The table is set, anticipation and appetites run high and the room is filled with intoxicating aromas and the elixir of good cheer. We’re still warming up for the big feasts soon to come, taking a little time to revisit some favorite dishes in Charleston, SC, New Orleans and Lynchburg, Tennessee. And the wine this week is bound to be unforgettable.
Charleston Sweet Potato Biscuits
Charleston Grill
Ingredients:
2 cups All-purpose flour
3 tbs. Brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
1 tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Baking soda
6 tbs. Unsalted butter, cold and cubed
1 cup Sweet potato puree
½ cup Buttermilk
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients together. Cut in butter with a fork until it resembles coarse crumbs.
In a small bowl, mix wet ingredients together. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead 4-5 times. Pat dough into a disk about 1-inch thick. Cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Roll dough one more time and repeat. Recipe should yield 8-10 biscuits.
To help the biscuits rise, place them as close together as you can. Cook for 10-15 minutes until golden brown. Rotate once while cooking.
When fully cooked, brush each biscuit with melted butter and serve.
Galatoire’s Oyster & Artichoke Soup
Ingredients:
2 large artichokes
Enough salted water to boil
Artichokes
5 cups water (for soup)
15 oysters, in their water
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons butter
4 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Directions:
Boil the artichokes in salted water for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then peel the outer leaves, reserving a few to scrape the more tender part from. Also reserve hearts and bottoms, removing the pulp from the bottoms. Cut bottoms and hearts into thin slices. Put aside.
In a pot, place 5 cups of water and 15 oysters in their own water. Add bay leaves. Bring to a boil.
In a separate pot melt the butter and saute the chopped green onions until tender. Add the minced garlic. Add flour; blend well, using a wire whisk. Pour in the stock containing the oysters. Continue stirring with a whisk until the soup thickens.
Remove three oysters, chop fine and return to the soup. Add the sliced artichoke bottoms and hearts. Season with thyme, salt and pepper. Add the lemon juice and parsley. Simmer for 10 minutes and serve.
Makes 6
Apple Whiskey Galette
Lynne Tolley, Lynchburg, Tennessee
Ingredients:
1/3 cup Jack Daniel Whiskey
3 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
3 medium apples, peeled & cored
1 role refrigerated pie crust pastry
Egg wash & turbinado sugar for finishing (regular sugar may be substituted)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small pot, bring the whiskey to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce until there is about 2 Tbsp of liquid remaining. Stir in butter until melted.
3. In a small bowl, whisk brown sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon to combine. Stir this into the whiskey-butter mixture and let cool completely.
4. Cut the apples into quarters. Carefully slice each apple quarter into this slices, doing your best to keep the section together at one end while you slice (this makes it easier to fan the apples later).
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to ¼” thick. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet.
6. Fan the apples out and place them randomly across the dough, leaving about 1 ½” of uncovered dough all around the edge.
7. Fold the sides of the dough over the apples going all the way around taking tucks. Pinch a little bit at the edges to make sure they are secure. This will hold the syrup in.
8. Carefully spoon the whiskey syrup mixture over the apples evenly. Egg wash the edges of the dough and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
9. Bake the galette until the crust is golden brown and the apples are tender, 20 to 28 minutes. Cool before serving.
Egg wash-a beaten egg with 1 tsp water beaten in to help browning. Brush on with pastry brush.
Sir Verde’s Wine Suggestion: St. Supéry 2018 Virtú, a distinguished white wine from a top Napa winery.
Stay safe. Bonne dégustation. Love one another.