Trips down to Alabama always seem to inspire me to prepare Southern comfort foods upon my return. The last time I traveled to Birmingham, I came home with a killer hankering for old fashioned cornbread. This time around, I had creamy grits on the brain. Fortunately, I received a package of yellow stone-ground grits in my Christmas stocking! McEwen & Sons of Wilsonville manufacture The Astronomer’s mother’s favorite variety; their wares are available for purchase online.
I turned to Frank Stitt’s Southern Table for a proper grits recipe. The grits served at his temple of haute Southern cuisine, Highlands Bar & Grill, are creamy, impeccably seasoned, and pair well everything from shrimp to venison. For me, a sprinkling of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano was all that was required for some serious satisfaction.
- 4 cups water, preferably spring water
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1 cup yellow stone-ground grits
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, or a little more if desired, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano cheese, plus more if desired
- Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper
- Hot sauce, such as Tabasco or Cholula
In a medium saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt, then whisk in the grits in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent clumps and thoroughly mix in the grits. Bring to a boil whisking, then turn the heat down to low and summer for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the grits are thickened and tender.
Add the butter and Parmigiano, stirring to combine, and add the salt, white pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Taste and add more butter, cheese, and/or salt if desired. Serve immediately.
Makes 4 servings.
Ever since tasting my first beet at Greens Restaurant in San Francisco during the summer of 2005, I’ve ordered them time and again whenever they appeared on a restaurant’s menu. Beets are so naturally sweet and appealing that most places prepare them very simply, with rich crumbles of goat cheese and a light vinaigrette. Every time I dug into one of these minimally fussed salads, I thought of how easy it would be to replicate the dish at home. I finally tried my hand at preparing beets in my own kitchen last week, and not only was it gloriously easy, but my hands weren’t the least bit stained.
This recipe for roasted beets comes from the most popular cookbook in my home, the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. When buying beets, look for bunches of uniformly sized beets so that they will roast for the same amount of time. If the beets are different sizes, remove the smaller ones from the oven as they become tender. Use this basic recipe as a starting point; the variations (Think: cheeses, herbs, nuts, vinegars) are deliciously endless.
- 4 medium beets (1 pound), greens discarded and scrubbed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 400 degrees. Wrap the beets individually in foil (photo 2) and place them on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast until a skewer can be inserted easily into a beet, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove the beets from the oven, open the foil packets, and allow to cool for 10 minutes. To peel, cradle a roasted beet in several layers of paper towels in your hands and gently rub off the skin (photos 3 and 4).
Slice the beets 1/4 inch thick, then toss with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 4.
For the past two weeks, the little apartment has been burning up. The Astronomer and I have been taking turns sitting in front of the Vornado to cool down because air conditioning is a luxury our home was built without. When the weather is this unforgiving, the stove should be left firmly off.
I found this delightful recipe for egg salad while searching Epicurious for tarragon uses. It requires minimal stove time, and the results really hit the ‘I want something light, but substantial’ spot. Drawing inspiration from my favorite egg salad sandwich at Pasadena’s Euro Pane Bakery, I kept the yolks slightly runny and the whites just under firm. The egg salad tasted fabulous mounded atop a nest of baby spinach and a thick slice La Brea Bakery bread. File this one under: Deliciously easy things to cook when your house feels like an oven.
- 8 large eggs
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots (optional)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh tarragon, or to taste
- 2 teaspoons white-wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- Thick slices of crusty bread
- Greens (i.e. baby spinach, mesclun, pea shoots, etc.)
Cover eggs with cold water in a heavy saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Turn off the stove as soon as the water begins to boil and leave the eggs undisturbed for three minutes. Place a lid on the saucepan and leave the eggs for an additional two minutes. Transfer eggs with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice cold water and let stand for five minutes to cool. Peel eggs and finely chop.
Stir together eggs and remaining salad ingredients in a bowl with a fork. Egg salad can be made one day ahead and chilled, covered. To assemble, spread some mayonnaise or mustard (if using) on bread, then add the greens, and lastly the egg salad. Eating an open-face egg salad sandwich in a lady-like manner is nearly impossible, so please, just dig on in.
Makes 6 sandwiches.
Adapted from Gourmet, April 2003
