Want to go?
WHAT: K99.1 FM Country Bands Together with Little Big Town, and Big & Rich featuring Parmalee, Maddie & Tae and Brothers Osborne
WHEN:Saturday, Dec. 12, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE:Wright State University Nutter Center, 3460 Colonel Glenn Highway, Dayton.
TICKETS:$45, $55 and $65 through Ticketmaster.
INFO: K99online.com
Striving for the right balance of flavor, texture, aroma and appearance is what cooks do every time we’re in the kitchen. Sometimes we get it right, and the result is culinary harmony.
Someone who knows a thing or two about harmony is Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town, the award-winning country music group adored for their sweet, goosebump-inducing vocal harmonies. The vocalist is also a cook and author of "Oh Gussie! Cooking and Visiting in Kimberly's Southern Kitchen."
Having grown up in the Appalachian foothills of Georgia, Schlapman shares family recipes handed down from generation to generation. You’ll get to know her as well as the background for many of the dishes.
Also, you have an opportunity to hear Schlapman this Saturday as part of K99.1 FM Country Bands Together with Little Big Town, and Big & Rich featuring Parmalee, Maddie & Tae and Brothers Osborne. The charity concert at Wright State University's Nutter Center benefits Dayton Children's Hospital.
K99.1FM's Morning Show Co-host Nancy Wilson along with her radio friends, Liz Goshert and Glenna Todd, came over to my home to try a couple of Schlapman's recipes. It was a difficult choice because everything looks so good, but we all agreed on two recipes we all think you and your family will love for the holidays. So I tied aprons on the ladies and we got started:
CREAMY COCONUT FRUIT SALAD (Page 194)
Makes 6 servings
One 15-ounce can mandarin oranges, drained
1½ cups diced fresh pineapple
1 cup seedless red grapes, halved
One 15.25-ounce can apricots, drained and diced
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
¾ cup sour cream, kept very cold
½ teaspoon coconut extract
2 tablespoons sugar
1. Combine the oranges, pineapple, grapes, apricots, marshmallows and coconut in a large bowl.
2. Using a very cold whisk and a very cold, large bowl, whip the sour cream, coconut extract and sugar until fluffy.
3. Fold the fruit mixture into the sour cream mixture. Chill for at least 2 hours in the fridge and serve cold.
Our assessment: Glenna volunteered for cutting board duty and immediately pulled the rest of us into a debate. "Should I cut the grapes long ways, or short ways?" she asked.
Everyone had a different opinion. “Long ways!” Nancy said. “Short ways!” Liz countered. I recommended a combination. We decided whichever way is more aesthetically pleasing is totally up to you.
Deciding how to cut those grapes was one of the most difficult things about the recipe. “You know, a lot of times these celebrity cookbooks are full of recipes that are hard-to-make ingredients that are hard-to-find and don’t sound very good,” Nancy said. “I was really surprised to find that Kimberly ‘s recipes were super easy to make with ingredients that are easy to find and economical and they taste amazing!”
"Right!" Liz chimed in. "The recipe was soooo easy that it was done before my glass of wine was!"
And how did it taste? “The ambrosia is really a little bit of heaven!” Nancy said. “It’s light and decadent all at the same time!”
CROSTINI AND BLACK-EYED PEA PUREE (Page 105)
Makes 6 servings
¼ cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
5 thyme sprigs
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 bay leaf
One 15-ounce can black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed
¼ cup vegetable broth
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 baguette, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Heat the ¼ cup olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the thyme, pepper flakes, garlic and bay leaf. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the black-eyed peas and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the flavors have melded, about 10 minutes.
3. Discard the bay leaf and thyme stems and transfer the mixture to a blender. Puree until smooth, sprinkling in a little water if the mixture is too dry. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Transfer to a bowl.
4. Arrange the bread on a baking sheet, drizzle the olive oil over the bread, and toast in the oven until golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes. Serve with the black-eyed pea puree.
Our assessment: This is another extremely simple recipe. While the aromas of oil, thyme, pepper flakes, garlic and bay leaf were getting to know each other in the saucepan, Glenna volunteered to prep the baguette slices. (You may be picking up on the fact that Glenna is big on volunteering.)
“I feel like I’m an artist painting a canvas!” she said, using my silicone cooking brush.
While the bread was toasting, we continued to work on the peas, and when it came time to puree them, I handed Glenna my immersion blender. “Wow! she said. “That’s a clever way not to dirty up another bowl!”
Into the saucepan the blender went. Getting the right action down was a little tricky, and a bit of pea puree artistically landed on Liz’s apron.
“I want to try!” Liz said. So she, too, went to town on those peas until they had the perfect consistency. She cleverly left a few peas intact for a pretty presentation.
After the bread was nicely toasted, it only took a couple minutes to put the appetizers together. “Oh, this is awesome!” Nancy said. “There’s not too much garlic to overpower the peas, but they’re still very savory.”
“The BEST part of all, though, is watching my fellow cooks use an immersion blender for the first time!” Nancy said.
It was certainly a fun and harmonious evening with friends in the kitchen. Now we’re all excited about seeing Kimberly and the rest of Little Big Town this weekend. Hope to see you there!
From the book: "Oh Gussie! Cooking and Visiting in Kimberly's Southern Kitchen" by Kimberly Schlapman of Little Big Town with Martha Foose (240 pages, $29.99). Published by William Morrow, 2015.
What you get: Consider this book a modern primer on Southern cooking. The recipes are simple and straightforward, and include mainstays like Layered Salad, Okra Hash, Simply Southern Fried Chicken, Country-Fried Steak and Milk Gravy, Vinegar Pecan Pie, Grandmother's Coconut Pudding and Chocolate Cherry Cola Cake.
In her own words: "My desire is for you to show love to the people who mean the most to you through the recipes in this book. I am sharing my heart in the stories and memories that I hold most dear. I hope they park memories in you and inspire you to love even deeper with every dusting of flour and tearful chopping of onion." — Kimberly Schlapman
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