Gift Recommendations for Christmas: Seasonal Florida - A Taste of Life in North Florida

If I were going to pick a single cook book about North Florida cooking to recommend as a Christmas present to a discerning loved one, Seasonal Florida would be my hands-down first choice.

The cook book's encapsulates the collective culinary gems of five generations of a northeast Florida family residing in Duval and St. Johns counties. The book had its genesis when the book's author, Jo Manning, and her five sisters purchased the Stuart Knox Gillis Home in DeFuniak Springs. The house, built in 1901, had essentially been vacant for years and the family bought it in 1989 with an eye towards ultimately restoring it as a bed and breakfast.

As many other people learn quickly when such dreams run into the wall of reality, the costs and difficulties of restoration were way too costly and overwhelming for them to continue without finding ways ease the financial crunch of their dream restoration. This cookbook was one of their fundraising tools for their bed and breakfast-to-be.

Northeast Florida cuisine has a number of excellent cookbooks, most of them focusing on St. Johns county and St. Augustine in particular. Seasonal Florida stretches further in-land than the others and better encapsulates the community recipes that make up a long revered cuisine valued by generations of Floridians. Local families, many of whom can trace their ancestry to early settlers, quietly point to this book as the one to own if you love the culture and food of the is part of Florida.

The book touches on the many recipes that have been honed by area residents who have benefited from the bountious truck farms inland from St. Augustine in towns like Hastings, Spuds, etc. Nearly every part of the culinary lore is explored and the fundemental and best recipes for those areas are included here.

From Perlo (their spelling) to fried shrimp, to grits, to many area vegetable recipes, to Minorcan Clam Chowder, they have all the angles covered. The recipe for datil pepper sauce (made from a pepper said to grow only in St. Johns county) is worth the price of admission. "Bottled Hell" is a must-make for any self respecting Floridian.

Local restaurant favorites are also included including Gypsy Chicken from the famous Gypsy Cab Company along with their recipe for Tamari Salad.

This cook book is not easy to find and I bought my copy at my local libary's semi-annual book sale. I have supplied a link for it in My Favorites section on the left side of this blog . If you love northeast Florida and its cuisine, you simply must own this book.

Cranberry-Orange Sauce: try this for a sure hit on Thanksgiving

In the mid-90's, my friend, Gail Carr, prepared Cranberry-Orange Sauce at an outdoor Thanksgiving dinner at the Carr farm in Micanopy. Frankly, it stopped me in my tracks and I have prepared it for every Thanksgiving since then to consistent applause. If you do not try this dish, you will "need to have your head examined." This recipe is abundantly easy.


CRANBERRY-ORANGE SAUCE

Ingredients:

1 large orange or 2 tangerines
1 bag of cranberries, 12 oz.
1 package of frozen raspberries in syrup [NOTE: I have been having trouble getting the raspberries in syrup. They were once common, but in Gainesville, now impossible to locate. I suggest you consider using 3/4 cup of sugar or maybe even 1 cup.]
1/2 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons, fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons, orange flavored liquer such as Triple Sec

1. From the citrus fruit, zest 1 teaspoon of peel and squeeze 1/2 cup of juice

2. In saucepan, heat all ingredients (except the liqueur) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook uncovered until most of the cranberries pop and the mixture thickens slightly. Stir as needed.

3. Remove the saucepan from heat and stir in the liqueur.

4. Stir into serving bowl and refrigerate for three hours before serving.

CLEMSON BLUE CHEESE: MEASURED BY EYE, CUT BY HAND

Somewhere in my reading, I came across mention of Clemson Blue Cheese, a artisanal blue cheese manufactured by Clemson University students and professors. I made a mental note to procure some when stopping to visit my friends Carol and Paul in Walhalla, SC. This September, I was finally successful in bringing some home in a cooler and was pleasantly surprised in the taste and quality of the cheese.

For me, blue cheese is tasty but a bit on the sharp, salty, and bitter side for me to have often. Clemson Blue Cheese, on the other hand, is smooth as silk, tangy and is the obverse of most blue cheeses that have left me less than satisfied.

In the early 40's, an imaginative agriculture professor at Clemson came up with an idea to use a railroad tunnel under Stumphouse Mountain to cure cheese. The tunnel had been started and stopped before the Civil War as a means of connecting Charleston ports with the markets of the mid-West. The tunnel, naturally moist from infusions of warm surface air into the cool confines of the tunnel was ideal for curing blue cheese.

Agricultural researchers began small-lot manufacture to experiment with the concept of using milk from Brown Swiss and Holstein Clemson dairy herds to produce and cure blue cheese. Later, after their techniques were perfected, all manufacture was done on campus and curing was moved on-campus into air-conditioned rooms that mimiced the cool, moist air of the tunnel.

This "roquefort-style" blue cheese is tangy and smooth and an absolute delight. It is produced in 288 gallon vats making batches of 240 pounds each which are then salted, waxed and aged for over 6 months. The cheese is then "measured by eye and cut by hand" so that each wheel will vary slightly in weight and size. Because it is an artisanal cheese made in small batches, each lot of cheese may vary slightly in color and taste.

I highly recommend that you try this cheese. Their production is understandably limited so the availability in that part of South Carolina will vary, but Clemson Blue Cheese can be found served on campus and in a number of local restaurants. The cheese is also available on-line at http://www.clemsonbluecheese.com/. It is not cheap, but it is hand-made, hand-cut, and delicious to anyone's palatte. Order some. You won't regret it.

Bon appetit, ya'll.

Source: http://www.clemsonbluecheese.com/

ARTICLE IN TODAY'S NEW YORK TIMES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL FARMER COOPERATION AND PRODUCTS IN SMALL RURAL AREA

Am very busy with local and national political campaigning in my area. I will be brief.

I thought you all might be interested in the following article from today's New York Times on local development of agriculture products in a small Vermont community. As energy prices rise, pocketbooks shrink, and need for healthy foods is maintained, I think these activities should be expanded around our country. Many lessons can be learned from these innovative Vermonters.

I intend to urge my own local political party organization to play a greater role in advocating sustainable local agriculture that is low or pesticide free. Advocacy for these types of business activities is something that both political parties should encourage and foster.

Give it a read and think it over.

Uniting Around Food to Save an Ailing Town - NYTimes.com

Roll Tide Cheese Grits Casserole

Carol, a superb cook and friend of family in Tuscaloosa (Roll Tide), Alabama, shared her recipe for a cheese grits casserole with me several years ago. I loved it then and filed it away in our "keeper" file. A lock box might have been more appropriate. I returned to it recently when feeding some 20-something types in town doing volunteer work and it worked like a charm. Keep this one as an ace-in-the-hole recipe.

Along with this cheese grits casserole I served my take on smoked brisket that I had smoked and slow cooked for over 14 hours. More on that later.

Carol's recipe calls for white 'quick grits' which produces a remarkable result. I am known to break the rules on occasion, however, and I call for yellow stone-ground grits instead. The food science literature agrees that: the less you do to a grain, the higher the fiber content and attendant health benefits. I try to take the healthy route, but I must say that it also tastes better and has more texture. Plus, I like yellow.

Parts of this recipe will raise a "tsk,tsk" from some of my foodie friends. My advice is to relax, follow the recipe and enjoy some good old Southern comfort food that will melt in your mouth.

ROLL TIDE CHEESE GRITS CASSEROLE

Put 4 cups of water on to boil. Liberally salt it with a three finger pinch and a half of salt. Throw in a hit of cajun seasoning. After it comes to a boil, gradually stir in 1 cup of yellow stone-grond grits. Cook according to package directions stirring occasionally to stop clumping. When grits lose their soupy quality and begin to coalesce add the following:

1/2 stick of butter or margarine (trans-fat free)
3/4 cup of sharp cheddar, broken into pieces
1/2 of 1-pound package of Velveeta (you may use the fat reduced version), in chunks

Add 1/2 cup of milk and 2 eggs, separately (not mixed together)

Cook until the grits thicken.

Pour into an 8 x 8 casserole dish and cook in a pre-heated oven at 325 degrees until the surface becomes golden to early brown. Remove and let it sit for five minutes. Serve with Crystal Hot Sauce.

RUBY'S RESTAURANT MENU (GAINESVILLE FL). Click on image to enlarge it

RUBY'S RESTAURANT IS THE GEM OF GAINESVILLE RESTAURANTS

Ruby's Restaurant located at 308 NW 5th Avenue (378-0490)is flat out my favorite restaurant in Gainesville and I recommend that you rush over and support this local business. I guarantee you will love their food. The first time I visited Ruby's I felt like Columbus when he first eyeballed the New World through his hand telescope. I was on to something very important. I felt like I had struck gold.

Once in a very, very rare while, I taste a dish in a restaurant that is so good on return visits I am incapable of ordering anything else on the menu. That experience has happened not once, not twice, but three times at Ruby's. Three of Ruby's signature dishes (there are more I have not tried yet) are Dirty Rice w/ Shrimp, Blueberry De-Lite, and their Gator Burgers. "Mercy," and a shake of the head is always my reaction after the first bite of each.

The Dirty Rice with Shrimp is a Louisiana inspired plate of rice and meat with beautiful seared and seasoned shrimp on top. I may never get past this dish when presented the menu. It is tasty and no one else in town has undertaken it. I will go back again and again for this spicy rice dish.

I am not really a dessert person but a taste of the Blueberry De-Lite is as fine a dessert as there is on the planet. New Orleans' Commander's Palace's bread souffle with whisky sauce has a challenger. The De-Lite has a crunch crust on the bottom with layers of pudding, cream cheese, blueberries, whipped cream and nuts. I try not to lead you into sin, but dive in on this one.

The Gator Burger is a show stopper. I was expecting your basic good small restaurant burger. Instead I saw them put the one pound patty on the grill. It looked like a frisbee. The burger came out perfectly cooked on Texas toast. I immediately knew that it was beyond my capacity so I cut it in half and saved the other half for a buddy at the office who loves fine burgers. I can not even imagine what the Double Gator Burger must look like.

Ruby's is owned by Ruby and Johnny Moore. Both come from families of fine cooks. If I were to label Ruby's, I would call it progressive home cooking. The Moores have put together a menu that pulls from African-American cooking traditions (the motherlode of Southern foodways) and takes that cuisine to the next level with unique twists and turns that make their dishes always tasty and often intriguing. Imagination and love are clearly at work at Ruby's. Their son, Johnny Jr., works in the restaurant and charms each customer with his enthusiasm for his parent's cooking. Give Ruby's a try. You will not be disappointed.

A Democratic Convention delegate's video blog

A friend of mine, Susan Bottcher, is a delegate to the Democratic Convention and, after persistent pestering from yours truly and others, has initiated a video blog that she will update daily from the convention. The following link should take you to Susan's blog that will serve to interpret the happenings in Denver:
http://bucknakedpolitics.typepad.com/buck_naked_politics/2008/08/conventional-ex.html

PURE HOMEMADE SIN PASSES 2000 HITS

I want to thank my readers and hope that you will bring some more into the fold. I have a number of ideas in the works for this blog and, after campaign season ends, will be posting at a faster clip than my current weekly renderings.

Thanks again.


Jim

How can anyone pass up Aunt Bettye Sue's Dixie Relish that appeared in today's Times-Picayune?

Check this out and I bet you will do what I just did. You will run to your cupboard to see if you have pint jars available and ready for canning. Mercy, Percy!http://blog.nola.com/judywalker/2008/08/aunt_bettye_sues_dixie_version.html

Publix: buy more produce locally

My local supermarket around the corner from my house, Publix, is a fine grocery chain with a fatal flaw.

Publix buys very little local produce and other perishable products and, more often than not, ships all these goods to my store in Gainesville, Florida from points in the US as far away as California. As I have mentioned before, I am amazed to regularly see California produce in my Publix that was shipped across country at enormous expense in fuel and to my modest financial resources.

Seeing California citrus in my Publix's produce section during prime Florida citrus season really sets me off. It is an astonishing waste of fuel and an insult to Floridians by a homegrown, Florida-based company. It is not enough for Publix to be a homegrown Florida company. they need to buy locally too.

The August 6, 2008 edition of the New York Times has an article entitled, Supermarket Chains Narrow Their Sights by Marian Burros (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/dining/06local.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=dining. I highly recommend Burros' article and hope that higher ups at Publix will take heed to the message that Burros delivers.

Ms.Burros writes about national and regional chains that are waking up to the benefits of buying closer to home to reduce fuel consumption, provide a fresher product, support local farmers, and meet the rising demand from consumers for locally produced agricultural goods.

Grocery chains like New York state's Wegman's (the finest grocery store in the USA in my book, www.wegmans.com) have developed long-term relations with New York and regional farmers to provide produce that, in their stores, takes my breath away with freshness and variety. According to Burros, Wal-Mart (of all chains) has decided to spend $400 million dollars to provide more local produce in their many stores across the country.

Both of these food sellers have opted out of the insane cycle of shipping produce across country on a chronically regular basis. Burros points out that "in some cases, the cost of freight is more than the cost of the goods themselves."

I buy from local farmers via farmers'markets and a superb Gainesville owned grocery, Wards. Wards is committed to providing fresh goods sold to them by companies and farmers who share a similar zip code to Gainesville.

I urge Publix to go with the flow and change its wasteful habit. Publix needs to rise to the standard of New York's Wegman's or Gainesville's Ward's. Publix is too fine of a chain to allow this business flaw to continue.

I am a regular Publix shopper, but folks at Publix can do better. I hope and trust that they will. Publix: Be a better neighbor to Floridians and we will reward you for it.

New Steve Cropper/Felix Cavaliere album cooks big-time

I highly recommend the new album, Nudge It Up a Notch, by Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere. Cropper, of course, is the guitarist for Booker T and the MG's and co-author of many hits including Midnight Hour and Knock On Wood. Cavaliere was the lead singer and monster writer for the Rascals, one of my favorite bands of all-time.

Needless to say, these guys have mega-watt credentials and this collaboration is very satisfying. The production is a live-in-the-studio feel with a fabulous rhythm section and back up vocalists. Almost like Al Green's band meets Booker T and the Rascals. Gas up the Olds (better yet, take the bus or ride your bike) and buy this one.

New York Times article, "The Return of the Lost Tomato," is a must-read

The New York Times on Wednesday has a separate section, Dining Out, that is a must-read for any follower of food. Today's issue touched on a subject dear to my heart, New Jersey tomatoes. I grew up in the summers on the Jersey shore in Ocean City, NJ and came to love the tomatoes grown in that area.

Today's article (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/dining/23toma.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin) by Julia Moskin is a feast to a tomato lover's eyes and I highly recommend you read it. The article deals with a hybrid developed at Rutgers, the Ramapo, that had nearly disappeared but is being returned to use there.

The article reinforces what I have been writing about in this blog about the benefits of growing produce locally. The writer points out that tomatoes in recent decades have been bred for shipping with "thick skins and tough walls." Mr. Gary Ibsen of California when interviewed by the writer stated that "...now that shipping is so expensive, I think everything is going to change again. You're going to see a lot more local tomatoes everywhere."

The article points out that it costs $10,000 to ship tomatoes across country. Can you imagine what it costs to ship citrus from California to Florida? Are you listening Publix?

For the record, New Jersey needs to know there is competition out there. Anyone who has tasted an Alabama Sand Mountain tomato has had their own occasion to taste divinity in the same league with Jersey tomatoes.

I recommend you read the New York Times every Wednesday. The Dining Out section is a treasure.

Alachua County Farmers' Market Busy This Morning

With increased awareness to buying locally, our farmers' markets are busy, busy, busy. The farmers' market up by the Highway Patrol station was just that. This morning, I arrived about 10:45 and the parking lot was full and vendor's supplies were beginning to run thin. One vendor had been selling greens, but was sold out. I saw lots of tomatoes, okra, local eggplant, acorn squash, butternut squash, and ample offerings of plants. The opportunities to buy low priced, high quality produce are many.

Certainly, buying locally allows the consumer to purchase a fresher product with less energy being expended it to bring it to the customer. A paraphrasing of a line from John Hartford's music says it well. "It's good for the country, good for the nation, ain't nothing like that sweet sensation"... of buying home-grown Florida produce.

To magnify why buying locally is a smart way to shop, take a look at products sold in the produce sections of many conventional grocery chains. Try to get a sense of how far those items were shipped before it reached your hands. You will be shocked particularly when there are ample supplies closer to the store that would put money into the local economy, use less energy to deliver to the customer, and be of higher quality and taste.

My pet peeve is when Publix ships California citrus across the country to sell in Florida, a leading citrus producer. Give me a break.........

RECIPE: WALHALLA PIMENTO CHEESE

WALHALLA SC PIMENTO CHEESE

My friend, Paul, is an aficionado of Southern cooking and resides with his wife, Carol, in Walhalla, SC. When the county decided to place road signs on the driveway roads abutting the county's paved road, they were asked to submit their choice of a name for their drive. Paul's nomination was Psycho Path, but his choice was vetoed by Carol.

A renaissance man, Paul’s recipe for pimento cheese is a sure thing if you are planning on feeding Yankee guests who need remedial guidance in the ways of Southern cooking.

Soon after Paul and Carol sent the recipe, they prepared for a “pig pickin’” to honor 5 retiring Home Extension agents. The party menu included barbecue pork, slaw, beans, hand cranked ice cream, watermelon, and cantaloupe with pimento cheese sandwiches as appetizers. Paul wrote that “This will be a knowledgeable crowd, but we won’t lose any sleep worrying that the pimento cheese won’t stand up to close scrutiny.”

I bet.

Ingredients:

2 parts sharp yellow cheddar
1 part sharp white cheddar
drained pimentos, chopped
mayonnaise, Duke’s or Hellman’s
freshly ground black pepper, coarse


Preparation:

In his note to me with this recipe, he wrote the following instructions:

“If the cheese is well-chilled, a food processor will do a good job of grating the cheese. Turn the cheese into a large bowl and add the chopped pimentos. The size of the particles is still being debated and may never be decided.
Add mayo and pepper and begin to blend, adding more mayo and pepper as needed, which is also a matter of some debate.
Sometimes (if my wife isn’t looking) I add a bit of French’s mustard, sometimes a dash of Tabasco, never both.
Cover and chill overnight.”

Don't miss the June 17th article on a visit to Emeril's in NOLA (copy and paste to your browser). Read it and weep ...

http://www.gumbopages.com/looka/archive/2008-06.html#17

The Southern Foodways Alliance: a god-send for revering and preserving Southern food-ways

I would be remiss to not urge you, even nag you, to become familiar with the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA), a subset of the University of Mississippi's Institute for Southern Culture (http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south/). Both organizations have produced projects, films, and books of merit about southern culture and, in particular, its cuisines. The Encyclopedia of Southern Culture was my first foray into their organizations and I regularly use the SFA web site, http://www.southernfoodways.com/. Also, check out the four volumes of Cornbread Nation, http://southernfoodways.com/cornbread_nation.shtml,

John T. Edge and John Edgerton have long been leaders of the alliance and any of their publications are also highly recommended.

Good reading to you.

J.M. Smucker Co., new owners of White Lily respond to my constructively critical e-mail

With a tradition of excellence that spans our more than 110 years of heritage, we take seriously our role as stewards of our high-quality brands. We acquired the White Lily brand in 2006 from C.H. Guenther & Sons, Inc. Guenther retained ownership of the Knoxville milling facility in addition to their other U.S. milling locations.
Throughout its history the ownership of the White Lily brand has changed hands numerous times. Since we acquired the White Lily brand our primary goal has been to restore and return the brand's historic standard of excellence. As part of these efforts we recently moved production of White Lily to a premier milling operation. This fifth generation family milling operation has served as a secondary miller of White Lily for generations. We took great care to maintain White Lily's unique recipe and production processes, including the use of only the same soft red winter wheat which was primarily sourced from Ohio, Michigan and Indiana throughout the history of the brand. In fact, the current milling operation is located in the heart of soft red winter wheat country which means the wheat will move from field to milling more quickly than when it was produced in Tennessee.
Further, there have been no changes to the product specifications or milling process and our experience and testing demonstrates the product consistently delivers the high quality performance consumers demand of White Lily products.
We are proud to include White Lily in our family of brands and you have our commitment that we will continue to be guided by our respect for White Lily's historic standard of excellence and the deep loyalty of its consumers. You can continue to trust in the uniqueness of White Lily flour and depend on it to help you create cherished meals.
Sincerely,Debbie SparrowConsumer Relations Representative
Ref # 8009069

Check out site dedicated to buying local, Florida seafood

I happened upon an ad on television from the seafood marketing folks in the Florida ag department. I highly recommend that you check out their web site, http://www.fl-seafood.com./

The site seeks to educate and stimulate Florida consumers to buy locally just as you all are doing with local produced vegetables at local farmers' markets. To patronize the local seafood industry is good for our economy and insures your fish has not been shipped inordinate distances reducing its freshness. International dumping of seafood from overseas has raised serious concerns about the safety of those seafoods. Eleviate those concerns by being sure you know where your seafood was swimming last night.

Make use of this site to find vendors and restaurants that serve Florida seafood. Check out the recipes and other information that will help you bring home the safest, tastiest, and freshest product. You may be pleasantly surprised that a government site can be this valuable.

This summer, my recommendation is to: GO NATIVE and go to http://www.fl-seafood.com/.

COMPANY MESSES WITH A HALLOWED FLOUR

Not since Coca-Cola devised a new recipe thinking that they knew what was best for their loyal customers has a company failed as a steward of a fine product. Today's New York Times article on the closing of the Knoxville mill that produces White Lily flour is a must read for any serious baker.

Take heed and let them know what you think of the closing and the errosive effect on the quality of this product that has been cherished by generations of Southern bakers.

To read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/dining/18flour.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin