Top Five Friday: Dishes with a Southern Drawl

Southerners can't stand to eat alone.
If we're going to cook a mess of greens we want to eat them with a mess of people.
~ Julia Reed

I

n honor of my vacation in South Carolina this week, my top five list is my favorite southern dishes. 

Y’all eat up and come back!

Shrimp and Grits Cakes - Epicurious
This is a take on a classic Southern dish.  This article says to use USA farm-raised shrimp.  I say – wild caught is better than farm-raised and healthier.

Butter Roll – Southern Plate
Confession ~ I didn’t actually grow up with these, but dang!  These will butter y’all’s biscuit!

Sweet Potato Casserole – Food and Wine
Recently I’ve begun making savory dishes with my sweet potatoes, but nothing says Southern lovin’ like a pecan-topped sweet potato casserole.  I put marshmallows on mine of course.

Smoked Pork Butt – Southern Living

You may remember I smoked some Boston butt and had a grand adventure doing so.  This is another great recipe.  Because honestly ~ what is better than a pulled pork sandwhich?

Hummingbird Cake – Food.com

Why this cake is particularly Southern, I haven’t a clue.  But it is and honey, y’all are gonna love it!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

What are your favorite Southern dishes?

Top Five Friday: A Derby of a Day!

And it's run for the roses / As fast as you can

Your fate is delivered / Your moment's at hand

It's the chance of a lifetime / In a lifetime of chance

And it's high time you joined / In the dance.

~ Dan Fogelberg, Run for the Roses

D

erby Day.  Tomorrow’s race in Louisville, Kentucky marks the 138^th year of what is known as the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports.  For the owners and trainers and jockeys, it really is all about the horses.  For some of the fans, it is all about the betting.  But for most of us, it is all about the party.  And by that I mean the hats and the booze.

Tomorrow I will be attending a Derby soiree that a couple of my friends throw every May.  I learned my lesson last year and arranged to spend the night this year with a friend who lives only a mile away.  My host makes the best (read: potent) mint juleps EVER.

Can’t make it to Louisville for the May madness?  No worries ~ throw your own Derby 'do!  Here are the top five things you will need.  Come on ~ it’s high time you joined in the dance!

The Hat

Come on Dover!

Think Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. (One of these years, I am so getting a Derby costume made modeled on her black and white get up!)  Whether it costs $30 or $300, all women at the party must wear a hat!  The bigger the better.  I have seen some hats that cost as much as a small car.  But you don’t have to spend like  an oil magnet. I bought my tres chic black with white polka dots and feathers for only $30 and it is huge.



And you, Miss, are no lady!



Gents ~ you can wear a hat as well ~ aka Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.  But only if you are outside!  If you go inside, even if it is only to mix your lady friend another julep, you should remove your chapeau.

The Edibles

If you are a Derby purist, then you already know what to serve: Kentucky Hot Browns, chicken or crab salad, cheese grits, and pecan pie.  Pretty much, if it’s Southern, it’s acceptable.  You will need run for the roses yourself after eating such richness, but hey, it’s only one day in May!  I’ve picked some of favorite recipes for you.  Kind of like a top five within a top five! 

          Kentucky Bourbon Burgoo

           Delmarva Crab Cakes

           Hominy Grits Soufflé

           Chocolate Pecan Chess Pie

           Butterscotch Pecan Tart (because you can never have too many desserts!)

The List

Well, you are throwing this party because of the Derby.  So you really need a list of all the horses.  You can find them all here. 



Running for the Roses!



Make it fun: have all your guests who would like to participate put in $5, $10, or $20; whoever picks the top three gets the pot.  If someone picks two out of three, give them a really nice bottle of bourbon.  One out of three might get you a cookbook of Derby recipes or a set of shot glasses. (I get mine at Marshall’s ~ a set of 6 for $4!)

The Music

Before the race begins and after the thrill of it is gone (so to speak), you should have a great playlist playing in the background.  Your favorite metal bands or rap artists will simply not do!  Of course, no Derby Party is complete without Dan Fogelberg’s Run for the Roses – half country, half folk.  But you can’t play one song on repeat the entire party!

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “She’s going to say bluegrass ~ oh no!”

First of all, what the hay-bale is wrong with bluegrass?  Seems appropriate, considering the grass in Kentucky is blue.  Anyway, listen to Alison Krauss or the Avett Brothers, and then tell me you don’t like bluegrass. 

If it were my party, however, I would be playing zippy classical music (Ode to Joy, etc).  I know ~ classical music should be imbibed on its own, not relegated to background noise.  Trust me, you will be too snookered excited for that type of concentration.  Plus, think how especially appropriate it will be when one of your elegantly dressed guests shouts rather raucously: “Come on, Dovah! Move yah bloomin’ ahss!”   



The real winner and
crowning glory of the Derby!



And you thought the Derby was an American invention!

The Beverage

Last but definitely not least ~ the mint julep.  It is my theory that people who claim to hate mint juleps have never had a proper one.  While everyone and his brother have a fiercely held opinion as to when to add the mint, the best way I have imbibed it is when the mint is crushed to almost a pulp to release the mint oil.  Also, use crushed ice ~ not cubed.  A simple sugar syrup (a Southern beverage staple).  And of course, copious amounts of Kentucky Bourbon (I prefer Maker’s Mark).  There are many recipes online ~ here is one of then, with a little history to boot.  I don’t know how my friend Stephen makes his, but as I mentioned, they kick like a Derby winner!

Here’s to fast horses, smooth bourbon, and really big hats!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Are you throwing a Derby party or attending one?  Share recipes, experiences, or your picks in the comment section or on your Facebook page!

The Eighth Annual Saint Cecilia Arts Festival: The War Between the States

Art is the only way to run away without leaving home. 

~ Twyla Tharp

Well, we did it again.  Another November, another successful Saint Cecilia Arts Festival!  And by all accounts, it was the best one yet.

Once again we wooed and wowed the audience by turns with poetry, Broadway, original music, moving monologues, and side-splitting comedy.  But this year we added a twist: a theme.

2011 marked the 150^th Anniversary of the American Civil War, so that was our main theme.  To broaden it a little for our artists, we added four sub-themes: War, Tragedy, Honor, and Survival.  Both Sullivan and I wondered how the artists would interpret the theme.  They did not disappoint.



The Civil Strings



Civil Strings was our Featured Artist this year.  They performed four beautiful pieces, two of which are personal favorites: Theme from Schindler’s List and Ashokan Farewell, from Ken Burns’ Civil War series.  Over Farewell, Donald Maclean, one of the members of the quartet, read the Gettysburg Address.  It was a moving performance that ended the evening on a wonderful note (if you’ll pardon the pun).



Michelle Jacobeen, mezzo-soprano

Michelle Jacobeen returned and performed two numbers from Broadway musicals.  One was as a Civil War nurse – I Never Knew His Name and one from the musical Jekyll and Hyde – A New Life.  As she did last year, Michelle won the hearts of our audience with her lyricism and dramatic interpretation.


Janet Purdy, mezzo and Maria Bissex, sorprano

Maria Bissex, soprano, sang two songs not normally associated with a Civil War theme: an incredible version of Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, and a moving duet arragement of Into the West, where she was joined by mezzo Janet Purdy.  The latter was one of my personal favorites; believe me when I say that the Annie Lennox version does not do this piece justice.  You need to hear this duo’s harmonies!

Eric J. Kingsepp, Hannah DeRegibus,
Paul Dunlap, and Mikaela D'Eigh

I think it is safe to say that the highlight of the evening was the Went with the Wind skit by Carol Burnett.  I remember watching this skit back in the day, and laughing until my sides ached.  The drapes weren’t green velvet, but the red silk still got the desired response: Starlett [yours truly] had to wait a full minute and a half for the laughter to die down so she could say her next line! 

The menu this year matched the theme, with some stalwart favorites sticking around: Fried Chicken Bites [my mother’s receipe], Sausage Balls [Paula Deen’s recipe], Petite Ham Biscuits, Bacon-Wrapped Dates, Petite Pumpkin Pies, and Pecan Tassies. 

We also had a cheese board donated by Fields of Athenry, a sustainable and organic farm located in Purcellville, Virginia.  And this year’s  spotlighted winery, Breaux Vineyards, is located in Loudon County, not that far from Athenry.  The owners down at The Virginia Wine Experience in Fredericksburg were kind enough to give us a discount on a case of some of Breaux’s nicest vintages.

To see more pictures, read the event program, or simply to learn more about the great work these group is doing to renew culture in the local community, visit The Saint Cecilia Group at www.saintceciliagroup.org and click on Past Events.   I promise you’ll be marking your calendars for Saturday, 17 November 2012!

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

Word Count Blogathon Day 23: Love of the Land

Land is the only thing in the world that amounts to anything,

for 'tis the only thing in this world that lasts.

Tis the only thing worth working for, worth fighting for -- worth dying for.

~ Gerald O’Hara, Gone with the Wind

“The only thing in this world that lasts.”  I never knew how much in common I had with Scarlett O’Hara until this past Saturday. 

I gathered together about ten of my closest girlfriends and invited them down to my childhood home for an afternoon tea celebrating the 75^th Anniversary of the publication of “Gone with the Wind.”  Any excuse to dress up, eat and spend time with friends!

The menu consisted of fried chicken, ham biscuits, green beans [with pork fat of course!], mashed potatoes and gravy, chocolate-pecan pie, southern tea cakes and a Kentucky Jam Cake, a quartet of wine-based sorbets, and plenty of Southern sweet tea, fresh made lemonade and mint juleps.

After our repast, we retired to the living room where I had set up a projector and a white bed sheet ~ we Southerners make do ~ and watched Scarlett and her entourage live through a heart-wrenching and momentous era in our nation’s history.  Even if you weren’t blessed to be born in the land of soft, Southern drawls and the smell of fried chicken and fresh biscuits, you can still appreciate the writing brilliance of Margaret Mitchell and the amazing vision of David Selznik.

Getting in Touch with My Inner Scarlett

When I first watched the movie, I was very young.  I admired the all the beautiful dresses and the broad expanse of land of Tara and the mannered yet manly gentlemen and wept over the burning of Atlanta.  Other than that, I didn’t understand much of it.  As the older, wiser me watched the movie, I still oohed and ahhed with my girlfriends over Scarlett’s famous green muslin “Twelve Oaks BBQ” dress, her green velvet “curtain” dress and her daring red “Ashley’s Birthday” outfit.  But a theme that I had missed as a child kept coming up to haunt me.

There is a scene, after the war is over and Scarlett is trying to save Tara from her old overseer.  She goes to Ashley to get his advice.  But poor Ashley is stuck like Lot’s wife, looking back at the life that once was and will never be again and has no practical advice to give.  At one point, Scarlett throws herself into his arms and states that they should run away because there’s nothing to keep either of them there.  But he points out that [besides his wife and son], there is something that Scarlett loves more than even him.  He picks up a handful of dirt and places it in her hand.

And that is when it struck me how like Scarlett I am ~ at least when it comes to an attachment to the land.  It gets in your blood.  No matter how far away you may go, or how many times your heart gets broken, or how many jobs you’ve lost, the pull of the land is always there.  And I realized that Gerald O’Hara was right: land is the only thing that lasts, the only thing worth fighting and dying for.

It is always difficult to leave the peace of the country and come back to the noise and indifferent city.  But this time it I felt like my arm had been amputated.  What this means for the future, I have no idea.  But I do know that our land, though nothing on scale of Tara, will always be an anchor and a priority for me and I’d rather die than let it go.

What about you?  What from your childhood still has a hold on you?  Has it had a negative or positive impact on you?

Oremus pro invicem,

~ Mikaela

P.S. I admit I can be as tenacious as Scarlett, and yes, a little pouty at times. But I can say without reservation, that if a Rhett Butler came into my life, I would hold on to him with both hands! Fiddle-dee-dee!

Dinner for Eight on Our Lady's Feast Day: 8 December 2007

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.
~ Luciano Pavarotti

After many months of trying, my choir director and my schedules finally meshed. I hosted him for dinner along with six other close friends. Choosing the menu took much thought ~ Dahvid is a true Southern gentleman from North Carolina and accustomed to his mother’s incredible, I am sure, Southern cooking.

A Southern feast with a Mikaela twist was debated, but in the end I opted for a menu with a cranberry theme.

Cook's Notes:

One: Remember to read the recipe thoroughly. Not allowing the cheesecake to cool a full 4 hours before chilling overnight did not really hurt it; however, not chilling it for an hour with the cranberry topping made it a tad drippy.

Two: Some dishes are perfectly happy being cooked the night or even two days before the event. In fact, they may even benefit from a couple days rest in the fridge. This will free you the cook from being chained to the stove and/or the kitchen all evening. I spent more time in the kitchen this time around then I did with my
guests.

Three: Remember these pieces of wisdom from the queens of culinary masterpieces:

“You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.” Julia Child

"Food is not about impressing people. It's about making them feel comfortable." Ina Garten

I wish I had read those before Saturday! ;-) For the appetizer, I leafed through a 1998 issue of Saveur that I had on my shelf and found a delectably simple recipe for Cappesante el Pesto (scallops with pesto). This recipe, inspired by the author’s father, Edward Giobbi, was hailed by my guests and I must say, the pesto, made with fresh basil, walnuts instead of pine nuts and gorgonzola instead of reggiano (my substitution) was the best pesto I had ever tasted.

Next came a simple salad of spinach, arugula, walnuts, cranberries and gorgonzola cheese, drizzled with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. I followed this with a soup course and used a recipe from Epicurious.com for Fresh Wild Mushroom Soup. This soup, made up of shitake, cremini and regular mushrooms (again, my substitution), beef broth and brandy, was an instant hit at the dinner table. I alone did not find the taste to my liking. I am always surprised when anything I cook or create comes out well and is well-received, a trait which drives my friends crazy. But in this case, the surprise was warranted because I honestly thought it was the most deplorable mushroom soup I had ever tasted! :-) Cie la vie ~ at least they loved it and that is what is important. For my own dinner, however, I will try another mushroom soup recipe.

For the main course, I went back and forth between pork loin, chicken with pesto and beef tenderloin. I finally decided on Beef Tenderloin, served with a cranberry and port sauce. Beef tenderloin is one of the tenderest cuts of beef you can find…and the most expensive. Buying organic tenderloin from Whole Foods made it a tad more expensive than it usually is. But it was well worth it. A couple of days later I cooked up another cut of beef in the leftover sauce and was disappointed in the toughness of the meat. I am now officially spoiled in favor of tenderloin! ;-)

To end the meal, I chose a wonderfully creamy Cranberry-Orange Cheesecake with a chocolate crust, also found on Epicurious.com. One of my friends, who is from Long Island, paid me one of the highest compliments I’ve yet received for my culinary skills when he said: This is by far the best cheesecake I have ever had. Remind me why you haven’t opened your own restaurant?” Ah yes, Dennis, that is an interesting question! ;-)

My future career plans and the inordinate amount of time spent at the stove aside, the evening was wonderful ~ filled with laughter, time spent with some of the best friends and another successful culinary adventure!

Next up: Christmas dinner!

Oremus pro invicem,
Mikaela