Once a state of rolling farmlands, Virginia is home to plenty of iconic food and wine, dating back to President Washington’s days. Whether you’re craving peanut soup, oysters or hand pies, we’re happy to share our favorite recipes with you and invite you to visit The Regency Room and Pine Room Pub to experience true southern hospitality!
4 oz. Dice White Onion
2 oz. Dice Celery
2 oz. Dice Carrot
1 Garlic clove minced
3 oz. Butter ( you can substitute Olive oil or Canola oil)
3 oz. Flour
1 quart Crab or Seafood Stock.
1 ½ Tbls. Paprika
1 Tbls. Old Bay Seasoning (You can add more or less depending on your taste)
1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper ( You can add more of less depending on your taste)
1 cup Cream.
1/3 cup sherry
¼ to ½ a lb. Crab meat. (you can use special, backfin, lump or jumbo lump. The first two types of crab meat contain significant amounts of shell so you will want to pick through it before adding it to the soup. The lump and jumbo lump will cost more, but will have less shell and require a lot less picking.)
Once you have the vegetables diced, heat the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat and sauté the vegetables until they are translucent, (about 6 to 8 minutes). Add the flour into the pan and mix together thoroughly and continue to stir for about 5 minutes. This allows the flour to cook and keeps the soup from tasting starchy. You stock should be cold or at room temperature, slowly add it into the sauce pan and stir briskly while you are pouring it in. Add in your spices and mix well. You can taste the soup and adjust seasonings if needed. You can add white or black pepper to taste if desired. Be careful with the salt, some of the other ingredients have a significant salt content so you will want to taste the final product before adding any in to the mix. Add sherry. Puree the soup in a blender or with a hand held blender. Add the Cream and let the soup simmer until it reaches the desired thickness. The soup should coat the back of a spoon when correct. You can add the crab meat to the soup at this time or you can wait until you serve the soup and put the crab on as a garnish. I like to add some of the crab and save a little for a garnish. Eat and enjoy.
Hotel Roanoke Peanut Soup – Serves 10
2 quarts Chicken Broth
1 pint Peanut Butter
1 small onion (diced)
½ cup ground peanuts
¼ pound butter
1/3 teaspoon celery salt
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Melt butter in cooking vessel and add onion and celery. Sauté for five minutes (not brown). Add flour and mix well. Add hot chicken broth and cook for a half hour. Remove from stove, strain and add peanut butter, celery, salt, salt and lemon juice.
Sprinkle ground peanuts on soup just before serving.
Hotel Roanoke Spoonbread – Serves 10
1 ½ cups corn meal
5 eggs
1/8 pound butter
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ cups boiling water
1 1/3 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
Mix cornmeal, salt, and sugar together and scald with boiling water. Add melted butter. Beat eggs and add milk to eggs. Combine two mixtures and add baking powder. Pour into baking pan and bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees.
(Makes 7 logs, 11-12 servings each)
800g coconut (sweetened, small flake)
450g sliced almonds
70g cornstarch
700g sugar
Process until coconut and almonds are finely ground. Make a simple meringue with:
1230g egg whites
880g sugar
1 tsp salt
Move 2/3 of this mixture to a large bowl. Add the nut mixture to the remaining meringue in the mixer bowl and mix on medium until combined. Fold the meringue into the nut mixture in batches. Scale out 1000g of the mixture. Carefully spread onto well-sprayed parchment-lined sheet pans in rectangles that extend about ½ inch from the edges of the pan, taking care not to deflate or spread too thin. Bake 250F low fan 1 hour, at least. Immediately flip gently onto other sheet pans. Carefully remove the parchment. Return to the oven and bake until dry, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
Ganache:
50oz 54% chocolate
40oz heavy cream
10oz corn syrup
BTB cream, pour over chocolate and corn syrup in a medium bowl. Let sit 90 seconds, and whisk gently to combine. This should be enough for the center layers; you will need to make more to coat the outsides. Each layer should get about 30oz. (3 layers)
Buttercream:
32 oz whole egg
48 oz sugar
4# butter, very slightly softened
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Combine the eggs and sugar over a double boiler. Cook over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. Strain into 20qt mixer bowl. Whip on high speed until the sides of the bowl are cool, about 12-15 minutes. Add the butter gradually and whisk until the mixture comes together, about 5 minutes. Add the vanilla. Each layer should get about ___oz. (4 layers)
Assembly:
Cover 3 pieces (2 should be the bottom side, the third should be the top. This should be the second most intact piece; it will go on the very top) of dacquoise with a layer of ganache, about 30oz each. Top the fourth piece (smooth side down; try to choose the most intact piece; this will go on the very bottom) with a layer of buttercream, about 27oz. Invert one of the ganache-coated layer onto the buttercream and top that with another layer of buttercream. Repeat until all of the layers are used up and it goes like this:
Make sure the top layer of buttercream is very smooth. Refrigerate overnight until it is soft enough to slice. Trim the outside edges and cut into 7 strips 3” in width. Do not trim the other edges; they will be trimmed after glazing. Freeze until use. Place on glazing screens. Make another batch of ganache, Coat the top and long sides with a thin layer of ganache. Chill to set. When the ganache is set but still tacky, coat the sides with toasted coconut. Chill thoroughly. Trim the edges, and slice into pieces 1¼ inches wide.
