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How to get copies of our recipes....

We have posted all of the recipes on our website for you to enjoy.  You can even print a handy recipe card.  Click here and enjoy!

This year's charity pick:

The Gulf Coast Kid's House is the sweet tea charity of 2008.  As you all know are classes are free to our guests as our way to say thank you for visiting us.  We started last year by asking class attendees to donate what they could to the "Loaves and Fishes charity."  It was a great success raising hundreds of dollars to help feed those in need.  This year we picked The Gulf Coast Kid's House.  Please click here it find out why!  Bring what you can but if you can't afford to donate don't let that stop you from coming to have a good time.  

This year's class schedule!

Hooray!  It is that time again.  We are so excited to see you all again.  Please come at around 5:30 p.m. and get your seat. Class begins at 6 p.m. 

• October 14, 2008 “A little ‘nip’ never hurt anyone” — Cooking with spirits

• November 11, 2008 “Putting lipstick on a pig” — Prettying up your barbecue

• December 9, 2008 “Finally a gift you can appreciate” — One-pot meals and money-saving recipes

• January 13, 2009 “I don't have time to run all over creation for you!” — Great local resources

• February 10, 2009 “Oysters” — Nature’s love potion or just an excuse to eat a saltine covered in hot sauce

Sweet Tea #5

Southern Belle’s Gone Wild

a/k/a Sweet Treats For Your Sweet Heart

Bittersweet Bourbon-Pecan Truffles

¾ cup heavy whipping cream
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate (finely chopped)
3 tablespoons Jack Daniel’s whiskey
2 cups toasted pecans (finely chopped)
Make a ganache by pouring cream into a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat and bringing just to a simmer. Remove from heat and immediately sprinkle chocolate into the cream. Cover and let set for 5 minutes. Stir gently until smooth. Stir in liquor. Pour into a shallow bowl. Cool to room temperature, cover, and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.

Roll ganache into ¾- to 1-inch balls and set aside on a cookie sheet (should make 40 to 45 balls). Place chopped nuts in a shallow container and roll ganache balls until fully coated. Return to cookie sheet and chill in refrigerator to set. Serve at room temperature.



New Orleans-Style King Cake

There are many recipes for this Mardi Gras carnival staple. This one was given to me by my pastry teacher Bill Hamilton. This is from the late Myriam Guidroz, a longtime food columnist for The Times-Picayune.

Basic King Cake Dough (enough for 2 cakes)

1 envelope dry yeast ½ cup sugar
¼ cup warm water 2 egg yolks
½ cup milk 2 whole eggs
1cup (2 sticks) butter 4 cups (approximately) unbleached flour

Mix yeast with the warm water. Stir 1 teaspoon sugar and 1 teaspoon flour into the yeast and set aside. By the time you have measured the other ingredients, the yeast should be beginning to bubble and show signs of life.

Bring milk to a boil and stir in butter and sugar. Pour into a large bowl; the mixture should be lukewarm. Beat in egg yolks, whole eggs, and yeast.

Beat in approximately 2 cups flour until the dough is fairly smooth, then gradually add enough additional flour to make soft dough that you can form into a ball. Knead it, by hand or machine, until smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a bowl, turn the dough once or twice in it to grease it lightly all over, cover with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1½ to 2 hours.

Pat the dough down and cover the bowl with a damp towel, wrap plastic film over that, and refrigerate until the next day. This recipe makes enough dough for 2 King Cakes. Extra dough can be frozen, or you can make two cakes and freeze one (to use, thaw frozen cake and reheat 10 minutes in a 375-degree oven).

Filling for 1 King Cake

½ recipe King Cake dough (above)
1 (16-ounce container) apricot preserves
8 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons flour
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 whole eggs
¼ cup milk

1 plastic baby (traditional)
16 ounces confectioners’ sugar
Colored sugars: purple, gold, and green




Remove dough from refrigerator. With well-floured hands, while dough is firm and cold, mold into a long sausage shape. Using a floured roller on a floured surface, roll out the dough into a 30- by 9-inch rectangle as thin as a pie crust. Let the dough rest.

Mix cream cheese with sugar, flour, egg yolks, and vanilla. Spoon an inch-wide strip of fruit filling the length of the dough—about 3 inches from one edge. Spoon the cream cheese mixture alongside the fruit about 3 inches from the other side. Whip whole eggs and milk to make a simple egg wash and brush both sides of the dough with it. Fold one edge of the dough over the fillings, then fold the other edge over the first edge. Gently place one edge of the filled roll onto a greased pizza pan or large cookie sheet. Ease the rest of the roll onto the pan, joining the ends to form a circle or oval. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. Brush again with egg wash and cut deep vents into the cake.

Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour at 325 degrees, just until cake is well risen and golden. When cool, you can insert the plastic baby into the bottom of the cake. After cake cools, ice with confectioners’ sugar mixed with enough water to make a spreadable paste. Then top with colored sugars.

Chicken and Dumplings or Dumplin's

Hi everyone! Yesterday we packed up some tenderloin chili and our famous gumbo and took off to volunteer at the manna food bank: Fill a Bowl for Charity event. A celebration of 25 years of MANNA in our community.

A little background on MANNA

Established in 1982, MANNA is a private, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to alleviating hunger in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. MANNA is nonsectarian, community-focused, volunteer-supported, and committed to the philosophy-"waste not, want not."

The demand for emergency food services in our local communities is growing at an alarming rate, with a 43% increase in families served by MANNA year-over-year from June 2006 to June 2007. MANNA now serves over 20,000 persons in northwest Florida annually through a network of ten distribution sites spread throughout the two-county area.
There are no costs for any of the program services of MANNA Pantries, either to the client or the referral source. MANNA operates with minimal government support and is dependent on donations of both food and funds to sustain its operation and to support the growing base of men, women and children facing hunger in our local communities each day.

The event was a lot of fun and so I thought since it is so cold I would add a southern favorite for everyone to try.
This recipe comes from allrecipes.com. I like this site because you can read the reviews of people who made it and sometimes additions or subtractions to the recipe that you might like to try. Dumplings date back to practically the creation of man in a lot of cultures. I know that they were a regular staple in southern kitchens. I remember when my Grandfather, Charles Teague moved up north to stay with my mother in Pennsylvania he had me go to the store buy several packages of frozen dumplings and have them fed-exed priority mail so that he can make real chicken and dumplings. He was tired of Yankee food! It turned out to be a really bad idea because the dumplings of course thawed and turned into a gooey mess. It made us all laugh though! Happy Sunday Everyone...



Chicken and Dumplings III
SUBMITTED BY: Linda Humphress

"A lighter version of this classic down-home dish. One of the best comfort foods of all time!"

PREP TIME
15 Min
COOK TIME
45 Min
READY IN
1 Hr
SERVINGS & SCALING
Original recipe yield: 4 servings
US
METRIC

About scaling and conversions
INGREDIENTS
1 (10.75 ounce) can reduced fat cream of chicken soup
1 (14.5 ounce) can low-fat, low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into strips
1 teaspoon celery seed
ground black pepper to taste

1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS
In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, stir together the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, and milk. Bring to a simmer over medium heat.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken strips, onion and celery. Saute until chicken is cooked through, and onions are tender. Transfer the chicken mixture to the soup pot, and mix well. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes. Season with celery seed and black pepper.
To Make Dumplings: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, mix together 1/2 cup of milk and 2 tablespoons of oil. Pour into the dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened.
Drop tablespoonfuls of the dumpling mixture into simmering chicken stew. Cover pot tightly, and bring to a boil. Simmer for another 12 to 15 minutes - without peeking! Ladle into bowls, and serve hot.

How to Fry a Buick

1/8/2008

Plantation Fried Chicken in Charred Onion Oil

This recipe is a combination of several historic chicken recipes I found. The corn-flake aspect comes from the family of one of the first chefs I trained under, Robert Petway. The unusual aspect of frying with the charred onions comes from the Chalfonte Hotel and its Richmond, Virginia, family. It adds a subtle richness and complements the corn very well. Using the three varied textures of the corn breading really makes a thick, crunchy crust that allows the chicken to be very juicy inside.

Breading
1 gallon corn flakes (pulverized)
1 cup cornstarch
8 cups corn flour
4 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
3 tablespoons onion powder
4 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black pepper

Egg Wash
½ gallon buttermilk
4 whole eggs

3 48-ounce containers canola oil
3 large Vidalia onions cut into large strips
2 chickens cut into portions

Combine all breading ingredients in a large container—or my personal favorite, a large brown paper bag—stir or shake to mix, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs and buttermilk together and set aside. Add oil and onions to a large pot on medium heat and wait until oil heats to 350 degrees and onions turn black. Coat the chicken pieces in breading, shake off any excess, dip into egg wash, and then back into the breading. From there, gently lay the chicken pieces in the oil, one at a time, being careful not to overcrowd. Allow chicken to settle in the oil for at least 2 minutes before moving them to ensure that the breading will not fall off. (Cooking time depends on the size of the chicken pieces you’re using, as well as the cut.) The chicken portions will start to float. At that point, find the thickest part of the largest portion and take the temperature with a probe thermometer until it reaches at least 140 degrees. If you do not have a probe thermometer, and probably don’t, the old “take it out of the oil and cut into it with a small knife until you can see internally that they are fully cooked” method works fine. Remove from oil and place on an elevated rack. Repeat steps as necessary.

Southwestern Fried Wings in Tequila Hot Sauce

Although Buffalo wings are not very Southern, hailing from The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York, and not very historic, considering they were “invented” in 1964 and didn’t find their way to Florida until the mid-1970s with the retirement migrations, I’ve included this recipe only for the fact that these wings are the number-one item stolen from me by all the cooks and chefs at the Fish House. Turn your back for three seconds and twelve wings quickly become one. Capsaicin, the chemical compound found in hot peppers, is alcohol and fat soluble, which makes tequila a perfect choice to tone down the “heat” of the hot sauce and makes the smoked garlic ranch from last year’s Sweet Tea class #1 perfect for dipping. Be forewarned—to compensate for the ones that mysteriously vanish, you should make twice the amount that you want.

Tequila Hot Sauce
1 pound butter (2 cups)
2 cups hot sauce
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 shallots, thinly sliced
½ cup tequila
Juice of 1 lime
3 tablespoons Dijon
2 48-ounce containers canola oil
2 dozen chicken wings cut into sections
2 tablespoons tequila to finish
Lime wedges for garnish

To make hot sauce, melt butter on medium-low heat in a small saucepan. Add garlic and shallots and simmer until softened. Reduce heat to low, add hot sauce, lime juice, and tequila and allow to cook slowly for at least 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in Dijon, and set aside. In a large pot, heat oil on medium heat to 350 degrees. Slowly add wings a few at a time and fry until thoroughly cooked. Remove from oil and place in a large mixing bowl. Whisk hot sauce before “tossing” wings in the mixture. To finish the plating, drizzle wings with a touch of tequila and lime juice.

Cracker-Meal-Fried Pickles

Cucumber, okra, and green tomato pickles dominated Southern kitchens and tables for over a hundred years, for pickling is a process of preserving vegetables. However, the pickle’s dominant historical aspect in the Deep South, especially in the Pensacola area, is that local sailors and fishermen, because of the high amount of vitamin C in pickles, ate them as a means of fighting off scurvy. Fried pickles have, in turn, been part of our Southern culture, and like a lot of traditional Southern and Soul foods, they were considered to be a “poor man’s” staple, not even getting notoriety until 1963 when Bernell Austin introduced them in his diner, The Duchess Drive, in Atkins, Arkansas. This breading recipe and procedure can be used for all types of foods, from fish to chicken to vegetables.

Cracker-Meal Breading
1 14-ounce box cracker meal
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon blackening seasoning

Seasoned Flour
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoons onion powder
2 tablespoons garlic powder
½ teaspoon white pepper

Egg Wash
½ gallon buttermilk
4 whole eggs

2 48-ounce containers canola oil
Pickles—either spears or chips—as many as you can stand to eat

Combine all breading ingredients in a large container or large brown paper bag, stir or shake to mix, and set aside. Follow suit for the seasoned flour. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs and buttermilk together and set aside. Heat oil on medium heat until it reaches 150 degrees. Place pickles in seasoned flour, shake off excess, dip into egg wash, then the cracker-meal breading. Remove and slowly add into oil. Fry until golden brown and remove. Allow to cool slightly before serving with your favorite ranch dressing, blue cheese dressing—or my favorite, ketchup and hot sauce.

Tobacco Fried Onions

Tobacco fried onions are so called because of their visual comparison, after preparation, to tobacco leaves. These spicy onion threads are also said to smell like tobacco during frying because of all the aromatic spices in the breading. This breading recipe is not recommended for any other type of frying because of the spices. It works well with these onions because they are “flash” fried, meaning they are cooked very quickly. Any other type of vegetable or protein would simply burn on the outside before they cooked on the inside. These particular onions can be eaten straight, as a side item—but work very well as a garnish for chicken, fish, and especially steaks.

Breading
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons black pepper
4 tablespoons onion powder
4 tablespoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
7 tablespoons blackened seasoning
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon coriander
3 white Vidalia onions
1 tablespoon salt

Egg Wash
1 quart buttermilk or whole milk
2 whole eggs
3 tablespoons hot sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 48-ounce containers of canola oil
3 small Vidalia onions cut into shaved rings
3 small red onions cut into shaved rings

Combine all breading ingredients in large container or a large brown paper bag, stir or shake to mix, and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, whisk eggs and buttermilk together and set aside. Heat oil on medium heat until it reaches 350 degrees. Place onions in breading, shake off excess, and then dip in egg wash, then the breading again. Gently place in the oil and flash fry until browned. Remove from oil and try not to eat until cooled. Repeat as necessary until all onions are cooked.

Grits à Ya Ya for $10. all day all January!