Delicious Alliteration

There has been a large bundle of Italian flat leafed parsley hanging out in my refrigerator for well over a week. I found that if you clip the stems and stick the bundle in a glass of water, it will last for weeks. I was tired of looking at it, so I thought I could make a batch of parsley pesto to get rid of the huge boquet that was taking entirely too much space. I combined parsley leaves, grated parmesan cheese, garlic and pecans in the food processor and slowly added olive oil. The result was a beautiful, vibrant green.

While I was making the pesto, I had a meatloaf and roasted potatoes cooking in the oven for our Sunday dinner. I asked Eric if he wanted to have some pesto with his potatoes, and he asked what was in it, and I listed off all of the ingredients. "Parsley, parmesan and pecans with potatoes?", he repeated back to me. "Right," I said, "Parsley pesto made with parmesan and pecans, served with potatoes - it looks like we're having alliteration for dinner."

World's Best Coconut Cream Pie

I have a very vivid memory of being 12 years old and going to Savannah for the first time. One of the places we visited on that occasion was Johnny Harris, Savannah's oldest restaurant. After lunch was over, my Aunt Vicky turned to me and said, "Now Laura, you have to have a piece of the coconut cream pie. It's the best in the world." I sheepishly ordered my slice of pie and when it arrived, I was bowled over by the taste. Granted, my tastebuds were those of a 12 year old and not of a discerning adult, but I could definitely tell that that was the best piece of pie I had ever, ever had.

Fast forward almost 15 years, and there I was again - having lunch at Johnny Harris during our week long vacation in Savannah. I perused the lunch menu and opted for something out of the ordinary. Usually, some sort of sandwich or heavily garnished salad would have done the trick, but how often would I be able to have shrimp salad on a croissant, where I know the shrimp just came off the boat not two days before? The salad was accompanied by a fruit salad and cole slaw - a nice, southern, lady-like lunch. Of course, that's why the gaggle of bluehairs at the table adjacent us were all eating the same thing...

I was sure to leave room for dessert. Almost everyone at the table got something different, but I knew without a doubt what I wanted. My memory didn't fail me, either - this was seriously the best coconut cream pie I have ever had. The texture of the cream is ridiculously dense - a pudding bordering on the texture of cheesecake, and was chock full of shredded coconut. The topping was fresh whipped cream sprinkled with toasted coconut, and the crust was buttery and flaky. Next time, I don't want to wait so long for another slice.

Solution for a Produce Problem

I have a produce problem. During the summer months, each time I go to the grocery store I am bewildered by the array of beautiful summer fruits in the produce section - succulent peaches, plump blueberries and fiercely blushing cherries, all just begging for me to take them home. Sounds romantic, right? Well, the reality of it is quite different.

Rarely do I eat all the fruit that I buy. What happens is, I'll bring home this bounty of fresh fruit, only to let it slowly rot in my fridge and even faster on my countertop. I'll forget that it's there or I'll not fancy a piece of fruit - or what looks to be a beautiful peach or nectarine will, in actuality, be a dry, mealy and tasteless farce.

So I discovered a solution to my fruit obsession. I sliced the fruit and macerated it in a few spoonfuls of sugar for several hours, then topped it with a mascarpone cream. The mascarpone cream was flavored with honey, vanilla and a teaspoon of confectioners' sugar, just for a little extra sweetness. Just before serving, I added a teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to the fruit. The result: vanilla-scented summer fruits with mascarpone cream. Now, how can I not eat all my fruit?

Fried Green Tomatoes

Our poor tomato plant. Long gone are the days of perky, bright green leaves and plump, healthy tomatoes growing from the vine. The dog days of summer have taken their toll and the poor thing has gotten too big for its own good; we can't seem to water it enough to bring it back to life. During its last few days, there were still several tomatoes on the vine, stuck in tomato limbo, not getting any bigger or ripening. Instead of trashing the fruits along with the rest of the plant, Eric salvaged the tomatoes and said, "How about we have fried green tomatoes tonight?"

Until then I had been a fried green tomato amateur, but it seemed easy enough; if you know the basics of dredging and frying, you can successfully fry just about anything. I googled "fried green tomatoes" to make sure I wasn't missing some critical step. Paula Deen suggested that I salt the tomato slices and leave them in a collander for half an hour to sweat out the excess water. She also suggested I use buttermilk instead of egg in the dredging process. So I did.

The end result was incredibly tasty, if a bit on the salty side. The tomatoes were sliced about 1/4 inch thick - thin enough to have a good combination of soft tomato on the inside and crispy batter on the outside. I'd have to say that I will definitely make these again.

Leftover Buttermilk? Make Some Muffins!

For my Italian cream cake, one of the ingredients I have to buy is buttermilk. In the olden days, buttermilk was a byproduct of making butter. When butter is churned, the byproducts of this action produce a solid, the butter, and a tangy leftover liquid, the buttermilk. These days, however, the buttermilk we buy at the grocery store is made by adding a lactic acid bacteria culture to skim or non-fat milk. The milk is then fermented to make today's buttermilk. The taste and consistency are similar to that of the original buttermilk, but without the added fat. Baking with buttermilk yields a fluffy, moist and tender consistency.

After using the one cup of buttermilk required by my Italian cream cake, I was left with most of a quart. Usually, the buttermilk sits in my fridge, lonely and unused, until it becomes stinky, chunky and vile after a few weeks and I throw it out in disgust. Not this time! I decided to put it to good use, and I made a double batch of blueberry white chocolate muffins.

I'm always sure to add plenty of blueberries to my muffins, so no bite goes un-blueberried. The white chocolate chunks melted into the batter and made for creamy, rich muffins. I also topped each muffin with a good sprinkling of turbinado sugar before going into the oven, for that nice added crunch. Eric and his belly approved.

Italian Cream Cake at the Pesto Cafe!

If you missed it the first time around, be sure to stop by the Pesto Cafe this weekend and try a slice of Darling Desserts' Italian Cream Cake - dense layers of rich vanilla almond cake, layered with cream cheese icing and pecans, topped with handmade candied citrus - an exclusive to the Pesto Cafe!

The Zester of All Zesters

Exciting news on the zesting front. I hope you'll agree.

Last night I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to get a few new kitchen utensils. I was cruising the gadget aisle and came upon something I've been wanting for quite some time - a Microplane zester. I know, to most it doesn't seem like much. But this is the coveted zester used by many chefs around the world. This isn't OXO. This isn't Kitchenaid. This is a Microplane. Fancy schmancy!

Microplane started in 1990 as a small woodworking tool company based out of Russellville, Arkansas. The story goes, in 1994, a woman named Lorraine was baking an Armenian orange cake. Out of frustration with her old grater while trying to zest an orange, she picked up a new tool her husband, Leonard, had brought home from their hardware store, Lee Valley Tools. She slid the orange across its blades and was amazed. Lacy shards of zest fell from its surface like snowflakes. The Lees marveled at the tool, ate the cake, then promptly changed the product description in their catalogue. The Microplane grater had earned permanent space in the kitchen. (Source)

For well over two years I've been using a junky zester that was a free gift with my subscription to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine. It seems to tear at the skin of an orange or lemon rather than shave it, and often I find a lot of pith in my zest. Not anymore! When I brought the Microplane home and showed it to Eric, I said, "Look how sharp this thing is!" Upon his inspection, he replied, "Wow... Can I use that on drywall mud?" Umm... No.

Besides the exciting purchase of the Microplane, I also got a regular bar zester, which helps me immensely in making candied citrus rind for my Italian cream cake. Before, I was just slicing oranges and lemons ever-so thinly and delicately slicing off the pith with a paring knife. This method left me with strangely shaped pieces, often with too much pith left on them. With the bar zester, I merely run the larger zester (not the tiny holes on the end, but the big notch in the middle) down the fruit and off comes the most even, pith-free piece of rind. After I had finished sugaring my candied citrus rind last night, Eric chimed in, "Wow, those are really perfect."

The Lady and Sons - Well, Almost.

We are back from our much needed vacation out east. We escaped the heat and humidity of Fayetteville only to arrive in the staggering heat and humidity in Savannah, Georgia. We spent a glorious week on the beach with our good friends, Todd & Sarah and Brandy & Dustin.

One of the things on my to-do list while in Savannah was to eat at The Lady and Sons, a restaurant owned by Paula Deen of Food Network fame. We'd planned on eating there for lunch on a Tuesday afternoon. As we approached the restaurant, we noticed the line of people wrapped around the building. We also noticed that there were water coolers placed on the sidewalk, and the awning of the restaurant was equipt with misters - all in an effort to keep the crowds cool while they await their table. We soon realized this long line must be a regular thing. I eventually got the attention of the hostess and she informed me it'd be a two and a half hour wait before we could be seated. My stomach, nor anyone else's in our party, couldn't wait two and a half hours, so we decided to eat elsewhere. I asked if we could possibly make reservations for that evening, and she said that they don't take reservations - but that I could wait in line, along with all the other people, starting at 3:00 and get my name on the list for dinner. Rubbish.

So my chances of eating at The Lady in Sons were slim to none, unless I wanted to waste the majority of an afternoon standing in line. I then remembered that there was another restaurant in town that was owned by Paula Deen along with her brother (whose name is unbeknownst to me, other than "Uncle Bubba"). It's called Uncle Bubba's Oyster House, and it's right on one of the marshes as you head out to Tybee Island. I thought this might be a better bet for dinner, so I called and made reservations. Lucky for us, Eric and I were able to get a table for two on Friday night.

We started off with a good beer from Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta, then went on to stuff our faces with sweet corn muffins and crab bites, which were like hushpuppies but with lots of crab in the mixture. For the main course, Eric had the steamed crab and I had the blackened shrimp. Both were just delicious.

For dessert, we split the biggest piece of key lime pie I think I've ever seen. This was most likely the best key lime pie I've ever had. The crust was a crumbly graham cracker crust with toasted almonds mixed in, the lime custard was just the right amount of sweet and tart, it didn't have the spongy meringue on top (which has somehow weasled its way in to the key lime pie recipes of today) Instead, it was topped with real whipped cream - this was not out of a can, that's for sure. It also had the signature Paula Deen mint garnish. A true slice of heaven.

I haven't felt so full after a meal in a long, long time. There was no way we were going back to the condo only to sit on the couch and go into a food coma, so we decided to drive out to the beach and take a nice walk along the pier. Not only was it an excellent meal, but it was an excellent date - and the perfect way to end our vacation in Savannah.

Chocolate Tart at the Pesto Cafe!

Swing by the Pesto Cafe early this week to try a slice of Darling Dessert's Chocolate Tart. It's made with rich Belgian milk chocolate, fresh cream and a hint of coffee, topped with a decadent dark chocolate ganache. It won't last long!

Gone Fishin'

There comes a time in everyone's life when you just need to get away. I'm escaping the oppressive heat and unbearable humidity to go to the beach, where I'll be sipping Miller Lite and satisfying my obsession with seashell hunting for an entire, blissful week. But have no fear! I'll be taking plenty of picutures of my culinary adventures while I'm away to share with you upon my return.

Darling Desserts' Debut!

If you're looking for something sweet and decadent this weekend, stop by the Pesto Cafe and try a slice of Darling Desserts' debut dessert, Italian Cream Cake: layers of dense vanilla almond cake with pecans and cream cheese icing, topped with handmade candied citrus.

Look for more delicious treats at the Pesto Cafe in the coming weeks!

Saturn Peaches

I saw these curious little peaches at the store last week and decided to buy a few. After flinching at the price at the checkout counter, I took them home and let them ripen a few days in a paper bag.

They're called saturn peaches, among several other monickers: peento, Chinese flat peach or saucer peach. After a little research, I discovered that they were imported to the U.S. from China in the 1800's and were popular for several years directly after World War II. As many new varieties of yellow-fleshed peaches gained popularity, the saturn variety was nearly forgotten. Saturn peaches are much flatter in height than traditional peaches, with a slight center depression top and bottom. It has yellow skin, slightly blushed with red. This juicy peach has a superb flavor and is very low in acid. Saturn peaches are excellent for baking, glazing, sautéing in butter and brown sugar, but best of all eaten out of hand. It’s not nearly as messy as other peaches, but it has more flavor. Slice the peach around the pit, and the peach just pulls apart as you twist it. (Source)

Yum!