We celebrated Mardis Gras at the Inn last  Saturday night. What a fun event this is. Guests arrive for our theme weekend with masks, beads & funky hats. My husband Lindy makes sure we have music to accompany the weekend from zydeco to Harry Connick Jr.  We deck out Club Sugar Shack with all kinds of Mardis Gras regalia to create a fun & festive feeling for the party that will follow a great dinner.

This year, I decided to veer from my tried & true recipes from Gourmet , & try a few new ones. Our dinner  menu this year was a fabulous Shrimp & Andouille sausage melange served atop a mound of creamy cheddar grits. To accompany it, braised collards with bacon, brown sugar, onions & Worcestershire , came together with a splash of red wine vinegar.

A basket of freshly fried

hushpuppies, with bits of red peppers , were placed on dining tables for guests to enjoy. Biting into the crispy crust & cheesy cornmeal interiors , one had to restrain from eating them all . Remember, sharing is a nice thing to do!

The one recipe I did prepare, that is always a favorite for this menu is sweet potato pie. A dollop of sweetened cream & a good cup of coffee & we were ready to head over to club Sugar shack to dance away the night.

Smoky Southern Collards

3 Tbs vegetable oil

4 strips of bacon, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 large onion, halved & thinly sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 ~ 21/1 lbs of fresh collard greens, rinsed & chopped, center vein(stalk removed)

1 ham hock

1 tsp salt

2 beef bouillion cubes

3 Tbs light brown sugar

3 Tbs BBQ sauce

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

several dashes of hot pepper sauce

1 Tbs red wine vinegar or balsamic

Heat oil in a large heavy bottom soup pot.Add bacon & cook until lightly browned. Add onion & garlic & cook until softened about 5 minutes.

Add collards & just enough water to cover the greens. Add ham hock, salt & bring to boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.

Add bouillion to the pot & stir until dissolved.Then add brown sugar, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce & hot pepper sauce. Stir, then simmer for 2 ~ 3 hours uncovered. Add additional water, 1/2 cup at a time, if necessary to keep greens stewing but not drowning.

About 15 minutes before serving, remove hock & add vinegar. You may pass more vinegar at the table if you wish. Makes 6 servings

Shrimp  & Andouille Sausage with Cheddar Cheese Grits

2 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 cup finely chopped onion

1/2 cup green pepper, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 cans (15 oz) diced tomatoes with their juices

1/2 cup chicken stock

salt & pepper

3/4 lb shrimp, peeled & deveined

2 andouille sausages, cut in half length wise, then cut in 1 inch thickness

2 Tbs chopped parsley & 2 Tbs scallion, thinly sliced

For shrimp: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add bacon & cook until crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Add onion & pepper to bacon drippings in skillet & cook until soft. Add garlic & cook 1 more minute. Add tomatoes & stock & bring to a boil. Lower heat & simmer 5 minutes. Add sausage & cook 5 more minutes. Add salt & pepper. Add shrimp , cover 7 cook until shrimp are cooked through, 4 ~ 5 minutes. Add hot sauce & parsley., & stir.

For grits:

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 1/2 cups chicken stock

3/4 tsp. salt

1 cup quick cooking grits

2 Tbs unsalted butter, in several pieces

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

freshly ground pepper

chopped scallions

Heat milk & stock in a large nonstick saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add grits, stirring constantly, about 10 minutes, until mixture thickens. Add butter, stir, & add cheese, 1 cup at a time. Cook until grits are thick but not runny. If too thick, add milk a Tbs at a time. Add chopped scallions & black pepper.

Makes 6~8 servings.

Beer-Cheese Hush Puppies

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 cup white flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 Tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 oz. cheddar or Monterey jack cheese

1/3 cup minced yellow onion

1/3 cup red pepper

1 egg, slightly beaten

2/3 cup light lager

Vegetable oil for deep fat frying

In a medium bowl mix cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar & salt. Add cheese, onion, & red pepper, toss to combine. Make a well in center of flour mixture. In another bowl mix egg & beer. Add at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened.

In a large vessel, I use my wok, heat oil to 375. For each hush puppy, drop 1 rounded Tbsp. I use a small ice cream scoop. Fry 3 ~ 4 at a time until golden brown, turning once. Drain on paper towels. I hold them in a low oven while the remaining hush puppies fry up. Serve them up with some pepper jelly. In case you are wondering , 128 calories per. Oh my, you do the math!

 

 

 

Every weekend, I prepare dinner for our inn guests. Unlike most restaurants, I create a new menu each weekend. Most of my dinners include a special salad.   This weekend I made a romaine salad, which included Compari  tomatoes, Swiss cheese, maple bacon,& toasted almonds. A light lemon vinaigrette with garlic, pulled the whole salad together. All of my guests asked for the recipe . So here it is for all to enjoy.

Company Salad

3/4 cup vegetable oil. I used avocado oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tsp salt & pepper

2 bunches or romaine

2 cups of diced tomatoes

6 strips of maple bacon, cooked z& crumbled

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

1 cup croutons( make homemade)

Prepare the dressing in a jar, shake & refrigerate.

Tear romaine into a large bowl. Add tomatoes, bacon, cheeses, almonds & croutons. Toss . Add dressing just before serving.

Serves 8 ~ 10.

I followed the salad with a Shrimp & Andouille Sausage served over cheddar grits. A great comfort food dinner.

Every January, Abbott’s Glen hosts a sleigh ride weekend at Adams Farm in Dover Vermont. Our guests join us for an iconic winter experience. We dine earlier in the evening so we can reach the mountain for an 8:00 departure. A team of 2 draft horses ascend the mountain pulling 20 blanket covered guests over the snow covered meadows under a sparkling winter night sky. Once at the cabin, we unload to let let the horses rest awhile. We are greeted by a member of the Adams family who offers up some hot chocolate .The cabin is lit by kerosene lamps. A wood stove for heat & an old player piano allow for some ole time entertainment & warmth.

I always plan an easy home style meal that echoes a country feeling.  So a home made chicken pot pie seemed like a perfect fit. We started the meal with a spinach salad with sliced pink lady apples, thinly sliced red onion, & salted pumpkin seeds. It was offered with blue cheese & a home made honey Dijon dressing.

The chicken pot pie with a cheddar biscuit topping  was satisfying and delicious. Most of our guests had as second helping and everyone asked for the recipe.

When we returned from mountain , we served a platter of golden cupcakes with a chocolate ganache , topped with fresh sugared orange peel. Coffee & a warm fire was all the guests needed to rev them up for the from the remaining night of dancing in Club Sugar Shack.

Winter in Vermont can be long. Often there are many  gray days in a row.  It’s easy to feel a little blue & lethargic. My remedy for the blues? Head into the kitchen & bake something comforting. Chocolate usually does the trick.

I found this decadent  brownie pie recipe in Ken Hadricks’ cookbook  appropriately titled” Comfort Food”. I have been using a lot of his recipes this January.   I have prepared several pots of soup, many 1 pan main dishes, & a few desserts. This brownie pie may become a favorite. I chose to top with a peppermint gelato and my  guests loved it. Sweetened whipped cream would also be terrific.

 

Brownie Pie

1  9 inch pie crust, unbaked

1/2 cup ( 1 stick) unsalted butter

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup white sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup white flour

1/2 tsp. salt

Optional: 1 cup toasted pecans or walnuts

• Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 cup of chocolate chips & heat for a few minutes more, then remove from heat. Stir until chips are melted.
• In a large bowl, combine eggs,sugars & vanilla & whisk until evenly blended.Add melted chocolate & stir. Add flour & salt & blend. Add remaining chips & nuts. Scrape the filling into unbaked pie shell & smooth top.
• Bake  for 30 ~ 35 minutes. Do not test with a tooth pick in middle as it should be fudgy.
• Serve warm with Ice cream or whipped cream. Serves 8 ~ 12
• Note: this is very rich so smaller pie wedges will still satisfy that chocolate urge.

This past weekend Abbotts Glen celebrated Mardis Gras. Warm enough to enjoy the clothing optional aspect of our inn, guests adorned themselves with colorful beads, funky hats of gold & purple, and lots & lots of multi color beads.

Our Saturday planned celebration got underway on Friday evening with a casual dinner consisting of a white bean chili, salad of romaine, orange segments & avocado, homemade cornbread served with a crock of sweet aguave butter.

The Mardis Gras celebration dinner was the early highlight of the night. We prepared the best pot of gumbo ever! The recipe is one I had collected from an issue of Cooks magazine. The perfect roux created a great base for this savory melange of vegetables, meats & fish. Guests ladled big portions of gumbo onto a base of

white rice. A basket of perfectly fried hush puppies accompanied the dinner. Now no Nawlins dinner is complete with out collards. Ours was prepared with red onions sauteed in bacon, braised & finished with red wine vinegar & a touch of brown sugar.

Even guests who had never eaten collards were won over by its silky texture & sweet onion bacon flavors.

In years past, I had baked up a sweet potato pie or a bread pudding with a Bourbon sauce, but this year we shifted gears & decided to make a traditional Kings  Cake recipe. A  sweet yeast dough laced with cinnamon & sugar would be as at home in a breakfast line up as an after dinner sweet. Its traditional adornment is rustic sugar colored green, gold & purple. Served with a good cup of coffee, our Mardis Gras revelers were ready to dance it up in Club Sugar shack, bearing strands of colorful beads & masks & hats of every shape & color reflective of Mardis Gras .