Monday, May 27, 2013

26 May 2013 – Memorial Day Weekend












It is Memorial Day weekend, so I am dedicating today's Sunday Supper to my father who served in WWII and the Korean War. During WWII he actually served in both the Navy and Air Force. For the Korean War, he was a Chef in the Army, so I come by my love of cooking honestly. Growing up, we were always excited when my father cooked because it was always something exotic and special. My mother was a great Southern cook, but my father had a fondness for gourmet food. I was a very finicky eater as a child, but I would always eat whatever my father cooked out of respect and admiration. His meals were usually accompanied by stories about his time in service. All five kids and my mom would gather around the dining room table and listen intently. He told some amazing stories and had some great experiences. I actually have his Army cookbook, and most of tonight's Sunday Supper was taken from those recipes. As I flipped through the cookbook, I recognized many of his special dishes, including Oyster Stew, Hamburger Gravy, BBQ sauce and more. A few years ago when I first started cooking with ramps, I recalled going out with my father to hunt for them. He called them spring onions, and he was always excited about finding them and cooking with them. As I was planning this meal a couple of weeks ago, I remembered some great photos of my dad when he was an Army Chef in Korea. One in particular was a photograph of a cake he made and presented to the General to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the Army. I contacted my niece, Kacey Charles, and ask her to look in my late sister's photo collection to see if they were still around. Much to my delight, she located that photo and two others to send to me. I've included that photo and one more in the serving line. He was such a handsome devil, and I cherish my childhood memories of him in the kitchen.

So for tonight's Sunday Supper, we grilled out grass fed beef burgers and hot dogs to celebrate the beginning of summer and Memorial Day. To go along with the burgers and hot dogs, I prepared side dishes from dad's Army cookbook, including Boston Baked Beans and Scalloped Asparagus. While we were out and about on Saturday, we found some beautiful bing cherries at the Cherokee Market, so I made homemade cherry ice cream from the cookbook as well. It was delicious, and the scalloped asparagus was wonderful too. One of the funniest thing about Dad's Army cookbook is the ingredient portions which usually were designed to serve 100 - 200 servings! My iPhone measuring converter really came in handy for this meal! I've included the original Army recipe for scalloped asparagus so you can see for yourself.

With a huge portion of respect and gratitude to my dad, Manuel Eugene Grant and all of the other fallen heros, servicemen and women.

The Menu:

- Georgia Grass Fed Beef Burgers and Hot Dogs

- Scalloped Asparagus

- Boston Baked Beans

- Hand Churned Bing Cherry Ice Cream



The Recipe – Scalloped Asparagus for 100

Ingredients:

35 pounds asparagus spears
Salted Boiling Water
2 pounds coarse bread crumbs
8 ounces chopped onion
4 ounces butter
4 - 14.5 ounce cans of evaporated milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Remove and discard tough lower ends of asparagus and wash thoroughly.
2. Stand spears upright in deep kettle and add small amount of salted, boiling water. Cover and heat until boiling; reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain.
3. Combine bread crumbs, butter, onions, salt and pepper.
4. Spread half of crumb mixture on bottom of well greased baking pans.
5. Place asparagus on crumbs.
6. Mix milk and one quart asparagus liquid; pour over asparagus.
7. Cover with remaining crumbs.
8. Bake in moderate oven, 375 degrees, until thoroughly heated and crumbs are brown.



Sunday, May 12, 2013

12 May 2013 – Mother's Day








It has been another nice weekend in Canton. The Canton Farmers Market opened for the season on Saturday! There was not a lot of produce at the first one, but it will get better every week. I enjoyed spending time there and running into a lot of friends. Camille Wehs with the City of Canton is doing a great job with the Farmers Market, and the Main Street board really appreciates her effort. In addition to the Farmers Market next weekend, I also look forward to the Canton Festival of the Arts! It's always a great weekend in Canton, and this year's Festival will be the largest to date. Thanks to the Cherokee Arts Center board for all of their hard work!

Today, we had a nice breakfast at Keithsburg Cafe. Afterward, we spent some time at Autumn Hill Nursery and bought some beautiful Kong Rose Coleas for the pots on the Side Porch. We picked up some tomato and pepper plants as well. They have lots of beautiful plants, roses and trees, and they are so nice and helpful. Later in the afternoon, we went over to Boling Park and walked around the Indian Festival and Pow Wow. We saw some beautiful owls and some fun native dancing. Tonight, we had Jeff's parents over to celebrate Mother's Day, and it's always a pleasure to have Bill and Theresa Brown over for dinner. I prepared prosciutto wrapped chicken with asparagus risotto. I started the meal with a charcuterie platter and ended with a lemon ice box pie. All in all, it was a nice and relaxing evening, and everyone enjoyed
the meal.

I always think of my mother when I cook Sunday Suppers, but I miss her even more on Mother's Day. Luckily, I have a lot of great friends in my life who are fantastic mothers, and I wish them all a wonderful day. I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day, and I hope to see you at the Canton Festival of the Arts next weekend!

The Menu:

- Charcuterie Platter

- Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Breasts

- Asparagus Risotto

- Lemon Ice Box Pie


The Recipe – Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken

Ingredients:

- Organic Chicken Breasts

- Thinly Sliced Prosciutto

- Salt and Pepper

Instructions:

Pat chicken breasts dry with paper towels and add salt and pepper. Wrap each chicken breast with thinly sliced prosciutto and place on a baking sheet with the seam side down. Preheat oven broiler and place the chicken into the oven for 15-25 minutes. The prosciutto becomes crispy and keeps the chicken moist. This is a very easy and quick way to prepare chicken!

Sunday, May 5, 2013

05 May 2013 – Cinco de Mayo




It has been a fun and eventful weekend! On Friday night, we went to see one of my favorite singer and songwriter, Iris Dement, at Variety Playhouse in Atlanta. She was exquisite and sang a lot of songs from her latest CD, "Sing the Delta." Even better, we enjoyed seeing the concert with some very dear friends: Jerry Burns, John Clark, Cory Wilson, Vanessa and Josh Brackett, Carmen Tanner Slaughter and Jennifer Dunn.

We came back on Saturday for the 10th Annual Kentucky Derby Day at the Rock Barn, a fundraiser for The Cherokee County Historical Society. This is always a fun event, but the Historical Society knocked this one out of the park! The food by Event Wise Catering was delicious, and the hat parade was fabulous. Our friends Sandy McGrew and Jennifer Dunn even made the top ten, and their hats were great. The silent auction went very well, and my Bill's Sunday Supper for Four item even caused a slight bidding war! Congratulations to Richard Ryan for winning the bid, and we look forward to cooking for he and his friends in the near future. The Painted Pig Tavern also did a great job on the Bourbon tasting, and the entire party was a ton of fun. Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner and drinks upstairs at the Downtown Kitchen with Harry and Rebecca Johnston, Wanda Roach, Peggy and Mark Moore, Rick Roberts, Stefanie Joyner, Eric Ballinger, Cory Wilson and John Clark.

Today, Jeff and I had a nice brunch at the Painted Pig Tavern, and we proceeded to Carniceria Ramirez 2 to get supplies for tonight's Cinco de Mayo Sunday Supper. This old-fashioned grocery store caters to the local Hispanic community. Feli Ramirez and her staff offer friendly, helpful service. The meat market in the back of the store features freshly butchered meats and the store's bakery specializes in Mexican desserts and cookies. They even make their own mole paste, one of my favorite Mexican culinary treats. This little grocery on Marietta Road is really great, and I love shopping there. I found everything I needed for tonight's supper, and I made tlayudas, a specialty in Oaxaca, Mexico. We really love this dish at Taqueria Oaxaquena 2 which features great authentic Mexican food, made from scratch by the owner, Estefana Nolasco. I think their tlayuda is probably the best single dish in Canton, so I wanted to try and recreate the dish myself. I found the awesome corn tortilla flatbread at Ramirez Grocery, and they had all of the other necessary ingredients. I served the tlayudas with fresh made quacamole, ensalada nopales (cactus salad), and homemade tamales. For dessert, I made churros con chocolate, and we even had a piñata on the side porch! Our friends Sandy McGrew, Gary Mullet, Cory Wilson and John Clark joined us for dinner, and a good time was had by all.

Adios amigos!

The Menu:

- Tlayuda con Tinga

- Tamales

- Enslada Nopales (Cactus Salad)

- Chunky Guacamole

- Churros con Chocolate


The Recipe – Chunky Guacamole

Ingredients:

- 1 tbsp white onion
- jalapeno
- 3 ripe avocados
- 2 tbs chopped cilantro
- lime juice

Preparation:

1. Grind 1 tbsp. finely chopped white onion, 1 packed tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro, 2 tsp. finely chopped jalapeño, and 1 tsp. salt together in a molcajete until all the ingredients are well ground, or use a fork to mash the ingredients to a paste in a bowl.

2. Cut 3 ripe avocados in half. Twist the halves to separate them and remove the pit with the tip of the knife. Place an avocado half, cut side up, in your palm and make 3 or 4 evenly spaced lengthwise cuts through its flesh down to the skin, without cutting through the skin. Make 4 crosswise cuts in the same fashion.

3. Scoop the diced avocado flesh into the molcajete. Repeat with remaining avocado halves. Gently fold the avocado into the chile–onion paste, keeping the avocado pieces fairly intact.

4. Add 2 firmly packed tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro and 1 tbsp. finely chopped white onion.

5. Fold together all the ingredients. Taste and add salt, if necessary.

6. Serve immediately, directly from the molcajete (or bowl), with tortilla chips.

7. I love my molcajete!