Woodfire Grill

It doesn't get much better that having a Top Chef cook your birthday meal! And that is just what happened for Cheryl and me. Nan arranged an evening at Woodfire Grill and my favorite Top Chef, Kevin Gillespie, was kind enough to stop by our table for photos and questions about his experience in the competition.

The Woodfire Grill is a warm and inviting restaurant filled with the wonderful aroma of the hardwood burning in the open grill. The menu is planned daily around the freshest available ingredients. Our meal started was a tasty tarragon and fall veggie amuse-bouche.

The first course featured one of my favorite vegetables, fried okra served with white acre peas and tarragon aioli.

Pan seared scallops followed, cooked to perfection on a blackeyed pea puree with fried carrots and braised bacon.

Kenny selected the wood-grilled strip loin with horseradish greens and duck fat roasted fingerling potatoes while I had the wild Alaskan halibut both beautifully plated and equally delicious.

Cheryl's dessert was the most interesting dish of the night. The moist banana bread was topped with a bacon butter cream icing. Yes, I said bacon butter cream! The sweet icing included the smokey taste of bacon.

It was a lovely evening spent with good friends enjoying good food.

Skillet Apple Pie

It is apple season in Georgia and on a recent trip to Elijay, Kenny and I came home with an assortment of fresh apples. For the pie, I used a mixture of apples, sweet and tart. Serve warm with ice cream for the perfect ending to a fall meal.

Skillet Apple Pie

Filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

6 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced, tossed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 tablespoons flour

Sugar

Topping:
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

¼ cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup half and half

3/4 teaspoon vanilla

Melt butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Add the apples and cook, stirring frequently for 5 minutes. Mix together the remaining filling ingredients and add to the apples. Continue cooking for 5 minutes or until the apples are soft.

For the topping, mix together the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender. Add the wet ingredients and stir together.

Spoon the topping over the apples. Sprinkle with 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for 25 to 30 minutes and golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 8 servings

Barefoot at Quail Hollow

Today started out as one of those dreary, cold days in the South. The skies were overcast and the damp wind was a sure sign that my days of blogging outside were numbered! But what started out as a nasty day, turned into a warm afternoon and evening. This could possibly be my last blog on the back porch until spring.

Dinner tonight was delicious, thanks to the Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics book. The menu was simple, Roasted Tomato Caprese Salad and Baked Shrimp Scampi served over Grits Cakes. I always gauge the success of a meal by Kenny's comments. I was pleasantly surprised that he loved the tomatoes since they weren't from the garden. I followed the recipe as written and Ina was right, the long roasting brings back memories of a good summer tomato.

The Baked Shrimp Scampi was easy and tasty thanks to Mike the Shrimp Man. Mike delivers the shrimp fresh from the coast of Georgia and they were perfect in Ina's recipe. The Grit Cakes were made from leftover Nora Mill's Stone Ground Grits. The leftovers from last night's supper were pressed into a pan and refrigerated. For tonight, I cut them into wedges and browned in a non-stick pan and served with the shrimp to soak up the juices. After a meal with new recipes, I always ask Kenny if I can make it again and tonight his response was "Absolutely!"

Thanks Ina and Mike for a great dinner!

Basil Onion Pepper Jelly

In my search for a better pepper jelly, this one is a milder version with a wonderful sweet, herb flavor. The peppers are a blend of cubanelle, red cherry, sweet banana and tiny yellow bells from the garden. The basil and red onion add a depth of flavor that is wonderful when served as an appetizer on cream cheese with Ritz crackers.

Basil Onion Pepper Jelly

11 ounces peppers
5 ounces red onion
20 basil leaves
1 1/2 cups white vinegar
6 1/2 cups sugar
1 pouch Certo

Sterilize the jars and prepare the lids according to manufacturers directions.

Chop the peppers, onion, and basil in the food processor finely. In a large stainless steel pan, combine the pepper mixture with the sugar and vinegar and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Bring to a full rolling boil and add the Certo. Bring back to a full rolling boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and skim off any foam. Ladle into hot jars, wipe rims clean and secure the lids and rings. Place jars in a canner covering completely with water. Bring to a boil and process for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool.

Jalopeno Cheese Grits Two Ways

For many years, Jalopeno Cheese Grits have been a family favorite. Served for breakfast, as a side with smoked chicken or BBQ, or the base for Shrimp and Grits, this is one recipe that can't be beat. This year I decided to try topping the grits with fresh tomatoes from the garden and it was definitely worth the effort. When fresh tomatoes are available, I will be adding them.

Jalopeno Cheese Grits

3 cups water
1/2 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cups quick cooking grits
2 beaten eggs
3/4 stick of butter
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
8 ounces pepper Jack cheese, grated
1 - 4 ounce can chopped green chilis
3 or 4 shakes tabasco sauce
Optional: 3 - 4 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped

In a large saucepan, bring the water and evaporated milk to a boil. Gradually add the grits, stirring until thick, about 5 minutes. Add eggs and bring to a boil. Add butter, chilis, tabasco sauce, pepper Jack cheese, and all but 1 cup of the cheddar and stir until blended. Pour into a grease baking pan and top with tomatoes, if using, and 1 cup cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 minutes.

Spicy Mustard Sauce

For our Labor Day BBQ, I decided to make a South Carolina mustard sauce. A quick search on the Internet resulted in a variety of recipes. After tasting, Kenny said it needed more sweetness and we decided to add some of our homemade pepper jelly. The result was a spicy, but somewhat tangy sauce. I plan to work on the recipe and next time cut down on the vinegar since the pepper jelly has a lot of vinegar.

Spicy Mustard BBQ Sauce

1 cup prepared yellow mustard
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons Hungarian paprika
1 teaspoon Worchestershire sauce
1 teaspoon black pepper
I cup pepper jelly
Juice of one lemon

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes. Serve with pork or chicken.

Labor Day BBQ a Success

It was a time to gather with friends and enjoy good food at the barn. The BBQ was delicious. The Boston butts were delicious. After rubbing with McCormick's Pork Rub - 1/2 jar for each butt - they were smoked the night before and reheated before pulling the pork. The 4 Boston butts served our 40 guests with some leftover to eat and freeze. Friends provided the sides and desserts to complete the wonderful meal. After the meal, we all settled down to talk about our summer and enjoy the beautiful evening. It was a great way to end the summer.

Labor Day BBQ

It is Labor Day weekend and time for a BBQ at the barn! Today we smoked 4 Boston butts. This is so easy. One tip I will give for preparing the meat is to wear gloves, the surgical kind, to apply the rub. It is amazing what a difference it makes -- the rub adheres to the meat, not to your hands! We smoked the butts at 250 degrees F. for 8 hours and they are cooling the frig, waiting to be reheated tomorrow and "pulled" for the meal.

This year's BBQ is pot luck, with friends bringing the sides and desserts and using all the mismatched plates and napkins. It is going to be a perfect end to the summer season, visiting with family and friends.

Fig Cake

At the Sprayberry family reunion each year, we all look forward to Boot's Fig Cake. The moist cake is packed with flavor and sweetness. It begins with a jar of Boot's fig preserves. This year she shared a jar of preserves and the recipe with me and it is becoming a house favorite. I wish I had a picture of the whole cake. It is a rich brown and absolutely delicious.

Boot's Fig Cake

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soda
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup Wesson oil
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
1 cup fig preserves
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cloves

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix oil, sugar, eggs and buttermilk. Add to dry ingredients. Grease and flour a tube pan and bake at 325 degrees F. for 45 minutes. (In my oven, it took 55 - 50 minutes.) Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Spoon or brush glaze over the cake after cooling.

Glaze

1 cup sugar
1 stick oleo (I used butter)
1 teaspoon white Karo syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon soda

Mix well and boil 3 minutes. Pour or brush over cake.

As you can see, there wasn't much left! Thanks, Boots!

Fig Preserves

As a child, I remember my mother and grandmother making fig preserves. The strange looking brown fruit was cooked in syrup and left to stand overnight before cooking again the next day and preserving in decorative jelly jars. The sweet preserves were a staple at breakfast as a topping for hot biscuits and toast.

Several years ago we planted two fig trees with the hope of someday having figs, but that day has not arrived thanks to a late cold snap that has taken the summer harvest. But just 2 miles from our home, James and Mary are enjoying a bumper crop of figs and were kind enough to share.

Fig preserves are very simple to make but require an overnight soak. The 10 pounds of figs yielded 11 half-pints and 12 four ounce jars of preserves. James and Mary, thanks for sharing your delicious figs with us!

Fig Preserves

6 pounds figs, washed and stemmed

1 1/2 quart water

8 cups sugar

1 1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

Combine the water, sugar and lemon in a large pan and bring to a boil. Boil rapidly for 10 minutes. Remove the lemon and skim off any foam. Add all the figs to the syrup, a few at a time so the syrup continues to boil. Cook rapidly, stirring frequently, until the figs are translucent, about 30 minutes. Remove figs from syrup and place in a shallow pan. Boil the syrup until it is as thick as honey. Pour the syrup over the figs and let stand overnight, covered at room temperature.
The next day, heat the figs and syrup to boiling and continue cooking until the syrup is thick, about one hour. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.

While the figs are cooking, sterilize the canning jars and prepare lids and rings according to the manufacturer's directions. Spoon hot preserves into jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Add syrup to 1/4 inch from jar top. Remove air bubbles wipe rims and adjust lids. Process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.

If you have leftover syrup, can or refrigerate it and use as a topping for biscuits, toast, pancakes or pound cake.