Monday, December 13, 2010

Teryi's Pecan Pies




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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Hub City Farmers Market

Jim Lyle of Brick House Farms



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Friday, November 19, 2010

Short Ribs Root Veg Fried Pie




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Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Pine Ridge Wine Dinner


Chef's Choice Light Hors d'oeuvres paired with Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-
Viognier

1st Course:

Benne Seed and Honey Lacquered North Georgia Quail, Pickled Cranberry,
Rocket Arugula paired with Chamisal Unoaked Chardonnay

2nd Course:

Fennel Pollen Dusted Scallops, Preserved Lemon Risotto paired with
Chamisal Oaked Chardonnay

3rd Course:

Hickory Smoked Compressed Pork Shoulder, Butternut Squash Succotash,
Caramelized Cauliflower paired with Chamisal Pinot Noir

4th Course:

Bison Short Ribs, Cheerwine Reduction, Root Vegetable Fried Pie paired
with Pine Ridge Crimson Creek Merlot

5th Course:

Beignets, Peanut Creme Brulee, Cinnamon Crunch served with Aztec
Chocolate Coco

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Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Farm Crew

Soup,Travis, Anthony, Ashley, Shaun, Joey, Rodney

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Southern Chefs Potluck





New Tool for Corn

We use a lot of Sweet Corn in Summer so I picked one up to see if it works. It is fast,easy, and safe. I hope that it will last a summer of 5-6 cases of corn a week. It will last a lifetime for the home cook. Pick one up today at Williams & Sonoma .


Kuhn-Rikon Corn Zipper

Saturday, July 10, 2010

South Carolina Shrimp Boil

This dish is always made with shell-on shrimp and we think peeling them is half the fun. If you prefer peeling shrimp, use only 1 tsp of Old Bay in step 3.

Servers 8

1 ½ pounds Andouille sausage cut into 2-inch lengths

2 tsp vegetable oil

4 cups water

1 (8-ounce) bottle of clam juice

1 (14.5ounce) can diced tomatoes

5 tsp Old Bay seasonings

1 bay leaf

1 ½ pound small red potatoes, scrubbed and halved

4 ears corn, husks and silk removed cut into 2-inch rounds

2 pounds extra large shrimp (21-25 per pound)

  1. Brown Sausage

Heat sausage and oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat until fat renders and sausage is browned, about 5 minutes; using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to plate.

  1. Simmer Vegetables

Bring water, clam juice, tomatoes, 3 teaspoons Old Bay, bay leaf, potatoes, and corn to boil in empty pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are barely tender, about 10 minutes.

3. Steam Shrimp

Return browned sausage to pot. Toss shrimp with remaining Old Bay. Add to pot

And covered, stirring shrimp occasionally, until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Strain stew and discard bay leaf. Serve

Summer Squash from The Farm

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Heirloom Tomato Salad


New Summer Menu

Appetizers


Spicy Pimiento Cheese

Crispy Baguette Chips

$5.75

Deviled Farm Eggs

Merciful Farms Heritage Eggs, Smoked Paprika

$4.00

Cold Crab Salad Roll

Heirloom Tomato, Avocado, Basil

$7.95

Butter Bean Hummus

Crispy Vegetables, Toasted Pita

$5.95

Carpaccio of Beef

Sweet Corn Salsa, Olive Oil, Cracked Pepper

$7.95

Crispy Fried Atlantic Calamari

Green Tomato Marinara

$7.95

Fried Green Tomatoes

Blackened Haricot Verts, Pimiento Cheese Fondue,

Candied Carrot Strips

$6.95

Blackened Scallops

Goat Cheese Polenta, Haricot Verts, Basil Vinaigrette

$9.50

Cheese Plate

Young Chèvre - Split Creek Farm, SC

Bijou – Vermont Butter and Cream, VT

Appalachian Tomme - Meadow Creek Dairy, VA

Asher Blue - Sweet Grass Dairy, GA

Sea Salted Almonds, Local Honey

$9.25


Soups & Salads


Soby's She Crab Soup

Sherry, Crab Roe

$ 750

BLT Wedge

Heirloom Toy Box Tomatoes, Benton’s Tennessee Bacon,

Creamy Blue Cheese

$6.50

Tuna Salad

Capers, Red Onions, Duke’s Mayo, Field Greens, Wafer Crackers

$9.50

Heirloom Tomato Salad

Smoked Cracked Pepper, Sea Salt, Basil Oil

$6.95

Baby Spinach Salad

Dried Cranberries, Blue Cheese, Spiced Local Pecans, Buttermilk Dressing, Shaved Smithfield Ham

$6.50


Entrées


Applewood Smoked Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Mashed Potatoes, Broccolini, and Habañero Butter Sauce

$21.50

Pan Seared Wild Salmon

Roasted Pepper Potato Hash, Broccolini, Country Mustard Glaze

$23.95

Crispy Fried Local Chicken

Haricot Verts, Rice, Tomato Gravy

$18.95

Gullah Shrimp & Grits

Wild American Shrimp, Creamy Anson Mills Grits, Caw Caw Creek Bacon, Crispy Bread

$20.95

Grilled Filet of Ribeye

Asparagus, Mashed Potatoes, Melted Pimiento Cheese

$27.50

Soby’s Crab Cakes Remoulade

Sweet Corn Maque Choux, Mashed Potatoes, Haricot Verts

$22.50

Cornmeal Crusted Local Trout

Skillet Potatoes, Jalapeño Slaw, Lemon Tarter Sauce, Chow Chow

$18.50

Grilled Braveheart Strip Steak

Squash Casserole, Southern Style Creamed Corn, Charred Vidalia Onions

$26.50

Soby’s Meatloaf with Maple Creole Mustard Glaze

Fresh Ground Beef, Exotic Mushrooms, Mashed Potatoes, Butter Bean Succotash, Veal Jus

$18.95

Pan Seared Alaskan Halibut

Field Pea Salad, Heirloom Toy Box Tomatoes, Grilled Summer Vegetables, Basil Pesto

$23.00

Summer Harvest Plate

The day's best vegetables from the field

$14.95

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Soby’s New South Presents a Dinner With

Sweetwater Brewery

Tuesday June 8th, 2010

Meet And Greet

Fresh Shucked Oysters, Cucumber Mignonette, Lemon, Crystals

420 Extra Pale Ale

First Course

Seared Sweet Scallop, Spring Pea Puree, Warm Tomato Confit

Road Trip

Second Course

Watermelon Gazpacho, Ginger, Shaved Asparagus, Fennel, Sweet Onion, Bock Vinegar

Blue

Third Course

Lamb Two Ways, Lusty Monk Crusted Rack, Soft Polenta, Pulled Leg, Meyer Lemon Slaw, Sweetwater BBQ

Georgia Brown

Fourth Course

Hazelnut Meringue, Pineapple And Vanilla Yogurt

IPA

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Narragansett Turkey






The Narragansett turkey is named for Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. It descends from a cross between native Eastern Wild turkeys and domestic turkeys brought by English and European colonists. Improved and standardized for production qualities, the Narragansett was the foundation of the turkey industry in New England.

The Narragansett variety is similar in color to the Bronze breed, though it is lighter in color and in build. Narragansett turkeys are gray or dull black with a white bar on the wing feathers. The beak is horn colored, and the head is red to bluish white. The Narragansett is known for its calm disposition and maternal qualities, as well as early maturation, good laying, and excellent meat quality. This variety is smaller than the Bronze, with hens weighing 18 pounds and toms 30 pounds.

Though the Narragansett was not as historically popular as the Bronze, it has been widely used throughout New England and the Midwestern states. It lost most of its popularity during the twentieth century and it has not been a fashionable commercial variety since then. Its potential use today for small-scale, outdoor turkey production is gaining popularity.


Thursday, May 6, 2010

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Low Country Shrimp

Soby’s New South Cuisine

Watauga County Ham, Kiwi, Chardonnay Cream
(Serves 6)
Chef Rodney Freidank



Shrimp:
½ lb Country Ham,* sliced 1/8 inch thick
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
2 lbs Large Shrimp (16-20 count),* peeled and deveined
1½ cups Dry White Wine
6 Kiwi, peeled and diced
2 cups Heavy Cream
1 tsp Cornstarch
1 Tbs Water


For the Shrimp: Dice the ham. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the ham and the red pepper flakes. Sauté until the ham becomes slightly crisp and has given its flavor to the oil. Add the shrimp and sauté until the shrimp are half cooked, about two minutes. Remove the shrimp and reserve. Add the wine to the pan and simmer to reduce by half. Add the kiwi and the heavy cream and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half again. Add the shrimp and cook until the shrimp are completely cooked, about two more minutes. Mix together the cornstarch and water to make a slurry. With the sauce boiling, drizzle in the slurry until the sauce becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Finish the Dish: Serve with crusty French bread or Creamy White Cheddar Grits and garnish with fresh, diced kiwi if desired.


Notes:

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Planting on the Farm


We planted 250 heirloom tomatoes, and 150 purple cauliflower yesterday.




Monday, April 5, 2010

Back home from Holiday




I planted 300 heads of Tennis Ball Lettuce before I went on holiday. Here is a little background information on it.
The lettuce variety Tennis-ball was a very popular one in the vegetable garden at Monticello. Jefferson noted that "it does not require so much care and attention" as other types. Tennis-ball Lettuce was grown in America in the late eighteenth century, and it eventually became the parent of our Boston types still popular today. Plant the seed in rich, well-drained soil early in the spring for an early summer crop, or else, plant in late summer for a fall harvest.


Friday, March 26, 2010

GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY


This is great on roasted pork loin, fried chicken, cornmeal crusted trout, and a hot buttered biscuit. Hope you enjoy it.

6 pounds green (unripe) tomatoes, cut into small dice
2 cups small-diced red onions
3 tablespoons slivered garlic
3 tablespoons peeled and slivered fresh ginger
2 cups golden raisins
3 cups light brown sugar
3 cups cider vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons finely chopped red pepper
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon ground cloves

1. In a large pot, combine all ingredients and stew uncovered at a gentle simmer for 30 minutes. If liquid remains, strain the solids, reduce the liquid to a syrupy consistency, and stir the liquid back into the chutney. Discard the cinnamon stick and pour the chutney into jars.
2. Reserve in the refrigerator for up to a month until ready to use.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Distractions

My distractions are tickets. If they don't come, you have no business. When they do come, you got to stop cooking and start more cooking. You want them to stop but you really want the business. I'm now confused.
This is part of raw(e) check out her blog
http://sailorandcompany.blogspot.com/



Van's Food Shots


Monday, March 8, 2010

Road Trip to Louisville


I'm headed to the great Bluegrass state today. I'm going to tour and meet Master Distiller Chris Morris of Woodford Reserve in Versailles. Then I'm off to Great Buffalo Trace. I will have lots of information and pictures this week. Check back on Wednesday.


Saturday, March 6, 2010

Why I love Bacon Fat



From Southern Foodways Alliance Newsletter Gravy

FabulousFAT

by Gillian Clark

HealtH warnings have done plenty for our biomedical awareness, but little to improve the taste of our food. the army of finger-wagging plate snatchers is like a Un Peacekeeping Force, dedicated to making us eat healthy, whether we want to or not.

they came after palm oil, a staple in asian, african, and Caribbean cooking. the rust-colored fat—used for seasoning not frying—was labeled an artery-clogging extravagance. the Center for science in the Public interest said palm oil, which is high in saturated fat and low in polyunsaturated fat, promotes heart disease. CsPi, the national Heart, lung and Blood institute, the world Health Organization (wHO), and other health authorities have urged reduced consumption of palm oil.


And then it was coconut oil, the high-smoke-point fat behind the great taste of movie theatre popcorn. according to CsPi, coconut oil is a highly saturated fat. after an intense campaign, the oil was banned from theater popcorn and denounced by the CsPi. Foods that contain coconut oil are disparaged in the CsPi newsletter alongside the likes of Domino’s Pasta Bread Bowl and Hardee’s thickburger.

i keep a greasy jar of palm oil in my cupboard, and i miss the way movie theatre popcorn used to smell and taste. But i grew up in a household that appreciated the flavor of fats.

That can of bacon fat was a symbol. It meant that my father, who did most of the cooking in our house, cared what our food tasted like.

when i was growing up, a Chock Full of nuts coffee can, into which my father tipped the bacon fat from the pan, sat on our Formica counter. the drippings from sunday morning’s bacon collected over the weeks. a cloudy, schmaltzy solid filled the can that stood ready by the stove. My father reheated leftover dumplings in this smoky “butter.” He added it soups. He used it to sauté green beans and to cook cabbage. it supplemented the wesson oil in which the fish burbled.

that can of bacon fat was a symbol. it meant that my father, who did most of the cooking in our house, cared what our food tasted like. we did not suffer on the nights bacon fat was absent from our meals. there were times when bacon fat was required. and there were times it was the lagniappe. no matter, when that aroma wafted through the house, day or night, it was sunday morning again.

But then came the fateful news: reserved bacon grease had been linked to gastro-intestinal cancers. My father, a two-time cancer survivor, did not hesitate to trash his coffee can, heavy with months of drippings. Bacon fat was reserved no longer in the Clark household.

i was the chubby kid in a household of seven. i cleaned my plate. i craved the fatty rim of the pork chop. i could not choke down brisket unless each bite was accompanied by that strip of fat. i pulled on chicken legs as if i were starving, delighting in the skin and the edible plastic that covered the bone at the joint.

as a chef, i feel bound to take liberties. i put taste over what the food police consider healthy.

Bacon fat is a precious commodity in my kitchen. i render it from applewood-smoked bacon and store it in canning jars. i save chicken fat, too. it takes two pounds of chicken fat and one pound of bacon fat to cook the collard greens. Butter is everywhere in my kitchen. i use it for mounting the sauce, binding the gravy.

when Passover comes around i need the chicken fat for my matzoh balls. How else do you hold them together? Chicken fat replaces butter when i cook kosher. and it sweetens the frying oil for the latkes.

as cooks and eaters interested in the culture and history of our larder, we put faith in the time-worn ways we’ve long prepared things. we understand that there is more to sustenance than a full belly. eating has to be more than the intake of calories.

we were meant to enjoy food. we could survive on baked sweet potato and water. nutritionally, both have all our bodies need to survive. when the first cook put heat to the kill over the first fire, it became apparent that there was more to satisfying hunger than stuffing a hole.

as an evolving species, it is our responsibility to do things just for the taste of it. it is our duty to resist the fat thieves as if their threat were the burning of books.

Gillian Clark, Washington D.C.-based chef and owner of the general store and Post Office tavern, is at work on a second book, the Colorado Kitchen Cookbook, and a collection of short pieces and recipes based upon her radio essays on NPR’s weekend edition.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Pork Fried Catish

Pork Rinds + Vita Prep+ North Carolina Catfish =


Thursday, March 4, 2010

Soby’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi



4#                  Sweet Potatoes
2 Gallons         Salted Water
7-8 cups         Flour

Roast the Sweet Potatoes until they are fork tender. Place the salted water on high heat and bring to a rapid boil (the water should taste quite salty as the salt in the water is used to season the gnocchi as they cook). Peel the potatoes and pass them through a food mill.  Add flour gradually stirring to incorporate.  Once the dough starts to get tighter, throw down some bench flour and dump the dough onto the prep table and continue to knead the flour into the ball. Shape the gnocchi and test a few.  When they float to the top, remove them from the water immediately.  If they are too soft and mushy, add more flour to the dough mix and try again.  Try to use as little flour as possible to have a nice tender dumpling.  Once they are removed from the boiling water, plunge them into a bath of ice water.  Leave them in the ice water only as long as it takes to cool them, then drain them and lightly coat with olive oil to prevent sticking.  If they are left in the ice water too long, they salt will leach out into the water and leave them flavorless, and the dumplings will become tougher. 


Rodney Freidank, Corporate Chef, Table 301