THE A LIST: Stuff I Like to Share: Another Awesome Cookbook - The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

I LOVE THIS BOOK: The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

Stories and Recipes for Southerners and Would-be Southerners! You don't have to be southern to cook southern. From the New York Times food writers who defended lard and demystified gumbo comes a collection of exceptional southern recipes for everyday cooks. The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook tells the story of the brothers' culinary coming-of-age in Charleston-how they triumphed over their northern roots and learned to cook southern without a southern grandmother. Here are recipes for classics like Fried Chicken, Crab Cakes, and Pecan Pie, as well as little-known preparations such as St. Cecilia Punch, Pickled Peaches, and Shrimp Burgers. Others bear the hallmark of the brothers' resourceful cooking style-simple, sophisticated dishes like Blackened Potato Salad, Saigon Hoppin' John, and Buttermilk Sweet Potato Pie that usher southern cooking into the twenty-first century without losing sight of its roots. With helpful sourcing and substitution tips, this is a practical and personal guide that will have readers cooking southern tonight, wherever they live.

Accolades:

• 2007 James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year
• 2007 James Beard Foundation Award: Cooking of the Americas
• 2007 IACP Award: American Cooking
• 2007 IACP Julia Child Award
• Gourmet Magazine "10 Cookbooks Destined to Become Classics"
• Book-of-the-Month Club Main Selection
• Amazon.com Editor's Pick: No. 1 Cookbook of 2006
• Publishers Weekly 100 Best Books of the Year
• Food Network Top 25 Favorite Cookbooks
• Seattle Post-Intelligencer Best Cookbooks of 2006
• New York Sun Best Cookbooks of 2006
• San Francisco Chronicle Top Picks for the Holiday Season
• Chicago-Tribune Top 12 Books of the Season
• InStyle Home Top Books for the Holiday Season

THE A LIST: Stuff I Like to Share: HAM

Its almost the holidays and time to start thinking about your holiday menus. A lot of family enjoy a good ham - not the watter pumped kind, but real ham. The S. Wallace Edwards and Sons company has been making ham since 1925 and they are well worth ordering!!!!

A TASTE OF VIRGINIA TRADITION

The S. Wallace Edwards and Sons Story

In 1925, a southern gentleman and the lady he courted became husband and wife. They began their life together in the small village of Surry, Virginia (population 300).

The following year, S. Wallace Edwards, young captain of the Jamestown-Scotland ferryboat, began serving ham sandwiches to his ferry passengers....sandwiches made from ham he salt-cured and hickory smoked on his Edwards family farm.

The demand for his ham grew so quickly that Captain Edwards soon began curing and selling hams on a full-time basis. Meanwhile, his young wife, Oneita, contributed from home by cooking hams and raising their two children, Oneita Mae and Wallace Jr. As word of the "Edwards Virginia Ham" spread, the young Edwards family began shipping their products throughout the country.

Today, Edwards smokehouses are still located in Surry County, close to the spot where the Indians first taught the English colonists the secret of bringing out the full flavor in meats. The Edwards family has been honored to demonstrate their art of curing hams at the Smithsonian Institution Folklife Festival, and received many State Fair of Virginia Blue Ribbon and Grand Champion awards for their hams and bacon.

Over the last 81 years, Edwards' emphasis has always been on quality, not quantity. S. Wallace Edwards and Sons (second and third generation) remains a thriving family business dedicated to producing the finest quality smoked meat products...and extending the vision and legacy of its founder, S. Wallace Edwards, Sr.

THE A LIST: Stuff I Like to Share: a great food website find: www.boiledpeanuts.com

FOOD LOVE

You can look online or order a printed, handmade catalogue from the Lee Brothers - it is a good read and a useful resource. To receive the most recent catalogue, go to the website link below. Once you do, you will have joined a select group of Southern food enthusiasts and will have found a source for treats not so easy to find outside of the south.

The web site is a shortcut to the catalog--you may place an order right away without licking stamps or delaying any further. Simply browse the pages, compose your order and submit it via the "ORDER FORM" link at the bottom of table of contents.

THE SITE: http://www.boiledpeanuts.com/

Here you can find some of my favorites and items that I have served for years:

• Mrs. Sassard of Charleston's preserves and relishes
• Old South, from Alma AK, pickled green beans, okra, watermelon rind and more
• Moon Pies
• Old Mill Grits (the real thing)
• Black Walnuts
• Royal Crown Soda
• Sun Drop Soda
• Scuppernong Grape Jelly (awesome)
• Fresh Boiled Peanuts (real)
• Lee Brothers green tomatoes

They ship very well.

Enjoy

Santa Fe - October 2007

A scrumptious fall weekend in Santa Fe, with the aspens turning gold as far as they eye could see, included a stop at the glorious farmers market in town. Fresh flowers, the smell of roasted New Mexico Chile, booths with homemade tortillas, tamales, pizza, and breads, heirloom tomatoes and more where a to feast for the eyes and nose. Later that night, we feasted again, but in the kitchen. Oink

Sicilian Style Penne Pasta with Arugula and Sardines

This recipe comes from my friend Tommy. The origin of this combination of fish and pasta comes from the southern part of Italy; most would say it’s a Sicilian style. Enjoy


Penne Pasta with Arugula and Sardines

2 tbsp olive oil

2 four-ounce canned sardines, (smoked, packed in olive oil, packed in salt, etc... your choice)

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 tbsp crushed red pepper

3 cups arugula

1 lb dried penne pasta

Heat olive oil in a pan, add sardines, garlic and crushed red pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes over medium high heat, breaking sardines down.

Cook pasta according to package directions, saving 3/4 cup of the pasta water.

Stir pasta water into sardine mixture to thicken the sauce. Add arugula and wilt.

Toss penne into the mixture and add salt and pepper to taste.

THE A LIST: Stuff I like to share: Bottarga

THE A LIST: Stuff I like to share: Bottarga

Originating in countries surrounding the Mediterranean, Bottarga, a form of dried cured caviar is famously served in the Northern regions of Italy around the island of Sardinia. Bottarga is best when served in uncomplicated ways – the few ways I experienced it on Sardinia at the Magli home or while living in Bologna were: shaved Bottarga over scrambled eggs; grated dry Bottarga tossed with cooked pasta, almost always spaghetti, with olive oil and cracked pepper; sprinkled over grilled fish; or paper thin slices on buttered crostini.

The taste is unique and powerful. A bit salty at first and it opens with the full taste of the sea; a delicious combination.

Using sea salt, the roe of grey mullet fish is cured and dried to perfection, then waxed to prevent further drying and exposure to light.

Waxing also prevents contact with foreign matter. For the novice, Bottarga appears quite unique, odorless, and may look like a flat waxed sausage. But once the wax is removed, your taste buds will discover one of the most flavorful marine products.

Colors naturally vary from golden yellow to darker shades of reddish brown.

It can also be purchased today in a grated dried form.

There is a great supplier in the states of Bottarga (this is where I buy mine) and all things Sardinian: http://www.gourmetsardinia.com/