Has Smith’s Catering closed?

The last two times I’ve headed to Smith’s Catering to grab a to-go lunch, they’ve been closed.

Does anyone know if this restaurant on South Green Street has closed permanently or if I’m just catching them on holidays?

I love their plate lunches, especially the grilled chicken breasts, green beans and mashed potatoes. My husband is a big fan of their banana pudding and sweet iced tea.

Good experience at Doe’s

This past weekend, we were in Fayetteville, Ark., for a Tupelo High School Cross Country meet (our 14-year-old daughter runs). On Saturday evening, after seven hours of races, we headed downtown to Dickson Street and stumbled into a Doe’s.

I was not in the mood for beef, but that’s all that was on the menu, so I ordered a petite filet mignon. Let me just say, it was the best piece of beef I have EVER had in any restaurant anywhere. When deciding what to order, I had balked at the $30 pricetag, but I’d gladly pay twice that the next time.

As good as the filet was (and the new potatoes and the fried biscuits) the marinated salad may have been even better. It was very simple. Greens and a dressing. But I’m not sure what greens and what dressing. I think it was primarily iceburg lettuce, but there may have been some romaine. And the dressing tasted like oil, vinegar and maybe lemon juice, but it wasn’t really olive oil-tasting.

If anyone has had this salad and has an idea of the ingredients for the dressing, I’d appreciate it.

Potatoes and Onions a big mess

One of my favorite side dishes at Romie’s Grocery in Tupelo is the potatoes and onions. Sometimes, the potatoes are cubed and sometimes they’re sliced, but they’re always delicious.

One afternoon last week I got a craving for these potatoes and onions and decided I’d try to make them at home that night. I got on the Web and googled ‘potatoes and onions recipes’ and I came across this one from Rachael Ray. The level of difficulty was rated ‘easy’ and I already had all the ingredients at home.

I followed the directions to a T, but the potatoes began to burn on the bottom. My husband said I had used the wrong pan. I was a using a stainless steel skillet. So I scraped the top of the potatoes out of the pan (the ones that hadn’t burned), coated a non-stick skillet with EVOO and put the potato/onion mixture in. I pressed them down and put a plate on top, again following the directions. When I got ready to turn them, they broke up and made a big mess.

I was able to serve them. They were tasty enough, but not very pretty. I think I may need to ask Rob Lesley at Romie’s if I can come in his kitchen at the restaurant one day and watch him make his.

Here’s Rachael’s recipe.

Potatoes and Onions
1 1/2 pounds round, white thin-skinned potatoes
1 large sweet onion
Coarse salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons butter
Heat a 10-inch heavy skillet over medium high heat.
Slice potatoes and onions very thin. Salt potatoes and onions. Add oil and butter to the pan. When the butter foams, add potatoes and onions to the skillet.
Place a dinner plate on top of potatoes and weight it with any heavy object: a sack of flour, heavy canned goods, etc. Let the potatoes and onions crust, 2 to 3 minutes, then turn, replace weights, and let them crust again. Keep turning the potatoes and onions over for about 20 minutes, until they are evenly golden and crusted.
Makes 4 servings.

Soup’s On

I’ve been poring over cookbooks the past few days, looking for a good, healthful (read low-fat) recipe for butternut squash soup. I’m interested in making this soup as a side dish for Thanksgiving dinner, and I want to find a recipe or two I can try out before the big day.

In the meantime, I came across this recipe for chicken soup. I know I made something a couple of years ago that was similar and, as I recall, it was a hit with the family. This has soccer-night written all over it

Comfort Chicken Soup
8 chicken bouillon cubes
2 quarts water
1 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
12-ounce bag wide egg noodles
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups diced chicken (or 1 large can chicken plus 1 small can)
1 cup sour cream
Place bouillon and water in a large pot and bring to a boil, allowing bouillon to dissolve. Add carrot, celery and onions. Add egg noodles and cook until done. Add chicken soup and cooked chicken and cook until heated through. Just before serving, add sour cream.

Good tailgating recipe

I came across this while looking for good tailgating recipes. I’m sure it would be equally tasty with turkey sausage and reduced-fat cream cheese, sour cream and Cheddar.

SAUSAGE-STUFFED FRENCH BREAD
2 large, oval French bread loaves
1 pound bulk, regular-flavor sausage
2 tablespoons chopped jalapenos
1 cup chopped green bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped green onions
8 ounces softened cream cheese
8 ounces sour cream
8 ounces grated sharp Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With serrated knife, trim top from each bread loaf. Save top and hollow out center of loaves, leaving about  1/2-inch-thick shell. Set aside.

Brown sausage in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add jalapenos, bell peppers and onions; cook until vegetables are soft. Add remaining ingredients and cook until cheeses are melted, about 2-3 minutes.

Fill hollow breads with sausage-cheese mixture and replace tops. Wrap securely in heavy-duty aluminum foil, place on baking sheet and bake 1 hour. Slice and serve warm. Serves 8.

Old cookbook, new home

When I interviewed Wednesday’s Cook of the Week, Kathleen Kennedy of Tupelo, she said her most used cookbook is ‘James Beard’s American Cookery.’ Now certainly I know who James Beard is, but I admit I’d never heard of this particular cookbook.

I went online immediately and secured a 1972 first edition for $12. It arrived today, in good condition but with no dust jacket, and I can’t wait to begin reading it tonight.

You know, someone put me on the spot the other day and asked me what my favorite cookbook was and I just drew a blank. I don’t know that I’ve got one in particular that I turn to time and time again. I like Come On In (Jackson), Great Performances (Tupelo), Southern Sideboards (Jackson) and Ambrosia (Vicksburg), but I probably turn to my Cooking Light cookbooks more than anything. And I am still making my way through Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking.”

Stuffed pork loin delicious

My husband, Charlie, decided to get a bit creative on Sunday after he found a recipe for a stuffed pork loin in the recent issue of Cooking Light. I agreed to be his sous chef and away we went.

We followed the recipe exactly, except for the dried fruit. Three bags of dried fruit (apricots, cherries and plums) was going to run about $14 and I refused to spend that, especially since I only needed 1/4 cup from each bag. So I bought a bag of mixed fruit (apricots, plums, apples and pears). It was mostly apricots, apples and pears. There was only one plum in the whole bag. We also diced the fruit before microwaving it.

This pork was delicious and probably the only thing that could have made it better WOULD have been the cherries, so next time I’ll probably splurge. Who knows, I may use cherries only. Don’t cook past an internal thermometer reading of 155 or it will be too dry.

Fruit and Walnut–Stuffed Pork Loin
1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup dried sour cherries
1/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1/4 cup chopped dried plums
2 tablespoons Triple Sec (orange-flavored liqueur)
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
2 (1-ounce) slices French bread
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 (2 1/2-pound) boneless center-cut pork loin roast, trimmed
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 2 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes or until fruit is plump. Drain mixture through a sieve, reserving fruit mixture. Combine fruit mixture, walnuts, shallots, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and rind.
Combine 3/4 teaspoon salt, French bread, and next 3 ingredients in a food processor; process until fine crumbs form.
Cut pork in half lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, other side; open halves, laying the pork flat. Starting from center, cut each half lengthwise, cutting to, but not through, other side; open halves, laying pork flat. Cover with plastic wrap; pound to an even thickness. Discard plastic wrap. Spread fruit mixture over pork, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Roll up pork, jelly-roll fashion, starting with one long side. Secure with wooden picks. Sprinkle outside of pork evenly with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; brush evenly with mustard. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over pork; press gently to adhere. Place pork on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 55 minutes or until a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 155. Let pork stand 10 minutes. Remove wooden picks. Cut into 16 (1/2-inch-thick) slices.
Makes 8 servings at 323 calories and 12.4g fat per serving.

Looking for lady peas

When I was growing in South Alabama, we used to find the most delicious peas in the summer. Some people called them lady peas while others called them cream peas. Either way, they’re small, whitish-green and very tender. I’ve never found them in the 16 years I’ve been living in Tupelo.

Does anyone know anybody who grows these? I’d love to put some up this summer.

Decadent chocolate cake recipe

I was at a PTO meeting at Carver Elementary today and some of the other mothers were ragging me because they said all I ever write about are healthful dishes and once, just once, they wanted me to write about some decadent cake.

Well, here it is. I got this recipe last year from a Cook of the Week and it is the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made. Actually, it’s not the cake that makes it so wonderful. It’s the icing. I could sit in the middle of the kitchen floor and eat the whole bowl and I don’t even like sweets.

Hospitality Cake
1 box milk chocolate cake mix
1 (3-ounce) box instant vanilla pudding
3 eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
Frosting
1 (12-ounce) container Cool Whip, thawed
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 chocolate bars with almonds, crushed
1 cup chopped pecans
2 chocolate bars
Preheat oven according to directions on the cake box. Combine cake mix, pudding, eggs, milk and oil. Pour batter into 3 greased and floured cake pans. Bake for about 22 minutes or according to directions on the box. Let cakes cool.
For the frosting, mix together whipped topping and cream cheese. Set aside. Stir together powdered sugar and granulated sugar and combine with first mixture. Stir in the crushed chocolate bars and nuts. Spread between layers and on top and sides of cake. Break 2 chocolate bars into large chunks and garnish top of cake. Refrigerate.

Bistro open on Park

I just got off the phone with Giovanna Azevedo at the Bistro and she has officially opened her restaurant on Park Street. For those who missed an earlier story, The  Bistro on Main is now The Bistro on Park and is located in the old Park Heights restaurant building behind Burger King at Crosstown. In fact, the sign outside the restaurant still says Park Heights. That will change soon.

Giovanna opened on Tuesday and business has been really good, she said. Wednesday night the restaurant was full of patrons and operations have been running smoothly.

The Bistro is open Tuesdays-Fridays from 11 to 2 for lunch and Tuesdays-Saturdays from 6 to whenever for dinner. Beginning Sept. 7, she’ll begin offering a brunch on Saturdays. As always, reservations are recommended but not required.

The phone number hasn’t changed: 840-5550.