Sea Island Georgia Bacon Cornbread Muffins

                                                         

 Am I a true Southern cook? Sweet Cornbread vs. Old Fashioned Southern Corn Bread and Molasses.

 Sea Island Georgia Bacon Cornbread Muffins

My parent's were confused by my existence. I look just like my father and my mom remembers my birth fondly so they new I was one of theirs but they always wondered about my southern heritage. I do not like iced tea, tomatoes were so so (until I discovered summertime homegrown tomatoes) and I still prefer Pepsi over Coke...obviously the biggest puzzle as I am an Atlanta born girl, hometown to Coca Cola.

My grandmother and mother both made skillet cornbread in a great  big black iron skillet seasoned for generations with bacon and fatback, Crisco and butter. There was nary a crystal of sugar in the cornbread. They served it with molasses and butter. My sister still remembers the cornbread fondly. I remember a sour brick.

I would not touch it. Mom would finally bring out the maple syrup just for me and I would drench the wedge into a soggy sponge-like concoction until I felt it was palatable enough to eat.

In a tasting among friends, I won the cornbread test. Our business, Comfort Food...Instead of Flowers, always offers  a moist, light, slightly sweet cornbread mini-loaf with honey butter as a side to either soups, salads or entrees. It is a winner and we have sold it separately to clients for them to store in their freezer.

But, my all time favorite cornbread muffin recipe is from The Cloisters in Sea Island, Georgia. They have served these for generations and even with their upscale renovations they continue to serve these sweet muffins, full of bacon and butter in their five-star restaurants.  We will begin to offer these miniature muffins in our Sweets and Such section of the menu but if you feel the need to bake here is the recipe. Enjoy!

SEA ISLAND RESORT’S BACON CORNBREAD MUFFINS

Yield: 24 muffins

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1/4 cup (2 to 3 strips) cooked crumbled bacon

1 (14-3/4 ounces) can creamed corn

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1-1/2 cups yellow cornmeal

1-1/4 cups bread flour

3 tablespoons baking powder

1-1/2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons milk

Shortening to grease muffin cups

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Refrigerate batter in a covered container for at least 24 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400°F.  Generously grease 24 (2-1/2 inch) muffin cups. Spoon batter into cups and bake until muffins are set and golden brown, about 18 minutes. Serve muffins while they are warm.

Princess Pamela's Soul Food Cookbook; Peach Cobbler

Princess Pamela's Peach Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream

One of our staple desserts in the summer is Princess Pamela's Peach Cobbler. Princess Pamela was southern born and raised. She migrated to New York and eventually started a small restaurant on E. 1st. Street. You were not allowed through the door without a harsh interview to see if you were worthy of her food and her company.  Famous people passed through her door such as Princess Radziwell, the Rothschilds, Gloria Steinman, Tom Wolfe and many many more. She cooked, sang and entertained and her words of wisdom are priceless which are quoted throughout the cookbook. When published the book sold for  .95 cents. Today the book is hard to locate but a pristine copy will sell for over $100.00.

Our mother always used this book's recipe for the best and easiest peach cobbler I have ever tasted and that is why I purchased this book, just for the peach cobbler...Chefs can add this and that to tweak recipes but for good, old fashioned perfection you should stick with pure basics and this is the basic southern cooking I was brought up on and loved. The book disappeared when our mother passed on. Had my sister and I known its value (sentimental not monetary...although I am surprised how much this little paperback cost!) we would not have let this copy slip through our fingers. Apparently she also used many recipes from the "Princess" and we have really enjoyed just reading through this book. We no longer use Crisco or fat back and never fry foods but just reading this book brought back Sunday after church dinner memories and family mealtime. I will use some of these recipes again and introduce my daughters and their families to my own memory meals and I won't skip all the butter or cream or the ham bone. We moved to California when I was five and my mom picked up cooking all the wonderfully unique and ethnic dishes from the West Coast and although these are also memorable meals and fun times I suppose roots are roots and southern style cooking still brings a smile to my dining.

Five Ideas for Foxfield Tailgates

For me, April in Charlottesville brings to mind three things: blooming dogwoods, my Kwanzan cherry trees and Foxfield Races.  Over the past 20 years, I've hosted many celebrations on race day, from a family tailgate to a 150+ person brunch for my daughter's sorority.  I thought I'd share a few of my best ideas for a Foxfield feast...

1. Rosemary & Parmesan Biscuits:  These go well with a glass of wine and good company.

2. Comfort Food Virginia Ham Biscuits: When you put honey butter, mildly salted country ham and flaky biscuits all together, how can you go wrong?

3. Tarragon Chicken Salad: Step your tailgate up a bit with a beautiful and gourmet chicken salad. Full of apples, toasted pecans and crisp chopped celery. Serve with a glass of sauvignon balnc and you are off to the races. Or our Chicken salad with dill and lemon has a very fresh flavor and can be used as a salad or on sandwiches such as a croissant or french bread with buttery lettuce.

4. Home-made Cookies: Our cookies have traveled with our customers all over the country! From New England to California. Buttery and crisp oatmeal raisin cookies vs. our Really, really (!), good chocolate chip cookies is a toss up, but our new cookie,white chocolate chunk and macadamia cookie, is in the race for favorites. We do not use imitation white chocolate chips. These have large chunks of white chocolate and macadamia nuts in a buttery cookie. Crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. Yum!

5. Citrus Iced Tea: For a refreshing and different taste from plain iced tea, we suggest our citrus iced tea (not on our menu but available upon request). Sun brewed tea with orange juice and lemon.

Thanks to everyone for the wonderful feedback on our new menu!  For those on our mailing list, you should should have recieved it by now, and if you haven't please shoot us an email at comfortfoodinsteadofflowers@gmail.com

The Versatility of a Quiche!

Our children talked Susan and I into making our Chicken, Apple & Cheddar Quiche today.  You might not think of these flavors when you think about quiche...but it's delicious.  We borrowed this recipe from our dear friend, the talented caterer Kay Sands.

The wonderful thing about this dish (especially as a gift) is that it's so versatile - a fit for breakfast, lunch or even dinner.  We place this particular dish in the Breakfast and Brunch section of our Spring Menu, paired with brown sugar and pepper bacon, blueberry muffins and fresh O.J.  However, to make a complete dinner just add a fresh greens salad, crusty bread and a glass of white wine!

Alternative to Rice: Trader Joe's Harvest Blend Grains

Susan and I are still down in Coastal Georgia trying out new recipes. We're feasting on the wonderful local Southern comfort food in this area - lots of fried shrimp, oysters po' boys, cornbread muffins and collared greens.  However, after many meals of deep-fried this and that, we were craving something diferent. 


Susan saw this recipe for roasted cauliflower and tomatoes and just had to try it!



 The secret to this dish was the grains. Instead of rice or couscous, we served this dish atop Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend, a blend of Israeli style couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans and red quinoa.  Its nutty flavor and unique texture was a perfect complement to the savory roasted cauliflower and tomatoes.

We served this all vegetarian dish for our children and grandchildren who were visiting.  Though its healthy and all-vegetarian (not typical of our traditional menu items) our babies and grandbabies couldn't get enough!

Gazpacho...bread or no bread?

Hello on a rainy day in Sea Island, Georgia.  With rain keeping us away from the beach, Susan and I are testing out and refreshing some of our upcoming summer menu items starting with....Gazpacho.

Susan and I rarely disagree.  However when it comes to our Gazpacho recipe, we part ways.  The ingredient at the heart of our disagreement is bread. Our traditional staple Gazpacho recipe that is found on our spring and summer menus is a heart-healthy, farm-fresh, all veggie chilled Gazpacho.  I vote "yum".  That said, some recipes call for bread.  Today, we tested out a new recipe which is similar to ours except for the addition of one cup of white bread crumbs that goes into the blender with the diced red bell peppers, tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, olive oil, red wine vinegar, tomato juice, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Garnished with cucumbers and red peppers, here's the final product:






As you can see, adding white bread thickens the texture and changes the color to a creamy pink.  Susan finds the addition of bread creates a more satisfying and complete meal. I find it too dense and less refreshing.

Let us know what you think!!

Welcome to our blog!

Hi! I’m Trish Burton.  My sister Susan Hazelrig and I are the founders of a local business in Charlottesville, Virginia called Comfort Food…Instead of Flowers (“Comfort Food”, for short).  You might call what we do “catering” but that doesn’t really fit.  We create custom, home-cooked meals that our clients can send as gifts to those in need of comfort in lieu of flowers.  Sometimes our clients serve our Comfort Food to their own families when they just don’t have time to prepare a meal! We focus on seasonal recipes, fresh ingredients and beautiful presentation.

The purpose of the blog is to take you behind the scenes of what we do at Comfort Food.  We’ll share pictures, stories, recipes and invite you in on the debates we have in pursuit of the best Comfort Food recipes.  I promise you, with two Southern women in the kitchen (especially sisters!), there’s never a dull moment!

Lots of folks ask us how we got started.  Well, Comfort Food traces its roots to our elegant Southern mother who loved to cook and entertain.  Mother was a graceful hostess and always clever and creative in the kitchen, whether it was preparing our weekly Sunday roast or whipping up lunch with a bare fridge (ever had a pineapple, cheese and mayonnaise sandwich?? Yum, believe me.)  Mother wasn’t the only chef in our family though; Daddy took over the kitchen on Saturday mornings making a full breakfast…sausage, cheese grits, corn beef hash, pancakes.  The bottom line… for me, Susan and our brother Cal, Southern comfort food has always been a way of life.

Before we teamed up, Susan and I pursued our passion for comfort food independently.  I took after my mother, and became a casual, self-trained ”Entertainer”.   From small parties of eight to large events of 100+ people, cooking and entertaining for friends and family was my passion for 30 years.  Susan, on the other hand, made a career out of cooking.  While raising her family in California, Louisiana and Northern Virginia, Susan ran her own professional catering company and taught cooking lessons.  Like me, Susan loves entertaining for small groups and large crowds, however the lifestyle of a caterer (weekends and late nights!) was not for her long term.

We got the idea to start Comfort Food together in 2010 when a family member was very ill.  Susan and I saw firsthand that home-cooked meals brought by friends were the best and sometimes only comfort for someone who is ill or recovering.  Fast forward three years, and here we are.
I sincerely hope you’ll enjoy the blog! We love hearing from friends, family and clients so please send us feedback and ideas. Thank you for reading!

Love, Trish