Savory Cheesy Olive Monkey Bread with Carrabba's Italian Grill's Oil Seasonings

Ok now I know there are those of you who might think that I am terrible for posting anything that has to do with some Copy Kat recipe from a chain restaurant but hear me out.

Carrabba's is a chain that originated in the south and is a pretty good Italian restaurant actually despite if being a chain. Many things are made in house and they really try to present their food well.
Im not going to try and convince anyone that it's better than Becco in NYC on 46th street ( which is pretty amazing) but I will state for the record that they do make something that I find amazing.

What is it? Well it is simply the seasoning mix that they hand you on a little plate and invite you to mix it with olive oil and dip you bread in. Oh my goodness it's amazing. No really it is. I have never found a dipping oil that's better than theirs. And I love dipping oil. So for years I have tried on occasion to make this at home but never quite got it right. Then one day I was looking on the internet and what pops up but the blog from the chain themselves telling people how to make their famous dipping mix. Well it was great to get that recipe.

Here it is:

3 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1 1/2 Tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1 1/2  Tablespoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 Tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoons Kosher salt ( or sea salt )
1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

Mix this all together place in a large mixing bowl Viola!!

So to make a savory Monkey Bread. Monkey bread is normally sweet but I have seen it with pizza sauce however this one is really like the best over the top garlic bread you have ever had. That and the seasoning mix from Carrabbas's make it a flavor explosion hard to beat. Here's what you do.

Take a can of store bought biscuits and cut them into four pieces and roll them into balls

Add them to the bowl with the seasoning mix.

Add to this:

1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 cup grated fontina or monterey jack cheese
1/2 cup of finely chopped green olives with pimentos
1/2 cup finely chopped California black olives

Add in about 1 cup of olive oil or so just enough so that everything comes together nice and coated.

Melt 4 Tablespoons of butter and add in and mix everything well together

Pour into a greased bundt pan

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for 25 to 30 mins.

Remove and allow to cool for at least 10 mins

Turn over bundt pan on a plate and serve immediately while still warm

Now that didn't make you turn your nose up too much now did it. Enjoy Ya'll! 

Funeral Potatoes, A Hashbrown Casserole to Die For!

Now this is about as Americana a recipe as you can get. But I'll tell you what, there is nothing quite as addictive as this stuff. I mean creamy, fatty, delicious potatoes drowned in a rich sauce that just makes you happy.

This recipe has been done by so many ladies all over the country for years and years with small variations in each individual recipe. I think it's one of those recipes that's made an appearance in every ladies auxilary organization and church cookbook from Florida to Alaska. And hashbrown casserole makes it's appearance on holiday tables, dinner tables and even on the Cracker Barrel restaurant menus. It's a comforting, homey and delicious dish, which is why it probably has the name it has and is associated with a time in life when comfort is high on the menu.

I made this for some friends for a dinner this winter with some short ribs. Boy, was that a wintery comforting meal. So here's my version cream of mushroom soup and all. Enjoy.

Funeral Potatoes ( Hashbrown Casserole)
 Serves 4 to 6 people

Ingredients:

1 lb bag shredded hashbrowns
1 can mushroom soup (Campbell's)
1 cup dairy sour cream
3/4 cup milk plus a little more if too thick
12 oz of shredded yellow cheddar cheese
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon Aromat ( German seasoning salt, you could use Amino Acid Liquid Seasoning, this is my little addition to this recipe)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground Mace or Nutmeg
Crunchy onions as topping
Salt and pepper to taste



Method:

Divide the cheese leaving 4 ounces to top the casserole
Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl stirring well to combine, adding more milk if mixture is too thick. Should be pourable but not runny.
Pour into a 9x9 baking dish
Heat oven to 350 degrees
Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese and some paprika for color
Bake covered with foil for 35 minutes then uncovered and place back in the oven for 15 minutes more or until the top is browned slightly
Enjoy.

Duchess Potatoes, Winner Winner Christmas Dinner

Duchess Potatoes are mash potatoes all dressed up. Like fancy bundles of baked mashed potato goodness.

Now if you have been following this blog you know how big I am on Mashed potatoes but Duchess potatoes are kinda like the royalty of mashed potatoes. Butter, Eggs and Cream nothing poor or low calorie about this dish. It's definitely a special occasion dish.

SO for Christmas this year the house feast will include these very luxurious potatoes and they will be paired with some big meat. But given the body and richness of  these beauties I think whatever the protein will be it will have to work hard to keep up. I mean lets face it all these giant holiday meals are all about the side dishes.

So if you want to make a little something that looks fancy and is stupid good make these and everyone around your table will think you worked way harder than you did and love them. Winner Winner Christmas Dinner!

Duchess Potatoes

Ingredients:

5 lbs of Yukon Gold or other yellow potato
8 egg yolks
1 stick butter
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs beaten with 2 tablespoons water

Method:

Cut potatoes into pieces and boil until soft
Drain really well and put on to a baking sheet then bake in a 350 degree oven for about 20 mins
Place in a bowl and mash well or put through a ricer
Add the eggs and butter and cream and mix well
Add salt and pepper and taste for seasoning and adjust if you want
Let cool down then place into a pastry bag with a large flower tip ( you can get this at a kitchen store)
Pipe into small florets onto a baking sheet or two
Place into the fridge to cool
When ready preheat oven to 350 then to serve remove from fridge and brush with egg wash
Place in oven and bake for 30 mins. or until it browns.
Serve while hot. Be a winner!

Party Shortcuts: Hummus Dip a New Way to Serve up a Old Favorite

Ok! Ok! I have a confession to make. I love hummus. I mean who doesn't really. And I know that I could drone on and on about how to make hummus and what no,t but really there are so many good varieties of the stuff out there in the grocery case why put yourself through the effort. ( Although making it at home in bulk is actually cheaper)

So what could you possibly do or say on a food blog post about hummus. Well only this, and I know it's a cheap shot not in the vein of my usual recipe profile but this is a super easy and super quick way to up your entertaining repertoire. Plus it adds dairy to an otherwise vegan dish. Which you might not like but if you do, you will like this a lot.

To make this dip you simply take a container of hummus and a container of greek yogurt, stir them together with a few glugs of olive oil and some salt place in a bowl garnish with more olive oil and some pine nuts or aleppo pepper and viola! An amazing dip. Serve with pita triangles and you have a party.

Hope you enjoy this easy tip Ya'll!

Recipe ( if you can all it that )

1 16 oz. container of Hummus
1 8 oz. container
Good quality olive oil
Salt
Toasted Pine nuts
Aleppo Pepper flakes
Some parsley chopped or dried for garnish

Stir together and add salt to taste, then garnish with more olive oil and the pine nuts and or pepper flakes.

The Ultimate Corn Bread Bread Recipe, Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread from the Lake Country.

I love the ocean but I also love the mountains and with the mountains I love a lake.  A lake unlike the sea is usually a contained and fathomable body of water. It sit's mirror-like in it's relation to the land around it. Playing with light and wind a lake can have many shapes, colors and moods. And like the ocean give the senses a shower of wonderful sensations.

Generally a lake is gentle and calm and shows day's colors and hews with it's prism of colors, sort of like paint on a canvas. I like to think a lake as a backdrop to life's more relaxing moments. While the ocean in turn demands my complete attention and pushes me to honor it's power. A lake takes from me the burden of life I bring to it's shore and says lie with me and rest awhile.

It is maybe part of the old dialogue between which is more attractive to one's soul and senses, the sea or the mountains. I for one can never decide for they both bring such different feelings into my world and life.

Lakes and mountains offer up living and recreation which seems to center around a frontier born sense of a camping, woodsy mentality.

The Lake and the Mountains speak to me not solely of Summer but also of the coming change in seasons.  And with the Fall almost upon us and my sense of life drawing in upon itself. Like the gathering in of crops or the light retreating slowly in the late Summer sky. I turn my focus towards the colors of the autumnal table and feeling of comfort that it affords.

I found myself last year in the Adirondack Mountains on Lake Placid to be precise. Enjoying the tables bounty of  brook trout and summer salads fresh from the local farms. Crisp air and clear water and lots of sunshine marked our days and delicious meals and wine marked our nights.

It was a good time. Lakes are a reminder for me of times in my youth and my past as well as a companion in times present.

Recently my friend Fred Tessler ( of the Denver Tesslers), shared with me a recipe for cornbread that he got from a lake retreat of his own. Seems a dear girl friend of his has a family lake house up in the lake country of Minnesota. This family would as part of their tradition host a fish fry on fridays of every week they would be at the lake house. As part of the meal they prepared cornbread amongst other dishes to go with the fish fry. He asked for the recipe and has used it ever since.

This cheddar cornbread is perhaps the best I have ever made. I had it the first time when Fred had me over to dinner one day. Then he made it with me at my place. It is somewhat set but open to personal interpretation as I noted during his preparation of the cornbread in my kitchen that day. I took this recipe and ran with it and have decided that it will forever be my go to cornbread recipe.

It is very similar to my previous recipes emulating the cornbread at Bandera Grill and Rutherford Grills respectively, but just that much better. And it's gluten free which makes it really interesting for folks trying to cut that out of their diets. But not to worry it is rich and moist and incredible. Cheesey and cake-like it IS the starter to a meal as well as an incredible side dish. It's so good it doesn't need butter.

So here make this cornbread is all I can say. It has Midwestern flavors and Southern soul. Enjoy Ya'll.

Forrest's Best-ever Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread Recipe

2 eggs
1 cup Cornmeal ( yellow or white)
1 cup creamed corn from a can
1 cup or so freshly shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 fresh jalapenos finely diced ( this is spicy if you want less heat use less or omit)

Method:

Preheat ove to 400 degrees

Mix all dry ingredients together including cheese
Add buttermilk, creamed corn and oil
Mix well

Pour into a heated medium cast iron pan or a 9x9 baking dish

Bake 30 mins till golden brown do not over bake.

Serve warm, slice and enjoy, this tastes best right out of the oven.

Hippy Dippy California Burning Man Kale Salad with "Goddess" Dressing

So several years ago I met a group of people through my friend Stuart who attend something called the Burning Man Festival. Now for those of you, like myself, who do not know anything about Burning Man it can be summed up in one word, sandy. Well, you will see why.

According to Wikipedia:

Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event begins on the last Monday in August, and ends on the first Monday in September, which coincides with the American Labor Day holiday. The 2012 Burning Man Festival took place between August 27 and September 3. It takes its name from the ritual burning of a large wooden effigy on Saturday evening. The event is described as an experiment in community, art, and radical self-expression. Burning Man is organized by Black Rock City LLC.  In 2010, 51,515 people attended Burning Man. 2011 attendance was capped at 50,000 participants and the event sold out on July 24.  In April 2011, Larry Harvey announced that the organization had begun the process of transitioning management of the festival over to a new non-profit organization called the "Burning Man Project".

So what this excerpt doesn't tell you is that it's a massive community effort on the part of the people there to leave no visible footprint. That means what came in goes out. And with 50,000 people in attendance that's no small feat. It's really interesting.

Of course ultimately it's all about experience at burning man. Partying, drinking. drugs. music and art all collide in a sort of hippy spirited free living environment where social norms are challenged as free thinking takes it's summer holiday.

The event is divided into groupings called camps. Each camp has a theme and a proposed purpose. Some self involved and other open and public. There are whole camps which are focused on music, dance, and even food. One of the most interesting was one I heard about that offered showers. And then there's one that just makes bacon all day and night. Hello Bacon! I would have been there all the time. I know my burner friends are cringing.

So what does this have to do with Kale Salad. Well let me tell you. Nothing really except as a segue into talking a little about the Hippy movement of the 1960's.

Years ago when California became a hotbed of the so called Hippy Movement, it also became the home for the first serious vegetarian food movement in this country. Why, well because one of the outgrowths of this culture was an awareness of nature and naturalism as it applies to life, including what and how one eats. This led to the growth of the vegan raw and vegetarian food culture in the west and this went on to inspire California chefs in their first looks at a farm to table cooking mentality. Isn't connectivity an interesting thing.

One of the hallmarks of the early California raw, vegan, and vegetarian food trends was a heightened awareness of produce and sourcing fresh foods. Another was also the further development of the salad as a meal concept.

Of course California had led the way in pretty inventing the "Salad Meal" with the introduction of such dishes as the Cobb Salad ( introduced in LA. at the very famous Brown Derby restaurant) or the Crab Louis Salad ( which was introduced much earlier in San Francisco). Or the Caesar Salad which came out of prohibition era Tijauna Mexico, where wealthy Californians would go to escape the liquor laws.

Further in the 1950's and 60's Sunset magazine introduced the US readers to a variety of Salad meals like these. Some of which, like the Taco Salad, are so common today one would never think that it was not a known quantity everywhere in the US. all the time.

Another hallmark of the Hippy driven vegetarian food movement was a moving away from animal fat based sauces and dressings. As a result there are interesting and delicious ingredients that when used together make for very nice results. As with everything this movement moved into main stream culture in California and helped to shape California cuisine.

One such dressing that has become as famous over time as ranch dressing, especially on the west coast is something called "Goddess" dressing. The name comes from another dressing very popular in the 1960's  "Green Goddess" which is rich in dairy and not vegan. So goddess dressing was the vegan version of this using tahini (sesame paste)  as the base and incorporating other flavors to make a rich creamy satisfying dressing without the dairy.

As I continue to experiment with Kale Salads I have made my own version of this dressing. It's so good you can put it on anything. Annie's all natural products and Trader Joe's make a version of this that is really good but making it at home makes it a little better I think.

And I put together a Kale salad recipe that I think is as good as any Californian Vegan Hippy Dippy Chef would make. Maybe even a little better....but that's for you to decide. Enjoy Ya'll.

California Style Kale Salad with "Goddess" Dressing

1 bag of kale stems removed or 1 bunch kale stems removed both options cut into small pieces or ribbons
2 small carrots shredded
4 radishes sliced thinly
2 tablespoon sesame seeds white/black mixed
10 oz baby bella mushrooms quartered and lightly sauteed and cooled and drained
1/2 medium red onion finely diced
1 bunch mint leaves finely chopped
1 bunch parsley finally chopped
2 green onions diced on a bias
1/4 cup crushed parmesan croutons or toasts ( optional leave out if you want this salad gluten free)

Mix all ingredients except sesame seeds and green onion pieces in a big salad bowl and toss generously with "goddess" dressing, garnish the top with the sesame seeds and the green onions.

"Goddess Dressing"

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Tahini paste (plain)
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
5 whole green onions chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce (if you have it)
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons dried parsley leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
  water as needed to thin out if desired

Place everything in a food processor and blend till smooth
Will keep covered for up to two weeks in the fridge

Truly the Best and Easiest Mac n Cheese Recipe on the Planet. It's A Little Crazy!

                                                   
                                                    The Best and Easiest Baked Mac N Cheese


OK. As I have said before there is almost nothing I love more than a great Mac N Cheese. I mean I am a little obsessed. I admit it. And there are as many Mac N Cheese recipes out there as there are wannabe rock stars and movie stars in New York and Hollywood combined. I have been all over the country and I can tell you that there are a lot of recipes and good ones at that out there. But replicating that really good restaurant chef quality experience at home, that's the trick. It's a lot of work right?

Now everyone has their own version of Mac N Cheese which they remember, make or buy. I think everyone conjours up different visions of what Mac n Cheese looks like for them and how they envision the best Mac n Cheese. Regardless of your preference it all comes down four principles of Mac n Cheese I believe. Those four principles are creamy, crusty, tangy, cheesy. In probably conjours up an image like this...

I mean doesn't that look good? My viewpoint is I want Mac and I don't want to have to wait for it. But what to do if you don't have time and you don't want to use the "Box"?

My family was never a big Mac n Cheese family. I learned to love it from going to my relatives. My Aunt Lucille made what I thought was the best Mac n Cheese is the world. She would make it for big family gatherings at her house. It was a classic old school southern baked version with plenty of cheese a creamy sauce and lots of eggs. My Aunt Martha made one I believe and also my Aunt Doris. But my Mother and Grandmother were never big on it. When we had it I think it mostly came out of a box and was just a snack for lunch or something. In retrospect that was odd given they made a lot of noodle dishes but that was really never one of them.

However, I think my real love for Mac n Cheese began in college. The Dining hall at James Madison University or D-Hall as we referred to it put out some really incredible food. One of the dishes that made it's way often into the steam table on the buffet was a Mac N Cheese like none I had ever had. So creamy and yet so substantial I fell in love with it. And I indulged in it as often as they would have it on the menu board. Usually served on Fridays when they also served fried fish it was a staple of my roommate's and mine freshman year.

Since then moving back to Charleston, one would see Mac N Cheese everywhere. I mean it's the South, we consider it a vegetable! However, it was not until I moved to New York City that the dish became somewhat of a culinary show piece in the dining scene. Comfort food became a "thing" here in New York in the late 1990's. It was a genre of food that while plebeian in it's truest form, somehow captured the culinary imagination of New Yorkers. You know it created that  feeling of "Oh look I'm eating a little bit of the small town homey goodness and look, this country style simplicity has come to the big city and makes me feel better! Yay!".  In other words it was a fad. Well fads come and go but the restaurant Mac N Cheese NYC love affair has endured.

Now I love restaurant style Mac n Cheese. One of the hall marks of  a restaurant style Mac n Cheese is that it is almost always freshly made. No gloppy luke warm squares cut out of a chaffing dish and stood up like wall paper paste on your plate.

So as I have looked for a home version I have always thought it must be one that can be served right away and fresh. I mean if you are gong to serve Mac n Cheese make it the meal and serve it with a salad and be done. I mean...Yum!

The other thing about a home version I think is that it should be easy. So many have you make a white sauce. fold in cheese, boil pasta on and on and on.  Now I have a version on the blog for stove top Mac N Cheese. It uses one pot and is very easy. But it is not the Mac n Cheese of my dreams, all crusted with cheese hot from the oven browned and bubbling. It's awesome, but I wanted more.

So this is how I came up with this recipe. One day I was looking around for a recipe for zucchini casserole and came across my cousin's squash casserole recipe that used cottage cheese and milk and eggs to basically make a custard.

Then I remembered a recipe I had read in the New York Times that had talked about using Cottage Cheese as a binder in Mac N Cheese. In the article they also talked about not having to boil the pasta. Well that made sense given I know now that you don't have to boil Lasagna Noodles. They cook right in the sauce. So this became interesting.

 The one pot Mac n Cheese used milk to cook the pasta in and make it creamy. What if you did that in the oven. Well I tried it and it worked. I mean it really worked.

So here is the recipe based partly on the New York Times article and partly on my cousins squash casserole recipe and partly on my one pot Mac n Cheese recipe. It is so close to perfect I don't know what else to say. And it's easy!

So give it a try and enjoy, Ya'll

Forrest's Best Ever Easy Mac N Cheese

1 cup full fat Cottage Cheese
2 cups whole milk
6 oz of marscapone cheese
1 teaspoons Coleman's Dry Mustard Powder
1 teaspoons Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cayenne pepper or Hungarian Hot Paprika
1 lb and 3 oz freshly grated Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 pound of Elbow Pasta noodles dry
2 tablespoons butter

Method:

In a blender mix the first 7 ingredients till smooth
In a large bowl mix 3/4 of the Cheddar cheese
along with the milk mixture add in the Parmesan cheese and dry noodles
mix well
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Pour contents of mixing bowl into a medium ( 9x9) baking dish (or divide among several small crocks)
or medium iron skillet
Cover with foil and bake for 30 mins

Uncover, top with remaining cheese and dot with the butter and bake another thirty minutes till bubbling! 

Let sit for a few minutes and then enjoy Ya'll! 

Purple Parmesan Mashed Potatoes, Easter Colors and the Pocono Mountain House DInner

The Pocono mountains are beautiful in the early spring when the weather warms and kisses the trees with bright green buds of spring. And the world slowly wakes from it's winter slumber and life feels lighter and more alive. This is the season of Easter and as Easter is a celebration of the rising from death to life again so the Spring reminds us as a metaphor for the message of Easter that renewal brings fresh things to life and that new opportunity awaits us.

Several years back my very talented and dear friend Tony Parise bought a home in the Poconos and we would go up to visit it and spend long wonderful weekends cooking, eating, drinking, talking, telling stories, and generally having a relaxed wonderful time. Both of us were at a place in our individual lives where a little renewal was in order. And wonderful dinners and cocktails on the long summer evenings, seated al fresco on the deck beneath a blanket of twinkle lights and candles, seemed to be some of the best therapy we could have asked for.

I have great memories of those weekends. Long talks and long walks through the woods and around the lake. Trips to Bushkill falls, antique shops and outlet shopping. We would always cook up delicious meals and we even celebrated several holidays there as well. One such holiday meals I remember was an Easter dinner that was as colorful as it was delicious. Tony was quite the food stylist and meals with him had to look as good as they tasted. So it was with this easter dinner.

On the menu were amongst other things a roasted ham, purple mashed potatoes, buttered carrot coins , spring peas, onions and sauteed lettuces, and a yellow squash casserole. The ham was an incredible thing but it was the side dishes with all the colors of easter right on the table that took the spotlight. Each of these dishes were really easy to prepare and came together for our easter meal.

Now as I have stated before I LOVE mashed potatoes! They are simply some of the best things you could put in your mouth. I had never seen blue or purple potatoes before I lived in NYC. I understand you can get them many places now but they instantly became fascinating to me. I loved the color and the nutty flavors. Very interesting indeed. This recipe could not be easier. It's a bit of a play on potato salad but come out delish when made this way. I simple mash the potatoes with butter, blend in some milk and some white potato instant flakes to lighten the color and give them more depth of flavor. Then I add Parmesan cheese which pairs well with the nutty flavor of the potatoes and a bit of mayonaise to give them that extra silken touch and luscious mouth feel. Chopped chives add color and a slight oniony backdrop. All in all delish! If you want a different potato dish for your dinner this is the one to try! Goes well with Ham or the Bird or the Beef or the Lamb. So you can't lose! Enjoy Ya'll!

Purple Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
serves 4

2 to 3  lbs purple or Peruvian Potatoes
1/2 cup potato flakes instant
1 cup warm milk
4 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons mayo
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 small bunch chives finely chopped

Skin and Slice potatoes into pieces
Boil in a large pot of water about 20 to 30 mins until fork tender, drain well reserve warm
Next add flakes to potaotes and add butter and milk mash together and stir till well combined adding water if the flakes need more liquid till smooth and creamy
Add cheese and mayo and stir should tighten up but if too loose add more flakes if to tight add water.
Add chives and stir reserving a few for garnish
Place in a serving bowl and serve right away while hot or reserve and reheat.
Garnish with chives and serve enjoy!

New American Cooking, Smokey Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Horseradish and Sour Cream

OK. So Thanksgiving is over. But the holidays are just beginning and if you are like me you are getting ready to find a way to perk up those dinners you might be having for friends and or your family which celebrate the season.

There are all the usual suspects to be found on my Thanksgiving dinner table. The turkey, dressing (aka Stuffing), you know all the regulars, but I have an aversion to one of the mainstays of the holiday table. The sweet potato! Well, that is till this year. You may well ask why do I not enjoy the potato of sweet with it's brilliant orange color and deep sweet flavor. Eh...who knows but I guess it has to do with liking regular potatoes so much I can't imagine sweet potatoes taking their place. But as I said this year was different.

Now the sweet potato is probably one of the earliest indigenous foods that the Pilgrims took over from the Indians when they landed in the New World. Sweet potatoes were a mainstay in the Indian diet all over South, Central and North America but it would have been one of the crops that the settlers saw and tasted along with corn that they saw themselves also planting. So needless to say in the early part of the culinary history of our country the sweet potato was pretty common. Sweet potatoes are not Yams and should not be confused with them. Yams were brought to this country by Christopher Columbus to his credit, and are from Africa. It was not until the rise of the white potato that Americans crossed over into eating the sweet potato as an afterthought. Mostly popular in the American South sweet potatoes graced the tables of my family my whole life. And I never really liked them. "Healthy", "Good for You", were all phrases attached to this vegetable's name. ( tell a kid that and it's never a good thing) And for me the worse part was... they were sweet. And while I like a little dessert now and then, I have already discussed how I would rather eat a bag of doritos over a gallon of ice cream, so I definitely did not enjoy the sweet flavor aspect at all.

As an adult I have come to appreciate the sweet potato for it's place in the culinary pantheon, but I still would rather eat creamy salty buttery white mashed potatoes any day! Also while I do enjoy a traditional preparation of the sweet potato as a casserole, it is cloyingly sweet and seems to almost be a dessert. However, this Thanksgiving it was requested that I make sweet mashed potatoes. So I did. However, I decided to try them the way I have prepared white mashed potatoes before, that is with savory ingredients. And I have to say... I not only liked them, I loved them! I used sour cream as the dairy element and I used Horseradish as the flavor choice. I also used a touch of my favorite secret ingredient liquid smoke as a background flavor and a touch of honey to compliment the sweet in the sweet potatoes. They came out really well and were a huge hit during the meal. In fact two people took them home with them. So here's the recipe. maybe you can mix it up a bit this season and find a little savory in your sweet.

Smokey Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Horseradish and Sour Cream

3 pounds of sweet potatoes washed peeled and cut into chunks
1 cup dairy sour cream
1/2 jar prepared horseradish (more or less depending on the potency and your taste)
1 1/2 Tablespoons honey
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
1 Tablespoon black pepper
4 drops to start with of liquid smoke add more after you taste the potatoes, it should be a background flavor so keep that in mind or it will end up tasting like charcoal!

Boil the sweet potatoes in highly salted water till they pierce easily with a fork about 25 mins.
Drain well and rinse again with warm water to drain off some of the excess starch
Mash roughly
Add sour cream
Mash into the potatoes
Stir in the Horseradish and the honey and season well to taste, you might want to add more salt and pepper. Add in the liquid smoke and taste, add more to your liking if necessary! Enjoy!

Better than Hillstone's Loaded Potato, Super Stuffed Twice Baked Potatoes with Attitude

As many of you who are reading this know I have a slight compulsion with starch. I mean I love it! It's the glue that ties all meals together. It's a safe bet to assume that where there's starch there's flavor. Which is what brings me to today's entry.

Another slight obsession of mine is dining at the Hillstone ( aka Houston's) restaurant chains. Not obsession, just a preference perhaps, but my love of their food, service and atmosphere is shared by many. They have in their repertoire an astoundingly good baked potato. Perfectly prepared and served up "loaded" with butter, sour cream, bacon, white vermont cheddar cheese, and scallions. Amazing. In fact I recently took a friend there and he commented that it might be the best baked potato he had ever had. This may be true for me as well. It is first off HUGE! Then perfectly baked, and perfectly topped and they give you double toppings if you want! Cause that's heathy! Well OK it's not but it sure as shooting is good once and awhile.

                                                  Loaded Potato at Hillstone in NYC


Well you know I like to take things a bit further than they are done elsewhere. So on with the story.

In my travels I came across the twice baked potato which was brought to my attention at a young age while eating at an Naval Officers Club in Hawaii (story for another day) and I thought it was the best idea in the world! Well, these potatoes were baked split in half and then stuffed with their loaded mashed insides and baked covered in cheese. Wow, were they were good. I have over the course of time made twice baked potatoes many times before. And I have always halved them like with the blue cheese stuffed baked potatoes I blogged about in an earlier entry.

However, the other day it occurred to me it might be tasty to serve them up stuffed but the whole thing, like a double stuffed loaded potato. So that's what I did. Taking the whole potato I baked it, spilt it open, scooped out the flesh, mashed it with all the "loaded" toppings, re-stuffed the potato and served it with a sprinkle of cheese and more scallions for color. And can I tell you it was da Bomb! So good.

So this Summer when you are serving up baked potatoes with your grilled deliciousness, try these decadent beauties. Enjoy Ya'll!!

Forrest's Double Stuffed Jacket Potatoes

4 giant Idaho Baking potatoes
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup non fat greek yogurt
1/2 cup dairy sour cream plus 1/2 cup for garnish reserved
4 tablespoons chopped bacon
1 cup shredded white extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded extra sharp yellow cheddar cheese
Salt and Pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 cup chopped green onion
plus 1/4 cup for garnish
2 teaspoons veg. oil
Sea course salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Wash and scrub potatoes till clean
Rub with the oil and sprinkle with the sea salt
Pierce with a folk several times
Place potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet
Bake in the oven for 50 to 60 mins until soft when pierce by a fork
Turn down oven to 300
Remove and cool
Once cool enough sliced the potato's very top off exposing the flesh inside.
Carefully scoop out the insides being careful not to break the skin
Mash the potato with all the remaining ingredients except for the garnish items ( yellow cheese and extra green onions)
Carefully re-stuff each potato till flowing over and puffed out on the top
Replace potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet
Bake for about 25 mins till warmed through
Remove sprinkle with the remaining  sour cream, yellow cheese and green onion, enjoy!!

Super Southern One Stop Easy Mac N Cheese

It's not a super surprising thing for me to admit I suppose, but making great Mac n Cheese is something of an obsession of mine. I mean, I love Mac n Cheese like something a little crazy. I am obsessed with finding the best and making the best. I have my favorite restaurant versions here in NYC. For example, I think the Mac n Cheese at 44Xth or Forty Four and Tenth, on tenth ave and 44th street in Manhattan is one of the best mac N Cheeses in the city. My friend Fred Tessler of the Denver Tessler's thinks that French Roast on sixth Ave in the village has the best Mac n Cheese. And other's have their opionions. In my travels across the country I think the best Mac N Cheese I have had are the homemade varieties which crafted with love and caring are beyond what a restaurant can produce. Growing up in a big old southern family I can remember big casseroles of bubbling Mac N Cheese served up on family holiday feast tables, and on lazy Sunday afternoons for "supper". Baked Mac N Cheese seems to be the favorite of many. And there are as many methods and disputes as to what method delivers the best product as there are cooks. Should there be a white sauce base or no sauce base? What should be the topper or no topper? What kinds of cheese are best and what noodles are preferable are all discussion points people have about making Mac!

Everyone has their own version of Mac N Cheese which they remember, make or buy. I think everyone conjours up different visions of what Mac n Cheese looks like for them and how they envision the best Mac n Cheese. Regardless of your preference it all comes down four principles of Mac n Cheese I believe. Those four principles are creamy, crusty, tangy, cheesy. In probably conjours up an image like this...

I mean doesn't that look good? My view point is I want Mac and I don't want to have to wait for it. But what to do if you don't have time and you don't want to use the "Box"?

Well here's an easy way to get there. I sort of changed this to a 2 pot method of cooking from the original "one Pot" version. I was told about this cooking method by a friend I thought it sounded to good to be true but upon looking around online a found that the concept of a "One Pot" Mac n Cheese was definitely out there already. But like most things I wanted to put my own spin on it.  It's sort of gives you the feel of the baked Mac but the ease of doing it all in one pot. So here's this week's recipe. Super Easy Cheesy Mac N Cheese. Enjoy Ya'll.

Forrest's "Best Ever" Super Easy Cheesy Mac N Cheese!! ( Make this tonight it's so good and easy!)
Makes 8 to 10 servings

4 cups large elbow macaroni, uncooked (about 1 lb)
4 1/2 cups low fat milk
3 Teaspoons mustard powder
4 teaspoons salt
4 Tbsp butter
3 tsp garlic powder
dash of nutmeg
1 1/2 cup grated Yellow Extra Sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup grated Cotswold Cheese
Plus 1/2 cup grated Yellow Cheddar for the top
Salt and black pepper to taste


Place raw elbow macaroni in colander and quickly rinse under water to rinse off the excess starch and soften the noodles. Let drain.   In a large sauce pan, add milk, raw elbow macaroni, salt, butter, mustard powder and garlic powder.  On medium heat, slowly bring milk/macaroni mixture to a simmer, stirring the macaroni frequently as it comes up to a simmer. You will need to stir the macaroni to keep them from sticking together. Do not leave the pot unattended as milk will come to a boil very quickly and boil over.

Once the pasta and milk come to a high simmer, turn down  the heat to low. Stir frequently. Cook for about 15-20 minutes or until milk is almost absorbed but still wet and creamy. If macaroni is not cooked fully, keep adding more milk until macaroni is fully cooked.

When milk has evaporated, stir in grated cheese of your choice. Stir the cheese evenly into the macaroni.  Turn off heat. Place lid on top of pan and cover for about 5 minutes and stir to mix well.


Place the hot contents in a oven to table serving bowl or individual baking dishes which can be placed under a broiler. Cover with the remaining cheddar and place under the broiler till the top in browned and beautiful and crunchy. Serve immediately. 

Dirty Martini Salad a Salty Indulgence for the Summer!!

OK. I know that salt is both a boone and a bane to modern man. I mean salt has preserved, flavored and finished foods for centuries. Our bodies need it to function. But too much of it is a bad thing, especially nowadays with so much added salt added to everything we eat in this country. And yet still I love a good salty indulgence. It's that part of me that will always favor a salty snack over a sweet one.

I have had the opportunity over the last several years to go out to folks houses and prepare some great summer meals for them. This summer will prove to be the same I hope. I also come up with special recipes for entertaining during the summer on my roof deck. It's so awesome to be up there in the summer when my neighbors are not. And they rarely use the buildings roof, ah well more for me!

Two years ago I was invited out to Jersey to my friends John and Mike's house for a impromptu cookout. John asked me if I could bring a salad. I of course said yes. But time go the better of me that weekend with work being busy and Sunday morning I found myself looking at a bus trip in an hour and nothing prepared of even really though through. So I did what I always do, I looked in the fridge to see what I had on hand. After observing the goods, lettuce, green olives, red onion, and blue cheese, I came up with a crazy idea. I had been making martini's the night before for a client and it dawned on me then that I love to eat the marinaded blue cheese stuffed olives while I am drinking my Martini. The salty bomb of flavor just is so satisfying, even as the martini with it's bitter edge and sweet undertones strikes a contrast with the salty pungnet flavor of the olives and is in a word...divine.

So I thought about how I would make this flavor combination come to life in a salad. And it struck me, just mix all the elements into the salad and add a few things to give it texture and contrast and how could that be bad. So that's what I did. I chiffonaded the greens and I chopped the olives. I made a dressing out of sour cream blue cheese and vermouth with a little bit of spices, olive juice and vinegar. I added both chopped red onion and French Fried Onions form the can for spice and I crushed up some Parmesan Crisps I had into little chards to add crunch. It all came together beautifully and I had people asking for the recipe at the end of the afternoon.

So I give you this recipe for your summer party time. Shaken or stirred it's a winner! Enjoy Ya'll

Forrest's Dirty Martini Salad

2 Hearts of Romaine lettuce chopped into chiffonade
1 head of tuscan or black kale ribs removed and chopped into fine chiffonade
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 table spoon water
sprinkle of salt
8 oz blue cheese crumbled
1 carton on dairy sour cream
3 tablespoon olive juice from the jar
2 tablespoon vermouth (dry)
2 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon powdered garlic
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup water
1 small jar of green stuffed olives chopped into slices
1 large can French's brand french fried onion pieces ( 1/4 cup held in reserve for garnish)
1 small red onion chopped
1 package Eli's brand parmesan crisps slightly crushed into bite sized chards

In a bowl add chopped kale lemon juice and 1 tablespoon water and a dash of salt, toss and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes

In a mixing bowl add the next 7 seven ingredients and whisk to combine and dilute with the water a little bit at a time till your dressing had you desired consistency. ( mine is runny but lumpy)

To serve: Add lettuce and kale to a large mixing or salad bowl
Add the olives, both kinds of onion and the parmesan crisps
Add dressing to taste and toss till well coated. Top with freshly ground pepper and reserved french fried onion pieces. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving's Summer Vegetable Casserole Cousin

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I mean go figure. It's in the fall when the seasons have turned and the chill in the air is whispering that the holiday season is near. It's a historical holiday which has it's roots in the story of the Pilgrims and their struggle to find a home here in the new world. And it's a blow out crazy foodie fest day of unrivaled proportions! A day of feasting and celebrating the bounty of the world and the graces given to us. It is a spiritual moment in which we reflect upon all that we have and all that we should be grateful for. It is in short a perfect holiday!

Now many dishes are well known as part of the Thanksgiving menu landscape. Mashed Potatoes, Green bean casserole, Sweet Potatoes glazed or mashed and swirled with bourbon and brown sugar, and of course the Bird are all dishes which we have come to expect in one form or another on the groaning board of our feasting holiday tablescape. These dishes especially the vegetable side dishes are the normally the favorite dishes in both cooks arsenals and in eaters menu choices. I mean who doesn't love Green bean Casserole! Well, there are some. However, many have now tried to reimagine the famous casserole taking it to new and interesting places and new taste and texture and ingredient frontiers.

Which brings us to the dish at hand. What does summer yellow squash casserole have to do with Thanksgiving you might ask. Well in the South it is sometimes served along with other vegetable casseroles as one of the holiday evenings feasting dishes. Indeed I have it every Christmas Eve at my Aunt Beverly's house! However, it is not where I first encountered it. No it was in the summer time in South Carolina on my Big Mama's lunch table. Warm, bubbly, buttery and full of fresh summer squash goodness! My oh My! Was it ever good. It was served with  steamed fresh beans or corn  and sometimes it was maybe the only other thing on the table that was warm. Served along green beans and a platter of sliced ham,  with fresh slices of big ruby juicy tomatoes and cornbread and butter, this casserole was wonderful.

Yellow Crooked Neck Squash or the Yellow Summer Squash are southern vegetable favorites. Easy to grown and voluminous in the amount of food the plants yield it is normal in my mind that along with zucchini it is a staple of the summer table. Vegetables are a huge part of the traditional Southern diet. Something we don't normally acknowledge when we think about Southern food. But even the "Meat n Three" served up at old school Southern restaurants or diners it tribute to how important vegetables were in the traditional Southern diet. Now one must admit that the old school manner in which many of these vegetables were prepared ( i.e. boiled to death)  was not the best preparation. but they were a major part of the diet. Back when "Mac n Cheese" was not a vegetable, as it is often joked about being today in the South.  Squash Casserole is one of those in between dishes. It has many incarnations and it has many varied ingredients but the key is the things that go into it must elevate the lowly squash to culinary nirvana. In short it's a favor bomb born of butter and fat! Yeah Vegetables!

Today's recipe is certainly not one of those newly redone modern takes on vegetables. Oh no! However, as part of a meal balanced with fresh or freshly prepared foods it takes it place as the succulent side dish of the Summer table. It is in short the fatty, yummy dish that while it could, in it's goodness, grace the Thanksgiving Table. It remains a staple of the Summer when fresh vegetables are the center of the table's focus and the bounty of the garden is the fodder of the kitchen's counter. So when you are preparing your summer meals give it a try. It could not be easier and as part of a balanced menu it is that side that indulges that part of us which wants Thanksgiving everyday, even in the middle of the Summer! Enjoy Ya'll

Squash Casserole ala Renee ( Old Family Recipe)

1 pound yellow crookneck squash, cooked and mashed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup grated extra sharp cheese
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 egg, beaten
1 stick butter, melted
1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

Combine squash, onion, cheese, sugar, salt, pepper, mayonnaise and egg in a large mixing bowl. Stir to mix well. Pour into a greased 2 quart baking dish or 6 individual baking dishes.

Combine melted butter and crushed Ritz crackers in a medium size mixing bowl. Stir with a fork to combine.

Sprinkle cracker mixture over casserole. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before serving, Enjoy!

Between Soup and Side...French Onion Casserole

When I was in college I lived with some very interesting folks. You see I attended JMU or James Madison University in the late 80's and I had a very interesting time there. You see the town where JMU was located, Harrisonburg, was rather...well small. In every sense of the word. It has since grown and expanded and the University I went to is hardly recognizable any longer it's gotten so large. But trust me when I say it was not the intellectual or cultural mecca I had thought college should be, nor was it located in a town which fostered say...anything beyond the Baptist church.

However, Harrisonburg or "the Burg" as we called it had pockets of interesting and free thinking people. It was just hard to find them. Of course I was always on the search for them. I found them in the Music and Art departments and I found them in the school of hospitality. Creativity comes in many forms and across many disciplines.

 One of my friends Stevie in college was very creative. She had a knack for making up foods that were representations of themselves but not really the dish itself. She was from rural southern Virginia and had grown up eating very limited foods. In college she learned to experiment with both art and food! For example she loved to make casseroles. She loved to make casseroles out of dishes that were not casseroles at all. For example she would take sandwiches like a reuben and make a casserole out of it with corned beef and sour kraut and rye bread and cheese and somehow make a sauce and put it all together and bake it and voila! Casserole Rueben!

Well one day she challenged me to make a casserole out of whatever was in the fridge at the time. There were onions and swiss cheese and parmesan cheese. I also had beef stock and croutons. So I made soup...sort of. And this is how this recipe first came into being. It's not really a main dish casserole I will admit but as a side to pan roasted chicken thighs it can't be beat. It's got all the elements of the classic French onion soup but placed in another form, hence casserole. Give it a try, I am sure you will like it! Enjoy!!

Forrest's French Onion Casserole:
makes four servings

5 to 6 Medium Onions sliced
3 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 cup Beef Broth
1/4 cup Sherry ( always have sherry on hand in the house)
S&P
1 1/4 cups garlic flavored salad coutons
4 tablespoons butter melted
1 cup Shredded Swiss Cheese
1/3 cup Shredded Parmesan

Method:


Saute onions in butter till they start to turn a lovely golden color
Add in the flour and stir in the beef broth.
Add sherry and season to taste with the salt and pepper
Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter and toss with the croutons
Place into a oven proof pan and top with the croutons
Sprinkle with the cheeses and place under a broiler until the cheese melts
About 2 mins don't brown too long or the croutons may become hard and chewy
Serve as a side dish

St. Patty's Potato Joy... Potatoes Colcannon

I love mashed potatoes. They are probably on the scale of one to ten in the top 9 percentile of the foods I love. I have had them in so many ways I cannot even tell you. My friend John makes them with rosemary and lots of cream cheese. I love them loaded like at Vickery's my favorite bar restaurant in Charleston, and I love them whipped into perfection with lots of butter and cream like at a fine French restaurant.

So it only makes sense that at some point I would talk about mashed potatoes. And since it is St. Patricks Day and everyone in the world is offering up a dish for the holiday I decided to get in the swing and offer up one that might be a little fun.

Now I am supposedly a little Irish on some level, what with my father's family coming from the English and German stock they did. Irish is always in the mix there somewhere I suppose. But whether or not one is Irish or not St. Patricks Day is a fun and rowdy time for all. And a time to enjoy some of the fine dishes that that country has brought to these shores.

It is a little funny to me though, that my introduction to this very Irish dish was through a very American restaurant called the Cherry Creek Grill in Denver, Colorado. Cherry Creek Grill is a member of the Hillstone corporation family of restaurants.Now I don't know how many of you know this, but the Hillstone Corporation is a never ending source of interest for me. Not just because I love to eat there, but also because they have succeeded where many other chain restaurant companies have failed in creating excellent and fresh menus at price points that keep people coming back. They serve food which, as a colleague of mine puts it, is what people want to eat! I was on tour with Cameron MacIntosh's "Oliver" National tour, and we sat down in Denver. A guy I knew in Denver took me to dinner at the Cherry Creek Grill and I had the potatoes colcannon there for the first time. And I have to say they were awesome. Creamy and rich mashed potatoes mixed with sauteed cabbage and onions and lots of butter. Yum!

Now Potatoes Colcannon or "white headed potatoes" as there are known from lore in Ireland are a dish which normally contains potatoes and cabbage and onions and maybe scallions and of course loads of butter! So when I set out from that point I thought about what I do and don't enjoy about the idea of cooked cabbage. I think maybe it's from having too much boiled cabbage growing up but I sort of don't fancy it. However, I am intrigued by how the two elements of mashed potato and the cooked cabbage made such a great dish when I first tried it at that Hillstone restaurant. However I knew after all this time and the foodie things I have experienced that if I were to make them, I could up the anty.

My thought processes about this made me think about two things. I have read that colcannon can be made with Kale. I like Kale. So I thought why not work with that. The second thing I thought about was that I like green foods. So if I were to make colcannon I would like it to be a little more green than the version I had at Cherry Creek Grill. Now I have expressed before in the blog my love of colored foods. Foods that take on a different color shade due to some emulsion of another food or addition of herbs etc. are so great to me. Great to me from a taste standpoint first, but also from a composition standpoint when talking about putting foods together on a plate. So I wanted to make a greener spicey and more flavorful version of the dish I loved so much when I had it the first time, whew...not a short order!! Cause why.....Hillstone rocks but here it goes!!

My first inclination was to take example from one of the Chefs at work who created gorgeous green basil ( not pesto ) whipped potatoes a couple of years back for the Spring menu that year. He told me the trick was to blanche the basil so that even when it was added to the warm potatoes it would retain it's green color and not turn a pasty brown. An old culinary trick but an effective one. Next I thought about my ingredient list. I already had the Kale, but why stop there. So I added for the onion more green power, leeks and scallions. And for a bit of a kick a bit of garlic for even more added fun. For the consistency I decided that buttermilk would do a better job and flavor than just cream and of course lots of butter.

To insure the dish had both color and texture I decided that blanching the greens quickly then pureeing them with some buttermilk and butter would be the emulsion that would color and flavor my colcannon nicely. Then for some texture a few reserved scallions for garnish as well as a big "knob" of butter to finish off the dish. Sounds yummy. You bet! So enjoy trying this and Happy St Patty's Day.

Potatoes Colcannon with Leeks and Kale

Ingredients
4 or 5 good sized Yukon gold or golden yellow potatoes scrubbed and diced into pieces
handful of salt
2 leeks cleaned light green and white parts only
2 cups chopped kale packed tightly
1 large bunch scallions thinly sliced on the bias 1/2 cup reserved for garnish
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
1 stick butter cut up
1 tablespoon minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Place potatoes in a heavy bottomed pot with salt and bring to a boil
Cook till potatoes are easily pierced with a fork
Then remove from heat and hold warm.
Meanwhile bring another pot of water to a boil
Prepare an ice bath in a large bowl.
Add kale and leeks and blanche quickly until the kale turns bright green then remove from the boiling water  about 4 to 5 mins and place into an ice bath in a large bowl to stop the cooking.
Drain on paper towels and set aside.
Place greens into a blender with the scallions and blend with 1/4 cup buttermilk and 1/4 stick of room temperature butter
Blend until pureed and still a little chunky (ie. not thin think texture).
Open potato pot lid and add the emulsion mashing the potatoes until mashed add sour cream and 1/4 stick butter salt and pepper to taste and the garlic.
Mash and stir till well combined. If not loose enough add the buttermilk a little bit at a time till you have the consistency of whipped mashed potatoes.

To serve place the potatoes in a large serving bowl and garnish with the remaining butter and scallions or serve in small bowls and place a knob of butter in each and garnish with the scallions.

Enjoy!!

The Greener Version of Cole Slaw

I love cole slaw. Well not all cole slaw I like all cole slaw that doesn't come out of a can or a tub in the refrigerator section of the deli. I mean ok,  there is one exception and guilty pleasure. I love the cole slaw from the Colonel. Yes I said it....KFC. I love the cole slaw from Kentucky Fried Chicken. I had this whole discussion with the previous chef at work about how it was really amazing. However, it is not the slaw of choice on my table.

No the cole slaw I love is a simple yet tasty one and comes from my attempt to make slaw one afternoon when all I had were a head of green cabbage and some herbs. I found myself with out any red cabbage or carrots which are normally in cole slaw. So I thought, lets try a color coded cole slaw.

I have been very interested in foods that have a strong color profile and can stand next to other foods and make then look really good. I mean strong color contrast without shades of different colors involved. For example, asparagus or green beans when cooked to a brilliant green can off set a piece of chicken or beef quite nicely and complement them on the plate. So I began to think about side dishes that could be more monochromatic and do the same thing. Cole Slaw always has a milky multicolored quailty, not a strong color. So what if you changed that so that it was green and vibrant like beans can be. That would mean reducing or changing the ingredients so that it has one color. So I chose Green. I suppose it could be red as well since red cabbage has great color too, but I had green cabbage that day so that's where I ended up.

So the thing about a good coleslaw and why KFC's coleslaw is so good it the contrast it has between the creamy, the salty, the vinegary, and the sweet. It is really well balanced. So I wanted the same thing. But I wanted it to also be monochromatic.  So this is what I did.

Forrest's House Recipe Cole Slaw with Pickle Relish and Green Herbs
Makes 4 to 6 servings depending on the eaters!

Take 1/2 head of firm Green Cabbage shredded
1 bunch flat leaf parsley finely chopped
1 bundle of chives finely chopped
1 bunch green onion finely chopped
2 tablespoons Dill pickle relish
2 tablespoons Sweet pickle relish
1/2 cup mayonnaise ( I use Dukes, but you can use the H Word)
6 tablespoons dill pickle juice
1 tablespoon Black pepper
salt to taste

Place everything in a bowl and mix well.
That's it, enjoy it!!

Kiss my Stone Ground Cheese Grits

Ok lets talk grits. I mean when you think of southern cooking you certainly talk about grits. Amongst the myriad of southern foods out there grits are probably in the top ten food items most identified as southern.   I think that some of my earliest food memories center around breakfasts at home. I can still smell breakfast cooking in our home as a little boy on saturday mornings. Weekends meant one of three things in our house growing up. It meant pancakes or waffles or french toast for breakfast before church. But the regular week day breakfast morning was reserved for eggs and grits. In fact I think we ate eggs and grits and bacon or sausage for breakfast growing up more than we ever ate oatmeal or cereal. Much to the chagrin of my mother who was always trying to get us to be healthy. Well what we maybe missed out in health we made up in happiness! And as far as I am concerned happy people are healthy people a lot of the times.

Now grits are the people's food. They were the food of farmers and plantation workers alike. Free and slave, everyone on a plantation or farm started the day the same way. A big bowl of grits some fat back or bacon and some eggs and coffee or milk. These were a staple of the people in the south and as history marched forward grits became a cheap and stable element in the southern diet. This was especially true of the poor and the black communities. That's why when you go to north to Milwaukee or  west to Denver you still get grits offered at BBQ joints and even diners in parts of town. Grits became part and parlance of the south. I love the expression used to describe someone who's found to be totally boring. "He is as bland as grits without salt and cheese!!" It's pretty descriptive given that if you don't salt grits at the outset of cooking them you never really get them salted.

Now grits are prepared and presented in so many ways it makes your head spin. There are whole cookbooks dedicated to the might Grit and the fillings, toppings, sauces, condiments and uses they have. But today we are talking about plain old cheese grits.

So to make really good grits, you have to start with....really good grits. Not that the old Quaker grits you find in the grocery store won't do in a pinch, but there are better. And never make instant grits they are not good!  In fact if you can find stone ground grits from a small grits producer in the south somewhere, have them mailed to you. Just look online. There are plenty. So that being said the next thing is what you cook them in. You can use water. It's the go to thing, however if you want to up the ante, chicken stock, seafood stock, vegetable stock, mushroom stock, milk or cream can be used to cook the grits in. Then what you put in them is the next thing. Some folks like a grated cheese, some like just butter, others like a soft cheese or salty meat like ham or bacon. Whatever you pick make sure that it has flavor. The worst is when you are excited by the way that the grits flavoring is described and it ends up tasting like nothing. The last thing is salt. Grits need salt to be flavorful. Just be careful how much you salt them if you are putting in a very salty cheese. They should be salted though, never plain, or even a really salty cheese won't stand up to them.

So here's the basics you need to know.

For every cup of uncooked grits you will need 4 cups of liquid. a tablespoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of butter. You should boil the liquid and when you add the grits pour them in slowly and use a whisk to stir them into the liquid. Then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook them 20 to 30 mins on low stirring every 4 to 6 mins. You MUST stir or the grits will gravitate to the bottom of the pan and burn.

After that you can add in anything you want. I like a strong aged gouda-like cheese better than cheddar normally. I mean there are plenty of cheeses you can add just pick one you like. Stir it in till melted and there you go, cheese grits!

And that's about it. So get out there and make some grits and I promise you will be loving them! Enjoy Ya'll!