This Week’s Recipe:
Courtesy of Chef Kevin Callaghan
ACME’s Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Grits with Country Pork Sausage
a.k.a. Heaven on a Plate
For the Grits:
4 cups water
1 cup cream (pastured is best)
3 sprigs thyme (fresh)
1 cup stone-ground grits
(Holly likes heirloom grits from Anson Mills.)
1/4 lb butter (grassfed best)
goat cheese (to taste)
2 lbs butternut squash – roasted and pureed
1 lb high-quality (pastured is best) pork sausage
Ahead of time:
Slice the butternut squash in half and remove the seeds. Rub with olive oil and roast it (cut side down) on a baking sheet in a 375 degree oven until the squash is tender – about 30 min. When cool, scoop out the flesh. Put it in a food processor and puree it, then set aside.
Crumble sausage into a cold, large cast iron skillet. Place over low heat and cook until the fat begins to render. Bring the heat to medium and cook, stirring regularly until the sausage is browned completely (but not burned).
Grits:
In a stainless saucepan, bring cream and thyme to a boil. Simmer for 3 minutes. Off heat, cover and let sit for 30 min. Strain.
Now add to water and bring to a boil.
Very slowly, add grits.
When incorporated fully, turn off heat and whisk another five minutes to let the grits relax and begin absorbing the liquid, making sure there are no lumps.
Return to very low heat. Don’t allow grits to boil. A few plops are OK.
Continue to whisk, as grits will want to settle. If they settle, they’ll scorch, forming a rug on the bottom of the pot. If that happens, do not scrape it up! Change pots, leaving scorched pot in old pot. If rug is allowed to sit, it’ll ruin the flavor of the grits.
Cook slowly until desired thickness is reached and grits are fully cooked with strong corn flavor.
Add butter, pepper and salt to taste.
Whisk until the butter is not floating on top, but is thoroughly combined. Add butternut squash mixture and mix until well combined.
Turn off heat. Add goat cheese and browned sausage, stirring to combine.
(Holly adds: “Swoon!”)
For more recipes, see the Get Going and Get Cooking sections here:
www.HollyHickman.com
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Greetings! And welcome to
your weekly update on the
world of good grub.
Each week, we talk shop with great chefs and
scour the country for delicious meals, deals and occasional freebies. Tasters ready? Read on…
Chef Kevin Callaghan, Acme, Carrboro, NC
Chef Kevin has to be one of the most thoughtful, intelligent people I’ve yet met. That he also is in the possession of a prodigious cooking talent — and an astonishing ability to marry sustainability with creativity and flavor — makes him all the more intimidating. Except that he’s sincere, open and very nice.
Eat his food.
Eat his food.
Eat his food.
And click the link above to listen to (or download) to our interview. It’s about half an hour long, so it’s good for the commute. (N.B: The sound levels start off funny, but they even out.)
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Healthy Eats Here! lists hundreds of
restaurants – from Maui to Maine – that serve
local, sustainable, organic and/or grass-fed
& pastured foods.
Click here to purchase a copy.
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Where the Health to Eat this Week around the Country:
Southwest – Texas
This was my Meyer lemon puddingy cakey confection from the other night, topped with beautiful and sweet blood oranges. A lovely, light way to finish off the venison and the spice-rubbed Texas quail and the pastured pork chops that my old elementary school buddy and I had shared earlier in the evening. The restaurant? (Name given to buyers.) It’s in the guide, and it just keeps getting better.
Southeast – North Carolina:
Acme, of course! (For those who’ve never been there, Carrboro is near Chapel Hill.) Chef Kevin Callaghan is focusing on shad roe this weekend. “Beautiful, nutritious shad roe,” as he calls it, is a sign of burgeoning springtime. It’s a sustainable seafood, and a delicacy hotly anticipated by oyster lovers. If you’ve never had it before, book your ticket to Raleigh and prepare to rejoice. Will Chef Kevin pair it with bacon? Will he brighten it with a beautiful bit of lemon? Will he sear it and make it crusty and pillowy? I wish I were there to find out in person.
Also: don’t forget that every single dang Tuesday night, every single dang entree at Acme goes for $12.95. Yes!
Midwest – Iowa:
Tonight! From 5:30-7:30, the Des Moines wine bar Sbrocco is sponsoring a wine tasting to raise money for the Women, Food and Agriculture Network.
Admission is FREE, though donations will be accepted. Call 319.354.1001.
Until next week,
Holly |
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