Pumpkin Molasses Cheesecake

Pumpkin Molasses Cheesecake

We love molasses in the South. One of my favorite things I loved to eat as a little boy was grits and molasses, and biscuits with a hole poked in the middle and molasses poured in the hole. As a matter of fact I still love it to this day. Now here's a molasses-lover's recipe for pumpkin molasses cheesecake. Hmmm, hmmm. Need I say more? Hey, its almost Thanksgiving - give her a try!

Crust:

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped toasted pecans
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup melted unsalted butter

Filling:

• 3 (8-ounce) packages light cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• Maple syrup (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F. To prepare the crust, combine crumbs, pecans, sugar and butter in a large bowl. Press evenly on bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan.

To prepare the filling, in a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese with a mixer until smooth. Add sugar, eggs, flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and molasses; beat until evenly blended. Beat in pumpkin and cream. Pour into crust. Place pan on baking sheet. Bake 50 minutes or until nearly set. Turn oven off and leave cake in oven with door closed 1 hour.

Remove from oven and run a knife around edge of cake to loosen from pan. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Refrigerate 8 hours to overnight.

To serve, remove springform side. Drizzle with maple syrup if desired. Serves 14.

Dr Pepper Tenderloin

Dr Pepper Tenderloin

You have to try this pork tenderloin with Dr Pepper barbecue sauce. It is surprisingly delicious and you will find yourself craving leftovers at 10, 2 and 4. Leftover barbecue sauce is great for pulled pork sandwiches, chicken, shrimp, hot dogs, barbecue pizza, burgers or baked beans.

For the sauce:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 cup ketchup
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• One 12 ounce can Dr Pepper soda (about 1 3/4 cups)
• 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground chili powder
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt

For the tenderloins:

• 2 pork tenderloins (1 1/3 pounds each)
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper (cracked pepper is best) or your favorite barbecue rub

In a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the onion and garlic and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Continue cooking until the sauce begins to thicken, about another 20 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

Let the sauce cool for about 10 minutes, or until it is warm but no longer hot. Using a blender, purée the sauce. Let cool and, if not using immediately, pour into a clean glass jar. The sauce can be made in advance and refrigerated for 2 weeks.

To grill the pork, heat the grill to medium. Wrap the tenderloins in paper towels to remove any surface moisture. This will help you to get great grill marks. Brush the dry meat with olive oil, then season with salt and pepper. Place the meat directly over the heat to sear. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes, turning once or twice, or until you get good grill marks.

Switch to medium indirect heat and move the meat to the center of the cooking grate and cook for 30 to 35 minutes total, turning once during cooking and brushing with the barbecue sauce every 5 to 7 minutes until the tenderloins are done and the sauce has created a glaze. If you have a meat thermometer, make sure the tenderloins read 145 degrees F at the thickest part.

Remove the tenderloins from the grill, allow them to rest for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice against the grain. Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours. 

Serves 6

My Cousin Marion

My Cousin Marion

My Great Uncle Beauregard served in the Army during the Spanish/American War and came out a Major so when he got back home he was, naturally, addressed as Colonel Beauregard Lewis. Uncle Beauregard Lewis was an imposing man with wavy black hair that had turned a silvery grey over the years and with his Vandyke beard you could not imagine a more handsome, manly visage. Uncle Lewis married very well and after he and Aunt Moselle moved into the stately Golden Gables estate they presided over 640 acres of some of the best cotton and tobacco land in Eastern North Carolina. Our family was once prosperous but had gone into decline after the Civil War and all of the family’s hope and pride was transferred to Uncle Beauregard. During most conversations with people outside the family you would eventually hear something like "as my uncle Colonel Beauregard Lewis said or did." We were some proud of Uncle Beauregard Lewis.

Uncle Beauregard and Aunt Mozelle had three daughters and the oldest was my age at the time. Five years old. Cousins Annabelle, Rochelle and Dixiebelle were pampered girls and always dressed in the finest fashions. Here in the south, children born to another woman are not, necessarily, disavowed. Cousin Marion was the only son of Uncle Beauregard and a woman by the name of Lucille Waters who lived some miles away at the edge of the Dismal Swamps. When I was five, cousin Marion was about nineteen. Families get complicated, but it’s easy to tell who belongs to who. Uncle Beauregard’s three daughters were always referred to as his daughters, but his son, Marion, was always his outside son, to let others know that he was not considered part of the first family. When cousin Marion was five years old, Uncle Beauregard "rescued" him from Lucille’s shack at the edge of the Dismals and sent him off to school. On holidays he was allowed to come into the big house and I remember him as a withdrawn, skinny young man. He did not have the manly countenance of Uncle Beauregard and always appeared to be half of Uncle Beauregard. He had his eyes and brow, but his chin was receding and weak. When Uncle Beauregards daughters were asked if Cousin Marion was manly or handsome they would always laugh and say " Laws no. He isn’t anything like The Colonel or any of the other men in our family." We all had the latest framed pictures of Uncle Beauregard Lewis and the last picture of him shows a distinguished gentleman with silver hair and noble brow and an impressive Vandyke beard.

The last time I saw cousin Marion was at Uncle Beauregards funeral. Uncle Beauregard had been elected Senator from North Carolina and had served in Washington for nearly 20 years. When he was 62 he dropped dead from a massive heart attack. All of the family was at Golden Gables and I remember cousin Marion standing by the casket with tears running down his face. Aunt Mozelle shooed him away, but cousin Marion spent as much time as he could with his father. After the funeral, I never saw cousin Marion again. I later heard that cousin Marion had finished his schooling and moved to Europe and after meeting and marrying a lady from New York had moved there.

Quite by accident I found that cousin Marion had hyphenated his last name and had become Marion Waters-Lewis. At that time, I was working as a copy editor for the Dismal Swamps Picayune and a visitor from New York City remarked that I vaguely resembled a rising senator from there. He went on to tell what a gregarious, friendly man he is who married into one of the oldest, wealthiest families in New York. When the visitor gave this senators name as Marion Waters-Lewis I thought that it was simply coincidence, because I knew that my weak chinned cousin could never fit that description.

Some years later, when I was about 40 I was sitting at my desk looking over some correspondence coming over the wire from New York and there was a large story about a famous senator from New York who was making a run for the Presidency. The story went on to tell about his heroic service in Vietnam and named him as Senator Marion Waters-Lewis. At the bottom of the story was a photograph of Senator Waters-Lewis and his wife, both of them about 60 years old. I looked at the photograph and looking back at me was a handsome, manly gentleman wearing a Vandyke beard. I held the picture up beside my Uncle Beauregards photo and they were identical.

- Bob Gurkin

Southern Comforting Sangria

Southern Comforting Sangria
This is a southern twist to a real good Sangria recipe that I have encountered during my extensive travels abroad - meaning that there's lots of counties that surround Johnson County so I get to travel quite a bit. ;-)

Fresh slices of:

• Lime


• Orange


• Apple

Add:

• Pineapple


• Grapes (red or white)


• 1 bottle of red wine (the cheaper the better)


• 1/2 gallon Orange Juice


• 1 ounce Triple Sec


• 1 ounce Southern Comfort (or if you desire - rum or brandy) - add more if you want a hard Sangria

Mix wine and OJ in a large container. Add Triple Sec and Southern Comfort. Mix in fruit. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Serve over ice with Mint leaves and a slice of Orange. Enjoy Y'all!

Opossum Sausage Recipe

Opossum Sausage Recipe

First. Kill a hog and remove 5 feet of intestines. Discard the rest of the hog. Clean the intestines as much as possible.
Catch a possom. Ummm for the next part. Uh....darn they have the cutest eyes. Get a sharp knife. Uh wow, this is hard. Discard the knife....Scratch behind his ears. ...
Aw the hell with it. Go dig out that hog carcas and gnaw on it awhile.

-Bob Gurkin

And Finally - Bob Gurkin's Old Tales Editorial - Dismal Swamp Politics!

Kader Lewis was running for Mayor of Selma, Dismal Swamp County and had several requests by various news organizations for information regarding his family tree. Well, heck, everyone knows we all came from a long line of moonshiners and hoss thieves and general neer-do-wells. Our uncles Bud and Jessie were long time moonshiners and worked on the chain gang and their great Grand Daddy stole horses for years and went to prison for quite some time and when he got out robbed several trains and was eventually caught by the Pinkertons and hung. Here is how Kader wrote up his family tree.

"Rufus Lewis was a famous Swamper in Dismal County . His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Southern railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Rufus passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed."

Bud and Jessie Lewis were well known businessmen in Dismal County who tended their vineyards on the outskirts of Selma. They developed their own special blends and were sought out by local gourmands as well as members of local and national organizations to help with various road projects in and around Dismal County. Both civic minded men left their lucrative business dealings and served with no pay to help bring streets and roads to outlying areas of the Dismal Swamps. These fine men served their county well and after a long and well known stint with the government went back to their humble beginnings and spent their final years in the backwoods of Dismal County where they were sought out by both the common man and various other government officials.

Coral Reef Mai Tai

INGREDIENTS

1 ounce light rum

2 ounces sweet and sour mix

1 ounce lemon juice

1 ounce orgeat syrup

1 ounce orange curacao

Squeeze of lime

Crushed ice

1 ounce 97 proof Appleton Jamaican dark rum

1 canned pineapple ring

1 maraschino cherry

INSTRUCTIONS

In a double old-fashioned glass, build drink by layering light rum, sweet and sour mix, lemon sour, orgeat syrup, curacao and lime juice. Stir. Pack with crushed ice. Float Appleton dark rum on top. Place pineapple ring on top with cherry in center of ring.

Coral Reef Fog Cutter

INGREDIENTS

1/2 ounce light rum

1/2 ounce brandy

1/2 ounce gin

2 ounces sweet and sour

1 ounce lemon juice

1 ounce orange juice

Crushed ice

1 ounce maraschino liqueur

INSTRUCTIONS

In a double old-fashioned glass, build drink by layering rum, brandy, gin, sweet and sour, lemon sour and orange juice. Stir. Pack with crushed ice. Float maraschino liqueur on top.

Coral Reef Blue Hawaii

INGREDIENTS

1/2 ounce light rum

1/2 ounce vodka

1/2 ounce gin

3 ounces sweet and sour

1 ounce lemon juice

1 ounce orange juice

Squeeze of lime

Crushed ice

1/2 ounce blue curacao

INSTRUCTIONS

In a double old-fashioned glass, build drink by layering rum, vodka, gin, sweet and sour, lemon sour, orange juice and lime juice. Stir. Pack with crushed ice. Float blue curacao on top.

Coral Reef Red Hibiscus

INGREDIENTS

3 ounces Hawaiian Punch

1 ounce light rum

2 ounces pineapple juice

1/3 cup crushed ice

1 canned pineapple ring

1 maraschino cherry

INSTRUCTIONS

Place punch, rum, pineapple juice and crushed ice in a blender. Blend briefly until smooth. Pour into a small pilsner glass. Top the drink with a pineapple ring and place a maraschino cherry in the center of the ring.

Coral Reef Foil-Wrapped Chicken

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cook time: 4 minutes per batch

Serves 4

Note: The prep time includes the 20-minute marinating time for the chicken.

INGREDIENTS

4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (uncooked)

3 scallions

2 slices fresh ginger root, grated

1 tablespoon dry sherry

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

20 foil squares, 6 by 6 inches

Oil (vegetable, sesame or hot chili sesame) and soy sauce, for foil

2 cups oil for frying

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut chicken breasts into 1-inch cubes, about 1½ inches thick. (You should have about 5 pieces from each breast.) Slice scallions so that you have about 7 pieces from each one. Set aside.

Combine ginger, sherry, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, salt and sugar in a bowl. Add chicken cubes to mixture and marinate in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the foil. Place one drop of oil (vegetable or sesame) and one drop of soy sauce onto each piece of foil. Place one cube of chicken and one slice of scallion on each piece of foil. Fold foil in half to make a triangle. Fold up two open sides to seal and crimp.

In a frying pan, heat 2 cups oil to 350 degrees. Deep-fry the triangle packets for about 4 minutes, pushing down occasionally. (Do in batches, if necessary.) Chicken is done when brownish bubbles appear breaking through the folds. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Coral Reef Banana Fritters

INGREDIENTS

1 cup unsifted flour

2 tablespoons sugar, divided use

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

6 large bananas, each peeled and cut into thirds

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Oil for frying

Powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large bowl, mix flour, 1 tablespoon of the sugar, baking powder and salt.

In another bowl, beat together egg, milk, butter and vanilla. Add to flour mixture and stir until smooth.

Sprinkle banana chunks with lemon juice, remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar and cinnamon. Coat chunks with batter. Deep-fry in oil heated to 375 degrees. Cook until golden, about 5 minutes. Drain and serve, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Coral Reef Salad Dressing

The Coral Reef's salad dressing was a closely guarded secret for many years. One clue was revealed in 1996 when Lee Bishop, the dressing's creator and the Coral Reef's day-crew supervisor, said that in the 1960s, General Foods wanted to buy the recipe, but he said it was not for sale. Bishop died in 2004 at age 94.

Many versions of the recipe have surfaced over the decades. This one, from Marilyn (Wong) Champa of Sacramento, was given to her by her father, Louis Wong. He managed the Coral Reef for more than 30 years. When the restaurant was sold, Bishop gave Wong the recipe. Champa was a hostess at the Coral Reef in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Prep time: 45 minutes

Makes 2 quarts

INGREDIENTS

1 quart Wesson vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups tarragon vinegar

3/4 cup Heinz apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 tablespoons celery powder or ground celery seed

1 1/2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika

1/4 teaspoon garlic, finely chopped

1/2 cup white onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons horseradish mustard

5 ounces domestic blue cheese, crumbled

5 ounces imported Danish blue cheese, crumbled (if not available, use Gorgonzola)

Salad:

Lettuce, radish slices, carrot curls

Fresh bay shrimp

INSTRUCTIONS

Place the oil, tarragon vinegar and cider vinegar in 3 separate containers, and place each container in a bowl of hot water before use.

In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, salt, celery powder (or ground celery seed) and paprika. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, place garlic and half of the oil and mix for 5 minutes using the mixer on medium speed.

Add onion, Worcestershire sauce, mustard and tarragon vinegar, and mix for 10 minutes. Add sugar mixture. Add apple cider vinegar and continue to mix. Add both crumbled blue cheeses and mix for 10 minutes. Slowly add remaining oil while mixing.

Make a salad of broken lettuce, radish slices and carrot curls. Place bay shrimp on top and make very moist with dressing.

February 2011 - Tribute to Uncle Ed

This month I thought we would have some fun and do a few "Island" recipes in honor of my uncle - Ed Gurkin. Edward McCoy Gurkin fought in the Pacific in WWII. My Dad - Jim Gurkin (who fought in Europe in WWII) did a wonderful biography on Uncle Ed - you can read it on the Gurkin Family Website at: http://www.rickgurkin.com/gurkinfamily/Page52.html . Many GIs came back home after WWII in the late 1940s and early 1950s with the sights and sounds of the Pacific islands still fresh in their minds. As a result, many "Tiki" restaurants were opened to satisfy the desires of these soldiers.

I'm going to focus on one particular "Tiki" restaurant that opened in Sacramento, California in 1949 - the Coral Reef. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of any "Tiki-style" restaurants being opened in the Raleigh area of North Carolina - I did hear-tell of one out on the Outer Banks though. After WWII, the tiki culture captured the nation's imagination. It was strongly influenced by veterans of the Pacific theater who had returned with exotic souvenirs, memories of white-sand beaches and palm trees, and a fondness for South Seas-style food.

From day one, the Coral Reef was positioned for success. The only similar menu and decor anywhere nearby was in San Francico at Trader Vics. The Coral Reef caught the attention of Hollywood and many stars visited the restaurant - including Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Ginger Rogers, Esther Williams and many more.

A few items on the Coral Reef's menu in the early 1950s looked something like this:

• "Appetizers": paper-wrapped chicken, barbecued spareribs and fried prawns - all for $1
• "Salads": shrimp salad featuring the famous Coral Reef salad dressing - only $1
• "Chinese dishes": Lots of chow meins and foo yungs ($1 to $1.50), steamed Mandarin duckling in spices, boned and molded in cakes, served with a delicious sauce ($2)
• "Meats and chicken from our broiler": Here's where the menu takes a break from pure "Cantonese" and crosses over to "American", with steaks, lamb chops, ground round and chicken ($1.95 to $3.95)
• "Friday dinner suggestions": African lobster tails, fresh rainbow trout, broiled fresh sea bass or salmon, with side dishes ($2.75)
• "Chinese gourmet dinners" ($2.45 per person) - multicourse meals
• "Island Cocktails" ($1): Mai Tai, Fog Cutter, Blue Hawaii, Red Habiscus - very generously served rum drinks - known "For the strong of the weaker sex."

So - here are a few appetizer and drink recipes that would be a lot of fun to make at your next "Tiki" party!