The Art of the Plate: February 2009

Friday, February 20, 2009

Food + Wine Festival "Friends" Diner Held at 181 Palmer

On February 19th, The BB&T Charleston Food + Wine Festival donor group, the "Friends of the Festival," enjoyed a four course dinner created by a cadre of Charleston's top chefs, who were assisted in the kitchen by Culinary Institute of Charleston students. Host Mickey Bakst, General Manager of Charleston Grill, also received CIC student assistance in the front of the house.

Chef Frank Lee, Southern Maverick Kitchens: hors d'oeuvres
Chef Ken Vedrinski, Trattoria Lucca: Crudo of Local Black Fish, Tangerine Agromato, Jalapeno
Chef Michelle Weaver, Charleston Grill: Nantucket Bay Scallops, Mango, Serrano Ham Crisps
Chef Mike Lata, FIG: Pancetta-Wrapped Wild Stripped Bass, Mushroom Ragout, Soft Polenta
Chef Brett McKee, Tuscan Rubbed Chateaubriand, Truffled Demi-Glace, Root Vegetables
CIC Instructor Melissa Fritz: Chocolate Kir Royal Mascarpone Creme de Cassis Mousse

What We're Reading

“Eating from the Ground Up”

Out just in time for the vegetables appearing at our farmers markets, Alana Chernila’s cookbook focuses on creatively using every root and leaf. While some of the recipes may be familiar concepts – think stuffed tomatoes – hers are packed with millet, basil, and parsley. Fried rice stars salmon, fennel, and Swiss chard stems. Roasted asparagus are sauced with a combo of butter, garlic, nutritional yeast, and tamari. Stone fruit, raw corn kernels, scallions, basil, and jalapeño make a cool salad for hot weather. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC.

"Soul: A Chef's Culinary Evolution in 150 Recipes"

“This book is my homage to the cuisine of my family,” Chef Todd Richards writes in his autobiographical collection of essays and recipes. “These are the ingredients of my people. This is my sermon about my Soul food.”

Bringing accolades for his stints at Atlanta’s Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons, James Beard nominations, and, of course, his prowess at Southern cooking, Richards seasons the pot with a powerful bouquet of flavors as he pays his heritage forward. Collards cooked with ham hocks are accented with piquant pickled collard stems. Blueberries are found in fried pies; strawberries are plated with champagne aspic, whipped cream, and honey. Grilled peaches pair with radishes on toast spread with pimiento cheese. Sweet potatoes are layered with cauliflower and crab in a lush gratin.

"Soul food," Richards tells us, "is the original cuisine of the South, born from an involuntary collision of cultures."
Published by Southern Living. $35.