This week I am excited to bring you some very special recipes from the very special folks at Grayton Beach Catering in Grayton Beach Florida. Owners Donald Reeder and his mother Cheri Peebles recently hosted a fantastic dinner party where they prepared some of their favorite dishes. My wife, Andi and I were fortunate enough to attend and we brought our buddy Kyle Jacobs along with us. It was a fantastic night at a table full of fellowship with great friends and family as well as amazing cuisine. All of the food was presented “family style” on large platters and passed around the table to share. I thought I would share with you and hopefully inspire a family style Hillbilly Supper Club of your own!
– Ken
Scallop BLT
Serves 10, 2 per person.
3 slices of smoked bacon
4 heirloom tomatoes sliced
½ cup arugula
¼ cup remoulade
1 lb. of large 10/20 scallops
seafood seasoning
Roast bacon to medium, not crispy.
Clean scallops and slice in half across the width.
Season all sides or the scallops with seafood seasoning.
Sear in a cast iron skillet
Top one scallop with bacon, arugula and remoulade. Place a second scallop on top and finish with a small skewer to hold it all together.
Tenderloin Crostini
Serves 10, 3 per person.
2 8 oz. beef tenderloin filets
8 oz. horseradish cream sauce
8 oz. onion and red pepper marmalade
½ cup arugula
1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper
30 crostini
Season steak with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
Allow it to rest until steak has come to room temperature.
Grill on high until medium rare. Let rest. Slice in thin strips.
Top crostini with arugula, thinly sliced steak, onion and red pepper marmalade, finish with horseradish cream sauce…. Then put it in your mouth.
Horseradish Cream Sauce
1/3 cup horseradish (may be adjusted to taste)
1 cup sour cream
1 lemon, juiced
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
splash of Sriracha
splash of Worcestershire
Mix all ingredients together and chill for 2 hours.
Yellow Onion and Red Pepper Marmalade
2 large yellow onions, diced medium
4 large red bell peppers, seeded and diced medium
2/3 cup of brown sugar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbs. red pepper flakes (may adjust to taste)
olive oil
In a large skillet heat oil. Sauté onions and peppers until tender. Add red pepper flakes and sauté for an additional two minutes. Deglaze the pan with vinegar. Add brown sugar. Stir and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until the liquid reduces. May be served warm or cold.
Shrimp and Grits
Serves 10
1 recipe gouda grits
1 recipe grilled shrimp
3 green onions, diced for garnish
1 tomato, diced for garnish
Gouda Grits
2 cups stone ground yellow grits (must be stone ground not instant)
2 cups smoked gouda, shredded
4 cups heavy cream
6+ cups cold water
Salt and white pepper to taste. Season throughout cooking process.
In a larger saucepan, bring heavy cream and four cups of cold water to a boil. Whisk in grits. Continually stir with a whisk until the grits begin to thicken. Once grits begin to thicken, reduce heat to a simmer. Slowly add two cups of cold water. Stir continuously so grits do not to stick to the bottom of the pot. Simmer on low for at least one hour, stir frequently and add cold water as needed to maintain consistency. In the last ten minutes of cooking, add shredded smoked Gouda. Once cheese is incorporated, add salt and pepper to taste and serve.
Shrimp
2 ½ lbs. jumbo Gulf shrimp, peeled and deveined.
Stinky’s seafood seasoning
2 tbs. olive oil
Season shrimp with Stinky’s seafood seasoning to taste. Sauté in olive oil until fully cooked.
Place grits in a bowl. Top with shrimp and garnish with green onion and diced tomato.
Every July it is cherry picking season where my wife is from in The Okanagan Valley of British Columbia Canada. We try to go every year if we can to help her parents and enjoy the festivities. This year we took Kellie Pickler and Kyle Jacobs with us and had a great time at the harvest. We picked a ton of cherries and then canned them. We asked Donald and Richard at Grayton Beach Catering to use some of the cherries in a recipe and this is what they came up with. It was delicious!
Smoked Duck with Cherry Balsamic Glaze
Serves 10
10 – 6 oz. duck breast
2 tbs. fresh thyme
2 tbs. fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste.
Brine
1 gallon of water
6.5 oz. kosher salt
6.5 oz. brown sugar
2 lemons
1 orange
10 cloves of garlic
1 small handful of black peppercorn
2 bay leaves
Bring all ingredients to a boil in a large sauce pan. Cool completely.
Place duck breast in brine and allow to rest in fridge for 24 hours.
Remove duck from brine and pat dry.
Season with salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary.
Smoke duck at 200 to 225 degrees for 6 hours.
Check internal temperature. It should be 165 degrees. If necessary, bring to temperature in the oven.
Sear duck breast fat side down over high heat in cast iron skillet until golden brown.
Remove from heat. Rest briefly. Slice and top with cherry balsamic glaze.
Cherry Balsamic Glaze
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbs. shallots, minced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
4 oz. white wine
2 cups cherries, pitted and chopped
½ cup balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 tbs. white sugar (optional)
1 tbs. olive oil
Heat oil in a medium saucepan. Sauté garlic and shallots until tender. Add green onions. Sauté for two minutes. Add cherries. Sauté for two minutes. Deglaze the pan with white wine. Allow alcohol to cook off. Add balsamic vinegar. Stirring periodically, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Allow mixture to reduce until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. Add sugar as desired to even out tartness.
Suggested Serving
We suggest serving the smoked duck breast with cherry balsamic glaze over risotto or your favorite starch.
Creamed Collards
This recipe is great for left over collard greens. To make from scratch, we suggest using your grandma’s recipe. If she doesn’t have one, we think this own is pretty darn good.
5 lbs. chopped collards, rinsed
½ lb. of bacon (or your favorite pork product)
1 large Vidalia onion, diced large
20 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup white wine
1 small handful of cracked black pepper
1 qt. chicken stock
kosher salt, to taste
1/3 cup pepper vinegar
2 tbs. red pepper flakes
2 tbs. Crystal’s Hot Sauce
In a large pot, sauté and render bacon over medium high heat. Once rendered, sauté garlic, onion and black pepper until soft. Deglaze with white wine and cook for two minutes. Add collards. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Stir periodically. Cook for at least 2 hours. The longer they cook, the better they are.
Cream Sauce
1 qt. heavy cream
1 cup shredded parmesan
1 cup shredded gruyere
Salt and pepper to taste.
1 ½ tsp. garlic powder
2 cups bread crumbs
In a saucepan over medium heat bring cream to a boil. Simmer and reduce by 1/3
Add garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in cheese until incorporated. Remove from heat.
Drain collards and remove as much of the pot liquor as possible.
Add cream sauce to the collard greens.
Place in a casserole dish. Top with bread crumbs.
Bake at 325 until bubbly and delicious.
Sweet Heat Peach Cobbler
10 peaches, peeled and sliced.
For Peaches:
½ cup cinnamon whiskey
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup brown sugar
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 ½ tbs. cornstarch
1 tbs. bacon fat (omit from marinade)
Mix ingredients together. Coat peaches evenly and allow to marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to two hours.
For Biscuit Topping:
1 ½ cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. kosher salt
¼ tsp. nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, grated cold
3/4 cup heavy cream
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. With a pastry cutter or fork, cut in cold grated butter until mixture is course. Fold in heavy cream. Mix until a dough ball forms. Do not over mix as it will create a dense topping.
In a 12-inch cast iron pan, heat 1 tbs. of bacon fat. Sauté peaches with their marinade for 5 to 10 minutes stirring frequently. Remove from heat. Cover peaches in topping. We recommend placing one spoonful of biscuit dough at a time, leaving space between each drop biscuit.
Brush with heavy cream and dust with white sugar. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes until golden brown.
I hope you enjoy trying some of these recipes from my post this week!
© Ken Johnson Hillbilly Supper Club 2017
All photos by Shelly Swanger Photography
Hillbilly Supper Club 