reclaiming the south in the kitchen - recipe: cream cheese pound cake

A few years back, my husband David and I took a trip to celebrate my 30th birthday. I’d always wanted to travel around the southern ‘US of A’, so we flew into Atlanta and then spent a few days in each of Charleston and Savannah, with a couple days between those two beautiful cities on the beach in Hilton Head.

I knew I’d love the weather (I like it H-O-T), the history, architecture and of course, the people famous for their hospitality. I wasn’t sure how much I would love the food, though. I adore Paula Deen – I’ve even met her in person, and yes, she is actually that friendly & charming! That being said, I’m not as crazy about her recipes.

Paula says that there are 3 reasons why southern cookin’ tastes so good – mainly, the frequent use of: 1) mayo, 2) cream cheese, and 3) any part of the pig. Well, I certainly concur with Paula on the last point. Chef Mark and I regularly joke that a pig would definitely be tops on our list if we could only choose one type of meat for an extended stay on a deserted island. As for the mayo – I’m not a huge fan, and in my house, cream cheese is generally used on toasted bagels or in pound cake.

Long story short, I fell in love with South Carolina and with the city of Charleston in particular. The food was pretty good too! One of the best meals of my life was at a restaurant called Sienna, a few minutes outside Charleston, on Daniel Island. In fact, there is a big joke around the shop that I want to franchise my business so that I can eventually open up a store in Charleston. I can’t wait to go back, but I have no idea when that next trip will happen.

Over the last few months, I’ve been borrowing all kinds of southern cookbooks and stories from the public library in order to get my fix. One of my favorites has been “The Lee Bros Southern Cookbook – Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners”. Shortly after moving to Manhattan, these southern brothers were homesick and found themselves craving a taste of the Carolina’s. After cooking up some hard-core southern comfort food, they felt more at home and said they could almost see the creek banks and marshes of South Carolina. They declared that “the feeling of having cheated geography through food was exhilarating.”

Isn’t that a great thought? Whenever I find myself longing for a trip down south, I can be found in my kitchen making any combination of these items: cheese straws, pulled pork and cornbread, spiced pecans, sautéed mustard greens, anything with sweet Vidalia onions, shrimp and grits, and cream cheese pound cake. As Paula might say, Bon Appetite, Ya’ll.

cream cheese pound cake

ingredients

• 1 (one) cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1, 8-oz (one eight-ounce) package of cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 (three) cups sugar
• 1 (one) teaspoon salt
• 6 (six) large eggs, room temperature
• 4 (four) teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 3 (three) cups all-purpose flour, sifted

method

• Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese in a large bowl until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add sugar and salt; beat 10 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides of bowl.
• Add eggs 1-at-a-time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Beat in flour at low speed until batter is smooth (do not overbeat). Transfer batter to pan.
• Place pan in cold oven. Set temperature at 200°F; bake for 20 minutes. Increase temperature to 250°F; bake 20 minutes. Increase temperature to 275°F; bake 10 minutes. Increase temperature to 300°F; bake cake until tester inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour longer. Cool cake in pan on rack 15 minutes. Turn cake out onto rack; cool completely.

go to the sea without the boat - recipe: pan fried tilapia with mango and nuoc nam sauce

I often imagine living by the sea. I love the smell of the salt lingering in the air, the sound of the waves and the peaceful feeling that I have whenever I am near the ocean.

Ah . . . a girl can dream. For now, mentally transporting myself to the beach through reading my favourite magazine, Coastal Living, will have to do.

The magazine is “for people who love the coast” and month after month, I am inspired by the beautiful beach homes, exotic locales and coastal kitchen recipes.

Whether we like it or not, bathing suit season is just around the corner! I’m trying to cook a bit lighter to look a bit lighter, and seafood fits the bill. I’m also trying to squeeze in a few more workouts — which is harder now that John is almost two and starting to resist the jogging stroller. Luckily for me, I recently won a free trial membership to Columbia Lake Health Club. I can’t wait to try Zumba, a dance-fitness program.

This week’s recipe is from the April 2010 edition of you guessed it, Coastal Living. I knew I had to try it as soon as I read it. I’ve lightened it up a little by omitting the cream and pan frying the fish instead of shallow frying it. The original recipe calls for yellowtail snapper but it wasn’t available so I substituted tilapia.

I’ve made some lower-cal fish dishes over the last few weeks, but I want to share this one with you because it is so good.

pan fried tilapia with mango and nuoc nam sauce

serves four

ingredients

• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 3 tablespoons of canola or peanut oil
• Four 6 to 8 ounce tilapia fillets
• Hot cooked rice

method

• Combine milk and egg in a large shallow bowl. In a separate large shallow bowl, combine flour and cornstarch
• Place tilapia in the flour mixture, coating both sides and shaking off excess.
• Dip the tilapia into the egg mixture and then back into the flour mixture, shaking off excess.
• Pour three tablespoons of oil into a large sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place tilapia into pan, and fry for three minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy.
• Serve immediately over hot cooked rice with Nuoc Nam sauce, mango and jalapeno.

nuoc nam sauce

ingredients

• 1 mango, peeled and diced
• 1/2 to 1 fresh jalapeno, thinly sliced (use more if you like it spicy)
• Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 jalapeno, thinly sliced

method

combine all ingredients

a brunch so good you’ll need to detox - recipe: twisted hickory bacon with brown sugar rub

I’ve got brunch on the brain these days. My husband and I hosted a brunch on Easter Sunday and this coming week, I’ll be teaching a brunch-by-the bite cooking class at Household China.

Easter morning began with an egg hunt for our son and his good friend Avery. It was so much fun to watch them run around and squeal with delight as they found the eggs and discovered the jelly beans and chocolates tucked within them.

“Detox” the next day, however, was not so fun.

Anyway, they certainly worked up quite an appetite running around — as did the rest of the doting adult guests, chasing after them with cameras.

For starters, I served a few quiches and stuffed chicken breasts. By the way, David does not like quiche. He claims it’s the texture he’s at odds with.

I also served home fried potatoes, cream cheese coffee cake, mini blueberry muffins, cinnamon raisin scones, fruit salad, and twisted hickory bacon with brown sugar rub.

In addition, my friend Kelly brought her addictive lemon squares and a festive Bunny cake... for the kids. Well, to be honest, we all devoured it.

The most popular item was the bacon, which truthfully, didn’t surprise me. You can never make enough bacon at a brunch. The same goes for mashed potatoes and gravy at Thanksgiving.

I love the combo of the salty, smoky bacon with the sweet brown sugar. If you like bacon with maple syrup and pancakes or waffles, you’ll love this recipe.

Warning — the resulting bacon is highly, highly addictive.

twisted hickory bacon with brown sugar rub

Makes eight long pieces. I cut each piece of bacon into two or three. Best to do that after cooking and before serving.

note: this recipe can easily be doubled or tripled

ingredients

• 16 slices/strips bacon (not thick cut)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar

method

• Preheat oven to 400º F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and top with parchment paper.
• Place 8 slices of bacon on the tray.
• Sprinkle each slice of bacon with about two teaspoons of brown sugar.
• Cover these eight sugared slices with the other eight slices of bacon so that the brown sugar is sandwiched between two slices of bacon.
• Twist each of the double bacon slices until it is entirely “spiraled” like a twisted cheese straw.
• Bake in the oven until bacon is crisp, approximately 30 to 40 minutes.
• Check half way through cooking and turn tray if required.

how to sneak fruits and veggies into a toddler’s meal - recipe: sneaky cheddar cornmeal muffins

Much to my disappointment, my not-quite-two-year-old son John has been going through a starch and sugar phase. All John wants to eat is yogurt, toast with jam, plain pasta and crackers. So, I dusted off my copy of “Deceptively Delicious” — a cookbook written by Jessica Seinfeld (yep, Jerry’s better-half) geared to frazzled mothers like myself.

Every recipe “hides” fruit and/or vegetable purees into kid-friendly favourites such as chicken nuggets, pasta dishes, pancakes and of course, baked goodies.

Many of the recipes actually worked! I was shocked that John didn’t notice the quarter-cup of parsnip puree that I added to his morning yogurt. And although it took a bit of time, cutting up vegetables into unusual shapes did pique his interest, if only for a day or two.

In addition to Jessica’s recipes and tips, I’m doing my best to be a sneaky chef of sorts at home. John loves fruit muffins so I figured a savoury breakfast muffin was worth a try.

I took a basic recipe for cheddar cornmeal muffins (credit goes to the cookbook “Muffin Mania”) and added corn niblets, diced red pepper and finely chopped ham. John loved them. I enjoyed these savory muffins, too. They would be terrific served alongside chili or soup.

If you’re serving them to adults, you could easily dress them up with asiago or parmesan cheese (instead of the cheddar) and perhaps replace some diced red onion for the corn niblets.

On the topic of baking, please join us for our second annual Bake Sale to Benefit KidsAbility on April 16th, from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. All of the profits from the sale will benefit children with disabilities right here in our community; helping them reach their potential. Please consider dropping by our shop to support KidsAbility.

We’ll be selling all sorts of delicious baked goodies, including cupcakes, squares, cookies, scones and muffins — in individual and family-sized portions.

sneaky cheddar cornmeal muffins (makes 12 muffins)

ingredients

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup cooked corn niblets
• 1/4 cup finely-diced red bell
• pepper 4 slices deli style ham, very finely chopped

method

• Preheat oven to 375º F. Sift together flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt.
• Beat egg with milk and butter and add dry ingredients, stirring to moisten. Stir in one cup of the cheddar cheese, corn niblets, red pepper and ham. Spoon into greased muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with the remaining cheddar cheese.
• Bake for 16 – 23 minutes or until muffins are cooked through. Serve hot with butter or freeze and reheat before serving.

local pizza inspired by niagara - recipe: bacon, apple & cheddar pizza with walnut-sage pesto & maple syrup

During March Break, my husband and I were lucky enough to spend three days in Niagara-on-the-Lake. It was our first vacation alone in over two years. Paired with the incredible weather it was bliss.

Of course we missed our little guy John, but it was so nice to sleep in until 8 a. m., catch up, read, watch movies and dine out. Thanks to John’s grandma and grandpa for babysitting.

During the drive home, David and I reviewed our favourite meals from our mini-vacation. We came up with two overall winners.

The first was an exceptional dinner at the Stone Road Grille, known to the locals simply as “Rest”. David had a fabulous carrot and pulled pork risotto to start, while I choose the bibb lettuce, duck, quail egg, olive and “tomato raisin” salad.

Selecting a main was difficult, as they all sounded so good. After some debate, David chose the lamb shank shepherd’s pie and I had the Charlie Baker chicken with bubbly sauce, truffled sweet potatoes and collard greens.

We managed to save room for dessert and shared their delicious apple crumble on shortbread served with cinnamon merlot ice cream. We’ve been to the restaurant before and it never disappoints. If you are heading near Niagara-on-the-Lake in the future, this is definitely a spot to check out.

The second winner came from a little place called The Pie Plate Bakery & Cafe in Virgil ( www.thepieplate.com ), which is only a five minute drive out of Niagra-on-the-Lake.

The Pie Plate specializes in — you guessed it — fruit pies, along with a slew of other freshly baked goods. However, it was their thin-crust pizza that really won us over — this pizza is quite possibly the best I have ever tasted.

The first day, we tried their seasonal pizza which was apple with walnut sage pesto, bacon, cold pack cheddar and a drizzle of maple syrup. The second day, David tried their mozzarella, sausage and roasted red pepper variety while I ordered the mozzarella, pear, walnuts, blue cheese and prosciutto variety.

If I had to choose between the three, the seasonal pizza would be my favourite. I liked it so much that after only two days of being home, I tried to recapture the flavours myself — I hope that you enjoy them too!

bacon, apple & cheddar pizza with walnut-sage pesto & maple syrup

ingredients for pizza toppings
(choose your own favourite pizza dough recipe)

• 1/4 cup walnut sage pesto
• 1 cup cooked, crumbled bacon
• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 1/4 cups peeled, sliced, sautéed apples (cook them in a little veg oil over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until softened)
• 2 or 3 tablespoons hot banana pepper rings, chopped (note: this was not on the original pizza, but David and I like a bit of heat with our sweet so we made this addition). 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup

method for pizza

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees (move oven rack to centre of oven). Line a 13” by 18” greased baking sheet with a thin layer of pizza dough (or, use a traditional pizza pan).
• Spread the pesto on top of the dough. Top with the bacon, 1 1/2 cups of cheese, the apples and the hot peppers.
• Top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese.
• Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.
• Remove pizza from the oven, drizzle with the maple syrup and cut into squares or slices and serve hot.

ingredients for pesto

• 1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
• 1 cup walnuts, toasted
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup good quality olive oil

method for pesto

• Blitz walnuts, sage and salt in the bowl of a food processor until pureed, about 30 seconds.
• Add olive oil and blitz until incorporated and smooth, about 10 seconds (note: this is a thick pesto).
• You only need 1/4 cup of pesto for the pizza — note that you can freeze the remaining pesto for future use.

foodie shops for something different - recipe: tempura-style shrimp & vegetables

Last week, I was fortunate enough to go on an overnight girl’s shopping trip to Troy, Michigan.

I love Michigan. Not only is it home to Zingerman’s — my all-time favourite deli, restaurant and bakery ( www.zingermans.com ) — but it is also home to many fabulous outlet malls, unique shops, and of course, restaurants.

With only 24 hours to shop, we were on a mission. The bulk of the trip was focused on shopping, not eating, which is unusual for me, as I would definitely classify myself as a “foodie” who when vacationing, plans her daily itinerary around meals not malls.

That being said, my companion and I definitely wanted to treat ourselves to a nice meal and a glass of wine after a long and tiring day of shopping. Yeah, it’s a rough life.

We narrowed our list down to two possible restaurants: The Melting Pot, a fondue franchise and PF Chang’s China Bistro, a Chinese-fusion chain. We decided upon PF Chang’s — we had both been there before and enjoyed the ambiance and yummy food. Also, it didn’t hurt that the restaurant was located in the Somerset Collection shopping mall, our last stop of the day.

We shared Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps to start. In my humble opinion, a visit to PJ Chang’s is not complete without sampling this dish — it’s their signature appetizer of stir-fried ground chicken, mushrooms and water chestnuts, spooned into iceberg lettuce cups, topped with a spicy sauce and eaten burrito-style.

Next, we shared a few vegetable side dishes — wok-seared mushrooms and spinach stir fried with garlic, as well as an entrée — salt & pepper prawns with chili peppers, ginger and green onions. We didn’t realize that the shrimp would be lightly breaded and fried (we were trying to order and eat healthy) but truth be told, no one was complaining when we bit into the warm and crispy tem-pura-style shrimp.

tempura-style shrimp & vegetables

ingredients

• 5-6 cups vegetable oil, for frying
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 cup ice water
• 1 cup cake flour
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• A variety of vegetables (such as broccoli, carrots, green beans),
  cut into two-inch pieces, cleaned and dried
• 1 lb. raw shrimp (peeled and deveined), cleaned and dried
• salt and pepper, to taste
• light soy sauce or your favourite Asian-style dipping sauce

method

• In a medium bowl set over an ice bath, stir the egg yolk with a whisk. Add ice water and stir until combined. Sift flour and cornstarch into egg mixture and stir until just combined.
• Heat oil over medium heat (in a wok or large, deep sauté pan).
• The oil is hot and ready for deep frying once it reaches a temperature of 365 -375º F.
• Coat vegetables and shrimp in batter and let excess drip off.
• Deep fry in small batches until golden brown, turning often.
• Drain on a piece of paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve with your favourite Asian-style dipping sauce or light soy sauce.

teaching a beginner some easy-to-make dinners - recipe: pancetta-wrapped pork tenderloin with sage

Last Friday afternoon, I had the pleasure of teaching a friend how to prepare a few basic yet delicious meals. He’s a recent widower, and because his wife was very accomplished in the kitchen, he simply hadn’t yet learned to cook.

Prior to our lesson, I spent quite some time thinking about what would be appropriate to make. The dishes had to be nutritious and tasty, but with straightforward recipes accessible to a newcomer to the kitchen. No sense in learning complicated dishes that he would never attempt to make without assistance — as I said to him during our lesson, order the intricate meals in a restaurant when somebody else is doing the work! In the end, he would have to feel confident making them.

In all, we prepared five meals and two side dishes.

We started with pasta — we used fresh pasta because it cooks faster and it’s easier to tell when it’s properly cooked. Instead of bottled pasta sauce, we dressed the pasta with a store-bought pesto.

Next was a frittata, which is pretty much just a crustless quiche.

On to meal No. 3 — my dear friend Julie’s brown sugar salmon (go to www.danashortt.ca/recipes.htm for the recipe). I almost forgot how delicious and simple this recipe is. Just coat the salmon in a mixture of brown sugar, finely-grated parmesan and pepper, then bake for 12-15 minutes.

Next to last, we prepared flank steak, using a tried-and-true marinade from my former employer, Trish Magwood, of Dish Cooking Studio.

Lastly, we prepared pancetta-wrapped pork tenderloin. Credit goes to Chef Merla McMenomy, an instructor at Dish Cooking Studio. Although this recipe is fast and simple, it’s special enough for company, and definitely easy enough for any first time cook to master.

pancetta-wrapped pork tenderloin with sage

serves 2-3 (note: you can easily double or triple the recipe)

ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin, trimmed
• 4 slices pancetta bacon
• 1 apple, sliced
• 6 fresh sage leaves or 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• cracked pepper, to taste
  

method

• Preheat oven to 425º F. Slice apple into about five-eighths of an inch thick slices, and cover the bottom of a casserole dish with the slices.
• Cover pork tenderloin with pancetta slices. Place pork tenderloin on top of apple slices. Top pork with sage leaves or thyme. Drizzle with olive oil and season with black pepper.
• Bake in oven for 23 – 30 minutes (uncovered) or until pork is cooked to your liking.
  

a big game requires chili - recipe: adam’s touchdown chili with the fixin’s

Last week, my brother Adam sent out the following e-mail message: “It’s Stupid Bowl week and I’m already thinking about the massive pot of all-day chili, served with all the fixin’s, that I’m going to be making on Sunday.

“We would love to have you over to watch Peyton club the proverbial baby seal and send Brees and the Saints marching home without rings. I hope I’m wrong and New Orleans wins, but Manning was absolutely surgical against the best D in the league in the Jets”.

Huh? All I read was: “blah blah blah massive pot of chili with all the fixin’s blah blah blah”. Adam later explained to me what Peyton, Brees, rings and best D all mean — thanks again Adam for the crash course.

Anyway, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that I’m not a football fan. I am however, a big fan of chili with all the fixin’s, and of course, a fan of my brother, sister-in-law, their son and our mutual close circle of friends who were also invited to attend.

Adam kept his word and served an amazing pot of chili (as I’ve always said, he’s a fabulous cook). The fixin’s included sour cream, grated aged cheddar cheese, minced scallions, and corn chips.

In my world, chili just isn’t complete without some crumbled corn chips on top. I didn’t like the taste of chili as a kid. However, I guess “chili nights” weren’t all bad as my Mom always served a tiny bowl of corn chips alongside each bowl of chili — guaranteed to be the only time that chips were served as part of dinner at our house!

adam’s touchdown chili with the fixin’s

serves 8 - 10

ingredients

• olive oil
• 8-12 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large Vidalia onion, finely diced
• 3 green peppers, finely diced
• 1-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (depending on desired heat level)
• 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, roughly chopped
• 1 cup cremini mushrooms,roughly chopped 2 pounds lean ground beef (preferably drug free, naturally raised)
• one 19 oz. can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• two 19 oz. cans of white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• two 28 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 large carton (798 ml) low sodium beef broth
• red wine to taste
• 2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dry mustard powder
• chili powder, to taste
• cumin powder to taste
• freshly ground black pepper and salt, to taste
  

ingredients for garnishes

• green onions, chopped
• sour cream
• extra old cheddar cheese, grated

method

• Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat for a minute or two. Add the onions, stirring occasionally as the onions begin to “sweat”, approximately five minutes. Wait another two to three minutes and add the garlic. After another two to three minutes or so, the onions will have lost some of their moisture and will begin to caramelize. Add the green peppers and mushrooms, continuing to stir occasionally for the next five to 10 minutes. If the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan, just add more olive oil, one tablespoon at a time. You’ll know it’s time to remove the mixture when the onion is caramelized, but before it starts to blacken. Set the mixture aside in a bowl.
• Rinse out your saucepan, and raise heat to medium high. Add another tablespoon of olive oil and wait a minute or two. Add the beef to the pan, stirring often as you brown the meat evenly. Once you see no more pink meat, add two tablespoons of chili powder and one tablespoon of cumin power. Stir the meat to ensure the spices evenly distribute themselves into the meat.
• Add the vegetable mixture back to the saucepan. Stir up the meat and vegetables so they are evenly distributed. Add the crushed tomatoes and give it a good stir. Add the beans. Before stirring, move to the next step.
• The next step depends on how thick you like the consistency of your chili. Some prefer a chili with lots of liquid and others more “chunky”. Start by adding one cup of beef broth, and then carefully stir so as not to mash the beans. Continue to add broth, a half cup at a time, until you have achieved your desired consistency. Add the dry mustard, brown sugar and chipotles. As the chili begins to simmer, turn down the heat as required to keep it to a simmer. Let the chili simmer for one hour.
• Add additional beef broth, and a tablespoon or so of red wine if more liquid is required to maintain your desired consistency level. Taste the chili and determine if it requires more chili powder or cumin. As a rule of thumb, add another tablespoon of chili powder and a half tablespoon of cumin powder and stir to incorporate the spices. What is important is that you wait at least an hour before repeating this step again so you don’t overdo the spices.
• Continue to let the chili simmer for six to eight hours, repeating the last step every hour.
• About a half hour before serving, add pepper and salt to taste.
• Start preparing your garnishes.
• Ladle the chili into bowls, and garnish as desired.