Mamma's Buttermilk Biscuits

If you have never had real Southern style biscuits, you have not lived. They are so fluffy and flaky and buttery and delicious not to mention a snap to whip up. These are the best around, and the ultimate in comfort food. When you eat them, you feel warm and cozy inside like yo mamma right there with a hug for you! This recipe was taken from the Raleigh News and observer and then modified by my very own sweet lil' mamma.

2 c self rising flour Lilly White or King Arthur are the best brands.
1 stick salted butter
2/3 c buttermilk


Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter, or if you ghetto like me and don't have one, just use two butter knives in a crisscross cutting motion until well incorporated. Make a well in the center of the flour butter mixture, add the milk and stir it in with a fork.

Sprinkle a clean surface with some flour and knead dough until it is a soft little ball, Awwwwww.

Pat it out with your hands til it is about an inch thick and then cut the biscuits with a small glass cup or biscuit cutter, if you fancy.

Place the biscuits in an ungreased cast iron skillet or on a baking stone for best results and allow to rest for 30 minutes.

TIP: Don't preheat the oven until you have already cut out the biscuits in order to save energy.......my mamma so green!

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 450 degrees or until golden brown.

Serve hot with jam, if you make your own, yay, if not, St. Dalfour is available in most conventional grocery stores and is quite excellent, especially the cranberry with blueberry or the fig. I like my biscuits with jam and sausage patties; the sweet and salty is perfect!

Note: If you want to make your own French style jam, check out Chlotilde's site, zucchini and chocolate. To die for!

You Gonna Suck the Head????

One of the best things about being on the panhandle is the guilt free consumption of the best wild, local shrimp around. Also, so far as I know, the last time you could order barbecue shrimp, cajun style, which has actually nothing to do with barbecue as you know it, was at Pascal Manale's, which never reopened after Katrina. So, if you make this, make sure you buy shrimp with the heads on-and if you can order them Wild American Shrimp certified, even better. This dish be MESSY, and that's alright, actually. Don't even bother trying to be neat about it, and make sure you suck the juices out of the head, cajun style. This goes mighty nice with some succotash on the side. I would say you need about a half a pound per person. The recipe below serves 4. Bon appetit!

In a large cast iron skillet, throw in 1 1/2 sticks of butter, 1 c olive oil, and the juice of 1 lemon or lime; set it to low heat.
Add four cloves of finely minced garlic, 1/2 tsp ground oregano, 1/2 tsp ground basil, 2 tbl crushed rosemary (dried), 1 tbl paprika, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground black pepper, four crushed bay leaves. That's your cajun seasoning, if I ever saw it!

Cook the sauce for 7 minutes, bringing it to a boil, then set it aside for 1/2 hour and preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Throw in your whole shrimp until they turn that lovely characteristic red and then put the whole skillet in the oven for 15 minutes to bake.

Serve immediately with white rice with some sauce ladled over the top and enjoy!

French Bread

So easy: Just Do It

There are a few reasons to make your own bread, even if you don't have a nice brick or adobe oven. First of all, in this country good bread is extremely scarce. Second of all, the bread you make yourself, while it may not compare with a fine artisanal loaf from a real bakery, will undoubtedly be much better than practically anything else. So, go for it, and embrace the magic of yeast!

1 and 1/3 c water warmed to approximately 112 degrees farenheit, with a tbl of sugar dissolved. Add one tsp or one package of yeast and stir and let sit until foamy.

In a seperate bowl, 3 c of BREAD FLOUR with 2 tsp of salt mixed well. Add the liquid, knead into a ball by hand and set it, covered with floured plastic wrap and let rise, for as long as you want, even overnight. You can let your dough rise as many times as you want, which is very convenient as sometimes it is difficult to be the domestic goddess you know you are, so you can just punch it down and let it start all over again.

When you are ready, punch the dough down and split into two equal parts. Form them into baguettes and let them rise again, covered with your floured plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot (I like to let it rise in the oven, or in my old house in the summer on the terracotta tiles in my garden. Sigh.)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for 10 minutes then lower the heat to 350 degrees for another 20 minutes and voila!

Here is a photo of the recently formed baguettes, just before I put them in the oven to rise.

Redi Whip is an Affront to Humanity

Yes, it's true. Canned whipped cream represents like few other things the simultaneous laziness and ignorance of the American palate and the decadence of throw away culture.

Why anyone would buy an aerosol can of corn syrupy fluff when it is practically effortless to make your own divine cream toppings is beyond me. If you have a food processor, electric mixer or the like, you really have no excuse. If you don't have modern appliances, but you have a nice strong man around, just bat your lashes and swoon for him so that he whisks it for you by hand.

Here is the oh so foolproof "recipe" for whipped cream.

1/2 pint of heavy whipping cream, preferably organic, dahling
1/4 c powdered sugar or to taste
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or maple syrup

Combine and enjoy! And in the off chance you have a small amount of cream left over save it for your coffee the next day, it's outrageous with a shot of espresso!

My Sister Can't Resist Her

Ah, sisters. It sucked when we were younger because she annoyed the hell outta me and I was a real bitch to her, but now, we are like peas in a pod. No one makes me laugh like Jessica and as I wallowed in the misery of post New Orleans euphoria the other day, scouring my imagination for ways to relocate (Tulane?) I may have just been experiencing the euphoria of being near my little sis.

Jessy left this morning; everyone got up a 4 am to see her off and as soon as she left, I, too felt the need to go. It's just not the same without her around. Alas, perhaps New York and I have a chance to salvage our relationship. I am finally ready to go home. Did I say that I was coming here for the WHOLE summer??????

Gulf Coast Grouper

Coming soon

Fettucine with Ham and Peas

Okay, this is a nice little cream sauce recipe that is simple to whip up and an enormously satisfying winter pasta. Set a pot of salted water to boil for your fettucine-I like the "al dente" brand called wild mushroom fettuccine that Mom and I picked up at Everman's,but I believe it is widely available in natural and upscale markets.

Start with some butter and olive oil in a cast iron skillet and throw in one half a large onion, chopped finely, then cook until translucent.

Add the mushroom of your choice-anything will do, but I think porcini's are especially nice. Cook them down and while you're at it, take out about a cup and a half of frozen peas and get those bad boys defrosted, however you can. Add a cup of heavy cream to the skillet at lowish heat so that it doesn't boil and throw the peas in. Add 1/4 lb of ham cut into strips and just talk to it real sweet like. (:

If you have some cheese lying around your fridge and you don't want to eat it because you can remember how long ago you bought it, but this is conflicting with the inner voice telling you that it doesn't really matter when you eat cheese because it's a freakin fungus anyway, and you can just cut off moldy bits, then throw in the cheese to the sauce mixture because it will be delicious. We have thrown in sharp cheddar cheese that was excellent, but anything will work. If you have no cheese, then that is utterly perfect, because the original recipe calls for no such addition!

Toss the pasta with your sauce, grind some fresh black pepper and some fresh nutmeg on top and serve immediately. A nice little bowl of freshly grated pecorino romano on the table is nice for topping it all off.

Yummy. But make sure you eat a nice salad with this, 'cause it ain't all that good for you! And as for the wine, we paired it with Scenario, a 2003 cabernet sauvingon that was simply lovely!

Belgian Waffles with Cream

1cup of water
1 cup milk

Warm this so that you can stick your finger in it without feeling burning.
Then add 1 tsp of yeast

Let this sit for a bit. Stir

Seperate two eggs. Place the yolks in a large bowl and beat with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar until yellow in color. Add half a stick of room temp butter and cream.

Add a pinch of salt, stir and add the liquids above.

Mix in 2 and 1/2 cups of all purpose flour and stir.
Now beat the whites until stiff peaks are formed.
Fold the whites gently into the batter. Cover and let it rest for one hour before baking in a waffle iron.

We served these the first time with fresh whipped cream and blackberries rolled in turbinado sugar. Today we are doing them with some freshly shelled local pecans from Everman's, and some organic banana slices. If you have children who wake up starving like me and don't want to wait an hour for the batter to rest, you can make the batter the night before and let it rest in the fridge so you're ready to go the next morning.

Best Damn Margaritas Ever

Margaritas

Juice several lemons and see how much liquid you got
Shoot for 3/4 c or about 3-4 or so lemons

Then throw in 1/3 c sugar into some water and dissolve, this is your simple syrup; you want equal parts simple syrup and lemon juice but don’t start off with 3/4 c water because the sugar has volume.

Combine and stir, put in fridge to chill while you...

Fill your beaker with ice, slightly less than halfway. Add to your beaker two 1.5 oz shots of patron and one 1 oz shot citronge. Add to this the juice of 1/2 lime.

In a seperate glass, add 3oz (little less than 1/2 c) orange juice and 2oz (about 1/4c) simple syrup lemon mixture.

Poor this in the beaker with the lime and alcohol and shake vigorously for a few seconds.

Pour into two cocktail glass on the rocks and enjoy!

Lessons form the Patriarch: Tart Tatin

For the Crust:
Put 1.5 c ap flour in the freezer mixed with 1.25 c powdered sugar and pinch of salt until very cold.
Put stick of butter in freezer, sliced into pats if you wanna
2 large eggs beaten, on the side, in fridge, gettin' cold

Have a glass of ice H2O on the side with a little spoon, just in case you need more liquid. When sufficiently cold, add flour mixture to cuisinart with butter,pulsing until granular and incorporated. Add eggs while pulsing and it sort of sticks together and then dump it over onto a sheet of wax paper, forming it into a ball and be fast about it, grasshopper.

MINIMAL MANIPULATION is essential DON'T TOUCH THE BLOODY DOUGH, IT WILL MELT THE BUTTER, FOOL. When you're done, throw it back in fridge or freezer, if it will set for just a bit.

OK, now peel 6 or 7 granny smith apples according to the size of your cast iron skillet. Then quarter those bad boys and throw them in a bowl with the juice of one lemon.

In a cast iron skillet, on low heat, throw 2/3 c of sugar and let it caramalize. Then throw in the apples over medium low heat and let sit. Don't worry that they don't cook, they just want to form a syrup on the bottom with the sugar.

Meanwhile, flour your wax paper and go fetch your pastry dough. You gonna roll that shit, girl!! Cover your ball of dough with the other piece of wax paper and flatten the hell outta it.Then throw it back in the fridge to cool off on a plate.

Then cover your cast iton skillet with the apples with the chilled pastry crust and tuck it in all snug and cozy, seal it up with a knife and a kiss! It'll lok lumpy, and that's cool.

Throw it in the oven for 45 minutes at 400 degrees et voila!

Galatoire's

Galatoire's is a NOLA institution and one of the few places to catch locals on Bourbon St, especially on a Friday afternoon. They aren't hard to spot and actually they bear a striking resemblance to your typical big hair, big make-up Westchester JAP/guidette-nice clothes, big rocks, hair blow dried straight. You know the type.

Anyway, we had to wait about three hours for a table at the 2 o clock seating, which we happily passed sipping cava-what else?-in the upstairs bar. Two bottles of cava and a campari and soda later, I was pretty starved. We finally sat down-the same table my parents always get-and our waiter, a chappy Hungarian, took fine care of us. We started with crabmeat Lorenzo (to die for!), oysters Rockefeller, and I got sweetbreads which were pan fried to perfection in a buttery caper sauce. The foie gras was served with candied apricots and was in tact, as in a whole liver. For some reason when I think of foie gras I think of pate, which this was definitely not. I do love pate, but this was less processed tasting, lighter, and perfectly delicious. As for the oysters, I like my oysters down and dirty, raw and with hot sauce, so that appetizer pleased me less so, but not for any other reason than my own idiosyncratic prferences-the creamed spinach was delicately flavored and beautifully done.

Anyway, three out of four of us ordered fried fish, which, while fresh, delicately and lightly fried, just did not compare to the supah flavah of the fried fish that my Papi catches himself and makes at home, so I think next time I will stick to appetizers, which are more complex and dynamic overall. In fact, it sort of seems like entrees at Galatoire's are mostly for people who don't know how to make food for themselves. C'est la vie.

En fin, if you go to Galatoire's, which YOU SHOULD, because it is one of the few places servin' up real Gulf Coast- and that means UBER-LOCAL-specialties (no fish from Thailand, no lamb from New Zealand) go for the appetizers and save the mosre conservative entrees for some one else.

Pensacola Beach, the emerald coast

I never had much regard for Pensacola, as it sorta just figured in my mind as a hillbilly backwater/military town/ugly republican sort of place. It may be that, but it also happens to have some spectacular beaches. Yesterday the water was an irredescent shade of tourquiose green; it was overcast and the sky was all soft pink pastels, the sand like powdered sugar, so fine and so so white. When my Dad and I went out it was raining and extremely windy; we found the body of a dead sooty shearwater, an open sea bird, washed up in the sand. It was beautiful, and huge, and hopefully not at all an omen of anything to come. But I read too much into these things.

They planted rows of sea oats on the dunes after Katrina ripped through here in the hopes of controlling the erosion of the sand, they are so sweet when the sun shines on them.

Me and my Dad at just hanging out.

Hi, Ava, Hi Joey, Greetings from Pensacola Beach!

Christmas on Santa Rosa Island

Merry freakin Christmas....here is a picture of me and my parents, I look so goofy, just like my Dad.


When I am in the kitchen, I am oh so happy, so today was a good day. Food is so comforting, especially when someone else makes it for you! (Nod to Klara and Razi) Here is how the day unfolded in the culinary sense.

BREAKFAST

So I flew in to Pensacola in a painless flight that had me on the panhandle by 9:45 am. We drove to my parent's new beach place-this is the first time I saw it-and of course my dad was preparing one of my favorite breakfasts. He was testing out a new Belgian waffle recipe that he had picked up recently on a trip to Bruges and was whipping up fresh cream for them when I walked in the door. He served them with some gargantuan, tart, blackberries, warmed Vermont maple syrup, and cava mimosas. Yummy.

Here is Mamma stuffing her face (:


More cava, please...



LUNCH/DINNER

For Christmas dinner, I put in my request for pernil con arroz y gandules y platanos maduros. Unfortunately, it can be hard to find Hispanic ingredients in the super white part of Pensacola where my parent's house is and they forgot to do the shopping in Mobile before they came. Since there were no gandules to be found, Mamma whipped up some cajun style rice and beans using conecuh sausage, a local specialty made in Evergreen, Alabama. This was served with a simple salad of fresh tomato, avocado and red onion. I chose a spicy shiraz, Cimicky, from the Barossa valley, to accompany the meal and it was brilliant. Simple, straightforward, delicious.

I managed to snap a pic of my plate before I dove into it, my photography leaves much to be desired, but, anyway...


DRINKS and DESSERT

So my Dad makes the BEST DAMN MARGARITAS you ever had, this is simply a fact. He makes them strong, too, but the fresh lemon, lime, and orange juice make it seem like, well, juice. I sucked the first one down and it made me pretty giggly. The second one had me falling asleep at the kitchen counter watching over the biscotti in the oven while Mom and Dad got sucked into Walk the Line. I refuse to indulge their tv addiction, so ever the diligent student, I stayed in the kitchen trying to read Foreign Policy.

For the biscotti, we only had turbinado sugar, which definitely affected the color, and I accidentally added it to the flour instead of dissolving it in the eggs, so we had to adjust by adding water to the recipe and then some flour and then upon the second baking of the biscotti. Dad didn't set the timer assuming that I was paying attention-of course due to the interference with the margaritas, I was actually passed out, so the rack of biscotti on top came out a little overdone, but on the whole, they are all just fine. The most surprising thing about biscotti di Prato is that the secret ingredient is ground saffron-who knew?

Here's Dad dong damage control on my goof with the biscotti...