Lisa Jeffries Nobling – Raleigh, NC

Category: Tailgate-Worthy

  • Recipe: Redneck Caviar

    This is one of Johnnie Bud’s absolute favorite things for us to have in the refrigerator so he can snack on it anytime, add it as a relish to burgers, or enjoy as a side item.

    The best part about this dish is that it’s really easy to modify based on what you’ve got in the freezer/cabinet and based on your personal taste.

    Redneck Caviar
    I large can of black beans, drained
    1 small can of Rotel diced tomatoes and diced green chilies
    I bag of farmer’s market fresh sweet corn
    1 bag of farmer’s market fresh black eyed peas or pink eyed peas
    2 green peppers peppers, chopped
    2 red bell peppers, chopped
    1 jalapeno, seeds removed, chopped
    1/2 purple onion, chopped
    Fresh cilantro, to taste
    Red wine vinaigrette, to taste

    Mix everything and refrigerate overnight to let it marinate well – although you can start eating anytime, the onions are raw though and have a lot of bite until they’ve marinated. Since the corn and pink eyed peas were fresh from the farmer’s market, I boiled them until soft and then cold-rinsed them before mixing everything together. If you buy canned, just drain and mix in.
    Keep an extra bag of tortilla chips handy, this stuff is popular! (And perfect for fall tailgates.)

    PS: We had green peas with dinner tonight and had some leftover, so I threw them into the big bowl of Redneck Caviar for extra color and another tasty flavor.

  • Manfriend Meals: Texas Caviar

    Texas Caviar. Redneck Caviar. Southern Caviar. Redneck Salsa.

    I’ve seen recipes of this variety called a lot of different names. No matter what you call it, or what combination of flavors you include, it’s probably going to be ridiculously addicting.

    While not a “meal”, my manfriend would gladly make a meal of this recipe: Texas Caviar

    A few cans of beans, several cut peppers, herbs, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil and boom. Delicious mixed up in a bowl and no cooking required. Put it in the ‘fridge for an hour and it’s ready to go or leave it overnight to really marinate. We snack on it for days and while it doesn’t last more than two days due to constant enjoyment, I’m not sure it would really even go bad for a few days long as long as you keep it chilled.

    This is a tailgate must and a quick mix for anytime in between football seasons. It’s delicious with tortilla chips, as a salsa/relish, as a side dish… practically any way.

    Cheers, y’all!

  • Recipe: Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

    Two of my favorite people welcomed their first child almost a month ago, so many of our friends have taken turns bringing over dinner to the new parents to help ease them into craziness of what I can only imagine parenthood to be.

    It was my turn on Tuesday, so I cruised their Pinterest accounts a few weeks before to plan and found this gem: Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

    I’m pleased to say it was a hit. The feedback was, and I quote, “It was freaking wonderful, even good for breakfast.”

    Now, this is obviously not vegetarian approved, but I’m regularly surrounded by carnivores, so I made this one in hopes it could become a staple go to recipe. Winner, winner – literally a chicken dinner!

    A few things to note:

    • At its highest temp, my oven didn’t get to 500 degrees – so the potatoes cooked between 400 and 450 and still turned out just fine.
    • This took almost an hour and a half to prep and bake, so it’s not a quick evening dinner. Plan ahead.
    • The grocery bill for all ingredients (sans salt, pepper, EVOO, paprika, garlic powder, and hot sauce — had all those on hand) was just over $20.

    The recipe linked above made a full baking dish and a small side baking dish worth of food, so Johnnie Bud gets to try it as well tonight when he returns from business as usual in Charlotte. (He’s pretty excited to come home to bacon… it’s not often that happens in our house!)

    If you have the ability to serve it hot, this will make a great fall tailgate dish that’s sure to please. Enjoy!

  • What’s in your perfect Bloody Mary?

    Last week my family and I took an impromptu vacation (our first in 8 years according to Little Sister) to Topsail Island and I ordered a few Bloody Mary cocktails to take full advantage of the beachy state of mind.

    An extra spicy Bloody Mary at Beach Shop was a tasty start:

    We found ourselves at Beach Shop in search of breakfast until 11am and a wifi (I mistakenly booked the one house on the island without internet access… which is the reason I got a real vacation in for four days!), but stayed for finding the bottom of the glass. Two thumbs up. (Note: If it had been a bottomless cocktail special, it would have taken us MUCH longer to find the bottom of the glass. We found the bottom of bottomless Mimosas at Carter’s Kitchen in Charleston a few months ago. More on that at another time…)

    For a Sunday afternoon early dinner, we made it to Rick’s, where sorority sister and beach joiner DG joined in on the Bloody Mary action. We ordered them “extra spicy” (notice a pattern here?) but at Rick’s, that meant extra horseradish, rather than extra Tabasco sauce and/or black pepper. While they were good, DG and I agreed we’d be more specific about our next “extra spicy” request.

    Fast forward to tonight – Wednesday. I’m back from the beach and busting my hiney at work (per the usual) and decided I deserved a cocktail with dinner. I had Ketel One in the freezer (is there any other kind of vodka?), V8 in the fridge, pickled okra, pickles, and giant olives stuffed with pimientos. Oh, and cracked black pepper. It all went right in the glass with ice. #nom

    So that brings me to the question of the day… how do you make for or ask for what you consider to be the perfect Bloody Mary? I like ’em spicy and the more pickled vegetables you can fit in the glass, the better. #vegetarianlife

    My WRAL.com cohort Jodi recently published her Five Faves: Best Bloody Mary article about places to get a good version in the Triangle. You know, just throwing that out there for your reading pleasure while we’re discussing the reddest of vegetable cocktails.

  • It’s Game Week

    …and no matter the outcome of the game, I know it’s going to be a great tailgate when it starts with an email like this:

    To be a State fan takes real character, it just makes you stronger. So when you all have kids and Uncle Evan is teaching them this, you’ll appreciate that I’m doing it to help make them a better person.

    Who’s ready for a little Wolfpack vs. Tar Heel football, y’all?!


    image via PACK NIPS HEELS at SportsPosterWarehouse.com

    By the way, that picture was taken during my (super) senior year at State. What a great win that was to see in person! Let’s go for another W, Wolfpack!

  • I’m Still Here…

    …just doing a lot of working (and I do mean A LOT), social events and weddings, tailgating, and the like. It is that time of year, again. I’ve also been DVRing a lot of 5 Ingredient Fix with Claire Robinson on Food Network. (I promise I’ll explain next why that’s related.)

    Back to the tailgating!
    I served up these two recipes, courtesy of Claire, for the NCSU vs. S. Alabama tailgate last weekend:
    Brie and Onion Puff
    Memphis Banana Bites

    They went so quickly, I didn’t even get pics. One suggestion? On the Memphis Banana Bites, I cut down on time in a big way by spreading the banana chips out on wax paper in the bottom of a 9×13 glass pan and poured the chocolate and peanut butter melt all over the top. I let it cool and then let my fellow tailgaters break off pieces (like a bark) to enjoy at their own pace. Perfection!

    I think I’m going to take these next week fr the NCSU vs. GT tailgate (before I leave early for Brandon and Tiffany’s wedding!): Spicy Baked Chickpeas.

    What are your meatless tailgate favorites?

  • Put the Boys to Work… at Hardly Working

    I realize Thanksgiving has just come and gone, but Christmas dinner is right around the corner. I love Andrea Weigl’s suggestion of putting the boys to work!

    Thursday when I serve Thanksgiving dinner to a small group of friends, everyone will contribute. I will bake a pecan pie and a pumpkin cheesecake. My husband will cook leg of lamb on the smoker. (One tip for holiday sanity is cooking the meat outside on the grill, in the smoker or in the deep-fryer. Luckily, many men who like to cook don’t mind spending the day outside, drinking a beer and minding the meat.) A friend will make stuffed acorn squash and the homemade noodles that are his family’s tradition. A third will clear the table.

    She’s right – it’s not at all an up-hill battle to suggest that the man (and his buddies) hang around outside with beer, a fried turkey, and perhaps even a fire pit.

  • Talking Football Already?

    What’s that you say? There are less than 2 weeks until college football starts?

    How did this happen??

    (And where did my summer go?)


    GO PACK!

    PS – For those who are wondering, I did not renew my season tickets this year. Our schedule is kind of lame, honestly. Between the games at UNC that Nick has season tickets for – and Thursday night games usually being hard to get to in a timely fashion – it just didn’t make sense. But I’ll be buying some single game tickets, as available!

  • Local Country Music Events to benefit Nashville Relief Efforts

    Two posts in one day? Looks like somebody (this girl right here) is back on the bloggin’ wagon!

    Just a quickie for country music fans who’d like to do something to help our country neighbors in Nashville, courtesy of local country radio station 94.7 WQDR:

    Stop by tonight (Thursday) 8p-10p at the Longbranch for Throwdown Thursday. $5 gets you in to see JMC perform an intimate acoustic set and the LCI truck will be there to accept item donations. Also 100% of the door goes straight to Nashville! Also have a chance to win tickets to the Country Throwdown on May 28th and we will auction off a JMC autographed Cowboy hat from the Country Connection.

    Friday night JMC will be helping Marty co-host Party Radio at City Limits! The guys with LCI will be on hand with the truck for item donations and City Limits is donating $1 for everybody through the door, so let’s pack the place! Also, you have a chance to win a signed hat by JMC donated by Country Connection and qualify to win a trip to the CMT Awards!!

    I will either be at Altar Ego at the NC Museum of Art or JMC’s benefit concert tonight… so many worthy events going on, so little time!

    {Image: examiner article “Historic flooding a true disaster“}

  • If you’ve ever had lunch or dinner with me…

    … then you’ve probably observed that everyone who does not eat pickles will give me theirs. (Love my friends!)

    I am also a potato chip connoisseur. Not just any potato chips will do. I’m a big fan of the really crunchy ones – generally known as kettle-cooked chips.

    I picked up lunch from Durham’s Parker & Otis the other day and found something that was made JUST FOR ME (or at least it seems).

    You can order them in bulk on their website: http://www.rt11.com/cfmodules/ObjMgr.cfm?Obj=OrderHere.

    So much for that eating healthy thing! 😉

    PS – And don’t think that I won’t take a side trip on my next DC visit to go watch them make these small batch wonders of the potato chip world. That ok with you Adrianne?

    FTC blogger disclosure: I was not contacted by Rt. 11 to blog about this post or compensated. But I would SO not object to a box of dill pickle potato chips. Nom, nom, nom! 🙂