Cooking up the holidays: Area chefs share seasonal secrets
Story and photos by
Elaine Hobson Miller
Contributed photos
Christmas time’s a-comin’, and you can almost smell the aroma of holiday foods. Cakes, pies, scrumptious side dishes, standing rib roasts and turkeys take center stage, or should we say, center table, in homes throughout the world.
It’s not just homes that feature holiday dishes, though. Many restaurants, including several here in St. Clair County, also bring out holiday foods that add a touch of festiveness to their daily menus. Discover managed to gather up a few that their chefs were willing to share. Many of them, like those on our readers’ tables, were handed down from mothers and grandmothers, making them extra special at family holiday gatherings.
Special dishes The St. Clair’s signature
Chef de Cuisine Sean Fincher at The St. Clair in Pell City developed an amazing appetizer recipe called, “Spiced Red Wine Braised Sausage Rolls with Caramelized Onion Fig Jam.” In fact, it could be used a side dish, too. It takes a little work but is well worth the effort. Co-owner Rebecca Robinson says the item isn’t on the menu yet but may be during the holidays. Or, they may add it to their catering menu.
The restaurant and The Tavern at The St. Clair are the brainchild of Rebecca and Carson Robinson, business partners for nearly two decades. Their menu is a mix of steaks, seafood, game, chicken, lamb and pork and a variety of appetizers and salads. Offerings are upscale, but not pretentious. This white-tablecloth restaurant doesn’t care whether you dress up or wear jeans, and patrons can be seen in both.
Always something good at Greasy Cove
Greasy Cove General Store’s contribution, Cranberry Salad, is a recipe handed down from owner/manager Donald Reeves’ grandmother. “She made it at family gatherings,” Reeves said. He also said he may be serving it in his Gallant-area restaurant, affectionately known by customers as the Greasy Spoon, during the current holiday season.
“The store building was in our family, but it was falling in, and I wanted to do something difficult,” Reeves said regarding the development of his business. “I always wanted a general store with a produce market and kitchen in it. We opened in 2019, but it took another year to get the restaurant open.” Prior to running a general store and restaurant, Reeves was a machinist. “I like hole-in-the-wall places with really good food,” he said.
Head to The Grill for palate pleasing dishes
Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts will make a vegetable eater out of hard-core meat and potatoes folks. Contributed by The Grill at the Farm, in Cropwell, it is part of a menu 75 percent of which was created by owner Wade Reich, his son/manager Eakin Reich, and Chef Patrick.
Wade Reich says part of his reasoning for opening The Grill (formerly Louie’s) was a lack of properly functioning synapses in his brain. This may be attributed to his having grown up in his family’s hotel business, which started in 1894 in Gadsden, as well as in the food business, with chefs out of New Orleans and 100-year-old recipes. “You get the food business in your blood, and you can’t get it out,” Reich said.
He wouldn’t have done it by himself, but his son joined him. “This used to be Louie’s Grill at the Countryside Farm,” Reich said. “We have 62 acres, and we’re trying to figure out how to develop the rest of the property.”
Besides its 100-seat restaurant, The Grill offers a 140-seat party room and a 40-seat sports or oyster bar. “Then there’s the Residence Inn and a barn we’re trying to do something with,” Reich says. “I also own Butts To Go on May’s Drive. The Grill at the Farm is at 230 Hamby Road, off US 231, then the Dam Road.”
What’s for dessert?
For a sweet-salty ending to your holiday meal, try Peanut Butter Pie, contributed by Scott Holmes, owner of Charlie’s BBQ in Odenville. In 2016, Charlie’s beat out nine other barbecue joints across the state to be selected Best Barbecue in The Dives division during Alabama Tourism’s Year of Alabama Barbecue.
Holmes thinks his location at the corner of US 411 and Alabama 174 South, in front of the Piggly Wiggly grocery store and adjacent to a service station, probably placed him in the right category. “If you’re a barbecue place in Alabama attached to a service station, you’re probably a dive,” he said.
“Briskets are our signature dish,” he added. “We smoke six a week. A brisket is the chest muscle of a cow, and it’s hard to do. We cook them up to 16 hours to get them tender.” There’s a different special every Monday, such as the popular Soul Bowl, consisting of a bed of garlic cheese grits layered with turnip greens, pork and a cornbread muffin on top.
Look what’s cookin’ in Ragland
Anthony Soles and his business partner, longtime City Councilman Carl Byers, opened Chef T’s (for Tony) in Ragland in 2010, building on the success of their original Alexandria location. Chef T says he inherited his love of cooking from his mother, and he has used that “inheritance” for years as he worked his way up in the food industry.
For the holidays, Soles chose to share Apple Dumplings as the go-to favorite.
The mainstay of his everyday menu is the barbecue pork, and they offer a small-chopped pork sandwich for just $1.25.
The barbecue sauce is homemade and is described by Byers as a “sneaky heat, but not overpowering.” The signature Chef T’s burger is served with a steak knife holding it all together.
In addition to running a Southern, home-style eatery, catering is an aspect of the business and is supported by two food trucks. They cater for many of the large corporations and businesses in the surrounding areas.
If these recipes aren’t enough to inspire your holiday cooking, maybe you should pick up Christmas dinner at one of these St. Clair restaurants.
Holiday recipes
Spiced Red Wine Braised Sausage Rolls with Caramelized Onion Fig Jam
From Chef de Cuisine Sean Fincher at The Tavern at The St. Clair (Pell City)
Ingredients for the Braised Sausage:
- 8 – 5” Lengths of Conecuh Mild Sausages (or your favorite link sausages)
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 2 cups dry red wine, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 stick of cinnamon, whole
- 8 whole cloves
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- 1 orange, peel only
- Salt
Directions:
Add oil and sausages in a small braising pan (or other pan with 2” sides) heated on medium-high. Brown links on each side, then add cinnamon, cloves and rosemary and saute lightly for 2 minutes. Deglaze with wine, adding the beef broth and orange peel. Cover with a lid and braise for 1 hour. Remove sausages and allow to cool to room temperature, then chill thoroughly. Reduce braising liquid by half and strain through a fine mesh strainer. Reserve for jam preparation. While the sausages cool, begin making the jam.
Ingredients for the Jam:
- 4 red onions, thinly sliced (Julienned)
- 2 Tbs. olive oil
- 4 cups fresh figs, chopped*
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tbs. sugar, or to taste if you prefer it sweeter
- Reserved braising liquid
Directions:
In the braising pan after straining liquids out, add onions. Cook the onions on low heat, stirring often until they are caramelized. They should have a deep brown color to them. Deglaze with reserved braising liquid and scrape the bottom of the pan from all the fond (brown bits) that has developed. Add figs, balsamic vinegar, and sugar. Bring the mixture to a bare simmer for 1 hour and stir often. The mixture should have thickened with very little residual liquid left in the pan. Taste for salt and sweetness and adjust to your personal taste. Remove to a storage container and allow to cool to room temperature. Serve warm.
Bring it all together:
Ingredients:
- 1 package of puff pastry, thawed
- 1 egg + 1 tsp of water for egg wash
Cut puff pastry into 8 equal pieces with a sharp knife. Place each sausage in the center of the pastry horizontally. Lightly brush egg wash onto the back edge, furthest from you. Fold the pastry closest to you over the sausage and then onto the back edge, leaving the seam side down on the cutting board. After completing all the sausages, place them on a parchment-lined sheet tray. Brush each roll with the remainder of the egg wash. Bake at 400* F for 25 minutes or until the puff pastry has turned golden brown.
Enjoy the Sausage Rolls with the Jam
*When fresh figs aren’t available, replace with ¾ cup of fig preserves. Don’t add sugar to the jam because the preserves are going to have more than enough.
Clara’s Cranberry Salad
From Donald Reeves at Greasy Cove
General Store (Gallant)
Ingredients:
- 2 small boxes raspberry Jello
- 1 can whole-berry cranberry sauce
- 1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
- 1 pint sour cream
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts
- 2 cups boiling water
Directions:
Put 2 cups boiling water in a large bowl and add Jello. Stir until dissolved. Stir in cranberry sauce. Let set in refrigerator until syrupy. Add cranberry sauce, pineapple, sour cream and nuts, and fold in. Put in refrigerator until set.
Peanut Butter Pie
From Charlie’s BBQ (Odenville)
Ingredients:
- 16 oz. jar of natural peanut butter
- 8 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
- ¾ cup of honey
- 8 oz. Cool Whip
- 6 oz. chocolate pie crust
- 2 Tbs. semi-sweet chocolate chips
- ½ Tsp. shortening
Directions:
Beat together cream cheese and honey until well blended. Stir in peanut butter and mix well. Gently fold in Cool Whip. Spoon into crust. Heat chocolate chips and shortening over low heat until melted, drizzle over pie. Chill overnight or freeze.
Serves 8.
Apple Dumplings
From Chef T’s (Ragland)
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon divided
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg divided
- 1/4 cup butter
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 (15 oz) packages refrigerated pie crusts
- 8 med apples of your choice peeled and cored
- 3 tbsp butter cut up
Directions:
Boil 2 cups water, 1 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 tsp nutmeg in saucepan on med high heat stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low simmering and stirring occasionally for 10 min. This will turn to syrup. Once it does add 1/4 cup sugar and set to the side. In a separate bowl mix your leftover cinnamon, nutmeg and 2/3 cup sugar.
Cut pie crusts quarters and roll out into circles. Place an apple in the middle of each circle sprinkling each evenly with your cinnamon sugar mixture. Dot each evenly with butter. Fold dough over apples, pinching each closed. Place in lightly greased baking dish. Drizzle with syrup. Bake dumplings at 375° for 45 minutes.
You can always find a way to cut corners and use canned fried apples for a sweeter simpler dish.
Serve hot or cold. Goes great with a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
Hope you enjoy this great dessert like we do.
Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts
From The Grill at The Farm (Cropwell)
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds Brussels sprouts, halved
- 2 pieces thick-cut bacon, such as Nueske’s
- Applewood smoked bacon
- 3 Tbsp. maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp. Kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large-rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place bacon on sheets and cook until beginning to crisp, about 7 minutes.
Remove bacon from oven and transfer to a paper towel- lined plate; reserve 2 tablespoons of bacon drippings. Chop bacon into small strips. Discard aluminum foil and return rimmed baking sheet to hot oven.
Meanwhile, fill large stock pot with water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add Brussels sprouts and boil until leaves are dark green in color, about 4 minutes. Transfer Brussels and any loose leaves to a large bowl filled with ice water. Drain, pat dry and transfer to medium bowl. Add half of the chopped bacon, 2 tablespoons of maple syrup, reserved bacon drippings and salt and pepper to the bowl; toss to combine. Remove baking sheet from oven and evenly spread mixture over sheet; cook Brussels sprouts until caramelized and bacon is crisp, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through. Transfer Brussels sprouts to a serving bowl and drizzle with remaining maple syrup and bacon.
Serves 6-8
