I love to cook, but typically I read cookbooks for fun, not for help
in the kitchen. I bookmark lots of recipes but seldom cook any of
them.
I mention this approach because Recipes From the Memphis
Farmers Market, a new cookbook on locally grown food,
was a game-changer for me. I made “Wild Mushroom and Leek Tart,” a
recipe from Chef Jose Gutierrez, as soon as I got home with the book.
(I used a packaged pie crust, not Gutierrez’ homemade version, but the
tart was still rich and delicious.) Within a week, I had tried three
more recipes: Susie Graves’ Parmesan zucchini quiche, Sharon Leicham’s
okra pancakes, and Nancy Kistler’s summer squash casserole.
Clair Kelly, who compiled the cookbook, isn’t surprised by my
enthusiasm. She and a group of 18 volunteers tested hundreds of recipes
contributed by local chefs, caterers, market vendors, and Memphis
foodies. They eventually settled on about 200 appetizers, salads,
soups, breads, main dishes, sides, condiments, sauces, and desserts for
both carnivores and vegetarians.
“We wanted recipes that were healthy and not too complicated,” says
Kelly, a Harbor Town resident and scientist at St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital. “But the most important criteria was for recipes to
feature ingredients from the farmers market. The market was our
inspiration.”
Leicham, a market board member, credits Kelly and graphic artist
Linda Harris, who designed the book, for pushing the
fund-raising project from concept to publication. “They were
responsible for coordinating this amazing volunteer effort,” Leicham
says.
In a month’s time, the market has sold 410 cookbooks out of the
original 500.
A second printing has been ordered and copies ($18 each) are
available online, at the season’s final market downtown Saturday, and
at the Fourth Annual Harvest Celebration on November 8th at
Central Station’s Hudson Hall.
The market’s harvest celebration is another major fund-raiser for
the market, pulling in more than 500 participants. Tickets — if
purchased by Saturday — are $45 for singles, $80 for couples, and
$25 for vendors and market volunteers. Ticket prices increase $10
November 1st. “We hope to raise $30,000,” Leicham says.
The event, from 4 to 7 p.m., will include entertainment and beer,
wine, and food from a who’s who of local restaurants, including Andrew
Michael Kitchen, Amerigo (the event sponsor), Big Ono Bakery, Cafe
Society, Grill 83, Inn at Hunt Phelan, Interim Restaurant, Majestic
Grille, Mesquite Chop House, Restaurant Iris, Sole Restaurant, and Chez
Philippe.
An auction, with many items contributed by market vendors, also will
offer unique goods and services, such as backyard vegetable gardens,
cooking demonstrations, and monthly flower bouquets. “You can even bid
to stay at the cabin at Bonnie Blue Farms in Waynesboro,” Leicham says.
“And while you’re there, you can milk the goats.”
Memphis Farmers Market
(memphisfarmersmarket.com)
If TJ Mulligan’s has had live bands three nights a week, how
many band nights have they had over the past 20 years?
Lee Adams, who opened the original TJ Mulligan’s in Southeast
Memphis on October 28, 1989, figures the answer like this: “Three times
52 is about 150, give or take a few nights,” he says. “150 times 20
years is 3,000 band nights.”
Throw in the other TJ Mulligan’s locations (two in Cordova, one
downtown, and one in Jackson, Tennessee) and the total number of band
nights might top 10,000. “No matter how you figure it, we’ve fed a lot
of starving musicians,” Adams says, laughing.
Music, along with food and drink specials, are on tap all week to
celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first TJ Mulligan’s at 6635
Quince Road.
“We’ve never tried to be something we’re not,” Adams says about the
restaurant’s longevity. “If you want a cutting-edge martini, you’ve got
the wrong place. We are a neighborhood bar and grill, and we don’t
believe in overcharging.”
Twenty years ago, customers came in with their girlfriends, Adams
continues. “Then those same people came in with their kids. Now those
kids I first met when they were 3 years old are bartending and waiting
tables. It’s a big family.”
Anniversary events culminate Saturday night with Halloween parties
at all locations. Check the TJ Mulligan’s website for specifics, but
don’t miss the haunted house at Mulligan’s Pinch location. “They really
knock themselves out getting ready,” Adams says. “And they give all the
money they raise to St. Jude.”
TJ Mulligan’s, 362 N. Main (523-1453); 8071 Trinity (756-4480);
6635 Quince (753-8056); 2821 N. Houston Levee (377-9997), tjmulligans.com
When the check came after dinner last week at Sekisui Pacific
Rim, I was incredulous. “It’s only $40,” I said to my husband. “And
that’s with a tip and my martini.”
So how did we keep the bill so affordable? First, we had a $10
coupon from restaurant.com, but,
more importantly, we ordered the restaurant’s new monthly specials, an
inventive mish-mash of small plates from head chef Takeshi
Hanafusa.
Two of our favorites were shrimp tempura (five large shrimp for
$5.50) and daikon salad, a mountain of shredded daikon, tomatoes, and
cucumbers dressed with a sweet and sour combination of plum sauce and
Ponzo.
Other similarly priced specials include grilled pike fish and
shiitake mushrooms. “The mushrooms are sautéed in butter,
Hondashi [a Japanese seasoning], salt, pepper, and a little soy,” says
manager Jenny Son. “It’s simple and delicious.”
Sekisui Pacific Rim, 4724 Poplar (767-7770), sekisuiusa.com
