Pecan Brandy Cookies

Pecan Brandy Cookies

     Over the holidays this year I invented the “six days of cookies.”  The name is self-explanatory – each day Sophie and I made a different type of cookie.  Easy right?  Well not really.  Our first cookie from “Tasteofhome Cookies” was a total disaster.  If you have the magazine don’t bother with the “tender Italian sugar cookies,” they were tasteless even with doubling the vanilla (actually I think I tripled it) and they were anything but tender (very dry and floury).  The only way we sort of saved them was by dipping them in mint chocolate.  I was so spooked by our first attempt that I chucked the magazine in the bin and went back to my tried and true books; Cookies by Nick Malgieri, my ages old Betty Crocker’s Christmas book, and Martha Stewart’s Holiday Handbook.  So while the holidays are over and the cookies are gone the recipes are here…finally.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons brandy

2 ¼  cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus 2 tablespoons

1 ¼ cup finely chopped pecans

½  cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for rolling

¼  teaspoon salt

     Cream butter and honey until fluffy in a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle

attachment.  In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Add brandy,

and beat to combine.  Whisk flour, pecans, confectioners' sugar, and salt together in a

medium bowl.  Add to butter/brandy mixture and beat to combine.  If dough is too soft,

refrigerate for 30 minutes.

      Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.

  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Roll dough into balls using 1-tablespoon

measure or small ice cream scoop.  Place on baking sheets 2 inches apart. Bake until just

browning about the edges about brown 12 to 13 minutes.  Be careful not to burn the

bottoms.  Cool completely on wire racks.  Roll cookies in confectioners' sugar to coat.

Store in an airtight container. 

  It’s All Delicious Notes:  This cookie melted in your mouth and would be a perfect

 treat for Easter as well!  Adapted from Martha’s recipe for Noel Nut Balls.

Lowcountry Seafood Chowder

 

When I order seafood chowder, I have certain expectations.  I expect it to be creamy, chunky and for a few key ingredients to be in the bowl like: potatoes and fish especially if it’s inferred in the title.  Each time I dip my spoon into the bowl I like to see and taste a little bit of every ingredient including, that’s right, fish.  Not just all potatoes or carrots, or more potatoes.  Fish is key, in fact there almost can’t be too much fish in my opinion but there certainly can be too many potatoes!  This recipe is chocked full of fish, it’s creamy, chunky and there’s only one potato – which is plenty!

Serves 8-10

Ingredients

8 oz bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 cup celery, finely chopped

1 cup fennel, finely chopped

1 cup carrots, finely chopped

1 large baking russet potato (think Mr. Potato Head), peeled and diced

¼ cup flour

Cayenne pepper

1 cup white wine

Fresh thyme sprigs

28 oz can chopped tomatoes

2 cups clam juice

5 cups vegetable or fish stock

1 cup whipping cream

3 1/2 lbs assorted raw fish/shellfish (shrimp, scallops, haddock, monkfish, cod, clams, etc)

Canola oil

Tabasco sauce (optional)

Clean, peel and devein shrimp.  Cut all fish into bite-sized pieces, set aside.

Heat a little oil in a large heavy bottomed pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add bacon and cook until browned, remove with a slotted spoon, set aside.  Drain all but four tablespoons of bacon fat from pan.  Add onion, celery, fennel, carrots and potatoes, season with cayenne pepper.  Cook until vegetables are softened and potatoes are almost done, about 15 minutes.  Stir in flour, cook for a few more minutes stirring to prevent sticking and burning.  Add wine, stir then add a few thyme sprigs, clam juice, stock and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil.  Add the fish, reduce heat and simmer until the fish is almost cooked through.  Remove thyme sprigs (if you feel like it), add cream and bacon to pan.  Stir and continue cooking until chowder thickens.  Serve and season with Tabasco sauce if desired.

Buttermilk Biscuits - Better Homes and Gardens

I’ve had a “history” with making biscuits that were cute little golden rocks.  Hard and dry enough to chip a tooth if you could gnaw your way through them!  I finally got it right back in February with my Blue Cheese Biscuits but, still the light flakey good ole plain southern biscuit eluded my repertoire.  Well not anymore…I went back to the basics, pulled out my Better Homes and Gardens bible and voila – a lovely flakey golden perfect round biscuit that melts in your mouth and doesn’t threaten your dental work.  Some things are tried and true and best to be kept simple.  Thank you America’s #1 Cookbook since 1930.

Makes 12-14

Ingredients

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup butter

1 ¼ cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  “Cut” in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the mixture resembles crumbs.  Make a well in the center and add the buttermilk.  Stir with a spatula or fork until combined.  Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, kneed and fold until the dough holds together (do not over work).  Pat into a round about ¾ inch thick.  Cut out dough using a 2 ¾ inch round cookie cutter dipped in flour and place on ungreased baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. 

Apple Pie Pillow Puffs

These pillow puffs are just the cutest little things to make!  They’re perfect to whip up if your short on time but longing for an apple pie.  Cooking the apples for about 15 minutes or so before hand makes certain the apples are tender, not too mushy and the pastry has a chance to brown, not burn.  Using the pre-made pastry cuts down on the prep time so these can be whipped up in about 45 minutes…tops!

Ingredients

Makes 5 pluse a few more little ones

4 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and diced

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 tablespoons butter

2 nine inch ready made pie crusts

cold water, a few tablespoons

Confectioner’s sugar

Special equipment:  4 ¼ inch round cookie cutter

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Melt the butter in a medium sized skillet.  Add the apples, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.  Cook over medium heat until the apples are very tender but not mushy (you don’t want applesauce!).

Un-roll crusts on a floured surface, cut out ten “pillows” using the cookie cutter, place five  on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Spoon apples on to  “pillows.” 

Roll out the remaining five “pillows” so they are slightly larger than the bases.  Brush a little water around the edges of the “pillow” bases.  Top with remaining pastry and use a fork to crimp down the edges of each “pillow.”  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the “pillows” are golden brown.  Cool then sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.  Serve with ice cream!!!

It’s All Delicious notes:  I used my ravioli cutter and made little apple squares with the scraps of pastry.  They were so cute too! 

Pecan Praline Cake from the Charleston Cake Lady

I do believe I have found one of the best cake recipes – EVER!  I came across an out of print book called Special Recipes From The Charleston Cake Lady by Teresa Pregnall.  Sadly Mrs. Pregnall passed away in 2008 but her recipes live on.  They’re old-fashioned and remind me of my Great Grandmother Florence’s original (typed on a Royal typewriter) recipe book I treasure.  Anyway, the Pecan Praline Cake is not only dead easy to make, it received high marks from all the household critics here.  Make it once, and you’ll make it again, and again.  It will be one of your “go to” cakes and will now be included in our list of favorite family recipes – it’s that good!

For the cake:

2 cups flour

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup buttermilk

½  cup butter

2 cups light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

Cooking spray

For the frosting:

¾  cup butter, melted

1 ½  cup dark brown sugar, packed

½ cup whipping cream

2 cups pecans, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Grease a 13x9 inch pan with cooking spray.

Whisk flour, cocoa, and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Melt butter into buttermilk in the microwave or on very low heat in a small saucepan.  Let cool slightly.  Beat eggs, sugar and buttermilk in a large bowl on low speed until combined, about 2 minutes.  Add flour mixture and vanilla, beat until batter is smooth.  Pour into prepared pan and spread batter to corners using a spatula.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until a tester comes out clean.  Let cool about 10 minutes.

To frost the cake:

Preheat broiler.  Lower the oven rack.  Stir melted butter, dark brown sugar, whipping cream and pecans together in a medium bowl.  Spread frosting over warm cake and broil.  “Cook” no more than 5 minutes just enough to allow the frosting to bubble – check often to prevent burning!

Frosting before sticking it under the broiler 

It’s All Delicious Notes:  sorry the pictures aren’t better – but the cake was gone before I could get an individual shot!

Fettuccine with Butter Beans and Pancetta

Oh, how I love fresh butter beans, or lima beans, or baby lima beans.  The Southern culinary jury seems to be in slight disagreement as to what makes a baby lima bean a butter bean and a butter bean a lima bean.  Some say it’s the way you cook the bean that makes it buttery.  Others say it’s an interchangeable term.  Either way I don’t particularly care, in fact, they’re called runner beans in the UK just to add to the confusion.  Thing is, they’re good when they’re fresh and these were fresh.  I picked them up from a wonderful roadside farmer’s market in Cayce, SC.  I decided to take the traditional idea of cooking them with a ham hock, but dressed it up using pancetta and turned it into a main course rather than a side dish (just forget the pasta and turn it back into a side dish if you want!).  And for the record, I think the taste of the bean is decidedly buttery so in my book, that’s why they’re called butter beans!

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

1 lb fresh butter beans, shelled and picked through

1 lb fettuccini

2 large shallots, sliced thin

32 oz chicken stock

4oz diced pancetta

8 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

3 tablespoons flat leaf Italian parsley, chopped

Red pepper flakes

Grated peel of 1 lemon

Olive oil

Cook beans and half the shallots in stock over medium heat in a large saucepan for 15-20 minutes until tender (not mushy) in side.  Drain beans and reserve cooking liquid, set aside.  In the same saucepan, sauté pancetta and remaining shallots, and red pepper flakes in a little olive oil until the pancetta is crispy.  Using a slotted spoon, remove and set aside.  Return cooking liquid to pan, bring to boil add fettuccini and cook until al dente. Lower head, add beans and pancetta – heat through, sprinkle cheese, parsley and lemon peel over pasta, stir to combine and serve.

Roasted Pumpkin or Butternut Squash Risotto

Well peeling, seeding and dicing a pumpkin isn’t the easiest thing to do.  In fact it’s a slippery, messy, time consuming process and frankly I don’t think I’ll ever do it again.  There’s a bunch of recipes out there that call for peeled, seeded and cubed pumpkin or squash and now I understand why.  A squash is a whole lot easier to handle than a gourd-like pumpkin.  I’m not going to pretend, while this was delicious and (the texture of the pumpkin was firmer than a squash) next time I think I’ll stick with a butternut squash and leave the pumpkin for carving.  Oh, and there’s absolutely no way I would puree a fresh pumpkin for pie or cheesecake.  I’ll just open up a can and be done with it…thank you very much…and sorry to all the pumpkin purists out there!

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appitizer 

Ingredients

1 small “pie” pumpkin about 2 ½ lbs, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch cubes (or 1 2lb butternut squash – if you want to save yourself a bunch of hassle!)

Cumin

Light brown sugar

Olive oil

1 large shallot, minced

1 cup Arborio rice

½ cup white wine

2-3 cups chicken stock

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Spread pumpkin cubes out on a large baking tray lined with parchment paper.  Drizzle with olive oil, and then sprinkle with cumin and brown sugar.  Roasted for 15 minutes, until tender.  Set aside.

Sauté shallots in a large saucepan until softened over medium heat.  Stir in rice and cook for a few minutes to “toast” the grains.  Add wine and cook until reduced.  Slowly add stock and stir until the rice absorbs the liquid.  Add additional stock as needed until the rice grains are tender outside, and firm inside (al dente).  Add pumpkin, and stir in Parmesan cheese.  The risotto should be on the creamy side, not dry.  This should all take about 15 minutes.  

Slow Cooked Melt In Your Mouth BBQ Pulled Pork

 

Well, I'm not a born and bred Southerner but I know one thing.  No BBQ is complete without pulled pork.  It's a perfect party food. 

 I'll be honest, when I first saw this on a menu I turned my nose up at it but after tasting this soppy, sloppy delicious mess I couldn't wait to make it.  BBQ pulled pork is on the "crowd favorite" list at home.

It's easy and makes a hearty meal for the masses at a reasonable price. So break out your slow cooker turn it on and forget it. Roasting works well too, just cover it tightly, cook it all day or really slowly over night. You can’t cook this too long, just think slow and low. If you don't feel like making your own BBQ sauce, just use your favorite from the supermarket.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

3.5 lb bone in Boston butt

2-3 cups apple cider

1 bottle of beer

2 bay leaves

2 cloves of garlic left whole

A few whole peppercorns

1 medium onion peeled and quartered

Canola oil

Meat Rub

1 teaspoon each:

Cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, marjoram,

½ teaspoon each:

White pepper, garlic powder

Salt to taste 

BBQ Sauce

Makes about 5 cups

1 28oz can crushed or pureed tomatoes

1 cup Worcestershire sauce

1-cup molasses

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup brown sugar

1 6oz can tomato paste

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

Simmer the above ingredients in a medium sized heavy saucepan on low until the sauce thickens. At least 2 hours. Sauce will keep in fridge for a few weeks.

For the pork:

Season meat with rub – Leave to marinate for at least an hour or in a plastic bag refrigerated over night.

Pour enough oil to coat the bottom of a large skillet. Brown pork on all sides over medium heat. Transfer pork to the slow cooker. Pour in the apple juice and beer; add peppercorns, bay, cloves and onion. Cover then let the slow cooking begin. Cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Remove pork from slow cooker and discard the cooking liquid. Shred pork using two large forks, mix in BBQ sauce to taste, return to slow cooker and keep warm until ready to serve.

Chocolate and Vanilla Tiramisu

I love tiramisu!  It’s one of my most favorite desserts.  I always order it when I see it on a menu and you know something?  Eight out of ten times I’m disappointed!  Yup, that’s right.  I take my first bite and wonder…where’s the mascarpone?  It’s easy to tell when “they” substitute a bunch of whipped cream for mascarpone cheese.  The texture isn’t the same.  I’m not saying it tastes awful; it’s just not tiramisu.  It’s coffee soaked ladyfingers layered in whipped cream.  That’s NOT tiramisu, but this recipe is with a little chocolate twist. 

6 egg yolks

16oz mascarpone cheese

7 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon, plus 1-teaspoon vanilla

¼ coco powder

¼ heavy cream

1 cup espresso or strong coffee, cooled

2 teaspoons dark rum

1 24-package Italian ladyfingers (savoiardi biscuits)

Mix coffee and rum together in a small shallow bowl or dish.  Set aside.  Beat 3 yolks with 2 tablespoons of sugar until thick and pale using an electric mixer in a medium bowl.  Add 8 ounces of mascarpone and 1 tablespoon of vanilla, continue beating until smooth. Set aside.  Clean beaters.  Beat the remaining 3 yolks with 5 tablespoons of sugar until thick and pale.  Add remaining 8 ounces of mascarpone, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, coco powder, and cream, beating until smooth.  Set aside.

Assemble tiramisu in a 9x12 (approx) baking dish by dipping each biscuit quickly into the coffee (no more then a few seconds or the biscuit will fall apart).  Lay 12 biscuits on the bottom the dish side by side (it’s okay to break them if they don’t fit).  Spread the chocolate mixture over the biscuits.  Arrange another layer of soaked biscuits on top of the mixture, then spread the vanilla mascarpone over.  Cover with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge for a couple of hours.  Before serving dust top of tiramisu with coco powder.

It’s All Delicious Note:  When I made this and snapped the picture, I reversed the chocolate and vanilla layers then soon decided the vanilla would look better on top!  

Lowcountry dinner with a twist

Shrimp and Pancetta Spoonbread

A Roasted Lowcountry Boil

and

Creamy Peach Pie

Check out my latest article in Monthly!  Traditional Lowcountry ingredients, not so traditional recipes...

http://hiltonheadmonthly.com/dining/recipes/77-recepies/1995-lowcountry-eating-with-a-twist

Coconut Banana Cupcakes with Chocolate Mascarpone Cream Cheese Frosting

I know right?  More bananas hanging out on the kitchen counter. 

I started talking and threatening myself the other day “No more bananas for ‘these people’ around here.  No one ever eats them, all they do is turn brown.” 

And then I realized the banana conspiracy that’s been transpiring.  ‘Those people’ are doing this on purpose.  I buy bananas at the beginning of the week.  There’s usually about three left towards the end of the week (that magic mashed cup) that have started to turn brown, so come Saturday morning I’m having my banana stare down wondering what to make. 

Then Sunday arrives, the house is full for “Sunday lunch” which usually is “Sunday early dinner” and the banana-whatever-I’d-made has been devoured.  Ha, I’m on to all of you now!  So there!!

Makes 18 large cupcakes

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:

½ cup butter

1 ½ cups sugar

2 eggs

2 ¼ cups flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1-teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

3 ripe bananas, mashed about 1 cup

1 ¼ cup flaked sweetened coconut

2 teaspoons vanilla

¾ cup sour cream

For the Icing:

1 stick butter, room temperature

6 oz Mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese)

1/3 cup cocoa powder

1-cup confectioner’s sugar

1-teaspoon vanilla

For the cupcakes:

Pre heat oven to 350°F.  Let eggs and butter stand at room temperature for ½ hour.  Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl, set aside.  Mix bananas and coconut together in a small bowl, set aside. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a flat paddle beat butter on high speed for one minute.  Reduce speed to medium, add sugar ½ cup at a time.  Beat for 5-8 minutes until light and fluffy.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Scrape side of bowl frequently.  Reduce speed to low, add vanilla.  Keeping the speed on low, alternate adding the bananas in two batches, then flour, then sour cream.   Mix until just combined and smooth.  Fill lined pan with a scant ½ cup of batter.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Let cupcakes cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

To make the icing:

Whisk the confectioner’s sugar and cocoa powder together in a small bowl

Beat mascarpone, butter and vanilla together in a medium bowl on medium speed until smooth using a hand mixer. Reduce speed to low and add sugar mixture in stages (so you don’t have a sugar cloud in the kitchen).  Continue beating until combined and fluffy.

Eggless Banana Cake - disaster averted!

I did a stupid thing the other day – I forgot the eggs in my banana cake. Then I did a brilliant thing the other day – I forgot the eggs in my banana cake!  Okay, not brilliant but disaster averted.  I couldn’t believe it.  The cake was moist and delicious.

I can’t really explain this baking phenomenon even after consulting my Bakewise book by Shirley O Corriher. The only thing I can come up with is that I used a strong all-purpose flour (King Arthur Unbleached) and I mixed the bananas really well with the butter before hand so there ended up being more banana than butter – sort of.

  Then when I added the flour and sour cream the gluten had a chance to form and “stick” the cake together.

 That’s what I came up with but don’t hold me to it.  All I know is that it worked, now I’m not going to make a practice of “forgetting” my eggs – but as I said, disaster did not prevail.  So for all you out there who may be allergic to eggs…you can still have your cake and eat it too!

Ingredients

Makes 1 Bundt cake – serving 1 or 12- depending if you share

1-cup butter (2 sticks)

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

3 ripe bananas – mashed to smithereens

1-cup sour cream (only Daisy in this kitchen)

3 cups flour

½ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 cups sugar

Pre-heat oven to 325°F.

Let butter, eggs, and sour cream stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.  Grease and lightly flour one Bundt cake pan.  In a medium bowl, whisk 3 cups of flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Set aside. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a flat paddle beat butter on high speed for one minute.  Reduce speed to medium, add sugar ½ cup at a time.  Beat for 5-8 minutes until light and fluffy – don’t skimp on the time!

Reduce speed to low. Add vanilla and bananas, beating until well incorporated.  Scrap the side of mixing bowl frequently.  Keeping the speed on low, alternate, adding the flour mixture and sour cream to bowl.  Mix until just combined and smooth.  Spoon into prepared pan, smooth and bake for 60 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.  Let cool on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan.  There you have it – an eggless banana cake!!

Pad Thai - what took me so long?

 

I was always a little scared of making Pad Thai – never thought I could duplicate that kind of sweet kind of tart sauce especially with the absence of tamarind paste here on the Island (heck I had a bit of a struggle finding thick rice noodles – I mean come on local grocery store peeps! I can overlook tamarind paste but thick rice noodles?  Thank you Fresh Market for coming through on that front). 

Really, when it comes down to it, Pad Thai is just a stir fry with rice noodles, eggs, fish sauce, tamarind paste, red pepper flakes, bean sprouts, cabbage, shredded carrots -always something crunchy, also a combo of shrimp and or chicken, or tofu, then garnished with chopped peanuts, coriander and lime.  Easy right?  Well yes it is.  Especially when you watch the calming influence of Mark Bittman in his Minimalist webcast.  He whips this up in less than five minutes, with the most difficult thing being the shopping. 

But what about the sauce?  Well come to find out if you mix lime juice with a little brown sugar you get something pretty similar to tamarind-ish so my fears have been put to bed. I’ve made this two nights in a row!  The first time with just chicken (Soph, my daughter, doesn’t like tofu).  Then the next time with chicken, shrimp and tofu (Soph had gone back to University - big sd face but still thriled for her). 

So here you have it…Pad Thai.  One tip from Mark – don’t replace the fish sauce with soy if you do you’ll change a Southeast Asian dish to a Chinese stir fry.  Also, Mark’s so right – this is much better and fresher tasting than anything a take out will get you! 

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

1/4-cup fish sauce

1/3-cup honey

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

2 tablespoons lime juice

1-tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 bunch cup chopped green onions, white and light green parts

1 garlic clove, minced

2 eggs, slightly beaten

½ large head of Napa cabbage, shredded

5oz fresh mung bean sprouts

1 cup shredded carrots

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, slicked thinly into 1 inch strips

8oz Pad Thai rice stick noodles (the thicker ones)

Peanut oil for frying

1/2 cup roasted unsalted peanuts, chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 lime cut into wedges

Whisk honey, vinegar, red pepper flakes, limejuice and sugar together in a small saucepan; bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.

Place noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water.  Let sit for 5 minutes until tender not mushy.  Drain and toss with a few tablespoons of peanut oil to prevent from sticking.

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or wok over medium- high heat.  Add garlic and green onions.  Cook for a minute, add eggs and scramble them until slightly under done.  Add cabbage, carrots, and bean sprouts continue cooking until cabbage starts to wilt, then add chicken.

When chicken turns opaque add drained noodles and sauce.  Toss to coat, continue cooking until chicken is done and noodles are warmed through.   Squeeze a little limejuice over Pad Thai, then garnish with peanuts and cilantro.  Serve at once.

Adapted from:  The Minimalist – Pad Thai, an Easy Stir-Fry by Mark Bittman

Hilton Head Monthly's Eating Well - Cheeseburgers in Paradise

Photography by Rob Kaufman

Chee-burger, chee-burger, chee-burger...I ate my way through 14 different Island burger joints from the greasy spoon to the lap of luxury on the Island and came up with the top five.  Check out my picks for the Island's best burgers in Hilton Head Monthly's August issue.

Great Grandma Florence's Molasses Baked Beans and Terri's Potato Salad

There are certain things that are absolutely de rigueur when it comes to a BBQ around here.  The first thing is my grandmother’s molasses baked beans.  The second is my friend Terri’s potato salad (with her secret ingredient). 

The main courses can change.  I’ll throw anything on the grill; fillet mignon, salmon, grouper, chicken, sausages even a whole turkey (that takes hours over indirect heat) you name it and I’ll find a method to grill it. But there would be an uproar if these two sides were not included on the menu. 

Molasses Baked Beans

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

1 16oz can each of:

     Red kidney beans

     White kidney beans – Cannellini beans

     Black beans

1 medium onion, diced

½ cup molasses

½ cup Worcester sauce

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon mustard

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 tablespoon smoked paprika

1 6oz can tomato paste

6 strips of smoky bacon cut into 1 inch pieces

Preheat oven to 325F.

Drain and rinse beans, set aside.  Whisk the molasses, Worcester sauce, sugar, mustard vinegar, tomato paste and paprika together in a medium bowl.  Set aside.

Add beans, bacon and onion to a large ovenproof dish; stir to combine being careful not to break up beans.  Pour molasses mixture over beans, stir to combine.  Cover dish with foil and place on a baking tray to catch any drips.  Bake beans for 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until tender when pierced with a fork.   

Potato Salad – With Terri’s Secret Ingredient

I love this potato salad especially with the addition of my friend Terri’s secret ingredient...pickles!  It’s the southern way just like her Momma used to make.  Perfect for a traditional American BBQ.

Ingredients

Serves 6-8

1-½ lbs new potatoes

1 red pepper, roasted

3 eggs, hard-boiled

1 bunch green onions

7 bread and butter pickles

1-tablespoon pickle juice

1-cup mayonnaise

Paprika

Boil potatoes until tender.  Cool and cut in half.  Dice the red pepper and slice the green onions.  Peel and chop the eggs.  Dice the pickles.  Throw it all together in a large bowl, mix in the mayonnaise and pickle juice then sprinkle with paprika.  Refrigerate until ready to serve

It’s All Delicious notes:  These recipes can easily be doubled, tripled, quadrupled or quintupled.