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

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Topping

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

¾ cup light brown sugar

2 cups cranberries

In a heavy-bottom saucepan melt butter over medium heat; add brown sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is foamy and pale, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour into prepared cake pan and swirl to distribute evenly on bottom of pan. Place cranberries evenly over topping. Set aside and make cake batter.

Cake

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1½ teaspoons baking powder

3 tablespoons cornmeal

½ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 large eggs, separated, room temperature

1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons orange zest (about two oranges)

2/3 cup milk, room temperature

Sift together the flour, baking powder, cornmeal and salt; set aside. Beat the butter with an electric mixer at medium speed. Gradually add 1 cup of sugar. Continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes; scrape the bowl. Beat in yolks and vanilla; scrape the bowl. Reduce speed and add dry ingredients and milk alternately in 3 or 4 batches, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Scrape the bowl. Add orange zest and beat on low until just smooth. Beat egg whites in separate bowl until you have soft peaks. Add 2 tablespoons granulated sugar and beat to stiff peaks. Fold ¼ of whites into the batter to lighten, and then add remainder of whites to batter and fold in completely. Pour batter into cake pan and spread evenly over the topping. Bake on bottom oven rack until golden brown and a toothpick comes out of middle of cake clean (60 to 65 minutes). Cool on rack 2 minutes; slide a small knife around edge of pan and cake to release sides. Place a serving platter over the pan and hold tightly while inverting the cake onto the platter. If any of the topping sticks to the pan, remove and place on top of cake.

On December 31, beginning at 6:00 p.m., the Fish House will offer a special dinner in celebration of New Year’s Eve. This special menu, created by Chef Billy Ballou, features four delicious courses paired with wines selected by Beverage Director William Morse and Premier Beverage Company.

Some highlights of the menu are an appetizer selection of a Butternut Squash Tart with roasted butternut squash, Alabama chèvre, and fresh herbs paired with Peter Lehmann Layers White 2010, Barossa and Adelaide, Australia. A dessert selection: Roasted Pear and Hazelnut Parfait, layered with roasted-pear mascarpone, hazelnut nougat, and zinfandel-poached pears paired with Marqués de Cáceres Satinela 2009, Rioja, Spain.

The full menu is available on our website: Click here

The cost of the event is $100.00 per person. The price includes four courses with nine menu options to choose from, with wine pairings that accompany each option. The price excludes tax and gratuity.

There are two available seating times for this event, 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. To make reservations, please call Melissa Bailey, events coordinator of The Great Southern Restaurant Group, (850) 433-9450.

After the dinner, guests are encouraged to dance the night away at the Fish House Deck Bar. Entertainment will be provided by Jerry Dawson of the Shiz and guest musicians from the Astronauts. Complimentary party hats, noisemakers, streamers and a champagne toast at midnight to welcome the New Year will be provided. There is no charge to attend the Deck Bar’s New Year’s Eve performance of Jerry Dawson and special guests musicians of The Astronauts band.

“It will be a fun night – we have the area’s only waterfront New Year’s Eve party,” says Jean Pierre Ndione, general manager of the Fish House. “Our outdoor areas are fully covered with clear sidewalls and heated, allowing guests to ring in the New Year on Pensacola Bay.”

Melissa Martin’s bridesmaids hold parasols designed by Jen Naar at Gaboodles, Ink as the bride and groom pose behind a parasol at right. Gaboodles, Ink offers personalized stationery, invitations and gift baskets. / Special to the News Journal

Written by Melissa Martin Bailey

I officially am a married gal.

I will now get back to writing about football parties and new ideas for celebrating the holiday season, but before I do, I thought I would take the opportunity to write about planning my wedding reception to finish out this wedding series.

Because I’m in the event-planning business, it was easy to choose the right vendors for our wedding.

Hiring a wedding planner was a necessity, and Megan Kennedy of Megan K. Events was at the top of the list. With her fresh eye and knack for detail, it was a no-brainer to have her on board. Not only can you hire her event company for the planning portion; she also specializes in floral decor and design. But even though Kennedy and company do impeccable work, Shannon Pallin from Fiora always will have a special place in my heart. Though Fiora was the chosen florist for the reception, I had Kennedy’s team transform my rehearsal dinner venue, 5 Eleven Palafox, into a page right out of a bridal magazine.

After meeting and working with Pallin years ago, I knew she would do the floral design for my wedding. Her long-term experience and knowledge in her field make her one of the best floral designers in the country. After 10 years in California, Pallin moved to New York City and worked as a designer and stylist for Martha Stewart, Preston Bailey and Katie Brown. Her 22 years of experience shine in your consultation as she verbally paints a picture of your event.

For the wedding venue, she decided to capture the natural beauty of the Barkley House by enhancing its beauty with cafe lights and rich, bold colors. The centerpieces alternated between fresh flowers and antique birdcages as well as black urns with manzanita branches, complementing florals and mixtures of foliage and vines on the bases.

As many of you can guess, my choice to cater my wedding rehearsal and reception was The Fish House. Not so much because I have been with the company for more than 10 years, but because I have been lucky enough to see the amazing culinary skills of the chefs, who create the best of Southern cuisine.

Because it was hard to choose what we wanted our guests to experience, Josh and I decided on several action stations and food displays as well as passed hors d’oeuvres.

To start, we served mini Southern crab cakes and barbecue beef satay. The guests also were treated to an antipasto station during cocktail hour. When the stations opened, the guests were able to try homemade Asian stir-fry as well as Grits à Ya Ya served in a martini glass. We also took advantage of the fall vegetables available at the local farmers markets to create a large fall-inspired salad bar.

Chef Billy Ballou and team put together eye-catching displays of fresh-caught seared tuna and coastal shellfish — fresh-cracked oysters, clams and snow crab.

Last but not least, I have to talk about the sweetest woman in town: cake baker Betty Weber, a lady so good at what she does, you have to book her months in advance.

Well, friends, I hope you have enjoyed the journey we have taken over the past few months, and while you read this, I imagine I will be lying under the Jamaican sun, sipping an umbrella cocktail, enjoying my honeymoon.

Until next time, friends, no worries.

Jim Shirley’s of The Fish House presents his version of the fried cauliflower he discovered in New York City in June.

Written by Chef Jim Shirley special to the Pensacola News Journal

Cauliflower is not my friend. That said, we do have some mutual friends that bring us together on occasion. One was on my recent visit to the Big Apple — not the Apple Market (I was there last week), but Manhattan — in late June, cooking with my culinary cronies. When we were not working, we fanned out to track down the best of the city. I found Tamarind over in Gramercy Place. Incredible Indian food. There the special appetizer was cauliflower marinated in lime and ginger, deep-fried and tossed in a spicy tomato sauce. Fantastic! I believe I have replicated most of the flavors in this dish. So let’s all fire up our fryers and make like cauliflower is our friend — and give it a nod.

Ingredients

1 large head cauliflower

4 tablespoons minced ginger

6 limes (juice)

1 cup yogurt

To start, let’s crack a bottle of crackling-cold Mercer Sauvignon Blanc, pour a glass, and have a sip. Then bust up your cauliflower and toss with ginger and lime juice. Toss that with a cup of yogurt and let sit for a few hours in the fridge.

Masala Spice

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 tablespoon ground fennel

1 tablespoon cumin

1 tablespoon cardamom

4 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons coriander

1 teaspoon clove

1 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 tablespoon turmeric

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon coffee powder

Mix all ingredients until fully incorporated.

Breading

2 cups garbanzo fava bean flour

2 tablespoons sea salt

2 teaspoons white pepper

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 tablespoon masala spice

Toss the flour with salt, white pepper, garlic and onion powders and 1 tablespoon masala spice.

Sauce

1 large onion, thinly sliced

¼ cup canola oil

2 ounces minced garlic

2 ounces fresh ginger root, minced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced

½ teaspoon ground fennel

1 tablespoon garam masala

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

2 teaspoons sea salt

4 tablespoons masala spice

1 box diced tomatoes from Pomi @26 ounces

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 cup water, divided

¼ cup sherry

1 cup heavy cream

For the sauce, in a large pot sauté onion slices in the oil over medium heat till they begin to caramelize. Add garlic, ginger and jalapeño and sauté for a minute or so. I like to add in the spices at this time; sauté for a minute more. Add half a cup of water. Scrape into mixer and add Pomi tomatoes and tomato paste. Blend until smooth and return to pot. Pour in another ½ cup of water and the sherry. Cook till it thickens; then add a cup of heavy cream and cook till this thickens also. Heat frying oil to 325 degrees. Shake off extra liquid from cauliflower, coat with breading and deep fry for 6 minutes or till golden brown. Toss fried cauliflower into the sauce, pour up the wine, call in the troops and fall to.

The Greenhorn, by Melissa Temsook-Boeker - Photo by Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com

By Melissa Temsook-Boeker special to The Pensacola News Journal

The service industry is, by nature, ever-changing — from trends to menus to locations and so on. So, it follows that those of us in the service industry grow and change with it. As a bartender, sometimes you hit your stride, find a place where you feel comfortable, and get so used to the bar where you work that you could probably mix drinks blind-folded if you had to; you might even stay there for years before, inevitably, it’s time for a change.

This past month, it was that time for my change. I left a job after two years and started training at Atlas Oyster Bar. No matter how much experience you have, it’s always humbling to be the new girl again, having to ask where everything is, learning a new menu, getting lost a couple of times — and, inevitably, as soon as someone is standing behind you, forgetting how to work the computer. But I really do believe that change is good, and I like to think of this newest change as a fresh start. So, this month I am combining fresh ingredients to create a green drink for my days as the greenhorn.

Greenhorn

1 ounce Stoli Strasberi (or Blueberi) Vodka

½ ounce cucumber vodka

½ ounce ginger liqueur

4-5 ounces herbal lemonade (recipe follows)

Combine all ingredients and pour over ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

Herbal Lemonade (2 quarts)

6 ounces basil 6 ounces mint 2 ounces sage 2 quarts lemonade of your choice

Wash herbs and leave whole. Combine with lemonade in a large sauce pot and bring just to a boil. Remove from heat and chill overnight. The longer it steeps, the better it will be. Once the mixture gets good and green, strain and serve.

Atlas Oyster House, 600 S. Barracks St., Pensacola. 437-1961, or visit atlas.goodgrits.com.