Shad Roe Southern-Style for Springtime #LetsLunch

What I was looking for was rhubarb, that rusty-red oddball harbinger of spring here in North Carolina. Planted in big patches out by the pathway to the summertime garden, rhubarb stalks poke up early and beckon cooks to make pies as a farewell to winter and “y’all come on in!” to the blossoming sunshine season sometime between mid-March and mid-April. Not this early, however, not even at my local Whole Foods where fresh rhubarb shows up around this time of year.

Meandering past the fish and seafood counter at my local Whole Foods, I spied a Southern springtime specialty which had not even crossed my mind: shad roe. The biggest member of the herring family, shad (Alosa sapidissima) are anadromus, like salmon, sturgeon, smelt, and striped bass: born in fresh water, they swim downriver to live in the ocean until time to spawn. Then they migrate back upriver during their spawning season, which in the case of American shad, is spring. Treasured by native Americans, shad has been valued both as a tasty (albeit very bony) fish and as the source of shad roe, which are pan sauteed, simmered in cream, and scrambled with eggs among other preparations. They grow to about 2 pounds/24 inches, and live for about 5 years in the wild.

Though I’m a North Carolinian born and raised, and though my fascination with and affection for traditional old-time foods in general and Southern heirlooms in particular, I neither knew about nor tasted shad roe until last year at Crook’s Corner,  where my friend Bill Smith puts it on his menu each spring

American Shad (Illustration from collection of the US Fish and Wildlife Service)

But there it was, carefully arranged on ice in a row of  flame-red glistening lobes, beautifully accented with slices of lime. The nice young man who helped me recommended pan frying it with bacon and serving it with grits. The words ‘bacon’ and ‘grits’ gave me the green light to  make the leap from sweet to savory, from rhubarb to shad. Heading to my Southern food bookshelves, I found abundant information on shad, from  John Martin Taylor (Hoppin’ John’s Lowcountry Cooking); John Egerton (Southern Food); Jean Anderson (A Love Affair with Southern Cooking); Damon Lee Fowler (Classical Southern Cooking); and Eugene Walter (Time-Life Foods of the World: The American South). My friend Bill Smith’s book “Seasoned In the South” contained a recipe as well. I’m sure there’s more, but by that time I was ripe and ready to get this beautiful and beloved food to the stove and the table.

It was a matter of frying up some bacon (or side meat or pancetta) and keeping the grease hot grease for cooking onions and the shad roe in the rich salty gifts left in the skillet.Cooking a pot of grits, which takes about 30 to 35 minutes — good to start the grits and let them simmer and soften up while you cook the bacon, onions and shad. These lovely grits were on the shelf in the same grocery store, in a charming cloth sack with recipes on the back….Note the big nubby texture and colorful nature of good old time grits. Such a pleasure to cook and to eat. I plan to try the shrimp and grits recipe right on the bag….

While the grits were cooking, I fried the bacon and then the sliced purple onion in the same grease. Once the grits were done, I covered them and set them on the back burner while I finished up the shad roe.

Here’s my one ‘set’ of shad roe, a pair, which I gently separated just before cooking, and dredged lightly in flour. The flour was absorbed by the time I got them into the pan. They need gentle handling, but not too a wildly fussy degree. I let them get nice and brown before turning, as you want to minimize turns. Here below is my finished dish. Very hearty and very satisfying. All the recipes I saw recommended big portions for each person — to me, this is more of a go-with, Asian style. Half a set with lots of grits onion and bacon was plenty for me. I wouldn’t mind some scrambled eggs on the side, matter of fact.

Bill Smith’s Shad Roe with Red Onion, Bacon, and Grits

I’ve adapted Bill’s recipe, from Seasoned in the South, here, using bacon instead of side meat or pancetta, and trading in the lovely wilted salad  he includes in his recipe for good ol’ grits, which I had on hand and longed to sample in the classic (fried fish or seafood + grits) combination. I loved it — rustic, homey, a little bit wild. If you love liver pudding/liver mush, ultra aromatic and blue-veined cheeses, and durian, as I do, you are a good candidate for shad roe fan-dom. Shad roe shares the texture of grits, making the pairing especially pleasing. While this Southern treasure shows up in spring, it seems to me a rustic, hearty, basso bye-bye from wintertime, unlike asparagus, rhubarb, lamb and other standard primavera pleasures. I had only one pair/set of shad roe, so the portion above has a more modest serving of grits and onions than this recipe.

4 pairs (or sets) of shad roe

Ice water

(Cooked grits, to serve 4 people, hot and ready to serve)

1/2 pound side meat, pancetta or bacon

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 medium-sized red onion, peeled and cut into strips. (about 2 cups)

1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley

4 tablespoons lemon juice, plus chunks of lemon for garnish and extra seasoning

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Rinse the pairs, also known as ‘sets’, of shad roe gently. Place them in ice water to firm them up. (They are encased in a membrane that you want to leave intact, but sometimes there are extraneous veins and connective tissue that you should try to carefully remove. In a large skillet, cook the bacon, or dice and render the side meat. Remove the cooked bacon or side meat to a plate. Make sure the grease is still nice and hot, and add the thinly sliced purple onion. Cook, turning and tossing often, until the onions are softened, shiny, and fragrant. Add the parsley and toss well. Transfer onions to the plate alongside the bacon, and set aside.

To cook the shad roe: Heat the bacon grease in the same skillet over medium-high heat. (If using side meat and it seems a little skimpy, you may augment it with butter or oil. Mix together the flour and salt. Prick the shad roe a few times on both side with a straight pin. (I Nancie did not do this. No pin handy, plus I plumb forgot. No problem ensued.) Dredge the shad roe sets in the flour and shake off the excess. Fry in the grease, turning once, carefully, about 3 to 4 minutes on the first side and 2 or 3 minutes on the second side. They will brown a little. Be careful because sometimes they will pop, especially toward the end of cooking. When they are hot through, remove from heat.

Pour a generous portion of the grits onto a serving platter, or into a large serving bowl. Place the shad roe on the grits. Break or crumble the bacon into nice chunky pieces. Arrange the crumbled bacon and the purple onions alongside the shad roe on the grits. Squeeze lemon juice over the shad roe, and garnish with additional lemon chunks if you have them. Serve hot.

Serves 4

#Let’s Lunch is a worldwide-web-based circle of food writers who blog about a theme each month. This month the theme is Daffodils and other (edible) signs of spring. Grab a plate and go see what my friends in the #LetsLunch circle have served up on their various blogs for your reading/cooking/eating/dreaming pleasure:

Don’t forget to check out other Let’s Lunchers’ daffodil/spring/life dishes below! And if you’d like to join Let’s Lunch, go to Twitter and post a message with the hashtag #Letslunch — or, post a comment below.

Annabelle‘s Red Pepper and Eggplant Confit at Glass of Fancy

Anne Marie‘s Zihuatanejo (Or Veal Shank Redemption Sammy) at Sandwich Surprise

Cheryl’s Singaporean Barley Water at A Tiger In the Kitchen

Grace‘s Meyer Lemon and Mandarin Citrus Bundt Cake at HapaMama

Karen‘s Wasabi Tuna Steak at GeoFooding

Linda‘s Brassica Fried Rice at Spicebox Travels

Lisa‘s Salad of Chargrilled Sourdough, Tomato and Haloumi Cheese at Monday Morning Cooking Club

Lucy‘s Carrot Souffle at A Cook and Her Books

Monica‘s Roses and Eggplant at A Life of Spice

Rebecca‘s Goat Cheese Panna Cotta with Mango Foam at Grongar Blog

 And leave me a comment on what spring means for you in the kitchen and at the table. If spring gives you ideas and inspirations for food and cooking, leave me a note about that  in the comments. 

New Beginnings: DIY Lemongrass for #LetsLunch

Vietnamese-style chicken with lemongrass (Recipe below)

I fell in love with lemongrass early on, during my three years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand. These elegant, slender and sturdy stalks of a tropical grass provide a distinctive and delicate flavor to Southeast Asian soups, stews, curries, and other dishes, in kitchens from Indonesia to Thailand and from Vietnam to Burma. My introduction to this fragrant and delicately citrus-y herb was a Thai classic: Shrimp and Lemongrass Soup. This dish gives the subtle herb a place of honor amongst the fire of chilies and the bright tang of wild lime leaves and lime juice.

Thailand, lemongrass tends to be a homegrown herb, though it is also available in most any market. While it’s much easier to find here in the USA nowadays than it was in the 1980′s, when I came home hungry for Thai food and eager to cook it, I still love growing it each year. The plant has deep beauty, and an even more powerful flavor when homegrown.

A good bunch of fresh lemongrass from Whole Foods in Chapel Hill, NC

#LetsLunch, a community of food bloggers who post on a chosen theme each month, picked “New Beginnings” as our January theme. I struggled to think of a subject, since I have been on this planet and cooking for a very long time, and I couldn’t think of a New Dish nor a New Cuisine that made sense. While gazing at the Christmas tree across the family room from my sink where I was doing dishes, I suddenly noticed my jar of lemongrass stalks, rooting away for my summertime cooking pleasure. A new beginning! In fact the climate here is mild enough that my lemongrass patch and pots could conceivably winter over; but I take pleasure in starting a whole new batch each year. The results are lovely and fresh, and I cherish the magic of creating an entirely new patch of this ethereal and lovely herb from ‘mother’ stalks I buy in the dead of winter.

Starting with trimmed stalks in a jar of water on your kitchen counter, you should have roots within a few weeks. By the time you are ready to consider setting it outside without concern over frost, your rooting stalks should be ready to plant in dirt. Here’s a look at a small batch of lemongrass stalks which I trimmed and put into water for rooting early in December.

Lemongrass stalks I’ve been rooting for several weeks.

Abundant roots, almost ready for planting in dirt

Those rooted stalks, removed from their jar of water to give you a closer look. Their color changes from dull green or yellow, to bright vibrant green, as they begin to put out roots. Your homegrown lemongrass will be deeper in color and flavor, and less woody in texture, than what we can find in the store. Still tough and fibrous—-lemongrass is never tender and pleasing to eat directly, unless it is sliced paperthin. But the level of flavor will increase tremendously, compared to what we can buy from mainstream sources.

Usually I trim stalks shorter than these, but for this batch, I left them long.

Lemongrass I purchased today, ready for trimming. The butter knife gives you an idea how big the stalks are.

I’ve trimmed the bases, and then cut each stalk down to about the length of the knife handle. I pulled away and discarded several layers of dry, flavorless outer leaves.

Here are trimmed stalks in water, ready for rooting. I’ll change the water every few days, to keep it clear and fresh. New leaves will poke out of the cut edges as the roots begin to grow.

That’s how to get your lemongrass garden, patch, or pot started. I’ll post again in a few weeks, when my new batch is ready for planting.

Inspiration here, for you lemongrass fans who wonder what the real thing looks like. Taken in Thailand in my town, Thatoom, this past summer, when I went out for an early morning stroll. Keep in mind: what you grow here will not match this glorious aabundance. Mine doesn’t get this wonderful — Lemongrass is happier in Thailand’s tropical paradise than it is here in North Carolina. But this patch serves a community of cooks and I easily grow more than I need each year. Lemongrass is happy here and does well, and I think you will love both growing it, and cooking with, later on in 2013.

Here’s my main lemongrass pot from 2012. I started with rooted stalks in the spring, March or April, and had plenty to cook with summer and fall. I left it outside as cold weather came on, and let it turn to dry, wintry straw. I will pull out and compost the dry stalky remains before beginning my 2013 pot outdoors, come spring.

My friends around the world have been posting #LetsLunch on our January theme: New Beginnings. Here are links to a lovely and inspiring array of recipes and commentary on our New Year theme. Thankful for our brilliant and generous #LetsLunch member, Pat Tanumijardja of The Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook, for orchestrating this month’s Lunch!

Enjoy this buffet of tasty _#LetsLunch Blogposts from my friends:

The Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook

@ediblewords

Pat Tanumijardja

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls

 ***

A Cook and Her Books 

@acookandherbook

Lucy Mercer

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

*** 

Eating My Words  

@jwlucasnc

Jill Warren Lucas

Heavenly Angel Food Cake

 ***

Food Nutzz…By Nature and Nurture

@foodnutzz

Sonja Bernyk

Fetta Varenyky

***

A Glass of Fancy

@Annabelle_GOF

Annabelle

Brown Butter Creamed Chard and Spinach

***

Hapa Mama 

@HapaMamaGrace

Grace Hwang Lynch

Homemade Matcha Green Tea Yogurt

***

Hot Curries and Cold Beer

@spicebites

Rashda Khan

Making Parathas with Mom

***

Monday Morning Cooking Club

@MMCCchickie

Lisa Goldberg

Da Bombe Alaska

***

Spice Box Travels

@spiceboxtravels

Linda Shiue

Caribbean Style Black-Eyed Peas

*************

RECIPE TIME!

**************

Lemongrass Chicken, Vietnamese-Style 

Here’s my recipe for lemongrass chicken. It’s a simple, Vietnamese-inspired stir-fry to enjoy with rice or noodles as part of an Asian style meal, or with grits, couscous, tortillas or biscuits. Make it with 2 or 3 spoonsful of crushed chilies if you love the edible heat. While the New Beginning theme for this post inspired me to present my newly-begun lemongrass and how to grow your own batch, that doesn’t mean that you need to wait for your lemongrass to root, thrive, and be harvest-ready to make this dish. It’s wonderful with storebought lemongrass, which I buy and use often. Happy cooking!

 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, or chicken breast

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoons Asian fish sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 chopped fresh lemongrass (about 3 stalks, see Note)

1/4 cup chopped shallots or onion

1/3 cup chicken broth or water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon crushed dried red chili flakes

3 tablespoons chopped green onions

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

In a medium bowl, combine the chicken, soy sauce, and garlic, and stir to mix everything well. Set aside for 20 to 30 minutes (or cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day).In a small bowl, combine the Asian fish sauce, sugar, and salt, and stir well. In a blender or a small food processor, combine the lemongrass, shallots, and chicken broth or water. Blend to a fairly smooth puree, stopping to scrape down the sides and grind up any signifgant chunks of lemongrass.

Heat a large, deep skillet or a wok over high heat until very hot. Add oil and swirl to coat the pan. When a bit of green onion sizzles at once, scatter in the chicken and spread it out into a single layer. Let it cook for about 1 minute, until browned on one side and fragrant. Toss well and let cook until browned, about 1 minute more.

Add the lemongrass puree and toss well. Add the fish sauce mixture, toss well, and then cook, tossing occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through. Add the chili flakes and the green onions and toss well. Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with cilantro, and serve hot or warm. Serves 4 with rice and another vegetable dish or salad.

Note:

To prepare lemongrass, trim away the woody bottom end of 3 lemongrass stalks, to make a smooth base just under the bulge of the bulb. Cut away the grassy top portion, leaving a base about three inches long. Halve each stalk lengthwise, and then cut them very thinly crosswise into tiny pieces. Tumble the bits together, and then remove and discard any pieces which don’t have a purple tinge. (Purple color = flavor and aroma in lemongrass). You’ll need about 1/4 cup.

This recipe comes from Quick and Easy Vietnamese: 70 Everyday Recipes, by Nancie McDermott (Chronicle Books, 2006). Copyright @Nancie McDermott. All rights reserved.

Summer Farmer’s Market Vegetable Plate “Nicoise” with Spoonbread for #LetsLunch

Farmers’ markets make me happy, always, anywhere, anytime of the year. They inspire cooks, attract all kinds of people, delight children, and decorate the world with produce, flowers, jams and hand-crafted many-things. One of the fine farmers’ markets which are local for lucky me here in NC is the Carrboro Farmers’ Market, whose tagline “Locally grown, nationally known” is apt. They sell on both Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings this time of year, and they keep going Saturdays all winterlong, albeit with a smaller presence during the months of cabbages and collards. Also handy for me are Chapel Hill Farmers’ Market, and the Durham Farmers Market, both open yearround, as well as the South Durham Farmers’ Market, and the Pittsboro Farmers’ Market, both open April through November.

I kept thinking about peaches and blueberries, but before I made up my mind, I realized that my favorite farm-raised pleasure of summertime is a ripe, sweet gorgeous aromatic tomato. But the way I was raised, we don’t do too much to the tomatoes this time of year, beyond slicing them for eating with salt and pepper, or dealing them out on well mayonnaised- white bread for tomato sandwiches. So that’s not a recipe, nor, all by itself, a lunch. But that tomato, while not needing a recipe, anchors what I grew up loving about summer eating: the Southern vegetable plate. Not to give up or give up on meat, but to make time with the goodness from the garden, which next to everybody had. Corn, beans, squash, ‘cukes, ‘maters, okra, watermelons, canteloupes…..I’ll stop even though I’m not done.

Vegetable plates aren’t always vegetarian, as the green beans often got an assist in flavor and substance from a hunk of side meat or fatback. But the concept, based in joyful economy (no grocery bills) and flavor (can you spell ‘local’?)  of garden vegetables, simply prepared and laid out like a quilt on a big dinner plate made a feast, especially if cornbread or biscuits were along for the ride. So here’s my Southern summer vegetable plate, with sliced tomatoes, green beans and new potatoes cooked together, and hard-boiled eggs. I added in an herbed mayonnaise and some canned tuna packed in oil, as a little birthday wave and nod to Julia Child’s Salad Nicoise. Her 100th birthday is coming up August 15th. She lived into her 90′s and her presence anchors the culinary profession in powerful, precious and wise ways, to this day. With the tuna, the dressing, and the hard-boiled rather than deviled eggs, I took things in a Southern direction. For a fine salad Nicoise, visit “Simply Recipes” HERE, (and subscribe while you are there — a wonderful bountiful resource. For another recipe for salad Nicoise inspired by Julia Child, click HERE, from the blog “8.ate@eight”

Spoonbread is a somewhat fancy version of cornbread, although it is every bit as easy to make, and lovely with almost any main course or meal. Its texture varies, from a soft custard to a sturdy pudding to a very moist bread. Cornbread can be as simple as cornmeal, salt and water, while spoonbread adds in eggs and milk or buttermilk, and leavening to lift it up into a rustic demi-souffle, one whose ‘poouf’ deflates quickly with no loss at all. I adore it, and usually make it in a cast iron skillet, but this recipe called for a 7-inch wide dish. Searching my cabinets for a 7-inch baking dish, I grinned when I found this white ceramic French-style ramekin. It allowed my spoonbread to become another small nod to Julia Child on her coming birthday.

Let’s Lunch on a Farmers’ Market Vegetable Plate “Nicoise” with Herb Mayonnaise and Spoonbread

Sliced Tomatoes

(I blanch them to remove skins; if that’s too fussy, just slice ‘em and go)

Green Beans and New Potatoes

(Boil till tender in salted water, leaving small potatoes whole)

Hard-Boiled Eggs

(Cold water, to a boil, turn to low, 8 minutes, rinse and peel)

Tuna packed in oil

(Hated it as a kid; love it now. Stock up — uber-good pantry presence)

Herb Mayonnaise

(1/2 cup mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons each of minced green onion and fresh herbs)

Spoonbread

(recipe below)

Spoonbread

This recipe comes from a package of Moss’ Plain White Fine Ground Corn Meal, which is located in Kittrell, North Carolina.

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1 cup corn meal

1 egg

1 teaspoon lard (I used butter, which I had handy)

1 cup sour or buttermilk

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

Pour boiling water over corn meal and butter, and then let cool. Beat in egg, milk, soda and salt. Pour batter into hot greased 7 inch baking dish. Bake at 400degrees F for 35 to 40 minutes. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. Serves 4 to 6

For a bountiful supply of superb and practical recipes for farmers’ market feasts all summer and throughout the year, get yourself a copy of this book:

The New Southern Garden Cookbook: Recipes for Enjoying the Best from Homegrown Gardens, Farmers’ Markets, Roadside Stands, and CSA Farm Boxes.This cookbook and reference guide by my good friend Sheri Castle delivers everything you need to make the most of the produce find throughout the year. Visit Sheri’s website HERE.  Learn about the book and/or buy book HERE.                    

Spoonbread is simple, satisfying, and goes with everything. It doesn’t usually come with breakfast but it sure goes with it.

I know you are still a little bit hungry, so here’s a buffet of posts by my fellow food bloggers & foodie friends,

who are lunching together on Farmers’ Market fare today and through the weekend.

I may add more so check back in a few days  if you’re looking for more FM inspiration

Cheryl’s Summer Mexican Chicken Stew at A Tiger in the Kitchen

Annabelle‘s Mixed Berry Shortcakes at Glass of Fancy

Charissa‘s Curried Roasted Cheddar Cheese Cauliflower Soup, Gluten-Free at Zest Bakery

Juliana‘s View from Les Halles Farmers Market at Chicken Scrawlings

Linda‘s Farmers’ Market Fruit Galette at Spicebox Travels

Linda‘s Zucchini or Cucumber Quick Pickles at Free Range Cookies

Lisa‘s Eveleigh Farmers’ Market (in Australia!) Winter Salad at Monday Morning Cooking Club

#Let’s Lunch: Thai Grilled Chicken Wings with Sweet Hot Garlic Sauce

On first hearing that our Let’s Lunch theme for July was ‘Barbecue’, I felt concerned, because I do not have a massive brick chimney with a big ol’ pit to hold massive portions of pork (either whole hog or pork shoulders) in proximity to glowing hickory wood coals for many hours, with a vinegar-kissed sauce of one persuasion or another anointing the meat throughout the process. My good friend Fred Thompson has written out everything I need to know to do a great home-version of this art and craft in his must-have book, Barbecue Nation: 350 Hot-Off-The-Grill, Tried-and-True Recipes from America’s Backyard. (page 120) But this is a very busy week, as I am leaving come Monday on a very special journey, about which I will tell you in a post later today. Suffice to say for now that major new cooking projects were not in the picture due to a travel-preparation to-do list that stretches from here to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I was concerned.

Then the invisible light-blub over my head glowed and made a little happy “pop”. That word ‘barbecue‘ can be a verb! It can mean ‘to cook something wonderful on a grill over low-and-slow or hot-and-wild heat of many and varied descriptions, for assorted amounts of time using an array of marinades, rubs and seasonings’. It can mean Thai-style grilled garlic chicken. It need not be pork, and it need not take a long (worthwhile but long) time.

To my delight, about the time I was focusing in on my post here, wonderful and generous friends invited us to come for a great big cookout on July 4th. Lots of folks were coming and lots of great food was in the offing. Barbecued ribs were already on the menu, and I offered to contribute chicken wings. My host made it even easier by buying and preparing the wings so that my task came down to making the marinade (see Recipe below) and the traditional dipping sauce with the perfect tangy heat for grilled dishes. (It’s in fact a dynamite good sauce, great with way more than grilled meats). Here are the two recipes I used. I’d love to hear what ‘barbecue’ means to you, so do weigh in on the comments form. In case you’d like to see the entire menu (I can’t stop looking at it and grinning with happy memories and gratitude to our hosts and fellow cooks), I’ll share photos at the end of this post, after the recipes.  AND I’ll be back shortly to add a round-up of LET’S LUNCH ! posts by my fellow food-bloggers around the web…

Nancie’s Grilled Garlic Chicken, Thai-Style

2 teaspoons whole white or black peppercorns

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro roots (or roots & stems)

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

About 3 pounds chicken thighs and legs

Old-School: Using a mortar and pestle, crush the peppercorns to a fine powder. Add the cilantro roots and pound and grind well. Add the garlic, salt, and sugar and continue pounding, grinding, and scraping, until you have a fairly smooth paste. Stir in the soy sauce to make a fairly smooth paste. Add a little water if needed to soften the mixture.

New School: Grind peppercorns, or use ground pepper (yes, that is just fine; no worries.)  In a blender or a small food processor, combine the pepper, cilantro roots or stems, garlic, salt, sugar, and soy sauce.  Grind it all up into a fairly smooth paste. Pulse to grind it evenly and stop to scrape the sides down as you go. Add water if needed to move the blades.

Combine the seasoning paste with chicken in a large bowl, and toss to combine everything well. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours, turning several times to season evenly. (Keeps well up to 12 hours, covered and refrigerated.)

To cook, prepare a grill. When hot enough to cook chicken, arrange chicken pieces over coals or heat and cook, turning often, until browned handsomely and cooked through. When chicken is done, transfer to a serving platter and serve hot or warm with Sweet-Hot Garlic Sauce and sticky rice

Copyright: Nancie McDermott, 2012. All rights reserved.

Nancie’s Sweet Hot Garlic Sauce

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup white vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce (tuong ot toi)

In a small, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, water, vinegar, garlic, and salt. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the liquid reduces slightly and thickens to a light syrup, 15 to 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the chili-garlic sauce. Set aside to cool.  Transfer to a jar, seal, and refrigerate for 2 to 3 days. Serve at room temperature. Makes about 1 1/4 cups.

Copyright: Nancie McDermott, 2012. All rights reserved.

I’m part of a monthly Twitter-party called #LetsLunch. To see posts by some of my fellow food bloggers from many kitchens near and far, check the hashtag on twitter, or start here, with posts already up for savoring:

My Kitchen and I: Steamed Buns with BBQ Pork

http://saucyskillet.blogspot.com/2012/07/steamed-buns-best-summer-bread-recipe.html?spref=tw

A Cook and Her Books: Barbecue Sauce and the Pig Hill of Fame

http://acookandherbooks.blogspot.com/2012/07/barbecue.html?spref=tw

Eat. My. Blog. : Homemade ketchup, relish, and mustard! BBQ Friendly Condiments for #letslunch

http://frybabyfry.blogspot.ca/2012/07/homemade-ketchup-relish-and-mustard-bbq.html

And now, a quick little tour of my July Fourth celebration, starting in the grocery store and ending with pound cake and ice cream. Sweet and good!

I knew this would be a stellar gathering when I found cilantro with roots attached at Whole Foods. You can make a great tasty version using chopped stems and leaves, but chopped up roots are the original ingredient and they make the quintessential version.

Asparagus spears wrapped in prosciutto, ready for roasting and then a sprinkling of lemon zest . Divine.

Summer rolls, Vietnamese-style. We got a production line going and turned out a slew of these. Perfect summertime party-picnic-quick supper food. One guest brought the asparagus and fantastic deviled eggs, and stepped up to rock the summer rolls-assembly line with skill and grace. Gold star cook!

Our wonderful host provided not just one version of pork ribs, but two versions. Hoisin on left, Dr. Pepper on right. Both were divine. I wish I had me a big ol’ mess of them right now.

Another guest brought this Asian-flavored slaw which was fantastic. I will be pursuing this recipe with dedication. Perfect barbecue companion and summer-go-to for keeping in the fridge.

Ditto for these two salads. Great fresh and ideal ‘keepers’: tomato watermelon with basil on the right; sweet potato with red onion to the back.

Perfect cookout companion by my lights: Not one but two kinds of rice! Calrose short-grain rice on the left; black sticky rice on the right.

Lemon ice cream (ethereally bright and fantastically pleasing) and pound cake. First pound cake this guest had ever made. Look at that texture! She nailed it. Made everybody happy.

That was our July Fourth celebration cookout. I hope you had a good mid-week holiday, and that summer brings you lots of good food and good times with good people.

#Let’sLunch! Sandra Gutierrez’s Chili-Cheese Biscuits with Avocado Butter

When I heard that #LetsLunch ‘s May theme would be cross-cultural culinary creations, I  beamed with delight, knowing exactly where to look. My dear friend Sandra Gutierrez’s excellent and powerful new cookbook compares and contrasts Southern and Latin American cuisines. With her deep roots in North Carolina as well as in Latin America, and her body of work as a food writer, editor, and cooking teacher, she brings insight, knowledge, and fantastically-good recipes to her book, The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes That Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America and the American South. I love these biscuits with Sandra’s plush, gorgeous avocado butter, which has a burst of oregano and sparkles with fresh lime juice. Since ’too much’ doesn’t apply when considering options for enjoying treats like this one, I set out a little chunky tomato salsa for color, contrast and delightfulness. (Sandra’s book offers her recipe for pico de gallo, a fine go-to fresh tomato relish perfect for the up-coming tomato season. For a brunch spread, I plan to cut this dough into smaller two-bite biscuits and fill each one with either country ham or pimento cheese, making a snazzy little meat/meatless hand-held item. I found the poblano chili pepper as well as the ancho chili powder in my local Food Lion supermarket, and loved the color and sizzle it added to these biscuits. When I was posting the photo of this excellent book’s cover, I realized that what you see here is the beautiful Sandra in her North Carolina kitchen, cutting out a batch of these very biscuits! You’ll love the photo of this recipe in her book, and I love knowing that Sandra styled and photographed all the recipes. It’s a fascinating read, a cultural and culinary resource, and an abundance of marvellous which illuminate what Latin cuisine is, what its key ingredients are and how to use them, and how to cook great food. Sandra’s reputation as a fantastic cooking teacher is well deserved, and her voice transfers beautifully to the pages of this book. For #Let’sLunch and for cooking pleasures at the intersection of Southern sensibilities and vibrant Latin American flavors, spend some time with Sandra Gutierrez at The New Southern-Latino Table.

Sandra Gutierrez’s Chile-Cheese Biscuits with Avocado Butter

From The New Southern-Latino Table: Recipes that Bring Together the Bold and Beloved Flavors of Latin America and the American South.  Copyright © 2011 by Sandra A. Gutierrez. Used by permission of the University of North Carolina Press. www.uncpress.unc.edu

“Moist and light, these new-Southern morsels deliver just the right combination of spice and comforting goodness. Self-rising flour is made from Southern soft wheat flour to which baking powder and salt have been added; it has less protein and gluten than all-purpose flour. The addition of just a little bit of fat and liquid yields fluffy, tender biscuits. Poblano chiles add a mild heat. Queso seco is a Mexican dry-aged cheese that tastes similar to Parmesan; you can find it in most grocery stores. I learned to make biscuits from my Southern friends, who taught me to handle the dough with respect and loving hands. Serve these mildly spiced biscuits with this creamy avocado spread that melts in the mouth.

For the biscuits

• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 cup grated queso seco (use Parmesan cheese in a bind)
• 1 teaspoon ancho (or pasilla) chile powder
• ¼ cup chilled lard, bacon fat, or shortening
• 1 poblano chile, roasted, peeled, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
• 1–1 ¼ cups buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

For the avocado butter

• 2 Hass avocados
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch dried Mexican oregano (optional)

Preheat the oven to 475°F. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cheese, and chile powder. Using a pastry blender (or two knives), cut the lard into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse sand. Stir in the chiles. Gradually add the buttermilk, mixing the dough with a wooden spoon or your hands just until it holds together (you may not need all of the buttermilk). Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead it gently a couple of times. Pat it into an 8-inch circle (about ½ inch thick). Using a well-floured 2 ⅛-inch biscuit cutter, cut out 12 biscuits (you’ll need to gather up the dough and pat it down again lightly after the first biscuits are cut to get all 12). Place the biscuits, with sides touching, in a 10-inch springform or cake pan. With your knuckle, make a small indentation in the center of each biscuit; brush the tops of the biscuits with the cream. Bake for 18–22 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown.

To make the avocado butter:

Halve and pit the avocados; scoop out the flesh with a spoon into a medium bowl and mash into a smooth paste. Add the lime juice, salt, pepper, and oregano (if using) and stir until combined.

Serve the hot biscuits with avocado butter.

Makes 12 biscuits and 1 ½ cups avocado butter”

For more #LetsLunch festivities, check out these posts from my brilliant blogging buddies:

Cheryl’s Goan Pork Curry Tacos on A Tiger in the Kitchen

Lisa’s Jewish-Chinese Brisket on Monday Morning Cooking Club

Lucy’s Coconut Rice Pudding with Mango on A Cook and Her Books

Emma‘s Kimchi Bulgogi Nachos at Dreaming of Pots And Pans

Grace‘s Taiwanese Fried Chicken at HapaMama

Jill‘s Southern Pimento-Stuffed Knishes at Eating My Words

Joe‘s Grilled KimCheese Sandwich at Joe Yonan

Linda‘s Project Runway Pelau: Rice & Beans Trinidad-Style at Spicebox Travels

Lisa‘s Sunday Night Jewish-Chinese Brisket at Monday Morning Cooking Club

Rashda‘s Mango Cobbler at Hot Curries & Cold Beer

Renee‘s Asian-Spiced Quick Pickles at My Kitchen And I

Steff‘s Chicken Fried Steak at The Kitchen Trials

Vivian‘s Funky Fusion Linguini at Vivian Pei

 ….and check back for more additions: It’s not even nearly LUNCH-time yet…