Tag Archive for: Charleston

Lowcountry Local First Farm Tour

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I was asked to write an article for Eat This! Charleston about the Lowcountry Local First Farm Tour.  It was so much fun!!  Corby, Walker, Nemo (our 11-year-old Springer Spaniel) and I piled into the car and drove out to John’s Island, where we met up with Ian, the photographer (his photograph is to the left and there are a lot more in the article) from Eat This!. Ian is a sophomore in high school and got into photography through the school newspaper, and he is extremely talented- I can’t wait to see where this kid is in ten years.  There were seven farms on the tour, and because of timing and the fact that we had Nemo with us, we only ended up going to five farms.  It was so interesting to see what an amazing impact of the whole “buy local, eat local” movement is having on these farms that might otherwise be out of business.  The best part of the whole thing was that each farm was serving some sort of food, and clearly, since I was writing an article, I needed to try everything that they had.  It was really tough for me when we got to the winery, and all they had was four fantastic desserts that we just had to buy and eat.  It was awesome.  Here is the article from the magazine- hope you like it! http://www.eatthischarleston.com/index.php/features/item/the-low-down-on-our-local-farms#

And here is the picture of the pet Walker adopted at one of the farms.  He, of course, wanted to keep him and his justification for taking him home was that we wouldn’t need to mow the grass anymore!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts and Backgammon Night

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I work at the Charleston Library Society, which is a pretty special place.  It is the third-oldest library in the United States, and the collection of books, letters, maps, etc., is unbelievably impressive.  This is the main room of the Library- it is beautiful.  And what better use for this amazing room than a backgammon club!  I started the Charleston Library Society Backgammon Club in September, and it has been so much fun.  The best part of Backgammon night is that the Library supplies beer, wine, and light snacks, of which I am in charge.  So, of course, I test recipes on our little group.  I tried out the Prosciutto Cheese Straws, Blue Cheese and Toasted Walnut Crostinis, Spiced Eggnog Pound Cake, and on and on.  Last night at Backgammon, I brought the Pioneer Woman’s Mystery Roll recipe, which I put up in a post when we went out to visit her and Ladd.  Check out the post for the recipe- super easy, and they were a huge hit.

This morning, I started thinking about what I was going to try next time, and then I started thinking about bacon because it is so good and I really love it.  Amazingly, initially, the two thoughts did not have anything to do with each other.  Fortunately, I was awoken from my bacon daydream to Google bacon recipes, and I came across bacon-wrapped water chestnuts.  I haven’t had those in so long, and I love them, and that is what I will be making for the next Backgammon Night!  Here is the recipe from www.allrecipes.com that I will be using- I am pretty excited!

Bacon Wrapped Water Chestnuts

Ingredients

1 pound sliced bacon

2 (8-ounce) cans whole water chestnuts, drained

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup chili sauce

Directions

Cut bacon strips in half. In a skillet over medium heat, cook bacon until almost crisp; drain. Wrap each bacon piece around a water chestnut and secure with a toothpick. Place in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.

Combine the brown sugar, mayonnaise and chili sauce; pour over water chestnuts. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

 

 

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.

 

The Local Palate- Charleston is a town where bacon is considered a vegetable!!

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We have a new food magazine in Charleston called The Local Palate.  The first issues arrived in my mailbox last week, and it is fabulous!!  Here is their “about us” from their web page www.thelocalpalate.com and find them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thelocalpalate :

We are a culinary magazine  that focuses on the food culture of Charleston.

Charleston is a town where bacon  is considered a vegetable, Sunday  suppers are an honored tradition,  farmers are revered community  leaders and white chefs’ coats  proliferate the cobblestone streets.

It is a town where African, Spanish,  French, Jewish, and English  influences meld seamlessly onto  the plate; a town where major  American food staples, such as  rice and tea originated; a town  where food knows no stranger and  hospitality is a way of life.

Welcome to Charleston.
We’ll save you a seat.

 

What’s better than that- bacon IS a vegetable!!  Will definitely be sharing recipes from this magazine- so excited to have it around!!

 

Benne Wafers with Blueberries and Cream

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I can’t keep my surfing fingers off of “A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen” – here’s yet another recipe hot off that delicious spot in the bloggosphere:

I think you may agree that benne wafers with blueberries and cream sounds like the most delicious summer treat ever conceived. Also, benne wafers are extremely Southern!

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By Kim Morgan

A “Benne” seed is the old Southern name for “sesame” seeds. They were brought to the Lowcountry in 1769 by African slaves. They are still called Benne seeds to this day in the South, and frankly I would be surprised if that ever changes. It is part of the charm of the South. Southerners hold fast to traditions, refusing to budge, especially when it comes to food and entertaining. This is something we all can be grateful for, especially if you have the chance to try these wonderful buttery morsels.

Legend says that eating Benne seeds will bring you luck and good fortune. I am not one who subscribes to the notion of luck. Instead I prefer to hold to the belief that, “there are no coincidences” and that Benne seeds and the good fortune from eating them, are simply another of God’s great blessings.

There are countless ways to make Benne wafers and you will find that no two recipes are alike…