Cherries Brûlée. Dessert tonight. Oh! If I could only put this into words.

 

Cherries Brûlée. Dessert tonight. Oh! If I could only put this into words. Deep, dark, sweet, sweet cherries with sour cream and melted sugar that cracks at the touch. So sweet, so good.

Pit the cherries, and place them in the microwave covered, to cook until soft. Place the cherries in a baking dish. Add a layer of sour cream and a layer of brown sugar on top of that. Broil until the sugar is bubbling. Enjoy.

Brown Turkey Figs, Sweetened Mascarpone, Walnuts, Honey

 

 

Beautiful Sweet Figs

 

 I grew up with fig trees all around me. When I was a child, my grandfather and I would walk out to the back yard, and I would eat figs right off the tree.

Love them any way, but especially like this. Elegant.

 

Recipe

 

As many figs as you would like to serve

mascarpone or cream cheese, sweetened to taste with confectioners sugar or honey

sweet basil, sliced into chiffonade

toasted walnuts or pecans

your favorite honey

 

Slit the figs across the top and down to make an opening large enough to hold the cheese. Mix the cheese and sugar or honey. Pipe the cheese into the slit of the figs.

Add basil, and walnuts to the top of the cheese, drizzle with honey.

 

 

 

I don't think you could find a recipe more Southern than Okra Spoon Patties from 1955.

 

Okra Spoon Patties

(Mrs. N.R. Shockley, Pell City, Al)

 

Many years ago, back in the deep South, my uncle was the editor of a newspaper. He would send cooking supplements home to my grandmother, who lived in the country, and she would use those recipes in place of a cookbook. After she died, I found the supplements in a drawer in the dining room sideboard. I took them out, put them in a grocery bag and brought them home to South Carolina. The supplements are crumbling and falling apart now, so I am photographing the recipes and trying to cook a few of them along the way. The one above is a true treasure.

 

The recipe for the okra patties is a bit unconventional because most of the time we see that recipes for okra patties call for cornmeal and maybe a little flour. This recipe uses cracker crumbs. After looking at the recipe, I thought uh-oh, but believe me when I tell you that I can't wait to eat these again. This would be the perfect appetizer or side dish for company who is trying Southern food for the first time. Oh, what a delicious introduction that would be.

 

Okay, I'll be quiet because I know you want to eat. So here is the newspaper clipping photo from the Birmingham News, 1955. And, below that are the details of my experience making the okra patties. Enjoy.

 

 

You can see the recipe above, but I made changes to suit my cooking style today. The full NEW recipe is below.

 

I cooked enough (I used sliced okra) okra in boiling salted water to make one cup when mashed. After the okra cooked until tender, I put it in a strainer and strained the liquid out, and placed the okra in a bowl and mashed. Now, measure out one cup of okra and set aside.

 

In another bowl, beat a large egg until well mixed. I added 4 Club crackers (crushed) and it was pretty loose. I remembered that crackers came in sheets back then, so I added 4 more Club crackers (use 8 Club crackers, crushed, total). Perfect. Now, add the mashed okra, salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste, to the egg, cracker mixture.

 

Place about a 1/4 inch oil in a black cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Drop one tablespoon of the mixture at a time into the hot oil. When the patties have browned on one side, turn. When brown on both sides, remove to paper towels to drain. Serve with Mayonnaise-Dijon Mustard Sauce.

 

Mayonnaise-Dijon Sauce

 

2 tablespoons Duke's

1 teaspoon Country Dijon mustard

 

Mix well, serve with okra patties.

 

 

Bread & Butter Squash Pickles, Old Alabama Recipe

 

Bread & Butter Squash Pickles

You may never make cucumber pickles again when you find out how easy and delicious these pickles are.

Oh, Squash, your growth is more than I can handle. I am going to put you in a pickle. See how you like that. Yep, squash bread and butter pickles. Try these with your butterbeans on the Sunday dinner table, or that hamburger from the Saturday night grill, even better, the pickles make the best hot dog better, believe me. You’ll be adding different flavors and a beautiful color to your food.

A few hints if you have not made squash pickles before. If you’re not crazy about bell pepper, cut the amount back. Such is the case with my husband. So, I used one pepper. Also, remember that when some of these old recipe were written, the garden peppers were not the size they are now. A large grocery store or market pepper these days is about the size of 2 sweet bell peppers from a garden. Personally, I prefer to use just squash and onions and you can substitute more onions for the peppers if you prefer. This recipe made 2 pint jars using one pepper.

8 cups thinly sliced yellow summer squash

2 cups thinly sliced Vidalia or white onion

2 T. salt (kosher is good but not iodized)

2 ½ cups cider vinegar

3 cups sugar

2 teaspoons celery seed

2 teaspoons mustard seed

4 sweet bell peppers, thinly sliced

Combine squash and onions. Sprinkle with salt. Set aside for one hour. Drain off liquid. Combine vinegar, sugar, celery seed, mustard seed and peppers. Bring to a hard boil. Add squash mixture. Bring to a boil. Pack into pint standard canning jars which have been boiled 15 minutes. Adjust jar lids and bands. Process in a boiling water bath canner (212 degrees) for 5 minutes. Always follow manufacturers canning directions for safe canning and food storage.

 

For more Southern food, go to Southernsundaydinner.com and Southernsundaymornings.wordpress.com.

 

 

Second Helpings, Maybe Thirds. My Mother's Chicken & Dumplings!

 

Rarely, do I eat the leftovers of an entrée later in the evening after dinner. But, tonight I heated a bowl of mother's chicken and dumplings and walked out onto the porch. Before I knew it, I had devoured the bowl of tender chicken and creamy, silky thin Southern dumplings. I wanted more, but I dare not. Oh, how I enjoyed the food and the memory.

I love my mother's simple and easy recipe. The chicken is so tender and the thin Southern dumplings are so silky, like eating a cloud with a lot of flavor.

 

Mother didn't use biscuits in her recipe, so by all means just enjoy them the way they are. The photo above is a delicious pot of chicken and dumplings ready to serve.

 

These days, I make a few changes here and there when I need to get the most flavor out of a recipe. You can make the recipe as it is, or for example, if you happen to like white meat chicken as I do, then by all means use chicken breast, or cut-up chicken instead of a whole chicken. Also, most of us know that we just can't get that old fashioned flavor out of chicken anymore, so I enhance the flavor of the broth with chicken bouillon cubes (can also use Better Than Bouillon) when I need to make a richer broth. Another option is to use half chicken broth, half water. I guess I'm just doing what mother would have done to pull that good flavor out. You can use the above ideas as a suggestion. Always taste for seasoning. 

I need to thank my cousin, Sandra for sending mother's recipe. I have enjoyed it so many times since I received it.

 

Mother's Old Fashioned Alabama Chicken & Rolled Dumplings

with Biscuit Topping

 

1 (2-1/2 to 3 lb) chicken or chicken parts

2 quarts water

2 teaspoons salt*

2 chicken bouillon cubes. or Better than Bouillon (optional)

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoon shortening

3/4 cup buttermilk

3 hard boiled eggs, sliced

flaky biscuits for topping (recipe below-optional)

 

Place chicken in a Dutch oven; add water, and 2 t. salt* (I use 2 bouillon cubes for more flavor, so add salt to taste after adding bouillon, but if your chicken has a lot of flavor you won't need the bouillon, so taste the broth to see). Bring chicken to a boil, cover and simmer until tender. Remove chicken from the broth and cool. Pull the chicken from the bone, and cut or shred into small pieces. Set aside. 

 

Make dumplings. Combine flour, soda, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; cut in shortening. Add buttermilk, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened. Let rest for a minute for buttermilk to be absorbed. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead several times. Roll dough out to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Cut long strips of dough about one-inch wide, and then cut or pull into 5-inch strips. Bring broth to a boil, and add the 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Drop dumpling strips into broth, one at a time. Let cook for 8-10 minutes on medium-low heat. Reduce heat and stir in chicken pieces and hard boiled egg slices.  Serve while hot.

 

If adding biscuits to the top, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Transfer the chicken and dumplings to a baking-serving dish. Place biscuits on top, dot biscuit tops with olive oil and sprinkle with several grinds of black pepper, and bake until biscuits are done. If you don't want to make biscuits, you can use Mary B's Tea Biscuits, or any recipe you like. Keep in mind that biscuits will take up some of the broth, so leftovers will have less broth. 

 

Flaky Biscuits

 

1-3/4 cups flour

2-1/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes

3 tablespoons shortening

 

Mix all ingredients together until crumbly and add 2/3 cup milk. Stir milk into flour mixture. Pour out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Roll out to 1/2 inch thick and cut with a small biscuit cutter. Place on top of chicken and dumplings. Rub a small amount of olive oil on top of biscuits, and sprinkle the biscuits with several grinds of black pepper. Bake until biscuits are cooked and brown.

 

 

 

 

 

 



Hey Bob, at WLOS in Asheville, this is for you. Spaghetti My Way. We also call it "Oh, my gracious, you mean this only takes one pot"!

Actually, I call this, Spaghetti My Way. That's because I really don't like cooking spaghetti, but this is too easy and too delicious not to make. It's a one pot meal. So, in my opinion it should be called, "Oh my gracious, this only takes one pot" spaghetti.

Several years ago, I was taping five television shows for WLOS, Channel 13 in Asheville, NC. The host for Carolina Kitchen, who was also the lead anchorman for the station, was very skeptical of this spaghetti cooked in one pot. Also, notice that it has regular cheddar cheese to top it, and he was even more skeptical of how that would taste on spaghetti. Well, he loved it, and at the end of our taping segment, he picked up my heavy Le Creuset pot, and started for his car. I had to find something to put the rest of the spaghetti in so that he could take it home without taking my expensive pot with it! Hey Bob, that would have been $200.00 worth of spaghetti, bud. I taped five shows in a little over and hour that day, and he was a wonderful host. He has since retired.

I hope you will enjoy this spaghetti as much as we do at our house. I've been making this for years, and the recipe is in my book, Memories From Home. I make changes along the way depending on what I have in my kitchen or pantry at the time.

1 pound ground sirloin (I often use half a pound and then add one teaspoon of beef granules for flavor)
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic or 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
2 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, or diced tomatoes with oregano, garlic, basil
2 cans water-yes, I use the tomato cans
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon salt or to taste
12 ounces spaghetti- angel hair or regular, my husband's favorite is angel hair. NO MORE than 12 ounces, PLEASE, or it will be too dry
2cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (optional)

In a Dutch oven or heavy pan, sauté the beef until it is no longer pink. Add the onions, celery, pepper, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are tender. Add the tomatoes and the water. Add seasonings. Bring to a boil, stirring. Add the spaghetti, and stir. Turn the heat to low, and cover, checking and stirring occasionally to make sure it does not stick. When the spaghetti has cooked, check for seasoning. If it needs more salt, add it now. If adding the cheese, cover the top of the spaghetti with cheese and let it melt before serving. It can be placed in casseroles and frozen if you have leftovers.

Butterbeans, Green & Speckled, Lord Have Mercy, Summer in the South!

Butterbeans, Enough Said

 

Really! Enough just can’t be said about butterbeans.  Whether green or speckled, a summer garden just wouldn’t be the same without them. Butterbeans served with fried corn, sliced tomatoes, cornbread and maybe a piece of barbecued chicken or pork tenderloin is just heaven on a plate.

But now, don’t be fooled by one of my favorite home style menu’s above because I have seen butterbeans on some of the best menus around, from a fine dining restaurant on Harbour Island, Bahamas to an upscale restaurant in Buckhead, Georgia just to name a couple. On most of the menus the butterbeans are served with fish. That just goes to show you how versatile the taste of butterbeans can be. It’s a vegetable that can go with anything. 

 

Whether you have the earthly dark speckled butterbeans (see below) or the small green butterbeans, enjoy them because it seems that they are becoming rare these day. If you happen not to grow them, but find them at a local farmers market, be prepared to pay a premium price. And they are worth every penny or I should say dollar. If you’re a new gardener and you have not tried butterbeans, then I hope you will grow them because butterbeans have a wonderful texture on the outside with a creamy interior, and you just can’t beat the taste. Delicious!  

 

Try something new with those plain old butterbeans which are good too, but this time add some diced carrots and finely chopped onion to cook with my fresh butterbeans. The butterbeans have another level of flavor other than my old standby of bacon or ham, water and butterbeans. I’ve added the recipe below. Hope you enjoy them. In case you have leftovers, there are some other ideas added too. 
 

Green Butterbeans
 

2 or 3 slices bacon, cut into small pieces

 

1 tablespoon olive oil

 

½ cup finely diced carrots

 

½ cup finely chopped onion

 

3 cups green butterbeans, shelled and washed

 

1 small thyme sprig

 

Water to cover*

 

Salt and pepper to taste 

 

 

Place the bacon pieces and olive oil into a saucepan large enough to hold the butterbeans and water. Add the carrot and onion and sauté until tender. Add the butterbeans and thyme, and then add enough water to cover about an inch above the butterbeans. Bring the water to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook the butterbeans until slightly tender. Add salt and pepper to taste and then finish cooking until done. Remove the thyme sprig before serving. 

 

* Check often to make sure that water has not evaporated and add more if needed to keep the butterbeans from being dry. Check for seasoning. 

 

Butterbean Salad- My dad always liked his butterbeans with a little mayonnaise on them. So, I started making a salad of butterbeans. All I do is drain the cooked butterbeans, add the following items to taste: finely chopped celery, onion, green pepper, halved grape tomatoes, basil or dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise, and occasionally a little sour cream.
 

 

Butterbean, tomato salad- Slice the top from a large tomato. Hollow out the inside. Save the meat of the tomato minus the seeds. Salt the inside of the tomato, turn upside down to drain, but salt the tomato again before using. Make a butterbean salad with dill and instead of using the grape tomatoes from the salad recipe above, use the meat of the hollowed out tomato that you saved. The juice from the tomato will blend with the mayo to make a nice dressing. One serving. 
 

Butterbean Hummus-use your favorite hummus recipe and substitute butterbeans for the garbanzo beans.
 

Butterbeans, lemon and dill- Sauté cooked drained butterbeans in a small amount of butter or olive oil. Add a little squeeze of lemon and a little zest to taste. Add fresh chopped dill to taste. Serve. 
 

Butterbeans and garlic butter- In a sauté pan melt butter and add finely chopped garlic in whatever amount of garlic and butter you like adjusted to the amount of butterbeans you add. Cook garlic until tender. Add cooked butterbeans with a little of the liquid the beans were cooked in. Heat through, serve. 
 

Butterbeans and Okra- Add fresh okra pods to butterbeans about 10 minutes before the butterbeans are done. Make sure to keep covered.

 

 

Speckled Butter Beans

Cooked the same way as the green butterbeans. This butterbeans taste is smoky and earthy tasting. It's delicious.