As you know, I think there are many, many awesome things about living in Memphis and really, living in the South. I’ve got two things to share today.
One thing that I think we have gotten right is the Cheese Straw.
Outside the South, cheese straws just don’t seem to be a part of the vernacular. You find them here and there, but only in the South do they seem so firmly entrenched as truly regional fare, like boiled peanuts or grits. – John Martin Taylor, from his blog
Taylor explains that in the hot, humid (don’t I know it) South, cheese was typically imported and that baking cheese in cracker form made it last longer. Talk about something practical that ended up with something so awesome! Now, we have refrigerators, fancy cheese wrapping papers, and all that, but we still cook and eat cheese straws.
Last week, we had a little event at work that called for some appetizers, and one of my good friends offered to make her famous cheese straws. This was met with hooting, hollering, and general enthusiasm, followed quickly by the hope that they wouldn’t all get eaten at the party, which would leave some extras for the rest of us. In deed, the night ended with us toasting a successful event and me walking out the door with a big bag of her awesome cheese straws.
So thanks to AKW for the awesome cheese straws!
The second awesome thing about the South for today? Similar in color to the cheese straws above…
I pull for the Big Orange, but what is really important is that fall is coming and football is here. So whether your team is in Tuscaloosa, Oxford, Gainesville, Athens, Fayetteville, Lexington, or wherever, it is nice to know that our Saturdays will be full of the great tradition of SEC football, and a little of the non-SEC teams, now and then. Find yourself some cheese straws for your next tailgate or party, you won’t regret it!
Today marks a special day on the calendar. 90210 day. Like most of you (right????), I have seen every episode of 90210 there is. In high school, we watched it when it was new*. In college, we watched it during the daytime reruns, during which you could watch a whole season in about 2 weeks. Today, we all look back on Aaron Spelling’s gift to TV.
*-credit goes to my Memphis friend living in Chicago (name withheld to protect the innocent), at whose house we always watched the show.
Really? Can you deny this has starpower all over it?
That’s more like it. Pure drama. There are probably a thousand clips that show the awesomeness of 90210, but I don’t have time to go through them all. Any favorites?
On an Eat Local note, I took a little trip to the Redbirds game today, and like any good Memphian, I knocked back some barbecue nachos. The don’t look as good, because it was “make your own” in the box, but they sure tasted good. Play ball!
With this being 90% food blog and only 10% jibber-jabber (some of you may argue this ratio), I guess it is safe to assume that most who read this will have seen, or read, or at least heard of Julie & Julia. In case you aren’t familiar, here is the trailer of last year’s movie.
In the movie, Julie decides to cook every recipe from Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking and to write about her recipes on her blog. Now, with the help of a friend and local chef, I’ve decided to go for the junior merit badge in cooking from someone’s cookbook and writing about it. I was excited to hear that Memphis’ Jennifer Chandler has her second cookbook coming out today.After enjoying her first, Simply Salads, I was excited to hear about Simply Suppers, as it would help me cook a whole meal! We chatted a little bit about the book, and I was able to get my hands on a copy a little bit before it came out.
The Simple Challenge
In order to test the true simplicity, I didn’t give myself any time to prepare to cook, and I let K pick out the menu at about 5:30pm after work one day last week. We took a quick trip to the grocery to pick up supplies, which were easy, because the recipes are really broken down to include mainly basic ingredients. The menu for the evening was:
Apricot Pork Tenderloin
Asparagus with Brown Butter
Baked Sweet Potato Fries
I started prepping in the kitchen at about 7 or 7:15. First came chopping up some sweet potatoes that I had from the Memphis Farmers Market, and then coating them with a light olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme mixture.
Once I got the potatoes on my baking sheet (my tip, covered in tin foil to ease the cleanup), I was able to jump into seasoning the tenderloin.
The plan calls for searing the tenderloin on all four sides in the skillet, then moving it to the oven at a fairly high heat to finish off the cooking. Good way to have a crisp outside, tender inside, and to lock in the flavors and juices. While adding the tenderloin to the oven, I added the apricot preserves that the recipe called for, and which would prove to be an awesome addition!
As the double oven rocked with a tenderloin up top and fries in the bottom, I got to work on the asparagus. Talk about simple! Boil asparagus until they are the ultimate green, then let them drain, before tossing them in brown butter. I will admit that I had never browned butter before, but that it is probably one of the easiest ways to add a richness of flavor to a dish that I can think of. Incredible! Unfortunately, the pictures of the asparagus getting cooked didn’t really turn out, but rest assured, it was more exciting than watching water boil…
Plate Preppage
I pulled the tenderloin out of the oven, while the fries were finishing up. I followed the directions in the book and let the meat sit, while I went to work on the sauce. Keeping that which stuck to the pan, adding some water, which I reduced down, then adding a little more of the apricot preserves, and cooking that down left me with a rich sauce. I don’t know about you, but sometimes the sauces is the most intimidating part. I’m always asking, “has it reduced enough, does it need this, does it need that,” all while it is too hot to taste. But these directions steered me right! Here is what everything looked like right out of the oven.
The tenderloin had a nice glaze and a nice seared outside. Thanks to good timing and my trusty meat thermometer, the inside looked like this:
As you can see in the picture, there is a thick runoff from the apricot preserves on the cutting board. Make sure to serve some of this on the plate in addition to the sauce that you prepare. It is insane. It gives a great sweetness to the rest of the flavors. In addition to the meat, the fries came out just right:
For the fries, really use that thick, kosher salt. It makes a difference!
Plated Up
At about 8, I was serving plates, so the meal might have taken about 45 minutes total prep/cooking time, once I had everything out on the kitchen counter. That is insanely easy, and I would have been willing to spend twice the time for the end result.
I had very fresh asparagus with the richness of the brown butter, sweet potato fries that highlighted the potato and not the “fry,” the thyme from the fries played off the thyme in the tenderloin, which came out cooked perfectly, and the combination of the cooked preserves and the rich sauce made this as good a pork tenderloin as I have had in a good while.
Following Jennifer’s recipes led me to buy into the idea that you can have good Southern comfort food on a week night after work. I did the shopping at 6, started cooking at 7, and ate at 8. That is a pretty awesome dinner to be put together at the last minute, and while you all know that I love to go out to eat, there is something incredibly rewarding and person about cooking at home for the family and sharing food with the ones you love. That’s what food is all about, so it really gives me a good feeling to have created something.
pretty close!
Now, I’m not committing to cooking a recipe a day until I finish the book. It would be possible, as these are all easy, good recipes, and all of the sort of food that I like, but I don’t have the attention span to focus that closely! But I bet you will see a few more home cooked meals that pop up in this space from the book! So, if you like to cook in the house, whether you already cook at a high level or not, this cookbook is easy, fun, and takes a lot of the stress out of putting a meal together! Head over to your local bookstore (Burke’s perhaps?) and pick this one up. Let me know how it goes in the kitchen!
-Thomas
PS. In one of the pictures, you will see K’s father’s drink creation. Mix fresh peach slices (ours came from Jones) with your champagne for a nice summer drink. It adds the slightest sweetness, but nothing overwhelming, and in the end you have a little snack of champagne covered peaches!
Recently I found out that one of Memphis’ best restaurants was opening their doors a little early on Fridays to start serving lunch. When I passed the word (and the lunch menu) around the office, I heard a could “huzzah!”s and much rejoicing. We immediately made plans for a Friday Funday at Felicia Suzanne’s . In a rarity, I might keep this post to the point, as the photos came out great, and the food can speak for itself (you know, if food could speak). I’m also getting this out about an hour or so before lunch today, so you don’t have to make plans, you can follow my advice and go to Main and Monroe for your best lunch of the week.
F is for “Freakin’ Awesome”
So, when the menu started zipping through the office email system, I got a couple of quick replies that multiple people were already planning to get the BLFGT Salad.
Crispy Applewood Smoked Bacon, Baby Mixed Greens tossed in Remoulade Dressing, Fresh Mozzarella Cheese layered with Fried Green Tomatoes
You know something must look good if people planned their order a week in advance! Well it lived up to its billing, and there are some major fans:
The stacking of the ingredients, with baby mixed greens sticking out at jaunty bad-hair-day angles, gives a funky visual while inviting you to deliciously demolish the arrangement and dig in. The unexpected blending of complementary textures—three kinds of crunchy, two kinds of creamy, and one kind of juicy— is surpassed only by the synergy of the flavors. - A FS Convert and English Major
Meat + Pie = Yes, Please
I made an executive decision that for the good of the blog, I had to order a little more than usual (justification), so I asked for a round of Natchitoches Meat Pies. These came with a horserasish aioli, and they were the truth. Could I eat a meat pie everyday? If they were this good, definitely. I highly recommend sharing these with your next party of 4.
Of Course Mac and Cheese is a Vegetable
At least around here it is. One of my pals ordered up the Deep Dish Mac and Cheese. This had a smoked bacon crust, and was a rich creamy version of the childhood favorite. I was able to sneak a few bites, and I am all for it. Comfort food for sure!
I got a little dish that will never be confused with a vegetable. Shrimp and Grits may have really come from South Carolina, but I consider it to be a staple in my life. This set up had big chunks of tasso ham; a delicious, rich creole sauce; stone ground grits (a must); and great gulf shrimp. This was high flavor to the max. It was some of the best shrimp and grits that I’ve ever had, and I make and order it a pretty decent amount. Highly recommended. Also, I didn’t get them, but if they have the oysters and grits, that is an incredible appetizer as well.
What Comes After Lunch? Food Coma Dessert
“A homemade peppermint patty? Wait, are you serious?” This was a flour-less chocolate cake, called a baked fudge, that came with powdered sugar, hot chocolate sauce, and homemade peppermint ice cream. Off the hook. Insane use of the incredible combo of peppermint and chocolate together with the awesome hot and cold of a fresh from the oven cake with ice cream. What could be better?
One of my friends and I are pretty much obligated to get peppermint ice cream when it is on the menu. After a childhood of (over)indulging in the homemade variety from the Memphis Hunt & Polo Club, we are always on the lookout for a great homemade example, because really, store bought doesn’t come close. This peppermint ice cream was as close to the ideal of my youth as I have had. It had great chocolate chunks in it, and it was a great refresher from the hot summer sun, and a great way to cap off a fantastic lunch.
Do yourself a favor and take some time on a Friday afternoon and go enjoy the amazing food at Felicia Suzanne’s. Felicia Willett is one of Memphis best chefs, and I love that she is down at the farmers markets every week sourcing great ingredients for her amazing food. Keep up with her and the restaurant on Twitter (here). I’ll be back there, and I can almost guarantee that once you go once, you will be too. See you there!
Memphis has awesome festivals during the Fall, and while Fall isn’t here just yet, it is time to get started with the great India Fest. I’m going to steal a few words from their website, because I think they say it best:
India Fest showcases and promotes awareness and appreciation of the vibrant art, culture, music, cuisine, and heritage of India among people of greater Memphis. It helps foster multi-cultural interaction and education and provides a greater understanding and appreciation for the diversity of India’s culture.
I know this is going to be a great time to get out and listen to some great music, learn some fun things, gain a greater appreciation of an incredibly lively culture, and most importantly to get some really good food. We have some great Indian restaurants around town, but this will be a fun way to really get totally into the spirit! Plus, check out this awesome chart:
You can get tickets all over town (link). I’d recommend getting them at the Asian Groceries on American Way and stopping in the attached Maharaja Cafe for some lunch. I ate dinner over there the other night, and it was fantastic. My post on it will come up soon. So get out to the India Fest this weekend for some food and fun!
If you are at like me and you spend any time on Facebook, then you would have noticed a few months ago that a group of locals was planning on opening two self-serve frozen yogurt shops in our humble city. If you are at all like me, you spent the rest of the summer wishing that 1. it wasn’t so hot all the time and 2. that YoLo would open up. Well their Collierville location opened a few weeks ago, and I just couldn’t make it all the way out there, so I was patiently waiting for the word on Facebook that came up on my news feed on Friday afternoon:
PASSED INSPECTIONS! Now getting the Erin Way shop ready to open tonight… we’ll open as soon as we can – shooting for 6pm.
So, K and I made plans to stop in after we went out to enjoy the potluck delights of cucumber sandwiches, cupcakes, mini lemon pies, homemade cheese straws, barbecue and all the other awesome stuff that our friends brought to the show. After successful razzing and jazzing, we made our way back East to try it out!
A Modern Choose Your Own Adventure
When I was little (oh yes, the dreaded when I was little story!), I got my hands on a couple of adventure books that had options at the end of the chapters like:
Go to the basement (turn to p. 54)
Go into the kitchen (turn to p. 35)
Throw a Molotov Cocktail through the dining room window (just kidding!).
So, I guess this was what youngins did before they (we) started playing video games. But, enough digression, one of the many cool things about YoLo is the choose your own adventure style of dessert building. “So let me get this straight? You’re putting me in charge of my yogurt destiny? I’m all over this like Johnny Utah and surfing.”
Here are the steps: 1. Get cup. 2. Fill it up. You start with 10 flavors of yogurt, and you can make swirls from the ones that are paired up. You can put as many types of yogurt in your cup as you want. You can make the proverbial “suicide” of yogurt that hearkens back to the days of youth soccer teams getting crazy at the Pizza Hut buffet drink fountain (come on, you remember). They had some great flavors like California Tart (which I’ll get next time), chocolate, vanilla bean, and a series of fruit flavors. I put a little of each of the pomegranate, coconut, and mango into my cup.
Next, you get to navigate through the hundred or so toppings that they have on offer. One of my favorite parts of the topping stations is that the folks at YoLo have gone out around the city to bring us a number of local toppings, so you can find Makeda’s sugar cookies, Jones Orchard peaches, and Groovy Granola among others.
My Creation
Much like my main man Mean Gene Wilder, I was psyched to get up in there and make something new, something of my own. While he focused on bringing life where it hadn’t been before, I was a little more interested in making a hella-awesome dessert.
So, I said that I started with a combo of coconut, mango, and pomegranate yogurts. Then I got into the toppings below, which are two of my favorites.
I am a major, major fan of Groovy Granola’s chocolate Dark Star Granola and of Jones Orchard peaches. I don’t even know if I have eaten a peach that wasn’t grown on their farm this summer. Add those to YoLo’s awesome yogurts, and we are in business!
More than a Tasty Treat
This is my favorite part of the whole YoLo experience. While K and I were hanging out, I saw Taylor Berger, who put this whole thing together with a business partner, some family labor, some friends’ expertise, and a whole lot of hard work. This lawyer is kind of like Memphis’ resident sweets superman. When he takes off his tie and leaves the law firm, he takes on his not-so-secret identity of yogurt pioneer. As a lifelong Memphian, Taylor is just the kind of guy that we should support. After talking for a while, here are a couple of things that are worth our attention.
The Family Lynx – Taylor and his fiance are both Rhodes grads. I met Alison working in the shop, and it was clear that she’s been putting in some serious work to make this thing get off the ground. I met Taylor’s father, a local architect and Rhodes grad, and he was behind the design of the shop.
Local Tastes Better - Like I mentioned, Taylor and co. have worked hard to bring local goodies from all over Memphis to their topping bar, and it really pays off for a unique experience. I mean, you can get a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup anywhere (including YoLo if you want), but where else are you going to get locally made cookies, brownies, and fruit?
Basically, what I’m saying is that you should head out to Collierville or Erin Way on Poplar near Mendenhall for your next yogurt adventure. It is a fun place, the food is great, and they have great people that are worthy of our support. See you there!
-Thomas
PS. Also – high props for a great designed logo. Local is better!
I love Memphis. I’ve been here forever (most of my 29 years), and I’ll most likely be here for the long haul. So I love when people share my enthusiasm for the city and believe in making it better.
On that note, I want to pass along this commercial that I saw for the first time at Friday’s Lipscomb & Pitts Breakfast Club meeting. It is a cool example of the power of supporting local businesses. Every dollar that we put back into our local economy is multiplied by 1.7 in terms of what it does for the community. So, while I focus on supporting local farmers, restaurants, and the people that own them, I think the same can be said for all types of business. Memphis is a special community, full of life, culture, and great people, so the more we support ourselves, the better off we all are. Thanks to the leaders that put this message together.
If you get a chance to go to an L&P Breakfast Club event, I recommend it. These business leaders get together to make sure that they are improving and growing by working together. Here is their purpose statement:
The purpose of the Lipscomb & Pitts Breakfast Club is to foster teamwork among Mid-South business leaders and to provide as many enrichment opportunities, as possible, to strengthen the business community and help pave the way for business leaders to become more involved in the community. The Breakfast Club hosts some events for members only and others for members and the business community, at large. Internally, members work together and help each other by acting as a sounding board for ideas and information, as well as a referral network for sales and introductions.
The Club is committed to selecting the best members in each core business category and dedicated to helping each of the members grow their business and business relationships. Just as much, the Club is committed to helping each company get more involved in the community.
We believe that people do business with people they know and trust…and that business is all about relationships and working together. We also believe that we have a wonderful opportunity to engage business leaders from all industries and to make a positive contribution to the Mid-South business and social community.
So, I think it is a great group of folks. Get out and go to one of their events if you can!
So, I’m excited to get to brag on K and Muddy’s Bake Shop a little. As most of you know, I’ve been along for the ride as Muddy’s went from idea to a shop to a super busy place that people love, so it always makes me proud when K and the crew over there get recognized for being as awesome as they are. I think “the bake” (what my mom and I refer to Muddy’s) is really an extension of K’s personality, and that is what makes it so great. It is a place that is full of life that is dedicated to making people happy with the best possible service and food.
K really puts in a ton (a ton!) of time to make Muddy’s a place that brings enjoyment to her staff and her customers. She takes care of the people behind the case, and I think that makes a big difference in the results of what is in the case.
So, on to the recognition. They’ve been named the Best Bakery in the Memphis Most competition in The Commercial Appeal. Here’s what they said.
Muddy’s Bake Shop wins Memphis Most again for being just so irresistible. It’s a comfortable spot, centrally located, the staff and menu are good humored and, naturally, the goodies are dee-lish. It’s the icing on the cupcake. (link)
I couldn’t agree with them more! Thanks to everyone that enjoys the delicious treats that they make and everyone that took a minute to cast a vote for them. It means a lot for anyone to be recognized for their hard work! So get out there and get some goodies and give them a “congrats,” while you’re there. See you there!
One of my good buddies has recently moved back to Memphis after years of intensive study in towns like Oxford (Go Rebels!), Gainesville (Go Gators!), and Lexington (Go Generals!). Now this true Southern Gentleman has dry cleaned his suits and gotten some new ties to get to work in Downtown Memphis. Since he’s moved back, he has joined me and my normal lunch friends at a number of spots in Midtown, but I’ve also taken the opportunity to go a little further West to hit up a few more places in the midst of the hustle Downtown.
Walkin’ in Memphis
Yesterday he needed to do something fairly quickly, so I hopped in the car to head down to Wang’s Mandarin House on Main and Gayoso. It was a quick walk from his building, so it was a nice compromise. The hardest part about Downtown eating for me is knowing where to park, but the options are awesome for the people that can walk from work and back.
borrowed from http://www.flickr.com/photos/memphisphotorepository/
Spoiled for Choice
Wang’s has a great lunch buffet with a ton of choices. One of the first things that I noticed were that the serving dishes in the buffet station were smaller than normal, which leads to more refreshing and fresher food, which is a plus in my book. I started out with the Egg Drop Soup, which was a great starter.
There was a lot to choose from once I switched from soup bowl to lunch plate, so I took the chance to try a lot of items. I got some green beans, some pork and veggies, a dumpling, an egg roll, some sesame chicken, and a little spicy chicken, all with a little rice. All of the lunch items were really good, especially the egg roll and the sesame chicken, which I got a little extra of at the end.
The lunch buffet is high quality and a good deal. It also let’s you really get in and out if you are in a hurry. I bet 75% of the tables were full when I was there, but there wasn’t an empty food tray at the buffet station, so they are on top of their game. So get downtown and get some Chinese. See you there!
If you are anything like me, you might be wondering what to do with the basil in your garden that is getting scorched by this brutal Memphis summer. I’ve got a pretty solid idea, but first I’ll tell the story of how this tasty treat came to be.
Scrantonicity
I work at a cool place with great people. As a group, my coworkers make it easy to come to work, and it is a team built to succeed. Part of it is that everyone has a high skill level, but the other part is that we work well as a team. I feel like we get a lot of really good stuff done around the conference room table and the lunch table with our strong collaborative method. Part of this team dynamic comes from knowing how to have a good time. Remember, a team is only as good as its latest prank.
At some point last year, we had a pot luck meal at work using the herbs that are in our garden at the office. It was a way to show the great benefits of having your own herb garden as well as a way to get the employees together to have a good time. Sign-ups were done via email, and I didn’t think too much of the meal until I got the menu a few days before. While scanning the items, I noticed that I had signed up to make Basil Lime Sorbet, which I neither remembered signing up for or remembered ever making a sorbet.
“We Googled ‘Difficult Herb Recipes’ and Signed You Up”
When I asked my friends in the cube farm (we have cubicles that make a quadrant) how this happened, they gave me the thousand yard stare then shrugged their shoulders, before telling me to Google “difficult herb recipes.” When I did, I found the recipe that I was signed up for!
Fortunately, it wasn’t as difficult as it sounded. Well, until I found out that we had a juicer, which was after I had hand squeezed about 8 limes and turned my hands in to Wrinklestiltskin. The sorbet was such a big hit at the lunch that it became a part of my regular rotation, meaning that I made it again this weekend for the 2nd time ever.
The end result is both sweet and tart with a aromatic flavor of basil. It is a treat to be enjoyed in small, one scoop doses. It could serve as either a great palette cleanser or a dessert on its own. It is quick to make, but with the freezing involved, it is best done a day in advance!
Basil Lime Sorbet (basically the one from Allrecipes.com)
3/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 5 limes)
1 cup simple syrup (aka boil 1 cup of water with 1 cup of sugar for one minute then remove from heat)
20 basil leaves minced (or chopped very finely)
Mix the lime juice, basil, and simple syrup in a blender and puree. Pour the mixture into a container and freeze. This takes at minumum 2 hours, my freezer was closer to 4 hours for a double recipe. Take the frozen mixture out, put it back in the blender and puree again. Pour it back into the container and smooth it out and refreeze until time to serve. Eat.
Get in the kitchen and make something good!
-Thomas
PS. If you’ve got a few extra minutes. Here are some of the best of the prank clips from The Office.
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