The recipe was inspired by Only Burger's Morning Burger (pictured left). It was shared courtesy of John T. Edge's "The Truck Food Cookbook: 150 Recipes and Ramblings from America's Best Restaurant on Wheels." Edge will be at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 20.
I had a Q&A with Edge published in this morning's paper.
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I wrote a story that will appear in Wednesday's food section about refrigerator and freezer jams, salsas and pickles. While we share a beautiful shot of strawberry freezer jam, I didn't include a recipe in the package because strawberry season has ended here. So here's the recipe to stash away for next spring's strawberry season or to try if the strawberries at the grocery store insprire you.
Strawberry Freezer Jam
2 cups crushed strawberries
4 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 pouch fruit pectin
3/4 cup water
TRIM and mash strawberries in a large bowl. Measure out two cups of crushed strawberries, add sugar and lemon juice. Stir together. Let sit 10 minutes.
COMBINE pectin and water in small saucepan. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Stir constantly.
POUR pectin over fruit and stir for three minutes.
LADLE into freezer-safe jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Close lids. Let sit in refrigerator for 24 hours before freezing.
Yield: 5 pints.
Do you think you have the best barbecue sauce in the Carolinas? Well, prove it!
Enter our barbecue sauce recipe contest. You win $100 and bragging rights.
Go HERE for details on how to enter.
Elizabeth Caldwell of Zebulon won 7 blue ribbons in this year's N.C. State Fair cooking competitions, along with 2 red ribbons and 1 white. (See list of entries below). She was kind enough to share two of her blue ribbon recipes with us here.
The first is a pound cake recipe handed down from her mother. This year is the first time she entered the recipe. The second is a "Baby Ruth" candy recipe she entered this year for the third time. "Baby Ruth" won nothing the first year, 3rd place the second year, and 1st place this year.
Click below for recipes.
Over the last couple of weeks, I've "bought" nine jars of peanut butter.
OK, I'm using the verb "bought" loosely. I actually got all nine jars free when Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods put Planters peanut butter on sale for $1.50 at the same time a .75/1 coupon was issued by the manufacturer. With double coupons at both stores, that equals FREE peanut butter.
It's a coupon clipper's dream when sales and cents-off coupons align so perfectly.
But what to do with all that peanut butter?
Last Thursday, I judged the peach recipe contest at the N.C. State Farmers Market as part of Peach Day. I wanted to share the winnning recipes.
Jessica Phillips of Raleigh placed first with her Peachy Cheesecake Cupcakes and secured a $75 prize. And in the children's category, 9-year-old Evan Farris of Apex placed first with a Summer Peach Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, winning $25.. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. (Below is a photo of Farris' winning peach cake.)
Click READ MORE to see the recipes.
Here is chef John Fleer's Sweet Tea Fried Chicken recipe, as it appeared in "Fried Chicken: An American Story," by John T. Edge.
This is what Kathleen Purvis, the Charlotte Observer food editor, had to say about this recipe: "We didn't believe his claim that this chicken is actually better cold than hot - until we tried it. And we agree: This is great cold fried chicken, perfect for a picnic. It's elaborate, but if you've got the time, it's worth it."
Click READ MORE to see the recipe.
I have been putting off attempting chef Bill Smith's honeysuckle sorbet ever since I saw the recipe in his book, "Seasoned in the South," several years ago. Even though the instructions are simple, I was convinced that there was some special magic to it; that even my best efforts would fall flat. I was wrong. It's really rather simple. And you should try before all the honeysuckle blossoms are gone. I'll share the recipe below. Or get to Crook's Corner before the honeysuckle blossoms falter, and you can order some there. And if you missed my recent story about Crook's Corner winning The America's Classics award from the James Beard Foundation, go HERE to read it.
Smith's only word of advice: make sure there is no green leaves in the mix or it will taint your syrup. (I have a photo below showing how much honeysuckle I picked. My only advice: only pick the blossoms that taste good.)
Crook's Corner Honeysuckle Sorbet
4 cups, tightly packed but not smashed honeysuckle flowers, leaves and stems discarded
5 1/3 cups cool water
1 1/3 cups water
2 cups sugar
Few drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice
Speck of cinnamon
PLACE blossoms in a nonreactive bowl, glass or stainless steel, and cover with cool water. Weigh down with a plate. Let them stand on the counter overnight.
MAKE a syrup out of sugar and water: boil together in a small saucepan until all the sugar is dissolved and it begins to look lustrous and slightly thick, 3 to 5 minutes. Add lemon juice to prevent sugar from recystallizzing. Cool syrup completely. Strain honeysuckle infusion, gently pressing the blossoms so as not to waste any of your efforts. Combine the two liquids and add the merest dusting of cinnamon. Churn in an ice cream maker, per instructions. This does not keep for more than a week or two.
Yield: 2 quarts
I don't think this took me more than 20 minutes to pick.
Corn is on sale at Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods this week. It's not local but it does put you in the mood for summer. (And if you go to Lowes to buy the corn, pick up a dozen Eggland's Best Eggs for $1.79, use the 35 cent coupon and get a dozen eggs for $1.10, which is a very good price.)
I used to spurn corn custard until I ate it at a food writing conference at the Greenbrier many years ago. That corn custard was a revelation. When I'm in search of a vegetable recipe, I often pull down my copy of "Vegetable Love," by Barbara Kafka with Christopher Styler. This is a recipe that could make a nice entrée with a fresh green salad or a lovely side dish for pork tenderloin or steaks. And it only costs 95 cents per person if you are serving four people an entree. Enjoy!
Click READ MORE to see the entire recipe and cost breakdown.
I've been intrigued by this cooking technique since I heard about it on one of the radio cooking shows, likely The Splendid Table, but I'm not sure. You roast your meat on a rack above a baking dish. The juices drip down on the vegetables below, seasoning them for you. It sounds delicious and easy. This recipe for Easy Roasted Chicken Breasts with Root Vegetables calls for split chicken breasts, which are often on sale and this week cost 97 cents a pound at the Harris Teeter. This dish costs $2.37 per serving.
This recipe comes from the editors of Cook's Illustrated: "The Best One-Dish Suppers." I'm also giving away a copy of this cookbook. You know the drill, leave a comment below this post before noon Friday, May 13th. I'll chose a winner at random. Make sure the email associated with your N&O userid is valid or you could lose out.
Click READ MORE to see the recipe and cost breakdown.
