Field Peas to Fois Gras – Dinner Déjà Vu

April 27, 2017 by
 |  23 Comments  |  Leave Comment

Jennifer Booker is the author of two fantastic cookbooks which I am featuring today. Her cooking style is a modern interpretation of Southern cuisine that incorporates the traditional use of fresh, seasonal ingredients with the French culinary techniques she learned from her training at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Paris.

Her first cookbook, Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent shares recipes that will help you create healthy, flavorful meals for your family. While her Southern upbringing and French training is the foundation for culinary exploration in her second cookbook, Dinner Déjà Vu: Southern Tonight, French Tomorrow. In the latter title, Booker uses one list of fresh ingredients to create two meals, one Southern and one French. Combined grocery lists provide time-saving tools for recipes from cocktails to desserts and everything in between.

I’ve have made a few dishes from her books and also have been inspired to experiment with the author’s recipes. To the right you will see my version the Pork En Croute from Dinner Déjà Vu. A mustardy bread crumb type stuffing was my replacement for apple duxelle as my husband is not a fan of fruit (it’s one of the crosses I bear). It was so beautiful and delicious and we all fought over the crispy, buttery, pork-soaked pastry. As a matter of fact, I’ve made this dish twice once with a pork loin and once with a tenderloin. 

A few years back, from Field Peas, I made the Southern Fried Corn and Caramel Cake which were both delicious. I mean, how bad can Caramel Cake be?  Field Peas is definitely more of a Southern cookbook while still planting French touches with recipes for Smoked Ham Hocks directly across from Seared Foie Gras. Both books are intriguing with a splendid variety of recipes that any level of cook should be able to recreate.

Special thanks to Pelican Publishing for sharing two recipes – one from each book – with our members. Be sure to head over to our contest page where we have three sets of these titles to give away!

Now for the recipes – some delicious pickled treats to serve this summer at all your outdoor get togethers. 

Green Tomato Cha Cha
Yields 8 to 10 pint jars
 
Chow-chow, or Cha Cha as my family fondly calls it, has its beginnings in France, and was brought to the South by the Acadians by way of Novia Scotia. Although it may have started in France, it has been claimed by Southerners as our own. My grandmother used her ChaCha to add a crisp, sweet-tart bite to greens, beans, and even potato salad, making this recipe a family favorite.
 
4 large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
1 large cabbage, cored and chopped into ¼-inch pieces 
4 cups green tomatoes, cored and coarsely chopped
3 large green bell peppers, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
3 large red bell peppers, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
6 large cloves garlic, minced
½ cup pickling salt
6 cups sugar
2 cups cider vinegar
2 cups white vinegar
½ cup Pickling Spice (see recipe, p. 28)|
 
Sterilize your jars and lids.
 
In a large bowl, combine the onions, cabbage, green tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, garlic, and the pickling salt. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let stand at room temperature overnight, or at least 12 hours. 
 
The next day, drain the vegetables using a colander or sieve lined with cheesecloth, and allowing up to 2 hours to drain. 
 
Place the vegetables in a large stainless steel stockpot over medium heat and add the sugar, vinegars, 2 cups water, and the pickling spice. Bring to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.
 
Ladle the Cha Cha into hot sterilized jars (see Cleaning and Sterilizing, p. 16), leaving ½-inch headspace. Wipe the rims clean, add lids, and secure the bands until the fit is fingertip tight.
 
Process the jars in boiling water then remove and let cool. Jars may be stored in a cool, dark place for up to 1 year.

Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue +Bookshelf button)

Pickling Spices

Yields 1 cup
 
2 tablespoons mustard seeds
1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
2 tablespoons black pepper corns
1 teaspoon dried mace
1 tablespoon cardamom
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1 teaspoon dried ginger
2 dried bay leaves, crumbled
2 cinnamon sticks, crushed
6 whole cloves

Combine all the ingredients in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, seal tightly and shake to combine. The spice mixture will last up to 3 months when stored in a cool, dark place.

Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue +Bookshelf button)

From Field Peas to Foie Gras: Southern Recipes with a French Accent by Jennifer Hill Booker, © 2014 Jennifer Hill Booker, used by permission of the publisher, Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. 

Pickled Shrimp & Onions
Serves 8

I didn’t taste pickled shrimp until I moved to Georgia, but it was love at first taste.

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2/3 cups apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup water
1 large lemon, sliced
1/2 cup flatleaf parsley leaves, firmly packed
2 tablespoons of kosher salt
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup Shrimp & Crab Pickling Spice (page 188)
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 dried cayenne peppers
12 dried bay leaves
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced lengthwise

In a large bowl, combine the oil, vinegar, 1/3 cup water, sliced lemon, parsley leaves, salt, red pepper and garlic together, and set aside.

Add the Shrimp & Crab Pickling Spice and 2 quarts water to large stock pot over medium-high heat and bring to a rolling boil. Add the shrimp and cook for 3 minutes, until they are bring pink. Drain and set aside.

Layer the hot shrimp, dried cayenne peppers, bay leaves, and sliced onions in a 2-quart glass jar. Pour in the oil and vinegar mixture, making sure all of the shrimp and onions are covered.

Cover the jar with a lid, or with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 24 hours before serving. The Pickled Shrimp & Onoins taste better the longer they sit, and will keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue +Bookshelf button)
 

Shrimp & Crab Pickling Spice
Yields about 1 cup

2 tablespoons whole mustard seeds
1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
2 teaspoons whole coriander seeds
2 tablespoons black pepper corns
1 teaspoon dried mace
1 tablespoon cardamom
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1 teaspoon dried ginger
2 dried bay leaves, crumbled
2 cinnamon sticks, crushed
6 whole cloves
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon celery seed

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Add to a container with a tight-fitting lid, seal tightly and shake to combine. The spice mixture will last up to 3 months when stored in a cool, dark place.  

Add this recipe to your Bookshelf (click the blue +Bookshelf button)


From Dinner Déjà Vu: Southern Tonight, French Tomorrow by Jennifer Hill Booker, © 2017 Jennifer Hill Booker, used by permission of the publisher, Pelican Publishing Company, Inc. 

Category: Book News, Recipes

Post a comment

23 Comments

  • laureljean  on  April 27, 2017

    The photos alone of the featured recipes make me want the books! And I agree, Caramel Cake…what a tease, Jenny. You know, I will have to check out the book just to find this recipe. Thank you for the great review and featuring these books and the author.

  • rchesser  on  April 27, 2017

    Dinner Deja Vu appeals more to me.

  • lgroom  on  April 27, 2017

    Field Peas to Foie Gras appeals to me more … maybe I just like the title.

  • monique.potel  on  April 28, 2017

    i love the idea of pickling vegetables

  • bcrane  on  April 28, 2017

    Pork En Croute using pork tenderloin sounds wonderful and blackberry cobbler for dessert.

  • RSW  on  April 28, 2017

    Dinner Deja Vu

  • debbielovesbooks  on  April 28, 2017

    Dinner Deja Vu

  • AnnaZed  on  April 28, 2017

    I love her fresh take on things and am SO ATTRACTED to her style of cooking (which resembles my own). I don't have either book so I can't really say; but if I had to pick I'd start with 'Dinner Déjà Vu: Southern Tonight, French Tomorrow.'

  • sgump  on  April 28, 2017

    I could envision myself cooking from either book. But since I tend to be less scripted and more improvisational, I suppose I'd align more with *Field Pies to Foie Gras.* Both books look excellent: thanks for the index previews!

  • GeneratorHalf  on  April 29, 2017

    I think Dinner Deja Vu is more my style

  • Siegal  on  April 29, 2017

    I couldn't decide between them

  • stephdayl  on  April 29, 2017

    I really like the idea of Dinner Deja Vu – anytime ingredients can be repurposed is a success to me!

  • JenJoLa  on  May 1, 2017

    They both sound fantastic, but I think that Field Peas to Fois Gras is a bit more my style.

  • lebarron2001  on  May 5, 2017

    Field Peas to Fois Gras sounds like my cooking style.

  • ChefJenniferHillBooker  on  May 10, 2017

    Thanks for all of the great feedback!
    I would say try them both! Field Peas to Foie Gras concentrates on Down Home Southern recipes-with a French Accent. Dinner Deja Vu has a Southern recipe for every French recipe-using the same ingredients. How cool is that!
    ~Chef Jennifer

  • t.t  on  May 13, 2017

    I don't think I could pick one–both appeal to me for different reasons.

  • Uhmandanicole  on  May 13, 2017

    I really like the Dinner Deja Vu cookbook. It sounds ideal since I'm always trying to make the most of my ingredients with multiple dishes! But the other one sounds really good too. It's really hard to choose

  • gaylearendt  on  May 13, 2017

    pickled shrimp and onions — yum!

  • gaylearendt  on  May 13, 2017

    Field Peas and Foi Gras

  • artmarcia  on  May 19, 2017

    Southern cooking and French cuisine–what could be better?

  • nomadchowwoman  on  May 22, 2017

    Both books are appealing, but I love the concept behind Dinner Deja Vu.

  • PennyG  on  May 26, 2017

    Deja Vu – I'm always looking to be more efficient with my weeknight cooking!

  • Teruska  on  May 29, 2017

    While the Field Peas to Foie Gras seems to be more my style, I would love to cook through Dinner Deja Vu! Southern and French? Take me back to New Orleans!

Seen anything interesting? Let us know & we'll share it!

Categories

Archives