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Monday, June 28, 2010

Introducing House-Autry Mills


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Whew y'all, it has been the dog days of summer around here for sure.  You know that sun is beating down when you have to put on sunscreen to take out the trash for pete's sake!  Well, who couldn't use a little bit of help to cut down on time in the kitchen, and House-Autry is a sure bet to get supper on the table in record time and with practically zero effort too!

I was introduced to House-Autry Mills products by my dear friend Christy over at Southern Plate, when she asked if I would be interested in partnering with her to try the products and share my experiences with them. Well, imagine my surprise when I received this gorgeous basket, chock full of a variety of the House-Autry Mills products, and a few nice kitchen goodies thrown in.


It even came with a handy skimmer, a super high quality, flour sack apron, a Brite-Weave flat weave checkered kitchen towel and a nice, thick oven mitt! I instantly fell in love with these accessories.


But the star of the show ... look at all of these products I got to try!! I was in heaven I tell ya!


Now, seeing as this was my first experience with trying House-Autry products, I wanted to stay pretty authentic to the intention of each of these coatings, so I used them as directed. There are loads of recipes on the House-Autry website though, with other ideas for using these and their many other products. And get this ... on my last trip to Walmart, what did I notice on the baking aisle but these lovely, bright red packages, so House-Autry is probably available right in your neighborhood too!

While House-Autry Mills is new to me, I learned they are actually about to celebrate their 200th birthday.  The House family migrated to North Carolina from England in 1812 and established their first mill in Newton Grove.  In 1967 they merged with the Autry Brothers Mill and House-Autry Mills was born and now sell a wide variety of products from corn meal, to hushpuppies, onion ring coating, and traditionally seasoned breaders and coatings, cornbread and biscuit mixes. Be sure to look for them at your neighborhood grocer!

The first thing we tore into was the box of Hushpuppy with Onion mix.  It comes together in just mere seconds and is just a matter of frying them. I used my deep fryer and a small cookie scoop - which is larger than the recommended teaspoon - but is what I always use to make hushpuppies. I ended up with 18 delicious little fritters - tender on the inside, crunchy on the outside and just the right amount of onion flavor. Yum - we loved these!


Not in the mood for hushpuppies? Use the mix to make something else, like Squash Casserole or Zucchini Fritters or, it's great used as a breading too, like on pan-fried pork chops, although...

Next up, is the House-Autry Pork Breading.


I thawed out some bone-in pork chops to use the pork breading for frying. Just a quick dip in some water, shake off the excess, pop in a zipper bag to shake with the breading and pan fry or drop into a 375 degree deep fryer - done in about 8 minutes and nothing to it! The seasoning for this breading is just wonderful - nice and crunchy and full of flavor. Paired this with those hush puppies and some freshly picked and steamed garden green beans and supper was on the table in minutes.


Don't want pork chops? How about Chicken Fried Steak instead? You'll find all of the recipes on their website.

Next up, the House-Autry Southern Baked Pork Bake. I used bone-in center cut chops again and the same process - dip in water, shake off excess and pop into a zipper bag of the seasoning, shake and bake!  Bake them at 425 degrees, on a rack on top of a foil lined pan, and no turning - you'll have crispy, flavorful oven baked pork chops in about 15 minutes.


The Cajun loved this as much as his favorite fried chops and declared them "delicious!!" Some purple hull peas sauteed in black peppered bacon and Vidalia onion, and garden fresh sliced tomatoes on the side and in about 20 minutes, you have yourself a mighty fine southern meal I'm telling ya.


Not in the mood for this? How about some Southern Baked Crab Cakes instead?

Next up, House-Autry Southern Baked Chicken Bake.


Again, just a quick pass in some water, pop in a zipper bag with the coating and shake then bake. I wished that I would have had a cut up whole chicken to try this with, but I did have some boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I baked them at 400 degrees and it only took about 20 minutes.  This was a great oven baked chicken - nice crunchy coating, tender chicken inside and next time I might even coat the chicken with a bit of mayonnaise, or mustard before breading them. I might even toss in a little of my favorite Cajun seasoning!


The Cajun loved every one of these dishes and gave them all a two thumbs up and delicious seal of approval!  Good fresh taste, dinner on the table in minutes, can't beat that!  We've still got the Seafood Breading and the Chicken Breading to try, but based on our review of everything else these products are all winners.

Want to go ahead and try these products? Be sure to check out House-Autry Mills on Facebook and on Twitter and watch for coupons plus you can grab some great recipe ideas too!



The giveaway is closed. 

Congratulations to Donna B. aka @simplydab on Twitter! You are the winner of this fantastic House-Autry Mills gift basket.  Please send an email to me at mary@deepsouthdish.com with your name, mailing address & a telephone number (for shipping purposes only). Congratulations and enjoy!

Thanks for participating y'all!!



GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!
 One lucky winner will win a basket chock full of these same great House-Autry products, a metal skimmer, a high quality House-Autry flour sack apron, a Brite-Weave flat weave checkered kitchen towel and a nice, thick oven mitt! Yay!!

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

Simply leave a comment below - that's it! Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you though.

GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

1. Earn one bonus entry by sharing this giveaway on your own Facebook page - then let me know you did here or at The Deep South Dish Family Facebook page.


2. Tweet the message below up to ONCE DAILY for extra entries!


Win a fantastic southern gift basket full of products from @HouseAutryMills & @DeepSouthDish  http://bit.ly/dzdF67
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How about a couple more chances to win one?


I am thrilled to pieces to be partnering with several new-to-me bloggers to share House-Autry products with y'all, including Jyl of The Post-it Place, Jo of The Adventures of Kitchen Girl, Southern Beauty Magazine, and a couple of near and dear to me blogging friends, including my sweet Texas pal, Tina of Mommy's Kitchen and my Alabama sister-from-another-mother, and the host of this whole project, Christy of Southern Plate. {Be sure to click on over to Christy's blog for a behind the scenes tour of the mill.}  For more chances to win a beautiful basket like this one, be sure to drop by and visit each one of them to enter their giveaways too. {if their posts aren't up yet, just be sure to check back}

The Rules:

Giveaway closes at noon on Monday, July 5th, 2010 at 12:00 noon CST. 
➮Open to residents of the United States only please.
➮You must leave an email address in your comment, or be linked to a public profile containing your email address.
➮The winner will be notified by email and will have 48 hours from the time of that email to reply and claim their win before an alternate winner will be selected.

Disclosure: House-Autry Mills provided me with a gift basket of the products described, both for me to try and to giveaway to one reader.

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