/4 cups dried beans overnight)
1 large onion, diced into small pieces
2 Tablespoons molasses (you can substitute real maple syrup)
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon dry mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
1. If you are using dried beans, drain the soaking water and return beans to pot. Add 3 cups fresh water, bring to a boil, then simmer on low until the beans are tender, about two hours or more. Before draining, reserve about 3/4 cup of the liquid.
2. If you are using canned beans, drain them, reserving the liquid. Be sure to rinse the beans to remove excess salt.
3. Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
4. Combine all the ingredients, including the reserved bean liquid, in a baking dish (preferably with a lid). Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 30 minutes until the baked beans are bubbling.
Ever wonder where Lorianne got her cooking talent from? One taste of Mom Crook’s Deviled Eggs will tell you that the apple did not fall far from the tree.
Ingredients
6 hardboiled eggs
1 Tablespoon Miracle Whip salad dressing, or to taste
1 teaspoon prepared mustard, or to taste
5 drops Worchestershire sauce, or to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
Sweet paprika for garnish
Directions
1. Peel the shell from the hardboiled eggs, cut in half and carefully scoop out the yolks.
2. In a small bowl, use a fork to mash and mix the yolks with the Miracle Whip, mustard, Worchestershire sauce, and salt and pepper. Combine all ingredients well. Taste and adjust for seasoning and texture.
3. With a coffee spoon, fill the 12 boiled egg haves with a slightly heaping spoon of the yolk mix.
4. Lightly sprinkle with sweet paprika.
Not to mention her Cherry Cream Pie:
Ingredients
Cream Filling
1 pre-baked pie 8” pie shell, homemade or store-bought
2/3 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch (or 1/3 cup flour)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 ½ cups scalded milk
3 egg yolks, well beaten
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
1. Mix sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt in upper part of a double boiler or in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
2. Gradually add scalded milk. Stir until mixture thickens; cook about 10 minutes. It is important that this mixture becomes very thick, almost like paste, or the pie will be runny.
3. When the mixture is very thick, remove pan from heat. Add a spoonful or two of the hot filling to the egg yolks and mix to temper the eggs (this helps warm the yolks slightly so they won’t cook or “scramble” when added to the hot cream filling). Add the tempered yolks into the cream filling and return the pan to the heat. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Remove pan from heat. Add butter and vanilla extract. Let cool 5 minutes or more, then pour into the pre-cooked pie shell.
Cherry Filling
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 to 1 ½ Tablespoons lemon juice, fresh squeezed is best
2 cans sour (tart) pitted cherries, very well drained (reserve 1 cup of the juice)
Directions
1. In a saucepan over medium heat, blend the first four ingredients with the juice from the cherries. Stir and cook until thickened.
2. Add the well drained cherries (blot them with paper towels if necessary). Boil one minute. Cool 5 to 10 minutes. Pour over the cooled cream filling in the pie shell.
3. When the pie has cooled and set, serve topped with whipped cream.
And if we’re lucky, 2016 Country Music Cruise artist T Graham Brown might just show us how he makes his famous Fried Green Tomatoes:
Ingredients
3 green tomatoes, thinly sliced
½ pint Half & Half poured into a small bowl
1 heaping Tablespoon flour
5 heaping Tablespoons cornmeal
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
olive oil (or your favorite oil) for frying
Directions
1. Mix dry ingredients (flour, cornmeal, paprika, pepper, salt).
2. Dip tomato slices in Half & Half. Then dredge each slice in dry mixture.
3. Fry coated tomatoes in small amount of oil until golden brown. A cast iron skillet works well with this recipe. Be sure to pre-heat the oil in the skillet so that the tomatoes sizzle when they are placed in the pan.
Check out Crook And Chase’s website for more delicious and fun recipes!