Recipes from The Garden Cafe
Garden Cafe Pimento cheese and housemade dill and sea salt crackers.
Yesterday on the blog, you got to meet the Garden Cafe’s Chef, Anne Maury Haapala. Today, you get to see the recipes she shared with me! We get many, many requests for recipes from the Garden Cafe each year. I’d say these two are the most frequently asked for. Enjoy!
Meriwether Godsey Pimento Cheese
Ingredients:
1 Cup Mayonnaise
4 Tbs Margarine (at room temperature)
½ Cup Roasted Red Peppers (pureed)
1 tsp Salt
¼ tsp Cayenne
4 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese
4 Cups Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Directions:
With the paddle attachment on a stand mixer blend the mayonnaise and margarine until smooth.
Add the pureed roasted red peppers and seasonings and mix on low speed for 2-3 minutes.
Add the shredded cheese and mix until all ingredients are combined
Chef Anne Maury making the famous Meriwether Godsey Roasted Red Pepper and Crab Soup. A tray of warm, house-made dill and sea salt crackers sits nearby.
Meriwether Godsey Roasted Red Pepper and Crab Soup
Yield: 12 – 8 oz Servings
Ingredients:
6 oz Unsalted Butter
5 oz Diced White Onion
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour
1 Quart Fish Stock
1 Quart + 1 Pint Whole Milk
1 ½ Cups Half & Half
6 oz Backfin Crab Meat
½ Cup Roasted Red Peppers (pureed)
1 tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
¾ tsp Cayenne
Directions:
Saute onion in butter until translucent
Add flour and cook on low heat about 10 minutes, stirring often
Add fish stock and whisk thoroughly. The base will be very thick, use spatula to stir and scrape bottom of the pan often. Cook for 20 minutes.
Add milk and ½ & ½, mixing well. Cook on low heat for ½ hour, again stirring often.
Add pureed roasted red peppers and seasoning to soup and simmer an additional 15 minutes or until it reaches 180-190 degrees. Do not boil
Turn off heat and stir in the crab meat and serve.
Watermelon Gazpacho
Melon garnish for this needs to be small no larger than ¼”
INGREDIENTS
Makes approximately 10 cups, or 80ea 1 ounce soup shots
○ 4 cups seedless watermelon, roughly chopped
○ 1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, roughly chopped
○ 1 cup each of red & yellow bell pepper, roughly chopped
○ 1 small jalapeño chile, seeded, minced
○ 1 cup red onion, roughly chopped
○ 1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh mint
○ 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
○ 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
○ 1/4 teaspoon salt
○ 1 cup seedless watermelon, diced to ¼”
PREPARATION
1. Combine all ingredients EXCEPT final 1 cup of finely diced watermelon.
2. Puree using an immersion blender or standard blender. Chill for several hours.
3. Garnish with finely diced watermelon just before serving.