Fatback and Foie Gras

Herb Roasted Branzino with Garlic and Lemons Recipe

2012-01-24T08:03:00.000-08:00

So, I made this guy last night, and let me tell you he tasted delicious. I haven't cooked a whole fish in a while, mainly because I haven't caught anything worth stuffing and roasting in quite some time, so when I happened across several beautiful whole Branzino's while traipsing through our local Whole Foods Market, I just had to get one.

Branzino, a.k.a. European Sea Bass or Loup de Mer, is a medium-sized, light and flaky fish that is akin to Rockfish, but has a much richer, almost butterier texture. It's a bit boney, so you'll have to pick through it carefully, but it's a wonderful fish to serve table side and perfect for two people to jam their forks into.

For cooking, I decided to roast my Branzino on a big pile of herbs from my garden that have miraculously remained intact due some crazy warm weather this season. I started by busting out my tried and true Le Creuset oval skillet, which is perfect for roasted a small to medium-sized fish since it can withstand high over heat. I laid a big pile of herbs on the skillet-- in this case, rosemary, thyme and sage, but you can use whatever you have.

Next, I washed and patted dry my already scaled and gutted fish.

I then rubbed this bad boy inside and out with a generous amount of salt and pepper and good quality olive oil. I used a chunky grey sea salt as well as a rosemary salt blend FYI.

I then chopped up a whole mess of garlic (like 5 big cloves) and blended that with some lemon zest and red pepper flakes and rubbed the fish inside and out again.

I stuffed the fish with more herbs and slices of lemon and drizzled even more olive oil over the whole shebang. Finally I poured about a cup of dry white wine into the pan and covered the pan tightly with heavy duty tin foil before placing it into a 450 degree oven.

After about 15 minutes, I removed the tin foil and let the fish continue to cook about another 5 minutes (just to crisp up a bit on the outside) before I removed it to a plate for service along with some roasted brussels sprouts.

And, this was all that was left at the end of the meal, so I'd say it was a success.

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Pan-Seared Scallops with Chive Beurre Blanc Sauce Recipe

2012-01-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

Cast-iron seared scallops rest atop a chive-infused buttery, creamy pillow of goodness.

Seared "dry-pack" scallops meet butter, cream, chives, shallots and wine. What's not to like? This super-easy recipe makes for an elegant presentation that simply screams, "I busted my ass in the kitchen all day" but alas, you really didn't. Why? Because this sauce can be whipped up in minutes, and as along as you have a screaming hot pan, your scallops will be expertly caramelized in no time as well.

But first. You must use a super-hot cast-iron pan and those suckers better be nice and dry and well-seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides. Once you got this in place, the scallops will take care of themselves, as long as you don't screw up and overcook them. The key here is, minutes on each side with the smaller, thinner scallops requiring a minute or less on each side. Pinch their little scallopy sides to make sure they remain nice and tender as you cook them, and take them out of the pan WHILE they are still just a bit soft in the middle.

For the beurre blanc, which is far from a traditional beurre blanc in that it contains cream and Dijon mustard as well as little to no real reduction, make sure your shallots are very finely minced. Also, avoid using any super-oaky white wine in this sauce since that will overpower its simple flavor profile.

Finally, feel free to play with this sauce a bit. If it's too thick add a bit more wine or incorporate any other fresh herbs you might have on hand (or none at all).

Now, go forth and make thee some scallops!

Seared Scallops in Chive Beurre Blanc Sauce

Makes 4 servings

For Sauce

1/3 cup minced shallots

1/4 cup dry, un-oaked white wine

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives and extra chives for garnish

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon softened butter

In a small saucepan, boil shallots, white wine and champagne vinegar on medium-high until most, but not all, the liquid has evaporated, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn down heat to medium and whisk in heavy cream and mustard. Whisk constantly until mixture reduces to about 1 cup.

Strain sauce into another saucepan, pressing down well on solids. Discard solids and return saucepan to medium-low heat.

Add chives and season with salt and pepper. Turn heat down to low and whisk in butter. Remove sauce from heat and keep warm until ready to serve.

For Scallops

1 pound dry-pack sea scallops (about 12 scallops)

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat a medium-sized cast-iron pan to medium-high.

Pat scallops dry with a paper towel and season both sides well with salt and pepper.

Add oil to pan. When it begins to shimmer and is almost the point of smoking add your scallops. Cook scallops in on each side until nicely browned and caramelized. Be careful not to overcook.

To serve: spoon warm sauce onto individual plates and top with three scallops each. Garnish with a lemon wedge and fresh sprigs of chive.

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

5 Chocolate Flavors That Should Be Banned

2012-01-19T08:47:00.000-08:00

How we eat chocolates in the Morris household

The other day while stampeding the Carytown Martin's with everyone else, I happened across a box of Russell Stover milk chocolates marked half off and couldn't resist.

I have a long history with Russell Stover. We go way back, all the way to my childhood when every Christmas my grandmother insisted on giving us kids a box of R. Stover assorted chocolates from her own personal stash. This was all good and well until we actually opened the box to discover that each oblong chocolate goody was coated in some kind of white pasty funk. Flipping the box over, the mystery of the off-color chocolates would be immediately solved when it was revealed that the "Use By" date had expired years ago.

For a kid, this was nothing short of torturous. In fact, it was almost as bad as receiving your very own box of candy only to find that it's filled with nothing but cherry cordials, and it was definitely on par with opening up your trick or treat bag while an old lady drops in a couple of boxes of raisins.

It's been years since I've actually bought my own box of R. Stover's. I figure this is due to the fact that a) they're expensive and b) I've never been able to get that crunchy, stale chocolate taste out of my head, so now that I am in my ~~40's~~ 30's, I figured it's time to revisit my sugar-laden nemesis and give that infamous box of R. Stover's another try.

Luckily, the chocolates were fresh or as fresh as a box of chocolates on sale at a grocery store can be. Thanks to the handy dandy enclosed chocolate map, I was able to go straight for the best ones: the coconut cluster, the peanut butter crunch, the chocolate truffle and the caramel. However, this soon left me with a crapshoot of flavors, ranging from butter cream to Roman nougat (as opposed to nougat named after some other European empire?) which led me to develop this list of chocolate flavors that I feel should be yanked from the box.

1. Molasses Chew: This particular flavor made the list not because it's pucker-up crappy tasting, but because it's a total fake-out. When you first take a bite, for a brief, blissful moment you think you're eating a caramel, then wham, the rug is pulled out from under you as a sickly sweet fermented molasses flavor takes over. Molasses belongs in baked beans. It should never come in contact with milk chocolate. Period.

2. Orange Cream: What do you get when you take all the elements of a creamsicle and stuff it inside a cute, little round piece of milk chocolate? You get nasty, that's what you get. Orange and chocolate have never mixed well in my book, but when it involves marrying a bunch of orange fluff with a perfectly decent piece of milk chocolate, I've got to draw the line. I'm convinced that R. Stover markets this flavor to old people exclusively, so sadly this one's never going away.

3. Strawberry Cream: See number 2, but add in a dash of Nestle Quick Strawberry milk mixed with a jar of Marshmellow Fluff and you've got yourself one bastardized piece of fruit.

4. Raspberry Caramel:Once again, a perfectly decent chocolate covered caramel gets tampered with. This time, it's with the addition of raspberry flavoring. From the outside, it looks like a caramel, all nice and square. If you take your finger and give it a little push, a bit of an indent if you will (come on, you know you do it) it looks like caramel inside, so your safe. Wrong! Bite into that sucker and you too can have a mouth filled with a chewy, sickly sweet raspberry goo that eventually settles into your metal fillings like spackling paste.

5. Maple Nut Butter: Even the title of this chocolate is confusing. What is a "maple nut" and can you make butter out of it? Who the hell knows. All I know is that I want my maple drizzled on a pancake or a waffle that's served up with a mess of fried chicken. There's just too much going on with this candy flavor-wise and the texture of the filling reminds me of the interior of a 3 Musketeers, all fluffy and whatnot. Finally, I detect nary a bit of butter flavor mixed into this chocolate, which in my opinion, was its only selling point to begin with.

Got a chocolate you love to hate? Feel free to share.

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

The Lady's Brunch Burger

2012-01-17T10:47:00.000-08:00

Oh, the good old days....

A fried burger topped with fried egg, fried bacon and fried donuts glazed in sugar...not so good after all.

I Made a Top 6 List!

2012-01-11T07:41:00.000-08:00

So yeah, I'm a little bit excited here, since I've been blogging for about a year and half, which ain't nothing in the big blogosphere picture. In fact, I did this whole blogging thing totally backwards by starting out as a journalist and author only to transition into blogging. Why the hell did you do that, you ask? Partly because print pubs don't pay jack anymore, but mostly because I love having the freedom to control my own content. The feeling is akin to hitting a nude beach for the first time and stripping off your top. It's frightening, exhilarating, even a bit chilly in parts. Most of all, it's kinda dirty, yet still tolerated by the prudish. Note: I may or may not be speaking from experience here, so let me just plead the fif.

Food writer Robey Martin, of Richmond, VA alt weekly extraordinaire Style Weekly, recently listed Fatback and Foie Gras as one of her "Six suggestions for a new year of eating in Richmond" along with the ubiquitous Matt the Marinara, who always seems to have his finger on the pulse of something uber-tasty and off the traditional eats radar. I love hitting up his blog as well as his tumblr to get a sense of where and what he's been eating lately. His rec's almost always end up making my short list, and oogling his shots of that never ending meal at Jose Andre's Minibar helped me to kill a solid half day.

Speaking of food porny photos, Tim Vidra of the blog E.A.T. was also mentioned in the Style article, and not only is his photography sinfully delicious, but he's got some darned good recipes in there, many of which are rather close to my heart as you'll see.

I highly recommend giving both of these gents a visit.

In the meantime, here's an excerpt from Robey's article (she is also a reviewer, by the way):

6. Read your local food writers. Kendra Bailey Morris churns local daily. She's readily available for questions on how to make the best tater-tot casserole or other Southern staple. Matt Sadler's new Tumblr, (keeping it local even on platform) tells about his travels and how they rate to where he lives. Tim Vidra, unfailingly makes me want to jump through my screen into his food pictorials. He can't get any more local unless he becomes a plant.

Read the full article here.

The Friendliest Little Restaurant on Earth

2012-01-09T09:11:00.000-08:00

Hometown Restaurant Peterstown, WV

Sometimes you've just got to go back to the basics, to those warm and familiar places that bring you comfort, especially in times of need. Recently, I lost my youngest cousin, Evan. He passed away tragically and far too young. The emptiness that is left inside my heart still resonates with each heavy breath, so much so that I wish I could sigh the sadness right out of me, but I can't. Instead, like the rest of my family I'm filled with a constant dull ache and an insatiable yearning for him to return to us.

It's times like these that I eye my surroundings with a keener vision. Perhaps I'm just seeking that proverbial pat on the back from a stranger which will remind me that yes, there is still plenty right with this world (don't we all seek this to some extent?) or maybe I'm simply craving an earnest, "How ya'll doing today?" from a total stranger so I'll be reminded of home. These minute gestures magically seem to fill the void, or at least a little part of it and that's enough for now.

Hometown Restaurant, located in the quaint mountain town of Peterstown, West Virginia which sits right along the Virginia/West Virginia line, fills my void.

Serving up good old country cooking with a decidedly West Virginia mountain flair (think brown beans and cornbread and my personal food addiction, the West Virginia slaw dog), Hometown is a no-frills, come-on-in-and-grab-yourself-a-seat spot located on the main road in town. There's a nice, little salad bar with all the usuals, including a particularly good homemade potato salad, along with a hot bar of rotating lunch specials that are appropriately doused in some kind of gravy.

Hometown's real-deal slaw dog with homemade chili sauce on a buttered New England split bun

There's an a la carte menu available offering up an array of tasty, home cooked goodies, ranging from Texas toast hamburgers (another West Virginia tradition) and country ham dinners to vegetable plates and fried fish meals that are all VERY reasonably priced.

Nearly everything at this 26 year old restaurant is made from scratch and it's pure grandma's cooking, especially the homemade cakes, pies and rolls. We sampled a coconut cream pie that boasted the tallest, most perfect meringue I've ever seen. It was so good we devoured it before I could even get a snapshot, so I guess you'll have to get your own slice to really see what I mean.

While the food is undoubtedly good, it's the company that makes this place so special. We weren't at our table all of five minutes before an older gentleman on the other side of the room got up from his table, walked over to us, shook our hands and simply said "Welcome". He then returned to his table and quietly finished his meal. Who does this anymore? He wasn't an employee, and as far as I know not affiliated with the restaurant other than being a patron, yet he took the time to make us feel special in a place where everyone knows everyone, but no one knew us.

As we worked through our meal of slaw dogs, beans and cornbread and blackberry cobbler, nearly everyone who walked by our table took a moment to wave a kind hello along with a quick "how ya'll doing?" From local farmers still in their overalls to a large group of dust-covered men coming in from a nearby construction site to the restaurant's seasoned servers, many of whom have been working here for 20-plus years, it was as if the whole place had invited us into their private dining room.

I can think of no better way to welcome your guests than to create an atmosphere where food, fellowship and good old-fashioned mountain-style hospitality is all that matters.

And, if you feel like you might need an extra prayer or two said on your behalf, Hometown's got you covered. Just fill out this form with any prayer requests and drop it in the box on your way out. It sure beats just grabbing a mint.

What Hometown Restaurant offers its diners is not unique. No one's claiming to reinvent the wheel when it comes to the soul-satisfying, stick-to-your-guts, home-cooked food they serve each week. What makes Hometown so special in my book are the little things-- the way a stranger shakes your hand with purpose, how a waitress beams with pride as she lays down that piece of towering homemade coconut cream pie, and how a passer-by who you've never met takes the time to stop by your table just to offer a "glad you're here" as if somehow he magically knows your heart is heavy.

Hometown Restaurant
Route 219
Peterstown, West Virginia
No booze
No bad language

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

A Sweet and Gentle Soul

2012-01-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

In loving memory of Evan C. Bailey, January 5, 1978 - December 28, 2011

A Sweet and Gentle Soul

A gentle soul found peace today
Beyond the star-filled sky
Touched by water just in time
Nevermore to die

Leaving shattered hearts behind
With a mighty void to fill
Your memory will comfort us
And live with us still

Gone so soon in earthly time
Your mortal race is run
Now the ages beckon you
Your life has just begun

Your Savior waits to take your hand
As the angels sing with joy
Welcome home oh gentle soul
Our newest little boy

Love Uncle Kent
12/31/11

Poem by Kent G. Bailey

©2012 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Bakin' Bacon Recipe

2012-01-02T08:22:00.000-08:00

Gets even better w/ poached eggs, buttery biscuits and Mimosas

I'm a bacon fanatic. Certainly, I am not reinventing the wheel with this declaration, but facts is facts. Bacon is a big part of my life, and over the years I've tinkered with many a bacon recipe, from frying it in cast-iron (deliciously greasy, but time consuming and messy) to microwaving (quick and easy, but too dry and often inconsistently cooked) so when I stumbled across this very cool recipe for baked bacon, I just had to give it a try. What intrigued me most about this version of baking bacon in the oven was that the author recommends starting the process in a cold oven, which if you think about it, makes total sense in that it facilitates a slower, more even cooking process from start to finish.

So, New Year's Day became all about baking bacon.

According to the directions, I started by wrapping a large ridged sheet pan in heavy duty foil. Then, I laid out all the bacon side by side. I recommend using quality thick-cut bacon for this recipe. Next, I popped the whole shebang into the oven (center rack) and THEN cranked the heat up to 400 degrees. You must be sure to put the bacon into a cold oven. P.S. If you're really feeling creative, at this point you can also drizzle bacon with molasses or sprinkle it with brown sugar and cayenne pepper before roasting it in the oven for additional flavor. (Thanks Karol Thompkins!)

Next, I roasted the bacon for approximately 20-24 minutes. Obviously, oven temps vary depending on the make, model, age and accuracy of your particular oven, but I ended up somewhere in that time range. Also, about three-quarters through the cooking process, I flipped the bacon over to promote more even cooking. One thing I did notice of culinary note is if your oven is a bit cockeyed (or perhaps the floors of your kitchen slope as mine do) the bacon resting in the rendered fat will cook faster than the rest of the meat. With this in mind, I recommend turning your pan at least once during the cooking process. This should be your end result:

After your bacon is done the way you like it, remove it to drain on paper towels (be sure to save your grease for making cornbread). Once the pan has cooled, simply ball up the foil and toss it away for easy clean-up.

Serve up your bacon with your favorite accoutrements. Store any leftover cooked bacon in ziplock bags in the fridge for BLT's, biscuit sandwiches or nibbling.

Homemade Sausage Egg McMuffin Recipe

2011-12-29T06:58:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning craving grease. Perhaps it was that extra cocktail I had last night, but for whatever reason, I just had get my hands on a cholesterol-laden breakfast sandwich. Let me begin this with a full confession-- I have eaten a McDonalds Sausage McMuffin with Egg before, so let's get that one out in the open, and believe me, I am fully aware of the pink goo controversy as well as the chain restaurant's penchant for frying potatoes in beefy flavored oil. However, sometimes on rare occasion, I just don't feel like making breakfast for myself so I've hopped into my Honda and driven the full half mile to the Mickey D's for a McMuffin. Lazy, unhealthy and contributing to all that's wrong in the food world. I know.

So, this morning, I set out to make my own version and what a treat it was. I started by pan frying some Aidell's Sausage with Roasted Garlic and Gruyere along with an organic brown egg....

Then, I toasted up an English muffin....

Then, I stacked it up with a small slice of American cheese (for full Mickey D's effect, of course)...

...and, Voila! Runny egg, meets runny processed cheese in toasty, sausagy heaven.

Crostini Topped with Brie, Balsamic Marinated Strawberries and Arugula

2011-12-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

This just might be the easiest and most elegant party appetizer of the season. I first tried this recipe at White Fences Winery in Irvington, Virginia, a small fishing town in the Northern Neck near the Chesapeake Bay. Sadly, the winery is no more, but this fantastic combination of oozy triple creme brie, piquant balsamic strawberries and peppery arugula on top of a crunchy crostini lives on just in time for your next New Year's Eve cocktail party.

If you're looking for a snazzy recipe to add to your holiday repertoire, I highly recommend giving this one a try.

Crostini Topped with Brie, Balsamic Marinated Strawberries and Arugula Recipe

Serves 12

2 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups of strawberries, hulled and sliced
Generous handful of arugula
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 a sourdough baguette, sliced 1/2-inch thick
8-ounces triple creme brie brought to room temperature
Freshly ground black pepper

In a bowl, mix together vinegar and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add strawberries. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes to marinate.

Meanwhile, toss arugula with a little olive oil to taste. Add a couple spins of the pepper mill and toss again. Set aside.

Lightly brush crostini's with olive oil and toast on each side.

To assemble: spread each piece of toasted baguette with brie. Then top with a couple of strawberries and arugula. Garnish with a bit of extra black pepper. Serve immediately. Repeat with any remaining ingredients.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Tater Tot Casserole Recipe

2011-12-22T08:41:00.000-08:00

It's so gross, it's good!

The first time I made this dish for my husband, he took one look at it and announced, "No way". You see, unlike myself, Tim was raised in a household serving decidedly classier fare than the country cooking I grew up on. Once when I asked him what's his favorite type of chili dog, he answered that he had never eaten one. Oh, the horror! Needless to say, I had to undo that one quick.

While I was eating pinto beans cooked in fat back and cornbread baked in bacon drippings, he was enjoying a healthy balanced meal that included a salad that wasn't crafted out of Jell-O. Therefore, I just had to introduce him to the grand behemoth of cheap, country-style cooking-- the tater tot casserole, which blends together a whole mess of Southern church cookbook-styled ingredients from Velveeta cheese to cream of mushroom soup all laid out in pure oven-baked glory.

So, did he eat his tots you ask? Oh, yes he did. Over the course of several days, Tim polished off nearly all of it, making me one very happy wife and his mother totally mortified. Yes, I have ruined him.

Tater Tot Casserole

Serves 8

This easy-to-assemble dish contains a bevy heavily processed canned and/or frozen goodies, so feel free to take your time eating it since arguably it will never spoil.

2 pounds ground beef
1 large onion, diced
1 (15-ounce) can mixed vegetables with half the liquid drained off
1 (11-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (11-ounce) can cream of celery soup
1 (8-ounce) package of Velveeta Cheese, cut into cubes
1 (1-pound) bag frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground beef and drain off any fat. Add onions and cook until translucent. Spread beef and onion into a large casserole dish. In another bowl mix together canned vegetables, soups and cheese. Spread mixture over beef mixture and top with tater tots.

Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until your casserole is bubbly and the tots are browned.

Originally published in "White Trash Gatherings: From-Scratch Cooking for Down-Home Entertaining" by yours truly and Ten Speed Press, 2006.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

5 Foods On the Naughty List You Need To Eat

2011-12-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

Chicken and waffles from OMG Cafe in Richmond.

Maybe it's me, but I am plenty sick and tired of being blasted by yet another article featuring a how to eat healthy during the holiday season diatribe, especially those touting a personal listing of "foods to avoid". It's Christmas/Hanukkah/ Kwanzaa (a.k.a. Festivus) time for god's sake. You're supposed to eat too much, drink too much, and generally not give a crap about your waistline for the next couple of weeks only to pull a 180 on January 2 and hit the gym while starting your new found power smoothie breakfast kick. Once that ends approximately two weeks later, it's back to the french fries and ham biscuits (not necessarily together, but food for thought) so I see no reason to try to bunk the natural course of things as they are meant to be. Save the salad greens and steamed tofu for bathing suit season. That's a far more important time of the year since you can no longer hide your ass under a wool coat.

In the meantime, to help you stay on course, I've assembled a tasty list of some of my favorite high caloric goodies that should help you to pack on at least a fiver by the first of the year.

Pimento Cheese: Frankly, there aren't many foods that offer such a deliciously mayonnaisy combination as this ubiquitous dish. However you like to make it is totally up to you, but the fact is, you're eating spoonfuls of mayo and shredded cheese mixed together all creamy and gloppy. Up the ante of this dish and stuff some pimento cheese into a burger or slather a couple of slices of white bread in butter and make a pimento cheese grilled cheese. Here's my family's recipe, which is a good, basic version to get your started.

Meat: Ladies, nothing tells your man you love him more than a big, fat, marbly steak, and nothing makes me happier than sitting down to a big plateful of juicy meat with him. My personal go-to's are the NY Strip or the Ribeye which offer up plenty of meaty goodness, fatty charred ends and beaucoup forkfuls of tender bites. If it's too cold outside, pan sear your meat in a cast-iron pan and top it with a compound butter like a rosemary, shallot and salted butter mix. Pair it with a big pile of roasted garlic mashed potatoes to seal the deal.

The Big-Ass Breakfast: No evening of overeating is complete without consuming a giant pile of pork products, high cholesterol eggs, caffeine, and ideally a Bloody Mary or two the following morning. Hence, the big-ass breakfast. Whether you want to do it up Southern-style with biscuits, grits and country ham or U.K.-style (pictured above) with bacon rashers, sausages, blood-laden black pudding and perhaps a grilled mushroom or tomato for good measure, I'm a firm believer in eating big, especially in the morning.

Fried Food: I can think of no other way to completely derail any stretch of healthful eating than by sitting down to demolish a platter of fried seafood, buttery bread, fries and mayo-laden tartar sauce, except if you add in a pitcher of Miller High Life to wash it all down. There's something totally irresistible about battered food, any food really, from deep fried Twinkies to the glorious corn dog, so I declare this 2011 holiday season to be the year of the deep fat fryer.

Nitrates: So apparently nitrates, which are found in most forms of processed meats including hot dogs, pepperoni, salami, even that mystery meat in a can known as Spam, apparently aren't so good for you. Sure, there are some studies out there touting that digesting any meat goods with artificial red coloring can lead to cancer, and this may in fact be true, but let me offer you another nugget of non-scientific info, this dude has been sucking down massive quantities of hot dogs for years and he's still with us. Moreover, he has zero percent body fat, so perhaps these so-called "studies" need to be revisited. In the meantime, I suggest making a Chili Slaw Dog for lunch and stop worrying about it.

Greek Yogurt Banana Muffins Recipe

2011-12-19T11:05:00.000-08:00

Top these muffins with Red Hots candies for a festive touch.

Confessional. I'm not much of a pastry-gal/baker. I don't have the bread gene either. Unlike most of the women in my family, I'm no expert at the art of making swoon-worthy cinnamon buns, sweet potato pies or Sally Lunn bread. It's just not in my being. Plus, I don't like to bake. As much as I wish I could summon some sort of deep-seated joy when whipping up a batch of glittery Christmas cookies, instead my cooking heart is filled with dread at the thought of covering myself in flour and silver dragees all afternoon. Show me a 6-pound pork butt and then we'll talk.

Like most people, however, I love having baked goods in the house, but let's face it, buying your cakes, pies and cookies from the store is neither cost-effective or nearly as tasty, so on those rare occasions that I decide to pony up and do a little baking, I'm doing so in order to save a couple of ducats and exercise complete control over my ingredients. Did you know that a single slice of a Starbucks Iced Lemon Pound Cake contains 490 calories? That's one hell of a fatty snack to go with that Eggnog Latte (which clocks in at another 460 calories FYI).

My husband simply loves muffins (and Starbucks goodies) so I have been trying to do my part and make more of the coffee treats he would normally buy out at home, so lucky me when this morning I came across a recipe for Banana Yogurt Muffins on Food.com and I noticed that I happened to have a couple of half-rotten bananas lying around along with a container of Fage 2 percent yogurt. Not only do I like banana anything, but what really appealed to me about this recipe was the idea that most of the fat (in the form of vegetable oil) was replaced with yogurt and mushy overripe bananas. Plus, and most importantly in my non-baking book, the recipe is super easy.

In true recipe writer form, I made a couple of changes to the original and added ground ginger, sunflower seeds, vanilla bean paste, and I upped the amount of milk and subbed in the Greek yogurt for the non-fat vanilla yogurt. I also, topped the muffins with a couple of Red Hots candies, because heck, it's Christmas. For more on cooking with Red Hots, check on this piece I wrote for NPR a few years back. Finally, I lowered the cooking temp.

All in all, the muffins turned out pretty good. Not the best muffin I've ever sank my teeth into, but they definitely did the job as a healthier alternative to the grease bombs that can be purchased at the store, and they pair pretty well with a hot cup of coffee.

Greek Yogurt Banana Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Slice open these muffins and top with a pat of butter while still warm for added decadence.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger
5-ounces 2 percent Greek yogurt (or nonfat)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
1/4 cup 2 percent milk
1/8 cup vegetable oil
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup plain sunflower seeds (unsalted)
Red Hots candies, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl mix together sugar, flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and ginger. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix together yogurt, egg, vanilla paste, milk (adding more if mixture is too dry), and vegetable oil. Add in bananas and sunflower seeds and mix well.

Drop batter by spoonfuls into a muffin tin sprayed with cooking spray and lined with foil baking cups. Top each muffin with a couple of Red Hots.

Bake muffins in the center rack of oven for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Note: these are great for freezing in Ziplock bags.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

South African Peri-Peri Sauce Recipe

2011-12-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

Peri-Peri Chicken, Miele Pap and Monkey Gland Sauce from the South African Food and Wine Fest

Ok, food people. If you're anywhere near Virginia next September, you must be sure to hit the South African Food and Wine Festival at Grayhaven Winery. Not only is it an excellent introduction to South African cuisine cooked by those who know it well (the winery owners are from Cape Town), but it's a heck of a great way to spend an early fall afternoon drinking lovely Virginia wines while getting your spicy food fix on.

South African cuisine is incredibly diverse and ranges from Indian-style curries and English fish and chips to Dutch Boerewor sausages and world renown South African wines from vineyards originally planted by the French. It's a melting pot cuisine that is heavily spiced, hearty and soul satisfying.

Just a few of the goodies you can try at the festival.

Sure, I might be jumping the gun here since the festival is a cool 10 months away, but in the meantime, why not try your hand at making a classic South African Peri-Peri marinade? It goes equally well on chicken or shrimp, and it's sure to warm you from the inside-out since it's loaded with hot peppers.

Grilled Peri-Peri Chicken

Peri-Peri sauce (or Piri-Piri) is traditionally made with African bird's eye chili's, which are quite similar to a Thai red chili. These chili's rank high on the Scoville heat scale at 175,000 units (a jalapeno is about 4500 units) so this is one pepper that's not for the faint of heart. Use of this type of chili is integral to recreating authentic South African food, so if you can't find African piri-piri peppers, head to your local Asian grocery and get a bag of Thai birds and be generous with them. There's supposed to be a lot of heat!

Traditionally, this sauce, which is also heavy on the acids (vinegar and lime juice) is not only used to marinade meats, but often doubles as a dipping sauce or is served alongside delicious fried goodies like Fish with Slap Chips (a.k.a. fish 'n chips):

Peri-Peri sauce can also be served alongside grilled lamb:

Peri-Peri is also great on a Boerewors sausage sandwich:

Use this sauce to marinade fish, shrimp, game meats or add it into a dip, sprinkle it over collard greens. It's meant to be versatile, so use your imagination.

South African Peri-Peri Sauce
Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Don't forget to wear gloves when working with these chili's and be sure not to touch your face. Ouch!

Ingredients:

1 cup olive oil
10 fresh red chili peppers (such as birds-eye chili’s) – cleaned and chopped
1 large onion, minced
Juice of 4 fresh limes
1 entire bulb of garlic – shelled and chopped fine
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley – chopped
1 cup white wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons kosher salt
4 Tablespoons sweet paprika

Mix all the ingredients in a large glass bowl. Whisk for 2 minutes. Store, covered in the refrigerator for two days or at least 24 hours to let the flavors release. Once aged, remove ¼ of the marinade and set aside to use as a dipping sauce. For chicken, marinate up to 24 hours. For shrimp, marinate up to 30 minutes.

This recipe was generously donated by Max Peple-Abrams of Grayhaven Winery.

Pot Roast with Bacon, Garlic and Rosemary

2011-12-14T07:16:00.000-08:00

So meaty.

I am definitely a meat and potatoes kinda girl, especially when the temperature drops. I'm also one for quick and easy preparation as well as budget-friendly cooking since now I have my hands full with this little guy.

Hank likes meat, too.

Last night I set out to make something hearty, soul-satisfying, and most of all easy, so I came up with this little one-pot wonder-- Rustic-Style Beef Pot Roast with Bacon, Garlic and Rosemary.

Mise en place

Begin by searing your meat and cooking bacon. Discard half the drippings.

Next, saute onions and garlic.

Deglaze aromatics with a nice dry red wine, scraping up the bits off the bottom of the pan.

Add stock, water, tomatoes and rosemary.

Return meat and bacon to pot. Cook for about 2 hours.

Reduce sauce, add a slurry, slice and plate it up!

Rustic-Style Beef Pot Roast with Bacon, Garlic and Rosemary
Serves 4-6

This saucy pot roast is simply bursting with rich flavors. It gets its "rustic" stylings from rough chopping the aromatics (onions and garlic) and incorporating whole sprigs of rosemary that are tossed right into the sauce making this an easy to prepare weeknight dinner.

Ingredients:

2 pounds beef bottom round roast, trimmed of excessive fat
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 slices of bacon, diced
2 medium onions, sliced
5 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 cup good quality dry red wine
2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1 cup water
1 (14-ounce) can of Italian cherry tomatoes (such as Rienzi brand)
2 sprigs rosemary
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons cold water

Preheat a large dutch oven or cast iron pan to medium-high. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper on all sides (going easy on the salt due to the use of canned chicken stock). Add olive oil to pan and sear beef well on all sides. Remove to a plate.

Add bacon to pan and saute until crispy. Then remove to a plate. Pour off half the pan drippings and discard. Add onions and saute 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute another 5 minutes. Deglaze pan with red wine, being sure to scrape up all the goody bits off the bottom. Next, add chicken stock, water, tomatoes and rosemary. Finally, add bacon and beef back to pan. Add a little bit more water if necessary, so you can cover beef entirely.

Bring sauce and meat back up to a boil for two minutes uncovered. Then lower heat, cover and simmer for about two hours or until nice and tender. Periodically, remove surface grease and fat with a spoon and discard.

Remove meat to a cutting board and let rest. Crank up the heat on your sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove rosemary sprigs.

Mix together cornstarch and cold water to make a "slurry". Add slurry to simmering sauce and bring up to a gentle boil. Simmer for about another 8-10 minutes or until thickened.

Slice beef and plate. Pour sauce over beef and garnish with a rosemary sprig. Save any additional sauce for bread dipping or as a gravy for potatoes, polenta, rice etc....

Note: this recipe is really great served with mashed potatoes or a simple risotto!

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Buttermilk Fried Sugar Toads Recipe

2011-12-13T09:09:00.000-08:00

Fried Sugars from Arnest Seafood in Manquin, Virginia

It's that time of the year again in foodie land, where all the big-time food mags predict what trends will take off in 2012. Epicurious.com recently posted their take which included everything from the revitalization of hotel dining to the use of fennel pollen. Also, listed front-and-center was "fin to tail" eating or what the rest of us call eating a whole fish (??) To be honest, as someone who does a lot of fishing, I don't really get this as a so-called trend, since whenever I catch something, which isn't all that often, I do my best not to waste one smidgin of "fin", but what the heck do I know? Seems moonshine is also trending in 2012, yet according to plenty of my Appalachian kin, illegally distilled booze has been trending steady for about 150 years.

But, I digress.

One thing I do know is that out of all the posts I have done on this blog for the past year none has garnered as many hits as my bit on sugar toads by way of Arnest Seafood, an unassuming out-of-the-way joint near Virginia's Chesapeake Bay, where in addition to steaming up some of the best blue crabs in the area, also pan fries some mighty tasty sugar toads.

Sugar toads taste even better with a cold Budweiser and fried crab chips

To set the stage properly, here are some sugar toad basics from my original post:

"Sugar toads. They're not what you think, so put those images of deep fried frog outta your head. Sugar toads are what we coastal Virginia folk call the Northern Puffer fish, which is a seasonal bottom-dwelling fish unique to the Chesapeake Bay. Sugar toads primarily feed on shellfish, and have earned their nickname due their l ess than Vogue-worthy appearance. For many years, puffers were considered as nothing more than an annoyance that needed to be thrown back until several well-known (and high-end) restaurants began serving this sweet, flaky fish with the unusual name to rave reviews. Sugar toads, like all puffer fish, have ability to fill their stomachs with water as a defense and puff up, making them a not-so-easy to digest prey. From a culinary standpoint, it must also be noted that Chesapeake Bay puffers are completely non-poisonous, and unlike their Fugu brethren, pose no threat to those who eat them."

My prediction is that by 2013, sugar toads will be making quite a few top ten food trends lists. I've been seeing them more and more on local restaurant menus around Richmond including The Roosevelt (they were excellent FYI) and at Mamma Zu's. Then, there's Chef Jimmy Sneed's new venture BlowToad set to open any day now, which one would assume will be serving some version of these tasty puffers? Local RVA'ers haven't exactly taken to Sneed's choice in restaurant names, but it seems that Sugar Toad (which is a much user-friendly title, and is also where Sneed used to be chef in Naperville, Illinois) is no longer up for grabs. So, BlowToad it shall be.

In the meantime, I suggest hitting up your local fishmonger to see if you can score some of these little guys yourself. Even better, if you're sea-worthy, go freeze your butt off on the Chesapeake Bay and try to line-catch your own cache. Apparently, Chesapeake Bay sugars love bloodworms, and while more plentiful in the spring, they also have a winter season, so theoretically you can catch them all year long. Some fisherman have been known to brag that they've caught upwards of 100 at a time since sugar toads often travel in large groups.

Here's a basic recipe for sugar toads, which like most fresh fish is best served up fried in cast iron pan.

Buttermilk Fried Sugar Toads with Homemade Tartar Sauce
Serves 4

If you don't have experience cleaning sugar toads, have your fishmonger do the job since their skin is very tough to remove and has a sandpaper quality to it. Sugar toads are best eaten by hand much like a piece of fried chicken.

1 pound Atlantic Pufferfish (a.k.a. sugar toads), cleaned with skin/fins removed
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon Old Bay
Pinch of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Cayenne pepper
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg
Oil (or Crisco) for frying

Preheat oil to about a 1 1/2 inch depth in a cast-iron skillet until a thermometer reaches 375 degrees. Meanwhile, in a shallow dish mix together cornmeal, flour, Old Bay, and peppers. In another small dish, whisk together egg and buttermilk.

Pick up sugar toads by the tailfin and dip them in the buttermilk mixture and then dredge in flour mixture. Fry (being careful not to crowd the fish) in hot oil until lightly brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels or a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Lightly sprinkle fish with sea salt. Serve with tartar sauce and garnish with lemon wedges.

Homemade Tartar Sauce
Makes 1 cup

1 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons onion, minced
3 tablespoons sweet pickles, minced
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce, more if you like it spicy
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix all ingredients well in a small bowl. Cover and chill.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Rotisserie Chicken Salad Recipe

2011-12-12T08:37:00.000-08:00

This week I am on a mission, a mission of frugality, something which as a full-blooded Taurus is not in my nature. Fact is, I like spending money on food (a lot). I love nothing more than to spend a leisurely afternoon traversing the shiny, happy aisles of my local Whole Foods Market tossing high dollar cheeses into my cart at will, but life at home is about to get tight. I'm about to tackle a very big writing project which will involve considerable research, a buttload of words on the page, and more hours of complicated recipe testing than I can count.

What this means on a financial level is that I won't be able to do much of anything else, including any freelance writing for about 6-10 months, perhaps longer. Sure, I'll receive an advance, but as those of you who have have written cookbooks already know, unless you are Rachael Ray, Mario Batali or some annoying celebrity food writer wanna-be-chef like Gwyneth Paltrow, there's no way in heck you will be living off of any book advance money, especially when you figure in food costs, which can be quite significant depending on the number of recipes in the book along with complexity of their preparation and whether your penning a cookbook featuring lobsters or pinto beans.

Biscuits are super cheap to make and freeze well so you can make them in bulk

Moreover, lets not forget that an advance is exactly that-- an advance on future royalties from book sales, so asking for more money than you actually need up front is a great way to cut off your nose to spite your face as they say. When it comes to advance money, a writer must pay back the full amount of the advance before she sees one nickle of book royalties and figuring that from start to finish we're talking years here, I've found that it's best to stash as much cash as you can whenever you can. All I can say is thank god my husband has a real job.

So, here I sit, attempting to morph into my mother, who is the portrait of parsimoniousness and has a basement filled to the ceiling with on-sale canned and dry goods, two freezers toppling over with meats, ziplocked bags filled with frozen fruits and vegetables from last season's farmer's markets along with an entire separate room brimming with home-canned everything. This spartan existence comes natural to her, but then again, she's not a Taurus.

Oven baked bacon tastes as good as it looks.

For me, this whole saving money thing will begin with itsy bitsy baby steps, and step one will be designating Mondays as a make-a-bunch-of-crap for the whole week day. This morning I baked a pound of bacon in the oven (here's a fantastic recipe for roasted bacon by the way) and made a mess of biscuits to go with it. My dear husband is a breakfast sandwich addict and is often on the road for long hours at a time which makes the Mickey D's drive-thru line a fast, easy choice, so the first order of business was to provide him with all the bacon, egg and cheese fixin's he would need to easily recreate these sandwiches at home. Even better is that he now knows he's eating real bacon, eggs, cheese and biscuits.

Next up, I will be making a large pot roast. We'll have this for dinner tonight along with a big salad and some roasted sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes are super cheap and soooo good for you). Any roast beef leftovers will morph into shredded beef and bean burritos somewhere down the line later this week since I already picked up a big can of refried beans and a packet of large flour tortillas on sale for half off.

For the rest of this week's lunches, I'll make an easy rotisserie chicken salad made from a store-bought whole rotisserie chicken that I purchased for $6.00. In addition to sandwiches, said chicken salad might fill a tomato for an impromptu diner-style lunch or get spread on crackers for a last minute snack. Once we eat up all the chicken salad, I'll make a batch of egg salad, which will serve the same purpose using a similar dressing, and it's even less expensive. More to come as the cookbook progresses and operation "living lean" goes into full effect. In the meantime, enjoy this super easy chicken salad recipe.

Tarragon Chicken Salad Recipe

This is an easy to make basic chicken salad recipe. Feel free to leave out the walnuts and grapes or add in any other ingredients of your choosing such as diced apples, sweet pickles (or dill pickle relish) or curry powder. Also, go easy on the salt since many store-bought rotisserie chickens are already heavily salted.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 cups rotisserie chicken, both white and dark meats, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup lightly toasted walnuts
1/2 cup white grapes, sliced in half
1 stalk celery, cut into a small dice
1/2 small sweet onion, minced
1/4 cup mayonnaise (I prefer Duke's)
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a big bowl mix together your chicken, walnuts, grapes, celery and onion. In a separate small bowl, mix together mayonnaise, mustard and tarragon. Season with salt and pepper. Add dressing to chicken mixture and blend well. Check again for seasonings. Then, cover and refrigerate at least 4-6 hours or preferably overnight.

Serve chicken salad inside a hollowed out tomato or on dense whole grain bread with lettuce and tomato.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Writing a Cookbook

2011-12-06T10:07:00.000-08:00

Old family friend Hazel Wimmer's recipe for Vinegar Pie

And, here we go again. Yeah, it's been five years since I wrote my first cookbook with Ten Speed Press, and I'm happy to report that the book did well. I even made *ahem* a bit of cash by the time the smoked cleared if you can believe that, and I don't even have a show on the Cooking Channel.

White Trash Gatherings had a solid run, and in today's seriously over saturated cooking/culinary market, I can say that I am happy with the overall experience (couple this with awesome editors and a great small press). I've been wanting to start this second book for a really long time, and unlike WTG, this cookbook will not be part of the Ernie Mickler White Trash series. This baby is all mine. The subject matter is very close to my heart, and it seems that the culinary landscape has shifted in such a way that the proposed topic will be both meaningful and timely, or so I hope (and no, I am not disclosing anything until I sign on the dotted line).

Won't have a tomato sandwich recipe in the book, although I do love them

In the meantime, I hope to blog a bit about the entire cookbook writing process from start to finish as things progress. As it stands, I am currently in the proposal writing stage, a thankless, laborious process involving crafting a rough sketch for the entire book with table of contents, sample chapters, tested recipes, the works. The nice thing about a cookbook proposal is that it will help me narrow down my topic and consequently dig deep into the "meat" of the project before a single word is written on contract. The crappy part is that your essentially writing on spec. Maybe you'll get a book deal after the 200 hours you spent on the proposal? Maybe you won't.

I do have one, very valuable asset working with my favor, however: I know my publisher is interested in working with me on the particular topic, so I've already gotten the heads up. This is a much better place to be than starting at square one with an agent who shops your book around to several publishers with the hopes that one will eventually bite, especially since I am once again doing this sans agent.

Once I complete the proposal, it will be pitched to my publisher (often a group of execs who vote yeah or neigh). All of this will be done with the help of my editor who is super seasoned and knows her cookbook stuff, and if everything works out and I get a yeah, we'll sign off on the contracts and I will officially go to work. Man, that would be one heck of a Christmas present....

Fingers, toes and all that good stuff officially crossed. Whatever happens, you'll hear about it here first, that's for sure!

Disclosure: there might be bundt cakes

Beefalo Milk Stout Beer Chili Recipe

2011-11-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Beef, buffalo meat, beans, and New Mexican chiles swimming in a broth made with Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout. What's not to like about this soul warming bowl of deliciousness? Check out the full recipe on Food Republic. In the meantime, here's a little step by step photo essay to get you in the big ole pot 'o chili makin' mood.

Brown your meats well in a hot pan.

Remove meats to a bowl and drain off most of the fat.

Chop your onions.

After sauteeing onions and garlic until translucent, return cooked meat to pan.
Now, check out how to prepare your dried chile.

Clean and soak chile in scalding water until soft, about 30 minutes, and then puree well.

Add canned tomatoes, spices and the pureed New Mexican chile to the meat mix.

Bring the meat mix up to a boil, scraping up the goodies off the bottom of the pan.
Then, very slowly pour in the stout.

Cook chili one hour. Then, add beans and tomato paste and cook another hour.

Serve chili with shredded cheddar, minced green onions, sour cream, chips or cornbread.

Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival 2011

2011-11-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

Bajan-style pork and potato roti

In less than a week, the 2011 Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival will be taking place November 18-21, and just like last year, there's a stellar line-up of chefs, seminars, cooking demo's, and of course, plenty of great Bajan food and local rum. Chefs Tom Colicchio, Ming Tsai and Marcus Samuelsson will once again make appearances alongside local Barbadian favorite "The Rhum Chef" Paul Yellin, London chef Bruno Loubet, Vitor Gomes (Brazil), Mark McEwin and Tom Brodi (Canada), Food & Wine wine expert Anthony Giglio, and a whole host of other local Bajan chefs. And, the best part? It's not too late to buy tickets as there are still some left.

If this year's event is anything like the 2010 Food and Wine and Rum Fest it's going to be quite the party. Hosted again by Travel & Leisure mags Features Director, Nilou Motamed, the festival will again present an array of a la carte activities including a bevy of up-close-and-personal celebrity chef cooking demo's, rum tours, authentic Bajan-style lunch fiestas (see above photo), even a half day food and rum cruise hosted by Canadian Chef Tom Brodi. Other highlights include Ambrosia II, an all-you-can-savor evening extravaganza featuring food, wine and rum samplings from all of the event's guest chefs followed by the highly anticipated after party, Super Sonic, to be held at the museum home of the British Airways Concorde "Alpha Echo" where the original tarmac will be transformed into an all-night party complete with live DJ's food and drink.

The Bajan gods have shined on me again this year, and I will be returning to the Barbados food and rum fest to savor as much as humanly possible without blowing up my liver, so keep an eye out for future blog posts and Twitter updates and be sure to follow my onsite coverage of the event over at Food Republic. In the meantime, here's a little taste from last year's four day party.

Chef Marcus Samuelsson serves up his take on shrimp and red grits

Chef Ming Tsai's soba noodle sushi w/ tea smoked salmon

The national dish of Barbados: flying fish sandwich

Second national dish of Barbados: flying fish cakes

One of many "cutter" stands selling salt bread fish sandwiches

Bajan brunch: flying fish, stuffed pork, macaroni pie

What the heck! Come spend Thanksgiving week in Barbados. I'll be there.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

Sauteed Broccoli Rabe with Garlic and Parmesan Recipe

2011-11-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

My first taste of broccoli rabe (a.k.a.broccoletti or rapini) was at my favorite Italian hole-in-the-wall Mamma Zu here in Richmond. After watching enormous platters of the garlic and olive oil-laden stuff go out to nearly all of the tables surrounding us, the aroma alone was enough to give it a try. And, holy crap was it good. Tender and a bit bitter with just the right amount of crunch on the stalky ends, the rabe was literally smothered in freshly minced garlic. A little squeeze of lemon and a few spins of the black pepper mill and I was in heaven.

It wasn't long before I sought out to recreate Mamma's version at home. I quickly learned that blanching the stalks in rapidly boiling, generously salted water and then shocking them in a water bath was key to an expertly tender stalk that still maintains just a smidgen of snap when it hits the teeth. I also learned that this step cannot be skipped (i.e. just throw it all in the pan with some olive oil) since the beauty of broccoli rabe is its inherent bitterness, yet at the same time this naturally pungent flavor can easily overwhelm the entire dish. Blanching the stalks for just a minute or two is enough to temper the bitter flavor and also get a jump start the cooking process.

So, while I clearly had the blanching part down, for the life of me, I couldn't get my version to taste like Mamma's no matter how many various incarnations I tried when it came to the second step (sauteeing the rabe in aromatics). The beauty of Mamma's version is that it's quite generous on all ingredients: gobs of good quality olive oil, a ridiculous amount of garlic, sea salt city and more than a dash of crushed red pepper. Perhaps a splash of white wine as well? Only Mamma knows. When I attempted this combination in true Mamma Zu form, what I got was a gloppy, over seasoned, oil-soaked mess. Thank god I had some Billy Bread to salvage the dish and soak up my saucy nightmare.

Attempt number two yielded much better results as I went for a simpler, less overly oiled version. I guess you call this rip of Mamma's version a bit more refined. I kept the redonkulous amount of minced garlic part in, but I went much easier on the oil and left off the white wine completely, instead adding just a bit of fresh lemon juice. I seasoned generously with salt and pepper (and crushed red pepper) and threw in a couple sprinkles of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Turn out pretty darned good, I must say. In fact, I just *might* have made Mamma proud, although I seriously doubt it.

For any of you home cooks seeking a simple, flavorful, Italian restaurant-inspired dish that will most definitely give you some rocking good dragon breath, try this on for size:

Sauteed Broccoli Rabe with Garlic and Parmesan

Serves 4

1 pound broccoli rabe
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3-4 large garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Accompaniment: Sliced lemon wedges

Slice off the last 1-inch or so from the broccoli rabe stems and discard. Fill a 6 quart pot with water and a 1/2 tablespoon of salt, and bring up to a boil. Drop broccoli rabe into rapidly boiling water and cook for 2 minutes, or until barely tender. Remove broccoli rabe to a large bowl filled with ice water and submerge. Let fully cool, then drain well.

Preheat a large sauté pan. Add olive oil. Next, add garlic and crushed red pepper. Saute for one minute, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add broccoli rabe and sauté until just heated through. Squeeze lemon juice over and sauté one more minute. Season generously with salt and pepper. Remove to a serving platter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Serve immediately with crusty bread for dipping.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Merroir: Rappahannock Oyster Co. Tasting Room

2011-10-24T09:07:00.000-07:00

Sucking down a platter of Stingrays with a side of blue crabs

It's rare that I stumble upon a gem of a spot so exceptional that I honestly don't want to share its whereabouts. Such is the case with Merroir, a virtually undiscovered restaurant/tasting room/picnic tables-meet-a-spectacular-view spot right on Virginia's Rappahannock River.

Located at Locklies Marina in Topping, Virginia (just before you cross the bridge into Irvington and Kilmarnock) Merrior Tasting Room is the latest oysterrific incarnation compliments of the Croxton Cousins (Travis and Ryan) whose simple mission of "putting the Chesapeake Bay oyster back on the map" is without a doubt coming to full-on fruition. Whether these briny goodies are being featured on CNN or being served up by famed Chef, Eric Ripert at DC's West End Bistro, one thing's for certain, RROC's Stingrays, Olde Salts and Barcats are turning up all over the map.

And the best news is that now you can get your hands on these fruits of the sea for pennies on the dollar by hitting their new tasting room, Merroir. Open Wednesday-Sunday (hours vary, so check their Facebook page), the tasting room features a small yet mighty menu of oysters (steamed or raw) with a lovely trio of homemade sauces designed by Executive Chef Pete Woods. Piquant tomatillo, zesty homemade cocktail and a subtle classic mignonette are served up alongside Rappahannock River's famous Olde Salts, Stingrays and signature Rappahannock oysters ($15 per dozen or $1.50 each). Clams are $10 a dozen and $1.00 each respectively.

If you're lucky, Chef Woods still has a couple of his jumbo lump laden crab cakes left or a few overstuffed clams casino still available, perhaps even a platter or two of smoked/grilled lamb shanks with Gorgonzola butter and walnuts. When we were there, we were lucky enough to score the last of this season's bumper crop of blue crabs served steamed with the chef's homemade spicy crab seasoning.

Chef Woods at work in the"kitchen"

Merroir is definitely all about what's fresh and now. There's no deep fryer (so don't go asking for hush puppies and french fries) and no appetizer, entree, dessert menu. In fact, most if not all of the cooking is done on the outdoor grill (see above). This is a tasting room, so what you see is what you get, and the focus here is all about seasonal raw and steamed, so plan accordingly. In the meantime, there are plenty of beverage options to keep you satiated, including a nice offering of craft brews ($5 a pint/$4 bottle and up) and local Virginia wines (think Barboursville Pinot Grigio $23 a bottle) with each beverage carefully selected to accompany RROC's award winning oysters.

Stand and suck down your oysters at one of the outdoor oyster tables or grab one of several outdoor picnic tables overlooking the water. No worries if it's too cold, just pull up a chair at the cozy bar inside. Also, word is that Chef Woods plans to add outdoor heaters to help stave off those chilly Rappahannock breezes.

This is relaxed dining at its finest, so don't come here if you're in a hurry. Place your order inside, grab a table and enjoy the view because it is truly spectacular, especially on a sunny fall afternoon.

Everything is made to order and when your oysters arrive, you'll find that they are truly worth the wait. Shucked to perfection with plenty of remaining liquor, like the entire Merroir experience, they are meant to be savored slowly.

When it's time to head home, if you've still got a hankering for a few more Stingrays, you can always get a couple dozen to go along with a bottle of wine or a six pack of beer.

According Merroir's Facebook page, future events will include live music from time-to-time, and there was more than one mention of a raucous post Reedville Oyster Roast after-party happening in November.

So now that the proverbial cat is out of the bag, let me offer a few final words of wisdom before you make the hour and half drive to this secret spot. I can't reiterate enough that this is very casual dining, so put aside any preconceived notions you might have about a sit-down restaurant. It's a tasting room with food.

Instead, put on a pair of jeans, a warm jacket and bring your oyster appetite. Be prepared to chill out with the locals and take in the water view. There is only one chef (and he's a super nice, hardworking guy), no actual kitchen per se, and when we were there, only one server for a whole host of tables both inside and out. Remember these tidbits and we'll all get along just fine.

In the meantime, check out this most excellent video oyster primer by The Modern Gentleman himself, Jason Tesauro, featuring Merroir with interviews, tasting notes and harvest updates.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Southern Collard Greens with Ham Hocks

2011-10-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, while working on a recipe for BBQ'd Meatloaf for Food Republic, I got an overwhelming hankering for a pot of greens to go with it. Perhaps it's the cool weather coming on or the fact that I might be a tad iron deficient, but whatever the reason, I just had to have some.

So I hit the store, grabbed a bag of mixed greens and a couple of hams hocks and set out to simmer a pot 'o greens to go with my meatloaf. After finding inspiration from Susan Russo's recipe for Southern-Style Greens, which was originally published on NPR as part of her take on a non-Southerner getting her first taste of Southern cooking (and greens), I thought it's about time I work on my own version.

Surprisingly, I've never published a recipe for greens. There's a recipe for slow-cooked kale in fatback in my book, but not collards or any mix thereof and definitely not anything involving ham hocks. I grew up eating all kinds of slow-cooked vegetables, and as Susan mentions, often they were more "browns" than greens. When it came to cooking greens in our house, it was all about the fatback, which while mighty tasty in its own right, never offered that signature smoked hammy flavor I crave in my greens, so after playing around with a couple of combinations including chicken broth, no chicken broth, lots of cider vinegar or less, cayenne or none, and of course, a ham hock, I settled on this recipe for a pot 'o greens, which not only is the perfect accompaniment for a big slab of meatloaf, but might even win over a couple more non-Southerners.

Pot 'O Greens with Ham Hocks

Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 large ham hock
1 large garlic clove, smashed
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 16-ounce bag of pre-washed and cut collards or mixed greens of choice (or wash and slice you're own)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar (adjust this to your liking)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Salt, to taste
Generous amount of freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Toppings can include: more cider vinegar, hot sauce, minced onions, crumbled bacon, hot pepper vinegar or chow chow relish

In a large pot, heat your oil. Add ham hock and toss it around a bit. Add garlic and cook for one minute, being careful not to burn. Add chicken broth, greens, vinegar and cayenne. Bring up to a gentle boil. Add salt and black pepper. Then cover and simmer for 45 minutes to an hour or until greens are tender to your liking.

Serve in bowls with wedges of warm cornbread (I'm a fan of my dad's country grit bread) and whatever toppings you want. Be sure to spoon extra pot likker into each of the bowls just before serving.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Blue Cheese

2011-10-13T08:37:00.000-07:00

Photo Kendra Bailey Morris

Only recently, in my old age, have I come to love brussels sprouts. It's not that I ever disdained them, but enjoying them roasted, baked, steamed or casseroled was simply something my family never did. They were rarely on our dinner table, except maybe on Thanksgiving where they would be cooked until gray, soft and giving up the ghost, a la country-style, which not only made them unappealing to the eye and palate, but also the olfactory senses. Basically, overcooking them makes them stink like rotten eggs.

This is one of several reasons brussels sprouts get an undeserved bad rap in my opinion.

Brussels sprouts, which are a member of the cabbage family (hence, their cute, mini-cabbage appearance) can actually be quite tasty, especially when they're slow roasted in a medium-high oven revealing all that gorgeous, sweet caramelization. They're super healthy, too, and are loaded with Vitamin A, C as well as folic acid and iron. After eating a plate of sprouts, I am actually energized, much in the same way I feel after downing a big bowl of collard greens (and of course, plenty of pot likker).

When it comes to cooking your sprouts, all you need to do is toss them with a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil, add a little salt and freshly cracked pepper and roast them in a 375 or 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so, turning them frequently, so they brown and all sides. Add a splash of balsamic vinegar right at the last 5 minutes of cooking for some extra punch and them serve them up hot. Even die-hard brussels sprouts haters can't resist them prepared like this.

If you're looking for even more bang for your flavor buck, toss in some cooked and crumbled bacon and some mild blue cheese (or goat cheese) and you'll have a fantastic combo that works well as a first course salad or a warm side next to a plate of roasted chicken, grilled pork loin or a hearty New York Strip.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
3 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (with 1/2 tablespoon reserved)
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste (I like to be generous with the pepper)
1 1/2 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar (with 1/2 tablespoon reserved)
1/4 cup cooked and crumbled bacon (more if you're a bacon lover)
2-3 ounces mild blue cheese, crumbled

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In large pan, toss the brussels sprouts with 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread the sprouts out in the pan in a single layer and roast for 25 or so minutes or until nice and caramelized. Be sure to rotate the pan and toss the sprouts around a bit during the cooking process so they are evenly browned.

During the last few minutes of cooking add the tablespoon of balsamic and toss well. Then return sprouts to the oven for another 3-4 minutes.

Remove sprouts to a large bowl and toss again with the reserved 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil, 1/2 tablespoon balsamic, bacon and blue cheese. Top with additional blue cheese and another sprinkle of black pepper just before serving.

©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Pimento Cheese Recipe

2011-10-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

Photo Kendra Bailey Morris

I know, I know. More pimento cheese...but I can't help it. Pimento cheese is just so darn tasty and it's so easy to make your own instead of shelling out $5 or $6 bucks for a container of that heavily mayonnaised stuff at the store.

There's no doubt that many cooks have placed their own unique spin on this classic combination of cheese, mayo and pimentos, but I am still a go-with-the-classics kinda gal. Over the years, I've tweaked this recipe over and over, and what I've found is that using as little mayo as possible while bumping up the flavor with pimento juice (along with the chopped pimentos) really makes a difference. This, and the addition of a generous pinch of cayenne pepper and freshly ground black pepper is all you need to elevate this spread to something swoon worthy.

Photo Kendra Bailey Morris

For more on tricks and tips to making pimento cheese along with my family's recipe, check out my original post on Food Republic, and while we're at it, how do you like to make your pimento cheese? What's your secret to making this spread swoon-worthy?

Gone Fishing!

2011-09-09T06:44:00.000-07:00

Like, literally. For the next week, I'll be double timing it between Nags Head and Wrightsville Beach (barring any more hurricanes, of course). Will be back online shortly and hope to post some photos of all the ridiculously huge flounder, trout and wahoo I've caught.

4 Things I Liked About Living Without Power

2011-09-01T12:40:00.000-07:00

So, finally, after 5 days of sitting in the dark, cold showers and losing all of the contents of two refrigerators, including my prized condiment collection, I sit here with the lights on. Feel free to hate on me Richmond, but do know I understand your pain. When Isabel hit our Southside hood back in 2003, we lost power for a whopping 30 straight days and that included a boil advisory, so no water as well. As a result, our house was overrun with black mold and we had to have a couple of guys in Hazmat suits come in, clean the walls, floors and ceilings. They even had to rip open the walls and spray behind them to prevent mold spores from returning.

Good times.

So, like many Richmonders who weathered Irene's wrath only to witness their lights feverishly flickering for one, two, three and finally the last time before all went dark, this time we decided to try a different attitudinal approach to those wonderful entities we can't control. Part of this emotional overhaul involved cheesing out and looking at the bright side (feel free to slap me for even using that phrase) while trying to salvage the good, if any, that could be found from being forced to sit in the dark night after night only to freeze your tailhole off in the shower each morning. Here's what I came up with.

No More Reality Television

Not having television was a blessing in and of itself. It goes without saying that most of us lose a certain percentage of brain cells while watching hours upon hours of TV. There are several studies out there already making solid cases regarding the lasting effects of the idiot box. Throw in the fact that it's a pretty good libido killer, makes you fat and sedentary and causes everything from chronic eye strain and headaches to insomnia and excessive snacking, and in my opinion, TV should be banned altogether.

All of these pleasantries get even further magnetized when you throw in reality television. From Guy Fieri's bone-head cooking commentary, "Dude, that jammin' chili is totally money!" to Nadia G's Bitchin' Kichin', where said host (while dressed like a porn star) channels the love child of Tony Soprano and Vinnie Barbarino while showing the rest of us how to make "Liquid Gold Chicken Broth", I figure whatever percentage of brain cells one might lose while watching Anderson Cooper giggle like a 6th grade girl quadruples when it comes to the rest of this crap. And, don't even get me started on the Kardashian's. Who are these people and why are they famous? They don't sing, dance, act, write, create art or contribute to society in any way other than offering the rest of us a voyeuristic gander at their impending weight gain.

I thank Irene for preserving a substantial part of my neocortex this week.

Going to Sleep at "Advanced Age" Hours

Is it dark outside? Time for bed! As many of you know, when the sun disappears and there's nary a light to be found within a 5 miles radius and it's a new moon, it's dark as hell. Just taking a whiz in the middle of the night is exercise in architectural memory and wall touching. So, why stay up staring at your dwindling candles when you can hop into bed and blissfully nod off while enjoying the soothing sounds of buzzing generators?

Waking up is even better, since for the first time in a long time, I actually arose with the sun and didn't feel like crap. Instead, I felt refreshed and ready for the day. Perhaps, I'll hit the mall for a little power walk or maybe do a bit of gardening. If the grocery stores are open, maybe I can get there at the ass crack of dawn to score some of the 50% off produce deals. Who wants to meet for watered down coffee and then chair yoga? I'm up, and I can do anything!

No More Electric Coffee Maker

No power doesn't necessarily have to mean no coffee, and I have to admit, not once did I miss my coffee making goods. Why? Two words: French press. Per usual, the French know what tastes the best, so let's get back to the basics of making coffee. While espresso machines make me all warm and fuzzy inside, I have found a new love...the basic press pot. Since we had a gas grill, each morning we could get some water, heat it up in a tea pot on the grill and then press away the essence of what makes coffee so incredible, which is essentially an immaculate combination of fine grounds and natural oils that are released directly from the beans into the water. It's coffee in its purest, natural form, and if you haven't tried it, you must, even if you decide to keep your electric coffee maker.

Twitter and Facebook

Sorry guys, but I missed neither of you. While Twitter was valuable during the height of the storm for news and updates, after that I was no longer smitten and more than happy to oh...I don't know... read a book. Furthermore, being away from social media for an extended period gave me a rather frightening realization. I am addicted. There, I said it, "My name is Kendra and I am addicted to social media." Let the healing begin.

The fact is, even though it's essential for my job as a freelancer writer, I spend way too much time voyeuristic-ally exploring every nook and cranny of both Facebook and Twitter, especially when I have writer's block, which is when I should be writing actual words versus characters. And, let's face it, how much truly valuable information does one really gain from Facebook? Your baby just spit up on her brand new Gymboree jumper? Rats, that's a bummer. Got a vacation coming up six months from now that you can't wait for and already posting your packing list? Can't wait to scroll through that one. Got close-up photos of that odd rash for all to see? Recommend getting off Facebook and making an appointment with the dermatologist ASAP.

And Twitter.... As I mentioned, it was valuable for information re: Irene, but on a daily basis, it honestly resembles one, long streaming advertisement. Yes, I have been guilty of adding my junk to that stream, and I will continue to do so unapologetically, but if one day I woke up to read (on Facebook I presume) that Twitter had disappeared...poof! Just like the dinosaurs. I would shed nary a tear. Instead, I'd pop open a bottle of bubbly and thank the good Lord for giving me my life back.

Got a positive when it comes to not having power? I'd love to hear it.

5 Great Places to Eat and Drink in Vancouver

2011-08-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

The Maignan's Muse from Chambar

So, my latest contribution to Food Republic featuring five of the best spots to eat and drink in food city extraordinaire, Vancouver, is up and running. Check it out. Go there if you can. In the meantime, please enjoy a few photos that didn't make the cut in the original article.

A Little Preview of Selba Richmond

2011-08-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

So, I'm kinda digging Richmond's latest dining addition Selba housed in the old Cliff's Honda space on West Cary. Owner Todd Boyd, a dear friend of mine from back in my Cafines days, invited me and Tim to a little shindig last night to show off his latest pride and joy, and who are we to pass up a perfectly decent party on earthquake day?

After a glass of Champagne, we decided to check out the new digs, which include several separate dining areas (this place is big), a bar, and this super cool atrium-type spot with hanging Tiffany lamps and a lush indoor garden.

This room is simply made for brunch, and according to Selba's menu that's exactly what's on tap complete with live piano music and a Bloody Mary menu. Omelets with Sausage Craft Chorizo, lemon ricotta honey pancakes with local honey, house smoked bacon and homemade granola are some of goods that will be offered.

Looks like dinner will consist of an array of small plates as well as full entrees and definitely reflect the fresh/local approach-- summer corn soup with VA lump crab, Buffalo Creek beef brisket with tamarind glaze, "Airline" [sic] chicken breast with roasted apples, squash casserole with local veggies...you get the idea. The wine list is definitely well-thought out and the elongated bar will prove to be a fun spot late night.

The party itself was a good time, and steamship round was particularly tasty and meaty as were the housemade crackers.

All in all, the addition of Selba to the revitalization of this section of Cary Street is nothing but a positive for Richmond. Hopefully, future restauranteurs will follow suit to help get this area up and running.

Caprese Salad Recipe

2011-08-23T09:51:00.000-07:00

So simple and elegant the Insalata Caprese is, no? I simply love diving into this classic salad straight from the Campania region of Italy, and this year's crop of Virginia's own Hanover tomatoes has elevated the easy insalata to new heights. Maybe it's the beauty of a good summer drought that made our 2011 tomatoes so strikingly sweet and acidic, but whatever the mystery conditions are, I'll say this, they're equally tasty sandwiched between two slices of white bread spread with a couple of tablespoons of Duke's mayo as they are beautifully layered between fresh basil and mozzarella.

So, take your pick on how to maximize the last of this year's bounty, but if you decide to tackle the Caprese, here are a few basics to make this already simple salad even better (as if that's possible).

First, only use the best summer tomatoes, which means they should be bright and reflect a deep, shiny color (red, orange or ruby, depending). While cracks and imperfections are often part of the deal, especially with Hanover's, make sure the splits in your tomato don't feel squishy. There should also be a sweet-like aroma to them, so put one up to your nose and take a good whiff.

Naturally, this recipe calls for the freshest basil, and I recommend growing your own in a pot. It's not hard get your basil to explode if you plant it in a well-drained pot that's full sun, and trust me, I am no green thumb, so if I can do it so can you. Also, Genovese basil is most preferred for Italian dishes.

Finally, the cheese. Typically this dish is made with fresh buffalo mozzarella (made from buffalo milk), but that's not the easiest to come by in the states. However, there are still plenty fresh mozzarellas out there that will suffice. You can try your had at making your own or you can pick some up at a local cheese shop, such as our very own River City Cellars, which has also been known to carry ooey gooey burrata cheese as well. However you decide to procure your cheese, just make sure it isn't wrapped in plastic (yuck) and ideally looks something like this (from a real Roman pizzeria).

When it comes to dressing this salad, less is most definitely more. Traditionally, these colors of the Italian flag are only drizzled in high-qual extra virgin olive oil and then sprinkled with salt and pepper since many believe that the acidity of vinegar or lemons will overwhelm the delicate tomatoes. However, I've found that adding just a touch of white balsamic, which I think is a tad milder than its darker cousin, works nicely for this dish. White balsamic also doesn't detract from the inherent beauty of this salad with pools of darkened oil.

So, give this salad a whirl while you can because Fall is headed our way and those precious tomatoes shall be no more. Serve this fresh, colorful first course at room temperature with a large chunk of crusty bread and a glass of Sangiovese.

Insalata Caprese

4 large vine ripened tomatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/4 inch thick
Large handful of basil leaves
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon good quality balsamic vinegar (preferably white vinegar)
Plenty of extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Generously salt and pepper your tomatoes. On a large oblong platter, lay down three slices of tomato. Top with three slices of mozzarella. Then top each with a large basil leaf. Repeat until you have used up all of your ingredients.

Lightly sprinkle salad with balsamic vinegar and drizzle generously with olive oil. Cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve.

Serves 4

2011 Hanover County Firefighters Crab Feast

2011-08-22T11:08:00.000-07:00

What do you get when you bring together all-you-can-drink Bud Light, classic rock cover bands and more steamed blue crabs than you can count? A full blown party, that's what.

I happened to win tickets to this crabby party from Sports Radio 910 (and I never win anything) so we simply had to go. Plus, I love picking whole blue crabs more than I can express in words, but the short of it is, the mere act of prying out tiny morsels of sweet crab meat literally involves hours of eating and drinking, and I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday.

On advice from others, we got there just after the gates opened, so it was quiet, but the deal is this. Gates open at 1:30 for hot dogs and beer, and the crabs don't start arriving en masse until 2pm where you can eat yourself silly until 6pm sharp. For $30 per person it's a bargain all-you-can-eat affair with diners scoring table spots (or reserving tents) early. There are no tickets sold at the gate in order to make sure there's enough vittles for everyone, which was a great way to ensure everyone got their fare share of crabs. Since we got there right when this shindig opened, we figured we'd grab a beer, take a seat and then patiently wait, mallets in hand, for piles of steamy crabs to land in our laps.

WRONG.

It didn't take long to discover that every single seat under the two giant tents were "taken" long before the crabs came out. As we walked around hauling a tray filled with beer, water, and multiple cups of vinegar for dipping, we politely asked numerous people at the picnic-style tables if we could join them since there was clearly enough room for our little bottoms to scooch in to share some crabs. Between "Nope" and "you shoulda got here early" along with some noteworthy stink-eye, we were left standing by the sidelines along with many others as the crabs eventually rolled out.

We hit the two stand-up tables outside and got the same response...no room at the Inn. One lady actually leaned over and spread both her elbows out to make sure we got the message. She got two points for rudeness.

Don't get me wrong. I love events like this, and if I didn't win the tickets, I would have bought them. Plus, who doesn't want to support our local firefighters? Bottom line, there were clearly enough crabs for everyone to have six or even a dozen and that was well thought-out. However, you couldn't participate in all the fun without having a spot at a table, which made for tons of crabs + nowhere to eat them = no crabs for you.

Finally, after nearly two hours of watching other people eat crabs, two people gave up their spots at one of the outdoor tables and we scooted in. The crabs themselves were top shelf (meaty and big jimmies) and the cider vinegar dipping sauce mixed with Old Bay was spot on. Pretty soon we were left with this....

After that, the party commenced with live music, dancing and bottomless cups of Bud. It would have been a near perfect crab day with double the number of stand-up tables and at least one more tent with sit-down tables. I figure all the hardworking volunteers that day fully realize this, especially since we were not the only people who couldn't find a seat. Everyone we encountered that day, from the guys serving the crabs to the gents monitoring the beer trucks were super nice, and I do realize this was a fundraising event. So for next year, please add more tables and more people will come and you can make even more cashola for a good cause. I'll even bring my own mallet and picker!

Straight From the Coalfields: the West Virginia pepperoni roll

2011-08-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

My grandfather was a foreman in the West Virginia mines, and he was responsible for a large group of men, many of whom had immigrated to my home state at the beginning of the Twentieth Century in order to find steady work with then-booming King Coal. It’s estimated that during this time over 27 different nationalities were represented in the West Virginia mines with nearly half of that population originating from Southern Italy. In fact, there were so many Italians living and working in W.V. mines, that for a time, the Italian government was stationed throughout the state to oversee their interests.

As a culinary result, many native West Virginians were introduced to traditional Italian cooking for the first time in their lives, including my family. Homemade meatballs, peppers in tomato sauce and slow-cooked tomato “gravies” laden with beef, sausages and pork were commonplace at our dinner table and still are today. Yet, there’s one particular delicacy that defines the Italian melting pot that is contemporary West Virginia—the pepperoni roll.

The story goes like this. Italian miners, like most miners, needed something non-perishable and easily portable to pack into their lunch pails (or pants pockets) as they often worked very long hours, so lunch frequently consisted of a piece of bread and a couple of pieces of cured meat. It wasn’t long before an entrepreneurial miner in Fairmont, W.V., Frank Agiro, decided to experiment with baking a couple of bits of salumi inside a yeast roll and thus, the pepperoni roll was born. Not soon after, Agiro put down his pickax and opened the now famous Country Club Bakery, which is still in operation today.

Consisting of a couple of strips of spicy pepperoni enrobed in a slightly sweet dough, this convenient treat has a dizzying array of variations. My grandmother insists on chopping her pepperoni into tiny bits before baking them into her dough while my mother is a proponent is hand-slicing thicker chunks of pepperoni and then enrobing them in a dense, homemade potato roll. Other variations include stuffing the rolls with mozzarella cheese, onions, marinara and/or sweet peppers cooked in tomato sauce.

However you choose to slice or dice your pepperoni roll, a few fundamentals remain. One, you must use a yeast-risen bread dough (not pizza dough since that’s a Stromboli). Two, you must be generous with the pepperoni. No chintzing. Finally, and most importantly, somewhere in each of your rolls there must be a decent ‘roni grease stain, although often this takes care of itself (see number two).

Get the rest of the story and recipe on Food Republic and keep an eye out for a photo essay, step-by-step how-to on making the goodies at home on Food Republic next week.

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Hanover Tomato Porn

2011-07-29T11:44:00.000-07:00

While some people prefer regular people porn, I much prefer tomato porn, Hanover tomato porn to be exact, and I like mine drizzled in olive oil, splashed in cider vinegar and sprinkled with a little salt and pepper. Oh, and the cucumbers put on quite a show as well, so pull up a chair and enjoy this little summer peep show.

Hawaiian Tuna Poke-- Real Onolicious Grinz

2011-07-28T10:17:00.000-07:00

Tuna poke w/Hawaiian kettle chips for crunch

The first time I ever tried Hawaiian poke (pronounced pokē) was in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. We were there because my husband, Tim, had qualified for the Ford Ironman World Championships which, as you can imagine, is a story in and of itself. Much of our first week was spent resting and relaxing before the race since, as some of you may or may not know, Ironman Hawaii is a grueling 2.4 mile ocean swim, followed by a 112-mile bike and finally, a full 26.2 mile marathon. It's an all-day intensely grueling race in unbearable heat and is not for the faint of heart, so anyone who dares to compete in it (a la my hubby) must monitor their diet and rest accordingly (which meant for us, no raw fish goodies).

Tim starting 26.2 miles after 112 mile bike. He so crazy.

After the race was another story. In addition to consuming plenty of Kona Longboards, Tim was free to indulge in plenty of local cuisine (a.k.a local kine), and in addition to gobs of sushi, bulgogi, adobo, Kalua pork, Spam musubi, lau lau, pancit noodles, even the infamous loco moco, a heart-attack inducing combination of two fried eggs, two fried meat patties, resting atop rice and mayonnaisy mac salad that's then smothered in gravy, we ate loads of tuna poke.

Poke is a Hawaiian pupu (or appetizer) consisting of diced raw tuna, shoyu, fresh grated ginger, onions (Maui onions and green onions) and sesame oil. There are numerous variations to this basic theme including the addition of ogo (seaweed), furikake (a seaweed and dried fish combo), kukui nuts, wasabi, masago, mayo...the list goes on and on. Even better, poke can be found anywhere and everywhere, from grocery stores to gas stations, and this ain't half-ass road stop food. The poke we sampled as we drove all over the island was delightfully fresh with a creamy texture that only raw tuna can provide. It was positively addicting, especially when eaten with a bag of salty potato or taro chips.

Naturally, really fresh sushi-grade tuna (preferably yellowfin) is essential since this dish is 100 percent raw, so opt for the best you can find. As far as other ingredients go, you can use your imagination or reference legendary Hawaiian Chef Sam Choy's book simply titled Poke which is chock full of poke recipes, and not just tuna. Chef Choy includes an array of versions, from lobster poke to steak poke.

To really enjoy this Hawaiian delicacy, have yourself a poke party and throw in a couple of tuna maki, spicy tuna and avocado rolls for good measure. It's a light, fun-to-make, summery meal that gets everyone involved. Scroll down for a basic poke recipe and feel free to make it your own with the addition of nuts, seaweed, red chiles, avocado, even chopped Hanover tomato. It's totally up to you.

Classic Hawaiian Poke

(Serves 2)

1/2 pound sushi-grade tuna, cubed

2 tablespoons soy sauce or shoyu

2 tablespoons green onion, minced

2 tablespoons sweet onion, diced

1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

Dash of garlic chile sauce

1 tablespoon toasted sesame

Hawaiian red sea salt*, to taste

Mix all ingredients except sea salt in a medium-sized bowl. Cover and refrigerate for two hours. Spoon poke into martini glasses with a sprinkle with sea salt. Garnish with Hawaiian kettle chips or taro chips.

*If you can get your hands on real Hawaiian sea salt, do so. If not, any coarse sea salt will do.

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Make a 100 Proof West Virginia Hound

2011-07-06T06:42:00.000-07:00

My multi-part series featuring West Virginia's whiskey making duo "The Johns" from Smooth Ambler Spirits in Maxwelton, WV continues with an uber-refreshing recipe for a West Virginia Hound made with 100 Proof white whiskey, a little simple syrup, cilantro and cucumber. It's a great summer refresher and is quite potent if you're having a crappy day. Check out the recipe created by mixologist David Ortiz on Marcus Samuelsson's website Food Republic.

Pretty in Pink: Secco's first-ever Rosé crawl

2011-06-29T09:12:00.000-07:00

I believe it was Secco Wine Bar's Master of Ceremonies, Matt Brehony, who said it best, "Rosé is not 'grandma wine,' nor is it sickly sweet, nor will it cause a man to menstruate", so put aside any memories of that jug 'o wine swill your aunt used to drink. The rosé I'm talking about can be delicate and light with just a hint of sweetness, darker and bolder with more of a deep pink hue, effervescent and dry or anywhere in between. This is the wine that will cool you to the core on a hot day while elegantly elevating a simple bowl of vegetable soup or a piece of crostini topped with a dollop of tart 'n soft goat cheese, or as witnessed by last night's festivities, get the summer party started come hell or high water (literally).

Oh, it rained, and rained and rained. View from Secco

As an honest-to-goodness rosé junkie, I was all over the idea of a point to point Richmond wine crawl from the get-go. First off, I love how Julia Battaglini et. al. are thinking out of the box when it comes to events like these, and judging from the crowds at each our stops, I figure the popularity of future wine crawls will only increase. Even better, concentrating an entire evening on a single wine is a great way for folks like myself to really delve into one specific style of wine making. Who knew that rosés are made by leaving the grape skins intact for just a few days versus the usual two weeks or that, while France is still the leading producer of rosé (think Loire Valley, Languedoc or Bergerac regions), Spain, Italy and the U.S. are making some pretty darned good juice?

Our first stop was Amici Ristorante where generous glasses of a lovely Mottura Negroamaro Salento from the Puglia region of Italy were poured to get the evening started. Slightly dry with hints of fruit (cherry and strawberries?) it was an excellent aperitif.

Line 'em up. The gang at Amici

Next stop was Amour Wine Bistro where a handful of rosés were offered up with a few snack options for purchase. There, we opted for the Atmosphere Vin de Pays du Var (Provence) which was a super light, refreshing, crisp and fruity.

My husband, Tim, definitely enjoyed it

Next up was to be a stop at Can Can to sample a 2010 Domaine de Mirail, Cote de Gascone, but we unfortunately couldn't get in the door because it was so packed, so off to Secco we went and not a moment too soon since this happened....

Then, this happened...

Power is out at Secco, but the party is just getting started

We literally arrived at Secco a hair's breadth ahead of one heck of a thunderstorm complete with cloud to ground lightening and flooding in Carytown, but never fear, there was plenty of wine to be had by candlelight. We started with a glass of Cote de Provence Manon which was super light and lovely with just a hint of peachiness followed by a glass of Il Baladin, a Italian beer from the Piemonte region of Italy (on tap).

Tim and photographer extraordinaire Steven Salpukas w/ glasses in hand

The scene at Secco was raucous and lively, clearly demonstrating that any lack of air conditioning, snacks or even a shortage of wine glasses would not dampen this evening. It was a fantastic time, and a terrific way to support Richmond's local restaurants while getting a serious wine primer firsthand. Keep an eye out for the next one.

An Evening at Lemaire with John Mariani

2011-06-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

Chefs Bundy, Schroeder, Ayyash with John Mariani and my table mate who wasn't too fond of being the center of attention but was a great sport

About a month ago, one of my husband's buddies tipped us off to an upcoming wine dinner at one of Richmond's award-winning restaurants Lemaire at The Jefferson Hotel featuring an evening of classic Italian cooking (as well as Lemaire's signature seasonally-inspired cuisine) hosted by Esquire magazine's food, wine and travel expert, John Mariani, who was also there to promote his latest book, "How Italian Food Conquered the World".

It took us all of about 8 seconds to buy our tickets.

Last night, as the wine flowed (served up as a crisp San Pietro Pinot Grigio and a 2008 Seghesio Dolcetto D'Alba Chiesa), guests were treated to a menu described as a "synergy of three driving forces" involving the infiltration of Italian ingredients and culinary methods in America along with Virginia's own meats and produce, all of which that was to blend seamlessly with the season.

In addition to culling from Jefferson's own urban garden, Bundy Farms, welcome appearances came from OLLI Salumeria (in the form of a pungent and simply outstanding pancetta nestled into a big pile of ricotta gnocchi topped with Dave and Dee's grated eggs) as well as a local rabbit pate (served atop a classic bruschetta) that hailed from Jamerson Farms. A very seasonal Chesapeake Bay soft-shell crab was dusted in cornmeal (a welcome change from simply flouring) and a fall-off-the-bone tender braised pork cheek rested atop Charleston Gold Rice from Anson Mills. However, I have to say, the star of the show was Pastry Chef Sara Ayyash's beautifully executed Semifreddo al 'Torrone accented with salted caramel, which arrived just as it should, half-frozen and just a little melty around the edges.

Here's a brief pictorial with a few delectable highlights. Apologies in advance for the lack of lighting, but setting off a flash during date night is a faux pax I just don't do.

Trio of Bruschetta with Jamerson Farms rabbit, puree of favas and Hanover tomato caponata

Chesapeake Bay soft shell crab w/ three bean salad & pickled okra

Ricotta gnocchi w/ OLLI pancetta, grated farm eggs and Parmesan

Chef James Schroeder's Emilia-Romagna inspired fall-apart braised pork cheek w/ gold rice and cabbage

Pastry Chef Sarah Ayyash's rendition of a semifreddo made with Torrone and salted caramel.

Just a Couple of Guys Making Great Booze

2011-06-21T06:20:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited to share a link to my very first post for Chef Marcus Samuelsson's, "the site for men who want to eat and drink well, and to live smart" a.k.a. Food Republic. I've always been a huge fan of Food Republic, and to be included in the company of many of their regular contributors is...well...a honor indeed.

Even better, I get show some love to both my home state of West Virginia as well as some super-cool guys in nearby Maxwelton, WV (Smooth Ambler Spirits) who I think are making some pretty awesome potables, and as you'll see from the article, it's pure grain-to-glass, get-your-hands-dirty, sustainable stuff.

Check it all out here and please add a comment or two and/or share away. Note: this is the first of a three-part series I will be doing for Food Republic in the next week. Next up, an exploration of Smooth Ambler's white whiskey complete with recipes and video.

Tim and I flanking the Smooth Ambler family just before the gambling commenced at The Greenbrier

Scrambled Eggs with Smoked BC Wild Salmon and Caviar

2011-06-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Rocky Mountaineer's GoldLeaf breakfast of eggs, smoked salmon, caviar & creme fraiche

I just got back from an incredible trip aboard the Rocky Mountaineer on a food and wine laden culinary rail tour of the Canadian Rockies beginning in Vancouver and ending in Banff. It was a two day tour with an overnight stopover in the quaint village of Kamloops, and in between there was much deliciousness to be had (see above for photo and below for the recipe for this drool worthy breakfast dish).

Rocky Mountaineer offers 45 unique rail tours throughout British Columbia and Alberta. Without a doubt it's a luxury experience, especially their GoldLeaf service where our group wined and dined inside a glass-dome coach while winding leisurely through stunning mountain scenery. Service is simply impeccable aboard Rocky Mountaineer, with exceptional breakfasts and lunches paired with local wines served in the train's dining car.

Chef Frederic Couton oversees Rocky Mountaineer's menu which boasts an array of local delicacies including Steelhead Salmon in Mustard Cream over Red Potato Hash (above), Alberta beef short ribs and pork loin, British Columbian mushrooms as well as locally made ice creams and British Columbian wines, including a particularly decent Sumac Ridge White Meritage. Along the way, we saw plenty of wildlife including marmots, bighorn sheep and elk. Oftentimes, guests aboard the train spot black bears and grizzly bears, but unfortunately we didn't see any on this trip, but no worries. As the wines flowed and the views commenced, we forgot all about those bears.

View from the train coming into Banff National Park

So, back to the food. The desserts aboard the train were simply to die for. Overwhelmingly decadent in the best sense, I derailed (pun intended) from my diet during our first meal. As you can see, these sugary treats were impossible to resist.

If you can't climb aboard the Rocky Mountaineer anytime soon, at least you can try your hand at one of their signature recipes The GoldLeaf Breakfast of Scrambled Eggs with Smoked British Columbia Wild Salmon, Caviar and Dilled Creme Fraiche. Trust me, it's not a hard to make as it sounds and it's totally worth the extra effort. Goes perfectly with a chilled mimosa. Photo note: This recipe called for molding the salmon and eggs. However, as you'll note, the photos I took show it served with salmon placed on top. Either way, it's lovely.

Scrambled Eggs and Smoked BC Wild Salmon
Recipe courtesy of Rocky Mountaineer
Serves 6

Ingredients:
1 pound smoked wild salmon, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
12 eggs
1 cup dill creme fraiche (see recipe below)
1 ounce caviar
1/4 cup fresh dill, finely chopped plus four springs for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon butter

Method:

Rub the inside of six small bowls or medium ramekins lightly with vegetable oil. Line each bowl evenly with smoked salmon, covering all areas but being careful not to layer too thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes (Note: This can be done in advance and refrigerates overnight. If so, allow 10 minutes out of the fridge before adding cooked eggs.)

Crack eggs into a large bowl and whisk. Scramble lightly over medium heat in a saute pan with butter, salt and pepper until eggs are medium firm. Fill salmon-lined bowls immediately with eggs, pressing into a firm mold. Turn bowl over and lightly remove mold, serving flat side down. Drizzle with 1/4 cup dill creme fraiche per plate and spoon caviar on top. Garnish each with a dill sprig.

For the Dill Creme Fraiche: Mix one cup whipping cream with two tablespoons buttermilk. Pour into a glass jar and cover. Let stand at room temperature for 8-24 hours or until thickened. Stir well and refrigerate (up to 10 days). Remove from fridge 10 minutes before serving and stir in fresh, chopped dill.

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Piled-High Slaw Dogs with Homemade Chili Sauce

2011-05-26T08:02:00.000-07:00

Food porn at its finest

Oh, my poor neglected blog. I'm so sorry Blogger. For months I have ignored you in favor of writing recipes, traveling and generally trying to score a buck, but I'm back and I've got a juicy hotdog recipe to prove it.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of returning to my home state of West Virginia to visit with some super fine gentlemen who make some seriously rockin' white whiskey, gin and vodka under the name Smooth Ambler Spirits. Not only do I love what these guys are doing (and the fact that I already need to re-up on my personal cache of the stuff proves that point), but I love these guys. They embody the hard-working spirit and true commitment to creating a successful family-owned and operated company that boasts a "complete grain-to-glass" method of production.

But more on the greatness that is Smooth Ambler booze later....

John Foster and John Little (a.k.a. The Johns) who oversee the operations at Smooth Ambler, and who are also tried and true Greenbrier County locals, were quick to point us to the best eats in the area, and let me tell you, there is some seriously good eating to be had in WV.

WV chili slaw dog done all the way from Jim's Drive-In

One of their favorite stops is Jim's Drive-In in Lewisburg, West Virginia. Jim's is a family-owned joint that's been in operation for over 50 years, and is one of the few places on the planet that offers real-deal 50's-style carhop service (think American Graffiti versus Sonic). At Jim's, you pull your car up to a small, unassuming building where a server comes out, takes your order, and then brings the food right to your car where it's snapped onto the driver side window.

Nearly everything is homemade here including the hand-cut fries and pork BBQ

While I figure most of Jim's menu is pretty darned worthy (from peach shakes to the $1.75 Budweiser) we were there for one-thing-- a West Virginia chili slaw dog done all the way with mustard, onions, homemade chili sauce and creamy slaw.

Served on an English-style bun, which is a buttered and grilled flat-bottomed bun (quite similar to a New England-style bun used for lobster rolls), an all-beef weenie is slathered in yellow mustard, sprinkled with raw onions and then topped with the two most indisputably important items for the slaw dog: homemade chili sauce (NO BEANS PEOPLE) and homemade sweet, cidery slaw.

If you've never had a dog done up this way, first, I feel sorry for you. Secondly, I can help you. My family takes their chili slaw dogs very seriously, so seriously in fact that my mom has developed her own hot dog chili recipe. Please note: this is HOT DOG chili and is not to be confused with anything that is served in a bowl with shredded cheese and sour cream, so don't even think of serving it that way. This chili is made for hot dogs only. And, because I'm feeling extra nice with Memorial Day coming up, I'll share my mom's cider slaw recipe as well, so you can recreate authentic West Virginia chili slaw dogs at your weekend cookout. Carhop service is optional at your next party, but I do recommend lots of icy cold cheap beer and plastic trays.

To assemble your dogs: Steam or grill a hot dog bun. Then, smear it with yellow mustard. Next, steam, grill or boil an all-beef frank. Then, top with chili, onions and slaw. Finally, break out the napkins.

WV-Style Hot Dog Chili
Makes about 6 cups

This makes a lot of chili sauce as you can see, but no worries. It freezes well. Freeze in quart bags for individual use.

¼ cup shortening
4 tablespoons diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 pounds lean ground beef
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons paprika
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup water, plus 1 quart hot water

Melt your shortening in a large sauté pan. Saute onions and garlic until soft. Add beef and break it up into little pieces. Add spices along with one cup water and stir well. Pour chili in a crockpot or Dutch oven along with the rest of the hot water. Cook on medium-high for the first hour and then turn down low and let the chili cook for 6-8 hours (covered).

Note: Serve sauce over hotdogs with a slotted spoon so you don’t soak your bun with too much liquid.

Mom’s Cider Slaw
Serves 6

In true country cooking fashion, this is a recipe where one must taste as she goes, adding a little more of this or that as needed. If you like your slaw on the sweet side, add more sugar. Like it tart? Use less sugar and more vinegar.

½ head cabbage, finely grated
4 tablespoons sugar (or to taste)
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (or to taste)
2-4 tablespoons mayonnaise
Salt and pepper, to taste
Pinch of celery seed, optional

In a large bowl, whisk sugar and vinegar together until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add mayo and blend dressing until it is smooth and creamy.

About 30 minutes before serving, add your cabbage (this is not an overnight slaw). Mix well to coat and season with salt, pepper and celery seed, if desired.

Recipes courtesy of White Trash Gatherings: From-Scratch Cooking for Down-Home Entertaining (Ten Speed Press, 2006).

All photos and text ©2011 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki-- Kalamaki Style

2011-04-05T09:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a huge fan of meat on a stick. From Japanese Yakitori to corn dogs at the Virginia State Fair, if you can thread it on a skewer, I'm gonna eat it.

One of my all-time favorite meat treats is Greek souvlaki. Souvlaki is a popular handheld street food found in the many souvlaki shops that dot the landscape of Greece, which are apparently so popular and prolific, they have been rumored to put a McDonald's or two out of business.

Traditional souvlaki, which is a generic term to used to describe skewered or rotisserie meat (think gyro), can be enjoyed wrapped in warm pita bread with onions, tomatoes and a generous dousing of piquant tzatziki (a yogurt sauce accented with fresh garlic, cucumber, lemon and olive oil) or on its own, grilled and skewered (referred to as kalamaki) which is served simply with a piece of bread on the side.

Meats that are commonly used include: lamb, pork, gyro meat, swordfish, beefteki (a ground beef and lamb mixture) or chicken.

Quality Greek or Lebanese olive oil is essential to this dish

However, the best part about souvlaki, other than eating it with tzatziki and olive oil dripping down your arms (it ain't first date food) is that it's super easy to make, merely requiring a few quality ingredients, a handful of skewers and a hot grill.

A cast iron indoor grill works fine, too

The most important takeaway here has to be ingredients. When I make this dish at home, and I often do since grilled souvlaki is just perfect for an evening of outdoor grilling, I use either Lebanese or Greek extra virgin olive oil exclusively (i.e. first pressing only). Generous amounts of olive oil are integral to this dish and many other Mediterranean recipes, so it's worth the investment to buy the good stuff. Same goes for oregano. I use Greek oregano (either dried or fresh) which can be bought in large amounts at any Greek/Mediterranean specialty grocer. As you may or may not know, not all oregano's are the same. In fact, they differ widely, from Mexican oregano to Italian oregano, with Greek oregano most known for its rather pungent almost tongue numbing flavor.

As far as lemon juice, that goes without saying. Don't even think of using anything other than fresh squeezed lemons for this dish or I will hunt you down and smack you.

Spanakopita, pita and tzatziki will complete this meal

Also, be sure to grill your skewers at medium-high or hotter since much of the appeal of this dish is the nice caramelization of your meat(s). If you find your skewers are starting to burn, simply wrap the ends in tin foil, which should do the trick.

When serving, if you have the opportunity to whip some some spanakopita or tiropita (Greek cheese pie) this will make your meal all the better. Also, tzatziki (see recipe below) and fresh-from-the-oven pita bread is essential. Quartered tomatoes and onions tossed with a little olive oil and red wine vinegar will round out your at-home Greek fest.

Chicken Souvlaki Kalamaki-Style
Serves 4

This recipe is about as simple as it gets with only a few basic ingredients. As mentioned, it’s very important to use a quality olive oil and real Greek oregano, which is far more flavorful than any of the supermarket stuff.

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (preferably Greek or Lebanese)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
One heaping teaspoon dried Greek oregano
1 pound boneless chicken breasts, cubed
Pinch of salt
A couple of grinds of black pepper
Wooden skewers, soaked in water for at least 30 minutes

Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl. Add chicken and toss well. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator at least an hour (preferably overnight). You can also marinate your chicken in a plastic bag if that's easier.

Remove chicken from marinade and thread on skewers. Lightly oil your grates and preheat a grill to medium-high. Grill skewers until they are lightly charred and cooked all the way through. Serve with tzatziki and warm pita bread.

Easy Tzatziki
Makes 2 cups

This is excellent served alongside beef, lamb or chicken kabobs or atop a simple piece of grilled fish. For an easy starter, serve with sliced veggies and quartered pita bread for dipping.

1 medium-sized cucumber, peeled, seeded and finely minced or grated (English cucumber works well)*
2 cups Greek yogurt (preferably Fage brand)
1/4 cup mint, minced
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste
Good quality olive oil, for drizzling

Mix all ingredients well in a medium-sized bowl. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with additional herbs before serving. Best made a day ahead.

*To avoid a watery tzatziki, sprinkle cucumber pieces generously with salt and let sit for 20 minutes. Then squeeze out as much water as possible. If you choose this method, leave off any additional salt.

Because You Need More Meat: Breakfast, UK-Style

2011-03-30T09:47:00.000-07:00

Start the day off right--a traditional Welsh breakfast

One of my many food resolutions for 2011 is to eat more big, fatty breakfasts. I've gotten quite lazy in this regard, and have found myself nibbling a couple of crackers, a bowl of fruit, maybe a couple of scoops of yogurt, or most of the time, simply endless cups of black coffee. And, what have I gotten out of this? By the time lunch rolls around, I'm famished and half out of it, with most of my spaciness attributed to one hell of a sugar crash. The answer here is clear. I need to eat more greasy meat.

Low fat granola bars are no way to live, especially when something like this can instead be enjoyed with vim and vigor:

Over the years, I've traveled somewhat extensively throughout England, Scotland and Wales, and what I've discovered (in addition to some seriously good beer) is that the Brits know how enjoy a hearty breakfast. Being from West Virginia, where my granny was known to known to cook meals where literally everything had some sort of meat or meat byproduct in it, be it country ham gravy, fatback infused collards or brown beans simmered in nothing but a ham hock and a little salt and pepper, I have always counted myself as some sort of meaty expert when it comes to all meals, especially breakfast. Growing up in our house, the eggs were fried in bacon grease, the white gravy made from country sausage drippings, and the biscuits rolled in pure lard, so when I sampled my first real British-style breakfast, I seriously thought I had been transported back to granny's kitchen.

A traditional English breakfast must include Heinz beans

Eggs fried in bacon grease? Check. Greasy sausage links? Check. Bacon (streaky bacon) or Rashers (which are made from pork loin versus all belly)? Check. Side of canned baked beans in a tomato sauce that contains way too much sugar? Yup. All that was missing was a buttery biscuit and a bowl of mom's homemade apple butter, and I can forgive the Brits for including a vegetable or two (hence, the tomato and the mushroom) since those were also cooked in bacon drippings making them perfectly acceptable.

And, there are plenty of variations to the "Full Breakfast" theme, making an English, Scottish, Irish or Welsh breakfast a veritable blank canvas of potential porky goodness. There's black pudding (a.k.a. blood sausage) which is a combination of pig's blood, suet, breadcrumbs and oatmeal that is pan fried and served alongside your eggs, sausage, rashers and beans. (See photo a top.) Apparently, Barbara Streisand is a pretty big fan of it, too, which makes it even more cool (or she ruined it).

In Wales, it's all about the laverbread (a.k.a. Bara Lafwr). Laverbread is a nutrient-rich breakfast treat made from Laver, a type of seaweed found off the coast of Britain. Traditionally, it's pureed an served alongside rashers, sausages and cockles, making it the most healthy breakfast additions of the bunch. While visiting Wales, I found it to be particularly tasty when spread on a piece of crusty, buttered toast.

Photo courtesy Welsh Foodie

Other additions to a full U.K.-styled breakfast range from bubble and squeak (made from a mixture of leftover roasted vegetables often including cabbage, potatoes and carrots), sauteed mushrooms, oatcakes, farl (Irish fried soda bread) or the pinnacle of all that's good when it comes to pieces-parts, Scottish Haggis. Last, but not least, all of this grease-laden goodness must be washed down with pot of hot black tea or perhaps a pint of Guinness if you're doing it Irish-style and/or straddle the alcoholic line.

Making a hearty meat-laden breakfast in honor of the British Isles couldn't be easier. Start with your meats (bacon, sausage, rashers, black pudding etc...) and fry them well in a hot pan (cast-iron is best for flavor). Drain on paper towels and reserve most or all of the grease, depending on your intended fat quotient. Next up, fry any vegetables like a sliced-in-half tomato, mushrooms (Portabello is deliciously woody) or cubed potatoes. Set those aside. Keep your pan hot and crack in your eggs. Fry them how you like. I like over-easy best for its runny-ness factor. Toast your bread. Warm your beans and season the whole shebang with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and a little salt.

We added a little Toad in Hole action to our breakfast

Some recipes are not meant to be an exact science and are better off with a little of this added to a little of that. Hence, why I don't have an actual written recipe for you. However, for you anal types (and you know who you are) here's a link to Jamie Oliver's Full Monty Breakfast Recipe which I think is pretty close to an authentic English-style start to the day. Chef Oliver recommends serving his breakfast with my favorite condiment on the planet, HP Sauce, so that automatically makes it a good rec in my book.

A Little Chat with Chef Ming Tsai

2011-03-23T08:52:00.000-07:00

Ming in action at the Barbados, Food, Wine & Rum Fest

Had the opportunity to chat with one of my culinary heroes, Chef Ming Tsai, at the Barbados Food, Wine & Rum Fest Did a little feature for the Richmond Times Dispatch featuring the Chef's thoughts on the importance of dining together as a family, musings on his cookbook, "Simply Ming One-Pot Meals" as well as some of his favorite signature East Meets West-styled recipes.

Check it here: Celebrity Chef Talks Food

Me and the man himself.

Stuff You Gotta Eat in Barbados: An Amateur's Photo Journey

2011-02-07T10:42:00.000-08:00

Flying fish sandwich from Hilton Barbados

Yeah, you know you wish you were in Barbados. Heck, who doesn't? It's stinking February, and if you're like me, you've got some serious cabin fever going on right now. Virginia has been nothing but cold, snow, icy rain or generally depressing overcast days that make one want to hit a local watering hole and waste an entire afternoon downing cheap beer with the locals while inhaling gobs of secondhand smoke. Not that I've done that or anything....

A couple of months back, I was fortunate enough to acquire a hall pass from all this crappy weather and make my first visit ever to the land best known as the birthplace of rum for none other than the annual Food, Wine & Rum Fest which featured all kinds of culinary genius, from foodie television gods Tom Colicchio and Ming Tsai to culinary innovators like Texan/cowboy cutie, Tim Love and "nose to tail" man-of-the-moment Fergus Henderson.

In addition to the events that surrounded the festival itself, which included intimate cooking classes with all of the chefs in attendance as well as a grand tasting where both local and guest chefs served up mini-tastes of their best of the best, Bajan food in general is nothing to snicker at. Generally, Barbadian food is hearty comfort fare dominated by fried goodies like flying fish sandwiches topped with plantains, platters of fried chicken or snapper served up with a big wedge of macaroni pie or alongside okra and cornmeal-laden Cou Cou with nearly all of it drizzled in Bajan hot sauce (a vinegar and habanero blend that'll set you right).

Stuffed pork, macaroni pie & fried snapper

And, don't forget the street food: saltfish cakes, Indian-inspired roti's, cutters (fried fish sandwiches topped with egg or cheese), souse (boiled pig's head and feet) and grilled pig's tails. You can sample most if not all of these goodies in one fell swoop if you're lucky enough to hit Oistin's Fish Fry on the weekends, which is a must.

Curried pork & potato roti. Hearty and dirt cheap.

Then, there's the fine dining options, which like rum shacks, can be found all over the island. Local fare goes upscale at most of these establishments yet also comes with a hefty price tag, but when you're enjoying delights such as warm lobster salad in a truffled vinaigrette or Parmesan encrusted Barracuda while overlooking a moonlight ocean, I say, save your pennies and splurge a little.

Here are a few drool-worthy highlights from the Food, Wine & Rum Fest and the lovely island of Barbados:

Chef Tim Love (left) whips up his local Black Belly Lamb Sandwiches from the Food, Wine & Rum fest at the Lion Castle Polo Estate's grand gala.

Canadian Chef Rob Feenie knocked it out of the park with his Butternut Squash and Mascarpone Ravioli topped with a Black Truffle Beurre Blanc sauce as his sous chef begins plating (below).

Not a bad view for a beach side picnic of cutters, roti's and rum punch.

Bajan brunch: fried chicken, peas and rice, plantain stuffing and a good squeeze from the hot sauce bottle.

No meal is complete without a platter of fish cakes. These were from Tapas Restaurant and were uniquely Thai inspired with just a touch of lemongrass.

For more about visiting Barbados, check out Visit Barbados

To get in on next year's, Food, Wine & Rum Fest check out the dates for 2011

Winter on the Amalfi Coast and Real-Deal Neapolitan Pizza

2011-02-01T10:35:00.000-08:00

View of Arienzo, Amalfi Coast, Italy.

So, I've been gone, but there's been a pretty good reason. Along with nursing my elderly dog, Charlie, who has not been doing well these days, and somehow getting a herniated disc in my neck (getting old sucks), I had the opportunity to fulfill one of my bucket list travel dreams-- Italy. Nearly seven years ago, my husband and I agreed that, come hell or high water, we would somehow get ourselves over to Rome and the Amalfi Coast and essentially eat and drink as much as our wallets and stomachs would allow. So, when I happened across one of those not-to-be-missed ticket sales on US Airways that surprisingly included a decently-priced upgrade to business class (which, if you can afford the extra cost, is an excellent way to rack up some serious frequent flyer points quickly-- 21,000 to be exact, which is enough for a RT domestic ticket) I jumped all over it.

Planning a trip to Italy can be quite overwhelming, especially if your sole purpose is to partake of some of the best food and wine this country has to offer, yet you've only got a mere seven days to do this. So, after careful consideration and quite a bit of back and forth, we decided to hit Rome for a few days, then the medieval village of Mazzano Romano to learn how to make Roman-style pasta with Chef Fabio Bongianni at his home, where we also stayed the night and rang in the New Year (a totally separate post in and of itself---amazing experience). From there, we decided to drive to Positano (not for the faint of heart) and the Amalfi Coast for several more days and then, bang, it was back on the plane to the states. Not long enough, for sure, not even close, but real life seems to find you no matter how far away from home you are and you just got to get back.

So to begin, here's little glimpse of what you'll find when traveling to the Amalfi Coast.

Sunset dinner at Li Galli in Positano

Positano is so picturesque is almost seems unreal. Around 1pm, al fresco dining literally takes over (and we were darn lucky to get 60 degrees in January) where diners sip glasses of wine made from local Anglianico grapes from the Campania region and nibble multi-course meals dominated by specialties from the sea: spaghetti with wild clams, fritto misto's laden with local squid, zuppa de pesce and anything and everything made from the famed Amalfi lemons, which can plucked from the trees during winter to accent semifreddo's, baba's and fluffy sponge cakes.

No meal is complete without a chilled glass of locally made Limoncello alongside a cup of espresso. An average lunch can last several hours, a heady nod to the origins to the slow food line of thought. After three days of this style of dining, one can't help but ponder, "I could seriously get used to this."

Then, there's the pizza....

Let me start off by saying that this is not a post about what constitutes authentic Neapolitan-style pizza or otherwise, since I have come to discover, for some-such odd reason, pizza has become an incredibly touchy subject for foodies across the board. I didn't come to Amalfi, which is less than hour from Naples by the way, to research authentic versus non authentic pies or what the VPN Association considers "real Neapolitan pizza" or the like. I came here to chill out with my husband, eat great food, drink plenty of local wine and generally be on vacation, which considering I write about food and travel for a living, is a rare opportunity these days.

I wanted to shut my food brain off for one week and simply taste real Italian pizza for the first time, and believe me, we ate ALOT of it, mainly because it was cheap, with a 14-inch sized pie costing about 10-12 Euros. Two pies alongside a bottle of wine for 10 Euros and you're sitting pretty for pricey Italy.

When it came to my first bite of Naples-style pizza, we hit the well-known Bucca di Bacco in Positano. Since it was the off-season, the main restaurant and accompanying hotel were closed (like most places in Positano during this time of year, so take note) but the outdoor restaurant which sits right on the beach was open.

We ordered our wine, pet the chubby dog, who clearly has had his share of pizza nibbles, and finally decided on two classic pies: an olive oil based white pizza topped with fresh porcini mushrooms and a tomato sauce based pizza topped with mozzarella and arugula.

Both arrived fresh out of the wood-fired oven, and unlike American-style pies were uncut, something we saw repeatedly during our pizza-eating extravaganza. In most places in Italy, pizzas arrive wholly intact with diners receiving a knife and fork to eat their pie one bite at a time. We never saw a local pick up a slice and eat it by hand when dining in a sit down restaurant. Not once.

As far as the Neapolitan pies go in and of themselves, as you can imagine, they were amazingly good and surprisingly simple. Upon first bite, the thin crust had a lovely salty crunch which soon morphed into a chewy almost earthy, yeasty flavor that paired effortlessly with the umami-laden porcini's. As far as the standard slightly soggy center that Neapolitan pizza's are said to exhibit, this one, while having a firm crust at the edges, was indeed slightly soggy in the center. Perhaps there's a better word here than soggy (such as pillowy?) since by no means was the pizza wet or loose in the middle. It simply wasn't uber-crispy.

The pizza rucola was slightly softened in the middle as well, even a bit more than its white counterpart due to the generous amount of San Marzano tomato sauce on its crust. We had this style of pizza several times while in Italy, topped with everything from hand-pulled buffalo mozzarella to nothing but a little Parmesan and fresh basil. Like the porcini pizza, the crust was crispy, a bit salty and had just the right amount of black char to give it depth, yet the chopped arugula added another layer of peppery flavor. So divine.

The key to all this goodness is simplicity. All of the pizzas we sampled were very lightly dressed and flavored. No crazy-on-the-garlic flavor (sorry Mamma Zu). No gooey cheese-laden pies piled high with ground beef, sausage, bacon etc...and no fancy schmancy toppings like smoked gouda, chicken or pineapple (blech) and no greasy, bready crust (a la Bottom's Up). Just wood-fired crusty goodness delicately accented with a locally grown tomatoes, handmade mozzarella (or ricotta) and olive oil made from olive trees only miles away.

Keep an eye out for more Italy posts. Next up, the medieval village of Mazzano for New Years and two days in Rome.

All photos and text ©2010 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Gone But Hopefully Not Forgotten

2010-12-08T07:03:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to post quick update that I have not completely dropped off the face of the earth. Just taking a breather to regroup after some extensive travel which now requires me to crank out beaucoup stories all at the same time. Toss in the holidays and an upcoming trip to Rome and Positano for New Years, and the 'ole blog has been placed on the back burner temporarily.

I promise to return very soon with some fun updates from Barbardos, more NYC food goodness, and some great winter recipes to boot, including chocolate Whoopie pies and homemade granola. In the meantime, please enjoy this lovely photo featuring the beach at Pinks Sands Resort, a place I wish I were at this very moment considering it's 20 degrees outside and our heat pump is totally conking out. Actually, you can buy a little slice of Pink Sand's paradise if you've got the cashola. Lots start at $700,000 and go up to $2.5 million, and yes you heard that correctly: LOTS.

In the meantime, happy holidays and I promise to return soon!

So, What IS a Foodie?

2010-11-15T11:38:00.000-08:00

Barney's very "foodie" storefront in NYC

So, I was recently asked by a local website in Richmond to offer my take on what and/or who constitutes a "foodie"? Needless to say, the answer wasn't an easy one for me, especially considering I'm not exactly too fond of the term in general. Like many phrases and/or concepts that have been overused to the point of oblivion, it seems that the many incarnations of the word "foodie" now assume a plethora of meanings, which tend to vary considerably depending on who's doing the talking.

Everything's better with buttah?

There are foodies who wouldn't dream of letting the sloppy, drippy mystery meat that is otherwise known as a McRib touch their delicate lips and instead of opt for only "localicious" foods accented with the likes of truffle sea salt from Normandy or beets that have plucked from the dirt merely hours before. For them, it's only artisan bread, wildly flavored cupcakes and hand-churned ricotta. These foodies often swap words like pepitas for plain, old pumpkin seeds.

Then, there are the foodies who relish the off-the-beaten-track, sort of low-brow type of eating. These particular foodies are usually the ones who are quick to offer up the best and often most difficult to find roadside joints for shredded pit BBQ, real deal Chinese dumplings or creamy, chili-laden slaw dogs. Their existence, while offering an alternate take to fine or exclusive dining, often still reeks of foodieness (which in many ways make this particular foodie a sort of walking oxymoron to the term itself).

Dim sum Chinatown NYC

I suppose the bottom line is here, is that no matter which foodie camp you feel you subscribe to (and for many, it's a little bit of both) one fact remains true, foodies are slowly taking over the world, and their doing it one careful bite at a time. According to the Wall Street Journal, the new foodie marriage is between the fashion world and the food world with icons like Gwyneth Paltrow hobnobbing around Spain with Mario Batali and perfumes now advertising "Christmas cookies" as a signature scent. Let's face it, chefs are now rockstars and food is most definitely "in", especially when you're getting the fashionista set involved.

Some further argue that the newfound celebrity foodies share inadvertently predestines them for the proverbial backlash that will eventually come with it. Hence, this recent NY Times piece on the "culinary one-upmanship" that often dictates a standard foodie gathering, where anything but "standard" is acceptable. When a regular roast chicken isn't enough yet foams, puffs and airs are, as one savvy reader commented, we are all headed towards an impending "foodie-cide".

So, no matter where you fall on the foodie totem pole, be it in your own mind or worse, in the perception of other foodies, which is most certainly with you holding up the base of said totem pole, one thing still remains....this is all very tasty food for thought.

So, are you a foodie? If so, what makes you one or not?

©2010 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Welcome to Cajun Country: the deliciousness that is Lake Charles, Louisiana

2010-10-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

Fresh boudin sausage from Cajun Cowboy's Restaurant Vinton, LA

So, I just spent the past week eating my weight in boudin sausage (and lots of other local goodies) while visiting the Cajun culinary mecca of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Lake Charles lies in the Southwestern part of the state, not too far from the Texas border, yet still deep south enough to be less than an hour and a half from the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

Lake Charles is a charming place, where deep Southern accents prevail and just about everyone you meet is quick to offer a handshake, or when you're lucky, a big 'ole Cajun-style bear hug. It's the kind of town where folks spend the afternoon crowding around unadulterated diner tables sipping coffee and sharing tall fishing and hunting tales. The vibe here is pure Cajun pride, and locals are quick to share with visitors their favorite haunts to get real deal crawfish etouffee, shrimp gumbo, fried catfish or homemade deer sausage.

Yet, it's the Cajun boudin sausage that triumphs with pride throughout the area. Hearkening back to the area's French culinary roots (by way of a mass Acadian exile from Nova Scotia in the 1700's), Southwest Louisiana's boudin sausage is akin to North Carolina barbecue, with numerous variations (and consequent debates as to whose is best) ranging from spicy smoked boudin to fresh boudin rouge spiked with pig's blood. However, while each sausage tastes just a tad different, several constants remain in all forms of boudin. First, there's got to be plenty of cooked Louisiana long-grain rice mixed in with the roasted pork. Second, there are spices galore, many of which are top secret, never to be revealed. There's always a generous helping of fresh green onions, and finally, all this Cajun goodness is packed into fresh hog's intestines.

People are happy here, with an innate pride and joy that is most evidenced in the foods they create, especially their particular brand of boudin. It's all about Cajun cooking. From pork cracklin's to crawfish pistolettes, every bite that hits your palate simply bursts with spice, texture and the flavor of the deep south. If you're serious about good eating, the many off-the-beaten-track pit stops that circumvent the town of Lake Charles are must-stops for any lover of real home-cooked food. From diner dives to gas station gems, Lake Charles is one place where you can eat like a king on a peasant's salary.

Here's a little slide show primer of some of the best of the best that this unique area of Cajun country has to offer.

Boudin expert, Glenn Earl of Cajun Cowboys

Shrimp Po'Boy, fried catfish & collards from Hollier's Cajun Kitchen

Pork cracklin's and smoked sausage from The Sausage Link

Green onions, hog's intestines (used for natural boudin casings)and homemade hog's head cheese (bites). The Sausage Link.

Fried crabs, frog legs, crab claws and crawfish pies from The Seafood Palace

Sweet As Sugar and Ugly As a Toad

2010-10-12T12:34:00.000-07:00

Fried Sugar Toads from Arnest Seafood

Sugar toads. They're not what you think, so put those images of deep fried frog outta your head. Sugar toads are what we coastal Virginia folk call the Northern Puffer fish, which is a seasonal bottom-dwelling fish unique to the Chesapeake Bay. Sugar toads primarily feed on shellfish, and have earned their nickname due their l ess than Vogue-worthy appearance. For many years, puffers were considered as nothing more than an annoyance that needed to be thrown back until several well-known (and high-end) restaurants began serving this sweet, flaky fish with the unusual name to rave reviews.

Sugar toads, like all puffer fish, have ability to fill their stomachs with water as a defense and puff up, making them a not-so-easy to digest prey. From a culinary standpoint, it must also be noted that Chesapeake Bay puffers are completely non-poisonous, and unlike their Fugu brethren, pose no threat to those who eat them. As a result, if you can get your hands on a platter of these fried delicacies, it's a prized meal indeed.

So, last weekend when the hubby and I took a jaunt to one of our favorite seafood dives, we were thrilled when the special of the day was fried sugar toads. Sugar toads, when lightly battered and deep-fried maintain just a hint of crunch to offset the soft, sweet meat inside. Most often, they are deep-fried whole (sans head and skin). Also, because the spine of the puffer is still intact once prepared, they're an excellent eat-with-your-hands kinda snack, much like a fried chicken leg. Give your toad a little spritz of fresh lemon juice while dipping it into a plastic tub of homemade tartar and you won't care that you're dining alfresco with a view of a strip mall parking lot.

Arnest is about as no-frills as you can get. Not only is it in a half-vacant strip mall right smack in the middle of nowhere (a.k.a. Manquin, Virginia, about halfway to Tappahannock out Route 360) but it sits right next to a hunting and fishing shop complete with a giant outdoor statue of a galloping seven-point buck for your viewing pleasure. Part seafood store (you can get anything to go) and part dine-in, Arnest is the kinda place you visit to get a taste of the Bay without the waterfront price.

A specialty of the house are their steamed local blue crabs, and Arnest sells nothing but number one males, otherwise known as "jimmies", for a mere $24 a dozen. Jimmies are well-known to be the largest and meatiest of blue crabs and can command upwards of $65 a dozen at a tourist-ridden waterfront seafood establishment. When I asked about females, which some folks prefer due the substantial price difference, our server replied, "Here, it's males only." My kinda place.

As the saying goes, when the work is hard, the rewards taste that much sweeter. Such is the case for picking crabs, so plan on staying a while. We picked for two hours and still had four large crabs leftover for dinner the next night.

All of your accouterments, including melted butter, Tabasco, Old Bay and, my personal fave, cider vinegar for dipping that precious jumbo lump, come out with your crabs which are gloriously presented on a plastic tray. Crab picking is messy business, and while there are plenty of paper towels, I recommend bringing your own bib. Either that, or I dare you to wear white.

If crabs, or heaven forbid, fried sugar toads just ain't your thing, no worries. You can get most any seafood goody, either fried or steamed at Arnest. For the fried seafood junkie, Arnest offers up a selection of "Straight-Up" platters, where diners can get a plastic basket full of fried oysters, scallops, jumbo shrimp, fish of the day or frog legs, sold by the pound, and ranging in price from $9.99 .lb (frog legs) to $18.99 .lb (shrimp).

Steamed options include Rappahannock oysters (also on the half shell), local clams and shrimp. When it comes to fried dinners with sides, crab cakes, scallop cakes, fish of the day, soft shells and various combinations thereof are served with two sides and homemade hush puppies without a single platter costing over $19.00.

Standout sides included Arnest's vinegar braised collard greens, housemade flash-fried crab chips dusted in Old Bay and creamy deviled eggs. If you're looking for fine wine, you're in the wrong place, and same goes for cocktails, since Arnest sells neither, but you can get an ice cold Corona or Budweiser, which to me, suits fried seafood and crab picking just fine.

Who: Arnest Seafood Where: 109 Commerce Park, Manquin, Virginia (804) 769-3315 When: Wed., Thurs. and Sunday 11:30-9pm and Fri. and Sat. 11:30-10pm

Crab Cakes: Chesapeake Bay Style from The Tides Inn

2010-10-04T11:58:00.000-07:00

Chef Flynn's pan-fried crab cakes over buttery succotash w/ shrimp

So, let me start off by asking, who doesn't like a good crab cake? Other than those poor souls bearing shellfish allergies, most folks turn into the human version of Pavlov's dog at the mere mention of the words: "crab" and "cake".

And let's face it. Crab cakes are frightfully good. From sandwiching one in-between two butter-brushed buns with crisp lettuce and homemade tartar to nesting a couple of fresh-fried cakes in pool of chive infused buerre blanc, the ubiquitous crab cake has stood the test of time to become one the most popular menu items featured in restaurants from coast to coast.

This past weekend, I was rewarded with a crab (and oyster, lamb, and local wine) adventure of epic proportions while visiting The Tides Inn in historic Irvington, Virginia. The Tides is a magical place located along the Chesapeake Bay with gorgeous water frontage right on Carter's Creek.

It's an Inn that boasts an incredible history. From its opening day in 1947, where the first dining room menu proudly offered its guests, "Native Soft Shell Crabs Saute in Almond Butter" and "Baked Filet of Rappahannock Trout in Lemon Butter" to today, where Executive Chef T.V. Flynn surprises with "Cedar Roasted Lamb Porterhouses topped with Garden Fresh Mint Pesto" and "Virginia Coast Diver Scallops with Oven-Roasted Cauliflower and Farmer's Market Butternut Squash Puree", The Tides Inn has consistently remained a culinary retreat offering some of the best of what the Chesapeake region of Virginia has to offer.

Many of the ingredients served at the Inn's restaurant are culled locally, either from the local Irvington Farmer's Market or from General Manager, Gordon Slatford's extensive personal gardens, where he grows everything from tomatoes and peppers to his own luffa sponges. Naturally, seafood follows suit with local delicacies such as oysters, clams and rockfish (a true Virginia specialty) being drawn from the waters right outside the Inn's back door.

On the evening of our final night at the Inn, it was all about the crab cake. All lump with very little filler, we scarfed these guys down in two quick bites and fought for more. Chef Flynn served his crab-laden creation atop a buttery succotash accented with fresh, local butter beans and a lone sweet shrimp. And, as if these small plate goodies weren't enough on their own, the Chef then grilled up a couple dozen local Rappahannock oysters just as the sun was beginning to set over the creek.

The oysters, after being drizzled in a little butter were beautifully accented by the Chef's homemade pickled watermelon rind, making these one-slurp wonders an immaculate combination of zing and brininess. Once paired with a glass of Virginia's own Ingleside Pinot Grigio, it became clear that the food gods were shining down on Carter's Creek that final evening. What a send-off it was....

My first inclination is to suggest, that in order to properly relive this seafood extravaganza, you must book a weekend at The Tides ASAP. Yet, for some folks, especially those on temporary vacation hold, this may not be immediately possible. For you, the Chef has agreed to generously share his virtually-no-filler recipe for crab cakes, Chesapeake Bay style, so you too, can experience a little taste of The Tides Inn when making these fried gems within the comfort of your own home.

But first, a couple of pointers on creating swoon-worthy crab cakes that every home cook should know.

It goes without saying that jumbo lump is where it's at, so it's worth every penny to invest in the good stuff, and that means, no cheating with backfin. Also, we lover's of the Chesapeake Bay must recommend our own blue crab as the almighty best.

When it comes to picking the shell bits out of your crab meat, which are almost always there, be gentle. While you might be in a hurry, it's important not to crush the crab meat, especially the lumps. You want those in there. Hence, the words "jumbo lump".

When it comes to seasoning, less is most definitely more. Go easy on the mayo, breadcrumbs etc.... If you find you're having trouble with your cakes falling apart when frying due to minimal binder, after shaping them, pop them in the fridge for about 30 minutes so they'll set up a bit. And, speaking of frying, it's always best to fry in small batches. Avoid crowding your cakes or they'll steam and not develop that crispy outer coating we all know and love.

When it comes to oil and pans, I'm a cast-iron and peanut oil gal myself. However, you can just as easily fry in nonstick with vegetable oil or a combination of butter and oil if you're feeling decadent. To serve, all you may need is a dollop of tartar, but if you want to emulate the Chef's dish, you can serve your crab cakes atop a pile of succotash or my recipe for sauteed butter beans with bacon.

Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes

Courtesy of Executive Chef T.V. Flynn of The Tides Inn

2 pounds jumbo lump crabmeat

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
½ cup cracker crumbs
2 eggs
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
½ teaspoon Tabasco
Salt and Pepper

Cooking oil, for shallow frying (about a 1/4 cup)

Pick through the crabmeat to check for shell pieces, being careful not to break up the lumps.

Place crabmeat in a large bowl and add the Old Bay, dry mustard, parsley and cracker crumbs. Gently mix.

In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. Whisk to mix and pour over the crabmeat mixture. Season with salt and pepper. Mix lightly and portion in cakes.

Preheat a cast iron pan or skillet to medium-high and add the oil. When it's shimmering, fry your crab cakes in batches. Drain well and serve hot.

Serves 8-10

Note: This recipe is easy to halve.

©2010 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

Port and Cider Vinegar-Braised Short Ribs

2010-09-27T10:14:00.000-07:00

Tastes better in a well-worn Le Creuset

Last night it got down to 65 degrees, and outside, it was pure heaven. This rare evening chill was simply begging for something hot and bubbling on the stove, and I suddenly realized that it's been many months since I broke out my prized Le Creuset dutch oven, so with a topped off glass of wine in hand, I set out to simmer the night away.

I've always been a braiser. I simply love having something, anything, going on the stove for a long period of time. It gives me that granny-in-the-kitchen feel, like the way I remember spending many Sunday's after church. Whether it was a big pot of my mom's porcupine meatballs in tomato sauce or a cast-iron oven filled with dad's homemade beef stew or just a steaming skillet of country-fried beef steak 'n brown gravy, I spent many an afternoon impatiently peeking into a pot of something so deliciously braised, it just had to surrender its toughness and give in to falling off the bone.

By definition, braising is the process by which meat or vegetables are browned in fat and then finished in a liquid for a long period time until the meat/veggies become nice and tender with their fibers nicely broken down. I've braised oxtails, lamb shanks, venison, pork butts, ribs, you-name-it, and I've found this method of cooking to be one of the more foolproof ways to create a satisfying, comfort-laden meal that actually improves over time.

In fact, I often do my braising the day before and then reheat the contents of my dish on the stove just before serving. Something magical seems to happen to slow-cooked meat as it rests peacefully in the fridge overnight. The following day, an inherent herbaceousness is revealed that becomes just a little more pronounced with the marriage of wine, stock and mirepoix. Add on another day or two of fridge time and that pot of braised meat morphs into a shredded filler for a sliced-open baguette along with a sprinkling of blue cheese and a pile of sauteed onions.

When it comes to braising liquids for your meat, just about anything simmered in a combination of wine, herbs and stock tends to work, yet there are beaucoup recipes out there incorporating everything from coconut milk and star anise to coffee and orange zest. I admit, I am a bit of a purest when it comes to the meat braising process, since that classic combination of heavily reduced wine, lightly salted stock and fresh, hearty herbs lights my fire every, single time.

So, when I set out to create a slight variation on this holy trinity of braising liquid, I decided to go the savory/sweet route and incorporate ruby red port and honey alongside a splash of cider vinegar. To be honest, I wasn't sure how the cider vinegar would ultimately play out in the dish, especially simmering in tandem with three cups of wine, but to my dining pleasure and that of my husband's, the dish was nothing short of spectacular, and as expected by day three, was perfectly swoon-worthy smashed in between two pieces of crusty bread.

Port and Cider Vinegar-Braised Short Ribs

Nothing says Fall has arrived like a bubbling pot of beef ribs accented with ruby port, wine and zesty cider vinegar. Make this one pot wonder a day ahead and reheat it in order to maximize the dish's unique combination of flavors.

Serves 4-6

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
3 1/2 pound beef short ribs, cut into large chunks
1 cup carrots, diced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
6 large cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 cup dry white wine
1 cup dry red wine
1 cup port
1/8 cup honey
4 cups low-sodium beef broth (or homemade beef stock)
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced
1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced
2 tablespoons fresh thyme, minced

Season short ribs with salt and freshly ground pepper. Preheat a large cast-iron pot to medium-high, and add butter and olive oil. In batches, brown the ribs pieces well on all sides and then remove. Add carrots, onion and celery and saute until translucent. Add garlic and saute for another two minutes. Return ribs to the pot.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Add cider vinegar, red and white wine, port and honey. Bring all up to a boil and cook a couple of minutes, taking time to scrape the bits and pieces off the bottom of the pan. Next, add the beef broth, rosemary, sage and thyme and boil uncovered for another 5 minutes. Reduce heat, cover your pan and place it in the oven. Cook ribs for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until they are tender and fall off the bone.

Remove ribs to a large sheet pan and return pot to the stove top. Boil the remaining liquid uncovered for roughly ten minutes until it begins to thicken a bit. Return ribs to the pot and skim off any fat.

Serve ribs and sauce alongside a classic risotto Milanese, polenta or roasted garlic mashed potatoes.

©2010 Fatback and Foie Gras. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission

THIS IS WHY I STARTED A BLOG

2010-09-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Photo Tim Morris

...because for some sick twisted reason, I am obsessed with products like this. Perhaps it's the fact that, not only does this diminutive plastic package contain bits and pieces of deep-fried fatback, but it boasts the coup de grace of convenience store munchies, "with skin attached", as if plain, fried fat just isn't enough.

Roadside pit stops get even better when one can dive into this bag of coronary heart disease for only .99 cents. So, if you ever find yourself high-tailing it up Interstate 95 through the Roanoke Rapids area of North Carolina (where this fine photo was snapped by my dear husband) be sure to stop in the local BP station and grab a bag of Carolina Country Snacks, whose tagline proudly reads, "Old Time Fatback, like Mama used to pan fry!" and get cracklin'.

Oh yeah, don't forget to wash down your rinds with an icy bottle of Cheerwine, which in IMHO, is the single best sugar-laden soda South of the Mason-Dixon line. For those of you who have yet to try this Carolina staple, the best way to describe it is as the bastard love child that resulted from a drunken one-nighter between a can of Cherry Coke and a Dr. Pepper.

Hungry yet? Or better yet, mortified?