Fun with Choux: Bacon, Avocado and Tomato Eclairs

Posted on February 8, 2013 by holly

Most people think of eclairs as something filled with cream and topped with chocolate, or another decadent sweet flavor pairing . But, the pastry they’re prepared with, the ever versatile choux pastry, is an excellent casing for savory ingredients, as in these tasty and beautiful eclairs.

Verdant as a garden with a bright green avocado mousse, layers of finely sliced tomatoes, and shards of crunchy, salty bacon, these little bundles are packed with heart and soul satisfying flavor and texture in every bite while delivering an elegant play on a good, old-fashioned American BLT. Make the pastry a day ahead or a few days ahead and freeze, for quick, easy assembly for a fun cocktail party with a choux twist. This would even be a great, sexy treat for your main man or gal on Valentine’s Day. I guarantee you, they’ll fly away faster than wings on Super Bowl Sunday. Dress them up with a flute of Brut Champagne. Cheers!

Petite Eclairs with Avocado Mousse, Bacon Slivers and Tomatoes

(Yields 26 petite eclairs)

Bacon Avocado and Tomato Petite Eclairs

Bacon Avocado and Tomato Petite Eclairs

1 Master Recipe Savory Choux Pastry (to follow)

For the avocado mousse:

1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted and skin removed

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon heavy cream (Do NOT substitute a lesser fat cream or it may curdle with the lemon juice)

Sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons very finely chopped shallots

2 tablespoons finely chopped chives

8 slices bacon, browned, drained and cut into 3”-lengths

14 grape tomatoes, rinsed and thinly sliced

Master Recipe Savory Choux Pastry

Special Equipment Needed: 2 silicon baking sheets or parchment paper, 2 half-sheet baking pans, one 12” piping bag, #806 round pastry tip, pastry brush.

1 cup water

3/4 stick (3 ounces) unsalted, cold butter cut into 1/2”-cubes

1/2 cup bread flour

1/2 cup All-Purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

4 room temperature large eggs (about 1 cup), beaten together

Egg wash: 1 egg, splash water and pinch kosher or sea salt, beaten together

Preheat the oven to 425F. Have everything measured and in place in advance of starting to actually prepare the choux.

In a medium, sturdy sauce pan, melt the water and butter together over medium high heat, stirring once or twice to help the butter melt. Once melted, reduce the heat to medium. Sift together the bread flour, AP flour and salt together over a medium bowl. Add the sifted dry ingredients all at once to the melted water and butter mixture, reserving the bowl nearby. Stir the mixture (roux) vigorously with a wooden spoon to bring the dough together, initially. Continue stirring, less vigorously, until the pastry starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and forms a uniform ball (This should take about 1 minutes). Turn the pastry out into the reserved bowl. Allow to sit for about 1 minute, or until the pastry is cool enough to touch comfortably with your finger for at least 15 seconds. Add 1/2 of the beaten eggs (about 1/2 cup) to the pastry. Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the pastry looks uniform and glossy, about 1 minute. Add half of the remaining egg mixture (about 1/4 cup) and continue to stir with a wooden spoon until the pastry is uniform and glossy (about 1 minute). Repeat with the remaining egg mixture.

While the pastry is still warm, pipe and bake the pastry using a 1/2″-round tip onto a silicon or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Pipe so that the eclairs are all the same length and width, approximately 2 1/4″-long, 1/2″-high and 1/2″-wide. Brush the top of each pastry with a light coating of egg wash, being careful not to allow the wash to drip down the sides of the pastry.

Bake the petite eclairs for 22 to 25  minutes, or until puffed and golden brown. Turn off the oven, open the door, and let the pastry stand for 5 minutes. Pierce the bottom of each choux gently with the tip of a knife. Allow to cool completely before filling.

For the filling:

In a medium bowl, combine the avocado, lemon juice, olive oil, cream, and mash with the tines of a fork or a potato masher until smooth and fluffy. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Fold in the shallots and chives and combine until smooth. Set aside. (Note: The mousse can be prepared a few hours in advance, tightly covered and refrigerated). Meanwhile, heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Arrange the bacon in a single layer in a large sauté pan and cook until well browned on each side, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels. Cut the bacon into 3” lengths (approximately) and set aside.

To assemble, slice the prepared eclairs  in half, horizontally, cutting all the way through each éclair. Reserve the tops and bottoms alongside their matching half. With a small spatula, spread a heaping 1 tablespoon of the avocado mousse neatly on the bottom of each éclair. Top with a trimmed piece of bacon and 3 slices of tomato, arranged prettily along the length of the éclair. Top each éclair and serve immediately on a serving platter or individual plates garnished with fresh chives.

 

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The Cook Who Thought Too Much

Posted on January 9, 2013 by holly

About the time my junior year in college rolled around, my boy-crazy roommates and I would indulge in one of our favorite games in our limited spare time.  We called the game “baby-fooding.” It went something like this. One of us from our mostly naive and inexperienced lot would declare that she had an unexpected encounter with her current male fancy. She wanted the rest of us to analyze every nuance of that encounter. “He told me it was a pretty day and he liked my skirt,” she would declare. Great! “But, what does that MEAN? Does it mean he likes me or was he just being nice?” would begin the long list of queries. And on and on and on, until one or all of us would declare this discussion an official game of baby-fooding. The girls really had a field day when I came back from an hour-long interview with Doug Flutie and confessed I had asked him, for lack of better phrasing, if he “every got ball hungry (when playing football)?”

That confession (along with the peals of hilarious laughter it induced),  like all the others in the baby-fooding sessions, got  analyzed, chewed and re-chewed so many times it essentially was reduced to baby food-like mush. Mindless, meaningless mush.

BABYFOODReally, in the end, as most of eventually learn, things are simply what they seem, especially when it comes to 19 year-old boys and how their minds work when it comes to girls.  And, so it is with cooking.

The Cook Who Thought Too Much

I started  thinking about the uselessness of baby-fooding yesterday as I was researching the art and technique of making choux pastry. Although fabulous, it’s ultimately a fairly straight-forward pastry formed by combining butter and water, mixing in flour, and incorporating eggs until you have a pliable, glossy pastry that can be formed into sweet and savory delights such as cream puffs and eclairs. Or, so I thought from my training and extensive experience with the stuff.

Yet, the further I delved into the pages of cookbooks and online discussions, the more confused I became. Does one use bread flour, AP flour, or pastry flour? Does one incorporate the eggs with a wooden spoon (as I was taught at Le Cordon Bleu) or a blender to help regulate the temperature?  Does one pipe or dollop the pastry? What’s the best oven-temperature? While I respect why these questions are important (to some degree), it all started to border on the edge of the ridiculous. My head began spinning with numbness, just like back in the old baby-fooding days. I decided to take a thirty minute break and watch Chopped on The Food Channel.

Bad plan, at least initially. Before I knew it, there I was again, deeply entrenched in the world of cooking over-think, and worse, one peppered with debilitating ego – a deadly combo in any kitchen. The chefs were given a basket containing walnuts, creme de menthe, golden raisins, and canned salmon. With this, they were expected to prepare a first course. My attention turned to the chef who decided to take 15 of the 30 precious minutes to prepare a walnut flour because he was certain “none of the other chefs would do (the same).”

I would give him an “A” for originality and self-challenge, except he had no plan for what he was going to do with said flour. He just wanted to make it to impress. It turns out, he made a rather banal dish with a bizarre sauce, but he went ahead and put the flour on top, because “he had made it.” Because it added nothing to the dish, it took away from it. Ultimately he got “Chopped.”

Less is More

He missed what really is the truest of true about good cooking. The best cooking doesn’t come with pretense and bravado or over-complication. It doesn’t require a thousand gadgets (or ingredients), or a doctorate. The keys to good and even great cooking are beautiful produce/food, respect for technique and ratio of ingredients, minimalistic and sensible treatment of the food, and balanced and beautiful pairing of textures and flavors. And, it always needs to be fun. In the kitchen and in life, over-thinking leads to inertia and exhaustion.

With that in  mind, I’m heading back to the kitchen and the choux drawing board. I’m going to keep my head out of the game as much as possible, and let my training and tastebuds lead the way.

Happy cooking from my kitchen to yours!

 

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Looking Back, Moving Forward

Posted on January 3, 2013 by holly

In some ways, 2012 was, for me, the year that wasn’t. At least six months of it weren’t fun, were definitely very painful, and the last three months of the year, even walking wasn’t possible. So, nearly all of the things I enjoy in work and life (dining, cooking, writing, tennis, long walks) were off the table for much of the year. Fortunately, reading was a readily indulged passion and I finally found the pesky pain culprit (avascular necrosis in my left hip ball). With oustanding medical help, a great surgeon and the passage of healing time, it’s now fixed and the future looks bright in 2013.

Thank goodness and there is so much on the plate. Starting with a new book (that I was able to complete last winter and summer) release on March 1, 2013. The French Cook: Sauces is a fun, saucy and informative cookbook on classic French sauces and I’m really excited about the recipes, design, photography – everything!

The French Cook: Sauces (Gibbes Smith, March 1, 2013) by Holly Herrick

The French Cook: Sauces (Gibbes Smith, March 1, 2013) by Holly Herrick

 

And, here’s a picture of one of my favorite recipes in the book,  luscious, sweet Lowcountry shrimp married with a beautiful, buttery red curry sauce. Like all of the recipes in the book, I had a ball balancing classic French technique with fresh product and flavor pairing inspiration. There are over 50 recipes in the book. I can’t wait to see it and I hope you feel the same way.

Beautiful Lowcountry Shrimp in a Rich, Buttery Curry Sauce

Beautiful Lowcountry Shrimp in a Rich, Buttery Curry Sauce

So, as I start looking forward to 2013, I have the promise of promoting this book in the spring, and several new projects to begin. First, the second book in the same (new) series,  The French Cook: Eclairs and Cream Puffs (Sweet and Savory).  I’m underway in my kitchen and having a ball, literally, within the extremely diverse and beautiful world of cream puffs and eclairs.

In between takes, and likely on weekends, I’m going to begin work on my first-ever novel,  a debut in a culinary romance novel series. I have a top-secret title I love (I always begin with a title) and am getting an airtight  case on the plot which will involve at least one French chef and will take place in Paris and somewhere else in the U.S. Voila! It promises to be slightly naughty, but nice, and full of all things delicious and fun.

Finally, it’s time to put together a revision to The Charleston Chef’s Table Cookbook. First published in 2009 (Globe Pequot Press), so many wonderful, exciting and delicious additions to the dining scene have since happened and many new trends developed, especially in 2012.  Certainly, Sean Brock and Husk lead the extreme localvore, Southern devotee parade with the opening of  this award-winning restaurant, a trend we saw deliciously extend its march onward (much of it on or near Upper King) in restaurants such as The Lot, Butcher & Bee, Two Borough’s Larder ,The Grocery, and The Macintosh to name just a few.

I think 2013 will bring Charleston continued culinary excellence. My personal wish list includes a greater expansion into ethnic restaurants or dining options (as we have seen in food trucks),  such as the Vietnamese twists we’re seeing with CO and Phuong. Maybe add Moroccan to the list (ideally at the exotic former Saracen location) and/or some crazy good out of this world Chinese? As an admitted francophile, I’d be delighted to see a very romantic, very French bistro serving exquisitely prepared yet price accessible French bistro fare somewhere in another area that is growing nearly as fast as Upper King, North Charleston, peut-etre?

Meanwhile, I have plenty of targets on my list to visit, research and write about on this blog for the new Chef’s Table revisions as we begin unpeeling the delicious Charleston restaurant layers in 2013. These include closer looks at The Ordinary, Stars, Carter’s Kitchen, Rutledge CAB Company (when it’s open), and many, many more.

Yes, indeed, I think that 2013 will bring many wonderful culinary surprises to beautiful Charleston and I look forward to uncovering them and describing them to you on this blog. So thankful to be “kicking” again and for your loyalty. Bon appetit and a Happy, Healthy New Year!

 

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Somewhere Between Sauces and Choux

Posted on December 2, 2012 by holly

I just bought Dansko shoes for the first time in my life. Sexy they are not, but they are highly practical in the kitchen and go reasonably well with the pair of jeans I usually wear when I’m cooking, especially the sassy, oiled red shoe variety pictured below.

The perfect working kitchen shoe – Dansko.

I’ve been cooking for years. So, why now, why today? A giant of a French chef told me years ago in Fauchon’s kitchen that if I didn’t wear the right shoes and stand up straight while I prepped, I’d be crooked by the time I was forty. Maybe that was the impetus, but I think it has more to do with transition.

Some people can leap from one project to another with reckless abandon. I’m not one of them. I need time, if only a few days, to clear the decks, clear the desk, clear my brain, empty the nest, and get pumped up before starting all over again.

So, on this, the literal eve of the official beginning of my next cookbook (cookbook #6!), I’m transisting and taking the brave leap from the nuances of delicate, layered French sauces and into the puffy, stalwart realm of choux pastry. And, I’m kicking it all off with a brand new pair of red shoes.

Unlike tart pastry I manipulated in Tart Love or sauces I created for The French Book: Sauces (Gibbs Smith, March 2013), choux pastry is one tough little nut. It likes to get beat up pretty good to activate the gluten and choux pastry’s unique rising effect – aided only by this, butter and egg yolks. Nutty and savory in flavor, once cooked it can be filled with anything from whipped cream to bacon and eggs. It’s a huge sweet and savory universe all of its own and can also be formed into little balls (cream puffs) or longer tubes (eclairs).

Beautiful eclairs.

Not only delicious, these little treats are amazingly versatile. In the sauces cookbook, my primary task was to reveal the technique and versatility of sauces while adhering to the classic “recettes” for the five French mother sauces. Here, my task load is a little more free-form – to find an excellent, practical technique for making choux pastry itself, and coming up with all kinds of beautiful and delicious flavor pairings.

My head has been adrift for days and weeks with such thoughts: lemon and mascarpone and pumpkin and cream cheese on the sweet side; BLT cream puff sandwiches and French onion choux on the savory. The list goes on and on and I’m ready to have some fun and get some flour dust on my pretty new shoes. Please jump on the band wagon with me and let me know if you have any ideas you would like for me to try out. I’d love to give it a go! And, for restaurant news/review fans, I want you to know that I’m back on track with those too (after a mandatory medical delay) as we wrap up 2012 and prepare for 2013. Charleston has so much exciting and delicious restaurant news happening right now, and I can’t wait to share it with you.

In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with a recipe for fail-proof roasted chicken. It’s the perfect feast for this time year. The techniques work just as well for chicken as they do for turkey. It’s from The French Book: Sauces, with which it’s paired with a lovely mushroom sauce. Here, simply strain any pan juices, skim off any fat, and whisk together with a little Dijon mustard for a quick, delicious pan sauce.

Perfect Roasted Chicken

Roasting chicken is simple and so rewarding when done with love for the people seated at your table. Basting is really the key. Keep giving back to the chicken what it gives to you in juices. Use a sturdy roasting pan and a roasting rack to keep the chicken off the bottom of the pan. In addition to creating a safe spot for the chicken to nestle while it’s cooking, the rack enables better browning.

1 (3 to 4-pound chicken)

Sea salt or kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

8 sprigs fresh thyme

1 shallot halved

1 small carrot, peeled and cut into 3-inch lengths

1 small celery rib, trimmed and cut into 3-inch lengths

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, thinly sliced

For basting:

3/4 cup good-quality white wine (e.g. Sauvignon Blanc or Chardonnay)

3/4 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 375F. Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Trim off and discard wing tips and any excess fat from near the cavity. Season the cavity generously with salt and pepper. Fill the cavity with the thyme, shallot, carrot, and celery. Loosen the skin on the chicken breast from the flesh by slipping your index finger under the skin and gently prying it loose. Place the sliced butter under the skin of the breasts, spacing evenly.

To truss the chicken, arrange it on your work surface, back side down. Run kitchen string underneath the bottom of the spine and around the bottom of the legs. Cross the string over itself and now guide it up on both sides of the breasts, along the crease where the thighs and the breasts meet. Flip the chicken over, wrap the string around the wings, and pull tightly to form a knot. Trim off the excess string. Season the chicken generously all over with salt and pepper. Bake until the skin is a pale golden color and a skin/salt crust begins to form, about 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F. Combine the wine and stock and baste the chicken, starting now, every 20 to 25 minutes, or until it’s done, about 1 1/2 hours (count on about 20 minutes for every pound). Test for doneness by piercing the chicken between the leg and the breast; it is cooked when the juices run clear. Remove the chicken from the pan, cover with aluminum foil, and rest for 20 minutes.

To carve the chicken, cut the legs away from the body, and cut each into two pieces at the joint. Carve the breasts away from the carcass and cut each horizontally into two pieces.

Serve immediately. Delicious with rice, mashed potatoes, and a simple side of sauteed mushrooms or spinach. Bon appetit!

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Ilke Erdogan from Ilke’s Kitchen Reviews Tart Love- Sassy, Savory and Sweet

Posted on November 26, 2012 by holly

 

See review here. Thank you, Ilke!

Tart Love – Sassy, Savory, and Sweet (Gibbs Smith, Oct. 2011)

 

http://www.ilkeskitchen.com/2012/11/nutella-tart-love/

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Aqua Angels

Posted on November 18, 2012 by holly

Although I usually write about food, this column is about a different kind of nurturing. One as much for the soul as it is for the body; the winning therapeutic package of human kindness and physical healing

I always thought I understood the value of health, placing it as the highest and most important priority and one not to be taken for granted. An avid tennis player enjoying an active lifestyle and a healthy diet, I felt like I was living in a manner true to my words.

Then, one day last spring, progressive and chronic hip pain became a part of my life. After months of pain and ineffective results from chiropractors to acupuncurists’ (in my case), I finally faced the music and took an X-ray and then a MRI.  The bottom line:  There is dead bone in my left hip ball and it has to be replaced, which will happen tomorrow. The prognosis is very good for a full recovery and restoration of full health that I now realize I was guilty of taking for granted after all.

It was very hard to give up the things I love most – tennis, cooking, long walks with my dog, and enjoying life with reckless abandon. There have been lots of sacrifices, and like the pain, they came slowly and progressively, one pleasure departing steadily after the next. Even though I know others have endured much worse, I uncharacteristically started to feel a little bit sorry for myself and started gaining weight. Something had to be done!

Thanks to the advice of a wonderful neighbor, I found just the right cure for my physical and emotional doldrums. She directed me to a fabulous group of people at the MUSC Wellness Center pool here in Charleston, SC, where I started doing water therapy as a means of pain management and muscle strengthening about six months ago.

Since then, I have found refuge there, almost daily. The sick hip is weightless and mercifully painless in these embryonic waters. The smiles and kindnesses of my fellow water aerobic class members are without bounds. Most of these women and men are well into their 60′s and beyond  (there is a lovely lady in her early 90′s, too) and are dealing with multiple kinds of pain and injury themselves.

Water heals everything!

I don’ t know most of their names, but know I am with friends here. They’ve been on a longer road of life and have certainly seen more of everything – joy, pain, death, and the entire spectrum – than I have yet to see. As one of the pool instructors said, “Older people have it going on. They’ve been there, done that.”

He’s so right. I call these kind souls my aqua angels. They have literally buoyed me up as I’ve gone through this very difficult time on days where the only thing that relieved pain was being in water or laying down. On the days I couldn’t even walk and especially on the days I couldn’t cook or work, just thinking of them made me feel better. With their kind smiles and knowing eyes, they have saved me. As this small band of the aging wounded march up and down the length of the pool, unity ignites the air and empathy swirls in the waters. Some days, as I’m paddling around on my noodle or pushing water weights, I’ve turned my head away to weep, overwhelmed with gratitude for the goodness this small circle of angels have brought to me, maybe without even knowing it.

As I continue to paddle my way through the hopeful, humbling and sometimes hilarious  path of healing, I know my thoughts will return again and again to my aqua angels. And, one of these days soon, I’ll be back in the water with them again, swimming and smiling along our mutual lanes to full recovery and health restored.

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Easy Peasy Apple Walnut Tart

Posted on November 11, 2012 by holly

Of late, I’ve become increasingly sensitive to waste.  Wasted clothing, wasted time, wasted paper, and especially wasted food. Most Saturday mornings I go through my fridge to assess what I need to shop for that day. This involves cleaning out food that’s “past due” and that horrible sensation of throwing out and wasting what was once perfectly good food.

I’ve always hated doing this, my mother taking the motto of “waste not, want not” to epic proportions (she even re-uses underwear!),  but in a world where so many are in need from the ravages of storms, disasters, poverty and more, it seems even more reprehensible.

So, when I saw three forgotten Winesap apples I had  picked up at the farmers’ markets several weeks ago were starting to soften and fade, I refused to render them refuse and instead, decided to turn them into a tart. I also had some prepared frozen puff pastry in the freezer left over from recipe testing for a book I wrote on tarts, so there was yet another reason to make it happen.

With holidays on the horizon and Thanksgiving coming in two weeks, this tart is delicious and incredibly easy to make. In fact, it comes together in less than 30 minutes, and could be prepared while the turkey is resting and baked while everyone’s digging into their Thanksgiving feast, simultaneously perfuming the air with its heady aromas.

Normally, I’m not a fan of prepared pastry, but prepared puff pastry is so complicated to make and increasingly delicious prepared.  I say, go for it! I like Pepperidge Farm best. All you have to do is remember to defrost it over-night in the refrigerator or set aside 40 minutes for it to thaw at room temp. Tart/sweet, nutty, and rife with the aromas of cinnamon and vanilla, a warm slice of this tart practically begs for a generous scoop of best-quality vanilla ice cream. You can prep and assemble it a few hours ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator before backing. Bon appetit!

Easy Peasy Apple Walnut Tart

Easy Peasy Apple Walnut Tart

(Makes 6 servings)

3 apples (suggest a tart/sweet variety like Granny Smith or Winesap), peeled, cored, halved and thinly sliced

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/2 cup light brown sugar

Seeds scraped from two fresh vanilla pods (or 1 TBS vanilla extract)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Generous pinch salt

Generous pinch ground nutmeg

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 sheet thawed prepared puff pastry

Egg wash: 1 yolk mixed with a splash of cold water and a pinch of salt

2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 4 pats

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking pan with a sheet of parchement paper. Gently unfold the thawed pastry and place on the parchment, pressing with fingertips to gap any holes in the creases or elsewhere. Combine the apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg and walnuts in a medium bowl, tossing well with your hands to coat evenly. Arrange in the center of the puff pastry, spreading the filling out to all but the last inch of pastry. This should be left “naked,”  as it will puff around the filling to form the edges of the tart. Smooth out the filling with your fingers or a wooden spoon so it is even and about the same thickness all around. Scatter the butter pats on top of the filling, spacing evenly.  Prepare the egg wash in a cup and brush the naked edges of the tart lightly with the wash, being careful not to let it slip under the pastry and onto the paper.

Bake in the center rack for 25 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Cut and serve with a fat scoop of delicious ice cream. (Note: This tart is also delicious at room temperature or cold).

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Country Music & Good Food Come to Town

Posted on October 18, 2012 by holly

Musician Zac Brown and Executive Chef Rusty Hamlin’s ten year-old friendship was forged on two things the men both love – food and music. This weekend, they’re bringing it to Charleston in the form of The Southern Ground Food & Music Festival. Country music and good-food fans will tap toes to the like of Brown, John Mayer, Gregg Allman and many more while supping on some of Charleston’s best at Blackbaud Stadium.

And, Rusty can hardly wait. “I’m really excited to be in Charleston and doing what I do. Feeding people, especially at this level, it’s a gift and I love it. If I start calling this work, then I’m outta’ here.”

The enthusiastic, jovial chef has got his work cut out for him, but he’s done it many times before as executive chef for the band.  He logs countless miles in his traveling kitchen he calls “Cookie,” completing ninety shows a year at at least four festivals. His job? Simple. Feed the people, all of them – guests, musicians, anyone and everyone.

But, he’s got help – great help for the festival.  An outsourced catering group, Dega, will tend to the feed-needs of the crew, musicians, and stagehands – all 250 of them.

Chef Rusty at work in “Cookie’s” kitchen.

Charleston’s own Home Team BBQ will serve the guests in the VIP area. The real star of the food show will likely be the Front Porch Stage Boxes. Five boxes on each side of the main stage, will house four tables for six persons. A total of 250 fans will be served a five-course feast as they take in the very front and center sights and sounds of the show. To get the job done right, Chef Rusty is calling in his chef friends R.J. Cooper from Rogue 24 and David Guas from Bayou Bakery, both located in Washington, DC.   Local chefs Michelle Weaver (Charleston Grill) and Kevin Johnson (The Grocery) will also be cooking. The menu’s not set in stone until the meal is actually served, but Rusty always relies heavily on local, fresh produce and farmers’ markets.

The chefs will all work together in a massive prep tent on the grounds to get the job done right. Working together is a big part of the fun. “The reason I invite chefs to help me is the chef comradery. There are a lot of chefs that don’t get to get out and meet other chefs, laugh, and learn. I let everyone come up with their own dish. Each chef makes something that represents themselves, ” says Rusty, who will be creating an appetizer one day and an entree on the other.

Meanwhile, back aboard Cookie, a 54- foot traveling complete professional kitchen wonder, Rusty and his staff of eight cooks (hired locally), will be whipping up the goods for the concession area. Guests can expect Smoked Beef Tendererloin Sliders on Pan-Fried Cornbread Rolls, Pork Tenderloin with a Brown Sauce (a recipe created by Zac Brown), Chocolate Peanut Butter Biscuit Pudding, and Creole Jambalaya.

“My main focus will be on the thousands of people that will be here this weekend. My hope is that they have an amazing time and are over-served deliciousness and great music. I want them to forget all of their worries when they come in that front gate and let us take care of them. And, maybe, I’ll get to show off my tail-feathers a little bit,” says Rusty with a hearty laugh.

For informations and tickets, visit www.southerngroundfestival.com.

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Thrice “Baked” Nice

Posted on October 17, 2012 by holly

In this, their third cookbook, Brooklyn-based baking dynamos Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito really hit the ball out of the park, or should that be Yankee Stadium?

Baked Elements: Our  Ten Favorite Ingredients (Abrams, September 2012) is jam-packed with the authors’ highly original and decidedly tasty approach to baking and pairing flavors. This book is organized by their 10 favorite ingredients: peanut butter, lemon & lime, caramel, booze, pumpkin, malted  milk powder, cinnamon, cheese, chocolate and banana. The ingredients that “we would take to a desert island or rescue from a burning house,” as the authors’ wittily write.

They traverse the landscape of Americana with soul-warming and regionally influenced treats like buttermilk donuts and devil dogs.  Ironic, absent-minded professor humor (i.e., “If you have ever woken up with a slight hangover and a dubious, half-remembered, half-eaten jar of peanut butter at your side. We can empathize. We have lived this shame.”) that make this not only an extremely informed read, but an extremely fun one as well.

Beautifully organized and photographed by Tina Rupp, it is a must-read for Baked fans and bakers everywhere.  Seventy five delicious recipes with fun names (Lacy Panty Cakes, Lemon Pecorino Pepper Icebox Cookies,  Toasted Pumpkin Seed Brittle, Tunnel of Hazelnut Fudge Cake, Banana in a Blanket, and a luscious Cheddar Corn Souffle) are bound to bring out the inner baker in anyone.

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Writer’s Block

Posted on September 22, 2012 by holly

After nearly 20 years playing the writing game, I should not be surprised by the pervasive and prolific stereotypes that are out there about what writers do and how writers live. Yet, when someone I trust and respect said to me (in so many words) earlier this week, “You should get a real job,” I was stunned. I was so stunned that, in spite of my pride, I cried. And, just for some Victorian fun, he threw in “….or marry a rich guy.” Ummmm, last I checked the year is 2012 and I proudly wear a well-earned badge of independence which I have no interest in surrendering to anyone, rich or poor.

All this got me to thinking it may be time to take a reality check on writing misconceptions  and  what writing, at least for me, is not and what it is. Let’s begin with the not’s. It is not about sipping cafe au lait at a Parisian cafe, sporting a beret and scribbling mindlessly on a note pad. It is not Carrie Bradshaw going to glitz and glam parties in NYC, seemingly every night, wearing $800 shoes. It is not sleeping ’til noon every day and slipping in a couple hours of work here and there. It is not glamorous, it is not easy, and it is not another name for dilettante. And, finally, it is not just about the writing – there are contracts to pursue, books to promote, blogs to write, platforms to build, and lots and lots of editing.

Writing cookbooks, ultimately, is very hard work.  It is long days in the kitchen creating and testing recipes, and that includes the shopping before and the clean-up during and after. It is sitting down and doing the job, not just dreaming or talking about it, which requires extreme discipline.  It’s long periods between royalty checks and reaffirming  conversations with editors and agents. In short, it’s tough!

But, the reason I do it is because I love it and it’s one of the things, besides cooking, that I do best. I can do the cooking in my cheerful kitchen with my best friend and dog Tann Mann at my feet, and I can do the writing in my cheerful office over-looking my pretty garden while listening to the sounds of the neighborhood kids laughing or a distant dog barking. As wonderful as all of that is, it doesn’t touch the satisfaction of holding each new book for the first time, or hearing from appreciative readers about their favorite recipes.

These are the things that make my job utterly worthwhile and very, very “real.” I am very thankful to have it.

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