Are you ready to entertain this holiday season, but would like some new recipes to add to your holiday table, parties or get-togethers? If you’re looking for something really different, look no further.
Just in time to take you “Home for the Holidays,” the Forrest General Healthcare Foundation has the perfect item to purchase for yourself or for those on your holiday gift list, A Taste of Forrest Health. The cookbook, featuring more than 550 recipes submitted by Forrest Health employees and retirees, consists of a three-ring laminated cover and is divided into eight different categories. Divider pages highlight some of the projects the Foundation has raised money for – Asbury Hospice House, Woullard Chapel, FGH NICU Terrace, and the Spiritual Grounds/ Labyrinth at Pine Grove Behavioral Health and Addiction Services.
“We have a plethora of great cooks throughout our Forrest Health facilities, and we can’t wait to share their recipes with you,” said Martha Dearman, Foundation executive director. “This will definitely be a keepsake and a cookbook you’ll turn to time and time again. At the same time, the purchase of these cookbooks will help us raise funds to complete much-needed additions at Asbury Hospice House. These cookbooks will make the perfect gift for those on your list this holiday season. You can even buy several to put up and give for gifts throughout the year.”
Here are some of the tasty recipes featured in the cookbook. Look for more recipes in the November issue of Signature magazine.
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Colombian Plantain Soup
Shannon Vega’s submitted recipe for Colombian Plantain Soup (Sopa de Platano) can be attributed to her husband, Dan, who hails from Colombia, where soups are the favorite dish. He’s the one who introduced the dish to her.
“Our friend, Liliana taught me to cook the Sopa de Platano for him,” said Shannon, who is director of the Forrest General Cancer Center and Radiology Department.
Vega quickly admits that she doesn’t enjoy cooking or baking. “I am honestly not a very good cook,” she said, “so if I do cook, it is something quick and easy. My mom was a very good cook and taught me at an early age because she worked so much.” Shannon’s favorite person to cook with is her youngest son, Ryley.
The Vegas say arepas, a type of flatbread, and avocadoes are delicious served with the soup during the cooler months of the year. “Colombian culture is all about eating and sharing time together,” said Shannon.
INGREDIENTS:
1 pound beef, cubed
2 (32-ounce) containers beef broth
1 bundle green onions, chopped
2 packages Goya Ham Concentrate
2 teaspoons salt seasoning
1 ripe plantain, mashed
1 cup cilantro, chopped
DIRECTIONS:
Boil beef in broth. Add green onion, Goya and salt until beef is cooked. Add mashed plantain to thicken soup. Top with cilantro.
Hot Tamale Balls
Misty Toruno is an executive assistant at Highland Community Hospital in Picayune. She doesn’t enjoy cooking, but wishes she did. “I envy people who love to be in the kitchen cooking great food,” she said, “but, I do love to eat!”
When it comes to cooking, although it’s not her forte, she flies solo in the kitchen. Being self-taught, she enjoys trying different recipes she finds online or gets from family and friends.
One of the recipes she submitted is Hot Tamale Balls, super easy and quick to make. “They taste just like regular hot tamales, but without all of the preparation of making the meat mixture and then rolling it up in corn meal and corn husks,” she said. “It is pretty hard to mess it up, which is helpful for those who are cooking challenged.”
She describes this family favorite as a go-to recipe if she’s taking a dish to a get-together. “I like to make it for any event I host and I have had multiple people ask me for the recipe, which I happily share. Good food is meant to be shared!”
Misty said this recipe takes her back to eating the famous Manuel’s Hot Tamales in New Orleans as a kid. “I used to love it when my mom and dad would stop on the side of the road and purchase the hot tamales from a vendor selling them out of a cart.”
INGREDIENTS:
Tamale Balls:
1 pound ground beef
1 pound hot pork sausage (Jimmy Dean)
1 ½ cup cornmeal
¾ cup tomato juice
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Tamale Sauce:
1 (46-ounce) jar tomato juice (less the ¾ cup used for balls)
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
DIRECTIONS:
Tamale Balls:
Mix together the ground beef, sausage, cornmeal, tomato juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper. Roll into balls. Brown in skillet and set aside.
Tamale Sauce:
Mix tomato juice, chili powder, cumin and salt in a sauce pan. Place tamale balls in sauce and cover. Simmer for 45 minutes on stove top.
Spicy Shrimp and Grits Casserole
Christy Farris, who works as a decision support analyst in the FGH Food & Nutrition Department, taught Culinary Arts at Petal High School for eight years, so she should know a good recipe when she sees it. One of the recipes she submitted is Spicy Shrimp and Grits Casserole, which can be served as a main dish, or used for a brunch.
“This is a Southern comfort food,” she said. “You probably grew up eating grits. This recipe, which is easy to prepare and can be made ahead of time, just takes it to another level with the tomatoes/green chilis and jalapenos. They give this recipe a bit of spice and the butter, cheese, and chicken broth add a rich and creamy taste. Also, who doesn’t love fresh shrimp from our Coast?”
Farris serves any green vegetable alongside this dish, with many sites recommending collards, but she prefers a green salad, asparagus, sautéed spinach or some oven-roasted vegetables.
Farris said she prefers cooking over baking because it doesn’t require her to be so precise with ingredients and measuring. “You can fix a problem easier when cooking,” she said.
When cooking, Farris relies on her tried-and-true, never-fail recipes, but says it’s always fun to try new things, too. “I like to keep my recipes simple, but tasty,” she said. “My favorite dish is Chicken Florentine, an impressive dish requiring few ingredients, and simple to prepare. The recipe looks like you worked much harder than you did to create the meal.”
Unless she already has a recipe, Farris likes looking through one of her many cookbooks. “I like to pull up several variations and take a little from each one to end up with a recipe I can work with.”
INGREDIENTS:
2 tablespoons butter, plus more for baking dish
3 green onions, diced
½ large red bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel, drained and diced
2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup quick-cooking grits (not instant)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound large shrimp, peeled and cooked
2 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 large egg, beaten
1 ¼ cup Gouda cheese, shredded and divided
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375°. Butter an 8” x 8” baking dish. Heat butter over medium high heat in a large saucepan. Add green onion, red bell pepper and jalapeno pepper. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, Rotel, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and slowly stir in the grits. Stir continuously until mixture returns to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring for 5 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in shrimp, bacon, egg and 1 cup of cheese. Pour into baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.
Sriracha Chili
You won’t find Jeremy Lilly, who serves as Forrest General’s ICU Operations Supervisor, in the kitchen baking. He’s not a sweets person, at all. If he is in the kitchen, the self-taught cook prefers to be alone. And, while he likes to try new recipes and add his own twist to things, he really likes to grill.
If soup is requested at a get-together he takes either the Sriracha Chili recipe he submitted or his vegetable soup. The chili is the result of several recipes Jeremy has pieced together through the years.
“It’s an easy recipe to make and perfect for the cooler time of the year, which will hopefully be coming soon,” he said. “I serve the chili with Fritos, shredded cheese, sour cream, jalapenos, and sometimes cornbread, if eating at home.”
Jeremy does add one secret ingredient that the recipe doesn’t include – black olives. “Nobody can ever tell I put finely-diced black olives in the recipe,” he said. “It gives it a nice smoky flavor.
INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds lean turkey or ground beef
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup Sriracha sauce
1 (32-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons sugar or alternate
1 (16-ounce) can kidney beans, drained
1 (16-ounce) can black beans, drained
1 (16-ounce) can Italian diced tomatoes with juices
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 large green bell peppers, chopped
2 medium onions, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon allspice
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped black olives
Shoe peg corn, optional
DIRECTIONS:
Brown ground meat together with garlic powder and kosher salt; drain when done. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker or a heavy pot. Stir well to combine all ingredients. If using a slow cooker, cook on low for 6 to 7 hours or on high for about 4 to 5 hours. If using a heavy pot, bring to simmer and let simmer covered for 4 hours. Serve hot, garnish with greens, cheese, jalapenos, sour cream, etc. Add more Sriracha if you like more spice. I like to add shoe peg corn to mine, optional.
Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies
Pam Waddle retired from Forrest General after working as a registered nurse in Endoscopy.
She enjoys baking cookies, mainly during the holiday season. She has a sour dough starter and bakes bread, cinnamon rolls, and blueberry muffins regularly. She also has made pizza crust and other types of bread.
Waddle submitted Caramel-Filled Chocolate Cookies as one of her cookbook recipes, which she describes as “somewhat messy and a time-consuming process.” She admits she dirties up quite a few bowls during the process.
Pam said she used to bake these cookies to give to friends when the family lived in Jackson. “When we moved back home to Hattiesburg in 1991, I misplaced the recipe,” she said. “A friend I used to bake the cookies for mailed me a letter which included the recipe she had found in a back issue of her mother’s Southern Living magazine.” Going forward, the cookies became a sweet treat for friends and neighbors, and she always had some at home for Christmas.
“I wasn’t really taught how to cook and still don’t cook very much,” she said. “I can cook, but I don’t enjoy it. I love to bake. My mom cooked a lot, but didn’t want me or my siblings to help. She was happy cooking for all of us.”
Pam said these cookies are best when warm and served with a glass of cold milk!
INGREDIENTS:
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup margarine or butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
48 Rolo chewy caramels in milk chocolate, unwrapped
1 cup chopped pecans, optional
1 tablespoon sugar
4 ounces vanilla flavored candy coating, if desired
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375°. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup, level off. Combine flour, cocoa and baking soda and blend well. In a large bowl, beat 1 cup sugar, brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and beat well. Add flour mixture and blend well. Stir in ½ cup pecans, if desired. With floured hands, shape 1 tablespoon of dough around 1 caramel candy, covering completely. In a small bowl, combine remaining ½ cup pecans and 1 tablespoon sugar. Press one side of cookie dough ball into pecan/sugar mixture. Place nut side up 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375° for 7 to 10 minutes or until set and slightly cracked. Cool 2 minutes and remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely on wire racks. Melt candy coating in small sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly until smooth. Drizzle candy coating over cookies.
Yield: 4 dozen cookies
Banana Pudding Pie
Amy Alfonso’s mother-in-law introduced her to one of the recipes she included in the Foundation’s cookbook – Banana Pudding Pie, which Amy describes as a cross between Banana Cream Pie and Banana Pudding and has become a crowd favorite. “My mother-in-law started making it a few years ago as a secondary dessert for family holidays,” Amy said. “It quickly became my favorite dessert and easily earned a spot on the regular family event menu.”
As director of nursing at Highland Community Hospital in Picayune, Amy and her husband, Nathan, who both enjoy spending time in the kitchen together, draw from their past experiences when it comes to cooking.
“I draw inspiration from my early 20s work experience at a Hattiesburg restaurant group, Crescent City Grill and Mahogany Bar,” said Amy. “Nathan is from Delacroix, La., so when you pair his background and my restaurant experience, that’s the inspiration for many of the dishes we cook. We are both adventurous eaters and love to try new dishes.” The others are favorite recipes handed down from Amy’s grandmothers.
Amy likes this recipe because it’s easy for beginners to make, and it only requires a little time in the refrigerator to set up. It’s also easy to tweak to one’s own liking. “Sometimes we do a graham cracker or a crushed vanilla wafer crust,” said Amy. “Sometimes we top the pie with whipped cream and crumbled graham crackers or vanilla wafers. It really just depends on what ingredients you have on hand.”
INGREDIENTS:
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 cups milk
1 (5-ounce) box French Vanilla pudding mix
6-8 ripe bananas, sliced
1 premade graham cracker or shortbread pie crust
DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl, combine the milk and pudding mix. Blend well using a handheld electric mixer. Using another bowl, combine cream cheese and condensed milk. Mix until smooth. Fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture. Add cream cheese mixture to the pudding mixture and stir until well blended. Place sliced bananas in premade pie crust. Pour pudding mixture over the bananas in the pie crust. Refrigerate for approximately 2 hours.
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Have some ideas to add to your holiday menus? Don’t worry if one of these won’t work. There are plenty more in “A Taste of Forrest Health.” Cookbooks are available for $35 at the Forrest General Healthcare Foundation office, 125 South 28th Ave., Suite 49, Hattiesburg. Books can be shipped for an extra fee of $10. You can order online at fghfoundation.com. For more information, call 601-288-4396.
