Basic Chocolate Cake

Recipe from Sip & Savor: Drinks for Party and Porch
Serves 12-16

As featured on Instagram! 

Farmer's Note: I nearly always substitute buttermilk for milk in batters (pancakes, other cakes, etc.), even in scrambled eggs. Since chocolate's natural flavor is enhanced by coffee, I use one cup of hot coffee in the batter as well. 

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk (shaken, not stirred)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup hot coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Combine all the dry ingredients, except coffee, in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients and beat together for 2 minutes. (Sample the batter before you add the coffee). Add coffee and mix until incorporated; the batter will be thin. (Try the batter now; the chocolate has intensified.)

Divide the batter between the two pans and bake about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool for about 10 minutes and then remove from the pans. Cool completely. Frost with the icing of your choice. Cookies and Cream Icing is one of my favorites!

Autumn Veggie Soup

Roast em and stew em - that's all there is too em!

I don't know about y'all, but I roast just about everything I can. Veggies, fruit and meats all get nice and toasty and caramelized from high heat and a little salt to draw out the moisture. Roasting veggies has become my MO for getting picky eaters (y'all know who you are) to eat all kinds of veggies. Broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, okra, zucchini, squashes of all sorts and onions too all find their way into the oven and onto plates. Roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary and onion... Oh my my!

I love, love, love vegetable soup. But I have a few stipulations to this stew of sorts. I don't care for potatoes in my veggie soup - can't say why exactly but I don't. Potato soup though is perfectly fine!

I also want my vegetable soup to be seasonally apropos. Modern grocers and canning allows us to eat summer produce in winter but there's something about keeping a seasonal nod to the soup that's quite enjoyable. For me it's the squashes and Brussels sprouts that make this soup fallish!

Another veggie soup stipulation - I don't love frozen veggies to make my soup. I love that this soups freezes but that's a whole other lesson in chemistry in frozen fresh and frozen cooked food. Canned, fresh or "put up" from summer are just fine. In a pinch, the frozen kind will work.

A big ol Dutch oven or big soup pot and a couple roasting pans is all you'll need for cooking - love a one pot, one pan meal!

For my Autumn Veggie Soup, I use a mélange of roasted veggies and a base of onion browned with pancetta or country ham. "Brown the onion first." Mimi and Mama taught me that. Can't go wrong with browned onions as a start to any supper!

As for the stock, a mix of chicken stock and tomato juice is the key. A third to two thirds respectively is good. More or less depending on how "soupy" you want your soup.

Slice and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and then roast some broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, autumnal squashes of your liking and even a pepper or two until browned and nearly crisp. They'll reconstitute in the soup!

To the browned onion and ham, throw in some celery too, for I truly believe that celery is unmerited for its cooked flavor. Add canned, crushed, stewed and/or freshly chopped tomatoes to cook down with the browned onions and allow their acidity to deglaze the pan.

Season liberally as you add ingredients, simmer and serve! My family loves Pepper Jack cheese on just about anything and this soup is no exception.

I think that pancetta and Brussels sprouts were made for one another - they're romance of finding one another in the soup pot is truly and story for the ages.

Plus, y'all, this soup can feed pharaoh's army and "freezes beautifully" (Steel Magnolias... Need I say more?). Whip up a batch of cornbread or make quesadillas or grilled cheese (same thing almost right?) or simply serve on its own. This soup gets better as is sits, so enjoy again the next night.

Take some flavors of the season and a traditional soup too and you've a feast! I hope y'all are enjoying fall - it's flavors, temperatures and scenery!

Rosemary and Red Onion Apple Pork

Yeah... The name say it all. Those flavors all melded together in one pot no less is divine. Give me flavor complements like sweet and salty or sweet and tart or sweet and savory and I'm in love! This dish bodes well for such culinary complements!

Braising is probably next to roasting as my favorite cooking method for many things. Taking a meat and braising - not boiling it - is a delicate method to delicious cuts of meat! Gently infusing a gorgeous pork chop with apple cider is nothing short of divine. And this dish is easy and relativity quick! Wilt some kale in it and you've a one dish wonder!

I start with a Dutch oven and begin browning the pork chops on either side to form a slight crust. Salt and peppering the pork and high heat allows this. Searing them may be technically more apropos in culinary diction but y'all get me! Once the chops or even tenderloin are seared and crusted, I remove them from the pan onto a plate to rest.

Next, in the onion or two go to brown in the Dutch oven...No shock there folks! I use Mimi's adage, "butter for flavor, oil for temperature!" I really like to use red onions for this dish because they're color is so lovely - plus they caramelize fantastically! Brown the onions in some butter and oil and salt  and pepper handsomely. This is the base of your meal y'all and adding salt at the end to me doesn't do salt and pepper their true justice of bringing out their companions' natural flavor.

Once the onion begins to brown, I add chopped apples - a mix of sweet and tart such as Granny Smith and Fuji. I also like to throw in some whole garlic cloves to brown, sweeten and soften - they're delicious all mushed together with the apples and onions. 

Once this mixture has melded together and smells utterly heavenly, I throw in some rosemary... Who knew that the smell of those ingredients could make the Angels sing? Once the rosemary softens a tad and is quite aromatic, add the pork back to the Dutch oven and pour in a splash of white wine to deglaze the pan and  then some apple cider. A cup of cider per pound or chop will do the trick!

A nice little time in a 375 oven - say 25-30 minutes or until pork is medium well to well done - will make your kitchen smell even more heavenly. If you'd like a green element to the dish, add some kale! It'll wilt down almost instantly upon removing the dish from the oven.

Pork is naturally sweet and thus fairs so well with apples and onions. This little piggy adores this dish all fall and even into wintertime. I hope y'all do too!

Foraging: There's an App for That!

Fall is the perfect time of year for foraging--it's a beautiful time with all of these lovely elements of nature are at their seasonal peak as they are about to go dormant for winter. Nuts, berries, mushrooms, and grass are just a few of the things you can forage for. And foraging is an excellent way to get yourself and your family out of doors before it turns too cold. I always say that foraging should start in your backyard, but feel free to take a hike!

The first rule of thumb with foraging is knowledge. Picking the wrong berry or mushroom can be a dangerous mistake. Thankfully, in this bright and shiny age of technology, information about what it's safe to forage for is right at your fingertips because now, there IS an app for that! You can read about my favorite foraging apps in this article via HGTV Gardens by Danny Bonvissuto.

Also in this article you will find a recipe for this Farmer's Garden Wassail--a delicious seasonal tea that utilizes juniper berries, something you will definitely encounter on your fall foraging adventures! Happy foraging, y'all!

Quick & Dirty: Foraging Meets the Future | HGTV Gardens | Danny Bonvissuto

From the Farmer's Table: Southern Classic Recipes with a Garden Twist {VIDEO}

These recipes will carry you across what I like to call the Southern Social gamut: wedding showers, baby showers, luncheons, Garden Clubs, you name it. Starting with a fresh herb dip, I'll walk you through simple Southern finger foods that bring the garden into any event! For recipes, click here. Bon appetit, y'all!