GOOD PEOPLE AND A FAVORITE HAUNT

Seem as though the holidays bring about a desire to touch base with people we don’t see often enough. Christmas cards are nice (not that I actually SEND any), but a face to face meeting is always best.

Me, Becca, Kathy and Pat at Luigi's
Notice the wall of fame behind us-
a staple at this great place.

So yesterday I met with a former co-worker at one of my favorite local eateries, Luigi's on South Main Stree, for dinner. Kathy and I used to share the third floor under the skylight so we had the sunshine to keep us company most of the year. Kathy was always a good source for scuttle-butt on what was going on politically around town and I miss that – these days I have to scrounge around on my own to find out what’s happening.

Our mutual friends Rebecca and Pat joined us for dinner and the conversation was lively and the food (as always) was good. We’re of an age now where we’re most of us dealing with the generation up from us in some manner or another. Rebecca’s parents, my parents and Kathy’s Aunt. By the time dinner was over it almost felt more as though we’d formed our own support group than anything else. And truly, there’s not a thing wrong with that. Strength is in numbers!

A downtown staple for many year!



Otherwise it was old biddy chat time and it was really nice spending time with people I don’t get to pal around with very often.

Dinner at Luigi’s would not have been complete without the good natured chiding by Dickie at the front door when we arrived. He’s a staple at that position and arriving there at lunch or dinner and not finding him there somehow diminishes the entire experience. And yes, diet be darned, I ate pizza and a glass of wine and enjoyed every bite and sip.

LUNCHTIME AT 3 POINT
Today the guys at the office and I trudged through the snow to visit 3 Point, which is in the next block from our office. Frankly, eating here is an adventure every time I walk through the door. Fortunately, the food is terrific; it is the single constant behind this fairly new establishment. Unfortunately, the service is generally very substandard. I’ve eaten here three times at lunch and twice have spent well over 90 minutes to eat a simple salad.

I am seldom one to complain in the blog about places I visit, but realistically, poor service really should not be tolerated in a restaurant where a salad and a drink cost nearly $14. Sad to say, this is not the only establishment downtown where good food meets poor service. I love Lockview, but eating lunch there is ALWAYS well over an hour. Same for Cilantro. I cannot help but think that with better trained wait staff these places would be much busier, at least for lunch.

Feel free to eat at any of these places when you're not in a hurry.  The food at all three is good and as long as you're not dining with someone you don't like, it will be fine.  Sit back and relax and enjoy the prolonged meal.

GOOD IDEA GONE MUSHY

Pretty little sprouts!  How could
something so cute go so wrong?

Well, there’s no recipe here today because what I thought was a terrific idea turned out to be...well, inedible. Once upon a time a friend had me to dinner and served something from her slow cooker that was Brussels sprouts, chicken and some sort of tomato sauce. I thought it was pretty good and frankly it was because of that I am a true Brussels sprout fan today. I’ve searched for such a recipe and this week I thought I’d stumbled over the right thing when I picked up a small can of dice tomatoes with peppers.

Last night I excitedly cut my sprouts and put them into the slow cooker along with about half the can of tomatoes and a bit of oregano. This morning I added a chicken breast, a little more tomatoes and oregano and came off to work looking forward to a good dinner tonight when I got home.

It was a sad realization that sprouts just do not belong in a slow cooker. I’ve come to love these when they are quick cooked in a sauté pan so that they still have a bit of a bite to them. Many a friend has become sprout lovers after eating them from my kitchen. However, these poor little things that I found swimming in the bottom of the cooker were nowhere near edible. These must be the slimy little creatures that other people are served who are confirmed sprout haters.

The chicken was delicious but the sprouts hit the garbage. So today’s advice from the kitchen – do not try this one at home!

SO FAR SO INTERESTING….

This week this old biddy is making up for all those weeks spent snowed under nursing that nasty sinus infection and bad knee. Monday night a friend and I went to the main library for a free screening of “Defendor”, the Ohio premier of Woody Harrelson’s new movie. I wasn’t sure what to expect but was both surprised and pleased by this dark version of 'ordinary citizen turned crime fighter'. Except Woody’s character is anything but an ordinary citizen, he’s mentally a bit slow, and although he has moments of insight, it's just slightly scewed. He’s concocted his super-hero, Defendor, out of odds and ends, including the duct tape forming the D on his costume. At first you think this movie might be a comedy but it’s anything but. Throughout the film you get a glimpse of this character’s past that makes his playing at super hero inevitable. At times he does seem to have superhuman abilities - disappearing in a blink of an eye - but he gets beat up a few times and although he claims bullets will bounce off - they don't.

The film never really made it to the big theaters and has already been released to DVD. If you get the chance to see this, please do, it’s well worth the time.

MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC!
Last night we spent at EJ’s Stage Door attending the first in the series of concerts for this year’s annual UA Jazz Fest. It’s easy to say that the people that should have been in attendance at any of the 150 or so empty seats missed a truly wonderful experience. For $10 the evening was filled with funky sounds from the Boston Horns, a premier jazz group from Boston. This group came in to teach at the UA Jazz school and then stayed for the performance last night.

Sitting in with the group were two UA students, Chris Jenkins on sax and Theron Brown on piano (hope I got the names right!). Jazz director Jack Schantz sat in for a bit too. The UA Jazz school has some great talent that will no doubt be moving on to big things in their future, Chris and Therrod among them.

The gal that went with me to this show declared it “the best $10 I ever spent” for the ticket. The music was funky, jazzy, cool and horn forward. The band members were professional and willing to share the spotlight with the students who stepped up and did fantastically.

This week the Jazz Fest continues and I’m looking forward to more wonderful music. It's simply a shame that more people don't attend these shows - they're fantastic kids and the Jazz Fest showcases just how much local talent we're incubating here at UA.

STILL TIME TO EAT!
Even with all this running around there was still time to try out a new recipe. I’d hoped to spend the month of February trying out Indian cuisine at home and that didn’t work out so well (what with the above mentioned sinus crud), so I finally managed to try out one recipe that looked especially delicious.

This meal turned out well and I managed to pack it up for a pre-concert picnic over the weekend. With the addition of a simple cucumber-radish salad and a refreshing mango lassie, it made a great meal.

CHICKEN THIGHS IN YOGURT

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cubed into 1.5 inch size
1 cup plain yogurt
½ cup lite coconut milk
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbls. grated fresh ginger
1 Tbls. garam masala
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 small hot chili pepper, minced

Put all ingredients except chicken in a bowl and combine well. Add chicken and let marinate for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and arrange a rack over a sheet pan and rub some oil on the rack so that the chicken won’t stick. Take out chicken pieces and arrange on rack and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until chicken tests done.

Serve this over the following rice recipe!

COCONUT JASMINE RICE

2 tsp. oil
1 cup brown and wild jasmine rice
2 cups chicken stock
½ cup coconut milk
¾ cup frozen peas
½ cup chopped unsalted roasted cashews

Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Add the rice and stir to coat rice. Cook over medium-high heat until rice just begins to toast. Add stock and coconut milk, cover and let low-simmer for 25 minutes. Remove lid, add frozen peas and let heat until they are warmed through. To serve, fluff rice with fork, add cashews and a sprinkling of fresh chopped cilantro.

CHARLESTON REVISITED

Some things we ate…some things we SHOULD have eaten…and why. This foodies view of my summer vacation.

While on vacation this June in Charleston we had a some pretty good food. And some just OK food. While visiting a new city it’s difficult to get a real feel for the local cuisine unless you do the research before you go. Well, I didn’t quite figure that out until after we got home, so the only way to remedy that was to do the research and serve up my authentic Charleston menu here in Ohio.

I waited until August to try for the hot, humid weather we were subjected to in June (just kidding...I just didn't get around to it before now). Fortunately, our weather here this summer has been cooler and drier than normal but, of course, Saturday was one of those hot humid days we would expect to see this time of year. And me with no air conditioning. It was pretty miserable and sweaty while we were in Charleston and although it was indeed hot this weekend, we still didn’t match the weather on vacation. Thank goodness!

So to revisit our few days in the deep south, I’ve come up with what I think would have been an authentic Charleston menu for my friends to enjoy while we sip and sup our way through a fun evening. Game Night for us means lots of food, some adult beverages, a few card games and generally lots of laughs. And maybe a little good natured competition. We played a few rounds of Outburst and then a lengthy game of 8 handed Phase 10. And I'm sure there were lots more things we could have gotten up to - a nice night like this spent at home with my good friends is something I cherish!

Here is my menu for our August Game Night. I made these all as small plates so we weren’t completely bulging over our belts when the evening was over. Recipes will follow with some interesting tidbits about why I included them in my menu.

Spiced Pecans
Rum Spiked Black Raspberry Lemonade Spritzers
Sweet Potato Crackers with Peach Chutney and Cream Cheese
Sweet Potato Biscuits with Country Ham
Mom’s Biscuits & Creamed Chicken Gravy
Rice Cakes & South Carolina Mustard Glazed Chicken Fingers
Fresh Vanilla Ice Cream with Bourbon Spiked Peaches
CAROLINA GOLD RICE

Come to find out, rice is a HUGE tradition in South Carolina. Once the colonists discovered a method for creating huge bogs for rice fields, they grew more rice there than anywhere else in the new world. While on vacation this summer, we visited Magnolia Plantation, which was originally a rice plantation. We conjured up romantic visions of riding in a horse-drawn open carriage down a long avenue of moss-draped live oaks leading us up to the graceful manor house. During their period of greatness, rice planters, like the antebellum planters of other communities, created a world that inspired young men to become country gentleman, and insisted that young women train to be plantation mistresses with perfect manners.

Fast forward a couple of hundred years and the plantation and manor houses still standing are now museums with little trace of the activity that took place there when rice was the main crop of the area. And ask any modern woman and she’ll only be too happy to tell you there aren’t many country gentlemen left these days and darned few men OR women with perfect manners.

So, to honor the rich history of the area, at least as far as rice is concerned, I offer a bit of a twist on the traditional chicken and rice dish. I served 2 of these on a small plate with 2 chicken fingers and a side of North Carolina BBQ sauce (recipe follows).

CAROLINA GOLD RICE CAKES
From the Carolina Rice web site

1 cup Carolina Gold Rice
4 cups chicken stock
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp pepper
4 slices, cooked & chopped bacon
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 each shallots, fine dice
½ red bell peppers, small dice
1 each green onion, fine dice
2 each eggs, beaten
½ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

Bring Stock to a boil. Add rice and stir. Bring down to a simmer. Cook until rice is creamy. Drain off excess Liquid and cool at room temperature. Sauté shallots, garlic, red pepper, green onions with chopped bacon. cool to room temperature. add this mixture to cooled rice. Add flour and eggs.

Form rice into cakes to desired size—I got about 18 small appetizer-size rice cakes. Coat with Panko Bread crumbs. Sauté at a medium heat until rice cakes are a light brown.

TRADITIONAL BARBEQUE
There is hearty debate about barbeque (as testified by the multitude of BBQ contests smoking their way across the country) but there is one certain fact…South Carolina lays full claim to a very specific version of barbeque sauce. There’s no tomato allowed in this delicious and tangy sauce…mustard and vinegar are king in this part of the country.

Vinegar and pepper are the original barbeque ingredients and mustard was added in the Carolina’s thanks to large populations of Germans who settled in the area. Ketchup-y sauces didn’t become popular until the 1960’s when Kraft began mass-marketing the stuff to an eager country recently armed with backyards and charcoal grills. Thanks to the Kraft Corporation’s marketing savvy, we all just assumed that was barbeque. I won’t argue the fact here (however I DO think tomato when I think BBQ), but this sauce is lovely and tangy too.

SOUTH CAROLINA BARBEQUE SAUCE
When it comes to barbecue sauce recipes, mustard and vinegar is king in this part of the country. There's no ketchup allowed in this delicious and tangy South Carolina barbecue sauce recipe. And this comes with a warning – don’t get too close while making this, the fumes from the vinegar will take your head off while it’s cooking!

Makes 2 cups South Carolina Barbecue Sauce
Cook Time: 10 minutes

1 cup yellow mustard
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter

Whisk together all ingredients, except butter in a saucepan, bring to a low simmer, and turn off heat. Stir in butter. Let cool to room temperature. May be used as a basting sauce towards the end of cooking, or brushed on after barbecuing, with additional sauce served on the side.

SWEET POTATO
I wasn’t too sure about the reason sweet potatoes seemed to be so pervasive in southern cooking so I looked up a little history. The North Carolina Sweet Potato folks tell us that the American Indians were growing sweet potatoes when Columbus discovered America in 1492 - which makes it a native crop just like corn. I can’t say we ate many sweet potatoes (or yams…yes, I know there’s controversy there but we haven’t time to work it out just now) when growing up except for the candied things with marshmallows on them we had at Easter and Thanksgiving dinners. And although those were very good at the time, there are many, many dishes out there to try out made with the sweet potato. And I discovered they’re even researching to make ethanol out of sweet potatoes. Who knew? Someday this little tuber could be fueling our cars!

To incorporate the sweet potato into my Charleston menu I decided upon a southern classic – the sweet potato biscuit. Split and served up with some good ham and mustard these little gems seem to pop up on menus all over the south. A small cookbook I brought back from vacation had a recipe that I thought might do the trick…WRONG. I had the cutest little sweet potato hockey pucks one could ask for but they certainly were not worth eating. Well, the birds and squirrels ate them but I won’t say whether they liked them or not. So after one disastrous biscuit attempt I went back to my own roots and used Mom’s biscuit recipe and just added some sugar and sweet potatoes to the mixture. I’m happy to say these turned out great. To make appetizers for the party, I simply split the biscuit, added some ham and topped the ham with a little mustard and put the top back on. Later I discovered that these were even better with some peach conserve added to the ham. At least they were really good that way for breakfast the next day.

MOM’S BAKING POWDER BISCUITS

2 cups flour
4 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
4 Tbls. butter
¾ cup milk

In a food processor, combine the dry ingredients. Cut in the cold butter to resemble course crumbs. Add milk and process just until combined. Turn onto a floured surface, pat into a ¾ inch flat round. Cut with biscuit cutter or edge of a glass. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

TO MAKE A SWEET POTATO VERSION: add about ¼ cup sugar to the dry ingredients. Adding some cinnamon and nutmeg would be good too although I admit I didn’t think about this at the time. Add 1 small, baked and mashed sweet potato (½ to ¾ cup) to the dry ingredients and then just enough milk to make a soft dough.

I made a batch of these plain biscuits to serve up with my Creamed Chicken – which is what I ordered at Hominy Grill in Charleston when I couldn’t get the sweet potato pancakes I’d heard to much about. I thought everyone ate Creamed Chicken (also known in some parts as Chicken a la King), but lots of folks around the table hadn’t had it before. It was one of those family meals I grew up eating regularly. Mom always made the best biscuits and they had a starring role in this dish. The dish I had at Hominy Grill was just as wonderful as I remembered from our own kitchen. They topped theirs with a soft poached egg as a nod to breakfast time – and while it was delicious, it’s totally optional.

CREAMED CHICKEN

¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
2 cups milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 ½ cups cooked diced chicken

Make a roux from the butter and flour. Add the milk and stir until thick and creamy. Add seasonings, taste and adjust if necessary. Add vegetables, allow to heat through. Add cooked chicken and allow to heat through. Adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve hot over split biscuits or toast topped with additional pepper.

PEACHES

Since we are also celebrating my friend Grant’s birthday we made some hand-cranked ice cream. On top of the ice cream I served another southern staple – peaches – with a little spike of bourbon, of course. Peaches are grown all through the Carolina’s and Georgia so it would have been sadly remiss of me not to include them in some form. Lynn provided the custard and her ice cream maker churned it to a smooth, cool, creamy texture - perfect with the peaches. The ice cream didn’t set up quite as we’d hoped – but truly that’s the charm of making it at home that’s the fun of the whole ordeal. It was still cold and creamy and very delicious.