Celebrate the Fourth with Wild, American Shrimp!

I love the fourth of July! I say this even though I live at the beach where the crowds overwhelm our small island. I say this even though I own a restaurant and will be working on the fourth. I say this because it seems to be another occasion when Americans really celebrate with food. Granted it might lack the weeks of preparation that come with Thanksgiving, but still most folks seem determined to feast together on the fourth. And these feasts usually focus on what we consider decidedly "American" fare. Of course, that fare could vary drastically according to what region of the country you call home.

Here, in Charleston I think that a shrimp boil would be the perfect patriotic party fare. It just so happens that the shrimp season finally opened this week after much delay due to extremely cold water temperatures this past winter. And word around the docks is that it is going to be a pretty sad shrimp season even after giving the shrimp time to grow and spawn. Local shrimpers already make a meager living due largely to a national market flooded by farm raised shrimp from Asia. So, news of a bleak shrimp season in the Lowcountry hits especially hard.

And that's why I propose showing your patriotism this fourth by cooking up wild, American shrimp. Enjoy your time with friends and family gathered around some definite American fare!


Peel-n-Eat Boiled Shrimp

There is nothing easier or more tasty than fresh shrimp boiled with some seasonings, and we've figured out the perfect medley so that you can impress all your friends!

12 cups water
2/3 cup white wine
2/3 cup salt
2 tablespoons mustard seed
1 tablespoon cayenne
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
About 20 sprigs of fresh thyme
1/2 cup roughly chopped celery (about 1 1/2 medium stalks)
1 onion, quartered
1 lemon, crushed
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3 pounds shrimp, unpeeled

Combine all ingredients excluding shrimp in a large pot and bring to a boil. Add shrimp and cook until just finished, about 3 to 5 minutes. Shrimp should be pink and firm. Drain – do not rinse! Serve as “peel-n-eat” with our cocktail sauce or red remoulade (see recipes below).

YIELD: 8 appetizer portions

Cocktail Sauce

1 cup ketchup
1/3 cup prepared horseradish
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon hot sauce

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; whisk until incorporated.

YIELD: About 1 1/2 cups

Red Remoulade

1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Creole mustard, or other whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Splash of hot sauce

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; whisk until well combined.

YIELD: About 1 1/2 cups (enough to dress 1 pound of peeled, boiled shrimp)

P.S. You can leave out the ketchup, making it "white remoulade" -- a similarly tasty sauce!

Chilled Corn Soup for Summer Days

I am a southern girl down to core. As most of you know, I love pimento cheese, summertime tomatoes, and buttermilk fried chicken. And I admit that I even love the dog days of summer. Sure, I'll banter about the heat index of 115 with the best of them, but that should not be confused with complaining.

The reality is that just like those of you who endure harsh winters, we Southerners simply adjust. We drink a lot of iced tea (sweet, of course) and tone down our cooking a bit. I think days like today (when the mercury just keeps rising) present themselves as opportunities to step outside your culinary box and cook with refreshment in mind. The Glass Onion's Chilled Corn Soup would be such a pleasant dinner with a nice green salad on the side. And there will be plenty leftover to enjoy for lunch when it's just too hot to leave the office!

There is definitely some prep involved with this soup -- so give yourself an afternoon and remember to allow time for chilling the soup as well.

Chilled Corn Soup

We serve this soup at the height of summer, using beautiful white corn. The simple list of ingredients ensures that the essence of the corn shines through.

7 ears white corn
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 1 medium onion)
2 cups peeled and chopped russet potato (about 1 medium russet potato)
2 cups heavy cream
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Honey, to taste (optional)

Cut corn off the cob; set aside. In a large pot cover ears with water. Simmer for 1 hour. Remove from the heat and strain through a colander into a large bowl. (Should reduce to about 7 cups of "corn water.")

Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions; cook until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add corn and corn water; bring to a boil. Add cream and potato; simmer until potato is tender, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

Working in batches, puree corn mixture in a blender. Have a chinois placed in a bowl nearby. Once the soup is pureed, ladle it from the blender into the chinois. Some will go through quite easily. For the rest, you will need to force it through using the ladle. Holding the chinois in one hand, over the bowl, and the ladle in the other, gently push through the mixture to the bottom of the chinois repeatedly. You will eventually be left with nothing but corn pulp, which you can discard. Repeat this process until you have pureed all of the corn mixture.

Season with salt, white pepper, and cayenne. If it is not the peak of corn season, you can add some honey to make up for the missing sweetness -- starting with 1 teaspoon, but up to 1 tablespoon should do the trick.

Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.

YIELD: 8 to 10 servings; about 2 quarts

P.S. You can easily halve this recipe!

P.P.S. Don't let the term "chinois" scare you away from the recipe. This is simply a conical, fine-meshed strainer that should be available at your local cookware store or definitely online. It is not that expensive and is essential any time you are looking for a pristine, velvety texture, such as here with a pureed soup or for puddings. Other fine-meshed strainers can also work, but when dealing with larger quantities, the chinois is ideal.

Check out wikipedia's definition of a chinios

Tis the season for a fish fry!

As I noted last week, the weather really does dictate so much about what you feel like cooking, and this week the rising temperatures down South make me realize that we best take advantage of this time when outside cooking can still be a pleasure rather than a sweaty chore! I admit that you folks who live further north have the advantage; many of y'all will probably grill out throughout the summer in near idyllic weather.

Well, here I have a proposition for something much more fun and exciting than a cookout...how about a fish fry? At the Glass Onion we are known for our fried catfish,and as someone who grew up eating a lot of fried catfish I feel that I can attest to its deliciousness! We are proud to serve the only all natural, farm raised catfish in the United States, which comes from Carolina Classics in North Carolina. Their farming practices yield an especially tasty fish, as does our recipe, which I share below.

In my mind, Memorial Day weekend would be the perfect time for a fish fry!

Fried Catfish

Let's be upfront -- frying seafood at home is just not that easy. This is why in our upcoming cookbook we have chosen to include a recipe, only for fried catfish, versus fried shrimp or oysters. The catfish is a little more forgiving, and it is truly unique because of our mustard marinade. Plus, there are few parties more fun than a fish fry. To turn this into a party, simply double the recipe, fire up your gas camp stove, and set up on your porch or deck. Line the table with old newspapers, and you are in business. The reality is that fried seafood is best straight out of the oil, and the party setting allows you to serve folks immediately. Just be sure to snag a couple of pieces for yourself and have an assistant handy with cold beverages!

2 pounds catfish filets, boneless
1 cup yellow mustard
1 cup Creole mustard, or other whole grain mustard
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 cups corn starch
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly ground white pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne

Combine catfish, yellow mustard, and Creole mustard in a large bowl and toss with your hands until the catfish is thoroughly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 and up to 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Heat 4 inches of oil to 375 degrees in a large pot. (A skillet can also be used, but the pot helps reduce splattering!)

Combine flour, cornmeal, corn starch, salt, black pepper, white pepper, and cayenne in a large bowl; whisk to combine. Dredge catfish through flour mixture and transfer to a wire rack set over a baking sheet.

Using tongs, carefully drop two filets at a time into oil and fry until breading is very crispy, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer filets to a paper-lined baking sheet, season with additional salt and pepper (to taste), and hold in the oven as you fry the remaining pieces of catfish.

Serve with cocktail, tartar, or remoulade sauce! I'll include our recipe for remoulade below as this classic French sauce (and staple in New Orleans cooking) might not be in your repertoire.

Red Remoulade

Remoulade is a classic French mayonnaise-based sauce. And like many French culinary traditions, it is a staple in the cuisine of south Louisiana. You might toss peeled, boiled shrimp in it for the famed shrimp remoulade salad found on many New Orleans menus. Or you might use it simply as a dipping sauce for our Fried Catfish.

1 cup mayonnaise
¼ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Creole mustard, or other whole grain mustard
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
Splash of hot sauce

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; whisk until well combined.

YIELD: About 1 1/2 cups (enough to dress 1 pound of peeled, boiled shrimp)

P.S. You can leave out the ketchup, making it "white remoulade" -- a similarly tasty sauce!

Baby It's Cold Outside...Warm Up with Bread Pudding!

Okay, so maybe it's not as cold in Charleston as further north, but the dreary days of winter are certainly upon us. And I happen to have the perfect solution for the February blues...our World Famous Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce.

World Famous Bread Pudding

At the GO, we have served this dessert since day one, and we have called it “world famous” since day one -- it is just that amazing! The secret to its intoxicating powers lies in the beautiful, golden egg yolks that come courtesy of Celeste Albers. Her happy Wadmalaw Island hens lay the best eggs in town, and they are essential to the success of our bread pudding.

Read Celeste's story in my earlier blog!

15 egg yolks
¾ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
4 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ½ cups milk
2 ¼ teaspoons vanilla extract
12 cups soft French bread, diced into 1-inch squares
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Whiskey Sauce (see recipe below)

Combine egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl; whisk to combine. Add cream, milk, and vanilla; whisk to combine. Add bread and pecans; stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Cover and refrigerate overnight. (The mixture must be soaked at least overnight and up to a few days in advance.)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir mixture well and pour into 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Bake until surface feels firm, 30 to 40 minutes.

Serve warm with Whiskey Sauce. You may pour Whiskey Sauce over pan of bread pudding or pass around in a dish or guests to pour over their individual servings.

YIELD: 8 to 10 servings

WHISKEY SAUCE
1 cup milk
½ cup sugar
2 egg yolks
¼ cup bourbon

Combine egg yolks in a medium bowl and have near stove with a ladle for tempering. Combine milk and sugar in a medium pot over medium heat. Heat milk-sugar mixture until steaming. Ladle about 1 cup milk-sugar mixture into bowl with egg yolks. Whisk to combine. Add egg mixture to pot with milk-sugar mixture and whisk to combine. Heat until the mixture just begins to simmer.
Remove from heat and pour through a chinois or other fine-meshed strainer into a medium bowl. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set the medium bowl of sauce in this larger bowl to chill. Add bourbon; stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use. This can be made several days in advance but should be brought to room temperature before serving.

YIELD: About 1 ½ cups

GO Tartar Sauce

My partner Charles and I both grew up with homemade tartar sauce as a fixture. His father Bland made his with plenty of capers and dill. The cook at my grandmother's beach house, Ruth, made hers with sliced green olives. For the GO we decided to combine both these ideas with for the best tartar sauce ever! I guarantee you will never go back to the jarred stuff!

1 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon capers
3 tablespoons pickle relish
3 tablespoons pureed olives
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons dried dill
Pinch of cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir thoroughly.

YIELD: About 1 1/2 cups

P.S. Come try this out at the GO with our Mustard Fried Catfish!

10 Reasons to Buy Local Food!

Most everyone reading this probably knows just how strongly I feel about the importance of eating local food/supporting local farmers. And most of you probably have some idea about the reasons why. But if you need more fuel for your fire I happened upon this awesome list published by the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. They happily encouraged my reprinting of it for your reading pleasure. Enjoy and check out their other website
www.buyappalachian.org if you happen to live or travel in the southern Appalachian region.

Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project - www.asapconnections.org

10 Reasons to Buy Local Food

1. Locally grown food tastes better - Food grown in your own community was probably picked within the past day or two. It's crisp, sweet and loaded with flavor. Several studies have shown that the average distance food travels from farm to plate is 1,500 miles. In a week-long (or more) delay from harvest to dinner table, sugars turn to starches, plant cells shrink, and produce loses its vitality.

2. Local produce is better for you - A recent study showed that fresh produce loses nutrients quickly. Food that is frozen or canned soon after harvest is actually more nutritious than some "fresh" produce that has been on the truck or supermarket shelf for a week.

3. Local food preserves genetic diversity - In the modern industrial agricultural system, varieties are chosen for their ability to ripen simultaneously and withstand harvesting equipment; for a tough skin that can survive packing and shipping; and for an ability to have a long shelf life in the store. Only a handful of hybrid varieties of each fruit and vegetable meet those rigorous demands, so there is little genetic diversity in the plants grown. Local farms, in contrast, grow a huge number of varieties to provide a long season of harvest, an array of eye-catching colors, and the best flavors. Many varieties are heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation, because they taste good. These old varieties contain genetic material from hundreds or even thousands of years of human selection; they may someday provide the genes needed to create varieties that will thrive in a changing climate.

4. Local food is GMO-free - Although biotechnology companies have been trying to commercialize genetically modified fruits and vegetables, they are currently licensing them only to large factory-style farms. Local farmers don't have access to genetically modified seed, and most of them wouldn't use it even if they could. A June 2001 survey by ABC News showed that 93% of Americans want labels on genetically modified food - most so that they can avoid it. If you are opposed to eating bioengineered food, you can rest assured that locally grown produce was bred as nature intended.

5. Local food supports local farm families - With fewer than 1 million Americans now claiming farming as their primary occupation, farmers are a vanishing breed. And no wonder - commodity prices are at historic lows, often below the cost of production. The farmer now gets less than 10 cents of the retail food dollar. Local farmers who sell direct to consumers cut out the middleman and get full retail price for their food - which means farm families can afford to stay on the farm, doing the work they love.

6. Local food builds community - When you buy direct from the farmer, you are re-establishing a time-honored connection. Knowing the farmers gives you insight into the seasons, the weather, and the miracle of raising food. In many cases, it gives you access to a farm where your children and grandchildren can go to learn about nature and agriculture. Relationships built on understanding and trust can thrive.

7. Local food preserves open space - As the value of direct-marketed fruits and vegetables increases, selling farmland for development becomes less likely. You have probably enjoyed driving out into the country and appreciated the lush fields of crops, the meadows full of wildflowers, the picturesque red barns. That landscape will survive only as long as farms are financially viable. When you buy locally grown food, you are doing something proactive about preserving the agricultural landscape.

8. Local food keeps your taxes in check - Farms contribute more in taxes than they require in services, whereas suburban development costs more than it generates in taxes, according to several studies. On average, for every $1 in revenue raised by residential development, governments must spend $1.17 on services, thus requiring higher taxes of all taxpayers. For each dollar of revenue raised by farm, forest, or open space, governments spend 34 cents on services.

9. Local food supports a clean environment and benefits wildlife - A well-managed family farm is a place where the resources of fertile soil and clean water are valued. Good stewards of the land grow cover crops to prevent erosion and replace nutrients used by their crops. Cover crops also capture carbon emissions and help combat global warming. According to some estimates, farmers who practice conservation tillage could sequester 12-14% of the carbon emitted by vehicles and industry. In addition, the patchwork of fields, meadows, woods, ponds and buildings - is the perfect environment for many beloved species of wildlife.

10. Local food is about the future - By supporting local farmers today, you can help ensure that there will be farms in your community tomorrow, and that future generations will have access to nourishing, flavorful, and abundant food.  Adapted from ©2001 Growing for Market