Flounder: A nice light fish for those long, dark days

One of the things that you don’t hear a lot of people talk about is that we in Greensboro and Cary are very close to the coast. We’ve got a tremendous seafood industry at our fingertips, which makes us very fortunate. Until the last couple of years, most of the fish landed at North Carolina docks between Memorial Day and Labor Day—which is prime fishing season in the Atlantic. However, they were shipped north to New York or south to Miami. There they are auctioned off to seafood distributors and then transported back to Raleigh or Atlanta, and then put on another truck to finally be delivered elsewhere. This process can put somewhat of a delay on us folks in the Piedmont getting our fresh fish, but the times, they are a changing. We are now becoming increasingly more able to obtain seafood directly from our coast, through small, independent distributors and other like-minded folks interested in strengthening our local food system. We’re happy to acquire our seafood from Southern Foods, in Greensboro. They work with several small Southeast coastal seafood markets and fishmongers, and we like supporting them because they support these family-run businesses.

One fish in particular that we have an advantage in procuring is North Carolina flounder. Because flounder’s season is opposite that of the deepwater fishing season, most flounder is caught during cold weather when most commercial fisherman are down south in Florida for the winter. It’s usually caught in shallow waters by locals, in smaller boats. It’s an easier process and the flounder stays in local markets rather than getting shipped to New York or Miami.

Coastal folks will tell you that when you eat flounder there are two sides: a light side and a dark side. The dark side is at the top of the fish and the white side is at the bottom. Essentially, when seen from atop they blend in with the sand and when seen from below they blend into the sky. Flounder begins its life as a round fish and then it starts to swim on its side, one of its eyes migrates to the top side, and it evolves into a flat fish. The dark side is typically thicker and more moist, while the white side is thinner and milder. When the weather gets cold, in addition to procuring fish elsewhere, we at Lucky’s like to feature flounder on our menu two to three times a week because it’s from our coast and the flavor is at its peak. We prepare our flounder simply: we get fileted flounder, leave the skin on and cut the bones out, pan fry it, sear it, and flip it and it’s delightful. Light, flaky fish such as flounder taste like what they eat—in this case little fish, crabs and shellfish, so flounder has a pleasant sweetness to it.

Tips for cooking flounder

When you have a relatively lean and flaky fish like flounder, you need to be careful about what you accompany it with. One of the reasons broiled flounder is most commonly served with lemon is that the fish’s flavor is so mild that you need the acidity of the lemon to excite your tastebuds, making you more able to appreciate the fish’s delicate flavor. You don’t want to overpower the delicate nature of flounder with bold, dominating flavors, so at the restaurant we tend to keep our preparations pretty simple. That simplicity allows us to really taste the flounder and appreciate its freshness. We want to do the fish justice and serve it with respect. At Lucky’s when we pair a sauce with flounder or create a dish with it, we prefer flavors that are rich or assertive without being heavy, like our lemon caper butter.

Sautéed Flounder

Season your skin-on flounder filets with salt and white pepper and sear flesh-side down in a hot skillet with one tablespoon of canola oil. Cook one filet at a time. Cook filet halfway through,then flip to skin side, and cook through. Add a slice of lemon caper butter and serve.

Lemon Caper Butter

½ pound butter
1 oz capers, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp lemon juice

Remove butter from the refrigerator ahead of time and allow it to soften to room temperature. Ingredients may be blended in food processor or by hand. Whip the butter in a food processor until smooth. Add lemon juice and mix. Add capers and mix until capers are rough chopped. Place mixture on a piece of parchment paper and form into a log shape. Roll up in the parchment paper and freeze. Slice into coins as needed. Makes 1 cup

Flounder Roulades or Flounder Paupiettes

Another dish that we like to prepare with smaller,skinless flounder is this preparation of Flounder Roulades. Cut each fillet along the centerline, into two long, thin pieces. Make the following crabmeat stuffing, then spread a thin layer on each piece of fish and roll them up with the stuffing on the inside. Stand the roulades on their side and bake in a 300 degree oven until the centers are warm.

Check out this little slideshow to see how the roulades are made:

Crabmeat Stuffing

12 oz crabmeat
12 oz cream cheese, room temperature
3 tbsp minced garlic
1 ½ tsp A-1 Sauce
1 tbsp Creole Spice Blend (see recipe)

Combine cheese, minced garlic, A-1 Sauce and Creole Spice Blend in a mixer with paddle attachment. Mix to a uniform smooth consistency. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in by hand the crabmeat until well combined. Makes 24 ounces

Creole Spice Blend

2 ½ tbsp paprika
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp garlic powder
3 tsp black pepper
3 tsp onion powder
3 tsp cayenne powder
3 tsp oregano leaves
3 tsp thyme leaves

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well-blended. Transfer the breader to a shallow dish for dredging.

Recipe: Buttered Breadcrumbs

1 quart panko breadcrumbs
3/4 cup melted butter
2 tsp ground paprika
2 tbsp parsley flakes

Add all ingredients to a mixing bowl. Toss to coat breadcrumbs well. Store in an air tight container. Makes 1 quart

Flounder 411

Flounder are also known as Fluke
Flounder can be found in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.and in the Gulf of Mexico
There are five species of flounder: Japanese, Summer, Winter, Southern, and European.
Flounder’s changeable colorings and markings allow them to often camouflage into their habitat to ward off predators.
Flounder are most prevalent between Cape Cod, Massachusetts and Cape Fear, North Carolina
They spend most of their lives near the ocean floor and move to shallower waters in the evening, post sunset.
The largest flounder ever caught weighed 30 pounds and was four feet long.
Female flounders migrate offshore to spawn, from October to December. They tend to produce 100,000 eggs per spawn.

Where can you get fresh fish around here?

You don’t have to work for a restaurant to get things from Southern Foods, in Greensboro. They have a cash and carry window where you can pick up seafood. Call first for pricing and availability.
Locals Seafood, in Raleigh sells their fresh seafood at the Raleigh State Farmers Market (in the indoor shoppes). Hours are: Thu-Sat 10am-4pm, and Sun 11am-3pm.
Tom Robinson’s Seafood, in Carrboro carries an array of fresh seafood. Hours are: Thu-Fri 9:30am-6:30pm, and Sat 8:30am-6:30pm.

If you’ve got a taste for fresh seafood, come see us and ask your server about our Chef’s Specials for the day! In addition to the Cornmeal Crusted Catfish, one of our Lucky’s Classics, we often feature some other kind of fish or seafood, fresh from the water!

For more: See our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index: http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

Creole for Carnival

For many years at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen, we used to do a New Orleans menu surrounding the Mardi Gras holiday. However, about five years ago we decided to shift the focus of the restaurant from regions of America and their foodways to seasons and seasonally appropriate food. In doing this we were able to take several dishes from the New Orleans menu and incorporate them into a seasonal menu which celebrated the Carnival season—the whole month leading up to Mardi Gras. Some people happen to visit us for the first time during the winter months, when we feature our Mid-Winter Carnival menu with classic New Orleans dishes, so naturally, they think we’re a Cajun restaurant. We devote our feature menu (which we rotate seasonally, about every six weeks) to New Orleans dishes because in winter time, not too many things are in season and folks get tired of eating turnips. So, we cook some unseasonal things, like Gumbo, Fried Oysters, Boudin Balls, and our Vietnamese Po’Boy.

The carnival season in Louisiana goes from January 6th (traditionally known as “Twelfth Night,” “King’s Day,” or “Epiphany”) through the day before Ash Wednesday. Some years it’s five weeks long and some years it’s nine weeks long, so we like to pay tribute to that by starting our New Orleans Mid-Winter Carnival menu on the first Wednesday after the new year, and going all the way up until Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras.

This year we get to celebrate these New Orleans dishes a little bit longer than we did last year. Some of these dishes are a bit involved, so most won’t make them at home, which is why we enjoy featuring them at the restaurant. In our previous post, we mentioned our Grillades and Grits, Gumbo, and Red Beans and Rice, which are some classic New Orleans staples that are part of this Mid-Winter Carnival menu. We make Boudin Balls instead of traditional Cajun boudin (pork sausage), which is piped into links, steamed, and eaten with mustard. It’s really a tribute to the heritage of German settlers of southwest Louisiana. We prefer to make little fritters out of our boudin, deep fry them, and serve them with a mustard sauce.

We also serve a fried oyster appetizer with creamed spinach, which is evocative of Oysters Rockefeller, and our version of a bahn mi, which is a Vietnamese Po’Boy, in tribute to the sizable Vietnamese population in east New Orleans. There really is a vibrant new cuisine that is being incorporated into every aspect of New Orleans culture. We even make an Eggplant Creole, which is a southern Louisiana version of eggplant parmesan. We make ours with provolone cheese and a chunky creole sauce, reminiscent of a marinara.

Eggplant Creole

2 each eggplant (slice into 20 – ½” thick rounds)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 eggs
½ cup whole milk
2 tsp Cajun Spice Blend (see recipe)
2 cups breadcrumbs
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tsp salt
2 fl oz canola oil
10 slices provolone cheese
2 cups Creole Sauce (see recipe)
5 tbsp grated Reggiano Parmesan cheese

Trim ends from eggplant and slice into ½” thick rounds. Combine eggs, milk and 1 teaspoon Cajun Spice Blend. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and 1 teaspoon Cajun Spice Blend. Set up a dredge station by placing the following items in three separate shallow pans: 1. flour, 2. egg/milk mix, 3. breadcrumb mix.

Run each slice of eggplant through the dredge station in the order listed and place on parchment paper. Heat oil in skillet until hot. Brown eggplant slices on both sides over medium heat. Top each slice with ½ slice provolone cheese and allow to melt. Sauce plate with Creole Sauce. Top sauce with slightly overlapping slices of eggplant. Garnish with grated Reggiano Parmesan. Serves 4-6

Creole Spice Blend

2 ½ tbsp paprika
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp garlic powder
3 tsp black pepper
3 tsp onion powder
3 tsp cayenne pepper
3 tsp oregano leaves
3 tsp thyme leaves

Add all ingredients to a large bowl and combine with a whisk until spices are evenly distributed. Store in an air tight container with lid. Makes – ¾ cup

To end on a sweet note, the Mid-Winter Carnival menu features Red Velvet Cupcakes and our Bananas Foster Bread Pudding, which is a hybrid of two classic New Orleans desserts. Bananas Foster is a classic table-side preparation of flambéed bananas served over ice cream, which is always quite an exciting presentation. Basically what we do is make an old-school, boozy bread pudding that most people expect, and combine it with white chocolate and flambeed bananas, then serve it with the actual Foster sauce. It’s pretty awesome because it’s essentially the best of both desserts.

White Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding with Foster Sauce

1 loaf ciabatta or French bread, diced
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ cup milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
3 oz white chocolate block, shaved
1 tbsp butter, softened
1 ½ bananas, diced ½ inch
1 tbsp butter, melted
1 tbsp Myer’s Dark Rum
1 tbsp Crème De Banana
1 quart Foster Sauce (see recipe)
Whipped cream (optional)
Vanilla ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly toast diced bread in oven. Using pan spray, lubricate a 7 x 12 baking pan. In a mixing bowl, whisk together ½ cup brown sugar, cream, milk and beaten eggs. Add vanilla, cinnamon, bread and chocolate. Stir to blend thoroughly. Heat a sauté pan over medium heat; add softened butter. When melted add bananas and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add remaining brown sugar and mix with a rubber spatula until sugar is melted. Remove pan from heat and add rum and banana liqueur. Return pan to heat and ignite alcohol. When flames die, fold bananas and syrup into bread pudding mixture. Stir in melted butter. Mix well and transfer to baking pan. Bake until firm, about 45 minutes. Makes – 6 portions

Recipe: Foster Sauce

1 stick butter
1 pound light brown sugar
3 cups heavy cream
1 ½ tbsp Myers Dark Rum
1 ½ tbsp Crème De Banana

Melt butter in a sauce pan and stir in brown sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly for three minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer until sauce is nappé (coats a spoon); about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and serve. Makes – 1 quart

To Assemble:

Place warmed portion of bread pudding in a shallow bowl. Ladle warm Foster Sauce over and serve with a garnish of whipped cream and vanilla ice cream.

All of these things for me are ultimate comfort foods and we look forward to making them for our guests every year. If you pay close attention, you may even notice that we spike our playlist with some south Louisiana favorites, such as Dr. John, Professor Longhair, and The Neville Brothers, to further amp up the festive atmosphere.

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

One pot wonderful: New Orleans Traditions

During this bitterly cold month, we need stick-to-your-bones meals that will warm us through. January is a perfect month to hunker down over a bowl of soup, stew, or other one pot meals.The beauty of one pot wonders is that you don’t really need a recipe, you just need a concept. Take gumbo for instance. There are several different recipes for gumbo – which one is right? They’re all correct. Gumbo should be a thickened stew served over rice. It can be thickened with okra, roux, filé (ground sassafras leaves). It can have seafood, duck, rabbit, quail, sausage—the possibilities are endless and once you’ve got the base, the rest is all open for interpretation. It’s similar to the evolution of Brunswick stew, which varies upon location. The Brunswick Stew from Virginia is different from the Brunswick Stew of Georgia or Stokes County, NC, but they’re all Brunswick Stew. By the same notion, chicken stew or chili can have beans or no beans, potatoes or no potatoes.

With gumbo, the story goes that it’s a result of the melding of the working class fisherman’s bouillabaisse of the south of France. It’s like bouillabaisse in that it’s made with ingredients indigenous to south Louisiana. In New Orleans, you’re not going to come across too many gumbos with chicken and seafood in the same dish. You usually find chicken and sausage or seafood and sausage. At Lucky’s, our goal is to make a gumbo that truthfully represents the city of New Orleans, which is why we call it “Big Easy Gumbo.” We combine two classic gumbos to make a third, which has chicken and sausage and shrimp in a crab stock-based broth. We’ve created our own tradition instead of appropriating someone else’s.

Big Easy Gumbo

3 tbsp canola or vegetable oil
1 pound Andouille sausage
2 pounds boneless chicken
2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
2/3 cup all purpose flour
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 ½ pounds onions, ¼” dice
1 ½ pounds celery, ¼” dice
1 ½ pounds green pepper, ¼” dice
4 bay leaves
2 tsp garlic, minced
½ tsp kosher salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp black pepper
2 tsp shrimp base (can be found in the soup aisle of most supermarkets)
3 1/3 quarts crab stock
1 pound shrimp, 71/90, tail off, peeled and deveined
3 ½ cups okra, sliced

Cut Andouille sausage in half lengthwise and then cut ½ inch half moons. Cut chicken into ½ inch dice. Add 3 tablespoons oil to a skillet and heat. Add sausage and chicken and cook until done. Set aside. Heat 2/3 cup of oil in large stock pot and then stir in flour. Continue to stir until dark roux is achieved. Immediately add Worcestershire, followed by onions, celery, green pepper, spices and shrimp base. Sauté until vegetables are soft, scraping the bottom of the pot as you cook. While whisking, add the crab stock to the pot. Cook for 15 minutes. Add the shrimp, cooked sausage and chicken and the okra to the pot. Cook until the shrimp is just cooked through. Remove from heat and cool down quickly so shrimp does not overcook. Reheat to serve. Makes – 2 gallons.

Red Beans & Rice
One of the things we like is when you hew to some sort of tradition and cook within the parameters of your family or your memories, the dish you cook repeatedly is always familiar. One of these often repeated dishes is red beans and rice. We like the history of this dish. Essentially red kidney beans and cured pork pieces, it’s a humble dish but it radiates with big flavors. The mythology associated with it is the beans were made on Mondays, which was laundry day. They were put on while the laundry was being done, because you can leave them alone while they cook all day, and it’ll be perfect for dinner when you come home. The old Creole way for making rice is boiling rice in water and pouring off the water, as opposed to the steamed rice method or “pilaf” method which is more Charleston-oriented. We don’t have any proof but I suspect the starchy water from rice was used to starch clothes. I can’t prove it but I just know it in my bones.

Red beans and rice isn’t always served with Andouille sausage, like it is at Lucky’s. Some people opt for a smoked sausage, like Polska Kielbasa. Andouille is more of a recent innovation in that vein and it’s like a “kick me” Cajun sausage from southwest Louisiana. It didn’t really make its way to the city until the 80s, when chef Paul Prudhomme changed the world with it at K-Paul’s restaurant. Now, we’re glad to make our red beans and rice with it.

Red Beans and Rice

1 cup red beans (see recipe)
¾ cup white rice (prepared from package instructions)

Serve beans over rice. Makes – 1 serving.

Red Beans

1 pound dried red kidney beans
¼ pound diced Tasso ham
¾ pound ham hocks
¾ cup yellow onions, diced ¼”
1/3 cup green bell peppers, diced ¼”
1/3 cup celery, diced ¼”
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp Tabasco Sauce
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp sliced jalapeño pepper
1 ½ tsp jalapeño pepper juice (from the jar or can)
1 tsp ham base (can be found in the soup aisle of most supermarkets)

Place dried beans in a container, cover beans with water and soak overnight. Discard water after soaking. Add beans to a pot and cover with water, add ham hocks. Simmer beans for 1 hour. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until beans are cooked. Season to taste. Makes – 5 ½ cups.

Grillades & Grits
Another New Orleans specialty we love is grillades and grits, which is an old school Creole specialty. It’s the one dish in this restaurant we’ve probably taken the most liberties with. Traditional recipes for this dish feature thin slices of veal or beef that are breaded and pan-fried and braised in a rich gravy until they’re meltingly soft, and then they’re served with grits. The grillades and grits that we serve at Lucky’s evolved out of our whole animal program. We were buying whole pigs and trying to determine the best way to use the shanks which are full of flavor but are a bit problematic to serve and eat in a restaurant. They look like something Fred Flintstone would order. So we decided to take those shanks and braise them in a traditional grillades gravy recipe, then shred the meat so the end result looks like a New Orleans staple. We didn’t follow a recipe to begin with, rather we conjure that nostalgic sense of memory or place, by closing our eyes, tasting the flavors and letting them transport us.

Grillades & Grits

1 serving Grillades (see recipe)
5 fl oz Creamy Yellow Grits (see recipe)
1 tbsp chopped green onions
2 tbsp sliced jalapeños, pan fried until crispy

Place creamy yellow grits in a bowl. Top with hot Grillades. Garnish with chopped onions and a side of crispy fried jalapeños. Serves 1.

Grillades

6 pork shanks
1 cup all purpose flour
¾ cup canola or vegetable oil
2 cups yellow onion, small dice
¾ cup green bell pepper, small dice
1 ½ tsp garlic, minced
6 stalks celery, small dice
4 bay leaves
½ tsp dried thyme leaves
4 cups pork stock
3 cups tomato purée
salt and pepper to taste

Season each shank with salt and pepper and dredge in flour. Shake off excess flour, reserving the excess. Heat oil in a wide heavy-bottomed pot. Brown shanks on all sides in oil over medium heat. When shanks are browned well, remove to a tray. Add remaining flour to the pot and stir well to make a brown roux. When desired color is achieved, add onion, peppers, garlic and celery to roux to stop its cooking. Continue stirring; add bay leaves, thyme and pork stock. Continue stirring; add tomato puree. Bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer. Return shanks to the pot and partially cover pot while allowing to simmer for two hours. After two hours, taste and correct seasoning. When meat is tender, remove from pot and pull meat from bone, shredding. Discard bones and tendons. Add shredded meat back to the pot. Makes – 6 servings.

Recipe: Creamy Yellow Grits

12 fl oz heavy whipping cream
3 cups water
¾ stick butter
¾ tsp salt (or to taste)
1/8 tsp cracked black pepper (or to taste)
1 cup yellow grits
½ cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

Add cream, water, butter, salt and pepper to sauce pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and stir in the grits. Stir with wire whisk continuously to keep grits from clumping up. Once all the grits are blended, continue to stir for 2-3 minutes. Reduce heat and cook for about 15- 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheddar cheese. Makes: 1 quart.

Winter Carnival Menu
These three dishes are all available on our Winter Carnival menu. They’ve become an annual rite of passage here in the Piedmont, as Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen turns its gaze to the Crescent City for inspiration during the colder time of the year when local bounty is a bit more sparse. Come and break bread and partake in the traditions of these jazzed up one pot wonders. And, stay tuned for part two of this post where we dig into traditional Piedmont one-pot wonders.

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

Choose your own Christmas adventure: Holiday sides for you and yours

We don’t have much of a recovery period between Thanksgiving and the whirlwind Christmas season. The holidays are similar in that they’re both centered around food and family, but we’ve always felt Thanksgiving is the purest holiday because it’s about food and togetherness, and you can’t misconstrue that. Christmas is a holiday centered around kindness and giving, which can make it prone to over-exploitation.

We’re all acquainted with many families whose food traditions are pretty much the same for Thanksgiving and Christmas, except maybe they swap out turkey for ham. A lot of folks in our community celebrate on Christmas Eve and have a meal, go to a special service, and exchange gifts around midnight. Come morning, they’re usually pretty exhausted, and in many houses, Christmas day is always a lazy day. We watch Christmas specials with my kids, and avoid changing out of our pajama bottoms for as long as possible. Sometimes, we fill the house with the aromas of bacon, butter and pancakes, making an elaborate bone-warming breakfast for the family, and having it late. That way, you can have all of those traditional holiday side dishes and your ham at dinner, allowing you to laze around and bask in the glory of family time for most of the day. You may have certain traditions you hold close to your heart, but perhaps you’ll be inspired to also try a new tradition this year. Whatever you do, make sure you savor this all too fleeting season.

My Christmas Morning Menu:

Strata
French Toast
Hash
Liver Pudding

Country Sausage Strata

1 pound bulk country sausage
2 ½ cups chopped yellow onion
1 cup chopped celery
4 tsp salt (or to taste)
½ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tbsp chopped garlic
6 eggs
2 cups half & half cream
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp dried sage
4-6 slices white bread with crust cut off
1 cup grated white cheddar cheese

Crumble sausage in a heavy bottomed pot and cook on medium heat until cooked halfway. Add onions and celery and continue cooking and stirring until there is no pink left in meat.

Add salt, cayenne pepper and garlic; combine well and then remove from heat. Meanwhile whisk eggs well in a large bowl; add half & half cream and combine thoroughly. Add parsley and sage; fold together with spatula until well combined.

Using pan spray, grease a 9” X 13” dish. Line bottom of dish with bread. Top with sausage mixture. Pour egg mixture over all and top with cheese. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The following day, bake in 350 degree over for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serves 8-10.

Bourbon Apple Baked French Toast

1 pound softened cream cheese
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 each fresh eggs
1 ½ cups whole milk
8 slices ciabatta bread
1 cup Bourbon Stewed Apples (see recipe)

Beat softened cream cheese in mixer with paddle attachment until smooth. Add sugar, cinnamon and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs one at a time, while mixing. Scrape down sides of bowl and mix again. Slowly incorporate milk while mixing. Place two slices of bread in each of 10 casserole dishes, flat sides to the center. Top bread with 3 ounces of custard mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and top each portion with ¼ cup of bourbon stewed apples. Serves: 4.

Bourbon Stewed Apples

¼ pound Bourbon Butter (see recipe)
1 cup Apple Pie Filling (see recipe)

Heat apple pie filling in a sauté pan. Add butter in chunks. Stir until butter melts. Makes 1 cup.

Apple Pie Filling

2 ½ pound apples – peeled, cored and sliced
¼ cup apple cider
1 ½ tsp corn starch
1/8 pound butter
¼ cup light brown sugar
1 oz granulated sugar
1 pinch ground cinnamon

Dissolve corn starch in apple cider. Melt butter in skillet. Add apples and sauté until coated in butter. Add sugars and cinnamon and cook until syrup is thick. Add corn starch – cider mixture and simmer for 5 minutes. Makes 1 cup.

Bourbon Butter

1 stick unsalted butter, ¼ lb)
3 tbsp bourbon, Jim Beam

Allow butter to come to room temperature, and then combine with remaining ingredients in a mixer. Using a rubber spatula, remove mixture to a sheet of wax paper and roll into a log. Place in freezer until set. Slice off a coin as needed. Makes ¼ pound.

From our family to yours: Christmas reflections from the folks behind the blog:

Lee Healy, culinary attaché: “My family gets together on Christmas Eve for a traditional meal, but Christmas day is a different story. We get up and have coffee, open presents and then have breakfast at 10am. We always had a large open house for family and friends on Christmas afternoon with BBQ. Breakfast was country ham (in a black skillet, with red eye gravy—made with cold coffee poured into hot pan of drippings), grits, scrambled eggs, cooked apples (sliced Granny Smiths with a little butter, cinnamon and sugar – cooked until they’re caramelized), biscuits (out of a can because mom did not bake), served with butter and molasses.”

Hayley Teater, food blog sidekick : On Christmas eve my family and I stay up all night making my great grandmother’s yeasted Hungarian coffee cakes. The recipes are a bit painstaking but there’s lots of cocktails and laughter involved, and it’s just become this fun tradition. There’s nothing like waking up Christmas morning and devouring them fresh out of the oven, along with some coffee, while we listen to the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack.

Brussels Sprout Choucroute

2 tbsp bacon drippings
2 tbsp duck fat
½ pound yellow onions, julienned
1 pound Brussels sprouts, cut in half
1 ½ cups chicken stock
2 tbsp Gulden’s mustard
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
½ pound small new potatoes, cooked and cooled
¼ pound bacon, rendered to yield above drippings and rough chopped

Melt fats in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add onions and sweat until golden. Increase heat and add Brussels sprouts and sauté until edges are browned. Add stock, mustard, salt, pepper and thyme. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until the sprouts are tender. Add potatoes and cook until hot. Turn off heat and stir in bacon. Serves 4.

Recipe: Creamy Grits

1 ½ quarts Heavy hipping Cream
3 quarts Water
¾ pound Butter
1 tbsp Salt (or to taste)
½ tbsp Cracked Black Pepper (or to taste)
4 ½ cups Grits, Yellow (Old Mill of Guilford)
1 ½ cups Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated

Cranberry Orange Sauce

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup Apple Cider vinegar
3 cups dried cranberries
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mustard
2 tsp salt
1 fl oz ginger puree
½ cup orange juice

Add sugar, apple cider vinegar and cranberries to a sauce pot. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Makes 3 cups.

Beans & Greens

2 pounds kale
½ pound dried black eyed peas
5 tbsp canola oil
3 tbsp chopped garlic
1 ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
1 ½ tbsp rice wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Soak peas overnight and then drain. Cook peas in salted water until tender, turn off heat and allow to sit until needed. De-stem, chop and wash kale. Heat oil in large sauce pot over medium heat. Sweat garlic and pepper flakes until aromatic. Turn heat up to medium high and quickly add kale. Stir rapidly to wilt down the kale. When kale has reduced in volume to 1/3 its size, add drained beans and vinegar. Cover and simmer until kale is tender. Adjust seasoning to taste. Makes 1 ½ quarts.

Tips for Cooking Ham:

If you’re roasting a city ham or heating up a country ham, it’s important to remember that salt is an essential ingredient in the ham process. You don’t generally need to season a ham, but it behooves you to be aware of its moisture content.
Let your ham sit at room temperature for an hour before cooking, and be careful not to cook it too high or for too long.
A lot of times, you’ll encounter hams with a thick sweet glaze, which helps to balance the salt. If you choose to glaze your ham, make sure you don’t glaze the ham until the last hour of cooking, so the glaze doesn’t burn. While some like a good glaze, if you spend good money on a country ham, you might want to opt for the less is more route and leave it unadorned. When all else fails, serve a glaze or sauce on the side so everybody’s happy.
If you buy a bone-in ham, be sure to save the bone for stocks and soups.

Other Tips for Easy Christmas Meals:

If you’re planning on cooking a big Christmas dinner, make a strata, and/or a french toast casserole the night before, refrigerate and then bake them in the morning while your kids are opening their presents so you don’t have to spend the whole day cooking.
If you’re doing a big dinner, a lot of your sides can be prepared at least a day or two in advance. Knock out whatever you can before the day of, so you won’t have as much to do and you can enjoy more time with your family.

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

Delicacy of a Lost Time: What do you do with chestnuts besides roast them over an open fire?

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 41. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

When one hears the word chestnut, it’s difficult not to associate it with the nostalgic Mel Tormé Christmas tune (“The Christmas Song”), and its famous line, “chestnuts roasting on an open fire.” In 1904, the once prevalent crop was nearly wiped out completely by a blight, which infected several Asian chestnut trees that were planted in Long Island. Over the next 40 years, around 40 billion chestnut trees in America were decimated by the fast-spreading deadly fungus. Since then the nut has mostly flown under the radar in the U.S, usually just making a festive appearance among New York City street vendors during the holidays, and sometimes popping up in stuffing. In France, chestnuts are commonly used in desserts, and Marrons Glacés (candied chestnuts) and Creme de Marrons (chestnut paste, used in the chestnut mousse dessert, Mont Blanc). Both are popular treats, especially at Christmastime.

Over the years since the blight, organizations such as The American Chestnut Foundation have employed countless hours of research and experimentation, working to restore and preserve the American chestnut population. They have also helped prevent future destruction by discovering how to grow blight-resistant crops. The crucial work of these organizations has helped create a resurgence, making this crop sustainable again in the U.S.

Last year we were approached by a guy who told me he had a chestnut grove in Lexington, North Carolina. He offered to sell us some chestnuts and we were intimidated because we had never done anything with chestnuts before. Eager to delve into something new and experiment, we took him up on his offer and bought some chestnuts and chestnut flour. We first tried incorporating chestnut flour into the cornbread that we put in the mushroom stuffing we made for Thanksgiving. We found that the chestnut flour provided a nice earthiness to the dish that played well with the mushrooms. This year we’re excited to work with some folks who are so local we’re practically neighbors, getting some chestnuts and chestnut flour from High Rock Farm. Established in 1807 in Gibsonville, N.C, current owner Richard Teague planted the farm’s first ever chestnut tree in 1991. Now High Rock is the leading chestnut orchard in the mid-Atlantic, with over 500 thriving chestnut trees. Through the farm you can buy chestnut trees, fresh chestnuts, dried chestnut kernels, and stone-ground chestnut flour, which is naturally gluten-free.

Flounder with Sherry Chestnut Compound Butter

One of the first chestnut recipes we tried at the restaurant was a sherry chestnut compound butter out of roasted chestnuts, which is fantastic melted on top of flounder.

For the butter:

1 pound salted butter
5 fl oz sherry
1/3 cup chopped roasted chestnuts

For the flounder:

1 boneless portion of skin-on flounder
1 fl oz canola oil
1 coin of Sherry Chestnut Butter
salt and pepper

Season flounder with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle oil into a sauté pan and place flounder flesh side down to cook until crisp. Flip and finish in a moderately warmed oven. Place on a serving platter and top with one coin of Sherry Chestnut Butter. Makes 1 serving.

What to do with those chestnuts?

Look for chestnuts with smooth, glossy brown shells; wrinkled or mottled shells, or ones with holes usually indicate a moldy or rotten nut.

Chestnuts should be stored in a cool place and soaking them in cold water for about 20 hours immediately post-harvest can help preserve them without refrigeration.

Shelled and cooked chestnuts should be covered and stored in the refrigerator, lasting up to about four days.

Chestnuts can be dried and sold as kernels, which can then be re-hydrated and incorporated in savory dishes or puréed into soups or used in desserts.

Roast ‘e’m: Chestnuts can be shelled and eaten raw, but they are at their best when roasted. First, score the nut using a sharp knife and making an X (about 1/8-inch deep), to prevent it from expanding and exploding. Roast the chestnuts on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven, for about 35 minutes, shaking the pan a few times throughout. While the chestnuts are still hot (be careful not to burn yourself), peel them and discard their shells.

Fry ‘e’m: You can also deep-fry chestnuts. Just make sure to peel them first.

Bake ‘e’m in a cake: Chestnut flour can be found at most specialty grocery stores and works great in cakes or pancakes.

Chestnut-Pumpkin Spice Cakes

3 tbsp softened butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
½ cup puréed pumpkin (run through processor)
¼ cup buttermilk
2/3 cup chestnut flour
¾ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground ginger
¾ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt

Cream butter and sugar in mixer with paddle attachment. Add egg. Combine pumpkin and buttermilk. Combine all dry ingredients. Rotate adding pumpkin mix and dry mix to the sugar mix, ending with dry mix. Do not over mix. Ladle mixture on to hot griddle and cook until golden on both sides. Makes: 32 cakes

Fun facts about chestnuts:

Chestnut trees are of the genus Castanea, and come from the same family as Oak and Beech trees.

Chestnuts are covered by an outer spiny shell, and then a brown papery membrane known as a pellicle, which protects the fruit’s flesh. The pellicle’s properties are very astringent, so it is important that it is removed before the chestnut is consumed.

There are four main species of the nut: American, European, Chinese and Japanese.

Nowadays most chestnuts are imported from China, Japan, Italy and Spain. They are harvested from October to March, with December being the peak month.

In Europe, Asia and Africa, chestnuts are often used as a potato substitute, as they contain twice the amount of starch as potatoes. Their textures are also very similar.

Chestnuts are the only nut that contain Vitamin C, although that amount decreases by 40 percent after they’ve been subjected to heat.

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

Oysters: Pearls of the south, taste of the sea

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 40. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

There’s an old fisherman’s adage that you should not consume shellfish during months that don’t contain an “R.” This is primarily because during warmer months Diploid oysters spawn, meaning they reduce in size and become watery and unpalatable. However, Triploid oysters—which can be harvested quicker—actually remain sweet and are pleasant in taste and texture all year-long, and is your best choice in warmer months.

We’re tremendously delighted to have been introduced to cousins Travis and Ryan Croxton at Rappahannock River Oysters, in Topping, Virginia. They believe in the concept of merrior, which means “tasting the sea,” and it shows in their oysters. We’ve been lucky to partner with them for some of our beer dinners, and right now we are featuring their BarCat oysters on our menu, in our oyster pan stew and wintry salad.

Our Wintry Salad: Reminiscent of our fried oysters caesar salad, this too features Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese in the dressing and atop the salad, and croutons made from Ciabatta bread from Orlando Bakery, in Cleveland, OH.

Our Oyster Pan Stew: Barcat oysters cooked in a country ham cream sauce with housemade bacon and pickled leeks, served over whipped sweet potatoes, and topped with chives

Oyster Pan Stew

1 tbsp Canola oil
6 oz oysters
1 oz slab bacon, rendered
1 fl oz Pickled Leeks, see recipe
4 fl oz Country Ham Cream Sauce, see recipe
2 fl oz whole milk
1 tbsp chives, chopped
¾ cup Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes, see recipe

Heat oil in a sauté pan until hot and add oysters, bacon and leeks.Sauté until done. Add cream sauce and milk to pan and heat through. Place whipped sweet potatoes in a bowl and top with oyster stew. Garnish with chopped chives. Makes 1 portion

Pickled Leeks

2 ½ pounds leeks, cut in ½ moons on bias
¼ cup sea salt
3 quarts water

Place cut leeks in a hard plastic container. Dissolve salt in water and bring to a boil. Pour boiling water over leeks and weigh down the leeks with plates to keep them under the salt water. Allow to sit at room temperature for five days; then refrigerate. Discard any leeks that float to the top. Makes 2 ½ pounds

Country Ham Cream Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
½ pound country ham cut into small pieces
¼ cup yellow onions, diced
1 tbsp butter
2 ¼ cups heavy cream
½ tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch

Heat oil in stock pot; then add onions to the stock pot and sauté until tender. When onions are tender, add country ham to stock pot and sauté until hot throughout. Do not overcook. Add butter to melt, and then add cream and pepper. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Cook 8-10 minutes. Dissolve cornstarch in a little water; add only enough to slightly thicken. Remove from heat. Makes – 3 cups

Recipe: Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes

2 pounds sweet potatoes – washed, roasted and peeled
1 stick butter
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tsp sorghum molasses
salt to taste

Sweet potatoes should be weighed after being roasted and peeled. Lay out potatoes on a sheet pan in a single layer and heat through in a 350 degree oven. When heated through, combine all ingredients in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or mash with potato masher by hand until well combined and smooth. Makes 4 portions

Not only does Rappahannock farm their own oysters, but the 100-year-old family-owned, sustainable company is committed to protecting and celebrating the Chesapeake Bay and its native shellfish, as well as their own family history. They also control the salinity in their oysters by growing them further up the river for less salinity, and closer to the Chesapeake to achieve a greater brininess. This ensures a greater consistency and higher quality in the oysters, instead of having unpredictable conditions that make for an uneven dining experience. One of the things we most admire about these guys is that they’re concerned with positively affecting their environment and because of that they divert proceeds from their oyster sales to restore the watershed that feeds the Chesapeake Bay. In 2005, Food & Wine Magazine recognized their endeavors, with the “Tastemaker’s Award,” which is given each year to distinguishing young talents in the food and wine industry.

Rappahannock River Oysters will ship fresh oysters to your home, and you can order them online here.

Which Came First, the Stuffing or the Dressing?

The oyster dressing recipe below is actually the same as the lamb sausage spoonbread on our menu – just substituting the oysters for sausage. You can also make a vegetarian version at home too, substituting mushrooms for the meat.

Recipe: Oyster Dressing

3 tbsp Canola oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion
½ cup celery—small dice
2 tsp salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp chopped garlic
3 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
1 8×8 pan cornbread, crumbled
1 pint shucked oysters
1/8 cup minced parsley
½ tbsp dried sage

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pot on medium heat. Add onions and celery; cook until transluscent. Add salt, cayenne and garlic. Combine well and remove from heat. In a bowl, whisk eggs well. Add cream and combine thoroughly. Crumble cornbread into egg/cream mixture. Using rubber spatula, fold until all bread is moistened. Add oysters, parsley and sage. Fold together with spatula until well combined. Grease 9×13 pan. Turn mixture into pan, smoothing the top to a level thickness. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool before cutting. Serves 12.

Fun Facts About Oysters:

• Colder water oysters grow slower and tend to be smaller.

• Oysters are rich in protein, zinc, calcium, iron, selenium, and Vitamins A and B12.

• The most commonly harvested oysters are the Eastern American oyster (Crassostrea virginica), which are found in the Atlantic, between Canada and Argentina, and the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas), found between Japan and Washington state.

• Oysters change gender at least once during their lifespan.

• The female Pacific oyster can spawn up to 200 million eggs just in one season.

• Oysters have gills and a mantle which allow them to breathe. They also have hearts, stomachs, kidneys and intestines!

• Oysters are considered an aphrodisiac, especially during the spring (according to scientists).They contain rare amino acids that promote sexual hormones. Casanova was said to have consumed fifty oysters for breakfast every morning.

• Oysters are extremely sensitive to water quality and environmental factors such as pollution, silt, ice, rainfall and soil erosion.

• The most famous oyster dish is Oysters Rockefeller, coined around 1899 by Jules Alciatore—proprietor (and grandson of the founder) of Antoine’s Restaurant, in New Orleans. The dish was named after the wealthy Rockefeller family, for its incredibly rich, indulgent taste.

• Oyster shells provide essential nutrients for soil and promote plant growth, so crush those shells after you shuck ’em and put them in your garden or compost!

Tips for Storing and Cooking Oysters at Home:

• When you’re planning to cook oysters it is perfectly fine to buy shucked oysters, however, if you intend on eating raw oysters you should buy them in the shell and shuck your own.

• Never freeze un-shucked oysters. You can refrigerate freshly shucked oysters at 33-40 degrees for up to two days and live, un-shucked oysters for up to five days. Live oysters should be stored flat side up in a mesh bag or an open container loosely covered with a damp cloth, and never in a tight container, as they could suffocate and die.

• If an oyster’s shell is loose, it’s a sign that the oyster has died. Look for oysters that feel heavy, and have shells that are completely shut (or that shut all the way when tapped).

• West Coast oysters are significantly different in flavor than East Coast oysters. If you grew up in the American South, odds are you prefer East Coast oysters. They are saltier and more compact. West Coast oysters (other than the Japanese varieties) are larger and sweeter.

• You can also roast oysters—a popular tradition in the south, particularly indigenous to the Carolinas.

Aw Shucks:

• Before shucking, rinse your oysters with cold water and use a scrub brush to remove any debris.

• When shucking oysters, be sure to save their juices (liquor), as it is very flavorful. If it’s cloudy or smells off, that’s an indication that the oyster is bad.

• We like this oyster shucking tutorial video:

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

Feed your mind: Sifting through TV food shows

Talking about food is really trendy right now, and there are more food shows on the air than ever before. It’s difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff without wasting your time. So instead of having celebrities and big personalities backed by a cadre of wizardly technicians who are manipulating everything, why not check out some of these PBS shows flying under the radar? If you can sift through the detritus out there, you will find there are food shows with real substance and people who are actively and authentically involved in food for a living.

Some of the most interesting food television these days is actually on PBS. The third season of Flavor, NC is just one of three raw, groundbreaking, unpretentious shows on PBS that depict a crystal-clear portrayal of life as a chef, as opposed to the Hollywood-contrived shows you often see on The Food Network Channel. These shows align with life as a chef more than anything else we’ve seen, and we enjoy the inspiration they generate.

The Mind of a Chef is a series produced by Anthony Bourdain that follows high end chefs who are re-contextualizing humble cuisine. The first season featured David Chang, and the second season follows Sean Brock and April Bloomfield. See your local listings on the UNC-TV website, or watch on Netflix.

Flavor, NC is another locally made series, produced by Theresa Dalton and hosted by Lisa Prince. The series celebrates North Carolina’s rich agricultural history and colorful food scene, showcasing farms, ingredients, restaurants, and food purveyors all over the state…giving faces to our food and meaning to our meals. I recently had the pleasure of cooking the following recipes for them for an episode about garlic from Plum Granny Farm. Watch me cook in their latest episode on the UNCTV website! The show airs on UNCTV on November 14th (10 p.m.), 16th (10:30 a.m.), and 17th (1 p.m.).

Plum Granny Farm

Once you begin frequenting farmers’ markets and become more knowledgeable about the local food scene, you start to realize a lot of people grow the same things, making them available at the same time. So you start actively seeking out those who have something different or those who have learned how to extend the seasons. The folks at Plum Granny Farm definitely have a special operation. The small, family-run organic farm near Hanging Rock is more than 140 years old and was once a tobacco farm. They grow a fantastic mosaic of unique, harder-to-come-by produce, which is one of the reasons we love them. It’s refreshing to find a local farm that has figured out how to grow something that nobody else has grown, like garlic. In getting to know Cheryl and in learning about her farm, we’ve found that she has also experimented with growing fingerling potatoes, artichokes, raspberries and ginger, among other rarities.

When we recently had the opportunity to participate in Flavor, NC, we couldn’t think of any other farm that we’d be more delighted to partner with than Plum Granny. We wanted to feature their garlic because it’s their feature crop and it’s what they currently have available. We also wanted to showcase some of the ways we use their garlic in our restaurant. Last spring we made a white bean and roasted garlic purée with a pork belly and rhubarbecue sauce. Toward the end of the summer we made a wild mushroom and roasted garlic soup, and we currently have our barley risotto on our fall menu.

Barley Risotto

2 fl oz canola oil
1 ½ cups shiitake mushrooms, julienne and par roast
¼ cup Pickled Leeks (see below)
¼ cup Garlic Confit (see below)
3 cups parboiled pearl barley
1 tsp kosher salt
½ tsp black pepper
1 cup water
1 handful Kale Chips (see below)

Heat a sauté pan, add oil and heat through. Add leeks and mushrooms to pan and cook until fragrant (2-3 minutes). Add garlic, barley and seasoning; heat through. Add water and simmer until all of water is absorbed by the barley. Distribute between four plates and garnish with kale chips. Makes 4 servings.

Pickled Leeks

2 pounds leeks
3 tbsp kosher salt
2 quarts water

Wash leeks and slice into half moons on the bias. Place leeks in a container. Dissolve salt in water and bring to a boil. Pour boiling salt water over the cut leeks and weigh the leeks down with plates to keep them under the water. Allow to sit at room temperature for 5 days; then remove plates and refrigerate. Discard any leeks that float to the top. Makes 3 pints.

Kale Chips from Francis Lam, Features editor at Gilt Taste

kale (curly or flat variety)
olive oil
salt
smoked paprika or other spices

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Wash kale leaves well and dry. Remove leaves from stems by holding the thick stem between two fingers and strip the leaf from the stem. If the stem is thick through the middle of the leaf, it’s better to strip it so the leaf comes apart in two pieces. Toss the leaves in a little oil, rubbing the oil onto each leaf gently with your fingers. Season lightly with salt (as the leaves dehydrate, they will shrink, so they will come out saltier than when they went into the oven). Lay leaves flat on a baking sheet; do not overlap. Bake until they are dried, crisp and crackly, with no chewiness left (about 25 minutes). Once done, you can sprinkle them with spices like smoked paprika. Store in an air tight container.

White Bean Purée

4 cups cooked white beans
¼ cup Garlic Confit (see below)
½ cup olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup crumbled blue cheese
¼ tsp white pepper
1 tbsp kosher salt

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until thoroughly combined. Makes 3 cups.

Garlic Confit

1 pound garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Using a serrated knife, trim the tops of the garlic husks, exposing cloves within and leaving the root end intact. Place cut side down in a saucepan. Cover with oil and cook as low as possible until center of cloves are tender when skewer is inserted. Makes 1 cup.

Wild Mushroom & Roasted Garlic Soup

2 cups shiitake mushrooms, julienne cut
¼ cup butter
1 gallon chicken stock
1 pound rind of Parmesan cheese
½ pound garlic husk (see below)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp white pepper
½ cup roasted garlic bulbs (see below)
¼ cup dry cooking sherry
¼ cup corn starch

In a sauté pan, sweat down shiitake mushrooms in butter, then set aside. In a sauce pot, combine chicken stock, Parmesan rind and garlic husk and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain, pressing on solids to get all the juices. Discard solids. Return liquid to a clean pot and add sautéd shiitake mushrooms, cream, pepper, and roasted garlic. Bring to a simmer and purée with an immersion blender (or in a food processor). Combine sherry and corn starch. Whisk the corn starch slurry into the soup. Simmer for 5 minutes. Strain and then serve. Makes 3 quarts.

Roasted Garlic Bulbs

3 pounds fresh garlic bulbs
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp kosher salt

Using a serrated knife, cut off top of garlic bulbs, leaving root end intact. Cut should be deep enough to expose every clove of garlic. Evenly spread olive oil on a parchment lined sheet tray, then sprinkle tray with kosher salt. Place all bulbs, cut side down, onto oiled tray and roast at 350 degrees until tender (about 15 minutes). Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. When cool to the touch, squeeze garlic from the husks into a bowl. Save the husk as well. Makes 2 cups roasted garlic and ½ pound husk.

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

When you’re craving dirt candy, you can’t beet ketchup

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 39. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

Unfortunately this summer’s finicky weather has poorly affected many of the beets in the area, and the crops at Farlow Farm and Schicker’s Acre did not germinate. This has presented a challenge for us trying to source locally, so as a result we’ve turned to larger concerns, farther away, such as Burch Farms, in Faison, NC.

Besides our affection for beets, we also love beet greens, so at the restaurant, we decided to make a roasted beet salad with some classic accompaniments, like romaine lettuce, toasted walnuts, apples, crumbled bleu cheese and a tarragon vinaigrette. The first time we put that salad on the menu, we were deliberating about what kind of meat to include in the salad. We feel like beets are the venison of the vegetable world, they’re meaty and filling and can hold their own in a salad like that. Sure enough, the salad was an overwhelming success, so we bring it back twice a year, both in the spring and the fall, when we can get beets locally.

Recipe: Roasted Beet Salad

4 oz spring mix lettuce
½ pound roasted beets, sliced (see below)
¼ cup toasted walnuts
¼ cup blue cheese crumbles
½ local apple, sliced, then cut slices cut in half
1 fl oz Tarragon Vinaigrette (see below)

Toss spring mix with vinaigrette and place in serving bowl. Arrange beets around perimeter of bowl rim. Sprinkle walnuts, blue cheese, and apple in the center. Makes 1 serving.

Recipe: Roasted Beets

3 pounds red beets
1/3 cup water
kosher salt

Place beets on a sheet tray, add water, and sprinkle with salt. Cover tray with foil and roast in 350 degree oven for 1-1 ½ hours (the skin should slip off). Remove from oven and immerse in cold water. Peel and slice in half lengthwise, and cut into half moons about ¼ inch thick. Yields 1 ½ pounds.

Recipe: Tarragon Vinaigrette

1 cup red wine vinegar
3 tbsp dried tarragon
¼ cup minced shallots
1 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
3 cups canola oil

To a saucepan, add all ingredients, except oil. Heat while whisking, until sugar is dissolved and Dijon is incorporated. Pour into blender or food processor and slowly incorporate oil until all is combined. Makes 1 quart.

In addition to making the beet salad, we roast beets as a side dish, pickle them, and most recently, we began making a beet ketchup. The recipe was inspired by the beet ketchup served this summer at the Farm to Fork Picnic, in Hillsborough. We visited Fickle Creek Farm (from whence comes our lard for our Skillet-Fried Chicken), and they were serving chicken corn dogs with this beet ketchup which was something we had never seen before and we were determined to recreate it at the restaurant. It’s just roasted beets, sugar, spices and vinegar. We serve it with grilled pork chops and it tastes like a more adult version of ketchup—it has more complexity to it.

Recipe: Beet Ketchup

1 ½ pounds roasted red beets
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
5 tbsp white vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
1 tbsp kosher salt, or to taste
1 tsp juniper berries
1 tsp whole cloves
1 tsp whole allspice
½ tsp granulated garlic
½ tsp granulated onion

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot and simmer for one hour or until beets can be puréed in a food mill or food processor. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Process through a food mill or in a food processor (if using a food processor, strain through a fine mesh sieve afterwords). Allow the mixture to sit in the refrigerator overnight. Process mixture in a blender or food processor in small batches. Force the purée through a fine mesh sieve. Makes 1 quart.

Fun Facts on Beets:

The three most common types of beets in the marketplace are: red beets, gold beets and chioggia beets (or candy stripe beets).

They are a great source of natural sugar and most of Europe’s table sugar is processed from beets.

They are rich in folate, potassium, maganese, beta-carotene, iron, and vitamins B and C.

They are common in Eastern European cuisine.

Beet greens have a mild spinach flavor and can be eaten raw (if they’re small and tender), de-stemmed and mixed with other salad greens, or they can be cooked like swiss chard. The best way to cook them is to separate the stem from the leaves and cook the stems first until they’re tender and then add the leaves and cook them until they are lightly wilted.

Locally, beets can be grown twice a year, in the spring and in the fall, because they thrive during cool nights.

Smaller beets= sweeter; larger beets= earthier.

We like to fry sliced beets to mix with sweet potato chips, toasted kale and parsnips, and call it “Autumn Leaves.”

Their juice stains easily, so it’s advisable to buy some disposable gloves if you’re planning on working with them, otherwise your kitchen might look like a crime scene!

Ketchup Facts:

Ketchup or Catsup? Ketchup is the original term for this beloved American condiment and it’s thought to have either derived from the Malaysian word “ke-tsiap” or “Kecap,” or the Chinese word “kôe-chiap,” for a fermented soy sauce made of pickled fish. Tomatoes did not become the forefront ingredient of ketchup until the late 1700s. Europeans explorers became a fan of the sauce and brought it home with them, referring to it as “catchup,” which later evolved into “ketchup.”

One of the earliest English recipes for ketchup contained anchovies, lemon peel, vinegar, white wine, shallots, cloves, mace, ginger, and nutmeg.

The word catsup was noted of first appearing in a poem by Jonathan Swift, in 1730: “And, for our home-bred British cheer, Botargo, catsup, and caveer.”

Sandy Addison is said to have created the first American documented recipe for ketchup, in the American cookbook, The Sugar House Book, published in 1801.

Heinz didn’t actually make a tomato-based ketchup until 1876 and they originally called the condiment catsup, later changing to ketchup sometime during the late 1880s. Today, they are the world’s leading ketchup distributor, selling over 600 million bottles each year.

Feeling Adventurous? Try these fun, unusual recipes for beets:

Chocolate Beet Cake with Beet Cream Cheese Frosting

Beet and Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Beet, Honey and Tarragon Cocktail

Cider Cocktail with Beets and Star Anise

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

Totally tubular! Musings on the sweet potato

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 38. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

Mother Nature has a way of giving us visual clues to what we should be celebrating. Just when the leaves start turning orange, pumpkins begin to festoon everything and those lovely sweet potatoes come into season. As kids, many of us either ate our sweet potatoes from a can or dug in to grandmother’s sweet potato casserole, replete with marshmallows, pecans, and maraschino cherries. We’ve come to realize, however, that as our sweet teeth have faded a bit, we have come to appreciate sweet potatoes even more.

These root veggies are starchy, so when they’re picked from the ground, they need to be cured in a temperature and humidity-controlled environment to convert their starch to sugar. Afterwards, they’re stored and their sweetness accrues with age. Sweet potato growers know that when sweet potatoes are in season, they’re not at their peak and that it won’t be until a month or so later that they’ll really shine. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around, they are as good as they will ever be. In the meantime, you can still enjoy sweet potatoes, you just need a little help and a little know-how.

Anybody can turn sweet potatoes into candied yams. But at Lucky’s, our whipped sweet potatoes are more of a side dish than a dessert. At Lucky’s, we also make sweet potato hushpuppies, sweet potato chips, and best of all, sweet potato fried pies. About five years ago, we met a woman who had been making fried sweet potato pies for decades. We asked her how she managed to get the filling into the pie without it oozing all out in the fryer. She said her secret was that she pre-baked the sweet potato pie filling completely in a casserole dish, allowed it to cool, and then rolled the filling into a half-moon-shaped hand pie and fried it. So we do it her way at our restaurant, and actually start the pie in the fryer for about a minute, just to set the crust, before finishing it off in the oven, where it cooks fully. We serve the pies with Homeland Creamery’s butter pecan ice cream, and I can’t think of any other treat that is more emblematic of a sweet southern autumn.

Recipe: Sweet Potato Fried Pies

3 cups roasted sweet potatoes
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 large eggs
1 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp Myers Dark Rum
½ tsp Chinese 5 Spice
Homemade Pie Crust (see recipe below)
1 egg (for egg wash)
8 tbsp sugar

Combine potatoes, cream, 3 eggs, brown sugar, spices and rum. Blend until combined and pour into a large shallow pan. Bake at 350 degrees until set. Cool. Divide dough into eight 5 ounce portions. Roll out each portion into a flat circle. Place 2 ounces of cooled potato filling in the center of each dough circle. Brush around circle with beaten egg wash. Fold circle in half and crimp edge with a fork (to seal in the filling). Let pies rest in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Deep fry each pie at 350 degrees for three minutes or until golden brown. Place fried pies on a sheet of parchment and dust with sugar. Makes enough filling for 8 pies.

Recipe: Lucky 32 Pie Crust:

6 1/8 cups all purpose flour
2/3 tbsp salt
3 1/3 sticks unsalted butter
2/3 cup ice cold water

Freeze butter and then grate. Sift flour and salt together. Work cold butter into flour mix and add water slowly, mixing until just combined. Makes enough dough for 8 pies for the recipe above.

Recipe: Molasses Whipped Sweet Potatoes

2 pounds sweet potatoes—washed, roasted and peeled
1 stick butter
1/3 cup sour cream
2 tsp sorghum molasses
salt to taste

Lay out sweet potatoes on a sheet pan in a single layer and heat through in a 350 degree oven. When heated through, combine all ingredients in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or mash with a potato masher by hand until well combined and smooth. Makes 4 portions.

Sweet Potatoes 411:

Health Benefits: Sweet potatoes are rich in antioxidants, beta-carotene, magnesium, and vitamins A, B6, and C.

Sweet potatoes vs. Yams: What’s the difference? Sweet potatoes and yams are not even vaguely from the same vegetable family. Sweet potatoes are indigenous to South America, while yams are of African origin. In this country both names are used interchangeably to refer to sweet potatoes; to try a true yam, head to an international market and seek out Boniato!

How to pick and store: Look for tubers with smooth skin, wrinkle and blemish free. They should be small to medium in size, firm to the touch, and uniform in shape. Do not refrigerate! Store in a relatively cool, dry place for up to two weeks.

Varieties: There are over 6,500 different varieties of sweet potatoes in the world. Here are a a couple of my favorites and some that you’re most likely to recognize:

Covington: One of my favorites, this potato’s inherent sweetness makes it popular here in the south, primarily used in sweet sides and desserts. Its thicker skin makes it easier to roast first and then peel.

Beauregard: Another favorite, this widely-grown, multipurpose variety is good for roasting, boiling, mashing and frying.

Jewell: One of the most common varieties, best for baking casseroles.

Carolina Ruby: A red skin variety with creamy orange flesh and thinner skin; not ideal for roasting because the flesh doesn’t detach from the skin very easily.

O’henry: A relative of the Beauregard, this variety has cream colored skin and flesh, and is great for baking.

Okinawan Purple: Originally native to Japan (hence the name), these potatoes were eventually made popular in Hawaiian cuisine, by French Polynesians. Their skin is creamy brown, but inside the flesh is a vibrant purple.

Stokes Purple: Indigenous to Stokes County, North Carolina, these vivid lavender-hued potatoes possess a unique earthy taste and are best used in savory dishes. They are starchy, with a fibrous skin (which has a purple tinge), and the flesh has a low moisture content, so they’re best baked lower and longer.

Did you know? You can drink ‘em:

Covington sweet potato vodka made in Snow Hill, NC.
Carver sweet potato beer, made at Fullsteam Brewery, in Durham

Come visit our vegetable cart for some delicious baby Evangeline sweet potatoes from our friends at Farlow Farms.

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/

An apple a day helps diversity stay

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 37. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

School’s back in session, the mornings have become brisk, and we’ve almost seen the last of this summer’s peaches at the market. Apple season’s in full-swing and while they might not rev your engine they way strawberries do, this misunderstood fruit is sorely underrated. Red delicious apples are the one bad apple that have spoiled it for the bunch of the good apples out there (pun intended). The mealy-textured, bland-flavored, superficially too-perfect red delicious apple has none of the characteristics of a good eating apple or a even a good cooking apple. However, it looks good on a produce stand, it travels and stores well so it has become the ubiquitous representative of the rosacea (apple) family. There are probably more cultivars of apples that are extinct than there are currently extant on this planet. Apple offspring are always different than the parent trees that contributed pollen and flower, unless branches are grafted onto rootstock. What better way to celebrate diversity than to search for apples you’ve never heard of. Keep in mind that just because it is obscure does not mean it tastes great, but therein lies the adventure. We challenge you to find an apple you’ve never heard of before. As our friends at RAFT (Renewing America’s Food Traditions) are wont to say, “you’ve got to eat it to save it.”

Favorite Apples

We prefer to use sour apples for cooking and sweet apples for eating out of hand—which seems to be the rule of thumb. Gala may be the most popular type of apple in these parts, but our favorite varies depending on the intended use. Here are some of our favorites:

- Galas: This sweet apple makes wonderful juice, although you do need a juice extractor.

Arkansas Black: This beauty lives up to its name, with a dark, forbidden-like hue, reminiscent of the apple the witch gave Snow White. These apples are tart, hearty and crunchy and keep really well.

Mutsu (AKA Crispin): This is a great eating apple that tops many folks’ lists here in the Piedmont.

Macintosh: Well-balanced and good for cooking or eating fresh.

Stayman Winesap: Stores well and is great for pies and cider.

Buckingham: These large apples are ideal for pies, or mountain-style fried apples.

Pink Lady: These beauties are best for the kids’ lunch boxes.

Honeycrisp: When I crave juicy sweetness, this is one apple I might walk a mile to get my hands on. These apples are sweet and crisp like their name implies and are easily one of my favorite snacking apples. I’ve also made apple bitters, using honeycrisp apples, which we show off in the Apple core reviver #2, that we will feature at the Foggy Ridge Cider dinner on October 17

Gingergold: One of my favorites for cooking, because their balance is amazing and they make the best applesauce.

One of my favorite ways to experience the full flavor of an apple is through cider and hard cider (fermented cider). A longstanding tradition, cidermaking was made popular in America by English settlers from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and hard ciders were the colonial beverage of choice. Believe it or not, “ugly,” misshapen apples with blemishes are some of the best apples for making cider. We feature three different artisanal hard ciders by the glass every day, two from Foggy Ridge in Dugspur, Virginia and one from McRitchie right here in Elkin, North Carolina. If you want a real treat, find some boiled cider (http://www.woodscidermill.com/), and incorporate it into your cold weather morning ritual.

Recipe: New Jersey Cocktail

1.25 fl oz Apple Brandy
1 sugar cube
3 dashes Angostura bitters
4 fl oz hard cider (we like Foggy Ridge and McRitchie)

Place sugar cube in a champagne flute (or cocktail glass of choice). Add 3 dashes of bitters and apple brandy, and fill with cider. Makes 1 cocktail

Recipe: Warm Apple Spiced Cake

3 cups tart apples (Granny Smith, if you can’t find any at the market)
3 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 stick butter, unsalted
½ cup vegetable oil
2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray and set aside. Peel, core and dice apples into 1-inch pieces; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Whisk together. Place butter, oil and sugar in bowl of an electric mixer. Using paddle attachment, mix on low speed until just blended. Turn speed to high and continue mixing until thoroughly combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla and beat on high speed, 3-4 minutes, until light and fluffy. Turn mixer back to medium speed and gradually add dry ingredients. Turn off mixer when ingredients are just blended; avoid over-mixing. Fold in apples. Fold batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 servings

Fun Facts About Apples:

Apples date back to 6500 BC.
Apples release ethylene gas, which accelerates the ripening of other fruit, so give them their own bowl and keep them away from your other produce.
While there have been between 15,000 and 16,000 different apple varieties in North America, only about 3,000 of those varieties are actually accessible today.
The largest apple ever picked weighed 3 pounds.
North Carolina is the seventh largest apple producing state.
It takes about 36 apples to make one gallon of cider.
After oranges, apples are the most valuable fruit in the U.S.
Apples are high in fiber and vitamin C and they help regulate blood sugar, lower cholesterol, and promote heart health.

More Apple Resources:

Pick your own: http://www.ncapples.com

Book: Old Southern Apples, by Creighton Lee Calhoun Jr: http://www.amazon.com/Old-Southern-Apples-Creighton-Calhoun/dp/0939923378

Book: Cider, Hard and Sweet: History, Traditions, and Making Your Own, by Ben Watson: http://www.amazon.com/Cider-Hard-Sweet-History-Traditions/dp/0881504688

Celebrate: Brushy Mountain Apple Festival: http://www.applefestival.net/n_index.php?

Join us at our Greensboro restaurant on October 17th, for our Hard Cider Dinner with Foggy Ridge.

For more about our seasonal recipes, see our current menu at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen and our Blog Recipe Index:http://lucky32southernkitchen.com/recipes/