Break 'n Bread Food & Wine Festival 2012

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This weekend marks one of the top food events in the state of Alabama - The Break 'n Bread Food & Wine Festival, and I am super duper excited to go this year.  The Birmingham Originals is an organization of our city's finest restaurants, and they are going big this year by hosting what promises to be the best BNB festival yet.

For those of you that live close to Birmingham, AL and are interested in attending, here are the details:

WHAT:  Break 'n Bread Food & Wine Festival
WHEN:  Sunday, October 14th
TIME:  1:00PM - 5:00PM
WHERE:  Railroad Park
TICKETS:   $35 forregular, $75 for VIP and children under 12 years old get in free

Break 'n Bread happens to be the signature experience for the Alabama Tourism Board's Year of Alabama Food campaign, and will feature an array of amazing food from nearly 40 Birmingham Originals restaurants.  A sampling of the restaurants include:

Ocean
Ted’s Restaurant
Slice
The FishMarket
Little Savannah
Daniel George
Mafiaoza’s
Nabeel’s
Hot and Hot FishClub
Satterfield’s

A wide selection of wine and beer will also be available from Birmingham's own Good People Brewery, International Wines, Pinnacle Imports, Royal Cup and more.





Here's some additional information about the event, straight from the source:


Since 2003, the BirminghamOriginals have organized this grand fundraising event to not only celebrate theSouth’s talented chefs and local farmers, but to give back to the communitythat has supported them over the years. In an effort to continue pushing theenvelope and delighting the crowds, Break ’n Bread will once again play host tofour multi-award-winning chefs from out of the state. Chef Adolfo Garcia ofRioMar, La Boca and a Mano; Executive Chef Brian Landry of Borgne Restaurant;and Chefs Alison and Slade Rushing of MiLa will helm the VIP area, serving upBig Easy-inspired dishes with Big Easy attitude.
While food enthusiasts gatherat the tasting tents, just a few steps away will be a dedicated children’s areafeaturing face painting with clowns from the Children’s Hospital of Alabama,petting corner and entertainment from the Birmingham Zoo, healthy kids cookingdemonstrations, Desert Island Supply Company writing workshop and a pumpkindecorating station. Local farmer’s market vendors will also be stationed in andaround the park, offering a variety of fresh produce and artisan products.
Tickets for Break ’n Breadand additional information are available at www.birminghamoriginals.organd on the Birmingham Originals Facebook page.  Prices are $35 forregular, $75 for VIP and children under 12 years old get in free.  Aportion of the proceeds will be donated to Make-a-Wish Foundation, CampSmile-a-Mile and United Way’sHealthy Communities.
I hope to see you there!!  :)


***All photos are courtesy of Birmingham Originals***

Giveaway Winner - Tasia's Table!

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Drum-roll, please ........................................................................ ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

The winner of the autographed copy of Tasia's Table:  Cooking with the Artisan Cheesemaker at Belle Chevre is:

Comment #25 from Jacqueline!!!

"I tweeted about the giveaway too! @bloggingbeauty"

Congratulations and thank you so much to everyone who entered for a chance to win!

AS AN ADDED BONUS: 
I've picked a second potential winner.  Belle Chevre will also be giving away a signed copy of this awesome cookbook to a winner selected from the blogs participating in the Tasia's Table Virtual Potluck.  This name will be added to a drawing that Belle Chevre will do after October 14th.  The winner being added to Belle Chevre's drawing is:

Comment #13 from Dana:
"Dana @ Conscious Kitchen Blog said...My favorite thing about fall? So hard to choose, but I love the football games/tailgating, pumpkin flavored everything and sweaters and boots."

Good Luck, Dana!!!

Superb Sweet Potato Souffle

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When the holidays roll around, I adore a good Sweet Potato Souffle!  It's one of my very favorite sides this time of year.  Its brown sugary sweetness, perfectly buttery, and pecan-filled topping can't be beat, and then there's the light, airy goodness of the sweet potatoes below.  

Yum.

I found this recipe from Paula Deen and made some changes to the butter and sugar quantities.  One whole cup of sugar in the sweet potatoes seemed like an awful lot, so I cut that amount in half.  I also cut the butter down to 6 Tbsp.  For the topping, I left that alone and didn't really change anything except for a little extra pecans.

The results were wonderful, however, still pretty sweet.  My philosophy is...If it's the holidays, go ahead and indulge because this souffle is quite delicious!  If making this again throughout the rest of the year, I might decrease the sugar in the topping just a little bit, so as not to TOTALLY blow the diet.  ;-)

Bon Appetit, my friends!



Superb Sweet Potato Souffle
Adapted from:  Aunt Peggy's Sweet Potato Souffle - Paula Deen

Ingredients:
Souffle:

• 3 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes, from about 2 to 3 small baked potatoes
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup milk
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, about 1/2 stick, cubed, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup self-rising cake flour
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:
Souffle: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish.
In a large bowl, combine the sweet potatoes, sugar, eggs, milk, butter, vanilla, and salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Topping: Combine the brown sugar, butter, flour, and pecans in a separate bowl. Crumble the topping over the sweet potato mixture.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the topping is golden brown. Serve hot. 

Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies

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There's something just so marvelous about baking cookies in December while the Christmas tree lights cast a warm glow across the room.  This time of year certainly puts me in the baking mood.  In fact, cinnamon rolls, banana nut bread and perhaps another pecan pie are all in my very near future.

Baking simply makes my heart smile.  :)
Earlier today, my father-in-law mentioned that he had been craving peanut butter cookies.  Little did he know, that the little gears in my head quickly went to work, and a few hours later we were back at their house with a warm plate of these amazing cookies.  
And amazing they are...seriously.  I found a recipe from Bon Appetit magazine over on Epicurious that I tweaked here and there.  I added a little molasses and honey...and also substituted the vanilla extract with butter pecan extract instead. 
The results?  Pure fabulousness!

The molasses and honey made the cookies a little softer in the middle and perfectly crunchy around the edge (just how I like them!).  If you prefer a crunchier cookie altogether, leaving out the molasses and honey should do the trick.
This recipe makes about 3 - 4 dozen, depending on how large you make them.  If you don't need that many, you could easily halve the recipe or freeze the extra dough for later use.
Bon Appetit, my friends!! 

Old-Fashioned Peanut Butter CookiesAdapted from:  Bon Appetit magazine, January 1998 via Epicurious
Ingredients:3 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup chunky peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned style or freshly ground)
2 teaspoons butter pecan extract (or vanilla)
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup molasses
1 Tbsp honey

Directions:Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Mix flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat butter, peanut butter and vanilla in large bowl until well blended. Beat in both sugars. Add molasses and honey, mixing until well combined.  Scrape down sides of bowl. Stir half of dry ingredients into mixture. Add eggs 1 at a time, stirring well after each addition. Mix in remaining dry ingredients. 
For each cookie, roll 1 heaping tablespoonful of dough into 1 3/4-inch-diameter ball. Arrange dough balls 2 1/2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Using back of fork, flatten dough balls and form crosshatch design on tops. Bake cookies until dry on top and golden brown on bottom, about 14 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Using metal spatula, transfer cookies to racks and cool completely. (Can be prepared up to 3 days ahead. Store in airtight container at room temperature.) 

Roasted Greek Shrimp with Orzo

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Some of my best memories growing up revolved around vacations spent along the Gulf of Mexico.  Those vacations were filled with fun in the sun, time spent with family, and delicious meals made unforgettable by the amazingly fresh seafood right out of the Gulf near my home state of Alabama.

To this day, I still love a big plate of fresh shrimp, grouper, snapper, flounder or yes...even raw oysters (with hot sauce and a saltine cracker, of course!). 

The wonderful thing about seafood is that it cooks quickly, plus it's really healthy (as long as it's not fried).  That's always a combination worth smiling about!

This dish for Roasted Greek Shrimp with Orzo has become one of my recent favorites.  It's packed with vibrant flavors that will have your tastebuds singing.  I love Greek ingredients almost as much as fresh seafood, so I'm particularly proud to say this is an original recipe.  

And you know what?  It's SO Easy!

For this dish, fresh Alabama Gulf Shrimp are simply mixed with olives, artichoke hearts, grape tomatoes and fresh parsley.  After a quick drizzle of olive oil and some seasonings, it makes a quick trip to the oven and is roasted for about 10-12 minutes.  A sprinkling of crumbled, feta cheese finishes things off, and the delicious mixture is served atop a bed of warm orzo pasta.  

So, now that you're hopefully craving a big plate of delicious seafood, why not hop on over and check out the Alabama Gulf Seafood website.  It's filled with pretty much anything and everything you ever wanted to know about Gulf seafood, including great recipes.




Bon Appetit, my friends!



Roasted GreekShrimp with Orzo
by Celeste Ward
Ingredients:
1 lb Alabama Gulf Shrimp, peeled, deveined, with tails on
1  2.25 oz. can sliced olives, drained
6 oz. quartered & marinated artichoke hearts, drained
5 oz. grape tomatoes, halved
1 Tbsp fresh parsley, minced, plus more for garnish
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/2 - 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup cooked orzo pasta (directions below)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. 
Place the shrimp in a large mixing bowl.  Next, add the olives, grapetomatoes, and fresh parsley.  Squeeze all excess liquid out of the artichoke hearts and add those to the bowl with the other ingredients.  Drizzle themixture with the extra virgin olive oil and season with the garlic salt andfreshly ground black pepper.
Stir well to thoroughly combine the ingredients.

Spread the mixture into a single layer on a baking sheet lined with a siliconebaking mat or parchment paper. 
Roast in the pre-heated oven for approximately 10 -12 minutes, or until the shrimp is cooked through.
Sprinkle with feta cheese and serve over the warmorzo.  Garnish with fresh parsley.
For theOrzo:
Ingredients:
1 cup orzo pasta
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. lemon zest
Salt & pepper, to taste
Directions:
While the Greek shrimp mixture is roasting, cook orzo according to packagedirections. Drain the cooked orzo and drizzle with the extravirgin olive oil.  Add the lemon zest andseason with salt and pepper.  Stirtogether and keep warm until ready to serve.

4 Weeks of Holiday Giveaways #2: KitchenAid 13-Cup Food Processor!

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This giveaway is now closed.  The randomly selected winner is commenter #1382: Stephanie Oh!  Congrats & thanks to all for entering.
Today continues 4 weeks of giveaways… celebrating the holidays and thanking YOU Dear Readers for reading my ‘lil old blog. The second giveaway is for this rockstar food processor from KitchenAid!

I did a dreadful thing recently.  I dropped the bowl of my food processor on the ground and it broke.  Big time bummer since I use my food processor for a whole lot of things.  I borrowed my neighbors machine for several months while I pondered my options.  KitchenAid heard me whining about my predicament on Twitter and came to the rescue.  They wanted me to try out their latest and greatest:  The 13 Cup Food Processor.  ”Sure thing!” I said.  It’s a wonderful, powerful beast.  All of those pieces included there are in charge of shredding, kneading pizza dough, pureeing all kinds of things and chopping veggies with ease.  I’m loving it, and I’d like you to love it to!  Let’s give one away, shall we?  KitchenAid is sharing one of their 13-cup food processors with one lucky RecipeGirl reader! Read below for details on how to enter to win!

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Peppermint Dream Butter Cookies

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You know what butter mints are, right? Those little pastel-colored things that you mindlessly nibble from a bowl while you’re trying to avoid playing the awful games at a baby shower? Yeah, those. Older folks seem to always have them lying around too, which makes you wonder if they ever really become stale and inedible. I’ve always been fascinated with the way that they gently crumble apart and melt in your mouth.  I’m also kinda obsessed with Peppermint Patties, Junior Mints, Andes Mints and Guittard Mint Chips.  Sweet mint stuff is just irresistible to me.    These cookies are full of sweet mint stuff, and I’m obsessed with these too: Peppermint Dream Butter Cookies

These are such a simple cookie- just 6 ingredients.  And you can choose what sort of minty thing you’d like to mix in.

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