Sandwiches, seriously

The Emeril's Kicked-Up Sandwiches Getting Started Kit. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

I am so thrilled to be selected as a blogger participating in Chef Emeril Lagasse’s #SeriousSandwich blogalong for his new cookbook, Emeril’sKicked-Up Sandwiches (Morrow, $24.99) . This soon-to-be-released cookbook is piled high with 100 recipes across the sandwich spectrum - from everyday egg salad kicked-up Emeril style to a luscious veggie muffuletta with eggplant instead of salami. Along the way, there will be burgers, lettuce wraps, panini and even dessert sandwiches (gingerbread ice cream sandwiches, anyone? is that a Heck Yea! I hear? Keep calm, they're on their way.)

Look for my first post October 1st and stay tuned for a giveaway and lots of great food! Meanwhile, I'm thinking of all the catch-phrases M. Lagasse is responsible for launching into pop culture ~ "Bam!" and "Kick it up a notch!" come to mind. What's your favorite Emeril-ism? and please let me know your favorite sandwiches, too!

Emeril's Egg salad on white bread.  Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

Catching up with Richard Blais & Jared Lee Pyles @HD1

Chefs Richard Blais and Jared Lee Pyles of HD1 Restaurant.

This is what a soft opening is all about - I drove past HD1 Restaurant in Poncey Highlands twice before I realized it was the place I was supposed to be for lunch. (Of course, that could be a statement about my driving and directional abilities and the fact that these days it's a bit of a deal for me to drive anywhere other than the traditional Atlanta mom-stops of the Varsity, the botanical garden, the zoo and the aquarium.)

But the building is just the slightest bit off the street and the sign didn't grab me, and so I circled the block twice before parking across the street. I was there for a media lunch with Chef Richard Blais, the Top Chef All-Stars winner and partner in Atlanta's gourmet burger boutique, FLIP Burger. For HD1, Blais and Executive Chef Jared Lee Pyles have created another fun venue, more casual than FLIP, with an inventive menu that pulls the hot dog and all its possibilities off of the kid's menu and out of the ballpark and drops it smack in the middle of the adult's plate before topping it with everything from barbecue and cole slaw to tripe and tongue.

We began by nibbling on pressure-cooked boiled peanuts with African spices (barberry, dried chile, cumin, garlic and onion). They were unbelievably good, as were the lemon pepper chicken wings, gussied up with lemon curd and Szechuan pepper.

HD1's boiled peanuts with African spices. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

As delicious as these items were, we flipped out over the Waffles fries with maple-oy sauce. Chick-fil-a needs to send its fry cooks to apprentice at the hand of the cooks here - these fries were perfectly crisp and not greasy and the Asian-inspired sauce had that sweet and sour thing going. Chef Pyles' sauce is a play on Mae-Ploy chili sauce - it's made of maple syrup, honey, Sambal, rice wine vinegar, cilantro and lime.

Waffle fries with maple-oy dressing. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 And now to the dogs: we tried three and all were very good, but one stood out to my barbecue-loving tastebuds - the Eastbound and Down - a frank topped with Carolina pulled pork, sweet mustard slaw and mop sauce. I liked the combination of the tender, smoky pork and the crisp slaw, that was shredded just right - not too coarse, not too fine. In keeping with the "super-local" mandate of the restaurant, the franks are all made by Atlanta charcuterie The Spotted Trotter. Just as much attention was given to the buns - they are a Northeastern style bun, according to Blais, meant to cradle the dog and toppings. The buns are made according to HD1's recipe, but at an off-site bakery - the recipe is a "Ghana sweetbread, a little like broiche or media noche."

Haute dogs. Photo provided by The Reynolds Group.

We finished the meal with soft serve ice cream - Chef Pyles likes to experiment with flavors, drawing inspiration from the supermarket candy aisle. The flavor of the day was inside-out Whopper - chocolate with malted milk topping.

In addition to showing off the menu at HD1, Chef Blais was very accommodating during the lunch, answering questions about all of his business ventures - including a new restaurant, The Spence, opening at Georgia Tech; a cookbook to be published by Clarkson Potter in Fall 2012; and his stake in a t-shirt company called Tasty Cotton, which features the Blaisian (noun):

"Any individual possessing a fixation towards liquid nitrogen, sous vide or faux hawks."

If you need directions to HD1, I can happily oblige, now that I know the neighborhood so well. HD1 opened without a lot of fanfare and because of the walk-up counter, the waits for food are not long, Blais said.  Parking is conveniently located across the street at the Chelsea building. 664 N. Highland Avenue, Atlanta 30306. (404) 815-1127. www.hd1restaurant.com


Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer, unless noted otherwise.

Book Booty



Cookbooks from the closing of Borders. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 Nearly four years ago, when I was casting about for a name for this blog, I had two criteria. The title must begin with an "A" so that it would land near the top of alphabetical blogrolls, and it must express my love of two things: cooking and books. You see, I've spent too many years in bookstores, both as an employee and a customer, and I have a little problem with saying no to the voices that call to me from the stacks. "Take me home!" they say as they fall into my arms.

When we designed our kitchen, we built bookshelves all around to hold my collection of cookbooks.This is just a small part of the shelves - they go around three walls.




Kitchen. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Throughout the house, stacked on bedside tables, in corners, bookshelves and my pantry floor, are books, and truth be told, they're mostly cookbooks and food memoirs, with a little Gladwell and chick lit thrown in. I still have my very first cookbook, a paperback copy of "The Winnie-the-Pooh Cookbook" (my mom even let me make a quiche-like Cottleston Pie from it!).

My bookselling job ended last week when the lights were turned off and the locks turned counter-clockwise for the last time at Borders. You can read my melancholy story on Open Salon about the end of my bookselling days. Right now, though, I want to be one of the giddy bargain-hunters who loaded up on deals when the store tanked. Within about six weeks, I purchased at least 50 books and magazines, most of them food-related. Here's a selection:

Love Soup by Anna Thomas - a lively vegetarian soup cookbook, hoeing the same quirky row as Mollie Katzen's Moosewood books.

A trio of doorstopper-sized books published by Phaidon: 1080 Recipes by Ortega, Spanish cuisine; Silver Spoon and Silver Spooon Pasta, both on Italian cuisine.

Junk Foodie: 51 Delicious Recipes for the Lowbrow Gourmand by Emilie Baltz. A novelty cookbook with a novel gimmick - gourmet recipes created from snack foods. I picked it up as much for its visual style as its recipes.

Best Food Writing 2010, edited by Holly Hughes. Essays from Barry Estabrook, Francis Lam, Kim Severson, and many other favorite writers.

Gourmet's Guide Cheese from the bargain table, and it kind of has that book club look to it, but a very well done overview of the world of cheese. For $3 and some change, I think it will be a useful resource.

Two of food scientist Harold McGee's titles: On Food and Cooking, and Keys to Good Cooking. I've already used a tip from the latter in perfecting apple pie - drain the fruit, boil the liquid and thicken with starch.

Patricia Wells' Salad as a Meal a lovely, lovely book for diving into on a rainy winter Saturday, when all I want to do is dream of spring.

The Deluxe Food Lover's Companion by Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst. An excellent reference book that is enjoyable just for browsing, flipping through and finding out something new.

One Big Table by Molly O'Neill. This is One Big Book - 880 pages - and is popping up on remainder tables and bargain book sites. Pick it up if you find it - it's a highly enjoyable, well-written tour of American kitchens.

David Tanis' Heart of the Artichoke - I already have a signed copy of the marvelous book. This is a copy to share.

The End of Overeating by David Kessler. I know there's a certain irony to including this, but Kessler's work on how food is manufactured and marketed in the U.S. has been on my must-read list for awhile.

My $1 box. I paid $1 apiece for these books on Borders last day. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Did you shop the Borders liquidation sale? What finds did you bring home?

400 Best Sandwich Recipes, including Lunchbox Sushi

Lunchbox Sushi from 400 Best Sandwich Recipes by Alison Lewis.
Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Reading through Alison Lewis’ “400 Best Sandwich Recipes” (Robert Rose, 2011), I can’t help but think how lucky her kids are. Lewis is a nationally known recipe developer, accomplished cook and writer, a veteran of Southern Living magazine, and her book brims over with family-friendly recipes. She’s a busy mom with three active children, living in Birmingham, Alabama.

Just how did she decide to develop 400 sandwich recipes? She describes in the introduction to the book that her son suggested a cookbook of sandwich recipes as they were driving to the beach. When her editor suggested 400 recipes and producing a “bible” of sandwiches, “I laughed at first, then I was a little nervous,” Lewis wrote by email last week.

Lewis uses fresh, wholesome ingredients in her recipes, always with an eye on what’s appealing to children and how quality meals can be quickly assembled. This collection of recipes is a reminder that the original fast food, the portable vehicle called a sandiwch, can feed active families easily and well.

So how does a busy mom get healthy, tasty meals on the table? “I try to really plan ahead. With three super busy kids, you have to think ahead, prep ahead and involve kids in the menu planning process as well as getting them to cook with me in the kitchen,” Lewis says. “ I also make it a point to teach my kids how to make the healthiest food choices."



Lunchbox sushi by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

 A few of her Alison's tasty go-to sandwiches for weeknight cooking are Taco Burgers (a taco-seasoned burger with salsa, beans and cheese), Burgers with Grilled Onion and Smoked Cheddar, Lime Shrimp Tacos, Classic Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches.

This cookbook is also inspiration for kids old enough to pack their own lunchboxes. In fact there’s a chapter with 15 sandwiches that her kids love to pack themselves, including a Garden Tuna Checkerboard Sandwich, the enduring classic Peanut Butter and Jelly (we love PB and J in our house) and Sandwich on a Stick - bread, turkey, cheese, pickles and olives threaded on a skewer served with dipping mustard.

What's next for Alison Lewis? According to Alison, her mind is “always brewing” with creative culinary ideas. Check out her blog, Ingredients, Inc, for new recipes.

This is a fun sandwich from "400 Best Sandwich Recipes" I like the innovative use of tortillas to encase the roll, making it much easier to work with than the nori alone.

Lunch Box Sushi

Serves 4 to 6

1 teaspoon wasabi powder
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cups cooked sushi short-grain rice, cooled
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1/8 teaspoon hot pepper flakes (optional)
6 (10-inch) white or whole wheat tortillas
6 sheets nori
1 ½ pounds cooked shrimp, chopped (or an equal amount of chopped, cooked white meat chicken)
1 cup chopped avocado
1 cup finely chopped cucumber
1/3 cup soy sauce

1. In a small bowl, combine wasabi and 1 teaspoon water. Add 2 tablespoons soy sauce and mix well.

2. In a medium bowl, combine rice, wasabi mixture, green onions, mayonnaise and hot pepper flakes, if using.

3. Line each tortilla with nori. Arrange rice mixture equally in center of each wrap. Add shrimp or chicken, avocado, and cucumber. Fold both ends over filling. Roll up and serve with soy sauce.

“400 Best Sandwich Recipes” by Alison Lewis (Robert Rose, 2011), 360 pages with index and 24 color photographs. Paperback, $24.95 list price. A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Splendid Ice Cream with Cherries (!)

Goat cheese ice cream with roasted cherries by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

An artist’s eye and confectioner’s soul have led Jeni Britton Bauer to create rich, flavorful ice creams that tempt the palate. Bauer is the founder of “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams” with 10 stores in her native Ohio and now expanding into Tennessee. Her revolutionary flavors and ice cream bases are tailored to at-home ice cream artists in her new book, “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home” (Artisan, 2011).

Jeni Britton Bauer by Stacy Newgent

In Jeni’s Splendid stores, Bauer and her employees use fresh local produce in their unusual flavor combinations, all made by hand in small batches. Salty Caramel is her signature flavor, and just perusing the book turns up mouth-watering temptations like Roasted Cherry Goat Cheese, Sweet Corn and Black Raspberry, Backyard Mint, Sweet Basil and Honeyed Pine Nut, Watermelon Lemonade Sorbet, and the Buckeye State Ice Cream: Honeyed Peanut Ice Cream with Dark Chocolate Freckles.

The flavors are intriguing, but technique is what grabbed me – Jeni’s ice creams do not use eggs, instead substituting a cornstarch slurry to thicken the ice cream base and finishing with a smidge of cream cheese. Unlike my go-to custard-style ice cream, Jeni’s recipes yield a scoop-able frozen cream that is not the least bit grainy, but smooth and rich.

In the charming intro to the book, Jeni tells the story of her business and the pursuit of the ultimate ice cream. It’s a tale of an art student seeking fulfillment and small business success –there are lessons beyond the kitchen that can be found in here.

The kitchen is where the book really shines – the 100 recipes are arranged according to season, highlighting what’s fresh and in the markets during each month. Extras include tutorials for sundaes, a luscious-looking Baked Alaska Pie (Jeni’s a fan of Italian Meringue, too!), and recipes for marshmallows, cake and assorted sweet mix-ins and accessories (Honey Butterscotch Sauce is kind of calling my name right now).

It’s no secret that I love cookbooks – I read them compulsively to relax and gather ideas for feeding my family. It’s rare for me, though, to bookmark recipes that I intend to come back to. I couldn’t find sticky notes, so I tore up a scribble pad and marked all the flavors I want need to make. Tres Leches Ice Cream (“airy morsels of meringue and cubes of buttery cake in a light coconut-milk and cow’s milk ice cream”). Wild Berry Lavender Ice Cream (“intense lavender with hints of exotic spices and brambly berry flavors”). Do yourself a flavor and pick up a pack of sticky notes when you buy a copy of “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams.” If you don't have an ice cream maker, start shopping now. I've used a Krups LaGlaciere countertop model for at least 10 years and I love it. If you do have an ice cream maker, consider getting a second one - you're going to want to try every recipe in the book.

Chopped dark cherries ready for roasting by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Roasted Cherry Goat Cheese Ice Cream

Cherries are my husband's favorite fruit, so it was natural to gravitate to this recipe. The roasted cherries are dead easy, and I will use the oven-roasting technique again: sugar + cornstarch + fruit + oven heat = syrupy roasted fruit bliss. The verdict on taste: "frozen fudge" - and that's a good thing - a slight tang from the goat cheese gives a kiss of spring to the sweet fruit and creamy dairy texture.

Makes 1 quart ice cream

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ cup (about 4 ounces) fresh goat cheese
1 ½ ounce (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
Roasted Cherries (see below)

1. Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry. Whisk the goat cheese, cream cheese, and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

2. Combine the remaining milk, the cream, sugar, and corn surup in a 4-quart saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat, and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat, and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a rubber spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.

3. Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

4. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, alternating it with layers of the cherries and ending with a spoonful of cherries; do not mix. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Goat cheese ice cream with roasted cherries by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Roasted Cherries
Makes about 1 ¼ cups

2 cups pitted fresh or frozen (not thawed) red or black cherries
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch

1. Preheat the oven to 400° F. Combine the cherries, sugar and cornstarch in a 9-inch square baking dish, tossing to mix. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes, until the juices are thickened and bubbly, stirring every 15 minutes. Let cool completely, then chill in the refrigerator.

From JENI’S SPLENDID ICE CREAMS AT HOME by Jeni Britton Bauer, Artisan Books, Copyright © 2011, Author photograph by Stacy Newgent.

"Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home" by Jeni Britton Bauer, hardcover, 217 pages. $23.95 list price. The publisher sent me a review copy. There was no compensation for this review and my opinions are my own. They're lovely opinions, aren't they?

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Chicken salad on croissant by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Sandwiches get us through the day – from the ubiquitous fast food offering of a breakfast sandwich, to ham and cheese at lunch and meatball subs for supper, whatever meal you’re preparing, there’s a sandwich for it.

Susan Russo, author of the new "Encyclopedia of Sandwiches: Recipes, History and Trivia for Everything Between Sliced Bread" (Quirk, 2011) and blogger at Food Blogga knows this well. “The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches is a belly-filling book of over 100 of the world's most beloved sandwiches," she said recently. "It's got all sorts of tasty sandwich trivia, history and recipes.”

Food photographer and blogger Matt Armandariz (Matt Bites) photographed every sandwich for the book, artfully and attractively. Perhaps the handiest feature of the book is the alphabetic listing with colored index tabs along the page edge – looking for a Fluffernutter? – flip to “F.” Have a hankering for a Hamburger and its 8 variations, including vegetarian? Just skim to “H.”

Along the way, readers can pick up some helpful history, such as the origin of the Fluffernutter: “In 1913 brother and sister Armory and Emma Curtis opened the Curtis Marshmallow Factory, and their most popular product was Snowflake Marshmallow Creme, a spreadable marshmallow confection which Emma suggested would be delicious paired with peanut and sandwiched between two slices of white bread. They tried it. People loved it. And eventually it became known as the Fluffernutter, a trademark of Durkee-Mower Inc., the maker of Marshmallow Fluff.”

Narrowing the field of recipes to try, I lighted on chicken salad, the Southern standard, and served it to my writer friends for our ladies' lunch. Russo’s recipe delivers a delicious chicken salad filled with cranberries and pecans, and she assures me that it’s from the Loveless Café, in Nashville, Tennessee,  one of my all-time favorite restaurants (don't even get me started on Loveless biscuits, dripping with homemade blackberry preserves).

Chicken Salad
from "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches" by Susan Russo

4 cups (2 ½ pounds) diced cooked chicken

1 cup finely diced celery

½ cup sweet pickle relish

1 cup mayonnaise

¾ cup dried cranberries, such as Craisins

½ Vidalia onion, finely diced (about ½ cup)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 cup pecan pieces, optional

8 slices white or whole grain bread, or 4 croissants

1. Combine chicken salad ingredients in a bowl. Cover and chill at least hours to let flavors meld.

2. To make each sandwich, scoop about ¾ to 1 cup chicken salad onto a slice of toasted to untoasted bread and top with a second slice of bread. Makes 4 sandwiches.

Be sure to check out these upcoming sandwich stories, also from "The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches."

• Pound Cake Sandwiches stuffed with strawberries
• The Jucy Lucy cheeseburger (that's right, Jucy)

Chef Richard Blais on waiting for "Modernist Cuisine"

Chef Richard Blais/Our Labor of Love

Modernist Cuisine, the biggest cookbook of the decade, and I do mean big, started shipping this week. Judging from the early reviews like Michael Ruhlman's in the New York Times, Modernist Cuisine is an amazing cookbook, or more accurately, culinary encyclopedia.

Just by the numbers, it is significant: six years of work by a team of 20 chefs, writers, photographers and designers led by the former Chief Technology Officer of Microsoft Nathan Myrhvold; six volumes (5 subject books plus a kitchen manual); 2,438 pages; 49 pounds of cooking knowledge. And did I mention the $625 list price? To add to the mystique, there is but a single press run of just 6,000 copies, with the possibility of a second run.

Additional press runs or not, Modernist Cuisine’s impact will be felt throughout the contemporary cooking community. One of the best-known practitioners of the art of modernist cuisine is Atlanta’s Richard Blais, of Top Chef All-Stars and concept chef of Flip Burger Boutique. He tweeted in February that he pre-ordered a copy through Amazon, which is offering the book at $461.62, 26% off the cover price of $625. I contacted Blais through his publicist and here’s what he had to say while he waits by the mailbox.

You tweeted that you pre-ordered the book, Modernist Cuisine. Have you seen a copy or received your copy yet or do you expect to receive it soon?

Blais: I am on the pre-order wait list like everyone else…

Why do you want to own the book?


Blais: I think it has a chance to be a real revelation and a game changer in our industry. Knowing what I know about his [Myrhvold’s] work and what he has done globally, I think it is a fascinating undertaking.


Do you know Nathan Myrhvold (or the co-authors)? Have you followed the production of the books?

Blais: Yet to meet him, I just know of his stories through features and walking chats with other chefs.


What are you most interested in out of the six volumes?


Blais: I think I will find it all very interesting and I've heard the food photography is spectacular!

How do you plan to use the book?


Blais: I plan to read it and be inspired by it.


Is there anyone you would lend the book to?


Blais: Oh sure, anytime I have a book it belongs to all my chefs. We all learn from each other; it's what being a chef is about. It's very fraternal.

And he adds:

I can’t wait to get it! I am checking the mailbox every day.


Text copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer. Photo of Richard Blais provided by The Reynolds Group. 
Modernist Cuisine photo from www.modernistcuisine.com.


A version of this story appears on Examiner.com.

A little black book of recipes: Chili with beer, guacamole with bacon

The Mad Men-esque idea of a little black book in these days of smart phones and IPads is quaint and charming, but seemingly out of touch. Not so with “Recipes Every Man Should Know,” by Susan Russo and Brett Cohen, (Quirk Books, 2010) part of Cohen’s “Things Every Man Should Know” series. Men no longer need little books full of phone numbers, but they can certainly use a little book to guide them through the kitchen and basics of cooking meals for themselves and others.


This book is slightly larger than a Blackberry, smaller than an IPad and it fits in a coat pocket or backpack. Its compact design is ideal for flipping through for quick mealtime ideas, discreetly pulling out while grocery shopping, and propping on the counter while preparing the dishes.

Author Susan Russo says the idea of a cookbook for men came to her when she lived in a condo in downtown San Diego, where there are lots of single, professional men. “I got tired of seeing them carrying take-out on the elevator, so I started asking them why they didn't cook. Almost invariably, they responded, "I don't know how to cook." I thought, "Well, I can help teach them. It's easy." Teaching comes naturally to Russo; she is a recipe developer and writer who blogs at FoodBlogga (Rhode Island-ese for "blogger.")

For research, Russo “Talked with a lot of guys everywhere -- at the supermarket, the airport, bookstores, restaurants and bars, Twitter and Facebook, you name it. Guys of all ages were more than happy to share their thoughts with me and offer their favorite dishes. Plus, having grown up in a male-dominant household, I was pretty confident that I knew what guys would like.”

Guy-friendly recipes include Foolproof French Toast, Baja-Style Fish Tacos, and entire chapters devoted to Meat & Potato Dinners, and Beer, Bacon & Bar Food. And for that extra something that shows a guy really knows how to cook, the book concludes with cookies, cheesecake, strawberry zabaglione, milkshakes and cocktails.

Here are two excellent recipes that go well together or separately. The recipes are guy-friendly, to cook and to eat. The chili will become your go-to recipe - it's beefed up with beer and beans. The guacamole gets a shot of bacon to lift it into the "ultimate guacamole" territory.

Beef and Beer Chili

1 tablespoon canola or olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 large green or red bell pepper, chopped

1 to 1 ¼ pound ground beef

1 ½ to 2 tablespoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Several shakes of salt

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

2 (14.5 ounce) cans pinto or red kidney beans, drained

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juices

1 (12 ounce) bottle dark beer, such as stout

1 tablespoon cornmeal, optional

1. Warm oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers and sauté 5 minutes. Add meat. Cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Stir in spices, salt and brown sugar. Add beans, tomatoes, and beer. Stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, or until thick and soupy. Stir in cornmeal in you want a thicker chili.

2. Serve chili hot, topped with any of the following: shredded Cheddar cheese, sour cream, diced avocado, sliced scallions, or fresh cilantro.

(Takes 30 to 45 minutes start to finish, 6 to 8 servings)

Bacon Guacamole

6 slices bacon

Flesh of two ripe avocados

1 medium tomato, chopped

4 scallions (white parts only) finely chopped

Juice of one lime

A couple pinches salt

A couple dashes hot sauce

Small handful fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1. Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until crisp. Drain on a paper-towel-lined plate. Let cool and chop into small pieces.

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse until chunky. I used a fork with excellent results and one less dish to clean. (Takes 15 minutes to prep, yields 6-8 servings).

The wonderful folks at Quirk Books have offered a copy of "Recipes Every Man Should Know" to a reader of A Cook and Her Books. This book is $9.95 in stores and is absolutely charming and useful. It makes a great gift for a young man just starting out on his own - college students, new graduates, bachelors, really anyone who needs a road map to the kitchen. Please leave a comment below before midnight on February 28 and I will draw one name at random to receive the book. Please be sure to leave an email address or a way for me to find you (i.e., are you the Melissa I know from church or the Kim I know from high school?). Thanks for reading!

UPDATE

Michelle, the 4th commenter, is the winner of this cookbook. Michelle, please contact me by Thursday, March 3, at acookandherbooks@gmail.com so that I can get the cookbook to you. There's still a copy of the cookbook to be given away - leave a comment on the Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf story by March 8 for a chance to win.

Text & images copyright 2011, Lucy Mercer,

with the exception of the book cover image and the recipe.

Recipes excerpted from "Recipes Every Man Should Know" by Susan Russo and Brett Cohen

 (Quirk Books, 2010)

Did someone say free books? A giveaway

When I was a young girl in tri-colored Keds, living in small-town South Carolina, Christmas meant the Sears Wishbook and hours upon hours spent poring over the pages and writing lists of what Santa could bring me.

I'm going back to those list-making days with Chronicle Books' Happy Haul-idays promotion. Chronicle Books is one of my favorite publishers going back to Beth Hensperger's first Bread Book. (I love that book - my 20 year old copy is now stained and the binding is kind of iffy, but those are signs of love in my kitchen.) Chronicle continues to publish first-rate cookbooks, especially in the baking genre, including this season's must-have book - Flour by Joanne Chang.

For this contest, I created a list of $500 worth of Chronicle titles. If you leave a comment on this article, and A Cook and Her Books is the winner, one commenter on this post will receive the same list. How cool is that?

1. Flour by Joanne Chang, $35.

2. Cake Pops by Bakerella. $19.95. So cute!

3. I love Macarons. $14.95. And who doesn't? It's time to get addicted.

4. Whoopie Pies. $16.95.

5. Tartine Bread $40.00


6. Southern Pies by Nancie McDermott, $22.95

7. Cupcake Kit $19.95

8. Michael Chiarella's Bottega $40.00

9. Tea & crumpets $19.95

10. Fairy Parties $19.95 Because I'm the mom to girls.

11. Fast Fresh Green by Susie Middleton, $24.95.

12. Luscious coconut desserts by Lori Longbotham $19.95.

13. Lobel's Meat Bible $40.

14. Noodles Every Day $19.95

15. The Bread Bible by Beth Hensperger, $19.95

16. The Pleasure of Whole Grain Breads by Hensperger, $24.95

17. By my count, that's approximately $380 in Chronicle books. I say let's make up the difference with Moleskine notebooks, (the notebooks of Hemingway, Picasso and Chatwin) so if they could toss in a few Ruled Notebook 3 packs plus some large reporter's notebooks, that would bump it up to $500.

What a haul!

Read more about Chronicle Books' Haul-idays promotion here and Chronicle's titles here.

Just comment on this post by Dec. 10 to have a chance to win the list of books (& cross your fingers that A Cook and Her Books wins!).

Commenting for this giveaway is now closed. The winner of the Chronicle contest will be announced Monday, December 13. Thanks so much for the response to this giveaway & look for another giveaway very soon!

Tomato Gravy & Biscuits



Tomato gravy & biscuits by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



 Before the tomatoes fade for another summer, do yourself a favor and make tomato gravy and biscuits for yourself and your family. This isn't the kind of "gravy" or "sauce" that you serve with pasta, just a creamy white gravy with chopped tomatoes, cooked up in a cast iron skillet and served over split buttermilk biscuits. 

My mother was a fine cook, but I did not grow up with this dish. I discovered it through other cooks and writers. Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis write about it in "Gift of Southern Cooking," and if I remember correctly, serve the gravy with fried chicken.

Cooks can spend a lifetime perfecting their biscuit recipes, and I've tried quite a few, but I always go back to the recipe on the back of the bag of White Lily self-rising flour, using whole fat buttermilk, when I can find it, and brushing the tops of the biscuits with melted butter.

This recipe can be made with bacon fat instead of butter. I usually serve bacon alongside and keep the butter in the gravy. 

Farmers' market heirloom tomatoes by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Tomato Gravy

2 tbsp. butter

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

3 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 cup milk

1. In a heavy skillet, melt butter and saute onion until softened. Add garlic, salt and pepper and cook for another minute.

2. Sprinkle the flour over and cook, stirring well for another couple minutes.

3. Stir in the chopped tomato and cook for five more minutes. Slowly add the milk and bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning, adjust. Serve warm with split buttermilk biscuits and a side of bacon.

Text & images copyright 2010, Lucy Mercer.

Tyler Florence's New Book



Tyler Florence signs copies of his cookbooks at Macy's Lenox Square.

Tyloer Florence's sixth cookbook, Family Meal featuring 200 new recipes will come out October 12.

In the language of restaurants, family meal is served to the staff before or after service. The book will include recipes from his home and restaurants. During his recent Atlanta visit to Macy's at Lenox Square, Tyler made Sole Almondine, Roasted Parmesan Green Beans, Lemony Garlic Smashed Potatoes (groan if you must, they were surprisingly tasty.)

 "My promise to you is to help families get food on the table," Tyler said.
More from Tyler:

1. Tyler Florence on his mission.

2. Tyler on Southern Food favorites.

3. Tyler on why he won't be your Facebook friend.

4. Tyler on dining out in America today


Many thanks for Macy's for the terrific pictures from the Culinary Council event.

A Proper Southern Punch

Spring is in the air, and while young engagees dream starry-eyed dreams of wedding day bliss, friends of a certain age and responsibility dream dreams of bridal showers and luncheons. The at-home shower, I fear, is becoming as antiquated a notion as pagers and pantyhose, to be replaced by catered affairs in charming locales or, on the more familiar end of the spectrum, the round table in the corner at a local chain restaurant and the promise of all you can eat.

My generation is probably the last that will remember the showers given to her and the showers I gave my friends. I remember especially a bridal shower I gave my friend Julie in which the menu was taken from Southern Living. I know I still have copy of this article tucked somewhere in an attic memory box. As I recall, the menu featured something fruity, something cheesy, something savory, something chocolate, and a cake. We held the shower at my mom's house and invited Julie's friends, especially women from her church. It was a Sunday afternoon in July and we all wore our Sunday best, which I'm sure included pantyhose and heels.

I mentioned the food, but didn't think of the beverage, the most important aspect for a Sunday afternoon in July. In fact, I can't even remember what punch I used, because I've since found a real keeper, a tea punch recipe from a Junior League cookbook, so you know it's good.

This is from Main Street, published by the Junior Auxiliary of Franklin, Tennessee, which, if you have never been there, is the heart of God's country and pretty high in the list Top 3 Places I Could Contentedly Spend the Rest of My life.

Tea Punch

3 cups brewed tea
3 cups orange juice
3 cups pineapple juice
1 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 cups sugar
6 cups ginger ale

Mix the tea and juices in a large pitcher. Stir in the sugar until dissolved. Add the ginger ale just before serving. Pour over crushed ice in tall glasses.

Yield: one gallon

This is the recipe as written. Since I happen to own not one, but two punch bowls, I would rinse out a punch bowl, surround it with lovely cut flowers at the base and pour the punch into it. Serve with your grandmother's monogrammed sterling punch ladle (which is never to be confused with the soup ladle, for goodness' sake, people will think you are ill-bred and a heathen), which you have polished for this occasion. Put out a silver tray with all those cute punch cups, freshly washed. And know that you are part of a rite, a memory and a passage from one life to the next, marking the end of a single life and entering a partnered life. And I won't breathe a word if you decide to go sans pantyhose.