Evelyn's Blog - Taste of Gourmet

B.B. King Homecoming Festival May 28th

Indianola will be filled with Music on 'the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend!  Keb'Mo is the headliner and will take the main stage in late afternoon as a tribute to his friend, B.B. King!   Music will start across from the B.B. King Museum at 10:00 and continue until Keb'Mo leaves the stage! The Festival is FREE this year as Keb'Mo's tribute to the King of the Blues.   

Other blues bands will be playing all day across from the Museum and in downtown Indianola at a stage on Second and Front Street beside the B.B. King Mural.   Mississippi Classic Cars will be showing on Second St in front of the Museum with the Arts and Crafts vendors in the parking lot of the Museum.  Festival food will be available all day and a kids zone will be in a grassy lot across from the Museum.   Lots of things to keep the entire family happy in Indianola.   

Including....having a nice lunch of Catfish Allison at The Crown on Front Street!   Our restaurant has received national and international attention and we hope you'll stop by to eat lunch from 11 to 2:00 that day or any time to browse our art gallery and gift shop.   I'll be around to sign my cookbook personally, if you'd like that and give you a taste of something from the book, like B.B.'s Black Eyed Peas!  It's on page 22 of The Crown of Southern Cooking, Recipes from the Birthplace of the Blues.  Along with our famous Mississippi Delta Fudge Pie, and Catfish Allison recipe.  You can buy the book at our Taste of Gourmet website along with lots of our gourmet products created by The Crown.

Indianola sits on a beautiful cypress filled Bayou that you'll enjoy a walk along.  Blues Markers are all over town and the countryside around Indianola.  Great shopping in downtown and on the highway with lots of friendly people to make you feel at home in B.B.'s hometown!  There's also a special event at Club Ebony in Indianola later on Saturday night.  Check the Museum's website for details on Club Ebony.   Just come to Indianola....we'll make you truly welcome! 

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Italian Cream Cake....born in the Delta?

If you haven't had the joy of being served Italian Cream Cake.....you must make it for yourself!  It's incredibly delicious, with pecans and coconut and a scrumptious icing!  Unlike any other cake you've tasted.  The strange thing is the name!   My daughter-in-law, Deanna's family is Italian (and Scottish) but has never heard of this cake.  I've never found it in any Italian cookbooks, but you will find it in lots of Mississippi Delta Church cookbooks and in a few areas around Mississippi.  

I really think it was "born" in the Delta and then spread around the state and the deep South.  The Delta has a huge Italian population dating from the early 1900's with a reputation for serving fabulous food in their homes and churches.  Everyone waits for the church suppers when the whole church gathers to prepare homemade meatballs and luscious desserts!  Many of the Delta's world famous old restaurants were started by Italian families and are still going strong today....Doe's in Greenville, Lillo's in Leland, Giardenia's and Lusco's in Greenwood. Indianola had Labella's for generations and now their famous "floating hamburger" is still served at Pea Soup's!  My grandmother and I loved that hamburger!

I first tasted the Italian Cream Cake here in Indianola at a church pot-luck supper and fell in love with it. It's a little time consuming, but is so worth the extra work.  In 1992 I baked this as a three tiered 50th anniversary cake for my parents.  I was glad we had a walk in cooler at The Crown to keep the cream cheese icing from melting in the June heat!  When my nephew Patrick married, I baked him an Italian Cream Wedding cake and other times huge rectangular cakes for birthdays.  This is our family cake now, so delicious and a labor of love!  And of course, it is in my new cookbook, The Crown of Southern Cooking, Recipes from the Birthplace of the Blues!  $19.95 on our website or at The Crown.  Come an eat lunch with us in Indianola, after you've visited the B.B. King Museum, or before...we serve lunch from 11 to 2 Tuesday - Saturday!   Come see us!  Six pies, Pavlova and Trifle are always on our Dessert /table and maybe some of this delicious cake!  

Italian Cream Cake

6 large eggs, separated
2 cups sugar, divided
2 sticks butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut

Beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Slowly beat in 1/2 cup sugar until stiff peaks form.  Transfer mixture to another bowl.

In original bowl, cream butter, remaining sugar, salt and vanilla, Beat in egg yolks one at a time until consistence of whipped cream.

Stir soda into buttermilk. Add alternately with flour to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour.  fold in egg whites, then add pecans and coconut (using slow speed on mixer. or by hand.)

Pour batter into 3 (9-inch) cake pans that have been buttered and floured.  Bake in preheated 325 over about 40 minutes.  Cool cakes and remove from pan. For Frosting combine butter, cream cheese and vanilla in electric mixing bowl until smooth.  Slowly add sugar and continue beating until smooth and creamy.  Frost layers and sides of cooled cake and refrigerate iced cake.   Recipe for Icing follows and I hope you'll enjoy it!  We LOVE this cake!

Italian Cream Frosting
3 sticks butter, softened
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 (1 pound) boxes powdered sugar!

 

 

Blues are hot in the Delta this weekend!

On your way to the Mighty Mississippi Festival in Greenville this weekend, or to Art and Soul in Greenwood today from 10 to 5, or making your way to Helena for the King Biscuit Blues Festival next weekend.....you just have to stop at our B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center in Indianola to pay homage to the King of the Blues, B.B. King!   

Of course, we would also like for you to stop at The Crown and have lunch with us from 11 to 2:00 and we're open for Coffee and Dessert most any time Tuesday - Saturday.  Enjoy a Catfish Po-Boy or our classic Chicken Allison with a Parmesan cheese, butter and green onion sauce brown and beautiful, served on a bed of rice!  And a trip to our dessert table to try all the pies we make like, Mississippi Delta Fudge!  That recipe is in our new cookbook too, The Crown of Southern Cooking, Recipes from the Birthplace of the Blues!  Yum! Good things to eat in Indianola, Mississipp in the center of the Mississippi Delta!   Y'all come see us!     

Hungry for Cornbread....

It's funny how talking about something can make me crave it.....in the kind of way that I'm going to change what I had planned for supper tonight, so I can make cornbread!   Much as I love cornbread, it just doesn't go with Chicken and Mushroom Crepes!  

I got to talking to a guest at The Crown during lunch and he mentioned his mama's cornbread being so good and I said my Mama's Buttermilk Cornbread was in my cookbook....and we just started reminiscing about what we ate as kids.  

Nothing is better with a bowl of soup than a pan of hot cornbread.  Whether you crumble it into the bowl or butter it and eat it with your fingers.  One of my daddy's favorite snacks after supper was a glass of cold milk with cold cornbread crumbled into it!  I love that too.  I usually wrap up the leftover bread and enjoy it the next afternoon while I'm cooking supper!  I call it my little southern appetizer.   Here is my Mama's recipe from my new cookbook, "The Crown of Southern Cooking, Recipes from the Birthplace of the Blues."  If you are in the Mississippi Delta, be sure to come by for lunch, or just a cup of coffee and slice of Delta Fudge Pie....we're in downtown Indianola, just a few blocks from the B.B.King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center.

Now you'll notice there is no sugar in my family's cornbread.  I can eat it "sweetened" but in the Delta, we like it plain and we eat our cake for dessert!   Of course, you have to bake your cornbread in a cast iron skillet to get real flavor!   Or at least, that's what I have to do!  

Mama's Buttermilk Cornbread
1 1/2 cup white self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (or add 1 teaspoon white vinegar to plain milk and let it sit a bit.)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a bowl, combine meal, flour, baking powder, egg and buttermilk.  Heat oil in 9-inch skillet, roll round skillet to coat bottom and sides.  Pour mixture into hot skillet and place in hot oven.  Bake about 20 minutes until lightly browned.  Invert onto a plate, cut and enjoy every bite!

Hungry for Cornbread....

It's funny how talking about something can make me crave it.....in the kind of way that I'm going to change what I had planned for supper tonight, so I can make cornbread!   Much as I love cornbread, it just doesn't go with Chicken and Mushroom Crepes!  

I got to talking to a guest at The Crown during lunch and he mentioned his mama's cornbread being so good and I said my Mama's Buttermilk Cornbread was in my cookbook....and we just started reminiscing about what we ate as kids.  

Nothing is better with a bowl of soup than a pan of hot cornbread.  Whether you crumble it into the bowl or butter it and eat it with your fingers.  One of my daddy's favorite snacks after supper was a glass of cold milk with cold cornbread crumbled into it!  I love that too.  I usually wrap up the leftover bread and enjoy it the next afternoon while I'm cooking supper!  I call it my little southern appetizer.   Here is my Mama's recipe from my new cookbook, "The Crown of Southern Cooking, Recipes from the Birthplace of the Blues."  If you are in the Mississippi Delta, be sure to come by for lunch, or just a cup of coffee and slice of Delta Fudge Pie....we're in downtown Indianola, just a few blocks from the B.B.King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center.

Now you'll notice there is no sugar in my family's cornbread.  I can eat it "sweetened" but in the Delta, we like it plain and we eat our cake for dessert!   Of course, you have to bake your cornbread in a cast iron skillet to get real flavor!   Or at least, that's what I have to do!  

Mama's Buttermilk Cornbread
1 1/2 cup white self-rising cornmeal
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk (or add 1 teaspoon white vinegar to plain milk and let it sit a bit.)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a bowl, combine meal, flour, baking powder, egg and buttermilk.  Heat oil in 9-inch skillet, roll round skillet to coat bottom and sides.  Pour mixture into hot skillet and place in hot oven.  Bake about 20 minutes until lightly browned.  Invert onto a plate, cut and enjoy every bite!

The Crown's favorite vegetable.....

Black Butter Green Beans is the absolute favorite vegetable we serve at The Crown!  And so many people ask me about the beans, how to make them, what kind of beans!  Here is the Recipe....straight from my new cookbook, The Crown of Southern Cooking, Recipes from the Birthplace of the Blues.  Plus the story about the beans at the end of the recipe.

First you make the Black Butter....it's on page 215 of my book...but here it is

1 stick unsalted butter - NO substitutes!

2 tablespoons white vinegar or fresh lemon juice

Put butter in stainless pan, so you can see color of butter as it browns.
Melt butter, and continue to cook over medium heat; watch as it turns to a rich nutty brown and then nearly black.
When butter has almost burned, take pan off heat; step back, and slowly add vinegar at arm's length; it will foam and splatter on you if you are too close, so be careful.  Stir and set aside until needed. Butter refrigerates perfectly for weeks.

NOW.....you have you butter in the refrigerator, or still in the pan.  Warm butter slightly, add sesame seeds and stir for a few seconds.  Do NOT let seeds burn.

For 4 servings, heat Blue Lake Whole Green Beans (or fresh of course) in a separate saucepan. Completely drain hot beans (so butter won't get watered down) then stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of Black Butter, toss and serve immediately!

We first tasted this flavorful Black Butter in a small hotel on the coast of France in 1972.  We were the first guests of the season, so we spent many lovely hours visiting with the owner, talking food and cooking!  we loved the Black Butter so much, that she served on Skate (a truly ugly local fish) that was incredibly delicious!  When we opened The Crown in 1976, we started experimenting with it on Catfish and chicken and then on vegetables.  It's great on asparagus and broccoli and of course green beans.

One of Tony's favorite entrees is our Black Butter Catfish, topped with toasted almonds.  He had it for lunch yesterday at The Crown and we cooked his Steak Madagascar for him last night for his birthday! Both recipes, plus 170 more are in my new book and it's on sale at The Crown in Indianola, Mississippi, on our website and also on Amazon!   We're in a second printing already and thrilled with our sales in just 2 months!  Hope you'll come for lunch and shopping at The Crown when you are in the Mississippi Delta and you MUST go by the B.B. King Museum for a world class experience!

B.B. King's 90th birthday.....would have been today!

The world misses the music and the love B.B. showed to everyone he met and performed for.  He would have been 90 today, Sept. 16th!   His museum in Indianola, Mississippi is honoring him this evening from  5 to 8 by showing never before seen footage of this blues icon in the Museum.  Light refreshments will be served.  The B.B. King Museum and all of Indianola hopes you will think of the legacy of B.B. King today and honor his memory by coming to the Museum...it is world class...just like B.B. himself!

B.B. King's 90th birthday.....would have been today!

The world misses the music and the love B.B. showed to everyone he met and performed for.  He would have been 90 today, Sept. 16th!   His museum in Indianola, Mississippi is honoring him this evening from  5 to 8 by showing never before seen footage of this blues icon in the Museum.  Light refreshments will be served.  The B.B. King Museum and all of Indianola hopes you will think of the legacy of B.B. King today and honor his memory by coming to the Museum...it is world class...just like B.B. himself!

B.B. Homecoming Festival won an award......

Indianola, Mississippi's 35th Annual B.B. King Homecoming Festival has been chosen as the Small Festival/Event of the Year! This  award was just received and we are thrilled as a town and as an avid admirer of B.B.King and his music!   

Next year's Homecoming Festival will be Saturday May 28, 2016 on the grounds of the B.B. King Museum in Downtown Indianola.  It's Memorial Day weekend and the perfect time to tour the Mississippi Delta!  

In 2014, B.B. played at the Festival for the last time.  He said just before he left the stage, "I may be back, just watch the papers."  He died just a few days before the 2015 Festival, but we do know he was with us in spirit, watching over the musicians and glorying in his hometown!   B.B. returned to Indianola for his funeral and was buried on the grounds of the museum.  A beautiful Memorial garden is being built around his grave site and will be in place before the Festival

The 2016 Festival will have three stages, one in downtown where B.B.'s footprints are in the cement at the corner of Church and 2nd Street with a single bluesman, playing his guitar on the corner, where B.B. first earned money playing the Blues.  An historic marker is on the site.  The second stage will also be downtown with a variety of music and the main stage near the Museum will feature many well known blues musicians from the Delta and beyond.

Never too early to mark your calendar and plan to be in Indianola for the 2016 B.B. King Homecoming Festival.  B.B. came home every year for 34 years to play for the people of Indianola and the Delta, at no charge!   Just because he loved this place and its people!   May 28th, 2016.....y'all come see us!  Great music, hot tamales, BBQ and Funnel cakes!  The Perfect Festival!

Indian Bayou Arts Festival

The Last Saturday in September will see the 4th Annual Indian Bayou Arts Festival fill the grassy grounds across from the B.B. King Museum.  September 26, from 9 to 4, over 50 artists will be showing their art in paintings, pottery, photography, fiber and metal art and so much more.  Live music will fill the air, wonderful Festival food, children's art activities and keep festival goers entertained for the day.  We have an Author's tent as well with authors ready to discuss their books.  Truly an arts festival!

Free admission to the Festival located on Indian Bayou in Indianola, Mississippi, so bring your chairs and spend the day, listening to the music and exploring the festival.  Of course, you'll want to cross the street and go into the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center.  Sept. 26th is also the Smithsonian Museum Live free admission day and our Museum takes part! Just go on line and print out a pass!  

A few spots are still available for artists to exhibit, so if you are interested, call 662-887-3923 to get an applilcations. 12x12 spots are $35.00.  Our mission with the Festival is to celebrate the artists and let them make some money and to have the Mississippi Delta, enjoy the day of art and fun in Indianola!  Join us that day and enjoy real Southern Hospitality!   The Crown in downtown will also be open for lunch from 11 to 2:00....come see us.  We'll make you very welcome!