First Recommendation by Matt (The Husband)

First that let me say up front that I am not the creator or regular author of Splendid.Bites. I am her husband. Let me make it clear that I am not the chef -- my wife is. Belle has some serious skills in the kitchen and I am really glad that she is going to be sharing some of those with you because cooking is something she really loves to do and talk about, so this blog is a great outlet for her and a wonderful resource for you. I am also no writer -- my wife is. Somehow she finds words to talk about food that I don't even know their meaning. Speaking of describing food. No conversation can occur about having skills for describing food without mentioning my friend Kim. I am telling you all that you truly don't know how good your food is until Kim describes it for you. Your food will automatically taste better if she describes it to you. Anyway, I digress (which as you will read, happens from time to time). My wife has given me permission to blog every now and then and tonight is a great place to start.

What you will get from me most often is feedback from a dining experience that I have had. It may be praise for my wife (or some suggestions for her, I like to keep it real :)) or it may be from a dining out experience I have. What I want to do with my posts is let people know where good food is in town, no matter what type of food you like. The City of Charleston, where I was born, raised, and currently live, is not really known for its extensive variety when it comes to food. But let me tell you, there are some serious hidden gems in this town. Maybe you know about them, or maybe I can point you to them.

Now don't get me wrong, on occasion I can throw down in the kitchen. I will post some of my favorite recipes, such as meatballs, salsa, chili, pastas, etc. Mostly guy stuff, but done with a certain twist and flare that I have picked up over the years by watching my grandmother, mother, and now wife cook. Also, I am a big fan of all things cooking on the tube, so if there is a cooking reality show out there, you best believe it is on my DVR. Basically, I like to cook to relax and see what I can come up with, but I will leave the technical stuff to my wife and I will stick with what I know.

Tonight, I am going to make my first recommendation. I want to toss out some serious respect for The Wooden Spoon. Most of you probably haven't heard of The Wooden Spoon. I know I hadn't until a few weeks ago. The Wooden Spoon is an Appalachian Creamery located on the West Side (Best Side) of Charleston on Bigley Avenue. They currently supply sorbet at The Bluegrass Kitchen, The Charleston Mariott, and the WV State Capitol Cafeteria. The Wooden Spoon also does excellent catering for lunch and dinner and I had the pleasure of having their dinner this evening. And, I have to say that I was very impressed.

A little background is necessary for this recommendation. At work, we have been working for the last nine months on a major project that just got a lot bigger over the last few weeks. Our team has been locked in room with no windows (and until a few days ago very little ventilation) putting together a plan for the next couple of phases of the project. Tonight we held a dinner meeting with most of the senior players from the companies involved in this project (as I like to say, the people with "the juice"). We always like to have something to eat for our clients when they come in, but we never want to go overboard, because in the end we our spending their money and we should respect that. The simplest our routine idea that came up was to get salads from Tidewater. Now I like Tidewater salads (that is about it, but that is another post), but lets be honest, our office always gets salads from Tidewater and it gets a little old. We needed something different and a member of our team, Scott, provided that for us. Scott is on the Board of the West Side Main Street Association and like a good member of the West Side, he likes to support local business. Being born and raised on the West Side myself, I also understand the importance and still love all things West Side. Scott suggested that we have The Wooden Spoon cater our dinner meeting. Let's just say, this was not exactly a well accepted idea when it was first broached. No one except Scott had heard of The Wooden Spoon, so naturally we were a little uncomfortable providing dinner for one of our top clients from a place we didn't know anything about. But being an excellent spokesperson for the West Side, and being the unrelenting person that he is, Scott did not give up and booked The Wooden Spoon. We would just have to live with it.

Okay, so now you have some background -- Scott had laid his neck on the line. If this didn't work out well, he would, one, never hear the end of it, and two, it would be a long time before he got to pick a place again. (Side note: one year for my fantasy football league I vouched for a friend to get him into the league. Once he got into the league he paid attention for about three weeks and then stopped paying attention. I didn't get to bring anyone else into the league again for five years. 5 years! I bring that up to make clear that that is the type of pressure we are talking about here).

Anyway, I have to admit, and I think everyone else would too, that The Wooden Spoon was a huge hit. Now it is not your typical Charleston catering service with light pastas and finger foods, this was some serious home cooking. They served top notch mashed potatoes, excellent mixed veggies and solid fried chicken. They also served some lasagna and rolls. Now I am here to be honest with you, so you know when I like something I mean it and when I don't, I also mean that. I say this, because I didn't care much for the lasagna and the rolls were okay, but nothing special. Let me be completely fair to the lasagna though. My grandmother was a sister of Joe Fazio, the owner of Fazio's Restaurant in Charleston. Fazio's is well established as one of, if not the best Italian restaurant in Charleston and while they serve excellent Italian food, including lasagna, my grandmother was even better, so I am a little spoiled. Also to be completely honest, my mom knows her way around a lasagna and Italian food as well (her eggplant will seriously make you cry wanting more, but that is a different post), so I have high standards here. By the way, I should mention that I can put together a pretty mean lasagna as well. Since I am in the practice of being honest with you all, I can put together the ingredients (sauce, meats, veggies, etc) for a mean lasagna, but I have to turn to my wife to bring it together, cook it properly and just as imporantly make it look delectable. Like I said, she has some skills.

Getting back to the matter at hand, my opinion of the lasagna didn't matter, because the taters, veggies and chicken were killer. For dessert we had some strawberry ice cream that would knock your socks off if you are a big ice cream fan (I am not really, but as you will come to find out, my wife is, and since it is her blog, I thought I would let her bring it up).

Bottom line, if you are planning a dinner meeting or a party where good home cooking is what you are looking for, holler at The Wooden Spoon. Their web address is http://thewoodenspoonwv.com/ and their email address is thewoodenspoonwv@yahoo.com or you can call them at 304-205-4290.

I don't make recommendations lightly, because I want everyone to have a great dining experience, so when I make it a point to bring someone to your attention, pay attention. I strongly recommend The Wooden Spoon for two reasons. First and foremost, they have really delicious food -- finger-licking good (though I would not recommend that you lick your fingers in the presence of business clients. Believe me, it will be hard to resist with this food). And just as important, they are a local business that needs to move into the forefront of a weak catering business in Charleston. Hopefully, most of you already have been to The Wooden Spoon and I am just reemphasizing something you already knew, but for those of you who haven't, give it a chance, you won't be disappointed.

A Baby Shower

The new year brought a very special occasion, a baby shower. First a wee bit of background. Anne is my sister-in-law, by way of her marriage to my husband's brother, Ben. From the moment I heard the fantastic news this summer, I knew at that very moment that yours truly would be hosting a shower. Not being one to leave things to fate, I immediately asked/informed my mum-in-law that the shower was mine -- all mine, for the planning. Fast forward to November when Ben and Anne chose January 3, 2009 as the date for shower. (Yes, I crossed all fingers and toes and prayed with all my might that the weather cooperate -- It did!)

In no at all time I made shower invitations and placed them in the post. E voila  what do you think? (Picture to come)  Lovely, were they not? It had to be a midday tea, no question there.

 

Then came the menu. O the possibilities. Hot or cold foods, plated, family, buffet or bar style service? Blinis-pancakes-tortes-dacquoise-warm compotes-teas-whipped toppings-savory and smoked meats-juice bar-mimosas-bread puddings-hot chocolat-champagne-toasts-fruits-oh my! Fortunately I came to sense and decided to keep it simple. It had to be simple, after all Anne and Ben were not exactly going to travel hundreds of miles for a disaster of a shower. I could not risk it. Non, non, non!

Three sweet items: 1) an almond breakfast cake, 2) apple walnut tea cake, and 3) lemon-pecan tea cake. Three savory items: (1) lemon chicken salad mini-sandwiches, 2) smoked salmon mini-sandwiches, and 3) radish-cucumber-chive mini-sandwiches. One salty item: cheddar-bacon mini-sandwiches. And of course, fruit, salad, hot tea and cafe. Mes amis, all did not go as planned, but I can assure you that it all went beautifully. See? 

Let's dispense with what went wrong first. I was not able to make the smoked salmon, radish-cucumber-chive and cheddar-bacon mini-sandwiches in time.  Time ran out, but that is a story for another post.  I promise you, I will be tackling those recipes before winters end. I ended up making a lemon raspberry muffin impromptuly. I had consulted Anne, her pregnancy kept her palate on the sweet side.  Fortunately, those baked up sweet and plump as clouds. 

Let's begin with the Almond Breakfast Cake recipe and end with the unbelievably delicious macaroons. A taste of heaven!

Almond Breakfast Cake

Unsalted butter for pan

All-purpose flour for pan

For the crumb topping of strudel

6 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/3 Cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 Cup sliced almonds

For the cake

2 Cups all-purpose flour

11/2 Teaspoon baking powder

1/4 Teaspoon salt

1/2 Cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 lb Almond paste, at room temperature

1 Cup granulated sugar

1 Large eggs

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 Teaspoon almond extract

3/4 Cup whole milk, at room temperature

1. Position a rake in the middle of the oven, and preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 9-inch cake pan and dust with flour.

2. To make the crumb topping or strudel, in a bowl, stir together the flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon until blended.  Add the melted butter and stir together until the mixture is evenly moistened and crumbly.  Gently stir in the almond just until evenly distributed.  Set the bowl aside.

3. To make the cake, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside the bowl.

4. In a large bowl, combine the butter and almond paste.  Using a wooden spoon, beat until smooth.  Add the sugar and beat until blended.  Add the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract and stir until blended, about 1 minute.  The mixture may look slightly curdled.  Add the dry ingredients in 2 batches, alternating with the milk in 1 batch, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mix just until blended.  Take care not to over mix.

5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.  Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the surface.  Or, Pour two-thirds of the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the surface.  Pour the remaining one-third of the batter over the crumb mixture.  Tap the pan to remove air pockets.

6. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55-60 minutes.  Transfer to a wire reake and let cool completely in the pan.  Serve at one or cover the cake with plastic wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days.  Enjoy!