Featured Holiday – Black History Month

BLACK HISTORY MONTH - began in 1926 as Negro History Week. It later became Black History Month. A man named Dr. Carter G. Woodson is the one who initiated the celebration of Black History in The United States. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard and became deeply troubled by the fact that blacks were not very prominent in the history of The United States. In 1926 he started Negro History Week as a way to bring attention to the black influence in the United States history. Today, we celebrate Black History for an entire month. We encourage you to take the time to read up on how the African American people have influenced The United States of America. We have included a couple of recipes that are favored by the African American culture.

Happy Black History Month!!

Black History Month Recipes:

Cornbread

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 large egg

Place oil in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, tilting pan to coat bottom evenly; heat in a 375° oven 10 minutes. Combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together milk and egg; add to flour mixture, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour hot oil from skillet into batter; stir until blended. Pour batter into skillet. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes or until done. Remove from skillet.

Fried Catfish

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
4 catfish fillets
1/4 teaspoon salt
Vegetable oil

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large shallow dish. Sprinkle catfish fillets with salt, and dredge in cornmeal mixture, coating evenly. Pour vegetable oil to a depth of 3 inches into a Dutch oven; heat to 350°. Fry fillets 5 to 6 minutes or until golden; drain on paper towels.

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Featured Holiday – Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday

Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday (observed) – (First Monday in January) This day honors a great man in US history. He was a man who was very well educated, compassionate, and an outstanding leader. He fought hard for the civil rights of the African American people. He had tremendous courage and never wavered in his beliefs. Unfortunately, he was also hated by many. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 15th. Four days after his death, Congressman John Conyers, introduced legislation for a holiday honoring this esteemed man. After fifteen years with no progress…A petition with 6 million signatures was submitted to Congress. In 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed into law, that the third Monday in January The United States of America would celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. His actual birthday is January 15.

Since there are no specific recipes for this holiday…I have decided to include recipes from Dr. Kings’ favorite type of food, French Cuisine. I looked for some of the best. After all, his memory deserves no less!

Martin Luther King, Jr. Recipes:

Salade Niçoise

8 potatoes
4 tomatoes (sliced)
4 hard boiled eggs (quartered)
1 green pepper (sliced)
20 green olives
1 can of albacore tuna (drained and crushed)
12 anchovy fillets
1 shallot (minced)
1 tsp hot mustard
5 T. olive oil
3 T. vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

- Cook the potatoes in salted boiling water

- Meanwhile, prepare the sauce : mix the mustard, minced shallot, and vinigar. Slowly add olive oil, and salt & pepper.

- When potatoes are cooked, cool them under cold water and peel them. Cut them in thick slices. Gently put them in a big salad bowl and cover with half of the sauce.

- Mix eggs with olives and anchovies.

- Gently add all the ingredients to the potatoes except the egg mixture.

-Mix all with great care (you don’t want to crush the potato slices) then top the salad with the egg quarters and the rest of sauce.

Cheese & Chive Fondue

6 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 onion, very finely chopped
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sour cream
2 cups grated Gruyère
2 cups grated Cheddar
2 Tablespoons chopped, fresh chives
freshly ground black pepper

Serve with: small cooked sausages, cooked fingerling potatoes, use your imagination.

1. Melt the butter over low heat in a saucepan or fondue pot. Add onion and cook slowly until softened – about 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the flour; then stir in the sour cream and cook for about 2 minut

3. Add the cheeses and cook, stirring, until the mixture is smooth.

4. Add the chives and season with the pepper.

5. Pour the fondue into a fondue pot and place over the lit burner.

CREME BRULEE (my personal favorite)

8 egg yokes
1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. pure bourbon vanilla
1/4 c. granulated white sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yokes and sugar until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is thick and pale yellow. Add cream and vanilla, and continue to whisk until well blended. Strain into large bowl, skimming off any foam or bubbles.

Divide mixture among 6 ramekins. Place in a 13×9 inch pan filled with enough water that the ramekins are emerged halfway in the water. Bake until set around the edges, but loose in the center…about 50 minutes to an hour. Longer for larger ramekins. Remove from the oven and leave in the 13×9 with water until cool. Chill for 4 hours or up to 2 days.

Just before serving, sprinkle about 2 tsp. of sugar over each. To caramelize the sugar, use a small hand held torch until sugar is melted and golden brown ( take your time). Serve.

NOTE: If you do not have a hand held torch; you can broil them. Place the custards on baking sheet, no more than 5 inches away from heat. Turn if needed. WATCH CLOSELY!

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