9 minute read
Cook’s Pantry
Jennifer and Gigi sport aprons showing the three generations of their family, all substantial cooks.
Two sisters Sisters Jennifer Paige Gammill and Gigi Renee Webb share two loves – their historic homes in Founders’ Place and the art of cooking dishes on the grill. These bon vivants grilland a come by it naturally, as their father was a wine buyer who traveled internationally, and their mother the Cook’s Pantry worked in the wine Melony Carey department at Getting creative with cooking Neiman Marcus. Good food and the joy of family meals were part of the natural order of things while they were growing up. Attesting to Photos by Cathy Spaulding that are the aprons each wears, showing three generations of family cooks.
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ABOVE: Jennifer at the grill with flames coming up: Jennifer’s motto is dive in and don’t be afraid of the grill. Here she flips the chicken and pork chops, moving some to the warming rack.
LEFT & TOP LEFT: Jennifer insists that if a dish can be prepared in the oven, it can be prepared on the grill. Here ratatouille and focaccia bread take center stage.
When gas grills first became popular, Jennifer bought one and began experimenting with hot dogs and hamburgers. Since then she and Gigi have branched out into biscuits, brie with salt, pepper and olive oil, even focaccia.
“We have worn out several grills,” Gigi said. “This one is relatively new to us.” Jennifer’s philosophy is, if you can cook it on the stove or oven, you can cook it on the grill.
These intrepid sisters – Jennifer a retired Dallas law enforcement officer and Gigi an Army veteran and registered nurse – also have collected recipes from their many international trips. One such recipe is ratatouille, a French dish prepared with zucchini, yellow squash, onion and red peppers seasoned with Herbes d’ Provence. Gigi makes her own tomato sauce and prepares the dish in a cast iron skillet to place on the grill.
“But we leave out the traditional eggplant, because some of our family members don’t like the texture,” she says. It does not phase the delicious dish.
Both sisters are very creative and agree that cooking is a different aspect of creativity.
“While we are cooking something, we are always inventing new ways of doing things or coming up with a different take on a recipe,” says Jennifer.
They both agree that the togetherness of cooking and working toward a common goal is gratifying. “And, food is always better with family and friends,” Jennifer insists.
Jennifer regularly hosts cookouts and meetings for her historic neighborhood, graciously cooking up marinated chicken, sausage, and pork chops to grateful, eager family members and neighbors.
“Dive in and don’t be afraid to use the grill,” Jennifer asserts. “Just experiment and enjoy.”
Here the sisters share their recipes for a summer dinner party cooked on the grill.
Focaccia
Preheat your oven or grill to 450 degrees.
Yeast prep:
Two teaspoons of yeast (two packets of yeast) 1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees) 1/2 cup half flour 1 teaspoon raw sugar
Mix. Cover with plastic, set aside in a warm area, stirring occasionally, about half hour. Once the yeast is ready, mix it together with the following ingredients: 1/4 cup olive oil, add first to yeast mix
Flour 2 1/4cups until blended not overly sticky or overly floured.
Additional flour can be added if dough is sticky.
SALT!!! Don’t forget the salt, 1 tablespoon
Fresh rosemary, 1 teaspoon minced
While mixing, if the dough is still too sticky sprinkle with more flour. Knead the dough in the bowl and shape into a ball. Oil an iron skillet with a generous amount of olive oil. Transfer the dough to the iron skillet. Using your fingers press the dough down and stretch out to the size of the skillet. Ensure good finger holes are left in the dough. Drizzle
TOP & ABOVE: Jennifer regularly hosts cookouts and meetings for her historic neighborhood, graciously cooking up marinated chicken, sausage, and pork chops to grateful, eager family members and neighbors. LEFT & BELOW: Jennifer’s historic home in Founders’ Place creates the perfect ambience for the dessert course of sherbet drizzled with Moscato and served with short bread, and Laura Ashley Webb’s (Gigi’s daughter) famous Key Lime Pie.
the top with more olive oil. Cover with a towel for about 20-30 minutes or until the dough has risen. Place in the hot oven for about 20 minutes. It is ready when the bread is golden brown and has pulled away from the edges of the skillet. If you thump it in the middle and it sounds hollow, it will be ready. Remove the pan from the oven and flip upside down on a wooden board. Once it’s cooled a few minutes, flip it up right. Serve with a good olive oil dip and a great salad.
Lemon Garlic Chicken
Lemon Garlic Marinade:
1 cup olive oil 1/3 cup of juice
Zest of one lemon 4-6 garlic cloves pressed (may use more or less depending on your love of garlic) 2–3-inch sprig of fresh rosemary (may use more or less)
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients in a bowl and until well blended.
Prep Chicken:
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts 4-6 lemons sliced in rings 1⁄2 thick
Salt and pepper
Slice each chicken breast by placing edge of knife parallel to cutting board. Slice completely through to create two breast portions, then pound each portion to 1/4-inch thick.
With basting brush, stir marinade and cover bottom of large flat glass baking dish (I like to use a glass lasagna pan) with marinade. Place one layer of chicken in pan and brush on marinade. Then salt and pepper breast, add slices of lemons. Then add next layer of chicken, marinade, salt and pepper, lemons until all chicken has been coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to grill 2-6 hours.
Summer Dinner Party Menu
Blue Cheese and Pecan salad Greek Pasta salad
Ratatouille
marinated Pork Chops Lemon Chicken Amish sausage Focaccia
sherbet with shortbread
Key Lime Pie oliver Cherry moscato Kim Crawford sauvignon Blanc Beringer Pinot Grigio
Jennifer lovingly refers to her outdoor dining area as “Reta’s Resort and Cabana,” named for her cousin, who insisted she keep the structure and pool. Guests sit down for a family-style meal under its huge wrought iron chandeliers and Italian villa charm.
Place chicken and lemon slices directly onto hot oiled grill and close grill cover for approximately 2 minutes or until chicken is opaque with very little pink and juice is floating of top the chicken breast.
Using a large metal grilling spatula, flip chicken to finish cooking approximately 2 minutes and remove from grill.
Chicken will cook very fast due to being so thin. Also continue to flip lemon slices until soft and charred, remove and place on platter with chicken. Rest 5-10 minutes and serve.
ratatouille
A French Provencal dish in which vegetables are stewed in a tomato sauce and French herbs.
We make our own tomato sauce, which is based on an Italian Marinara sauce; yet, for this dish we trade out traditional Italian seasoning for Herbes de Provence, which includes thyme, basil, rosemary, marjoram, oregano, bay leaf and lavender.
Pre-heat grill to 400 - 450 degrees. 12-inch iron skillet
tomato Sauce:
1⁄4 cup finely chopped onions 1⁄4 cup finely chopped carrots 1⁄4 cup finely chopped celery 1⁄4 cup browned and finely chopped spicy pork sausage (We use J.C. Potter hot breakfast sausage) 1 14.5 oz petite diced tomatoes with juice 1 6 oz can of tomato paste 1 cup hot water 3 tsp of Herbes de Provence – 2 tsp for sauce 1 tsp to sprinkle on top- and this is to taste, add as much as makes you happy 1 Tbsp of Balsamic Vinegar 2 Tbsp of Olive oil Salt and pepper to taste
Cook sausage until browned and then finely chop for a fine grind of sausage. Add olive oil to skillet leaving the fond of the sausage, and sauté veggies until lightly soften. Add back in sausage then add 1/2 can of tomato paste and continue to sauté until tomato paste darkens, about 1-2 minutes. Add can of petite diced tomatoes with juice, hot water, Herbes de Provence, salt and pepper, and balsamic vinegar.
Bring sauce to a simmer and reduce by half until a thick consistency. Remove 1/2 cup of sauce for topping and spread rest of sauce evenly over the bottom of skillet. The sauce can be made ahead of time and in batches and frozen for other dishes as well.
Veggies for the ratatouille:
2 yellow summer squash sliced 1⁄4-1⁄2” rings 2 zucchini squash sliced 1⁄4-1⁄2” rings 4 large shallots thinly sliced in rings 5-6 Sweet mini peppers sliced 1⁄4-1⁄2” rings 4-6 firm Roma tomatoes slice 1⁄4-1⁄2” rings
Stand rings in sauce in iron skillet until a labyrinth of color fills the skillet, top with tomato sauce and sprinkle Herbes de Provence.
Cover with lightly with foil. Do not seal. Place in 400-450 degree grill (400 degrees if in oven). Cook until veggies are lightly soft, but still firm, approximately 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook until veggies are just tender but not mushy. Remove and rest for 10 minutes, then serve in iron skillet for a rustic presentation.
Note: Eggplant is a traditional addition as well, but our family prefers to leave it out; you may love to add it as well as other varieties of squashes and mushrooms.
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