Southern Cooking-Smoked Pork Chops with Sauce Beautiful

Another cooking blog roundup-this time Southern. Check out all the entries at My husband cooks at myhusbandcooks.wordpress.com.

This is the number one selling dish at the restaurant, and it has an interesting story. The original recipe came from a cookbook entitled "Princess Pamela's Little Kitchen"-It is a collection of recipes from a famous soul food restaurant in Harlem-published in the 1960's. I don't have a copy of this book, but my friend Richard Perry does. He has served this dish for many years at "The Jefferson Avenue Boardinghouse", "Richard Perry Restaurant", and probably at "Orchid's" in Cincinatti, when he ran that restaurant.

Soul food restaurants sprang up in Black communities after the Southern diaspora when many of the rural South (Blacks and Whites) moved North for work in the factories. Beautiful was the name of Princess Pamela's mother and the sauce is named for her. It is a homey dish that never fails to please. I love to serve it at a big Southern breakfast with creamy grits to sop up the sweet glaze.

12 smoked pork chops
2 cups of peach preserves
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Combine all of the ingredients except the pork chops and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer the sauce until slightly thickened.

Briefly grill or saute the chops to brown them, add to the sauce and heat through. This dish holds nicely in a chafing dish .

Cooking class at the Kitchen Conservatory

Last night I taught a class at the Kitchen Conservatory, which is a marvelous cookware store and teaching facility. Over the years, I've taught there many times and I always enjoy it. I always meet such interesting people and learn as much from them as they from me. Last night had a Harvest theme.

The Menu:
Carrot and Parsnip latkes with creme fraiche and caviar
Roasted pumpkin stuffed with wild mushroom risotto
Duck Confit with persimmon sauce
Pomegranate salad
Apple, pear, and quince tart

Monkfish and Lobster Tango

Once called the "poor man's lobster", it seems to have joined the upwardly mobile economic class as I paid over $10.00 a pound wholesale for it last week. The demand for fresh fish keeps climbing even in the landlocked Southern Illinois-St Louis area. The flavor and texture of monkfish is often compared to lobster, and I often use lobster in a monkfish dish to reinforce the similarities.

While the humble monkfish now demands more dollars and enjoys more respect culinarily, it is still decidedly "marrying up" in this dish. An exotic sauce flavored with vanilla bean and Italian prosecco complement the slightly sweet fishes. A saffron rice make a beautiful splash of color against the creamy sauce and the coral lobster.

Crab Stuffed Tenderloin with Sauce Choron

I've been so bored with tenderloin for the past couple of years. When I was doing a lot of catering it seems all everyone wanted was tenderloin. It does have a certain cache because of the expense and it is considered a luxury item, so on the positive side if you choose tenderloin to serve your guests it could say I'm generous and I honor my guests with this luxury item. Or on the other hand it could also say I'm rich and I'm a show off and I'm serving tenderloin to my guests. In any case here is a tenderloin I serve to much acclaim, eventhough it is something I don't especially care for myself. From a business standpoint it is a dish I like a lot because it sells well, is easy to prep, gets a high price point, and is profitable. It is also a bit of a show off dish, so if you have some of the show dog in your own genes you might like it as well.

Sauce Choron is one of those French classics, but it is so simple, just add some tomato paste to your bernaise sauce and it becomes Sauce Choron. I also garnish it with a couple of spicy shrimp.

Braised Lamb Shanks

I love those slow cooking dishes like braised lamb shank. I browned it in the dutch oven, then added stock, wine, bay, parsley, rosemary and put it into the oven for about 2 1/2 hour on 325 degrees.

I also cooked a pot of white beans which I flavored with a smoked pork trotter, bay leaf and mirepoix of carrot, celery, and onion. Lamb and beans have this great affection for one another, so close to the end of the cooking, I combine them for about 1/2 hour so that their flavors may marry. It's kind of one of those happily ever after stories in a soup bowl.

Chihuly at the Missouri Botanical Garden

As if the Missouri Botanical Garden weren't breathtaking and astonishing enough at every sensory level, they added an art glass instalation by the arttist Dale Chihuly. It is practically visual overload. It has been here since April 30 and leaves October 31.

We went last night which was only the second Monday evening open. Throughout the summer the garden has been open on days and Thursday evenings. All the glass installations were illuminated dramatically. The glass sculptures took on various organic forms and blended into the various gardens in which they were placed.

There were two of his tentacle-like chandeliers-one at the entrance in colors of cobalt, aqua, and white;one suspended under the foot bridge into the Japanese Garden over the lake, it was all firey shades of red, which reflected in the waters of the lake underneath. The gates into the rose garden were also adorned with bright yellow tentacles and the Garden is featuring a new rose hybrid named for Dale Chihuly (it is a flower with yellow centers which bleed to deep rose at the end of the petals.

There were onion shaped floats in all the many lilly ponds. They were in all colors, and some metalic, and some marbelized. In the Climatron (which is a geodesic dome that houses the rainforest garden) the glass looked like gorgeous flowers from outerspace, ditto the desert garden.

It was a terrific evening-the weather was cool and crisp, they were playing 50's lounge music (Tony Bennett, Louis Prima, Keely Smith) in the sculpture reflecting pool area which was set up as a cafe, unfortunatley they were pouring horribe wine-I had a glass of Lagaria Pinot Grigio which tasted of vinegar and might have made a delightful salad dressing but was not a delightful cocktail. We left about 10 and went home to a cold supper. Our wonderful neighbor Linda treated our little group to this outing.

Wine blogging Wednesdays-Champagne

I chose Nicolas Feuillatte, which in hindsight I would choose something else. It wasn't unpleasant, in fact it was enjoyable, but it just didn't seem special in any way. It had a lime and green apple flavor component. After I purchased the bottle at Whole Foods-I know it's not cool to buy wine at a grocery store, but Whole Foods is a bit different, and I do like the wine department manager-I read more about Nicolas Feuillatte. It is the Number 2 selling Champagne in France and It is the Number 6 selling Champagne in the world. It is produced in Chouilly, a tiny village close to Epernay in the Champagne region. It cost $28 dollars and was certainly worth the cost, but just wasn't that special-it reminded me alot of the California sparkling wines produced by French houses such as Domaine Chandon-there just seems to be a lack of depth to the experience and I think some Spanish Cavas are just as interesting for the same amount of money. Mike Parker awarded it 92 points-go figure.

I wish I would have purchased a bottle of Veuve Cliquot, which I do like alot, but I thought it
was just too well known to blog about. I do have a Veuve Cliquot story. On the last evening on a trip to New Orleans I was without a reservation for dinner. How had I neglected this? I really wanted to eat at Bayonna in the French Quarter, owned by chef Susan Spicer. I called and pleaded my case, they were totally booked, but if I didn't mind waiting they would seat me if they had a no show reservation or squeeze me in at the end of service. A friend and I spent a pleasant hour in their courtyard garden with a bottle of Veuve Cliquot. Bayonna is housed in a cottage that is typical of the French Quarter. They are set very close to the street with the front windows completely shuttered, and unless you get to peek into the back you would never guess at the splendor of their courtyards and gardens.

They eventually found a table for us and we entered the dining room. It was basically one large room which was divided by two huge floral displays. I ordered a blood sausage with caramelized apples, sweet breads with lemon and capers, and a grilled duck breast. We just kept drinking Veuve Cliqout throughout the evening. Chef Spicer's dishes have a pronounced French influence, and it was an elegant and memorable dinner.

Sadly Bayonna isn't reopened after Hurricane Katrina. Last I read they were still restoring equipment which had water damage eventhough the French Quarter was spared the worst of the damage. I hope they do get it reopened, because it was such a beautiful dining experience.

Food Blog Tag

The food blogosphere has a new game of tag in which bloggers list five foods to eat before you die. It was conceived by Melissa at Traveler's Lunch Box after seeing a BBC documentary. I am so flattered that Ruth from Once Upon a Feast tagged me, I honestly thought only my mother (Hi mom!) and my cousin in Texas (Hi Kev!) read this blog. So thanks for asking Ruth here is my list-each and every one a personal epiphany into my world of food.

They are not in any particular order of chronlolgy or importance.

1) Properly Roasted Chicken
I never get tired of eating roast chicken. Crispy skin, juicy meat, and the ability to absorb complimentary flavors makes it one of the best canvases for the kitchen artist. With the old Shaker quote "that which posesses the most uses is the most beautiful", it is truly the most beautiful dish because after you have enjoyed the dinner, the leftovers make terrific sandwiches, salads, and pastas. Then the bones make stock. For expert advice on how to roast a chicken properly please read Shirley Corriher's "Cookwise" or Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking"-the secret is in the brining.

2) Mom's Tomato Cocktail
My mom makes and home cans this most incredible vegetable juice. She also grows all the stuff that goes into it as well. It contains tomatoes, sweet peppers, basil, sort of a homemade V-8. It is sweetness, sunshine, and good cheer in a glass. On Sundays around here we add a shot of vodka or tequila to enjoy with our eggs and pastries. Very limited quantities of this elixir are available.

3) MFK Fisher's Peas
Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher has been the most influential food philosopher/writer in my life. Her writing is prose, her insight and intelligence is formiddable, and her passions burn like fire.
In her book "An Alphabet for Gourmets" first published in 1949 in the chapter P Is For Peas, she recounts a lunch of just picked, just shelled early peas high in the Alps around Lake Geneva. I have been pining for those peas since I first read the story in the 1980's. I know I shall never taste those peas, but I remain enchanted by them over 25 years later.

4) Coulibiac of Salmon
This was one of the first sort of "show off" dishes I learned to make. Today it seems hopelessly old-fashioned but just the same in its day it was a great vehicle to impress dinner guests, seduce lovers, and take on picnics. I remember one particular night when I was living in Chicago I took this dish to a picnic at the Ravinia Festival. That night Ella was singing with the Chicago Symphony. The combination of a migical vocalist like Ella, with the music of the Chicago symphony, the beauty of Ravinia, and a damn good fish dish remains a benchmark of taste. Was it the fish, the music, Ella, or the company? For a great recipe use "The chez Panisse Menu Cookbook" where wild rice and quail eggs add an American touch to this French-Russian hybrid.
5) Buerre Blanc
I must include a sauce and that sauce has to be buerre blanc. It is an almost universally complimentary sauce. It is sensational on steamed vegetables especially asparagus, it can elevate anything simply grilled like lamb chops or salmon fillet. I know the foods trends are leaving me behind with things like foam, esfericacion, and essence but I just can't seem to get my lips around foam.

Lillet Blanc for Mixlolgy Mondays VII

I know this is an extremely old-fashioned aperitif, but I still enjoy it. I like to serve it chilled, straight up with a fruit garnish usually orange. This time I it garnished with a slice of nectarine because I had them around for the tart I was making. Lillet has been around since 1872, when it was created in Bordeaux. I am fascinated with the Edwardian Age of dining because of its over the top excess and celebration of wealth created by the robber barons. Lillet somehow fits into my mind set for this era. It is also the perfect summer time cocktail served out of doors on my deck in an overly fussy wine glass.

Check out all the bloggers favorite summer cocktails after September 18 at The Cocktail Chronicles.

La Festa al Fresca-Farewell to Summer

Here is a farewell to summer tart. The stone fruits and berries are quickly coming to an end. The first hard fuits are coming into the markets-I just purchased locally grown Gala's this last week. I made a tart with the last of the black berries, raspberies, nectarines, plums, and blue berries.

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La Festa at Fresca

It must be Fall

The first of the apples are showing up in the farmer's markets. Mrs. Crook, one of the farmers who delivers to me, delivered some Gala beauties to my back door last week. They are so crisp and delicious eaten out of hand. The evenings are getting cooler as well. Time to start changing the menus to Fall. Saturday I made veal chops with a Bourguignonne sauce, and red cabbage with those same apples.

Weekend Cookbok Challenge #8

I like to participate in these food blog challenges, but I seldom have the time. When you have been cooking as long as I have you sometimes get in a rut of using the same techniques, the same ingredients, the same mind set. The food blog challenges and the food blogs themselves have turned out to be such a source of inspiration. It helps keep me fresh and it helps me keep the menus at the restaurant fresh.

This theme was something foriegn to you from a cookbook you already owned. It is being hosted by Ruth-visit her blog at onceuponafeast.blogspot.com. I chose Sushi Secrets by Kazuko Masui and Chihiro Masui. I love sushi, but it is not one of the stronger suits in my repertory of cooking. My first encounter with sushi was in the early 80's and I had moved to Arkansas from Chicago(which is another long story), but I took a job at the Dillard's department store and one of the seamstresses in the alterations department was a Japanese lady who brought a platter of sushi to share. I remeber it being gorgeous to look at-most co-workers were afraid to indulge-I just pulled up a chair in front of the platter and ate half of it. A strange initiation to shushi to say the least.

Another informative brush with sushi came when I moved next door to a Japanese family and the mama san taught me to make the vinegared rice-I can still she her fanning the rice as she gently folded cool air into it. She really stressed the fanning component-it makes the rice shiny and glisten.

From then on my sushi learning experience has been mostly autodidactic, until last year when I hired Jason. Jason had done a stint as the sushi chef at St Louis Fishmarket which is a seafood restaurant that I like alot even if I can't afford to eat there often. Jason taught me about sushi knives-which I haven't purchased yet. I think my sushi looks a bit clunky and not as polished as I would like. My inexperience with sushi has alot do do with it, but I don't have the proper knives I have German knives Henkels and Wustoffs mostly. I am seeing another extravagant knife purchse in my near future.

Tomato Frenzy



The tomato crop keeps coming in a frenzy. Farmer Alan Nolte, who just started delivering to me brought a beautiful heirloom variety which he called German Stripe. It is a golden and red stripe. The flesh is mostly golden with a few streaks of red.

We've also been enjoying Brandywines, Purples, Pinks,and a couple of others.

We've made Caprezi and Greek tomato salads daily.

I prefer to skin and chill the tomatoes before making salads, but the true purists like to pick them off the vine and eat them still warm.

Food and Wine magazine did a spread on a Napa Valley tomato party and I got inspired to make the yellow tomato juice from the story. Of course I didn't follow the recipe, but made my own as I went. I added some carrots, parsley, and celery to the mix. I believe they called them "Blondie" Marys.

Wine Combinations

The exercise was to pair a wine with Lamb chops/mint julep sauce and slow cooked green beans. Since I make my home in St Louis, which is just a skip-hop-and-a- jump North of Memphis, home of Benito's Wines, the task master, the food was familiar and comfortable. Memphis has much better BBQ than we do, but what we do share is incredible blues music. Lots of hole in the wall places with incredible musicians.

I usually like to pair lamb with a Merlot or Syrah, but this time I went a little classier and chose a Pinot Noir from Domaine Drouhin. The whole story of Domaine Drouhin is so romantic. A legendary Burgundian family buys land in Oregon, the daughter moves to Oregon and makes new world wine with all that old world pedigree . The Oregon wine is a more vibrantly hued wine than most French Burgundies. The wine seems fresh and lively without too much complexity, but it still exhibits elegant structure with a balance of fruit, alcohol, and acid. The mint of the chops and the sweetness of the beans is enhanced by the fruit of the wine. The alcohol and acid of the wine matches well with the richness of the meat and sauce. I did add some garlic and chervil mashed potatoes, and I also added a bit of lamb demi-glace to the mint julep sauce to further round the flavors.

Grilled Pork Medallions with Strawberry Salsa


I had planned on running lamb chop specials all weekend, but they sold out on Friday night due to a larger than usual dinner rush. I had an extra pork loin left from a private party we did on the third floor-we call it the "Top of The Town"-it is a beautiful party venue with an art deco bar and a speakeasy feel. Al Hirschfield cariacatures from the 1920's and 1930's decorate the walls.

So I marinated the loin in some orange juice, rice wine vinegar, cumin, oregano, and cayenne. I cut the loin into medallions and grilled them to order, brushing them with the marinade (you must first boil the marinade after you take the pork out, if you want brush it on the meat as it grills).

On the plate I spooned an unusual strawberry salsa across the medallions. The salsa contained oranges, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, rice wine vinegar. It was lovely on the plate and sold out quickly.

Banana Dacquiri



We had alot of bananas about to turn brown. We bought them last week when my nephew was visiting-mostly for cereal and pancakes for breakfast. We didn't eat them all and it is too hot to make banana bread or banana bread pudding-which is what I usually do. The perfect answer seemed to be banana dacquiris. I got out my Grandma's vintage Osterizer (chrome with wood paneling on the front) and set it on liquefy, added ice, banana, sugar, fresh lime juice, and a bit of rum. And viola` a retro frozen concoction from a retro kitchen appliance. It makes me wonder why we ever needed Margaritaville when we loved Dacquiriville so much.

Hobo potatoes

It is still in the middle of the heat wave, so no cooking inside. All done on the grill outside. We bought some really unique charcoal at a little shop in the Bosnian neighborhood. I've used it before on big barbeque catering jobs, I get it from the food wholesaler but I don't usually see it at the stores.

We dry rubbed ribs (cinnamon, brown sugar, red pepper flakes, cumin, and coriander) over indirect heat and made a hobo foil pack filled with potatoes, onion, and whole garlic cloves(they truned very sweet and caramelized) with rosemary, sage, and olive oil. They were so good, I think I'll plan on doing them at the restaurant, but add some other vegetables. The corn on the cob sales have dropped off a little-maybe I'll do some kind of corn and potato hobo pack.

We also bought tea at another Bosnian store-this one Muslim. They have some beautiful teas-not quite the selection as the Asian groceries-but very nice just the same. I chose three different kinds. We've been drinking pitchers of iced tea in this heat wave, and these teas taste delicious when freshly brewed and iced

Cooling summer dishes

The tomatoes are ripe and delicious.
for the restaurant I made the ubiquituous Caprezi salad (tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella cheese, balsamic), chilled watermelon and peach soup-flavored with a little fresh ginger.

At home a triple creme cheese with fresh blueberries and nectarines with gin and tonics. Temperatures are over 100.

Seafood slaw



I have been making this salad for years, usually with crab, but any seafood works. Just shredded cabbage, grated onion, mayo, red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, and sometimes dill or tarragon. It is refreshing to eat in this heat. Make the slaw and let it sit an hour in the refrigerator, fold in crab and chopped shellfish, garnish with whole shellfish, tomato, and sliced avocado. Sometimes I drizzle the tomato and avocado with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Stormy Wednesday


It has truly been a challenging week in the aftermath of the storm last wednesday. The storm hit Waterloo-the power went out. Two tables had not been served yet. The dining rooms actually became more charming with just the candle lamps glowing, but the kitchen became at least the second ring of Hell-cooking by candle lamp is not nearly as charming as dining by candle lamp light. The first table was a no brainer and went off quickly, but the second table ordered medium rare steaks after already consuming two bottles of $100 plus Silver Oak Cabernet. So we now have expense and extremely discriminating palates thrown into the pressure pot. Then I remembered touch is always the best way to test for doneness of meat, and I relaxed a bit. Just in the way blind musicians are more sensitive, my temporarily blind grill man performed superbly with perfect steaks. I think I'll blindfold him on Saturday nights just for the fun of it-just kidding Tim-great job.

We've tried a couple Tutti di mare recipes one creamy, one tomato, one white wine and garlic. It was my choice light and delicious for summer.

Also made duck this week with fresh Monroe county peaches-quite tasty. Picture doesn't do the dish justice

And lastly pot roast -I know-in July? Because of the storm it was difficult getting deliveries. One delivery was a grade of prime rib not acceptable to me for anything but pot roasting. In the spirit of making lemonade when handed a case of lemons, we made pot roast. We sold out. Who knew people were dying for pot roast on a Saturday night in July?