Category Archives: sides

April 22, 2013

I did not cheat. I improvised.

Danielle, Jane, myself, Curt, Scott, Julie, David and Christo with our finished dishes.

I would not call it cheating. I just have to say that from the outset. I would call it creative use of ingredients not on the “approved” list but available to all. If they’d only thought of it. But only I did. That is my badge of honor and I will wear it proudly.

We are, all of us, fast friends. The Char-Broil All Star bloggers started as a group of strangers from all over the country and from different walks of life. But we are now a solid band of culinary nerds on parade. Until the grilling competition. Then we become Bobby Flay versus Morimoto in our own delusional version of Kitchen Stadium.

Char-Broil gets all of its bloggers together every year in some unimaginably luxurious setting. We’re pretty stoked about that. After meetings and demonstrations and what-not we get to the meat of the matter. A Chopped-style grilling competition. Winners get bragging rights for an entire year. This year, in Atlantic Beach, Florida, the focus was on seafood. We got a red snapper fillet, some calamari and head-on shrimp. And four ingredients we had to use: a blood orange, sun-dried tomatoes, collard greens and…ta da!…chocolate. There were additional ingredients: lemons, parsley, olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper.

I am shocked that anyone noticed I had a giant log of butter at my station. Honestly, doesn’t everyone have better things to do?

So why would you not want to make a lovely blood orange juice and butter sauce to go over your grilled red snapper? What? You have no butter? Why would you not ask Sheila, my new best friend and the bartender, to procure a little butter from the kitchen? If only it had not come in a giant log. If only I had been able to conceal the butter under a napkin. If only, when Mary from Char-Broil asked what the giant log of butter was, I would have said, “My medicine. I can’t be without it, even for a second.”

For the record, Christo Gonzales used white wine. White wine was not on the approved list. Did anyone say a single solitary word to him about it? Did anyone actually notice that he used it since he was drinking heavily at the time and it could have just been his drink? It’s not as hard to conceal a few wee drops of wine as it is an entire foot-long log of butter.

My teammate, Curt McAdams of livefire, was a trooper. He never even questioned my easily-detected deception. And he didn’t even wince when I took the bold step of adding the chocolate to the collards, which turned out to be a triumph.

Curt took the award-winning photo of our dish. Yes, like children at the end of a Little League season, we all won a category. Danielle and Jane won the big prize, though, for a very fetching entry that involved stuffing seafood into shells. Hey, wait a minute. Shells. Were they on the approved list? Curt and I may have to appeal this to the International Char-Broil Court of Unfair and Arbitrary Judging. I’ll look up the address in a minute.

8 Comments

Filed under seafood, sides, Uncategorized

Tagged as Atlantic Beach, calamari, char-broil, chocolate, collard greens, red snapper, shrimp, southern cooking

January 26, 2013

Ina Garten’s mushroom and leek bread pudding

There are not many people I would trade places with, but I’d give serious consideration to switching skins with Ina Garten. I am quite sure everything in World Ina is not perfect, but from casual observation watching her Food Network show, I cannot detect any flaws in her well-ordered life as she hops from her chic Hamptons home to her Paris apartment to her delux rental in Napa Valley. Making beautiful food all along the way.

I want to live in her house. I am quite sure the draw pulls on her custom-made blinds have not been whacked in half by a bored 8-year-old child or that her beautiful flawless carpet has never suffered the indignities of simultaneous deposits of cat hurl and indiscriminate feline peeing. All the pots in her kitchen match. She serves her husband, Jeffrey, flawless restrained food transported to the outdoor eating area on a giant wicker tray. I serve my husband, Mark, earnestly but sometimes completely flawed food out of a Tupperware container. I know Ina wouldn’t approve. I am ashamed.

I want to jet off to her Paris apartment, from which Ina makes forays into the fabulous Paris food shops. She picks out perfect cheeses and magnificent breads and vibrant vegetables from the farmer’s market. I could do that with a slightly more generous budget. As it is, I am foraging through Aldi’s and Costco and eagerly seek out “buy one, get one free” deals at my beloved Publix.

Right now, Ina is in California. Napa Valley, to be specific. She is occupying a stately rental home with an herb garden. She is making whipped feta and cherry tomato crostini and then adjourning to the patio where a local mixologist is teaching Jeffrey how to make a basil gimlet. My herbs are in a pot so the ground hog that lives under the deck won’t eat them and my cocktail of choice resides in a cardboard box in the refrigerator.

I have learned many things from Ina. I’ve learned that store-bought is OK, if it’s really good store-bought. I’ve learned that you don’t have to serve four things for a meal. She’ll make a piece of fish and a side of broccoli and call it a day. I’ve learned that you can basically wear the same thing (owning multiple copies, of course) every day. For her, it’s a black over-sized shirt and black pants. For me, it’s overalls. Doesn’t that speak volumes? But she doesn’t care and I don’t either.

So here’s her mushroom and leek bread pudding. It is sensational. She says to serve it hot, but I can tell you with certitude that it can be consumed cold out of the refrigerator with no regret.

Ina Garten’s mushroom and leek bread pudding

6 cups (1/2-inch-diced) bread cubes from a rustic country loaf, crusts removed

2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 ounces pancetta, small-diced

4 cups sliced leeks, white and light green parts (4 leeks)

1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms, stems trimmed and 1/4-inch-sliced

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon leaves

1/4 cup medium or dry sherry

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

4 extra-large eggs

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 cup chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 1/2 cups grated Gruyere cheese (6 ounces), divided

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the bread cubes on a sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a large (12-inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Stir in the leeks and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the leeks are tender. Stir in the mushrooms, tarragon, sherry, 1 tablespoon salt and 11/2 teaspoons pepper and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, stir in the parsley.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, chicken stock and 1 cup of the Gruyere. Add the bread cubes and mushroom mixture, stirring well to combine. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquid. Stir well and pour into a 2 1/2-to-3-quart gratin dish (13 x 9 x 2 inches). Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is browned and the custard is set. Serve hot.

1 Comment

Filed under sides, Uncategorized, veggies

Tagged as bread pudding, food network, ina garten, leeks, mushrooms, southern cooking

January 14, 2013

Julia Child’s Scalloped Potatoes

I am about to tell you about the single best culinary bargain in the history of the world. Yes, that’s right. The history of the WORLD. It is in connection with making Julia Child’s Scalloped Potatoes, which we did for Christmas Eve supper and which were absolutely delicious and a cinch to make.

The recipe calls for slicing the potatoes 1/8-inch thick. If you do not have an expensive mandoline, you will balk at the idea of slicing 2 pounds of potatoes 1/8-inch thick. Who would go to the trouble of doing that? Just buy your box of Betty Crocker scalloped potatoes and be done with it. But no! These are so much better than a box and all you need is this:

It is the Famous Feemster and you can buy it at Sears for just $8.50. It cuts vegetables in nine different thicknesses and I can tell you it lasts at least half a lifetime because I’ve had mine since the mid 1970s. I cannot believe nobody’s ever heard of this thing because it is so dang useful and so cheap. And it works. The blade has never lost its edge. It is not “as seen on TV.”

The potatoes are worth it even if you don’t have a Feemster or a mandoline. I don’t have stock in this company. I don’t even know who Mr. Feemster was. Or Mr. Feem. Whatever. But he made a great product. Eat the potatoes. Buy the Feemster.

Julia Child’s Scalloped Potatoes (Gratin Dauphinois)

2 pounds russet potatoes

1/2 clove unpeeled garlic

4 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 cup (4 ounces) grated Swiss cheese

1 cup boiling milk or cream

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel the potatoes and slice them 1/8-inch thick. Place in cold water.

Rub the baking dish with cut garlic. Smear the dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.

Drain the potatoes and dry them in a towel. Spread half of them in the bottom of the dish. Divide the salt, pepper, cheese, and butter in half over the potatoes.

Arrange the remaining potatoes over the first layer and season with remaining salt and pepper. Spread on the rest of the cheese and divide the butter over it. Pour on the boiling milk.

Set the baking dish in upper third of preheated oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes are tender, the milk is absorbed, and the top is a golden brown.

2 Comments

Filed under sides, veggies

Tagged as butter, famous feemster, julia child, mandoline, scalloped potatoes

September 17, 2012

Pimento cheese deviled eggs

What makes deviled eggs such a Southern staple? I have no idea, but I do know that if there aren’t a plate of deviled eggs at every reception, funeral or potluck supper we just all seem a little lost. I famously almost had a heart attack the year that my deviled egg plate found its way into the annual St. Paul’s Episcopal Church bazaar. It snuck in with a lot of stuff I meant to give away and I had to secretly rescue it before someone bought it for $1.25. Every Southern cook has a deviled egg plate. I own very few single-use items, but that is one that is essential. Just makes you look like you know what you’re doing.

Now, many Southern cooks will scoff at using store-bought pimento cheese for anything. I know, I know. I usually make my own. But you just need to try Mrs. Grissom’s Pimento Cheese before you get all snooty on me. Let’s see. Get out the food processor, grate the cheese, buy a jar of pimentos, clean up…or just spend $4.19 for a tub of some pretty decent store-bought stuff. I think you know the answer to that.

To all my friends who live outside the South and may have never heard of pimento cheese, more’s the pity. Here’s the recipe I use when I’m making my own, the winner of a pimento cheese contest conducted by the Southern Foodways Alliance. The recipe calls for making your own mayonnaise, which I do NOT do. We have Duke’s. We don’t need any stinkin’ homemade mayonnaise.

Pimento cheese deviled eggs

8 eggs

½ cup pimento cheese (Mrs. Grissom’s preferred)

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Dash red pepper

Salt to taste

4 strips cooked bacon, crumbled

To boil the eggs, add them to a heavy pot and fill with cold water until the eggs are submerged. Bring water to the boil and then take it off the heat and cover. Let sit for 18 minutes. Drain the eggs (the water will still be quite hot) and immediately fill the pot with cold water. Drain again and refill with cold water. This helps loosen the shells from the eggs.

Crack the top and bottom of the egg and then gently roll the egg on a cutting board until tiny cracks form. The shell should easily come off.

Slice the cooked eggs in half and remove the yolks to a bowl. Add the pimento cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce and blend with a fork until smooth. Taste and add salt as needed.

Fill the egg whites with the pimento cheese mixture and top with crumbled bacon.

Cracked wheat salad

Self-control. Isn’t that just the hardest thing? I was at a gathering today with some of the Women of St. Paul’s and we were talking about the cardinal rules of weight control. If you are eating standing up, there is no caloric intake. If you are eating something that has broken off of the whole, as in part of a cookie, that does not count either. Then there is my own personal theory that if you have existed on twigs and sticks for several days, the body requires a jolt of fat, as in a cheeseburger, to keep the metabolic balance in check.

We were discussing this as I was eating the last shreds of a Velveeta, cream of (fill in the blank) soup, spaghetti casserole out of a sheet pan with a plastic fork. Of course, that doesn’t count either since it falls under the “eating something that has broken off” rule. In this case, the entire sheet pan was the whole and the 18 delicate forkfuls were the part.

But at some point, even with these dietary laws, you have to pay the piper, I’m afraid. So how about a nice, light, healthy cracked wheat salad. Oh, you know what cracked wheat is. It’s the good stuff in tabbouleh, which always contains way too much parsley, in my opinion. Who am I to argue with the peoples of the Mediterranean who love all that parsley? But I have a personal resentment. When my father died, and we were all drowning our sorrows in a luncheon before the funeral, one of my dad’s friends started making his way around the room with sprigs of parsley that he urged us to eat to mask the smell of alcohol on our breath. At the time, there wasn’t enough alcohol in all the world and I didn’t care one whit if anyone smelled it on my breath. If I could have smuggled a box of Chardonnay into the funeral I would have. Is that inappropriate?

At any rate, make this salad. Cracked wheat, or bulgur, cooks like couscous. Easy and quick. It has a nice nutty taste. You can substitute any kind of nut for the hazelnuts. I just happened to have some in the freezer. And you can substitute or add any kind of vegetable.

Cracked wheat salad

1 ½ cups water

¾ cup cracked wheat (bulgur)

½ cup roasted coarsely chopped hazelnuts

½ cup diced orange pepper

¼ cup diced red onion

2 tablespoons golden raisins

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 ½ tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Bring the water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and add the cracked wheat. Cover and let stand until the wheat is tender and the liquid is completely absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the rest of the ingredients and toss to thoroughly combine. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

Top 5 ingredients you’re embarrassed to have in your pantry (and smothered country fried steak)

If you consider yourself to be a sophisticated cook who routinely uses ingredients like fish sauce, beef short ribs and Thai red chile paste, should you be embarrassed that you routinely give some love to the cream of mushroom soup in your pantry? I think not.

Mark and I were considering this as I unashamedly mixed a can of cream of celery coup, with a can of beef broth (it’s not real beef, I assure you) and a packet of Lipton Onion Soup mix together for a country fried steak sauce. Yes, I know these are highly processed foods that are bad, bad, bad for you. But I don’t care, care, care. Every child of the 1950s ate this stuff routinely and most of us aren’t dead…yet.

So we made a list of the top 5 things we might be embarrassed to have in the pantry. Here goes (don’t judge me):

1. Cream of (fill in the blank) soup. You can make a Bechamel sauce and add flavorings, but I promise you it will not taste as good as cream of (fill in the blank) soup with a little doctoring. My Chicken Divan is a triumph of culinary excellence in part because I use not one, but two, types of cream of (fill in the blank) soup.

2. Velveeta. Yes, my beloved Velveeta, which I know is not actual cheese. It is a “cheese product” and I think it should just hold up its head and be proud of that. It is essential for making macaroni and cheese. I’m sorry, but when I see a recipe for mac and cheese that involves real Cheddar I just cringe. Rubbery. That is all I have to say on that subject. Velveeta is also what makes my squash casserole worth the price of admission.

3. Stovetop Stuffing. Be honest. You cannot make stuffing better than Stovetop. And it takes five minutes! Just look on the back of the box, try the recipe for the chicken breasts with Stovetop Stuffing and cream of (fill in the blank) soup and tell me it isn’t divine.

4. Ritz Crackers. You never know when you’re going to have to add a crunchy, buttery topping to something. You can saute some panko breadcrumbs with butter, but why bother when you have all the essential ingredients in that beautifully golden Ritz cracker.

5. Rice-A-Roni. Do not follow the package directions! They are wrong. The directions say to add two cups of water to the rice after you saute it with the butter. Add a cup and a half. You will end up with soggy rice if you ignore my advice. I do not understand how the Rice-A-Roni people have not figured this out. And Rice-A-Roni is terrific in cold rice salads. Here’s a recipe.

So those are my guilty pleasures. What are yours? Tell me the top 5 things you have in your pantry that you would not want Food Network to know about.

Smothered Country Fried Steak

4 cube steaks

Soy sauce

Flour

Vegetable oil

Salt and pepper

1 can cream of celery soup

1 can beef broth

1 package Lipton’s Onion Soup Mix

Liberally sprinkle steaks with soy sauce and let sit for 30 minutes. Put the flour in a gallon bag, add salt and pepper to taste and coat steaks liberally with the flour. Heat about a ½ inch of oil in a skillet over medium high heat and fry the steaks until a deep golden brown on each side.

Mix together the soup, broth and onion soup mix. Put the steaks in a 9-by-9 pan (or whatever fits) and cover with the soup mixture. Cover the pan with foil.

Back at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Serve the steaks and sauce over mashed potatoes for the maximum effect.

4 Comments

Filed under beef, casseroles, cheese, chicken, salads, sides, Uncategorized, veggies

Tagged as country fried steak, cream of mushroom soup, rice a roni, ritz crackers, smothered steak, Stovetop Stuffing, velveeta

July 4, 2012

Roasted red pepper dip

We love our mayonnaise-based dips in the South, but sometimes you just have to lighten things up a bit. Pureeing white or navy beans in a blender makes a dip base that’s similar to hummus. Add just a touch of cream cheese (not “light” but there’s so little in the dip it hardly counts) and some roasted red peppers and you have a great summertime dip for veggies.

Roasted red pepper dip

1 15-ounce can navy beans

½ cup roasted red peppers

3 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 clove of garlic, minced

Juice from ½ lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender and mix until creamy. Chill for 30 minutes.

Chopped

Despite a language barrier, Danielle and I work well as a team using hand signals

We had an hour, but it is 20 minutes now until judging and the chicken is raw. And then there is the peanut butter issue.

In our basket at the Char-Broil version of Chopped are the mystery ingredients: a whole chicken, a fennel bulb, a stick of butter, bacon, a wedge of blue cheese, a pineapple and a horrifying jar of chunky peanut butter. We have to use all of them in our dish. The Char-Broil people, who have kindly invited the All-Star Bloggers to a resort outside Atlanta, have thoughtfully provided us with a nifty “kitchen” consisting of two disposable cutting boards, a half sheet pan, a moderately sharp knife, and four miniscule bowls.

Fear the Diva

But I have the ace card in my corner. My teammate is Danielle Dimovski, the reigning world pork champion better known as Diva Q. I am totally set here. This is going to be a walk in the park. “I know exactly what we’re going to do,” says Danielle as she hacks away at the pineapple. “We’re going to make beer-can chicken but we’re going to use the pineapple as the beer can. We can totally do this in an hour.” I have a slightly difficult time understanding her. Danielle is from Canada and she uses words like “aboat” (about) and “hoose” (house). Then again I use words like “haid” (head) and “bidness” (business). We have a slight language barrier, but we’ll work through that.

There are screaming hot Char-Broil TRU-Infrared grills set up around the Lake Pavilion at Serenbe, an insanely gorgeous planned community. Danielle slams that chicken onto the pineapple spike, rubs on some spices and citrus juice (the bloggers have a common “pantry” of additional ingredients we can use), slaps the whole thing authoritatively on the grill and slams the lid shut.

If you’ve ever watched Chopped, the Food Network Show where four chefs are given mystery baskets of insanely inappropriate ingredients, you will understand that Danielle and I had to take a few minutes to ponder the butter, blue cheese, bacon, fennel and peanut butter.

Bacon? Obviously, no problem. We cook it on a grill pan. Fennel? Shave it and briefly kiss it with some grill marks. Alrighty then. We’re left with the butter, blue cheese and peanut butter. Yummy, yum, yum.

I am slightly reticent to offer suggestions to the world pork champion, but I wonder if we can’t use the peanut butter with some barbecue sauce to make a dipping sauce for the chicken. Why the hell not? We throw the peanut butter, barbecue sauce, a bit of lemon juice and a bit of Worcestershire into one of our pygmy bowls. We throw in some bacon grease and butter. It looks like baked beans. But it tastes good.

It is now 20 minutes before turn in. Danielle lifts the lid of the grill. The chicken is…raw. Plan B. Plan B! This woman is a rock star. She takes the knife and dissects that chicken right on the grill! Two chicken breasts off the bird and onto the grill. I retreat to make a vinaigrette for the fennel.

Grilled chicken with fennel slaw and our almost-award-winning pineapple and bacon bites

I am going to cut to the chase.We made a grilled chicken breast over grilled fennel slaw in a citrus vinaigrette topped with blue cheese and bacon crumbles. But the single thing that makes our dish is this: We took some of the pineapple, cut into spears, and grilled it. Then we topped it with our peanut butter barbecue sauce concoction and then we put a strip of bacon on top. Sweet and salty on top of sweet and salty. They were over the top. The chicken and the fennel, not so much. Danielle and I knew this. Even though we don’t speak the same language we are realists.

We got honorable mention, based solely on our pineapple bacon bites. The winner was a New York

Christo modest in victory

City chef, Christo Gonzales, who made a chicken breast stuffed with fennel, bacon and blue cheese with a peanut butter and citrus jus. What a show off. Oh, I’m sorry. That’s not ladylike. But we’re not bitter. We applauded Christo, took a bite of his chicken and conceded we were outdone.

I will say this. After the competition, we had quite a few pineapple bacon bites left. And one by one, our fellow bloggers slowly sauntered over to our station and ate them all. I’m just sayin’.

5 Comments

Filed under cheese, chicken, pork, salads, sides, Uncategorized, veggies

Tagged as bacon, char-broil, chopped, Diva Q, grilled chicken, pineapple, Serenbe, southern cooking

April 25, 2012

Grilled blackened catfish with melon salsa and creamy grits

Hey, ya’ll. The weather’s finally warming up and it’s time to get outside to do some cooking. I have a great recipe (she said modestly) for blackened catfish using my trusty black-iron skillet on the grill. It’s posted on the Char-Broil site and if you would be so kind as to hop over there and take a look I’d be in your debt. Just click the link. Go ahead. Click it. Thank you.

5 Comments

Filed under seafood, sides

Tagged as blackened catfish, cantaloupe, catfish, grits, salsa, southern cooking, watermelon

March 27, 2012

Grilled meatloaf with garbage can mashed potatoes

Oh, you want this. You so want this. Smoky meatloaf and mashed potatoes studded with all the good stuff. You want it so badly, you need to hop on over to the Char-Broil site and take a look-see. I promise you will not be disappointed.

For those of you new to this blog, I am also a Char-Broil All Star Blogger and the good folks at Char-Broil prefer that my blogs for them are exclusive to their site. So get on over there. And leave a comment! Makes me look good to the guys or gals in the front office. Hey, I want a front office. What is that exactly, anyway?

1 Comment

Filed under beef, pork, sides

Tagged as bacon, cheese, grilled meatloaf, mashed potatoes, meatloaf, south, southern cooking