Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake

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I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  I am still so full, but it was all worth it.  I remade a lot of recipes that I have put on this blog this past week for family members that I have not seen in a while.  We started off on Wednesday night, having my parents, all of my siblings and nieces over for dinner.  Corby served up his now-famous BBQ with coleslaw and a potato and bacon hash that was out of this world.  I made a salad and used the Pimento Cheese pop-overs instead of croutons.  Since we were having BBQ, my brother and his wife brought Bourbon Banana Pudding- I don’t have the recipe yet, but apparently it is from Joy of Cooking, and it was so so so good.

The next day,  I made the Prosciutto Cheese Straws for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner snack- fantastic and a huge hit with my brother and father, and for Thanksgiving Day dessert, I made the Chocolate Bread Pudding that was the Le Creuset recipe contest winner, and it was just as good as I remembered it!  We also got an Apple Crisp from The Co-Op on Sullivan’s Island (www.thecoopsullivans.com).  The Co-Op is a great little grocery/deli that serves up great sandwiches and amazing homemade desserts- definitely check it out!

So despite the fact that it is 80 in Charleston today, I am now gearing up for Christmas- how is that possible!!!  We are headed to NYC this weekend for a visit, and I am so excited to get some cold weather to get into the Christmas spirit.  We are also going to my sister’s annual gingerbread house building party on Sunday, before we head home, which we have not been to in a long time and should be so fun!  To also help get into the Christmas mode, here is a recipe I love from Christmas with Southern Living from back in 2005- Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake- enjoy!

Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 large eggs
  • 3 cups sifted cake flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup eggnog
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons brandy (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
  • Powdered sugar
  • 1 cup sifted powdered sugar
  • 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon whipping cream

Preparation

  • Generously grease and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan; set aside.
  • Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer about 2 minutes or until creamy. Gradually add granulated sugar, beating 5 to 7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until the yellow disappears.
  • Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with 1 cup eggnog, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla and, if desired, brandy.
  • Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Stir cinnamon and the next 3 ingredients into the remaining batter. Spoon spice batter over plain batter. Swirl batters together, using a knife.
  • Bake at 350° for 50 to 55 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Remove from pan; cool on a wire rack.
  • Place cake on a cake plate; dust with powdered sugar.
  • Combine 1 cup powdered sugar and whipping cream, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over the cake

 

My Bakery Wish List

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Since I started writing this blog, I have been making a wish list of bakeries I want to visit.  Red Truck Bakery (www.redtruckbakery.com) in Old Town Warrenton, VA is definitely at the top of the list.  First off, I really love that they turned an old Esso Station into a bakery.  Second, I really love the truck- an old 1954 red  Ford farm truck- while I would not have the first clue how to drive it and would surely kill the transmission, clutch and any thing else in the engine, is really my dream truck.  Third, and most importantly, I am obsessed with their menu- I look at it every day and wish that I could be there right when the bakery opens and smells so amazing.  Today’s soup for example is potato with apple wood smoked bacon- heaven.  If you live in the neighborhood or have the chance to be near the area, please check it out for me as it doesn’t seem that I will make it there any time in the near future.  Fortunately- they ship nationwide (http://www.redtruckbakery.com/store)!! Here is some of the press from my favorite magazine- Garden & Gun:

“Leave it to a baker in moonshine country to create a dessert that rivals the Kentucky bourbon ball. The Double Chocolate Moonshine Cake from Red Truck Bakery in Virginia is made with legal hooch and enough rich chocolate to give you a food buzz. ”
  ~ Garden & Gun Magazine

It is getting to be time for Hot Chocolate

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Despite the fact that it is almost 80 degrees in Charleston today, I have been craving hot chocolate.  Maybe it is because I know in some parts of the country, ski season is just around the corner, and I am missing my days as a ski instructor in upstate New York, or maybe it is because hot chocolate is just so delicious, that it is a drink that is craveable no matter the temperature.  So, I got a packet of Marshmallow Lovers Swiss Miss mix and fixed a cup.  Tasty, but I think we can do better.  Here is a recipe I found on David Lebovitz’s blog (www.davidlebovitz.com) that is pretty special- I made a few changes to the recipe to suit my taste, and the great thing about this recipe is you can adapt it to whatever you are in the mood for- Kahlua, a dash of rum if you are feeling up for it.  David Lebovitz was named one of the top five pastry chefs in the San Francisco area and has been featured in every cooking magazine you can think of.  He has written six books, ranging from chocolate to ice cream to his favorite dessert recipes.  Here is his recipe, adapted by me, for hot chocolate. So good!!

Belgian Hot Chocolate Recipe

  • 1 quart 2% milk or use whatever kind of milk you drink- for those who like it very creamy, use half and half.
  • The original recipe calls for 8 oz of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate and 4 oz of milk chocolate- I used 6oz and 6oz
  • tiny pinch of salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • a dash of vanilla extract
  • a dash of nutmeg

Warm about one-third of the half-and-half or milk, with the chopped chocolates and salt, stirring until the chocolate is melted.

Whisk in the remaining half-and-half or milk, heating until the mixture is warmed through. Add the cinnamon, vanilla extract and nutmeg.

Use a hand-held blender, or a whisk, and mix the hot chocolate until it’s completely smooth. Serve very warm and add as many marshmallows or as much whip cream as you like!

Cheese and Prosciutto Straws and a Steeplechase

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After surviving the Saturday night sleepover of 11 eight-year-old boys, we got to have some grown-up fun by way of the Charleston Cup.  The Charleston Cup is a steeplechase race that started twenty-five years ago. However, this is only the eighteenth running of the race as they took an eight-year hiatus.  It was a spectacular day, and what better way to fight off complete exhaustion than to go spend the day drinking and eating at a horse race!  I had not been to the Charleston Cup since I was about ten, when we sat on the top of the car and bet pennies on all the races- so fun!  As this was Walker’s first experience with horse racing, and because I wanted him to be entertained by something other than me, I gathered up all the change in the house so he would be able to bet as much as he wanted.  Little did I know that kids don’t bet with pennies anymore- it was $5 a race- big stakes- he didn’t win, but I let him keep all the change.

I was also blown away by the tailgates at this event.  I was not informed until I had made a complete fool of myself gawking at everyone’s taxidermy and ice sculptures that there was a “best tailgate” competition going on.  These were the people next to us- if that fox had been a taxidermied jackalope, they would have won! My thoughts on jackalopes requires a whole different post that may or may not happen at some point in the future.  Anyway, back to the tailgates.  Clearly, not only is a tailgate not complete without cheese straws, but I think you would be hard pressed to find- at least in my family- any event where there is drinking, cheese straws are pretty much guaranteed to be involved as well.  With Thanksgiving coming up, and the whole family descending, I found this recipe for Cheese and Prosciutto Straws, that while I didn’t have time to make for the Charleston Cup tailgate (not to worry- they had other cheese straws there)- I will make them for pre-Thanksgiving cocktail hour, and I am really excited about them.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1½ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
  • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
  • 2 cups grated sharp white cheddar cheese
  • ¾ teaspoon cayenne pepper, divided
  • ¼ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream, divided
  • ¼ cup finely chopped prosciutto
  • 2 tablespoons flaky sea salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.

2. Preheat the oven to 400°. In the bowl of a standing mixer, blend together the butter, cheddar, ½ teaspoon of the cayenne pepper and the paprika.  Gradually add the flour mixture and 1 tablespoon of the heavy cream. Fold in the prosciutto and mix until a dough barely forms.  Divide the dough into two balls the same size, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

3. In a small bowl, whisk together the flaky sea salt with the remaining ¼ teaspoon of the cayenne pepper.

4. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle, about 1/16 inch thick. Using a pizza cutter, knife or pastry wheel, cut the dough into ¾-inch-wide-by-6-inch-long strips. Transfer the strips to baking sheets and use a pastry brush to brush the strips with the remaining tablespoon of the heavy cream. Sprinkle each strip with the seasoned salt and gently twist each strip. Place in the oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 12 to 15 minutes. Repeat with the remaining dough until all of it has been used. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 

Sean Brock’s Backyard Pulled Pork

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There are so many reason why Sean Brock won the James Beard Award in 2010- McCrady’s and Husk are amazing restaurants, but we tried his backyard pulled pork recipe this weekend for a football watch party we were throwing, and I now think Sean Brock is a god.  I am maybe slightly biased because Corby worked very hard on this, but it really was the best pulled pork EVER! (and here is a picture of the party which was so much fun!)

Pulled Pork

Here is what you need:

  • 1 cup Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons freshly ground pepper
  • 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • One 12- to 14-pound bone-in pork shoulder, with skin (we used pork butt- either works fine)
  • About 50 hardwood charcoal briquettes
  • 8 cups small hardwood smoking chips, soaked in water for 30 minutes and drained

Here is what you do:

  • Preheat the oven to 275°. In a medium bowl, whisk the mustard with the brown sugar, salt, pepper, paprika and onion powder. Set the pork shoulder, fat side up, in doubled 14-by-18-inch disposable aluminum roasting pans. Brush the pork with the mustard mixture. Roast, uncovered, for 12 hours, until the meat is very tender and is pulling away from the shoulder bone.
  • Tilt the pan and pour the roasting juices into a medium bowl; you should have about 1 1/4 cups. Refrigerate the juices for 30 minutes. Skim off the fat before using.
  • Meanwhile, light 10 of the charcoal briquettes. When the coals are hot, cover them with the remaining 40 briquettes. When all the coals are hot, arrange 6 cups of the soaked wood chips around the coals. Set the roasting pan on the grill grate over the coals and wood chips. Cover the grill, partially open the air vents and smoke the pork shoulder for 30 minutes.
  • Carefully remove the pork and the grill grate and stir the coals a few times. Scatter the remaining 2 cups of soaked wood chips over the coals. Replace the grill grate and return the pork to the grill. Cover and smoke for 30 minutes longer.
  • Transfer the pork to a work surface and let rest for 30 minutes. Pull the meat off of the bones; discard the bones, gristle, skin and fat. Using tongs and a fork, or your fingers, finely shred the meat and transfer it to a large bowl.

Growing up in South Carolina, I am completely biased towards the mustard based sauce, but any sauce would work on this magnificent dish.  Here is the sauce we used:

Mustard Sauce:
  • 1 1/2 cups prepared yellow mustard
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar vinegar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper

Preparation:

Combine all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours to blend the flavors

Nashville: Avett Brothers, Arkansas vs. Vandy, and ohhh the food

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We got into Nashville this past Friday afternoon just in time for dinner before the Avett Brothers concert at Bridgestone Arena.  I have only been to Nashville once in the past and that was to look at Vanderbilt for college, so it doesn’t really count.  Fortunately for me, thanks to Corby’s fantastic ability to find amazing restaurants, and readers suggestions, we were all set!  As there were so many restaurants and so many yummy treats to eat, I will just provide a highlight as opposed to bogging you down with details of every morsel of food I put in my mouth.  First stop was City House (www.cityhousenashville.com). Corby had read an article in Garden and Gun about the 50 best dishes in the South, and the House Made Belly Ham Pizza was on the list (www.gardenandgun.com/article/southern-foods-meats).

The restaurant had such a great feel, the waiter was so helpful and friendly, and the pizza was really and truly special.  Also, if you do go there, and you should, there is an appetizer called Frico- cheese over potatoes baked in the wood oven that is a must.  Completely full and satisfied, we went to see the amazing Avett Brothers. I love them.  The next morning, we were supposed to go for a run before the Arkansas vs. Vanderbilt football game, but it was cold, so we opted for the Frothy Monkey http://www.frothymonkeynashville.com instead.  We saw a lot of runners on the way to this great coffee house, and they looked really cold, so I think skipping the run and getting an awesome hot chocolate and buttery croissant was a very good call.  Onto the game- I generally LOVE stadium food, but I knew we were not only checking out two spots after the game, but then we were headed to dinner with some friends, so I limited myself to one hot dog.  Arkansas won- yay!  Now more food.

After the game- thanks to a reader, Jessica, we went to SATCO- the San Antonio Taco Company (www.thesatco.com).  It was very near the Vanderbilt campus, and if any of you watch or care about college football and happened to catch the game this past Saturday- it was more than a little tense.  Tacos, queso and beer put all right with the world again.  We then made a quick stop at McDougal’s (www.mcdougalschicken.com) for some chicken fingers, and of the ranch, bbq, and house-made special sauce- special sauce wins- so good!  Dinner was at Taco Mamacita which is always a fav with their super fresh ingredients and amazing margaritas.  It was a very full day of eating.  To top off such a fun weekend, we went again to a suggestion from Jessia to brunch at The Loveless Cafe (www.lovelesscafe.com).  While there was a bit of a wait at this very popular place, the reason for the wait became very obvious when we were seated and the biscuits were brought out.  Oh so good.  We ordered the biscuit sampler as a side which came with a pulled pork BBQ biscuit, a steak biscuit, a chicken biscuit and country ham biscuit.  If Corby had not ordered the Pit Cooked Pork BBQ and two egg breakfast, we would have come to blows over that BBQ biscuit- the BBQ was that good.  Fortunately, this was Corby’s breakfast, and there was plenty of BBQ to go around.  It was such a fun trip, and Nashville is a great town but I will be eating salads for a week to combat the obnoxious numbers of calories I consumed 🙂