“Putting up” with Lucky 32: Chowchow, Pickles and Preserves

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 36. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

The end of summer often fills us with wonder. We anticipate the arrival of cooler nights and question the uncertainty of the remaining gardening months – will winter be fast and furious or will autumn linger enough to provide a second crop of tender leafy edibles? Traditionally the subsistence farmers in this area experienced wonder of their own, not knowing whether they’ve grown and preserved enough food to get them through the winter. Folk who are connected to the land still feel that in the kitchen while planning out menus and looking forward to the coming crops. We’re really anxious to put our summer crops behind us because this year they’ve really underperformed, due mainly to lack of sunshine. That being said, the transition from summer to fall should be celebrated, and traditionally the best way to celebrate that is through canning.

In our humble opinion, there isn’t anything more emblematic of canning than chowchow. This southern condiment is kind of a mish-mash of end of summer garden vegetables with some spices, vinegar and sugar. The vegetables are chopped up finely, cooked down, preserved, and consumed throughout the whole year. In the piedmont, dried beans were consumed often during the cold months, and people liked to garnish their beans with chowchow. There’s something very pioneer about the aroma of chowchow simmering on the stove. It’s not much to look at but it’s quintessentially southern and quite tasty.

As with many traditional dishes, there’s no definitive recipe for chowchow, only a formula. You need something with texture (like cauliflower, cabbage or green tomatoes), some sweet (sugar), and sour (usually cider vinegar), and the success of the recipe is all about how those ingredients play together. Chowchow is an expression of location and identity. At the restaurant we make chow chow year round and we prefer to use green tomatoes for ours. We love our chowchow so much that we’ve incorporated it into quite a few dishes, such as our tartar sauce, 32,000 Island dressing, remoulade, and egg salad.

Recipe: Lucky 32 Chowchow

• 1 ½ cups green tomatoes, seeded and rough chopped
• ½ cup green bell pepper, rough chopped
• ¼ cup red bell pepper, rough chopped
• ½ cup yellow onion, rough chopped
• ¾ tsp mustard seed
• ½ tsp celery seed
• ½ tsp chopped garlic
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper

In a food processor, pulse tomatoes until finely chopped but not pureed. Pulse peppers and onion until finely chopped. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on medium heat for 20-30 minutes. Cool and store in a jar or container with a lid. Makes 2 ½ cups

Recipe: Lucky 32 Egg Salad

• 2 cups chopped hard boiled eggs
• ½ cup green tomato chowchow
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• ½ cup mayonnaise

 Squeeze liquid from the chowchow until it is dry. Add eggs to a mixing bowl, season with salt. Make sure that most of the liquid is out of the chowchow. Add chowchow and mayonnaise to eggs; fold until well combined. Allow to rest in refrigerator until chilled before serving. Makes 2 ½ cups

Some things you can do with chowchow:

• Replace relish in recipes
• Garnish your beans
• Put on a ham biscuit (thank Shannon Smith for this idea)
• Add it to a pasta salad

 For more on “putting up,” check out:

• Zuni Cafe’s Zucchini Pickles: http://localfoods.about.com/od/condiments/r/zucchinipickles.htm
• April McGreger’s “Kimcheez” http://www.farmersdaughterbrand.com
• My favorite book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Wild-Fermentation-Flavor-Nutrition-Live-Culture/dp/1931498237
• More tips and pickling recipes here: http://myfox8.com/2013/09/02/6-tips-and-3-recipes-for-canning-summer-fruits-veggies/

For more recipes, visit https://www.lucky32.com/recipes.htm

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

In praise of the true southern watermelon

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 35. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

School may be back in session but summer ain’t over ’til the watermelon’s gone. Many of us remember being a kid, eating watermelon standing in the backyard, with a little salt, juice running down our chin and our hands all sticky, spitting the seeds out in the grass. It’s a nostalgic food memory and it’s still a wonderul way to eat watermelon; simply, as it’s meant to be eaten.  Farmers would haul watermelons from their patches in the country to the city, selling them out of the back of their trucks, under overpasses. Though we see less of that nowadays, that experience often was our first brush with the local food movement, before it was a movement, per se.

Mark Twain once said, “The true Southern watermelon is a boon apart, and not to be mentioned with commoner things. It is chief of this world’s luxuries, king by grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat.” Watermelon really is one of the iconic fruits of the south. Pickled watermelon rind  is a piece of southern culture that many people aren’t quite sure how to eat at first. We tried making relishes and chutney out of it, but it seemed monotonous and bland. Then we drew on our experience of creating balanced dishes to pair with wine, and thought, “ what does this need?” We definitely thought that fat would help, so we put some on pimento cheese and it was a revelation. Now we’re convinced that watermelon pickles were made for pimento cheese. Saltine crackers with pimento cheese and watermelon pickles is the ultimate Southern hors d’oeuvres. As an extension of this, we created the Backroads Bibb Salad, with bibb lettuce, pimento cheese, pickled watermelon rind, candied pecans and a warm bacon vinaigrette. Quite a few folks looked sideways at the dish when  it debuted on the menu, but since then more people have come around to it, and it has become a favorite. You can find it at both Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen restaurants right now!

Pickled Watermelon Rinds

• 8 pounds watermelon
• 2 tbsp salt
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tbsp pureéd fresh ginger
• yellow peel from one lemon
• 2 tbsp allspice
• 2 tbsp whole cloves

Remove rind from watermelon and reserve red part to enjoy at your leisure (or for the Backroads Bibb Salad). Using a vegetable peeler, remove the green skin from the rind and discard the skin. Cut rind into ½ inch pieces. This should yield about 8 cups. In a large bowl, combine 2 tablespoons salt and 4 cups of water and allow rind to soak in the brine for one hour, then drain. In a large pot, combine lemon juice, 1 cup of water, sugar, ginger puree, lemon peel and spices. Add rind, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered over medium-low, for 40 minutes or until rind is translucent. With a slotted spoon, transfer rind to a plastic container. Strain liquid and pour over rind. Makes 4 cups.

Bacon Vinaigrette

• ¾ pound sliced bacon
• ½ cup diced yellow onions
• 5 ounces light brown sugar
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp Texas Pete sauce
• 3 cups canola oil

Render bacon. Remove from pan and drain. Sauté onions in bacon fat, over medium heat. When onions are golden, add sugar and cook until sugar is dissolved. Turn off heat and stir in Dijon, vinegar, salt, Worcestershire, and Texas Pete. Combine well, scraping bottom of pan. Transfer mixture to a plastic container (if using an immersion blender), or a food processor, and slowly add oil while immersion blender or food processor is running. When all oil is incorporated, stir in crumbled bacon. Makes 1 quart.

Recipe: Pimento Cheese

• 1 pound extra sharp white cheddar cheese
• ½ pound diced roasted red peppers
• 2/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp lemon juice

Grate cheese and add to a large mixing bowl. Drain excess liquid from diced roasted red peppers and add to cheese. Toss to combine. In a separate mixing bowl combine mayonnaise and lemon juice and whisk until smooth. Pour mayonnaise mixture over cheese and using a kitchen spoon, mix until well blended. Makes about 3 cups.

Recipe: Spiced Pecans

• 1 pound pecan pieces
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp allspice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp salt

Line a sheet pan with parchment and spray with cooking spray. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Drain well. Fry pecans in deep fat (we use canola oil) for 60 seconds. Remove and allow to drain and cool. Turn pecans out on the prepared sheet pan, spreading into a single layer. Allow to cool. Makes 1 pound.

To assemble the salad: Arrange half head of Bibb lettuce in the center of a large plate. Drizzle with bacon vinaigrette. Crumble Pimento Cheese on top, and sprinkle with pickles and pecans. Makes 1 serving.

Watermelon Galore

By endeavoring to create a recipe like watermelon pickles, you’re left with a lot of watermelon, so we experimented with a few things like watermelon syrup and watermelon margaritas but they just didn’t pack any punch. Inspired by the tradition of the classic Italian pairing of melon and prosciutto, we devised a southern interpretation of the dish with our Whimsical Watermelon appetizer—a “salad” with diced watermelon, a chiffonade of Benton’s country ham, sherry vinaigrette, homemade ricotta and mint.

Recipe: Whimsical Watermelon 

• 2 cups diced seedless watermelon
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh mint chiffonade
• 1 oz country ham chiffonade
• 1 oz ricotta, drained (or goat cheese)

Cut watermelon pulp into 1-inch cubes. To a bowl, add watermelon, vinegar, oil, and 1 teaspoon of mint. Mix well. Transfer to a chilled soup bowl. Top with ham, cheese, and remaining mint. Makes 1 serving.

How to buy a watermelon

Generally people will tell you that you compromise flavor when you get into these hybrids that are developed to be seedless; that the old timey watermelons with the big black seeds in them are going to have more flavor. While that’s often the case, people don’t want to go out to eat and have to spit out seeds at the dinner table, so at the restaurant, we have found the juiciest, tastiest seedless melons.

We’ve been buying watermelons for about 20 years and we’re still not always certain of how to pick a good one, but here are a few useful tips that we  go by:

• Color: Ripe watermelons are dark green and you should want to look for a creamy, yellow belly as opposed to a white belly (this is the part of the watermelon that was sitting on the ground). The more yellow that spot is, the more mature the melon is and the sweeter it is likely to be.

• Shape: Make sure it’s evenly shaped—bruises, bumps and abnormalities tend to indicate the watermelon hasn’t gotten enough sunlight or water.

• Pick it up. The heaviest one for its size—they should feel heavier than they look.

• Check the end. The end where the vine came off should be smooth, which means the vine detached naturally. If the end is jagged, it was probably picked prematurely.

Watermelon Varieties

There are around two to three hundred varieties of watermelon that exist in the U.S. and Mexico. Several have playful names, like “Cream of Saskatchewan” and “Little Baby Flower.” Here are some of our favorites:

• Moon and Stars: An heirloom variety. Dark green on the outside, with distinctive golden constellation-like dots.

• Jubilee: This extremely sweet watermelon has a dark and light green striped rind and is usually oblong in shape.

• Sugar Baby: Also referred to as an “icebox watermelon,” this variety is dark green on the outside, typically with little or  barely noticeable stripes or markings. True to its name, this melon is remarkably sweet.

• Crimson Sweet: Sugary, with a vivid red hue and a dark and light green striped rind.

Other interesting ways to use watermelon

• We think this watermelon keg is pretty amusing.
• Watermelon cocktails

For more recipes, visit https://www.lucky32.com/recipes.htm

What’s your favorite way to enjoy watermelon?

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

Lend me your ears (of corn)!

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 34. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

The humble ear of sweet corn may be the most misunderstood vegetable in America. We hear a lot of talk about GMO (genetically modified organism) corn and food subsidies, which is more about field corn (the starchy, inedible cousin of sweet corn).  Though sweet corn gets tarred with the same brush, remember not all corn is created equal. Sweet corn is what we nibble on all summer long; field corn is used to make high-fructose corn syrup, livestock feed, ethanol and other processed materials. About 90 percent of field corn is genetically modified, but at least 96 percent of sweet corn is not (according to Plate Magazine), which means we can rest easy my friends.

Corn is such a versatile vegetable. It can be steamed, grilled, roasted, smoked and fried, or eaten on the cob or off. It can be dried, made into hominy, ice cream, beer, and even moonshine. I love the corn cookie recipe in Momofuku Milk Bar Cookbook, by Christina Tosi. We make a whole lot of corn relish (recipe below), because it is used to garnish our black bean cakes.

One of our favorite ways to enjoy corn is to make esquites (as we did at one of our Fullsteam Brewing beer schools). Esquites is a Mexican street food, and we prepare it in a similar way to Tex-Mex nachos. It’s an awesome dish for a party and it’s full of flavor.

Esquites 

• 8-12 corn tortillas
• ¼ cup of corn relish (recipe below)
• ¼ cup of homemade ricotta
• ¼ cup chopped green onions
• 2 tbsp creole mayonaise (recipe below)
• 2 tbsp cayenne pepper hot sauce (we like Valentina)

Recipe: Creole Mayonnaise

• 2 ¾ cup of mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp creole seasoning
• 1 tbsp Texas Pete hot sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Recipe: Corn Relish

• 2/3 pound corn kernels (canned or fresh cooked)
• ¼ cup diced jalapeno peppers
• ½ pound diced tomatoes
• ¼ cup diced red onions
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• ½ tsp ground cumin

Drain the corn well and add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Using a spoon, combine well. Makes 1 quart.

 To Assemble the Esquites:

• Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk until the color is even and the ingredients are evenly distributed. Makes 2 ¾ cups.
• Fry fresh corn tortillas until crispy or bake some already fried tortillas at 350 for just under five minutes. Break the tortillas into pieces (like chips) and place them on a large serving platter. Top them with corn relish, green onions, ricotta, creole mayonnaise, and cayenne pepper hot sauce.

Here are some other inventive uses for corn:

• Make a stock. Before you toss those corn cobs in the trash, consider making a stock with them. Cut corn from cobs and use in relish recipe. Place all cobs in a saucepan or stockpot, depending on how many you have. Cover with water and bring to a simmer. Simmer for one hour. Strain liquid and use in the next recipe.
• Drink it. We’ve been experimenting with a corn, coconut and bourbon cocktail: try this . . . 2 oz corn stock, 1 tbsp Coco Lopez, 4 leaves basil, 1.25 oz Buffalo Trace Bourbon – shake well with ice and double strain over ice in a rocks glass. Add three dashes of Fee Brothers Black Walnut bitters.
• Make succotash. A fantastic way to celebrate summer edging into autumn is by making boiled peanut succotash, with corn, squash and peanuts, which overlap down east for just a bit.
• Add it to your aioli. Vivian Howard, of Kinston’s Chef and the Farmer restaurant uses smoked corn aioli for her famous tomato sandwich. It made the cover of Garden and Gun Magazine, when John T. Edge included it in his list of “good eats” in 2012.
• Smoke it. Smoke whole ears to serve as a side dish, garnished with a miso aioli (miso and Duke’s mayo, mixed in a food processor) as we recently offered at the Mystery Brewing beer school.
• Eat the silk. Those silky strands can actually be fried and eaten, or dried and then crumbled to use as a breading. (I read this in Plate Magazine, but haven’t tried it yet).
• Think sweet. Corn can be used in sweet dishes as well. It can be steeped in cream and churned into sweet corn ice cream or crème bruleé.

Recipe: Ice Box Corn Pudding

Right now on our menu at both Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen restaurants we offer Ice Box Corn Pudding as a side. It’s sort of like making mac and cheese, but with corn instead of pasta, and rather than serving it hot, we serve it cold. It was a popular addition to our menu last year, so we decided to bring it back this summer. Here’s the recipe:

• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• ¼ cup all purpose flour
• 2 tbsp chopped garlic
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 2 oz cream cheese
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
• ¼ cup shredded pepper jack
• 1 ½ pound corn kernels (off the cob)
• 2 small eggs, beaten

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat; stir in flour. Cook until a blonde roux is achieved and then stir in the garlic and sugar. When the sugar is dissolved, whisk in the milk. Simmer until the mixture is thickened (about 5 minutes). Add the spices and cream cheese; stir until melted. Remove from heat and add cheddar and pepper jack. When melted, stir in corn. Allow mixture to come to room temperature and then fold in the beaten eggs. Using a 3 ounce scoop, scoop the mixture into silicone muffin molds or prepared muffin pans. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes; sides should be bubbly and slightly browned. Remove and cool completely before serving. Makes 10 servings.

Some fun facts about corn:

• Each individual kernel is connected to one piece of silk. Every strand of silk needs to be pollinated for all of the kernels to grow to maturity.
• There are about 800 kernels in an ear of corn.
• Out of all the corn produced in the world, Americans consume one third of the sweet crop.
• One bushel of corn equals 56 pounds.

To learn more about corn, check out some of our favorite sources:

• Documentary: King Corn
• Book: Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen: Capturing the Vibrant Flavors of a World-Class Cuisine
• Article: “What’s Eating America,” by Michael Pollan

For more recipes, visit https://www.lucky32.com/recipes.htm

What’s your favorite way to enjoy corn?

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

We wouldn’t be a “southern kitchen” if we didn’t fry okra

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 33. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

Okra season is upon us, and we’re pretty excited. Due to the abundance of rain we’ve had this month, okra has been rather scarce. It’s been a shaky start for local crops, because these African plants, which come from the Mallow family thrive in hot, dry climates. Things may be looking up though because Farlow Farm and Meadows Family Farms both report positive news. When the plants hit their stride, the pods grow so rapidly in the heat of the summer that the plants often have to be harvested twice a day.

Recipe: Okra Popcorn

When we’re unable to get fresh okra, we won’t fry it. We will buy it frozen, to use in stews or gumbo, but those are heartier, wintry dishes anyway. Although it’s available all year in some form, fresh okra is great in the summer because it travels the shortest distance to your plate. During the peak of summer, if the good stuff’s around, we prefer not to adulterate it with a cacophony of too many flavors. we want the flavors of the okra to be at the forefront of the dish, and fried okra is the best way to do that. If you lightly batter and fry okra with just a little salt, buttermilk, cornmeal and a hint of spice, it stands out with little manipulation and you can really taste it. You can eat it like popcorn, hence the “okra popcorn” on our menu.

Tips for Frying Okra

• Barely trim the tops and bottom of the vegetable, cut into half-inch rounds, toss it in some buttermilk, dredge in your breader (our recipe is below), shake in a sifter to remove the excess flour and then fry.

• Fry it in piping hot shallow oil.

• Make sure that if the okra crushes under the weight of the knife, don’t cut it up and fry it. That’s a sign that it’s too “woody,” or fibrous, making it unpalatable.

• Typically, if okra is longer than your fingers, it’s not ideal for cooking. The smaller it is, the more tender it will be and no amount of cooking can tenderize okra that’s too large.

• Okra is best eaten right when you buy it but should be stored in a plastic bag in your refrigerator’s crisper drawer.

Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen’s Fried Okra 

Okra Breader  *this recipe is to be used with 2 oz. of buttermilk for every ½ pound of okra

• ½ cup corn meal
• ½ cup corn flour
• 1 tbsp Creole Seasoning

Creole Seasoning

• 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.

More Okra Tips:

Beyond frying okra, we love to take the pinky-sized baby okra of the bunch and serve it blackened with creole seasoning or skewered and grilled with a drizzle of white vinegar and some salt and pepper, as sort of an impromptu pickled okra. Pickled okra is something I can’t get enough of. When prepared just like you would dill pickles, it lasts for quite some time and is a wonderful appetizer or accompaniment to a sandwich or a plate of cheese. Along with frying okra in hot oil, the vinegar used in the chemical process of pickling is also a great way to help counteract some of the inherent sliminess found in the vegetable’s texture. In addition, cooking okra with tomatoes achieves the same effect, because of the high acidity levels in tomatoes.

Some Fun Facts About Okra:

• The word okra originates from West Africa
• One nickname for okra is “lady’s fingers,” due to the long, slender nature of the vegetable’s pods
• It’s from the same family as hollyhocks, cotton and hibiscus
• It is high in fiber, folate and vitamin C and is also a good source of calcium, potassium and antioxidants
• Okra plants have beautiful white or yellow flowers which open in the morning

For more recipes, visit https://www.lucky32.com/recipes.htm

How do you like to eat your okra?

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

Oh no! Here comes the squash!

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 32. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

Squash comes from the Cucurbita family, which is rather easy to grow in our climate—from melons, to cucumber, to squashes. They all grow on vines that can envelope your entire garden and produce more fruit than you know what to do with.

• Flying Saucer, Sunburst, White Pattypan: These three are all pattypans, which have larger seeds and a central cavity, like winter squash—great for stuffing or cutting into wedges and roasting. Smaller is better.

• Zephyr: Smaller specimens are great for chopping, roasting or sautéing. Larger squash have larger seeds, so longer cooking, removing the seeds, or baking into bread is recommended.

• Safari Zucchini: Similar to Zephyr.

• Magda: Better for stewing.

Squash is also one of the three sisters of traditional Native American lore, because the tomato plants would act as trellises for the bean vines and then the squash would grow along the ground, in the shade of the tomato plants.

We’re excited about our burgeoning relationship with Farlow Farm, a small family farm in Archdale, NC, where Russell and Jennifer have converted a former dairy farm into a vegetable farm. We’ve been buying their basil, tomatoes and of course, squash. You can find their produce at the Greensboro Curb Farmers’ Market, as a temporary vendor, at New Garden Nursery’s Thursday Farmers’ Market, and of course, at their farm. (Check out a recent feature on Farlow Farm on FOX8.)

We can’t really think of anything that’s more emblematic of summer than ratatouille—summer squash, tomatoes and eggplant all cooked together—whether you cook it very lightly, or stew it on the stove, in the Provencal manner. It tastes of the earth and that’s what summer squash is. It’s mostly water, and it’s a wonderful vehicle for you to express yourself in the kitchen. You can chop it up into chunks and sauté it quickly, add a little creole sauce and spill it over some rice. You can slice it and grill it with a little salt and pepper and some fruit vinegar, or smother it in cheese or roast it in the oven with some sesame seeds like we do at the restaurant. The opportunities are endless and it’s an easy way as a gardener (or farmers’ market forager) to put food on your table.

We’ve left out the eggplant and rechristened our ratatouille, “Summer Squash Creole.” Try the recipe below or enjoy it at Lucky’s until Aug 20.

Recipe: Summer Squash Creole 

• 1 fl oz canola oil
• 1 cup zucchini (large dice)
• 1 cup yellow squash (large dice)
• ¾ cup Creole Sauce
• ¾ cup long grain white rice
• ¼ cup ricotta cheese
• 2 tbsp chopped green onions

Heat oil in saute pan; saute zucchini and yellow squash. When heated through, add sauce. Bring to a boil and then pour over white rice. Garnish with crumbled ricotta and chopped green onions. Makes 1 serving

Recipe: Creole Sauce

• 1/8 pound celery, diced ¼ inch
• 1/8 pound onions, diced ¼ inch
• 1/8 pound green pepper, diced ¼ inch
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 ½ cup canned crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup canned, chopped in puree tomatoes
• ¾ cup V-8 juice
• 1 tbsp Creole Spice Blend
• salt to taste

Add the oil to a large sauce pot. Heat and add onions, peppers, celery, garlic and Creole Spice Blend. Saute for 5-7 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Makes 1 quart

Recipe: 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

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

For more recipes, visit: https://www.lucky32.com/recipes.htm

What is your favorite way to enjoy summer squash?

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

Summertime and the Grilling is Easy

Fourth of July has a way of sneaking up on us, and it is historically a sweltering summer day. We love to cook outside on days like that, so the inside of your home remains a cool sanctuary. For a Fourth of July meal at home this year, it’s all about grilling. How about a grilled romaine salad with charred tomato vinaigrette, a cast-iron skillet ribeye with bourbon butter and summer squash with fruit vinegar?

For the grilled romaine salad, what you wanna do is take some nice, stiff, crunchy romaine (romaine season is approaching its end but greenhouse varieties are available locally). Take the whole head and split longways. Sprinkle the cut side of both halves with salt and pepper and brush some canola oil on your grill so that it’s nonstick. Place the cut-sides of the romaine on the grill so that the edges get slightly charred, cooking for about two minutes before turning 90 degrees and cooking for about two more minutes. Flip and grill the other side for two minutes, then plate and drizzle with some charred tomato vinaigrette and top with your favorite cheese (my go to is Goat Lady Dairy Chevre). Serve it with a knife and fork and remember there’s nothing wrong with eating a salad with a knife!

Just because you’re cooking on a grill doesn’t mean you have to grill something. You can use a trusty cast-iron skillet, set on the grill until it gets smokin’ hot.

• Already have your steak sitting near the grill while you make the salad (so the chill will dissipate and it will start to come up to room temperature), just don’t let it sit out too long!
• Salt and pepper both sides of your steak and drizzle a little bit of oil on it (we use canola).
• With tongs, place the steak in your dry, hot skillet so it will sear. (If you have a one-inch ribeye, it will only take about four minutes.)
• Carefully flip the steak (just once) and sear for about 4-5 minutes on the other side, depending on the thickness of your steak how hot your grill is.
• Move the steak to a clean plate, and let it rest for about five minutes before you cut into it. Top with bourbon butter. You will be amazed at the flavor of a seared steak because fat is flavor and all of the inter-muscular fat from that steak drips into the pan and the meat cooks in it. It’ll blow your mind.

For the veggies, it’s really simple.

• Wash some yellow and green summer squash, split longways and season with salt and pepper on the cut side.
• Grill cut-side down for about four minutes on each side.
• Transfer to a cutting board, chop and then place in a salad bowl and toss with some fruit vinegar of your choice and serve alongside your steak. (While this recipe is for strawberry vinegar and strawberry season has come to a close, you could easily substitute peaches or blackberries, both currently available at The Greensboro Farmers’ Curb Market.)

As for dessert, forgo the oven and keep it simple so you can relax and enjoy the day. Scoop up some vanilla bean ice cream (we like Homeland Creamery) and serve with some sliced fresh peaches. What could be better?

Bourbon Butter
makes ¼ pound

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 3 tbsp Jim Beam Bourbon
• 1 ½ tbsp chopped green onions

Allow butter to come to room temperature, just like softening cream cheese before whipping it (don’t get impatient and microwave it; things won’t turn out so well), 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.

For cooking in your backyard, we trust locally-raised meats, and we enjoy working with the triangle-focused folks at Firsthand Foods—you can find their pork on our menu in Cary. We also love LoMo Market and MAE Farm Meats which both feature meat from Firsthand Foods..

If those aren’t convenient for you, here are some other great places to buy locally-raised meats that we love:

• Chatham Marketplace, in Pittsboro

• Company Shops Market, in Burlington

• Deep Roots Market, in Greensboro

For more recipes, visit https://www.lucky32.com/recipes.htm 

What will you be cooking for the 4^th?

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

Time for Tomatoes—How are we so patient?

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series # 31. Follow us all year long as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

As soon as our days turn warm, folks start aching for tomatoes. Everything’s blooming, everything’s green, but the tomatoes that you crave, that you haven’t had since last summer, are just getting planted; you’ll have to wait awhile for those succulent beauties. We’ve been passing the time as we wait for field tomatoes by buying the most transcendent greenhouse tomatoes from Screech and from Rudd Farm, a new acquaintance of ours, who’ve been slinging scrumptious local produce since last century (1999).

Nothing compares to a sun-soaked, vine-ripened tomato, regardless of variety. The true secret to why your own homegrown tomatoes or your memories of your grandmother’s heirloom specimens are so much better than anything you can buy is because those tomatoes are (were) picked at the peak of ripeness, as opposed to supermarket tomatoes which are picked under ripe (or even green) and ripened either during or after transport. The beauty of the current vogue of folks shopping at farmers’ markets is that consumers are being reconnected to vine-ripened produce in general and more specifically, tomatoes picked at the peak of ripeness.

The field tomatoes that we get from Rudd Farm, heirloom or not, are as much of an improvement over those greenhouse tomatoes as the greenhouse tomatoes were over the warehouse-ripened tomatoes they replaced. And now, as those field-tomatoes are finally upon us, we’re excited to be working with the fourth and fifth generations of the Rudd family to farm the land. Kenneth and Joan don’t do it alone, they enlist the help of their two grown sons, friends and neighbors, to grow a bounty of produce—a southern cornucopia of strawberries, eggplant, zucchini and squash and of course, tomatoes. Best of all, their farm is in Guilford County and you can’t bring the farm much closer to your fork than that, unless you grow your own.

You can find Rudd Farm tomatoes and other summer goodies on our Farmer’s Cart at the Greensboro restaurant, at their farm, and at the Greensboro Farmers Curb Market. How do you like your tomatoes?

Tips:

• Always wash your tomatoes before you eat them.

• Never put a tomato in the refrigerator—tomatoes stored below 55 degrees lose flavor and texture.

• A field-ripened tomato needs little accompaniment. You want to really taste the tomato, so less is more. Usually a light sprinkling of salt is all you need to amplify that quintessential summer taste.

• Avoid cooking with field-ripened, Beefsteak tomatoes, because that wonderful flavor will get lost once subjected to heat. Plum tomatoes are better for cooking, they have more flesh and less moisture than their round siblings—just make sure you peel them first.

• If your tomatoes are too ripe, you can always save them by:

• • Freezing them whole on wax paper (once they are frozen, transfer to a resealable bag or container until you need them) and later roasting them in the oven to make a tomato sauce.
  • Pureeing them to make a tomato juice (great for using in your favorite bloody mary recipe)
  • Canning them

Check out these great Lucky 32 recipes for some creative ways to cook your tomatoes:

Recipe: Grilled Vegetable Stack with Charred Tomato Vinaigrette

• 1-2 pounds of eggplant, sliced into ¼” thick planks
• 1-2 pounds of yellow squash, sliced into ¼” thick planks
• 1-2 pounds of zucchini, sliced into ¼” thick planks
• 1 cup canola oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Brush sliced vegetables with oil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Place on a hot grill and cook until tender, creating nice grill marks on each side. Place on a plate and drizzle charred tomato vinaigrette over.

Yield about 4 servings

Recipe: Charred Tomato Vinaigrette 

• 3 ½ pounds of local tomatoes
• ¼ cup canola oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
• ½ tsp black pepper
• 1 oz. fresh basil, de-stemmed
• ¼ cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/8 cup diced red onions
• 1 ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

In a bowl, season canola oil with salt and pepper.Cut tomatoes in half (along the equator) and squeeze out the seeds.

Remove core from the tomatoes. Discard seeds and core.

Toss tomatoes in season canola oil then grill for two minutes on each side until charred.

Combine remaining ingredients (except olive oil) and charred tomatoes in a blender or processor and puree. While blender is running, slowly drizzle in olive oil.

Strain mixture through a medium hole strainer and discard solids.

Yield 2 ½ cups

Recipe: Tomato Aspic

• 2 cups tomato puree (see recipe below)
• 1 ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
• ½ tbsp green onions, thinly sliced
• ½ tbsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 pinch celery seed
• ½ tbsp unflavored gelatin
• ¼ cup water

In a bowl, combine tomato puree, vinegar, onions, salt and cayenne.

Soften gelatin and celery seed in water for about 10 minutes, then place over boiling water until the gelatin melts.

Add gelatin mix to tomato mix. Pour into individual molds and chill until set.

Yields 6 servings

Recipe: Local Tomato Puree

• 1 ½ pounds fresh tomato

Place tomatoes on a sheet tray and roast in a moderate oven until skins are brown. Place in food processor and puree.

Yields about 2 cups

For more recipes, go to: https://www.lucky32.com/recipes.htm

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

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is: Farm-to-Fork Picnic

It’s summertime: time to grill out, dine al fresco and enjoy the outdoors. It’s the perfect time of year to frolic in a massive field with friends, farmers and chefs and have a big picnic. And who doesn’t love a big picnic? I hope you will consider joining us on Sunday June 9 at the annual Farm to Fork fundraiser just north of Hillsborough. The picnic is a farm-chef collaboration that celebrates the farm-to-table movement with a roving feast, featuring locally grown food cooked by some of the best chefs in the area.

This event is important because not only does it support and train upcoming farmers and spotlight amazing, local food, but it also helps bring some recognition to the people who grow and prepare our food. We like the idea that food is made by people. Animals are raised by people, plants are harvested by people, food is cooked by people. By identifying those people and putting a face to the names of those making our food, we feel more connected to our food and to the land. Our meals become more meaningful. The more food production becomes industrialized, the more we lose our connection to the land and this event is an opportunity in a very agricultural area to reconnect with the people who are endeavoring to produce our food. It’s our fifth year as a participant and we’re proud to be involved in such an admirable cause.

Proceeds from the picnic benefit CEFS (Center for Environmental Farming Systems)—which supports beginner farmers through an apprentice program, and PLANT @ Breeze Farm—an incubator farm, research center and extension of North Carolina State University, which provides training for new farmers in the Piedmont Region. The current average age of farmers is 59 so supporting organizations like CEFS and PLANT @ Breeze Farm is critical to the future of farming. Both organizations help foster sustainable farming, providing training workshops and intern programs for young or transitional farmers. This affords them the opportunity to explore and practice small-scale, organic farming—letting them test the waters without sacrificing much economically by way of equipment or land.

This year, we’re excited to be teaming up with Massey Creek Farms again, as well as Rudd Farm and Homeland Creamery. We’ll arrive bright and early to begin roasting a whole hog, courtesy of Massey Creek Farms. We’ll serve up some sliders, with our famous Voodoo Sauce. For dessert, we’ll have a custard (with Homeland Creamery’s buttermilk and Massey Creek Farms’ eggs), accompanied with fresh strawberries from Rudd Farm.

From 4-7 PM, you can connect with local farmers and chefs—and sample dishes from 34 farms and restaurants. There’ll also be live music and fun activities for the kiddos. Get your tickets now, while you still can! The picnic will be held at Breeze Farm and the address is: 4909 Walnut Grove Church Road, Hurdle Mills, NC.

In case you aren’t able to make it to the picnic this year…

Pick up some of our Voodoo Sauce at Lucky 32 and check out our fresh veggie cart to support some local farmers while you’re there! Here’s our custard recipe for you to make at home, and you can also stop by Lucky 32 for brunch and try a variation of the custard on our cornmeal waffle with strawberries and strawberry coulis.

Recipe: Buttermilk Custard

•2 cups buttermilk
•½ cup granulated sugar
•2 medium eggs
•1 tbsp cornstarch
•½ tsp vanilla extract
•1 ½ tsp butter

 Add buttermilk to a sauce pot and heat to a low simmer. In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs and cornstarch. Slowly temper the egg mixture by beating in about 1-2 fluid ounces or the warm buttermilk.

Repeat the process until all buttermilk is combined with eggs. Return the mixture to the sauce pot and cook over very low heat for 3-5 minutes or just until mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add vanilla and butter, stirring until incorporated. Strain to remove any lumps. Cool and then store in refrigerator. Serve atop your favorite waffle or pancake and summer berries.

yields 2 ½ cups

Save the Date!
In years past, we’ve also been fortunate to participate in other wonderful food events, such as the TerraVITA Food & Wine event and the Pittsboro Pepper Festival. Mark your calendars for: Saturday, October 12th: TerraVITA’S The Grand Tasting on the Green and Sunday, October 20th: 6th Annual Pittsboro Pepper Festival.

Check out some of the fun from 2009’s Farm to Fork event

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

Three recipes, one sustainable ingredient: Asparagus

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series #30. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

We never knew, or even thought of, asparagus as a product of a farm. We didn’t give it much thought at all. It was a product of a can. Overcooked. Inedible. Eaten cold.

One ingredient, three recipes: Serve fresh asparagus from the Farmer’s Market for dinner on Wednesday and Saturday and make soup from the discarded stems on Sunday. Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen recipes below.

Now, today, farming asparagus has become the emblem of sustainability to us. It takes three years to raise a crop that will feed you for 20. Guilford College’s Rock Star farmer Korey Erb uses asparagus as the logo for his farm. It’s not an easy thing to grow. You need to be patient. You harvest with a light hand. Take less now to have more later. And because it’s a perennial, the land you set aside for asparagus works just like a fruit orchard. You dedicate a plot. It’s a commitment between a farmer and his crop.

Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen uses asparagus from Meadows Family Farm.

A field of green

The nature of the plant is that asparagus is a bush. What you’re eating is actually the new shoot of the bush.

Among the growing procedures: Per the “Farmer’s Almanac”

• Asparagus is planted in early spring as soon as the soil can be worked. The plant is grown from “crowns” (1-year-old plants).
• Asparagus does not like to have its feet “wet,” so be sure your bed has good drainage. For that reason, raised beds can be a good place to plant asparagus.
• Do not harvest the spears in the first year, but cut down dead foliage in late fall and side-dress with compost.
• During the second year, keep the bed thickly mulched, side-dress in spring and early fall, and cut down dead foliage in late fall.
• Cut spears that are about 6 inches in length at an angle.

In the third year, the bush produces more sprouts. And the farmer, the hobbyist, has to make a decision about when to stop harvesting at a certain point to have a bigger crop next year.

Raw asparagus for dinner Monday

• Store asparagus raw. You don’t want to store cooked asparagus, because the cooking process breaks down the cellular structure and it lead to spoilage faster.
• To make a raw asparagus salad, chop it up and create your own dressing. Use three parts oil (a neutral oil, such as Canola oil) to one part vinegar.
• Put all the ingredients in a mason jar, shake it up well, and shake it up, sprinkle it over, add salt and pepper.

Blanched asparagus on Wednesday

• Wash and clean the asparagus.
• Trim off the woody stems. If you bend asparagus, it’s going to naturally bend at the point where it’s most flexible. There’s a rigid part and there’s a flexible part. The woody part snaps off and is the much smaller part of the asparagus.
• Set aside all your woody stems to make asparagus soup at the end of the week (recipe below). It will keep, uncovered, about a week in the fridge.
• Bring salted water to a boil.
• Place trimmed, washed asparagus into water.
• Prepare ice bath.
• After the asparagus is in the pot for sixty seconds, remove it from the boiling water and place asparagus into the cold water.
• Let it soak in the ice bath for five minutes.
• Remove and towel dry.
• Either place it in a hot dry skillet, then drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper; when it’s heated through it’s done. Or, place on an oiled grill and sprinkle with salt and pepper until it begins to wilt.

Chef’s note: thin asparagus doesn’t need to be blanched. Only standard and jumbo need to be blanched.

Asparagus soup on Sunday

We save all of woody stems and make asparagus soup. We simmer it down in some cream and put in it a little Parmesan cheese. Purée to get the flavor out. Strain the soup to remove the fiber (cellulose) and get all the flavor. There really is no recipe for it. So we encourage people to experiment on their own. Feel free to add more asparagus to ramp up the flavor and make it more subtle.

Cream of Asparagus Soup

• 1 pound asparagus
• ¾ cup heavy cream
• 1 fl oz canola oil
• ½ cups chopped yellow onion
• 1 quart vegetable stock
• ¼ pound diced, peeled potatoes
• 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme leaves (or 1TBSP fresh)
• ¼ pound Parmesan Reggiano cheese rind only
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Wash asparagus and cut the woody part of the stalk off. Blanch the tops, shock in ice water, drain and set aside for garnish. Blanch the stalks for 5 minutes. Add hot asparagus stalks to a blender with first portion of heavy cream and puree, then strain reserving solids and liquids separately. In a pan, sauté onions in oil until translucent.

In a large pot, add vegetable stock. Add all ingredients except pureed asparagus liquid and solids, stirring to incorporate. Add solids from asparagus puree and continue to simmer until potatoes are soft. Remove the Parmesan rind and discard. Puree the soup with an immersion blender.  Stir in asparagus liquid puree and then strain all through a large hole strainer.Garnish soup with cut asparagus tips.

Makes 1 quart

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

Rhubarb: why the misunderstood vegetable makes the best margarita, coulis, pie, and BBQ sauce

LOCAVORE’S DELIGHT: The Series #29. Follow us as we explore the bounty of our region’s farms.

Rhubarb is one of the most misunderstood ingredients on menus. You’ll see it at the grocery store, but it’s difficult to find at the Farmer’s Market (both Cary and Greensboro Farmer’s Markets say it’ll be a few more weeks before we see any). It’s a perennial, but not grown everywhere. It’s a vegetable, but used like a fruit.

The oxalic acid content of rhubarb makes the leaves poisonous, and the stem, delicious. While rhubarb is grown in some cold pockets in North Carolina, good rhubarb needs the ground to freeze, and grows best in Michigan and Oregon.

Try the Lattice-Crust Rhubarb Pie with Homeland Creamery vanilla ice cream available now at Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen on the Spring’s Eternal Menu, now until May 14.

It’s a vegetable. In some places, a spring perennial. And is a key component of a delicious margarita, also adding to the confusion:

• It’s naturally sour, which is not the most preferred taste sensation in America – only slightly more popular than bitter. The sour comes from its oxalic acid content.
• It’s odd-looking. It’s a stalk. People don’t celebrate celery, or cardoons (another stalk that is an artichoke relative in thistle family) like they do cute fruits, like apples, blackberries and tomatoes.

What makes rhubarb a vegetable? Sugar content? 

Rhubarb is a vegetable despite its prescient use in fruit pies, jams, and coulis.

Fruit is something a plant produces to nourish its the seeds.. When you pick an apple you don’t kill an apple tree, but you do have to kill the plant to eat a vegetable. For example, if you pick an onion or a beet, you’re taking the whole plant with you. When harvesting rhubarb, you pull the entire stalk from the ground, and only harvest two at a time, leaving at least five stalks for the next season’s crop.

Why is it always appearing  with strawberries?

Spring is the most difficult time of year to eat fresh produce. Most plants have just begun to grow, and they are weeks from bearing edible fruit.

Rhubarb is one of the first edibles available in the spring. Its peak coincides with strawberries, so most people encounter rhubarb in one of three ways:

• Strawberry-rhubarb pie
• Stewed with an ice cream or custard
• In a jam or chutney

Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie? Not so much.

In a strawberry-rhubarb pie, we think the rhubarb plays second fiddle. Strawberries are celebrated. They’re super sweet and need contrast. You almost never see a strawberry pie on its own. There’s no complexity. It’s like a sugar bomb.

Rhubarb, when mixed with strawberries, gives you that sourness to balance the sweetness and the complexity.

We prefer to go all the way in the other direction and make rhubarb pie. No strawberry.

We make it with a lattice crust for two reasons: One, it’s cute. Two, it vents the pie so the filling can thicken up and the steam can escape.

A sour sweet

Whether you eat sour dishes to aid in digestion or you just prefer to end your meal with something less sweet, a dessert like rhubarb pie is always a welcome sight, with its delightful balance of sweet and sour.

We do a couple of things here with rhubarb that you can start doing at home, too. Recipes posted below. 

• Rhubarb margarita
• Rhubarbecue sauce tastes like a sauce from down east and we put it on our grilled shrimp
• Stewed rhubarb — chop it up, sauté, deglaze with a little bit of water, dry white wine or sweet white wine. Sprinkle with sugar. Reduce and serve it with ice cream.

RECIPES

Rhubarb Margarita

• 1 fl oz Rhubarb Syrup (see recipe)
• 2 fl oz Tequila
• ¾ fl oz Cointreau
• juice from 1 wedge of lime
• ½ fl oz sour mix
• 1 wheel of lime

Salt rim of a martini glass. Add all ingredients (except lime wheel) to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a martini glass. Garnish with lime wheel.

Makes – 1

Rhubarb Syrup

• ½ pound rhubarb
• ¼ cup water
• 1 cup granulated sugar

Wash and dice rhubarb to ¼ inch. In a sauce pot combine rhubarb and water. Simmer for 10 minutes or until tender. Puree in food processor and strain through fine chinois, discard solids. In a sauce pot combine pureed rhubarb and sugar. Simmer until dime sized bubbles appear. Remove from heat and cool.

Makes – 1 ½ cups

Rhubarbecue Sauce

• 1 2/3 pounds rhubarb
• 2 cups apple cider vinegar
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 1/3 cups light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Clean and chop rhubarb. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pot and simmer for 30-45 minutes or until rhubarb is completely soft. Puree in blender and strain through a medium-hole strainer. Discard pulp. Place puree in a sauce pot and simmer until dime size bubbles appear. Cool.

Makes – 1 quart

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