Taylor Blue

What’s new with Taylor Blue of Vardaman? This culinary student of The W was Cook of the Week in The Journal a year ago, and she has been posting lots of good food on Instagram.
Her Twice-Baked Greek Sweet Potatoes were an instant hit for me. I have made them several times already and love them. It’s a really good sweet and salty mix. She says she got the idea for them from using Cavender’s seasoning when she makes roasted garlic mashed potatoes. “Sweet potatoes are so versatile,” she said, so she decided to give it a try.

Taylor’s first post “where I knew how to plate” was done in 2013 of a fried grit cake, seasoned turnip greens, pineapple balsamic shrimp with bacon cream sauce. Before that time she said she would just make pictures of her food. She started using  Instagram in 2012 when she was a senior in high school and has it linked to her facebook page.

Blue posted a chocolate sour cream pound cake, featuring a chocolate rum glaze. For years, I have made a chocolate chocolate chip cake using a recipe of Kim Snellings. And although Blue’s cake recipe varies from Kim’s, I want to try out her glaze on it.
Her holiday leftover was a Cajun turkey melt with mozzarella cheese and homemade cranberry mustard sauce on ciabatta bread. The most recent eye-catcher was chocolate chip monkey bread, which was her first time to make.

Two others I took note of were roasted cabbage, and sour cream pound cake with a blueberry reduction.
Among other posts were red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting topped with salted pecans, “for her two ungrateful brothers” and “when Mama wants creme brulee, she gets creme brulee!”

Last summer Blue was an intern at Taylor Grocery Catering and said it was interesting. They catered an event almost every day, she said. One was a quarterback event Archie Manning attended for which they made at least 1,500 iced brownies, lemon bars and chess squares.
When asked the most unique thing made by Taylor Grocery Catering, which serves very Southern food, she said it was their turnip green dip.
For one of her finals, the students “worked literally all semester putting together an eight-course dinner” from the menu to table settings and room decor. For this event, the smoked salmon bites appetizer stood out to her. The salmon was served atop caraway seed cream cheese on rye bread.

Blue will graduate in May 2017. She would like to eventually teach cooking classes–ranging from basic and kids to date night. Ideally, she would like to do this from her own cooking store. But meanwhile, she said  “as long as there is social media, I will post!”

Twice Baked Greek Sweet Potato
1 medium sweet potato (baked in microwave 4 minutes)
1 Tbsp. margarine
1 tsp. sour cream (not low fat)
1 Tbsp. Cavender’s Greek seasoning
1 Tbsp. Kraft Parmesan Romano cheese
Freeze dried chives for garnish
Scoop out potato and mash with all ingredients except chives. Place back in potato skins, top with chives and bake at 450° for 10 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cake w/Rum Drizzle
1 box Duncan Hines butter golden cake mix
4 eggs
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup sugar
1 stick butter
1 cup chocolate chips
Mix together and bake for 35-40 minutes.
Glaze:
½ stick butter
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup chocolate chips
Melt and pour over cake while still warm.

Chocolate Chip Monkey Bread
3 cans biscuits
1-8 oz. block of cream cheese
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
Cut biscuits in half and fill with pieces of cream cheese and chocolate chips in a greased Bundt pan. Pour melted butter and sugar mixture over filled pan and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes.

Roasted Cabbage
1 head of cabbage sliced into ½” wedges
Olive oil
Cracked black pepper
Garlic powder
Sea salt
Fresh Rosemary sprigs
Preheat oven to 400°. Put cabbage on a metal sheet pan and drizzle olive oil. Put seasoning on cabbage to taste and put a Rosemary sprig on each wedge.

Cajun Turkey Melt
1 multigrain or everything ciabatta roll
3 to 4 oz. carved turkey breast, like Oscar Mayer
2 slices Swiss cheese
3 Tbsp. canned cranberry sauce
3 Tbsp. creole mustard
Toast ciabatta roll and melt cheese over turkey in oven. Mix cranberry and mustard together and spread on top bun.

Sour Cream Cake with Blueberry Reduction
1 box Duncan Hines butter golden cake mix
4 eggs
½ cup sour cream
¼ cup sugar
1 stick butter
Blueberry sauce for cake:
2 cups frozen blueberries
1 bottle Abita purple haze lager
2 cups of sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
Boil until semi thick consistency. Be careful and avoid sticking by stirring constantly.