Fried Fish Tacos

A few weeks ago, I hired a crew of construction guys to do a bathroom renovation at the Mimosa cottage at The Inn at Serenbe. We had a very small window of four days to make it happen and a lot of work to do, so I made them this offer: If you will work around the clock, you can stay at The Inn and I’ll feed you breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’ll do (almost) anything to keep a good construction crew happy.

They didn’t think about it very long.

Those guys ate, breathed and slept that bathroom renovation. They put beautiful marble tile and a soaker tub in the Mimosa, the cottage Steve and I lived in when we first moved to the farm. They worked and worked, only taking breaks to sip the cappuccinos I brought them.

The first night was taco night at the Blue Eyed Daisy and I brought them one of each—chicken, beef, pork, fish and veggie—for dinner. On the next night, they asked if I’d just bring them each a big plate of fish tacos.

I created the fish taco recipe two years ago when taco night at the Daisy began to lose its juju—and I still crave them to this day. Inspired by the fish tacos at Taqueria del Sol in Atlanta, these are made from tilapia that’s been dipped in buttermilk, rolled in cornmeal, fried in vegetable oil and served in a griddled corn tortilla—perfect for people who have gluten or peanut allergies.

Many people have told me they’re the best fish tacos they’ve ever had and I tend to agree. It’s amazing what a little cornmeal and buttermilk can do to fish. Some prefer using milk, but buttermilk gives it a deeper, richer flavor. And cornmeal gives it an extra crunch that goes well with the pickled jalapenos on top.

Fish Tacos

½ pound tilapia, cut into strips

½ cup buttermilk

1 cup white cornmeal

Salt

Vegetable oil for frying

Corn tortillas

Chopped cilantro and pickled jalapeños for garnish.

Place buttermilk in a bowl and cornmeal in a dish. Sprinkle some salt in cornmeal and mix.

Pour oil into a cast iron skillet, about 1 inch deep. Place pan on stove and turn heat to medium to heat oil. Have a cookie sheet with paper towels to drain fish on.

When oil hot, dip fish strips into buttermilk then cornmeal. Shake off excess. Place fish into hot oil and fry until crispy. Remove with tongs and place on paper towel to absorb extra oil.

In another heated skillet or hot oven, heat corn tortillas.

Cilantro-Jalapeno Tartar Sauce

½ cup mayonnaise

½ cup sour cream

2 tablespoons cilantro,chopped

1 ¼ tablespoon pickled jalapeños , chopped

¾ teaspooon salt

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix.

To assemble:

Place warm tortilla on plate. Put 2-3 strips of fish on tortilla. Spoon tartar sauce over and garnish with cilantro and pickled jalapeños.

We’ve had three farm managers since Serenbe Farms began. Daron Joffe, known as Farmer D, helped us get the foundation in, then went on to create an organic farming business in Atlanta that includes products, consulting and a retail store.

Paige Witherington came to work for Farmer D and took over as farm manager when he left. She spent 8 years literally growing Serenbe Farms from the ground up and recommended one person to take her place when she recently gave notice. That was Ashley Rodgers, who was Paige’s farm intern for a few years before working at nearby Planted Rock Farm.

Ashley may be 27 years old, 5’1 and weigh all of 90 pounds, but dear God she’s a powerhouse. She came in like a tornado—a really good tornado.

I love so many things about Ashley: She’s a Michigan native who didn’t grow up around farming, but fell in love with food while working in restaurants at the College of Charleston. She’s OCD, which I adore, especially in a farmer. She sees a project and gets it done in a day. In addition to her vast knowledge of farming, Ashley understands the aesthetics of farming, which is rare. She’s transforming the area where people pick up their CSA bundles because she wants them to be pretty. She covered an ugly walk-in cooler with palettes and now it’s gorgeous. She put a big beautiful painted sunflower sculpture I bought years ago at the Atlanta Botanical Garden years ago on a post in the farm.

Someone recently asked me what it takes to run a farm and I answered that I honestly have no idea. So I asked Ashley, and here’s what she said:

It takes a lot of energy, determination, organization, a strong back and a love of food to run a farm. When farming a few acres, things grow so quickly that managing and keeping everything alive and healthy takes a lot of time, patience and just pure hard physical work.  

I love farming because I get to learn and attain many different skills, from marketing and business to managing employees, plumbing/irrigation, botany, agriculture, fixing equipment, and building tables and other infrastructure. It keeps you on your toes, so you certainly need to be able to roll with the punches, and always be ready for the next challenge that awaits.

Most of all I love Ashley’s passion—it’s contagious. She recently told a friend of mine she couldn’t sleep because she was so excited about all the great things happening at the farm. Not because she was worried—a more traditional farmer trait—but because she was excited. I feel that excitement, and so do her interns, the CSA members and, I believe, every little seedling in the field.

May Day, in one form or another, pre-dates Christianity. It has meant many things to many different cultures over the years, but at Serenbe it’s the way we celebrate nature and all its beauty and magic in the spring. Serenbe hosts so many wonderful events all year long, but early on we made May Day our signature festival because it’s so historically beloved in agrarian societies. I remember seeing one of the legendary Gee’s Bend quilts, which was made with a May Day theme—the quilt maker said May Day was her happiest childhood memory because it was one of the only days her family didn’t work on their farm May Day was a popular event during my mother’s childhood as well. She was even crowned the queen of May Day in her hometown of Columbus, Georgia, many years ago. We don’t crown kings and queens at Serenbe’s May Day, but we do have the traditional may pole. This Sunday we’ll shut down the main street in the Selborne neighborhood for a huge street festival with everything from glass blowers, live statues, hot air balloon rides and dunk tanks to live music, street performers and food for days. Years ago, I worked the booth for The Farmhouse and made shrimp and grits to order. It was an unholy nightmare – I couldn’t keep up. This year I’ll be out and about, sampling food from the ScoutMob tasting tent and food trucks like King of Pops, Happy Belly, Philly Connection, Grazing Here, SweetWater Brewery and Tex’s Tacos. I may even have to hop on the bell cycle—a bicycle with 20 bells on it—to work some of it off and make some joyous noise. Join me this Sunday. May Day at Serenbe is a great time to bring back some wonderful childhood memories or create new ones. 1-4 p.m. Sunday, May 4 at Serenbe

There are two musicians I will always see when they come to Atlanta: One is violinist Joshua Bell and the other is Yo-Yo Ma, the greatest cellist in the world. A few weeks ago, Ma performed at the Atlanta Symphony Hall and a friend and I treated ourselves to a night on the town, starting with dinner at Bacchanalia.

Days later, when I was telling another friend about that night, I went on and on about Yo-Yo Ma—his pure spirit, his wild energy, his gracious nature. I told her about his two incredible encores, including the prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1—considered the quintessential cello piece—and how those of us in the audience who know it audibly gasped when he struck the first note.

Then she asked me a very important question: What did you feel when you hear his music? The next thing I knew I had tears in my eyes.

What I felt was joy. Listening to him play, my soul was being fed. Earlier in the evening, my body was fed by food that’s on par with the best restaurants in the world.

It reminded me how important it is to be your best, whatever your best is. Bacchanalia is the best fine dining in Atlanta and Yo-Yo Ma is the best cellist in the world—both the individual and the institution exude an undeniable passion. Experiencing both in one night filled me with pure inspiration and reaffirmed my belief that, whether your passion is playing tennis or making bread, go all in and be your best, whatever your best is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZn_VBgkPNY

When Nathalie Dupree and I get in the kitchen together, it’s pure laughter. The woman is just a force to be reckoned with: She taught cooking for decades, has been featured in The New York Times and is the founding chairman of the Charleston Food and Wine Festival. Years ago, Julia—as in Julia Child—suggested that Nathalie should write a book on Southern cooking. She now has 15 of them to her name, two of which have won James Beard Awards.

Nathalie has so many different titles and awards, but when it comes to me she’s just a big mother hen. She knew my mother well and feels proprietary about me, but also loves to tease me—especially about the fact that I don’t allow microwaves in my home.

Only Julia Child has done more cooking shows on TV than my dear friend, Nathalie Dupree.

She’s like a favorite aunt—the kind who comes and takes you out for an adventure, which we certainly had during her recent visit for the Southern Chefs Series. She did a butterflied leg of lamb with Dijon mustard, rosemary, ginger, garlic and soy sauce from her book New Southern Cooking. People who don’t normally like lamb loved this dish. And the best part is that it’s easily replicated at home—and perfect for Easter.

Next up in the Southern Chefs Series: Chef Ford Fry, May 18-19. Call 770.463.2610 to register.

Butterflied Leg of Lamb

From New Southern Cooking by Nathalie Dupree

These days, butterflied (boned) legs of lamb are available at the supermarket.  Usually they come in an elastic web, which should be removed.  Open up the lamb and spread out to roughly resemble a butterfly.

Marinade:

8 ounces Dijon Mustard
2 tablespoons rosemary, chopped or crumbled roughly
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons peanut or other oil
1 whole leg of lamb, bones removed, about 5 pounds before boning

Mix together the mustard, rosemary, ginger, garlic, soy sauce and peanut oil . Smear over the lamb, on both sides, and marinate in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.

When ready to cook, prepare a grill or the broiler. Remove the lamb from the bag, with the marinade, and cook on the hot grill or under the broiler 15 minutes on each side. Test for doneness. (I prefer my lamb rare.)  The lamb should be dark brown or black around the edges, rare inside. Don’t worry if the marinade burns…the meat will still be delicious.

People who are ambitious, highly organized and excel at managing multiple projects with a million details are often referred to as Type A personalities. I call my daughter, Garnie, a Quad A.

She’s the oldest of my three girls and just like her father. Garnie owns several businesses, is the general manager of the Inn at Serenbe (which includes Spa at Serenbe), helps Steve with all the development aspects of our community and is the owner of (and broker at) Serenbe Real Estate.

She just turned 30 last week.

When she was in high school, one of the football players got a concussion during a game and Garnie and her friends went to the hospital. While they were waiting, one of the dads asked the girls about their dream job. One said, “I want to be a flight attendant so I can travel the world.” Garnie said, “Skip that—I’m going to own the airline.”

Garnie lives and breathes projects. She was in college at Cornell when the tsunami in Indonesia happened. One of her classmate’s families was from Indonesia and he asked her what they could do to help with tsunami relief. She decided to help organize the Roll for Relief campaign and build the world’s largest spring roll to raise money. It was 1,428 feet long.

There were no giant spring rolls at Garnie’s 30^th birthday party, but there were drinks, dessert and dancing. We had banana pudding, fig cakes, chocolate cake and a pavlova. We had a fantastic local band called The Shadowboxers, who played original music and some covers. We had family and friends who flew in from all over. And we had a full bar plus Garnie’s favorite cocktail, the Autumn Harvest. It’s not really a springtime drink, but no one seemed to mind.

Autumn Harvest
1 tablespoon fig preserves
1.5 ounce Bulleit or Belle Meade Bourbon
Ziegler’s Apple Cider

Add fig preserves and bourbon to a glass, fill with apple cider and shake well. Pour over ice and garnish with a sage leaf.