We are still at the beach. Thought you might be interested in what’s being harvested here just south of Charleston. Harleston Towles farms on Edisto Island and many weeks offers what he calls the “Twenty Bag.” It’s a bag of produce for $20. You order when you want. So as a vacationer, I can order just for the weeks I’m here. Tomorrow I’ll be picking up a bag with curly kale, Chinese eggplant, green peppers, yellow squash, cucumbers, red butterhead lettuce, radishes and cilantro. Then we’ll have three days to enjoy before we head back to Atlanta.
I’ve been busy looking all over for South Carolina food products. Picked up some Clemson blue cheese and also their blue cheese dressing and Chive Jive Vinaigrette from Mod Squad Martha on Johns Island. And a bag of rice grits from Congaree and Penn, a tiny rice farm near Jacksonville, Florida. Kind of funny to find rice from Florida here since South Carolina prides itself on its heirloom rice. Lots of other things, too. There’s a huge food entrepreneur community here in the Charleston area. Charleston really is a food hub with great support for its fisherpeople and farmers.
But you lucky Atlantans received a box that’s more like fall – apples, sweet potatoes, Napa cabbage and collards. I did bring some of my Riverview greens to the beach and cooked them with chopped tomatoes. We’ve been enjoying that with local eggs as a hearty breakfast. And the Napa cabbage we got before we left I stir fried with some beef and a sort of teriyaki sauce.. We always bring a little prepared food with us when we go on vacation so we’re not starving the first day or two we’re settling into a rental house.
If I were getting apples in my bag tomorrow, I’d be making this Dutch baby. I had to make a skillet pancake for a story on German food that publishes tomorrow in the AJC and it’s reminded me how easy these kinds of things are to do and how much everyone likes them.
Apple Cinnamon Dutch Baby
It’s a recipe that came originally from Southern Living.
1 large apple, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
2 eggs
1/2 cup fat-free or low-fat milk
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 to 4 tablespoons apple cider or orange juice
Garnish: powdered sugar
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Heat a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Toss together apple slices and granulated sugar in a small bowl. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in skillet. Add apples, and sauté 3 to 5 minutes or until tender. Remove apples from skillet, and wipe skillet clean.
Whisk together eggs and milk in a medium bowl. Whisk in flour, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter in skillet over medium-high heat. Immediately pour egg mixture into hot skillet, and top with cooked apples.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until pancake is golden and puffed.
Meanwhile, stir together sour cream and brown sugar in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at HIGH 45 seconds. Whisk until sugar dissolves. Stir in apple cider, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Serve with hot pancake.