Pico de Gallo

Ingredients

1 pint of grape tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of red onion, chopped
1 large jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
3/4 cup of cilantro, chopped
1 large lime, juiced
pinch of sea salt
pinch of chili powder
pinch of cumin

Instructions

1. Mix all of the ingredients together
2. Adjust your seasonings to taste. No seriously, that’s it.
   1. If you like your pico to have a little heat, leave some of the jalapeño seeds and membranes in there.

Pecorino-Romano and Fried Shallot Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

3 large red skinned potatoes

1/4 cup of heavy cream

2 tbs of salted butter

1/2 tbs of white pepper

1/4 cup of shallots, thinly sliced

Canola oil

1 tsp of sea salt

1/4 cup of Pecorino- Romano cheese, grated

This is how golden, crunchy and delicious your shallots should be. They should be floating in a cloud of creamy, dreamy and cheesy mashed potatoes. Don't blow it.

Instructions

1. In a heavy bottomed pot, pour about 3/4-1 inch of canola oil, and heat on medium-high heat

2. Add the shallots and fry for 30 seconds to minute, or until they're golden brown. Work quickly and pay attention; they will go from golden brown, crunchy and delicious to burnt in about 10 seconds.

3. Remove the fried shallots, and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with the sea salt, and set aside

4. Peel and cube the potatoes, and add to a pot of boiling salted water.

5. When the potatoes are fork tender (aka you poke them with a fork and the fork doesn't fight back), strain the water from the pot and mash the potatoes.

6. Heat the cream and butter until the butter is melted (I usually pop mine in the microwave in a coffee mug for about 1 minute), and add to the potatoes. Stir this into the mashed potatoes until they're creamy and delicious.

7. Add the white pepper (I use white because I don't want black flecks in the potatoes, but black is really fine).

8. Stir in the Pecorino-Romano, and the fried shallots. Taste the potatoes. Salty pecorino-romano, salted butter and salted shallots should give you plenty of salt, but I know how y'all do.

9. Serve immediately! Nobody likes cold mashed potatoes. Gross.

Roasted Garlic Grits

Let us tell y'all how much we love some damn grits, ok? Bet. Now that we got that out of the way, we have to bless y'all with a simple, yet versatile grits recipe. Let's start with the items that this recipe does not call for:

1. sugar, honey, splenda (heathens. Go argue with your dusty cousins) 

2. Instant grits

We may add grits to a side of just about everything and we aren't ashamed. Anyway, take a look at one of our favorite side piece dishes below:

Roasted Garlic Grits

Ingredients

1 cup Old fashioned grits
2 cups of low sodium chicken stock
1/2 cup of heavy cream
sea salt to taste

2 tbs of butter, or more if you're fat like us
1 head of roasted garlic, chopped
1 tbs of olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
2. Remove the extra layers of papery skin from the head of garlic Don’t remove all of the skin, or the individual layers of skin from the cloves. The garlic will fall apart and you’ll be toast.
   3.Cut the top off of the garlic, and drizzle it with olive oil. Wrap the garlic in foil, and roast in the oven for 35-40 minutes. Let it cool, then squeeze the heads of garlic from their skins, chop, and set aside.
3. Bring the water to a boil, and add the sea salt
4. Pour in the grits, and stir briskly. Turn the heat down, and cook on medium low heat for about 15 minutes, or until they’re creamy and cooked through. Watch them carefully! Don't let them get stuck to the bottom of the pot, and don't let them get lumpy. That's gross.
5. Stir in the butter, heavy cream and the chopped garlic, stir to combine
   *Taste the grits, and add more salt as needed

Parmesan Risotto

Ingredients

• 6 cups of chicken stock
• 1/2 cup of white wine
• 1 big clove of garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, finely minced
• 1 ½ cups of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup of Arborio rice
• 2 tbs of olive oil
• 2 tbs of butter

Instructions

1. In a small pot, heat the chicken stock on medium heat until it’s hot, but not boiling.
2. In a heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil on medium heat, and add the shallots and garlic. Cook them until fragrant, but not browned!
3. Add the rice, and stir for about 2 minutes. Each grain of rice should be coated in the olive oil, and should smell toasty and delicious.
4. Add the white wine and stir, then add ½ cup of the hot stock. Stir CONSTANTLY, but slowly until the stock is absorbed, then add the next ½ cup. Repeat until all of the stock is absorbed, and the rice looks creamy and delicious. The constant stirring is a labor of love, but worth it. Because Arborio rice is super starchy, constant stirring creates a creamy liquid around the rice as it cooks.
5. Stir in the butter, and the cheese. Serve IMMEDIATELY.