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Between The Sea And The Chattahoochee (eating lean)


BETWEEN THE SEA AND THE CHATTHOOCHEE
(how to eat lean in the Autumn times)

Our Autumn adventure begins with those things that come into season when the first chill nights arrive. Watch the color of the leaves turn and you know it is time for wild Georgia deer (or farmed New Zealand or Texas). From Georgia ranches like Harris Ranch we have grass fed beef flank steak. The sea is always offering something in each season so if pole caught mahi mahi is not available see what else is from the wild or from the farms. All of these recipes are quite healthy and lean. Venison “Denver” leg steaks with turkey sausage, spiced peanuts and local blackberries with honey-rosemary olive oil. Grass fed beef flank seared with caramelized onions, Maytag bleu cheese, thin sliced apple on chicory greens and acorn squash. Atlantic mahi mahi grilled with roasted garlic aioli, jalapeno, raspberries, rum and pumpkin fries. If there is a wild boar hunter in your family or if you can buy it then by all means include wild baor/sow on your post frost Autumn table.
Today we shop, cook and dine in ways far beyond those of our parents and grandparents. They may have drank a beer, sweet tea or glass of wine with their dinner but the expectation was never that it be a beer brewed up the road, a wine from the West Coast, new age cocktails or tea arriving in hundreds of flavors. Mine had Liptons Orange Pekoe tea, Pabst Blue Ribbon, moonshine and very refined wines of France or on the border at Alsace-Lorraine. Today we are aware, very aware that our meals can be best paired with a boutique beer or herb and roasted tea from flower to white to green and black, with any combination of spirits and mixed drinks, and of course with wines from any place in the world. Pair your foods with beverages reflecting the ingredients, the tastes, the general aroma and appeal of your meal.
Since Autumn invites a host of seasonal memories it is always fun to invoke what has passed, what was before and then to create what is yet to be. Food is as alive as you and I, the dishes we prepare help to define who we are at the table, with guests and family. Food reflects our vision of the world. Some embrace and some set up boundaries. The adventurous cook is constantly studying all things taste and combination both with boundaries and without boundaries. Perfection often arrives by way of repetition. I am justifiably interested in the way our foods are produced, raised, farmed, harvested and hunted. Create the memories with a love of the world and all it has to offer.
Every now and then it is important to reevaluate what “sustainable” means. The overall effort of serving sustainable, something I have been doing for over 15 years is to seek variety. If we eat the same fish over and over, if we fish the same trenches or reefs over and over eventually the snapper/flounder/grouper post office will run dry. Just because something is in abundance today (re passenger pigeons of last century) does not guarantee that without management it will be there tomorrow. Harvest is not greater than reproduction and there is little to no impact on local ecosystem: Sustainable.
As consumers we should be involved in proper food source management for ALL of our foods as well as in protecting blue fin tuna and orange roughy, Chilean sea bass (Patagonian toothfish), Atlantic cod, red snapper, shark, imported swordfish, grouper, monkfish, imported caviar and skate. All of these are all long over fished and on a short list for threatened. Easy solution is to simply lay off of these fish for a few years. Easy kill is to continue on our present path. Check out Seafood Choices Alliance, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Seafood Watch, Blue Ocean Institute, the Marine Stewardship Council and of course Clean Fish (through Inland Seafood) and anything Honolulu Fish out of Hawaii. All of which can be found online or by phone within a days reach of UPS or your home.
I use a lot of fish that are caught by sport boats. Yes, when you see that “moby” marlin or redfish hanging in those sport boat photos the next step is often off to a middleman and then to a chef (such as myself!) and on to your plate.
The ways of keeping the last hunted wild protein (seafood) around are many, the ways to destroy are few: overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction. It is not a matter of left or right. It is a matter of how do we feed our enormous population and maintain healthy farmland and waters. There are many fresh water farmed fish and shellfish that are life and health friendly operated such as tilapia, catfish, oysters, clams, mussels, striped bass, arctic char, rainbow trout, white sturgeon and agria (red fish, a member of the drum family) that help us to keep some menu variety. The rest of our strong stock is all wild caught from healthy fisheries like wreckfish, black cod, stone crab, Pacific halibut, albacore, pink shrimp, pole/troll caught mahi mahi, Alaskan salmon, pole/troll caught Hawaiian big eye, yellow fin and skipjack tuna. Imagine, all wild caught.
My career and that of all involved in the seafood industry depends on diverse seafood and reasonable prices. It is implausible to figure a future without wild seafood. So what do we do? Be wise shepherds of our land and waters. Keep it clean and keep it diverse. Every mammal matters and every cetacean matters, every fish and every shellfish, fowl, every fruit and vegetable, they all really do matter in this, our own vast and hurried span of life and time. It is our only earth.
Long ago we learned that if the same plant is grown in the same soil for too long without diversity then the soil becomes infertile. The same holds for our waters.
VENISON
Venison “Denver” leg steaks with mergheza sausage (beef and lamb), spiced peanuts and local blackberries with honey-rosemary olive oil.
Any thoughts about venison always arrive at how lean it is and how different it tastes from county to county, state to state. I like Georgia deer the best because it is less acidic or gamey than deer I have had from elsewhere in the South. Some say it is because of the pecans. Could be. The restaurant industry is dependent upon New Zealand and Texas venison. Both are quite delicious and are very stable in their flavor and texture profiles. Look for venison that is deep red, almost the color of a Romane Conte vintage wine.
The most economical cut is the Denver leg. This is the leg bone removed and the meat already broken down into sections. When cutting your meat do it so that it best resembles a cut of beef filet mignon, round and thick. There will be a few stray pieces of meat so set those aside to use for a pasta dish or to grind with sausage. People generally take this lean and healthy mean and grind it with pork sausage, a tactic that I have never really liked but do understand why people do it.
VENISON
4, 5 ounce venison steaks, shaped into round
2 ounces Worcestershire sauce
1 ounce Tiger Sauce
4 ounces red wine or black grape juice
1 tablespoon pickling spice
Combine and marinade venison for 5 hours.
SPICED PEANUTS
¼ cup shelled and hulled peanuts
½ teaspoon wasabi powder
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon butter
Mix with peanuts and toast in 300 degree oven for 10 minutes.

ROSEMARY HONEY
1 small stalk rosemary
3 ounces local honey
3 ounces Spanish extra virgin olive oil
Combine and warm in pan on low heat for 8 minutes. Remove rosemary.
8 ounces mergheza sausage (a mix of lamb and beef)
Cook sausage on grill. Set aside.
20 blackberries

Grill venison to desired temperature. While venison is cooking the last turn brush the olive oil honey over the meat. Paint the bottom of four plates with the olive oil honey. Place one steak on each plate. 2 ounces of sausage with each steak. Garnish by placing peanuts and blackberries on top of venison.
This is the kind of meal that is great with a fruit and spinach salad, yeast rolls and grilled corn on the cob.
BEEF
Grass fed beef flank seared with caramelized onions, Maytag bleu cheese, thin sliced apple on chicory greens and acorn squash.
People who are unfamiliar with the distinct flavor of grass fed meats are quite surprised by how once fatty meats are now lean and still taste great. That is the thing about grass fed, hormone free meats. They taste like the land around us smells, at least here on the border of woods, river and open pastures. There are many ranches in the South that are grass fed. Harris Ranch is one of the better and more established. The real add ons to beef happen in the stockyard and that’s where grass fed takes the advantage in that nothing is done to the meat as far as changing their diet. What it lives on is what you get. Grassy, fresh and lean.
Flank steak is good for searing and thin sliced. Very lean, very flavorful and easy to prepare. Maytag blue cheese is produced in Iowa in caves and made by hand as it has been done since the late 1800s by the very family that makes Maytag appliances. The herd of Holsteins were favorites of the Maytag family and it turned out that their milk was perfect for making this rich and sweet, best of America blue cheeses. Go for the gold every now and then. Treat yourself and your dining mates to something they will swear is British or Danish. Maytag blue cheese is another in a long line of great American cheese. The first in that line is Cowgirl Creamery in Point Reyes, California. Find these cheeses and splurge on their goodness.
MARINADE
24 ounces flank steak
1 1/2 cups apple juice
4 ounces Dale’s steak marinade
1 onion, sliced
Combine and marinade 6 hours minimum.

3 onions, thin sliced
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
½ poblano pepper, very thin sliced
2 ounces corn oil
Combine and place in small pan. Cover. Roast for 45 minutes in 375 degree oven. Remove and leave covered. Let stand for one hour.
1 (16 ounces peeled) acorn squash, diced
1 teaspoon butter
1 tablespoon sourwood honey
1/3 teaspoon granulated sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
Combine and cook in 375 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove. Cover and reserve till dinner. If longer than 30 minutes then reheat in oven.
1 gala apple thin sliced into 16 slices
10 ounces autumn chicory and sweet lettuces
1/3 cup crumbled Maytag blue cheese
4 ounces fig balsamic vinegar
Sear flank steaks in iron skillet. Remove and thin slice against the grain. Divide lettuces and caramelized onions between four plates. Place 4 slices flank on each salad. Set slices of apple between the steak slices. Garnish with blue cheese. Eat and drink an autumn pale ale with this great beef and cheese salad entrée.
MAHI MAHI
Atlantic mahi mahi grilled with roasted garlic aioli, jalapeno, raspberries, rum and pumpkin fries.
It seems that when the full moon is up more than werewolves prowl. Beyond the moors of Northeast Georgia and across the boiling hot piedmont region of South Carolina lies Charleston Harbor and beyond there when the moon rises the surface of the ocean comes alive with feeding sea creatures. Lucky for us this includes mahi mahi. Long a sport fish and for many a good luck symbol the mahi mahi is a staple fish for many tables in the South. Great on the grill and great sautéed mahi mahi is fine with any high heat preparation. I have poached it in extra virgin olive oil to great success. Poached in olive oil? Yes! Keep the oil at 120 degrees and lower the fish into the oil and cook for 15 minutes. Perfection. It is not oily. In fact it is simply moist, velvety and cooked to the same temperature as the oil. Poaching is not frying.
Pumpkin fries! Yes anything can be fried. Peel, seed and cut into classic french fry sizes. Put in cold water bath and leave in refrigerator over night. This will help them to crisp when it is their time for the oil.
Roasted garlic aioli makes for a very rich fish. Brush it onto the fillets while they are grilling. This version of aioli does not contain egg. Originally back in the pre Caesar days of the Etruscans they made aioli simply by mashing the roasted garlic and olive oil into a paste. All the other stuff (eggs) came later with the French. We will use rum instead of lemon juice to thin out our aioli.
October is a great time for blackberries and raspberries. Use them in all the places that you can from salads and entrees to desserts and teas. The jalapeno is there just for the flavor and the heat. Jalapeno is a nice addition to this smooth entrée.
AIOLI
6 cloves garlic roasted
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 ounces dark rum
1/3 teaspoon pink sea salt
1/3 teaspoon fine ground black pepper
Roast garlic wrapped in aluminum foil in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove and place in blender. Turn blender on and slowly add the olive oil, then the rum. Set aside till time to cook.
GRILL FISH
4, 6 ounce fillets mahi mahi, skin off
Hot grill. Grill fillets for 5 minutes each side; more if you like it cooked well done.
FRY
20 french fry cuts pumpkin
2 cups frying oil like peanut or corn
Fry in oil at 350 degrees for five minutes. Remove from oil. Place in 300 degree oven and bake for 10 minutes.

OTHER
12 slices jalapeno
20 raspberries, large, ripe

Remove mahi mahi from grill. Paint one more time with the aioli. Arrange pumpkin fries in criss cross pattern on plate. Set fillet next to potato. Garnish with raw jalapeno slices and raspberries. Grilled squashes would be perfect with this crisp dish.

Have a great time this Fall. When you are not cooking at home please go out to eat and enjoy the Autumn flavors offered by our beautiful South. Especially at my new home, “Chef Lamar’s Iron Grill”!

SIGNS
A voice soliciting sunrise,
She throws back a cup of sweet Kenya coffee,
Offers crumbs to the cardinals on the back porch,
She watches as they flit away, hunting,
Crunching seeds, scratching mulch,
Rousing the six o’clock yard dogs
From their dreaming running across the fields,
Waking me with barks, chirps and laughter.
Seems a whole zoo is loose out here today.
Seems a Rothko sunrise, layered, the way the leaves
Crank out the colors one by one into the other,
The Autumn palate goes hazy,
And there is no blues before this sunrise,
It’s all a shout of raw sienna rock and roll.
Bacon on the stove top,
Buttermilk biscuits in the oven,
Cold orange juice and a kiss so sweet
It seems that wars really were fought for her.
A kiss at dawn so sweet that the world is at peace.
The world rests in her arms the way it should.
And I am more a man just by being so blessed;
Blessed to be with her on this brisk October morning.

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A steak a fish a sour mash


A STEAK, A FISH AND A SOUR MASH
There is no secret to the fact that I love wine butter sauces and of course that I love all things seafood. Our South Gulf Coast has been under severe
environmental attack and ruin of late and it will be a while before we can fully enjoy the fruits of the Gulf of Mexico. Southern oysters will be available again someday, but just not yet so I will hold off on any oyster raw or cooked. We will be cooking clams in beer and sausage broth; tilapia with ginger-sake butter sauce and fresh melons; rib eye steak with sour mash sautéed pecans and avocado on butternut squash and tempura okra. Sauces can involve any properly used alcohol, juice or tea instead of classical creams, stocks and egg based sauces. Let’s have fun with what each season offers!
The culinary exploration and work involved in developing my new restaurant was herculean and with ease at the same time. When I realized that there is nothing so great as this love for my home land and nothing so professionally awkward for me as Southern cuisine I knew I had to take on the task. My 30 year career has opened many beautiful experiences in the foods of the world. The most difficult was the food of my family, of Georgia. The most inspiring has been the foods of Pacific Asia. The most technically important, valuable and necessary has been Classical Continental. Bringing it all together is an act of love. I feel as if every day in this life of food and literature has been a love letter to my beloved South and to the intriguing woks of Asia. If there is no love then how can there even be a cuisine? Each recipe is a paragraph in this love affair with cuisine. For those who live to eat you will understand, for those who live to cook and eat you will have already uncovered the reasons why this love is so great and never ending.
The weather this year has brought a lot of vegetables and fruits into an early ripe stage so things like butternut squash and small pumpkins, okra and various melons are perfect in September. Various beans have taken a hard hit this year but tomatoes have gone wild, especially the smaller, sweeter ones. To take advantage of this we are using butternut squash and okra, melons and basil as contenders for best bounty thus far this year.

Our first dish is a bowl of fresh, salty, gently chewy middle neck clams. Clams come in all shapes and sizes. The best is open to any number of argument. Discuss among yourselves but I am partial to razor clams, cherry stone and middle neck.
CLAMS
This one is so easy it is kinda funny. Hardest part is finding fresh, perfect clams. Check each clam by tapping the back end of it on the counter. If the clam slowly closes then it is alive. Never eat dead clams. Throw dead ones away. Cook from live.
A good clam will be a bit chewy but have a rich, brine flavor cherished by all lovers of bivalve sea creatures!

2 dozen very fresh middle neck clams
½ cup tomato, seeded and chopped
1 cup dark beer
1 cup dark chicken stock
2 sprigs oregano, fresh
4 slices jalapeno
2 wedges lime
½ teaspoon flaked pink sea salt
Bring liquids to a boil and reduce by half. Add clams, tomato, oregano and jalapeno. Squeeze lime over the clams and then sprinkle salt.

Serve with toasted french bread.

TILAPIA WITH MELONS AND SAKE BUTTER
I feel obligated to write about this wonderful super food of the perch family at least once a year. Sake is rice wine but what a complicated wine it is. Most of us understand sake as something reserved for sushi night out but there is a complicated array of interesting flavors going on as one goes up and down the list of sakes made today. They can taste like lighter fluid and moonshine on the one hand and as sublime as a fine Pinot on the other. Sake is in many flavors and the best will have a plum cured in the bottle the way that Poire William Liquor has the pear inside of it. Sake is not for everyone but when it is made via the classic style of a fine pan butter sauce then it fully expresses itself as a great cooking wine.
Melons define the South as much as anything else does and what better way than to use melons of the world that grow well here? Sweet, complex, refreshing and everything good about a late summer day.
Cook jasmine rice, sweet potatoes and pineapple together as a starch to go with your tilapia.
TILAPIA
2, 6 ounce tilapia fillets
1/3 cup flour
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon black pepper, cracked
10 thin slices Crenshaw or honeydew melon
10 thin slices Korean watermelon
1 shallot, minced
4 ounces sake
½ teaspoon ginger, minced
2 ounces butter, very cold, cut in small squares

Dust tilapia in flour, salt and pepper and sauté on medium high heat for two minutes per side turning four times. Add melon and cook just enough to soften. Remove from pan and place in warm spot on the stove. Add shallot and ginger to pan, then add the sake. Cook the sake down until the shallots begin to bubble and almost dry. Stir in the butter piece by piece until fully incorporated and it is like a thick cream. Reserve in warm place.
Place tilapia and melons on the rice. Pour sake butter over the fish.
This is good with a well mixed and represented mesclun mix of lettuces with a tangy vinaigrette (citrus and coconut water with rice vinegar and corn oil style).
SOUR MASH, AVOCADO, OKRA AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH!
About avocado, a local newspaper, the Athens Banner Herald on 8/17/10, reprinted this research from a column by “You Docs”:
1. They’re full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, which increases your healthy HDL cholesterol and lowers your triglycerides. Only olives have more.

2. Their good fats are full of omega-3s, which are world-class do-gooders when it comes to your arteries, brain, skin, sex life and more.

3. They have more potassium than bananas, which helps keep your blood pressure in check, and a ton of magnesium, too, which every cell in your body needs to work well.

4. They make good foods taste even better and, like a great teammate, make them better for you. Add, say, 1/2 cup sliced avocado to your spinach salad, and your body will absorb five times more lutein.

5. They contain compounds that may slow the growth (or even kill off) some precancerous and malignant cells.

6. They turn up your levels of leptin, the feel-full hormone, which turns down your appetite, so that bowl of guacamole may not disappear.

So have at it but not too much on the avocado. Avocado and rib eye is just too delicious to pass up these days.
Sour mash is one of those things whose flavor is so pronounced that the difference between a sour mash and bourbon whiskey is easy to sense. A Jack Daniels Black, Makers Mark or Wild Turkey next to Knob Creek bourbon (one of the best by the way) is as different as Dr. Pepper next to Coca Cola. Slight but enough to divide the ranks. Sour mash is made with bourbon, brewers yeast and a bit of water to the mix, it is then fermented and strained. You can have bourbon without sour mash but you cannot have without bourbon. Sour mash will always be Sour Mash Bourbon. It is not necessarily the best choice of sipping whiskies though so choose by asking your bar tender to give you samples of high end and low end Sour Mash, and then the same for high and low end Bourbons. You will notice a tremendous difference in flavor between each level of whiskey.
The flavor of a sour mash is more pronounced on the back of the tongue in the form of being almost like that of wheat and corn (like oatmeal and grits at the same time) whereas that of a fine bourbon rests on the edges and center of the tongue in a way more akin to fresh ground hominy. Think sour dough bread and regular white bread. Bourbon and Sour Mash Bourbon are often overlooked in matching food to beverage. Don’t be limited in how you approach a complete meal, all you have to do is look around in the region where you live and you will find that there is more to taste that first meets the eye.
We live in Georgia so use those just off the stalk okra and off the vine butternut squash. Tempura okra, whole okra is amazing. Pass over this fresh vegetable of the South and you really missed on something essential to our very cuisine. Butternut squash is not just for mashing, baking and roasting with butter and cinnamon sugar. Butternut squash likes to be fried as well. Yes, you can peel it, seed it, cut it into long french cuts and fry like a potato. It tastes great.
RIBEYE STEAK WITH AVOCADO, PECANS AND SOUR MASH
This is the part we all like the best, the big, thick, rich indulgence of red meat and even richer sides. Rib eye is the cut that is fatty and has a perfect tenderness of texture and fullness of flavor much prized by beef eaters everywhere. A good rib eye can make any day a grand day.
2, 12 ounce center cut ribeye steaks
1 tablespoon butter
10 halves pecans
10 slices avocado
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon worchestshire sauce
2 ounces favorite sour mash whiskey (it is your meal)
½ teaspoon garam masala spice blend
1 large iron skillet
Heat the skillet to medium heat and add the butter. When the butter melts and foams add the steaks. Cook to desired temperature. Add soy and worchestershire, reduce. Remove meat from pan. Add pecans and sour mash whiskey. Add garam masala spices. Pour over meat. Place avocado on meat.
OKRA AND BUTTERNUT SQUASH
6 okra
½ cup tempura flour
3 tablespoons vodka
1 cup peanut oil
Dust okra in tempura flour, place in another plate and sprinkle with vodka until it mixes into the flour/okra. Fry in hot oil, 350 degrees, for three minutes. Lift out and drain.
10 slices butternut squash
1 teaspoon honey granules or coarse brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon cornstarch
2 cups peanut oil (use same oil as for okra)
Dust the butternut french fries with the spices and fry at 350 degrees for 4 minutes. Lift and shake off excess oil.
Keep okra and squash warm while you cook the rib eye or cook them while you cook the rib eye steaks.
Arrange okra and butternut squash in Lincoln log style on two plates and set rib eye next to them. Eat. Really eat.
Thank you and I hope your meals are a success. Please visit me at our new restaurant, Chef Lamar’s Iron Grill. We are new and the adventure is just now beginning.

I dream of her curves even when she is beside me,
I see her almond eyes shining as she looks at our feast,
She could sweeten the bitterest herbs and olives.
Given that there is a way of oranges and sweet shrimp,
Given that there is a path of glory and ceramic grills
And given that the summer days are better with her.
She does this,
She does this when we are together,
Simply by enjoying all things,
Her lips curve towards heaven,
And everything around becomes richer and more full,
Everything is born again in her smile.

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Marshmallow Shrimp (mine alone)


MARSHMALLOW SHRIMP
Having fun with Georgia white shrimp.
12 shrimp, large one ounce each, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons red bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons green bell pepper, diced
2 tablespoons Vidalia onion, diced
2 tablespoons Rice vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
1-tablespoon Sriracha chili sauce (Green Tabasco or Cholula OK as well)
1-teaspoon kosher salt, or coarse sea salt
12 cashew halves
12 medium marshmallows
Heat the butter in a medium skillet on high. Add peppers and onions and cook to just tender. Add shrimp and cook two minutes on each side with heat on medium. Sprinkle vinegar, honey and Sriracha into the skillet and mix ingredients. Place one marshmallow on top of each shrimp, and then one cashew half on top of that, place pan in 400~ oven for two minutes. The marshmallow will melt and brown.

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Chinook Salmon and Sesame Catfish


THE RETURN OF THE KINGS OF SUMMER:
GRILLED SALMON WITH PINEAPPLE AND ROSEMARY
AND
SEARED SESAME CATFISH WITH BABY BOK CHOY

The return of summer for the West and the South is defined by two fish, for the West it is salmon and for the South it is catfish. Today we pay our culinary respects to the mighty King Salmon, the Chinook, the Coho, the Pink, the Silver bright (chum), and the fatty, deep red Sockeye. It will be grilled with rosemary and pineapple. This traveler of the oceans who knows two homes, the river bed of their birth and the oceans they explore and live before returning to spawn and die in the smooth rocks from which they were raised. I can imagine no life so determined and so beneficial to all life as the salmon. They swim UP waterfalls! Imagine how they swim upstream. They manage every possible roadblock in the water world. As fingerlings they feed a great amount of other fish, as kings of the sea they devour tons of krill and shrimp. After a few years they return from their mystery tour of the seas to the mouths of the rivers of their birth. They then stop feeding. After crossing our dams and our intrusions, our overheated overflows, our pollution, they pass waterfall and rapids, they pass bears and other mammals, they pass our nets and lures, and then they spawn and die. At the end of this journey they nurture the soil and they enrichen the fresh water with their decaying bones. Parts of our Northwest are alive and green, the rivers themselves are alive, all by the presence of the powerful and life giving salmon.
I feel a kinship to this fish. Much of my life has been enjoyed on the rocks and sands of the magnificent coasts of Northern California and the Carolinas. I am a native Georgian, and by native I mean going back into the 1700’s where my relatives settled into what is known as Tucker, Georgia. There is a lot of Irish and English in my DNA. The wandering nature of my life I attribute to the ancient line of world roaming Celts, and of course of personal love of our beautiful nation. How did I come to enjoy working with the flavors of America and of the far Pacific? By traveling in both life and thought through the vast network of poetry, food and philosophy that this land has to offer. My love of salmon is not just culinary; it is also a philosophic and poetic love. Watching the salmon run on a river is beyond description. Understanding the life of the salmon is to understand how Life interacts in our world where all things really are connected and that all life is sacred. As with all life on this earth we must work to protect and properly harvest salmon so that we can enjoy the flavor and health benefits, and so that the ecosystem can flourish through the life of this unmatched species of life. Wild salmon is filled with all things good for our health. Also, fresh wild salmon is just about one of the best tasting things I have ever eaten. In June I will be hosting a sustainable seafood dinner at the restaurant for those of you interested in the benefits of our streams and oceans.
Now on to the good stuff of why we are here: the fish and the grill! Everything will be cooked on the grill. And I trust you are eating outside, close to the source. Also, if you are buying your fish at Publix or Earthfare, remember that their seafood delivery days are Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Ask ahead for special fish so that they can have it in for you. Except for my Hawaiian fish we use the same purveyor, Inland Seafood, so I can vouch for the superb quality.
We will be using wild Chinook salmon for this recipe. If you cannot find the wild Chinook (King), then use sockeye, chum or Coho. If at all possible avoid the Pacific Ocean farmed Atlantic salmon as the harm outweighs the benefits of this particular fish. The first run of Chinook is a treasure. This fish is fatty, healthy, strong, large, and full of wide flaked meat. If you buy the whole fish you can use the head and backbones for fish stock for a rich and hearty chowder. When buying the steak cut go for the one that still has the backbone in it as this has more flavor and is more amenable to the grill. After it has grilled just lift the center bone out of the fish, all the other bones will come along with it.

What better way to celebrate Summer than with the best of both coasts? Catfish and Salmon! We will have catfish for the appetizer and salmon for the entrée. I recommend frozen green grapes, blueberries and raspberries sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar for a cooling dessert.
The history of Southern cuisine is lush with odes to catfish. From the catch to the table this slick fellow is the South. Can you imagine the writings of Mark Twain, or even our own late, beloved Lewis Grizzard without catfish? As a boy I learned to fish by catching bream, crappie and catfish. Later in life I developed a love of fly-fishing for trout and steelhead. A s my Uncle Allen Driscoll tells me I will end up at the end of a boat spinning for the three great bass species. Any way it goes, I am happy just to be near the water. This is pretty much how it is for most of us who grow up in a fishing boat, on the edge of a stream, or in the cold surf.
Farmed catfish is a stellar example of environmentally friendly and delicious fish cultivation. Catfish, trout and tilapia farming are what fish farming is all about. Everything is used, and nothing is poisonous to the earth or to us, the consumer. And besides, each one is delicious and easy to prepare.
For our grill we use an equal portion of two different charcoal briquettes, coconut and hickory. Coconut charcoal for intense heat, and hickory for the flavor.
It has to be blazing hot for the catfish appetizer so don’t fear the red glow from the base of your grill when the coconut charcoals are primed. By the time you get to cooking the salmon (20 minutes) the coals will have calmed down a bit and the hickory smoke will be dominate in the mix. This meal is for 4 people.
Four hours before it’s time to eat you will do all of the preparations. This way when the grill is ready all you do is cook and eat. Oh yes!
SESAME CATFISH
1 pound catfish cut into two inch cubes
4 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
2 ounces cilantro, fresh, chopped
4 tablespoons poblano pepper, diced
1 cup beer (yeah beer, any non-light kind)
1 teaspoon Tabasco Sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 teaspoons sesame oil
8 bamboo skewers
Mix all together in bowl and marinade in refrigerator for three hours. This removes the pond taste and gives them an extra punch of flavor. Four pieces of catfish per skewer.
GREENS
4 heads baby bok choy (find this at Fooks Market on Baxter St)
1 medium red onion (or Vidalia if they are any good this year)
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut in long thin strips
2 medium parsnips, peeled and cut in long thin strips
1/2 cup sweet rice vinegar
1/4 cup turbinado sugar (raw sugar)
Cut the baby bok choy (a.k.a. Shanghai cabbage) in half. Slice the red onion in rings. Mix all together in large mixing bowl and marinade two to three hours. After it marinades, drain the liquid before cooking it. Roll the Shanghai cabbage in aluminum foil.
SALMON
4 –8 ounce salmon steaks
1 cup pineapple juice
2 tablespoons coarse pink sea salt, or any other coarse salt
1 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1/2 cup oyster sauce (Asian section of store or at Fooks store)
1/3 cup corn oil
4 stalks rosemary, fresh of course
1 pineapple, check to see that it is a sweet one
When it comes to the oyster sauce, as with all things culinary the better the brand the better the flavor. Mix the pineapple juice, salt, black pepper, and oyster sauce together. Core and cut the pineapple into one-inch thick triangles. Cut the rosemary stalks into 8 two-inch pieces. Pierce each salmon with two rosemary fronds. Rub the salmon steaks with the oyster sauce mixture and let them set in this for about thirty minutes. Save the juices for brushing the steaks while they grill. Save the corn oil for grilling time. You can buy rosemary bushes at Home Depot.
IF you have a rosemary bush all you gotta do is reach over and pinch a bunch off of the bush and throw it on the grill for extra flavor. Two years ago I presented a salmon recipe with rosemary, so as an anniversary memoir I am using the two together again, in a different way, but still together. Fresh rosemary is an incredibly versatile herb that I think is not used enough in the home kitchen from appetizers to desserts. It must be fresh. I’ve used it in crème brulee, ice creams, savory dishes, with fruits, with roasts, on the grill, and as a garnish. Fresh rosemary is without bounds and in many ways has more uses than even the most popular of all, basil.

HONEY WASABI SAUCE FOR THE SALMON
1 tablespoon wasabi powder
1/2 cup honey (check for different kinds of flower honey)
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
Whisk all together and refrigerate until time for supper.
VEGETABLE
Do you ever feel as if you were a slave to the will and whim of the grocery stores here in the Athens area? FOOKS on Baxter in Athens is a great choice for a concise selection of Pan Asian ingredients.
That no matter what you plan they will not have the best produce that you need? If that is the case then make the drive to the International Farmers Market, or to the market at 99 Ranch, and best of the best is Super H on Pleasantdale Road. What you save in groceries far exceeds the cost of gas in driving there and back. If you have no idea what it is that you are looking at when you examine the produce, the seafood or the prepared foods and ingredients then just ask anyone close by. In my experiences most of the time people are more than happy and ready to not only tell you what a food is but also how best to prepare it the same way they did in their native lands.
If you are afraid to try the too culturally different, then stick to the tried and true of grilling our own sweet corn and zucchini, yellow squash, or green tomatoes. After all, Southern cuisine is a true and valued food all it’s own just the same as any other international cuisine like French, Chinese or Italian. True Southern, for many of us, is really the first and foremost food of life. Thing is, you really must follow the rules of fresh and take your time. Fresh is the only way to cook. There is no excuse today to cook any other way. Some will eat to live, and others happily live to eat. I prefer to live to eat. When you live to eat there is no obstacle too great to stand between yourself and a cherished meal or ingredient.

So, if you can’t make the drive and the yellow squash is looking good then go with the squash. It’s the same for sweet corn as either is perfect on the grill with salmon and pineapple. The plate will be sort of yellow looking but that’s ok. Sometimes our foods can’t be as colorful as we would like.
GRILLING
The first stage is ready. The grill is fire hot from the coconut or cherry wood coals. Place the roll of Shanghai cabbage on the backside of the grill. After five minutes brush the grill with peanut oil and place the catfish skewers on the grill. Cover the grill. Turn them after five minutes. Turn again and cook for another five minutes. So, that’s fifteen minutes cook time for the first course.
Unroll the baby bock choy and divide between four plates. Place two catfish skewers on each plate. Pour the juice from the boy choy over the food. Garnish with lemon and cilantro.
For the salmon brush the grill with corn oil. The heat should be a bit calmer by this time. You will grill the fish five minutes per side, turning three times. Be careful when you turn the fish over as they may stick, so use a flat metal spatula to loosen them off of the grill rails. Place pineapple on the grill at the same time as the salmon, but only turn the pineapple triangles two times. This is also fifteen minutes cook time for the second course of your meal. The squash only needs about ten minutes. Corn will need about fifteen minutes. The hickory flavor of the smoke should be plenty enough seasoning for the vegetables. If that is not enough then sprinkle with salt and pepper and a little bit of chopped fresh garlic.
When they have cooked remove the salmon from the grill and pull out the backbone. Then pull out the rosemary sticks. Brush the fish with the honey wasabi mayonnaise and set on plates. Arrange pineapple and vegetable around your centerpiece of salmon. Sprinkle chopped macadamia nuts or cashews mixed with chopped parsley and rosemary over it all. Garnish with lime and red bell pepper.
FROZEN BERRIES
1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries
1 bunch green seedless grapes
1/2 cup granulated sugar
Pick the grapes off the stems. Arrange the fruits on a freezer proof plate. Sprinkle with the sugar. Freeze. When it’s time to eat just place the plate on the table and munch along as the sun goes down on your perfect Georgia day with friends by the grill. And that, all together, is the way to live to eat.

GRILLING MY LIFE AWAY
Sometimes a warm summer night is all we need
To see how beloved this Southern life can be,
For me it’s how I cherish, how I care and prepare,
For others it’s just the way the day crawls by,
How we sit and chat and watch the flowers in the breeze,
And any way you slice it there’s no other way to live
Than passing the time on a porch in Georgia in late August.

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Chef Lamar’s Iron Grill (Food You Want To Eat; World Comfort Food)


We have settled affairs and will be opening a new restaurant in Athens, GA
Lamar’s Iron Grill. It is NOT in Downtown Athens. After a lot of research we decided on being outside of the central city. Parking, building design, neighborhoods, open deck, easy access to the loop and to Downtown all factored into our location. 1155 Mitchell Bridge Road in what is called The Arbor, next to The Arbor Salon.

I am in a partnership with David Clapp, owner of Dantanna’s and Cafe Tu Tu Tango. He is an old friend and one of the sharper restaurant minds that I know. This is something that makes me very happy. I am continuing forward with my take on World Cuisine this time by moving my favorite aspects of Pan Asia into the same field as Southern. We will be doing a lot of small plates of various seafood, oysters, pink curry green shell mussels, ceviche, tataki, crudo and carpaccio with Southern relishes and pickles relating both to Korean and Georgia style, bridging the gap of sweet and sour.
Stocks are all dashi and pho style. Rice cake pasta (gnocchi is similar to this).
Even going to do a take on mac and cheese, really. Whole pig roast every Thursday (cooked in a Caja China box). Pork and apple egg rolls. Linguisa sausage and purple yams, pork loin with garam masala and grilled pineapple.
Not a lot of seafood on the main menu itself as I will have to do this completely market based, hence seafood will continue to be a featured favorite by always being a “special”. The small plates/tapas/bites will have a lot of truly fresh seafood which means the specials and ceviche/crudo will have some of the same species but in different styles.
My whole affection for Hawaiian and Carolina coastal fish is always at the forefront of the food. The meats will continue with hormone, antibiotic free, slow growth fowl, local Rhode Island Red Hen eggs; duck eggs will make a
few appearances. Nothing is more pleasurable than looking at what is ordinary and extraordinary and bringing them together into same plate. I feel like I have always been pushing towards a kind of World Comfort Food, and this is a progression deeper into the bright flavors and warmth of what is modern cuisine

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Satay, Kabob, Grilling Meat On A Stick!


HOT GRILL COOKING IN THE SUMMER (06.2010)

We are in the grilling season. Every season in North Georgia is grilling season. Hot, cool, warm and cold; sunny, cloudy, stormy and clear it is all the same when the love of smoke and the outdoors is part of your ingredient list for your recipes. Since childhood we have marveled at the glory in the differences between burnt and tanned marshmallows. We have argued over which was better, burnt or tan. Is it better to skewer them on coat hangers or maple/elm/hickory sticks? Over the fire itself or near by to the coals? Marshmallows at a camp South to Savannah and the Okefenokee or North to Standing Indian Gap and War Woman Road, Camp Eagle or Stone Mountain all taste as good as at any other. Things on a stick. Seems that anything grilled on a stick is delicious. Primal, woodland, easy to cook and easy to eat.
Satay indicates Indonesian and South Asian styles of grilling on a bamboo stick. Kabob relates to our European and Near East forms of stick cuisine on flaming swords and metal skewers. You do not always need a fork or a plate. Plated satay and kabobs can be arranged into dramatic statements by simple remembering how Lincoln Logs worked for stacking and making teepees. For absolute drama grill on a long metal skewer or fencing foil type instrument, move it from the heat and drizzle 100 proof rum on to the meat, move it back to the heat so that it catches on fire, i.e. flambé and then push the meat onto a plate with a long serving fork. Very Brazilian, Tahitian and Classic French! See, all cultures enjoy a good flame.
Our satay will be chicken and pork. The peanut sauce is called Nam Jim Satay. The sauce for the chicken is a take on Tom Yum Goong because I think that hot and sour shrimp is a nice companion to grilled chicken. The kabobs are beef with onion and mushrooms with a thickened Worcestershire and Rum glaze; and cubed catfish with corn and peppers on watermelon and yellow tomatoes with sesame soy dipping sauce. Meat on a stick is easy. Plan ahead and enjoy the warm evening, watch the fireflies dance for a while, cook, eat and love the life, the beautiful fact that we are in the South.
Now is a good time to strongly suggest that you date and label all your home made foods that will kept in the refrigerator. Also dating and labeling is a good thing for rice, grains and flour products in the pantry. Spices do lose quality with age so only buy as much as you will use in a short period of time. Toasting spices brings out the natural oils and elevates the flavors of the spice back to a fresh state. Do not be afraid. Today there is always a specialty grocer close enough for supplies.
Fish sauce is known by several grades, I use the Three Crabs or Golden Boy for sauté dishes and the Tiparos dark brand for sauces. Be aware that fish sauce/nam pla on it’s own smells like wet dog, but when cooked it adds a very delicate flavor of calamari, crab and shrimp to the dish. Fish sauce is made with anchovy or any other oily fresh or salt water fish. It is literally salted, fermented fish water. Sounds crazy but not only do great nam pla brands like Golden Boy fully enhance the flavor of your foods it is also a high protein.
Fish sauce is as much as 10% high protein, and this protein is a complete one. It contains all the essential amino acids that the body requires for growth and regeneration. It also contains a rich supply of B vitamins, especially B 12 and pantothenic acid, riboflavin and niacin. Other beneficial nutrients include calcium, phosphorous, iodine and iron. Pantothenic acid is a B5 vitamin that aides in synthesis and binding of proteins, hence regeneration.

This list of curries will prove quite useful in your cooking and dining.
red curry paste – prig gang ped

Red curry paste is the most common of all the curry pastes. It is used widely in many dishes that you are familiar with such as tod mun and satay. Red curry paste is a mixture of dry chili pepper, shallot, garlic, galangal, lemon grass, cilantro root, peppercorn, coriander, salt, shrimp paste and kaffir lime zest.

green curry paste – prig gang kew wan
Green curry paste has the exact ingredients as the red one with the exception of the dried chili pepper. Fresh green pepper is substituted.

yellow curry paste – prig gang leung
Yellow curry comes from Southern Thailand and is similar to red or green curry, but it is made with yellow peppers and turmeric.

masaman curry paste – prig gang masaman
This is also known as matsaman and/or massaman
Masaman is an Indian influenced curry. Masaman curry paste has several Indian spices such as cumin, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. When sold in Thailand, you can see whole white cardamom pods in the paste.

nam prig pow or nam prik pow
This is also known as prik pao and/or chilli paste soya beans
There are many variations of this, but the core mixture is: shallots, garlic, shrimp paste, dry chili pepper, salt, and sugar. Frequently there is also tamarind paste and dried shrimp.

namya curry paste
This curry paste is a mix of shallots, garlic, lemon grass, galangal, gra chai, pepper, salt and shrimp paste. (gar chai is a kind of ginger)
This note on curries is from the Thai Table.

PORK SATAY
You can use butt or loin for this dish. It will be necessary to pound the meat thin, or if you are good with a knife then thinly sliced and you are there!
The sauce is a classic Thai peanut sauce. I often substitute cashews and pecans for peanuts for restaurant use because of the prevalence of peanut allergies today. Home made red curry can be kept in your refrigerator for over a month. As always, sealed air tight in a plastic container.
MARINADE
1 pound pork loin, sliced into 8, 2 ounce slices
1 teaspoon light brown turbinado crystals
or palm sugar
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
½ cup coconut milk
8 bamboo skewers
Slide the pork onto the skewers. Combine ingredients in shallow plastic pan and submerge the pork into the marinade. Cover and refrigerate over night.
For the sake of magazine space and keeping things a bit less complicated for the home cook we will use Worcestershire and red curry paste from the store instead of tamarind and home made curry. Do look up and make your own Thai and Viet curries when you have the time to discover how and why curry is so complicated, varied and wonderful.
NAM JIM SATAY
2 tablespoons Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
1 tablespoon palm sugar
3 tablespoons ground peanuts or peanut butter
You can also use cashews for this satay sauce.
2 tablespoons fish sauce/nam pla
1 tablespoon red curry paste
¾ cup coconut milk
If you want it lighter then use young coconut juice.

Combine ingredients in food processor or mortar and pestle to smooth. Toast in pan over medium heat. Stir the whole time it is cooking so that it does not burn and does not stick to the pan. Cook 3 minutes.
Remove and keep in warm place.
Grill satay skewers over hot coals. It will take about ten minutes hot, 15 minutes over medium hot coals. Paint the Nam Jim Satay on the satay as they grill. Serve with Thai sticky rice and slices of mango.
After you make our two Thai sauces you will understand how important the balance of hot, sour, salty, sweet and umami (mouth watering, delicious) are in Southeast Asian and Singaporean cuisine. Indonesian/Singapore they do not use as much coconut milk as with the foods of Thailand. Tamarind is used in making Worcestershire sauce. Tamarind is the pulp of the big brown seed pods that grow on tamarind trees. It has a slight lime tea kind of flavor. I use it a lot.
CHICKEN SATAY TOM YUM GOONG
Bamboo skewers and a thickened sauce makes for a great day at the table. While grilling satay skewers grill fresh pineapple or watermelon along with the meats. This combination makes for a unified smoky and outdoors flavor while being fresh and sweet at the same time.
Tom Yum is a famous Thai soup, sauce or appetizer preparation. We will use Tom Yum as sauce for our grilled salt and pepper bamboo chicken. I like all of the chicken, dark and white meat alike. Flavor is with the bone and the dark meat. If you are not familiar with boning a chicken then buy boneless thigh and breast. For our dish we will use chicken tenders, the moist and tender underside of the breast. You will not have to pound or cut them, just insert the bamboo.
SKEWERS
16 ounces tenders, 2 ounces each
8 bamboo skewers soaked in hot water one hour
This prevents the wood from burning.
½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
Rub chicken with salt and pepper. One tender per skewer.

TOM YUM GOON
4 cups water
1 cup bay shrimp
1 juice of one lime
1 stalk lemon grass
3 kaffir lime leaves (if you cannot find them then use the zest of key limes and one lavender flower)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
¼ cup fresh cilantro, torn and rough chopped
3 thai bird chili peppers (if you do not have then use
a serrano pepper, thinly sliced)
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon red miso paste
Combine ingredients and heat on medium heat in saucepan. Stir often and cook for 20 minutes. Strain. Keep warm

Grill the skewers 15 minutes on medium coals, turn four times. Set on plate and pour a half ounce of sauce over each chicken. Serve with a red cabbage, cucumber and fennel slaw.
BEEF KABOBS
We have all put beef and mushrooms on a stick and grilled them at sometime in our lives, but have we set them on fire with 100 proof rum? This is the fun.
1 pound tenderloin of beef, cut into 16 cubes
16 crimini mushrooms, washed (if you have access to
King mushrooms then by all means use them)
16 metal skewers
Mushroom, meat, mushroom, meat on the skewer.

SAUCE
4 ounces 100 proof rum
4 ounces Lea And Perrins Worcestershire sauce
1 lemon, the juice
1 ounce soy sauce
1 ounce fig or pear balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, toasted

Combine all except the rum and heat on high heat to boil. Stir and turn down to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.

Grill the kabobs to your preferred temperature. When they are cooked remove from the heat and pour the rum over each kabob. Return to very hot grill and have them flambé. If they do not catch fire that is OK, but the fun is the fiery sword of beef.
Plate with grilled potatoes and asparagus. Glaze each kabob with the sauce.

CATFISH KABOBS
You can use any fresh water or saltwater fish for this as long as it is very fresh.
1 pound catfish, cut in 16 one ounce cubes
1 cup buttermilk
Soak catfish in buttermilk over night.
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon white corn meal
Combine with the catfish so that each cube is coated with spice.
2 ears fresh corn, cut into 16 circle slices
8 slices red bell pepper
8 bamboo or metal skewers
Slide the ingredients on each skewer in this order: pepper, catfish, corn, pepper, catfish corn.
Grill on very high heat for 10 minutes or until catfish is cooked.
SAUCE
1 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
3 stalks green onion, sliced
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 teaspoon sugar
1 jalapeno, thin sliced
½ teaspoon cornstarch
Heat on medium high heat for 10 minutes.

MELON AND TOMATO

4 watermelon, wedges, no rind
8 slices yellow tomato
1/3 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 teaspoon apple juice
1 tablespoon Mexican style crumble fresh cheese (queso fresca)
Set on plate and sprinkle with salt, pepper and cheese.
Place kabobs next to watermelon and tomato with small dish of sauce on plate.
Accompany with German potato salad and Southern style slaw.

Walk with me here where the honeysuckle blooms
Where the ocean sky ripples with each cloud passing,
Soft footsteps by the houses whose dogs are too lonely,
Behind the fences barking, but just wanting a friend.
Pulling the golden closer and the lab a little tighter,
They are so beautiful playing in the last light of day,
Their coats catching these last rays of light,
Pure joy just to walk, all of us walking,
Loving the peace that is this day, like many others,
A day hand in hand, just the dogs, you and I.
And what makes these hours brighter
Are the words of love with a Southern drawl,
The ways of a smile that none may ever name.

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Salads….Sort of a love song and a food


GRAINS, FLOWERS, LEAVES AND APPLES IN THE WONDERFUL MONTH OF MAY
Hello Princess Spring-To-Summer where are the tomatoes are growing green and the peppers are beginning to cross the line from sweet to heat. Surround your home with fragrant herbs, sweet lettuces, and flowers. The bounty of better boy and heritage tomatoes, of sweet bell peppers and life threatening habanera, the long strands of strawberry and stevia all growing upside in those topsy turvy pots, or right side up in cages and steps. It just does not matter where or how, this is the South, this is way we dress our home in all things edible and where they don’t grow then all things green and blossoming. Salads, the quick and the easy plucked from the yard. We are entering the salad times so let’s look at a few that are fast and easy, if not delicious and untamed.
I was caught surprise by a bogey message in my daily planner that photographs were due so I messaged Bryan Redding, editor and favorite photographer, and said that if pictures were necessary I was not ready. Then of course he called and asked if I wanted to do photographs today. I said, “Why not, let’s do salads. I have a pantry, yard and refrigerator ready except for tomatoes.” I lied. I had no idea what I was going to do so I purchased time by asking him to stop by Kroger, Publix or Earthfare to see if they had those tomatoes on the vine that they sell sometimes. Not the best but good when nothing is fruiting in the home patch.
He said, “Sure, I’ll be there in 30 minutes.” Haha!
And thus we have three nice salads: quinoa and pigeon peas with “pancetta” style seasoned hog jowl bacon; romaine with rose hips, dried fruits, almonds and sesame-wasabi dressing; purple and Yukon gold potatoes with apple, tomato, boiled egg, sweet William flowers and bleu cheese. There are many things that can be done in a hurry and as long as there are olive oils, seasoned oils, flavored vinegars, cheeses, some kind of lettuce and choice grains and legumes then anything can happen come surprise or planning.
Pigeon peas are a hot weather legume. They look like big sweet pea, green bean or soy bean pod. They are a meaty pea and can be used fresh or dried. They do not like frost, but they will grow strong for about five years. It takes three to four months from planting before they start to produce pods. They grow tall and require a trellis. Bees love the pea flowers. That’s for the gardeners in the bunch here. As with all legumes they are high in protein. They are used in India for making dhal. Western recipes prefer to say that dhal is made with lentils , soy beans and red beans but pigeon peas are the true source of this great dish.
When using the dried pea you can make flour out of them in a high speed Vita Prep style blender. I enjoy making my own flours out of beans, rice and grains. There is something great to be said for taking the few minutes to make your own flour. The proof is always in the flavor.
Pigeon peas must be cooked to soft but still round for our purposes here today. You can cook them like any pea to whatever your purpose is from soft to mash, it all depends on the purpose of the recipe.
I have written many times about quinoa and will continue to write about quinoa. This mother grain has more proteins than any other edible seed. It is grown from the Andes to Columbia and has been central to South American cuisine for centuries prior to the Spanish conquest of the Inca and Mayan cultures.
The Spanish suppressed this mighty grain for many reasons, one is that they considered it a food of lesser cultures. Because it was overlooked by the invading nationalities it took a while for quinoa to catch on in North American cookery. This is similar to the way that whole wheat bread and white bread alternated over the centuries. Whole wheat was a food for the workers during the building of the pyramids while white bread was for royalty and upper classes. We now know that whole wheat is much more healthy. It may also be possible that quinoa did not catch on because it was bitter to European tastes. After all, they did take the potato, corn and tomato and adapted them to gardens the world over.
Quinoa is good cooked like rice or ground to make flour for bread; it is used even in making beer and as a leaf substitute for spinach. It is always necessary to rinse quinoa before cooking to remove any bitter hull that may still be on the seeds. As with rinsing rice, rinsing quinoa is part of the cooking process, although it is not necessary to soak the quinoa before cooking. If you soak quinoa for a few hours it will begin to germinate and grow both softer and higher in protein. Along with proteins, quinoa is high in amino acid, phosphorous, magnesium, iron, and is gluten free so this is a preferred grain for vegetarian, gluten free and healthy diets.
Potatoes are native to the Andes of Chile and Peru. Potatoes were then taken to Europe and North America where they thrived. Purple potatoes are high in starch and sugars, and Yukon gold potatoes are high in sugars so that the two together on a plate make for delicious visual and flavor contrasts.
All cheese is made from some kind of milk be it cow, goat, sheep or ox. We make blue and green veined cheese by introducing flour yeast cultures to the cheese during the aging process. Because blue and green veined cheeses have bread mold/yeast added they are not gluten free. Parmesan cheese is high in umami of the five flavors hot, sour, salty, sweet and umami. Umami is in green tea, soy sauce, sea salt, red wine, various cheeses, seaweed and chocolate. It is called delicious in translation. That can be misleading, umami is what makes the mouth water and hence allowing flavors to be more acutely experienced. Parmesan, feta, burrata, fresh mozzarella and blue cheeses are favorites for salads because they truly do bring out the delicate flavors of raw and cooked ingredients in salads.
QUINOA AND PIGEON PEAS
Remember that all items except the tomato were present in my pantry, refrigerator and yard at the time of composition. This was truly hunting and gathering with what was at hand. I used hog jowl bacon for my take on instant pancetta. Curing rolled pork belly with whole allspice, whole peppercorns, sea salt, curing salt and sugar, makes pancetta. I made mine by slowly cooking hog jowl bacon with allspice, sorghum syrup, white peppercorns and coarse sea salt. Reserve the fat from the hog jowls for cooking the potatoes in the next recipe. I bought the sliced hog jowl at Publix. This kind of cut is also used in making many great Sichuan rice and ground meat dishes. The current fetishising of bacon is an interesting thing since fatty sections of pork are used wherever flavor and fat are required. I would never use bacon in a squash casserole but we Southerners certainly do use fat back in casseroles. Same for biscuits, we use lard but not bacon fat. The best and most fluffy potatoes are cooked in any kind of pork fat and
duck fat.
QUINOA (keen-wha)
2 ounces quinoa (dry weight)
1 cup water to rinse and soak the quinoa for 10 minutes
5 ounces chicken stock
1/ 4 cup yellow onion, minced
1/3 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
1/3 teaspoon salt
2 black peppercorns, crushed
1 tablespoon butter
½ cup cooked pigeon peas (use canned, frozen or fresh, the best)
Sautee the onion on medium heat in butter and cook until they are clear. Add the quinoa and stir to coat the grains with the butter. Add the stock and all other ingredients. Bring to a boil. Turn down to low and cover. Add pigeon peas. Cook for 10 minutes. Check and stir. If stock has reduced then taste for softness and flavor. If not then stir and cook for about 3 more minutes, covered.
While the quinoa is cooking cook your hog jowl bacon in a large iron skillet
HOG JOWL “PANCETTA”
8 slices hog jowl bacon
3 allspice, whole (if no whole then pinch of ground allspice)
¼ teaspoon white pepper or 3 white peppercorns
1 tablespoon sorghum syrup or black strap molasses
1/3 teaspoon coarse sea salt
Place bacon in skillet and heat on medium heat. Add spices after it begins to sizzle. Turn and let cook until crisp, pour fat into another large iron skillet. Add sorghum to the bacon. Remove from pan and place on paper napkin to drain fat.
VINAIGRETTE
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 leaves basil
3 tablespoons aged balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon turbinado sugar
½ teaspoon yellow mustard
Whisk ingredients together before adding to dish.
Divide the quinoa and pigeon peas between two plates. Arrange in a line on the plate. Set the jowl pancetta in the middle of each line of quinoa. Drizzle the vinaigrette over each plate. Garnish with fresh edible nasturtium flowers or crisp violet petals.
ROMAINE WITH DRIED FRUITS AND WASABI-MISO VINAIGRETTE
Spicy, crunchy, fruity and sharp; how can you go wrong with this arrangement?
I used dried apricots because I had them on hand for my three salads in 30 minutes. Remember that for all of these I was racing against the clock as Bryan was coming over to photograph the plates! I always have wasabi and miso in the house because their flavors are so versatile. Do not think that the wasabi root is confined to raw fish, though surely the best place for it is with sparkling fresh wahoo we are using it for a sauce. Vinaigrette is a sauce. Miso, the product of fermented soy beans is a deep flavor that is used in dashi, soups and sauces. Almonds because they balance the crunchy aspect of this salad, and salads that have a bit of crunch just seem to taste better. I have a camellia and a rose hips tree/bush in my yard.
WASABI-MISO VINAIGRETTE
½ teaspoon wasabi powder or paste
1 teaspoon miso paste
10 leaves fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons sweet gherkin, or bread and butter pickles, minced
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2/3 cup corn oil

Whisk wasabi, miso and corn oil to for semi thick, then add the pickle and cilantro. Slowly add the vinegar while whisking so that it thins the vinaigrette but does not separate. Chill. If it separates after you remove it from the refrigerator just shake it up or whip it in a mixing bowl. Sometimes a touch of mayonnaise or mustard will bind it together.
SALAD
2 romaine hearts, center section
10 slices dried apricot
5 rose hips, or you can use rose petals and orange zest if not available
14 almonds
3 stalks green onion
1 tomato, sliced in small cubes

Rinse romaine leaves in cold water and shake off the water. Slice in fork sized pieces. Place in large bowl. Add apricot, rose, green onion, almonds and tomato. Add 4 ounces of the vinaigrette. Divide between two plates. You can also add large croutons to this to add to the crunchy goodness.
POTATO AND APPLE PLATE
A plate of food that is both salad and starch is a visual and flavorful pleasure. Peruvian purple potatoes are a rich purple color, very starchy and filling. Yukon gold potatoes are yellowish, light and airy, and sweet. The two potatoes contrast nicely with the apple, tomato, egg and blue cheese. We are using the oil from our bacon to cook the potatoes. Cage free, organic, farm eggs really do taste better, they make better custards, aioli and cakes. Rhode Island Red hens produce an incredible egg that you may not know, but you can bet your grandparents enjoyed them. Today, this kind of egg is being reintroduced to the market and it is not just a brown egg, it is an egg from a different kind of chicken who has been fed a different kind of food and the results are recognizable. Sweet Williams were blooming around my yard so they made it to the plate!
Best way to boil an egg? For two eggs in a small pot: cover with cold water, ½ teaspoon salt and ½ ounce apple cider vinegar. Turn up to boil. When it boils, turn down to medium and cook five minutes. Remove from heat and put pot under running cold water. Do not pour out the hot water, let the cold water force it out. After the water is cool take the egg and tap it onto the sides of the pan to crush the shell but not so hard that it breaks the film around the egg white. Under the slow cold water begin peeling the shell off of the egg until all is removed.

6, 1 ounce slices purple potato
6, 1 ounce slices yukon gold potato
2 eggs, boiled, peeled and sliced
8 slices red delicious apple
8 slices tomato
4 blossoms sweet William or whatever small edible flower is close by
2 ounces blue cheese crumbles
2 ounces Mexican crema fresca
¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
¼ teaspoon Dukes mayonnaise

Heat a large iron skillet to medium high heat with the oil from the hog jowl bacon in the pan. When the oil is 350 degrees add the potato slices one by one. Gently shake the pan after each potato slice is added. Fry 3 minutes each side. They will be light brown on the outside and cooked on the inside. Remove from heat and drain on a paper towel to remove excess oil.
To make the dressing, combine the crema fresca, mayonnaise, blue cheese, salt and pepper. Spread this over the plate.
Arrange the potatoes on the plate, blue/white/blue then apple. Arrange the slices of tomato and egg to the corner away from the potato. Sprinkle with edible flower petals.
Thank you, always love the one you’re with and have a beautiful month of May. Visit me now in our new restaurant, The Iron Grill, On Mitchell Bridge Road, where wonderful things do happen.

It was like this last night:
Coming out of the rumble
That is the cattle call of all lovers past,
Watching Drive By Truckers on late night TV
Smiling with each note, bass line and slide solo,
They are ours here in Athens, The Classic City,
They belong to Alabama, to NASCAR and Muscle Shoals,
To rock to life to Nuci’s Space the DBTs of Ruth Street,
Yeah, they belong to us all and Everyday’s a Birthday.
Southern Rock Southern Soul Southern Poems
And Southern Food, as long as it tastes good
Sounds good in these sultry Summer Days.
The World turns to the South for love and inspiration.
There’s this thing that we are here, the way
We worship June tomatoes, yellow squash,
Ripe sweet melons, banana peppers and pork bbq.
So it goes. We all have our favorites.
We all have a need for that thing that makes us smile,
From food to song to lonesome days on the hill,
There is nothing better than a moment
That goes beyond the signal of touch and grace.
Yes, with a beloved. Yes, the moment shared.
Sometimes drifting in the mystery of 3 a.m.
I hear a modern country blues coming from within,
I hear Don Chambers +Goat (a modern Doc Boggs)
Singing High Water or Friars Lantern…
I want to wake her up and start the day,
I can taste her lips on the mist,
Hear her laughter trail on the call of dawn,
But for now in the mystery hours
There is just this assurance, this way of life
That is ours, this thing that is beautiful.
There it is, shining in the gospel light of a Georgia dawn,
She, like a batch of wild sweet peas and purple violets.
All I want to so is stand with her
By the stove on a Sunday morning.
Every flower blooms. Every pan sizzles.
Every romance has a meaning.
And today, yes, these things are true.
These are the things of Southern Song and Story.

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BIG BAMBOO AND BOILING WATER, THIS IS THE WAY WE STEAM


BIG BAMBOO AND A BOILING POT OF WATER:
PURE AND CLEAN WE ARE COOKING WITH STEAM

Steam is a beautiful thing, be it in nature with Yellowstone National Park or the deep sea steam volcanoes; for automobiles and old locomotive engines; and then in the kitchen on the stove or as a steam table. In the case of cooking, steam is the vaporized water from boiling water. The water can be seasoned with aromatic herbs or just plain water, either way the cooking takes place by the heated water molecules forced up through the lidded bamboo or metal basket. There are also steam ovens and steam/radiant heat combo ovens. If you have ever had a steam burn you know that this is one hot source of heat. Steam cooks, and it cooks fast. Today we are cooking in bamboo steamers. Steam cooking is mostly associated with rice, couscous, dim sum dishes and Pan Asian cooking in particular. All regions of the world have dishes cooked with steam. The best for me though are those of Southeast Asia and Filipino cooking.
We will cook the classic Thai dish called haw mok. Haw mok is pompano, perch or a jack fish ground with red curry and coconut, wrapped in banana leaf and steamed. An array of vegetables and tofu steamed with basil and leeks. Chicken breast with mint, garlic and apples, steamed with couscous. We are cooking from the heartlands of Thailand, Japan and the Near East. This is comfort food at its finest. These dishes are easy, healthy, rich and delicious. OK, the haw mok has a few steps but it is very rewarding and joyous dining. Steam is one of the oldest cooking methods dating back to hot stones and water by thermal springs. But it is difficult to date, which came first fire or hot rock cooking. Cooks, we manipulate heat for hot cooking, and acids to alkaline in cold cooking. This is what we have always done, manipulate the structure of raw foods into an end result that maintains life and gives us pleasure. Live to eat.
First the nature stuff: steam is when water passes 212 degrees Fahrenheit. Steam does not bounce the food around or shake it or agitate it. Steam envelops and sinks into the food and this means that no nutrients are lost because the steam seals in the food. Since the food is not shaken around it does not break apart, and so in that it is very intense steam is also gentle. Steaming is a very fast way to cook with the foods being ready in 12 to 15 minutes. One of my Western style favorite ways of steam cooking is En papillote, “in paper”. This way of cooking fish is done by lining baking paper with oil and wine and placing the fish and vegetables in the middle and rolling it into a tightly closed semi circle. Bake it at 450~ for 15 minutes. Carefully cut open the paper so that the steam does not burn you, and slide the fish out onto a plate. Always be careful when cooking with steam. It is very easy to burn yourself. Use gloves or tongs.
Steam cooking basics: cut all the ingredients to roughly the same size so that they cook in the same amount of time. Do not let the food touch the water. Leave a bit of space between the ingredients so that the steam circulates. Gradually add water to the pot as it boils away so that you maintain balanced heat.
When using a two layer steamer have the meat/protein in the bottom tier since it takes longer to cook that vegetables or couscous, and so that the meat does not drip down onto the vegetables hence maintaining the integrity of flavors inherent to meats/proteins and vegetables. Top layer takes longer to cook so allow extra time. Do not take the lid off of the top before the foods have cooked because that releases the steam heat, which means that the continuous cooking cycle is broken and the food will take longer to cook. Marinade your seafood or fowl before steaming to add extra flavor into the protein. As an example of nutrition, steam removes 40% of vitamin C whereas boiling/poaching cooking removes 70%. That’s the nutrition part, now to the fun part, the cooking!
I have a big cone shaped hat bamboo steamer and stainless “vase” for steaming Thai sticky rice; two, two tiered medium bamboo; one, small single layer bamboo and metal pans and racks for steaming. Steam cooking really is hard to match when it comes to nutritious, fast, colorful, clean cooking.
Methods of cooking are steam, blanch, boil, broil, roast, braise, sear, sauté, wok stir fry, deep fry, pan fry, grill, smoke, cold smoke, denaturing and curing. And each of these methods has their own history and legend. I find it to be very fun to research, study and apply each method. They are all good. They all produce great flavors and textures.
All of the following recipes take 15 minutes except for the rice and that is 30 minutes. Bring the water to a boil and then turn it down to medium high heat, not boiling, just under at about 190 degrees Fahrenheit, steaming. Do not let the water boil up into the basket or it will just boil, and that is another thing altogether. Do not let the water boil away and ruin your stainless cookware. Keep it covered the whole time. Let the food rest in the covered basket for five minutes before serving.
STICKY RICE
First and foremost cook the rice. Talk does not cook rice. Heat cooks rice. Thai sticky rice is derived from a particular kind of glutinous rice. Rice cakes are made from glutinous rice. You can use any kind of bamboo steamer basket for sticky rice. But we are staying with the history here so use the cone shaped basket.
Soak 1 cup of sticky rice in water for 2 hours. Strain the water off of the rice. Bring the water in the vase to a boil and put the basket over it and then cover the basket with a metal lid. Turn the heat to medium high and cook for 30 minutes. Rice. You have now cooked sticky rice. This is a side dish or can be made into cake shapes and grilled or baked, they are good cold as well.
HAW MOK
This is a dish that brought me to near tears one foggy July night in San Francisco. It was at the Thai Café on Geary Boulevard. Haw mok is made from pulverized pompano, pomfrit, trevally jack, ono/wahoo or cobia. It is blended into a slight paste with red curry and then made into a fish shape, folded into a banana leaf and then steamed. Banana leaves can be purchased at any Latin Mercado in the frozen section. Some recipes for haw mok call for kaffir lime leaves, and if you have access to these wonderfully aromatic leaves then include them in the recipe. Also, some will fold the banana leaf into a cup for easy eating, and you can do this, but for the first attempt at this classic World dish follow the recipe here.
Banana leaves can be found in international farmer’s markets where Latin and Pan Asian produce is sold. Now, Thailand/Siam was and is an international marketplace. Thailand is where several different worlds of Asia and Europe intersect by geography and by trade routes. Thai food is World food. All to often no two recipes are the same and it is hard to find that perfect pad thai or sticky rice, and the reason is because each Thai chef and Mother! has a different approach to the dish depending on the season, the weather, their mood, and this is because the cuisine of Thailand is organic and ever changing. Thai cuisine is complex, there are techniques that require a lot of concentration and care, and it shows. The complexity of this World cuisine, Thai cuisine, is a very beautiful thing.
Recipes are for two people
RED CURRY PASTE
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon roasted red pepper
1/2 teaspoon toasted Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
½ teaspoon toasted coriander
1 teaspoon ginger, grated
4 tablespoons thick coconut milk
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped, stems and leaves
1 teaspoon Three Crabs fish sauce (or ½ teaspoon anchovy paste)
1 teaspoon peanut oil
Combine ingredients and mash into a paste in a food processor or mortar and pestle. Heat a wok or fry pan on high heat with the peanut oil. Add the paste and cook for three minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and let stand at room temperature.
16 ounces fish fillet, dice
1 egg white
½ teaspoon pink sea salt
1/3 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon unrefined cane sugar
Combine ingredients in food processor. Pulse for 10 seconds and let rest for 5 seconds. Do this five times. The fish should be fluffy and smooth. IF not then continue the process until it is smooth.
Spread plastic wrap onto a flat surface and mix the curry paste and fish paste together the way you would fold biscuit dough. Shape into football or fish shape.
Warm the banana leaf in a 200 degree oven so that it is just a bit soft, about 4 minutes. Take it out of the oven and lay out on a smooth surface. Slice two thin string sized strips from end to end, about 32 inches long. Cut two 10 X 10 X 10 inch triangles. Put one fish patty in the middle of each banana leaf. Fold over into another triangle. Tie each triangle up with your “strings”.
Place your fish on the bottom part of the steamer basket with at least one inch of space between the banana fish packets. Cover with the bamboo lid. Boil the water. Turn down to medium high and add a little more water to replace what steams away as it cooks. Steam for 20 minutes. Do not touch. Do not move the lid.
After 20 minutes remove the fish packs from the steamer baskets and set on serving trays. Sides of sticky rice and pickled vegetables is perfect with haw mok, Cut the banana leaf open and slide the fish off the leaf and onto the plate.
Haw mok can be made ahead of time and then steamed when you are ready to eat.
TOFU WITH VEGETABLES AND LEEKS
Tofu is made from soybeans. It is a soy protein. We cook tofu the way that we would cook an egg, a chicken breast, a custard or even as a mousse. In Hong Kong cuisine there is a tofu dessert that is made with silken soft tofu by simmering it in palm sugar and coconut water in an oak cask. It is delicious, comforting and light. Tofu dishes do tend to be rather heavy because firm tofu is so rich. After all, tofu is a meat substitute.
Steaming extra firm tofu and vegetables is a nice fast and healthy, yet filling meal. Cook it for 15 minutes and eat.
1 pound extra firm tofu, cut in one inch cubes
2 leeks, sliced from the root to the light green part
of the leaf, soak in cold water and rinse twice to remove dirt
1/3 cup broccoli crowns
1/3 cup cauliflower, small bunches/crowns
1/3 cup purple potato/purple yam, thin sliced
10 basil leaves
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon grated ginger or galanga
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cloves garlic or garlic chives, sliced thin
Arrange the tofu, vegetables and potato in the steamer basket. Sprinkle with soy sauce, basil, ginger and garlic. Cover it all with the sliced leeks. Place bamboo steamer over the water in the pot and turn heat on high. When it comes to a boil turn it down to medium high and let cook for 15 minutes. Turn heat off.
Divide the ingredients between two plates (or four small plates). Very good cool weather meal or even after a high energy day outside. This is one big hearty meal. Steaming can be healthy, filling and fast.
CHICKEN AND COUS COUS
Chicken breast with mint, garlic and apples, steamed with couscous. Just writing this one makes me hungry! Again, here is an easy dish that takes no time at all to prepare. Clean up is always just a hot water rinse away. What is left to do after a bamboo steamer dinner? Pour out the water and wash the pot. Rinse the bamboo with hot water and mild soap. Drain and rub the steamer with light cooking oil to keep the bamboo from cracking.
Couscous is a kind of pasta. It is made with crushed semolina flour and water. It is in small grains that resemble a seed. Couscous is often mistakenly thought of as a grain. It is a North African and Near East pasta that is good as a dessert with milk and dried fruits and nuts or as a tagine (an upside down looking cone that is the dome for cooking in a pan over open fires) cooking ingredient, and for us as a bountiful ingredient with a bright and Spring enhancing dish.
9 ounces chicken breast, diced
4 ounces green beans
10 leaves mint
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 apple, diced (Fuji or lady gala)
1 lemon, juiced
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
½ cup couscous
1 tablespoon rotelle (tomato and jalapeno)

Soak the couscous in a cup of hot water for five minutes. Remove and rinse. Mix with the rotelle. Place cheesecloth down on the steamer basket and then the couscous on the cheesecloth. In the other tier arrange the rest of the ingredients, sprinkle with lemon juice, salt pepper and vinegar. Set the chicken in the bottom tier and the couscous in the top. Cover and steam for 15 minutes. Turn off and let it sit there for five more minutes.
Arrange the pasta on two plates and then the apple chicken over the top of the couscous. Garnish with seasonal fruit.
I hope you enjoyed these easy, except for the haw mok, meals. Bamboo, water and heat. I like that, bamboo, water and heat is all you need to make the best of a lazy night at home.

Belle of the South
I saw her giggle at Elvis Presley,
Heard her laugh at the mention of Howard Hughes,
And I could swear I saw her tremble
When I joked about Robert Mitchum in Thunder Road.
There are photos of her as a bobby sockser
On her Shwinn bicycle near Charleston harbor.
This teenaged Tucker country princess,
She is more at home here in our Georgia.
There’s not one hairdo duplicated in any photos,
At least none of which she is willing to share!
Belle of the South and Woman of the House,
She can scare the whiskers off a catfish
And charm them back on as fast as that.
In thick and thin she is clear and true,
Wherever she stands there is love,
This Belle of the South has traveled the World
And for a while she was the Belle of the East
When she lived in far Calcutta.
When she married
(oh wow how she loves to marry!)
I saw her smiling,
Like a Kennedy Rose in full daylight,
Like magnolia blossoms after the rain,
She is all things bright and loving,
She is the Mother lion on Discovery Channel,
She is the Belle of The South,
And always she is Mother,
There is no other name.
She has more Southern stories
Than Stone Mountain has granite,
And there is a moral to every tale.
She has more friends, churches and charities
Than children and grand children,
So we have to make appointments
Just to have an evening alone with her.
We all claim her as our own,
This Belle of the Cofer/England Tucker Clan,
She is everything a Belle should be and more.
Wisdom, strength, devotion and power.
This is what a true Southern woman is,
The Belle and the Flower,
The Belle and the Mother.
She is ours.

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No longer with East West Bistro


I am no longer involved with The East West Bistro in Athens, GA.
This was my beloved from 1995 to 2010. All things have a beginning, an ending and then appear again in another shape and way, and so it is for the restaurant business where things come and go in flash and frenzy.

Soon there will be a new place for the marriage of the foods of the Mediterranean and the ever so Near East…soon…and until then there will be even better dishes developed here to share…soon…

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POMEGRANATE IN THE HOUSE IS VERY NICE (food, poetry)


POMEGRANATE IN THE HOUSE IS VERY NICE
Of the Seven Holy Species of plant pomegranate is the crown, the fertile one, the mystery, it is also one of the fruits of the Garden of Eden. The Seven Species indicates the plants given to ancient Israel. They are named in the Old Testament. They are: 1) Wheat, 2) Barley, 3) Grapes, 4) Figs, 5) Pomegranates, 6) Olives, 7) Date Honey or Dates. It is easy to see why these fruits and seeds are sacred species in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as they are staples in the world of flora that provide us with life and health. The pomegranate is symbolic of the 613 points in the Torah section of the Old Testament since it was believed the fruit bore 613 seeds. Solomon designed his crown based upon the bottom crown of the pomegranate. It is a shrub and can have as many as 40 or more fruit at at time during the growing season.
We see these Seven appearing throughout literature as being full of symbolic meaning in all of the ancient religions and iconography. We are exploring the pomegranate as our sole seed for Winter. It was the four pomegranate seeds Persephone consumed at the end of her stay with Hades in the underworld that brought about the Winter season while her mother, Demeter (Greek goddess of agriculture/wheat), mourned her absence.
The pomegranate is native to Persia and the Near East. It was planted along the Silk Road and has flourished in dry, hot growing regions all over the world including California and Arizona. The name of the pomegranate has significance also in war. The suffx ‘granate’ became the name of the Moor city in Spain, Granada. The grenade derived it’s name because the shape was like that of a pomegranate. For all things beautiful there is an opposite, and so for the pomegranate. We have sour syrup and sweet syrup, molasses and dried seeds (in curry), we have fun sweet eating seeds in November and sour ones for sauces in September and early October.
For we of the Southeast the pomegranate is best in November, December and January. It was a treat for us when we were children. My Mother called them “Plum Grannies” because it was just too much trouble to get pomegranate out of the mouths of Georgia native youngin’s and too easy to get the sweet seeds in. All it took was a bowl of cold water to separate the seeds from the pulp and a handful of napkins to separate the red from our hands. We were happy, still are when this fruit is at it’s sweetest.
The cocktail syrup, grenadine, is based upon the sweet pomegranate juice. We will be using a combination of pomegranate juice, grenadine, molasses, date palm sugar and red wine to make a kind of pomegranate molasses for pork and fish. The seeds are remarkable when sautéed with turkey breast steaks or chicken breasts. A sweet and salty spinach salad becomes a emblematic starter to any December holiday meal when the dressing contains pomegranate and bacon. I have had Turkish pomegranate syrup that was as thick as honey and deeply flavorful with tannins and sweet molasses as the same time; and then with that particular pomegranate thing that is between cranberries and scuppernongs.
They will sweeten in storage in the dry lower part of your refrigerator; keep the temperature between 32 and 42 degrees. If kept in your pantry at regular household temperatures between 65 and 72 degrees then they will keep for two months. Slightly score the outer skin of the fruit with a knife. Break it open over a bowl of cold water. Gently push the seeds off of the pulp. The pulp will rise and the seeds sink. They varieties (over 60) of pomegranate go from pale white sour seeds to super juicy sweet red seeds. We are most familiar with Wonderful and Grenada. Pomegranate juice is a known factor in reducing LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol). The juicy outer layer of the seed is called arils. And here is a new one to me; the shrub is so tannic that it has long been used in tanning leather, the bark and the leaves that is, not the fruit. Do not eat the pulp or skin.
HOT BACON AND POMEGRANATE SPINACH SALAD
Let’s explore the flavors of this healthy little shrub with a hot bacon spinach salad. The take is to use reduced pomegranate juice instead of balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar in the dressing. Pop! Sweet then the fiber crunch again when we bite into the center of the aril.
I am of the belief that all holiday salads are good f0r the very reason that someone put some love and care into their salad, their opening gift to the meal. Even carrot and raisin salad is a treasure in the right home with the right people. For us, the red and green color in the salad is perfect as an even-handed salute to the holly and rose of Sharon.

4 slices hickory bacon, sliced and cooked
2 tablespoons minced white onion
1 teaspoon brown mustard
1/3 cup pomegranate syrup
1/3 cup Australian Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tablespoons date palm sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon the bacon fat
1/5 teaspoon granulated salt

Cook the bacon to crisp with the onion. Drain the fat and set aside. Put the bacon, onion, mustard and palm sugar into a large mixing bowl. Slowly whisk the syrup into the bowl to thicken. Again, slowly whisk in the olive oil, and then the rice vinegar. Over heat whisk this until it reaches 110 degrees, at this point continue beating the vinaigrette and add the bacon fat and 1/5 teaspoon salt. Keep warm
4 plates
5 ounces spinach leaves
40 pomegranate seeds
8 rings red onion
4 strawberries, sliced
20 almonds
Arrange the items onto the plate into sections of spinach, pomegranate, then the red onion and strawberries. Line the edges of the plate with the almonds. Pour the hot vinaigrette onto the plate just before serving so that it streaks the plate with sweet and sour goodness.
ROAST PORK WITH POMEGRANATE AND AGED CHEDDAR
Here we are roasting or grilling in a kettle/ceramic grill. The cheddar has to be an aged white cheddar, no yellow. You can use Irish Porter Cheddar for a more dramatic effect as this cheese basically “rocks!”. In the even you cannot find the Irish then we are using aged white cheddar. Fruit and cheese are good anywhere. Pomegranate, pork and cheese are even better because Wonderful pomegranate is just that good.
Malta is a great little Island beverage that is brewed malt, cane and corn sugars and purified water. It is earthy, think the smell of turned black dirt, that good. Like spring plowing or the turning of a small garden space.
I have found Malta to be great in barbecue sauces and marinades for things as all American as a pork rib to tongue and liver. Malta is very versatile, and when combined with pomegranate juice it deepens the flavors even more to where the pomegranate really does resemble a rich rum infused molasses. Next time you see it in the store do not pass it by, stop, get a six pack and taste what more you an do to make the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Recipe serves four.
2 pounds pork loin, boneless
2 teaspoons Chinese Five Spice powder
1 lime zested
3 tablespoons walnut oil
1 tablespoon Sichuan pepper, ground
1 teaspoon allspice, ground
¼ cup as real soy soy sauce as you can find (no wheat)
1 cup washed and chopped leeks, white to pale green
½ cup chopped celery, leaves, ribs and all
7 ounces malta
5 ounces pomegranate juice

4 ounces aged white cheddar cheese
40 pomegranate arils

Rub the pork loin with the soya sauce and then with the walnut oil. Chill for 15 minutes. Combine the lime zest, 5 Spice, allspice, salt and pepper and rub into the pork so that it is evenly coated. Cover with the leeks and celery. Turn the oven onto 325 degrees. Roast for 45 minutes, the internal temperature will be 150 degrees when it is ready. Baste with the malta and pomegranate juice while it cooks.
Remove from oven and strain the juices into a saucepan. Turn the heat the medium high. Add 2 tablespoons molasses and 2 tablespoons brown sugar. Continue cooking until it has reduced by half and has thickened. I seriously prefer date palm sugar and black strap molasses in this dish, the brown sugar will make it more syrupy though, and it needs to stick to the pork like a glaze. If you need to enrich the flavor of this then add grenadine or if you have access to a Mid East/Turkish grocer then buy a half liter of pomegranate molasses. The Turkish style is very thick and earthy as they use a different kind of pomegranate for this syrup. I find that a very small amount goes a long way.
Please, dice two sweet potatoes, one onion, and place them on aluminum foil. Slice 4 ounces of butter and place over the potatoes. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of cardamom and 1 teaspoon of salt over the potato. Roll the aluminum foil into a tight cylinder. Bake in the same oven as the pork loin.
Chop 2 cups of leaf lettuce and sauté with a teaspoon of corn oil and then steam with 2 tablespoons of chicken stock. It is very simple.
Slice the pork loin into 16 slices. Divide pork, potatoes and lettuce between the plates. Glaze the pork with the reduction. Shave the cheese over the pork and then garnish with pomegranate.

CHICKEN TENDERS WITH POMEGRANATE AND BASMATI RICE
We are on the stovetop for this one. I like to cook it in a wok but a regular iron skillet or stainless steel pan is good as well. Chicken or turkey tenders are equally delicious for this dish. If you want fish then I highly recommend Alaskan black cod steaks. Sablefish/ black cod is one of the finest fish in the Alaskan waters, firm, white meat, a bit buttery and sweet.
Basmati rice smells like nuts when it is cooking. You do not need much seasoning at all for this rice. Just water, butter and salt. I love the smell of basmati rice cooking but if rice that smells like almonds and hazelnuts roasting turns you off then use the more floral Jasmine rice, and it that disturbs your sense of taste then the next option is Cal Rose rice, a very straight forward fat medium sized grain that is a standard to Chinese the world over; and they are right because Cal Rose is the best everyday rice I have ever had.
Brussels sprouts cooked with bacon and red bell peppers makes this little dish something to remember. Brussels sprouts cooked this way are better than you may remember little cabbages to taste. Don’t let this superb vegetable get away from you during the winter months. It is one of the great green veggies. When cooking Brussels sprouts you will boil them and then sauté them with the bacon and peppers. The boiling softens and lets the salt and bay leaf flavor into the body of the vegetable.Serves four.
24 ounces chicken tenders
½ cup sweet potato starch
½ cup all purpose white flour
½ teaspoon coriander, ground
½ teaspoon cumin, ground
1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon pink sea salt
2 ounces butter
1 ounce extra virgin olive oil
4 tablespoons Tiger Sauce (off the shelf, it is great)
¼ cup pomegranate juice
40 pomegranate arils
20 pomegranate arils crushed
20 leaves cilantro
Mix the sweet potato starch and flour together. Mix the spices together. Roll the chicken tenders in the spices and press them into the meat. Heat a large pan on medium high heat. Roll the tenders in the flour/starch. Dust off. Melt the butter in the pan and add the oil when it foams. Turn heat to medium. Then add the chicken piece by piece. Turn as the meat begins to turn light brown on each side. Remove from heat and pat the oils off. Set on plates and add cilantro leaves.
Heat the Tiger sauce, pomegranate seeds and crushed pomegranate on medium high heat in the same pan you cooked the tenders in. Scraped the bottom of the pan to get the good flavor remains from the chicken. Deglaze with soda water. Stir. Add a 1/3 teaspoon roasted chili paste and stir some more. When it has combined and has a uniform flavor and texture pour it over the chicken tenders.
Serve with Brussels sprouts and basmati rice and enjoy the very lively flavors of this mysterious dish. The mystery is in the way that all the strong flavors become a dignified point of delicious! Thank you very much and I do wish you the most beautiful of holidays in these Winter Georgia days and nights.
One day
Chill cold wet windy and chaotic
And the next day a song of finches
And thrushes sunning in the warm
December weather.
I remember skateboard Christmases
Rolling down Brown Road
On home made skate boards that broke
More often than they made the grade.
A jump over the bushes and the world
Changed to wilderness in the easement
Between Ball Park, North Park and Oak Avenue.
Chasing squirrels with Bear bows
And pump action pellet guns,
Wading the thing called a creek into Tucker Lake,
And walking out on the thing ice,
Spider web cracks and the echo of coming trouble,
Lay down and spread eagle slide to safety,
Fake fly to safety going home.
Home seems to be where I am always going.
To a warm hearth and steaming bowls of rice,
To hot Sleepy Time tea with sourwood honey,
To my family that I am always dreaming of,
To a place where I want to share all
Of the passions, the expressions,
The smiles and laughter of a life lived leading to today.
Leading to home to the heart that is yours,
Your heart beating a song that will embrace,
Your dark eyes that reflect and absorb,
That give so much more than any could deserve,
But there you are, Home, love, my love,
Beloved voice that has always been with me,
In childhood and as a man,
Beckoning me to seek the passion,
To seek this place that is you and me.

proletaria

politics philosophy phenomena

Poems for Warriors

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Ps 147:3

LUNA

Pen to paper

Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha

Musings and books from a grunty overthinker

Confessions of a Readaholic

Eclipsed Words

Aspire To Inspire

Art at the push of a button

Photography

Tiger Blog

susansflowers

garden ponderings

𝓡. 𝓐. 𝓓𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓵𝓪𝓼

Poetry, blogs and more.

Claudia Hernandez

RhYmOpeDia

Immature poet imitate...but the mature one steal from the depth of the heart

hotfox63

IN MEMORY EVERYTHING SEEMS TO HAPPEN TO MUSIC - Tennessee Williams

errinspelling

Lordess

Welcome to my world.

Discobar Bizar

Welkom op de blog van Discobar Bizar. Druk gerust wat op de andere knoppen ook, of lees het aangrijpende verhaal van Harry nu je hier bent. Welcome to the Discobar Bizar blog, feel free to push some of the other buttons, or to read the gripping story of Harry whilst you are here!

the poet's billow

a resource for moving poetry

MY TROUBLED MIND

confessions are self-serving

D.H. Glass

Author. Poet.

Sketches from Berlin (& Parts Beyond)

Poetry, Fiction, Essays & Art by M.P. Powers

proletaria

politics philosophy phenomena

Poems for Warriors

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Ps 147:3

LUNA

Pen to paper

Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha

Musings and books from a grunty overthinker

Confessions of a Readaholic

Eclipsed Words

Aspire To Inspire

Art at the push of a button

Photography

Tiger Blog

susansflowers

garden ponderings

𝓡. 𝓐. 𝓓𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓵𝓪𝓼

Poetry, blogs and more.

Claudia Hernandez

RhYmOpeDia

Immature poet imitate...but the mature one steal from the depth of the heart

hotfox63

IN MEMORY EVERYTHING SEEMS TO HAPPEN TO MUSIC - Tennessee Williams

errinspelling

Lordess

Welcome to my world.

Discobar Bizar

Welkom op de blog van Discobar Bizar. Druk gerust wat op de andere knoppen ook, of lees het aangrijpende verhaal van Harry nu je hier bent. Welcome to the Discobar Bizar blog, feel free to push some of the other buttons, or to read the gripping story of Harry whilst you are here!

the poet's billow

a resource for moving poetry

MY TROUBLED MIND

confessions are self-serving

D.H. Glass

Author. Poet.

Sketches from Berlin (& Parts Beyond)

Poetry, Fiction, Essays & Art by M.P. Powers

proletaria

politics philosophy phenomena

Poems for Warriors

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." Ps 147:3

LUNA

Pen to paper

Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha

Musings and books from a grunty overthinker

Confessions of a Readaholic

Eclipsed Words

Aspire To Inspire

Art at the push of a button

Photography

Tiger Blog

susansflowers

garden ponderings

𝓡. 𝓐. 𝓓𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓵𝓪𝓼

Poetry, blogs and more.

Claudia Hernandez

RhYmOpeDia

Immature poet imitate...but the mature one steal from the depth of the heart

hotfox63

IN MEMORY EVERYTHING SEEMS TO HAPPEN TO MUSIC - Tennessee Williams

errinspelling

Lordess

Welcome to my world.

Discobar Bizar

Welkom op de blog van Discobar Bizar. Druk gerust wat op de andere knoppen ook, of lees het aangrijpende verhaal van Harry nu je hier bent. Welcome to the Discobar Bizar blog, feel free to push some of the other buttons, or to read the gripping story of Harry whilst you are here!

the poet's billow

a resource for moving poetry

MY TROUBLED MIND

confessions are self-serving

D.H. Glass

Author. Poet.

Sketches from Berlin (& Parts Beyond)

Poetry, Fiction, Essays & Art by M.P. Powers