I am sitting here on the front porch watching Gustav arrive. This hurricane is not going to be a destroyer. It is making landfall in Louisiana and we are in Southwest Alabama. It is only 115 miles per hour there, not the 150 mph of Katrina. We are on the northeast side of the storm, which is the worst quadrant, but are far enough away that our only damage may be wind, and may not even be that. The wind is beginning to gust a little, but just enough to set the wind chimes tinkling.
They don’t usually ring in the summertime unless there is a pretty good wind because they are sheltered by the trees that surround the porch.
We have not had a really damaging hurricane here in a couple of years. Before that we all remembered 1979 as the Big One. In my lifetime, I don’t remember a hurricane until then except for Camille in 1968 when someone I cared about was at National Guard Camp in Biloxi when it came through. We in rural Southwest Alabama don’t live in fear of hurricanes as our friends on the Gulf Coast proper do.
We have learned to give the warnings proper respect. Until a hurricane makes landfall, we do watch the weather bulletins. Friday, I went to the library and checked out enough books to last over the Labor Day Weekend. Saturday, I did buy batteries and pick up a few groceries. Yesterday, I did charge my lanterns that I might need if the electricity went off. After Hurricane Dennis, when we were without power for a few days, I did buy some lanterns to read by. If I have a good book handy, I can weather any storm. I cooked a pot of Chef Dodd’s New England Cheddar Cheese Soup that I could reheat on the gas grill if I needed to. I made a shrimp, mushroom and Conecuh sausage pizza that I cut in slices and put in the refrigerator.
My friend Nell gave me a new recipe for Almond Skillet Cake which I made just because it was good therapy and would do for breakfast with tea. It is so easy and so good I’m going to share it now. It tastes like something you get at a little European bakery. It could actually be made over a campfire or on a gas grill. I would have sworn it had marzipan in it.
Almond Skillet Cake
1 ½ sticks of butter melted 4 oz sliced almonds
1 ½ c sugar
1 ½ c plain flour
2 eggs
Put a sheet of foil, ungreased, in an iron skillet. This is a 10 or 12 inch skillet, the kind you fry chicken in, not make cornbread. Mix all ingredients together and pour into skillet. This will be a thin cake. Sprinkle almonds on top. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of the almonds. Start in a cold oven. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Let cool in pan. Cut in small pie shaped wedges.
This will be good if you have anybody come by for a Hurricane Party. This could happen. After all, this is rural Southwest Alabama. We will celebrate anything. Not getting hit directly by a hurricane is definitely something to celebrate!
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Chef Dodd's Recipes for Soups
These are the ones served at the cooking class at Mama Nems Bistro.
Remember that these recipes are for a crowd. Cut them down for home use. 1/4 the recipe should feed you and a normal family. These recipes are really fairly thrifty. You can appear gourmet and be fiscally conservative at the same time. You can save your cooking money and spend it on gas!
Remember that these recipes are for a crowd. Cut them down for home use. 1/4 the recipe should feed you and a normal family. These recipes are really fairly thrifty. You can appear gourmet and be fiscally conservative at the same time. You can save your cooking money and spend it on gas!
Friday, August 15, 2008
COOKING WITH MAMA N’EM
Last night I took a cooking class form Chef Dodd Orton at Mama N'ems Bistro. He is a retired executive chef with the Hilton Hotel chain that has returned to rural Southwest Alabama to live. He is the chef now at the Rural Heritage Center in Thomaston. The restaurant is called Mama N’ems Bistro because a favorite saying in the area is Mama and ‘em always did it this way.
There is a series of 6 classes being offered in August and September on Thursday nights.
They each have a different topic. Last night was soups and sauces. They cost $20 each. You can take one or all. The topics still to come are: Breads on Aug 21, Desserts on Aug 28, Entrees on Sept 6, and Basic Food Service (how to put together an entrée) on Sept 11.
I signed up for two reasons – Chef Dodd is a wonderful cook and they start off the lessons with wine and cheese, so I knew it would be a fun party. You know, I’ve told you before we people in the Black Belt think nothing of driving 60 miles anytime for a good party. Actually, my friends and I drove only 30 miles to go. Everybody there had driven from somewhere. In rural areas we have to think regionally.
We watched demonstrations, asked the Chef questions, and then got to eat what was prepared as our lesson. Last night it was Vermont Cheddar Soup, German Potato Salad Soup, and Hollandaise Sauce. The hollandaise that he made was a no fail version. He started with a white sauce made with real cream, then added two egg yolks. When they were combined, he added lemon juice. It didn’t curdle as mixing dairy products and lemon juice sometimes will. He said that in a restaurant setting, if you served a traditional hollandaise made by slowly combining eggs, butter and lemon juice, it is too labor intensive. This surprisingly tastes very similar and is a lot less temperamental. Of course, purists will not be pleased, but my motto in the kitchen and in life is “If it’s hard, there must be a better way”.
You can see from the pictures of the class that there were men there. They are serious about cooking which did my heart good. Mostly in rural Southwest Alabama, men just barbeque or fry with no in between.
I will include Chef Dodd’s recipes for the two soups in the next blog. The proportions are for a crowd. For home use, you could divide the recipe by 4 and still have enough. However, I am just the messenger, not your mathematician. . Both recipes are delicious. I had ample servings of both. I do not like beer. I agree with Mae West – they can put it back in the horse. In the Vermont Cheddar Soup I have finally found a way that I like it. It gives the soup a tang that really compliments the cheese. I might use ½ a can instead of ¼ in the recipe.
I plan to go to most of the classes unless I have a conflict. I think when word get around, that there will be more lessons. It is a good learning experience as well as a social occasion. Good party, good food, and the chance to learn something besides. Not a bad way to spend and evening in the Black Belt.
There is a series of 6 classes being offered in August and September on Thursday nights.
They each have a different topic. Last night was soups and sauces. They cost $20 each. You can take one or all. The topics still to come are: Breads on Aug 21, Desserts on Aug 28, Entrees on Sept 6, and Basic Food Service (how to put together an entrée) on Sept 11.
I signed up for two reasons – Chef Dodd is a wonderful cook and they start off the lessons with wine and cheese, so I knew it would be a fun party. You know, I’ve told you before we people in the Black Belt think nothing of driving 60 miles anytime for a good party. Actually, my friends and I drove only 30 miles to go. Everybody there had driven from somewhere. In rural areas we have to think regionally.
We watched demonstrations, asked the Chef questions, and then got to eat what was prepared as our lesson. Last night it was Vermont Cheddar Soup, German Potato Salad Soup, and Hollandaise Sauce. The hollandaise that he made was a no fail version. He started with a white sauce made with real cream, then added two egg yolks. When they were combined, he added lemon juice. It didn’t curdle as mixing dairy products and lemon juice sometimes will. He said that in a restaurant setting, if you served a traditional hollandaise made by slowly combining eggs, butter and lemon juice, it is too labor intensive. This surprisingly tastes very similar and is a lot less temperamental. Of course, purists will not be pleased, but my motto in the kitchen and in life is “If it’s hard, there must be a better way”.
You can see from the pictures of the class that there were men there. They are serious about cooking which did my heart good. Mostly in rural Southwest Alabama, men just barbeque or fry with no in between.
I will include Chef Dodd’s recipes for the two soups in the next blog. The proportions are for a crowd. For home use, you could divide the recipe by 4 and still have enough. However, I am just the messenger, not your mathematician. . Both recipes are delicious. I had ample servings of both. I do not like beer. I agree with Mae West – they can put it back in the horse. In the Vermont Cheddar Soup I have finally found a way that I like it. It gives the soup a tang that really compliments the cheese. I might use ½ a can instead of ¼ in the recipe.
I plan to go to most of the classes unless I have a conflict. I think when word get around, that there will be more lessons. It is a good learning experience as well as a social occasion. Good party, good food, and the chance to learn something besides. Not a bad way to spend and evening in the Black Belt.
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