Breaking Out the Slow Cooker

 NOTE: Updated post with recipe photos from The Southern Slow Cooker cookbook!

Slow cooker navy beans and turkey from The Southern Slow Cooker.

 And, so it begins.... I've got the slow cookers a cookin', all three of them, and I've officially upgraded from the archaic (vintage?) Rival I bought at an estate sale several years ago. Don't get me wrong, I totally dig my Rival, and let's face it, those cookers just won't die. Just when you think you've cooked your last pot 'o beans, that SOB rises from the ashes all Phoenix-like to take one more chuck roast. Fact: take care of your slow cooker and it'll probably outlive you.

Slow cooker pork loin with vanilla fig jam from the book.

I decided to get more than one slow cooker for recipe testing for The Southern Slow Cooker so I could experience various brands (both pricey and budget) as well as different sizes and shapes, since one of the challenges in writing a slow cooker cookbook for the general public is that my readers will own different types of slow cookers, and not only does size matter, but so does shape (think round pots versus oval). Also, many newer slow cookers will run hotter than the retro-fabulous, old school ones our mothers have and that can greatly affect overall cooking time as well as cause incidental burning issues.

Country ham breakfast bread pudding. Yup, from the book

and you can make this in your crockpot and have it ready by brunch!

So, the three cookers I have going so far are as follows:

1. Hamilton Beach Stay or Go 5-Quart Slow Cooker: I dig this little number, not only because it's portable (and apparently spill-proof once you lock it in) but because it has a nice price point at under $40. It's also super easy to use with a simple manual high, low and warm setting and it's a basic oval. I'm figuring lots of folks will have slow cookers like this one with these functions.

2. KitchenAid 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker with Easy Serve Lid: KitchenAid seems to only make two slow cookers and both are 6-quart programmables. What struck me about this one, in addition to the side by side pop-up lid (so when you gotta stir you can retain at least half of that valuable heat), is that it has a warm, low, hot and a medium setting. I've never seen a slow cooker with a medium setting, and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I will use it yet, but it does open the opportunity for more experimentation. Just digging into this one, so I shall report more later.

3. All-Clad 6.5-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker: So, this one is my fancy pants slow cooker. All-Clad only makes two slow cookers-- the 6.5 quart and a 7 quart, and they are both gorgeous and expensive. These cookers are the Rolls Royce's of slow cooking, and I figure while many regular folks may not invest in such high dollar machinery, there are home cooks out there who will (or will at least put it on their bridal registry). Plus, let's face it, I really wanted one of these because I freaking love All-Clad anything. This slow cooker will serve as my large order one for roasts, entertaining recipes, and the like. Heck, it's so pretty I just might put it over the fireplace on display.

P.S. My vintage round Rival slow cooker will be making appearances in the kitchen as well many people still cook with older models.

Have a favorite tried and true slow cooker? Please share. I would love learn more about the features, sizes and shapes you prefer to cook with at home.

Thanks, and there's more to come!

Kendra

Crockpot pasta sauce with meatballs, sausages and cubed steak. You guessed it, from The Southern Slow Cooker cookbook!

Pin It Now!

I Just Signed a Cookbook Deal

I'm super excited to announce that I have just signed on to pen a cookbook with Ten Speed Press/Crown Publishing Group. The Southern Slow Cooker: Big-Flavor, Low-Fuss Recipes for Comfort Food Classics is set to come out next summer 2013.

I could not be more pleased to be working with Ten Speed again, and I am so proud to be in the company of such amazing authors whose cookbooks I've dog-eared and dirtied up time and time again: Martha Foose, Virginia Willis, Andrea Nguyen, Mollie Cox Bryan and David McMillan to name a very few.

It's going to be a very busy, hot-in-the-kitchen summer for me as I slug through lots and lots of recipe testing (think soups, stews and other steamy foods), but I couldn't be happier. Stay tuned here for updates along with a glimpse of what goes into the making of a cookbook. It's going to be fun ride!

Pin It Now!

Remembering Granny and the Church Potluck

True art.

Per my last post, and also this amazing tribute by LA Times food writer extraordinaire, Jen Garbee, many of you are now aware of the passing of our family's matriarch, my dear Granny Boohler. For the past week I've been with my family back in Bluefield, West Virginia, where we gathered to share stories of her long and very fulfilled life along with remembrances of a lady (and dedicated nurse) who did so much for the people of Mercer County, West Virginia.

With the East River Mountain as our backdrop, we celebrated her with plenty of laughs, lots of tears, and in her honor, a whole mess of tasty Southern cooking. My granny was an amazing cook. In fact, she was so popular with the locals, even a certain Senator who was also raised in the hills of West Virginia, visited her tiny residence more than once just to get a spoonful or two of her brown beans and cornbread.

Granny would have wanted nothing less than for all of us to stuff ourselves silly on her behalf, because as she used to declare in abundance, "You still gotta eat!"

So, here's a couple of snapshots of some of the wonderful food we shared in Granny's honor, most of which was provided by the lovely ladies from her church in Green Valley, WV. It's often this kind of cooking, unadulterated yet prepared with love and honor for a lost soul, that is arguably the best in the world.

There's got to be fried chicken.

Macaroni salad (heavy on the mayo) and two kinds of potato salad.

Nanner Pudding.

Pea salad, strawberry salad, orange salad & those famous deviled eggs.

Had to get a West Virginia pepperoni roll for the road.

This what we did to that pepperoni roll...added Oliverio Peppers and cheese.

The view about a mile from where Granny is buried.

R.I.P.

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

Pin It Now!

A Tribute to My Grandmother: Beulah Ann Bailey 1911-2012

It is with great sadness that I write this post. Yesterday, I lost one of the most important and influential women in my life, my grandmother, Beulah Ann Bailey, who passed away a single day shy of her 100th birthday. While many people in her home state of West Virginia knew my grandmother for her tireless work within the medical field as both a public health nurse and advocate for better healthcare (specifically women and children's healthcare for the farthest reaches of Appalachia), to me she was just "Granny Boohler", a witty, often hilarious (prankster), loving, God-fearing Southern lady who always had an extra place setting at her dinner table for anyone looking for a slice of applesauce cake and some casual conversation.

And, she could cook. I've written about Granny's culinary prowess in the kitchen before (actually, both of my granny's are gifted cooks), and I count my blessings often that I was allowed to watch over her shoulder as she stirred, sliced and added a pinch of this or that. Granny whipped up multi-course meals featuring real-deal Appalachian-style Southern cooking well into her 90's, with many of her recipes being passed on to us kids as oral renditions that often contained the phrase, "just eyeball it". Granny wasn't big on measuring, and only on rare occasion did I ever see her crack open a cookbook, but several years ago she did pass on to me a big box of scribbled recipe postcards and torn pages from her personal collection. I've been slowly working through transcribing each one (some are in my first cookbook) in an effort to preserve them in their original form as true family heirloom recipes dating back hundreds of years. Angel biscuits, white gravy, fried apple pies, cider slaw, chow chow, peach ice cream, even my grandfather's canned sausage recipe is in that box, and their words and phrases still speak to me. In jotted notes and asides, I can hear echoes of my grandmother's voice, "one more tablespoon of sugar here" with an arrow pointed to a baked apple recipe, and next to her recipe for lime congealed salad, "Brought this to Mercer County ladies luncheon. Big hit. Serve with crackers."

Granny, Grandpa Woodrow and Aunt Barbara eating salted watermelon at the old house Princeton, WV

In true grandmotherly form, Granny loved the act of feeding people, so much in fact that she rarely ate anything herself. In the above photo, you are witnessing one of the rare occasions where she is actually sitting down at the table. We used to have to coerce her into taking an open seat with a declaration of, "no getting up until you've eaten at least half of this". She'd finally agree, sit down, take a single bite, and before you knew it (just when your back was turned), she'd be back in front of the oven stirring a big pot of pole beans or opening the oven to check on the potato rolls. Nothing brought her more joy than giving to others. It was something she felt compelled to do in all areas of her life.

When it came to work, in addition to her endless commitment to providing affordable healthcare (i.e. oftentimes free) to the many low income families throughout Appalachia (she immunized over 10,000 local children, helped found the Mercer County Health Department, and worked as a nurse for over 50 years helping to eradicate diseases such as diphtheria, polio, and small pox), she also spent many years counseling people suffering from substance abuse and mental illness, which is sadly still a very real problem in the Appalachian mountains.

Granny grew up right along the western North Carolina/Virginia border in Elk Creek (she is on the far right in the above photo). After graduating high school, she went to nursing school and eventually graduated from Vanderbilt's Peabody College of Medicine. It wasn't long before she married my grandfather and eventually had two sons: my father, Kent Bailey, and my uncle, Roger Bailey (the youngest of the two in the below photo).

While perusing some old photos last week, I came across this one, and for the life of me, could not figure out who the man was to her right...

...until my mom informed me that this young gentleman is Senator Jay Rockefeller, who like Granny, has also worked tirelessly for healthcare reform throughout West Virginia. Another photo, shows her and my grandfather standing next to Senator Robert Byrd, (pictured below) who was not only her personal friend (he used to come over to her tiny rancher just to get a bowl of her famous pinto beans and cornbread), but also a staunch advocate for equal healthcare for all West Virginians.

As young people, we tend to see our grandparents simply, as those sweet, doting elderly folk who send you birthday cards with five dollar bills inside and who are quick to offer you a big bear hug. It's often later in life that we are given the gift of insight, the ability to see our family members in a totally different way-- as children who once played by a fast running mountain creek in N.C., as wives who met, fell in love, suffered the pain of childbirth and raised two boys who, like their mother, also went on to change lives by devoting themselves to the mental healthcare field. There's a keen sense of enlightenment that comes from realizing your Granny, the same one who could cook a ten course meal in a 60 square foot kitchen, not only served her family, her church, and her community, but perhaps helped to change the course of existence for so many needy families.

Wife. Mother. Nurse. Advocate. Life Changer. This is what Beulah Ann Bailey was to many, but to me, she will always simply be my Granny Boohler.

Happy Birthday Granny
Love, Kendra

Pin It Now!

Crabcakes, Grilled Pizza, Tacos and Rick Bayless

So once again, I'm the jerk-off for neglecting my blog, and there is a legitimate reason beyond laziness (which is the usual culprit) that I shall disclose soon, but in the meantime let me openly apologize to all five of you that read my blog for such an undue absence. In addition to a rather large (and exciting) project I am working on, I have also developed quite the addiction to Instagram (find me under Kendra Bailey Morris) a.k.a. the app that makes even crappy photogs like me look like we know what the hell we're doing, so I thought I'd take a moment to share some tasty highlights from this month's cooking extravaganza. Blogger Disclaimer: recipes shall follow, yet I recommend holding your horses because it won't be anytime soon.

Let's begin with the above image: pan-fried crab cakes over sweet corn relish and fresh arugula topped with Crab Louis sauce (basically a combo of mayo, chili sauce, horseradish etc...etc....) For the record it was quite good, so good in fact that I demolished the whole plate in roughly three bites = off-the-cuff cooking =  success. Happy.

More salad jank because it's too dang hot to cook. This time, mixed arugula and fresh kale (I love, love raw kale), topped with roasted beets (I love, love roasted beets), toasted walnuts and goat cheese (I lov...ok, who doesn't love goat frickin' cheese).

Warning: annoyingly cute dog photo above. Did I mention it's awfully hot here in Virginia? Our poor hyper-haired Aussie dog can't find a cool spot anywhere anymore, but he did discover the ceramic floor behind the cold, ceramic toilet. Reminds me of the time I tried Goldschlager for the first time in college. For the record, the gold in the bottle looks exactly the same after you barf it back up.

Had the family here for a week, and one evening it was grilled pizzas. My dear husband is the master of dough on the grill, so we got ourselves a mini vat of Pizza Tonight marinara, which I totally adore (both the sauce and the cool chicks who run this local RVA business), some fresh mozzarella and Parmesan, along with a few plucked basil leaves from the garden and we had ourselves a full-on pizza party. Note to all you newlyweds: it's these kinds of communal food gatherings that will garner you mega extended fam points, so I recommend hosting them often and with abandon.

We do taco night at least once a week. Over the years, I've developed some sort of pathological addiction to tacos. Some days I can't stop thinking about them. Corn tortillas have become my other man, my dirty Mexican secret, and when they're filled with grilled carne asada, sliced avocado, pico de gallo and queso fresco, I actually have fantasies involving me, Rick Bayless and a molcajete. Don't even get me started on the accompanying tostones (twice fried plantains) dipped in guacamole. It's totally Fifty Shades of Grey but with sea salt and lime.

Ok, so I totally did not make this, but Tim Bereika from Secco Wine Bar did, and it is to die for. I've boasted before how I think Chef Bereika is one of the best in Richmond, and in addition to a whole host of other amazing goodies he whips up in Secco's cozy kitchen like "Fiddlehead Ferns, Roasted Wild Mushrooms, Soft Egg, Watercress, Saba Emulsion, Fennel Pollen", he also created this creamy, tangy explosion consisting of fresh Burrata cheese with Sun Gold tomatoes and fresh herbs. Simple. Elegant. Understated. Perfection.

Been playing around with my crock pot lately and recently tried my hand at creating a Virginia blue crab and summer corn chowder topped with the same corn relish I used with the crab cakes (waste not want not). Not only is this dish lovely to look at (thank you, Instagram...mwah!) but it's delicately flavored and perfect for an evening on the patio, crock pot or not. Keep an eye out for the recipe, FYI. Coming soon.

Let me close this little food foray with a chili dog. Why? Because I love chili dogs, almost as much as I love the idea of getting hammered on Corazon de Agave Tequila Anejo with Rick Bayless. There's something so satisfying when you feel the snap of biting into a perfectly cooked hotdog. It's a pressed meat kinda thing, and I totally dig it, especially when the dog is topped with even more meat, in this case, chili sauce made without beans (yuck) or any tomato product whatsoever (different). Just the beef, ma'am. Oh, and some minced onions and chartreuse-colored mustard.

So, thanks for stopping by. I promise to do my best not to disappear entirely this summer as I imbed myself into this project, and yes, for now, the first rule of Fight Club will have to apply as to what the heck I'm doing.

Happy cooking and stay cool.

Kendra

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

Pin It Now!