LOBSTER CORN CHOWDER

When local corn is available, I can’t get enough of it. As the days get shorter and the evenings cooler, I love to make LOBSTER CORN CHOWDER. It’s summery yet hearty enough to serve big bowls for dinner. 

First, I make the stock with the lobster shells and corn cobs, then add lots of fresh corn, lobster meat, potatoes, bacon, celery, and some fresh chives. This is summer comfort food at it’s best—I may just have to make a pot this weekend!

Oven-Roasted Rosemary Garlic Red Potatoes

Roasted potatoes are a very simple side dish to prepare and always a crowd favorite. Red potatoes, garlic cloves, olive oil, and rosemary sprigs roast at a higher temperature than normal, to create a crispy crust and dark golden exterior. They pair beautifully with just about any fish, chicken or meat dish.

Bacon-Wrapped Potato Bites with Spicy Sour Cream Dipping Sauce

Okay, so we're not going to win any awards for thinking up new things to wrap bacon around. But hey, these potato bites are easy, delicious, and the perfect appetizer for a crowd. Should you find yourself surrounded by a crowd this weekend or during the upcoming holidays, you'll be prepared. They remind me of Spanish tapas...small pick-me-ups. And I do mean, PICK ME UPS!

Potatoes? Potatoes are perfect and inexpensive when preparing appetizers for a crowd. If you can find tiny new potatoes they would be great,  but chunks work just as well. Just be sure to dice the potatoes small. Smaller than you might think. I find that the smaller chunks actually had a better potato-to-bacon ratio. 

These Bacon-Wrapped Potato Bites are dangerously 'poppable'. With the creamy wedge of potato and the crunchy bacon, the sour cream dip is what pushes this appetizer over the edge. Again, mixing hot sauce into the sour cream is what pushes this simple appetizer over the edge. If you swirl the hot sauce into the sour cream instead of fully mixing it in, you'll get a roulette of spicy and cool bites. Hold on to your hats!

Bacon-Wrapped Potato Bites with Spicy Sour Cream Dipping Sauce

Makes about three dozen bites

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound small or medium red potatoes
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt, divided
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, optional
• Freshly ground pepper
• 12 ounces to 1 pound thick-cut bacon
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
• 1-3 teaspoons hot sauce
• Salt and pepper

WHAT TO DO

• Preheat the oven to 400°F.
• Wash and dry the potatoes. Chop them into 1-inch pieces, keeping the chunks roughly the same size even if they aren't the exact same shape. Put the potatoes in a medium pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Season the water with 2 teaspoons of salt. Once the water begins to boil, cook the potatoes for 3 to 4 minutes, until you can stick a fork into them without too much resistance. You want the potatoes to be almost, but not fully, cooked through so they won't fall apart during the next steps. 
• Drain the potatoes and put them in a large bowl. Add the rosemary, olive oil...optional, I find the bacon gives the potatoes enough oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few grinds of pepper, and toss until the potatoes are evenly coated. 
• Cut the strips of bacon into thirds. Wrap each potato bite in a piece of bacon, securing it with a toothpick. Put the potatoes on a baking sheet lined with my favorite non-stick aluminum foil, spaced an inch or two apart. You may need to cook the potatoes in two batches. 
• Cook the potatoes for 15 minutes, then flip each piece. Cook for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the bacon is cooked through and as crisp as you like it. 
• Mix the sour cream and hot sauce in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Pile the potato bites on a plate and serve alongside the dip.

Before you know it the holidays will be here and now is the time to be on the look-out for easy, yet yummy, appetizers. This is one of the P's favorites......try them, they may quickly become one of your family favorites as well!

Plan ahead and PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE!!!

YOU'LL BE GLAD YA DID!

ENJOY!

The Domestic Curator 
Ronda!

"The only time to eat diet food is while you are waiting for the steak to cook!"

~Julia Child

Roasted Fillet of Sea Bass on a Bed of Spinach, Wild Mushrooms and Potatoes

Miss Elizabeth Morganne Porter

 So sorry it has been awhile since you have heard from me but in the words of Ms. Dolly Parton we have been busier than a one armed paper hanger here at Porter South! Our daughter, Elizabeth, is a Debutante this year. For the past year we have been busy with all things DEB related. We are just about DEB-bed OUT! It is finally all coming together at a huge Cotillion Ball. Next weekend. This comes after a year of parties, symphonies, etiquette lessons, self defense classes, volunteering in the community, buying many formals, having many fittings, mani-pedis, facials, hair appointments, portraits, MANY father-daughter dance lessons and lessons for the Texas "dip", our version of a curtsy which is insanely ALL the way to the floor! Bizarre as it sounds there are no other debs in the US that curtsy this low. I do believe I have lost a few brain cells along the way! You name it WE HAVE DONE IT! We are ready to get back to our normal "teenage daughter" routine...if that weren't enough!! Mr. P and I have two great kids. They do well in school, Jared is in college (last semester....YEA!) and he consistently makes the dean's list, active in church and for the most part they both have sunny dispositions. We are truly proud of our Jared and our Elizabeth. We, as a couple, have been blessed with these two little souls. We have been entrusted as care-takers for only a short while and they will be gone all too soon. So even if we are crazy busy, we don't mind, we are glad we have been allowed to go along for the ride.