Cook of the Month

Alabamians are lucky to live in a state where the bounty of available fresh seafood is the envy of chefs and home cooks alike. “There are roughly 23 types of Alabama seafood available to consumers in our state, from oysters, shrimp and crab to fin fish of all shapes and sizes,” says Tommy Cauthen, marketing director for Alabama Gulf Seafood. Although the group hasn’t done any scientific polling, his opinion that shrimp would likely be the favorite of that group. “Nearly every restaurant has a shrimp po’boy,” says Cauthen. “I always try to make sure they are Gulf shrimp.” Alabama seafood is revered by commercial and home chefs simply because it’s harvested from waters off our state’s coast, “which means it’s a fresher product than other seafood options that might be available,” he says. “Fresher naturally tastes better! It is harvested in a sustainable manner and inspected for safety. The variety is such that everyone can find a favorite.” Many types of seafood are great candidates for cooking on the grill, according to the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Among them are amberjack, bluefish, catfish, cobia, dolphin (mahi mahi), drum, grouper, king mackerel, rainbow trout, shark, snapper, Spanish mackerel, striped bass, swordfish, triggerfish and tuna. Clams, mussels, oysters and scallops can also be grilled, as can softshell crabs, lobster tails and shrimp. When cooking seafood at home, the Extension System recommends purchasing fish the day it’s going to be used. When that’s not possible, take care to appropriately refrigerate or freeze seafood until it’s ready to be cooked. Another key point to remember is not to overcook seafood, because when cooked properly, fish should be moist and flavorful. In addition to the recipes on our pages, you can find more recipes at eatalabamaseafood.com and recipes, cooking and freezing tips at aces.edu.

Louisiana Crab Cakes are a wonderful addition to any seafood meal. Flaky crab coupled with fresh veggies keep true to the Southern favorite. The slightly spicy chili sauce is so good you’ll want to put it on everything on your plate!

Brooke Burks

Louisiana Crab Cakes

1 pound lump crab meat (can be imitation) 2 tablespoons butter 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 tablespoons minced garlic 1/2 cup chopped celery 1 tablespoon dried parsley 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper, any color 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning 2 teaspoons dried basil 1 teaspoon dried dill 1/2 teaspoon thyme 2 eggs, beaten 10 crushed butter crackers 4 tablespoons canola oil 3 tablespoons flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Sauce: 1 cup mayonnaise 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

In a large skillet, cook onion, celery and bell pepper in 2 tablespoons of butter until tender at medium heat. Add minced garlic, parsley, Creole seasoning, Old Bay seasoning, basil, salt, pepper, dill and thyme. Cook just until fragrant. About 1-2 minutes. Cool and place mixture in a large bowl. Stir in beaten eggs. Gently fold in crabmeat, flour and crushed crackers. Mix just until combined. In a small bowl, combine ingredients for sauce and mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. Heat canola oil in the same skillet at low to medium heat. Form cakes out of the crab mixture and place in pan or mold in pan to keep them together. Cook 3-5 minutes per side until done. Remove and drain to cool. Serve with sauce and enjoy!

Shrimp and Grits

4 strips of bacon 1 medium yellow onion, chopped 1 pound medium shrimp, peeled, and deveined

Sea salt

Black pepper 1 tablespoon seafood seasoning (Old Bay) 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided 1 tablespoon garlic powder 1/4 cup canola oil 1 cup hot water 2 cups quick-cooking grits

Water to boil grits 1/2 cup green onion, diced

In cast iron skillet, cook bacon until crisp, set aside bacon and drippings. Add onion to pan and cook until tender. Sprinkle shrimp with salt and pepper, then sprinkle with 1/4 c flour, garlic powder and seafood seasoning, toss well and set aside. Meanwhile bring water to a boil, seasoning water with salt. Add grits stirring constantly, reduce heat. After 5 minutes cover and let simmer until thickened. Turn skillet up to medium high, add canola oil, when skillet is hot add 1/4 cup of the flour along with onions, brown. Add shrimp and crumbled bacon. Slowly whisk in water (I sometimes add a little milk). Let come to rolling boil, stir well until gravy turns thick and brown. Serve over grits, garnish with green onions. Cook’s note: I sometimes add other veggies such as bell peppers or celery.

Angela Bradley North Alabama EC

Cook of the Month: Becky Chappelle, Cullman EC

Crab Quiche

1 deep dish pie shell 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 2 tablespoons green onion, minced 1/4 cup pimento, minced 1/2 teaspoon parsley, minced 1 6-ounce can white crabmeat 1 tablespoon flour 11/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese, divided 4 large eggs Dash of hot sauce 1 cup evaporated milk, undiluted 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper

Bake crust at 400 degrees until barely tan on edges of crust, usually 10-12 minutes. Lower heat to 350 degrees. Remove crust and line with 3/4 cup shredded cheese. Over medium heat, melt butter and sauté onions for about 2 minutes until tender. In medium bowl combine flour, crabmeat, pimento, green onions, parsley, salt and pepper. Beat eggs with milk until combined, add a dash of hot sauce. Add to crabmeat mixture and pour into crust. Top with rest of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until brown on top. Serves 6.

PHOTO BY BROOKE ECHOLS Crab Quiche

1 rotisserie chicken 1 8-ounce package frozen crawfish tails 1 8-ounce package frozen raw shrimp (no tail, no head and shelled) 1 package of at least 6 links

Conecuh sausage 1 8-ounce package frozen cut okra 1 green bell pepper 1 medium onion 3 8-ounce cans diced tomatoes 6 8-ounce cans chicken broth

Tony Chacheree Cajun Seasoning 2 whole bay leaves

Rue: 1 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup plain flour

Skin and debone rotisserie chicken. Set white and dark meat aside in a bowl and disscard the rest. Open Frozen shrimp and cut shrimp in half and set aside in a bowl. Open frozen Crawfish tails and set aside in a bowl. Dice up Conecuh Sausage. Set aside. Dice up Bell-pepper and set aside. Dice up Onion and set aside. Bring Chicken broth to a boil and lower heat down to medium. Add chicken, sausage, crawfish tail, frozen okra, bell pepper, onion, tomatoes and bay leaves to broth and stir. Simmer and stir for 30 minutes. In the meantime make your rue. Pour vegetable oil in skillet and heat on medium until it sizzles. Add flour a tablespoon at a time and whisk it around in the hot grease. Whisk and stir until the concoction resembles a caramel color thin gravy. Remove rue from heat. Add shrimp to gumbo and simmer until shrimp is pink. Add hot rue to gumbo and stir until the gumbo thickens. Add Cajun Season to taste and stir. Serve on a big scoop of yellow or white rice.

Sharon Smith Central Alabama EC

Shrimp Deluxe

6 ounces cream cheese 1 ounce blue cheese 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 6-8 drops Tabasco 3 tablespoons (or more) milk 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1 pound cleaned, cooked or steamed shrimp

Lemon wedges for garnish (optional)

Combine all ingredients except shrimp, and blend until smooth. Pour over shrimp and toss lightly to coat shrimp evenly. Divide into individual casseroles. Bake 15 minutes at 375 degrees. Garnish with lemon wedges if desired.

Allison Law Alabama Living

Hickory Smoked Seared Scallops

1 pound large scallops 1/4 cup white wine 1/2 stick butter 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 1 teaspoon garlic, minced 1 lemon

Salt

Pepper

In a charcoal grill build a fire with hickory wood. Let it burn down to white hot ash. In a large iron skillet add white wine, butter, parsley, garlic. Place skillet directly on the white ash base. Once skillet is hot add scallops and sear 3 minutes a side. Remove scallops and plate them topping with squeezed lemon juice and salt , pepper to taste.

Kirk Vantrease Cullman EC

Eating seafood is good for you

• Wild-caught Alabama Gulf Seafood is a natural product high in omega-3 fatty acids, which help prevent heart disease. • Fish and shellfish are an excellent source of protein. A 6oz serving of seafood is more than 100 percent of the protein adults need in their daily diets. • All fish are great sources of Vitamin B, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, and other minerals. Fattier fish like tuna and seatrout contain lots of Vitamin D as well, and oysters are great sources of iron, zinc, copper, iodine, and magnesium. • It’s also low in fat and calories!

Shrimp and Clam Chowder

1 pound bacon 1 onion, chopped 4 cups potatoes, chopped 2 cups heavy cream 4 bottles Bumblebee brand clam juice 4 cans Bumblebee brand chopped clams, with juice 2 bags small frozen, uncooked shrimp 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 cups milk

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cook chowder in a stock pot. Fry bacon, crumble into pieces and set aside. Save bacon drippings. Chop onion, then saute' in drippings. Add clam juice and chopped potatoes to pot. Simmer on medium-low heat for 20 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Add clams with their juice and heavy cream to pot. In a separate bowl, whisk milk and flour until smooth as possible, adding to pot after. Stir slowly until it starts to thicken. Add bacon crumbles and shrimp last, (still frozen), and stir the pot until the shrimp turn pink, then serve.

Leigh Ann Purvis

Shrimp and Clam Chowder

Holiday Cookie

CONTEST

Calling all bakers! Do you have a favorite holiday cookie recipe or special cookies you take to all the holiday parties and cookie exchanges? Share your favorite holiday cookie recipes with us for a chance to win! Enter online at www.alabamaliving.com. Each entry must include your name, address and phone number as well as the name of your electric cooperative. Entries may also be mailed to Alabama Living Cookie Contest, PO Box 244014, Montgomery, AL 36124. Entry dead-

line is September 3, 2021.

PHOTO BY BROOKE ECHOLS

to the winning

Please send us your original

recipes, developed by you or family members. You may adapt a recipe from another source by changing as little as the amount of one ingredient. Cook of the Month winners will receive $50, and may win “Cook of the Month” only once per calendar year. To be eligible, submissions must include a name, phone number, mailing address and co-op name. Alabama Living reserves the right to reprint recipes in our other publications.

50$ Cook of the Month!

Themes and Deadlines:

November: Cauliflower | August 6 December : Holiday Cookie Contest | September 3 January: Homemade Breads | October 1

3 ways to submit:

Online: alabamaliving.coop Email: recipes@alabamaliving.coop Mail: Recipes, P.O. Box 244014 Montgomery, AL 36124

Reliability reinforced with upgrades to Colbert CT

Colbert Combustion Turbine Tech Jeff Johnson directs crew in preparing a main transformer. Colbert combustion turbine Foreman Robert Fox.

Being able to turn on a fan, lower the A/C temperature in our homes or get ice from the freezer are some of the ways we cool down in the summer heat. These are activities that we don’t think much about, because we have reliable power.

To help ensure that electricity is always there when we need it, especially during peak summer demand, TVA has launched two major refurbishment projects at two gas facilities – Gallatin and Colbert Combustion Turbine (CT) plants. Colbert CT is located near Tuscumbia, Alabama. Units 1-8 have been selected for refurbishment and produce a total net summer generating capacity of 392 megawatts.

According to Mark Rutland, site manager at Colbert CT, TVA conducted a study of the gas fleet, evaluating older combustion turbine units to best determine the feasibility for making TVA’s peaking CTs more reliable. He pointed out that the reliability of our gas generation is one reason why we didn’t experience a Texas level blackout this winter. Rutland went on to note that due to the rise in solar, Colbert is a potential back up for peaking power demand over the next two decades, and the older units at Colbert need to be updated to meet that challenge. The units are fast-start capable and can be online within 12 minutes, which is crucial in case a base load unit, such as nuclear, goes offline.

Over the next three years, Colbert will conduct upgrades to the transformers, control systems, turbines, generators, balance of plant equipment and lube oil systems. TVA has already started the turbine and generator centerline work.

In addition, TVA has preliminary plans to add three more new CT units at the Colbert site. Once environmental reviews are completed at the end of this summer, TVA will make the final preparations to start building once approved.

Kevin Chandler is general manager, Alabama District Customer Service, for the Tennessee Valley Authority.

Remember:

You can still win a prize by participating in the #TVAFun photo contest!

While you are out on TVA lands, waters and campgrounds, post a photo to Instagram using the hashtag #TVAFun. The contest is under way through Labor Day. Photos of landscapes, flora or fauna and people enjoying our region’s natural beauty could win a prize:

1st place- Go-Pro Hero 9 2nd place- Eno Hammock 3rd place- Solar Powered Phone Charger

If you need special inspiration, August is fishing month and September is camping month, but you can submit any photo that meets the guidelines. For more details and to see some of last year’s submissions, go to Capture Your Summer Memories (tva.com).

Home charging options for electric vehicles

Electric vehicle (EV) owners have multiple options for charging their vehicle at home. There are three common EV charging levels: Level One, Level Two and DC Fast Charge.

Level One Charging

• Level One is the most basic charging level. If you choose this option, your EV will typically include an adapter that plugs into a typical 120-volt outlet. This is the easiest and cheapest charging solution, but it will take much longer to charge your EV.

Level Two Charging

• Level Two is about three to five times faster than Level One, but this level of charging often requires separate purchases and installation. The EV is plugged into a 240-volt outlet, which is used for larger appliances, like a clothes dryer. Most homes do not include a 240-volt outlet in garages, so the outlet must be installed by a licensed professional. You typically see Level Two charging stations at shopping malls, office buildings and multi-family community spaces.

DC Fast Charging

• DC Fast Charge stations are typically seen near high-traffic public areas, like gas stations, rather than in homes. This is the fastest charging level, with the ability to charge an EV at 80% in under 30 minutes. As EVs continue to become more popular, you can expect to see more DC Fast Charge stations throughout Alabama.

If you’re charging an EV at home, please contact your electric utility. EV charging creates additional energy demand. The time of day you charge your EV can have an impact on the grid and your monthly energy costs. By letting us know about your EV charging levels, we can help ensure your home is prepared for the additional energy consumption.

Electric Vehicle Charging Levels

AC Level One AC Level Two DC Fast Charge

Standard household outlet

VOLTAGE:

120V 1-Phase AC

AMPS:

12-16 Amps

CHARGING LOADS:

1.4 to 1.9 KW

VEHICLE CHARGE TIME:

3-5 Miles per Hour

VOLTAGE:

208V or 240V 1-Phase AC

AMPS:

12-80 Amps (typ. 32 Amps)

CHARGING LOADS:

2.5 to 19.2 kW (typ. 6.6kW)

VEHICLE CHARGE TIME:

10-20 Miles per Hour

20+ for some EV models

VOLTAGE:

208V or 480V 3-Phase AC

AMPS:

<100 Amps

CHARGING LOADS:

50-350 kW

VEHICLE CHARGE TIME:

60-80 Miles in 20 Minutes

Closing Deadlines (in our office): October 2021 Issue by August 25 November 2021 Issue by September 25 December 2021 Issue by October 25

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Miscellaneous

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Answers to puzzle on Page 28

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Land, Lots & Real Estate Sales

QUALITY CUSTOM HOMES BUILT ON YOUR LOT! Watermark Builder offers Affordable pricing and amazing standard features. We make building easy! Schedule your FREE design consultation now! Call (334)512-9866 or visit BuildWatermark.com

Education

FREE BIBLE CORRESPONDENCE COURSE – write to P.O. Box 52, Trinity, AL, 35673

Fruits / Nuts / Berries

GROW MUSCADINES AND BLACKBERRIES , half dollar size – We offer over 200 varieties of Fruit and Nut Trees plus Vines and Berry Plants . Free color catalog. 1-800-733-0324. Ison’s Nursery, P.O. Box 190, Brooks, GA 30205 Since 1934 www.isons.com

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