Yesterday I checked the snail mail like I do every day, and inside our mail box was a large manilla envelope with my name handwritten on it. It was my dear friend Carol's writing! Carol is a REAL Southern Belle living on a grand farm with a wrap around porch in Kentucky. I couldn't wait to see what sort of wonderful treat she had picked out just for me!
Inside were some brochures describing her beloved State of Kentucky.. (I'm planning a visit soon) and a remarkable cookbook from the Inn at Pleasant Hill in Shaker Village. Carol had just returned from a work/roadtrip and stayed at the Inn at Pleasant Hill, one of her favorite places in the world. She had called me several times throughout her trip while sitting in the old dining room, called the Trustees' Office Dining Room, and described everything that she was eating to the point where I was on the Southwest Airlines website hunting for cheap air. No luck on such short notice, but Shaker Village I shall do. Soon.
Here is the Inn at Shaker Village Website, with a picture of the Trustees' Office Dining Room.
Carol's reading of the menu was like hearing Michael Jackson's Thriller for the first time. Homemade Tomato Celery Soup (which I cooked for tonight's blog entry) homemade fried chicken, old fashioned 'salads' that include jello and fruit. Potatoes, greenbeans, buttermilk, heavy cream, butter, kitchen garden vegetables and herbs, catfish in breadcrumbs, lemon pie, Indian griddle cakes with maple syrup, berry jams and jelly, country meat loaf and scratch breads... The Shakers demand that everything be cooked on heavy iron skillets while only using wood and metal spoons and whisks for mixing. (The Shakers also choose a life of celebacy which I learned while reading the cookbook cover to cover last night before bed)
So tonight's dinner was simple. Albacore Salad and Tomato Celery Soup from my new cookbook. I ordered a small gorgeous fresh loin of skinoff Albacore Tuna (caught in Fiji) and sliced it into 1 inch steaks, cutting out the blood line. I quick sauteed the fish for about 90 seconds on each side over a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. I made a quick salad, sliced a Goleta grown tomato (it actually TASTES like a homegrown tomato!) and sliced a lemon wedge, and my salad was done. Use any dressing that you like!...
But the STAR of tonight's dinner was the Inn at Pleasant Village's recipe for Tomato Celery Soup.
Tomato Celery Soup
From the Cookbook that Carol gave me!
1 small onion, diced (about 1 cup)
2 stalks raw celery, diced (about 1 cup)
2 cans, campbells tomato soup
3 tablespns diced fresh parsley
1/4 tspn ground pepper
Squeeze of half a lemon's worth of juice
2 tspns sugar
1/2 tspn salt (I used celery salt)
heavy cream for topping the soup after it's in the bowl
2 cans water
1 tablespn of butter
Sautee the onions and celery in the melted butter for just a few minutes. Don't let them get brown. Add the two cans of tomato soup, the water, the spices and sugar, the water, and the lemon juice and let simmer about 5 minutes.
Ladle the soup into your favorite bowl, swirl about 1/8th of a cup of the heavy cream on top of the soup (while in your bowl) and sprinkle some parsley on top. It is so delicious. You simply must try it.
