Cranberry Upside-down Cake. / Gary McCracken/gmccracken@pnj.com
Time to bring out the tried-and-true pie and cake recipes that all the family has come to love and look forward to every year. In every family, someone has perfected the staples; pumpkin pie, apple pie, pecan pie and so on. If you are not one of those lucky ones that make that family favorite, you are probably the one that gets to take new and interesting desserts to the family dinners. That would be me. I never take the same dessert to the holiday festivities. I always try to do something I know no one else would even think of doing, but still has that “Holiday” element to it.
This year I wanted to use the element of cranberries. There are not many desserts that use cranberries, and why only use them in a sauce? You can use fresh or dried cranberries for this recipe. If using dried cranberries, reconstitute them first. I like to let mine marinate overnight in orange juice, or an orange liqueur like Grand Marnier. Just be sure to squeeze out any excess liquid. Happy Holidays!
CRANBERRY UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE
Butter a 9-inch by 3-inch round cake pan and set aside (more…)
It’s football season again! Time for tailgating and game parties. Time to come up with ideas for snacks that will be easy to take along with you, and that have not been done over and over again. My favorite snack to take along is these pecan brown-sugar bars. These addictive little bites are always a huge hit. They are easy to make and store and are great by themselves, but one of my favorite ways to eat them is warmed up and served with a scoop of butter-pecan ice cream. Do not plan on having any left over; they are usually the first thing gone. So be sure to keep a few at home for later. (more…)
Nothing is better than living on the Gulf Coast — unless, of course, you are also taking advantage of the local fruits de mer (French for “fruits of the sea”), such as fresh clams, oysters and plump shrimp. I love when locals talk passionately about the fresh Southern coastal cuisine we have here in Pensacola. I enjoy nothing more than watching fishing boats bringing into Seville Harbour fresh-caught snapper and shellfish, which go straight into the Fish House and Atlas Oyster House’s kitchens.
Some of my favorite local customers have celebrated one of the biggest days of their lives with us here in one of our private rooms overlooking Seville Harbour and Pensacola Bay. With their love of seafood and good wine, it was easy to prepare the menu and theme for their perfect wedding reception. This week, I want to go over some great ways of pulling off a Fruits de Mer Party for any occasion — whether it is a wedding reception or just a gathering of close friends.
Nothing beats the summer heat like a Fruits de Mer display of chilled cocktail shrimp and fresh Apalachicola oysters. Any kind of shellfish, from snow crab to lobster tails to fresh steamed mussels and clams can be incorporated into your food display. To make things easier on you, the chef, I recommend precooking most of the items, such as the cocktail shrimp, snow crab and various sauces the day before. (more…)
Around this time every year, I encounter a lot of people with plastic storage bags full of beautiful
Summer Berry Crumble by Trina Confusione at The Fish House. / Katie King/kking@pnj.com
blackberries, blueberries, huckleberries and strawberries. They are hoping to make someone happy by saying, “We picked too many; do you want some?” Or, “My aunt keeps bringing over more than I can handle; please tell me you can use them before they go bad.” I always take them, because I know I will have the makings for an easy dessert — a crisp.
This recipe can be worked in different ways. You can use almost any fruit or berry combination, including peaches, apricots, nectarines and plums. Be sure they are ripe, and slice them no bigger than 1, 2-inch wedges. I made a vanilla bean mascarpone to accompany the warm crisp, but you can substitute ice cream or whipped cream.
Summer Berry and Peach Crisp
For the filling
11⁄2 pounds peaches, sliced into 1⁄2-inch wedges
1 cup blackberries
1 cup blueberries
1⁄2 cup light brown sugar, packed
For the topping
1 cup rolled oats
1⁄4 cup all-purpose flour
1⁄2 stick unsalted butter, softened
1⁄3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss the filling ingredients together and pour into a buttered, 2-quart shallow baking dish. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Using your fingers, blend topping ingredients until mix is crumbly. Then pull filling from oven and stir, add topping, return dish to oven and bake until crisp and golden, about 30 minutes. Top with vanilla bean mascarpone, if desired (recipe follows).
Vanilla Bean Mascarpone
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1⁄4 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in half and seeds scraped out
In a mixing bowl, combine cheese, cream, sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Whisk until stiff and well combined. Store in an airtight baggie in the refrigerator. (This is best done at least a day before to allow the vanilla beans to flavor the mascarpone.) Spoon a dollop over each serving of warm crisp.
Vanilla Bean Mascarpone 1 cup mascarpone cheese 1„2 cup heavy cream 1„4 cup granulated sugar
1 vanilla bean, split in half and seeds scraped out
In a mixing bowl, combine cheese, cream, sugar and vanilla bean seeds. Whisk until stiff and well combined. Store in an airtight baggie in the refrigerator. (This is best done at least a day before to allow the vanilla beans to flavor the mascarpone.) Spoon a dollop over each serving of warm crisp.
Avocado and crab chilled soup takes the edge off the summer heat. Photo by Shelley Yates
As the weather heats up, we like to cool down. So the Fish House overlooking Pensacola Bay rolls into “chill” season. Refreshing light broth-based soups and chilled vegetable soups are perfect for lunch this time of year. This refreshing chilled soup is a great make-ahead party food for warm summer nights.
1 quart chicken stock
2 elephant garlic cloves minced
3 tablespoons minced Vidalia onion
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 Poblano pepper roasted, peeled and seeded
1 Serrano pepper roasted peeled and seeded
3 avocados peeled and seeded
2 cups regular whipping cream
½ cup yogurt (more…)
Boiled Shrimp, veggies and LandShark beer. / Gary McCracken/gmccracken@pnj.com
Last weekend, I was lucky enough to be invited to a friend’s house for family dinner. My friend’s mother and I are so alike that there might have been some baby-switching at the hospital. She goes above and beyond on every occasion. You will never find yourself eating frozen lasagna or delivered pizza at her table. Fresh-grated parmesan — never Kraft — tops her homemade marinara sauce, and fresh-from-the-garden — never frozen — vegetables are served alongside slow-grilled, center-cut steaks. The table is always set with beauty in mind. From fresh flowers to warm candles and modern flatware, it’s like a picture from a magazine.
Once dinner was wrapped and the plates were cleared, my friend told us that it was now time to earn our dinner. With a gleam in her eye and a very large beach/boat party planned for the next morning, I saw a lot of packing and lifting in my future.
Whole Oven-Roasted Rainbow Trout with a crabmeat stuffing
Whole Oven-Roasted Rainbow Trout by Chef Billy Ballou – Whole Oven-Roasted Rainbow Trout Stuffed with herbed lump crab. Served with roasted root vegetables and finished with herb compound butter.
Whole Oven-Roasted Rainbow Trout by Chef Billy Ballou
3/4 cup diced red bell pepper
3/4 cup diced red onion
3/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup sliced green onion
2 tbls minced fresh thyme
2 tbls minced fresh basil
2 tbls minced garlic
4 tbls unsalted butter
1/2 cup white wine
1 each lemon (juiced)
1 pound lump crab meat
Rainbow trout:
4 each 11oz whole cleaned Rainbow trout
1 each fresh lemon
4 tbls olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375. First what you want to do is take a medium saute pan and cook the onion, fennel, pepper, celery, garlic and butter til translucent which will take about 5 minutes. Then take your white wine and deglaze the pan, let cook for about 1 minute then remove vegetable mixture and let cool. Once cooled mix remaining ingredients with the lump crab. Once the crab mixture is done take your trout and lay the skin side down and season with salt and pepper and a little olive oil. Then take about 1 1/2 cup of crab mixture and stuff the trout. Once that is done that your stuffed trout and place it on a grease sheet pan and bake it for about 12-15 min, or until skin is nice and crunchy.
