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Buttermilk Biscuits with Kentucky Ham, Molasses Butter & Creole Chile Jam

“Grazing is a state of being in the South. In fact, many of our community cookbooks from the twentieth century are front-heavy, with so many more hors d’oeuvre and finger-food recipes than main courses (or even desserts) that it makes you wonder why we even bother with the rest of the meal.  It’s actually plain good sense: as any southerner knows, a dizzying array of nibbles in view when your guests arrive is the utmost gesture of hospitality.”

-- The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

One of my favorite Southern appetizers is a ham biscuit -- Kentucky smoked ham on a buttermilk biscuit -- it’s that simple.  However, because it’s only two things put together, the biscuits better be great and the ham even better.

Southern Buttermilk Biscuits

Buttermilk biscuits.  The Kid calls them “tasty little bastards.”  I should probably reign in his profanity, but he’s right -- they are tasty little bastards.  Hot from the oven and slathered with butter & honey -- what more do you need on a Thursday night?  Maybe ham.

Spicy Shrimp & Dirty Grits with Chateau Ste. Michelle 2007 Eroica Riesling

After hours of shrimp ‘n grits research and recipe testing, I decided I likes ‘em like my men -- spicy, smoky and dirty.  There’s a zillion variations of this Low-Country dish, and quite honestly, I haven’t figured out the original.  From what I can tell, if shrimp, bell peppers, Tabasco, and some type of smoky, fat-rendering pork product are included, it’s a fairly genuine nod to tradition.

Creamy Meyer Lemon & Chive Grits

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Deliciously creamy & lightly lemoned, these grits make an elegant side dish to grilled fish, roasted chicken or fried green tomatoes.

Creamy Meyer Lemon & Chive Grits

Based on The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook

Makes 3 cups

1 cup stone ground grits

3-1/2 cups water, plus more to float the chaff

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter, divided

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

Pinch freshly ground white pepper, to taste

1 Tablespoon buttermilk, or more to taste

Zest of 1 Meyer lemon

1/4 cup snipped chives

Broiled Grits with Smoky Bacon & Sharp Cheddar

Broiled grits is an excellent dinner party dish.  Made and topped in advance, this method lets you focus on your guests, not your grits.  When it’s time to serve, place them under the broiler for a few minutes to heat the grits and melt the cheese.  It’s also a great way to use up leftovers.

For an authentic touch, stir the grease from the bacon right into the grits at the end to dirty them up -- just don't tell your cardiologist.  If you don’t want the extra step of cooking bacon, a little chopped Kentucky ham is a delicious substitution.  

Creamy, Simple Grits

Great grits require love.  Sure, a basic understanding of the cooking method is important; but with simple dishes, it helps to mentally jump into the pot, especially near the end when consistency & flavor are key.  That extra bit of love and attention can turn good grits into great grits.

A tip or two:

• A drizzle of buttermilk stirred into the finished dish gives it a delightful boost without being too acidic -- lemon juice can obliterate its inherent corniness.

Grits is Good

Grits -- a simple peasant dish of warm, creamy cornmeal; occasionally dirtied, mostly buttered, always textured, never instant (that’s heresy).  They say, “A man full of grits is a man at peace.”  True... true.  I’ve found this dish, more so than any other, will induce a Southerner’s wistful thoughts of youth, breakfasts past, and usually their mother.  Grits are well-loved by many -- it’s a dish of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Convivial Dinner Party: Boudoir Picnic (Not Just for Valentine's Day)

Ooooh, Valentine’s Day -- sexy food, sexy wine, sexy talk, and (God willing, wink-wink) sexy sex.  Now, if you want to fight traffic, curse parking, and really shell-out the cash, go for it.  But, the pressure & obligation of unattainable aspirations never end well.

Hows about a Boudoir Picnic?  Easy prep, easy presentation, easy bites & easy cleanup make an easy lover -- one that has the energy, time and mind-space to focus on more important things.

The Boudoir Picnic

A successful picnic in bed requires plenty of good wine and delicious food that is easy to eat (no cutting, not messy, no dishes) and very satisfying (without being heavy).  Don’t forget a corkscrew, napkins and wine goblets.  Definitely some great mood music; maybe a dvd.  (But, with only two hands, whoever is most limber might need to get creative to control the remote.)

Champagne Food

Begin with Champagne or have various bottles throughout the evening.  Sushi goes really well with Champagne, and so does smoked salmon, oysters, French fries, potato chips, Chinese take-out, popcorn and strawberries (all which happen to fit within the boundaries of easy boudoir cuisine).

Red Wine Food

A serious bottle of red deserves to be the star, complement it simply with fabulous cheeses & a hand-torn baguette, crostini with various spreads, pizza, or kabobs, and then dark chocolate truffles.

Mmmmmmmmmm.

Potato Latkes

I was enamored with Jewish traditions in my early twenties.  Admittedly, the fascination was mostly food oriented, luring me into every Jewish cookbook I could find.  But, since mine was a Gramma, not a Bubbe, there were no secret latke recipes passed down the family tree.  Luckily, the blogosphere brings a wealth of useful information, and with it, the perfect latke recipe.

Hangover Eggs