Today's guest has literally fed an army, or rather the navy! Carla Courtney has perfected her recipe planning and coordinating grocery lists using a calendar. You'll hear all the tips that help her stay on track when feeding a crowd. Find out which room should be pristine before your guests arrive (there's only one!). She shares experienced hostess tips from many years of cooking. Stay tuned for a story about the time this hostess was offended by leftovers! (Visit comeoverfordinner.com for the recipes, product links, and more!)
Pirate Chili
Submitted by Carla Courtney
Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum! (Well, not QUITE that much rum!)
Ingredients: 4 to 5 (16 ounce) rolls sausage (HOT is great, but any flavor works!) 3 medium onions, chopped 4-5 (14 ounce) cans black beans, drained (Can replace with 16-20 oz dried black beans cooked according to recipe.) 2-3 large cans (28 ounce) of tomatoes (stewed, diced, or petite diced) 6 cloves garlic, minced 4 tablespoons chili powder 3 teaspoons salt 3 teaspoons dry mustard ¼ cup sugar 1-1 ½ cups dark rum (cheap rum works great) 2 large cans (28 ounce) sliced peaches with juice, chopped Serve with: Grandmother’s Buttermilk Cornbread Salad Death by Chocolate
Directions:
Cook onions and sausage together until done; thoroughly drain away the grease. Return sausage to a large pot and add all ingredients but peaches. Bring to a boil and then let simmer as long as you want. Add peaches about 10-15 minutes before serving. Eat with cornbread and a salad.
This can simmer in the crock-pot all day, just add peaches before serving.
Grandmother’s Buttermilk Cornbread
by Bethany Weathersby at AllRecipes.com
Ingredients: ½ cup butter, melted ⅔ cup white sugar 2 large eggs 1 cup buttermilk ½ teaspoon baking soda 1 cup cornmeal 1 cup all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease an 8-inch square pan. (I use a glass pie pan.)
2. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Remove from heat and stir in sugar. Quickly whisk in eggs. (I just use a glass bowl in the microwave.)
3. Combine buttermilk and baking soda in a small bowl. Whisk mixture into the skillet. Stir in cornmeal, flour, and salt until well-blended and only a few lumps remain. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30-40 minutes.
This sounded just wonderful on the podcast! Now that I'm looking at the recipe, I have a question, though. What, exactly, is a roll of sausage? I'm guessing that it's the bulk packs we get for making turkey stuffing at Thanksgiving but I want to be sure so I don't mess up the recipe. We most often find sausages in links where I shop, so I will, likely, have to get the right amount of links and take the casings off.
One of my favorite neighbors and teachers of all time! Love you Mrs. Courtney! -Anna in