Charleston visit is tasty trip

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Charleston visit is tasty trip
October 13, 2010
Marlyn Monette
Shreveport Times

Some tasks are sheer joy — and writing about my recent visit to Charleston, S.C., with my daughter Debbie constitutes exactly that — sheer joy! From beginning to end, those four days were perfect, and the icing on the cake was being there during Restaurant Week, when many restaurants offer special menus celebrating the event.

This friendly, bustling little city was even more exciting than I had anticipated. Dating back to 1690, Charleston is one of our country's most historic and beautiful places to visit. As for its superior cuisine, in Charleston's early days before refrigeration, freshness was paramount, and due to Charleston's proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, seafood became a primary staple of the Low Country diet. Farmers also thrive in this fertile land where temperate climates enable them to harvest during two growing seasons to provide some of the freshest vegetables in the South. This is what makes Charleston dishes appealing.

Our first evening was spent with friends Kathy and Jim Maxon, who squired us around town showing us historic sights such as Fort Sumpter and the famed Citadel, Jim's alma mater. Our tour ended at Amen Street Fish & Raw Bar, kicking off a four-day marathon of scrumptious dining! At Amen Street, we ordered a variety of dishes that we could share. My favorite was the she-crab soup. Deb's quest for the best shrimp and grits began that evening and did not end until our final meal at Hominy Grill before coming home.

Charleston is known for its numerous ways to cook shrimp (memorably listed by Bubba in the movie "Forrest Gump") and a very simple way is to sauté a few in butter with minced chives or cook them down with tasso and stewed tomatoes and serve on a bed of fluffy Carolina aromatic rice. Delicious!

Many Charleston natives believe she-crab soup and shrimp and grits (stone ground) to be the two most popular dishes in Charleston. After much sampling, I have come up with some favorites of my own: crab cakes, fried green tomatoes, okra gumbo (gullah), collard greens and rice pilau (or pirloo). The big surprise to me was the number of pimiento cheese dishes featured on restaurant menus, such as pimiento fritters, pimiento cheese grits and pimiento cheese on Charleston flat bread for an appetizer.

We took two fun cooking classes at a place called Charleston Cooks! Maverick Kitchen Store. Their marketing director graciously gave me permission to share some of those recipes with you and they will run in next weeks' column. You're going to love them.

One of our favorite restaurants was a classy place called Magnolias where we enjoyed a scrumptious meal on our last evening in Charleston. Debbie chose from the Restaurant Week menu — a three-course meal that began with duck confit spring rolls with pineapple chutney and spicy mustard. Not only was it presented beautifully, it was also divine in flavor. Her entree was blackened catfish over Carolina dirty rice with fried green tomatoes, habanero chutney and tomato butter.

I won't mention the Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese mousse and strawberry sauce.

I enjoyed succulent blue crab bisque, pan seared lump crab cakes over Carolina rice and creek shrimp pirloo, sautéed spinach and tomato butter.

Since I collect cookbooks in my travels, I was excited to find Magnolias Restaurant has their own beautiful cookbook of authentic Southern cuisine. Their chef has allowed me to choose some recipes from the cookbook to share with you. Hope you enjoy.

The recipe for Carolina shrimp grits has been my favorite way to prepare grits for brunches for many years. Much to my surprise the shrimp and grits (pictured) that Debbie enjoyed so much at the Hominy Grill was a dead ringer to my version. Also featured is my recipe for cheese grits which lends itself well to the shrimp topping.

Tune in next week for more Low Country recipes — from our cooking classes and, hopefully, specials from Poogan's Porch, another fine dining establishment in Charleston.