If it tastes good...it is good!

Accidental Review of Char

2010-11-18T14:29:00.001-06:00

I had no intention of writing a review of Char when I woke up this morning. As a matter of fact, I wasn’t even planning on eating there today. Last night, I spent a few hours catching up with my friend Russell Bennett over a few glasses of delicious 21 year-old Scotch, carefully crafted by the mad geniuses at Balvenie. We talked about politics, food kids and more politics and agreed that we needed to have lunch today to carry the fun over by a day. We agreed that he would pick me up and we would try the new lunch menu at Parlor Market.

Char's New Chef, Brian Catenuto

When we arrived at our chosen eatery downtown, we discovered that the doors were hopelessly shut (curses to you Monday!). Russell suggested the Elite and I threw a little fit. I suggested checking out the new menu at Char and we hopped on the interstate, headed north to see what the new Chef (Brian Cartenuto) had going on.

The parking lot was full, as was the waiting area so we grabbed a seat at the bar. Our bartender told us about the specials (Beef Brisket or Red Beans & Rice). As a rule, I never get the same dish as my dining companion, but rules are meant to be broken. Since I wasn’t planning on writing a review, we both ordered the brisket with fries, the only difference being my side of greens and his side house salad. I asked the bartender if Brian was in the kitchen and he said he would check.

Pork Belly with Apples and Arugula

About a week or so prior, Brian had been a guest on my show At the Cook’s Table and had prepared two signature dishes for us: Figgy Piggy (a roasted pork tenderloin with a fig and port wine reduction) and Slow Roasted Pork Belly (served with an apple cider reduction, and an arugula, apple salad). Both of which were devoured in record time. I love figs with pork and this dish lived up to my expectations. The port wine reduction added depth to sweet fruit without being cloying. The pork belly dish however, was my favorite of the two. The succulent fattiness of the pork was balanced against the acidity of the cider vinegar and the apple salad added a tart touch to cut some of the richness. Although the meat was fatty and melted in your mouth, it didn’t come off as overly rich, mainly because of the sauce and the fresh apples. To avoid a disaster at home, I took the last bit of this dish home to Kitty and she agreed that it was one of the finest pork dishes either of us had had.

BBQ Shrimp with Fried Dressing

Our lunch arrived and was served backwards (Russell got the greens and I got the salad), but this often happens when you eat at the bar and your server comes from the dining room instead of from behind the bar. Most good servers make some note as to a diners position at the table to avoid “auctioning” the food, but right and left get mixed up easily when you transition from behind the bar to across the bar. No big deal. No great offense taken. Almost no time wasted swapping the plates. At first glance the brisket looked like it needed a bit of jus or some type of sauce, but once we tasted it, we agreed with the presentation. The band of fat across the top of the cut provided more than enough moisture to make the dish enjoyable. A sauce would have just masked the flavor of the meat and the spice rub. The French fries were perfectly crisp and golden brown and the greens were flavorful on their own accord, without the necessity of boiled bacon you so often find loitering on your plate. Neither Russell nor I found it necessary to reach for the salt or the pepper. About a third of the way through the lunch special, Brian emerged from the kitchen with bowl of Tagliatelle and placed it between Russell and me. It had a delightful aroma of lemon and scallions and the warm egg yolk atop the fresh-made pasta tempted me to poke it with a fork. Brian encouraged us to stir up the egg and dig in. Not wanting to disappoint, we acquiesced. The bright sharpness of the lemon was blanced by the egg yolk perfectly. One more squeeze of lemon or one more shave of zest would have made it sour but Brian knew when to stop and when to use a measured hand. The fresh egg yolk married beautifully with the firm pasta and the scallions added a savory top note and served as a foil to the crème fraiche. These type dishes that have so few ingredients can be either brilliant or disastrous. There just isn’t any margin for error. You either get it right or you fail. Brian got this one right. Unfortunately, we had torn through the whole bowl before I had the thought to break out the Blackberry and snap some photos. You’ll have to see this one for yourself.

Beef Brisket

As we returned to our brisket and talk of the looming 2011 statewide elections, Russell inquired as to how often it happened that chefs just sent food out to the table. I explained that it was a hazard of the occupation and that I have to be careful not to overindulge, lest I plump up like a Christmas goose. No sooner had these words come out of my mouth, our waitress appeared with yet another plate. This time, Brian sent out a flash fried cube of cornbread tasso dressing topped with jumbo shrimp and a black pepper Worcestershire buerre blanc. As we dug in, Brian came out to explain the dish. It turns out that they make the Worcestershire in-house in a vegetarian style, without any fish heads or fish paste. The dish was beautifully conceived and executed, but the notion of referring to a nearly black sauce as beurre “blanc” escapes me. Perhaps that is something they teach you in culinary school, but I would have called it “beurre noir.” Regardless of what it is called, the flavors were spot-on. The Shrimp were wonderfully briny and not overcooked. The sauce (though not “blanc”) was rich and tangy and the little cube of flash fried cornbread dressing was an unexpected and greatly appreciated touch. The outside of the dressing was inky dark and caramelized while the inside was light and almost fluffy.

We managed to finish most everything and held off on the temptation to accept the offer of donuts. I have to save at least one surprise for when I return for dinner with Kitty.

My final verdict will have to come when I can plan for a full tasting complete with wine and cocktails, but for now...I give Brian and his new menu high marks (albeit temporary ones).

«««« (four out of five possible stars)

Craig Noone and Crew Swing for the Fences

2010-09-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

Opening Night at Parlor Market

I had a special opportunity last week. The Parlor Market held their "soft opening" for friends and fellow food industry folks. Kitty and I were lucky enough to get an invitation and we brought Mandy and Anders Ferrington with us to take it all in. I've been following the progress of this place since Donna Ladd introduced me to Chef and Owner Craig Noone this spring when the old building on State Street looked more like bombing range target than a restaurant. Last night's dinner was probably the most anticipated Jackson opening night in recent memory.

Cornbread with Buter

Craig greeted Kitty and me at the door and the balanced look of sheer panic and pure elation in his eyes belied the fact that his dream was becoming reality and that the time for planning and practice was over and the time for putting his promises on a plate was at hand. The bar and the dining room were abuzz with energy and the menu was as intriguing to the guests as the marble, wood, steel, brick and stainless that make up the big-city hip environment. Everywhere in the place, groups of two and three members of Jackson's see-and-be-seen crowd stood or sat with their attention focused on the three column, single sheet menu filled with dishes, terms and ingredients unfamiliar to most.

Ryan Bell Putting Finishing Touches on a Salad

Duck Confit with Duck Cracklin

Since we arrived at a little before eight, some of the early diners were mid-meal and the looks on their faces told the whole story and gave an accurate prediction of what we could expect. Some were gushing with smiles and rolling their heads back in ecstasy while others had looks of trepidation as they bit into foods they found exciting, albeit a little scary. But this is exactly what you expect when a restaurant is opened by a team of all star chefs, executing a shared vision of exciting, local, seasonal dishes. When you swing big, you either strike out or you hit a home run. Craig Noone has belted this one into the cheap seats, way out in center field.

Mussels + Matchsticks

The food is Southern. Not the Southern you would expect at a small town country club, but the Southern that could be easily explained if Eric Ripert had been adopted at age six by a soul food cook in Clarksdale or if Daniel Boulud had been born in Natchez to parents who owned a BBQ shack and a catfish house. The flavors and aromas are like watching a childhood home movie of someone who looks like you, but lives in Provence. It is simultaneously comforting and exciting, foreign and familiar, local and far-flung.

We abandoned any thought of trying to choose dishes and instead asked our waiter to let the kitchen know that we just wanted to be fed. Chef's choice for a table of chefs and foodies. The order was as much a challenge as it was a compliment. We essentially asked the crew to "show us what you got."

Oysters George

We opened up with four dishes: Mussels + Matchsticks, Oysters George, Duck Confit and a half dozen raw oysters with Lime Guajillo Granita. The fries could have been more crisp, but the broth in the bottom of the bowl of mussels was sopped up until the plate looked like it had been through the dishwasher. Both of the oyster dishes were exquisite. The fried ones on the Oysters George were perfectly battered and prepared with a crisp, salty coating and a just warm and still juicy flesh underneath. The raw oysters were cold, briny and well complemented by the tart granita. My favorite was the Duck Confit. The richness of the duck, cooked in its own fat, was well matched by the acidity of the pickled onions and the shaved fennel added a light hint of licorish that pairs so well with duck. The only thing missing was a bucket of the duck cracklins. One just isn't enough. When we thought we were finished with our appetizers, Craig arrived at our table with a Georgia Salad...just because. The homage to all things from the Peach State would have made Jimmy Carter blush. Grilled peaches, fried Vidalia onions, a peach sherry vinaigrette and best of all...boiled peanuts make for a delicious (albeit unconventional) salad.

Cowboy Ribeye

PM Burger

Back in the kitchen, the chefs picked out for "large plates" for us: the Cowboy Ribeye, the PM Burger, Red Snapper and Beef Tenderloin. We had a wait a little while for these dishes, but it gave us some time to have another glass of wine and do a little people watching. Honestly, on an opening night I would have forgiven an hour-long wait, but although the staff kept apologizing for the delay, our wait was only about twenty five minutes. We hardly noticed and didn't think the fuss was necessary and the food was worth the wait. For those of you not familiar with South Carolina, Low Country food, a Frogmore Stew is more of an event than a recipe. It's what we might call a shrimp boil, replete with potatoes, sausage, shrimp and corn, all boiled in one giant pot. The PM boys took this idea and turned it into the base/sauce for their Red Snapper dish. It could easily stand on its own, but man does it work with snapper. The ribeye was spiced and charred beautifully and served with a smoked tomato gravy. Craig explained that there had been some discussion about the gravy and whether or not they would serve it. They chose wisely and it made the dish. Beef tenderloin is usually my least favorite cut, but this one was properly prepared and delightfully tender. But the star of that dish was the shrimp maque choux and cheese. They should seriously consider making this accompaniement a main dish, or at least a small plate. You would never have the Rolling Stones as the opening act for 38 Special so why relegate this, perhaps the best thing I ate all night, cheesy-shrimpy perfection to the role of side dish. The PM Burger was melt-in-your-mouth good and worth every penny of its $15 price tag. If you are a "burger person" stop reading right now, pick up the phone and make a reservation. That night, the bun seemed a little spongy and overworked, but when I had it again on the radio show a few days later, they seemed to have worked out the kinks. Craig chalked it up to asking his professional pastry chef to reach below her usual culinary heights and make something as pedestrian as a hamburger bun. To lubricate our conversations and complement our meals, we chose the Alexander Valley Cabernet Savignon, which stood up well to all of the fat and bold flavors we were stuffing into our faces.

Dessert Carnage

When it came time for dessert, we abandoned any sense of responsible dining and just ordered the lot. These were very interesting dishes. Two of them I would call "chef dishes" because they might not appeal to every palate, but offer a complexity that could take an adventerous spirit to appreciate. I'll start with those. The Mason Jar Strawberry Cake combines sweet with hot with bitter and with tartness. The blackberry ricotta icing is a great foil to the richness of the dense, buttery strawberry cake and the acidity in the strawberry black pepper reduction is brilliant. I adored the lack of cloying sweetness and the chances they took with this dish. Craig said it was getting 50/50 good to bad reviews from the diners and this is what I would expect. He tried to explain to the customers who didn't like it that they needed to eat the cake with a dip of the reduction, but dishes shouldn't come with instructions. If everyone likes every dish, you are playing it too safe. The Key Lime + White Chocolate Mousse is a little less adventerous, but still foreign to many. The coriander and graham cracker crust is delightfully savory, but may not appeal to everyone. For broader appeal, Craig and his crew put three other desserts on the menu that strike a much more familiar chord. The Affogato (doughnuts, espresso and gelato), Nancy Nanner (boiled peanut ice cream with peanut butter and banana toast) and Walk Down Memory Lane (mini moon pie, push up pop and gusher cupcake) would not confuse even the most meat-n-potatoes customer and really...who can resist a push-up pop.

Anders Ferrington, Craig Noone, Kitty Cook Ramsey

When it was all over, we leaned back into our chairs and marveled at the damage we had done. Everyone was impressed and we will certainly go back again and again. My only negative comment would be the wine list. Too much valuable real estate on the menu is dedicated to "Southern Wines." I know that Craig wants to stay true to his roots and offer a uniquely Southern experience, but that should not come at the expense of quality. There are just way too many great wines out there and narrowing great wine choices in the name of thematic presentation is selling the food short. There's also a glaring hole on the wine list when it comes to premium bottles. Looking at the incredible selection of very expensive whiskeys, I can't understand why the highest-dollar bottle of grape on the page is $68 Chardonnay. Parlor Market is the kind of place that begs for celebrations and the lack of premium wines cuts this short. The good news is, the ABC truck runs every couple of days, so correcting this problem is easy...a phone call and check.

Although I might be a little biased by my friendship with these guys, I can honestly say that Parlor Market served me one of the best meals of my recent memory and is on par with some of the finest restaurants in New York, Chicago, New Orleans, London or Paris. Great job guys. Now you just have to keep it up.

«««« (Four Stars out of a Possible Five)
Nobody gets a perfect score on opening night. See you soon for the follow up guys.

Jelly Donut and Cherry Beer Bread Pudding

2010-08-04T12:40:00.001-05:00

We debuted this recipe at The Top of the Hops Beer Festival in Jackson MS last weekend for Tom's Sam Adams University Beer Pairing Seminar. We paired it with the Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and it was a big hit!

1 loaf crusty French bread
1 dozen glazed donuts
6 cherry jelly donuts
3 cups whole milk
1 6 oz. bag dry cherries
1 bottle Sam Adams Cherry Wheat beer
3 sticks unsalted butter
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
6 large eggs
¼ tsp. salt

Prep
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Break the bread and donuts into 1” cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Melt 2 sticks of butter in a large glass bowl. To the melted butter add; brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and beer. Mix thoroughly until sugar is dissolved. Add sugar mixture and eggs to the bread and blend with your hands until evenly distributed. Add enough milk to moisten all of the bread and mix thoroughly with your hands. Add cherries and pecans and mix again until evenly distributed. Add more milk until all of the bread is wet but no milk is standing in the bowl. This last part is tricky, but trust your instincts and practice. Too much milk is less of a disaster than too little, so err on the heavy side. Spoon the mixture into a greased roasting pan or high-side baking dish and spread evenly around the pan. Cut the butter into ten or twelve pats and place evenly on the top of the mixture. Sprinkle the mixture with ½ of the confectioner’s sugar.

Cook
Bake in 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Plate
Cut the pudding into squares and place in a shallow bowl. Top with confectioners sugar.

(Serves 12)

Sauteed Redfish over Orange Curry Summer Vegetable Relish and Cilantro Rice

2010-07-25T13:53:00.002-05:00

Heather, the meat manager at McDades on Northside, pointed out this beautiful redfish so I decided to do something simple with it. With fish this good, all you need is salt, pepper, butter and a hot pan.

Orange Curry Summer Vegetable Relish

4 tbsp butter
Finely diced:
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 red onion
2 leeks
4 cloves garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro (about 1/2 a bunch)
1 ear of corn

2 tsp curry powder
juice of 4 clementines
Melt butter in skillet over medium low heat. Add vegetables, curry powder, and clementine juice. Saute until thoroughly hot but still firm.

For best results, cook one redfish fillet at a time. Heat skillet until hot. Add 1 tbsp butter per filet. Salt and pepper the filet, add to skillet, cook until the center and thickest part of the fish flakes with a fork.

Farmer's Market

2010-07-02T12:03:00.000-05:00

I will be doing a live cooking demonstration at the Mississippi Farmer's Market this Saturday (July 3rd) at 10:30 AM. In keeping with the watermelon theme of the market this weekend, I'll be making Sautéed Mississippi Catfish with a Watermelon Relish, Hot and Sweet Watermelon Salsa and a Virgin Watermelon Colada!

Come see us and don't miss a minute of the excitement!

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Visit Our Sponsors!

2010-07-02T11:58:00.000-05:00

If you enjoy the blog, the radio show and the cooking demonstrations, please make sure to visit our sponsors and let them know you are a fan. below are the email links to our main sponsors. Just drop them a note and say how much you enjoy the entertainment they provide.

Thanks!
Tom

McDade's Markets - http://mcdadesmarkets.com/contact.php5
Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - gmridgeland@ruthschris.com
Mint, the Restaurant - email@mintjulepms.com
Colony Wine Market - colonywinemarket@aol.com

Seeing Less of Me

2010-06-26T20:24:00.001-05:00

Hopefully, in the coming weeks and months, you will be seeing less of me. I'm not talking about the frequency, I'm talking about the bulk. It seems as though I have reached some perfect fat-boy stasis. The amount of food that I eat, combined with the amount of calories that I burn toting my big 'ol self around meet up perfectly and I neither gain nor loose weight. It just stays at around 230. According to the people who know and name such things, that is obese. Well...not anymore.

In every cooking class, I get questions about what foods to avoid. I tell everyone the same thing...avoid things that are poisonous. Like rat poison. Or battery acid, antifreeze, arsenic, lye or over-sauced trout with cheap crab meat. My philosophy has always been, if it tastes good, it is good. If something is pretending to be something else, then the original is probably better for you anyway, just in moderation. This is just as true for butter/margarine as it is for Cher/drag Cher impersonator.

Now it is time for me to put my money where my very mouth is. Or better stated, put my big fat arse where my overly stimulated taste buds are. I am not going to change how I cook at all. I will use all of the seven deadly dietary sins (butter, bacon fat, cream, sugar, pork, carbohydrates and alcohol), but use them responsibly. If I eat a very heavy meal, I'll just add some time to my workout (oh yeah, I am going to start working out again). This is just a matter of simple math that would look like this in an Excel spreadsheet:

(IFcalories_in>calories_burnedTHENweightROUNDUP)

(IFcalories_in

Feel free to correct my Excel syntax. I haven't run a big 'ol complex forecasting model in quite some time.

Each day. I'll come on here and post my progress or lack thereof. I'll include the weigh-in, what I ate for meals and snacks and if you, the readers request it, the recipes. I'll also jot down notes about my exercise. My goal is to fit into my sacred pair of Tom Ford pinstripe pants that have been gathering dust in my closet since, since, since...well...a long time ago.

Wish me luck. Cheer me on. Jeer or mock me if you must. This should be interesting. You can always check with Kitty if you need third party verification.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

PS: I started tonight with a big meal of summer vegetables. Squash Wild Garlic and Onions cooked in Pecan Oil, Basmati Rice with Butter and Chives, Lady Peas, Tomatoes with Mayo and Brussels Sprouts with Smoked Almonds.

If you have a spare 10 minutes...

2010-06-15T22:49:00.002-05:00

please follow this link and take a survey about food/cooking television shows.

I might have something new up my sleeve and your answers could help me make some decisions.

Thanks - Tom

Pasta Salad and a Pool

2010-06-14T19:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was one of those perfect Sunday afternoons. Kitty was in a "curl up with a book" kind of mood and gave me a yard-pass to hang out by Peter's pool. I packed up a sixer of Abita Turbodog, grabbed my swim trunks and wasted no time high-tailing it over to Rosehill Circle. It was hot and sunny. The beer was so cold that it hurt my teeth and the pool was shimmering wet perfection. After an hour or, the boys started trickling in and we had a genuine all-dude swimfest, complete with cannonball contests and some "throwing of the Zak" for exercise.

To say "thank you" to Rose and Peter for the hospitality (in the only way I know how) I whipped up a big bowl of Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad with fresh basil and wild garlic from my yard. It was good hot, but much better after we let it chill for while.

How could this night get any better you ask? Well...I'll tell you. After dinner and a glass of wine, Peter informed me that he had the DVD of the latest UFC bouts and we watched MMA fighting while we polished off a pottle of Ghost Pines Cabernet.

Thanks Peter! Let's do that again.

A Bit Too Much Rosemary

2010-06-12T23:36:00.020-05:00

To quote Britney Spears...DING DANG Y'ALL!*

After the lovely Kitty and I checked out the matinée of Get Him to the Greek (which was a really good movie, by the way), we dropped in on our friends at Colony Wine Market and picked up a few bottles of my new favorite wines made by Chris Ringland and R Wines. This guy does something very special with grapes and I have loved every wine of his that I have tried. Tonight we picked up bottles of Luchador, Strong Arms and Southern Belle. All of these Shiraz beauties have different notes and bite. Kitty loves the jammy and solid Luchador and with the roasted chicken we ate, it was a perfect pairing. My fave is the Southern Belle, a kick-in-the-head, fruity, alcohol bomb that really needs red meat or BBQ to stand up to it.

We got a late start to dinner and I made a compound butter of rosemary, garlic and bacon. It was the first time for this combination and I really overdid it with the rosemary. It gave the breast meat a piny twinge that was overbearing. I want to try this again with about half as much rosemary. I think it will be a winner when I get the mixture figured out. Oh well...you can't win 'em all.

*That is a quote from my favorite Britney, the plump, on drugs, pink wig-wearing, paparazzi car-smashing, Britney who proudly served Doritos to her toddlers and let them wash it down with Dr. Pepper in their bottles. She had the best grocery store feet I've ever seen on a pop star. Man I miss her.

Once More Unto the Breach...

2010-06-12T23:14:00.003-05:00

With the muck and mess in the Gulf of Mexico slowly, but surely wiping out the harvest of the best shrimp on Earth, I have lately been craving those scrumptious crustaceans. A few weeks ago, I whipped up one of my signature dishes, Shrimp with Chili Oil and Toasted Sunflower Seeds for an upcoming TV segment for At the Cook's Table and this past week, I've tried two versions of a new recipe, Sautéed Shrimp with Coconut Apricot and Chipotle Reduction. The first time, I used only the milk from a fresh coconut and then I tried it with about a half cup of the fresh coconut flesh. both times I served them over a Bacon and Squash Hash, but the second time, I added chopped Brussels sprouts and cooked it longer to make it browner and hashier. Both were quite good, but something is still missing. I'll keep working on it and keep you abreast of the progress. Any Guinea Pig volunteers?

Here is v1.0

And v1.1

Nice Work Dan

2010-06-12T22:57:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, my good friend Dan Blumenthal was on the inaugural broadcast of At the Cook's Table. One of the dishes he brought with him to eat on-air was the new croque monsieur he recently added to the menu at Broad Street Baking Company. So, when Kitty and I dropped by Broad St. to grab a quick bite to eat, I figured I would try it again, but this time piping hot and fresh out of the kitchen. I made the right choice. It was great. I'll definately order it again. You should go eat one of these right now.

More Tacos

2010-06-12T22:27:00.002-05:00

The tacos at the Trent Walker fundraiser were so good, Kitty and I decided to whip up some more at home. These were of the uber-simple variety...Flatiron Steak seasoned with Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub (soon to be available at McDade's) on a warm tortilla with cilantro and a bit of horseradish mayo. Yum.

The Pro-Am

2010-06-12T22:06:00.001-05:00

My beautiful wife, Kitty, enlisted me to cook for a political fundraiser last week. I never mind helping her out, particularly when it means that people will be eating my food, but this one was particularly exciting gig. I've recently come to know and love the guys from Parlor Market, Craig, Gary, Jesse and Ryan and at this event, I got to share the kitchen with them. The event had a Latin "Fiesta" theme so we met for drinks and decided to make some great Mexican street food. With trips to McDade's and Carneceria Valdez, we put together a menu of Pork Tacos, Chicken Tacos and Watermelon Chipotle Salsa.

The night before the event we all gathered at the private event space of Parlor Market and knocked out the prep work and made the salsa. We also made the decision to braise the pork overnight in a braising liquid with plenty of Rogue Mocha Porter and Chipotle Ale.

The day of the event, we made the sauces, cooked and shredded the chickens, pulled the pork, packed everything up at set up at the sky terrace of the Electric 308 Building. About ten minutes after we got everything set up, the rain started and we had to make a double-time effort to move it all to the main lobby on the first floor. We served the pork tacos with a redeye gravy mayo and the chicken tacos with a tomatillo salsa verde. We also gave the party-goers the options of pickled onions, pickled radishes, chopped cilantro and lime.

The food was a big hit and everything went beautifully with Kitty's red wine sangria. And best of all...I got to hit the kitchen with the hottest new pros in the Jackson culinary scene. Perfect.

A Beautiful Gift from Sidney

2010-05-30T19:47:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, Kitty's father Sidney passed away recently. He had been ill for quite some time, but the end of great lives is always a sad occasion. He and Lynn had recently moved from a house in the country, out side of Drew, Mississippi, to a house in the big city of Cleveland, Mississippi. The new house was right next door to the library (where Lynn works) and right behind the Episcopal church. If they had a grocery store and a wine shop in the same block, they would have never needed a car, except to take the dogs to the vet. They kept the old place near Drew and today, Kitty, Lynn and I made the trip out there to pick up some furniture and other odds and ends. I managed to throw my back out lifting the first piece for furniture and luckily it was the only heavy one. JT, a big man in his 60's who had once worked for Sidney, did the rest of the heavy lifting and even managed to whip a nest of wasps into a real frenzy while removing a window unit a/c.

This was the first time Kitty and I had been out to the old house since they had moved. I felt a deep sense of regret that I hadn't had the opportunity to go back out there with Sidney and dig up a truckload of the native plants that were all around the place. While I was gingerly moving some sticks out of the way for the moving van, I spotted some wild garlic plants and asked Lynn if I could pull up a few. She told me to take all I wanted and I ignored the searing pain in my back as I pulled up about two dozen plants. They were still a little green and milky, but I figured I wouldn't have the opportunity to get back up there any time soon. We loaded them in the back of the moving van, next to the bed, the mattress, the dishwasher and the formerly wasp-filled window units and made one more walk around the old place. Kitty cut a few branches off of the big Bay Tree behind the shed and I spotted an anvil that I would seriously like to have in my workshop. Kitty got her bays home. I had to leave the anvil for another trip.

When we got home, Stuart, Kitty and I cut the bulbs and tops from the garlic and stuck them in some loose soil in the big planter on the porch. I know the bulbs will take root and I hope some of the tops will do the same. While separating the tops and the roots, I noticed that the lower half of the stalks were quite tender. I bit into one of them to check for bitterness and was delighted to find that they had bright, yet earthy taste like a cross between a ramp, a green onion and garlic. We were so tired from moving that we had discussed getting takeout for supper, but the taste of the wild garlic changed my mind. Instead of some protein-in-a-box nightmare, I got in to the kitchen and whipped up a hearty soup with the garlic stalks as the star.

As you can see, it turned out beautiful. Thanks Sidney.

Bon Appetit
~Tom

Mexican Adventure

2010-05-28T16:00:00.002-05:00

Stuart's graduation practice was this morning and I figured he was deserving of a break when he finished around 11:30. When I asked Stuart if he was in the mood for authentic Mexican tacos, he enthusiastically replied YES!

Kitty and I recently learned about a trio of taquerias in Ridgeland, Mississippi just past County Line Road. Earlier in the week, accompanied by we tried Taqueria Guadalupe and Carneceria Valdez. Both were fantastic, but we preferred Carneceria Valdez because of the presentation of limes and radishes along with the trio of sauces. We also liked the fact that when you ordered your tacos, you saw the butcher/cook grab a handful of meat and run to the back, emerging minutes later with a basket of steamy goodness. We attempted to sample all three that day, but La Morena is open every day but Tuesday (the day we visited).

So today, with Stuart in-tow, we went directly to La Morena to complete our taqueria tour. It was certainly worth the wait. When we waled in the door and I spotted one of the cooks mashing a ball of corn meal in a tortilla press, I knew we made the right choice. Stuart ordered two tacos (one beef, one pork) and a Mexican Coke, which he had never had before. Kitty also got two tacos (one beef, one chicken) and a Mineragua and I upped the ante with three tacos (one pork, one chorizo, one tongue) and a Tamarind Soda. All were served with the traditional sprinkling of white onions and fresh cilantro and a wedge of lime.

All of the tacos were delightful, but the chorizo was my favorite. The singular thing that made La Morena stand head and shoulders above the other two places was the fresh tortillas. There is no way to duplicate this flavor with commercial brands and with the taco, the tortilla is the star. This star was a supernova. The edges were rough and rustic, the feel was firm with the grain of the corn retaining its texture. I could really appreciate the aroma of the corn as the steam rose up from the tortiallas to greet my nose. The meats were well seasoned and expertly cooked, retaining their moisture. The three fresh-made sauces offered a great variety from the bright and tart green one, the fiery hot orange one to the smoky red one. They each had their own distinct characteristics and I would have been happy to have any one of them.

After we ate, I visited with the owner while we browsed through the selection of boots, cowboy shirts and Mexican grocery items in the back. When we first arrived, I saw a young boy (her son) get very excited when one of the cooks emerged from the back part of the kitchen with a steaming bowl of meatballs. I asked her about them and she explained that each day she has a different special and that today's was a braised meatball. Although we were full from the tacos, I had to give one of these a try.

I went back to the service counter and asked about the meatballs. The cook flashed a big smile and brought me a bowl of rice with two meatballs, topped with a rich tomato and tamarind sauce. i called to the back for Kitty and Stuart to try this with me. I regretted that I had to share. They were one of the best things I've ever had, and that is saying a lot. The meat was well seasoned, but no overly so and each ball contained a little surprise in the center...a quarter of a boiled egg. The sauce was the perfect silky consistency and had small slices of carrot and garlic. When the cook saw how happy we were, she brought out a little more rice and sauce along with three steaming, fresh tortillas. We ate every bite and sopped up the last bits of sauce with the last pieces of tortilla.

When we left, Stuart proclaimed that he would never even bother with Mexican food anywhere else and debated whether he would tell his friends about La Morena or just keep it as his own little secret.

I wanted him to try the chicharones at Valdez so we made a quick stop there and picked up a half pound to enjoy on the ride home. Kitty REALLY loves chicharones, but we were so full that some of them managed to make it home, where they were devoured by Zak after school.

I can recommend any of these three spots, but the best is clearly La Morena. Just remember that they are closed on Tuesday and they don't accept credit cards. Oh yea, and save some room for the candied fruit.

Bon Appetit

~Tom

Have I ever mentioned how much I love chicken thighs?

2010-05-27T23:06:00.000-05:00

You're probably sick of hearing this, but I really do love chicken thighs. I used them in a Ragout for one of the TV segments this week and I cooked them low and slow with wine tonight. Earlier in the week, I boned them and made Chicken Thighs Stuffed with Bacon Squash and Cheese. About two weeks ago, I grilled them with a little pecan wood and served them with julienned zucchini and squash. If I could make a hair gel out of them, I would wear them on my head.

Kitty voted that the thighs cooked in wine tonight (and served with a blender sauce made from the pan drippings, the veggies, some cream and a bit of butter) were the best thing she has eaten all year.

Here are the photos. If you want any of the recipes, just shoot me an email tom@tomramsey.com

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Chicken Thighs Braised in Wine

Boneless Chicken Thighs with Cheese Sauce and Bacon, Squash and Onion Stuffing

Pecan Grilled Chicken Thighs

A Very Long Trip

2010-05-13T17:24:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I got out of bed at the unholy hour of 4:00AM, grabbed a quick shower, brewed up a shot of Cuban coffee and hit the road. If I'm going to keep up the efforts to launch my culinary career, I have to occasionally do some real work in the lobbying/government relations world. Yesterday was one of those days. I had a meeting in Carrolton, GA with the Mayor and the City Manager to discuss automated traffic enforcement. The meeting was scheduled for 11:30 and with the loss of an hour by traveling East, I had to get on the road by 4:30.

Around 10:00 I had to grab a little bite to eat to calm my coffee/Diet Coke sloshing stomach. I pulled into a truck stop and grabbed a couple packs of Nabs. When I was a "road warrior" traveling across the country selling cigars for my old brand, Avalon, I used to keep a stash of at least a dozen packs of Nabs in the glove box of my old Volvo. When someone would ask me about the stash I would reply, "Well...I don't have any gloves. Had to put something in there."

The Nabs held me over until the lunch meeting at the Carrolton Country Club (a very nice BLT and a cup of Loaded Potato Soup). The visit was a success and it looks like I'll be able to keep playing "Tom the Cook" for a little while longer. The ride home went by a little faster than the ride up and I made it back home in time to eat supper with Kitty and the kids. I was asleep by 9:30.

I don't miss being on the road all the time, but I do miss the satisfying, salty, crunchy goodness of the lowly Nab. I guess it just reminds me of when I was a kid traveling with my parents. Back then, seatbelts were purely ornamental and all three of us kids would fight over who got to stretch out on the speaker deck behind the back seat of Mom's Town Car. Mom and dad would be in the front seat, smoking their asses off with the windows rolled up and Neil Diamond on the 8-track. Sweet Caroline...good times never seemed so good...

A Very Happy Whit

2010-04-30T10:30:00.001-05:00

If you've ever spent enough time around me, you've heard me tell the story about my kids having food tastes that match their personalities. Our middle son, Whit, is the one who craves comfort foods. To him, pot roast is like a big warm hug. So last night, he got a very special hug...six-hour pot roast and boiled potatoes. The roast recipe is quite simple. Carrots, onion, celery, garlic and mushrooms, all roughly chopped and cooked with a slab of meat over low heat. You can make it faster, but you just don't get the same result. If you would like to be as happy as Whit in this picture, send me an email and I'll send you the recipe.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Hello Blog. I missed you, but now I'm back.

2010-04-28T22:26:00.001-05:00

My last post was on tax day and those chicken thighs were great. Since then, life has been a wild ride. The radio show started last week and it has been a blast. We shot the teaser/pilot for the TV show. I threw Kitty and Kim a great birthday party. I got to put on cooking demonstrations at Sante South and Persnickety Kitchens and I've made new friends. On top off all that, I've managed to cook some terrific food. Here are some photos. If you want the recipes, just send me an email and ask.

Kitty's Birthday "Cake" (Honey & Gingered Fruit with Cilantro Whipped Cream)
Since my lovely wife has a gluten sensitivity, I made her a big 'ol bowl of fresh fruit, soaked it with a honey and ginger sauce and topped it with cilantro whipped cream. The candles worked nicely with the cream.

Keeping with the gluten free menu idea, those are crackers made of rice and nuts served with caramelized onions over cream cheese. These onions were caramelized for so long that they were actually sweet.

These pork skewers were marinated with wine and soy and grilled. The sauce is a hot curry peanut sauce.

These are chicken skewers with a Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce.

When we finished shooting at Antoine's Restaurant in New Orleans, I noticed that the receptionists/hostesses were enjoying some fine Popeye's Chicken. Even at one of the finest restaurants in the world, nobody can resist Popeye's!

I was in a hurry...Kitty was hungry. Tortillas, a little meat, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream and Voila! There you have a quick and fresh lunch.

As a "Thank You" to Pamela, out hair and makeup maven for the TV show, I whipped up some rosemary and sea salt crusted lamb chops with a cream pan sauce.

Stuart, rocking the smoking jacket and enjoying a tasty strawberry milk.

And finally, tonight's dinner with Kitty. Flatiron steak with sautéed spinach, asparagus and a lovely reduction sauce.

Now, we're pretty much caught up. I'll do a whole new post on the TV pilot soon.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

The Lowly Chicken Thigh in a Starring Role

2010-04-15T20:42:00.000-05:00

Chicken thighs are the Fred Ward of the culinary world. You've seen 'em in everything but they never get to be the star. If they were in 5th grade P.E. they would be the effeminate, chubby kid with asthma and never get picked first. But why? Dark meat is more flavorful. The thighs have that massive hunk of skin that get crispier than anything else in a Popeye's Bonafide Family Meal and yet...they are passed over for the breast almost universally. What is this obsession with breasts that has grabbed hold of our nation. Has the trend for bigger breasts on everything from models to mommys really gone so far as to skew the popularity of chicken parts? I think so. Turkeys have been bred over time to have such large breasts that they can no longer mate naturally. The physics and the geometry don't work anymore.

To help turn the tide back to thigh-appreciation (and to save some serious money) I love to use chicken thighs in almost every recipe that calls for chicken. I remove the bones and use them as fillets and I love to cook them whole on the grill or in stews, soups and ragouts. Tonight, they went into a big pot of red sauce with some veggie and herb pals and ended up in a bowl over toasted polenta. If you want the recipe, just send me an email (info@ivyanddevine.com)

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Playing Catch-up

2010-04-12T22:50:00.000-05:00

Things have been so busy with the radio and TV stuff that I've neglected my blog. Sorry 'bout that. to help catch up, here are some photos of great food that I shared with great people. If you want recipes, just comment below with your request or shoot me an email at tom@tomramsey.com. Enjoy the photos and captions, I hope to get back in the regular habit of posting daily-ish soon.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

An awesome steak with lobster whipped potatoes and sautéed mushrooms that Kitty and I enjoyed with Mandy and Anders Ferrington.

Strawberries and puffed pastry from the same meal with Mandy and Anders.

A quick Sunday salad for Kitty this past weekend. I stuffed all of this in some focaccia and made a panini for myself. I ate it before I remembered to take a picture. Maybe next time.

Messy, burgery goodness from Lucy and Al Sabin's cookout on Saturday. It was the perfect way for Kitty and I to celebrate her return home from Muncie.

Ham and veggies from Easter Sunday. I got a big kick out of a friend of mine asking me after Easter Sunday church, "So what are you cooking for Easter dinner?" When I replied, "I have no idea, I guess I figure it out when I get to McDade's and see what is on sale." I thought they were going to faint right there in the Nave of St. Andrew's. Can you guess what was on sale?

For no apparent reason, other than I had defrosted two chickens, Kitty and I had a little dinner party last week. I made a lemon and mushroom risotto to go with my standard roasted chickens with compound butter. It was one of those great nights when everyone lingered over the dirty dishes and the conversations were lively long after the dessert was all gone. We had just the right mix of people and the evening will remain a fond memory for quite some time.

Cookin' on the Radio

2010-04-07T13:41:00.000-05:00

Starting on the 19th of April, I will be hosting a new radio show called At the Cook's Table, with Tom Ramsey. The show will be all about food...the cooking, the eating, recipes and food traditions. Each week I'll have guests who like to cook and guests who like to eat. We'll take calls and emails and answer your food-related questions on the air. The show will at at noon on WLEZ 100.1 FM. If you don't live in the Jackson, Mississippi area, you can listen in online at www.wlezfm.com. The shows will also be available by podcast on my website and on itunes (as soon as I can figure out how to do that itunes thing).

If you would like to be on the show, go to www.atthecookstable.com and click on the "contact us" link and tell our producer, Kim Brown, why you want to sit in a small room with me and talk about food.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

I Love this Kind of Work

2010-04-01T22:36:00.001-05:00

To prepare for a new "thing" that I'm currently working on, I spent an evening working on a couple of new dishes with my friend and mega-chef, Dan Blumenthal. My good friend and new partner in a business venture, Kim Brown, came along for the learning experience and entertainment value. Dan and I worked out the kinks in a chipotle/lime/ginger shrimp dish. The original version was a marinated shrimp, cooked on a grill pan. It morphed and evolved into a dish cooked in the same way as New Orleans Bar-B-Que Shrimp, made famous by Pascal's Manale Restaurant. We blended a bunch of chipotle peppers with lime juice, melted butter, cilantro, ginger, honey, and sunflower oil, then cooked the shrimp in this concoction for a short time and served them over soft polenta. Don's call this "Shrimp and Grits" or I'll stop writing about it. EVERYBODY now does a shrimp and grits dish. I swear we'll see it on the menu at Red Lobster within the next year.

To go with this searing hot delight, we made a cold soup of cucumbers and avocado with an island of whipped cream and buttermilk floating on top alongside a dollop of salsa fresca and some baked tortilla strips. It was great. Kim cleaned her plate and was only mildly disturbed by Dan's and my behavior.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Incredible Chinese Food

2010-04-01T22:23:00.000-05:00

On the way to a business meeting this past week. Kim Brown and I stopped at the new Ding How Asian Bistro on Highway 51, near Rice Road. This was not your ordinary Chinese, all-you-can-eat, slop trough. This was great Chinese food, the way it should be prepared and enjoyed. We both ordered a special. Mine was the Shrimp with Five Mushrooms. Kim had the Special Eggplant with Pork. Both were outstanding. I wish we had thought to get pictures before we finished devastating the plates, but we were too busy eating. I will go back again soon and I will get pre-eating photos. Here are the "after" shots.

Tom's Plate "After"

Kim's Plate "After"

It Just Never Gets Old

2010-03-23T13:34:00.001-05:00

Our quasi-adopted, full-grown son spent the night with us again last night and surprise, surprise...I roasted a whole chicken. Actually I roasted two since Sanford also brought his Mississippi First co-conspirator, Rachel Hicks with him for dinner and we had all three boys at home. I made a pan sauce by reducing the drippings with some wine, peach preserves, apple cider vinegar and a paw-full of pecans. It was a great meal and we had a fantastic time. The boys were quite entertained listening to all of us growed-folks tell stories about when we were in high school. I don't know what I would eat if they stopped making whole chickens. I just cant get fired up about the whole boneless, skinless thing.
Bon Appetit!

~Tom

Meal Inspired by a Facebook Message

2010-03-21T22:57:00.000-05:00

I got a facebook note from my friend Rose Casano (yes, of Rose & Peter Fame). She gave me the huge compliment of rating my food above that of the venerable New Orleans institution, Galatoire's. Although I'm more of an Antoine's guy, I certainly appreciated the sentiment of her post. One of my favorite dishes from Galatoire's (their version is actually better than Antoine's) is Chicken Clemenceau. The dish is très Français and takes its name from Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929), a French statesman who became the French Premier in 1906. It has few ingredients, but is complex to perfect and when done properly is a real delight. The traditional dish is chicken (bone-in) cooked with mushrooms, potatoes and peas. The only chicken I had in the fridge was boneless, skinless chicken breast so I improvised the dish and made a pasta-homage to Monsieur Clemenceau. Everyone was pleased with the dish and I was able to take a brief mind/mouth-vacation to the Crescent City.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Dinner with Monte & Amy

2010-03-20T20:00:00.001-05:00

Kitty loaded up the car with Katharine, Zak and the puppy and headed out for a weekend in the Delta yesterday. The two big boys abandoned me for more exciting plans with people their own age, leaving me to fend for myself, alone in the big scary world. No need to fear, Monte and Amy came to the rescue and in return for them preventing me from being so all alone, I cooked them a new recipe that I dreamed up yesterday. I'm still working on the proportions, so I'll post the recipe later. For now, here are the photos of my Asian Chipotle Shrimp over Salsa Fresca and Cayenne Chocolate Mousse for dessert.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Pizza Quesadillas

2010-03-19T13:22:00.000-05:00

Last night we had a house full of little boys. For his birthday party, Zak wanted a spend-the-night-nerf gun-war-tent-in-the-basement party. Who wouldn't want that? What do you feed a bunch of Nerf Warriors? Certainly not Red Bull and Skittles. I enlisted the help of my aspiring chef and oldest son, Stuart and we made Pizza Quesadillas. The process is easy and the kids love the fact that they get to pick whatever toppings they desire. The boys were eating them hot and right out of the pan, so we didn't get a photo, so here is the picture we got from the police sketch artist.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Pizza Quesadillas

Ingredients
Corn Tortillas (you can also use flour tortillas if you prefer)
Mozzarella Cheese
Pizza Sauce
Pizza Toppings (pepperoni, sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms etc.)

Heat a flat bottom skillet over medium heat. Do not add oil or cooking spray. Place a tortilla in the skillet and spread a thin layer of pizza sauce on top of the tortilla. Add cheese and desired toppings and wait for cheese to melt. Add a second layer of cheese and top with a second tortilla. Flip the "pizza" over and cook until the bottom tortilla is browned and all cheese is melted.

Simple but Good

2010-03-18T18:45:00.000-05:00

The protein closest to the front of the freezer a few days ago was an English beef roast. Simple, tasty, foolproof. I rubbed it down with some Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub, browned it in a big black-iron skillet, slipped it in a hot oven and didn't think about it again until it was time to eat. I whipped up a creamy horseradish sauce, some julienned vegetables and some boiled potatoes and voila! Dinner was served.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Italian Slow Food and an American Movie

2010-03-17T17:46:00.000-05:00

Our daughter Katharine returned home from George Washington University yesterday afternoon and our "Other Son" Sanford was also in town for a Mississippi First board meeting. So, even though Whit and Zak were not home, we still had a full table for dinner. I made the most out of our nearly-crowded house and made some chicken thighs in a red sauce and served them over roasted slices of eggplant. It's one of those dishes that has lots of steps and takes all day, but the end result is fantastic. After dinner, we sat around the living room and watched The Hangover. I'm still laughing today. It was a great night of family, friends and laughter. Nights like that are the reason I cook.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

Another Quick Lunch

2010-03-15T18:15:00.000-05:00

I returned home from a delightful interview with Cynthia Walls from Mississippi Digital Daily and a great visit with my friend Josh Hailey (who just returned from eating his way across Argentina) and I found Stuart sprawled out on the sofa, watching Law & Order with his injured leg elevated. He was hungry and looked far too sad to eat take-out so I did the next best thing...I made fast food Tijuana style.

All across Mexico, you can find little trailers and carts with a flat-top griddle, a tortilla press and a couple of folks slinging out great eats for very little money. What they offer is simple, tasty meals of tortillas, some type of meat cooked with aromatic spices, and perhaps some onions and peppers sautéed alongside the meat. They take your order, assemble what you asked for and hand it to you, unceremoniously and without a plate. When you eat at a place like this, you don't bother with a table and instead just stand there on the street corner and stuff your face before returning to whatever it was you were doing before you got hungry.

One red onion, one chicken breast and several tortillas later, Stuart was full and I got to play Matamoros short-order cook for a little while. Everyone was happy.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Self Administered Comfort Food

2010-03-14T21:03:00.001-05:00

After some bitterly disappointing news on Friday, I figured I needed some comfort food, and nothing takes my mind off of misery more than spending the day in the kitchen working on huge batches of food that must be prepared lovingly and from scratch. Since I thought the Karma Police might descend on my house for having a pitty-party/anger-fest, I figured the first comfort food to make would need to be for someone else. Earlier in the week, I learned that a new friend of mine had undergone bypass surgery. The surgery didn't kill him so I wasn't about to let a diet of hospital food take him out either. If there is one singular truth borne of the kitchen it is that sick people need soup. Luckily, there were a bunch of chicken carcases in the freezer and with the help of some angry chopping and Zen-like stirring, four hours later they were transformed into Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. My friend was appreciative and the black cloud over my heart lifted a bit seeing him smile at the thought of enjoying something made with care and full of chickeny goodness. It turns out that now-a-days, getting your chest bone sawed in half and your heart literally taken out of your chest only rates a four day stay in the hospital. My friend was heading home on Saturday and his soup would make the journey with him.

On Saturday, our friends Rose and Peter were in the mood for some slow cooked food, good wine and great company. Peter picked me up around noon and we trekked over to McDade's for beef short ribs. When we got there, we found that they didn't have quite enough ribs for eight people, but they did have ox tails. We filled the basket with cheap cuts of meat, aromatic vegetables, potatoes and the ingredients for one of our favorite desserts, Root Beer Floats.

The prep time took about twenty minutes and after browning off the ribs and tails, tossing in the vegetables and filling the massive iron skillets with a bottle of wine each, Peter and I had the rest of the day to lounge around, or so we thought. Rose had a Purple Martin house that needed to be relocated to Laurel Park, Kitty had a job interview (leaving me in charge of Zak) and the boys had numerous adventures in mind. At least the food was on autopilot for the next six hours.

Erecting the birdhouse presented its own particular set of challenges that we were able to overcome. If you want to see out handiwork, it is proudly on display towards the back of the big open field in Laurel Park. Because of a break in the pole and a longer than expected pole that fit into the original shaft, Rose's Purple Martin house in Laurel Park is probably one of the tallest structures in Belhaven.

Back at the house with all of the kids in tow, Peter and I watched curiously as the guys tried their hand at "Free Running." Obviously, this clambering over obstacles and jumping over furniture is now an internet-video-fueled "extreme" sport. When I was a boy we just called it "running around." My first thought of "This will certainly end poorly." was confirmed when I heard a thud like a wooden bat hitting a cantaloupe. From the corner of my eye, I saw Stuart fall into a crumpled heap behind a stone wall and walked over to investigate. I fully expected to see a massive head wound or a bit of bone sticking out of some limb. I was relieved to see that the injury, though serious, would not require a spatula, a helicopter or an MRI. Stuart had managed to whack his shin so hard that he smashed a dime-sized hole in the skin and through it, you could see the sinewy covering of his shin bone. The force of the blow was so hard that he wasn't bleeding since the skin was both cut and sealed by the impact. Peter's reaction was, "C'mon Stuart. We need to stitch that up. Let's get you up to the kitchen."

"Is it really gonna hurt?" Stuart asked.

"You bet." Peter confidently replied.

A few minutes later, Stuart was disinfected, numbed and closed and Peter and I still had a few hours of downtime before the girls arrived to eat supper. (Click here if you really must see pictures of the stitches. I'd rather not put them on the same page with braised ox tail.)

The meal was rich. The wine was plentiful. The conversation was lively. And now Stuart will have a cool new scar to show off to teenage girls. I can't imagine a better way to heal my damaged heart.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

A Preview of Spring

2010-03-07T16:34:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon, my friend Peter picked me up to make a grocery store run for our dinner. I enlisted Peter and his wife Rose to help me test a specific dish that I've been working on for a project. They had been one of the first people to try the dish back in the fall so I thought they were the perfect couple to give it one last try before I unleash it on the public. Since the practice dish is only an appetizer, I agreed, as part of the bargain, to cook whatever else they wanted as a main course. At the grocery store, Peter said that Rose's only request was that the dish feature olive oil and be Mediterranean. That really wasn't much help, but the the "M" word got me to thinking about spring. To get my brain going in the right direction, we went directly to the meat/seafood section of the store, bypassing our usual first-stop in the produce section. There were no gulf shrimp, the lamb didn't catch my eye, but tucked in the corner of the fish case were some beautiful, giant scallops. I asked to see one and upon my inspection found them to be sweet, aromatic and fresh. The Orange Rougy in the case also looked and smelled quite good. That settled it. We were going to have a seafood night with a Mediterranean flair. With our protein in hand, we swung back through the produce section and Peter must have been reading my mind when he asked if we could Julienne some vegetables to go with the fish. We grabbed peppers, onions, corn, yellow squash, zucchini and carrots. For the sauce, I wanted something bright with a lot of citrus punch so we grabbed lemons, limes a couple bunches of cilantro, parsley, garlic and green onions. With a few more ingredients gathered, we headed back to Belhaven and set to work on the beauty you see below. The recipe will be up later, but I couldn't wait to show off the picture.
Bon Appetit
~Tom

How did I forget to write about this steak?

2010-03-05T17:50:00.000-06:00

Earlier this week, Kitty and I found ourselves in the enviable situation of no dinner guests, no class for me to teach, no clients in town and best of all...no kids. Sorry boys, we love you, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. In a grocery excursion the prior week, I made my usual stop at the "Manager's Special" section of the Kroger meat department. It's generally a nice place to grab a few pork chops or some ground beef that needs to get in the freezer on top of some heat before the almost meaningless "sell by" date. On this trip however, I found cheap shopping Valhalla. Nestled between some pre-formed burgers and a sad-looking flank steak were two absolutely beautiful dry aged steaks, the stuff that usually goes for $14.99 per pound. These were marked down to a paltry $3.99 per pound. Less than bologna! Less than Doritos for that matter! I rang the bell and asked the singing butcher if there were any more of these gems to be found, but alas, these were the only ones.

With only two of these steaks in the freezer, I had to wait for the right time to bring 'em out. It would have been rude to serve the boys Bachelor Dinner while Kitty and I noshed on these so we waited until just the right night.

Flash forward to earlier this week. Remember...the no kids night? I dropped by Kat's Wine Cellar and picked up a nice, jammy, Chilean Cabernet, and grabbed a couple of acorn squash from McDade's. When Kitty got home, I met her at the door with a glass of wine and gave her the good news. No kids, big wine, big steaks. Since it was still too cold for grilling, I seared the steaks in the black iron skillet and finished them in the broiler. the brown bits in the skillet were transformed into a sublime pan sauce and I finished off the plate with a neat little Basmati rice timbale.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

This is a Breakfast

2010-03-05T12:05:00.000-06:00

In the mad-scientist lab that is my kitchen on Devine Street, I've been developing a mutated strain of grits that will actually cause your arteries to slam shut instead of clogging over time. I like to call them Grits Cochon et Plus. I found that my recipe for Grits Cochon was sorely lacking in the heavy cream and sausage topping department. As you can see, they are beautiful to behold.

They do have one, minor, unfortunate drawback. The photo below was taken of my son, Stuart, just before eating his first helping of Grits Cochon et Plus.

Everything was OK, fine and really hunky-dorry until he made the mistake of going back for a second helping. Shortly after consuming the second bowl, I heard a scream from the living room as my lovely wife, Kitty, walked into the living room to find this.

Apparently, the proper dosage for Grits Cochon et Plus is ONE serving. Stuart was sent to Dr. Drew Pinsky's Grits Rehab Center in Bettendorf, Iowa and fed a 28 day program of corn flakes and overcooked roast beef. Now he is back to his normal self. Well...almost. But I don't think the grits are at the root of this sartorial gaffe.

Grits Cochon et Plus

1 cup quick grits (not instant)
1/2 lb. bacon
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups ham stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese (shredded)
1 bunch green onions
2 cloves garlic
1 lb. country smoked sausage
1 stick butter
1 tsp. Creole seasoning
Salt
Pepper

Prep
Slice Sausage into 1/2" thick rounds. Chop green onions. Finely mince garlic. Chop bacon into small pieces, no larger than 1/4". Slice butter into 1 Tbsp. pats.

Cook
Heat a large saucepan over medium high heat and add 1Tbsp. butter. When the butter foams, add bacon and garlic and cook until lightly browned. Add grits and all liquids and whisk aggressively to prevent clumping. Raise heat to high until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and continue cooking, whisking frequently to prevent sticking and clumping. Add cheese, Creole seasoning and remaining butter and whisk until all ingredients are fully incorporated. Taste and add salt or pepper as desired.

Cook Sausage rounds over medium heat in a large iron skillet until browned around the edges. REmove from heat and pat away excess grease with a paper towel.

Plate
Serve grits in a shallow bowl, topped with green onions and sausage. Charge defibrillator to 200 joules and standby.

More Roasted Chicken

2010-03-02T13:07:00.001-06:00

I just love to cook whole chickens. They are so easy and just taste so good. I think I made this one Saturday night with Yukon gold potatoes and baby lima beans. The recipe is the same one as I used in the chicken video lesson.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Steak Salad...on Sunday?

2010-03-02T12:56:00.000-06:00

I don't know what got into me on Sunday. I didn't have my usual hankering for fried chicken and since I made soup earlier in the week, there were no leftovers in the fridge for omelettes. For some unknown reason, I really wanted a steak salad. Kitty nor any of the boys objected so I rubbed down some flank steak with my coffee seasoning, seared it in a big 'ol black iron skillet and put it atop a crisp green salad with buttermilk dressing. I'm sure my chicken craving will be back next week. You probably don't need a recipe for this one, but if you do just shoot me an email and I'll put something on paper for you.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Blues and Late-night Munchies

2010-02-27T09:20:00.002-06:00

Last night, I was planning on spending the evening ironing, watching back episodes of Top Gear and getting ready for a long trip. Kitty was watching a Judy Dench movie upstairs and Whit was already in bed when my phone rang. On the other end was my friend Michael Frank who manages of some of the best blues artists in the world. He was in town most of this week for receptions and award ceremonies honoring his client Honeyboy Edwards. The 94-year-old legend won a Grammy this year along with an Excellence in Arts Award from Governor Haley Barbour. I weighed the options of ironing -vs- Honeyboy and left my wrinkled clothes for another day.

The 930 Blues Cafe was packed, loud and smokey...just like a blues club should be. The beer was cold, the people were happy and the whole crowd seemed to throb in unison with the heavy beat emanating from stage, punctuated by Honeyboy's guitar and its plaintive wailing. Yes! This was so much better than ironing! While Honeyboy was on stage, I got a chance to catch up with Michael and heard all about their whirlwind tour since the Grammys. For a near-century-old guy, Honeyboy travels like Tony Bourdain or some college kid with a backpack and a Eurail Global Pass.

The night ended with a short visit with Honeyboy and Jackie Bell announcing to the audience that she thought I was "...sexy as richard Gere." My friend John Horhn was quick to let me know that I looked more like him that Richard Gere. I think John was right, but Jackie is still sweet for the flattery.

Back at home, Kitty was finished with her movie and we were both hungry. While I regaled her with the stories of the night, I whipped up a plate of grilled Andouille sausage and three hand-crafted mustards (rustic Brown, Guiness and Dill). We at the sausage in bed abandoned the plate on the nightstand. I'll get around to cleaning it up today, right after I finish the ironing.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Frito Pie Lesson

2010-02-26T15:37:00.000-06:00

Have Knives, Will Travel

2010-02-24T10:37:00.000-06:00

I was in New Orleans Monday evening and Tuesday meeting with several people about a project that I have to keep under wraps until everything is all ironed out. My good friends John and Jennifer Rowland were kind enough to offer room and board for the evening and knowing how much I enjoy Jennifer's company and John's cooking, how could I pass this up? John had two huge slabs of Amberjack and Tuna ready to grill so I offered to handle the sides. Jennifer and I went to the market to pick up asparagus but found the Brussels sprouts to be much more appealing. John crusted the fish with wasabi peas, garlic, black pepper and sea salt and put them on the grill. I cooked the Brussels sprouts in butter with garlic and chopped, smoked almonds. Jennifer and I also found some nice tasso at the market so I chopped it up nice and fine and mixed it, along with parsley and green onions, into the rice and made a lovely timbale. With a great bottle of Zinfandel decanted on the table, there was little left to do but eat and talk about the Saints. With evening like this, I can't wait to get back to NOLA. Satchmo and I think alike and I nod in agreement when he asks the musical question "Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?"
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Busy Saturday

2010-02-22T10:20:00.000-06:00

This Saturday, I had two lessons, trained my newest Chef/Instructor, and came up with a new menu that will be taught for the first time on Tuesday. All in all, it was a good day. My first lesson was with Seth & Rachel Misnear. Their son Jude also pitched in and learned a thing or two. Mainly he learned that he isn't a big fan of radishes. Here's a pic of Jude working hard in the kitchen. I'll put up more later today or tomorrow when the tornado stops tossing me about.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Date Night

2010-02-20T08:57:00.000-06:00

The photo below explains why there was no post on Wednesday. My wonderful wife, Kitty, treated me to a night of bluegrass and cold beer (my Valentine's Day Present) at the Eudora Welty Commons. The band was Della Mae from Boston and they put on a great show.

Sorry I've Been so Absent

2010-02-19T18:27:00.000-06:00

This has been a crazy week. I've been preparing the same dish, over and over to perfect it for an upcoming project and didn't think y'all would want to see repeating pictures of Deconstructed Hoppin' John. So far, I've made a few changes to the peas and the sauce, but the premise of the dish is still the same. I PROMISE that I will have some new pictures and more interesting things to say after this weekend. In the meantime, here is a photo (again) of the dish I've been working to perfect and a gratuitous picture of a cute puppy (not mine or an ingredient in any of my food) just to make you smile.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Valentine's Night Pot Roast (Because nothing says "I love you!" like Pot Roast)

2010-02-15T13:03:00.002-06:00

I am generally a pretty romantic guy. As a matter of fact, I'm a bit of a softie. So it might surprise many of you that when I proposed to Kitty, it was perhaps the most un-romantic thing I've ever done. Seriously. Two words...speaker-phone. That's right foodies and gourmands, the guy who writes all of these love stories to food, pressed speed dial #1, called his girlfriend and said "How does October 8th look for you?"

To which she replied "For what?"

"For getting married." I said, as if she should have known.

"Why, are you proposing to me?"

"I just want to make sure that date is open. I'm going over my calendar and trying to get some things planned in advance." I said.

"Looks fine to me baby." She said, surely holding back either venom or tears.

"Thanks hon." I said as I reached for the "call cncl" button.

It wasn't until hours later that I was cognizant of my terrible, terrible mistake. But Kitty is a real trooper and, aside from good natured ribbing that I fear will never cease to be funny, she let me get away with my faux pas unscathed.

In honor of my actions, worthy of the anti-cupid, I decided to have a sweet but decidedly unromantic dinner for Kitty on Valentine's Day. Card with a monkey face? check! All the boy-kids at home (plus a cousin)? check! Pot Roast? check! We didn't sweep her off her feet but she definitely felt loved. And isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about? The cards full of bad poetry in soft shades of pink? That's the stuff of men who cant say how much they love their wives in their own words and actions. Fancy, expensive meals in posh restaurants? Merely make up dates for all the times she was left at home while the fellas whooped it up on "guy's night out." Expensive sparkly-things? They scream "I'm compensating for affection with this gift that someone else suggested." As for me, romance is found in the sweet, silent smile and the soft touch on the arm as we pass each other in the kitchen while one is doing dishes and the other is getting back to homework. Passion is found in the kiss on the neck, from over the back of the sofa that says "The kids are asleep and you can watch Top Gear tomorrow on Hulu." Love is found in the ordinary times. My cupid haunts the daily routines. Our life is love.

With all of that said. Here is the recipe for Brandy Pot Roast. Cook it with love.

Brandy Pot Roast

1 5 lb. pot roast

2 large yellow onions

4 carrots

4 stalks celery

6 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. oregano

1 Tbsp. thyme

½ cup brandy

1 32 oz. container beef stock*

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Tbsp. butter

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Roughly chop onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Season roast with salt and pepper.

Cook

Pre-heat oven to 350°. Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and continue heating until oil smokes. Add seasoned pot roast and brown on both sides. Add chopped vegetables and transfer to oven. With the oven open and the skillet on the middle rack, add brandy, herbs and ½ tsp. black pepper. Add beef stock until liquid is almost to the rim of the skillet. Top loosely with foil and cook for 2 hours. Slide out the oven rack, turn the meat and stir the vegetables. Add more liquid to cover vegetables an cook for an additional 3 hours or until the meat tears apart with a fork. It is really better if you can allow it to cook for eight hours, basting with the liquids every 30 minutes.

When cooked, transfer the meat and vegetables to a serving bowl and cover with foil until ready to serve. Place the pan on the stovetop and cook over medium-high heat until reduced by ½ of original volume. If there is any liquid standing in the serving bowl, drain it into the reduced liquid and reduce again to ½ of original volume. Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the butter.

Plate

Serve meat over some form of starch (toast, rice, mashed potatoes, or mashed cauliflower) and top with vegetables and reduction sauce.

(Serves 6)

Early-morning Cooking and Sunday Leftovers (Including Chili Dish #3)

2010-02-14T15:23:00.000-06:00

I bought a little too much shoulder roast when I was making Chili on Friday so I woke up this morning and started a Pot Roast. For some reason, I thought about brandy and decided to make a Pot Roast with some of it. Never tried this before, but I can't imagine that it won't be good. I'll let the family be the judges on that one. I left the potatoes out of the roast, deciding instead to whip some creamy Yukon Golds as a side dish later this evening. I think I'll use some of the pan liquid in a brandy reduction sauce. Sound good to you?

Since Kitty was feeling like she had been hit by a garbage truck falling off the top a a garage, Zak was serving as her warming blanket and the two big boys are in New Orleans, I was the only Ramsey at Saint Andrew's this morning. I didn't feel like eating fried chicken all by myself so I came home, donned the apron, inspected the fridge and opened the short-order kitchen. Since Kitty and Zak can't have any wheat, I used this opportunity to make some pasta for me out of the pork chops from earlier in the week. They were in the mood for omelettes so I used up the last of the Chili de los Angeles on them. I wont bother with a recipe for the omelettes, they were just like any of the other eggy treats you have seen on this blog, just filled with cheese and chili. The über-simple pasta recipe is below.

Leftover Pasta

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. flour

3 cloves fresh garlic

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (or other dry aged, hard cheese)

1 tsp. thyme

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup chicken stock (or other stock to match your leftover meat)

leftover meat

green onions for garnish

Sea salt

Black pepper

Prep

Cut the leftover meat into 1/2" or smaller cubes. Finely chop garlic. Crumble or shred the cheese. Warm the milk in the microwave until hot, but not boiling.

Cook

Heat a large saute pan over medium heat and add butter. When butter begins to foam, add chopped garlic and cook until it just starts to color. Add flour and stir with a whisk until it is fully incorporated into the butter. slowly add milk, whisking constantly. When the mixture begins to thicken, add the cubed meat, the cheese and the thyme. Add broth as necessary to maintain the desired thickness of the sauce. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper as desired.

Boil the pasta in lightly salted water. Drain but DO NOT RINSE the pasta. Add the cooked pasta to the saucepan and toss with the sauce until all of the pasta is coated.

Plate

Serve in a large shallow bowl and garnish with green onions.

Chili, Day Two and Beyond

2010-02-13T16:30:00.001-06:00

When I make chili, it is usually a big stock pot event. It's not that we eat that much chili in a setting, but because it's so versatile that we can use it all sorts of different dishes over the next month or so. After eat our first, all chili meal, I put the leftovers in several containers of differing sizes. Some little containers go in the freezer to be pulled out at a later date for chili-dogs, others for chili-omelettes. Larger container goes in the fridge and is used in the next day or so for one of my favorite dishes, Frito Pie. For such a simple, pedestrian dish, it is complex in both flavor and texture. The spice of the chili is amplified by the saltiness of the corn chips. The cheese mellows out the heat and the lime and cilantro are crisp notes that play well accentuating the heaviness of everything else.

Today, Kitty and I went by Monte and Amy's house to have lunch, watch some Olympics and pick up Zak from his birthday sleepover with Dakota. When I offered to bring Frito Pie, the answer was a resounding "YES!"

Here's a still shot of the finished product. Video will be up later. I wont bother with a recipe, just a formula. In this order, Fritos + Chili + Shredded Cheese + Chopped Cilantro + Lime Juice = Frito Pie. Don't email me asking for measurements, just wing it and use the picture as a guide.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Snow in Mississippi = Chili in our house!

2010-02-12T14:33:00.000-06:00

When I went to sleep last night, there was a light dusting of snow starting to fall and the temperature was hovering around 39 degrees. There was plenty of talk about heavy snow and school closings, but the weather didn't quite look like it was going to do much. The Jackson Public School System said yesterday that they would announce school closings at 5:00AM so naturally, the kids were bounding out of bed at 4:50 to check the news. What they awoke to was this. Indeed, school was closed.

Everyone scurried about, putting on layers of clothes, rubber boots, hats and gloves. Kitty and I rolled over, turned off the alarm and hoped that no one died of frostbite or exposure while we went back to sleep until some less rude hour.

By the time we dragged ourselves out of the warmth of the electric blanket, the whole of Belhaven was blanketed in a thick layer of heavy, wet snow. Every kids in the neighborhood was in the streets and the muffled silence was only broken by the sounds of laughter and the occasional thud of a massive snowball finding its target.

Stuart managed to make his way to Broad Street Baking company to (what else) meet with some girls to drink hot chocolate. Whit wandered over to his friend Jay's house to congregate with other young teens for sledding and Kitty taught Zak and Charlie how to make their first snowman (and snowdog) ever. We named the snowman Bubba Wayne and I started thinking about Chili!

Since the chili was going to be for kids and adults alike, I decided to make two batches. I called them Chili de los Angeles and Chili de los Diablos. The recipes were identical except for whole jalepeno and the amounts of dried ancho chilis and Indian chili powder. One warms you up like a nice hug from your mom while the other kicks you in the gut, sets your hair on fire and tries to put you out with a bucket of jet fuel.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Chili de los Angeles y Chili de los Diablos

Serves 10

3 lbs. chuck (cubed)

4 lbs. ground beef (round, sirloin or chuck)

8 cloves garlic

2 large yellow onions

1 large red onion

1 bunch green onions

1 jalapeño pepper

3 Tbsp. oregano

2 Tbsp. Mexican chili powder

1 Tbsp. or more Indian chili powder (Diablo only)

3 Tbsp. ground cumin

3 Tbsp. paprika

3 or more dried ancho chili peppers with stems and seeds removed (Diablo only)

2 Tbsp. whole coriander

1 tsp. cinnamon powder

4 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1 bottle dark beer

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

Cilantro for garnish

Limes for garnish

1 cup sour cream

2 cups queso fresco (or shredded jack cheese)

Prep

Coarsely chop the red onions, yellow onions and garlic. Cut the chuck into ½ inch cubes. Remove the seeds and white membrane from jalapeño pepper and finely chop the remaining flesh. Finely chop the green onions and the ancho chili peppers. Slice the limes into wedges.

Cook

Place a stock pot over medium heat until it is very hot (3 minutes will do the trick) add the cubed beef and quickly brown on all sides. Add olive oil, garlic, red onions, yellow onions and jalapeño pepper and cook until onions are translucent. Add ground beef and brown completely. Add all herbs and dry ingredients, including ancho chilis. Add chocolate and stir until it is well mixed with the beef. Add ½ bottle of beer and tomatoes. Bring all to a simmer and cook until the liquid is reduced by half.

Plate

Ladle chili into a large bowl and top with a dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle with cheese and green onions and garnish with cilantro and lime wedges.

Variations

To morph this bowl of goodness into Frito Pie, cover the bottom of a bowl with corn chips, spoon on a heavy layer of chili, top with melted cheese and microwave for about 30 seconds or until the cheese melts.

Video Lesson 1, Roasted Chicken with Herbed Compound Butter

2010-02-10T18:23:00.001-06:00

Dedicated to the Crew at Acme Oyster House

2010-02-09T11:08:00.000-06:00

People often ask me about the best food, or the best meal I've ever had and I'm always at a loss. There's no real answer that can stand the test of time. Food has so many emotional ties to me that my mood at any moment would have way too much influence over any "best" choice I would come up with. That being said...there is one recent memory that will stand out for quite some time, particularly in light of the glorious victory achieved by the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV.

The meal took place on the night the Saints won the NFC Division Title game against Minnesota. My dear friend Ben Goren was in New Orleans for some business appointments we had set earlier in the month and we were staying in the penthouse suite of the Ritz Carlton. I had been in town since Friday and was feeling really good about an audition I had participated in for a cooking show. We could have stayed in that night and watched the game on a 150" Hi-Def projector screen in the media room of the penthouse, but we really wanted to be with the people of New Orleans. Ben Suggested Acme Oyster House and I agreed wholeheartedly.

As a kid, growing up with a second home in the French Quarter, I had spent many days and evening at Acme. It was one of my father's favorite spots in New Orleans and the last time he was well enough to make the trip, we sat in Acme for hours, eating oysters at the bar and drinking beer. It was just the two of us and we had a great visit. He told me stories that I had heard over and over and I sat there with rapt attention as if I was hearing them for the first time. After he died, it took a while before I could go back to New Orleans and not feel as if something was terribly wrong. His death almost took the joy out of the Crescent City for me, but slowly I felt the sadness drift away like some loaded grain barge drifting around the bend past the Riverwalk.

When Ben and I got to the Acme, there was a short line and a group in front of us in full Viking regalia. The hostess shuffled them to a table in the back 40 and gave us a prime spot (at a 4-top) in the corner, with full views of just about every TV in the room. My mind was on nothing but Saints, beer and oysters (in that order), but Ben can't go anywhere in NOLA without ordering Shrimp or Crawfish Etouffee. Funny thing is, he never finishes it. He takes a few bites, smiles like a kid with a big-ass lollipop, and talks about how he just can't get that taste anywhere else in the world. Lucky for me, Ben's light eating habits allow me to get etouffee with every meal while he is in town.

Our table was right next to the oyster grill in the front room. The guys at the grill were sporting the black and gold "home" jerseys of Bush and Brees. There was a cameraman from Cox Cable wandering around catching all of the action and the pre-game excitement. When the waitress came to get our initial order, Ben's eyes lit up as he ordered his etouffee, one dozen raw and one dozen grilled. I took care of the beer selection and got a pair of brews from down the road at Abita, Turbodog for me and an Amber for Ben. The first beers and the etouffee arrived just at kickoff. Ben took his three bites, flashed his "only in New Orleans" smile and slid the bowl to me. If you've never had Acme's etouffee, get in the car and drive there now. This rich, savory concoction is why crawfish are born in the first place. As I was mopping up the bowl with French bread, the oysters arrived. People can talk all they want about little necks and blue points, but for my money fresh Gulf oysters can't be beat. They are plump, briny and firm. At Acme, they come out quick and keep coming until you say "uncle." The grilled oysters are truly decadent. The guys at the grill start with a fresh Gulf oyster, add a shot of melted butter, some fresh garlic and parsley and top it with a bit of Romano cheese. When the butter starts to bubble and the cheese melts, the grill masters pull the oysters off and put a baker's dozen on platter filled with rock salt. They come to the table still bubbly and wafting a heavenly aroma that dares you to even think about dieting.

I really have no idea how many oysters Ben and I went through that night. I stopped counting at around "oh my god, these are so good we have to get more." What I am sure of is the feeling of communal joy that shrouded that little corner of the world for three or so hours while the game was on. Every big hit, every first down, every defensive victory was greeted with shouts to the rafters and hugs exchanged between strangers at the next table over. There were no color barriers, no class barriers and really no distinction between servers and guests. We were all just Saints fans. One densely populated county in the Who Dat Nation collectively hoding our breath on every third down. Ben and I were constantly exchanging happy banter with the grill crew and the waitresses, when we weren't stuffing our faces with buttery hot oysters and chilly raw ones. When Favre was intercepted in overtimes, the whole joint was a jumping, hugging, high-fiving sea of black and gold, but when the kicking team came on the field the roar turned to reverent silence. People actually whispered. No orders were taken or served. The grills and oyster shucking stations were unmanned and the kitchen could have caught on fire and no one would have taken their eyes off the screens. A young waitress, who was not our server, came up beside me and grabbed my pinky with hers. As soon as the ball left Hartley's toe and headed right down the middle like it was on greased rails, the whole room (which had been holding its collective breath) erupted in roar that was heard across Lake Ponchartrain. My pinky-friend jumped up in my arms with both feet off the ground. We were both crying with exquisite joy. Even Ben was misty-eyed.

We ordered another round of beer and just sat back watching the whole scene. No one wanted to leave. Everyone will remember where they were that night.
The next time someone asked me about my best meal ever, I may have an answer for them. There was no Premier Cru Bordeaux, no starched white table cloth, no fifteen course tasting menu with infused foams and desserts cooked in liquid nitrogen. But there was bold flavor and a makeshift family and more than all of that, there was love.

What's in the Fridge? Soup, that's what!

2010-02-07T11:18:00.000-06:00

It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog or has ever taken an Ivy & Devine cooking lesson, I love to make soup when the fridge is full of leftovers. Friday night, Kitty and I had dinner with our friends Sid & Mandy. We had a whole roasted chicken along with some mushroom rice pilaf. That left me with some leftover chicken and some mushrooms. A quick check of the fridge turned up some aromatic vegetables and excess milk (the boys were not here this weekend). A peek in the pantry led me to some brown and wild rice from Rainbow and there you have it...soup. I learned from Kitty that our neighbor, Rachel, was at home taking care of her oldest, Jude, who had recently done a header into a door frame and was sporting some sweet stitches on his noggin. Not to mention the fact that her husband was traveling and she is also a new mom. Tom and his soup to the rescue. This is why I cook. Remember people Food=Love!
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Smoky Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

1 lb. smoked bacon

½ roasted chicken

32 oz. chicken stock

32 oz. whole milk

1 cup brown and wild rice mix

2 portabella mushrooms

2 medium yellow onions

4 stalks celery

1 whole garlic pod

1 leek

1 bunch green onions

1 stalk fennel

1 tsp. thyme

2 tsp. oregano

3 whole bay leaves

½ bunch parsley

Black pepper

Sea Salt

Prep

Finely chop parsley, onions, celery, mushrooms, fennel bottom, leek bottom and green onion. Pull chicken from bones and chop into small pieces. Slice bacon into 1” pieces. Slice ¼ though the top of the garlic pod, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and wrap in aluminum foil. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook

Place foil-wrapped garlic in oven and cook for 20 minutes. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and add bacon. Cook until most of the fat is rendered from the bacon and bacon begins to crisp slightly. Add onions, celery, leek, fennel, green onion, thyme, oregano and bay leaves and cook until onion is translucent. Add rice, chicken and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add chicken stock and mushrooms. Remove roasted garlic from oven and allow to cool. Squeeze the pod over the pot, adding the roasted cloves to the soup. Bring the liquid to a light boil and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook at a light simmer for 30 minutes. Warm milk in microwave and add to the soup. Cook for an additional ten minutes or until soup is hot.

Plate

Serve hot in a shallow bowl and garnish with parsley.

(Serves 8)

Dinner with Sid & Mandy

2010-02-06T13:42:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I was really in a mood to cook a big meal (yes, I know that may shock some of you). I sent an email out to the usual suspects and learned that by going to our friends Sid & Mandy's house to cook dinner I would not only be satisfying my urge to cook but also rescuing Mandy from a dinner of hot dogs. Don't get me wrong, I love hot dogs, but it sounded like Mandy was not at all in a mood for Coneys. I had no idea what I wanted to cook, so I went to the market with an open mind. I stared at the fish counter for a while and didn't see anything that struck my fancy, so I meandered over to the meat section. Pork? Nah, I practiced that MasterChef pork dish for a whole week and got burned out on swine. Beef? Just not feelin' it. Lamb? Interesting, but no. Veal? Again, just not feelin' the love. Chicken? Maybe...I just don't know.

Feeling a bit lackluster about the proteins (I honestly do think like this. Should I go to some kind of meeting?) I wandered over to the produce section and spotted a mountain of Acorn Squash. Now the wheels started turning! Roasted squash...yes. Chicken roasted with rosemary...yes. Mushroom rice...yes. Brussels Sprouts with Roasted Almonds...yes, yes, yes! With a menu in mind and new shoes on my feet, I tore through the store, grabbing up what I needed and even found that whole chickens were on sale for $0.98/pound. That was a sign of good Karma.

Earlier in the week, one of my lobbying clients brought me a load of great beer and a picked a few monster bottles of Abita Andygator to go with the chicken dinner. Kitty get herself all dolled up and fixed her wig just right and we headed out to the wilds of Northeast Jackson.

When we arrived, Sid had whipped up some kind of yummy tapenade to go with the Calmata Olives and bruschetta he had set out for us. We cracked a bottle of Andygator for us boys and a bottle of Parados Malbec for the girls and whipped up a feast. The only thing better than the food was the company and the entertainment provided by 4-year-old Walker, who demonstrated some pretty amazing skill with a light saber. During dinner, we learned that our good friend Monte had won about twenty or so Addy awards that night and naturally celebrated by popping the cork on more Andygator and Parados. I have a feeling that we'll be doing this again quite soon.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom
Chicken Roasted with Rosemary

1 Whole Chicken

½ Stick Unsalted Butter

2 Tbsp. Fresh Rosemary

2 Cloves Garlic

1 tsp. Sea Salt

½ tsp. Black Pepper

2 tsp. Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning

1 Lemon

½ Bunch Parsley

Prep

Remove giblets from cavity of chicken and pat dry. Finely chop parsley, rosemary, and garlic. Add rosemary, garlic, black pepper and ¼ tsp. salt to butter and mix thoroughly. Take a spoonful of butter and slide it between the skin and the breast of the chicken. Repeat this process until all of the butter is under the chicken skin. Slightly press the chicken skin so that the butter spreads evenly. Truss the chicken tightly with kitchen twine. Rub in remaining sea salt and Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning. Preheat oven to 400°.

Cook

Place the trussed chicken in a roasting dish, preferably with a rack insert. Roast in the oven, uncovered until an instant-read thermometer, inserted into the thigh, reads 160° and the juices run clear (usually 1 ½ hours for a medium sized chicken).

Plate

Allow the chicken to rest for at least 15 minutes. Carve chicken and place on a warm plate. Top with pan sauce and squeeze lemon juice over chicken. Sprinkle with parsley to garnish.

(serves 6)

Pan Sauce

Pan drippings from chicken

Red wine

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pats

Pour the liquids from the roasting pan into a saucepan, along with any of the browned bits you can scrape from the roasting pan. Combine with an equal part of red wine and cook over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 of its original volume. Remove from heat and mount the sauce with cold butter, swirling the sauce until the butter is fully incorporated.

Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Almonds

24 fresh Brussels Sprouts

¼ cup salted toasted almonds

¼ stick butter

Sea salt

½ tsp. black pepper

Paprika

Prep

Trim the bottom of the Brussels Sprouts and remove the first couple of leaves. Slice sprouts in half from top to bottom. Finely chop almonds.

Cook

Blanch the sprouts in boiling water for 2 minutes and immediately shock with cold water to stop the cooking. Drain the sprouts in a colander and pat dry with a towel. Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and add butter. When the butter melts and begins to brown and foam, add almonds and cook for one minute. Add sprouts and season with black pepper. Cook until just tender and the sprouts are slightly colored. Check for saltiness and add sea salt if necessary.

Plate

Serve hot and garnish with a small amount of paprika.

(Serves 6)

Roasted Acorn Squash

2 whole acorn squash
¼ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary
Sea Salt
Black pepper
Prep
Finely chop fresh rosemary. Slice squash in half, through the equator, not from top to bottom. Scoop out seeds and cut into rings. Cut rings in half so that you now have crescent shaped pieces of squash. In a large mixing bowl, toss squash with oil and season with rosemary, salt and pepper. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook
Arrange squash on a sheet pan so that they are all lying flat and not crowding the pan. Roast for 30 minutes or until fork tender.
Plate
Serve hot.
(Serves 6)
Mushroom Rice Pilaf

1 ½ cups basmati rice
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup fresh mushrooms
1 medium shallot
4 cloves garlic
½ tsp. thyme
2 Tbsp. butter
½ bunch parsley
½ tsp.
Sea Salt

Prep
Thinly slice mushrooms and shallot. Finely chop parsley and garlic. Reserve one sliced mushroom for garnish.
Cook
Heat a large saucepan over medium heat and add butter. When the butter melts and begins to foam, add garlic and shallots and cook until garlic is slightly colored. Add rice and stir until each grain is coated with butter. Add thyme and black pepper and stir until evenly distributed. Add enough chicken stock to cover the rice and stir frequently. Continue adding chicken stock, a small amount at a time until is all absorbed by the rice and the rice is fully cooked. Taste and add salt accordingly.
Plate
Serve hot and garnish with sliced mushroom and parsley.

Whit Food

2010-02-05T09:58:00.000-06:00

In a recent interview, I described my kids by the types of food they crave. Whit, our 13-year-old boy, loves comfort foods. He will take chicken pot pie or potroast over steak or salmon every time. To him comfort foods are like a hug. Whit is the cuddliest of all the boys and will frequently come stand next to you and refuse to leave until he gets his back scratched, his head patted and his shoulders rubbed. What makes this even more amusing is the fact that he is so tall, so strong and so aggressive on the football field. This teen-aged brute who loves nothing more than playing on defensive line and hunting down quarterbacks like a lion hunts gazelle, is really a softy at heart.

That's Whit snuggling with me at a reception for 94-year-old Bluesman Honeyboy Edwards. Isn't he cute! Now that I have embarrassed him enough, I'll move on to the food. Tonight's potroast was a 4 lb. bottom round roast cooked low and slow. I would have let it cook longer, but the family was starting to resemble a pack of wolves ready to turn on their leader and have him for supper. Sometimes, I cook this with beer, sometimes with wine. Tonight I made it with beef stock and left out the celery...mainly because we were out of celery.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Whit's Pot Roast (Hug on a Plate)

1 5 lb. pot roast

1 large yellow onion

2 carrots

2 Yukon gold potatoes

2 stalks celery

6 cloves garlic

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. thyme

1 32 oz. container beef stock*

1 Tbsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Roughly chop onion, carrots, celery, potatoes and garlic. Season roast with salt and pepper.

Cook

Pre-heat oven to 350°. Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and continue heating until oil smokes. Add seasoned pot roast and brown on all sides. Add chopped vegetables and transfer to oven. With the oven open and the skillet on the middle rack, add herbs and ½ tsp. black pepper. Add beef stock until liquid is almost to the rim of the skillet. Top loosely with foil and cook for 1 hour. Slide out the oven rack, turn the meat and stir the vegetables. Reduce heat to 275° and add more liquid to cover vegetables if needed. Cook for an additional 4-6 hours or until the meat tears apart with a fork.

Plate

Serve meat over vegetables and top with the cooking liquid.

Frying Without Wheat Flour

2010-02-04T12:31:00.000-06:00

Since Kitty and Zak can no longer have any wheat products, I have had to learn some new tricks in the kitchen. My first attempt at home-made, fried chicken tenders turned out pretty good, if I must say so myself. I used a mixture of 2/5 rice flour, 2/5 potato flour and 1/5 chia seed flour (yes, the stuff that makes hair grow on a Chia Pet can be made into flour) as my dry mix. I used a typical dry/wet/dry battering technique and fried the chicken in a black-iron skillet with 350 degree canola oil. The texture of the batter was very crisp and almost like corn meal. As a matter of fact, Kitty asked me if I had used yellow or white corn meal in the recipe. The chicken got devoured before I could get a pretty "plated" shot of it, so here is how it looked on the cooling rack, right out of the skillet. I served it with basmati rice and Hot Pepper Jezebel Sauce.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom
Hot Pepper Jezebel Sauce

1 16 oz. jar hot pepper jelly*

1 16 oz. jar apple jelly

½ cup horseradish

1 Tbsp. dry mustard

2 Tbsp. Creole Mustard

2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

2 Tbsp. honey

Mix all ingredients with a hand or stand mixer until fully blended. Store sauce in a glass jar in refrigerator.

*Tabasco makes a good commercial hot pepper jelly.

Gluten-free Fried Chicken Tenders

2 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning

2 lbs. boneless chicken breast tenders

½ cup potato flour

½ cup rice flour

¼ cup chia seed flour

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

1 tsp. dried tarragon

3 large eggs

¼ cup buttermilk

Prep

In a large mixing bowl, combine all flours, salt, pepper and tarragon. Mix thoroughly. Combine buttermilk and eggs and whip until frothy and completely blended. Pat dry and liberally season chicken tenders with Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning. Pre-heat oven to 200 degrees.

Cook

Individually dredge the chicken tenders in flour, then in the egg mixture and again in the flour and set aside on a dry plate or a sheet pan covered in parchment paper. This is known as a dry/wet/dry battering technique.

Heat about 1”-1 ½” inches of canola oil in a heavy black iron skillet until the oil reaches 350 degrees. You may also use a countertop deep fryer set to 350 degrees. Cook six or so tenders at a time, making sure not to crowd the pan. Cooke until golden brown on both sides and until the chicken is completely done in the center. Be careful not to overcook the chicken. I generally cook two tenders at first to gauge the cooking time and then repeat the proper results. As each batch comes out of the grease, place them on a rack, over a roasting pan in the oven to stay warm until all of the tenders are done.

Plate

Serve with Hot Pepper Jezebel Sauce.

(Serves 6)

For Kim Sewell - A great recipe for Grits

2010-02-03T11:45:00.000-06:00

At the Capitol City Dinner Dance this past Saturday night, I had a great visit with two wonderful friends of mine. John and Kim Sewell are what my mother would have called "truly good people." During our visit, I discovered that Kim, who is not generally a follower of blogs, follows this one and even calls herself a "fan." Well...I've never had anyone describe themselves as a "fan" so suffice it to say that I am touched. I asked Kim to tell me her favorite food and her answer was PB&J or Grits. So Kim, here is a recipe I have created for you. Before today, it didn't exist.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom
Kim's Grits
2/3 cups quick grits (not instant)

1 1/3 cups whole milk

1 1/3 cups chicken stock

½ cup shredded colby/jack cheese

¼ rotisserie chicken*

4 slices smoked bacon

1 bunch green onions

1 tsp. Creole seasoning

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Paprika

Fresh ground black pepper

Salt

Prep

Finely chop green onions. Chop chicken into very small pieces, less than ½” cubes.

Cook

Cook the bacon in an iron skillet and reserve 1 Tbsp. of rendered bacon fat. Crumble bacon and set aside. In a large pot or saucepan, combine bacon fat, milk, chicken stock and grits with a pinch of salt and 1 Tbsp. butter and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue cooking, whisking frequently, until the grits are fully cooked and the proper consistency** is reached. Add cheese, crumbled bacon, Creole Seasoning, chicken and ½ of the green onions. Add butter, 1 Tbsp. at the time and when each one is melted, taste for flavor and add more butter if needed. You can also add more Creole seasoning if desired.

Plate

Serve in a shallow bowl and garnish with paprika, green onions and fresh ground black pepper.

*Most grocery stores have very good rotisserie chicken for sale. You decide if you want to use white or dark meat for your quarter chicken.

**If your grits are too thick, you can add a little whole milk to thin them a bit.

(Serves 8)

The Weekend

2010-01-31T22:09:00.000-06:00

It's rare that I go through an entire weekend without cooking. Friday, Kitty and I met up with Monte and Amy at El Charro. We gave Zak and Dak a table for themselves and enjoyed a semi-adult evening. Monte and I had been working on a top secret video project for a couple of days and really needed a break. The girls were all to happy to oblige an we decided on Mexican food. I had a few margaritas and the carnitas. They were pretty good, but a bit on the dry side. They had plenty of flavor, but were overcooked. Next time, I'll try something different.

Saturday evening was the Saint Andrew's Capitol City Dinner Dance. This event is put on by the EYC at our church, Saint Andrew's Cathedral, in Downtown Jackson. We met up there with Monte and Amy (two nights in a row with the cool kids) and had a choice of salmon or beef tenderloin. Kitty, Monte and I had the beef. Amy had the Salmon. All of it was great. I don't know who cooked the salmon, but it was tasty. My friend and fellow parishioner Bobby Lacoste cooked the beef tenderloins and knocked it out of the park. Despite the fact that Amy spilled her wine and I got blamed for it, the evening was a smashing success. Afterwards, we all went together to Underground 119 for a night-cap.
Since I didn't do the cooking, there are no recipes in this entry. Stay tuned...I have a special recipe that I'll put up on Tuesday for my first self avowed "fan."
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Breakfast for Supper

2010-01-28T21:09:00.000-06:00

It was one of those nights...lots of homework, kids going in every different direction, pantry needs restocking and I forgot to thaw anything when I got going this morning. Luckily, when Kitty was looking for something in the freezer earlier this week, she got out a package of heads and tails from a whole beef fillet. They were thawed, but there wasn't enough to feed all five of us. No problem, we had eggs and some leftover red and yellow bell peppers and the herb garden (now that it is not frozen) was full of newly sprouted green onions. So, omelettes it was! We were in a bit of a hurry to get everyone fed, homework checked and the little one in the tub so I didn't even take the time to sprinkle my omnipresent paprika and parsley over the plated dish. Anyway, here is an action shot of Kitty with her eggy-goodness.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Dinner at Walker's

2010-01-28T15:33:00.000-06:00

Scott and I had a lobbying client in town from Chicago most of this week. The client, who is also a good friend, is a true foodie and lover of all things delicious, except for pork (his loss). For our last dinner together on this trip, we went to Walker's Drive-In in the burgeoning Fondren Arts District in Jackson, Mississippi.
When I was asked to write some of the "Best of Jackson" articles for the Jackson Free Press, I was thrilled to see that Walker's had won Best Restaurant and that I got to write the review. It read:

If this were a question on the SAT, it might read: "Andre Previn is to the orchestra pit as Derek Emerson is to the (a) kitchen, (b) dining room, (c) menu, (d) all of the above." The answer would, of course, be "d." In order to be the best restaurant in Jackson, you must get it all right. You can't just rely on your food to make up for service and atmosphere.
Lucky for Walker's, they don't have to worry about that scenario. I have traveled my way across multiple continents and dined in the places you read about in the national press, and I can say without a doubt that Walker's Drive In is on par with some of the best restaurants in which I've ever lifted a fork. So it is no wonder that Derek and his crew also brought home the trophy for where to take your date. The service is impeccable, and the laid-back atmosphere allows you to relax, sit back, and concentrate on your date without hassling with chasing down a waiter to fill your water glass or bring another bottle of wine. Although the menu is varied and enticing, I prefer to randomly pick one of the nightly specials, knowing that it will live up to my already high expectations. - Tom Ramsey

The food was so good that I completely forgot to take pictures of the dishes. Suffice it to say, they looked yummy. I had a Scallops, followed by a Ribeye, Scott had the Fennel Soup, followed by the Scallops and Ben had the Asian Three Way Salad followed by Everything Crusted Tuna. Next time, I promise to get pictures.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

How I Love New Orleans

2010-01-25T23:51:00.000-06:00

New Orleans is one of the greatest places on this big Earth. I've been coming down here since before I can remember and it never ceases to be special. Last night I got to be part of something that I will never forget. My good friend and business associate, Ben Goren, met me in the lobby of the Ritz Carlton and we hatched a plan to watch the Saints/Vikings game at that venerable bastion of all things New Orleans, the Acme Oyster House. The line was mercifully short and we were seated in time for the kickoff. Over the next three hours, we consumed uncountable quantities of grilled oysters, raw oysters and Abita Turbo Dog. The atmosphere was electric and the feeling of community made me feel like part of one big, happy, oyster-eating, beer-drinking, Saints-loving family. At the end of the game, as the Saint's field goal unit took the field, the whole place was silent and holding it's collective breath. Grills were unmanned, the kitchen was empty, tables went un-bussed and a waitress and I held pinkies. When the ball split the uprights the place went mad. The Saints made it to the Super Bowl! We were having so much fun eating and drinking that I didn't get any pictures of the food. But here are some shots of the "family."

Another Practice Run

2010-01-21T23:50:00.000-06:00

Here are the photos of the plating Dan Blumenthal and I tried last night, and a couple of the head shots I'll be taking with me to the audition.
Wish me luck!
~Tom

Practicing for the Audition

2010-01-19T12:43:00.000-06:00

Last night Kitty and I had a couple of my oldest and best friends over to critique my "Audition" dish. Ken and Will are good enough friends that they can be honest without the risk of hurting my tender little feelings. I was planning to just cook the andouille stuffed tenderloin for the audition although I had been toying with the idea of also including Boudin as a tenderloin-stuffer. Ken brought a pound of Boudin and I decided to give it a shot. After all, who wants good Boudin to go to waste. It was a hit. I now feel certain that I should prepare both the boudin and the andouille stuffed pork. After we were about half way through the meal, I noticed that the hot spices in the boudin worked well with the sweetness of the fig gastrique. To keep this consistient throughout the dish, I went back in the kitchen and added some Indian chili powder to the gastrique. It worked so well that I have decided to add that to the audition recipe. I have also decided to forgo the chived basmati rice in favor of a dish that I call Grits Cochon. Essentially, the grits are cooked in a mixture of milk and ham stock and seasoned with a bit of pork fat and chopped green onion. So without further ado, here is the completed dish of Boudin and Andouille Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Fig Gastrique over Grits Cochon .
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Why I Love "Poor People Food"

2010-01-18T14:51:00.000-06:00

In any part of the world you can find some of the best dishes in the poorest of kitchens. Food writers like to dress it up and call it "Rustic" or "Country" cooking. What they mean is "Poor People Food." Usually there are some common threads that include a cheap cut of meat, a few aromatic vegetables, lots of spices and herbs and some form of inexpensive starch. The ingredients are usually cooked in a single pot over low heat for a long time. This allows all of the ingredients to do their magic and turn that cheap cut of meat into a soft flavorful thing of beauty. One of my favorites is White Beans with Pork.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

White Beans with Pork

1 lb. bag navy beans

1 lb. bag great northern beans

1 lb. cooked pork (ham, shoulder, tenderloin etc.)

4 stalks celery

1 bunch green onions

1 bunch parsley

4 carrots

2 medium yellow onions

1 whole garlic pod

3 qt. ham stock*

1 Tbsp. ground thyme

1 Tbsp. oregano

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. bacon grease

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Soak beans overnight in cold water. Chop celery, carrots and onions. Finely chop green onions and parsley. Slice ¼ inch through the top of the garlic pod, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and wrap tightly in foil. Chop cooked pork into small cubes, no larger than ½ inch. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook

Place foil wrapped garlic in the hot oven and roast for at least 20 minutes. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Put olive oil and bacon grease in hot pot until bacon grease is fully dissolved and sizzling. Add chopped yellow onions and cook until translucent. Add celery, carrots thyme and oregano. Cook until celery begins to soften. Add cooked pork and cook until meat is hot, stirring constantly. Drain and add beans and enough ham stock to cover all ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Remove roasted garlic from oven and squeeze pods into simmering liquid. Stir frequently and add liquid as it reduces. Cook for at least 2 hours. Stir aggressively and taste broth. Add salt and pepper as required. About ten minutes before serving, add chopped green onions and stir.

Plate

Serve with hot bread in a shallow bowl. Garnish with chopped parsley.

(Serves 10)

* there are several good commercial brands. I use Better than Bouillon.

Just Another Sunday Omelette

2010-01-17T15:32:00.000-06:00

After-church brunch today was omelettes with super-hammy grits. Everyone ordered something different in their omelettes, but they got to choose from ham, cheese (cheddar and some thing called "cougar cheese" that is awesome), green onions and bell peppers. If you don't have my can't-fail omelette recipe, just shoot me an email (tom@tomramsey.com) and I'll send it to you. For the super-hammy grits, just cook as usual, but substitute ham stock for the water.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Dinner with Deborah

2010-01-17T15:25:00.000-06:00

Our friend Deborah joined us at home for dinner last night. We had a great visit and from the pictures below, I think you can tell that Deborah enjoyed the meal. I made Flatiron Steak with a Wine Reduction Pan Sauce, Lobster Whipped Potatoes and for Kitty, Gluten-free Broccoli Au Gratin. Before dinner we cracked a bottle of Castle Rock Pinot from California's Central Coast and with the meal, we uncorked a Parados Malbec from Argentina.
I had never attempted to make any dishes "au gratin" with gluten-free baking mix before last night. I figured that with a small gathering, if I bombed with it, I could always throw some Fordhooks in the microwave and no one would be the wiser. As it turns out, you can use the stuff pretty much like flour when making a bechamel sauce.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Marinated Flat Iron Steak with Pan Sauce

1 Flatiron steak (2-3 lbs.)

2 cans pilsner beer

½ cup Dales Steak Seasoning

1 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

6 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/3 cup good red wine

½ cup rich beef stock

Fresh ground black pepper

6 green onions

1 bunch parsley

Prep

Marinate steak in beer and Dales Seasoning for at least three hours before cooking. Remove from marinade and pat dry. Allow meat to come to room temperature and rub thoroughly with Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub. Finely chop parsley and green onions. Turn on broiler and allow it to become very hot.

Cook

Heat a large iron skillet over high heat until it is very hot. Add 2 Tbsp. butter to the hot skillet and as soon as it melts and foams, add steak and cook for one minute on each side. Transfer skillet to broiler and add 1 more Tbsp. butter. Broil for seven minutes and transfer from broiler back to stovetop over medium heat. Remove the steak and allow it to rest in a bowl covered loosely in foil while the sauce is prepared. Turn off the broiler and place a large platter in the oven to warm. With the pan on the stovetop over medium heat, deglaze the pan with wine and allow it to reduce to 1/3 of its original volume. Add beef stock and continue reducing until it is ½ of its original volume. Turn heat to low and add any liquid that has pooled in the bowl beneath the steak and remaining butter. Stir in butter until it is completely emulsified and add ½ of the green onions. Add black pepper to taste.

Plate

Slice steak at an angle, place on warm platter, fan the meat and top with pan sauce. Garnish with chopped parsley and remaining green onions.

(Serves 4)

Lobster Whipped Potatoes

4 large russet potatoes

1 Tbsp. lobster base*

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup whole milk

4 green onions

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Peel and cube potatoes. Set milk out and allow it to come to room temperature. Finely chop green onions.

Cook

In a large saucepan or medium stock pot, cover potatoes with cold water, add 1 tsp. salt and bring to a boil. Continue boiling until potatoes are tender enough for a knife to pass through them with little resistance. This should take about 12-15 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. Drain all but ¼ cup of water from the potatoes and return the pot to the stove. If you can’t determine this amount by “eyeballing” the liquid, remove ¼ cup of the hot water, set aside and then drain the potatoes completely and return the reserved water to the pot. With a potato masher or ricer, mash the potatoes until all the lumps are gone. Add lobster base and butter and stir thoroughly. Slowly add the milk, a little bit at a time and whip with a wand mixer while the milk is added. You may not use all of the milk before the desired consistency is reached. When the potatoes are velvety and completely lump-free, add salt and pepper to taste.

Plate

Serve hot and top with chopped green onions.

(Serves 6)

*I recommend a brand called Better than Bouillon.

Gluten-free Broccoli Au Gratin

6 heads fresh broccoli

4 Tbsp. gluten-free baking mix

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 cup shredded jack cheese

¼ cup shredded parmesan cheese

1 cup whole milk

¼ tsp. nutmeg

1 whole pod garlic

1 tsp. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Ingredient

Prep

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Cut broccoli florets from the stalks and place in a microwave and oven safe dish, season lightly with salt and pepper. Make a ¼ inch slice through the top of the garlic pod. Drizzle garlic with salt and pepper and wrap in foil. Allow the milk to come to room temperature.

Cook

Place the foil-wrapped garlic in the hot oven and roast for 15 minutes. Add 3 Tbsp. water and cover the dish containing the broccoli with plastic wrap, cut several holes in the wrap and microwave for three minutes. Carefully remove the plastic wrap and allow the broccoli to cool while you make the sauce.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and add the baking mix. Whisk together until velvety. Slowly add milk and whisk constantly (this sauce is now called a béchamel). Remove the garlic from the oven and squeeze the roasted cloves into the béchamel and continue to whisk until the garlic is fully emulsified. Pour the sauce over the broccoli and add ¾ of the cheese. Mix thoroughly but gently so as not to break up the florets. Top with remaining cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and the sauce is set. Finish under the broiler for 2 or 3 minutes to brown the cheese.

Plate

Serve hot.

(Serves 6)

Before...

After...

Quick Lunch

2010-01-16T15:05:00.000-06:00

This was the result of wanting something hot, hearty and quick. It was like heaven, only cheesier.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Practice...Practice...Practice

2010-01-16T15:02:00.000-06:00

To help get ready for my January 23rd audition for the new Gordon Ramsay show "Masterchef," I cooked one of my favorite dishes for one of my favorite priests. I figure, this guys has great beer, is bound by heaven to give me an honest opinion and besides, he and his wife are a blast to hang out with. Kitty and I went to the home of Bryan and Julie Owen and had dinner with them, the kids, the dog and the cats (who were terrified of me for some reason). Julie made a great salad with mixed greens, feta cheese and tart fruit. I did my go-to dish of Pork Tenderloin Stuffed with Andouille Sausage, served with a Fig Gastrique.
Next Saturday, I will be making this dish for Gordon Ramsay. I picked this recipe because I don't know how long I will have to wait, with my food in a hotbox. The gastrique and the roasted pork will hold up well to the long wait. I think I will also serve Ramsay a Chived Rice Timbale and some Steamed Green Beans with my secret weapon seasoning. Here is a photo from last night. I'll post the recipe later.
Thanks to Bryan, Julie and the kids for a great night and an honest critique.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Practicing What I Preach (sort-of)

2010-01-15T16:38:00.000-06:00

Last night I grabbed a $1 cheeseburger at McDonald's on my way home from a speaking engagement in Vicksburg, Mississippi. I won't bore you with the pictures. Suffice it to say that the burger was mediocre at best. I was not however disappointed since it tasted exactly how I expected and provided me with enough energy to get home and go to sleep.
Wednesday night I took my own advice from the day's blog entry and whipped up a chicken breast without any notion of a recipe. I had some chicken in the freezer, some cream in the fridge and some chicken stock in the pantry (didn't feel like thawing out the homemade stuff). I put that together with a pouch of frozen butter beans and some basmati rice. It wasn't haute cuisine, but everyone was happy, the sauce was rich and it went nicely with the leftover bottle of Parados Malbec that was sitting on the dining room table in the cool chef-thingy I got for Christmas from my in-laws. Despite the fact that I didn't use a recipe to cook the dish, I did remember what went into it and even took the time to write it down. here is my recipe for no-recipe chicken. If you want to get all fussy and go lower-cal, you could substitute milk for cream. It just won't taste as good. Instead, I would recommend just pouring a little less sauce on the chicken and none on the rice. That stuff tastes great without any sauce. Or you could hide your TV remote and chase the kids around the yard for a while to burn off the extra calories from the cream. Or you could just not worry about it and cook something extra light the next night. Or you could eat cream with every meal and just COMPLETELY stop snacking on junk between meals. Wow - I'm preachy tonight. Sorry about that.
Bon Appetit!

~Tom
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts with Cream Pan Sauce

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 Tbsp. olive oil

3 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1 tsp. Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning Blend

¼ cup chicken stock

¼ cup heavy cream

2 green onions

Prep

Liberally season chicken breasts with Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning Blend. Chop green onions. Set stock out and allow it to come to room temperature while cooking the chicken.

Cook

Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp. butter and olive oil to skillet. When the butter foams and begins to brown, add chicken smooth side down first and cook until done, turning only once. This should take about 5 minutes for each side. Remove the chicken from the heat and either wrap in foil or place in a bowl, covered with foil. Deglaze the pan with ¼ cup chicken stock, loosening any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When stock is reduced by ½ of its original volume, add cream and reduce by ½. Reduce heat to low and add to the sauce any liquid that has accumulated in the bowl or foil pouch of cooked chicken breasts plus the remaining 2 Tbsp. of butter. Stir with a spoon or whisk until the butter is completely incorporated in the sauce.

Plate

Place the cooked breasts over a starch (rice, potatoes etc.) in the center of the plate and drizzle over the top with the sauce. Garnish with chopped green onions.

(Serves 6)

Cooking Without Recipes

2010-01-13T11:39:00.000-06:00

At the last meeting of the Belhaven Garden Club, I put on a demonstration detailing how to cook without recipes. They bought a load of groceries and hid them under a towel in the kitchen. When the class started, they pulled back the towel and I had to come up with multiple recipes for what I found there on the counter. It was lots of fun and I had some very attentive students. Since then, I have received several requests for the recipes of the dishes I prepared. In the spirit of the class, I will now give you the instructions on how to cook several different dishes without a specific recipe. So...this is not a recipe.

Step One – Things you need to always have in your kitchen.

There are certain staples that you should keep on hand at all times if you want to be able to cook without recipes. Having these items around will allow you to shop opportunistically and take advantage of meats and other items when they are on sale or marked down as a “manager’s special” (which usually means they are right up against the “sell by” date.

1. Olive Oil

2. Butter (not fake butter)

3. Decent red and white wine (NOT cooking wine)

4. A variety of herbs

5. Chicken and beef stock (I use Better than Bouillon)

6. Milk

7. All Purpose Flour

8. Pasta

9. Rice (even the expensive Basmati is cheap and it’s worth the difference)

With the items above, you will never find yourself in a panic over what to cook.

Step Two – Shop like you are broke

Some type of meat is ALWAYS on sale. When the price looks right, buy a bunch of it and stick it in the freezer. Most every grocery store has a partition in the meat department where they have dramatically marked down the meat that is nearing the “sell by” date. Buy it. Freeze it. When frozen vegetables are marked down to under $1 per package, buy a freezer full of them.

Step Three – Cook like a restaurant chef (that is about attitude, not skill)

When a restaurant sees that it has too much of something, they create a “special.” When the waiter comes out and goes through a list of specials, he/she could just as easily say, “We have way too much spinach and our flounder needs to be cooked before we have to throw it away. With this in mind, our chef came up with a flounder/spinach dish that is not usually on our menu. Next week, we won’t have this particular problem so the dish will not exist. The Founder Florentine is served with a mixture of vegetables that we usually don’t serve together, but alas they are at the end of their shelf-life also.” Don’t get me wrong on this. Restaurant chefs are not trying to pass off old food on patrons as a special. They just know when they have too much of something and try to use it all up BEFORE they have to get rid of it. Generally, the special is the best thing on the menu because the chef have given careful thought to making regular ingredients in the kitchen sound even more appetizing than the rest of the menu. You need to think like that.

Step four – Don’t Panic, think ahead

When you are cleaning up the kitchen after dinner, take a look in the freezer and see what meats you have. Take out a package and let it thaw in the fridge overnight. The next evening you will have a meat that is ready to cook. This will serve as the “base” of your meal. Since you already have pasta, rice and perhaps potatoes (your starch), not to mention a freezer full of frozen vegetables, you only have to think about what meat you want to cook and how. Then you just think, “Would I rather have pasta, rice or potatoes to go with that _______ (insert meat name here)?” You can even ask the kids, “Do y’all want butterbeans, peas or green beans with your ____________ (meat) and _____________ (starch).”

Now you have your menu. The starch can be cooked in about 15 minutes and the vegetables take 4 minutes in the microwave. That leaves only the meat and its sauce to think about.

Pick an herb or two (oregano, thyme, rosemary) and get them out of the cabinet. If you want, pick a base note (onion, garlic, leeks) and chop them. Or you can just use a seasoning blend.

Now you have a meat and its flavors (herbs and base note). Pick a stock that matches your meat (chicken stock for lighter meats, beef stock for red meats). Pick a second liquid that you are interested in having that night (milk, cream, wine, beer etc.), this is not mandatory, but will add more flavor. Get out some butter and cut a few pats.

Decide if you want gravy or a sauce. If you want gravy, get out some flour.

Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat on the stovetop. Add a bit of fat (olive oil, canola oil, whatever oil, butter, bacon grease etc.). If you are using garlic or onion, put it in now. If you put in onions or garlic, let them cook for a bit before adding meat. When you add the meat, let it cook until well browned on one side and then turn it over only once and let it finish cooking on the other side. Remove the meat from the pan and set it aside, wrapped in foil or in a bowl, covered in foil.

Now make the sauce or gravy. If you want gravy, add a little more fat to the pan and a bit of flour. Stir them together until they look like a thin paste. Add liquids. If using multiple liquids, start thin and work to thick. In other words, stock or wine before milk or cream. If making a sauce, start with wine or beer and then add stock. You can also add jams, jellies or preserves to get a sweet sauce. You might want to play with different mixtures as you build confidence. As a rule of thumb, use the following guidelines

Fat+flour+stock+milk+butter=savory gravy

Fat+flour+stock+wine+butter=wine cream sauce

Stock+wine+butter=wine pan sacue

Stock+butter=au jus pan sauce

Stock+fruit+butter=sweet sauce

When you add the liquids, allow each one to reduce by ½ before adding the next one. When you add the butter at the end, turn down the heat and stir it around just before serving. When you are making the sauce, taste it and see if it needs more of the same seasoning you put on the meat.

Just before you serve the meal, take the bowl or foil pouch that holds the meat and add any juices back to the sauce and stir.

This may all sound complex, but the whole process is just a few steps with multiple choices. Essentially you: (1) pick a meat (2) pick your spices (3) pick a liquid that will become your sauce (4) cook your meat (5) deglaze your pan to make your sauce.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call me or schedule a class. In a small group, this concept is much easier to learn.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

www.ivyanddevine.com

Ole!

2010-01-12T20:53:00.000-06:00

I spotted a big hunk of Flank Steak in the freezer this morning and set it in the fridge to thaw. I had the whole day to think of what to do with it but my brain shut down after meetings with PR folk, calls with attorneys and trying to get some of my "real job" accomplished. With no fresh ideas in my head for this slab of beef, I turned to an old standard that is quick and easy. When I got to the house from entertaining some Senators and Representatives at Hal & Mal's (who were one of the few places open, due to the water shortage), I hit the kitchen at a full charge and had the fajitas ready when Kitty got home. I couldn't find any black beans, so I cooked black-eyed-peas with a bit of cumin and chopped onion alongside some basmati rice. Here's the recipe for the fajitas. The rest of it is easy to figure out without me having to type it up.
Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Fajitas
1 1½-2 lb. flank steak
1 medium yellow onion

1 medium red onion

2 bell peppers (any color)

1 jalapeño pepper

1 bunch green onions

1 cup diced tomatoes (canned)

4 cloves garlic

1 bottle Mexican beer

1 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

1 tsp. Mexican chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 Tbsp. olive oil

8 flour tortillas

6 oz. sour cream

1 jar high quality salsa

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Prep

Slice yellow onions, red onions and bell peppers. Roughly chop jalapeño peppers, green onions and garlic. Slice the flank (across the grain) steak into ½ inch strips. Season the meat and vegetables with Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Cook

Put dining plates into the oven to warm while cooking the fajitas. Heat a large iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot. Add olive oil to hot skillet and when it begins to smoke, add yellow onions, red onions, bell peppers, garlic, one half of the jalapeño peppers and one half of the green onions. Cook until onions are translucent and peppers begin to soften. Remove vegetables and place them in a mixing bowl. Cover with foil. If the skillet is too dry, add a bit more oil. Add meat to the hot skillet (but don’t crowd the pan) and cook for two minutes on each side. As the meat is done, add it to the mixing bowl of vegetables. When all of the meat is cooked, add all of the meat and vegetables from the mixing bowl into the hot skillet and increase heat to high. When the pan begins to really sizzle, add the tomatoes and about one quarter of the beer. Wrap the tortillas in a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds, depending on the strength of your microwave oven.

Plate

Serve family style by placing the hot skillet on the table on a trivet with the cheese, sour cream, salsa, and remaining jalapeño peppers and green onions in small bowls.

(Serves 4)

Quick Veal and Pan Sauce

2010-01-11T19:51:00.000-06:00

With the boil water notice, the water mains leaking like the Iraqi Navy and a full day of writing, I really didn't want to spend a lot of time cooking tonight. Veal was an easy choice. Veal + butter + heat = yum. Sorry for the blah picture. I tried something new with the Blackberry camera and got this muddled garbage.

Veal Scaloppini with Pan Sauce

8 thin veal fillets

4 Tbsp. butter

2 green onions

¼ cup dry white wine

¼ cup heavy cream

¼ cup beef stock

½ tsp. Ivy & Devine Poultry Seasoning Blend

Salt

Pepper

Prep

Finely chop green onions. Dry veal fillets with a paper towel and allow them to come to room temperature. Lightly season with salt, pepper and seasoning blend.

Cook

Heat a large iron skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp. butter to hot skillet and when it foams and brown add veal. Cook for 1 minute on each side. Remove veal from pan and set aside in a bowl. Cover cooked veal with foil. Deglaze pan with wine and reduce to ½ original volume. Add stock and continue reducing until the liquid remains separated when a spatula is drawn across the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low and add cream plus any liquid in the bowl of resting veal. When cream is fully incorporated reduce heat and add 3 Tbsp. butter (in three pats). Swirl butter until it is fully incorporated.

Plate

Serve with sauce on the top and garnish with green onions.

(Serves 4)

Dinner with Rose and Peter

2010-01-10T22:58:00.000-06:00

Part of what inspired me to start Ivy & Devine is the long-standing, weekend tradition of cooking at Rose and Peter's house. They love to eat and I love to cook. In this tradition, there are generally three ways of determining the evening's dishes. Either (a) Rose has a hankering for something specific, (b) I have a new dish that I want to try out, or (c) Peter and I just wander around the grocery store until something strikes our fancy. Saturday night was definitely picked from column "c." The night before they had dined at Bon Ami. Peter had a steak and Rose had veal, so beef was out. We debated chicken (not fancy enough for Peter), fish (just too cold out to do fish), pork (just didn't sound right) and then spotted the lamb chops...decision made! Kroger had the succulent, 1 1/2" t-bone chops that had our name on them. With the protein in hand we buzzed around the rest of the store making snap decisions about the greens, the starch and the dessert. Here is the menu we created in the isles of the I-55 Kroger:

Rosemary and Sea Salt Crusted Lamb Chops

Asparagus-Shiitake Risotto

Mixed Green Salad with Avocado Buttermilk Dressing

Frangelico Cherry Bread Pudding

Please tell me your mouth is watering.

We also got a chance to play with some new gadgets, Peter's new video camera and his new home coffee roaster. I'll try to post the video as soon as we can figure out how to get the movie-pictures from the camera onto the "internets," as my mother would say.

Here are the recipes and the photos to go along with them. As you can see, we stayed up so late eating, drinking and roasting coffee that Mr. Pudgems (the world's most laid back cat) fell asleep on us.

Bon Appetit!

~Tom

Sea Salt and Rosemary Crusted Lamb Chops

12 thick-cut lamb chops (t-bone chops)

5 Tbsp. unsalted butter

½ cup red wine

½ cup rich beef stock

1 bunch parsley

Coarse sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Prep

Finely chop parsley and rosemary. Allow chops to rest until they reach room temperature. Liberally season chops with salt, pepper and rosemary. Press the seasoning (with your fingers) into the flesh of the chops. Preheat oven to 225 degrees and warm the dinner plates while prepping and cooking.

Cook

Heat 2 large iron skillets* over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp. butter to each and when it foams and begins to color, add the 6 chops to each skillet with the bone side of the chops pointed toward the center of the pan. Cook until medium rare (turning only once) and set aside, wrapped in foil. Raise heat to high and deglaze the pans with the red wine. When the liquid is reduced to ¼ of the original volume, transfer the reduced wine into a single pan and add the beef stock. Continue reducing until all liquid is reduced to ½ the original volume. Add any liquid that is in the foil, under the chops and cook for one minute. Turn off the heat and add remaining butter. Swirl the pan to incorporate all of the butter as it melts. Add 1 Tbsp. of chopped parsley.

Plate

Lean cooked chop against whatever starch you are serving, with one chop standing on end with the “t” portion of the bone resting on the bottom of the plate. Pour sauce the top of the chops. Garnish with chopped parsley.

(Serves 6)

*If you only have one skillet, transfer the chops to the warm oven and wrap them in foil while the other chops are being cooked. You may want to transfer them just before they are done because they will continue cooking in the warm oven.

Frangelico Cherry Bread Pudding

For the Pudding

1 loaf crusty French bread
1 loaf ciabatta bread

1 qt. whole milk

1 6 oz. bag dried cherries

½ cup Frangelico Liqueur

3 sticks unsalted butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

¼ cup confectioner’s sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1 Tbsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. ground nutmeg

6 large eggs

¼ tsp. salt

For the Sauce

1 cup Frangelico

1 cup brown sugar

1 stick butter

Prep

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Break the bread into 1” cubes and place in a large mixing bowl. Melt 2 sticks of butter in a large glass bowl. To the melted butter add; brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and Frangelico. Mix thoroughly until sugar is dissolved. Add sugar mixture and eggs to the bread and blend with your hands until evenly distributed. Add enough milk to moisten all of the bread and mix thoroughly with your hands. Add cherries and pecans and mix again until the fruit and nuts are evenly distributed. Add more milk until all of the bread is wet but no milk is standing in the bowl. This last part is tricky, but trust your instincts and practice. Too much milk is less of a disaster than too much, so err or the heavy side. Spoon the mixture into a greased roasting pan or high-side baking dish and spread evenly around the pan. Cut the butter into ten or twelve pats and place evenly on the top of the mixture. Sprinkle the mixture with ½ of the confectioner’s sugar.

Cook-Pudding

Bake in 375 degree oven for 45 minutes. Remove and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.

Cook-Sauce

In a small saucepan, heat Frangelico until barely simmering. Add sugar and cook until completely dissolved. Add Butter and cook until all is incorporated.

Plate

Cut the pudding into squares and place in a shallow bowl. Top with Frangelico Sauce and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

(Serves 12)

This contraption is Peter's home coffee roaster. We stuck in some fancy Sumatran green coffee and fired it up. About twenty minutes later we had some of the darkest, oiliest fresh roasted beans I've ever seen. We were too chicken to brew any last night and opted instead for a great bottle of Port.
When I had to get up at first light this morning and cook for a bunch of kids, I appreciated the strength of that coffee. I can't wait to experiment more.

Dinner with Friends

2010-01-08T23:13:00.000-06:00

Tonight, Kitty and I were lucky enough to be invited to dine with Mandy, Sid, Amy and Monte at Mandy and Sid's home. Monte and Amy brought a fantastic salad prepared from our good friends at Broad Street Baking Company. Sid and Amy picked up ice cream and Kitty and I brought v1.0 of a new soup that I am working to develop. The recipe below is v1.2, but the pictures are of the prototype. See if you can figure out the changes. If you can get them right, I'll award yo with a sample of my new Ivy & Devine Seafood Seasoning Blend, which is yet to hit the shelves.
The nexus of this soup derives from that last bite of steak on your plate at Char or Tico's or Shappley's. You know the one...when you use the one remaining sliver of beef to Zamboni around your plate and pick up the last smear of mashed potatoes, the last leaves of creamed spinach and the last drops of mushroom sauce. In one perfect morsel on the end of your fork you get the melding of the entire steakhouse experience.
Since I've been messing around with deconstructions lately, I wanted to see if I could create a dish that gave the diner this exact experience over and over again. The only thing I could come up with was soup. so give it a try and let me know if it lives up to the mark.

The dessert was featured in today's Jackson Free Press. They were doing a story on the Muppets' creator, Jim Henson (a fine Mississippi boy from Leland, way up in the Delta) and asked me for an appropriate dish. What I came up with was Ice Cream Sandwiches for Grover. You can get the recipe here, or wait a week and come back to this blog (publishing rights and what-not). At our dinner gathering, Amy, who had read the article today, kiddingly asked if we were having this dish for dessert. After a quick survey of Sid and Mandy's kitchen, the answer was YES (with only one short trip to McDade's).
Bon Appetit!
~Tom
Steakhouse Soup

2 large yellow onions
2 whole garlic pods
2 leeks
6 large Yukon gold potatoes
1 6 oz. bag fresh spinach
1 flatiron steak
1 tsp. Ivy & Devine Creole Seasoning Blend
2 Tbsp. mushroom base*
4 Tbsp. Dales Steak Seasoning
1 qt. heavy cream
2 qt. beef stock
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch parsley
4 Tbsp. olive oil
½ stick butter
1 baguette French bread
Salt
Pepper

Prep
Roughly chop onions and leek bottoms. Cut potatoes into 1” cubes. Chiffonade spinach. Finely chop parsley. Season steak liberally with Ivy & Devine Creole Seasoning Blend. Slice through the tops of the garlic (about ¼ inch cut), drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and butter, then wrap individually in foil. Slice Baguette into ½ in crostini. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cook
Toast crostini in hot oven until gold around the edges. Remove and set aside. Place foil wrapped garlic pods in hot oven. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat and then add 2 Tbsp. olive oil. Allow the oil to heat and then add onions and leeks. Cook until onions are translucent. Add 1 qt. beef stock and simmer. Remove garlic from foil and squeeze out the roasted cloves into the stock pot. Heat a large iron skillet and add olive oil. When the oil is hot, add steak and cook until medium rare (approximately 5 minutes per side). Remove steak and deglaze with equal parts water and Dales Seasoning. Allow meat to rest and add deglazing liquid to the stock pot. Add spinach, mushroom base and remaining beef stock. In a separate large pot combine potatoes with enough water to cover. Add 1 tsp. salt to the water and bring to a hard boil. Reduce heat to a light boil and cook for ten minutes. Drain water and mash potatoes with ½ stick of butter. Finish potatoes by whipping with an immersion blender until creamy and completely free of lumps. Add potatoes to stock pot. When meat is fully rested, cut into cubes and set aside. Add any liquids remaining on cutting board to the soup mixture. Add cream and allow mixture to come to a simmer. Remove from heat and add steak and green onions. Salt and pepper to taste.
Plate
Serve immediately in a large, shallow bowl. Top with toasted crostini and garnish with chopped parsley.
(Serves 8-10)
*I recommend a brand called Better than Bouillon.

Cold Weather Cooking

2010-01-07T20:28:00.000-06:00

With the temps diving below freezing and into the teens, I start to think about a hot bowl of hearty soup. Tonight, I worked my way through the fridge and came up with this dish to combat the chill. I hope you enjoy it!

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup

2 cups jasmine or basmati rice

½ gallon whole milk

2 quarts rich chicken stock

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large yellow onion

1 whole pod garlic

1 bunch celery

2 medium zucchini

1 bunch broccoli

1 bunch green onions

2 Tbsp. mushroom base*

3 boneless chicken breasts

2 tsp. Ivy & Devine Poultry Spice Blend

Salt

Pepper

Paprika

Tabasco hot sauce

Prep

Roughly chop onions, celery, zucchini and broccoli. Finely chop green onions. Cube chicken into 1” pieces and season with Ivy & Devine Poultry Spice Blend. Slice ¼ inch from the top of the garlic, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and wrap in foil. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook

Place foil wrapped garlic on center rack of the hot oven. Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Add 2 Tbsp. olive oil and when the oil is hot, add onions and cook until translucent. Add rice and stir until each grain is coated with oil. Add remaining vegetables (not green onions) and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Add enough stock to cover rice and vegetables.

While the rice is simmering, in a separate skillet, brown seasoned chicken pieces in 2 Tbsp. of olive oil until colored on both sides. Transfer browned chicken to pot with rice, vegetables and stock. Add more chicken stock and raise temperature to medium-high until the liquid just starts to boil. Reduce heat back to medium.

Remove garlic from oven and squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into the stock pot. Add mushroom base.

When the rice is soft, reduce heat to low and add remaining stock and enough milk to fill the pot nearly to the top. Continue cooking until all of the liquid is hot. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot sauce.

Plate

Ladle soup into a large bowl and sprinkle the top with chopped green onions and paprika.

(Serves 8 to 10)

* I like a brand called Better than Bouillon.

Perfection, thy name is burger.

2010-01-04T16:21:00.000-06:00

I broke away from the standard omelette/fried chicken choices for Sunday lunch and made my favorite burgers instead.

Perfect Burgers

1 lb. ground chuck
1 lb. ground sirloin
2 lb. ground beef
1 large egg
1 medium yellow onion
¼ cup Dales* Steak Sauce
1 stick butter
1 Tbsp. Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub

Prep
Cut butter into eight pats. Finely chop onion. Combine meat, egg, onion Coffee Rub and steak sauce in a large mixing bowl and mix with your hands until uniform. DO NOT over work your meat mixture. The friction and the heat from your hands will break down the bits of fat that give the hamburger its flavor. Form a ball with 1/8 of the meat mixture (1/2 pound each) and insert a pat of butter into the center of the ball. Fold the meat around the butter and form into a patty. Repeat this seven more times.

Cook
Cook on a grill or in a large iron skillet until done. Check that the internal temperature at the center of the burger is 150 degrees. Cooking times will vary according to the thickness of your burgers so worry more about temperatures and less about times. DO NOT press your burgers with a spatula while cooking. Doing so makes them loose the juices inside of them and makes them dry.

Plate
Serve on a good, sturdy bun with all the fixins.

Bon Appetit!
~Tom

Kids in the Kitchen

2010-01-02T23:59:00.000-06:00

Tonight, Whit had his friend Christian over to spend the night and the three of us cooked a fancy-schmancy dinner for Kitty and our friends Rachel and Andrew. We had a Three Lettuce Salad with Buttermilk Dressing, Homemade Ravioli, Tournedos with Bearnaise Sauce and for Dessert, Pears Poached in Wine and Honey. They boys did a great job and the meal was fantastic.

The Chefs and their creations!