Jalapeno Cornbread, Calamari Pasta, Deep-Fried Biscuit-And-Gravy Balls [This Week’s Weekend Eats]

Posted Nov 28, 2011 by Jeff Houck

Updated Nov 28, 2011 at 01:48 PM

The holidays always throw a bit of a monkey wrench into Weekend Eats festivities.

On one hand, you are assured that just about everyone eats well on Thanksgiving. Yet everyone pretty much eats the same thing: Turkey.

Not so. That photo above? That’s a deconstructed shrimp etouffe with andouille sausage. Looks mighty tasty. And it was part of a multi-course Thanksgiving meal enjoyed by Facebook follower Dean Regan.

Dean had quite a meal. In addition to a cheese course, pumpkin cheesecake for dessert and cognac with coffee, Dean, who lives in North Springfield, Va., also threw some roasted duck quarters, Sardelaisse potatoes, sauteed Brussels sprouts with camelized onions and oyster corn bread dressing into the mix:

In a word: Wow.

We’re way past Golden Corral’s all-you-can-dunk chocolate fountain now, aren’t we kids?

For his efforts, Dean takes this week’s top prize for Weekend Eats: A copy of Andrew Carmellini‘s excellent new book “American Flavor.”

This week proved to be quite a tasty edition of Weekend Eats. Here are more contributions from other friends and followers:

Shirley Steele - Tropical sweet potatoes made with rum, pineapple, and coconut!

@otmdish - 4 new breeds of Cactus Pears & Baby octopus w tom fennel - But definitely not together

@sarcasmically - deep-fried biscuit-and-gravy-balls and Memphis dry rub ribs

@SuwaneeRefugee - between fried mullet, fried redfish, fried turkey, and fried French fries my arteries are successfully clogged until Christmas.

@terrysimpson - Pan-seared pork dumpling w sweet chicken and a hearty Manhattan

@TampaTapRoom - Deep-fried turkey injected with Cajun butter, Creole sweet potato casserole w/ praline topping Sunday = Beef on Weck

@heatherdd93 - I made bahn mi sammies with a super fresh slaw and homemade potato chips! It was outta this world!!!

And, as we do every week, here’s this week’s gallery of dishes. Click on each photo to get a description:

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Students plan statewide protests

Posted Nov 28, 2011 by Lindsay Peterson

Updated Nov 28, 2011 at 01:02 PM

University students across Florida are planning to rally this week to protest tuition hikes and proposed cuts to the Bright Futures scholarship.

Gov. Rick Scott is leading a “relentless attack on higher education,” says the news release from a group calling itself the Florida Student Alliance.

It links students from USF, USF St. Pete, University of Florida, University of Central Florida, Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University and Florida State.

Scott has made it clear he plans to look hard at higher education next year, talking up a Texas think tank proposal that would revamp how professors are paid and awarded tenure and emphasizes larger classes.

A group of Florida university presidents has come up with an alternative plan that would, among other things, set tuition lower for science and math programs, to lure students into these classes.

Most of this week’s student rallies are set for Thursday.

This is part of a nationwide movement, we wrote in Sunday’s Tampa Tribune.

A group called Occupy Colleges organized a student strike for today, to demonstrate solidarity with students at campuses across the country protesting tuition hikes.

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House-speaker-to-be questions bringing UF into Poly process

Posted Nov 23, 2011 by Lindsay Peterson

Updated Nov 29, 2011 at 11:31 AM

Florida’s future speaker of the House of Representatives is dubious about state Sen. JD Alexander’s latest move in the USF Polytechnic independence quest.

The state Board of Governors tasked USF with helping its Polytechnic campus break away as an independent university, but Alexander says he doesn’t trust USF and wants the University of Florida to do it.

UF President Bernie Machen said this week he’s willing to help.

The Legislature would have to approve it.

But state Rep. Will Weatherford said that might not be such a good idea. The Wesley Chapel Republican has been a leader on higher education issues and is the next in line to become House speaker.

“I’m not sure it’s necessary to transfer” USF Polytechnic to UF, Weatherford said today, careful to clarify that he hasn’t talked to Machen or USF President Judy Genshaft.

“Polytechnic has been under USF’s umbrella for a long time now. This isn’t something you rush into.”

Weatherford didn’t, however, rule it out.

“I’m going to keep an open mind about it.”

By the time any proposal gets to the Legislature, which meets starting in January, USF will be a ways down the road in its work with the Lakeland campus.

Last week, USF set up a website to track its progress with Poly on the nine benchmarks the board established.

Yesterday, the board announced setting up a three-member committee to monitor the process. It includes Dick Beard of Tampa, Morteza “Mori” Hosseini of Daytona Beach and Norm Tripp of Fort Lauderdale.

USF Poly is already expected to provide twice-a-year reports to the board. This group, to be led by Hosseini, will look at issues that spring up in the interim periods.

The quarterly reports don’t begin, however, until March, after the start of the Legislature’s 2012 session.

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UF president confirms interest in moving USF Poly toward independence

Posted Nov 22, 2011 by Lindsay Peterson

Updated Nov 22, 2011 at 04:14 PM

Two weeks ago, the state Board of Governors put USF in charge of a plan to launch its Polytechnic campus as an independent university.

But now University of Florida President Bernie Machen is offering to take over the job.

“Several members of BOG asked if UF would consider assisting in the transition to independence and I said that, if asked, we will be willing to help,” Machen said in a statement today. He didn’t identify the board members.

It’s just one more twist in the tortuous efforts to break Polytechnic away from USF.

The university board said Poly could become independent if it met a list of benchmarks first, such as achieving campus accreditation.

At the time the move satisfied both USF, which opposed the split, and State Sen. JD Alexander, the Lake Wales Republican and budget committee chairman who was pushing for Poly’s independence.

Alexander, however, warned that night that if he sensed USF wasn’t working hard enough for an independent Poly, he’d try to put another university in charge.

By the next day, he said he’d decided he wanted USF out of the picture.

UF looked like the most logical candidate, after Machen praised the independence plan that Polytechnic’s Chancellor Marshall Goodman presented to the university board.

Machen confirmed it today, adding in his statement, “I am supportive of Polytech becoming an independent university. This is, in part, because I do not endorse the branch-campus model of research universities.”

Alexander lashed out at USF last week in a letter sent to the board of governor’s chairwoman Ava Parker.

He asked that several USF officials, including President Judy Genshaft, be investigated for waging a “campaign of misinformation” in the debate over Poly’s independence.

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From Turkey Dinner to Shepherd’s Pie [Great Ideas For Thanksgiving Leftovers]

Posted Nov 22, 2011 by Jeff Houck

Updated Nov 22, 2011 at 09:19 AM

For some who love holiday food, the entire appeal of Thanksgiving is having delicious leftovers to experiment with in the kitchen.

In the days after the big meal, the flavors of the turkey, stuffing, gravy and vegetables mature and deepen, making the comfort food even more comforting.

Tomorrow’s Flavor section of the Tampa Tribune is dedicated to recipes created by local chefs for using leftover Thanksgiving ingredients in second, third and fourth-day-after meals.

This year’s roster will include:

Andrew Basch, the new executive chef at Pelagia Trattoria in the Renaissance Tampa Hotel at International Plaza

Chad Johnson, executive chef at SideBern’s in Tampa

Robert Graham, executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota

Henry Fiorillo, executive chef at Beachwood BBQ & Burger in St. Pete Beach

Habteab Hamde, executive chef at Bern’s Steak House

One of the chefs I contacted was Robert Masson (above) of 717 South on South Howard Avenue in Tampa. Masson saw the ingredients and immediatly thought, “Shepherd’s Pie.”

A note about his recipe: “You are working with leftovers. That’s why there are no quantities for ingredients. Use your eyes and taste buds to create a great post-Thanksgiving meal!”

THANKSGIVING LEFTOVER SHEPHERD’S PIE

Diced onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

Leftover gravy

Leftover turkey, diced into large chunks

Diced blanched carrot

Blanched broccoli flowerettes

Heavy cream

Leftover mashed potatoes

Grated romono cheese

1 egg

In a medium sauce pot lightly brown onions in olive oil. add gravy, turkey, carrots, broccoli and cream. Simmer for a few minutes and place in casserole dish. Mix mashed potatoes Romano cheese and egg together. using a pastry bag pipe onto turkey mixture. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown.

 

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