Hot and Hot Fish Club Cookbook Giveaway!

Usually people don't associate Alabama with fine dining, but in Birmingham alone there are more fantastic restaurants than I can even count.  One my favorites is the Hot and Hot Fish Club.  Their menu features fresh seasonal ingredients and their cookbook is the best one I have given away so far.  So one lucky reader will win a copy of this great book.

This giveaway is open to everyone worldwide.

To Enter: You must follow publicly with Google Friend Connect or follow on Facebook.  To follow on Facebook, just click the "Like" button on the right hand side of the page.  Then leave a comment telling me how you follow.  If you follow both ways please leave two comments and you will receive two entries.

For Additional Entries: You can blog about this giveaway, or share it on Facebook, or Twitter.  One additional entry for each way you share it.  Just be sure to leave a comment for each way you share it.

Please be sure to leave a way for me to contact you if you are the winner.

This giveaway ends October 8th at midnight CST.  The winner will be announced on October 9th on Facebook.

The winner will be chosen with a random number generator.

For more Giveaways:

Visit My Kind of Cooking for a chance to win 4 cookbooks.

Visit Pan Gravy Kadai Curry for a $100 CSN giveaway.

Visit Debbi Does Dinner Healthy for $20 Sunglass Warehouse giveaway.

Visit Jenn's food Journey for a $55 CSN giveaway.

Grilled Chicken with Cypress Inn White Barbecue Sauce

White barbecue sauce is Alabama's big contribution to BBQ.  While it is always made with a mayonnaise base, every restaurant that serves it has their own recipe.  One of the best places to order it is the Cypress Inn in Tuscaloosa.  Their sauce is creamy, lemony, and just plain delicious.

Grilled Chicken with Cypress Inn White Barbecue Sauce

For the chicken:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup white wine worcestershire sauce
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper

In a resealable plastic bag combine the white wine worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and olive oil.  Add the chicken and let marinate in the fridge for about 4 hours and up to overnight.  Rotate the bag occasionally to ensure the chicken marinates evenly.  Remove the chicken from the bag and discard the marinade.  Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season both sides of the chicken well with salt and pepper.  Grill the chicken over a medium hot fire for about 8-10 minutes on each side or until the chicken is cooked through.  Serve the chicken with the Cypress Inn White Barbecue Sauce.

For the sauce:

1 & 1/2 cups mayonnaise

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 tbs sugar

2 tsp white wine worcestershire sauce

2 tsp ground white pepper

In a bowl combine all the ingredients.  Mix the sauce at least a couple hours before you plan to eat it so the flavors will have time to meld.  The sauce will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.

The sauce is also delicious on grilled seafood.

You might also be interested in Guthrie's Sauce.

Kheema Pav

Kheema Pav is a popular Indian Street food.  Kheema means ground meat and pav is bread.  Basically it is the Indian version of a Sloppy Joe.  I used ground beef, but you can substitute any kind of meat you like.  I like to serve them as sliders.  They make perfect party food or a quick dinner.

Kheema Pav

2 tbs canola oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 cinnamon stick, about 2 inches long

3 whole cloves

3 whole cardamom pods

1/2 onion, diced

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1 tbs finely chopped fresh ginger

3 serrano chiles, finely chopped (don't remove the seeds)

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 lb lean ground beef

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tbs finely chopped cilantro

8 dinner rolls or slider buns, or 4 hamburger buns

In a medium skillet heat the oil over a medium flame.  Add the cumin seeds, cinnamon stick, cloves and cardamom.  Allow them to sizzle until the become fragrant, around 10 to 15 seconds.  Add the onion, garlic, ginger, serrano chiles.  Saute until the onion is translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Then add the chopped tomatoes, garam masala, turmeric, coriander, and cayenne pepper.  Cook until the tomatoes starts to break down.  Then add the ground beef and kosher salt.  Continue to cook until the meat is no longer pink.  Turn off the heat and stir in the chopped cilantro.  

Serve on buttered and toasted buns.  Makes 4 hamburger sized sandwiches or eight sliders.

Note: The cinnamon stick, cloves, and cardamom are used only for flavoring and are not meant to be eaten.

You might also be interested in Madras Chicken.

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

Even though summer is almost over there are still plenty of fresh tomatoes to be eaten.  A caprese salad is one of my favorite ways to enjoy fresh tomatoes, but the key is using the freshest tomatoes you can get your hands on.  Since there are so few ingredients in this dish you really want all of them to be of the best quality.  I like to use heirloom tomatoes for this salad, but you can substitute any variety of tomato you like.

Heirloom Tomato Caprese Salad

4 heirloom tomatoes, assorted colors

1 lb fresh mozzarella cheese

6-10 fresh basil leaves

best quality balsamic vinegar

extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

freshly cracked black pepper

Slice the tomatoes and cheese into 1/4 inch slices.  Arrange the slices on a serving platter alternating tomato and cheese slices.  Then slice the basil into thin strips and scatter over the tomato and cheese slices.  Then lightly drizzle over the top both the balsamic vinegar and the olive oil.  Season well with kosher salt and freshly cracked pepper.

This salad is best served as a first course.

You might also be interested in fried green tomatoes with Guthrie's sauce.