Tag: The Hive

Matt McClure’s Buttermilk Cornbread with Sorghum Butter

matt mcclure

We are extremely fortunate that Executive Chef Matt McClure of Bentonville’s 21C Museum Hotel The Hive Restaurant will be one of our featured speakers at the Foodie Friday pre conference of Megaphone Summit 2016 to be held at the absolutely beautiful Pratt Place Inn and Barn in Fayetteville.

Pratt Place Inn Veranda

Those of you who had the privilege to enjoy Matt’s presentation at the 2014 Foodie Friday session held at NWACC will remember what a joy he was. And I’m sure many of you have continued to enjoy his okratouille and chicken recipes he shared with us that day.

Matt was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, where his passion for food was ignited by hunting, fishing and his grandmother’s cooking. Following a stint at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, he settled in Boston working at a number of restaurants including Troquet, Harvest and No. 9 Park.

Eager to get back to his home state to reconnect with the ingredients and foodways of his childhood, Matt returned to Little Rock where he worked under Lee Richardson former Executive Chef at Ashley’s (now One Eleven) in the Capital Hotel, developing strong relationships with local farmers and producers and rediscovering the agricultural resources of his home state.

In 2012, Matt joined the opening team of The Hive, located at 21C Museum Hotel Bentonville. At The Hive, the restaurant’s menus showcase the unique culinary identity of Arkansas. McClure’s cooking pays homage to the High South, highlighting ingredients such as black walnuts, freshly milled corn meal, hickory smoked hams, peaches, melons and sweet onions and demonstrates Matt’s longstanding commitment to support local farmers and purveyors. (Courtesy The Hive).

In 2013, Garden & Gun, featured The Hive in it’s Feb/Mar edition.showcases the refined, country cuisine of the High South, focusing on the local ingredients of Northwest Arkansas and the region’s traditional methods of cooking. Matt was a James Beard Award semi-finalist for the “Best Chef: South” award in both 2014 and 2015, and was awarded Food & Wine Magazine’s “The People’s Best New Chef” award for the Midwest in 2015. He is also an active member of the Southern Foodways Alliance.

Upon dining at The Hive, you will be served Matt’s Buttermilk Corn Bread along with a dish of sorghum butter. I just happened to get lucky and received a copy of his recipe. The sorghum butter recipe is from Anson Mills. While it may not be Matt’s recipe, it’s pretty darn close.

I suppose you’ll just have to make it at home and then visit The Hive in order to make your own taste comparison.

In the meantime, go get yourself registered for Foodie Friday. I’m eager to see your smiling faces and am so excited to be sharing our amazing line up of speakers for you.

Details on the agenda and speakers will be coming in a couple of weeks. Just a head’s up

Our Foodie Friday day will START at 10 a.m. this year.
We will be serving box lunches.

You’re welcome:)

Matt McClure's Buttermilk Cornbread

Ingredients

Cornbread

2 Tablespoons lard
2 cups cornmeal
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 eggs
2 cups buttermilk

Sorghum Butter

8 Tablespoons good quality unsalted butter, softened
3 Tablespoons sorghum molasses
Fine sea salt

Instructions

Cornbread

Preheat oven to 425°.
Place cast iron skillet and lard in the skillet to preheat.
Sift together cornmeal, flour, soda and salt into a large bowl.
In a small bowl, beat eggs and buttermilk together; add to dry mix.
Stir well until all dry ingredients are incorporated.
Add melted lard to mix and stir well, leaving a small amount of the melted lard in the skillet.
Pour cornbread mixture into the hot cast iron skillet (the same pan that the lard was melted in). Make sure there is a thin layer of residual lard in the pan. This will ensure a crisp crust.
Bake at 425° for 25-30 minutes.
Serve hot with sorghum butter.
Pinch of fine sea salt

Sorghum Butter

Using a hand or stand mixer, cream the softened butter until it is fluffy.
Reduce the mixer speed and drizzle in the sorghum. Add the salt.
Increase the speed and beat until the sorghum is fully incorporated, frequently scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Turn the butter into a small bowl or a large ramekin

Notes

I'm not sure what brand of corn meal Matt uses, but I really like Arkansas' own War Eagle Mills.

The sorghum butter is really nice on biscuits, pancakes or waffles.

https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/matt-mcclures-buttermilk-cornbread-sorghum-butter/

Dishin’ it with Chef Matt McClure: Watermelon Gazpacho {Foodie Friday}

matt mcclure

At the Hive, I often preach about celebrating the season. Here, we write ingredient-driven menus. This means that what is ripe and coming out of the ground is what we will be working with for tonight’s dinner. During the summer months, this philosophy is easy to manage with a great variety of produce coming in the door from our local farmers. The Arkansas climate gives us a long growing season and produces some of the most delicious fruits and vegetables I have ever tasted. Going to the farmer’s market and seeing these foods inspire me. It’s a great season, with lots of opportunity to play with new ingredients and create fun, new dishes. We are also busy preserving the season by making peach butter, ground cherry jam, blueberry jam, pickled cucumbers, green tomatoes and green beans. I refer to it as building our pantry. Having these house made items on hand to pull from later in the season keeps our menu fresh during the winter months when there is not much growing. This kind of cooking gives us the opportunity to offer our guests a unique Arkansas culinary experience.

I feel that the history of food and cooking in Arkansas is humble and honest. My grandmother had a garden, fruit trees and some livestock in her backyard. She would pick blackberries from wild bushes nearby. Eating local and preserving the harvest weren’t tag lines then. It was just life in rural Arkansas. That sense of time and place has motivated me to cook the way I cook.

In developing the recipe for this Watermelon Gazpacho, we wanted to utilize several ingredients that can be found at the market at the same time. This recipe is completely dependent on the quality and freshness of the produce used. It is fairly easy to prepare, but does require a little planning ahead. Watermelons have a unique flavor– they are sweet with a crunchy texture. We balance this sweetness with a little red wine vinegar. The vegetables are all rough cut in similar sizes and seasoned with a little salt and vinegar. This is allowed to steep overnight to develop all of the flavors and “cook” the vegetables. Gazpacho isn’t supposed to be fancy salsa. Once the vegetables have marinated overnight, the sachet of aromatics is removed and the vegetables are pureed. This is seasoned with salt, olive oil and red wine vinegar. This is a soup that is great for summer’s hot weather. It’s served chilled and is very refreshing.

@MatthewrMcClure shares a #watermelon #gazpacho for #ARWB #FoodieFriday

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matt mcclure

Watermelon Gazpacho

2015-08-20 07:08:30

Serves 10

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Ingredients

1 1/2 watermelons, peeled and fleshed
2 cucumbers, peeled
8-10 tomatillos, paper removed, rinsed and quartered
3 Fresno chilies
3 pounds red bell peppers
1 red onion
¼ cup red wine vinegar (adjust to taste)
1 1/2 cups extra-virgin olive oil (adjust to taste)
Kosher salt to taste

Sachet

5 sprigs basil
2 cloves garlic
½ Jalapeno, split

Instructions

Cut and marinate all vegetables in salt and vinegar for at least 1 hour.
Puree vegetables with stick blender.
Add sachet and leave in soup for 8-12 hours while in refrigerator.
After 12 hours, remove sachet and run through a food mill to remove seeds and large chunks.
Blend in extra-virgin olive oil and adjust seasoning to taste.

By Chef Matthew McClure

Arkansas Women Bloggers https://arkansaswomenbloggers.com/

Getting to Know Your ARWB Foodies

Matthew McClure
The Hive

What food reminds you of childhood?
My grandmother’s scrambled eggs. They had so much flavor and were so creamy. Finally, I learned her secret, which was Philadelphia cream cheese. Delicious!

What is your favorite international cuisine?
Mexican, Indian, Korean…I could never choose which one I like more. They all cook with inexpensive cuts of meat and spice them aggressively with their own cultural blends.

What is always in your refrigerator at home?
I always have some sort of pickled vegetable.

What is your most used cookbook?
The Flavor Bible, by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg. Our menu at The Hive is very ingredient driven. I go to the farmers market, find the foods that I feel look and taste best, and then we change the menu. This book gives great suggestions of different flavors that pair well with each other.

What is your favorite kitchen gadget?
My Pacojet. It makes the smoothest ice creams and sorbets.

Do you have a favorite food indulgence?
Many…fried chicken, an Indian dish called Bhindi Masala, which is an amazing okra dish. Last meal material.

What is your go-to ingredient that you use time and time again?
I love to use a variety of dried chilis. Guajillo, marash and Calabrian my go-tos.

What is your favorite food meal to cook at home?
For comfort food, chicken and rice is a house speciality. I also love making fresh masa tortillas and homemade Mexican food.

What is a cooking tip that you would like to share with beginning cooks?
Always taste your food throughout the cooking process. Also, make sure you have a sharp knife, brand doesn’t matter.

When you’re not cooking, what are your favorite pastimes?
Fishing, canoeing, hiking and cycling. I really enjoy being outside.

What else would you like us to know about you?
I’m on a mission to prove that Arkansas food has a place at the national leConnect with Matt and The Hive:

Twitter: @MatthewrMcClure
@21CBentonville
FB: The Hive
FB: Matt
Instagram: Matt
21C Museum Hotels

Matthew McClure, featured chef at #AWBU #Foodie Friday 14, was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, where hunting, fishing and his grandmother’s cooking ignited his passion for food. After studying at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, he settled in Boston working at a number of restaurants including Troquet, Harvest and No.9 Park under the direction of Barbara Lynch.

After years in Boston, Matt was eager to get back to his home state to reconnect with the ingredients and foodways of his childhood. He returned to Little Rock where he worked under Lee Richardson at Ashley’s at the CapitalHotel, developing strong relationships with local farmers and producers and rediscovering the agricultural resources of his home state.

In 2012, he was selected to open The Hive located at 21c Museum Hotel. His cooking is reflective of both the history and geography of Arkansas as well as new immigrant communities and their influence on the culinary landscape. His longstanding and outspoken commitment to support local farmers and purveyors has cemented his position as a notable champion for Arkansas’s burgeoning culinary renaissance. Matt was a Semifinalist for the 2015 James Beard Foundation Best Chef: South award and named FOOD & WINE The People’s Best New Chef in the Midwest region. He is also an active member of the Southern Foodways Alliance.

About The Hive

The Hive featuresexecutive chef and Arkansasnative Matthew McClure’s take on refined country cooking, and seeks to articulate the unique culinary identity of Arkansas. McClure has developed a program that is true to the High South and showcases the region’s farmers and culinary landscape, highlighting local ingredients such as black walnuts, sweet onions, freshly milled corn meal, hickory smoked hams, peaches and melons. McClure’s menu is a contemporary take on the foods and ways of cooking that are familiar to the region such as pickling and preserving, making jam, and sourcing whole animals whenever possible.

The restaurant is located in the 21c Museum Hotel, at 200 NE A Street in Bentonville, Arkansas. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 479.286.6575.

Best of Bentonville {Beard Foundation Benefit}

I was pleased to represent Arkansas Women Bloggers as a guest of Crystal Bridges at the Friends of the Beard Foundation Best of Bentonville Benefit held at 21C Museum Hotel on November 8 featuring the culinary work of Chef Rob Nelson of Tusk & Trotter American Brasserie, Chef Matt McClure, a Beard semifinalist for best chef Sotuh, of The Hive and Chef Bill Lyle of Eleven at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Chef Case Dighero served as emcee of the event while engaging the audience during interviews with the chefs and tales of their experiences at chef’s boot camp at the Beard Foundation in New York City. It was especially interesting to hear their thoughts on sourcing locally produced foods for their restaurants. Eating locally from our Arkansas producers and farmers is near and dear to my foodie philosophy. All of the dishes presented during the evening were prepared with ingredients from farms and orchards in Northwest Arkansas.

I will be sharing the recipe for this spectacular dessert of Sticky Toffee Pudding and Arkansas Black Apple Ice Cream created by Chef McClure. You’ll be able to view that on my blog soon

beard foundation group with alice

A strong supporter of the culinary opportunity and development as well as the arts in Northwest Arkansas, Alice Walton, chose to entertain her weekend guests by treating them to the Best of Bentonville dinner. Phyllis duPont Wyeth, wife of Jamie Wyeth , and her sister Mimi duPont Abel Smith, were highly complimentary of Crystal Bridges and the NWA area. The Jamie Wyeth exhibition opens at Crystal Bridges in the summer 2015.

Come join me on my blog as I share dishes from our dinner menu.

MENU
Hors d’Oeuvre
Ozark Pumpkin Arancini
Duck Prosciutto–Pepper Jelly Canapés
Chicken Liver Pâté
Black Walnut Moonshine Cocktails

Dinner
Assorted Breads > Garlic–Montasio Cheese Gougères; Skillet Cornbread; and Fried Pork Rinds
Glazed Sweet Potatoes with Pecans and Brussel Sprouts
Braised Arkansas Rabbit with War Eagle Mill Barley Risotto, Minted Black Apples, and Carrot Caramel
Marinated and Grilled Venison Flank Steak with Stewed White Beans, Ham Hocks, Tomato Confit, Pickled Shiitake Mushrooms, Grilled Scallions, and Mountain Bird Coffee Red Eye Demi-Glace
Sticky Toffee Pudding
A selection of fine wines will be served with this dinner.

debbie and beth beard foundation

Many thanks to Beth Bobbitt, Media Relations Manager at Crystal Bridges, for extending the invitation.

#ARWB represented @beardfoundation benefit w @crystalbridges @matthewrmcclure @tuskandtrotter…

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