Recipes

Bistro 218 Hellefied File Gumbo

What is hellefied? 
 
Chef Tom Saab recalls, “I was sitting at the bar at Bocca one night in street clothes, and a gentleman from New Orleans was telling the bartender that he dined at Bistro recently, and they made some ‘Hellefied’ gumbo down there.” And thus, the name!  “So that is why you walk around in a suit sometimes, incognito like Howard Hughes, to see what is really going on?” I jokingly ask. “Pretty much,” he says. “He did not know who I was.”

Walking Frito Pie 

Dreamland Bar-B-Que CEO, Betsy, McAtee shares recipe + chili.

Dreamland’s walking recipe is perfect for game day tailgating, especially if "That Guy!" has your tailgating chair… and your beers. 

Poulet de Bresse Primer

Hunter Chicken Course at Tasting TBL 

By Jan Walsh 

Hunter Chicken is our incredible entrée course at Tasting TBL tonight. Fit for a king? The story goes that Henry IV, having stopped off at Bresse following an accident with his carriage, tasted a poulet de bresse and commanded it be added to his menu.

Contagious Dish

A good food photo goes viral, triggering recipe requests.

By Jan Walsh

I recently purchased 10 vintage crab ramekins from the 1940s to make deviled crab. I crave it at but don’t find it often in restaurants. After scouring the internet for five-star recipes, I took a little bit of this and a little bit of that to create my own.

Sweet Treat 

Pastry Chef Dolester Miles shares recipes, tips, and techniques. 

By Jan Walsh 

Pastry Chef Dolester Miles has been one busy lady since she was named, Outstanding Pastry Chef, 2018 by James Beard Foundation Awards. But she took time to share her pastry kitchen with me today, making strawberry crostata. And we have as my special guests, Kate Hartman and Rima Hartman, who were the winners of this “Behind The Scenes” experience auction lot from the Birmingham chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier’s annual fund raiser, Southern Soirée. 

Fresh Organic Cranberry Sauce & Spread Recipe 

My favorite Thanksgiving cranberry sauce doubles as a Christmas appetizer. 

By Jan Walsh 

I grew up watching the two generations, before me, open cans of jellied cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving. It would slide out of the can whole, and presented circular can impressions on the slimy, giggly, log, which would then be cut into slices. Hmm, guess the slicing is what those circles were really for… But I never understood why such an otherwise beautiful Thanksgiving meal had to be accompanied by canned cranberry. Even if you liked it, which I did not (at least the one bite of it I ever tasted), it was not worthy of the turkey and dressing it was there to enhance. 

Bottega Cafe and Chez Fonfon's Coconut Pecan Cake Recipe

 

Make this famous cake for the holidays. 

By Jan Walsh 

It happens every year. People want Bottega Cafe and Chez Fonfon's famous coconut and pecan cake for their holiday dessert. And if you order early, it can happen. But many procrastinators wait until the last minute and some even ask me if I can get one for them. How about this instead? Try baking it at home. Thank you, Frank Stitt for sharing the recipe with us at Birmingham Restaurants. 

Bottega’s chef, Frank Stitt makes pasta a delicacy.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Silk Handkerchiefs, a crab and veggie stuffed pasta, is one of my favorite dishes at Bottega Cafe. And today I am in the kitchen at Bottega Restaurant with executive chef, Frank Stitt and team watching their performance of making, rolling, cutting, cooking, folding, and stuffing these pasta delicacies. For this farm to table pasta dish, Stitt sources the eggs from his and wife, Pardis’ farm, Paradise Farm. The cherry tomatoes came from Harvest Farm, and the crabmeat is from Greg Abrams Seafood. 

Bistro V’s Jeremy Downey sears grouper and sautés spring vegetables.

 By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Forgo the summer fish fry. Try executive chef and partner of Bistro V, Jeremy Downey’s healthy, seared grouper with local spring vegetables instead. And experiment with a French chervil pistou to top it off. Downey describes it as the perfect topping to most spring dishes. 

George Reis creates a healthy and tasty spring dish.

 

By Jan Walsh

 

Photography by Beau Gustafson

 

Executive chef and owner of 5 Point Public House and Ocean creates braised rabbit with spring vegetables and fava beans. Reis finds rabbit similar to chicken in both its health benefits and its meatiness. He invites you to try his recipe and techniques at home.

 

Chef Eli Markshtien shares Israeli family recipes.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

When Eli Markshtien, wife, Laurel and family, moved to Birmingham he could not find an Israeli restaurant. So he opened Eli’s Jerusalem Grill and began cooking his grandmother's recipes. The eatery was an instant success with people of all cultures and those who want to eat organic.

Spring Salad

Chef Tom Saab shares Bistro 218’s West Indies Salad.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Can’t cook? No sweat. Prepare Bistro 218’s West Indies Salad without a stove. “This salad originates in Mobile Alabama and is our homage to Alabama cuisine,” Chef and Owner, Tom Saab describes. Bistro 218’s version of West Indies Salad adds the tasty additions of aioli and tomato to the traditional recipe. Yet crab remains the star of this dish with its delicate flavor shining through. “When cooking with crabmeat at Bistro 218 we strive to not mask the flavor with seasonings or fat.” And he achieves excellence in this delightful dish.

Bistro V’s cioppino is 20 years in the perfecting.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Bistro V’s executive chef, Jeremy Downey finds cioppino to be the “world’s best dish.” And after tasting his, I cannot argue. He and I share a love of tomatoes, seafood, spicy heat, and wine—all of which are important components of this dish. As a native of Bayou La Batre, Downey has been cooking and perfecting his cioppino for 20 years. “Cioppino is an expression of me. And today’s is the best one I have ever made,” he describes.

Frank Stitt shares Fish Paillard with fig relish recipe.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Today I am in the kitchen with Birmingham’s most celebrated chef, Frank Stitt. Stitt could have chosen to cook a dish that would show off his culinary skills to cook for us today. But instead he is cooking a simple, French fish dish, which we “at home cooks” can easily make. His Fish Paillard is served at Chez Fonfon and at Highlands Bar and Grill, which Stitt owns with his wife and business partner, Pardis along with their Bottega Café and Bottega Restaurant.

Chef George Reis prepares Alabama oysters at 5 Point Public House Oyster Bar.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Chef George Reis has shucked many an oyster at Ocean Restaurant. But today we are shucking and frying Alabama oysters next door at his new restaurant, 5 Point Public House Oyster bar. Here Reis serves his succulent oysters with two special touches, his own house made hot sauce and house made crackers.

Three Generations share Silvertron Café’s kitchen.

By Jan Walsh 

Photography by Beau Gustafson

The kitchen is the heart of each Italian home. And in The Silvertron Café’s kitchen, we get a taste of what it is like to be part of an Italian family. Cooking with chef Marco Morosini today are his daughter, Nora and his mother, Pinuccia Invernizzi—who is here on a visit from Lecco, on Lake Como in Northern Italy. And cooking with his mother makes more than a marvelous meal. It also stirs up some precious memories. “Every Sunday, right after breakfast, Mom started cooking. She cooked all morning long for a meal that wouldn't last more than 20 minutes!” he recalls. “It wasn't until I left home for the first time and moved to Paris that I realized what I had left behind. Then I started to really appreciate the time I had spent watching my mom and my grandmother in the kitchen.

Bistro 218’s Tom Saab shares a super food recipe.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Rabbit is a very nutritious meat. It is high in protein, amino acids, and vitamins. And it is low in cholesterol and calories. Bistro 218 chef and owner, Tom Saab’s grilled and braised rabbit recipe employs the classical techniques of braising and the redundant use of mirepoix, sometimes know as the trinity of French cookin

Bistro V’s Jeremy Downey demos braised short ribs. 

By Jan Walsh 

Photography by Beau Gustafson

I often dine at Bistro V for the fish of the day. It is consistently marvelous. Grouper, snapper, and any Gulf Seafood in the hands of executive chef Jeremy Downey—native of Bayou La Batre—never disappoints. Yet with today’s dish we discover that Downey’s culinary talents are wider than the sea. His Braised Short Ribs are also a favorite of many at Bistro V.  Bistro V is co-owned by Downey and his partner, Emily Tuttle Shell who serves as general manager.

Ocean’s George Reis prepares Thai Green Curry Bouillabaisse.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Chef George Reis is always innovating the cuisine at his restaurants, Ocean and 26. And today he shares one of his cutting edge dishes, which incorporates a variety of seafood—Thai Green Curry Bouillabaisse. At Ocean this dish is served in a Tagine, Moroccan cooking vessel. And when the top is removed at the table, a steamy cloud of aromas whets the appetite for the first, succulent bite.

Chef Tom Saab demos Bistro 218’s delectable duck confit.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Jan Walsh

A very important part of my work as a food writer is… eating the food. And no matter what is put before me, with the exception of mushrooms/fungi that I am allergic to, I eat it. Through the years my palate has developed an appreciation of foods that I previous thought I did not “like.” Duck was one of those foods. I struggled to enjoy duck, even when prepared by the best of chefs. Yet today there was no struggle. Bistro 218’s Duck Confit, paired with a glass of Chateau Mirambeau, is not only the best duck I have ever tasted, it changed my former mindset about this bird. I loved Saab’s duck so much that and look forward to having it again soon at Bistro 218, where it takes him three days to prepare this classic French dish.

Cantina’s Jorge Castro cooks big flavors in small space.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Since Cantina opened the Shrimp Quesadillas have been a favorite dish. And today in “The Miracle Kitchen” here at Cantina, we learn the secrets that make them so good. And one of the secrets is the kitchen itself—where so many cooks create so much greatness in a small space.

Sol y Luna’s Alex Castro prepares a light and lean new dish.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Executive chef, Alex Castro sears a new dish at the new Sol y Luna—Yellowfin Tuna with jicama tostada, topped with watermelon and mango salsa and spicy chipotle creamy sauce.

Bistro V’s Jeremy Downey demos baked black snapper, Mediterranean style.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

As native of Bayou La Batre, Alabama, Bistro V’s owner and chef, Jeremy Downey knows seafood. Today he is cooking whole, Gulf Coast Black Snapper with house made Ragu. “Black Snapper is a cousin to Red Snapper. It is smaller in size, swims at 50 to 75 feet, and has a sweeter taste,” Downey explains.

The Silvertron Cafe’s Marco Morosini demos basic risotto.
 
By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Risotto is a versatile and nutritious Italian dish that can be served as a first course or main dish. A key component of making risotto is the selection of the flavoring ingredient, which can be veggies, seafood, mushrooms, or any ingredient you choose. The chosen ingredient’s flavor characteristics become synthesized into the risotto as it is cooked. Make this dish your own by substituting the green peas with your favorite food. Then make another variation by experimenting with a different flavoring ingredient.

Lobster Lover

Shula's Flash Fried Lobster in 10 Simple Steps

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

I have an ongoing, and well publicized, love affair with Shula's Flash Fried Lobster. After covering it in Birmingham magazine's "One Dish" column and in "The Birmingham 100" for 2008, I am back for more. Today I want to learn the secrets of how executive chef of both Shula's Steak House and The Wynfrey Hotel, Rick Daidone prepares this wonderful dish.

In Good Hands

Frank Stitt shares handmade pasta technique and recipe from new cookbook, Bottega Favorita. 

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Robin Colter

Bottega Restaurant is famous for its handmade pasta. Now you can make it too with a little help from Frank Stitt. "People think that homemade pasta is too much trouble. But you just have to try it a few times to learn."

Lovely Lobster

George Reis shares his secret seasoning and grilling technique for lobster tails. 

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

The hickory wood fired, grilled baby lobster tails at Ocean and 26 are divine. They are consistently moist, succulent, and sweet. Executive chef and co-owner of Ocean and 26, George Reis shares his secrets. One secret is the art of building a hickory wood fire in a wood burning grill-and knowing how to cook on it. Another secret is "The Love," which is a seasoning that goes on every piece of grilled fish at Ocean.

Baby Greens

George Reis tosses homegrown, local organics of Michael Dean Farms.

By Jan Walsh

Photography by Beau Gustafson

Ocean's chef George Reis is an experienced chef with accolades abound. Yet Reis realizes that no amount of culinary knowledge or learned technique can improve the quality of the product being prepared. "I love to buy locally grown produce, not only for the freshness but for the flavor that it adds to all of our salads and entrees," he says.

Frank Stitt's Winter Vegetable Cocotte

Local Flavor 

Make a u-turn at the drive thru and savor "slow foods" of Alabama.

By Jan Walsh 

The Slow Food Movement just sprouted a Birmingham convivium (chapter). Frank and Pardis Stitt began the local movement in an effort to champion the Southern foods and food traditions of Alabama. In a "pecan shell," Slow Food is the opposite of fast food. It is not ordered through a microphone to a faceless menu board with a loud voice anxious to add fries or super-size. Slow Food is grown or produced locally and arrives fresh, full of flavor.