Tales of Tailgating: Watermelon Salsa, Seared Chicken Thighs, and Mercer Football

Football has returned to Macon! After 70 years of being without a football team thanks to Mercer’s (male) college students’ involvement in WWII, the Bears are back on the field! Friends Eleta and Alex and Andy and Heather have done a bang-up job of organizing what is surely the best and tastiest tailgate Mercer has ever seen!

See: this shitty photo for evidence of the awesome.

The best part about this tailgate is that we have a lot of folks who like good food, and that means amazing pre-game snacks and bevs (in school-sanctioned orange solo cups, of course…).

For week 2, pre-total field domination of the Warner Royals by the Bears (61-0, baby!!!), my contribution to the tailgating festivities was my watermelon salsa, a summer stand-by that is sweet and spicy and has many uses. It can be made with peaches or nectarines depending on what you find both ripe and available.

Ingredients

• 2 cups peeled, seeded, and cubed watermelon (I almost never recommend using seedless watermelons, because I think they are lacking in flavor, but here it would definitely be in your best interest.)
• 1 cup peeled, cubed peaches (or nectarines)
• 2 seeded and minced jalapeños (If you’ve never worked with jalapeños before, please be careful. It is not child’s play, unless you are talking about the 1998 film where a doll named Chucky comes to life and murders people. That might be similar to the pain of jalapeño in your eye.)
• 3/4 diced Vidalia onion
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt

Enjoy with chips and friends. Then use the leftovers (if you have any) for this tasty dish!

Heat up a tablespoon of oil on medium heat. I used this magnificent cinnamon and chili infused peanut oil from Oliver Farm in Wilcox County, GA. I met Mr. Oliver at the Mulberry Street Market a few weeks ago and sampled his delicious infused peanut, pecan, and sunflower oils. This is the one I walked away with:

Shop local, y’all.

Once the oil is nice and hot, gently lay in some salt-and-pepper seasoned chicken thighs and let them cook slowly for 20-30 minutes, uncovered. I bought boneless and skinless because that’s what was on sale at the Kro-zhey, but the bone-in ones will have even MORE flavor than these babies. Flip once they are golden and fat-rendered on one side, and cook for another 20 until thoroughly done, tender, and flavorful.

While you’re cooking the chicken, heat your oven to 350* and place some ears of corn (husk on) directly onto the oven rack. Let them roast for about 30 minutes as the chicken is readying itself. (If you lose the corn, I believe this becomes paleo-friendly. Do as you wish.)

Remove the chicken gently from the pan, top with watermelon salsa, and strip the corn of the husk (the silk will pull right off in one big chunk after being in the oven for so long). Rub a little butter on the corn and top with chunky sea salt and a tiny squeeze of lime juice, should you so desire. Enjoy this meal as summer weather comes to a close and we all start dreaming of sweaters and falling leaves.

*sigh*

American Jamstand: a 4th of July jam and other tales of the flood

It feels like it’s been raining for days… oh wait, it HAS been raining for days! And days and days and days. But I’ve kept myself occupied with various and sundry activities such as:

• mysterious goings-on at Dovetail that, while I am not at liberty to discuss, are VERY exciting indeed

• Steve teaching me how to homebrew, specifically this imitation of Bell’s Hopslam that went a little crazy in the pot

• top gal pal and birthday twin Melinda showing me Your Dekalb Farmer’s Market in Decatur for the first time and me going APESHIT over the tubs of spices for 88 cents

It’s been a not-too-sucky week for the most part! I’ll be heading to Edisto tomorrow for a holiday weekend with Kirsten and some of her gal pals. You know it’s gonna be a good time when everyone involved is super into food. I drove down to Lane Orchards this afternoon to stock up on some fresh seasonal peaches to take with me as my contribution. What I did NOT remember was that it was their July 4th Festival today. Poor planning, Melanie. So I parked in the middle of the field and schlepped up to the madhouse that was the store. There were festive locals and rude tourists alike. Lady who opened the box in my cart and removed some of my peaches while I was standing right there – you are on my shit list and I will find you. You do not manhandle another person’s produce after it has been claimed. This is not the Wild West.

I was planning on just getting a couple of quart baskets, but the lovely young lad at the store informed me that a 1/2 bushel box was only $20, and I would be paying just as much for less than half the quantity if I went with the quarts. SOLD.

Debatably good decision.

I carried my half bushel plus some beautiful fresh-picked blackberries back to my car, which I found firmly stuck down in the mud of the field upon my return. After a lot of wheel spinning (sorry, white minivan parked next to me…), I drove back home through what looked suspiciously like an almost-tornado.

Bring me Bill Paxton and a $5 Walmart belt.

I used the sinfully delicious blackberries along with the wonderfully fragrant Thai basil that I found at YDFM (for a DOLLAR) to make yet another round of summer jam.

LOOKADEM BERRIES!

Blackberry Basil Jam

• 2 pints blackberries
• 1/2 cup Thai basil simple syrup (we’ve covered this before…), made with ~1 cup basil leaves
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp powdered pectin
• squirt o’ lime juice
• extra fresh Thai basil leaves for extra basil power!

I mixed the pectin and extra sugar together and sprinkled it over the crushed berries while I was making the simple syrup to macerate them a little. Extra juices are always good. Boil the fruit and simple syrup, and if you want extra basil flavor, throw the whole leaves in near the end. Thai basil is so good. It’s more fragrant than sweet basil and has an almost licorice-y taste to it. Look for the bright purple stems and buds. I adore it and can never seem to find it anywhere. Thanks, YDFM!

Once the jam is good and fragrant, remove the shriveled whole leaves and jar it up! Seeds included because I love them, but you could strain them out if you like.

Happy birthday, America! Go drink a beer. Look out for updates from Edisto if we stop eating long enough to get online.

Also, I’ve joined Bloglovin. Go here if you want to follow along via them!

Gravlax and Honeyed Figs: A Collection of Thank-You Foods

Here’s the deal – if you feed me, I will probably insist upon returning the favor. I will make every effort to figure out what you might like, and I will probably make it for you within a week. It seems only fair.

I had a fantastic dinner at new friends Steve and Laura’s house last Thursday. Much food and wine (and some bourbon) was consumed by all (but actually John Buckner drank all the bourbon… I’m calling you out on that, buddy), and everyone left feeling very satisfied in bellies and in hearts. Enter the thank-you food!

Gravlax is salt-cured salmon and should not be confused with smoked salmon, which is cooked during the preparation process. There is no cooking involved in this, only pressure and science. It is pretty critical that you get good fish for this as a result – don’t go cheapsies and get some half-priced about-to-turn stuff. Your digestive system will thank you for this later. Gravlax is surprisingly easy to make (I’ve done it only once before); it just takes a bit of a time commitment and some patience, plus somewhere to get a very fresh, large, center-cut salmon filet.

Ingredients

• 2lb salmon filet, center cut (thicker filet = larger slices at the end), skin on
• 2/3 cup coarse sea salt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• a few tablespoons akvavit, gin, or other suitable liquor (I used herbe de bison)
• fresh dill, and mounds of it

Grind up the fennel and peppercorns, and mix with the sugar and salt to make a rub. Lay out a big sheet of plastic wrap and sprinkle about a third of the salt mix on it in roughly the size and shape of your fish. Place the fish on the salt, skin-side down.

A magnificent fish.

Slowly pour your alcohol of choice onto the top of the fish, evenly cover it in the rest of the salt mixture, and dump all the dill on top. I used too little dill here. I will learn from my errors next time. Wrap the fish up tightly in the plastic wrap. It’s going to cure in the salt and its own juices, so make sure they stay in there! Plus, you don’t want fish juice all over your fridge.

tasty tasty package

Put the fish package in a baking dish (just to be safe from leakage) and bung it in the fridge. It can take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to fully cure, depending on the thickness of the fish and the proportions of your rub. Mine was pretty well done in about 24, though I will probably leave it in longer next time to let the flavors absorb more (see also: more dill). You will know it’s done when it turns darker and opaque and has shed much of its moisture into the pan and plastic wrap. Go ahead and unwrap it now.

All done!

Scrape off the herbs and the salt rub, or rinse it lightly if you’d prefer no bits of salt and pepper (shoop shoop) hanging around. Slice at an angle very thinly (remember, you don’t eat the skin…) and serve up! Mine went on a sourdough round with a bit of butter and a few capers.

Get in mah belleh!

Also good for gifting are things in jars. They don’t have to be eaten right away and are more easily shared. My friend Jennifer tipped me off to some figs on sale at Fresh Market, so I grabbed the last(!!) package and scurried home with them.

Anyone else thinking of Fern Gully?

I sliced their jewel-like bodies in half and sprinkled them with some cinnamon, sugar, and orange zest, then baked them slowly in the oven at 225* for about two and a half hours. It took every bit of self-control not to gobble them all up as soon as they came out.

om nom nom!

You could eat them just like this, but I chose make them gift-able by covering them in some local sage honey from Weeks Honey Farm in Omega, GA. They’ll stay good for quite some time like that. Enjoy as is, on toast, or over ice cream!

Delivery!

 

Jam Three Ways: Sweet, Tart, and OMGBacon

Hi, my name is Melanie and I’m hopelessly addicted to jam, and I have no one to blame but myself. It’s the perfect season for it as well. Berries and fresh fruits of all sorts are aplenty in Georgia right now. Today I made three different sorts of jam: a sweeter jam (strawberry mint), a tart and kicky jam (blueberry ginger key lime), and a savory jam (bourbon bacon). I can’t stop.

Jam line-up. Turn to the side, please.

The two fruit jams follow a similar process to last week’s inaugural jamventure. I found a most coveted bag of key limes at Fresh Market and knew immediately what I wanted to do. Key limes, if you have not had them, are magical. I think I mentioned before that I grew up in Key West, where many many folks had key lime trees in their yards and they were always plentiful. Imagine my shock when I moved away and saw how expensive and hard to come by they were elsewhere! You couldn’t GIVE those things away fast enough in the Keys. The skin is thin and the juice is a cloudy green-yellow, slightly bitter and with a richer flavor than your traditional Persian lime.

When ripe the skin is yellow, but you’ll rarely find them fully ripened in the store.

Blueberry Ginger Key Lime

• 3 cups fresh blueberries (check for stems – you don’t want those in your jam)
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp powdered pectin
• 1/4 cup key lime juice (this will take about 15 limes, please don’t use bottled or you’ll hurt my feelings)
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest (because key limes are too thin to zest adequately)
• 2 tsp fresh grated ginger

Look at those bad boys.

Just like last week (except without the spice simmering), throw all your ingredients in a large pot and mash the berries while over medium heat. Stir it at a boil for 15 minutes or until it’s thickened and foaming. It will turn the most beautiful shade of deep purple as the skins cook into the jam. Jar as before, being careful with spillage as blueberries will stain you as soon as look at you.

Smoke on the water and fire in the sky.

Strawberry Mint

• 3 cups strawberries
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp powdered pectin
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
• juice of 1 orange and half a lemon

Give your sugar and mint a whirl in the food processor to chop it up thoroughly. Then do just as above: pot, mash, boil, jar. I am dreaming of drizzling this jam on small toasts with creamy goat cheese.

And now, ON TO THE BACON! Bacon was BOGO at Fresh Market today, so it was kind of like fate. I’ve been dreaming of making this ever since I had it at Dovetail, my favorite restaurant in Macon. For this, I once again turned to King Arthur for a base recipe, tweaking the sugar and spice and adding some bourbon because, well, bourbon.

Bourbon Bacon

• 1 1/2 pounds bacon, cut into 1″ chunks and cooked ’til browned
• 1 large Vidalia onion, sliced thinly
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (NOTE: this is not pancake syrup. Not. Pancake. Syrup.)
• 1/4 cup boiled cider (not a common thing in stores down here, but you can make your own by (shocker) boiling down ordinary apple cider until it’s thick and concentrated)
• 3/4 cup strong dark coffee
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Quite simply, throw everything into your slow cooker.

Tell me you can’t smell that.

Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours until everything in your house smells of bacon and love.

Not terribly appetizing, but there it is.

Remove the bay leaves and give the whole mix a quick pulse in the food processor until it’s whatever consistency you desire. Throw it in a large pot, add a shot (or two) of good bourbon, and reduce the whole lot. It will thicken as it cools later, but you want it to be less liquid than it was when it came out of the slow cooker for spreading purposes. Jar and try not to eat the whole business before it even makes it to your fridge.

As a side note, I got back from Charleston this afternoon and had the BEST of times. My girl Kirsten recently moved there and I’d never been, so of course we took the city by storm. We’re good at that. Fortunately not literally, though – thanks, TS Andrea, for blowing right on past us and never raining once! We also managed to keep up our tradition of getting cat-called by a speeding car full of youths. It’s the little things?

I’m sure we’ll both find the time to do a joint post on the whole weekend later, but here are some previews:

-from The Bar at HUSK:

Pig ear lettuce wraps. I know. I know.

-from Charleston’s Cafe:

This is a fried softshell crab sandwiched between pancakes with scrambled eggs and other goodies. It’s real, I promise.

-from our sordid pasts:

We still don’t know the rules.

Strawberry Cardamom Jam

If you’ve been following along, you may be wondering what the heck I did with the rest of the 10lbs of strawberries Eleta and I picked. Well, I’ve always wanted to try my hand at jam. Jam is another one of those things that seems impossibly complicated from the outside but is remarkably simple once you figure out how it’s done. I am a big supporter of jams and preserves of all kinds, but especially ones that are still chunky and fruit-filled. Because I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I started, I worked off of this recipe from Momofuku chef Christina Tosi. Alas, I am allergic to coriander, so I subbed out for fennel seed and adjusted my spice levels accordingly.

Ingredients (enough for 3 jelly jars full)

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 tbsp powdered pectin (surprisingly difficult to find; I ended up at a natural foods store before I struck gold)
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups strawberries, larger ones halved but otherwise whole sans hull (the green bit)
• 3 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp cardamom seeds (not ground)

Combine the sugar, pectin, and salt in a small bowl and hold it off to the side. Heat the vinegar and spices in a saucepan until they start to simmer. Be careful that you don’t get it boiling because it’s such a small amount of liquid. Strain out the spices and return the vinegar to the pot. Add the sugar mix and combine as well as you can. It will be almost totally dry, but don’t you fret.

“Oh god, that doesn’t look right!”

No seriously, don’t fret. With the heat still on medium, add your strawberries. This is where all the delicious liquid will come from. I used a round potato masher to break up the berries and get the texture I wanted. You can also use a large fork, the back of a spoon, or whatever you have on hand.

Phew!

See, look at all that liquid! I told you not to worry. Bring the jam base to a boil and keep stirring until it starts to thicken. You should get a nice strawberry foam on top.

Mmm mmm mmmm!

Remove your jam from the heat and ever so carefully pour or ladle it into individual jelly jars or one large heat-proof container. I can’t stress enough how hot this jam is right now. I splashed the tiniest drop on my thumb while pouring and I’ve still got a burn scar. Let the jam cool off a bit in its container before you lid it up.

Little jelly gems.

Slather this tasty concoction on anything you can find. I opted for some pain au chocolat that my friends Ashley and JW sent me in thanks for officiating their gorgeous wedding. Absolutely the right call, for sure.

Mmm yes.

JAM IT UP, Y’ALL! Now that I know how easy jamming can be, I’m making exciting plans for the other berries that are about to come in season. I’m thinking blackberry ginger… What are your favorite kinds of jam? Are you a seeds/no seeds, chunks/no chunks groupie?

Grapefruit Rosemary Pops (and a cocktail to boot)

Summer has officially come to Georgia. It’s broken 90 every day for the past week and the thunderstorms are starting to pop up more and more often. Today it is absolutely magnificent outside, which is why I’m so glad I made a batch of popsicles last night to enjoy on my porch this afternoon. I’ve seen the grapefruit and rosemary combo everywhere recently, and rightly so! It’s so refreshing. Fresh rosemary is one of my favorite smells in the whole world, and combining it with the sweet tangy bite of grapefruit is absolutely perfect.

gratuitous rosemary macro shot, mmmm

You can make popsicles in pretty much any container. Tiny Dixie cups with sticks jammed in them are the simplest way, or you can go crazy and get one of these new Zoku things everyone seems to be talking about now. I can’t seem to justify spending 50 bucks on something that makes three popsicles at a time, though, even if it does freeze them in less than 10 minutes. I really want to get one of those silicone popsicle forms that makes 18 at a time, but for now I have this kind of shitty one that I got at Ikea for $1.50. Winning.

Though it be but little it is fierce.

This recipe fills my 6-count mold with enough to spare for two cocktails.

Ingredients

• 2 cups freshly squeezed ruby red grapefruit juice (I used 3 grapefruits for this)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary

Remember when we talked about making simple syrups last week? We’re gonna do that again. So strip the leaves from the rosemary sprigs and give them a rough chop. You should end up with 2-3 tablespoons worth of fresh and piney bits. Throw those in a little saucepan with the sugar and water, bring to a boil, stir, then kill the heat and let it steep for 30 minutes. You can juice your grapefruits while you’re waiting. Try your best to get the ruby or pink grapefruits because they’re sweeter and give a much nicer color to the pops.

beautiful

Once your syrup has steeped and cooled, strain out the rosemary and mix the syrup into the grapefruit juice. Pour this mixture carefully into the popsicle mold of your choice and freeze overnight. In the morning, you will have delicious ice pops that taste of both summer and winter at the same time.

boom

The best part is, once you’ve filled your mold you will inevitably have some juice-syrup mix left over. Or if you’re me, you kind of made sure that you would. Throw the leftovers in a shaker with some ice and vodka, shake it up, and pour into a chilled glass. Garnish with a wee sprig o’ rosemary and a twist of grapefruit. Enjoy this concoction while your pops are freezing for instant gratification.

Not-Quite-Thai Coconut Sticky Rice with Mango

Sometimes I go to the supermarket at normal hours like normal people, usually with a list. Other times, I’m sitting in my pajamas at 9pm on a Sunday and suddenly run out the door to Publix (they close at 10 on Sundays – running is sometimes necessary). This is what happens when I get a wild hair up my ass, usually at incredibly inconvenient times. This time, that wild hair was for my old friend and sometimes dastardly foe – sticky rice with mango. Whenever I order this dish at Thai restaurants, I inevitably eat far too much and moan my way back to the car (or, if I’m unfortunate enough to have walked, all the way home whilst teetering on the edge of being ill). My mom came into town for graduation last weekend and stayed until yesterday. That sweet and magnificent woman decided to leave me with some parting goodies, one being some beautiful mangoes that she picked up at the store. I spent a good part of my childhood in Key West, so mangoes are one of my dream foods. My grandparents’ neighbors had a mango tree in their yard that would deposit lovely fruits just over the fence each year. Seriously, I can’t get enough of mango. This craving was, therefore, perfect.

Picture, if you will, my mad dash to the store. As I hustle across town, scouring my brain trying to plot which store has the ideal combination of being open and being likely to have what I’m looking for, I settle on the Publix on Bass Rd. By far the best Publix in town as far as selection and quality, though kind of a schlep. Running into the store with 30 minutes to spare, I narrowly avoid a confused pre-pubescent bagger on my way to the rice and pasta aisle. Suddenly, fear strikes. I have no idea what kind of rice to buy!! Surely my only hope for finding true Thai sweet/sticky rice would have been at Fresh Market, which closed hours ago. (Maybe our much desired and eagerly anticipated independent grocery store, Ocmulgee Traders, will carry such a worthy item when they open at last? Hmmmm.) Then my nightmare greets me…

God help me.

SO MUCH RICE, SO LITTLE TIME! After frantically taking down each type of rice from the shelf and examining it, I settled on sushi rice. Not the same, clearly, but equally as glutinous.

I hustled home and promptly plopped down in front of The Internet to find a suitable recipe. Who knew that would be the most challenging part of this whole adventure. There are what seem to be millions of different people out there telling me how to make coconut sticky rice in totally different ways. I very quickly became overwhelmed and took an Angry Orchard Apple Ginger Cider break. Finally, I settled on a combination of various techniques I came across, picking from the most authentic-sounding of the bunch (cornstarch? 10+ ingredients? I don’t think so, Internet).

Basically, what I’ve garnered is that you need an equal portion of coconut milk to the amount of rice you’re making. This quantity uses only a cup of rice, which is good enough for dessert for two or dessert for me.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Thai sweet/sticky rice (if you can find it; if not, my sushi rice came out pretty well)
• 1 cup coconut milk (not coconut water, not coconut cream)
• 3 tbsp. sugar (palm if you have it, white if you don’t)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 or 2 tasty mangoes, depending on your greediness, sliced or cubed

If you have the time, steam your rice the way normal people do. But if you’re like me and it’s already 10pm and you STILL haven’t gotten that dessert in your belly, use the cheaters’ method. That method is the microwave. It feels wrong, but it works surprisingly well. Soak the rice in enough warm water to cover plus a little in a microwavable bowl for 10 minutes. Cover the bowl and pop it in the microwave for 3 minutes. Remove, stir, and zap again for another 3. Do this again until it’s cooked through but not mushy (mine only needed 6 total, but it depends on your microwave). And do make sure your bowl is big enough, or this will happen…

Oh, the humanity!!

I told you it wouldn’t always be pretty in here! Now, in a small pot heat up the coconut milk but DO NOT let it boil. It will be horrible if you do, trust me. While it’s simmering away, throw in the sugar and salt, and stir stir stir! Take almost all of that sweet hot elixir and pour it over your freshly microwaved rice. Let that rice soak up the goodness for 5-10 minutes. I promise, it will absorb it all. Save a bit in the pot for later (and let it cool a little).

Once the rice has soaked up that delightful goodness, pack it into a cup for show or just mound it on a plate. Garnish liberally with your glorious sliced mango and drizzle that reserved and now slightly thickened coconut milk over the top. Eat as much as you can without making yourself sick.

Marry me.

Jalapeño Juleps: Sin or Sinfully Delicious?

The Derby may be over, but summer has only just begun. And summer in the South necessarily means mint juleps.

I love mint juleps. Love. I might judge you if you don’t share my feelings. It might have something to do with bourbon being my favorite form of alcoholic indulgence. Now, there are good juleps and there are terrible juleps, and unfortunately the bad often far outnumber the good. This might have a lot to do with people using shitty bourbon, probably because they know no better. I am lucky in that my main girl, Kirsten, literally got a master’s degree in bourbon. She has pointed me towards some of the tastiest (and sadly underappreciated) bourbons I have ever put in my mouth. I owe her multiple people’s first-born children for this.

Because Kirsten has got this ish on lockdown already, there really is no need to turn this into a “how to make a mint julep” post.  I asked her today, because I have been told such a thing in the past, if it was considered appropriate to add a splash of soda to the top of a julep. Her response, and I quote: “NO SODA SPLASH ARE YOU A MONSTER.” There you have it, folks. Bourbon. Mint. Sugar. Ice. That is all. Seriously, get your butts over to Chronderlust already and check out Kirsten’s post on how to make the world’s best julep —> here <—  I would not lead you astray. Today I decided to do something a little different. I threw caution to the wind and made a jalapeño simple syrup to use instead of sugar. And fuck me but did it turn out HOT. I am still a julep purist, don’t get me wrong, but this added a fun little kick that would be good with hearty foods or salty snacks.

hot hot hot!

To make a simple syrup, all you need to do is bring 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar to a boil with whatever add-in you want, then let it steep off the heat for 20-30 minutes, cool, strain out the chunky bits, and store indefinitely in the fridge in a sealed container. I’ve made ginger, a variety of herbs, and now jalapeño. I used 2 chopped peppers, seeds included, and steeped for 20 minutes. I would suggest using 2 tablespoons TOPS of the syrup per mint julep. Because I am a bad Southerner, I do not have my own julep cup yet. Instead, I used a jelly jar, which I deem to be an acceptable substitute. Enjoy outside in the sunshine, preferably with good friends and equally good music.

Heaven.