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Agnes & Muriel’s

Midtown’s Agnes & Muriel’s…good old-fashioned “Mom food” with a modern twist, served on retro Fifties/Sixties china, in a converted brick bungalow inspired by Jane Jetson, June Cleaver and Pee Wee Herman.

1514 Monroe Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30324
(404) 885-1000

http://www.mominthekitchen.com/

Owner and chef: Glenn Powell

For chef-owner, Glenn Powell, the road to Agnes & Muriel’s was a long one that began at the tender age of 13 with a job in a resort kitchen in New York’s Catskill Mountains. After reaching adulthood, Glenn assumed the position of baker for a large regional restaurant group in Atlanta, Georgia. He then received a promotion to director of menu development, where he spent years developing standardized corporate recipes, and a stint as cofounder of The Festive Feast Catering. In 1995, Glenn said goodbye to the stylized, trendy cuisine of the 80’s and 90’s and took a step back in time to open his own restaurant in midtown Atlanta. The concept behind Agnes & Muriel’s is to serve comfort food, the kind Mom used to make…..only with more attitude. Glenn currently resides in Atlanta.

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Chef Glenn prepared:

• Lemon Sesame Collards
• Louisiana Barbecued Shrimp
• Country Grits
• Fried Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Red Pepper Sauce
• Peach-Raspberry Cobbler
• Noodle Kugel

Download a printable version of these recipes

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Lemon Sesame Collards

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch fresh collard greens
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 or 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
2. While water is heating, trim and discard woody stalks from the collards. Cut or tear collards into 2-inch squares.
3. Soak the collards in water to remove any gritty sand. Change the water as needed until the water is clear and collards are clean.
4. Add collards and salt to the boiling water, and boil uncovered for 12 minutes.
5. Drain and set aside. You may boil the collards ahead of time and refrigerate for one day in a covered bowl until needed.
6. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add sesame seeds. Continue cooking over medium heat until the butter and the seeds just begin to turn brown.
7. Add the collards and lemon juice, and saute’ until collards are heated through.
8. Add taste to preference with extra lemon juice or salt and pepper.

To serve: Lemon Sesame Collards are best served piping hot immediately after sautéing.

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Louisiana BBQ Shrimp over Country Grits

Makes 6 to 8 Servings

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds large shrimp, shelled with tails left on, deveined
• 1 pound butter
• 2 cups oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh garlic
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1½ teaspoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

1. Peel and devein shrimp.
2. Rinse shrimp well and set them aside to drain.
3. In a large deep skillet or saute’ pan, melt butter and oil.
4. Add remaining ingredients except for shrimp and simmer for 30 minutes over very low heat. This infuses butter and oil with herbs and seasonings.
5. Add shrimp and saute’, turning often, about 7 minutes or until shrimp are cooked through.
6. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

To serve: Spoon a generous helping of grits onto each plate. Divide shrimp between plates and spoon on top of grits. Top with buttery gravy.

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Country Grits

Ingredients:

• 3½ cups water
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1¼ cups quick grits
• 1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons garlic powder
• 1½ teaspoons onion powder
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• ½ teaspoon Tabasco
• ½ cup canned cream-style corn
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1½ sticks butter, in chunks

Directions:

1. Mix water and cream in a large saucepan.
2. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil.
3. Add all remaining ingredients, except butter, to the water and cream. Stir well.
4. Continuing to stir, bring mixture back to a slow boil and simmer for 10 minutes or until grits are tender.
5. Remove from heat and stir butter into grits.

To serve: Grits can also be served as a hot side dish with salt and pepper or a little more Tabasco to taste.

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Fried Green Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Red Pepper Sauce

• 4 medium —sized green tomatoes
• 2/3 cup egg wash
• 1-½ cups Green Tomato breading
• vegetable or canola oil for frying

Directions:

• Slice green tomatoes ¼ inch thick and set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat ½ inch of oil over medium heat.
• While the oil is heating, dip each slice of tomato into egg wash and coat each tomato well with breading.
• Fry each tomato until golden, about 4 minutes per side.

To serve: Fried Green Tomatoes are best right out of the skillet.

Egg Wash

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup milk

Directions:

• In a small mixing bowl, whisk ingredients together until light golden and fluffy.
• Dip food thoroughly in egg wash before dredging in dry ingredients and frying in oil or butter.

Red Bell Pepper Sauce

(makes 3 cups)

• 1 cup Canned roasted red peppers, drained
• 2 cups Mayonnaise
• ½ cup Extra-virgin olive oil
• ¾ tsp. Black pepper
• 1 tbs. plus 1 ½ tsp. Tabasco
• 1 tbs. plus 1 ½ tsp. Freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

• In a blender or food processor, puree mayonnaise and red peppers until well blended.
• With blender or processor on, slowly add oil and blend until all the oil is thoroughly combined.
• Add remaining ingredients and combine well.
• Chill 1 hour before serving.

To serve: Stir to make sure ingredients are mixed before serving.

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Peach Raspberry Cobbler

1 9-inch piecrust

Filling:

• ¾ cup suga
• ¼ cup flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 2½ cups peeled peaches cut into wedges
• ¾ cup raspberries

Topping:

• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons butter, softened, into pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Line a 9 inch pie pan with piecrust. Set aside.

To prepare filling:

1. In a large mixing bowl, toss sugar, flour and salt together.
2. Add peaches and raspberries, and gently stir to mix well.
3. Mound filling evenly into pie shell.

To prepare topping:

1. In a small mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar and cinnamon.
2. With fingers, mix butter pieces into flour mixture until no piece of butter is larger than a pea.
3. Sprinkle evenly over pie filling.
4. Bake for 1 hour, or until juices in center of cobbler are bubbly and thickened, and pie is deep golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and allow to cool 1 hour before serving.

To serve: Serve heaping portions of cobbler topped with vanilla ice cream.

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Noodle Kugel

• 1 pound wide egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 6 eggs
• ¾ cup sugar
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 pound cream cheese
• 8 ounces melted butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon additional salt
• 2 cups roasted pecans chopped coarsely
• 2 tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar

Roasted Nuts

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Sprinkle desired quantity of nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes or until nuts begin to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely before using as needed.

Cinnamon Sugar

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together in a small bowl; store any unused portion at room temperature in a zip-top or tight-lidded jar.

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease 9 x 13 inch baking pan. Set aside.
• Bring a 6-quart or larger pot of water to boil.
• Add noodles and salt to the water. Boil noodles until they are just tender according to directions on package.
• Drain and rinse noodles under cold water set aside.
• Using an electric mixer on low, cream the eggs, sugar, sour cream, cream cheese, vanilla and 1/4 - teaspoon of salt in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
• Pour cream cheese mixture over noodles and toss well to thoroughly coat noodles.
• Add roasted pecans and stir well.
• Pour noodle mixture into the prepared baking pan.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until the center of the Kugel is as firm as the edges.
• Cool 15 minutes before cutting into 12 portions.

To serve: Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over each piece before serving warm.

Agnes says: Kugel leftovers are tasty cold, straight out of the fridge, but can be reheated in the microwave.