Strawberry Shortcake with Balsamic Glaze

I hope everyone's having a fabulous 4th of July weekend. I can't think of a more patriotic southern dish than shortcake. I mean southern ladies practically make biscuits in their sleep. And it's almost red, white + blue with the hand-whipped cream,  fresh strawberries and sweet balsamic vinegar... ok I'm drooling again. Let's get on with the recipe (which I adapted from Southern Living btw). 

What You'll Need:
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 3/4 cup flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces
2 eggs
8 ounces sour cream
2 teaspoons real vanilla
1 cup whipping cream
4 cups fresh strawberries


























What to Do:
Boil balsamic vinegar and brown sugar in a non-reactive pan. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the vinegar is reduced by half and it has a slightly syrupy consistency. It should coat the back of your spoon when it's done. Cool the glaze. The glaze will thicken as it cools. If it's too thick, re-heat it and add a few tablespoons of water. Set aside.

Mix together flour, 1/4 cup sugar and baking powder. Cut in butter with a pastry cutter. If you don't have a pastry cutter, here's your excuse to buy one. Or use 2 forks. Mix together eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla and sour cream. Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture until just incorporated.

Grease two baking sheets with butter and drop 1/2 cupfuls of batter onto the sheets (this recipe makes about 12). Bake at 450 for about 15 minutes or until golden on top. The biscuits will be pretty dense. Meanwhile, whip the cream with two tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Chill the whipped cream until your biscuits are done and cooled slightly. 

To assemble, cut biscuits in half and top with strawberries. Add whipped cream and drizzle balsamic glaze over the top. Eat immediately :)

Greek Inspiration

One of my friends in elementary school came from a big greek family. We used to make up plays in Greek and she even roped me into dancing at the Greek Festival one year. I thought I was so cool. That might explain my love of greek food. So when Patricia Moore-Pastides, wife of USC president Harris Pastides, came out with a greek cook book, I was super excited. In fact, I think I received at least 3 signed copies for Christmas that year.  It's a delicious collection of flavorful greek recipes and they're all pretty healthy too.  This recipe is an adaptation of her chicken stew, kotopoulo kapama.

What You'll Need:

1 onion, quartered

4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed

1 pound chicken

1/2 pound red potatoes, quartered

1 can artichoke hearts

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Juice and zest from one lemon

Salt, pepper, paprika, cumin

Olive oil

What to Do:

In a large saute pan or dutch oven, brown the onions and garlic in olive oil, being careful not to burn the garlic. Set aside. Season chicken with salt, pepper, cumin and paprika (use hot paprika to give it a kick). You can use white or dark meat, bone-in or boneless- it all works well. I think a combination of white and dark meat gives this dish a nice flavor. Brown chicken over medium-high heat.

Add uncooked potatoes, garlic, onions and vinegar to the pan. Fill the pan half way with water, just covering the potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Simmer partially covered for about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are done. Add the artichoke hearts and lemon at the very end. 

Even though it's hot, the bright, lemony flavors of this dish remind me of summer. This would be great to make in the crock pot as well. Enjoy! 

NYC Eats

I haven't been cooking much lately. But I have been traveling. We just got back from a long weekend in New York last week. I'm the kind of traveler to likes to eat my way through cities and NYC is a foodie paradise. I always discover a new place to eat or dish to try every we time we visit the Big Apple. Here are a few places we enjoyed this time.

(Clockwise from top left)

1. The Hungarian Pastry Shop 2. Food-themed displays from Anthropologie at Rockefeller Center  3. Katz's Deli 4. Amy's Bread 5. Heartland Brewery and the Gray Lady 6. The Bryant Park Grill 7. Koffeecake Corner (We also loved Naples 45) 

Margarita Shrimp

We're lucky to live close enough to the coast that local seafood is available most of the year. The South Carolina Aquarium keeps a list of local sustainable seafood that helps us choose which we eat. Good for the ocean, good for the economy and good for your belly. Awesome right? Shrimp is a particular favorite of ours. So are margaritas. Guess how I came up with this recipe?

What You'll Need:
1lb large shrimp, peeled
1 medium sweet onion
1 large yellow/red/orange bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tequila
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon red pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
Fresh cilantro
Sour cream
Tortillas

What to Do:
Cut the onion and pepper into strips or chunks and season with salt and pepper. Place them on a pre-lit grill (a grill basket works well for this if you have one). Char veggies on the grill until they wrinkle and set aside. Meanwhile, combine garlic, tequila, lime, lemon, pepper, cumin and salt with the shrimp. Grill marinated shrimp just until they turn pink.

Assemble peppers, onions and shrimp on warm (or grilled!) tortillas and top with cilantro and sour cream. Finish with a squeeze of lime juice. Fix a plate, make yourself a margarita and enjoy the sunshine! 

Fried Green Tomato Breakfast Stacks

So yesterday was National Donut Day. Did you eat one? I definitely had a warm Krispy Kreme to celebrate. But let's be honest. Donuts are not real breakfast. I'm not saying that breakfast has to be healthy, but something that doesn't induce a mid-morning sugar crash would be ideal. You know. Like bacon and eggs. Add a delicious fried tomato and you have yourself a real meal to start your day.

What You'll Need:
(per stack, multiply accordingly)
2 slices thick cut bacon
2 large eggs
3 slices green tomato
Buttermilk
Cornmeal
Oil for frying (peanut is my fave)
Salt + Red pepper

What to Do:
This one's pretty easy folks. Crisp the bacon. Personally, I like to use a foil-lined pan in the oven for about 15 minutes. Fry the eggs how you like. Over medium or hard is best. These get messy if your eggs are runny. 

Now, for the tomatos, coat with buttermilk and dredge in corn meal. Add salt and pepper either at the end or to your cornmeal for an extra bite. Fry until golden brown, a few minutes on each side. 

To assemble, start with a tomato, add an egg then bacon. Repeat if desired. You could sandwich these between some crusty bread slices too. I also think these would be nice with a little avocado on top. You have no excuse to skip breakfast now :)

In Season: Green Beans

Have I mentioned I love this time of year? Mostly because all of my favorite foods are in season. Which means they are not only tastier but usually cheaper too. Winning. Green beans are hands down one of my favorite green vegetables. I could probably eat them raw for breakfast. But that wouldn't make for a very interesting blog post. Instead, I've added garlic, soy and bread crumbs. Now we're talkin.

What You'll Need:

Generous 1/2lb green beans

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

3 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons butter

What to Do:

Simmer green beans in a shallow pan filled 1/2 way with water. Don't completely cover the beans. Add the soy sauce and cook just until tender (I like them crunchy, personally). Meanwhile, saute breadcrumbs in butter until brown. Add garlic for a minute and remove from heat. Be careful not to burn the garlic! 

Drain the beans and spoon the breadcrumb mixture over the top. You could add onions (fried or sauted) to these too. I recently served these with meatloaf but this would be a great side dish for salmon or chicken too. So how to you like your beans?

Happy Hour: Gin + Grapefruit

I'm not a girly drink kind of girl. Too much sugar and weird colors don't do it for me. Although I do enjoy a pretty swizzle stick. Gin has been my go-to spirit if choice for some time but, let's be honest, tonic water gets a little old. So I've started adding something to make my lips pucker instead. I like to think of this as a Greyhound with a twist.

What You'll Need 1 oz gin
.5 oz Contreau
2 oz grapefruit juice

Splash of Sprite

1 lime

What to Do Fill a high ball glass half way with ice. Stir in gin, orange liqueur and grapefruit juice. Add a splash of Sprite (a very small splash, we don't need headaches here!) and a squeeze of lime. With hot days to come, this should cool you down a bit. Cheers to summer!