Salmon Burgers

So simple, so easy. Burgers don't have to be ground chuck you know. Tonight I almost made salmon patties and the usual vegetable side dishes, but with a few changes in ingredients, salmon burgers took center stage.

1 can boneless/skinless salmon, drained and flaked

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 t. Old Bay seasoning

1 T. lemon juice

1 T. chopped fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic, grated

a few grinds black pepper

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1 T. minced red onion

2 - 3 T. vegetable oil

In a medium bowl, lightly mix all ingredients (except vegetable oil) with a fork. 

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Shape salmon mixture into four patties and place into skillet. Cook, turning occasionally, until burgers are cooked through. Drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Lightly toast hamburger buns and serve with lettuce, tomatoes and easy smeasy tartar sauce.

Recipe here for the tartar sauce http://fleurdelolly.blogspot.com/2016/05/easy-smeasy-tartar-sauce.html

Easy Smeasy Tartar Sauce

I made salmon burgers tonight and knew I needed a little tartar sauce to go along with them. I didn't want the same mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup combo for these burgers. A few simple ingredients, one small bowl, and a whisk and voila! Easy Smeasy Tartar Sauce.

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 t. Dijon mustard

2 cloves garlic, minced

a few grinds black pepper

1 T. fresh lemon juice

1 T. fresh chopped parsley

1 T. dill pickle relish

Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl. Chill until ready to serve.

Woodford Reserve Mint Julep

If you've never tried Woodford Reserve Bourbon, you're missing out. Here's their official mint julep recipe.  It is perfection.

2 oz. Woodford Reserve
1/2 oz. simple syrup
3 fresh mint leaves
crushed ice

Express the essential oils in the mint and rub them inside the glass. To the same glass, add simple syrup, bourbon, and crushed ice. Stir. Garnish with more ice and fresh mint.

Cheers!

The Blush Lily

If you're not a bourbon drinker and are looking for something a little different for your Kentucky Derby viewing, try this take on The Churchill Downs Oaks Lily.

Ice

6 T. cranberry juice

3 T. vodka

2 T. fresh lime juice

Splash of triple sec

Fill a cocktail shaker with crushed ice. Add cranberry juice, vodka, fresh lime juice and a splash of Triple Sec.

Cover with lid and shake vigorously until chilled.

Strain into a rocks or highball glass filled with ice.

From Southern Living Recipes.

Baked Kentucky Ham with Biscuits

Now you have to admit, that is a gorgeous platter of Southern goodness right there. For our Kentucky Derby party, I served these along with a fig chutney, a green pepper jelly and different compound butters. They were a huge hit.

I purchased a 6 pound bone-in Kentucky ham. It was already fully cooked, so all that was needed there was to slowly heat it to the perfect internal temperature of 140 degrees. At 325 degrees it took about two hours to reach that temperature. I let it rest for about 20 minutes and then sliced it for serving.

Here's the recipe for the biscuits! You can bake these in a muffin tin or a cast iron biscuit pan. I like the texture the cast iron gives to the bottoms and sides of the biscuits.

1 stick of butter, softened
2 1/4 cups self rising flour
1 cup buttermilk (may need up to a 1/4 cup more for correct consistency)
a dash of salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

In a medium bowl, cut butter into flour until crumbly. Slowly add buttermilk and stir to combine all ingredients. Lightly grease muffin tins and divide dough evenly in the sections. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until biscuits are golden brown.

Cheese Grits

If I had to choose my last meal, cheese grits would definitely be on my list. You can chose stone ground, quick cooking, anything but instant grits for this version.

This batch made 8 servings.

6 cups water

1/2 t. salt

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups quick cooking grits

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

In a large saucepan, over medium high heat bring water and salt to a boil. Add cream and grits and reduce heat to low. Stir to combine the grits with the liquid. cover the pot and let grits cook for 6 - 7 minutes. Stir often so they don't stick.

Be careful when removing the lid of the pot and stirring. If the grits splatter on you, they will STICK!

Turn off the heat and slowly add the cheese a few spoonfuls at a time, stirring after each addition to allow the cheese to slowly melt. Taste and adjust seasonings and serve hot!

Pimento Cheese is always a favorite.

From a ladies' luncheon, to snacks on the deck, to an elegant spread, to wrapped up and taken on a fishing trip at your favorite fishing hole as a sandwich, pimento cheese is a perennial favorite in the South. None of that gloppy store-bought tub pimento cheese will do.  A few minutes of prep and you have the food of the gods. Please grate your own cheese because the pre-shredded type has additives that keep it from sticking together in the package, which means it won't combine well with your ingredients here.

This makes a small batch and keeps well for about a week in the fridge.....but it won't last that long.

8 oz. sharp cheddar cheese (block type and grate it yourself!)

4 - 6 oz. softened cream cheese

4 oz. jar of diced pimentos drained

3/4 cup - 1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 t. granulated garlic

1/4 t. paprika

a few grinds of black pepper

1 t. Worcestershire sauce

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients using a wooden spoon. You'll need some elbow grease to get everything thoroughly mixed together. Refrigerate until about 20 minutes before serving to allow it to soften enough to be spreadable on crackers.

Pimento cheese is also delicious on sandwiches, hamburgers, baked potatoes, or stuffed into celery sticks!

Cucumber Sandwiches

These little sandwiches are the ultimate delicate finger food. Embarrassingly simple with no recipe to speak of.  Seriously. There are a few variations, but I'll give you the True Southern Version here.  Then we'll discuss add ons.

1 loaf of plain white sandwich bread, crusts removed

Softened cream cheese (you can use the "whipped" cream cheese if you prefer)

1 seedless cucumber, peeled and very thinly sliced

Spread the cream cheese on two slices of bread. Layer cucumber slices on cream cheese. Top with other slice of bread, cream cheese side down. Slice into fourths.

That's it. And if you're never enjoyed these, trust me when I tell you that sitting on the porch or deck on a hot summer afternoon, these are seriously refreshing!

You can add a little finely minced dill or lemon zest to the cream cheese if you'd like a little variation. But I like the tried and true version.  

Kentucky Butter Cake

Here is this year's selection for the Kentucky Derby Party dessert. This is an incredibly moist and buttery cake which extra butter sauce which seeps down into the cake itself. Perfect for our party.

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 cups white sugar

1 t. salt

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup butter

2 t. vanilla extract

4 eggs

For the sauce:

3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup butter

3 T. water

2 t. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch Bundt pan.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, 2 cups sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Blend in buttermilk, 1 cup of butter, 2 t. vanilla and eggs. Beat for 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Prick holes in the still warm cake.  (I used a chopstick.) Slowly spoon sauce over cake. Let cake cool before removing from pan.

To make butter sauce:

In a small saucepan, combine the remaining 3/4 cup sugar, 1/3 cup butter, 2 t. vanilla and the water. Cook over medium heat until fully melted and combined, but do not allow to boil.

From All Recipes via Suzanne Stull

Three Variations of Compound Butters

Have you ever experimented with compound butters? The combinations are endless and the different ways you can use them are as well. For this year's Kentucky Derby Party, I baked a Kentucky ham and served it sliced and tucked into some of Sweet Harold's biscuits. He makes a delicious biscuit. Here's the link to his recipe http://fleurdelolly.blogspot.com/2013/01/sweet-harolds-drop-biscuits.html

Let's start with the Blue Cheese butter. This one will be used on a baked potato tonight!

1 (5 oz.) wedge soft ripened blue cheese, rind removed

1/2 cup butter

1 green onion, minced

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

1 t. Dijon mustard

1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

Let cheese and butter come to room temperature. Stir together cheese, butter, and remaining ingredients with a fork until thoroughly combined. Serve immediately. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week. From Southern Living Recipes.

Lemon Herb Butter

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

2 T. chopped fresh chives

2 t. lemon zest

1/2 t. lemon juice

Stir together softened butter, chopped fresh parsley, chopped fresh chives, lemon zest and juice. Serve with assorted crackers or precut veggies! From Southern Living Recipes.

Bourbon Dijon Compound Butter

This is the granddaddy of them all. You can either serve this in a small bowl for each guest to help themselves, or, as the recipe is written to roll into a log shape, chill, and slice to put on freshly grilled steaks.  Oh, yes indeed! From crumblycookie.net

1 shallot, minced

1 T. bourbon

1 stick butter, softened

1 T. minced parsley

1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 t. Dijon mustard

1 T. Jack Daniels

1/4 t. sea salt

black pepper to taste

Combine the shallot and bourbon; let rest about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, add the remaining ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix well. 

On a 12 x 18 inch square of wax paper, drop butter in spoonfuls to form a log. Roll butter in wax paper and smooth out to form a round log. 

Refrigerate until hard and easy to slice into round, coin shaped pieces, at least three hours. Serve with grilled steak.

Pecan Bourbon Balls

By using crushed vanilla wafers as the base, these little morsels have a great salty/sweet combination that makes them irresistible. If you don't want a strong bourbon flavor, cut the bourbon amount to 1/4 cup.

1 (12 oz.) package vanilla wafer, finely crushed

1 cup powdered sugar

1 cup finely chopped toasted pecans

1/2 cup bourbon

2 T. unsweetened cocoa

2 T. light corn syrup

powered sugar or toasted chopped pecans for rolling

Stir together first six ingredient in a large bowl. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in powdered sugar or pecans. Refrigerate up to 2 weeks.

From Southern Living Recipes.

Figgy Port Chutney

Oh my. I didn't eat figs as a child. We had neighbors, friends and family who had fig trees and always offered some to my mother, but I don't think she was a huge fan, so therefore, I didn't have many opportunities to enjoy them. But I am a huge fan now. And this delicious chutney made with dried Mission figs, fig preserves and port was an amazing topping for our ham biscuits! I can imagine this would be just as tasty on grilled pork tenderloin or pork chops.

1 T. butter

1 large shallot, finely chopped

1 cup chopped dried Mission figs

1/2 cup port

1/4 cup honey

2 T. apple cider vinegar

1/4 t. freshly ground black pepper

1/8 t. salt

1/2 cup fig preserves

2 t. chopped fresh thyme

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add shallot and saute 3 - 5 minutes or until tender. 

Stir in figs and next 5 ingredients. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until liquid is almost completely absorbed. 

Remove from heat and stir in preserves and thyme. Cool 30 minutes.

Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to 1 week. If chilled, let stand 30 minutes before serving.

From Southern Living Recipes 

Spring Vegetables and Whipped Lemon Aioli

This delicious aioli is lightly flavored with lemon and tastes SO indulgent. It's the perfect dip for Spring time vegetables. For my tray, I chose tiny carrots, quartered radishes, celery sticks, and lightly blanched and then chilled asparagus spears and haricots verts (tender green beans).

1 garlic clove

1 cup mayonnaise

2 t. lemon zest

1 T. lemon juice

3/4 cup heavy cream

Assorted veggies

Finely grate garlic into mayonnaise using a fine grater or zester. Stir in lemon zest and juice.

Beat cream at high speed with an electric mixer until medium peaks form. Add mayonnaise mixture, and beat until smooth. Season with salt to taste. Serve immediately with assorted vegetables, or cover and chill up to 1 day.

Roasted Brown Butter Pecans with Rosemary

Pecans are my favorite nut. I love them in pies, cookies, candies, cakes....but my most FAVORITE way is toasted/roasted with butter. This version takes little time, and the few minute to brown the butter before tossing with the pecans makes all the difference.  So delicious to serve alone for snacking, or with a cheese and fruit plate.  Yum!  Try them and see!

1/4 cup butter

4 cups pecan halves

2 t. kosher salt

2 t. sugar

1 T. chopped fresh rosemary

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Cook butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, 3 - 5 minutes or just until butter begins to turn golden brown.

Immediately remove pan from heat, and stir in pecans.  Arrange pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with salt and sugar.

Bake pecans at 350 degrees or until toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through. Sprinkle with rosemary.  Bake 2 more minutes. Cool completely on baking sheet (about 30 minutes). Store in airtight container.

From Southern Living Recipes.

Black Eye Pea Salad

I'm really torn between what I like most about this salad.  The ease in preparation? The vibrant colors? The delicious taste? You can see my dilemma. Put all three of these positives together and you have a definite keeper for your recipe file.

15 oz. can black eyed peas (drained and rinsed)

1 bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup red onion, diced

2 Roma tomatoes, diced

(for the dressing)

1/4 cup natural rice wine vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced or grated

1 T. olive oil

1 t. raw honey

1/8 t. salt

To make the dressing, add ingredients to a small bowl and whisk to combine.

Add peas, bell pepper, onion and tomatoes to a medium bowl. Pour dressing over salad fixings and stir to combine.

Chill for at least an hour, or up to 24 hours.  Salt/pepper to taste if necessary and stir before serving

From Southern Living Recipes.

2016 Kentucky Derby Table Setting

This year's table incorporated red and white table linens and lots of silver serving pieces. I'm constantly on the look out for silver pieces when wandering through antique or junk stores. Some of these pieces were found as far away as Ohio and others were rescued from dark and dusty corners of damp buildings. I'm thankful they were able to "dress up" my table for this meal!

First our menu! One of my favorite parts of having a get together is pondering the food items and then designing the menu. I don't feel that I'm very creative, but I TRY!  lol

And you really shouldn't have a Kentucky Derby party with a few red roses! Instead of a vase, I decided that using a champagne flute would continue the classy aspect of the event.

And here's the table all ready to welcome the guests and begin our party!

Dining Out: Buckhead/Atlanta, GA The Atlanta Fish Market

A few weekends ago, I had the distinct pleasure of dining at The Atlanta Fish Market in the Buckhead area of Atlanta. You will know you have reached your destination when you see "The Big Fish" out front!

Now to give you some perspective of the Big Fish.....I'm 5 feet tall.  Here I am with the Big Fish!

From the moment we walked through the revolving doors of the restaurant, I knew we were in for a special night. The energy level was high which to some people could be a negative. But we were in town for the Van Morrison concert the next night and we were ready to have fun. Every table was lively and fun and it was definitely contagious.  No pictures of the starting cocktails, but around the table we had a pomegranate martini, a Long Island Iced Tea, a bourbon on the rocks and a cucumber martini (Me!).

We started with a small sample of Nigiri Tuna Sushi. Any restaurant that claims to be a  "fish market" restaurant will surely have the absolutely freshest fish.  Doesn't this look amazing? It tasted so clean and fresh.  Perfection. Oh, see that "dent" in the middle? I stopped the sharing of the piece mid-cut so I could snap a picture!  lol

I love trying different restaurant's versions of Oyster Rockefeller. The menu indicated we would receive five oysters as the order. As you can see, we received six. They arrived still bubbling from the broiler. Again, freshness abounds here. These were delicious.

Our dining companions LOVE PEI Mussels. How could we not try some? Served with garlic, shallots, cream and white wine, the sauce was amazing and I will admit, I could have slurped every drop. Lots of fresh bread was served alongside which made for a great dipper.

And, yes, with these starters, we could have finished the meal right then and been perfectly full, content and satisfied. But we couldn't do that!

Harold was very intrigued by the description of the Stuffed Flounder Casserole. Now sometimes the stuffing in these dishes is a lot of stuffing and little seafood. Not at The Atlanta Fish Market! Their version is loaded with shrimp, crab, scallops, mushrooms and scrumptious white wine sauce. Served piping hot from directly under the boiler, this dish was amazing. He chose wisely.

Dining Companion #1 couldn't decide between the Scottish Salmon and the Peruvian Sea Bass. No problem! There is a combination dinner on the menu. Prepared "Hong Kong Style" which translates to a sherry broth, scallions, ginger, spinach, and sticky rice. One again, the presentation is lovely and the sample bites I enjoyed were delicious.

Dining Companion #2 decided the Sea Bass alone would be perfect for her.  A nice serving of vegetables accompanied these dishes.

I agonized over my dinner selection. I wanted to try a bite of everything. After much deliberation and debate, I chose the Florida Grouper "Francese". A wonderful fillet of grouper served with a lemon butter, capers, and spinach. I had tried a bite of everyone's dinner, but I will tell you truthfully, I believe mine was the BEST!  

I love capers and spinach and there were nice pieces of asparagus, carrots and mushrooms mixed in with the sauce. Oh, this was the perfect meal. I so wish I could duplicate this at home!

Alright...NOW we could have finished the meal right then and been perfectly full, content and satisfied. But we couldn't do that!

On to DESSERT!

We knew we really needed to share and not order individually. So after much group discussion, we chose the following:

New Orleans Style Bread Pudding with Italian White Raisins, and Vanilla Cream Anglaise. Yummmmmm.

And how could we turn down an opportunity for Crème Brulee flavored with banana liquor and white chocolate. We chose wisely with both selections. 

Dining Out Gulf Coast - The Shrimp Boat, Panama City, FL

Last weekend, my daughter and I took an impromptu trip to the Gulf Coast. We chose The Shrimp Boat in history St. Andrews near Panama City, Florida for dinner. http://www.theshrimpboatrestaurant.com/

We were promptly seated in a quiet section overlooking the marina. Our server, Justin, was knowledgeable of the menu and offered helpful suggestions.

I chose a Scarlet Martini ($9.00), vodka, muddled strawberries, mint and a twist of lemon. Served iced cold, it was very refreshing.

My daughter had a Strawberry Daiquiri. ($5.00) She was pleased that instead of an adult icy-type version, this one was smooth and creamy.

Freshly baked rolls and butter were promptly delivered to the table. They were nicely coated in a mild garlic butter. The salad dressings are made in-house. My daughter chose the orange vinaigrette and I decided the red wine/blue cheese was perfect for me. Yes, I forgot to take pictures of the gorgeous salads!

Now on the main event!!!

The presentation of all of the food was beautiful. The few extra minutes taken by the kitchen to arrange the food carefully is appreciated!

My daughter loves stuffed shrimp. Justin advised that this menu item was one of his favorites. Now, it's one of hers as well!  Butterflied shrimp, with seafood stuffing and a she-crab sauce ($23.00) ....seriously, doesn't that SOUND amazing?? And the baked potato? None of those half-cooked, cold potatoes here. This one was served perfectly cooked and piping hot.

Oh and did I choose wisely! Grouper Panama! ($31.00) A lightly breaded grouper fillet, topped with crab meat and covered with a Bearnaise sauce. I was shocked at the size of the fillet. The seasoning was spot on, the crab meat was plentiful, and the Bearnaise was the perfect consistency. I savored every bite.

I'm hungry again just looking at the photos.

And even though we were stuffed, we ordered dessert to share. Key Lime Pie ($7.95) Again, the presentation is gorgeous and the filling was creamy with the tartness of the lime which you would expect.

When you're visiting the Panama City Beach area, venture off Front Beach Road.....you'll be pleasantly surprised by the area restaurants which are only a few minutes drive away.

Dining Out - Buckhead/Atlanta, Georgia: Bistro Niko

While visiting Buckhead this past weekend, we chose Bistro Niko for our Sunday brunch destination.

Follow the link for much more information about the restaurant and menus!
https://www.buckheadrestaurants.com/bistro-niko

Bistro Niko is definitely a fine dining establishment which transports you to Paris as soon as you walk through the door. We were warmly greeted by our host and were promptly seated for our 11 a.m. reservation. 

The tables were neatly set with white bistro serving pieces and red and white striped table runners.  The jazz trio added so much to the atmosphere!

The high ceilings have amazing architecture.

Our server, Turner, was amazing. He offered excellent suggestions to all of our inquiries. He was definitely one of those perfect servers who takes care of you without hovering and somehow appears magically at the exact time you realize you need something.

Before we started our meal, we were treated to this visual display that immediately had our mouths watering.

Beautiful oysters on ice from several different locations.

 Baskets of bread and cured meats.

And more cured meat on the slicer ready to be sliced and served!

As you will see from the photos, the presentation of the food is amazing. We eat first with our eyes and I was very impressed with the attention to detail of the plating.

We began our brunch with an assortment of three French cheeses (Gruyere, Brie and Bucherondin), toasted bread (with raisins and nuts), crushed pistachios, and spiced apples. ($12.00) The cheese placed on a bite of this bread (or the bread in the following photo), topped with a little of the spiced apples and a sprinkling of the nuts....Oh, it was a heavenly bite!

And a loaf of delicious French bread with butter.

I ordered the quiche with a choice of frites or a salad. I should have ordered both, but I decided on the frites. They were room temperature at best and I should have followed my first instinct and chosen the salad. The bottom crust was a tad over baked for my taste, but the filling of ham, gruyere, leeks and mushrooms was divine. ($15.00)

Sweet Harold can NEVER pass up an opportunity for a great ham and cheese.  So, of course, he immediately chose the Croque Madame complete with an over easy egg.  ($16.00) The ratio of ham and cheese was equally proportioned. And those potatoes? Yes, they are Duck Fat Fried Potatoes.  Yes, they were very delicious and perfectly fried.

Dining Companion #1 had never tried pork belly prepared with a mustard crust. ($14.00)  It was also prepared with a fried egg and crisped duck potatoes. He was pleased with his meal and the few bites I begged from his plate suited me to a T.  I would order this in a heartbeat. The greens were an added bonus mixed in with the sauce.

Dining Companion #2 stayed true to her Scandinavian roots with the Norwegian eggs. ($17.00) Two poached eggs layered on top of potato pancakes with smoked salmon, then covered with a dill Hollandaise and topped with crispy onions. The side of haricot verts added a lovely spot of color on the plate.

And the came the desserts.......

The crème brûlée ($8.00) was soft and creamy on the inside as it should be and the caramel crust was perfectly browned to have that "crunch" everyone listens for as your spoon breaks through for that first bite!

I chose the profiteroles. ($8.00)  Choux pastry, layered with vanilla ice cream, and topped with bitter chocolate sauce and almonds. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds!

Sweet Harold loves dark chocolate. No, I mean he LOVES dark chocolate. He chose the flourless chocolate cake ($9.00) Rich. So very, very rich. Even after sharing with everyone at the table there were several bites left. That's a shame.

And how about some spirits?

Three Harvey Wallbangers for the table ($9.00)  Vodka, orange juice, galliano

And one mimosa ($10.00)

A delightful meal, time spent with good friends in an elegant atmosphere. Seriously, what more could you want?