My favorite sandwich is the Monte Cristo, a roasted ham and turkey with Swiss and processed cheese fried in a milk egg batter. As you may of noticed I have an obsession with eggs Benedict, so why not bring the two together? Let us start with a base of French toast, top it with roasted ham, turkey, Swiss and processed cheese. Then add a perfectly poached egg and cover with a drizzle of strawberry jam thinned into a sauce. Maybe you can add bacon if you want to. I think this creation successfully brings two of my favorites together into one great tasting dish.

Ingredients:

 2 slices day old bread (traditional is challah bread but any firm white bread will do)

 3 eggs

 1 Tbsp. butter

 3/4 cup half and half

 4 slices honey ham

 4 slices roasted turkey

 2 slices Swiss cheese

 2 slices American cheese

 1 tsp. vanilla

 1 tsp. sugar

 powdered sugar for dusting

 strawberry jam

 water

Directions:

 1. Mix 1 egg, vanilla, sugar and the half and half in a shallow dish to form a custard. Soak both sides of the bread in the custard.

 2. Heat a skillet on medium high heat and add the butter. When the butter starts to foam add the bread and cook both sides to golden brown. Keep warm.

 3. Poach the remaining 2 eggs and keep warm. In a small sauce pan heat the jam and thin to a sauce-like consistency.

 4. Build the Benedict starting with the French toast. Stack a slice of Swiss cheese, ham, turkey then a slice of American cheese.  Add a poached egg then drizzle with the strawberry sauce and finish by dusting with some powdered sugar. Serve immediately.

When I make risotto I usually make extra to make one of my favorite appetizers, Arancini Di Risa (fried risotto balls) the next day. They always are a hit at any party. When I started looking at way to utilize grits; and in particular shrimp and grits. I started thinking in the back of my mind about these lovely golden fried balls that I stuff with a piece of cheese. Why not encase a piece of shrimp in flavorful cheese grits? Better yet, for anyone that doesn't like shrimp we could use pieces of sausage or cheese. I could pair these with a savory cajun style or traditional shrimp sauce. I will leave that up to you. Remember you need to cook your grits with less
liquid and let it cool completely to let the starch set up. That will enable the balls to stick together while frying.


Ingredients:

For the cheese grits - 

  2 cups stone ground premium white grits

  1 1/2 cup chicken broth

  1 1/2 cup milk

  water to achieve proper consistency

  1 cup grated sharp white cheddar cheese

  1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

  1 cup grated fontina cheese

  2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

  salt 

For the breading station - 

  1 cup flour seasoned with salt and pepper

  2 eggs beaten

  1 cup Panko bread crumbs

 
Directions:

1. Add the butter to a large sauce pan and the grits and toast on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the chicken broth and milk to the sauce pan and bring to a boil while stirring with a whisk and continue cooking until grits soften (about 15 minutes). Grate the cheeses and add while stirring, season with salt to taste and add water to achieve proper consistency. Let cool. Note: we want a fairly stiff mixture.

2. Clean and devein the shrimp. Cook the shrimp in their shell. Peel and remove the shells then dice into one half to three quarter inch pieces. If you are using sausage, brown the sausage and cut into pieces.

3. Using a small scoop, scoop out some of the grits mixture. using your finger make a hole in the mix and insert the filling. Gather up the mixture to encase the filling and form into a ball.

4. Create a standard breading station, with one container of seasoned flower, one of beaten egg and one of bread crumbs. I prefer Panko Japanese crumbs.

5. Heat up oil for deep frying to 350 degrees F. Roll the balls in the flour shaking of any excess, then in the beaten egg then roll in the bread crumbs. deep fry until golden brown and drain on paper towels. Serve hot with or without a sauce.

One great thing about living near Atlanta is I'm able to exercise my love for Dim Sum and one of the dishes I love to order is chicken feet. I know chicken feet are not something that many people will order, but I love the textural nuances of chicken skin and braised foods; therefore I enjoy them immensely. I wanted to make a version of my own. Then I had an idea, Buffalo chicken feet! Later that night we went out for dinner at Kevin Gillespie's "Gunshow" and on the menu was Buffalo pork belly. Maybe it was a sign. Anyway, this is a great example of substitution taking Chinese savory flavors and replacing them with a spicy buttery Buffalo sauce. To cut down braising time you can use your pressure cooker and reduce cooking time to half a hour.
 
Ingredients:

 2 pounds chicken feet

 2 cloves garlic chopped

 1 small onion chopped

 1/4 cup Oyster flavored sauce

 1 Tbsp. fish sauce

 2 Tbsp. oil

 1/2 cup Frank's hot sauce

 4 Tbsp. butter

 2 cups chicken broth

 1 cup white wine

 salt and pepper to taste


Directions:

 Wash and clean the chicken feet then remove the claws by cutting off the tips of each toe with a knife or shears. Dry off the feet and quickly deep fry for 3 minutes. In a heavy bottomed pot or a pressure cooker on medium heat, add the oil and the chopped onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the chicken feet and wine and deglaze the pan. Add the chicken broth, the fish sauce and the oyster sauce, cover and braise for one and a half hours or until the feet are tender. If you are using a pressure cooker reduce cooking time to half a hour.

 Bake the feet on a sheet pan to dry them out (about 10 to 15 minutes). When dry briefly deep fry until browned (about 30 seconds) and transfer to paper towels. Melt butter and whisk in hot sauce and season to taste, toss the feet in the sauce and serve hot.

Since I tackled Southern style cheese grits I have looked forward to creating my own version of Shrimp and Grits. I also wanted to talk through my thought process as this dish comes together. My starting place was to mimic Susan's Breakfast Oatmeal but use cheese grits instead of the oatmeal and a shrimp filling. I researched traditional Georgia style shrimp and grits and decided to use smoked sausage, sweet peppers and onion with a sauce. I found a Ukrainian style smoked Kubasa instead of the traditional Andouille but you could substitute a polish smoked sausage. If I fried the sausage I could render out some of the tasty fat in which I could fry the shrimp, peppers and onions. Adding some flour would make a roux that I could flavor with white wine, lemon juice and stock. To keep our shrimp moist we need to brine them, then sauté in the shells to add more shrimp flavor (the shells are packed with flavor). White wine and lemon may not be traditional but pairs great with the shrimp. I presented three different possible grits platforms but you could just use a pile of cheese grits to simplify. The three possible platforms are a mini pie pan, an egg mold and a mini spring form pan. You can try any or find your own. If you are going to use some sort of mold or container, you will need to make a stiffer grit mixture in order for it to retain its shape. Good luck and happy cooking!

Ingredients:

For the cheese grits - 

  2 cups stone ground premium white grits

  1 1/2 cup chicken broth

  1 1/2 cup milk

  water to achieve proper consistency

  1 cup grated sharp white cheddar cheese

  1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

  1 cup grated fontina cheese

  2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

  salt 

For the shrimp mixture - 

  1 pound large shell on raw gulf shrimp

  1/2 pound good quality Ukrainian smoked sausage

  1 1/2 cup chicken broth

  1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

  1 cup white wine (Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc

  1 cup diced peppers (mixture of red, yellow and poblano)

  1/2 medium onion diced

  2 cloves garlic chopped

  1 lemon

  4 Tbsp. butter plus extra to butter the molds

  2 Tbsp. flour

 
Directions:

1. Add the butter to a large sauce pan and the grits and toast on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the chicken broth and milk to the sauce pan and bring to a boil while stirring with a whisk and continue cooking until grits soften (about 15 minutes). Grate the cheeses and add while stirring, season with salt to taste and add water to achieve proper consistency. Let cool. Note: we want a fairly stiff mixture.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter the molds and sprinkle the molds with the grated parmesan. Press the
cooled grits into the molds and up the sides. Bake for 30 minutes.

3. Clean and devein the shrimp. Dice the sausage and sauté with half the butter until the fat begins to render. Add the onions, garlic and peppers and sauté until the onion is translucent. Remove the mixture to a bowl and add the shrimp to sauté until pink. Remove the shrimp and add the sausage mixture back with the flour and butter. Stir until a roux comes together then add the wine and stock to deglaze. Reduce by one half. Peel the shrimp, chop into large pieces reserving some for garnish. Add to the sausage pepper mixture and reduce to the required consistency.  

4. Spoon the shrimp mixture into the molds and sprinkle with some parmesan. Garnish with the reserved shell-on shrimp and return to  the oven to heat through then serve.