Learning to cook the ‘Algood’ way

By MARGARET HOBBS / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Caney Fork Electric general manager Hubert King serves up a delicious plate of food prepared by Tammy Algood to Louise Lowry of Manchester. Approximately 100 area cooks attended the event promoting Tennessee products. (Margaret Hobbs photos)

Caney Fork Electric’s auditorium was filled to capacity with excited cooks when Tammy Algood brought her cooking presentation to town.

Algood, a University of Tennessee food marketing specialist, is known for her Pick Tennessee Products Cooking School.

She is spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s campaign.

Algood is a lady full of interesting, useful information aiding consumers to identify and choose Tennessee farm and processed foods.

She informed the crowd on her choice of cookware, the differences in olive oils, what temperatures to keep your refrigerator set, how to properly use the microwave and many more helpful hints.

Attendee Mary Cole said, “I enjoyed the knowledge she conveyed, everything about appliances, cookware, ingredients and more. It was a wonderful class.”

She also, with the assistance of Caney Fork Electric employees, prepared some delicious dishes, letting the 100 guests sample the results. Caney Fork general manager, Hubert King, said, “We do the Festive Food program each year ourselves, but we decided to offer our membership this cooking class in an effort to bring the membership together. Hopefully they took some useful cooking information home with them.”

In lieu of a registration fee, guests were asked to bring 10 cans of non-perishable food items to the event. Caney Fork Electric presented the donated items to the local food bank.

Recipes featured in her class include the following:

Rosemary Cream Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh minced rosemary leaves
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and rosemary in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a fork. Gradually pour in about 1 cup of cream, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to moisten evenly.
Drizzle in remaining cream, turning dough by hand until just moist enough to hold together. Turn out onto a floured board and knead about 1 minute. Lightly roll to about 1/2-inch thickness and cut with a 3-inch fluted cutter dipped in flour. Gather dough scraps and re-roll. Transfer to a baking sheet. Brush tops with butter. Bake about 15 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on racks or serve warm with sliced fresh strawberries. Yield: 8 servings.

Lemon Tea Cake
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
5 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup steeped tea
1 cup sugar
Powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 6-8 cup pan. Sift together flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
With mixer on medium speed, cream butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add extra and zest. Gradually beat in dry ingredients just until butter is evenly mixed. Pour into prepared pan and bake one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
In the meantime, make syrup by combining lemon juice, tea and 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until the syrup thickens, about 5 minutes.
Remove pan from heat an let syrup cool completely. Let cake cool in pan for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
Pierce flat side of cake all over with a toothpick to help it absorb syrup. Slowly pour syrup over cake, allowing it to absorb completely. Let cake cool in pan 10 minutes more. Transfer to a serving platter and allow to cool completely. Dust the cake with powdered sugar and serve. Yield: 12 servings.

Marinated Cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1, 2-ounce jar diced pimento, drained
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons minced green onions
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon fresh chopped basil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 block sharp cheddar cheese
1, 8-ounce package cream cheese
Combine first 10 ingredients in a jar and cover tightly. Shake vigorously and set aside. Cut block of cheddar in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices. Repeat with cream cheese.
Arrange slices alternately in dish, standing slices on end. Pour marinade over cheese, cover and allow to marinate 8 hours. Transfer cheese to serving platter, pour marinate over top and serve with assorted crackers. Yield: 24 servings.

Stuffed Strawberries
20 large fresh strawberries, divided
1, 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon orange liqueur (may substitute orange zest)
Dice 2 strawberries and set aside.
Cut a thin slice from stem end of each remaining strawberry, forming a base for strawberries to stand on. Cut each strawberry into four wedges, starting at the pointed ends and cutting to, but not through stem ends.
Beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy.
Stir in diced strawberries, walnuts, sugar and liqueur. Pipe about 1 teaspoon of mixture into each strawberry. Yield: 1 1/2 dozen.