Ginger-Berry Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream
There are a lot of things growing this time of year to get excited about. Tomatoes, peas, squash, the list goes on. But for me the best thing about spring produce is berries. My favorite fruit on earth is raspberries, one of the few fruits incidentally that does not grow on the Gulf Coast where I grew up. Perhaps that is why I love them so, they are always a treat.
But I also love all spring berries like blackberries, strawberries and blueberries. There are two wild blueberry bushes in my yard and they are loaded with tiny little morsels of yumminess right now. My neighbor picked a bowlful to make her morning pancakes and I have already harvested a delicious pie from them. The best thing about those bushes is that it’s free food. Not exactly manna from heaven but blueberries from heaven are almost as good in this economy.
Now the thing is that pies are not exactly the healthiest things in the world. No fear, I have recently developed a new berry pie recipe that is healthy and good. Not normal healthy food good but good. Additively good. I rely on two of my old favorites, agave nectar to replace the sugar and coconut oil to replace the butter then I make a crust using fat free ginger snaps and now we have a flavor combination that is remarkable. And it’s easy to make, too.
This is for a 1.5 qt. countertop ice cream machine. I specked this out and a 1/2 cup portion has less than 80 calories. My pal Susan Irby (the Bikini Chef) will be so proud.
Celebrating the Gulf Through It’s Food
I was lucky enough to be selected by Foodbuzz to participate in the July 24X24 which is a fund raiser for Gulf recovery. For those not familiar with 24X24 it is a monthly global dinner party featuring 24 meals by 24 bloggers in 24 hours. This month’s party hasn’t gone unnoticed as the major news wires have picked up on it. MSNBC said, “Foodbuzz, the largest online food community, is calling on food bloggers across the country to cook up a Gulf Coast-inspired meal on July 24th — and blog about it — all in support of the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF).” So I gathered a few friends together, most Gulf Coast natives, and we celebrated by eating the foods we’ve all come to love.
This has special importance to me because I live in South Alabama right on the Gulf of Mexico and I have seen first hand the economic devastation in the area. Just a few months back I took in the annual Blessing of the Fleet in Bayou La Batre and it was evident to the people in that small fishing village that life would never be the same again. Recently I released a new cookbook, Third Coast Cuisine: Recipes of the Gulf of Mexico and it is from that work that I draw the recipes for tonight’s menu: filé gumbo, Cuban pressed sandwiches and Key lime tartelettes.
Gumbo is as continuous an argument around these parts as politics, money or religion but I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that the one thing that cannot be omitted from gumbo is okra. The word gumbo is an African for okra. It is a dish that has been adopted by the people of the Gulf Coast as our official soup. There are some people who just can’t handle okra so I am stealing an idea from Chef Bobby Flay and using fried okra as a garnish so it remains an official gumbo.
File’ Gumbo
- 1 cup rice
- 1 lb shrimp
- 1 lb crab meat
- 1 pint oysters
- 1 med onion, diced
- 1 bunch celery stalks, rough chopped
- 1 bell pepper, diced
- 1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes
- 1 lb okra (optional), sliced
- 1/2 bottle Louisiana Hot Sauce- a whole bottle if you like it HOT!
- 4 tablespoons flour4 tablespoons butter
- Salt, cayenne pepper, File’, white pepper, & black pepper to taste
- Bay leaves
- 1 quart fish stock or shrimp stock
Boil rice in plain water and set aside. In a large stockpot melt butter and add flour to make a roux cook until chocolate brown, roughly 20 minutes. Add onions, celery, bell peppers, and a little water if needed and simmer a few minutes then add hot sauce, tomatoes, bay leaves, salt, both peppers and fish stock. Simmer for about half an hour. Add okra (if using) and seafood and simmer about another twenty minutes. Remove bay leaves. Serve hot over rice, and garnish with a sprinkle of file’ and fried okra.
The influence of our Latin American neighbors can be seen all over the Gulf of Mexico, especially in Texas and Florida and it is in the latter that our next course has become an institution. And no wonder with two kinds of pork.
Cuban Pressed Sandwich
- 4 loaves French bread
- 1 stick butter, softened
- 1 pound smoked ham, sliced thin
- 1 – 1½ pounds slow roasted pork
- 1/2 pound Swiss cheese, sliced
- Hamburger dills
- Mustard
Finally my dessert also hails from the Sunshine State. I am including my recipe for Key lime pie although for the dinner I poured my custard into graham cracker tartelettes rather than a single large crust. Despite the name, Key limes are no longer grown commercially in the Florida Keys, you can thank the hurricane of 1935 for that. Today most Key limes come from an area of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico that has identical soil and climate to the Keys where this small lime is indigenous thus making it a true Gulf of Mexico delicacy. You can make this same pie using regular limes but don’t call it a Key lime pie because there is a noticeable difference in flavor.
Key Lime Pie
- 1¼ cups graham crackers, crushed
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup fresh squeezed Key lime juice (roughly 12 limes)
- Whipped cream
- Dash of fresh grated nutmeg
- 3 – 4 Key limes
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In medium bowl, mix together sugar and graham cracker crumbs. Melt the butter and blend well with sugar and graham crackers. Press into a 9-inch pie pan. Bake 6 to 8 minutes. In another medium bowl, combine the milk and egg yolks with an electric mixer on low speed. Add key the lime juice. Mix until thick. Pour into prepared crust and put in refrigerator overnight. Top with whipped cream, nutmeg and garnish with key lime slices (optional).
NOTE: Real Key Lime Pie is never green.
For more information on the “Gulf Ambassador” program visit HERE. Follow Foodbuzz on Twitter or the Facebook Fan Page.
My Menu for the Foodbuzz Gulf Fund Raiser
As many of you may have read on MSNBC or at the Foodbuzz home page I am participating in this month’s Foodbuzz 24X24 dinner party. This is a special 24X24 as it is geared to raise money for my beleaguered Gulf Coast.
With remnants of Katrina still strewn everywhere and oil soiling what are easily the most beautiful beaches in the 48 contiguous, we need a little good news. The folks at Foodbuzz have come up with just the ticket. But I’ll let MSNBC tell you all about it:
- SAN FRANCISCO, CA — As the Gulf Coast struggles to recover from the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, Foodbuzz, the largest online food community, is calling on food bloggers across the country to cook up a Gulf Coast-inspired meal on July 24th — and blog about it — all in support of the Greater New Orleans Foundation (GNOF), which has been playing a key role in relief efforts in the wake of the tragic oil spill.
- Passionate Eater – San Francisco
- Cooking with Christen – Louisiana
- Fresh Local and Best – New York City
- SheSimmers – Chicago
- Le Grand Fromage – Florida
- Don’t (White) Sugar Coat It – Boston
- Four Points Foodie – Austin
- Wannabe TV Chef – Alabama
- First, Make a Roux! – San Diego
Each month, Foodbuzz’ 24×24 section of the website showcases blog posts from 24 Foodbuzz Featured Publisher bloggers from around the world about meals they’ve prepared within one 24-hour period. This month, Foodbuzz has chosen 24 bloggers from around the country to serve as “Gulf Ambassadors” and host a Gulf Coast-inspired meal on Saturday, July 24th. A donation of $250 in the name of each of the bloggers will be donated to the GNOF, for an initial contribution of $6000. Some of the participating bloggers from around the country include:
For additional food bloggers — up to 100 — who would like to participate in the program by hosting their own Gulf Coast-inspired meal, Foodbuzz will also donate $25 in their name to the GNOF. Posts can be submitted to Foodbuzz on July 25th at editorial@foodbuzz.com.
Here is my menu which features recipes from my cookbook Third Coast Cuisine: Recipes from the Gulf of Mexico: I’m starting with a rich seafood gumbo chock full of Gulf shrimp, blue crabs and Conecuh smoked sausage. For my main course I’m knocking out some Cuban pressed sandwiches with lots of roast pork and ham and I’m finishing with Key lime tartelettes. HERE is the post of the dinner party complete with recipes and plenty of food porn.
New Recipe: Guilt-free Berry Cobbler
Each week as part of my duties with TheKitchenHotline.com I plan a full menu of meals that feed a family of four for an entire week. Each day’s menu feeds the family three meals plus a snack for the kiddies. These recipes need to be relatively easy to allow more quality time for the family to spend together. Another part of my charge is to come up with healthy recipes. Each week I will share one of these recipes with you. Here’s this week’s:
Guilt-free Berry Cobbler
Filling
- 4 cups fresh or frozen organic any/all of blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- 1/4 cup raw local honey or agave nectar
- 2 tablespoons organic AP flour
Topping
- 1/2 cup organic brown sugar
- 1/2 cup organic AP flour
- 1/2 cup oats
- 1/4 cup coconut oil plus 1 tablespoon
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup organic low fat Greek yogurt or regular low fat yogurt
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease the sides of a baking dish with the 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.
To make the topping, stir together the sugar and the flour in a large bowl. With a fork, work the coconut oil into the flour mixture until it has a crumb-like texture. Fold in the cinnamon and the oats and set aside. Toss the berries in lemon juice and honey/agave then gently toss with flour. Pour the berry mixture into the greased baking dish and top with the crumble. Pack it down lightly. Place into the oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes; until the crumble is browned and the berries are bubbling. Serve topped with yogurt. Makes 8 serving.
Make vegan/dairy-free by substituting soy ice cream. Make gluten-free by substituting gluten-free flour mix. Each serving contains 237 calories, 8 grams of fat, 48 grams of carbohydrates and 3 grams protein.
