Holidays at Dale’s :: Dale's Southern Grill

Archive for Holidays at Dale’s

Dec
3

Mud Hen Bars

by Dale

A mud hen is a bird with long legs and short wings that inhabits swamps and marshes. Such birds have been known as marsh hens, rails, coots or mud hens. This bird requires a great deal of effort to get airborne so it has to paddle across the water for quite a ways before it attains flight. This is what gives it the name “mud hen”, because it stirs up a lot of mud in the process. Maybe the sugary meringue topping on these bars resemble the color of mud.

“A shared recipe in the South is more precious than gold or silver, and it always comes with a story.”

Ingredients
1/4 Cup shortening
4 Tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 Cup sugar
1 whole egg
2 eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup Chopped Nuts
1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
3/4 Cup Nestle Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar

Instructions
1.   Butter or grease a 9×13 pan.
2.   In a large bowl, cream the shortening, butter, and sugar. Beat in the whole egg and the yolks of the other two eggs.
3.   In a separate bowl, shift he flour, baking powder, and salt together.
4.   Combine the flour mixture with the creamed mixture, blending thoroughly.
5.   Spread the batter into the baking pan, patting with your hands if need be.
6.   Sprinkle chocolate chips, marshmallows, and nuts over the batter.
7.   In large bowl, beat the 2 egg whites until stiff. Fold in brown sugar until well combined.
8.   Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.
9.   Cool completely and then cut into bars.
10.   Enjoy!

0 Categories : Desserts, Holidays at Dale's, Recipes

Nov
4

Cornbread Dressing

by Dale

In thinking about a recipe to add to this newsletter… (here are so many that I love for this time of year) but one my favorites is my dear Mamaw’s Cornbread Dressing: it was amazing! Sometimes she’d put pecans in it, sometimes oysters; but it was always a treat. Like a lot of people, I eat more dressing than ham or turkey whenever they are on the table together, and this recipe is why…it’s as close to Mawmaw’s as I can remember. I’ve been making this one for over 30 years…every once in awhile I get pretty close to hers, but the love she added is the missing ingredient…enjoy…and Happy Holidays!
–Dale

Ingredients:
6 cups crumbled cornbread
3 cups soft bread crumbs
4 ounces butter
2 cups onion, chopped
2 cups finely chopped celery
3 to 4 cups chicken broth
2 cups chicken, diced..pretty fine
1 heaping tablespoon dried rubbed sage
1 teaspoons dried leaf thyme
1 teaspoon dried marjoram, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Preparation:
Heat oven to 400ºF. In a large mixing bowl, combine the cornbread and white bread crumbs. In a saucepan over medium heat, sauté the onion and celery in butter until tender. Do not brown. Combine the sautéed vegetables with the bread mixture. Stir in chicken broth, using enough to moisten. Stir in the diced chicken, if using, and the seasonings and beaten eggs, blending well. Spread the mixture in a large shallow baking or roasting pan measuring about 10″ x 15″. Bake for 30 to 45 minutes.
A couple comments about this recipe…don’t use too sweet a cornbread and don’t crumble too fine…french bread that is a little tough adds great texture…fresh turkey stock made with giblets adds a whole new dimension…the dressing will be pretty soupy before baking…this yields a moist dressing.

0 Categories : Breads and Biscuits, Holidays at Dale's, Recipes, Side Dishes, What's Cookin', Good Lookin'?

Apr
29

Carrot Souffle

by Dale

Dale’s Famous Carrot Souffle
(a Most Requested Recipe and Menu Item!)

Ingredients
3 lbs. Carrots, peeled
1 cup Sugar
½ cup Brown Sugar
1 TBLS Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla
4 TBLS All Purpose Flour
6 Fresh Eggs
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 cup Liquid Margarine
1 TBLS Confectioners Sugar

Cut carrots into 1” chunks, place in sauce pan, cover with water, add a dash of salt and cook over medium heat for 45 min. or until they are very soft. Test with a fork. While carrots are hot, whip in a food processor or blender; add sugars, baking powder, and vanilla. Add flour and mix until smooth. Add eggs and cinnamon then margarine. Be careful not to over mix, you don’t want a lot of foam.

Place in oven dish, filling the dish about ¾ full to allow room for it to rise.
Bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees, or until center springs back to touch.
Dust with confectioner’s sugar before serving. Yield: 8-10 servings.

1 Categories : Desserts, Easter Recipes, Holidays at Dale's, Recipes, Side Dishes, Vegetable Recipes

Apr
23

Reheating: Dale’s On the Go Frozen Entrees

by Dale

If you’ve purchased our delicious home-style entrees from our Dale’s On the Go ready-to-bakes, here are reheating instructions:

Reheating our Honey-Glazed Ham
The goal is to reheat the ham without drying it out. The best way to do this is to place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan or pan it came in. Keep the whole thing covered tightly with foil or aluminum lid. Bake at 325 degrees F for 16-20 minutes per pound, until a meat thermometer registers 135 degrees F about 45 minutes. Unwrap the ham and baste with the glaze; increase the heat to 400 degrees F and bake for 15-20 minutes longer until the glaze is burnished.

Carrot Soufflé
Thaw Bake Uncovered at 350 degrees for 60 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool 1-2 minutes, dust with powdered sugar just before serving.
Serves 15. Enjoy!!

Squash Casserole
Thaw bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown.
Enjoy. Serves – 6

Turkey and Fixings
Re-Heating instructions for your Turkey:
Pre-Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
Place wrapped turkey in oven with pan underneath.
Heat approximately 1 ½ hours, or until desired temperature is obtained.
After re-heating remove from oven and allow turkey to rest 20 minutes before slicing.

Cooking instructions for Cornbread Dressing:
Approximately 15 minutes after you’ve put in your turkey in the oven.
Remove lid from cornbread dressing and place in same oven…
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and let cool for 1 – 2 minutes.
Enjoy!

Cooking instructions for Giblet Gravy:
Pour gravy into sauce pot. Heat over medium heat Bring gravy to just boiling.
Remove from heat
Serve immediately.

0 Categories : Holidays at Dale's, Reheating Dale's On The Go Frozen Entrees

Apr
23

Buttermilk Biscuits

by Dale

Ingredients
•   2 cups flour
•   4 teaspoons baking powder
•   1/4 teaspoon baking soda
•   3/4 teaspoon salt
•   2 tablespoons butter
•   2 tablespoons shortening
•   1 cup chilled buttermilk
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using your fingertips, rub butter and shortening into dry ingredients until mixture looks like crumbs. (about the size of dimes)
Make a well in the center and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Stir just until the dough comes together. The dough will be very sticky.
Turn dough onto floured surface, dust top with flour and gently fold dough over on itself 5 or 6 times. Press or roll into a 1-inch thick round. Cut out biscuits with a 2-inch cutter, being sure to push straight down through the dough no twisting. Place biscuits on baking sheet so that they just touch. Reform scrap dough working it as little as possible and continue cutting. (Biscuits from the scraps won’t be as light as the first… my grandmother would use these scraps for dumplings….your choice)
Bake until biscuits are tall and light gold on top, 15 to 20 minutes.

0 Categories : Breads and Biscuits, Easter Recipes, Holidays at Dale's, Recipes, Side Dishes

Apr
23

Twiced Baked Potato

by Dale

Ingredients
•   4 large russet potatoes, each about 3/4 pound each, scrubbed and dried
•   2 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
•   1/3 cup sour cream
•   1 green onion, finely chopped
•   2 TBS crispy cooked chopped bacon- 4 or 5 slices
•   1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
•   salt and ground black pepper
•   dash Cayenne pepper

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Place the potatoes directly on the rack in the center of the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Pierce each potato in a couple spots with a fork and continue to bake until tender, about 30 minutes more. Remove potatoes from the oven, and turn the heat down to 375 degrees F.

Hold the potato with an oven-mit or towel, slice potatoes in half length-wise. Carefully scoop out most of the potato into a bowl. Take care to leave enough potato in the skin so the shells stay together. Mash the potato lightly with fork along with 2 to 3 tablespoons of the butter and sour cream. Stir in the onions, bacon, and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Season the skins with salt and pepper. Refill the shells with the potato mixture mounding it slightly. Sprinkle the cheese on top of the potato filling.

Set the potatoes on baking sheet and bake until heated through, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately.

0 Categories : Easter Recipes, Holidays at Dale's, Recipes, Side Dishes

Apr
22

Honey Glazed Pit Ham

by Dale

Ingredients
◦   1 (8 to 10-pound) smoked pit ham, bone-in, skin on
◦     salt and freshly ground black pepper
◦   1 TBS rubbed sage
◦   1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
◦   1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut in chunks
◦   2 oranges, sliced thin, seeds removed
◦   1 lime, sliced thin, seeds removed
◦   1 lemon, sliced thin, seed removed
◦   2 cups orange juice
◦   2 cups light brown sugar, packed
◦   1 cup water
◦   1/4 teaspoon whole cloves
◦   2 cinnamon sticks
◦   11/2 pounds baby carrots

Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Put the ham in a large roasting pan, fat-side up. Using a sharp knife, score the ham with cuts across the skin, about 2-inches apart and 1/2-inch deep. Cut diagonally down the slashes to form a diamond pattern; season the meat generously with salt and pepper. Mix rubbed sage with the oil to make a paste. Rub the sage-oil all over the ham, being sure to get the flavor into all the slits. Bake the ham for 2 hours.  For the glaze: Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add the chunks of butter, oranges,limes, lemon, orange juice, brown sugar, water, and spices. Slowly cook the liquid down to a syrupy glaze; this should take about 30 to 40 minutes. After the ham has being going for a couple of hours, pour the citrus glaze all over it, with the pieces of fruit and all. Stick the ham back in the oven and continue to cook for 11/2 hours, basting with the juices every 30 minutes. Scatter the carrots around the ham and coat in the citrus glaze. Stick the ham once again back in the oven and cook for a final 30 minutes, until the carrots are tender, the ham is dark and crispy, and the whole thing is glistening with a sugary glaze. Set the ham on a cutting board to rest before carving. Serve the carrots and citrus glaze on the side.

0 Categories : Easter Recipes, Holidays at Dale's, Main Dishes, Meat Recipes, Recipes

Apr
22

Southern Deviled Eggs

by Dale

Ingredients

◦   7 large eggs, hard boiled and peeled
◦   1/4 cup mayonaise
◦   1 1/2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
◦   1 teaspoon prepared mustard
◦   Cooked crispy crumbled bacon- 3 slices
◦   Salt and pepper, for taste
◦   Paprika, for garnishing
◦   Sweet gherkin pickles sliced, for garnishing
◦   Pimentos, for garnishing

Directions
Halve 7 eggs lengthwise. Remove yolks and place in a small bowl.  Mash yolks with a fork and stir in mayonnaise, pickle relish, and mustard, bacon. Add salt and pepper, to taste.  Fill egg whites evenly with yolk mixture. Garnish with paprika, pickles and pimentos. Store covered in refrigerator.

0 Categories : Easter Recipes, Holidays at Dale's, Recipes, Side Dishes

Apr
22

Southern Ambrosia

by Dale

Southern Ambrosia

As a child growing up in Florida, I remember having Ambrosia every Christmas and Thanksgiving on our trips to Kentucky to visit family. It was the only time we ever had it because an entire dish made up of fruit was considered a luxury in those days. Oh, we had an occasional orange, apple or banana but pineapple, cherries and nuts were reserved for special occasions or holidays and when we had this wonderful Southern Ambrosia. The adults kept this dish a secret from us kids more for them I’m sure… I got it by mistake one year…been hooked ever since. This is my grandmother’s recipe on my fathers side of the family… we affectionately called her Baba…

I’ve used canned pineapple and orange for convenience. Fresh is much better if available.
Ingredients
* 1 can (20 ounces) pineapple tidbits
* 1 can (11 ounces) mandarin orange segments
* 1/4 cups maraschino cherries… drained and rinsed
* 1 cup miniature marshmallows
* 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
* 1/2 cup pecan pieces
* 1/2 cup dairy sour cream OR plain yogurt
* 1 cup Whipped Topping — cool whip

Directions
1. Drain pineapple and orange segments.
2. In large bowl, combine pineapple, orange segments, cherries, marshmallows, coconut and nuts.
3. In a separate bowl, combine sour cream and whipped topping.
4. Stir sour cream mix into fruit mixture.
5. Refrigerate, covered, 1 hour.
Serves: 4 to 6

0 Categories : Desserts, Easter Recipes, Holidays at Dale's, Recipes, Side Dishes

Mar
17

Dale’s Irish Stew Recipe

by Dale

Irish stew

2 pounds of Beef stew meat
1 ½ pounds Irish Potatoes
5 medium onions
3 medium carrots
Fresh parsley and thyme to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
1 ½ cups water

Trim meat up…pretty fair size pieces…peel and slice the potatoes, put a layer of potatoes, meat, onions, carrots and herbs in a large pot…then repeat….
Pour water over the meat and potatoes…and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for about 2 hours. Check during cooking, adding more water as necessary. Makes 4 servings
A good Irish stew should be thick and creamy, not swimming in juice.

0 Categories : Holidays at Dale's, Main Dishes, Meat Recipes, Recipes

Archive for Holidays at Dale’s

Southern Ambrosia

Irish stew

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