MEMORIAL DAY FEAST

RITE OF SPRING –

Celebrating WITH FOOD AND WINE

By Doc Lawrence

Travel Rangers Lazelle Jones (r), Lynne Brandon
and Doc at Laurel and Hardy Museum

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA-It’s good to be back home, again. After a journey through wonderful Deep South destinations in Georgia accompanied by two North Carolinians Carl White and Lynne Brandon along with Lazelle Jones, the gifted journalist who has mastered the art of raising tomatoes at his home in the California desert, the trek was over, leaving precious memories of time

spent at “Andalusia,” Flannery O’Connor’s home, in Milledgeville, the Blue Willow Inn smack dab in the middle of Social Circle and the Blind Willie McTell Blues Festival in Thomson, my home near the great gray granite monolith was a place to reflect and refresh.

Television Producer Carl White at Blue Willow Inn

With the Memorial Day holiday weekend approaching, some recipes created by Georgia’s TV celebrity chef Lara Lyn Carter seemed appropriate. “Something different,” I hinted. “Who says burgers can only be beef?” she replied, offering up three originals, including amazing pork sliders, accompanied by her incredible slaw and delicious potato skewers.

Marinated Slaw

1 cup apple cider vinegar

2 tbsp. Olive Oil

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. salt

½ tsp. dry mustard

½ tsp. celery seeds

1 cabbage shredded

1 cup shredded carrots

Put cabbage and carrots together in a large bowl. Whisk remaining ingredients together and pour over vegetables. Cover, chill, and allow marinating for 2-3 hours.

Pork Sliders with Mustard Sauce

2 pounds ground pork

2 cloves garlic finely minced

1 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Mix ingredients by hand until combined. Form in to 16 mini burgers. Grill over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes on each side or until done. Serve sliders with sliced Vidalia onion and mustard sauce (recipe follows) on Kings Hawaiian Rolls.

Mustard Sauce

1 2oz. Jar of dry mustard

1 ½ cups of white sugar

¼ cup light brown sugar

51/2 tbsp. Malt vinegar

24 oz plain prepared yellow mustard

Potato Skewers

2 ½ pounds of Baby Dutch Gold potatoes

½ cup honey

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

3 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Boil the potatoes until partially cooked. Thread potatoes onto 8 wooden skewers that have been soaked in water to prevent burning. Mix honey, mustard, and vinegar together to make a glaze. Place potato skewers on grill over medium heat and baste with glaze. Cook 6-8 minutes and flip over. Baste the other side and cook another 6-8 minutes.

Wine Pairing-Doc’s Sangria Salute

After some brainstorming with Chef Lara Lyn, we agreed that this was the perfect weekend to make some Sangria. The wine punch originated in Spain, but here, deep in Dixie, we call it our own after having made it even before the Civil War. Few wines make better Sangria than the rich, delicious Muscadine from Still Pond Vineyards in Arlington, Georgia.

4 bottles Still Pond Plantation Red Muscadine Wine

1/2 cup Tupelo Honey

1 tsp. lime zest

1 bottle club soda

2 cups vodka

Juice of 1 lemon

Blend in punch bowl, add minimum ice and tropical fruit chunks just prior to serving. Note: Muscadine wines are widely available throughout the South and any make a perfect substitute.