Sapphire

We got a very rare date night a few weeks ago and ended up at Sapphire located in the Factory at Franklin.  Sapphire boasts locally grown products in an “intimate restaurant with an urban feel”.  We ended up being seated very close to a few other tables, so it did not quite feel as intimate, but the food was fantastic and the decor was definitely  upscale Southern.

Dinner began with a New South Caesar salad.  The salad had country ham and Parmesan cheese over chopped romaine lettuce.  It was drizzled with buttermilk Caesar dressing and blackstrap molasses. Now, if you don’t like blackstrap molasses and ham, this is probably not for you, but I thought this salad was genius.  The components melded together well and really screamed Southern cuisine.

I selected the Southern Belle Plate, which basically meant I could pick any four sides and sample them.  I chose the green bean shallot saute, turnip greens, white cheddar mac and cheese, and stone ground grits with a creole meuniere.  The turnip greens were a little spicier than I expected, but they were done quite well.  The green beans were pleasantly crunchy and the cheddar mac and cheese was fantastic.  My favorite was the grits. It never occurred to me to add a meniere sauce to my grits, but it was fantastic.

Cary had the chicken fried chicken.  A pan fried chicken breast was presented beautifully over white cheddar mac and cheese and was topped with a country ham gravy.  The gravy had a nice peppery flavor which went well with the mac and cheese, which was very smooth with a nice little kick of spice.  The chicken was pounded thin with a fine crispy crust.  This was a nice take on a dish that is such a staple of the Southern kitchen.

We finished our meal with a piece of bourbon chocolate pie, topped with whipped cream and a strawberry.  It was a perfect Southern ending to a perfect Southern dinner.

Blushing Berry

Oh, y’all…  I am in trouble.  A new chocolate shop Blushing Berry opened up in Nolensville.  Their tagline is the Luscious Life of Chocolate.  It’s like they know me.

When you walk in you can see the chocolatier and owner Regina Pinto making the chocolate confections in the back of the shop.   She was so kind when we visited.  Another patron suggested we take home the Pecan Bourbon Glazed Cinnamon rolls.  We bought a pre-bake pack and Ms. Pinto came from the back to explain the best way to bake them.  So very nice.

We picked out a variety of truffles:  Caramel Himilayan Salt, Pistachio Creme, Raspberry, Toasted Hazelnut, Dolce de Leite (Dulce de Leche), Pecan Bourbon, Champagne, and Gran Marnier.  We also took home a truffle 4 pack with two Peanut Butter and Jelly and S’more truffles.

The peanut butter and jelly truffle was nothing like I have ever tasted.  I don’t even think I can accurately describe the taste.  Amazing.

They also have beautiful hand painted heart truffles.

Here’s another picture.  Just so pretty.  Tasty too.

So, if you happen to be in the Nolensville area (or really anywhere in Nashville), stop in.  The chocolate is definitely worth it.

 

Gumbo

Happy New Year!  While many of our friends are eating collard greens and black eyed peas, Cary and I decided we wanted something a little different this year.  We decided to try our hand at gumbo!  And by “we”, I mean Cary.  All I did was make the rice (following the directions on the package).  🙂

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds of crawfish tails
• 1 pound of crab meat
• 1 and 1/2 pound of andouille sausage, sliced and browned
• 2 cups of trinity mix (celery, bell pepper, and onion)
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups of water
• 1 cup of Tony Chachere’s Instant Roux Mix
• Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning to taste
• garlic to taste
• 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of file powder
• Rice

To start, we sauteed the trinity mix until all the vegetables were soft.  We added the roux mix and 2 cups of water.  We stirred until it boiled and started to thicken.  Then we added 2 cups of water and the chicken broth and let it boil.  At the same time, we sliced and browned the andouille sausage and added that to the mix.  We then added the crawfish tails and crab meat.  Then we added garlic, Tony Chachere’s seasoning, and file.  We brought everything back to a boil and then reduced heat so that the mixture was simmering.

We let it simmer for about 30 minutes and then served it over rice.

It was delicious.  While we were initially really concerned about the pre-made roux mix, we really loved the flavor.  It was so good.

P.S.  Tony Chachere’s doesn’t know who we are.  We just like them.  🙂

Red Velvet Marble Cake

When I was looking through my Southern Living Magazine and saw a red velvet marble bundt cake, I knew I had to try it.  The recipe combined two of my favorite things: red velvet cakes and bundt cakes.  We have discussed my love of red velvet cakes previously. We have not discussed my love of bundt cakes.  There is just something about them.  They are so very pretty and fairly easy, which I am all about.

Here are the ingredients for the cake:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 6 large eggs
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa (I added more cocoa.  The recipe in the magazine only called for 1 tablespoon and I didn’t think that was enough.)
• 1 tablespoon red food coloring

And for the icing:

• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons plus 1 tsp. milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the cake, preheat oven to 325°. Cream the butter and shortening at medium speed in a stand mixer. Gradually add the sugar, and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Then, add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add that to butter mixture alternating with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed just until blended after each addition. Stir in the vanilla and then transfer 2 1/2 cups batter to a bowl.  Stir in cocoa and food coloring.

Drop 2 scoops of plain batter into a greased and floured (16-cup) Bundt pan, using a small cookie scoop. Top with 1 scoop of red velvet batter. Repeat around entire pan, covering bottom completely. Continue layering batters in pan until all batter is used.

Bake at 325° for 1 hour. Cool in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes. Then remove the cake from pan to the wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour).

Drizzle with the “Snowy White Vanilla Glaze”.

To make the glaze, whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla until smooth.  Because it’s Christmas, I topped the cake with red sugar.

Here is a picture of the inside of the cake.  It’s not quite as marbled as the picture in Southern Living, but it’s still nice.  I think I could reduce the amount of red and get a little closer to their picture.

The cake had a great light chocolate flavor, so I am glad that I upped the cocoa from 1 tablespoon to 2 tablespoons.  This is such a small thing, but as far as texture the cake was a little dry. Any suggestions on how to make a bundt cake more moist?

Cheese Grits Casserole

Here is a huge confession:  I am not really a grits fan.  I grew up in the South, but I much prefer Cream of Wheat.  At one of our wedding showers (almost 7 years ago!), a family friend of Cary’s made a cheese grits casserole.  It was fantastic… like nothing I have ever tried.  When I asked for the recipe, she kindly gave it to me.  She said it was the recipe on the Jim Dandy bag of grits.

Ingredients

• Non-Stick Cooking Spray
• 3 cups water
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup Jim Dandy® Quick Grits
• 1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/3 cup milk
• 3 large eggs, beaten
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

Heat the oven to 350°F. Spray 2-quart casserole with non-stick cooking spray. Combine the water and salt in large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Gradually stir in the grits and reduce heat to low.  Cover and cook 7 to 9 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Add 1 1/4 cups cheese and butter; stir until melted. Add milk, eggs and pepper; mix well. This order is really important.  I switched the order once and the texture wasn’t right.

 

Pour the mixture into prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheese on the top and bake 40 to 50 minutes or until set and golden brown.

I like to make this the night before Christmas and then heat it up on Christmas morning and serve with our Puffy Muffin Quiche.

 

Pancake Molds from Williams Sonoma

I have a close friend who does a holiday breakfast for her kids.  She has a spooky breakfast for Halloween, makes French toast with strawberries for Valentine’s Day, and has a Mardis Gras breakfast complete with King Cake.  When I heard about this almost 8 years ago (waaaay before Pinterest), I thought it was awesome.

Fast forward to present day.  I love the idea of special family breakfasts.  Last year, I bought some Halloween pancake molds way on sale after Halloween at Williams Sonoma, thinking they would be perfect for my spooky breakfast.

File this away as something I just can’t get to work.  I didn’t even take pictures of the Halloween molds.  The instructions said they were nonstick and you didn’t need to spray the molds.  Mine stuck, in a big way.

So, take two.  I had some Star Wars pancake molds on hand.  We tried those this morning.  I sprayed them liberally with nonstick cooking spray.  Here is what Williams Sonoma advertises:

Here are my pictures. Now, I was trying to make blue pancakes for fun, so do not let the color throw you off.

So far so good.   I removed the molds and tried to flip.  Here is what I got…

Not the pretty picture.  They still taste good though.

Anyone have any tips or tricks to get these things to work or did I waste my money?

*Williams Sonoma does not know who I am.

Potato Skins

It’s no secret that we love the recipes that come from Ree Drummond’s kitchen.  I made these potato skins from a recipe in her first cookbook.  I can’t believe her third cookbook is due out sometime this month.  Needless to say, I’m looking forward to it!

For the potato skins, you need:

• 4 potatoes
• canola oil
• salt
• 2 cups of cheddar cheese (I prefer Four State Cheddar from Sargento)
• Bacon pieces (You could make your own. In a pinch, we buy the bacon pieces.)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Rub the outside of the potato with canola oil.  Truth be told, I think this is the secret to great potato skins.  We’ve tried vegetable oil and cooking spray.  None give the crispy crunch of canola oil.  Bake at 400 for 45 minutes.

Let the potatoes cool.  Cut them in half and scoop out the inside.  Rub both sides with canola oil and salt.  Cook on one side for 7 minutes, then flip and cook on the other side for 7 more minutes.  Fill with cheese and bacon and put back in the oven until the cheese melts.

Personally, I like these with ranch dressing.

Cary though, likes his with black bean turkey chili.

PS.  Pioneer Woman doesn’t know who we are.  Neither does Sargento.  I just like ’em.

Turkey Black Bean Chili

Where has the time gone?  Sorry for the radio silence, but we have been super busy.  So, back to our usual programming.  Fall is upon us.   Last year, Cary found a great turkey chili recipe while we were converting to the Superfoods diet.

Here are the ingredients:

2 pounds of ground turkey (make sure some of it is dark meat for flavor)

4 cans of diced tomatoes (basil, garlic, and oregano flavored)

3 cans of black beans

3 jalapenos, seeded and diced

1 cup of diced onions (pureed)

2 cups of diced red bell peppers

2 packets of chili seasoning

Brown the turkey with the onions and red peppers.  Add the jalapenos, tomatoes, and seasoning packets.  Simmer for 20 minutes.  Add the beans and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Serve with Fritos, cheese, and sour cream.

Thumbprint Cookies

I’m taking a sabbatical from my current university and teaching at a high school for a year.  I am working with some AMAZING science teachers this year, which is so very invigorating.  When I was talking about lab reports, one of the chemistry teachers said she taught lab report technique by having the students write a lab report on a cookie recipe.  All the kids make the cookies at home and then bring them to class.  I thought this was *brilliant*.   For kicks, I thought I would write this post as a lab report.

Purpose

The purpose of the experiment is to make thumbprint cookies with icing and to practice writing a formal lab report.

Procedure

Materials

Ingredients for the cookies:

• Salted butter
• Cane sugar
• All purpose flour
• Vanilla extract
• Kosher salt
• Sprinkles
• Nonstick cooking spray

Ingredients for the icing:

• Milk
• Powdered sugar
• Food coloring

1.   The butter (1 cup) and ¼ cup of cane sugar were mixed together in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed until a pale yellow color was achieved.

2.  The mixer speed was reduced to low and 2 cups of all purpose flour, ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract was added to the sugar and butter mixture.

3.  The dough was mixed until it began to pull away from the sides of the mixer.

4.  The dough was removed from the mixer and placed in the refrigerator for an hour.

5.  The oven was preheated to 325°F.

6.  The dough was removed from the refrigerator and formed into 1 inch balls.

7.  An indention was made in the dough balls with a thumb and the balls were rolled in sprinkles.

8.  The cookies were placed on a cooking sheet sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and baked for 10 minutes at 325°F.

9.   After 10 minutes, the cookies were removed from the oven and placed on a wire cooling rack.

10.  The milk (2 Tablespoons) and 1 and ¼ cups of powdered sugar were whisked together in a small bowl to make the icing.

11.  Once a homogenous mixture was obtained, the icing was divided into four small bowls and 4 drops of food coloring in different colors (blue, pink, purple, and yellow) were added to each bowl.

12.  A teaspoon of icing was placed in the thumbprint of each cookie.

Analysis

The cookies were light yellow in color, with a buttery taste (Figure 1)

 

Figure 1:  Thumbprint cookies with pink, blue, yellow, and purple icing.

Overall, 47 cookies were synthesized.  Since the recipe predicted 50 cookies could be made, the percent yield is 94%.

Conclusion

Thumbprint cookies were successfully synthesized and a formal lab report was written.  The recipe said that it yielded 50 cookies, however, the yield in this experiment was 47.  The vanilla flavor seemed understated and in the future vanilla bean caviar or vanilla bean paste may be added to increase the flavor.

References

*If you used a formal reference, you need to include it here.  However, this was a family recipe, so there is not a formal reference.*

Note:  My mom’s recipe called for pecans, but due to nut allergies those were omitted.

 

Blueberry Corn Muffins and Vanilla Butter

Cary’s birthday is this weekend and I always try to bake a few of his favorite things, new and old.  His new favorite breakfast item is Ree Drummond’s blueberry corn muffins with vanilla butter.  This is the second time I’ve made these and I made a few slight changes to her recipe.

Her recipe calls for dried blueberries.  The first time I tried to buy these I *almost* fell over when I saw the price and decided to use real blueberries.  Big mistake.  They explode during baking, the muffins fell apart, and the pan was impossible to clean.  This time I used dried blueberries from Trader Joe’s and they worked much better.

Another change that I made is that I used vanilla bean paste in the vanilla butter and I added some to the muffins. I read about vanilla bean paste in Pure Vanilla and have been wanting to try it in a few recipes.

For the recipe, you will need:

Muffins:1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 whole egg
1/4 cup shortening, melted (Ok….  So her recipe calls for 1/4 cup and both times I added 1/2 cup on accident.  Next time I’m going to try 1/4 cup.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces dried blueberries

1 teaspoon of vanilla bean pasteVanilla Butter:

1 stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste

To make the muffins, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine the corn meal, flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, egg, and baking soda and mix well.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Add the melted shortening, stirring constantly. Add vanilla extract and vanilla paste, then stir in the dried blueberries.

Put about 1 tablespoon of the batter into a mini muffin pan that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Bake for about 10 minutes.

While the muffins were baking, I added the sugar and vanilla paste to softened butter to make the vanilla butter.

The muffins turned out much better with the dried blueberries than with the fresh blueberries.  They are not very sweet, so the butter compliments them perfectly.  There is quite a bit of vanilla, so if you are not a fan, you may want to omit the vanilla paste from the muffins.