Sassy Southern Cooking with a French Twist

farmers market

Farmers Market Meets Iron Chef

Culinary Tours of Charleston hosts a wonderful Farmers Market Tour that concludes with a fabulous five course feast prepared by a local chef.

Here’s the dessert from a tour I took earlier this week – blueberry ice cream over Texas Toast French Toast with Special K crunch coating. Amazing!

TPTFMDESSERTHere’s the full link about the tour from The Permanent Tourist Charleston:

http://charleston.thepermanenttourist.com/farmers-market-meets-iron-chef/

Bon appetit!

 

 

 

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Charleston Farmers Market Tour and Cooking with Holly

I am pleased to announce the first in a series of farmers market tours and cooking classes I will be conducting throughout the year at Charleston’s downtown farmers market. We’ll begin at the market early on Saturday mornings and come to my kitchen to cook from what’s inspired me and a group of just six students and finish up the day with a delicious three course meal at my table.

The fruits of summer season on display at Charleston Farmers Market.

The fruits of summer season on display at Charleston Farmers Market.

More details and registration information are provided in this link from yesterday’s post at The Permanent Tourist Charleston.

http://charleston.thepermanenttourist.com/new-farmers-market-tour-with-me-the-permanent-tourist-charleston/

Please feel free to follow me directly there and on facebook at facebook.com/tptcharleston and twitter:@tptcharleston

Happy cooking!

Holly

 

 

 

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Simply Saturday

In today’s column on my new blog, The Permanent Tourist – Charleston, I offer a recipe from Simply Saturday’s column on seasonal, fresh cooking. In this case, a delicious turnip soup and a cookbook giveaway of Southern Farmers Market Cookbook. Come follow me there if you like!

http://charleston.thepermanenttourist.com/simply-saturday/

Southern Farmers Market Cookbook. Photos by Rick McKee.

Southern Farmers Market Cookbook. Photos by Rick McKee.

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Farmers’ Market Opening Day – An Early Spring Rite of Passage

Early spring selflessly affords us with so many wonderful things to celebrate. Here, in Charleston,  the air is sweet with the heady frangrances of jasmine, wisteria, and budding trees everywhere. It’s so breathtakingly beautiful, it mandates automatic forgiveness for the pollen that clogs the air and heads of the allergy afflicted masses.  Here and elsewhere baseball season begins, Easter and Passover’s celebrations are underway, marathons are being run, and the thing that makes me happiest of all, Farmers’ Markets are dusting off their tents and setting up shop for another long and delicious season.

Nothing puts spring in my step like farmers’ market opening day. The vendors and farmers are rested from their early winter break (although farmers’ work never ends) and tables are bursting with the bounty of spring – tender, sweet onions, asparagus, fresh-from-the-earth potatoes, strawberries, rhubarb, turnips, greens – some of my favorite things. I’ve long held an internal debate about what seasonal foods I most prefer. As much as I adore the tomatoes and peaches of summer and the squash and apples of fall and winter, I always come back to spring as my #1 top pick. I don’t know if it’s because the silence of the winter season seems so long, but there is something about these foods that render me virtually giddy.

Opening day Farmers' Market Finds

Opening day Farmers’ Market Finds

So, this past Saturday morning, when Charleston’s downtown Farmers’ Market opened, it felt like I was seven years old on Christmas morning, the anticipation level was that high. I pulled out my trusted, striped farmers’ market basket, donned a beaming smile and headed straight for Marion Square. As always, it was a feast for the senses and the soul. The smell of baking bread co-mingled with the sweetness of strawberries, familiar farmers and vendors smiled and sold their wares, even as more new faces and vendors did the same. It was intoxicating!

I loaded up with all my favorites and headed home to figure out how to best put these goodies to use. This was another reminder of why spring produce is especially idyllic. It needs precious little prep or ingredient additions to render it just about perfect. Super fresh produce responds very well to roasting which does a simple and fantastic job of coaxing the sugars and flavors of the supple produce out of them and directly into your happy mouth and stomach. Hence, the recipe that follows.

Roasted Spring Veggie Medley with Bacon and Scallions

(Yield: 4 to 6 servings)

In this delicious and nutritious warm veggie side, potatoes, spring onions, summer squash (though not yet quite in season), spring onions and asparagus are roasted separately (or alongside each other in the same pan) to retain their individual flavors and then tossed together, topped with sauteed bacon and scallions just prior to serving. Look for the freshest, thinnest skinned new potatoes you can find and leave the skin on. They will take just a little longer than the vegetables to cook, but the short wait is well worth the while. Non-meat eaters feel free to omit the bacon.

Roasted Spring Vegetable Medley with Bacon & Scallions

Roasted Spring Vegetable Medley with Bacon & Scallions

10 well-scrubbed small, fresh potatoes, quartered

3 spring onions, trimmed to 3″ length of the green stems, and halved

1 yellow squash, washed, trimmed and cut into 1/2″-thick slices

10 spears asparagus, washed trimmed (cut about 1″ off the bottom) and gently peeled about 3″ up from the base

Extra Virgin Olive oil

Sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

To garnish:

4 slices bacon, sauteed and crumbled into large chunks

3 scallions, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 425F. Prep the vegetables. In a large roasting pan, arrange each of its kind together in a single layer, side by side. If the pan is too small, roast any remaining vegetable kind (for example asparagus) in a separate pan. Drizzle the veggies generously with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss each group together to coat. Roast at 425 until tender and barely colored/golden, tossing once or twice. The potatoes will take a little longer than the rest. After 20 – 25 minutes, remove the asparagus, onions and squash with a slotted spoon and transfer to a serving bowl. Keep warm by covering with a piece of aluminum foil. Increase the oven to 450F and continue roasting the potatoes until very tender and just golden, another 10 minutes. Meanwhile, saute the bacon over medium high heat until crispy. Drain on paper towels. Crumble or chop into a small dice. Toss the potatoes together with the warm vegetables. Topp with the bacon and scallions and serve immediately. This is a delicious dish on its own, or would work magic as a side to poultry, fish, pork or steak.

Mom’s Stewed Strawberries and Rhubarb

(Yield: About 2 1/2 cups)

Me and my siblings were basically sweet and dessert deprived as kids because my mother didn’t believe in them. However, she always obliged when strawberry and rhubarb season came around with this simple and delicious compote. Serve it warm over ice cream or cold over yogurt for breakfast. Unlike Mom, I add a little cinnamon and vanilla, but feel free to omit if you want it “plain.”

4 rhubarb spears, trimmed and cut into 1/2″-thick pieces

2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 vanilla pod, cut in half vertically

Generous pinch ground cinnamon

Combine all of the ingredients together in a medium sauce pan. Bring up to a boil over high heat and reduce to medium. Continue to simmer, uncovered, until the rhubarb has broken down into a sauce and the strawberries are still chunky, but very soft. Remove the vanilla pod and discard. Serve warm or cold as suggested above. Refrigerate, covered, for 2 to 3 days. This will also freeze well for several weeks.

Bon appetit!

 

 

 

 

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Summertime and the Chili is Easy

Lest you fear I’ve completely lost my marbles, I’m aware it’s not summer yet. However, here in balmy Charleston, spring is well past her fullest bloom, though still lovely. The official first waves of feels-like-summer-heat will arrive in a few weeks with the arrival of the Spoletians; invariably the two go together year after year.

So,  I’m a little ahead of myself seasonally, a sensation that started, ironically when I went to the first Charleston farmers’ market of the season a Saturday ago. Sifting through luscious strawberries, long spears of asparagus, and pungent sweet onions, I was giddy with the fruits of spring. Yet, the grass fed beef and pork sausage I purchased from one of my favorite vendors jump-started my culinary mind to summer. Specifically, peppers, tomatoes, and their culinary bedfellow, chili.

Even in the doggiest days of August heat, I can’t resist making the stuff. So utterly wholesome, I load it up with colorful, peppery heat and plenty of grass-fed beef and beans. I usually finish it with some dark chocolate and a dab of local honey for sweetness, and it’s utterly delicious and very nutritious.

Though it’s a bit early for the season, that’s what I found myself doing once again yesterday, and loving every minute of it. The fragrance of making chili is at least half the fun and my dog, Tann Mann,  makes a virtual dance out of it the process that makes me smile.

This time, and in keeping with the true spring season, I decided to add some color and fiber in the form of Swiss chard. It’s a mild, tender green, and just needs a few minutes of cooking to wilt, soften and heat through at the very end of the cooking process. Think parsley on steroids! Be sure to wash the chard thoroughly, break off and discard the tough stems, and dry well.  I cut them into thin strips, or a chiffonade. This is easily done by stacking the leaves, rolling them into a bundle, and  cut into thin strips, horizontally across the bundle.

A chiffonade of Swiss chard.

Another nice thing about this recipe, is that you can store it in the refrigerator for a couple days, where the flavors will continue to develop. Re-heat it in the batch sizes you need only, as you want to avoid over-cooking the Swiss chard, which will make it soggy and more grey than green.

To keep the fat content very low and the flavor high, I used sausage, too, but drained it very well after the browning process to remove almost all but a few tablespoons of the fat. This is why it’s important to add the majority of the spices after the browning and draining process, otherwise they will end up down your sink or in your garbage disposal, instead of in your chili. Feel free to lighten up on the heat if you have a tender palate. As always, be sure to taste and modify salt and pepper quantities to suit your taste. Happy cooking!

Chunky Spunky Farmers’ Market Chili

(Makes 10 – 12 portions)

Chunky Spunky Farmers' Market Chili

 

One Tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 pound grass fed beef (or substitute organic or ground beef)

1 pound sweet sausage (casings removed if applicable)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

1 Tbs roasted ground cumin

1/2 tsp red chili pepper flakes

generous dash paprika

pinch ground cloves

1 Tbs Mexican oregano

1 Tbs thyme leaves

1 medium Bermuda onion, finely chopped (about 2 cups)

2 stalks celery, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper,  halved, seeds removed, and finely chopped

1 poblano pepper, halved, seeds removed, and finely chopped

2 habenero chiles, halved, seeds removed, and minced (Note: wear protective gloves if your hands are sensitive to the heat from the chile oil)

1 jalapeno pepper, halved, seeds removed, and finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped

1  1/2 cups medium bodied, good quality red wine (such as Pinot Noir)

2 cups quartered rainbow Heirloom cherry or grape tomatoes

One 15.5  ounce can black beans

One 15.5 can Great Northern beans

1 1/2 cups beef stock (or water)

1 square (about 1 Tbs, chopped) dark chocolate, at least 70% cacao

1 Tbs honey

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Garnish: Sour Cream

In a large soup pot or Dutch Oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the beef and the sausage, crumbling into small chunks as you’re adding. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir, occasionally, continuing to break the meat into small, uniform pieces. Cook until browned, about five minutes. Drain off all but 2 tablespoons of the rendered fat, discarding. Return the meat to the pan.

Over medium heat, add the cumin, red chile pepper flakes, paprika, cloves, Mexican oregano, and thyme. Stir to combine. Add the onion, celery, bell pepper, poblano, habenero, jalapeno and garlic. Continue to cook over medium to medium low heat, stirring, until all of the vegetables have just softened, about five minutes.

Increase the heat to high. Add the wine and continue to cook until it has reduced by half.  Reduce the heat to medium. Add the tomatoes, black beans, Great Northern beans (both with their liquor – it contains nutrients and fiber), and beef stock. Increase heat and bring up to a low simmer. Stir in the chocolate and the honey. Taste and add salt and pepper lightly as needed.

Cook on a low simmer, uncovered for about 30 minutes. Serve very hot in shallow bowls with a generous dollop of sour cream. (Note: Left-overs can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The chili also freezes very well for up to 3 months).

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