GREEN AND GROW #09

August 12, 2006

Guest Host: Sara Henderson
Owner, GardenMakers, a garden consultation business specializing in helping gardeners develop the garden of their dreams.
Garden educator, teaching ongoing series for the Spruill Center for the Arts, the Lanier Museum of Natural History, the Georgia Department of Agriculture and in her home garden.
Personal garden has been featured on the Georgia Gardeners for PBS and was shown on HGTV's™s A Gardener's™s Diary in April of 2002. The garden has been on the Georgia Perennial Plant Association tour and twice on the American Hydrangea Society tour.
Lifelong gardener and Atlanta native
All that and she has time to be on my show! It was a real honor to have Sara
on. I have heard her speak many times and have always walked away inspired.
Needless to say I couldn’t wait to have her as a guest.
We had the best time discussing such topics as the top 10
mistakes we see gardeners make. And we offered our suggestions for fixing
them. Sara and I also discussed plants with great fall color.

Heavy Petal, our plant pick: Tommy Nobis of Buck Jones Nurseries in
Woodstock.
Tommy’s pick this week is Blueberry (Vaccinium). He tells us how yes, it
has great tasty fruit but most people forget that they have excellent fall
color! Another plant with good fall color, the Trident Maple. For more information
go to www.buckjonesnuserywoodstock.com
 

Special Guest: Paula Refi
Paula is one of those people when you hear her speak you know something
brilliant is gonna come out of her mouth . She is an editor, writer and gifted landscape designer. Paula is past President of the Georgia Perennial Plant Association and past President of the Georgia Native Plant Society. If your a gardener then at one time or another you’ve read something she’s written. And if it didn’t inspire you, then you are not a true gardener! If you google Paula Refi, you will come up with a million of those articles she has written over the years.
Paula is known for her stunning combinations with our native
plants. It was a real treat for me to have such an icon in Atlanta gardening
on my show. Sara and I discussed, with Paula, her choice for plants that
will carry us through the fall season and beyond.

The Recipe of the Week with cullinary expert and cook book author Virginia Willis: This is my first week introducing Virginia Willis.
What an honor to have her present the recipe of the week, Tomatoes.
Producer - Author - Editor - Food Stylist
Virginia Willis is a cook, recipe developer, teacher, author, editor, and culinary television producer. Her newest book Bon Appetit Y'all is due out the fall of 2007. Currently she is producing the smash hit Home Plate, a show about new Southern cooking on Turner South. A graduate of L'Academie de Cuisine and Ecole de Cuisine LaVarenne, Virginia honed her attention to detail as the Kitchen Director for Martha Stewart Living Television where she supervised the food segments for the Emmy-award winning television show. With MSLTV, Virginia had the opportunity to execute private meals and events for Martha and her guests -- including among others, President Clinton, Aretha Franklin, and Julia Child.

As Executive Producer for Epicurious on The Discovery Channel, she traveled the world taping fantastic stories about food - from harvesting capers in the shadow of a smoldering volcano to making authentic mustard in Dijon. With Epicurious she was also responsible for directing and producing instructional video as well as developing several impromptu gourmet dinner kits.

A tester and editor for The All-New Joy of Cooking, author of Pasta Dinners 1, 2, 3, and co-author of Home Plate Cooking, Virginia's wide and varied food career started in Atlanta as an apprentice to Nathalie Dupree. She worked with Dupree on four PBS series and cookbooks, including the James Beard award-winning Comfortable Entertaining. She also spent several years as an editorial assistant with culinary authority Anne Willan on various projects including Cook It Right, an exhaustive tome that documents the various states of "doneness" (and over- and under-"doneness") of everything from whipped cream to braised pheasant.

As a nationally recognized culinary professional her client list includes
Atlanta Bread Company, Cargill/Honeysuckle White, Coca Cola, Denny's, FoodMatch Inc., Waffle House, and Whole Foods Market.

Virginia is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, The Southern Foodways Alliance, and the Whole Foods Market Culinary Advisory Panel.
Virginia’s first recipe for Green and Grow is SILVER DOLLAR CORN CAKES WITH JUMBO LUMP CRAB
Makes 2 dozen hors d'oeuvres
3 large eggs, separated
1 1/4 cups fresh corn kernels, preferably Silver Queen (about 3 ears)
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons freshly chopped chives
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup freshly chopped tarragon
1/2 cup crème frâiche or sour cream
Pinch of cayenne
1 pound jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through for cartilage and shells
24 1-inch snipped pieces of chive
Coarse salt and freshly ground white pepper
Place the egg yolks in a blender with about half of the corn kernels and puree until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl; add the remaining corn, cornmeal, and chives. Stir until well combined and season with salt and pepper.

In a separate metal or glass bowl using a handheld mixer whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Using a large rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the corn mixture.

Heat 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large cast iron skillet or nonstick pan over medium high heat. When the butter is sizzling drop the batter by the tablespoon into the skillet, leaving plenty of room between the corn cakes. Cook until small bubbles form on the top and the bottoms are golden brown, about 2 minutes. Using an offset spatula flip the cakes and cook an additional 2 minutes. Place the cakes on a wire rack to cool. Repeat the process with the remaining butter and batter.

In a small bowl combine the tarragon and crème frâiche. Season with a pinch of cayenne, salt and pepper. Set aside.
Top each corn cake with a nice lump of crabmeat then a small dollop of the seasoned crème frâiche. Garnish each cake with a piece of chive. Serve with Champagne and enjoy!

Virginia Willis Culinary Productions
 For more great recipes go to http://virginiawillis.com