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Jenny Southern Cooking

I love my Mom's chicken and dumplings. I have never attempted to make it though. I remember my sister-in-law trying to make it years ago and it came out as one big dumpling. Maybe I will try one day soon. I'm not big into cooking chicken. I never enjoy chicken that I've cooked. It just has no taste.

Lynn,

The secret is in marinating and/or seasoning the chicken. I normally put my chicken in some sort of marinade the night before I want to cook it. We've used beer, various salad dressings, barbeque sauce, actual marinades, etc. Also, if you cook it in a cream soup, it's moist and flavorful.

I really like pulled pork on hamburger rolls. I use the recipe out of the New Soul Food Cookbook. You season the pork tenderloin with red pepper and salt and roast it in the oven, then shred it and heat it up with a barbeque sauce. I serve it up with a really simple coleslaw.

I subscribe to Southern Living magazine. I like cooking recipes out of it because I know my family will eat them. I started making the light King Rand chicken casserole, and that has been well received lately.

I love pulled pork. That sounds goooood!

My favorite easy sw recipe is chicken enchilada casserole with green sauce or beef enchilada casserole with red sauce.

Not sure where I found the recipe but it's so good and I added tons of veggies to make it healthier.

Chicken enchilada casserole:
grill or boil chicken, shred it or cut into chunks
cover bottom of casserole dish with green enchilada sauce then layer corn tortilla chicken more sauce any veggies you like (corn spinach squash, zucchini, carrots, corn) sprinkle mexican cheese on top then start over layering the same way like a lasagna. Bake for 20-30 min. on 350 (time depends on your oven).

Beef enchilada casserole is the same except you use beef or bison or pork or even lamb if you want and red sauce instead. All the guys at the gym used to offer to pay me to make this for them. It's pretty tasty and can be as healthy as you want to make it. Use less cheese, reduced fat cheese, lean meats, etc.

We usually eat it with a salad or with black beans if it's a higher carb day.

I want to learn how to make chicken and dumplings!

Pulled pork is delicious. I love fried chicken and waffles.

I really like okra, but will someone please tell me what the cooking secret is? When I make it, it gets...for lack of a better term....snotty. How do you keep this from happening?

My mother used to cook a big pot of pinto beans, fried potatoes, and cornbread for dinner. It doesn't sound healthy at all, but it sure was delicious. I miss those days....my mom died two years ago next month. Another staple was salmon patties...fried green tomatoes with okra and chicken n dumplings. Yummy, takes me back to my childhood.

To avoid okra slime, choose small pods...2 to 3 inches in size. Clip the top part just above where the stem connects so that you do not pierce the okra itself. If you cut below the stem, the okra will weep. Coat with lemon juice and allow to sit for 20 minutes then cook as desired or if boiling okra, add vinegar to water. The acid in the vinegar or lemon juice couteracts the slimey texture of the okra especially when boiled.

Thanks! I was slicing it into small rounds. Guess I should have thought to cook it first and cut it apart later.

Yum...we used to have those dinners too. I loved the pinto bean, fried potato, cornbread night!