Cookbook Review: The Neely's

Greetings G.O. Readers!

Thanks for swinging by to check out another edition of my blog. As promised, this will be the first of my posts about recipes. Yay! Right? I enjoy food as much as the next person, but I don’t always love the idea of cooking it. Some recipes just seem too tricky, and the perfectionist in me, isn’t willing to f#%k it up, so sometimes, I just won’t try.

Baking is another story. I find desserts easier, and usually, a challenge I’m more willing to accept. Not quite sure why. But I’m setting out to let non-desserts be my next conquest. No more just collecting cookbooks and looking at the pretty pictures. No more watching the Food Network and Cooking Channel, saying, ‘that looks interesting’–knowing I’m too chicken sh!t to reproduce what the host just cooked, for myself. Time to be an active participant…I think, (old habits die hard). But until then, here is my take on some interesting recipes, (that I haven’t tried yet), from The Neely’s cookbook.

I used to love watching The Neely’s show, “Down Home with the Neely’s” on The Food Network. I loved their chemistry and the occasional visits from their family and friends. They’re no longer married now, and their show was cancelled a few years ago; but The Food Network still has their page up with all their past episodes and recipes. If you want to check it out, go here:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/shows/down-home-with-the-neelys/

Okay, now on to their cookbook. Since I was a fan of the show, and because I figured they’d have some good soul food recipes, I decided to show them some love, by purchasing their book. I must say, I didn’t find a lot of things in it that appealed to me, personally, but it was still an awesome purchase for the pictures and for all the awesome back story info about them and their family. The cookbook has a very personal touch–which I like a lot. I decided to pull it out again, and see what I may have missed before, and discovered a few things I wouldn’t mind trying. So without further ado, here’s some of what I liked:

Broccoli Cheddar Cornbread:
I’m not a huge cornbread eater, but I thought this could be a good idea to win me over. On page 108 of “Down Home With the Neely’s”, they have a Broccoli Cheddar Cornbread recipe. You end up with what sounds like, a moist cornbread, with broccoli and cheddar cheese inside, (and baked cheese on top). That’s one take on cornbread that definitely might be worth trying!

Ingredients:

2 (8.5-ounce) boxes corn muffin mix
1/2 cup whole milk
2 cloves minced garlic
1 (8-ounce) container cottage cheese
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Cheddar
1 stick unsalted butter or margarine
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, thawed but not drained

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix together all ingredients except 2 tablespoons Cheddar to create a batter in a bowl.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet melt butter. Saute onions and broccoli until soft. Pour batter over the vegetable mixture and sprinkle top evenly with remaining cheese. You can also place the ingredients in an 11 by 17-inch baking dish.

Bake in oven until golden, 30 minutes.

Recipe courtesy of The Neelys

Spicy Fried Chicken:
Now, I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this in past posts, but I don’t like spicy food. We just don’t get along well. I always end up with teary eyes and a snotty nose. My sinuses just won’t tolerate spiciness. With that being said, I still had to include this fried chicken recipe. The ingredients and instructions are simple enough, and the picture of the chicken…it just looks so darned good! Of course, for me, I would be omitting the cayenne pepper and the hot sauce though. This recipe can be found on page 144.

Ingredients:

1 (2 1/2-pounds) fryer chicken, cut into 10 pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 quart buttermilk
2 tablespoons hot sauce
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Peanut oil, for frying
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cayenne
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika

Directions:

Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in a casserole dish. In a nonreactive bowl, mix buttermilk, hot sauce and cayenne. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the chicken, cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to marinate for 2 hours.

Preheat a deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.

Into a large paper bag, measure the flour, cayenne, garlic powder, paprika, and salt and pepper. Shake off excess buttermilk mixture and place the chicken, a few pieces at a time, into the bake and shake to dredge.

Place the chicken into the hot oil and fry until golden and crisp, about 8 to 10 minutes for white meat and 13 to 15 for dark meat. Remove from the fryer onto a paper towel lined sheet tray and season with salt and pepper.

Recipe courtesy of The Neelys

Calley’s Sweet Potato Pie:
Okay, like cornbread, I was never a huge fan of sweet potato pie, coming up. I know, I’m an alien, right? But as I’ve gotten older, I find my taste buds are changing. This year, I think I actually want to make a sweet potato pie, (though I think I want some Reddi-Whip all around the perimeter of it). I don’t know if this sweet potato pie recipe is as simple as others, but it sounds really good, and not too hard to make. I think this just may be the one, I’ll try for Thanksgiving this year–except I’ll be buying a pre-made pie crust. No rolling pins for me. This recipe’s on page 213. Sorry, no pic for this one.

Ingredients:

4 medium sweet potatoes
1/2 stick butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 unbaked pie crust
Maple Whipped Cream, optional, recipe follows

Maple Whipped Topping:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degree F.

Bake sweet potatoes for 1 hour in the oven on a baking sheet. When done, let cool. Scrape the pulp out of the skin, transfer to a large bowl, and mash. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat together butter, sugar, and brown sugar until creamy. Add eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Add evaporated milk and stir mixture into sweet potatoes. Beat together with mixer until smooth and pour into an unbaked pie shell.

Bake on bottom rack of oven for 1 hour or until center of pie is firm. Serve warm. Add dollop of whipped cream if desired.

Maple Whipped Topping:

In a medium bowl, beat together whipping cream and confectioners’ sugar. Add maple syrup. Beat together until soft peaks form.

Recipe courtesy of Calley Anderson, (Best friend of Shelbi Neely)

Neely’s Barbecue Sauce:
If you’ve ever wanted to make your own barbecue sauce, but just wasn’t sure how to go about it, this might be a simple recipe you can try. And considering the Neelys are in the barbecue business, this just might be one you need to check out. This recipe is found on page 25. You might also want to try their Barbecue Seasoning recipe too. It’s the dry rub for meats, and only has three ingredients, (paprika, sugar, and onion powder). That one’s on page 22.

Ingredients, (Barbecue Sauce):

2 cups ketchup
1 cup water
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
5 tablespoons light brown sugar
5 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring frequently, for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Recipes courtesy of The Neelys

Ingredients, (Barbecue Seasoning):

1 1/2 cups paprika
3/4 cup sugar
3 3/4 tablespoons onion powder

Directions:

Stir together the ingredients in a small bowl. Stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, this seasoning will last for up to 6 months.

There’s some other interesting recipes in this book, such as Shelbi’s Pig Butter Cookies, (cause Lord knows, I love butter and sugar cookies), but it involves cutting dough into quarters, refrigerating it, and then later having to roll it out. That part’s a bit too much work for me. But for those of you less lazy in the kitchen, I think this would be a great butter cookie recipe. It’s located on page 205 in the book, and can also be found on the Food Network site.

Overall, I liked the book because of the warm, family feel of it. Interesting recipes are totally subjective, so keep in mind, you may get a hold of this book and find something awesome on just about every page. This is just my take, on what I found interesting.

Okay, that’s it for now people. More recipe reviews to come, (although they won’t be back to back–we’ll still be having other subject posts too). Hope you guys continue to enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!

Until next time,

Bless your October Souls!!