My Carolina Kitchen

Kalamata Lemon Chicken with Orzo

2013-06-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

We’ve been experimenting with more dishes that call for chicken thighs. I confess that chicken breasts will always be my favorite, but in truth the thighs have more flavor.

I think the aroma of chicken roasting in the oven with kalamata olives and lemons smells like comfort food. From start to finish this takes about 45 minutes, which is relatively quick for most comfort food dishes.

I’ve fallen head over heels in love with orzo and frequently use it in place of rice. For one reason, it cooks much faster and can be ready in under 15 minutes even if you count the time it takes for the water to boil. Brown rice, which is the rice we eat when we eat rice, takes at least 45 minutes from start to finish. Orzo is one of the reasons this dish doesn’t take a long time to cook.

This post, as well as some in the future, is shorter than usual because we’re in the midst of refreshing and remodeling a new house. I will be busy for the next several weeks and I probably won’t be able to get around and visit with my friends as much as usual, and also we may be without the internet until we get settled. Please, just hang in there with me. Things will be back to normal soon.

Kalamata Lemon Chicken
Adapted from Better Homes & Garden – serves 4

1 ¼ pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
2/3 cup dried orzo
½ cup drained and pitted kalamata olives
1-14oz can low sodium, low fat chicken broth (or homemade)
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ of a lemon, cut into thin wedges
1 teaspoon dried oregano or Greek seasoning
Hot chicken broth, optional, use as needed
Freshly snipped oregano, including the flower if you have it, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Season chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper. In a 4-quart Dutch oven, brown the chicken in hot oil over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, turning once. Stir in orzo, olives, broth, lemon wedges, lemon juice, and oregano.

Bake, covered, in a 400 degree F oven about 35 minutes or until chicken is tender and no longer pink (180 degrees F). Serve in shallow bowls. Add additional hot broth if you want the dish on the soupy. Garnish with snipped fresh oregano and serve right away.

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This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Spicy Fresh Cherry Salsa

2013-06-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

It’s fresh cherry season and time to take advantage of them while they are abundant in the market. Normally with fresh cherries I would make a clafouti, a baked French dessert of cherries baked in a thick flan-like batter and dusted with powdered sugar. But I was feeling more adventuresome and settled on a spicy fresh cherry salsa served alongside roasted pork.

The recipe calls for two cups of pitted cherries. In the past I would have used my little handheld cherry pitter and after a while, my hand would start to ache. Thanks to a gift from brother-in-law Stuart, I went through pitting two cups of cherries in record speed. He gave us this handy dandy cherry pitter from Sur la Table and believe it or not, it pits four cherries at a time with one simple motion. The tray reverses to accommodate small and large cherries and also works well as an olive pitter. And it can be washed in the dishwasher. What more could you want from a gadget. Thanks Stu. Your cherry pitter turned a chore into a breeze.

Photo - Sur la Table

I used a combination of fresh nectarines and peaches, but you could use either one you like. It would also be good with a mango if nectarines or peaches aren’t available. No need to waste the left-over pepper jelly. It’s the star of the show in an old Southern appetizer of slices of a toasted French baguette smeared with a little cream cheese or goat cheese topped with a dollop of the red pepper jelly.

This salsa is on the spicy side and if you are shy when it comes to heat, I would suggest you go light on the crushed red pepper flakes. Taste the salsa first and add more pepper flakes to taste. Southern Living served this salsa with griddle cakes, recipe here, which would make a nice breakfast. I chose roasted pork tenderloin, but it would also be delicious with grilled pork or chicken.

Spicy Fresh Cherry Salsa
Adapted from Southern Living – makes 2 ½ cups

½ cup red pepper jelly
1 tablespoon lime zest
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¼ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper, or to taste
2 cups pitted, coarsely chopped fresh cherries
¾ cup diced fresh nectarines and peaches, or all nectarines or all peaches
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped scallions, green parts, or chopped chives

Whisk together red pepper jelly, lime zest, lime juice and dried crushed red peppers in a small bowl. Stir in cherries, nectarines, peaches, cilantro and scallions or chives.

Don’t forget that the Google Reader is being retired at the end of this month and you’ll want to transfer the blogs you follow to another service. Both Feedly and Bloglovin’ can easily transfer the blogs you follow from the Reader and new blogs are very easy to add. I am currently using both to see which one I like the best. One of the features I like is that you can put the blogs into categories, such as Food, Fashion, Decorating, Lifestyle, whatever you want. Both have similar layouts to the Google Reader. The end of June is just around the corner, so keep that in mind and don’t wait until the last minute to make the change.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone and happy Father’s Day to all of the fathers out there.

Breakfast with friends – part of the Annual Blogger Get-Together + We’re Moving Again

2013-06-06T06:22:00.000-04:00

As you know from my last post about the 4th annual blogger get-together at the home of Larry of Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings and his wife Bev, we spent the weekend partying with fellow bloggers and friends at the lake. You might recall that Penny of Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen’s husband David told Bev & myself about the special treat that he and Penny had in store for us for breakfast the next morning following the luau – and it was going to be shrimp and grits. If you have been reading My Carolina Kitchen for a while, then you know how much I love shrimp and grits.

I can’t wait to taste David & Penny’s version of shrimp and grits with andouille sausage. Andouille, for those of you who aren’t familiar with it, is a coarse-grained, smoked sausage most often associated with Cajun cooking in the US. It originated in France and was taken to the US by French immigrants to Louisiana. Pronounced ænˈduːi/ an-doo-ee in US English and in French [ɑ̃nduj]. To me it is a spicy, smoky sausage that brings a lot of flavor to the dish.

While David browns the andouille and bacon and sautés the chopped onion that will go with the shrimp,

Penny grates the cheese for the grits.

David & his helper Meakin put the final touches on the stone ground grits

While the shrimp simmers on the stove.

Here’s a bowl of the finished shrimp and grits, Penny's recipe here, along with her post about it with lots of great pictures. Notice the beautiful 10 to 15 count shrimp they found at their market.

Larry offered to fry an egg for anyone who wanted one on their shrimp & grits – several did.

Penny brought beautiful cranberry orange scones (Penny's recipe here) that she had prepared earlier,

And delicious chocolate biscotti (Penny's recipe here) for dipping in your coffee.

While David was cooking the bacon & andouille, I put together a big bowl of orange slices, red grapes, lightly sugared blackberries, and slices of fresh local mountain strawberries.

Everyone is seated around the table and ready to dig in to their bowl of shrimp and grits. Thank you Penny and David for this awesome gourmet breakfast. What a wonderful ending to a great get-together with friends and family. And a big thanks to Larry and Beverly for hosting the event. You guys are the best.

As a side note, we’re on the move again. We sold our condo this past January to the first people that looked at it and we’re currently remodeling and refreshing our new house where we’ll spend our winters. During our forty three years of marriage we’ve remodeled more than a dozen houses and really enjoy it. As we get older, we’ve come to realize that we can’t do everything ourselves anymore and have hired people to help us on this project.

If you follow me on Pinterest, then you know that I have as many or more decorating boards as I do food, France, and fashion (my first career). My favorite part of redecorating is choosing the colors and feathering the nest, but I also love to change the layout and re-arrange some of the walls in rooms when it’s called for. See the master bath below.

Our new house is an older home in an established neighborhood with lots of character, older trees, and established landscaping. Like any other older home, it needs plenty of updating. Here’s a preview of what’s going on right now with the crew in the master bedroom and bath.

This is our dining room waiting for the trim carpenter to put down new baseboard down and install cove molding as will be done in all of the rooms. Trim makes all the difference in how a room looks. The sheetrock crew has already been in and removed the popcorn off of the ceiling. Popcorn is a bumpy ceiling finish that was once popular, but now makes a room seem dated. It is one of the first thing people notice about your house and can affect its value. The reason the popcorn finish was used in the first place was that it was easy for builders to apply and also helped to hide a multitude of sins. It is also a gigantic mess to remove as you can see from this article and best done before you move in while there’s no furniture in the rooms. After the popcorn was gone, the ceilings were lightly skip-toweled in preparation of the painter’s arrival in a couple of weeks.

As much as we would like to re-do the kitchen, it will have to wait until next year. We will really miss our remodeled kitchen in the condo with all of its built-ins and drawers and new appliances. Below is what the kitchen looked like when we first saw the house. It doesn’t look too bad, but with a fresh coat of white paint and the removal of the previous owner’s blue bric brac and valances, it will do for now. We have plenty of time to plan for new appliances and we want a wall oven and hopefully a gas cook top and of course new cabinets with lots of drawers and storage. Fortunately the kitchen offers a great view of the lanai and the pool. We’re also excited that the house faces south, so the lighting should be good all day long in the kitchen (and for taking food pictures).

Kitchen when we first saw the house

As you can see, I will be very busy for the next month or so. I have a couple of posts prepared, but we will be without internet service part of the time. I hope to visit your blogs and continue to post as much as possible, but if you notice my absence, you will know that I’m temporarily up to my ears in projects. Once the remodeling is complete, we’ll pack, move, unpack, and get the house set up for next season. Once we get things back to normal here we’ll return to the mountains to enjoy some cool weather and take at easy during the summer.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Luau at the Lake - 4th Annual Blogger Get-together

2013-05-31T06:13:00.000-04:00

The 4th annual blogger get-together was held again this year at Tellico Lake in east Tennessee on the dock of Almost Heaven South at the home of Larry, Big Dude’s Eclectic Ramblings, and his wife Beverly. I can think of nothing finer than to spend Memorial Day weekend at the lake with friends. This year the theme was a Hawaiian Luau. Chris of Nibble Me This served as the menu coordinator for the event. Other bloggers in attendance included Penny of Lake Lure Cottage Kitchen and her husband David, Dave of Big Daddy Dave and his wife Laurie, and the third Dave of My Year on the Grill and Inspired by E Recipe Cards and his wife Jackie, who traveled all the way from Kansas, plus my husband Meakin, the event photographer and other friends and relatives. We all missed Katherine of Smoky Mountain Café and her husband A. J., who are part of the threesome who plan this event, but weren’t able to attend this year.

Grab a plate and join me and the others as we sample the offerings.

For appetizers, Larry prepared a sweet and spicy pineapple pork ribs that were “fall of the bone” delicious (more about it here) and Dave made an appetizer of grilled shrimp & pineapple.

For the main course we started with Kalua Pork, which were pork butts wrapped in banana leaves that Larry smoked over Koa wood, details here.

Chris made Huli Huli sliders with chicken that had been brined and was served with a tangy, sweet, almost teriyaki sauce and topped with ponzu slaw on a slider roll. Here’s a link to his post and more pictures of how the fabulous the slider looked assembled.

Penny brought an authentic Hawaiian macaroni salad, recipe here, and wrote more about the party here with lots more pictures.

I made a sweet and spicy pineapple salsa to compliment the pork. My salsa recipe was adapted for the Hawaiian theme, substituting pineapple for the nectarines, in this post for a salsa seen previously seen on my blog here.

For dessert my brother-in-law Stuart made a pineapple upside down cake using his wife Sandy’s mother’s recipe, one of their family’s favorite recipes.

Here’s Larry with his plate displaying a nice selection of food for you.

And later showing a sample of a banana leaf that he used to wrap his Kalua Pork.

Of course a party isn’t complete without drinks and lots of visiting. Larry makes some of the best margueritta's on the planet and he also whipped up a Blue Hawaiian special for the occasion.

More to follow on my next post with a very special breakfast the next morning prepared by David and Penny, so don't miss it. Here's David telling us more about what he has planned for breakfast.

Obviously you can see a great time was had by all. If you would like to join us next year, please let any of us know and we'll be sure you get the details.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable, and Oh the Places I've Been at the Tablescaper.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Celebrating Local Strawberry Season with a Strawberry Salad with Grilled Chicken, Peas, Cucumbers and Gorgonzola

2013-05-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

Local strawberries are in season at our markets and what better way to celebrate strawberry season than to make a salad.

But this is not just any salad. This salad is filled with even more spring and summer flavors – baby English peas, and cucumber and snow peas to add some crunch. Top with crumbled rich and delicious gorgonzola and dressed with a fresh basil vinaigrette, you have spring & summer rolled into one on a plate.

I added grilled chicken to make this a main course, but crumbled smoked bacon as the original recipe called for, would also be delicious.

Strawberry Salad with Grilled Chicken and Peas
Adapted from Southern Living – serves 6

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ cups trimmed fresh snow peas or sugar snap peas (about 5 oz)
¾ cup frozen baby English peas
1 package baby arugula (4 oz)
2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1 cup seeded and chopped English cucumber
4 ounces gorgonzola or blue cheese, crumbled
Basil vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Preheat the grill for high heat. Lightly oil the grill grates. Season chicken with salt & freshly ground black pepper and cook 8 minutes approximately on each side, or until juices run clear. Remove from heat and allow to cool. When ready to serve the salad, cut chicken in small chunks.

Arrange snow peas in a steamer basket over boiling water. Cover and steam 1 to 2 minutes or until crisp-tender. Plunge peas into ice water to stop the cooking process; drain. Cut peas in half horizontally.

Place frozen baby English peas in a colander and pour boiling water over the peas to blanch. When peas turn bright green, plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain when ready to assemble salad.

Toss together arugula and next 4 ingredients, add drained snow peas and drained English peas, and the chunks of chicken. Toss again with the sweet basil vinaigrette. Serve on a large platter or individual plates.

Sweet Basil Vinaigrette
From Southern Living – serves 6

1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 shallots, chopped
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¾ cup canola oil, or half canola and half extra-virgin olive oil

Process first 8 ingredients in a blender until smooth. With blender running, add canola oil in a slow, steady stream, processing until smooth.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone.

If you’re in the States, Happy Memorial Day weekend.

Citrusy Tomato and Olive Salsa with Salmon

2013-05-16T07:00:00.000-04:00

Citrusy sweet oranges, tangy tomatoes, and briny green and imported black olives join together in a lively salsa to bring big bold flavors to salmon. This is the kind of dish I call transitional, or between seasons. It is a great time of the year to make this while you can still buy those big navel oranges in the store. I find plum or roma tomatoes to be reliable year-around and they are what I use before the summer, homegrown ones arrive at our farmer’s market.

In almost any recipe we prepare, I make what the French call a mise en place with the ingredients and that is what I suggest you do here for the salsa ingredients. Mise en place, pronounced “miz on plas,” and often referred to as a “mise,” means to put in place or set up the ingredients. Restaurants do this and it makes the actual cooking of any dish go much faster when the ingredients are prepared and ready to go. When making a Chinese stir-fry with a lengthy list of ingredients, preparing a mise is essential. If you don’t currently make a mise before you cook, I highly recommend you give it a try. It will change how you cook from that moment on.

The only time consuming part of this recipe is sectioning the peeled oranges. The original recipe called for three oranges, but I suggest you buy several extra, because all oranges are not created equal when it comes to sectioning them. Sometimes the sections will be a nice size, other times they can be very small.

The original recipe that inspired this dish called for the salmon to be cooked on top of the stove. Our favorite and most reliable way to cook salmon is to broil it, so that’s what I’ve done here. If you prefer to follow the original, the link is below. If you like a spicier salsa, you could always add fresh chopped jalapenos. No matter what you do, don’t skip the mise part.

Citrusy Tomato and Olive Salsa with Salmon
Inspired by Cooking Light – serves 4

4 six ounce fresh boneless salmon fillets, preferably with the skin left intact
2 to 3 teaspoons grape seed oil, or other neutral tasting oil
Kosher salt or sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
4 large navel oranges plus more for squeezing orange juice
1 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 ½ cups diced plum or roma tomatoes
¼ cup pimento-stuffed green olives, sliced in thirds
1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in quarters
¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
½ to 1 tablespoon canola oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Watercress for garnish if desired

Cut the salmon into four pieces approximately the same size and weight. Put salmon on a plate, rub with the oil, season with salt & pepper, and allow the salmon to sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes. In the meantime, grate ½ teaspoon orange rind before peeling and sectioning the oranges with a sharp knife. Prepare a mise en place for the remaining ingredients, keeping the orange sections separate from the other ingredients.

Preheat the broiler. Arrange the salmon in one layer, skin side down, on an unheated sheet pan lined with heavy duty foil for easy clean-up. Place the salmon under the broiler about six to seven inches from the source of heat. Broil 8 to 10 minutes or just until the pieces are cooked through. It is not necessary to turn the salmon. If salmon starts to get too crispy on the top, change from broil to bake and bake at 400 degrees until done. Do not overcook or the salmon will be dry. Allow to rest for a few minutes before removing the skin and serving.

While the salmon is cooking, add ½ teaspoon of canola oil to a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium-high. Add the onions to the pan and sauté 3 or 4 minutes or until tender and lightly browned. If necessary, add more canola oil. Add the tomatoes, olives, orange juice, and orange rind to pan, simmer for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, cover and set aside momentarily.

While the salmon is resting, add orange sections to the warm salsa and cook a minute or so to reheat the sauce, taking care not to break the orange segments. Place one piece of salmon on four individual plates and spoon warm salsa alongside. Garnish with watercress if desired.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with a Greek Panzanella Salad from the Barefoot Contessa

2013-05-09T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is one of the best two recipes to serve together and even though the list of ingredients is long, don’t be scared. It’s easy and a lot of it is done in advance. The pork marinates overnight in the refrigerator and then grilled. The panzanella salad needs to sit for thirty minutes for the flavors to come together, so you can see this isn’t as intimidating as the list of ingredients would have you believe.

For those of you who love to grill, this would make a very nice Mother’s Day meal. If you are looking for something easy to serve at your next dinner party where the guys can gather around the grill while the ladies visit, this is for you. And because most of the cooking is done outside with the exception of the croutons, and the salad is tossed in one big bowl, there’s not that much to clean up afterwards.

Making the croutons on top of the stove as opposed to browning the bread cubes in the oven is a breeze and a method you’ll want to keep for making croutons for other dishes in the future. No more pulling a sheet pan out of a hot oven and struggling with turning the cubes. In this method the bread cubes brown beautifully on top of the stove if you keep an eye on them and toss or stir occasionally. Don’t omit salting the bread cubes while they cook. An amazing amount of flavor comes from this one step.

These two recipes are real keepers.

Herb-Marinated Pork Tenderloins
Adapted slightly from Barefoot Contessa’s Back to Basics - serves 6

1 lemon, zest grated
3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (4 to 6 lemons)
Good olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
Kosher salt
3 pork tenderloins (about 1 pound each)
Freshly ground black pepper
Thyme leaves and rosemary flowers for garnish (my rosemary bush was flowering)

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, 1/2 cup olive oil, garlic, rosemary, thyme, mustard, and 2 teaspoons salt in a sturdy 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add the pork tenderloins and turn to coat with the marinade. Squeeze out the air and seal the bag. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Remove the tenderloins from the marinade and discard the marinade but leave the herbs that cling to the meat. Sprinkle the tenderloins generously with salt and pepper. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large oven-proof sauté pan over medium-high heat. Sear the pork tenderloins on all sides until golden brown. Place the sauté pan in the oven and roast the tenderloins for 10 to 15 minutes or until the meat registers 137 degrees F at the thickest part. Transfer the tenderloins to a platter and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Allow to rest for 10 minutes. Carve in 1/2-inch-thick diagonal slices. The thickest part of the tenderloin will be quite pink (it's just fine!) and the thinnest part will be well done. Season with salt and pepper and serve warm, or at room temperature with the juices that collect in the platter. Garnish with rosemary flowers and fresh thyme leaves if desired. Excellent served with a Panzanella salad.

Greek Panzanella Salad
Adapted slightly from How Easy is That by Ina Garten – serves 6

Good olive oil
1 small French baguette or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
Kosher salt
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, large diced
1 yellow bell pepper, large diced
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, sliced in half rounds
1/2 pound feta cheese, cut in 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted

Vinaigrette

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup good olive oil

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the bread cubes and sprinkle with salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Add more olive oil as needed. Set aside when browned.

Place the cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes and red onion in a large bowl.

For the vinaigrette, in a jar with a tight fitting lid add all of the ingredients, cover well, and shake to combine and make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta, olives and bread cubes and mix together lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Happy Mother’s Day.

Pimento Cheese BLT – No Recipe Required

2013-05-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

This is a combination of two of my all time favorite sandwiches – pimento cheese topped with a BLT and served open-faced. Mention pimento cheese to me and my mind is immediately transported back to the south where I grew up. There was always a jar of rich, yellow cheese combined with my mother’s homemade mayonnaise and studded with bits of red pimento in our refrigerator.

As soon as I was old enough to grate cheese, making pimento cheese became my job. It was one of the few things I was allowed to do in my mother’s kitchen as a child. With only three ingredients, there was no need for a written recipe. I grated the cheese on a box grater and added drained chopped pimentos (no need for a knife if you use the pre-chopped ones in the jar) and added just enough of her homemade mayonnaise to bind the cheese and the pimentos together. As I look back, this was a great way to teach kids how to use a box grater.

As with any recipe that relies on only a few ingredients, the quality of the ingredients is very important. The foundation of a good pimento cheese starts with good homemade mayonnaise. I like to make mine in the food processor. Here’s a link to a recent post about how to make mayonnaise the easy way in the food processor. If you don’t have the time or inclination to make your own mayonnaise, cooks throughout the south rely on Hellman’s or Dukes. No Miracle Whip here – it’s too sweet.

A good aged American cheddar is also essential. My favorites are New York and Vermont cheddar. No matter what kind of aged cheddar you use, it is essential that the cheese be freshly grated. Grating the cheese, either by using a hand or box grater, or in the food processor, makes all the difference in the world in the end result. Not only does freshly grated cheese taste a thousand times better than the pre-grated stuff found in packages in the supermarket, it also binds much more easily with the mayonnaise.

Pimentos are the third ingredient and here’s where I differ from the original. Even as a child, I thought pimentos never had much flavor, so I’ve substituted chopped bottled roasted red peppers for the pimentos. Sometimes I also like my pimento cheese on the spicy side, so I throw in some finely chopped fresh jalapenos and if it’s not hot enough, a dash or two of Tabasco sauce does the trick.

The sandwich is served open-faced with the pimento cheese spread on a toasted slice of good country bread (I used a sourdough boule) as a base, topped with crispy fried bacon and thinly sliced ripe tomatoes, seasoned with lots of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, then garnished with baby arugula. When you’re craving comfort food, this is the perfect sandwich.

My inspiration for this sandwich came from this recipe in Cooking Light if you want to refer to it for specific amounts of ingredients. However, I did not use their pimento cheese recipe. I made my own, eyeballing the ingredients as I did as a child. Start with freshly grated cheddar cheese (I used both a yellow and a white cheddar), then add some chopped roasted red peppers or pimentos (patted dry with a paper towel), stir well, then add just enough mayonnaise to bind the ingredients together so they will spread easily. If you like your pimento cheese spicy, add some fresh seeded and chopped jalapenos and a dash or two of Tabasco. If not using right away, it will last, covered, for several days in most people’s refrigerator. Since childhood I’ve been addicted to pimento cheese and confess one of my favorite ways to eat it is on Ritz crackers, so it doesn’t stand a chance of lasting long at our house.

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Have a great weekend everyone.

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Asparagus Salad on a Bed of Arugula with Roasted Red Peppers & Kalamata Olives

2013-04-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

I always keep an eye out for ways to dress up basic asparagus, which is always a favorite in our house. We serve asparagus several ways, but our two favorite ways are as a salad dressed with different vinaigrettes or napped with a simple lemon butter sauce as a side dish.

Today I have an asparagus salad, dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette, served over baby arugula, then gussied up with a topping of chopped roasted red peppers, red onion, and kalamata olives.

Don’t let the length of the recipes below scare you. I’ve broken it down into three recipes because the first two – poached asparagus and the balsamic vinaigrette - are very basic recipes that are nice to know how to make without needing a recipe. The last is the gussied up part – the arugula and the topping of roasted red peppers, red onion, and kalamata olives. This is super easy to prepare - yet I think you will agree with me – it is very impressive on the plate.

Basic Recipe for Poached Asparagus
From My Carolina Kitchen – Sam Hoffer

1 lb fresh asparagus, tough lower ends snapped off
2 teaspoons salt
Water flavored with low sodium, low fat beef broth* to taste

After the tough ends of asparagus have been removed, peel the remaining ends unless the asparagus is thin; if thin, leave as is. Bring water flavored with beef broth and salt to a boil in a shallow pan. Add asparagus, turn heat to low and cook for about 4 minutes until asparagus is crisp tender, taking care not to overcook. Immediately plunge the asparagus in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and retain the green color. After a minute or two, remove the asparagus and dry well with a towel. You may either chill it for about an hour, wrapped, or serve at room temperature dressed with vinaigrette of your choice.

*I like to flavor my asparagus water with beef broth because it brings a very nice flavor to the cooking broth and thus the cooked asparagus itself.

Basic Balsamic Vinaigrette
From My Carolina Kitchen – Sam Hoffer

Balsamic vinaigrette differs from a traditional oil & vinegar vinaigrette in that it has less oil to vinegar from the standard 3 to 1 oil to vinegar ratio of a traditional vinaigrette. Mustard is used for flavor and as an emulsifier.

1 tablespoon good balsamic vinegar
½ to 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, either regular or grainy
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground pepper

In a small jar with a tight fitting lid, add the vinegar, mustard, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Shake well and set aside. If you want a milder vinaigrette with less emphasis on the flavor of the vinegar, use 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Easily doubled or tripled.

Asparagus, Roasted Red Pepper, and Arugula Salad
Adapted from Simply Salads by Jennifer Chandler – makes 4 appetizer salads

Balsamic vinaigrette from above recipe, doubled
1 lb freshly poached asparagus, prepared from above basic recipe
1 bag (5 ounces) baby arugula
1 roasted red bell pepper, thinly sliced and then chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped

Double the basic recipe for a balsamic vinaigrette, using the grainy mustard, and set aside. I used aged red balsamic vinegar, but if you wish use a white one for this as was called for in the original salad recipe from Simple Salads. Prepare the basic recipe for poached asparagus above. Layer the asparagus in a row on top of the arugula either on individual serving plates or on a serving platter. Generously drizzle with the balsamic vinaigrette, then garnish with the roasted red peppers, red onion and olives. Grind a little freshly ground black pepper over the salad. Good served at room temperature.

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Have a great weekend everyone.

Celebrating Lilly Pulitzer’s Colorful Life with her Latino Shrimp and Corn Bisque

2013-04-18T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today I’m celebrating the colorful life of Lilly Pulitzer with her recipe for Latino Shrimp and Corn Bisque. As you may know, Lilly died earlier this month at the age of 81 at her home in Palm Beach.

Lilly Pulitzer’s name is synonymous with Palm Beach and her famous colorful summer shift dress. Her life was filled with color and fun and it all started with an orange juice stand. When Lilly was 21 she eloped with Peter Pulitzer from New York City to the sun and sand of Palm Beach where Peter owned orange groves. In the shadows of Peter’s groves in 1959-ish, Lilly opened a juice stand. An heiress herself who married young into the wealthy publishing family, she designed a sleeveless shift dress from colorful printed cotton to disguise the juice stains on her clothing and Lilly Pulitzer the clothing label was born.

Source & Shop

Lilly’s classic shift dress shot to fame when her old schoolmate from Miss Porter’s school, First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, was photographed wearing a “Lilly” while on vacation. Rose Kennedy, Jackie’s mother-in-law, also had her own beloved “Lilly” shift. After the First Lady appeared on the cover of Life magazine in 1962 wearing a “Lilly” shift dress, the brand’s popularity took off “like zingo.” To quote her obituary in the New York Times, “Lilly Pulitzer created a look that proved to be so popular it would become a mark of membership for old-money families at play for more than five decades. Her vividly flowered house dresses became known, in the shorthand of the rich, simply as Lilly’s.”

Source

As a matter of fact, I have a couple of Lilly’s in my own wardrobe. For the ladies, let me share a little warm weather secret - shifts are so much cooler and more comfortable to wear than shorts when it’s hot. I consider them to be a staple in my summer wardrobe and believe me when I tell you I know hot because we lived in the tropics for years. Several of my favorite Lilly styles are on my Pinterest board “Fashion Looks I Love.”

Lilly is almost as well-known for her entertaining and food as she is for her fashion. She had a knack for turning the art of living well into a kind of informal elegance with an attitude of “affluence at ease.” Parties, decorating, food, and fashion have been part of her life in Palm Beach since she arrived there in the 1950’s. And she shares this in both of the delightful books, Essentially Lilly – A Guide to Colorful Entertaining and Essentially Lilly – a Guide to Colorful Holidays. Follow Lilly as she shows us how to incorporate her unique Palm Beach easy-tropical-style-of-entertaining into our daily lives all the while the celebrating the good times with our own family and friends with Lilly’s yummy-good food. Lilly’s recipe for Latino Shrimp and Corn Bisque is the recipe I’ve chosen today to celebrate her colorful life. The original recipe did not call for mussels or oysters. They are our addition and may be left out if you wish to authenticate Lilly’s original bisque. I’ve shown pictures of both ways.

Lilly Pulitzer’s Latino Shrimp and Corn Bisque with Mussels & Oysters
Adapted from Essentially Lilly – a Guide to Colorful Holidays – serves 8 as a first course or 4 for a light lunch with a salad

1 ½ pounds medium sized (26 to 30 count) shrimp with shells, preferably wild caught
3 cups bottled clam juice
2 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
1/8 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
5 tablespoons (1/2 stick plus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 small rib of celery with leaves, finely chopped
½ cup diced chopped red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Dash of Tabasco or other hot sauce
¼ cup dry sherry
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 ½ cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
8 to 12 freshly shucked oysters, optional
12 – 16 cleaned mussels, optional
Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Peel and devein shrimp, reserving their shells. Coarsely chop some of the shrimp. Cover and refrigerate. Bring the shrimp shells to a boil in one quart of water over high heat along with the clam juice, parsley, thyme and peppercorns. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes to blend their flavors. Strain and reserve their liquid.

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, celery, red pepper and garlic, then cover and cook until the vegetables soften, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle the mixture with flour and stir well to incorporate. Whisk in the reserved shrimp shell liquid, a dash of Tabasco sauce, sherry and tomato paste. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce heat to low and cook until lightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

The soup may be prepared up to this point 1 day ahead and then cooled, covered and refrigerated. Reheat to simmering over low heat. Stir in reserved shrimp, corn, oysters, mussels and heavy cream and cook just until the shrimp turn opaque and mussels open, about 3 minutes. Discard any mussels that do not open, then season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and top with a drizzle of extra cream if desired. Sprinkle with the cilantro and serve hot.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Steak Salad with Spinach, Blueberries, & Toasted Pecans plus a Review of Wine Glasses from Wine Enthusiast

2013-04-11T07:00:00.000-04:00

Combine steak, blueberries, feta cheese and toasted pecans in this simple salad and you have a healthy and satisfying supper.

There’s lots of room for substitutions in this recipe. For instance I used toasted pecans, but the original recipe called for walnuts. I think blue cheese or gorgonzola would be fabulous in place of the mild feta. Blue cheese would look pretty using raspberries for the blueberries. Strawberries and spinach always pair well, or you could use peppery arugula or baby greens for the spinach. If you’re not a meat lover, grilled chicken would be fine in place of the steak.

For a reason that I cannot explain, the only place other than on line that I can find raspberry vinegar is in Italian markets. Maybe someone who knows more about Italian food than we do could explain it. Raspberry vinegar, by the way, is good in seafood salads. To make a raspberry vinaigrette, combine 2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar with 2 tablespoons olive oil, a bit of honey and a dash of dry vermouth, a scant teaspoon crème fraiche or sour cream, and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well. Serve with a tossed salad of baby greens and broiled or grilled salmon.

This salad can easily be put together in under 30 minutes if you’re looking for something quick when you’re pressed for time. With only 392 calories and 11 grams of carbohydrates, this could almost be called a slim dinner, especially for those such as ourselves who are watching our carbs and calories.

Steak Salad with Spinach, Blueberries & Toasted Pecans
Adapted from Eating Well – serves 4

1 cup fresh blueberries, divided
½ cup chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar or other fruity vinegar
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons walnut oil, or hazelnut oil
1 pound of steak, I used a NY strip
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 cups fresh baby spinach
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat grill to medium. In a food processor, pulse ¼ cup blueberries, ¼ cup nuts, vinegar, shallot, sugar and a pinch of kosher salt to form a chunky paste. With the motor running, add the oil until incorporated. Transfer the dressing to a large bowl and set aside.

Sprinkle steak with salt and pepper. Grill the steak about 5 minutes per side for medium-rare, 6 minutes per side for medium. Let rest on a plate for 5 minutes before slicing.

Add spinach to the bowl with the dressing and toss to coat. Taste for seasonings and add more salt and pepper if desired. Divide the salad among 4 plates. Thinly slice the steak crosswise. Top the spinach with the steak, feta cheese and remaining blueberries and walnuts. Perfect with a glass of red wine.

Speaking of wine, several weeks ago Wine Enthusiast asked if I would like to try a set of their wine glasses for review. How could I turn down an offer to try wine glasses? Of course I couldn’t. Here are the red wine glasses they sent me – their Fusion Whirl Pinot Noir.

The first thing I was attracted to was their shape. They aren’t too tall and I found the bowl very stylish and at the same time it allowed the wine to be swirled without spilling. The stem is narrow and feels very comfortable and nice in your hand. I used them at a dinner party the other night and received compliments on the glasses from my guests. Two other good things I like are that they are break resistant and can go in the dishwasher. I can say with enthusiasm that I highly recommend them. Thank you Wine Enthusiast. You definitely have won me over as a new customer. So the next time you need new wine glasses, give Wine Enthusiast a try. You will not be disappointed.

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Have a great weekend everyone.

Three Quick Things

2013-04-10T07:30:00.000-04:00

Three quick things I would like to mention. First, readers who subscribe by email will see a little change in what My Carolina Kitchen looks like when it arrives in their inbox – a snippet of the new post will arrive, followed by a link to the entire post, which allows you to see and read the post in the very best format.

Secondly, if you leave a comment, you’ll see a change. Lately I’ve been deluged with spam and the way I see to fix is that that I have two choices – either eliminate the ability to leave an anonymous comment or install that “difficult to read” word verification thing that many of you don’t like. Spam almost always comes in the form of anonymous comments, so I’ve chosen, at least for the time being, to eliminate that choice. I hope at some point to be able to offer it again, but for now I have to do something about the spam. It’s killing me and many other bloggers have chosen this route as well. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and my email address is available in my profile if you need to contact me.

Last but not least, please be sure to come back tomorrow for my weekly post featuring a quick and easy to prepare supper in under 30 minutes – a steak salad with spinach, blueberries, feta, and toasted pecans pictured above.

See you tomorrow.

Moroccan Chicken Stew

2013-04-04T07:30:00.000-04:00

Moroccan chicken stew is a tagine, simmered with vegetables, olives, oranges, lemons and garlic. It’s citrusy, sunny appearance was a welcome addition to our dinner table last week when even south Florida had a chill in the air, our sweaters had to come back out, and we were, like the rest of the country, longing for springtime.

Traditionally served over couscous, the stew goes together very quickly and can easily be on the table in about 45 minutes. This is simple enough for a weekday dinner or fancy enough for company. Speaking of which we will be having this week, so if you don’t see as much of me as usual, we’re out showing our house guests the sites and hoping for plenty of sunshine on the beach.

Moroccan Chicken Stew
Adapted from Wine, Food & Friends by Karen MacNeil – serves 3 to 4

1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, coarsely chopped
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup fat-free, low sodium chicken broth (or homemade)
½ cup orange juice
¾ cup chopped orange sections (about 1 orange)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sliced pitted kalamata olives
1 tablespoon chopped lemon sections (about ½ of a lemon)
2 ½ cups hot cooked couscous
Flat-leaf parsley springs for garnish

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken with salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the chicken, bell pepper, spices and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 12 minutes. Stir in broth and orange juice. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the heat. The stew can be made ahead at this point. Stir in orange, parsley, cilantro, olives and lemon sections. Serve over couscous and garnish with parsley if desired.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Asparagus Paired With An Exciting New Vinegar - Fig Balsamic

2013-03-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

Asparagus is our favorite side dishes to serve for Easter. It spells springtime for me and besides, almost everyone loves asparagus. It also holds up well at room temperature on a buffet. Each year I try to find a new asparagus recipe or two to add to my every growing list of favorites. But this year, instead of finding a new recipe, I found a new ingredient to pair with asparagus and I’m very excited about it.

It’s fig balsamic vinegar. The brand I used was O and it was award the 2012 sofi Gold winner for outstanding vinegar at the Summer International Fancy Food Show. According to O’s website, juicy, ripe California native mission figs are slowly oak aged in Sonoma in O’s California Balsamic vinegar, producing a sweet, rich, dark vinegar. To use their own words, “An elixir worthy of the monks who brought this varietal to coastal California. Delicious with prosciutto and ricotta, brushed over pork loin with fresh thyme, or simply drizzle over fresh organic strawberries or our newest flavor obsession - over vanilla bean ice cream.” You can also find fig balsamic vinegars on line at Amazon.

I used the fig balsamic vinegar to make a rich, dark vinaigrette, tossed in some chopped shallots, and served it over crispy poached asparagus at room temperature. Chopped Mission figs can be added to the garnish if you wish for even more fig flavor. My basic vinaigrettes are always three parts oil to one part vinegar or acid. Here is my basic recipe for poached asparagus and the vinaigrette follows.

My Carolina Kitchen’s Basic Recipe for Poached Asparagus
From My Carolina Kitchen – Sam Hoffer

1 lb fresh asparagus, tough lower ends snapped off
Water flavored with low sodium, low fat beef broth* to taste
2 teaspoons salt

After tough ends of asparagus have been removed, peel the remaining ends unless the asparagus is thin; if thin, leave as is. Bring water flavored with beef broth and 2 teaspoons salt to a boil in a shallow pan. Add asparagus, turn heat to low and cook for about 4 minutes until asparagus is crisp tender, taking care not to overcook. Immediately plunge the asparagus in an ice water bath to stop the cooking and retain the green color. After a minute or two, remove the asparagus and dry well with a towel. Dress with a vinaigrette. Then you may either chill it for about an hour, or serve at room temperature. *I like to flavor my asparagus water with beef broth. It isn’t necessary, but it does bring a very nice flavor to the cooking broth.

Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette with Shallots
From My Carolina Kitchen – Sam Hoffer

1 tablespoon fig balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons good extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon finely chopped shallots
Maldon sea salt or other good sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped dried Mission figs, optional

Put the vinegar, shallot, olive oil, and sea salt and pepper in a screw top jar with a lid and shake well to mix. Easily doubled or tripled. This also saves well in the refrigerator for a day or two. Toss with poached asparagus and garnish if desired with chopped dried figs. This recipe with the fig vinaigrette is especially good served at room temperature.

My other favorite Easter asparagus dish is Asparagus Mimosa, also known as Asparagus Goldenrod. If you’ve been reading My Carolina Kitchen for a while, you’ll recognize it from Easter’s past. The name Goldenrod comes from the bright green asparagus garnished with yellow egg yolk and Mimosa because the grated hard-boiled eggs resemble mimosa blossoms. Classic dishes such as this were a mainstay on the menus of the grand hotels in a bygone era. This year I spiffed it up a little and added some chopped radishes to the egg garnish. Prepare the asparagus from the basic recipe above.

My Carolina Kitchen’s Basic French Vinaigrette
From My Carolina Kitchen – Sam Hoffer

1 tablespoon good vinegar, or freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ tablespoon finely chopped shallot, optional
½ to 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard to taste
Dash of hot sauce such as Tabasco
Maldon sea salt, or other good sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put all of the ingredients into a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake well. Easily doubled or tripled. This also saves well in the refrigerator for a day or two. Omit the shallot, Dijon mustard, and hot sauce for a more basic vinaigrette. The mustard is used to emulsify the vinaigrette and keeps it from separating and the shallot and hot sauce bring added flavor and are highly recommended.

Asparagus Mimosa, also known as Asparagus Goldenrod
From My Carolina Kitchen – Sam Hoffer

Prepare My Carolina Kitchen’s Basic Recipe for poached asparagus. Dress with My Carolina Kitchen’s Basic French Vinaigrette above, using tarragon vinegar as the vinegar of choice. Garnish with a chopped hard-boiled egg at room temperature and some chopped radishes. I like to serve Asparagus Mimosa slightly chilled.

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Have a great weekend everyone.

Bistro Style Blue Cheese-Stuffed Burgers with a Port and Caper Sauce

2013-03-21T07:35:00.000-04:00

The first bite of this burger will transport you straight to hamburger heaven. You’ll never miss the bun when you taste the tangy blue cheese as it oozes out and pairs magically with the deep, rich port wine sauce. This heavenly burger creation is the brainchild of Gordon Hamersley of the acclaimed Hamersley’s Bistro in Boston and the recipe comes from his fabulous cookbook Bistro Cooking at Home.

Photo from Amazon

Just when I though I didn’t need another bistro cookbook, I checked out a copy of Gordon Hamersley’s Bistro Cooking at Home from the library and the rest as they say is history. The recipes are sophisticated, yet easy-to-prepare comfort food and his book now sits proudly on my bookshelf shoulder to shoulder with Julia Child and Jacques Pepin. As a reviewer on Amazon commented, Gordon’s recipes are “unpretentious, friendly, practical & fabulous.”

Gordon Hamersley trained with Wolfgang Puck at Ma Maison in Los Angles and later lived in Nice, France for a year, learning everything he could about French bistros. In 1987 he and his wife Fiona opened Hamersley’s Bistro, which serves homey, French-inspired bistro food, and quickly became one of Boston’s favorites. In 1995 Gordon received the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northeast. Numerous publications, including Zagat’s, have regularly ranked Hamersley’s Bistro among Boston’s finest.

A peppery arugula salad, dressed very lightly with balsamic vinaigrette, goes extremely well with the flavors of this burger. The original recipe called for using green peppercorns in brine as part of the sauce. As it happens, our market was out of green peppercorns and I didn’t have time to shop on line, so I had to come up with a substitute and capers seemed to be the logical choice. We always have a jar of capers in brine on hand as well as the salt packed capers. I used well rinsed salt packed capers and the juice of the brined variety for the green peppercorns and the sauce turned out beautifully. However, I am anxious to try the recipe as written as soon as I can find the green peppercorns. Hamersley’s recipe turned a simple American-style stuffed burger into a sophisticated, yet easy to prepare French bistro dish deeply flavored with a high-end restaurant quality sauce, certain to be served in our house many, many times to come.

Bistro Style Blue Cheese-Stuffed Burgers with a Port and Caper Sauce - Adapted from Bistro Cooking at Home by Gordon Hamersley – serves 4

4 ounces blue cheese, such as Gorgonzola or Roquefort
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon canola or other neutral flavored oil
1 medium shallot, finely chopped
1 teaspoon capers (or green peppercorns if you can find them)
2 teaspoons brine from the capers (or from the green peppercorns)
1/3 cup port wine (I used tawny as the recipe did not specify, but regular port is fine too)
1/3 cup low fat, low salt beef stock
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Divide the blue cheese into 4 equal pieces and shape them into balls. Divide the meat into 4 equal portions. Wrap one portion of meat around each piece of cheese. Flatten the meat and cheese to form patties. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat the oil in a large sauté pan until it is very hot. Add the hamburgers and cook over high heat until well browned on one side. Turn the burgers over and lower the heat to medium-high. Don’t worry if some of the cheese oozes out; it will just add flavor to the sauce. Continue cooking until the burgers are done to your liking, about 10 – 12 minutes total cooking time. Remove the burgers from the pan and let them rest in a warm place.

Discard the excess grease from the pan. Add the shallot and cook, stirring, for one minute, taking care not to let the shallot burn. Remove the pan from the heat and add the capers, caper brine, and port. Bring to a boil and cook until the liquid is reduced by half, scraping up any brown bits that have accumulated. Add the beef stock and continue to cook until the sauce has reduced by half again. Add the cream and bring to a boil. Place the burgers on plates, spoon the sauce over them, garnish with the parsley, and serve at once. Peppery arugula, dressed very lightly with balsamic vinaigrette, goes extremely well with the flavors of this burger.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Disclosure: The opinions above are my own and I was not compensated for this review nor did I receive a complimentary copy of this cookbook.

Carbonnade à la Flamande ~ Belgium Beef & Onions Braised in Beer

2013-03-14T07:34:00.000-04:00

Carbonnade à la Flamande, a specialty of Belgium and northern France, is beef braised with onions and beer and is the last dish featured in my series on French braises. Beef Carbonnade is one of the classics and a recipe for it can be found in almost any French cookbook.

Julia Child, in her classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking, said “Beer is typical for the Belgian braise and gives a quite different character to beef than the red wine of the bourguignon.” And that is very true – the carbonnade is different from beef bourguignon or coq au vin. A carbonnade is best known for its sweet-sour combination of caramelized onions with beer. Personally I found that when comparing the beef carbonnade to the other two dishes, it doesn’t seem to have quite the depth of flavor or earthy richness of the other two French braises.

In fairness to the carbonnade however, it has only three major ingredients – beef, onions, and beer. That’s why we’ve chosen to serve potatoes and carrots alongside. But the biggest difference is that beef bourguignon and coq au vin are wine based, as compared to the beer in the carbonnade.

For the beer we used Hoegaarden (pronounced “who-gar-den”), a Belgian wheat beer with a delicious, refreshing taste. Any dark Belgian-style ale would be a good choice here.

There are probably some purist out there that would disagree with me, but I think Guinness Draught Irish dry stout is also good in a beef carbonnade, which would make it an ideal dish to serve for St. Patrick’s Day. After all, they say everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day.

As tempting as it might sound to cook some vegetables in this, I think it's best to serve them on the side. By doing so you maintain the integrity of this classic dish and don't muddle the flavors of the sweet-sour caramelized onions. Potatoes are definitely an excellent accompaniment. I’ve seen it served over creamy mashed potatoes as well as buttered noodles. We’ve served ours today with boiled potatoes tossed with parley and butter and roasted carrots. Beer of course is the drink of choice with a carbonnade. As with most stews, this dish will taste even better a day or two after it's made.

Beef Carbonnade is definitely one of the classic braises that should not be overlooked.

Carbonnade à la Flamande ~ Belgium Beef & Onions Braised in Beer
Adapted from Essential Pepin by Jacques Pepin – serves 6 to 8

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds boneless beef chuck, cut into 1/3-inch-thick slices, about 3 inches wide
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 cups thickly sliced onions
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Three 12-ounce cans beer
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Arrowroot or cornstarch slurry if needed for thickening

In an enameled cast-iron casserole, heat 1 tablespoon of the butter along with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Dry the beef well with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Brown the beef in the casserole over moderate heat in batches, turning once, taking care not to crowd the pan or the beef will stew instead of browning. Transfer the beef to a plate and repeat in batches, using more butter & oil if necessary.

Add the onions to the casserole, cover and cook over low heat, stirring often, until browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour until the onions are well-coated, and then slowly add the beer. Return the meat to the casserole along with any accumulated juices. Add the thyme and bay leaves, cover and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the beef is tender, about 2 hours.

At this point, you may refrigerate the carbonnade, when cooled, for several days in the refrigerator. Scrape off any accumulated fat on the top and return to room temperature before proceeding with the recipe.

Uncover the casserole and transfer the meat to a bowl. Add the vinegar and simmer the sauce over moderate heat until thickened slightly. If necessary, thicken with a slurry using either arrowroot or cornstarch and water. Before serving, taste for seasonings.

Have a great weekend everyone and Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Ina’s Coq au Vin – It’s just Beef Bourguignon with Chicken

2013-03-07T07:04:00.000-05:00

It’s true when Ina says that coq au vin is just really beef bourguignon with chicken. The two recipes are almost identical, except that the chicken is cooked for thirty to forty minutes in the oven compared to the beef, which takes a little over an hour. My post last week was Ina’s beef bourguignon recipe and today we’ll explore her version of French coq au vin.

In last week’s post on beef bourguignon there was a discussion in the comments section regarding whether to flambé the cognac or just use it to deglaze the pan without the flambéing step. I’ve always been under the impression that the reason dishes were flambéed was to burn off the alcohol or raw taste, leaving a more rounded, complex flavor. But is that true or is flambéing just for show?

I’ve done a bit of research and found that American’s Test Kitchen conducted a test to see whether flambéing made a difference in the flavor of a sauce or not. Here’s what they found – when cognac was flambéed, the temperature at the surface of the pan quickly climbed past 500 degrees. When it was simmered, it maintained a steady temperature of about 180 degrees at it surface. When they tasted the flambéed cognac, “it was far deeper and richer in flavor than its simmered counterpart.” They concluded that “a flambéed sauce burns off most of the alcohol and the final result is a sauce with a greater depth of flavor” - making flambéing more than just for show. To read more of the article, click here.

To make matters even more interesting, The Food Network has videos of Ina preparing these two dishes, both which call for cognac. In the first video of the coq au vin, she does not flambé the cognac. However, in the second video for the beef bourguignon, she does flambé the cognac.

So, the question remains – should you flambé the cognac or should you just use it to deglaze the pan by cooking it rapidly to get up all the brown bits, or fond as it’s called in the culinary world. My feelings are that’s up to you. If you are comfortable flambéing, then by all means flambé. You do achieve a higher heat point which produces a more flavorful sauce and the test kitchen proved that. If you are uncomfortable flambéing (count me in this group), then simply deglaze the pan with the alcohol over high heat and be done with it. Or better still, do as I do and get someone else to do it for you. Meakin is the flambé expert in our family and I’ll share his tip with you. He likes to use a long instant push-button lighter – the kind you use to light charcoal in your grill – to ignite the cognac. It works great and there’s no need to search for a long match.

I would love your opinions – do you flambé or don’t you, and if you do, do you think it makes a difference in the flavor of the sauce?

Presenting Coq au Vin - another great French classic.

Ina’s Coq Au Vin
Adapted from Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, and the Food Network – serves 3 - 4

2 tablespoons good olive oil
4 ounces good bacon or pancetta, diced (I don't recommend heavily smoked bacon for this)
1 (3 to 4-pound) chicken, cut in 8ths
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally in 1-inch pieces
1 yellow onion, sliced
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1/4 cup Cognac or good brandy
1/2 bottle good dry red wine such as Burgundy
1 cup low sodium, fat free chicken stock, preferably homemade
10 fresh thyme sprigs
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 pound frozen small whole onions
1/2 pound cremini mushrooms (also called baby bella or baby portobello mushrooms), stems removed and thickly sliced
Chopped flat-leaf parsley for garnish

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a plate lined with paper towels.

Meanwhile, lay the chicken out on paper towels and pat dry. Liberally sprinkle the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. When the bacon is removed, brown the chicken pieces in batches in a single layer for about 5 minutes, taking care not to crowd the skillet. Turn the chicken to brown evenly. Remove the chicken to the plate with the bacon and continue to brown until all the chicken is done. Set aside.

Add the carrots, onions, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper to the pan and cook over medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the Cognac. Either flambé it or return the pan to the heat and reduce it down on high heat for a few minutes while scraping the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. To flambé, leave the pan off of the heat, stand back, and ignite with a long kitchen match (long instant push-button lighter) to burn off the alcohol. After either method, add the bacon, chicken, and any juices that collected on the plate back into the pot, then add the wine, chicken stock, and thyme and bring to a simmer. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid and place in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through but not pink. Remove from the oven and place on top of the stove. Mash 1 tablespoon of butter and the flour together and stir into the stew. Stir in the frozen onions.

In a medium sauté pan, add the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and cook the mushrooms over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until browned. Add to the stew. Bring the stew to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes. Season to taste, garnish with plenty of chopped flat-leaf parsley, and serve hot. Noodles make a nice accompaniment.

Cook's note: As with the beef bourguignon or any braised dish, this can be made ahead and keep covered in the refrigerator for several days. Skim off excess fat with a spoon that collects on the top before re-heating. We think it's best served after it's had a chance to sit overnight in the refrigerator.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Ina’s Beef Bourguignon and a Man in the Kitchen

2013-02-28T06:53:00.000-05:00

Hello to all and I’m so glad to be back. You have no idea how much your get well wishes and lovely comments have meant to me these past several weeks. I’ve missed blogland immensely, especially reading your blogs and visiting with you. My life has been lonely and boring without you. I’m glad to report that my neck pain has improved greatly due to the treatment and physical therapy and isn’t nearly as painful as it was. Gone - no, but much better. However, my back pain continues to be a constant problem that just will not go away. I have to learn to adjust to limitations and some days are better than others. As one of my favorite writers, David Baldacci, said in his book The Camel Club, “Old age always sneaks up on one, but once it’s fully present, the effects are hardly subtle.”

My dear husband Meakin has been doing more of the cooking lately with me doing the menu planning, prep in the kitchen, and of course my homemade vinaigrettes and salads. Having a good life partner has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. “We do it together” is our motto. Meakin is a real jewel and I don’t know what I would do without him. And he’s a great cook and taught me a lot of what I know. I will continue to do my weekly postings with Meakin’s help in the kitchen as well as his being MCK’s photographer extraordinaire, so plan on seeing more of the “we” word from now on.

Beef Bourguignon is one of our favorite comfort dishes. I decided to try Ina’s recipe because, first of all you can count on her recipes to work because she does an outstanding job of testing, and second, she served her bourguignon on thick slices of toasted country bread or sour dough and I thought that sounded rustic and appealing.

With regard to testing recipes, Ina’s instructions do a great job of guiding you through the cooking process and help you to avoid glitches that other recipes tend to overlook. Case in point - she reminds you to dry the beef before you sauté it. This is a very important step to keep the meat from splattering when you brown it and often is overlooked by other recipe developers. If you’ve ever been splattered from oil in the pan when you added damp meat, you know exactly what I’m talking about. The other reason to dry the meat, and the most important one, is that if you don’t dry it well, it won’t brown properly and ends up stewing.

We thought serving the bourguignon over toasted country bread was a big success and would definitely do it again. The only thing I will add to that is that it made the dish slightly heavier compared to serving it over the traditional noodles or potatoes. It’s nice to know there is another alternative and one we’ll remember.

A caution regarding the ½ cup of Cognac that is called for in the recipe – that is an awfully lot of Cognac to flame, especially if you’re shy about flambéing (that would be me). Meakin even commented it seemed a bit too much and he's very comfortable flambéing dishes. You’ll see below that I’ve changed it to ¼ cup. (See discussion about why to flambé in the comments section.) You can also lighten up on the amount of bacon if you wish and avoid heavily smoked bacon or it will dominate the dish. Don’t leave out the fresh parsley in the end. Fresh herbs such as parsley give a braise dish a nice blast of freshness in the end. Give this recipe a try – it’s a winner.

Ina’s Beef Bourguignon
Adapted from The Barefoot Contessa via The Food Channel – serves 6

1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ pound apple wood smoked bacon, diced
2 1/2 pounds chuck beef, trimmed of excess fat & cut into 1-inch cubes
Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 pound carrots, peeled, then sliced diagonally into 1-inch chunks
2 yellow onions, peeled and sliced
2 teaspoons chopped garlic (2 cloves)
1/4 cup Cognac or brandy
1 (750 ml.) bottle good dry red wine such as Cote du Rhone or Pinot Noir
2 cups fat free, low sodium beef broth
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried
4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature, divided
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 pound frozen whole onions (or fresh small onions, parboiled & browned)
1 pound fresh mushrooms, stems discarded, caps thickly sliced
Country bread or sour dough, toasted or grilled and rubbed with garlic clove
1/2 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven. Add the bacon and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bacon is lightly browned. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon to a large plate lined with paper towels.

Dry the beef cubes well with paper towels, then sprinkle them with salt and pepper. In batches in single layers, sear the beef in the hot oil for 3 to 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the seared cubes to the plate with the bacon and continue searing until all the beef is browned. Set aside. Toss the carrots and the sliced onions in the fat in the pan, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly browned. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Remove the pan from the heat and add the ¼ cup of cognac. Stand back and ignite with a match to burn off the alcohol. (You can add up to ½ cup of cognac if you wish).

Put the meat and bacon back into the pot with the juices. Add the bottle of red wine plus, enough beef broth to almost cover the meat. Add the tomato paste and thyme. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and place it in the oven for about 1 1/4 hours or until the meat and vegetables are very tender when pierced with a fork.

Time out for a cook’s note: If you wish to prepare this dish in advance, at this point when it cools you can cover it and keep it covered for several days in the refrigerator. We like to skim off the excess fat from the top with a spoon when it’s removed from the refrigerator and still cold. Braises served the next day are always better for maximum flavor.

Combine 2 tablespoons of butter and the flour with a fork and stir into the stew. Add the small whole onions. Sauté the mushrooms in 2 tablespoons of butter for 10 minutes until lightly browned and then add to the stew. Bring the stew to a boil on top of the stove, then lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Season to taste.

To serve, toast the bread in the toaster or oven. Rub each slice on one side with a cut clove of garlic. For each serving, spoon some stew over a slice of the toasted bread and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley.

I will be sharing this with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Weekend Kitchen Creations, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, The Clever Chicken Chick, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone. It’s great to be back.

Checking In

2013-02-05T08:50:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone. I’m just checking in, midway through my therapy, to say hello and also to say how much I miss visiting with you and reading your blogs. On my last post I touched on that I’m suffering from neck pain right now that stems from my chronic back pain and my time allotted at the computer has been drastically reduced. I’m seeing a physical therapist who has put me on a restricted schedule of what I can and cannot do right now. A great big thanks to those of you who have stayed in touch and asked about my progress. Right now I’m about half way through and my therapist feels that I am progressing nicely. The best news is that I’m feeling much better. So my life should be back to normal in a couple of weeks.

Part of my prescription is to take it easy and what better place to take at easy than at the beach. Last week Meakin took me to the Yucatan Beach Stand for lunch where we devoured a couple of their spicy Yucatan Sunfish fish tacos, filled with grilled fish, crunchy cabbage, tomatoes, and cilantro with a dash of ranch dressing - a house specialty. Then we enjoyed a leisurely stroll along Fort Myers Beach.

Photo source

Life is good - we are enjoying retirement and a mild winter. The only kind of white stuff I ever want to see in the winter is powdery white beach sand. Have a great week everyone and I hope to be back to blogging in a couple of weeks.

Jacques Pepin’s Pork Sausage Rolls with Potatoes, Onions & Tomatoes

2013-01-17T07:07:00.000-05:00

One of the joys of having a recorder is to be able to record our favorite television series and watch them at our convenience. Jacques Pepin’s Essential Pepin is one of our favorites. The other night we watched him make a sausage dish and remembered fondly that Stuart, my brother-in-law, had made the very same dish recently and shared one of the sausage rolls with us. If it's possible, Stuart loves Jacques Pepin even more than we do.

Today I’m going to share some of the photos we took of the sausage rolls Stuart made instead of preparing the rolls myself because for the next several weeks I’m seeing a physical therapist who has put me on a very restricted schedule of what I can and cannot do right now in addition to therapy sessions that will last for possibly as long as a month. Neck pain has recently cropped up that stems from my chronic back pain and primarily I’m not too happy about it because I won’t be able to be out-and-about visiting your blogs as much as I would like. Pardon the pun, but it's a "pain in the neck" to have to be aware of how I'm holding my head all of the time. Of course my time allotted at the computer has also been drastically restricted and that of course will also affect the regularity of my posts. So if you don’t hear from me as much as usual for a while, you’ll know the reason and please don't forget me.

Jacques’ recipe is available on-line at his website Essential Pepin here and also in his book by the same name. This is an interesting recipe because instead of using casings to make the pork sausage, its wrapped in plastic wrap to create a log, then cured in the refrigerator for 2 days. In the cookbook he browned the sausage logs on top of the stove with onions and potatoes, which is how we cooked it. Meakin threw in some halves of cherry tomatoes for color as you can see in the photos. On the television series, Jacques showed an alternate method of cooking them which was to cook them in about 2 inches of water at 150 degrees on top of stove for one and 1/2 hours. Either way works very well.

The recipe called for black trumpet mushrooms, which Jacques finds in the woods around his house. If you don’t happen to have trumpet mushrooms in your woods, he suggests that you substitute dried porcini mushrooms, which are easier to find. When Stuart made his sausage rolls, he adapted the recipe by using a mixture of sliced shiitake, wood ear, porcini and oyster mushrooms and instead of pistachios, he substituted pine nuts. He also added a tablespoon of Italian seasonings.

This recipe makes two impressive sausage rolls that happen to also be very easy if you have the time to cure the sausage for 48 hours. When we prepared the dish, Meakin added the tomatoes to the potato and onion mixture when he cooked the sausages for fun as well as color and we served it with fresh spinach.

Thank you Stuart for helping me out and sharing Jacques fabulous sausage rolls you made for us.

Have a great weekend everyone. I hope to be back in full swing soon.

Split Pea Soup Flavored with Ham and Rosemary + secrets to making a great soup

2013-01-10T06:47:00.000-05:00

For some people, soup is reserved for fall and winter. Not us. We eat soup year-around and enjoy it no matter what the weather or the season. It’s been rather warm this week and a couple of days the high was in the low eighties. You would think it was April rather than January. This guy was sitting on the top of our car yesterday in Naples and sends his greeting from the Gulf coast of southwest Florida. Someone joked that maybe he was tired and wanted a catch a ride.

One of our all time favorite soups, and one of the easiest to make, is split pea soup. In fact I posted it a couple of years ago, link here. But today my split pea soup is a little different because I have a left-over ham bone from a baked ham that I want to use. Basically you just add the ham bone to the liquid of the split pea soup while it cooks. However, the ham bone will add more fat to the soup than I want, so I plan to skim to fat from the top of the soup. To do that I’m going to let the soup sit overnight in the refrigerator after it’s cooled from cooking and skim the fat from the top the next day. For a vegetarian soup, leave out the ham entirely and substitute vegetable broth for the beef broth called for in the list of ingredients.

Before we get to the recipe, I want to share a couple of secrets to making a rich and flavorful soup. The first is sautéing the vegetables until they lightly browned. My mother used to throw the vegetables in without browning them first. While there’s nothing wrong with that, and it does save some time, if you brown the vegetables first your soup will have a much richer flavor. Here’s what I do. I start sautéing the vegetables on high heat, then quickly switch to low, season with salt and pepper, and cook them slowly until they are nice and brown, taking care that they not burn.

The second secret is to add the herbs and a little bit of tomato paste to the vegetables at the end of the browning stage to let them flavor the vegetables at that stage. The tomato paste brings an incredible amount of flavor to the mixture and it’s nice for the herbs to sauté a minute or two to incorporate them with the vegetables.

Split Pea Soup Flavored with Ham and Rosemary
From My Carolina Kitchen and inspired from Cooking Light – serves 4

12-oz package of green split peas
6 cups liquid (I use 4 cups of low sodium, low fat beef broth & 2 cups of water)
1 bay leaf
1 ham bone, trimmed of excess fat
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 whole carrots, scraped & diced
2 small cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce

Seasonings added before serving:
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
4 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Sour cream for garnish

Combine the peas, liquid, and ham bone in a large stockpot, cover, bring to a boil. When the mixture boils, turn to low and cook for 45 minutes to an hour, checking at 45 minutes for doneness.

In the meantime add the olive oil to a nonstick skillet over high heat. Start the vegetables off on high and quickly turn heat to very low, stirring very frequently. Sauté the vegetables until they are well softened and have taken on a slightly golden hue. Add thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, and garlic and stir to cook for a moment. Add tomato paste, stir well, and cook a couple of minutes more to incorporate the tomato paste. Add soy sauce & cook until the liquid evaporates.

Add vegetables to the peas along with the bay leaf. Peas should be done in about 45 minutes to an hour. Remove and discard bay leaf and the ham bone. Taste and season the soup with salt and pepper and add more liquid if necessary. Cover the soup and when it is cool, transfer to the refrigerator overnight.

The next day remove the layer of fat that has formed over the soup overnight and discard. At this point heat the soup up, then puree it with a wand mixer (or use a blender) or puree half and leave the remaining half of the soup chunky. Serve right away, or cool and store in the refrigerator, covered, for 2 to 3 days.

Before serving soup, combine the last minute seasonings in a small bowl and stir into the soup. Spoon soup into serving bowls and top with about a tablespoon or so of sour cream -

Or not.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Quick Ham and Cheese Biscuits – a low fat version of fast food breakfast

2013-01-03T07:13:00.000-05:00

These ham and cheese biscuits are perfect for days when you are in a hurry and don’t have time to make a sit-down breakfast. You could call them homemade fast food. They are a great “on the go” portable breakfast that can be held in one hand.

Kids as well as husbands love these ham and cheese biscuits. They’re perfect to eat in the car on the way to school or work. Or take a bag with you on an early morning fishing trip, which is where this boat looks like it’s headed as he motored past our lanai last week.

To make these biscuits light, the shortening (or butter in many recipes) was left out and the amount of low-fat milk was increased for moistness. Because the biscuits contain no shortening, they are lower in fat and calories than fast food joint biscuits. However, for that same reason, they don’t keep as well, so wrap them carefully if you are not going to eat them right away. I find that if you use extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, the biscuits will have more cheese flavor.

The biscuits come together in a matter of minutes. After mixing, simply drop them onto a baking pan (no rolling or cutting necessary), stick them in the oven, and in less than 25 minutes breakfast is ready. It is also a great way to use left-over ham.

Quick Ham and Cheese Biscuits – a low fat version of fast food breakfast
Adapted from Cooking Light – yield 1 dozen

Cooking spray
1 ½ cups chopped ham, about ½ pound, low fat preferable
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons baking powder
Dash or two of ground red pepper (cayenne), optional
1 cup 1% low-fat milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 10” nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat until hot. Add ham and sauté until lightly browned, about 3 - 4 minutes. Combine the ham, flour, cheese, baking powder, and red pepper in bowl. Add the milk, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Drop biscuit batter by heaping tablespoons onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake in a preheated 400 degree F oven for 22 minutes. Yield 12 biscuits.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Black-Eyed Pea Soup – good luck food for the New Year

2012-12-28T06:40:00.000-05:00

All around the world people eat certain foods on New Years that they believe will bring them good luck for the new year. I grew up in the Deep South and we believed that certain food was black-eyed peas. The peas look like little coins when cooked, so they are thought to symbolize wealth. They also swell when cooked, another sign of prosperity.

I alternate between serving black-eyed pea soup and southern caviar for New Years. Today I’ve chosen black-eyed pea soup because a little cold front has dipped its way south and there’s a bit of a chill in Florida. This soup is fantastic with southern style cornbread (meaning not the sweet cornbread), crusty bread, or an old appetizer favorite of ours - sausage cheese balls. Sausage cheese balls have been around for a long time, are very easy to make, and men go crazy for them. Make a lot because they go fast. My friend Lynn at Happier than a Pig in Mud’s recipe is very similar to mine and here’s a link to her recipe. To serve the soup to a crowd, I use coffee mugs in lieu of bowls and pass the sausage cheese balls separately.

Southern “caviar,” also known as Texas or Longhorn caviar, is made using black-eyed peas rather than fish eggs. It’s a spicy, very colorful salad with black-eyed peas, tomatoes, hot peppers, and southwestern spices that can be used as a dip with chips. If you are a frequent reader, you might remember my recipe, link here.

We rarely go out to a restaurant for New Year Eve and chose to either entertain at home or go to a friend’s house nearby. This year we’ll join friends at our condo’s pool house late in the evening for a little get-together, drink some champagne, and watch the fireworks in downtown from our view across the Caloosahatchee River. Everyone brings something to share and I’m planning on taking a big bowl of my southern caviar, or if it’s cool, this black-eyed pea soup.

What are your plans for New Years Eve? Do you go out? Or do you entertain at home? Or do you do what we’ve done occasionally, which is to share a bottle of champagne and ring in the New Year at home all by ourselves.

Black-Eyed Pea Soup
From My Carolina Kitchen – serves 6

12 oz package black-eyed peas
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
2 peeled carrots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme or herbs de Provence
1 tablespoon tomato paste
8 oz tomato sauce
2 bay leaves
7 cups water, or low sodium, low fat beef broth and water mixture*
Worcestershire sauce, optional
Sour cream for garnish
Optional other garnishes include chopped green scallions, small chunks of sautéed ham, chopped cilantro, seeded & chopped jalapeno peppers

Soak peas overnight in a large stock pot with plenty of water to cover. Drain, rinse, and put back into the stock pot with the beef broth, tomato sauce, and bay leaves and bring to a boil.

While the peas are coming to a boil, sauté the vegetables in 1 tablespoon of olive in a non-stick skillet until softened and beginning to caramelize. Stir frequently. When browned, sprinkle with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper and add the dried herbs and stir. Then add the tablespoon of tomato paste, stir to incorporate it into the vegetables, and let it brown a moment or two, then add the sautéed vegetables to the peas.

When peas come to a boil, simmer, partially covered, until peas are tender, about 40 to 50 minutes. Add more liquid if necessary. Before serving, taste for salt, add if necessary, and discard bay leaves. If you want a touch more flavor, add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Garnish as desired.

*For a less “soupy” soup, use 6 cups of liquid and add more liquid if needed.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Meakin and I wish you and your family a very happy and healthy 2013.

See you next year.

Holiday wishes from our house to yours

2012-12-23T07:01:00.001-05:00

Both of these cards have been holiday favorites of mine for several years. I hope you’ll indulge me in showing them once again.

This Christmas card with a cow is from a painting by Tim Knepp titled “Ho, Ho, Holstein.” I couldn’t resist it. It just looked so “North Carolinian” with the cow in the snow in front of a red barn. Here in the mountains, farms with cows and red barns are still the norm. Every day farmers can be seen driving their tractors along on our winding roads to bring bales of hay to their cows.

This photo of a mountain stone barn decked out for the holidays with its wreath of greenery, bale of hay, and the horse in the background is also typical of the laid-back style of the mountains of western North Carolina.

Holiday wishes from our house to yours -

Merry Christmas

Joyeux Noël

Felix Navidad

Froehliche Weihnachten

Buone Feste Natalizie

Happy Hanukkah

Pumpkin Yogurt with Granola – an easy “no recipe required” breakfast

2012-12-20T06:58:00.000-05:00

This is a super easy breakfast that comes together quickly and doesn’t require a recipe. When we have house guests, some days we prepare elaborate breakfasts and leisurely sit around and drink coffee and visit. Other days everyone is in a hurry to go somewhere and I need something easy.

Enter pumpkin yogurt with granola. It needs no recipe - just mix and taste as you go. Place plain yogurt (low fat is fine & I substituted Greek yogurt) and canned pumpkin in a bowl and sprinkle with a dash of ground cinnamon. Stir, then drizzle with a little maple syrup, or another sweetener of your choice, such as honey or agave syrup. Taste and add more yogurt or pumpkin if you like. Place in an individual bowl and top with some granola, a few fresh berries, and breakfast is served.

I wish I could take credit for this, but the recipe first caught my eye on Kitchen Daily and is from Eating Made Easy. Give this pumpkin yogurt a try the next time you are in a hurry and want something a little different.

This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Foodtastic Friday at Not Your Ordinary Recipes, Clever Chicks at the Chicken Chick, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Have a great weekend everyone.