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Spring 2009

Food and Entertaining: By Popular Demand

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Photographs by
Terry Kuzniar

Charleston Home is looking for your most delicious dishes—the standouts that keep family and friends coming back for seconds. In each issue, we’ll ask you to send in your time-tested and tastiest recipes. We’ll print a handful of submissions, along with interesting tales and tidbits from the cooks themselves.

To get started, we polled the Charleston Home staff for their no-fail family recipes and discovered a number of seasoned at-home chefs in our ranks, all with memories of cooking with Mom and gathering around tables large and small. What these dishes lack in fuss, they make up for in fanfare, garnered through years of Sunday night suppers and seasonal potlucks.

Corn Casserole

Serves
8

Margaret Cotton, director of advertising

Ingredients 
  • 1 (14.75 oz.) can creamed corn
  • 1 (15.25 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 box Jiffy cornbread mix
Directions 

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a round casserole dish.
In a medium bowl, combine first six ingredients. When well-combined, add cornbread mix and stir. Pour into dish. The batter should fill the pan, leaving 1/2 inch at the top, as the mixture will rise in the oven. Bake for approximately one hour, or until firm in the center. (If you prefer the casserole a little creamier, bake for about 50 minutes.) Casserole will deflate slightly while cooling.

Seafood Casserole

Serves
6

Seafood Casserole
Kathy Aydlett, traffic manager/sales assistant

Ingredients 
  • 2 lbs. sliced scallops
  • 1/2 lb. small or medium shrimp, cleaned and deveined
  • 1 cup fresh crabmeat
  • 7 Tbs. butter, divided
  • 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
  • 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
  • 4 Tbs. flour
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 2 cups milk
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
Directions 

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly grease a 9 x 13'' casserole dish.

Arrange scallops, shrimp, and crabmeat in a layer along the bottom of the dish.
Heat three tablespoons of the butter in a medium skillet. Add mushrooms and sauté for three minutes. Spoon into casserole dish and top with a layer of cheese.
In a small saucepan, melt four tablespoons butter over low heat. Add flour and salt and simmer for one minute. Gradually add milk and stir until thickened. Pour into casserole dish and sprinkle bread crumbs over top. Bake 25 minutes.
Note: Can be assembled before baking one day in advance.

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Serves
6

Rory Johnson, web director

Ingredients 
  • 2 (3/4-1 lb.) pork tenderloins


    • For the marinade:

  • 1 cup olive oil
  • 2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 Tbs. soy sauce
  • 1 Tbs. ground ginger
  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbs. ketchup
  • 2 Tbs. brown sugar
Directions 

Combine marinade ingredients in a large bowl. Mix until well-blended. Add the meat, cover, and marinate in the refrigerator eight to 12 hours, or overnight. Turn occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Carefully transfer the meat and marinade to a baking dish and cook about 35 minutes, or until a meat thermometer registers 160ºF. When done, the marinade should form a nice glaze. Slice and serve immediately.

Chocolate Cake Bars

Serves
24

Anna Evans, assistant editor

Ingredients 
  • 1 stick margarine, melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 (16 oz.) can Hershey’s chocolate syrup
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp. salt


    • For the frosting:

  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 stick butter
  • 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions 

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Grease and flour a 15 ½ x 10 ½ x 1'' jelly-roll pan.
In a medium bowl, combine margarine and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each. Stir in chocolate syrup until well-combined. Add flour, vanilla, and salt and mix well.

Pour into pan and spread evenly. Bake 15-20 minutes.

To make the frosting, heat milk in a small saucepan over medium-high heat for three to five minutes, being careful not to let it scorch. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Break butter into sections and add to mixture. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Add chocolate chips and continue to stir until completely melted. Pour over cake. Frosting will harden as it cools.