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.

Melissa and Trey

Love was in the air at Quail Hollow on Saturday night as friends and family gathered to celebrate the engagement of Melissa and Trey. The weather was perfect and everyone had a wonderful time. Check out the video!

Our Southern menu included:

Southern Fried Chicken

Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

Tomato Grits

Black-eyed Pea Salad

Broccoli Slaw

Freezer Sweet Cucumber Pickles

Enhanced Brownies

As for the chicken, we bought it, but everything else was prepared by Nan and me. Now, all of you know that I use my blog for a handy reference to recipes and events, and the rest of this post is for those wondering just how much food you need to serve 50 - 60.

• Fried Chicken Strips - 75 pieces
• Tomato Grits - 6 recipes. Many came back for seconds and there was very little left.
• Black-eyed Pea Salad - 1 1/2 recipes. I made 2 recipes and had plenty of leftovers.
• Broccoli Slaw -
• Sweet Pickles - 1 quart
• Enhanced Brownies - 4 - 5 recipes. We made 5 and had some leftovers.

March Cooking with Friends

Dale planned March's day of cooking. This time it was all about Paula Deen and Ina Gartin. Dale is a fabulous cook and she spent many hours searching and planning the menu. It was ambitious, but we were able to complete the delicious meal in just over 3 hours with the help of Susan, Judy and Diane. Check back for the recipes.

March Cooking with Friends Menu

Mixed Green Salad with Pears, Cranberries and Goat Cheese Fritters

Madiera and Mushroom Stuffed Beef Tenderloin

Roasted Asparagus

Roasted Tomatoes

Green Beans with Garlic

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Honey Wheat Rolls

Sweet Orange Butter

Plum Cake Tatin

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Parks and Mallory

It seems as though all the Bunco Babes' children are getting married. The latest Barn celebration was for Linda's son, Parks, and his beautiful fiancee, Mallory. The darling couple agreed to come to the Barn for an evening of soup and fun. Thanks to all the Babes for the delicious food and the weatherman for the perfect weather.

Alice's Key Lime Cheesecake

My favorite dessert at this year's Souper Bowl was Alice's Key Lime Cheesecake. Her presentation was beautiful and the flavor was a perfect blend of sweet and tart. This is not a quick and easy recipe, but is well worth the effort.

Alice’s Key Lime Cheesecake

5 tablespoons butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 1/4 cups, plus 1/4 cup

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

3/4 cup key lime juice

4 eggs, at room temperature

2 egg yolks, at room temperature

2 tablespoons grated key lime zest

1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature 2 egg whites, at room temperature

Pinch of salt

2 cups sweetened whipped cream

1 cup simple syrup, (1 cup sugar, 1 cup water heated until sugar dissolves)

Rind of 2 limes, julienned

12 sprigs fresh mint

In a mixing bowl, combine the melted butter, 2 tablespoons of the sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Mix well. Press the crust firmly over the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan. Set aside.
In a saucepan dissolve the gelatin the key lime juice, about 5 minutes. Add 1 1/4 cups of the sugar, eggs, egg yolks, and lime zest. Mix well. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture thickens and is pudding like, about 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth. With the mixer running, add the lime mixture slowly and beat until smooth. Remove the mixture and turn into a bowl and cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, stirring every 10 minutes.

In a bowl of an electric mixer with a whip attachment, place the egg whites and remaining 1/4 cup of the sugar. Whip on medium high until stiff peaks form. Remove the lime and cheese mixture from the refrigerator. Fold the egg whites into the lime mixture and blend thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours.

Remove from the refrigerator. Run a sharp knife along the sides of the pan and remove the spring-form. Spread the whipped cream evenly over the top of the cake.

For the candied zest: In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the simple syrup and the lime zest. Bring the liquid to a simmer and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the zest from the liquid and cool on parchment paper.

Cut the cake into individual servings. Garnish with candied lime zest and mint sprigs.

Kitty's Turtle Brownies

Kitty is known for her desserts. During our tailgating days at the amphitheater, we always asked Kitty to bring the desserts. Her Turtle Brownies were the favorites at our 2nd Annual Souper Bowl. These rich brownies were the perfect end to a fun evening.

Kitty’s Turtle Brownies
1 (14 oz.) bag of caramels
¾ cup butter (softened)
2/3 cup evaporated milk, divided
1 cup chopped pecans
1 pkg. German chocolate cake mix
1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

Combine caramels with 1/3 c. milk and melt in microwave, stirring often until smooth. Set aside. Combine mix, butter, and rest of milk. Beat until firm. Stir in nuts. Press ½ of mixture into bottom of well-greased 13x9 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips over and cover chips with caramel. Sprinkle remaining cake mixture on top. Bake for 15-20 more minutes. (It won’t look done.) Cool and chill in refrigerator before cutting.
(I use Smart Balance instead of butter and use Duncan Hines cake mix because it has no transfat.)

Dale's Taco Soup

Dale is a great friend and a wonderful cook. I have enjoyed many delicious meals at her home so I was not surprised that she was the winner of the 2nd Annual Quail Hollow Souper Bowl. This soup is not only tasty, but is very simple to prepare.

Dale’s Taco Soup
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can mild Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 can lima beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can white hominy
1 small onion, chopped
1 ½ lb. ground beef
1 ½ cup water
Salt and Pepper
1 package Taco seasoning
1 package dry Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix

Drain beans and hominy. Brown ground been and onions and drain. Mix all ingredients together in a soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until heated. You can assemble everything and cook over low heat in a crock-pot. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, etc. Be sure to have tortilla chips on the side.

Souper Bowl at the Barn

Souper Bowl 2009 Winners
Dale's Taco Soup and Kitty's Turtle Brownies

While the world was celebrating the Super Bowl, we headed to the Barn for our own Souper Bowl. The 2nd Annual Quail Hollow Souper Bowl was held on January 31 in the Barn. Friends and family gathered for some friendly competition. This year's event was expanded to include desserts. The weather was cold - just right for enjoying an evening of good food.

This year's soup competition had an international flair with recipes from Mexico, South Africa, Italy, and the good old USA. Eight different soups were entered and all were delicious. This year's winner was Dale's Taco Soup!
Now for the desserts. The 8 entries were yummy. My favorite was Alice's Key Lime Cheesecake. But in the end, chocolate was once again the favorite in Kitty's Turtle Brownies.

The evening ended with talk of next year's entries. So now we have a year to test and perfect our entries for next year! The winning recipes will be posted soon!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband!

Cooking with Michael and Friends

I love to cook and the Food Network is the inspiration for many of my meals. I have always wanted to take one episode and try to recreate it. This week I did it! The plan was to use Michael Chiarello's Let the Sunshine In episode and prepare the menu in my kitchen. Susan and I shopped for the ingredients locally with much success. The only thing missing was watercress. Dale joined us in the kitchen and we created an absolutely delicious meal.

I started the day before preparing the Frozen Ruby Reds. One word of caution, make sure you are going to be around for several hours so you can rake the frozen juice every hour or so. I made the mistake of leaving and called Kenny to do the raking. Unfortunately, it wasn't soon enough and I had to scrape out the ice crystals and put them in another container while the juice that was frozen solid thawed on the counter. After a while I was able to "rake" the juice and get the snow cone-like crystals.

After our shopping trip, we began the preparation. Susan started preparing the fruit for the Triple Orange Dessert Soup while I worked on the Lemon Braised Artichokes over Pasta. It took Susan quite some time to peel and section the oranges, grapefruit and tangerines. My task was to clean and quarter the artichokes. Thanks, Alessandra, for showing me how to prepare fresh artichokes in your Italian kitchen. This was a fairly simple and quick prep. I used fresh thyme from the garden for the braising. Once braised, they were set aside while Dale and I worked on the salad.
With the help of a mandoline, the fennel, carrots and onion were thinly sliced. Since we couldn't find any good watercress, we used spinach. The salad becomes better after sitting for a while so the vegetables can soak up the dressing. Kenny arrived in time to oversee the preparation of the Chicken with Roasted Lemon and Rosemary Sauce. The roasted lemons were amazing. By now, the kitchen was full of wonderful smells. The chicken and potatoes were browned and baked for 15 minutes.

Next time we will add to the baking time. The potatoes were still a little crunchy. During the baking, Kenny got started on mixing the drinks. We rimmed the glasses with salt and enjoyed the frozen drinks while the chicken and potatoes baked and the pasta was cooked.

Once the chicken and potatoes were baked, we made the sauce and finished the pasta. We decided to use only half of the lemon juice. The food smelled and looked wonderful. Everyone's favorite was the pasta – it could easily be served as the main dish with a salad and bread for a delicious meal. The Triple Orange Dessert Soup was much like our ambrosia without the coconut. It was a light finish to a meal that was all about citrus. Thanks to Michael, we had a wonderful meal and a great time in the kitchen!

Italian Night

During our trip to Italy in November, Nan and I had the privilege of cooking with Alessandra in her kitchen in Cortona. It was a highlight of our trip. We shopped with Alessandra for the food and spent the day learning the techniques required to prepare an authentic Italian meal.

For the past couple of months, we have been perfecting our new skills. Steve, Cheryl, Bailey, Laura, Kenny and Edwin joined us as we prepared our favorites from the class. For the antipasti, we served Alessandra's Meatballs with proscuitto, a selection of cheeses, No Knead Bread, and the olive oil we purchased in Cortona.

The main dish was Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto. I'll be honest, the shrimp was delicious, the risotto was creamy, but there was something lacking in the flavor of the dish.

For dessert, we served Panna Cotta with Balsamic Strawberries and Blueberries . It reminded me of our meal with Leo in Cortona. Panna Cotta is one of those great desserts that you can make the day before. The taste is slightly sweet, but not heavy, with a wonderful vanilla flavor. The balsamic vinegar gives the fruit a tangy sweet finish. This will be one of my "go to" recipes for entertaining.

It was a great evening of good food, wine and friends! A special thanks to Laura and Bailey for the Georgia shrimp!

Dinner with the Morgans

Back in the day, small town newspapers had a social section that highlighted the activities of the local residents. The section was filled with articles such as this.

On Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Johnston and Mr. and Mrs. Kenny Coggin travelled to Buckhead for dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Steve Morgan. Appetizers were served on arrival in the kitchen as the couples chatted about the news from Newnan. Mrs. Morgan prepared a delicious Caribbean meal, beautifully served in a pineapple.
The table was beautifully decorated to celebrate the wonderful fall season in Georgia.

Coffee and dessert was served after the meal. Eveyone enjoyed an evening of good food and fellowship.

Thanks to Steve and Cheryl for a wonderful time!

Tomato Fest 2008

Tomato Fest is all about the tomato. The meal included Tomatoes and Goat Cheese; Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly; Gazpacho (thanks Nan); BLTs, Tomato, Basil and Feta Pasta (thanks Tonya and Scooter); BLTs with Basil Mayonnaise; Tomato Tart; and Watermelon for dessert (thanks Payton and Terri).

Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
4 - 5 large tomatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons Williams-Sonoma Pesto Dipping Sauce
1/4 cup julienned basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
10.5 ounces goat cheese

Mix together tomatoes and pesto dipping sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Pour over goat cheese and top with basil. Serve with crostini and crackers. Note: olive oil can be substituted for the pesto dipping sauce.

Tomato Basil Tart
1 purchased pie pastry
4-5 large tomatoes, peeled and sliced
1/2 Vidalia onion, thinly sliced
8 ounces Mozzarella cheese, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
2 tablespoons Williams-Sonoma Pesto Dipping Sauce
10 -12 basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 half cup grated Parmesan

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll pastry on a floured board to fit an 11-inch tart pan. Place pastry in pan and trim to fit. Prick the pastry, line with parchment pastry and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake for 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Allow to cool. Arrange the mozzarella over the pastry and top with onion slices and tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Dip basil leaves in pesto dipping sauce and add to tart. Sprinkle garlic slices over tart. Pour pesto dipping sauce over tart. Top with grated Parmesan. Bake for 30 - 45 minutes. Allow tart to set for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve hot. Yield: 8 servings. Note: Olive oil can be substituted for pesto dipping sauce.

Steve and Cheryl

Retirement Celebration #101

My retirement celebrations continue. Dale treated Susan and me to a wonderful lunch at Maggianno's at Lenox. We enjoyed the wonderful Family Style Lunch and Maggianno's treat for our retirement. As you can tell by the pictures, Susan loved the chocolate!

"Nacho" Normal Shower

The Bunco Babes hosted a shower for Ketty and Kempton on June 25th. Everyone had a great time. Thanks to all who helped the cute couple celebrate their engagement. We can't wait until the wedding on September 13th!

Chocolate!

For a great Girl's Night Out, go to Dante's Down the Hatch for the delicious Chocolate Fondue. Thanks to Bobbi and Lisa for setting up this fun evening!