From the ArcaMax Publishing, Recipes by Zola Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/zola/s-284200-380105
Best Movie of the Year?
RUN, don't walk, to the new movie, "The Debaters". The movie stars
Denzel Washington as a professor at a small African American college.
It's set in 1935, when Texas was not a particularly friendly place to
live if your skin was anything other than white. Denzel's character is
in charge of the Debate Team and the movie revolves around their
struggles and triumphs. I'm not a movie reviewer, so I probably didn't
describe this as well as I should have. I'm trying to entice you to go
see the movie. I'd give it 5 stars, and I'd bet money it gets Oscar
nominations. It's produced by Oprah Winfrey; which usually says a lot
about a movie. She won't do anything that doesn't have a lesson, drama
and probably some tears. Everyone was cheering at the end of the movie
but there wasn't a dry eye in the house. You'll walk away shaken and
inspired at the same time.
This is a great way to start 2008. Shaken and stirred.
Otherwise I have two other reasons to announce that my 2008 is
starting out in grand fashion and both of them revolve around you.
So before I even begin....thank you!
Success #1. The "powers that be" at Arca MAX (the fabulous people that
produce this e-zine) contacted me the other day and let me know that
the subscribership for the newsletter is now over 500,000. That's a
full half million people around the world that get this newsletter on
a weekly basis.
Whew! When I started it was 200,000. My, how things have grown!
Much of that success is thanks to you. You see, if you tell 10 people
to sign up for the Zola column and they tell 10 more and they tell 10
more...well you get it. Please, feel free to tell all of your friends
to sign up for the newsletter. It's free, so why not? I'd like to set
a goal that by the time we begin 2009 that we are up to 750,000
subscribers. How's that for a good goal? It will all be up to you.
For those of you not familiar with the term, the marketing folks call
this "viral marketing". It sort of grows like a happy virus and
spreads throughout the world. So next time your choral group (church
group, bridge club, you get the idea) gets together give them the
email address. They can go to my site at www.dinnerwithzola.com and
on the left hand side of the page there's a link. Or you can tell them
to go directly to the ArcaMax site at www.arcamax.com/zola.
I thank you in advance.
Success #2.
While I was watching the movie yesterday (New Year's Day) it occurred
to me that I needed to change my menu for dinner. There's a tradition
in much of the South where you eat pork and black eyed peas on New
Year's Day to bring you luck throughout the year. Since my
mother-in-law is from Arkansas, I've always tried to keep this
tradition for my husband. I'm not superstitious but it can't hurt! I
had planned a chicken dinner but I didn't have the ingredients yet so
I was inspired to do a new black eyed pea recipe while I was in the
car on the way to the grocery store.
I picked up some bacon to stand in for the traditional pork roast.
Then the canned peas (so my recipe would not take so long), some
spinach, mushrooms, shallots and I figured I had a dish of some kind.
I just wasn't sure how I was going to bring it all together. I had a
casserole, side dish in mind to go with my original roasted lemon
chicken idea.
When I got home I decided to do a little recipe research to see what
others did for black eyed pea recipes in hopes that I could maybe
borrow an idea or two for my dish.
When I "Googled" "Roasted Black Eyed Pea recipes" I was shocked by
what came up on the first page. Zola! Yep, my black eyed pea recipe
from a couple of years ago flashed on the screen as a choice; right
near the top of the page too!
Those of you keen to internet marketing will already understand my
excitement. For those less hip to the marketing techniques you'll be
heartened to know that all those that have searched out my site have
helped to increase my rankings so Google sees me as a credible and
popular source, so my site is coming up in the search; not only coming
up, but on the first page which is a huge accomplishment!
Without the help of you and your friends I could not have achieved
this accomplishment. I can "optimize" my site all I want but if no one
goes looking for it, it will never pop up as a choice like it did.
Thank you again!
So, you see, ...I think this is an omen for a great year to come.
Bring on 2008!
Enjoy this black eyed pea side dish on New Years or anytime you crave
something Southern.
Roasted Black Eyed Pea, Spinach and Bacon Casserole
Serves 6
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
6 pieces of bacon, sliced crosswise into quarter inch strips
2
cups of sliced button mushrooms
3 large minced shallots
2 15 oz cans of black eyed peas, drained, rinsed and drained again
Three quarters of a cup of chicken broth (divided)
2 tsp of
minced garlic (jar garlic is fine)
1 Tbl of hot sauce (Tabasco
or other)
1 tsp of black pepper
One cup of Italian
cheese mix or Parmesan
One half pound of baby spinach leaves
(fresh)
In a large sauté pan cook the bacon until crisp. You're making
bacon bites. When they are nicely browned you're going to drain them
on paper towels, but DO NOT wash the pan. Just pour off the grease and
leave the pan as is. Next you'll sauté the mushrooms and
shallots in the pan on medium, until they are just loosened up and
starting to brown. This will take just a few minutes.
Now you'll put in your drained, rinsed and drained beans with a half
cup of chicken broth. I am emphasizing this because you don't want the
bean liquid. You need clean beans.
Add the garlic, hot sauce, and the pepper. Mix thoroughly. Add the
bacon bits and mix again. Then put this mixture in a 9 X 13" ovenproof
pan and back for one hour at 350 degrees.
When the hour is up take out the casserole and stir. Add the final
quarter cup of chicken broth and the spinach and the cheese. This
takes a bit of patience because you will have to continually put
handfuls of spinach in and toss the spinach in until it wilts. Then
add the next handful. And stir again. When it's all mixed in, put the
casserole back in the oven for 30 more minutes. Serve warm, right from
the oven.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola
Send email to Zola at dinnerwithzola@hotmail.com.