Food
We have been enjoying fresh cucumbers and tomatoes from our garden all week. The garage Kirbys picked from the trellis and the Principe Burghese heirloom grape tomatoes plucked from their vines have worked their way into every meal as lightly dressed sweet sliced salads. A mother load of glistening fresh Silver Queen corn purchased from a roadside pickup truck has appeared, along with the cucumbers and tomatoes, in many forms during our nightly meals. We’ve had grilled corn on the cob, sauteed corn, and creamed corn. This particular Silver Queen haul was so sweet and fresh. Beautiful to look at and delicious to eat.
Usually I have mentally planned, cooked, and eaten our dinner by 7:30 am, but felt a little free-spirited yesterday. What to cook? Let the refrigerator tell me. It was hard to not notice corn silks splayed from the vegetable bin as if I had planted them there as a reminder to use them. Corn. Again. Hmmm.
Michael’s fantasically crisp gooey grilled cheese sandwiches would pair beautifully with…...corn chowder.
Simple garden fresh corn chowder.
I diced carrots, onions, celery, new potatoes, and black bell pepper about the same size of corn kernels. After heating butter and oilve oil in a dutch oven, I sauteed 3 thick-cut slabs of bacon and set aside on paper towels to drain and crisp up. I tossed the vegetables into the sizzling bacon fat with salt and pepper to caramelize and soften. When translucent and sweet smelling, I deglazed the pot with white wine and let it reduce by half. Once the wine had coated the vegetables with velvet acidity, I added chicken stock to cook the candied mirepoix/holy trinity, finishing it with heavy cream.
As the soup base simmered, I sliced the corn kernels off the cob into a large bowl. Using my dad’s technique, I cut the tops of the kernels off with a knife almost halving them and scraped the remaining corn with the back of the knife, milking the cob for all the precious juice trapped in each corn hole. A large bowl ensured cob milk capture.
Once the creamy wine and stock infused soup base had returned to a gentle simmer, I dropped the corn and corn milk into the chowder to cook briefly. Very briefly.
I ladled the chowder into soup bowls, topped it with the reserved crisp salty bacon, showered it with fresh chives, salt, and pepper. Because it’s raining grape tomatoes in our back yard right now, I added quartered tiny tomatoes for a fresh burst of sweetness.
Cooking the corn for a short amount of time left it crunchy, firm, and full of natural sugar. That texture played into the utter fabulous fat of the cream and the sweet tender carrots, onions, celery, and potatoes. The bacon gave the expected crunch and saltiness while the chives jumped with grassy verdancy. The ever present tomatoes were fresh, juicy, and explosive. Cleansing and pleasing.
A final dollop of zested lime sour cream brightened the silken sleepy cream chowder.
Michael’s grilled onion dill pickled filled grilled cheese sandwiches sealed the deal. Dip or eat? Eat or dip? Both. Perfect.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Chowder on a 91 degree hot summer evening? Why not? It was so right. So delicate, soft, sweet and savory.
OR, FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
Deep fried corn on the cob slathered in butter with salt, pepper, and fresh squeezed lime juice. Crazy, right? I heated our deep fryer to 350, carefully placed the Peaches & Cream corn cobs into the hot oil, and let them fry until the kernels were golden and caramelized. While still hot, they were generously buttered and seasoned. The texture of the corn was fantastic, almost as if grilled. Crunchy, soft, chewy, and fresh. The salt accentuated the sweetness of the corn while the lime cut through the fatty butter. The flavored buttered bits and juices dripped from the fried corn and puddled onto the plate for licking. It happened. I licked the buttery salty lime corn juice right off the plate.
Try deep frying fresh corn on the cob. Totally outrageous!
by: Matt Sparks
[This Food column appears on page 13 of the July 15 issue of Ace.]
BY TOM YATES
I’m still patiently waiting for my container vegetable garden to mature and ripen. In the meantime, our Farmers Market is a beacon of summer’s freshness. I strolled downtown early this morning to pick up fresh produce for a gazpacho supper.
Even at that early hour, it was bustling. Dizzying, even. I usually make a couple of passes through the vendors surveying what is available and what looks best. Stall after stall of bursting ripe vegetables. Almost everyone had their samples sliced open to tempt with their juicy insides. Canteloupe, honeydew, and watermelon from an Amish community in western Kentucky. The same Amish community my parents frequented for their produce. There were rows of heirloom tomatoes from Scott, Madison, Jessamine, and Casey counties. Dotted in and through the produce stalls were stands selling fresh local cheeses and meats. The corn is apparently in. Big time! Ears of corn pulled halfway open to reveal their Silver Queen, Peaches and Cream, or Supersweet identities.
The fresh blackberries were huge. Almost the size of my thumb. I wanted to plop several in my mouth with no one looking, but they were looking, of course, so I bought some.
My third pass meant serious business. I needed bulky tomatoes for the juicy base of the soup. As I scoured the stands for not-pretty-but-tasty tomato seconds, I managed to find my favorite farm from Jessamine County selling Big Uglies, as they call them. Big, ugly, and cheap. Score. I picked up purple and green bell peppers that were incredibly fresh. Warm and soft. Flaccid, in a good way.
Assorted cherry tomatoes from Madison County would be the perfect garnish for my market soup. A tri-colored basket of Sungold, Black Cherry, Yellow Pearl, and Orange Grape fit the bill.
Next door, I found fresh picked green-topped purple onions from Scott County along with Candied Onions and garlic. On the other side of the stall, I found tiny cucumbers. Cornichon size. Adorable. Maybe not for gazpacho, but what the hell? Two pints. Just down from the wonderfully smelling omlette station, I found good medium sized cucumbers that appeared very plump and ideal for soup.
My bags were very full with eveything I needed along with some things I didn’t need, but simply had to have.
I made it home with my stash and started mincing, chopping, and peeling everything for the gazpacho.
I took the large Uglies and dropped them into simmering water for 5 seconds to release the skin for peeling, pureed them into juice, and set them aside. I didn’t bother straining the seeds. After finely dicing cucumbers, peppers, onions, and garlic, I pureed half for body and left the remainder for texture. Once I quartered the tri colored tiny tomatoes, I combined everything and seasoned it with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. Olive oil, sherry vinegar, and fresh parsley finished it off. Some recipes call for canned juice. The juice from today’s tomatoes was so pure and sweet, I didn’t even want to mask it. I covered the bowl to refrigerate overnight and blend flavors, but not without having a bowl straight away while it was still warm from the summer sun.
Michael walked into the kitchen and said, “It smells good in here.” And it did. Not from cooking, but from chopping and slicing such fresh market stand produce. The air was perfumed with flavor.
No need for the gazpacho police here. I realize this is not authentic Andalusion gazpacho. I adore the pureed tomato, bread, and garlic version as well as the next person. I wasn’t going for an authentic culinary stroll through the streets of Seville.
I wanted a garden party…..in my mouth.
——-
On Saturday , July 31st the Lexington Farmers’ Market will celebrate their 35th anniversary with the third annual Farm Tour 9am-2pm. That evening, the A Taste of the Farm in the City dinner will showcase recipes from Central Baptist Hospital’s cookbook, “Beyond the Fence: A Culinary Look at Historic Lexington.” Tickets for the dinner are limited and must be purchased by July 26th. The Saturday market will take place as usual in Cheapside Park from 7am-3pm. In celebration of the 35th anniversary, Mayor Newberry will deliver an address at 10am.
by: Ace
By Tom Yates
I am a very humble gardener. My successes are always balanced out with great failures…but I persevere. I’ve always loved flowers, hanging ferns, and window boxes bursting with color. We purchased this house several years ago and before we even moved in, I was out digging and tilling the sparse back garden. I had two tons of dry stacking stone shipped from North Carolina to build raised beds and filled the beds with ninety-five 40 pound bags of Barky Beaver top soil. Underneath the soil I buried 80 feet of soaker hose. Against the advice of every gardening book, I then filled the garden to the brim with perennials, spring bulbs, evergreen shrubs, flowering bushes, summer bulbs, and statuary. On the back deck I would have an occasional tomato plant and a huge pot of herbs. I was totally impressed with myself.
The garden is now too full. Plants actually do fill in over time, it turns out.The experts were right. It is overflowing, beautiful, and full. Fine with me.
My garden philosophy has shifted and changed over the years. I still love growing flowers and watching them change and evolve during the growing season. Growing things to harvest and eat has consumed me. We have limited space and odd light patterns, but that hasn’t stopped me. I want to grow food on our land. Our urban downtown land. Within reason, of course. No corn fields, pumpkin patches, or winding melon vines. I do what I can— and without room in the perennial garden, I have resorted to container gardening. I am not an urban gardener, by any means. I could not park my PT Cruiser by the side of the road with the latch up and sell produce. Hardly. For a long time I couldn’t even grow a proper tomato.
Last spring I was inspired by an article written by Chef Dave in AceWeekly about starting vegetables and herbs from seed. Seemed like the perfect way to quell the late winter wishful garden dolldrums. It was a total miracle. I was stunned and amazed. We had cucumbers, jalapenos, green bell peppers, and tomatoes. I put up 75 quart and pint jars of pickles, relishes, chutneys, salsas, and juices. I was a canning madman! All from the containers on our deck! It was garden hysteria. Obsessed and crazed.
Funny, the more you grow and eat what you grow, the more you want to grow to eat. There is something to be said for container vegetable gardening. The soil can be manipulated and the water can be easily controlled. When the light source changes throughout the course of the season, pots can be moved around to adjust to it. In my case, it made perfect sense.
This year was and is no different. Peat pots were everywhere in late March, domed with their plastic imitation glasshouses until sprouting. They seemd so delicate and frail as they poked up through the airy peat. The tomato seedlings didn’t quite survive my haphazard watering spells as well as the herbs and pepper plants. Michael ordered a slew of heirloom tomato plants to compensate. A big slew. Principe Burghese, Pink Oxheart, Abraham Lincoln, and Sunset Red Horizon stand in tow with the standard Big Boy plants. We usually have three tomato plants with cages. This year, we have nineteen!
The peppers and herbs were hardened outside for a while before planting. When it was safely past the last frost date, I sewed cucumber seeds directly into containers and nestled them alongside the flowers with supports to vine up and through. One is tucked into a bed of daylilies and is winding its way around an ornamental garden cage. The corner of the garage has a pot filled with cucumber vines climbing up through a cage onto a double hung cheap trellis I nailed to the side of the garage. As they blossom, form, and grow, the supports make for easy harvesting. They will dangle and beg to be picked.
The peppers and tomatoes are producing and the herbs flourishing. All in containers lined up side by side or tucked into available space.
We used to sit on the deck and look lovingly out onto our flowering back forty. The tomato plants have totally obscured any view as they grow taller up into the sky and wrap around each other for support.
A small sacrifice for the bounty to come.
Urban gardeners? Nope.
Just trying to grow a few things and live off the fat of our little piece of land.
With joy.
by: Matt Sparks
by Tom Yates
Dancin’ at church, Long Island jazzie parties
Waiter, bring us some more Bacardi
We’ll order now what they ordered then
‘Cause everything old is new again.
-Peter Allen
Columbia Steakhouse has been in operation at its downtown historic location since 1948. Not alot has changed over the years. Although the famed Nighthawk Special is always on the menu, a few times a year it is specially priced and heavily advertised. It is usually during those times that we venture down to savor it. Lately, we have been dining there more frequently. Columbia’s is always good, the staff is super friendly, and the atmosphere is so old school steakhouse.
When I first moved to Lexington from NYC in the mid-eighties, Columbia’s was where everyone went after Johnny Angel’s Disco Bar closed in preparation for the after hours scene. Either you went into the back parking lot to continue the party, or you went to Columbia Steakhouse for munchies and rejuvenation. The smoky restaurant would be filled with happily intoxicated dance revelers and tired drag queens eating Diego salads, fried banana peppers, and loaded baked potatoes. At the appropriate hour, everyone would stumble back to the bar for the after hours party. That was my introduction to Columbia Steakhouse.
We have been going back there ever since those halcyon disco days to drink great Old Fashioneds and enjoy the steaks, appetizers, salads, and other offerings.
They have added a few new items over years. Fresh grilled salmon is popular today, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t grace the steakhouse menu during the rowdy olden days. Steakhouses were steakhouses. Salmon would have been sacrilege. Today’s modern menu features a Grilled Salmon Entree Salad along with Grilled Salmon Fillet, either blackened, pan-seared, or broiled wth homemade dill sauce. They also offer Fried Walleye Pike, Fried or Broiled Tilapia, Chicken Monterey, and delicious Southern Fried Catfish Fillets.
It’s the stalwart standards that keep people coming back. Their Famous Signature Lamb Fries, breaded and fried, are a rarity in town. Talk about old school. Their Fried Banana Peppers are what banana peppers should be, crisp fried and hot with cocktail sauce as a dipper. Very simple and straightforward.
The Nighthawk Special is definitely the signature item at Columbia’s. Named for the famous deejay Tom Kindall, the king of midnight radio in the 1960s, the garlic butter-laden steak is a craving on a plate. I always get mine with grilled onions, Diego Salad, and a baked potato dripping with butter and sour cream. Occasionally, I’ll add on the fabulously fantastic corn pudding. The portions are huge and I usually lose the clean plate battle. I actually enjoy losing that battle because carryout boxes exist for a reason. Leftovers!
Last night, Flo, the 23 year veteran and long time General Manager, greeted us at the door with her usual big smile. I’ve known Flo for years and she always makes us feel at home in her second home. The restaurant is simple and dark with a lot of booths. Cozy.
We were tempted to start off with the lamb fries, but knew we would kick ourselves had we passed up the banana peppers, so we chowed on those until the Diego Salads arrived. I love that salad. Sliced lettuce tossed in their special seasoned vinaigrette with radishes and cucumbers. The dressing almost wilts the salad in a very pleasant southern way. With a side of our favorite blue cheese in town, it was wonderful. We toyed with ordering the Nighthawk, but after recently devouring it during one of the promotions, we went with prime rib and fried catfish.
The prime rib was cooked perfectly medium rare with a robust and deep au jus to the side. The catfish was sweet, crisp, and butter-soft. It was so good, I could not be bothered with using a fork. I ate it with my fingers, pulling it apart and dipping it into tart sweet tarter sauce. Uh huh. No apologies. We both had corn pudding and Flo’s Signature Sweet Potato Casserole. The casserole was outrageous with a brown sugar nut crust topping covering whipped sweet potatoes mixed with coconut and raisins. Crazy good.
What a great old school and well meaning steakhouse. No pretense. No glitz. Just good food with good people taking care of the customers. That’s why they’ve been around for 62 years.
On the way out, we passed a patio table of new generation Columbia Steakhouse patrons.
The beat goes on. ■
by: Cailyn Huston
By Dave Overton
Bike and eat, bike and eat, bike and eat. Can you think of anything better than that? As part of Bicycle Month in Lexington, Bike Lexington hosted a progressive dinner on May 6th. Most people are familiar with the concept of a progressive dinner and may even have participated in one. You go to different restaurants in progression, eating a course in each. Bike Lexington has added a new twist to the progressive dinner, making the journey between restaurants on bicycles.
I asked Shane Tedder, the event organizer, about the purpose of the event. I expected him to tell me about how it raised awareness of bicycling or another worthy cause. I started to laugh when he looked at me quizzically and said “It’s for fun.” He added
“Bikes are fun. Food is good. Bikes plus food are good fun.” That sounded like a lot of fun to me, so Jenn (the girlfriend) and I went along.
Twenty Five dollars per person paid for a three course meal and the guided group ride to each restaurant . We met at Cheapside Park which was hopping with Thur sda y Night Live. There were a lot of people around but it was easy to tell which people were going along. They were the ones with the bikes and helmets (required for Bike Lexington events). The ride was carefully planned for safety and accessibility. Even novice riders were able to ride along without difficulty. Jenn was a bit apprehensive because of the hills downtown, but had no difficulty at all. She comes from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and to her, the downtown hills look like mountains when it’s time to pedal up them.
Our first stop was at Alltech Lexington Brewing , home of Kentucky Ale and Bourbon Barrel Ale. They had a nice buffet of vegetables, fruits, crackers, beer cheese and pretzels. The high point, though, was sampling the beers and, of course, getting to know some of the other people on the ride. After a tour of the brewery, we all hopped back on our bikes and headed down the road to Mia’s for the next course.
At Mia’s, we went upstairs to a banquet room where they had laid out bread, salad, and several pasta dishes for us, including a vegetarian ziti with tomato sauce and a farfalle carbonara for those who eat meat. Iced tea or water was included but wine, beer,
or liquor were optional. Again, the best part of the meal was sharing food and drink with new acquaintances.
We gathered together outside Mia’s for a group photo and then headed for Natasha’s and the final stop of the evening. There we enjoyed a choice of desserts and coffee and conversed until a l m o s t dark before heading back to our respective homes . We had biked less than 2 miles, eaten a three course dinner , and made a few new friends. It was quite an accomplishment for a single evening.
This is the spot where normally I’d point and laugh, saying that you’ve already missed it for this year. It’s been held for three years and has sold out every year.
But, Bike Lexington is holding another progressive dinner on May 25th on Southland Drive. The Southland Association has raised and contributed $30,000 toward a project to add bike lanes to Southland Dr. To celebrate and show appreciation for this, Bike Lexington has added a second event. The ride will start at Hill ‘n’ Dale Park and is tentatively scheduled to make stops at Good Foods, Winchells, The Ketch, and Butt Rub BBQ, with a stop at the South-land Jamboree . Food , Music, and Bikes should make for a great time.
Info,contact Mike Galbraith at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or register on the web at http://www.BikeLexington.com.
by: Matt Sparks
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