Category Archives: Sweets

June 15, 2011 · 7:45 pm

Happy Birthday Waylon!

I love Waylon Jennings. There, I said it. I am reluctant to blog about my love of Waylon for fear of not appropriately conveying my feelings or somehow coming off sounding like a big cornball super fan but here it goes anyway… Of all the classic old school country musicians, Waylon is the one I most closely connect with. That cut-time drum beat just puts a smile on my face every single time. Any bad day is made better when I put my Nashville Rebel cds on. It started out as the music but now, it is so much more than just the music. After becoming close friends with folks who were near and dear to Waylon, I feel a true sense of kindred spirit.

Waylon grew up in Littlefield, Texas. He started out working in radio and began playing guitar. He became friends with Buddy Holly, played bass for him, and toured with him in the late 1950′s. Lucky for all of us, Waylon was not on that ill-fated plane trip that took Holly’s life. Waylon ended up in Arizona where he became a local celebrity with weekly gigs in a Phoenix bar. It was there that Bobby Bare first heard him and spread word to Nashville of his talents and unique sound.

Waylon moved to Nashville and took the world by storm but Waylon did things the way he wanted to do them, the way he felt was right. This attitude gave him his “outlaw” persona as he paved the way for many others who had their own ideas and didn’t want the cookie-cutter “Nashville Sound.” He used the musicians he wanted to use and gave those deserving a chance. He cared so deeply about those close to him.

Waylon was a really good man with a huge heart who left the world with some amazing music. For this, I am truly thankful. And in honor of what would have been his 74th Birthday, June 15th, I decided to cook up some of his favorite foods.

Beef seems an important ingredient in Texas cooking and Waylon, being a true Texan, loved chicken-fried steak. I happened to be living in Washington when the most recent publicized US (originating from WA) Mad Cow scare hit. I read way too many articles on the subject and decided right then and there that I could no longer support the commercial beef industry. Only in the last few weeks have I found beef in which I trust the source and know to be independently processed. I decided to allow it back in my diet, very minimally and under close scrutiny, and to Grant’s delight! So with this, I decided to cook up Waylon’s favorite dish. It went something like this.

Chicken Fried Steak
Serves 2

Ingredients:
2 sirloin steaks
2 cups buttermilk
1 egg
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
dash of cayenne pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
¼ cup grape seed oil
½ cup all purpose flour
dash of cayenne pepper
sea salt and black pepper to taste

Procedure:
Pound the steaks flat. Mix buttermilk, egg, spices together in a bowl. Soak steaks in buttermilk mixture for about an hour. Heat skillet to medium heat. Add grape seed oil (enough to fill your skillet ¼ inch deep). In another bowl, mix flour with another dash of cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Take steak out of buttermilk soak and place in flour mixture. Coat on both sides and place in skillet. Cook steak about 6-7 minutes on both sides. Pull out of skillet and drain on paper towels.

You can then make a milk gravy by adding flour to the leftover oil in skillet. Whisk together to blend, add salt, pepper, and milk and continue to whisk until desired thickness. Delicious over mashed potatoes and if you have any leftover gravy, you can serve with homemade biscuits the next morning!!!

We served the chicken fried steak with buttermilk mashed potatoes, milk gravy and artichokes (just in season and another Waylon favorite!).

And by the way, artichokes are an edible variety of thistle, in the sunflower family. They are shown to improve blood sugar control in diabetics and have been found to benefit heart activity and the gastrointestinal tract. Good thing, considering Grant and I decided after this meal that this definitely needs to be a once a year kind of a meal. In fact, we’ve decided to have this meal every June 15th from here on out! And we toasted the man who inspired it several times with this delicious red wine.

It should also be noted that the doggers LOVE the smell of chicken fried steak!

If Waylon were still with us, I would delight in making him lots and lots of pies. I think he might like Buttermilk Pie. Here’s my latest variation on this classic southern recipe made with Olive & Sinclair chocolate which is handmade in Nashville, minutes from our house.

Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Buttermilk Pie

Ingredients:
1 pie dough ball (Please never used store-bought!)
3 eggs
1½ cup organic cane sugar
½ cup organic unsalted butter
1 heaping tsp vanilla
½ cup buttermilk
¼ tsp cinnamon
½ Olive & Sinclair sea salt chocolate bar

Procedure:
Let the butter get to room temperature. Mix eggs, sugar, and butter together. Add vanilla, cinnamon and buttermilk. Place in uncooked, prepared pie shell. Shave chocolate bar over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 325 and bake for another 40-45 minutes.

Now go listen to some Waylon and give thanks for his contribution to this world! The Ernest Tubb Record Shop has an amazing collection of box sets available. You can also find Waylon merch at this site.

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May 21, 2011 · 4:12 am

SPRINGTASTIC!

I’ve been enjoying the heck out of these 13 year cicadas. They are so entertaining! I have a full photo account of their once- every 13 years- visit here.

We have also been enjoying our first Spring bottle of French Rosé. Nothing ushers in the warm weather better. Those Frenchmen really nailed it with that one. Lots of people shy away from the Rosés because they fear they are too fruity and sweet but the French Rosé is nice and dry. It is the perfect accompaniment to summer meals. Grant picked this one up at our favorite neighborhood shop, Woodland Wine Merchant.

I’ve been trying to get back on track with some healthy eating and with all the summer veggies on their way, it should be fun and easy!

There is tons of local kale available now and I keep trying to find more and more ways to slip it into our meals. Kale chips are one easy and fun way to enjoy kale. You can buy them but they are so expensive and they are so simple to make. I found this great recipe from Smitten Kitchen and pretty much followed her directions. I tossed a little olive oil, sea salt, and nutritional yeast on some organic Red Russian Kale from Delvin Farms, spread it out on a cookie sheet and baked at 300 for 30 minutes. We even crumbled some over popcorn one night. Yum!

We enjoyed this fancy (and chocked full of healthy goodness) slaw with Teriyaki salmon and some sweet brown rice with toasted sesame seeds. This was one of those meals that just made my body feel so clean and energized!

Fancy Tasting Asian Slaw
1 small green cabbage, finely chopped
1 small handful fresh parsley, finely chopped
a few big kale leaves, de-stemmed, chopped finely
1 carrot, grated
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1” fresh fresh ginger, finely grated
1 shallot, finely chopped

for the dressing:
2 tsp Umeboshi paste
2 tsp Nama Shoyu
3 tsp Mirin rice wine
3 Tbsp brown rice vinegar
3 Tbsp grape seed oil

Mix all vegetables together in a big bowl. Mix all dressing ingredients together with a fork or whisk and pour on top of veggies. Stir.

The other day, I overheard my co-worker mention that his wife liked to top turkey burgers with a yellow squash mixture. I didn’t even get the recipe or hear more than that one sentence and I could not stop thinking about it. One of my favorite summer vegetable dishes has always been yellow squash sauteed with Vidalia onions. I had to make it! Another co-worker gave me some garlic scapes today so I incorporated some of those in, too. Scapes are the tender green tops of young garlic. They are milder but really fresh and delicious.

Turkey Burgers with Squash & Onions
serves 3
1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 small Vidalia onion, sliced in rings
1 yellow squash, sliced on an angle
1 zucchini squash, sliced length-wise
garlic scapes, chopped thin
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste
whole wheat hamburger buns (we used local Provence)
Aged goat gouda (I used local Noble Springs Dairy Southall Gouda!)
grainy mustard

Saute the onions, squash, scapes in a pan, stirring occasionally. Salt & Pepper to taste. Set aside. Mix the ground turkey with the garlic powder and onion powder, salt & pepper. Grill or cook in a skillet on the stove. Place sliced cheese on bun and warm in oven or on grill. Place turkey burger on bun and top with sauteed veggies. Smear some grainy mustard on the top half of the bun and enjoy!

We enjoyed these burgers with some homemade potato chips!

Hand-Cut Oven Chips
serves 3
2 large Russet potatoes, washed and thinly sliced
1 cup brown rice vinegar
grape seed oil
sea salt freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 450. Fill a medium sized bowl with water and then add vinegar and stir. Place sliced potatoes (with skin on) in water and vinegar mixture. Place potatoes in one layer on a baking sheet lined with grape seed oil. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip them over (if they are thin enough, this is not necessary) and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove with a spatula and drain on a plate with paper towels on it. Repeat this process until all potatoes are cooked.

Know what else is totally awesome right now? STRAWBERRIES! All the local, organic ones are in and oh, so delicious.

My friend Meg gave me her Grandmother’s Buttermilk Pie recipe. It is so simple and very delicious. I rarely even eat much pie (yet I make them all the time) but there are a couple varieties that I do really love. This is one of them. I used local eggs and buttermilk, so fresh and delicious. The only thing I really changed about her recipe was the addition of the cinnamon and nutmeg. Then I topped with local, organic strawberries.

Buttermilk Pie with Fresh Strawberries
1 pie dough ball (Please never used store-bought!)
3 eggs
1 ½ cup organic cane sugar
½ cup organic unsalted butter
1 heaping tsp vanilla
½ cup buttermilk
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg

Mix eggs, sugar, and butter together. Add vanilla and buttermilk. Place in uncooked, prepared pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 325 and bake for another 40-45 minutes. Serve with fresh, sliced strawberries on top or to the side.

I’m still hooked on that NY Times Flat & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe I found in Saveur and I wrote about months ago. I keep varying it, though, and my latest variation involved local Olive & Sinclair Sea Salt Chocolate and Coffee Chocolate bars with the special ingredient of fresh mint from the garden! I just chopped it up and threw it in. It was delicious.

Falling behind on my music posts but Allison and I have been busy planning the first Red Barn Round-Up of the season…

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February 20, 2011 · 2:50 am

Songs of Spring, Farmer’s Market Dinners, and Channeling the Greek Isles

I have to admit, for a moment there I was worried the climate change was all coming to a head and I feared I would never make it out of winter to feel the warmth of the sun again. OK, that is an exaggeration, I will admit. I know it isn’t THAT cold but it has been rough this winter for us Southerners. This morning as I walked through Shelby Bottoms with the doggers, though, we heard the wild, deafening, mating songs of the toads and now I know that Spring is indeed on the way! That’s southern country singing at its finest! I know that soon all the other crazy summer sounds of the South will fill the air and comfort me.

I can’t help but feel that our recent culinary experimentation- channeling the food of the Greek islands- has had something to do with that. We’ve been real busy day dreaming of warmer climates which has led to many Greek salads and Mediterranean inspired dishes. It all started with those lemon roasted potatoes a few weeks back. Two of my favorite ingredients lately have been these: lemon stuffed olives which we have to order by mail and Tennessee’s own Bonnie Blue Farm marinated goat’s milk feta.

We created this chicken recipe below and ate it with some good crusty bread and a Greek salad made with the aforementioned olives and feta along with some red onion, red pepper, olive oil, lemon, fresh parsley, salt and pepper.

I Wish I Was In The Greek Isles Chicken
serves 2

Ingredients:
2 Springer Mt. Farms chicken breasts
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1½ tsp sea salt
1½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
juice of ½ lemon
3 tsp dried oregano
½ white onion, chopped
1 Tbsp capers
1 cup canned whole tomatoes
1 pinch of sugar

Directions:
Coat the chicken breasts with 2 Tbsp olive oil, garlic cloves, ½ tsp of the salt and pepper, the lemon juice and 1 tsp oregano. Let sit for 1-2 hours. Heat olive oil in an iron skillet on medium high. Add onions and saute until soft but not browned. Add the chicken and marinade into pan. Brown the chicken breasts on one side for about 3-5 minutes. Flip. Add the remaining ingredients, squishing the tomatoes in your hands as you add them to the skillet. Add more lemon, the remaining oregano, salt & pepper to taste. Turn heat down to medium low, cover pan and cook 10-12 minutes until chicken is done and sauce has reduced somewhat.

We ate this yummy dinner the other night just before heading out to FooBar to catch the Hackensaw Boys from Virginia. We heard their first album about seven or eight years ago while living in Seattle and really fell in love with their sound. They are a fun fast mix of old timey hillbilly music and bluegrass. We sort of lost track of them but they’ve had a couple albums out since and were on tour to support a new release called, “The Old Sound of Music Vol.1 ” They put on a fun show and we’ve been enjoying the new album ever since.

Hackensaw Boys at FooBar 02/05/2011

I’ve always heard about the Franklin Farmer’s Market but it happens every Saturday morning and until just recently, I had to work on Saturday mornings. We finally checked it out and were delighted to discover a cart with handmade cinnamon sugar donuts amongst our favorite local farmers such as Delvin Farms, Hatcher Family Dairy, and Noble Springs Dairy goat milk cheese.We had lunch at Gulf Pride Seafood in the Factory… The gumbo and shrimp po boy sandwich were  delicious! Thanks Kristin, for the recommendation! We then came home and made a Farmer’s Market Dinner with all our local finds.

We made fried chicken with local chicken from West Wind Farm, roasted potatoes and turnips from Delvin Farms, and coleslaw with cabbage from Delvin Farms. Grant made a tomato gravy for a complete Southern dinner! We’ve seen several variations for tomato gravy. We opt for the non-Italian version. He simply made a rue with Hatcher Family Dairy homemade butter (this was the key ingredient!) and White Lily flour. He added some tomato paste and hot sauce to the chicken stock that he then added to the rue.

I talk about Shrimp & Grits often and Grant has his favorite way of preparing this classic Southern dish but we keep thinking of new ways to incorporate leftovers and I am starting to think that perhaps all leftovers lead to Shrimp & Grits because that tomato gravy made the perfect base for Shrimp & Grits!

Another new recipe I came up with recently is this one for Cranberry Rosemary Walnut Bread. I love buying extra cranberries at Thanksgiving and freezing them to use later in the year as they aren’t always easy to find during non-Thanksgiving times. So many recipes pair cranberries with citrus but I am not such a big fan of this combination. I was thinking about rosemary and how it is in season all year ’round here and that it might be nice to add a savory characteristic to a classic sweet bread.

(By the way- I got a new ceramic loaf pan. Giada De Laurentiis has a new line of cookware available at Target. You know, the woman with the simple Italian cooking show on the Food Network. She’s beautiful and the whole time you are watching you can’t stop thinking, “How is this woman so skinny? There’s no way she eats her own cooking!” Well, I am super excited about her bakeware. Go check it out!)

Cranberry Walnut Rosemary Bread

makes 1 large loaf

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup White Lily all purpose flour
½ tsp sea salt (I used homemade rosemary salt)
1 ½ tsp baking powder (I used homemade)
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
2 eggs, beaten
¾ cup organic cane sugar
¼ organic brown sugar
¼ cup melted butter, cooled
¾ cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped fresh (or frozen) cranberries

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour loaf pan.
2. In a medium bowl,mix together flour, baking powder, soda, salt, nuts, and rosemary.
3. In a mixing bowl, mix eggs and sugar until combined. Add buttermilk, butter, and vanilla.
4. Slowly add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir with a spatula until just combined. Add cranberries.
5. Pour batter into loaf pan and bake for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick entered into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

I’ll close this post as I usually do, with a pie..

We were invited to a Super Bowl Party. You can’t grow up in the South without knowing at least the basics of football but I don’t really follow it now as an adult. We do, however, have lots of friends now who are all Green Bay Packer fans so I decided to make an Apple Cheddar Pie (green apples and yellow cheese- for Wisconsin and Green Bay color scheme, get it?). I think it helped make up for the fact that we aren’t football fans. It went something like this…

Apple Cheddar Pie

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour (I use White Lily)
2 sticks unsalted organic butter
6-7 Tbsp ice water
1 ½ cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
5 granny smith apples
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
¾ cup organic cane sugar

Pie Dough
(Makes a double crust for a ten inch pie, or 2 ten inch tart shells.)

Place flour, butter, and salt in food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse 24 times. (I use my hands instead of a food processor and it works just fine!  You get a good work out and there’s less to clean up.  If you use your hands, be gentle- your objective is to make the butter into little crumbs or grains, not to mush it all together, do not over mix. Slow down.) The largest pieces of butter should be the size of grains of rice. Transfer mixture from food processor to large bowl. Mix grated cheese in. Sprinkle with 6 T of ice water. Make your hand into a claw as if you are trying to grab a basketball one handed, and using your rigid claw hand, stir dough briefly until the liquid is incorporated. Squeeze a handful of dough in your palm. It should have just enough moisture to stay together. If it seems dry and crumbly, add more water a teaspoon at a time until you can squeeze it into a ball that doesn’t crumble when broken apart. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 15 minutes. Roll out onto floured surface as quickly as you can. Keep the second dough ball in the fridge until you are ready for it.

Pie
Peel the apples. Cut, core, and chop them. Mix them with the lemon juice and sugar and pour into pie shell. Roll second pie dough out and lay over top of the pie. Pinch the edges and cut a few slits in the top with a sharp knife. Using a pastry brush, brush the top with an egg white. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes and then 350 for 35 minutes.

Happy Eating and go support your local music scene!

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January 27, 2011 · 6:55 am

How’s The World Treating You

Charlie Louvin at Grimey's 2007.

Tonight, Nashville is mourning the loss of one of its own, Mister Charlie Louvin. I’ll never forget the first time I saw him play live. I believe it was three years ago. He had a new album out and our friend Mike was elated to have him play in his record shop. It was quite crowded but we arrived early and were standing right in front so I could get some photos. As he sang, I noticed a shiny penny on the floor right between Charlie and me. After he played, he reached down, picked up the penny, handed it to me and said, “Don’t say I never gave you anything.” I still have that penny from Charlie Louvin but he gave me so much more- the songs he created with brother Ira years ago will live on forever. Their beautiful harmonies set the bar pretty high for aspiring songbirds. His stage banter was sometimes unsettling- off color jokes, sexist remarks- you never knew what was going to come out of that man’s mouth but when the music started, you suddenly knew the world was truly blessed by his presence.

Charlie's 80th Birthday party at Ernest Tubb's Midnight Jamboree 07/07/2007.

Thank you, Charlie Louvin, and I hope you left knowing just how much better the world is because of your musical contributions.

(And now I plan to write about food that Charlie Louvin would have probably hated!)

On to some cooking… Winter is kicking my butt this year! I have been freezing cold and it just seems more difficult to eat healthy in the winter months. There are not as many yummy fresh seasonal fruits and veggies available to choose from and with the colder temperatures, I think I get an unconscious urge to bulk up with comfort foods.

I try not to eat too many soy products but in moderation, soy can be a healthy substitute for meat and there are many health benefits to eating fermented soy in the form of miso or tofu. We have been experimenting some these past couple of weeks. Here are a few simple recipes we came up with. Grant is the genius behind this first one…

Pan Roasted- Miso Marinated Salmon

2 Tbsp red miso
2 Tbsp tamari
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2-3 Tbsp warm water
2 pieces salmon
1 tsp olive oil

Mix all ingredients together to form a saucey paste. Place marinade in a bowl and place salmon, skin side down in the marinade for one hour. Flip salmon over for another hour. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Place salmon in a cast-iron skillet or any other oven proof dish with a drizzle of olive oil on the bottom to prevent sticking. Roast salmon, skin side down with some of the miso paste on top for approximately 10 minutes. Add more miso paste to top of salmon and then set under high broiler for about 2 minutes until top is brown and bubbly.

Miso Soup

Miso soup can be as easy to make as adding a spoonful of miso to some hot water! This seems too easy for me so I usually have a more elaborate plan… I like to saute onions, tofu, mushrooms, and garlic and then add some Nama Shoyu, brown rice vinegar… In a separate pot, heat some water for noodles. Add in soba noodles. When the noodles are almost done, add in a couple big spoonfuls of miso. Next, add sauteed veggies and some frozen corn. Add some spinach leaves & cilantro and eat it up!

Next, I offer up a few tofu recipes. I will admit, I don’t love tofu by itself and these recipes aren’t the healthiest ways to eat tofu but they do make the tofu taste pretty yummy! One of my very first introductions to eating tofu was when I was in college and living in Athens, Georgia. One of the hippest vegetarian restaurants (then and now), The Grit, serves up good ol’ Southern food but vegetarian style. One of their most popular dishes is the Grit-style Tofu. You can find this and many more yummy vegetarian recipes in their cookbook.

Grit-Style Tofu

1 block firm tofu
grape seed oil
Tamari or Nama Shoyu
Nutritional yeast

Cut tofu in cubes. Lightly oil a skillet and place over high heat. Allow oil to heat slightly and then add tofu. Saute, tossing with a spatula until evenly lightly golden brown. Sprinkle lightly with the tamari and saute briefly to further brown tofu. Remove from skillet, draining and discarding any excess oil.

Rinse and wipe skillet dry. Lightly oil skillet and place over high heat. Allow oil to become very hot. Saute tofu again, tossing with a spatula until evenly browned. Sprinkle with tamari to taste. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast to coat, tossing vigorously. Saute for a few seconds and then remove from heat.

Grit Style Tofu with vegetables and brown rice.

Because tofu is most commonly used in Asian cooking, I sometimes forget about cooking it in other styles. I came up with this next recipe as a way to broaden my thinking of tofu. I think it turned out quite nicely. We’ve been really hungry for Mediterranean food lately (and wishing for a Mediterranean climate!). There was a Greek restaurant in Seattle called Yanni’s that served the most amazing lemon roasted potatoes. We think of those potatoes quite often. They were the main inspiration for this dish. We served the potatoes and tofu steaks with a Greek salad.

Greek Style Tofu Steaks with Lemon Potatoes
Serves 2

1 block tofu, cut into 2 thin blocks approx. 1” thick
1 cup flour
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt (I used homemade rosemary sea salt)
freshly ground black pepper
grape seed oil

Mix flour with spices. Coat tofu steaks with flour mixture. Get skillet hot, add grape seed oil (2-3 Tbsp). Add tofu steaks to skillet and brown on each side, using tongs to flip.


Lemon Roasted Potatoes

4-6 red potatoes, washed
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp sea salt (or less)
freshly ground black pepper
1-2 tsp water

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut potatoes into cubes. Place in a baking dish with olive oil. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon on top and toss with salt and pepper. Add 1 tsp water. Place in oven, stirring every 15 minutes. After half an hour, add more lemon juice. Roast for a total of 45 minutes to an hour.

And for my last tofu trick… this dish was inspired by a dish we had at a Chinese restaurant long ago.

Chinese Style Tofu with Mushrooms & Baby Bok Choy

1 block extra firm tofu, cut into little triangles
1-2 cups flour
1 tsp 5 Spice
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp white pepper
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 Tbsp grape seed oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves fresh garlic, chopped
2 cups mixed mushrooms (shiitakes, chantrells, button…), sliced
3 bunches baby bok choy, chopped
2 Tbsp Nama Shoyu
2 Tbsp Mirin (rice wine)
1 Tbsp organic cane sugar
1 Tbsp organic corn starch
2 Tbsp water

Cut tofu into triangles. Mix flour with next 5 ingredients in a medium size bowl. Heat pan on the stove on medium high. Add 2 Tbsp grape seed oil. Coat tofu wedges in flour mixture and place in oil. Brown tofu on both sides and then place on paper towel to drain. In another pan (or same one, cleaned), heat 1 Tbsp grape seed oil. Add onion and saute. Add in garlic, mushrooms, and bok choy. Add in Nama Shoyu, Mirin, and stir. Mix corn starch with water and sugar. Add tofu back into the pan and coat with the vegetables and sauce. Add corn starch mixture. Stir. Serve over brown jasmine rice.

All week, we’ve been totally enjoying Espresso Banana Muffins for breakfast. I found this recipe in Heidi Swanson’s cookbook, Super Natural Cooking. They are delicious!

And, I will close with another cookie recipe. This is another variation of those yummy Flat & Chewy Cookies from the Saveur and NY Times cookbook that I blogged about a few weeks back. I think the secret to making really delicious and much healthier food is using really good quality ingredients. I think you can really taste and feel a difference.

Pistachio & Cacao Cookies

1 cup packed organic brown sugar
1 cup organic cane sugar
2 sticks unsalted organic butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour (White Lily’s the best!)
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp. baking soda
⅓ cup raw cacao powder
1 cup roughly chopped raw pistachios

In a bowl, beat sugars and butter with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 1–2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time; beat in vanilla. Add flour, salt, soda and stir in. Add cacao and nuts. Mix until just combined. Chill. Once batter is cold, form into 3 small logs about ¾”-1” thick. Wrap in plastic and keep in refrigerator or you can freeze.

Heat oven to 350°. Slice dough logs into ½” thick discs and transfer to parchment paper–lined baking sheets spaced 3″ apart, and gently flatten. Bake 12-14 minutes.

Over and out… hey, which reminds me that I should blog about my love of Trucker Music soon!!

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January 1, 2011 · 4:12 am

So Long 2010, HELLOOO 2011!

Holiday cookies go nicely with whiskey cocktails!

Good Bye 2010! As I sit here on New Year’s Eve at home with the doggers, it seems a good time to reflect on all I am thankful for, send good thoughts to friends and family who I miss, those who aren’t doing so well, and reflect on the past year. Earlier in the week, I was actually gearing up for finally experiencing Lower Broadway on NYE but as is usually the case, Grant was offered a gig which took him into another direction. It’s a good night to have a guitar gig for sure. I was going to tag along but then suddenly realized I might have more fun staying at home catching up, being introspective, and relaxing than surrounding myself by people partying it up a little too much. These obligatory holidays make me want to hibernate and save up my energy for more random celebrations when the rest of the world isn’t looking. So I have traded in my cowboy boots for some slippers tonight but no worries, I have Dale Watson cranked on the hi-fi and cookies in the oven! Oh, and just so you know, 2011 is the year I learn to dance! Watch out world! The Red Barn Round-Up seems the perfect place to practice so I need to get on it during these winter months so I will be ready for Spring. Which reminds me- our last Round-Up of 2010 was fabulous with the super talented artist and musician, Julie Lee, and the amazing Paul Burch, both with stellar bands.

Tomorrow we’ll be cooking up a mess of black-eyed peas and collard greens along with a pan of corn bread but it occurred to me that with all the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I have fallen way behind in my cooking posts. All these photos of our meals that Grant so patiently waited for me to take are piling up. I need to catch up. So here it goes…

We made a yummy turkey soup with vegetables and brown rice with our Thanksgiving left overs which we ate with a pear and blue cheese salad topped with a simple honey vinaigrette. Then I tried my hand at Wonton Soup and found a simple Emeril recipe that gave me the basic idea. I used ground turkey, spiced it up and made the wontons. The soup consisted of mushrooms, baby bok choy, onions and garlic… pretty tasty! Soup is indeed good food, especially in the winter.

So, I’ve been trying to figure out new and exciting ways to enjoy winter squash- squash is good for you. Nutritionally packed and one of the easiest vegetables to digest, squashes are low in calories and high in potassium and Vitamin A. It also helps reduce inflammation. And look how pretty this little butternut squash is…

So, we were craving Mexican food but I wanted to cook and eat healthier so I cubed up this squash and sauteed it with some chopped white onion, several cloves of garlic, a can of green chilies, and spiced it up with some ground cumin, sea salt, and freshly ground black pepper. We ate it with some veggie re-fried beans, some red rice Grant threw together with some leftover brown rice, and a little shredded cheddar on top! The leftover squash was yummy in a whole wheat quesadilla the next day.

Speaking of Mexican food, ever since our last trip to Austin, where we got our $9 tortilla press, we have been making our own fresh corn tortillas and they are delicious! We no longer get stuck with a stack of stale tortillas- we make as many as we need for a particular meal. And, we found a great high quality corn masa made by Bob’s Red Mill that works great!

On the topic of veggies, it is important to mention one of my favorite winter dishes- roasted root veggies! SO many beautiful colors and packed full of deliciousness and nutrients!

And these roasted sweet potatoes and Yukon Gold potatoes seasoned with my famous orange fennel salt and black pepper made the perfect accompaniment to some pan smothered pork chops seasoned with smoky paprika, garlic, salt and pepper. That’s sauteed Red Russian Kale (with cherry tomatoes, a tad bit of fresh garlic and a splash of balsamic) from the Delvin’s farm in College Grove, Tennesse beside it.

There were many pies in the last few weeks of the year… oh what fun!

Mini Me Pies

Pie night with Lindsay & the Brads.

Cherry Pie

South Carolina Christmas Pies

I am ready to put the excess sugar and added calories of the holidays behind me and hoping to start the new year off with some healthy eating… Hello 2011!

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November 30, 2010 · 7:58 pm

Thankful for Food!

Thanksgiving 2010

I couldn’t let my memories of Thanksgiving go undocumented! One of my favorite things about the holidays is cooking and eating and Lord knows we did our share this past week. Grant and I have had so many family and friend visits these past few months, we decided to spend this Thanksgiving with each other and spent the entire day cooking and eating in our pjs. Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do on Thanksgiving anyway?

Leftovers. Bird's eye view.

We enjoyed a classic NW breakfast consisting of bagels (from our awesome new neighborhood bagel shop, Bagel Face Bakery), cream cheese, and lox while thinking of Grant’s family in the great Pacific Northwest. (Notice Lighthouse Roasters’ coffee mug for added, purely coincidental, effect!)

For a lunch snack, we had the perfect appetizer which has been a tradition in Grant’s family for quite awhile- Texas Tandies! Grant’s Mom got the recipe for these from a family friend in Texas and they quickly became a family favorite. My family likes them now, too!

Texas Tandies

2 cups grated sharp cheddar
1 stick chilled butter
1 cup of flour
pinch of sea salt to taste
pinch of cayenne to taste
½ tsp Tabasco
1 tsp of Worchester
2 Tbsp Water
Pecans

Cut chilled butter into small pieces and mix with flour until grainy. Add cheese, salt, and cayenne.  Mix liquids and sprinkle into mixture until dough just holds together.  Form into two balls and wrap with plastic.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Pre-heat oven to 350 and roll out dough onto a floured surface.  Cut out with a small round cookie cutter and gently press a pecan onto each cookie… Bake at 350 for 12 minutes or so. Let them cool for about ½ an hour (if possible!).
Good with Ice Cold Beer or Bollinger!

Since it was just the two of us, Grant decided to get a turkey breast rather than an entire turkey. He de-boned it and flattened it and then stuffed it with the most amazing dressing ever. Recipe soon to follow…

He first seared the turkey in an iron skillet on the stove and then cooked it in the oven until done. It was super delicious!!!

As is customary in my family, we had way too many side dishes but I just couldn’t narrow it down. I made roasted carrots and parsnips and glazed them with a mixture of butter, honey,  balsamic vinegar, and a little sea salt and black pepper. They were super simple, very pretty and quite delicious.

We also made Brussels Sprouts seasoned with a tiny bit of Spanish chorizo! Grant is a genius for coming up with this!

We tried a completely new idea of a dish for us, too, Braised Leeks. They were interesting and went well with the mashed potatoes and gravy but weren’t the most amazing thing we had ever tasted by any stretch of the imagination. As for those mashed potatoes, I tried to channel my step dad, Larry, who makes the best mashed potatoes, and therefore, did not skimp on the butter! They were delightfully fluffy and a perfect vehicle for the gravy.

Now about that dressing… Grant got this recipe spot on this year. It was the perfect blend of sweet and savory, moist and crispy, nutty and fruity. He used some to stuff the turkey breast and the rest, he cooked in a baking dish and we ate on the side.

Apricot Pecan Dressing

2 tsp butter (or bacon fat)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 cups hearty Artisanal bread (we used a crusty rosemary bread), cut into cubes
1-2 cups chicken stock
2 Tbsp fresh sage, chopped
½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped
¼ cup dried apricots, chopped
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Saute onion, garlic, and celery in butter until soft. Mix bread cubes, sage, pecans, and apricots together in a large bowl. Add the onions, garlic, celery and mix thoroughly. Add stock until mixture is well moistened but not too wet.  Adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper. Place mixture in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes covered and then 30 more minutes uncovered to crisp the top.

Oh, and there was wine. We enjoyed a lovely Oregon Pinot Noir from A to Z and a pumpkin pie with pecan crumble for dessert.

I know there are many pecan pie fans out there and I have a great recipe for it which I adapted from an Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock recipe but I much prefer pumpkin pie. Since there are only two of us, I decided to try to combine the two holiday favorites and created a pumpkin pie with a pecan crumble top. It worked quite well. So well, that I ended up taking one down to Robert’s Western World Thanksgiving night and two more to our last Red Barn Round-Up of the year this past Sunday. What a great Round-Up it was as we were fortunate enough to have the very musically talented and artistically savvy Julie Lee perform as well as Mister Paul Burch. If you haven’t heard their latest albums, the holidays are the perfect time because both would make excellent gifts! And while you are at it, you can also buy some of Julie’s art work! What better time to support local art?

So here is the pumpkin pie recipe. Please remember to make your own crust. You can find my recipe here.

Pumpkin Pie with Pecan Crumble Top

1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
1 tsp freshly ground ginger
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1 1/2 cups of roasted pumpkin, pureed
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 extra large eggs
1 cup coconut milk

for crumble top:
1 cup pecans, toasted & ground
½ cup flour
½ cup sugar (I use organic cane sugar)
½ cup unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut the pumpkin open and into four wedges, clean the seeds out (I roasted them up with a little salt for a yummy snack!), cut the strings out and rub the inside with a little olive oil and place face down in a baking dish. Bake for about an hour, until the pumpkin is tender when forked. Once cooled, scoop out the flesh and mix well in a blender or food processor. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stir together brown sugar, salt, arrowroot. Add the pumpkin, vanilla, maple syrup, eggs and mix well. Then, add the coconut milk and gently stir. Pour into the unbaked pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes and then turn oven down to 350 degrees for another 40 minutes (set timer for 20 minutes, though, as you will need to add the crumble top!).

Make the crumble top. Grind roasted pecans in a food processor or chop very finely. You can then add the other ingredients to the food processor or mix by hand. Be very careful and open oven door and quickly but gently crumble the topping over the pumpkin pie. Bake for the remainder 20 minutes or until pie is set.

Lots of good music coming up this month so I should have lots to report… I am also super excited about a new cookbook we picked up at McCay’s used books this past weekend. It has recipes of Barcelona! If we can’t visit Spain, at least we can eat like we did.

Enjoy all your holiday baking!

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November 8, 2010 · 6:57 pm

Embraceable Cauliflower

Yeah, so maybe cauliflower isn’t very huggable (and this post’s title probably won’t make it very popular) but we’ve come a long way from our meager beginnings together. Many of us seem to have grown up with certain vegetable voids for a variety of reasons. Asparagus was scarce in South Carolina back in the 1970′s- I barely knew what it was until I was an adult. Neither Grant nor I knew what to do with Brussels sprouts when we first started receiving them in our CSA box back in Seattle ten years ago and now we love them! Then there’s the matter of zucchini and cauliflower in which case my Mom does not like so we just never ate them growing up. My earliest memory of cauliflower is seeing it on the salad bar at a Western Sizzler!  Years passed and I only ever considered cauliflower as an ingredient for crudité platters, in its raw state. That is until about six years ago when our West Seattle neighbors, Terry and David, invited us over for dinner. They had an amazing cheese platter which I will never forget but they also served pureed cauliflower in the place of mashed potatoes (cauliflower had a little resurgence here in the US of A in the post-Atkins low-carb diet boom). This potato substitute was delicious and I kept meaning to replicate it time and time again but never did for some unknown reason. Fast forward to two weeks ago when two childhood friends, Laura and Shannon, visited. We were sitting around eating and Shannon mentioned cauliflower and wondered why no one really ever ate it. I took this little curiosity as a challenge and couldn’t stop thinking about what we could do to enjoy more cauliflower. It is quite nutritious with antioxidant, antibiotic and antiviral properties (all the good antis) and it is helpful in cases of asthma, kidney and bladder disorders, high blood pressure, and constipation. We first set out to eat it as a side dish and borrowed an Italian preparation Grant had learned from his friend Marisio awhile back.We sauteed it in browned butter until it was soft and then topped it with sea salt, black pepper, and grated Parmesan Reggiano.

The following week, we made a pasta dish with sauteed white onions, cauliflower, a little lemon zest, and chopped olives (a mix of green manzanilla and kalamata) in olive oil. We served it over fettuccine with finely grated Parmesan Reggiano.

In our search for recipe ideas, we also came up with some gratins- topped with bread crumbs and cheese (YUM) and cauliflower soups. Of course, the health benefits are best reaped when eaten raw so salads are still the best bet for ideal cauliflower consumption. Speaking of which, I noticed a delicious looking raw cauliflower salad in the deli of the new Turnip Truck Urban Fare which consisted of pistachios and grapes. Pistachios make most things seem more delectable…

And speaking of olives… I am amazed at the lack of really good olives in Nashville. It is impossible to find good olives here. I did a big internet search this past weekend, though, and have good olives on the way thanks to La Tienda out of Virginia. Olives are on the way!

Back to those fried green tomatoes- which are STILL lingering around- Grant has perfected his method and I think this might be one of my new favorite foods. We enjoyed them this weekend for brunch again with cheese grits and turkey sausage. It was a nasty-good Southern mess of a meal…

Grant’s Fried Green Tomatoes

green ‘maters right off the vine
1 egg
1/4 c milk
1/2 c fine corn meal
1/2 c flour
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1/2 tsp celery salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt

Wash and slice tomatoes- not too thin or too thick. Mix the milk and egg together in one bowl. Mix the corn meal and flour with the spices. You may need to adjust the spices to taste. (Grant never measures anything so this is a guess but should get you close to perfection!) Dip the tomato slices in the egg mixture and then in the flour mixture. Fry in a frying pan coated with olive or grape seed oil.

And my grits were really great this time- here’s how I did it. I used the local stone ground grits- Falls Mill White Corn Grits- which I found to be coarser than my usual stone ground grits.

Cheese Grits

half an onion, chopped finely
green pepper, chopped finely (I used the little Italian ones from the garden)
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 tbsp organic butter
1 cup stone ground grits
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup organic milk (I used 2%)
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2-1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese (I used half sharp cheddar, half Parmesan Reggiano)

Saute onion in butter. Add peppers and then garlic. Add the grits. Stir. Add the water, salt, and black pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally. Cook for about 30-40 minutes until consistency is smooth and thick. Add the milk and stir again. Stir in the grated cheese.

And here is the final mess, all together… (Note: I added a little maple syrup in the bottom which Grant finds very odd and does not do. It is delicious but maybe not for everyone.)

Puttering around on Sunday with the ipod on, I was reminded how much I LOVE Hayes Carll’s music. He is an amazing songwriter and he is also from Texas and it has been my observation that this combination of characteristics makes for some fine folks.

Hayes Carll at the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville- Dec 2008

You can find out more about him and buy his music here.

I found a yummy cookie recipe in the latest Saveur mag. It is actually a NY Times cookbook recipe. It might be a new favorite! They really are flat and chewy, sweet and salty. I’ll definitely make this one again.

Flat & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups flour
1 scant tbsp. kosher salt
1 1⁄4 tsp. baking soda
1 1⁄2 cups packed light brown sugar
1 1⁄4 cups sugar
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. finely shaved bittersweet chocolate
8 oz. finely ground walnuts

1. Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl; set aside. In a bowl, beat sugars and butter with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, 1–2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time; beat in vanilla. Add reserved flour mixture, chocolate, and nuts; mix until just combined; chill.

2. Heat oven to 325°. Divide dough into 1-tbsp. portions; roll into balls, transfer to parchment paper–lined baking sheets spaced 3″ apart, and flatten. Bake until set, about 15 minutes.

And, speaking of desserts, we went to the art walk this weekend and observed Bryce McCloud’s (Isle of Printing) Old Fashioned Pie Throw in which he invited all to partake at throwing a pie at him for a mere $5!

It was a super fun event complete with two dancing ladies and a Hawaiian band featuring Chris Scruggs and Fats Kaplin. We just gauked and loitered (until Grant bought me this poster!).

We also ventured up to Estel Gallery to gawk at our friends Harry Underwood and Mister Hooper‘s newest paintings. I’ve decided Grant and I need to strive to be more like Herb & Dorothy Vogel as we grow old… Their story, by the way, makes for an amazing movie. Check it out!

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October 11, 2010 · 8:03 pm

Low Country Cookin’

We love the South Carolina Low Country and all the gastronomical goodness that accompanies it. Some years back, while still living in Seattle, Grant stumbled across an article in a wine magazine about Low Country cooking which featured some recipes from Loius Osteen’s book, Charleston Cuisine. We tried a few of the recipes and they were delicious! About a year later, a dear friend of ours was getting married in the Low Country and during our visit to Pawley’s Island, we were able to dine at Louis Osteen’s restaurant and we bought his book, pictured above. A few of his recipes quickly became staples for us such as his Baked Sweet Onion Rice which I will include here. We serve this all the time and everyone always raves about it. It makes great left overs, too.

Baked Rice With Wadmalaw Sweets

Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
4 tbsp unsalted butter
8 cups sliced sweet onions
2 cups minced shallots
1 bay leaf (we use 3-4)
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 cups stock
1 cup long grain white, such as basmiti
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Heat butter in an ovenproof skillet with a cover over medium  heat. Add the onions and shallots and saute, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add bay leaves, thyme, and stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add rice and stir to mix well. Cover and transfer to a preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until the rice is cooked through and the liquid is absorbed. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Gently fluff rice with a fork before serving.

One of the best things about this super side dish, is all the amazing dishes you will be inspired to create to accompany it! Grant made this yummy BBQ Shrimp last night to accompany our Sweet Onion Rice. It was a perfect Sunday night dinner.

And, back to Louis Osteen… A few months back I was thinking about him and decided to do a google search and find out what he was up to. Turns out he and his wife just moved to Nashville and he is now cooking here, as part of the new BBQ restaurant in the 12th South neighborhood, Blind Pig. Psychic? I think so! We are anxious to see what culinary delights he brings to Nashville.

Continuing the Southern culinary inspirations, we have had some delicious fried green tomatoes lately- Monell’s served up some amazing little sweet ones when my Dad was in town a couple weeks ago. Everyone has them on the menu right now because we all have them in our gardens. I came home from work last Saturday and Grant had fancy Southern BLTs waiting for me. They included- red leaf butter lettuce, crispy bacon, green tomatoes from the garden coated with corn meal and spices and gently fried, Big Smokey’s special sandwich sauce, and rosemary bread. Delicious!

And you know what makes a great sandwich side dish? Roasted okra! Yes, we still have local fresh okra thanks to the late, hot summer we had.

I’ll end this post as I usually do- on a sweet note. People seem to like my pies and I really enjoy making pies but have to admit that pies are not my favorite dessert. I don’t eat many sweets but when I do, my favorite dessert is cookies.

Lately, I am obsessed with cookies- more specifically, my friend Rebekah’s cookies. She is the pastry chef at City House and she keeps showing up with bags of her cookies every time I see her and these are the best cookies in the world. I can’t stop day dreaming and obsessing about them. She has inspired me to want to be a better cookie baker so I have started trying to make all the good recipes I can find. I am in search of the perfect cookie recipes! Until I figure that out and have some of my own recipes, be sure to check out her amazing recipe for fancy gourmet Peanut Butter Moon Pies! Heavenly…

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September 19, 2010 · 5:20 am

Crunkin’ Cornbread

We’ve had visitors, lots of out-of-town visitors! Oh what fun! We LOVE showing off Nashville. We tend to eat healthier on our own but when out-of-towners visit, we have to introduce them to all the Southern gastronomical treats such as Arnold’s, Monell’s, and The Loveless Cafe. And sometimes we really need to show off our neighborhood’s own award-winning charm with hot chicken from Prince’s or Catfish Sandwiches from Eastside Fish (go East side!). Eastside Fish claims their sandwiches are the “crunkest” and I’m no catfish sandwich aficionado but I’m going to say that they really are pretty crunkin.

Speaking of Southern gastronomical treats, I have some cornbread in the oven right now. I’ve been eating cornbread for as long as I have had teeth. My Grandmother, known to us as Nana, made the BEST cornbread in the whole wide world. When I was little, my Mom tried and tried to bake it and it just never tasted like Nana’s. After Nana passed away some years back, my Mom brought home Nana’s cornbread pan (and I think there was some divine intervention involved, as well) and suddenly, my Mom now makes the best cornbread in the whole wide world! My sister and I continually watch and assist her whenever we are visiting but she doesn’t follow a recipe or use measuring cups so it is a little hard to try to replicate her exact method.

Every once in awhile, I would try a new cornbread recipe from a favorite Southern cookbook but none of them were ever too memorable until I stumbled across one in the cookbook I mentioned a post or two back, The Gift of Southern Cooking, by Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. Their recipe for “Our Favorite Sour Milk Cornbread” is good and reminiscent of Nana’s recipe. I modified it a little, of course. It goes like this…

Cornbread

1 1/2 cups fine-ground white cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2-3 tbsp unsalted butter

Preheat oven to 450 F. Mix the cornmeal, salt, baking powder and soda together. Mix eggs with buttermilk. Pour the buttermilk and egg mixture into the cornmeal mixture and stir together.

Place the butter in an large iron skillet. Place in oven to melt butter. Slightly brown the butter and then pull the skillet out of the oven and the pour the melted butter into the batter and stir. Pour mixture into the iron skillet and bake for 20-30 minutes when golden on top and the sides begin to pull away from the side of the skillet.

Oh, while we are on the subject, I need to tell you that real Southern cornbread is NOT sweet. There. I said it. There are many uses for cornbread. We eat it for lunch or dinner with soup, beans, sauteed cabbage and sausages, or anything really. We also eat it leftover and toasted in the oven with cheese, honey, or jam on it for breakfast. One traditional Southern way to eat leftover cornbread and a way I remember enjoying it at Nana’s house is crumbled in a bowl with milk poured on top!

I’ve been experimenting with some new pie recipes! I made my friend, Meg’s Grandmother’s buttermilk pie. It was delicious. I’ll be working on a buttermilk recipe of my own now. Stay tuned! This I know- buttermilk makes a good pie. And, I must share our friend Dolan’s beautiful pie-eating tradition- Cut off the tip of your pie piece and save it for your last bite upon which you can make a wish! I wished for something big on this buttermilk slice!

I baked more pies for the Red Barn Round-Up this past week, too.

And I close this post with a little youtube from our last Red Barn Round-Up that our friend Korby made…

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August 7, 2010 · 1:12 am

Stuff It!

The summer heat is almost unbearable this go-around. My brain has started to feel like it is turning to mush. Thank God for air conditioning! Yes, it is way too hot to be eating soup in Tennessee but I found a recipe I had to make- thank you Heidi Swanson for your 101 Cookbooks blog. She has a lovely summer squash soup recipe which Grant and I have renamed, Creamy Potato and Summer Squash Soup. I know, way too long of a recipe title, however, I think you can get more people excited about this little concoction with a name change. Grant isn’t a huge squash fan nor does he understand my need to eat soup when it is 100 degrees of sticky, humid heat outside either. Luckily he was starving as he came home the other day and would have probably eaten anything. Once he tasted this delicious soup, however, he declared it his second top favorite soup I’ve ever made! I served it with a spinach salad made with homemade pesto dressing! I rarely ever do this but, I actually followed the soup recipe pretty much word for word so I will not post it here but please check out Heidi Swanson’s blog and the recipe here.

Earlier in the week, I made some homemade corn tortillas and Grant made some yummy Migas Tacos which we served with watermelon margaritas! It was delicious!

Yesterday, I knew I would be cooking dinner as Grant had an afternoon gig so all day, I kept thinking about ingredients trying to decide what to make. I knew we had some chicken breasts, along with some yummy mushroom varieties- portobello and beech, vidalia onions, spinach, a little piece of Rogue Creamery Smoky Blue, and a little wedge of brie. I grabbed some asparagus on my way home and decided to try my hand at stuffing chicken breasts! I looked on the internet just to get the method down and then this is what I came up with:

Smokey Stuffed Chicken Breasts
1 tbsp unsalted butter
2-3 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small vidalia onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 portobello mushrooms, cut into cubes
a handful of beech mushrooms
some chopped spinach (maybe 2 cups)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, flattened
a few glugs of red wine
small piece of Rogue Creamery Smoky Blue cheese (or another blue), crumbled
small piece of brie, cubed
smoked sea salt (or any sea salt)
fresh ground black pepper
fresh chives, chopped

Sautee onion in olive oil and butter. Add garlic and stir. Add mushrooms and cook for about 3-4 minutes on medium heat. Add some red wine (maybe 2 tbsp). Turn off the heat and add spinach. Place mixture in a bowl. Place the chicken breasts in a ziplock bag and pound with an iron skillet (or kitchen mallet) while you allow the vegetable mixture to cool. Once it has cooled a little, add the cheese. Take a spoonful of the mixture and place in the middle of the chicken breast. Roll the chicken over the mixture as best you can and use toothpicks to secure chicken. Place olive oil in skillet. Place chicken in skillet. Cook chicken, flipping it over once browned. Add another glug of wine to keep chicken from sticking. Add in extra vegetable mixture. Cover skillet to give chicken a little more time to cook through. Remove from heat, sprinkle with chopped chives and serve with the delicious wine you used in the recipe!

We enjoyed our stuffed chicken with this yummy Austrian wine we purchased from Woodland Wine Merchants, while listening to Lyle Lovett‘s new album, Natural Forces. (By the way, Lyle’s website is sharp! These are some of my favorite photos. Very inspiring.)

Figs. I’ll end this post with figs.

Our friend Aaron wanted me to come up with a good fig pie recipe. He was really thinking of a pudding pie and for my next fig pie, I will work on this however, with it being so hot and the figs so fresh, I wanted to do something simple. So, while listening to some Justin Townes Earl, I just used a big bowl of fresh figs, 1/2 cup of organic cane sugar, about 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons of flour. I used one dough ball for the bottom crust and another to make a lattice top. I baked it for 15 minutes at 425 and then lowering the over temperature to 350 for another 35 minutes. I think the simplicity was just right for the delicacy of the figs. Pure goodness.

Big weekend coming up with a trip to the Farmer’s Market, pie making, another Red Barn Round-Up party, and some good music next week! Hoping for cooler temperatures.

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