Saying Goodbye

What happened to Sweet Tea and Thyme?

We moved! I now have my own website, www.swetteaandthyme.com where I’ll be continuing my food adventures and hope to see you there!

Easy Chewy Caramels

I love giving salted caramels away for Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, for care packages or ‘just because’ gifts. Homemade candy is something most people think are lavish gifts. Homemade fudge, bon-bons, truffles, caramels, if you receive a homemade candy that looks like it belongs in the Godiva store, you know you’re impressed. But what you won’t know, is that it probably was very easy to make.

All you need to make perfect caramels is a good candy thermometer, a good eye, and your first batch. Once you those you’re pretty good to go. Because, and I’m going to be honest, dear, your first batch might turn out a little crazy. You may get a call from your best friend and end up pacing in the living room, forgetting to keep that good eye on your candy, and getting some hard-crack caramels. Or freaking out about burning and ending up with goo instead of candy.

Or getting terrified of what happens when you add butter and cream to molten-hot sugar and running away in fear. It happens!

Here are a few tips to get your desired caramels every single time:

1. Do the two-step: melt the sugar past hard crack stage, then pour in your cream and butter. This way is much more reliable in getting uniform batches since you will have more control than dumping every thing in at once.
2. Watch the temperature: You absolutely need a candy thermometer to make this recipe. Never fear, they are very cheap; I bought mine for $2.50. The reason why you need the thermometer is because you are waiting for your sugar and corn syrup to reach about 320 degrees F (hard crack stage) and turning color without reaching 330 degrees F, where it actually caramelizes. Then after you pour your butter and cream in, the temperature will move slowly for a while then shoot up quickly at about 245-250 degrees F, at which time you should remove from the heat to cool.
3. The higher the temperature for part one (the initial sugar boil) to about 310-320 degrees the darker and firmer the caramel, with less risk of crystallization. For softer caramels, cook to about 275 degrees F at the initial sugar boiling.

 

Easy Soft & Chewy Caramels

Makes 60 caramel candies

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Cooling time: 4 hours

 

1/2 cup (1 stick!) unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup light corn syrup

3 tbsp water

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

1. Line a 9×5 dish with parchment paper that goes over the edges, then spray with vegetable oil lightly.
2. Melt the butter into the cream and set aside
3. In your 2 quart saucepan, pour in corn syrup and carefully add sugar in the middle of the corn syrup. Pour water into the middle of the sugar and gently stir to moisten the sugar completely; avoid getting the sugar onto the sides of the pan.
4. Heat sugar over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil. Put the lid on the pan for a minute to melt any sugar crystals that may have gotten on the sides
5. Attach the candy thermometer to your pan (do NOT stir the sugar!) and continue cooking the sugar until it reaches 320 degrees F, where it will begin to turn a light golden color, about 5-8 minutes.
6. Turn heat off and gradually add the butter and cream (a bit at a time because it will bubble up violently) and stir using a whisk. The bubbling will lower after a few seconds, stop whisking once you are done pouring the cream and butter in. The temperature will lower.
7. Turn heat back up to medium high and bring the temperature back up to 245-250 degrees F. The candy should have a reddish brown color. Remove from heat and quickly whisk in the vanilla extract.
8. Pour into the prepared dish and cool in the fridge for at least 3 1/2-4 hours until completely cooled and firm.
9. Remove the caramels by the parchment paper and place on a cutting board. Cut 5 strips lengthwise and 6-7 rows of individual candies. Wrap in individual wax paper wrappers or in a container lined with wax paper.

Enjoy your easy caramels!

The Easiest Slow Cooked Southern Green Beans

Freshly snapped beans are slow cooked with a smoky ham hock and spices for a traditional, heart-warming, Southern side dish!

If you are a Southern woman, you may have memories of snapping green beans into a wooden bowl with your grandma or mama as a little girl. I know I do!

Green beans have a special place in my heart. Right next to the Lord, my family, and these Southern Buttermilk Biscuits. And these green beans have been a staple in my grandma’s kitchen since she was a girl here in Georgia. They are incredibly flavorful and so easy to make, you’ll be looking at my recipe like, “Girl, that’s it?!”

Beef Stroganoff

A cheap cut of beef turned tender in a creamy, peppery sauce with mushrooms on buttered noodles. It’s divine!

I had no idea what beef stroganoff was for most of my life. I had an image of a chipped beef-mayo-tuna-noodle casserole type of thing in my mind. Don’t ask where that came from; probably from some old 1950’s cookbooks I found at a friend’s grandmother’s house when I was little.Traumatized me; who really decided to eat celery and Jell-O mixed with mayo?! And what was the obsession with mayo about?!

I digress. Moving forward.

Hasselback Potatoes

Crispy skin, creamy middles, Hasselback potatoes make for a unique and delicious dish.

First of all, what is a Hasselback potato? Or, as I like to call them, Pillbug Potatoes?

It’s a side dish that gets it’s name from a Swedish restaurant, Hasselbacken. The potatoes are sliced, seasoned, slathered in butter and oil, and popped into a hot oven until the edges are crispy and the middle is creamy like a baked potato.

Cheesy Pull-Apart Garlic Bread

 

If you haven’t seen this somewhere you must be living under a rock, honey!

Pull-apart breads have been all over the food-blogosphere and Pinterest. There’s something about Pinterest that makes you feel like if you cover your house in chalkboard paint, white furniture, and brightly colored accents, the world’s problems would be solved. Is it just me? Maybe.

Imagine a whole loaf of bread that’s not only been slathered in garlicky butter and parsley, but filled with said garlicky butter and melty mozzarella cheese. If that doesn’t make you happy, I don’t know where your soul has gone but you need to get it back.

Chicken Broccoli Alfredo

Alfredo was the first recipe I learned in culinary school. No wait, second. First was fresh pasta, which then went into the alfredo.

Either way, I suppose it was Chef Paris’ way of trying to impress us with fresh pasta. But while the egg-based pasta was rich and melt-in-your-mouth delicious, I was more into the alfredo. Especially since I never had it from scratch. My mom would pop the can open and toss in a little lemon juice and I  never had it any other way until my first day in school.

Authentic Southern Fluffy, Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits

Oh darling, let me tell you about biscuits.

I love biscuits, they are as part of my life as sweet tea and southern shade. Yes, I consider my biscuits to be as authentic as they come, coming from a Southern belle who has never lived above the Mason-Dixon line.

I’m going to teach you how to make tall and flaky biscuits even on days so hot it’d make the hogs smile.

And that’s hot.

Pork Tenderloin with Mustard Cream Sauce

I love this recipe, it’s one of my all time favorite pork recipes! In fact, it might be the all-time favorite. Especially with the sauce.

 

Y’all know how I get down with sauce.

 

Anywho.

 

I totally believe in brining pork. Pork is lean and it can dry easily, especially if you are eyeballing it or don’t know what you are doing. Brining will help bring in tons of moisture and flavor into the pork and it’s a well used technique in this house!

Classic Patty Melts, the Ultimate Sandwich

Patty melts are so good, y’all. I’ve always seen them on the menus of plenty of restaurants, Brian has gotten them plenty of times, but I never paid attention to them until I saw an episode of The Kitchen on Food Network.

This lady who guest-starred on an episode sold me on the patty melt as a comfort food: caramelized onions, thick slices of bread, many slices of gooey cheese, and a burger patty that is encased in it all.

Oh, and butter. Butter that’s spread from crust to crust on each slice of bread.

Crust to crust is, apparently, a must.