Month: May 2014

Saw this today from a Franklin, TN friend — and I don’t think you can possibly watch it without getting #happy!

With Franklin’s great schools, family-friendly neighborhoods, excellent home prices, low unemployment, high quality of life, and a supremely creative arts/music population, what’s NOT to be happy about?  Thanks to Pharrell Williams and to the Mayor of Franklin!  Be sure to click the link below!

http://youtu.be/R5J8iMxkP68

 

 

You think you know that Nashville’s all about country music?

Well, you’ve got another think coming.  Watch this video and see if you don’t change your mind (and start tapping your toes)!

http://youtu.be/hkv9fg0lvAI

USDA Rural Development is pleased to announce the addition of eligible areas for single family housing programs with the passage of the Agricultural Act of 2014 – http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/RDFarmBill.html

EffectiveMay 6^th 2014, the areas outlined below are now eligible for Rural Development home loan programs.  You are encouraged to utilize the USDA property eligibility website to review these areas, http://eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov/eligibility/welcomeAction.do?pageAction=sfp&NavKey=property@11

For those of us in Middle Tennessee, the addition of Spring Hill is particularly exciting news.

 

Maury County:                 Spring Hill

Williamson County:        Northern part of Spring Hill area

Wilson County:                Entire County Eligible  (includes Mt. Juliet and Lebanon)

Sumner County:             Gallatin and Millersville

Coffee County:                Algood

Hamblen County:           Morristown

Shelby County:                Millington

Blount County:                Entire County Eligible  (includes Maryville and Alcoa)

Washington County:      Gray, TN area (the area between Johnson City and Kingsport located in Washington County)

Sullivan County:               Blountville and Southern portion of county surrounding the Blountville area

#USDA

Chicken with Peanut Molé Sauce (Pollo en Mole de Cacahuate) Recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours, 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 (4-pound) stewing chicken, cut up
• 8 cups water
• 4 stalks celery with leaves
• 1 medium carrot, sliced
• 1 small onion, cut up
• 2 sprigs parsley
• 2 teaspoons instant chicken bouillon granules
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 of a 10-ounce can (2/3 cup) tomatoes with green chiles
• 2 slices bread, torn
• 2 Tablespoons creamy or crunchy peanut butter
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 whole black peppercorns
• 1 (1/2-inch stick) cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 small clove garlic, minced

Preparation:

Place chicken pieces in Dutch oven with water. Add celery, carrot, onion, parsley, bouillon granules, and pepper. Bring to boiling. Cover and cook over low heat 2 to 2-1/2 hours or till chicken is tender.

Remove chicken pieces. Place in a 2-quart casserole. Strain broth; skim off fat. Reserve 1-1/2 cups of the broth for sauce (cover and refrigerate remaining broth for another use).

To prepare molé de cacahuate: In blender container place the reserved chicken broth, tomatoes with green chiles, bread, and peanut butter. Cover and blend till smooth. Turn into 2-quart saucepan. With mortar and pestle crush cloves, peppercorns, and cinnamon well; add to saucepan along with chili powder and garlic. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes or till thickened, stirring often.

Spoon molé de cacahuate over chicken in casserole. Bake, covered, in 350-degree F. oven 30 to 40 minutes or till heated through. Yield: 6 to 8 servings

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Black Bean and Corn Salad 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3 ears fresh corn
• 3 to 4 Tablespoons lime juice
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 (15-ounces each) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 3 jalapeño peppers, seeded and chopped
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 avocado, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves

Preparation:

Cook corn in boiling water to cover 5 minutes; drain and cool. Cut kernels from cobs.

Whisk together lime juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add corn, black beans, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, red onion, avocado (see Author’s Note), and cilantro. Toss to coat. Cover and chill black bean salad until ready to serve.  Yield: 6 to 8 servings.

Salted Caramel Flan with Blackberries

 Ingredients:
¾ cup sugar
1 ½ cups mile
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
3 eggs + 4 egg yolks
2 tsp vanilla
Sea salt or kosher salt
1 pint blackberries

 

Preparation:

 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place six 6-ounce custard cups at least 1/2-inch apart in a 3-inch deep baking pan; set aside.
2. To caramelize sugar, place 1/2 cup of the sugar in a large skillet. Place skillet over medium-high heat and cook until sugar starts to melt, shaking skillet occasionally. Do not stir. When sugar starts to melt, reduce heat to low and cook about 5 minutes or until all of the sugar is melted, stirring as needed with a wooden spoon. Working quickly, pour syrup into custard cups, dividing syrup evenly among cups. Tilt cups to distribute caramel evenly over the bottoms of the cups. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan combine the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar, the milk, and the condensed milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is simmering. Remove from heat.
4. In a large bowl whisk eggs and egg yolks until combined. Gradually add milk mixture, whisking well. Stir in vanilla. Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a pitcher or large liquid measuring cup. Divide mixture among custard dishes.
5. Pull out oven rack; set pan with custard cups on rack. Using a tea kettle, slowly pour hot water into the baking pan around the cups until the water reaches about halfway up the sides of the custard cups. Slowly and carefully slide oven rack back into the oven.
6. Bake flans for 65 to 70 minutes or until barely set in the centers. Remove pan from oven; transfer to a cooling rack. Let flans cool in the hot water for about 1 hour. Remove flans from water. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
7. To serve, run a small knife around the edges of one flan. Quickly turn custard cup over a serving plate. Shake plate and custard cup to release the flan. Remove custard cup. Using a small rubber spatula, scrape excess caramel from the cup over the flan. Repeat with remaining flans. Sprinkle each flan with salt. Spoon blackberries over flans; serve immediately.