Meeting the chefs behind the latest fresh food concepts in Birmingham

All of a sudden, there is farm-fresh food coming in everywhere I look in this Magic City I have been reclaiming as my own. New farmers markets have come to the city at Railroad Park on Wednesdays and even at suburban concrete chain store mecca The Summit on Thursdays to add to the Saturday market spread at Pepper Place, East Lake, Homewood, West Homewood, Valleydale and Mt Laurel. Not to mention that Freshfully's storefront just opened in Avondale to complete a triumvirate of brewery-barbecue (or even better, Pork and Greens plate served over grits topped and topped with onion rings!)-market on 41st Street, marrying my East Birmingham love with food love.

Also, there are restaurant dudes in my papers' areas doing uber cool things with fresh food. I got to chat with these guys and take their pictures over the past month, because my job rocks.

Little Donkey
Homewood
Josh Gentry

Josh, Chiliquiles (fancy nachos), fresh veggies and the corn grinding machine. Photo for The Homewood Star.

Josh Gentry insisted I drink a Corona and munch on Queso Fundido ("cheese dip's" far superior cousin: sausage and veggies topped with a thick layer of cheese you "grab" with a corn tortilla) while I interviewed him. I like to think I know about food, but  Gentry opened the door to a world I don't entirely know when he went through a who's who in the chefs who endorsed Ideas in Food (the guy who wrote it advises Little Donkey as they create new dishes) while we chatted. He and the other masterminds behind the restaurant know how to cook pulled pork (they are the Jim N Nick's guys), but here they mix it with authentic Mexican flavors and, best of all, lots of fresh avocado. I'm still dreaming of their slow-cooked meat, and their fish taco.


Food Studio B
Chelsea
Sean Butler 

Photo for 280 Living.

My mom met me for lunch at Food Studio B after my interview with chef and owner Sean Butler, and she insisted we go back the next week when we were driving by on our way out of town. The following week, I talked with my hairdresser about how Sean delivers healthy yet awesomely delicious meals to their salon, a different meal for each day, as a part of how he caters to the Paleo (meats, veggies, seeds — loved by Irontribe enthusiasts and others, too) diet around town.

I loved hearing him talk about how important his son, the business' namesake is, and his dreams to have like 15 restaurant concepts (bakery, cafe, caterer, snack food creator, wine dinners, market, ice cream parlor, cooking class host) in one — all fresh, healthy and mouthwatering — in his new space in Chelsea. And, he has an excellent baker on staff, whose yellow cake with fudge icing was unbelievably from-scratch, real-butter tasty.

Shindigs
Mountain Brook/Everywhere
Chad Schofield and Mac Russell

Prideful point: Mac (left) called to tell me he liked my picture of "Mountain Brook Mondays"; yay. Photo for Village Living.

These guys make vegan meatballs ("L.A. balls") taste better than meat. And anything that comes from their truck is fresh fist-full of flavors that make me say "wow" every time. Every time. They now park in Mountain Brook on Mondays, making it super convenient for me to drop by from work; it's dangerous.

Conclusion: As much as my friends and I tend to talk of the idealism of moving to a farm in the country one day, I am quite content with the farm coming to me at markets and in restaurants that so respect where their food is grown.

Blueberry-Lemon Layer Cake

A is for Amy, who likes fruity, fluffy desserts and hence inspired me to bake a cake that wasn't chocolate.

 

A is for apartment, which we christened with a celebration of Amy's birth.

Blueberry cake layer, lemon cake layer, blueberry cake layer, all covered in a creamy lemon frosting.

 And A is for appetizers, of which we ate plates full before moving onto dessert.

Evidence of a tart with caramelized onions/tomato/goat cheese and pull-apart sausage bread sit behind the almost-blown-out-candle-topped cake.

 Cake verdict: Butter-y, subtly lemon-y. berry-y, pretty darn scrumptious for not being chocolate.

Overnight Oats

Now that days start with spring-really-more-like-summer sun, nothing sounds appetizing about hot oatmeal, not even my beloved baked berry oatmeal.  Fortunately, to save me from the humdrum of an all cereal, toast or yogurt weekday morning routine, my friend Lisa introduced me to a way to eat my oats chilled.

As the name suggests, you prep them at night. Which means no a.m. prep time. Which means I am slightly more likely to not have a strictly force self out of bed-shower-dress-eat-pack for day-start to-do list mantra running through my head as I start my day. Which means I might actually come before the Lord in praise in my waking moments and turn my day over to what He (gasp, not me) would have me do each moment of the day.

Simply mash up some banana and then mix in oats, your choice of milk, and a sprinkling of cinnamon and whatever other toppings sound right to you. Really, you can add whatever yogurts, liquids, spices, grains and fruits you like as long as there is liquid to soften the oats. I like to mix in blueberries or strawberries.

Voila, insta-breakfast of the scratch-made variety.

Starting with banana, cinnamon and oats.

What are your favorite weekday breakfasts?

Tiramisu Birthday Cake

Leave it to the Smitten Kitchen to find the birthday-perfect version of tiramisu via Dorie Greenspan. All I can claim in this art is simply following the directions they left behind in their path of confectionery genius.

The crown jewel was the whipping cream-mascarpone (fancy Italian cream cheese)-Kahlua-espresso cream that encased buttery cake layers. But some chopped semi-sweet chocolate in the middle made it all the better.

Oh, and the best part of this cake experience was not actually the way it tasted (although it was divine) but giving away most of our leftover pieces to the staff at the restaurant whose patio we celebrated on, well that and the birthday girls and their guests of choice.

Now that I have invested in Kahlua and instant espresso, my dessert-obsessed mind is running wild with ideas for more tiramisu creations. If you give me some inspiration, I might just bring you some of whatever comes of it.

Recipe: Smitten Kitchen Tiramisu Cake

Shrimp and Avocado Salad with Greek Yogurt Remoulade

Inspiration: Fancy French lunch of Shrimp and Avocado Salad and warm bread and butter at Chez Fon Fon in Five Points.

Adaption: Greek yogurt as the only source of creaminess (no mayo!) plus freshly shucked corn, because it grabbed my eye in its husks at the store. Also, serving with warm grainy bread and freshly picked berries from Witt Farm in Hayden with whipped cream (as in whipped whipping cream, the real deal).

Setting: Adirondack chairs on the front porch while the air chilled as the sun went down, a ladies' luncheon in the eveningtime because we ladies have jobs. Being real with one another. Bliss.

Variation: We ate this with grilled chicken with Cajun seasonings instead of shrimp for Easter lunch.

Easter M&M Cookie Bars

The latest in my chocolate chip cookie obsession: Add a heaping cup of dark chocolate M&Ms to a cup of semi-sweet chips in Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars.

 

You might just have to bake another batch to replicate that perfect gooey texture in each square that you can't get with round spoons full of dough, no matter how much chocolate you add. Then you can pack them in a pretty tin, carry them onto a plane and share with friends in a far off land like Texas for  sugar power to survive, quite joyfully, hours of bridal shopping.

 

But first, take food photos in your backyard, even if their beauty might prevent you from being able to face a kitchen table shoot again.

Happy Easter week! May yours be filled with the darkness of the crucifixion and the hope and power of the Resurrection.

More Easter treats:
Friday Brownie Bites, Sunday Blondie Bites 
Easter Cupcakes

Cream Cheese-Pumpkin Muffins, Apple-Pumpkin Muffins [Guest Post]

Sometime after we shared a college apartment, my friend Jazzy transformed from a strictly cereal-and-crackers-and-icing-eating gal to quite the innovative from-scratch baker and cook. As in, she might even bake more frequently than me now.  What a joy it has been to see her bestow this new gift on people in her life, often coupled with her writing gift that has so blossomed the longer I have known her. Jazzy's facebook page has turned into a mini food blog of sorts, which inspired me to ask her to guest post right here. One thing hasn't changed about her, though; the only things I remember her baking in our apartment were pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies.  Other friends who cook, get ready — I am coming after you next.

Ok, let me freak out a little bit… AHHHH! I’m on Madoline “Chef/Baker/Baller Extraordinaire’s” blog! This is better than Rachael Ray, Emeril, (umm) George Foreman…!

But seriously— what an honor. Other than the (hopefully obvious) affiliation with Madoline as her kitchen disciple, I’ve had the privilege of being a classmate, roomie and friend to a gal that’s sweeter than pumpkin pie… which reminds me! My next point. Pumpkin.

Now, In advance, I apologize for the following:

a.  If you are allergic to pumpkin and want nothing to do with it.

b. If you are all “pumpkined” out (I know… I know. Pumpkin is so fall. And it’s spring already. But you’ll just have to play along)

c. If you clicked on Madoline’s blog today, thinking, “Gee. I’ve got 99 recipes in my kitchen. They all have pumpkin in them. I’d like to have 100 recipes. And I’d like one of them to not be pumpkin.” So, so sorry.

 

But let’s be honest, eh? If you enjoy baking, you’ve baked a loaf of pumpkin bread or two. Oh, and too— it seems that every time, I whip up my pumpkin batter, I’ve got plenty for two or three loaves. The Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread recipe serves as my trusty starting block, in addition to extra cinnamon and ginger dashes, a cap-full of vanilla, half white/half whole wheat flour and pecans.

But the other day, I thought to myself, “But what if I only want one? What to do with the rest of this dreamy-spiced mix other than baking the regular, rectangular, and mundane loaf I always make?” So, that’s when I got a lil’ creative… picture it…

 

My eyes darted left and right. It just so happened I had a muffin pan (check). And it just so happened I had 2 red apples and a supply of bagel-less cream cheese (check). I had time, mixture and magic (check, check, check)— and let me say this, and let me say it loud so you can hear my voice come off the screen and preach to you, “Your kitchen is your playground, dearest. If you are married to following a recipe (foreign or familiar) down to the very letter, afraid to branch out and sprinkle, dabble, mix and create something different all on your own, STOP THAT! And do you ‘creative thang’!” My desire was shake up texture, shape and size, enhance taste while maintaining that desired blueprint of pumpkin success that my dad, aunts and uncles so often enjoy. So with the batter that had potential to be loaf #2, here’s what I did...

 

I peeled a medium-sized red apple, sliced it in half, sat down, ate half of it, and minced the other half. Then I set it aside.

Then I took 4 ounces of cream cheese, whipped it (real good), incorporated half of an egg yolk, a tsp. vanilla, 4 Tbsp. brown sugar and whipped it again (real good). And set it aside.

The muffin pan, I grab. With nonstick cooking spray, I hit all 12 cups. I fill 7 of them only halfway with batter, and in those 7, I drop a dollop of cream cheese mixture. Taking a toothpick, I begin to swirl the orange and cream to my liking (the appearance of the yin and yang). And though there was extra cream cheese mixture left over, I’m satisfied with the number of that muffin variation while moving onto the chopped apple…

The minced apple half, I drop in the rest of the mixture. I stir. The rest of the muffin cups I fill ½ to ¾’s of the way. I want this to be aesthetically more distinguished, so I garnish each apple pumpkin muffin with a pecan (ooh la la). And voila. Oven on 350 degrees, 20 minutes later, the oven births 12-15 beautiful bouncy creations. I’m a proud baker.